OCR Text |
Show Taft's Tribute to Senator Smoot Never within my recollection of politics has a Republican victory been so assured as in this campaign. The great majority of the electorate are very tired of Mr. Wilson's administration, and are impatient to register their disapproval to it, and to drive the Democracy from power In the certainty of Mr. Harding's election, the managers of the Republican campaign are turn ing their attention to the election of a majority I of Republicans to the senate. The house will un- doubtedly be largely Republican, because the whole house is to be re-elected, and such a vote h will be given Mr .Harding will be certain to :arry a large majority of the congressional districts dis-tricts for his party. The case in respect t? the lenate, however, is different. Under the consti tution. only one-third of thaf body is to be re jj elected There is a majority of two Republicans ' in the present senate, but that majority is nomi-01, nomi-01, because it includes Mr. LaFolIette and some other senators whose allegiance to the Republic j an is certainly not more than nominal. Of the thirty-two senators who retne pnd who:c places are to be li'.lod, fifteen are Republicans and seventeen sev-enteen are Democrats, and of the seventeen Democrats, Dem-ocrats, there are many from the south, vhers there is no prospect of substituting Republicans. If Republicans, therefore, are to secure a real, as disthiguiabcd from a nominal, majority, they t must both gain vctes and retain those which they have. I noe 1 ' 'ly emphasize the enormous importance, impor-tance, if Wi to have a Republican administration, administra-tion, of supporting President H.rd:ng in both : house? with a v. orking majority The task of reconstruction, of refraining our tax laws, of ro-framing ro-framing the tariff, of further constructive legislate legis-late D .US to railroads, of refundinc nnr enormous jj debt, and of rtc-aniin-r the departments of the ;j rrovern ncr.t -n it; a budget sys'.ej: to effect t' c ; economics for which there i? such a crying need, al d?m.and tlr.t there shall be cohesion and cooperation co-operation between the two hiuces and 'he president; presi-dent; and tills can only be secured by svbs4antial workin" tnaj I tiv i the house and in the senate, sen-ate, 'xhia na es it tl e consistent duty of every ! voter among the manv million of voters who ex- pect to cast their suffrage for Mr. Harding, to See to it that his vote is equally effective in electing elect-ing a senator "lo will stand by IVr. Harding's policies ard enable hi:n t-) pciform the pTeat task jl for v. hich he "ill be given a mandate on the sec-j sec-j on : of November. The s l":t.n of a proper representative for c state in b? sea ite of the Unted Sta.tes is not an ca y matter, because the position requires unusual unus-ual qualifications When, therefore, by a service in several term? a citizen of the state has demon- strated lis ability to discharge the duties acceptably, accept-ably, and has greatly added to his capacity for ! serving the courtr and his state by long ex- pcrience, the people of the state who would hj n m ike a great error. Of course, if his pol tical views rnd policies are contrary to those ! of a majority of tho people of a state, they must find seme other representative, but where thii ; tried and faithful public .ervunt is a stauncn and loyal member of the prevailing party, it is j the height of folly rot to zeize eagerly the great opportunity presented in aiding that party by sending that leader back who can do much, by I reason of his experience and ability, to rende-I rende-I the carrying on of the government by the party uselul to the country Tae state of Utah and his friends and ueigh-; ueigh-; bors and his fellow citizens should have the ;;re ue:t pride in the position which Reed Smoot i as won foi himself in the senate of the United j States as a broad-minded, hard-working and able senator, upon whose judgment and accurate information and sincerity cf purpose, his col-leagues, col-leagues, both Republicans and Democrats, have come to place t'pc greatest reliance Ihere are senators, not a few of them, who have attained influence through seniority, but whose energies have been devoted chiefly to publicity seeking and the making on the floor of the senate formal speeches and have u.ed their position largely for their personal advancement in the political field lhe gre i work of the senate is done in the committees com-mittees by the hard workers and by those hard workers on the iloor of the senate in the expla- a&tion and clarification of the subject matter of legislation of which they have charge. It is the !j ;xact truth to say that no senator of this generation genera-tion has done harder or more effective work of jj this kind than Reed Smoot of Utah. He brought a to the senate an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the details of a great variety of the important fields of business of this country. His personal experience in fanning, in mining, In manufacturing, manufactur-ing, in merchandising, and in banking gave him a broad foundation upon which to build an intimate inti-mate and accurate knowledge of the business of his country such as no other man in either house l of congress has. The framing of a tariff bill ! involves the investigation of the whole business of the country farming, mining, manufacturing and banking and it is well understood that Senator Sen-ator Smoot knows more of these things that have to be known in the framing of a tariff bill than any other member of congress. In the next four years, the necessity for a revision of the tariff on j; a reasonably protective basis to meet the new conditions which the war and its consequences will have created, will be inevitable There is !j no state of the Union more interested in sccur j: Lncj fair treatment and protection of her indus- jj tries in a tariff bill than Utah Her people, therefore, should support the Republican ticket with enthusiasm and above all should she cherish j! and retain the advantage of having Mr. Smoot jj in the senate where his influence in the framing i or a tariff will be very gTeat. More than this, he jj has been engaged as a member of the committees commit-tees en appropriations and piinting, and this Ij has carried him into a consideration of all the j: departments of the government and has made j! him acquainted with the enormous sources of j v. aste that should be checked It is not an idle j ritatement or one made merely for purposes of B political campaign to secure Mr. Smoot s re- jj election to say that were he not returned to the j; renate the void which his absence would make in the real work cf that body in reconstruction is crreitcr than would the loss of anv other member. mem-ber. Mr Smoot's stand on the league of nations was shown by his vote for the league with reser- j! vations, and he can be counted to stand by Presi- ? dent Harding in what I confidently beheve he i will do in respect to the league and of which I will speak more at length in another part of my adure;c tonight. ? It nras my good fortune during eight years of official life in Washington, four as a member oi the cabinet, and four as president, to know Mr. j Smoot well, and to gauge his sense of public duty In all thut time he was actuated in what he did by the strictest allegiance to the interests ? of the people of the United States and the people j of Utah. Attacked by the forces of religious in- s tolerance over the nation,, he maintained a-Uig- I nity and forbearance that won for him wide- spread approval. Indeed it is hard to believe, s in view of his present position as one of the :ead ers of the senate, and an indispensable member, that there was so short a period ago a serious i attempt to remove him from his scat in the sen- j '.te, on the ground that ho was not, by reason oi his religious affiliations, a loyal American. I need hardly dwell on the loss to the interests o." I Utah were the services of Senator Smoot in the ? senate to be endea. A new senator, even though t he ha distinguished ability, has but little influ- i ence as compared with those who have established estab-lished their leadership. Even if other things were equal, it would take a senator years to attam the power for good that Senator Smoot jj wields in the senate. Senator Smoot and I have been friends for a jl great many years and as a friend of his I should ; ieel deeply di&appomted if the people of Utah jj were to show themselves r.o ungrateful and unap-preciative unap-preciative of the work which he has done for them But such personal consideration is not the controlling motive for my coming clear across the United States for the single purpose of doing what I can to aid in his re-election. The chief motive is the wish to keep in office a man whose services will be of the highest importance in President Harding's administration, and ! which will contribute most largely to its success. |