The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923, August 30, 1907, Page 7, Image 7
1 'AUGUST 3"0, 1807 The Commoner. New York Newspaper Comment on the Roosevelt and Taft Speeches Evening Post: With the substance of the president's speech at ProYincetown today we seo no reason to quarrel. It is a stout affirmation of ills well-known views in his well-known lan guage. Those anxious and confiding republican business men and editors who expected the pres ident to utter a "reassuring" word did not know their man. His way of calming a nervous pa tient is to give another shock. To the time and manner of this presidential deliverance, howevor, we think there is grave objection. There was really no occasion for him just now to say any thing. A prudent consideration of the strain under which the whole financial world is now laboring would have kept him from saying any thing, which might add to it and next to, silence a quieter tone v'puld have been golden.' Brooklyn Eagle: The speech at Province town was awaited with Impatience, Wall Street being especially curious, not to say solicltious. It has been furnishing an object lesson. It has been giving an illustration of the tremendous difference between the effect of fulminations. Mr. Bryan, for instance, may thunder at the thugs of capital until he has exhausted himself and those who listen to him, but then he does not occupy the White House, so "predatory capi tal" remains undisturbed. It is otherwise when the fulmination comes from Theodore Roosevelt, whPse denunciation signifies, and additional sig nificance comes With the knowledge that ..the presidential preacher practices. He' " translates word into deed. Sb Wall Street will peruse with corresponding cfare; it will inwardly digest, and it will find scant consolation. , Globe: Mr,. Roosevelt's spedch to the pil grims at Prpvincetown proves to 'be only a pieuce from he whito'House fourth reader." All1, the good boys among lis know most of" it by heart and the rest will like it no better than usual. Adverting presumably ,tb the conflict, between V southern states arid the federal courts, the presi dent observes that "national sovereignty" fs to be upheld insofar' as it means the sovereignty of the people used for the real and ultimate good of the people, and states' rights are to be uplield insofar as they mean the ''people's rights," especially1 in dealing with "the tgreat corporations." How simple' are" lie methods of the' truly great. l M Sun: There' is practically only o'ne son tence'ln1 President Roosevelt's speech with which the public is likely to be much concerned.-"It Is that in which he asserts that rich malefac tors have combined to bring about fihandlal Btress' for' the purpose of discrediting ' the pol icy of the government. A more unscrupulous or a more desperate statement it would be im possible tp make. His great position forbids Its adequate" ckaracteriEatiPn: We can only permit ohrselves to say that If Mr. Roosevelt does hot know it' to be false both his circumstances and the circumstances of the country are such as to occasion grave alarm. Wall Street Journal: Secretary Taft takes up every plank in the Roosevelt, platform re specting the corporations and defends 'them to the fullest degree. The Taft speech is substan tially the Roosevelt speech expressed in Taft lan guage. Its judicial tone, its strong opposition to government ownership and its defense of the paur.ts and of the, constitutional rights of private property are exactly what might be expected from Secretary Taft's training and character, but there is nothing' "In, the speech to indicate any wavering whatsoever' in the administration as regards its policy of enforcement of law against corporations which have violated law, and as' re gards its policy of regulation of railroads and the taxation 6f incomes andMnherltances. Times: Mr. Roosevelt is a politician. He knows that he has "the people behind, him" in the policies he 1& executing. Jn their present (temper .they would applaud and approve even xxpre. Radical- policies, we doubt not. How, little hp cqncqr'na himself abput the disaster and ruin he threatens to bring upon the business com munity appears from his amazing hypothesis that recent violent declines in security values may have been caused by "certain malefactors of groat wealth" who have combined "to bring about as much financial stress as they possibly can in order to discredit tho policy of the gov ernment and thereby to cecure a reversal of that policy." If Mr. Roosevelt were content to con fine himself to the punishment of tho wrong doers and tho enforcement of laws, business could get along with him; but he Is seoking to remake tho governmental and industrial system of tho country, a task for which a restless tom porament and boundless energy constitute his solo equipment. That they do not constltuto fit ness or competence and that undertaking of such a task by such hands Is fraught with the gravest peril are truths now becoming Increasingly evi dent to reasoning minds. Evening Post: Secretary Taft's speech was to have been a trumpet; it turns out to bo a second violin. His long and rather tedious speech might have been condensed into tho single sentence: "I say ditto to President Roosevelt." It may bo said that as loyal friend and heir apparent, Mr. Taft could have done no less. It may also bo said that the Immense suc cess politically, of Roosevelt's railway and cor poration policies, justifies any aspiring public man in trying to enter into that splendid heri tage of popularity and votes. But this Is not what the people were given to expect. Not for this did they wait so eagerly to read Mr. Taft's speech. From it we wore to learn that he wa3 an original, independent, and fearless statesman. It was to be a direct and ringing appeal; in fact, it is a feeble echo. . Globe: Secretary Taft is not a sermon izer or a lecturer. "He has a preference for details rather than for the expression of loosely uttored general principles! He is familiar with the fed eral constitution and respects tho limitations on federal action; His temperament Is that of tho judge and the practical administrator rather than that of tho tempestuous shouter. While not shrinking from what are called advanced ideas, the methods he proposes are orderly and cautious. His prepossession being to reconcile progress with conservatism. In many ways his discussion of current Issues Is one of the most candid, practical and Illuminating that have over come froih a presidential candidate when his friends were Indulged in the labor of rallying support. ' ' Mall: The tone of Mr. Taft's address is gopd, particularly in the large and reasoning way in which ho exposes the fallacies of Mr. Bryan. His exposition of the Nebraskari's distrust of the honesty, courage and Impartiality of the In dividual as an agent on behalf of the people to carry on any part of the government will give the latter a bad quarter of an hour. Mr. Taft's reasons for demanding a revision of the tariff are convincing, and conclusive is his reason for deferring it until after the presidential election. The secretary in his discussion of tho trust prob lem gives evidence of a broader conception of the question than that embodied In the Sherman law or In the utterances of any other public man who has the ear of the pepple. Press: Whether some of us agree or dis agree with the methods and Instruments which the chief executive employs to control the trans gressor, all of us who seek to have the evil prac tice of the predatory powers suppressed leap, to that challenge of the man who breathes the spirit of the Puritan either to control the wrongdoer, , or, if there is no other way, to smite him down with the iron of wrath. It is this striding straight on to the battle field, instead of skirting its outer bounds, that has made the American people love Theodore Roosevelt among the first of their leaders and that has earned him free forgiveness for such mistakes as their impul sive but doughty champion has committed, as It will earn him more forg!venes3 for other : errors that may be cast against his score. It is this Prince Rupert quality of Mr. Roosevelt that j convinces his admirers that, though ho. fail apd fail again, he will keep on trying. Letters From the People James Groon, Thomaston, Conn. In yout Issuo of May 10, 1007, you gave it as youi opinion tho principles which should be put Into the next national democratic platform at tho request of tho Kansas Democratic club. I do not know where this club is located in Kansas. Any member of tho club has not said on3 word about tho principles given or omitted. I should add to that list of principles tho following: All money should bo issuod by tho government of whatever kind. Becauso Homo citizens havo property known as bonds, they should not I.avo tho privilege of handling any of our money bo , fore It gets into circulation and charfn,; tho rest of us follows interest for its uso. The Issu ing of money Is a sovereign privilege and should not bo delegated to any class of citlzmia. It creates a privileged class whon you give somo people so much advantago over their fellows. Will The Commoner please note and let one who has worked Tor your Interest and principles In tho past and permit the publication of tho abovo in ypur valuablo paper. To my mind thlrt Jb the most Important plank which should appear in tho next democratic platform. Phillip Brown, Huntington, Pa. I havo been a reader of The Commoner for tho past two years, through which you advocate that all affairs of tho government, state and municipal, be economically administered. I am sorry to confess I did not notice a singlo sontonco of condemnation In Tho Commoner In relation to the late salary grab consummated by our rep resentatives in Washington for the bonoflt of a wfow hundred government officials, to the tune of over ono million dollars, at the oxponse of tho taxpayer. I was of tho opinion it required two or more parties to settle their rcspcctlvo grievances by arbitration, but our wise law makers reversed ray opinion; they did not con sult their employers about tho justlco of this graft. I am sorry to confess our much boasted representative system of government does not servo tho purpose for which it was established, considering tho existing mismanagement and corruption in all shapes and forms in ovory state of tho union. I am opposed to govern ment ownership of the railroads, for tho follow . ing reasons: I think It would create a political machine which could not easily be eradicated. I further contend that our government officials are cither Incapable or else neglect the duty which thoy owe to the public to manage such properties successfully. We havo a fair example of government management of the mall service, which should bo self-sustaining, Instead of pro ducing a deficit of several million dollars annu ally, Tho only beneficiaries of this system, constitutes- the postmasters of the first and second class cities, next tho favored contractors for furnishing the supplies, and last but not least the railroad corporations who receive millions of dollars In excess of just remuneration for carry ing the mall. Our war with Spain In 1898 Vas waged for the purpose of freeing Cuba at our expense and setting up another rotten borough republic like those already in existence on this continent, of which our government assumed the guardianship. The Cubans did have the trial of tho new government system but they did fall to better their former condition, after which they did start a civil war for the purpose of finding a way out of the wilderness. Thanks to President Roosevelt, who was equal to the emer gency, he did send for a second Moses of Panama by tho name of Magoon of canal fame, to act as governor of Cuba, to teach the Cubans politi cal science according to our method "To the victor belongs the spoils." Our wards cause Uncle Sam a great deal of trouble and expense, Look at the performance of tho government with the building of the canal, importing six engineers from Europe for the purpose of finding out the difference between a sea level canal and a lock canal, all of the foreign engineers and one of ours a majority, did report In favor of a sea level canal, but our wise men of Washington reversed their finding and substituted a lock canal. I am in accord with Senator Tillman, who compared the management with a hocus pocus performance. . The above statements con stitute the basis -of, my opposition to government f ownership of the railroads. If the gpvernraont - is-powerless to regulate the railroads by-law the government 4s i also incapable .of .operating -ttiem with success. fi mi ii Si 11 l " S&M&s&tttita ?j k. aMtt!yLtSJUJaSL'&Jjb4' i-SW.jawgjMfcUti fji .-.,'J1 jw- o tyfeV.iCfr.- JlU., -".&.