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Show COLONEL ROOSEVELT ON WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT Taft the "Noblest Roman of them all." A man of "wisdom and moral cournge." A friend of the wage earners, earn-ers, and the working, and the one man on whom Colonel Roosevelt could " always rely, during a period of ten years. Jj2 During the month of April, Colonel J Roosevelt took radical Issue with Congressman Campbell of Kansas. I The Colonel according to reports went I "racing through Kansas" and "Jabber B , Campbell as ho went," and throughout B the trip had Bomo test things to say B about Mr. Campbell, Incident to the B latter's support for President Taft. I Representative Campbell replied to I the Colonel in the Houso of Represen- I tatlves, April 22, 1912, and now, nddB I to his reply by publishing In the Con- fl grcsstonal Record, Colonel Roosovelt'r I estimate of Mr. Taft, as contained In I one of the Colonel's letters of four I years ago. The letter Is Interesting fl and Is herewith submitted In full. I Oyster Ray, N. Y. Sept. 9. 190S fl Mr. Conrad Kohrs, I Helena, Mont. I My Dear Mr. Kohrs: I have I received our letter about tho candl- I dacy of Mr. Taft, The man who I feel H Is In an especial sense the represents. fl tlve of all that In which I most be- I lleve In political life. H Every good citizen should dcslro to fl see both prosperity and justice, pros fl perous and fair and righteous dealing BJ as between man and man obtain per-fl per-fl manently In this great Republic. As fl a people we are Justly proud or our fl business, of our energy and Intelll-fl Intelll-fl " genco In our work; and It Is entirely fl right that wo should ask ourselves as fl. to any given course of conduct. "Will H it be profitable?" Dut It Is also no Hi less emphatically true that the bulk H of our people, tho plain people, who H found in Abraham Lincoln their es-H' es-H' pecial champion and spokesman, re-Hi re-Hi gard tho question, "Is this morally H' right?" as oven more Important than Hj the question, "Is this profitable?" H -when applied to any given course of H conduct. Indeed In the long run our H people are sure to find that In oil H dealings alike In th'o business and H the political world. What is really VJ profltablo Is that whijjh Is morally ffc' right. The last few years have seen KM a great awakening of tho public BJ' conscience) and tho growth of aatern H determination to do away with cor BJ ruptlon and unfair dealing, political BJ economic, social. It !s urgently nee- cssary that this great reform mo H ment should go on. But no reform M movement Is healthy If It goes on by' BJ spasms; it It Is marked by periods of BJ frenzied advance, followed, as sue! B periods of frenzied advance must nl-M nl-M ways bo followed, by equally violent BJ periods of reaction. BJ Tho revolutionary and tho reaction-BJ reaction-BJ ary really play Into ono another's Bl bands, to tho extent that each by his BJ excesses necessarily tends to arouse such disgust, such a feeling of revolt, In tho minds of quiet people, as tern-Bl tern-Bl porarily to restore tho other to power B To permit the direction of our public fl affairs to fall alternately Into the B bands of revolutionaries and reaction-fl reaction-fl nrles, of tho extreme radicals of un-fl un-fl rest and of tho bigoted conservatives B who recognize no wrongs to remedy B would merely mean that the Nntlo-B Nntlo-B had embarked on a feverish courso of B violent oscillation which would bev B fraught with great temporary trouble, and would produce no adequate good in tho end. The true friend of reform, the true foe of abuses Is the man who steadily perseveres In righting wrongs in warring against abuses, but whose character and training are such that he never promises what he cannot perform, that he always a little mo-than mo-than makes good what he does promise, prom-ise, and that, while steadily advancing advanc-ing he never permits himself to be led Into foolish excesses which would damage tho very causo ho champions. In Mr. Taft we have a man who combines com-bines all of these qualities to a degree de-gree which no other man In oufpub-lie oufpub-lie life since the Civil War has surpassed. sur-passed. To a flaming hatred of Injustice, In-justice, to a scorn of all that Is base and mean, to a hearty sympathy with the oppressed, he unites entire dlsln-terestedness, dlsln-terestedness, courage both moral and physical of the very highest type, and a kindly generosity of nature which makes him feel that all or his fellow countrymen are In very .truth his friends and brothers, that their Interests Inter-ests are his, and that all hjs great qualities are to be spent with lavish freedom In their service. The honest man of means, the honest and law-abiding law-abiding business man, can feel safe In his hands because of the very fact ' that the dishonest man of great ' wealth the man who swindles or robs his fellows, would not so much ai 1 dare to defend his evil doing in Mr. ' Taft's presence. The honest wage. ' worker, the honest laboring man, the honest farmer, the honest mechanic or small trader, or man of mall means, can feel that In a peculiar sense Mr. Taft will be his representative representa-tive because of the very fact that he has the same scorn for the demagogue that he has for the corruptionlst, and that he would front threats of personal person-al violence from a mob with the unqualified un-qualified and lofty Indifference w)th which he would front the bitter anger of the wealthiest and most powerful corporations. Broad though his sympathies, sym-pathies, are there Is In him not the lightest tinge of weakness. No consideration con-sideration or personal Interest, any more than of fear for his personal safety, could make him swerve a hair's breadth from the course which he regards as right In the Interest of the whole people. I have naturally a peculiar Interest In tho success of Mr. Taft, and in seeing see-ing him backed by a majority In both Houses of Congress which would heartily support his policies. For the last ten years, while I have been governor gov-ernor of New York and President, I have been thrown Into the closest Intimacy with him, and he and I have on every essential point stood In heartiest agreement, shoulder to shoulder. We nave the same views as to what Is demanded by the national na-tional Interest and honor, both within our own borders and as regards the relations of this Nation with other nations. There Is no fight for decency and fair dealing which I have waged In which I have not had his heartiest and most effective sympathy and support, sup-port, and the policies for which I stand are his policies as much as mine. It 1b not possible in the space of this letter to discuss all the -many and Infinitely varied questions of. moment mo-ment with which Mr. Taft as President Presi-dent would havo to deal; let hi" Judged by what ho has himself done nnd by what tho administration, in which ho has played so consplcious a part, has done. Uut to illustrate Just what his attitude Is, let me touch on two matters now prominent lu . public mind: Mr. Taft can bo trusted to txu Justice from the railroads for tvry reason that he can be trui do Justice to tho railroads. The rail roads arc the chief Instruments of Interstate In-terstate commerce In the country, and tuey can neither be held to a proper 3wC.untablllty on tho one hand nor g..tn 1 rcper protection on the other &u i e,. by the afllrmatUe nctlcu of tho Federal Government. The law as laid down by tho Federal courts clearly clear-ly shows that tho States havo not acd can not deise laws adequate to meet the problems caused by tho treat growth of tho railroads doing -n luterstate-commcrco buslnes3, for 1.1&10 than four-fifths of the business ui tho railroads Is Interstate, and un der tho Constitution of the United States only tho Federal Government can exercise control thereover. It it jlsolutcly necessary that this control should be affirmative and thorough- lug. All Interstate business carrh on b the great corporations shoulO In tho interest of the whole people , ho far more closely supervised thai I t present by tho National Goern-ment; Goern-ment; but this Is especially truo of the railroads, which can not exist nt all sao by tho cxerclso of powers granted them on behalf of tho people, and which, therefore, should be held to n peculiar accountability to the people It Is in tho Interest of thf peoplo that they should not bo per-1 per-1 mltted to Jo injustice; and It Is no ' less to the Interest of tho peoplo that ' they should not suffer Injustice. Their ' prime purpose is to carry the com modities of the farmer and the busl-loss busl-loss men; they ccu'l not be built save for tho money contributed to them by their shareholders; they could not be run at all save for the money paid out In wages to tho railroad rail-road employees; and, finally, they could not bo run Judiciously, or profitably prof-itably to any one, were it not for tho employment by them of somo masterful master-ful guiding Intelligence, whether of one man or a group of men. There are therefore several sets of Interests to be considered. Each must recelf 1 roper consideration, nnd when any tne of them selfishly demands exclusive exclu-sive consideration the demand must be refused. Along certain lines all of these groups have tho same Into It is to the Interest of shipper, iai mer, wage worker, business man, honest hon-est sbaieholder, and honest manager alike that thero should be economically economical-ly honesty, Intelligence, nnd fair trea ment of all. To put an effective stoi to stock wntering would bo n benefit to ever) body except tho swindlers who profit by stock watering; 1 would benefit the honest shareholdc because honest Investments woal not bo brought Into competition w mere paper; It would benefit tho wago worker, because when the mone earned does not hnvo to go to paying Interest on watered capital more of It loft out of which to pay wages; It would benefit the shipper, because when only honest stockholders havo to bo paid Interest, rates need not be Improperly raised; it would bene tho public because there would bo amplo money with which to glvo efficient ef-ficient service. Similarly tho preventions preven-tions of favoritism, as among shippers does no.damago to anyone who Is honest, hon-est, and confers great good upon the smaller business man and tho farmer, whom It relieves of oppression. Again such supervision of nccountsi and nine ngemont as will prevent crookedness and oppression works good, direct or indirectly to all honest people. Therefore everything that can bo dono along theso lines should bo done nnd no man's legitimate Interest this point has been reached great care must bo exercised not to work Injustice Injus-tice to ono class In tho effort to show-favor show-favor to another class, mid each naturally nat-urally tends to lemember only Its own needs. The stockholders inusi receive an amplo return on their Investments In-vestments or tho railroads cannot ho built and successfully maintained; and the rates to shippers and the wages to employees, from tho highest to the lowest, must all be conditioned upon this fact. On tho other hand, in a public service corporation wo havo no right to allow such exccsslvo ptotlts ns will necessitate rates being unduly high nnd wages unduly low. Again while in IiIb proper ways rates musi bo kept low, wo must always remember remem-ber that wo havo no right and no Jiic tlficatlon to reduce them when the re suit Is tao reduction of tho wages o tho great army of railroad men, A fair working arrangement must bo de vised according to the needs of the several cases so that profits, wages, and rates shall each bo reasonable with roferenco to tho other two ant In wages I Includo tho properly large amounts which should always bo paid to those whose masterful ability In required re-quired for tho successful direction o great enterprises. Combinations which favor such an equitable ar rangement should themselves bo favored fa-vored and not forbidden by law, al though they should be strictly supervised super-vised by tho Government through t Interstate Commission, wnich aliout havo tho power of passing summarll upon not only the question of tho reduction re-duction but tho raising of rates. This railroad problem is Itself ono of tho phases of ono of tho greatcs and most Intricate problems of our civilization; for its proper solution we need not merely honesty nnd courage, cour-age, but Judgment, good sonso, and entire talr-mlndcdtiess. Demogogy In such a matter Is as certain to work evil ns corruption Itself. Tho man who promises to raise the wages tho railroad employees to tho highest high-est point and at the same time to reduce re-duce rates to tho lowest point Is prom Istng what neither ho nor nnyono else can perform; and If tne effort to perform per-form It were attempted disaster w out result to both shipped nnd wage worker work-er nnd ruin to tho business Interests of tho country The man to trust In such a matter as this Is the man who, like Judge Taft, does not promise too much, but who could not be swayed fro" path of duty by any argument, by ar consideration; who will wage relentless relent-less war on the successful wrongdoer among railroad men as among all other men; who will do all that can be done to secure legitimately low rates to shippers and absolute even ness among the rates thus secured; but who will neither promise nor at tempt to secure rates so low that the wage earner would lose his earnings and the shareholder, whose money built the road, his profits. He will not favor a ruinous experiment like Government ownership of railways; hi will stand against any kind of con flscatlon of honestly acquired property; proper-ty; but hi will work effectively for the most efficient type of Government supervision su-pervision and control of railways, so as to secure Just and fair treatment of the people as a whole. . Iwhat Is here said as to his attitude on the railway question applies to the whole question of the trusts.. He will promise nothing on this subject unless he firmly believes he can make his promise good. He will go Into no chimerical movement to destroy all great business combinations; for this can only be done by destroying all modern business; but he will In practical prac-tical fashion do everything possible to secure such efficient control, on behalf be-half of the people as a whole, over there great combinations as will deprive de-prive them of the power to work evil. Mr. Taft's decision In the Addystone Pipe Line case while on the bench Is proof, by deeds not by words, of the far-sighted wisdom with which .he serves the Interests of the whole people peo-ple even when those of the most powerful pow-erful corporations are hostile thereto. If there Is one body of men more than another whose support I feel I have a right to chal . it -of Secretary Taft, It Is the body of wage workers of the country. A stauncher friend, a fairer and truer representative, they can not find within with-in the borders of the United States. He will do everything In his power for them except to do that which Is wror.c; he will do wrong for no man, and therefore can be trusted by all men. During the ten years of my Intimate acquaintance with him, since I have myself, as governor and President, Presi-dent, been obliged to deal practically with labor problems, he has been one of the men upon whose Judgment and aid I could always rely In doing everything ev-erything possible for the cause of the wage worker, of the man who works with his hands, or with both hands and head. Mr. Taft has been attacked because Continued on Page 6. Colonel Roosevelt on William Howard Taft (Continued from pace throe) of tho Injunctions ho delivered while on the bench. I am content to rest his caso on theso very Injunctions; 1 maintain that they Bhow why all our people should bo grateful to him ana should feel It safe to Intrust their' dearest Interests to him. Most as- suredly he nover has yielded and never nev-er will yield ta threat or pressure of any sort, aB little it it conies from labor la-bor ns it it comes from capital; hi wilt no more tolerato the violence o a mob than tho corruption and oppression oppres-sion and arrogance ot a corporation or ot a wealthy man. He will not con sent to limit the power of the courts to put a stop to wiongdolng wherever found. This very fact should maki tho labor peoplo feel a peculiar confidence confi-dence In hlni. He has Incurred th bitter hostility ot foolish and bigoted reactionaries by his frank criticism of tho nbuso of tho power ot injunction injunc-tion In labor disputes, and ho is pledged to do all ho can to put a stop to tho abuses In tho excrclso ot tho power of Injunction. He will never promise anything that he will not do all In his power to perform. He can always be trusted trust-ed to do a little better than his word, and the fact that before election he will not promise the Imposslblle Is In Itself a guaranty that after election all that Is potilble will be done. His record at a Judge makes the whole country his debtor. His actions nnd decisions nro part of tho great traditions of tho bench. They guaranteed guaran-teed and get forth In striking fashion the rights of the general public ns against the selfish Interests of any laborers. They set forth nnd stand by the rights of tho wngeworkers to organize or-ganize and to strike ns unequivocal as thoy set forth nnd stand by the doctrine that no conduct will be to crated that would spell destruction t tho Nation as a whole. As for the attack upon his Injunctions In labor disputes, made while he wns on the bench, I ask that the Injunctions I carefully examined. I ask that every responsible and fair-minded labor leader, every responsible nnd fair-minded fair-minded member of a labor organization, organiza-tion, rend these Injunctions ror himself. him-self. If ho will do so instend of condemning con-demning them he will heartily appro ap-pro Vo ot them nnd will recognize thli further astonishing fact that tho principles prin-ciples laid down by Judge Taft In these very Injunctions which laboring people are asked to condemn, are. themselves the very principles which aro now embodied In tho laws or practices ot every responsible lnbc organization. No responsible orgar Izntlon would now hesltnto to condemn con-demn tho abuses against which Judge Tuft's Injunctions were nlmed. Th principles which ho therein so wisely and feailessly laid down Bervo as n charter of liberty fox alt of us, ro wage workers, for employers, for th general public; for thoy rest on tlu principles of fair dealing for nil, ot even-handed Justice for nil. The mink tho Judge who rendered them as standing for tho rights ot the wholo peoplo; as fnr ns daylight lb from darkness, so Tar Is such n Judgt rrom tho timo server, tho truckler to the mob, or tho.crlngllng tool or great corrupt, nnd corrupting corporations. Judge Tntt on tho bench as since, ill tho Philippines, In Panama, In Cuba, Cu-ba, in the War Department showed himself to bo n wlso, a fearless, ana an upright servnnt of the wholo people, peo-ple, whoso services to the whole peoplo peo-plo wore beyond all price. Moreover, lot all good citizens remember that ho rendered theso services, not when It wns easy to do so, but when lawless violence was threatened when malice domestic and civic disturbance threatened threat-ened the wholo fabric of our Govern ment nnd of civilization; his nctlon showed not only .tho hlgheBt kind c moral courago hut of physical courage as woll, ror his Wo was freely niu' violently threatened. Let all fair-minded men, wago work era nnd cnpltallstB nllko, consider yet another fact. In ono of his decisions upon tho bench Judgo Tnft upheld li tho strongest fashion and for tho first tlmo gnvo full validity to the principle of tho employers' liability for lnjurl dono workmen. This" wns before an nntlonnl law on tho subject was enacted. enact-ed. Judge Tail's sciibo of right his In dlgnatlon ngalnst oppression In nn. form, ngalnst any attitude that is iv fair and Just, drove him to take u position which wns violently condemn ed by short-slghtod capitalists nnd omployerB of inbor, which waB so fn in advance of tho tlmo that It waB not generally upheld by tho State courts, but which wo nro now om-boijylng om-boijylng In tho law of tho land. Judgo Taft wns a leader, a ploneor, while on tho bench, In tho effort to get Justlco for tho wago worker, In Jenlous chain plonahlp of hjs rights; nnd nil i-right i-right and fnrs'lghtcd laboring men should hold It to l..o credit that at tho Bame tlmo ho fearlessly stood against tho abuses of labor, Just ns ho fearlessly fear-lessly stood ngalnst tho nbuscB of capital. cap-ital. If elected, he has shown by his deeds that ho will be President of no ) class, but of the people as a whole; t he can be trusted to stand stoutly I against the two real enemies of out r democracy against the man who tc please one class would undermine the whole foundation of orderly liberty and aga.nst the man v-.no, in the lr teres', of another class, would secure business prosperity by sacrificing ev ery r aht of the working people. I have striven as President to champion cham-pion In every way tho interests of lu wage wcrkcr, for 1 regard the wage oiker, excepting only the farmer, the tiller of the soli, as " tho man whose well being Is most essential to tho healthy growth ot this great N tlon. I would for no consideration advise the wage worker to do what I thought was against his Interest. I ask his support for Mr. Taft exactly as I ask such support from every farslghted and right thinking American citizen, because I believe with all my heart that nowhere within the borders of our great country can there be found another man who will as vigilantly and efficiently as Mr. Taft support the rights of the worklngman as he will the rights of every man who In good faith strives to do his duty as nn American citizen. He will protect the Just rights of both rich and poor, and he will war relentlessly against lawlessness and Injustice, whether ex erclsed en behalf of property or of labor. On the bench Judge Taft showed the two qualities which make a grw. Judge wladcm and rcral courage They rc also the two qualities which make a great President. Sincerely yours, THEODOTIE ROOSEVELT. |
