Address

of

William H. Taft
in response to
Notification Speech
at
Cincinnati, Ohio
July 28, 1908

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cXddress of William H. Taft

Senator Warner and Gentlemen of the Committee:
I am deeply sensible of the honor which the Republican National
Convention has conferred on me in the nomination which you for
mally tender. I accept it with full appreciation of the responsibility
it imposes. Republican Strength in Maintenance of Roosevelt Policies.
.Gentlemen, the strength of the Republican cause in the campaign
at hand is in the fact that we represent the policies essential to the
reform of known abuses, to the continuance of liberty and true pros
perity, and that we are determined, as our platform unequivocally
declares, to maintain them and carry them on. For more than ten
years this country passed through an epoch of material development
far beyond any that ever occurred in the world before. In its course,
certain evils crept in. Some prominent and influential members of
the community, spurred by financial success and in their hurry for
greater wealth, became unmindful of the common rules of business
• honesty and fidelity and of the limitations imposed by law upon their
action. This became known. The revelations of the breaches of
trust, the disclosures as to rebates and discriminations by railways,
the accumulating evidence of the violation of the anti-trust law by a
number of corporations, the overissue of stocks and bonds on inter
state railways for the unlawful enriching of directors and for the
purpose of concentrating control of railways in one management, all
quickened the conscience of the people, and brought on a moral awak
ening among them that boded well for the future of the country.
What Roosevelt Has Done.
The man who formulated the expression of- the popular con
science and who led the movement for practical reform was Theo
dore Roosevelt. He laid down tfie doctrine that the rich violator of
the law should be as amenable to restraint and punishment as the
offender without wealth and without influence, and he proceeded by
recommending legislation and directing executive action to make
that principle good in actual performance. He secured the passage
of the so-called rate bill, designed more effectively to restrain ex
cessive and fix reasonable rates, and to punish secret rebates and dis
criminations which had been general in the practice of the railroads,
and which had done much to enable unlawful trusts to drive

4
out of business their competitors. It secured much closer supervision
of railway transactions and brought within the operation of the same
statute express companies, sleeping car companies, fast freight and
refrigerator lines, terminal railroads and pipe lines, and in order to
avoid undue discrimination, forbade in future the combination of
rhe transportation and shipping business under one control.
President Roosevelt directed suits to' be brought and prosecutions
to be instituted under the anti-trust law, to enforce its provisions
against the most powerful of the industrial corporations. He pressed
to passage the pure food law and the meat inspection law in the inter
est of the health of the public, clean business methods and great
ultimate benefit to the trades themselves. He recommended the
passage of a law, which the Republican convention has since spe
cifically approved, restricting the future issue of stocks and bonds by
interstate railways to such as may be authorized by Federal author
ity. He demonstrated to the people by what he said, by what he
recommended to Congress, and by what he did, the sincerity of his
efforts to command respect for the law, to secure equality of all
before the law, and to save tire country from the dangers of a pluto
cratic government, toward which we were fast tending. In this
work Mr. Roosevelt has had the support and sympathy of the Re
publican party, and its chief hope of success in the present contro
versy must rest on the confidence which the people of the country
have in the sincerity of the party's declaration in its platform, that
it intends to continue his policies.
Necessary to Devise Some Means of Permanently Securing
Progress Made.
Mr. Roosevelt has set high the standard of business morality and
obedience to law. The railroad rate bill was more useful possibly
in the immediate moral effect of its passage than even in the legal
effect of its very useful provisions. From its enactment dates the
voluntary abandonment of the practice of rebates and discriminations
by the railroads and the return by their managers to obedience to
law in the fixing of tariffs. The pure food and meat inspection laws
and the prosecutions directed by the President under the anti-trust
law have had a similar moral effect in the general business com
munity and have made it now the common practice for the great
industrial corporations to consult the law with a view to keeping
within its provisions. It has also had the effect of protecting and en
couraging smaller competitive companies so that they have been
enabled to do a profitable business.
But we should be blind to the Ordinary working of human nature
if we did not recognize -that the moral standard set by President

s
Roosevelt will not continue to be observed by those whom cupidity
and a desire for financial power may tempt, unless the requisite ma
chinery is introduced into the law which shall in its practical opera
tion maintain these standards and secure the country against a
departure from them.
Chief Function of Next Administration to Clinch What Has
Been Done.
The chief function of the next Administration, in my judg
ment, is distinct from, and a progressive development of that which
has been performed by President Roosevelt. The chief function of
the next Administration is to complete and perfect the machinery by
which these standards may be maintained, by which the law
breakers may be promptly restrained and punished, but which
shall operate with sufficient accuracy and dispatch to interfere
with legitimate business as little as possible. Such machinery is not
now adequate. Under the present" rate bill, and under all its amend
ments, the burden of the Interstate Commerce Commission in super
vising and regulating the operation of the railroads of this countr}'
has grown so heavy that it is utterly impossible for that tribunal to
hear and dispose, in any reasonable time, of the many complaints,
queries and issues that are brought before it for decision. It ought
to be relieved of its jurisdiction as an executive, directing body, and
its functions should be limited to the quasi-judicial investigation of
complaints made by individuals and made by a department of the
Government charged with the executive business of supervising the
operation of railways.
There should be a classification of that very small percentage of
industrial corporations having power and opportunity to effect illegal
restraints of trade and monopolies, and legislation either inducing or
compelling them to subject themselves to registry and to proper
publicity regulations and supervision of the Department of Com
merce and Labor.
Constructive Work of Next Administration to Organize Subor
dinate and Ancillary Machinery to Maintain Standards *
on One Hand, and Not to Interfere With
Business en the Other.
The field covered by the industrial combinations and by the rail
roads is so very extensive that the interests of the public and the
interests of the businesses concerned cannot be properly subserved
except by reorganization of bureaus in the Department of Commerce
and Labor, *of Agriculture, and the Department of Justice, and a
change in the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

It does not assist matters to prescribe new duties for the Interstate
Commerce Commission which it is practically impossible for it to
perform, or to denounce new offenses with drastic punishment,
unless subordinate and ancillary legislation shall be passed making
possible the quick enforcement in the great variety of cases which
are constantly arising, of the principles laid down by Mr. Roosevelt,
and with respect to which only typical instances of prosecution with
the present machinery are possible. Such legislation should and
would greatly promote legitimate business by enabling those anxious
to obey the Federal statutes to know just what are the bounds of
their lawful action. The practical constructive and difficult work,
therefore, of those who fallow Mr. Roosevelt is to devise the ways
and means by which the high level of business integrity and
obedience to law which he has established may be maintained and
departures from it restrained without undue interference with legiti
mate business.
Railway Traffic Agreements Approved by Commission
Should Be Valid.
It is agreeable to note in this regard that the Republican platform
expressly and the Democratic platform impliedly, approve an amend
ment to the Interstate Commerce law, by which interstate railroads
may make useful traffic agreements if approved by the Commission.
This has been strongly recommended by President Roosevelt and
will make for the benefit of the business.
Physical Valuation of Railways.
Some of the suggestions of the Democratic platform relate really
to this subordinate and ancillary machinery to which I have referred.
Take for instance the so-called "physical valuation of railways." It
is clear that the sum of all rates or receipts of a railway, less proper
expenses, should be limited to a fair profit upon the reasonable value
of its property, and that if the sum exceeds this measure, it ought to
be reduced. The difficulty in enforcing the principle is in ascertain
ing what is the reasonable value of the company's property, and in
fixing what is a fair profit. It is clear that the physical value of a
railroad and its plant is an element to be given weight in determining
its full value ; but, as President Roosevelt, in his Indianapolis speech,
and the Supreme Court have in effect pointed out, the value of the
railroad as a going concern, including its good will, due to efficiency
of service and many other circumstances, may be much greater than
the value of its tangible property, and it is the former that measures
the investment on which a fair profit must be allowed. Then, too,
the question what is a fair profit is one involving not only the rate

of interest usually earned on normally safe investments, but also a
sufficient allowance to make up for the risk of loss both of capital
and interest in the original outlay. These considerations will have
justified the company in imposing charges high enough to secure a
fair income on the enterprise as a whole. The securities at market
prices will have passed into the hands of subsequent purchasers from
the original investors. Such circumstances should properly affect
the decision of the tribunal engaged in determining whether the
totality of rates charged is reasonable or excessive. To ignore them
might so seriously and unjustly impair settled values as to destroy
all hope of restoring confidence and forever to end the inducement
for investment in new railroad construction which, in returning
prosperous times, is sure to be essential to our material progress. As
Mr. Roosevelt has said in speaking of this very subject:
"The effect of such valuation and supervision of securities can
not be retroactive. Existing securities should be tested by laws in
existence at the time of their issue. This Nation would no more
injure securities which have become an important part of the Na
tional wealth than it would consider a proposition to repudiate the
National debt."
The question of rates and the treatment of railways is one that
has two sides. The shippers are certainly entitled to reasonable
rates ; but less is an injustice to the carriers. Good business for the
railroads is essential to general prosperity. Injustice to them is not
alone injustice to stockholders and capitalists, whose further invest
ments may be necessary for the good of the whole country, but it
directly affects and reduces the wages of railway employees, and
indeed may deprive them of their places entirely.
From what has been said, the proper conclusion would seem to be
that in attempting to determine whether the entire schedule of rates
of a railway is excessive, the physical valuation of the road is a
relevant and important but not necessarily a controlling factor.
Physical Valuation Properly Used Will Not Generally
Impair Securities.
I am, confident that the fixing of rates on the principles suggested
above would not materially impair the present market values of.rail-
road securities in most cases, for I believe that the normal increase
in the value of railroad properties, especially in their terminals, will
more than make up for the possible overcapitalization in earlier
years. In some cases, doubtless, it, will be found that overcapitaliza
tion is made an excuse for excessive rates,' and then they should
be reduced ; but the consensus of opinion seems to be that the rail
road rates generally in this country are reasonably low. This is

why, doubtless, the complaints filed with the Interstate Commerce
Commission against excessive rates are so few as compared with
those against unlawful discrimination in rates between shippers and
between places. Of course, in the determination of the question
whether discrimination is unlawful or not, the physical valuation of
the whole road is of little weight.
Conclusion That There Should Be Physical Valuation.
I have discussed this, with some degree of detail, merely to point
out that the valuation by the Interstate Commerce Commission of the
tangible property of a railroad is proper and may from time to time
~be necessary in settling certain issues which may come before them,
and that no evil or injustice can come from valuation in such cases,
if it be understood that the result is to be used for a just purpose,
and the right to a fair profit under all the circumstances of the in
vestment is recognized. The Interstate Commerce Commission has
now the power to ascertain the value of the physical railroad prop
erty, if necessary, in determining the reasonableness of rates. If
the machinery for doing so is not adequate, as is probable, it should
be made so.
The Republican platform recommends legislation forbidding the
issue in the future of interstate railway stocks and bonds without
Federal authority. It may occur in such cases that the full value
of the railway, and, as an element thereof, the value of the tangible
property of the railway, would be a relevant and important factor in
assisting the proper authority to determine whether the stocks and
bonds to be issued were to have proper security behind them, and in
such case, therefore, there should be the right and machinery to
make a valuation of the physical property.
National Control of Interstate Commerce Corporations.
Another suggestion in respect to subordinate and ancillary ma
chinery necessary to carry out Republican policies is that of the in
corporation under National law or the licensing by National license
or enforced registry of companies engaged in interstate trade. The
fact is that nearly all corporations doing a commercial business
are engaged in interstate commerce, and if they all were required to
take out a Federal license or a Federal charter, the burden upon the
interstate business of the country would become intolerable.
Should Be Limited to Small Percentage by Classification.
It is necessary, therefore, to devise some means for classifying
and insuring Federal supervision of such corporations as have the
power and temptation to effect restraints of interstate trade and

monopolies. Such corporations constitute a very small percentage
of all engaged in interstate business.
Mr. Roosevelt's Proposed Classification.
With such classification in view, Mr. Roosevelt recommended an
amendment to the anti-trust law, known as the Hepburn bill, which
provided for voluntary classification, and created a strong motive
therefor by granting immunity from prosecution for reasonable re
straints of interstate trade to all corporations which would register
and submit themselves to the publicity regulations of the Depart
ment of Commerce and Labor.
The Democratic Proposed Classification.
The1 Democratic platform suggests a requirement that corpora
tions in interstate trade having control of 25 per cent, of the prod
ucts in which they deal shall take out a Federal license. This classi
fication would probably include a great many small corporations en
gaged in the manufacture of special articles, or commodities whose
total value is so inconsiderable that they are not really within the
purview or real intent of the anti-trust law.
It is not now necessary, however, to discuss the relative merit of
such propositions, but it is enough merely to affirm the necessity for
some method by which greater executive supervision can be given to
the Federal Government over those businesses in which there is a
temptation to violations of the anti-trust law.
Construction of Anti-Trust Law. — Possible Necessity
-for Amendment.
The possible operation of the anti-trust law under existing rul
ings of the Supreme Court has given rise to suggestions for its nec
essary amendment to prevent its application to cases which it is
believed were never in the contemplation of the framers of the stat
ute. Take two instances : A merchant or manufacturer engaged in
a legitimate business that covers certain States, wishes to sell his
business and his good will, and so in the terms of the sale obligates
himself to the purchaser not to go into the same business in those
States. Such a restraint of trade has always been enforced at com
mon law. Again, the employees of an interstate railway combine
and enter upon a peaceable and lawful strike to secure better wages.
At common law this was not a restraint of trade or commerce or a
violation of the rights of the company or of the p.ublic. Neither case
ought to be made a violation of the anti-trust law. My own im
pression is that the Supreme Court would hold that neither of these
instances is within its inhibition, but, if they are to be so regarded;^
general legislation amending the law is necessary.

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Democratic Plank to Limit Corporations to Ownership of
50 Per Cent, of Plant and Product Faulty.
The suggestion of the Democratic platform that trusts be ended
by forbidding corporations to hold more than 50 per cent, of the
plant in any line of manufacture is made without regard to the pos
sibility of enforcement or the real evil in trusts. A corporation
controlling 45 or 50 per cent, of the products may by well known
methods frequently effect monopoly and stamp out competition in
a part of the country as completely as if it controlled 60 or 70 per
cent, thereof.
Compulsory Sale of Products at Fixed Price Impractical.
The proposal to compel every corporation to sell its commodities
at the same price the country over, allowing for transportation, is
utterly impracticable. If it can be shown that in order to drive out
competition, a corporation owning a large part of the plant produc
ing an article is selling in one part of the country, where it has com
petitors, at a low and unprofitable price, and in another part of the
country, where it has none, at an exorbitant price, this is evidence
that it is attempting an unlawful monopoly, and justifies conviction
under the anti-trust law ; but the proposal to supervise the business
of corporations in such a way as to fix the price of commodities and
compel the sale at such price is as absurd and socialistic a plank as
was ever inserted in a Democratic political platform.
Difference Between Republican and Democratic Policies and
Platforms : Former Progressive and Regulative ;
Latter Radical and Destructive.
The chief difference between the Republican and the Democratic
platforms is the difference which has heretofore been seen between
the policies of Mr. Roosevelt and those which have been advocated
by the Democratic candidate, Mr. Bryan. Mr. Roosevelt's policies
have been progressive and regulative ; Mr. Bryan's destructive. Mr.
Roosevelt has favored regulation of the business in which evils have
grown up so as to stamp out the evils and permit the business to
continue. The tendency of Mr. Bryan's proposals has generally
been destructive of the business with respect to which he is demand
ing reform. Mr. Roosevelt would compel the trusts to conduct their
business in a lawful manner and secure the benefits of their operation
and the maintenance of the prosperity of the country of which they
are an important part ; while Mr. Bryan would extirpate and destroy
the entire business in order to stamp out the evils which they have
practiced.

II
t Advantage of Combination of Capital.
The combination of capital in large plants to manufacture goods
with the greatest economy is just as necessary as the assembling of
the parts of a machine to the economical and more rapid manufac
ture of what in old times was made by hand. The Government
should not . interfere with one any more than the other, when
such aggregations of capital are legitimate and are properly con
trolled, for they are then the natural results of modern enterprise
and are beneficial to the public. In the proper operation of compe
tition the public will soon share with the manufacturer the advantage
in economy of operation and lower prices.
What Is ah Unlawful Trust?
When, however, such combinations are -not based on any eco
nomic principle but are made merely for the purpose of controlling
the market, to maintain or raise prices, restrict output and drive out
competitors, the public derives no benefit and we have a monopoly.
There must be some use by the company of the comparatively great
size of its capital and plant and extent of its output, either to coerce
persons to buy of it rather than of some competitor or to coerce
those who would compete with it to give up their business. There
must usually, in other words, be shown an element of duress in the
conduct of its business toward the customers in the trade and its
competitors before mere aggregation of capital or plant becomes an
unlawful monopoly. It is perfectly conceivable that in the interest
of economy of production a great number of plants may be legiti
mately assembled under the ownership of one corporation. It is
important, therefore, that suGh large aggregations of capijtal and
combination should be controlled so that the public may have the
advantage of reasonable prices and that the avenues of enterprise
may be kept open to the individual and the smaller corporation wish
ing to engage in business.
Mere Aggregation of Capital Not a Violation of Anti-Trust Law.
In a country like this, where, in good times, there is an enormous
floating capital awaiting investment, the period before which effec
tive competition, by construction of new plants, can be introduced
into any business, is comparatively short, rarely exceeding a year,
and is usually even less than that. Existence of actual plant is not,
therefore, necessary to potential competition. Many enterprises
have been organized on the theory that mere aggregation of all, or
nearly all, existing plants in a line of manufacture, without regard
to economy of production, destroys competition. They have, most
of them, gone into bankruptcy, Competition in a profit-able business

will not be affected by the mere aggregation of many existing plants
und«r one company, unless the company thereby effects great econ
omy, the benefit of which it shares with tlib public, or takes some
illegal method to avoid competition and to perpetuate a hold on the
business. Proper Treatment of Trusts.
Unlawful trusts should be restrained with all the efficiency of
injunctive process, and the persons engaged in maintaining them
should be punished with all the severity of criminal prosecution, in
order that the methods pursued in the operation of their business
shall be brought within the law. To destroy them and to eliminate
the wealth they represent from the producing capital of the country
would entail enormous loss, and would throw out of employment
myriads of workingmen and working women. Such a result is
wholly unnecessary to the accomplishment of the needed reform,
and will inflict upon the innocent far greater punishment than upon
the guilty. Destructive Policy of Democratic Platform.
The Democratic platform does not propose to destroy the plants
of the trusts physically, but it proposes to do the same thing in a
different way. The business of this country is largely dependent on
a protective system of tariffs. The business done by many of the
so-called "trusts" is protected with the other businesses of the
country. The Democratic platform proposes to take off the tariff
on all articles coming into competition with those produced by the
so-called "trusts," and to put them on the free list. If such a course
would be utterly destructive of their business, as is intended, it
would not only destroy the trusts, but all of their smaller compet
itors. The ruthless and impracticable character of the proposition
grows plainer as its effects upon the whole community are realized.
Effect of Democratic Plana on Business.
To take the course suggested by the Democratic platform in
these matters is to involve the entire community, innocent as it is, in
the punishment of the guilty, while our policy is to stamp out the
specific evil. This difference between the policies of the two great
parties is of especial importance in view of the present condition of
business. After ten years of the most remarkable material devel
opment and prosperity, there came a financial stringency, a panic
and an industrial depression. This wa| brought about not only by
the enormous expansion of business plants and business investments
which could not be readily converted, but also by the waste of capital,

13
in extravagance of living, in wars and other catastrophes. The free
convertible capital was exhausted. In addition to this, the con
fidence of the lending public in Europe and in this country had been
affected by the revelations of irregularity, breaches of trust, over
issues of stock, violations of law, and lack of rigid State or National
supervision in the management of our largest corporations. Invest
ors withheld what loanable capital remained available. It became
impossible for the soundest railroads and other enterprises to bor
row money enough for new construction or reconstruction.
Will Delay Restoration of Prosperity.
Gradually business is acquiring a healthier tone. Gradually all
wealth which was hoarded is coming out to be used. Confidence in
security of business investments is a plant of slow growth and is
absolutely necessary in order that our factories may all open again,
in order that our unemployed may become employed, and in order
that we may again have the prosperity which blessed us for ten
years. The identity of the interests of the capitalist, the farmer, the
business man and the wage earner in the security and profit of in
vestments cannot be too greatly emphasized. I submit to those
most interested, to wage earners, to farmers and po business men,
whether the introduction into power of the Democratic party, with
Mr. Bryan at its head, and with the business destruction that it openly
advocates as a remedy for present evils, will bring about the needed
confidence for the restoration of prosperity.
Republican Doctrine of Protection.
The Republican doctrine of protection, as definitely announced
by the Republican convention of this year* and by previous conven
tions, is that a tariff shall be imposed on all imported products,
whether of the factory, farm or mine, sufficiently great to equal the
difference between the cost of production abroad and at home, and
that this difference should, of course, include the difference between
the higher wages paid in this country and the wages paid abroad
and embrace a reasonable profit to the American producer. A sys
tem of protection thus adopted and put in force has led to the es
tablishment of a rate of wages here that has greatly enhanced the
standard of living of the laboring man. It is the policy of the Re
publican party permanently to continue that standard of living. In
1897 the Dingley Tariff Bill was passed, under which we have had,
as already said, a period of enormous prosperity.
Necessity for Revision of Tariff.
The consequent material development has greatly changed the
conditions under which many articles described by the schedules

14
of the tariff are now produced. The tariff in a number of the sched
ules exceeds the difference between the cost of production of such
articles abroad and at home, including a reasonable profit to the
American producer. The excess over that difference serves no use
ful purpose, but offers a temptation to those who would monopolize
the production and the sale of such articles in this country, to profit
by the excessive rate. On the other hand, there are some few other
schedules in which the tariff is not sufficiently high to give the
measure of protection which they should receive upon Republican
principles, and as to those the tariff should be. raised. A revision
of the tariff undertaken upon this principle, which is at the basis of
our present business system, begun promptly upon the incoming of
the new administration, and considered at a special session with the
preliminary investigations already begun by the appropriate com
mittees of the House and Senate, will make the disturbance of
business incident to such a change as little as possible.
Democratic Tariff Plan and Its Bad Effect on Business
Conditions.
The Democratic party in its platform has not had the courage of
its previous convictions on the subject of the tariff, denounced by it
in 1904 as a system of the robbery of the many for the benefit of the
few, but it does declare its intention to change the tariff with a view
to reaching a revenue basis and thus to depart from the protective
system. , The introduction into power of a party with this avowed
purpose cannot but halt the gradual recovery from our recent finan
cial depression and produce business disaster compared with which
our recent panic and depression will seem small indeed.
The Farmer and the Republican Party.
As the Republican platform says, the. "welfare of the farmer is
vital to that of the whole country. One of the strongest hopes of
returning prosperity is based on the business which his crops are
to afford. He is vitally interested in the restraining of excessive
and unduly discriminating railroad rates, in the enforcement of the
pure food laws, in the promotion of scientific agriculture, and in in
creasing the comforts of country life, as by the extension of free
Rural Delivery. The policies of the present Administration, which
have most industriously promoted all these objects, cannot fail to
commend themselves to his approval; and it is difficult to see how
with his intelligent appreciation of the threat to business prosperity
involved in Democratic success at the polls he can do otherwise than
give his full and hearty support to the continuation of the policies of
the present Administration under Republican auspices.

Labor and What the Republican Party Has Done for It.
We come now to the question of labor. One important phase of
the policies of the present Administration has been an anxiety to se
cure for the wage earner an equality of opportunity and such positive
statutory protection as shall place him on a level in dealing with his
employer. The Republican party has passed an employers' liability
act for interstate railroads, and has established an eight hour law for
government employees and on government construction. The es
sence of the reform effected by the former is the abolition of the fel
low-servant rule, and the introduction of the comparative negligence
theory by which an employee injured in the service of his employer
does not lose all his right to recover because of slight negligence on
his part. Then there is the act providing for compensation for in
jury to government employees, together with the various statutes re
quiring safety appliances upon interstate commerce railroads for
the protection of their employees, and limiting the hours of their
employment. These are all instances of the desire of the Republican
party to do justice to the wage earner. Doubtless a more compre
hensive measure for compensation of government employees will be
adopted in the future; the principle in such cases has been recog
nized, and in the necessarily somewhat slow course of legislation will
be more fully embodied in definite statutes.
 Interest of Employer and Employee Only Differ in Respect
to Terms of Employment.
The interests of the employer and the employee never differ
except when it comes to a- division of the joint profit of labor and
capital into dividends and wages. This must be a constant source
of periodical discussion" between the employer and the employee, as
indeed are the other terms of the employment.
Advantage of Union.
To give to employees their proper position in such a controversy,
to enable them to maintain themselves against employers having
great capital, they may well unite, because in union there is strength
and without it each individual laborer and employee would be„help-
less. The promotion of industrial peace through the instrumentality
of the trade agreement is often one of the results of such union
when intelligently conducted. Other Labor.
There is a large body of laborers, however, skilled and unskilled,
who are not organized into unions/ Their rights before the law are
exactly the same as those of the union men, and are to be protected
with the same care and watchfulness.

i6
Rights of Labor.
In order to induce their employer into a compliance with their
request for changed terms of employment, workmen have the right
to strike in a body. They have a right to use such persuasion as
they may, provided it does not reach the point of duress, to lead
their reluctant co-laborers to join them in their union against their
employer, and they have a right, if they choose, to accumulate funds
to support those engaged in a strike, to delegate to officers the power
to direct the action of the union, and to withdraw themselves and
their associates from dealings with, or giving custom to those with
whom they are in controversy."
What Labor Can Not Lawfully Do.
What they have not the right to do is to injure their employer's
property, to injure their employer's business by use of threats or
methods of physical duress against those who would work for him,
or deal with him, or by carrying on what is sometimes known as a
secondary boycott against his customers or those with whom he
deals in business. All those who sympathize with them may unite
to aid them in their struggle, but they may not through the instru
mentality of a threatened or actual boycott compel third persons
against their will and having no interest in their controversy to come
to their assistance. These principles have for a great many years
been settled by the courts of this country.
Threatened unlawful injuries to business, like those described
above, can only be adequately remedied by an injunction to prevent
them. The jurisdiction of a court of equity to enjoin in such cases
arises from the character of the injury and the method of inflicting
it and the fact that suit for damages offers no adequate remedy. The
unlawful injury is not usually done by one single act, which might
be adequately compensated for in damages by a suit at law, but it is
the result of a constantly recurring series of acts, each of which in
itself might not constitute a substantial injury or make a suit at
law worth while, and all of which would require a multiplicity of
suits at law. Injuries of this class have since the foundation of
courts of equity been prevented by injunction.
It has been claimed that injunctions do not issue to protect any
thing but property rights, and that business is not a property right ;
but such a proposition is wholly inconsistent with all the decisions of
the courts. The Supreme Court of the United States says that the
injunction is a remedy to protect property or rights of a pecuniary
nature, and we may well submit to the considerate judgment of ail
laymen whether the right of a man in his business is not as dis-

17
tinctly a right of a pecuniary nature as the right to his horse or his
house or the stock of goods on his shelf ; and the instances in which
injunctions to protect business have been upheld by all courts are so
many that it is futile further to discuss the proposition.
It is difficult to tell the meaning of the Democratic platform upon
this subject. It says :
"Questions of judicial practice have arisen especially in connec
tion with industrial disputes. We deem that the parties to all judi
cial proceedings should be treated with rigid impartiality, and that
injunctions should not be issued in any cases in which injunctions
would not issue if no industrial dispute were involved."
This declaration is disingenuous. It seems to have been loosely
drawn with the especial purpose of rendering it susceptible to one
interpretation by one set of men and to a diametrically opposite in
terpretation by another. It does not aver that injunctions should
not issue in industrial disputes, but only that they should not issue
merely because they are industrial disputes, and yet those responsible
for the declaration must have known that no one has ever main
tained that the fact that a, dispute was industrial gave any basis for
issuing an injunction in reference thereto.
The declaration seems to be drawn in its present vague and am
biguous shape in order to persuade some people that itjs a declara
tion against the issuing of injunctions in any industrial dispute, while
at the same time it may be possible to explain to the average plain
citizen who objects to class distinctions that no such intention exists
at all. Our position is clear and unequivocal. We are anxious to
prevent even an appearance of any injustice to labor in the issuance
of injunctions, not in a spirit of favoritism to one set of our fellow
citizens, but of justice to all of our fellow citizens. The reason for
exercising or refusing to exercise the power of injunction must be
found in the character of the unlawful injury and not in the charac
ter or class of the persons who inflict this injury.
The man who has a business which is being unlawfully injured
is entitled to the remedies which the law has always given him, no
matter who has inflicted the injuries. Otherwise, we shall have class
legislation unjust in principle and likely to sap the foundations of a
free government. Notice and Hearing Before Issue of Injunction.
I come now to the question of notice before issuing an injunction.
It is a fundamental rule of general jurisprudence that no man shall
be affected by a judicial proceeding without notice and hearing.
This rule, however, has sometimes had an exception in the issuing
of temporary restraining orders commanding a defendant in effect

18
to maintain the status quo until a hearing. Such a process should
issue only in rare cases where the threatened change of the status
quo would inflict irreparable injury if time were taken to give notice
and a summary hearing. The unlawful injury usual in industrial
disputes, such as I have described, does not become formidable ex
cept after sufficient time in which to give the defendants notice and
a hearing. I do not mean to say that there may not be cases even in
industrial disputes where a restraining order might properly be
issued without notice, but, generally, I think it is otherwise. In some
State courts, and in fewer Federal courts, the practice of issuing a
temporary restraining order without notice merely to preserve the
status quo on the theory that it won't hurt anybody, has been too
common. Many of us recall that the practice has been pursued in
other than industrial disputes, as, for instance, in corporate and
stock controversies like those over the Erie Railroad, in which a
stay order without notice was regarded as a step of great advantage
to the one who secured it, and a corresponding disadvantage to the
one against whom it was secured. Indeed, the chances of doing
injustice on an ex parte application are much increased over those
when a hearing is granted, and there may be circumstances under
which it may affect the defendant to his detriment. In the case of a
lawful strike, the sending of a formidable document restraining a
number of defendants from doing a great many different things
which the plaintiff avers they are threatening to do, often so dis
courages men always reluctant to go into a strike from continuing
what is their lawful right. This has made the laboring man feel that
an injustice is done in the issuing of a writ without notice. I con
ceive that in the treatment of this question it is the duty of the cit
izen and the legislator to view the subject from the standpoint of
the man who believes himself to be unjustly treated, as well as from
that of the community at large. I have suggested the remedy of re
turning in such cases to the original practice under the old statute
of the United States and the rules in equity adopted by the Supreme
Court, which did not permit the issuing of an injunction without no
tice. In this respect, the Republican Convention has adopted an
other remedy, that, without going so far, promises to be efficacious
in securing proper consideration in such cases by courts, by formu
lating into a legislative act the best present practice.
Under this recommendation, a statute may be framed which shall
define with considerable particularity, and emphasize the exceptional
character of the cases in which restraining orders may issue without
notice, and which shall also provide that when they are issued, thev
shall cease to be operative beyond a short period, during which time

19
notice shall be served and a hearing had unless the defendant desires
a postponement of the hearing. By this provision the injustice
which has sometimes occurred by which a preliminary restraining
order of widest application has been issued without notice, and the
hearing of the motion for the injunction has been fixed weeks and
months after its date, could not recur.
Small Number of Cases Furnishing Grounds for Complaint
in Federal Court.
The number of instances in which restraining orders without
notice in industrial disputes have issued by Federal courts is small,
and it is urged that they do not therefore constitute an evil to be
remedied by statutory amendment. The small number of cases
complained of above shows the careful manner in which most Fed
eral judges have exercised the jurisdiction, but the belief that such
cases are numerous has been so widespread and has aroused such
feeling of injustice that more definite specification in procedure to
prevent recurrence of them is justified if it can be effected without
injury to the administration of the law.
No Provision in Democratic Platform as to Notice; Only
Recommendation Trial by Jury.
With respect to notice, the Democratic platform contains no rec
ommendation. Its only intelligible declaration in regard to injunc
tion suits is a reiteration of the plank in the platform of 1896 and
1904 providing that in prosecutions for contempt in Federal courts,
where the violation of the order constituting the contempt charged
is indirect, i. e., outside of the presence of the court, there shall be
a jury trial. Dangerous Attack on Power of Courts.
This provision in the platform of 1896 was regarded then as a
most dangerous attack upon the power of the courts to enforce their
orders and decrees, and it was one of the chief reasons for the defeat
of the Democratic party in that contest, as it ought to have been.
The extended operation of such a provsion to weaken the power
of the courts in the enforcement of its lawful orders can hardly be
overstated. Effect of Jury Trial.
Under such a provision a recalcitrant witness who refuses to
obey a subpcena may insist on a jury trial before the court can de
termine that he received the subpcena. A citizen summoned as a
juror and refusing to obey the writ when brought into court must

20

be tried by another jury to determine whether he got the summons.
Such a provision applies not alone to injunctions, but to every order
which the court issues against persons. A suit may be tried in the
court of first instance and carried to the Court of Appeals, and'
thence to the Supreme Court, and a judgment and decree entered
and an order issued,_and then if the decree involves the defendant's
doing anything or not doing anything, and he disobeys it, the plain
tiff who has pursued his remedies in lawful course for years must,
to secure his rights, undergo the uncertainties and the delays of a
jury trial before he can enjoy that which is his right by the decision
of the highest court of the land. I say without hesitation that such
a change will greatly impair the indispensable power and authority
of the courts. In securing to the public the benefits of the new statutes
enacted in the present Administration, the ultimate instrumentality
to be resorted to is the courts of the United States. If now their
authority is to be weakened in a manner never known in the history
of the jurisprudence of England or America, except in the consti
tution of Oklahoma, how can we expect that such statutes will have
efficient enforcement? Those who advocate this intervention of a
jury in such cases seem to suppose that this change in some way will
inure only to the benefit of the poor working man. As a matter of
fact, the person who will secure chief advantage from it is the
wealthy and unscrupulous defendant, able to employ astute and cun
ning counsel and anxious to avoid justice.
I have been willing, in order to avoid a popular but unfounded
impression that a judge, in punishing for contempt of his own order,
may be affected by personal feeling, to approve a law which should
enable the contemnor upon his application to have another judge sit
to hear the charge of contempt, but this, with so many judges as
there are available in the Federal court, would not constitute a delay
in the enforcement, of the process. The character and efficiency of
the trial would be the same. It is the nature and the delay of a jury
trial in such cases that those who would wish to defy the order of
the court would rely upon as a reason for doing so.
Maintenance of Full Power of Courts Necessary to
Avoid Anarchv.
The administration of justice lies at the foundation of govern
ment. The maintenance of the authority of the courts is essential
unless we are prepared to embrace anarchy. Never in the history
of the country has there been such an insidious attack upon the ju
dicial system as the proposal to interject a jury trial between all
orders of the court made after full hearing and the enforcement of
such orders.

The Currency System.
The late panic disclosed a lack of elasticity in our financial sys
tem. This has been provisionally met by an act of the present
Congress permitting the issue of additional emergency bank notes,
and insuring their withdrawal when the emergency has passed by a
high rate of taxation. It is drawn in conformity with the present
system of bank note currency, but varies from it in certain respects
by authorizing the use of commercial paper and bonds of good
credit, as well as United States bonds, as security for its redemption.
It is expressly but a temporary measure and contains a provision for
the appointment of a currency commission to devise and recommend
a new and reformed system of currency. This inadequacy of our
present currency system, due to changed conditions and enormous
expansion, is generally recognized. The Republican platform well
states that we must have a "more elastic and adaptable system to
meet the requirements of agriculturists, manufacturers, merchants
and business men generally, must be automatic in operation, recog
nizing the fluctuations in interest rates," in which every dollar shall
be as good as gold, and which shall prevent rather than aid financial
stringency in bringing on a panic.
Postal Savings Bank and Its Advantages.
In addition to this, the Republican platform recommends the
adoption of a postal savings bank system in which, of course, the
Government would become responsible to the depositors for the pay
ment of principal and interest. It is thought that the Government
guaranty will bring out of hoarding places much money which may
be turned into wealth producing capital, and that it will be a -great
incentive for thrift in the many small places in the country having
now no savings bank facilities which are reached by the Post Office
Department. It will bring to every one, however remote from finan
cial centers, a place of perfect safety for deposits, with interest re
turn. The bill now pending in Congress, which of course the Re
publican Convention had in mind, provides for the investment of the
money deposited in National banks in the very places in which it is
gathered, or as near thereto as may be practicable. This is an an
swer to the criticism contained in the Democratic platform that un
der the system the money gathered in the country will be deposited
in Wall Street banks. The system of postal savings banks has been
tried in so many countries successfully that it cannot be regarded
longer as a new and untried experiment.

Objections to Democratic Proposal to Enforce Insurance of
Bank Deposits.
The Democratic platform recommends a tax upon National
banks and upon such State banks as may come in, in the nature of
enforced insurance to raise a guaranty fund to pay the depositors
of any bank which fails. How State banks can be included in such
a scheme under the constitution is left in the twilight zone of States
rights and Federalism so frequently dimming the meaning and pur
pose of the promises of the platform. If they come in under such a
system, they must necessarily be brought within the closest National
control, and so they must really cease to be State banks and become
National banks.
The proposition is to tax the honest and prudent banker to make
up for the dishonesty and imprudence of others. No one can fore
see the burden which under this system would be imposed upon
the sound and conservative bankers of the country by this obligation
to make good the losses caused by the reckless, speculative and dis
honest men who would be enabled to secure deposits under such a
system on the faith of the proposed insurance ; as in its present
shape, the proposal would remove all safeguards against recklessness
in banking, and the chief, and in the end probably the only, benefit
would accrue to the speculator, who would be delighted to enter the
banking business when it was certain that he could enjoy any profit
that would accrue, while the risk would have to be assumed by his
honest and hard-working fellow. In short, the proposal is wholly
impracticable unless it is to be accompanied by a complete revolution
in our banking system, with a supervision so close as practically to
create a government bank. If the proposal were adopted exactly as
the Democratic platform suggests, it would bring the whole banking
system of the country down in ruin, and this proposal is itself an
excellent illustration of the fitness for national control of a party
which will commit itself to a scheme of this nature without the
slightest sense of responsibility for the practical operation of the law-
proposed. Postal Savings Banks Much to Be Preferred.
The Democratic party announces its adhesion to this plan, and
only recommends the tried system of postal savings banks as an al
ternative if the new experimental panacea is not available. The
Republican party prefers the postal savings bank as one tried, safe,
and known to be effective, and as reaching many more people now
without banking facilities than the new system proposed.

23
Voluntary Plan for Guaranty.
A plan for a guaranty of deposits by the voluntary act of the
banks involved has been favorably reported to the House of Rep
resentatives. This is, of course, entirely different from the scheme
in the Democratic platform, omitting, as it does, the feature of
compulsory participation. This proposition will unquestionably
receive the thoughtful consideration of the National Monetary
Commission. Republican Policies as to Dependencies.
The Republican party has pursued consistently the policy orig
inally adopted with respect to the dependencies which came to us as
the result of the Spanish war. Porto Rico.
The material prosperity of Porto Rico and the progress of its
inhabitants toward better conditions in respect to comfort of living
and education, should make every American proud that this nation
has been an efficient instrument in bringing happiness to a million
people. Cuba.
In Cuba, the provisional government established in order to pre
vent a bloody revolution has so administered affairs and initiated the
necessary laws as to make it possible to turn back the island to the
lawfully elected officers of the Republic in February next.
Philippines.
In the Philippines the experiment of a national assembly has
justified itself, both as an assistance in the government of the islands
and as an education in the practice of self-government to the people
of the islands. We have established a government with effective and
honest executive departments, and a clean and fearless administra
tion of justice ; we have created and are maintaining a comprehen
sive school system which is educating the youth of the islands in
English and in industrial branches ; we have constructed great gov
ernment public works, roads and harbors; we have induced the pri
vate construction of eight hundred miles of railroad ; we have policed
the islands so that their condition as to law and order is better now
than it has ever been in their history. It is quite unlikely that the
people, because of the dense ignorance of 90 per cent., will be'ready
for complete self-government and independence before two genera
tions have passed, but the policy of increasing partial self-govern
ment step by step as the people shall show themselves fit for it should
be continued. Proposition of Democratic Platform Means Chaos.
The proposition of the Democratic platform is to turn over the
islands as soon as a stable government is established. This has been
established. The proposal, then, is in effect to turn them over at
once.^. Such action will lead to ultimate chaos in the islands and the
progress among the ignorant masses in education and better living
will stop. We are engaged in the Philippines in a great missionary

24
work that does our nation honor, and is certain to promote in a
most "effective way the influence of Christian civilization. It is cow"
ardly to lay down the burden until our purpose is achieved.
Hope of Prosperity in Change in Tariff Recommended by
Republican Platform.
Many unfortunate circumstances beyond human control have
delayed the coming of business prosperity to the islands. Much may
be done in this regard by increasing the trade between the islands
and the United States, under tariff laws permitting reciprocal free
trade in the respective products of the two countries, with such lim
itations as to sugar and tobacco imported into the United States as
will protect domestic interests. The admission 'of 350,000 tons of
sugar from the Philippine Islands in a foreign importation of
1,600,000 tons, will have no effect whatever upon the domestic sugar
interests of the United States, and yet such an importation from the
Philippine Islands, not likely to be reached in ten years, will bring
about the normal state of prosperity in these islands in reference' to
sugar culture.
The same thing is true of a similar limitation on the importation
of tobacco. It is not well for the Philippines to develop the sugar
industry to such a point that the business of the islands shall be ab
sorbed in it, because it makes a society in which there are wealthy
landowners, holding very large estates, with valuable and expensive
plants, and a large population of unskilled labor. In such a com
munity there is no farming or middle class tending to build up a con
servative, self-respecting community, capable of self-government.
There are many other products, notably that of Manila hemp, to
which the energy of the islands can be, and is being, directed, the
cultivation of which develops the class of small and intelligent
farmers. Misconception as to Annual Cost of Philippines.
One misconception of fact with respect to our Philippine policy
is that it is costing the people of the United States a vast annual
sum. The expenses of the war in the Philippines from 1898 to 1902
involved the Government in an expenditure of less than $175,000,000.
This was incident to war. The fact is that since the close of the
war in 1902 and the restoration of order in the islands, the extra
cost of the American troops of the regular army in the islands, to
gether with that of maintaining about 4,000 Philippine scouts as a
part of the regular army, does not exceed $6,000,000 annually. This
is all the expense to which the United States has been put for five or
six years last past. The expenses of the Civil Government in the

25
islands since its establishment have been met entirely from the pro
ceeds of taxes collected in the islands, with but one notably generous
and pommendable exception when the Congress of the United States
appropriated $3,000,000 in 1902 to relieve the inhabitants of the
islands from the dangers of famine and distress caused by the death
from rinderpest of three-fourths of the cattle of the islands.
Veterans of Country's Wars.
Both platforms declare, as they should, in favor of generous
pensions for the veterans of the Civil and Spanish wars. I stop to
note the presence here of a body of veterans of Ohio, and to express
my thanks for the honor they do me in coming. I am lacking in
one qualification of all Republican Presidents since Lincoln, that of
having been exposed to danger and death on the field of battle in
defense of our country. I hope this lack will not make the
veterans think I am any less deeply thrilled by the memory of their
great comrades gone before — Grant, Hayes. Garfield, Harrison and
McKinley, all sons of Ohio, who left records reflecting glory upon
their State and Nation, or that my sympathies with the valor and
courage and patriotism of those who faced death in the country's
crises are any less earnest and sincere than they would be had I the
right to wear a button of the Grand Army or of the veteran associa
tion of any of our country's wars.
The Rights and Progress of the Negro.
The Republican platform refers to the amendments to the Con
stitution that were passed by the Republican party for the protection
of the negro. The negro, in the forty years since he was freed from
slavery, has made remarkable progress. He is becoming a more
and more valuable member of the communities in which he lives. The
education of the negro is being expanded and improved in every way:
The best men of both races, at the North as well as at the South,
ought to rejoice to see growing up among the Southern people an
influential element disposed to encourage the negro in his hard strug
gle for industrial independence and assured political status. The
Republican platform, adopted at Chicago, explicitly demands justice
for all men without regard to race or color, and just as explicitly
declares for the enforcement, and without reservation, in letter and
spirit- of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to
the Constitution. It is needless to state that I stand with my party
squarely on that plank in the platform, and believe that equal justice
to all men, and the fair and impartial enforcement of these amend
ments is in keeping with the real American spirit of fair play.

26
Army and Navy.
Mr. McKinley and Mr. Roosevelt, and the Republican party,
have constantly advocated a policy with respect to the Army and
Navy that will keep this Republic ready at all times to defend her
territory and her doctrines, and to assure her appropriate part in
promoting permanent tranquillity among the nations. I welcome
from whatever motive the change in the Democratic altitude toward
the maintenance and support of an adequate 'Navy, and hope that in
the next platform the silence of the present platform, in respect to
the Army, will be changed to an acquiescence in its maintenance
to the point of efficiency in connection with the efficiently reorgan
ized militia and the National volunteers, for the proper defense of
the country in times of war, and the discharge of those duties in
times of peace for which the Army, as at present constituted, has
shown itself so admirably adapted in the Philippines, in San Fran
cisco, in Cuba., and elsewhere. We are a world power and cannot
help it, and, although at peace with all the world and secure in the
consciousness that the American people do hot desire and will not
provoke a war with any other country, we must be prudent and not
be lulled into a sense of security which would possibly expose us to
national humiliation. Our best course therefore is to insist on a con
stant improvement in our navy and its maintenance at the highest
point of efficiency. Protection of Citizens Abroad.
The position which our country has won under Republican ad
ministrations before the world should inure to the benefit of every
one, even the humblest of those entitled to look to the American
flag for protection, without regard to race, creed or color, and
whether he is a citizen of the United States or of any of our depend
encies. In some countries with which we are on friendly terms, dis
tinctions are made in respect to the treatment of our citizens travel
ing abroad and having passports of our Executive, based on consid
erations that are repugnant to the principles of our Government and
civilization. The Republican party and administration will continue
to make every proper endeavor to secure the abolition of such dis
tinctions, which in our eyes are both needless and opprobrious.
Asiatic Immigration.
In the matter of the limitation upon Asiatic immigration, re
ferred to in the Democratic platform, it is sufficient to say that the
present Republican Administration has shown itself, able, by diplo
matic negotiation, and without unnecessary friction with self-re-

r 27
specting governments, to minimize the evils suggested, and a subse
quent Republican Administration may be counted on to continue
the same policy. Conservation of National Resources.
The conservation of National resources is a subject to which
the present Adminstration has given especial attention. The ne
cessity for a comprehensive and systematic improvement of our
waterways, the preservation of our soil, and of our forests, the se
curing from private appropriation the power in navigable streams,
the retention of the undisposed of coal lands of the Government
from alienation, all will properly claim from the next Administration
earnest attention and appropriate legislation.
National Health Bureau.
I have long been of opinion that the various agencies of the Na
tional Government established for the preservation of the National
health, scattered through several departments, should be rendered
more efficient by uniting them in a bureau of the Government under
a competent head, and that I understand to be, in effect, the recom
mendation of both parties.
Publicity of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures.
Another plank of the Democratic .platform refers to the failure
of the Republican Convention to express an opinion in favor of the
publicity of -contributions received and expenditures made in elec
tions. Here again we contrast our opponents' promises with our
own acts. Great improvement has taken place under Republican
auspices in respect to the collection and expenditure of money for
this purpose. The old and pernicious system of levying a tax on
the salaries of Government employees in order to pay the expenses
of the party in control of the Administration has been abolished by
statute. By a law passed by the Republican Congress in 1907, con
tributions from corporations to influence or pay the expenses con
nected with the election of presidential electors or of members of
Congress is forbidden under penalty.
A resident of New York has been selected as treasurer of the
Republican National Committee, who was treasurer of the Repub
lican State Committee when Governor Hughes was elected in New
York, and who made a complete statement within twenty days after
the election, as required by the New York law, of the contributions
received by him and the expenditures made by him or under his
authority in connection with that election. His residence and the

2»
discharge of his duties in the State of New York subject him to the
law of that State as to all receipts of the treasury of the National
Committee from whatever source and as to all its disbursements.
His returns will be under the obligations and penalties of the law,
and a misstatement by him or the filing of a false account will subject
him to prosecution for perjury and violation of the statute. Of
course, under the Federal law, he is not permitted to receive any
contributions from corporations.
If I am elected President, I shall urge upon Congress, with
every hope of success, that a law be passed requiring a filing in a
Federal office of a statement of the contributions received by com
mittees and candidates in elections for members of Congress, and
in such other elections as are constitutionally within the control of
Congress. Meantime the Republican party by the selection of a
New York treasurer has subjected all its receipts and expenditures
to the compulsory obligation of such a law.
Income Tax.
The Democratic platform demands two constitutional amend
ments, one providing for an income tax, and the other for the elec
tion of Senators by the people. In my judgment, an amendment to
the Constitution for an income tax is not necessary. I believe that
an income tax, when the protective system of customs and the in
ternal revenue tax shall not furnish income enough for govern
mental needs, can and should be devised which under the decisions
of the Supreme Court will conform to the Constitution.
Election of Senators.
. With respect to the election of Senators by the people, personally
I am inclined to favor it, but it is hardly a party question. A resolu
tion in its favor has passed a Republican House of Representatives
several times and has been rejected in a Republican Senate by the
votes of Senators from both parties. It has been approved by the
Legislatures of many Republican States. In a number of States,
both Democratic and Republican, substantially such a system now
prevails. Inaccuracy and Insincerity of Democratic Charges of Extrava
gance in Increase of Offices and Expenditures.
Our opponents denounce the Republican party for increasing
the number of offices 23,000, at a cost of sixteen millions of dollars,
during the last year. Such denunciation is characteristic of the
Democratic platform. It fails to specify in any way what the

29
offices are, and leaves the inference that the increase was resisted
by the representatives of Democracy in Congress. As a matter of
fact, the net number of offices increased was just about half the
number stated; the increase was due chiefly to the enlargement of
the Navy, the construction of the Panama Canal, the extension of
the Rural Free Delivery, and to the new offices necessary in the
enforcement of the pure food, meat inspection, railroad rate regula
tion, arid land reclamation, forest preservation and other measures
which Congress passed with almost unanimous popular approval.
The Democratic platform, so far from attacking any of this legisla
tion, specifically approves much and condemns none of it, and it is
'of course disingenuous to claim credit for approving legislation and
yet to denounce the expenditures necessary to give it effect.
Charge of Deficit.
Again, it charges that a deficit of sixty millions of dollars be
tween the receipts and expenditures during the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1908, occurred. As explained by the Secretary of the
Treasury, at least half of this deficit is only an apparent one. The
falling off in receipts was, of course, occasioned by the unusual
panic, but there is ample free money in the Treasury to meet the
difference, and the difference itself is not half of it properly a
deficit, because involved in it was the retirement of some thirty-
three millons of the bonds of the Government.
During the past seven years the income and expenditures of the
Government have been nearly equal, some years showing a surplus,
and others, fewer in number, a deficit. Taking one year with
another, including-this year, there has been an average surplus. The
surplus last year, for instance, was greater than the deficit this
year, so that, in fact, under the present administration there has
been no deficit but a surplus which is actually in the Treasury.
The Democratic platform nowhere points out the expenditures
which might be reduced or avoided. It would be found generally
that to the increases which have occurred, Democratic representa
tives in Congress made no opposition, but rather -supported the
measures providing them, and now the party has not the courage
to indicate what part of government cost it would end. It joins
the Republican party specifically in approving the outlay of $150,-
000,000 as pensions. It expressly favors also the cost of greatly
increased River and Harbor improvements, the cost of doubling the
Navy, and of many other enterprises to which it urges the Gov
ernment. Its attack, therefore, has nothing in it either of fairness
or sincerity.

High Character and Efficiency of Administration.
The truth is that it is known of all fair-minded men that there
never has been an administration in the Government more efficiently
conducted, more free from scandal, and in which the standard of
official duty has been set higher thanjn the present Republican Ad
ministration, which the Democratic platform has thus denounced.
It has had to meet the problems arising from the enormous expan
sion of Government functions under new legislative measures as
well as in the new dependencies, and in the greatest constructive
work of modern times, the Panama Canal, and its members may
well feel a just pride in the exceptional record for efficiency, econ
omy, honesty and fidelity which it has made. We may rely upon
our record in this regard in an appeal to the American people for
their approval.
The foreign policy of this country under the present Administra
tion has greatly contributed to the peace of the world. The impor
tant part the Administration took in bringing about an end of the
Russian-Japanese War by a treaty honorable to both parties and the
prevention of wars in Central America and Cuba are striking in
stances of this. The arbitration treaties signed with all the im
portant nations of the world mark a great step forward in the de
velopment of the usefulness of The Hague tribunal. The visit of
Secretary Root to South America emphasized our friendship for our
sister Republics which are making such strides in the South Hemi
sphere, and met with a most cordial and gratifying response from
our Latin-American colleagues. The assistance which we are ren
dering in Santo Domingo to enable that Government to meet its
obligations and avoid anarchy is another instance of successful work
of this Administration in helping our neighbors.
This Administration has by the promptness, skill and energy of
its negotiations secured dominion in the Canal Zone of the Isthmus
of Panama, without which the construction of the canal would have
been impossible. It has subdued the heretofore insurmountable ob
stacle of disease and made the place of work healthy. It has cre
ated such an organization that in six years certainly, and probably
in less, the Atlantic and Pacific will be united, to. the everlasting ben
efit of the world's commerce, and the effectiveness of our Navy will
be dqubled. The mere statement of things actually done by this Administra
tion at home, in our dependencies, and in foreign affairs shows a
marvel of successful accomplishment, and if ever a party has en
titled itself to the approval of its works by a renewed mandate of

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power from the people whom it served, it is the Republican party in
' the present campaign.
The only respect in which nothing has been done is in the de
velopment of our foreign marine. As long as we uphold the sys
tem of protection for our home industries we must recognize that it
is ineffectual to assist those of our citizens engaged m the foreign
shipping business, because there is no feasible means of excluding
foreign competition, and that the only other method of building_up
such a business is by direct aid in the form of a -mail subsidy. I
am in favor of the bill considered in the last Congress as a tentative
step. The establishment of direct steamship lines between our At
lantic ports and South America would certainly do much to develop
a trade that might be made far greater. On the Pacific, the whole
shipping trade threatens to pass into the control of Japan. Some
thing ought to be done, and the bill which failed was a step in the
right direction. Independent Democrats.
The Democratic party under its present leadership in previous
campaigns has manifested a willingness to embrace any doctrine
which would win votes, with little sense of responsibility for its
practical operation. In its striving for success it has ignored the
business prosperity of the country, has departed from sound eco
nomic and governmental principles, and has reversed its own tradi
tional views of constitutional construction. Patriotic members of
the party have refused to be controlled by party ties, and have either
refrained from voting or have supported the Republican candidate.
May we not appeal to these courageous and independent citizens
again to give us their support in this campaign, because the reasons
for their breaking the bonds of party are stronger today than ever
before ?
Length of Speech Made Necessary by Numerous Issues.
I have now reviewed at great length the principles at issue be
tween the two parties. When I began the preparation of this speech
of acceptance I had hoped to make it much briefer than it is,
but I found on an examination of the platform and on a considera
tion of the many measures passed during the present Administration
and the issues arising out of them, that it was impossible to deal
with the subjects comprehensively with proper explanation and
qualification in a short 'discussion. This is my excuse.

32
Difference Between Parties : Prosperity With Republican Suc
cess; Business Disaster With Democratic Victory.
I have pointed out that the attitude of the Republican party with
reference to evils which have crept in, due to the enormous material
expansion of this country, is to continue the Roosevelt policies of
progress and regulation, while the attitude of the Democratic party
under its present leadership is the change for the sake of change to
the point of irresponsible destruction, and that there is no hope-
whatever of a restoration of prosperity in returning it to power.
As said in our platform, we Republicans go before the country ask
ing the support, not only of those who have acted with us hereto
fore, but of all our fellow-citizens who, regardless of past political
differences, unite in the desire to maintain the policies, perpetuate
the blessings and make secure the achievements of a greater America.