The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1913-12-05

Greet and preSumptuouS in anyone to
dogmatiZe upon so great and many
sided a question, but / feel confident
that common counsel will produce the
results we all so much desire.
Antitrust Legislation.
Turn from the farm to the world of
business which centers in the city
and in the factory, and I think that all
thoughtful observers will agree that
the immediate service we owe the
business communities Of the country
is to prevent private monopoly more
effectively than it has yet been pre-
vented 1 think it will be easily
agreed that we should let the Sher
man antitrust law stand, unaltered,
as it is, with it's debatable ground
about it, but that we should as much
as possible reduce the area of that
debatable ground by further and more
explicit legislation; land should also
supplement that great act by legisla-
ton which will not only clarity it, but
also facilitate it's administration and
make it fairer to all concerned.
No doubt we shall all wish, and the
country will expect, this to be the
central subject of our deliberations
during the present session; but it is
a subject so many-sided and so de-
serving of careful and discriminating
discussion that l shall take the liber-
ty of addressing you upon it in a
special message at a late date than
this. 1t is of capital Importance that
the business men of this country
should be relieved o, all uncertainties
of law with regard to their enter
prises and investments and a clear
path indicated which they can, travel
without anxiety. 1t is as important
that they should be relieved of en-
barrassment and set free to prosper
as that private monopoly should be
destroyed. The ways of action should
be thrown wide open.
Nationwide Primaries.
/ | turn to a subject which I-hope can
be handled promptly and without Sc
rious controversy of any kind. l
mean the method af selecting nomi-
nees for the Presidency of the United
States. l feel confident that | do not
misinterpret the wishes of the country
or the expectations of the country
when / urge the prompt enactment of
legislation which will provide for pri-
mary elections throughout the entire
country at which the voters of the sew
Ner2l parties may choose their nomi-
inees for the Presidency without the
intervention of nominating conven-
tions. | venture the suggestion that
this legislation should provide for
the retention of party conventions,
but only for the purpose of declaring
and accepting the verdict of the pri-
maries and formulating the platforms
of he parties; and l suggest that these
conventions should not consist of del
; egate chosen TO this single purpose,
but of the nominee for Congress, the
nominees for vacant seats, in the Sen
ate of the United States, the Senators
whose terms have not yet closed, the
national committees, and the candi-
dates for the Presidency themselves,
in order that platforms may - be
framed by those responsible to the
people for carrying them into effect.
InsuIar, Possessions.
These are matters of vital domes-
tic concern, and besides them, out
side the charmed circle of our own
national life, in which our affections
! command us, as well as our con-
sciences, there tansd ou our obliga-
tions toward our territories over the
! sea. Here we are trustees. Porto
Rico, Hawaii, the Philippines. are
ours, indeed, but not ours to do with
as we please Such territories, once
regarded as mere possessions, are no
longer to be elfishly exploited; they
part of the domain of public con-
science and of serviceable and en-
|! lightened craftsmanship. We must
administer them for the people who
live in them, and with the same sense
of responsibilities them as toward our
! own people in our domestic affairs.
No doubt, we shall successfully bind
Porto Rico and the Hawaiian Islands
to ourselves by ties Of justice and in
terest and affection, but the perform
ance of our duty toward the Philip
i pines is a more difficult and debatable
matter. We can satisfy the obliga-
lions of generous justice toward the
people of Porto Rico by giving them
the ample and familiar rights and
privileges accorded our own citizens
In our OWN duu Jul oOiA6o
tionstoward the people OF HAWAII Dy
perfecting the provisions for self-gov
! eminent already granted them, but in
the Philippines we must go further
We must hold steadily in view their
ultimate independence and We must
move toward the time of that indie
pendence as steadily as the way car
be cleartd and the foundations
thoughtfully and permanently laid.
What Has Been Done.
Acting under the authority confer
, red upon the President by Congress
!; have already accorded the people Of
, the islnnds majority in both houses
: of their legislative body by appointing
five instead of four native citizens tt
, the membership of the commission.
: believe that in this way we shall make
proof of their capacity in counsel ant
: their sense of responsibility in the ex
: ercise of political power, and that the