MR. TAFT AND REPUBLICAN DISINTEGRATION
In spite of the stirring of new economic and political forces which
marked Mr. Roosevelt's administration and his somewhat radical
utterances upon occasion, there was no prominent leader in the
Republican party in 1908, except Mr. La Follette of Wisconsin, who was
identified with policies which later came to be known as "progressive."
Although Mr. Hughes, as governor of New York, had enlisted national
interest in his "fight with the bosses," he was, by temperament,
conservative rather than radical, and his doctrines were not primarily
economic in character. Other Republican aspirants were also of a
conservative cast of mind, Mr. Fairbanks, of Indiana, Mr. Knox, of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Cannon, of Illinois, all of whom were indorsed for the
presidency by their respective states. The radical element among the
Republicans hoped that Mr. Roosevelt would consent to accept a "second
elective term"; but his flat refusal put an end to their plans for
renomination.
Very early in his second administration, Mr. Roosevelt made it clear
that he wanted to see Mr. W. H. Taft, then Secretary of War, designated
as his successor; and by the judicious employment of publicity and the
proper management of the Federal patronage and the southern Republican
delegates, he materially aided in the nomination of Mr. Taft at Chicago,
in June, 1908. The Republican platform of that year advocated a revision
of the tariff, not necessarily downward, but with a due regard to
difference between the cost of production at home and abroad; it favored
an amendment of the Sherman anti-trust law in such a manner as to give
more publicity and the Federal government more supervision and control;
it advocated the regulation of the issuance of injunctions by the
Federal courts; it indorsed conservation and pledged the party to
"unfailing adherence" to Mr. Roosevelt's policies. This somewhat
noncommittal platform was elaborated by Mr. Taft in his speech, after a
conference with Mr. Roosevelt; the popular election of Senators was
favored, an income tax of some kind indorsed, and a faintly radical
tinge given to the party document.
The nomination of Mr. Bryan by the Democrats was a foregone conclusion.
The debacle of 1904 had demonstrated that the breach of 1896 could not
be healed by what the western contingent called "the Wall Street crowd";
and Mr. Bryan had secured complete control of the party organization.
The convention at Denver was a personal triumph from beginning to end.
Mr. Bryan mastered the proceedings and wrote the platform, and received
the most telling ovation ever given to a party leader by a national
convention.
Having complete control, Mr. Bryan attempted what the politicians who
talked most aggressively about the trusts had consistently refused to
do--he attempted to define and precisely state the remedies for
objectionable combinations. Other leaders had discussed "good" and
"bad" trusts, but they had not attempted the mathematics of the problem.
In the platform of his party, Mr. Bryan wrote: "A private monopoly is
indefensible and intolerable. We therefore favor the vigorous
enforcement of the criminal law against guilty trust magnates and
officials and demand the enactment of such additional legislation as may
be necessary to make it impossible for private monopoly to exist in the
United States." In this paragraph, there is of course nothing new; but
it continues: "Among the additional remedies we specify three: first, a
law preventing the duplication of directors among competing
corporations; second, a license system which will, without abridging the
rights of each state to create corporations or its right to regulate as
it will foreign corporations doing business within its limits, make it
necessary for a manufacturing or trading corporation engaged in
interstate commerce to take out a federal license before it shall be
permitted to control as much as 25 per cent of the product in which it
deals, a license to protect the public from watered stock and to
prohibit the control by such corporation of more than 50 per cent of the
total amount of any product consumed in the United States; and third, a
law compelling such licensed corporations to sell to all purchasers in
all parts of the country on the same terms after making due allowance
for cost of transportation."
In dealing with railway corporations, the Democratic platform proposed
concretely the valuation of railways, taking into consideration the
physical as well as other elements; an increase in the power of the
Interstate Commerce Commission, giving it the initiative with reference
to rates and transportation charges and the power to declare any rate
illegal on its own motion, and to inspect railway tariffs before
permitting them to go into effect; and finally an efficient supervision
and regulation of railroads engaged in interstate commerce.
Mr. Bryan's proposals, particularly with regard to trusts, were greeted
with no little derision on the part of many practical men of affairs,
but they had, at least, the merit of being more definite in character
than any statement of anti-trust policy which had been made hitherto,
except by the Socialists in advocating public ownership. The
Republicans, for example, contented themselves with simply proposing the
amendment of the Sherman law in such a manner as to "give to the federal
government greater supervision and control over and secure greater
publicity in the management of that class of corporations engaged in
interstate commerce having power and opportunity to effect monopolies."
The campaign of 1908 was without any specially dramatic incidents. The
long stumping tours by all candidates did not seem to elicit the
old-time enthusiasm. The corporation interests that had long financed
the Republican party once more poured out treasure like water (as the
Clapp investigation afterward revealed in 1912); and Mr. Bryan attempted
a counter-movement by asking for small contributions from each member of
his party, but he was sadly disappointed by the results. The Democratic
national committee announced that it would receive no contributions from
corporations, that it would accept no more than $10,000 from any
individual, and that it would make public, before the election, all
contributions above $100. Mr. Bryan also challenged Mr. Taft to make
public the names of the contributors to his fund and the amount received
from each. The Republican managers replied that they would make known
their contributors in due time as required by the law of the state of
New York where the headquarters were located, and Mr. Taft added that he
would urge upon Congress the enactment of a law compelling full
publicity of campaign contributions.[79]
In the election which followed, Mr. Bryan was defeated for the third
time. His vote was somewhat larger than it was in 1900, and nearly a
million and a half above that cast for Mr. Parker in 1904. But Mr. Taft
more than held the strength of his predecessor as measured by the
popular vote, and he received 321 electoral votes against 162 cast for
his opponent. Once more, the conservative press announced, the country
had repudiated Populism and demonstrated its sound, conservative
instincts.
When Mr. Taft took the oath of office on March 4, 1909, he fell heir, on
his own admission, to more troublesome problems than had been the lot of
any President since Lincoln's day. His predecessor had kept the country
interested and entertained by the variety of his speeches and
recommendations and by his versatility in dealing with all the social
questions which were pressing to the front during his administration.
Mr. Roosevelt was brilliant in his political operations, although he had
been careful about attempting to bring too many things to concrete
issue. Mr. Taft was matter-of-fact in his outlook and his expectations.
The country had been undergoing a process of education, as he put it,
and now the time had come for taking stock. The time had come for
putting the house in order and settling down to a period of rest. If
there were signs on the horizon which warned Mr. Taft against this
comfortable view, his spoken utterances gave no sign of recognition.
_Legislative Measures_
The first task which confronted him was the thorny problem of the
tariff. His predecessor had given the matter little attention during his
administration, apparently for the reason that it was, in his opinion,
of little consequence as compared with the questions of railways,
trusts, great riches, and labor. But action could not be indefinitely
postponed. Undoubtedly there was a demand in many parts of the country
for a tariff revision. How widespread it was, how much it was the
creation of the politicians, how intelligent and deep-seated it was, no
one could tell. Nevertheless, more than ten years had elapsed since the
enactment of the Dingley law of 1897, and many who did not entertain
radical views on the subject at all joined in demanding a revision on
the ground that conditions had materially changed. The Republican
platform had promised revision on the basis that the true principle of
protection was best maintained by the imposition of such duties "as
will equal the difference between the cost of production at home and
abroad, together with a reasonable profit to American industries." Mr.
Taft in his speech of acceptance had promised revision, on the theory
that some schedules were too high and others too low; and his language
during the campaign had been interpreted to mean a more severe downward
revision than he had doubtless contemplated.
In accordance with party pledges Mr. Taft called Congress in a special
session on March 11, 1909, and after a hotly contested battle the
Payne-Aldrich tariff act was passed. The President made no considerable
effort to force the hand of Congress one way or the other, and he
accepted the measure on the theory that it was the best tariff law that
could be got at the time. Indeed, it was pointed out by members of his
party that the bill contained "654 decreases in duty, 220 increases, and
1150 items of the dutiable list in which the rates were unchanged." It
was also stated that the bill was framed in accordance with the spirit
of the party platform which had made no promise of a general sweeping
reduction. It was admitted, however, that precise information upon the
difference between the cost of production at home and abroad could not
have been obtained in time for this revision, but a tariff board was
created by law for the purpose of obtaining the desired information, on
the basis of which readjustments in schedules could be made from time to
time.
On April 9, 1909, the Payne tariff act passed the House, one Republican
voting against it and four Democrats from Louisiana voting in favor of
it. This vote, however, was of no significance; the real test was the
vote on the several amendments proposed from time to time to the
original bill, and on these occasions the Democratic lines were badly
broken. On April 12, Mr. Aldrich introduced in the Senate a tariff bill
which had been carefully prepared by the finance committee of which he
was chairman. This measure followed more closely the Dingley law, making
no recommendations concerning some of the commodities which the House
had placed on the free list, and passing over the subject of income and
inheritance taxes without remark. The Aldrich measure was bitterly
attacked by insurgent Republicans from the West,--Senators Dolliver and
Cummins, of Iowa, La Follette, of Wisconsin, Beveridge, of Indiana, and
Bristow, of Kansas,--who held out to the last and voted against the
bill, even as amended, on its final passage, July 8. The conference
committee of the two Houses settled their differences by July 30, and on
August 5 the tariff bill became a law.
There were several features of the transaction which deserve special
notice. Very early in the Senate proceedings on the bill, an income tax
provision was introduced by Senators Cummins and Bailey, and it looked
as if enough support could be secured from the two parties to enact it
into law. Although President Taft, in his acceptance speech, had
expressed an opinion to the effect that an income tax could be
constitutionally enacted notwithstanding the decision of the Supreme
Court in the Income Tax cases, he blocked the proposal to couple an
income tax measure with the tariff bill, by sending a special message
on June 16, recommending the passage of a constitutional amendment
empowering Congress to levy a general income tax, and advising a tax on
the earnings of corporations. His suggestions were accepted by Congress.
The proposed amendment to the Constitution was passed unanimously by the
Senate, and by an overwhelming majority in the House,[80] and a tax on
the net incomes of corporations was also adopted. A customs court to be
composed of five judges to hear appeals in customs cases was set up, and
a tariff commission to study all aspects of the question, particularly
the differences between cost of production in the United States and
abroad, was created.
Revision of the tariff had always been a thankless task for any party.
The Democrats had found it such in 1894 when their bill had failed to
please any one, including President Cleveland, and when for collateral
or independent reasons a period of industrial depression had set in. The
McKinley bill of 1890 had aroused a storm of protest which had swept the
Republicans out of power, and it is probable that the Dingley tariff of
1897 would have created similar opposition if it could have been
disentangled from the other overshadowing issues growing out of the
Spanish War. The Payne-Aldrich tariff likewise failed to please; but its
failure was all the more significant because its passage was opposed by
such a large number of prominent party members. The Democrats, as was
naturally to be expected, made all they could out of the situation, and
cried "Treason." Even what appeared to be a concession to the radicals,
the adoption of a resolution providing for an amendment to the
Constitution authorizing the imposition of an income tax, was not
accepted as a consolation, but was looked upon as a subterfuge to escape
the probable dilemma of having an income tax law passed immediately and
submitted to the Supreme Court again.
Notwithstanding the dissensions within his party, Mr. Taft continued
steadily to press a legislative policy which he had marked out. In a
special message on January 7, 1910, he recommended the creation of a
court of commerce to have jurisdiction, among other things, over appeals
from the Interstate Commerce Commission. This proposal was enacted into
law on June 18, 1910; and the appointments were duly made by the
President. The career of the tribunal was not, however, particularly
happy. Some of its decisions against the rulings of the Commission were
popularly regarded as too favorable to railway interests; one of the
judges, Mr. Archbald, of Pennsylvania, was impeached and removed on the
ground that his private relations with certain railway corporations were
highly questionable; and at length Congress in 1913 terminated its short
life.
Acting upon a recommendation of the President, Congress, in June, 1910,
passed a law providing for the establishment of a postal savings system,
in connection with the post offices. The law authorized the payment of
two per cent interest on money deposited at the designated post offices
and the distribution of all such deposits among state and national
banks under the protection of bonds placed with the Treasurer of the
United States. The scheme was applied experimentally at a few offices
and then rapidly extended, until within two years it was in operation at
more than 12,000 offices and over $20,000,000 was on deposit. The plan
which had been branded as "socialistic" a few years before when
advocated by the Populists was now hailed as an enlightened reform, even
by the banks as well as business men, for they discovered that it
brought out secret hoardings and gave the banks the benefit at a low
rate of interest--lower than that paid by ordinary savings concerns.
The postal savings system was shortly supplemented by a system of
parcels post. Mr. Taft strongly advocated the establishment of such a
system, and it had been urged in Congress for many years, but had been
blocked by the opposition of the express companies, for obvious reasons,
and by country merchants who feared that they would be injured by the
increased competition of the mail order departments of city stores.
Finally, by a law approved on August 24, 1912, Congress made provision
for the establishment of this long-delayed service, and it was put into
effect on January 1, 1913, thus enabling the United States to catch up
with the postal systems of other enlightened nations. Although the
measure was sharply criticized for its rates and classifications, it was
generally approved and regarded as the promising beginning of an
institution long desired.
While helping to add these new burdens to the post-office
administration, Mr. Taft directed his attention to the urgent necessity
for more businesslike methods on the part of the national administration
in general, and, on his recommendation, Congress appropriated in 1910
$100,000 "to enable the President to inquire into the methods of
transacting the public business of the Executive Department and other
government establishments, and to recommend to Congress such legislation
as may be necessary." A board of experts, known as the Economy and
Efficiency Commission, was thereupon appointed, and it set to work
examining the several branches of administration with a view to
discovering wasteful and obsolete methods in use and recommending
changes and practices which would result in saving money and producing
better results. Among other things, the Commission undertook an
examination of the problem of a national budget along lines followed by
the best European governments, and it suggested the abandonment of the
time-honored "log-rolling" process of making appropriations, in favor of
a consistent, consolidated, and businesslike budget based upon national
needs and not the demands of localities for Federal "improvements,"
regardless of their utility.
Although he was sharply attacked by the advocates of conservation for
appointing and supporting as Secretary of the Interior, Mr. R. A.
Ballinger, who was charged with favoring certain large corporations
seeking public land grants, Mr. Taft devoted no little attention to the
problem of conserving the natural resources. In 1910, Congress enacted
two important laws bearing on the subject. By a measure approved June
22, it provided for agricultural entries on coal lands and the
separation of the surface from the mineral rights in such lands. By
another law, approved three days later, Congress made provision for the
withdrawal of certain lands for water-power sites, irrigation,
classification of lands, and other public purposes. These laws settled
some questions of legality which had been raised with reference to
earlier executive action in withdrawing lands from entry and gave the
President definite authority to control important aspects of
conservation.
From the opening of his administration Mr. Taft used his influence in
every legitimate way to assist in the development of the movement for
international peace. In his acceptance speech, at the opening of his
campaign for election, he had remarked upon the significance and
importance of the arbitration treaties which had been signed between
nations and upon the contribution of Mr. Roosevelt's administration to
the cause of world peace. Following out his principles, Mr. Taft signed
with France and England in August, 1911, general arbitration treaties
expanding the range of the older agreements so as to include all
controversies which were "justiciable" in character, even though they
might involve questions of "vital interest and national honor." The
treaties, which were hailed by the peace advocates with great acclaim,
met a cold reception in the Senate which ratified them on March 7, 1912,
only after making important amendments that led to their abandonment.
* * * * *
Among the most significant of Mr. Taft's acts were his appointments of
the Supreme Court judges. On the death of Chief Justice Fuller, in 1910,
he selected for that high post Associate Justice White. In the course
of his administration, Mr. Taft also had occasion to select five
associate justices, and he appointed Mr. Horace H. Lurton, of Tennessee,
Charles E. Hughes, governor of New York, Mr. Willis Van Devanter, of
Wyoming, Mr. Joseph R. Lamar, of Georgia, and Mr. Mahlon Pitney, of New
Jersey. Thus within four years the President was able to designate a
majority of the judges of the most powerful court in the world, and to
select the Chief Justice who presided over it.
It was hardly to be expected that the exercise of such a significant
power would escape criticism, particularly in view of the nature of the
cases which are passed upon by that Court. Mr. Bryan was particularly
severe in his attacks, charging the President with deliberately packing
the Court. "You appointed to the Chief Justiceship of the Supreme
Court," he said, "Justice White who thirteen years ago took the trusts'
side of the trust question.[81] ... You appointed Governor Hughes to the
Supreme Court bench after he had interpreted your platform to suit the
trusts." Mr. Bryan also demanded that Mr. Taft let the people know "the
influences" that dictated his appointments. Mr. Bryan attacked
particularly the selection of Mr. Van Devanter, declaring that the
latter, by his decisions in the lower court, was a notorious favorite of
corporation interests. Mr. Taft looked upon these attacks as insults to
himself and the judges, and treated them with the scant courtesy which,
in his opinion, they deserved. The episode, however, was of no little
significance in stirring up public interest in the constitution of a
tribunal that was traditionally supposed to be "non-political" in its
character.
_The Anti-Trust Cases_
Mr. Taft approached the trust problem with the pre-conceptions of the
lawyer who believes that the indefinite dissolution of combinations is
possible under the law. His predecessor had, it is true, instituted many
proceedings against trusts, but there was a certain lack of sharpness in
his tone, which was doubtless due to the fact that he believed and
openly declared that indiscriminate prosecutions under the Sherman law
(which was, in his opinion, unsound in many features) were highly
undesirable. Mr. Taft, on the other hand, apparently looked at the law
and not the economics of the problem. During Harrison's administration
there had been four bills in equity and three indictments under the
Sherman law; during Cleveland's administration, four bills in equity,
two indictments, two informations for contempt; during McKinley's
administration, three bills in equity. Mr. Roosevelt had to his record,
eighteen bills in equity, twenty-five indictments, and one forfeiture
proceeding. Within three years, Mr. Taft had twenty-two bills in equity
and forty-five indictments to his credit.
The very vigor with which Mr. Taft pressed the cases against the trusts
did more, perhaps, to force a consideration of the whole question by the
public than did Mr. Roosevelt's extended messages. As has been pointed
out, the members of Congress who enacted the Sherman law were very much
confused in their notions as to what trusts really were and what
combinations and practices were in fact to be considered in restraint of
trade.[82] And it must be confessed that the decisions and opinions of
the courts, up to the beginning of Mr. Taft's administration, had not
done much to clarify the law. In the Trans-Missouri case, decided in
1897, the Supreme Court had declared in effect that all combinations in
restraint of trade, whether reasonable or unreasonable, were in fact
forbidden by the law, Justice White dissenting.[83]
This was not done by the Court inadvertently. Mr. Justice Peckham,
speaking for the majority of the Court, distinctly marked the fact that
arguments had been directed to that tribunal, "against the inclusion of
all contracts in restraint of trade, as provided for by the language of
the act ... upon the alleged presumption that Congress, notwithstanding
the language of the act, could not have intended to embrace all
contracts, but only such as were in unreasonable restraint of trade.
Under these circumstances we are, therefore, asked to hold that the act
of Congress excepts contracts which are not in unreasonable restraint of
trade, and which only keep rates up to a reasonable price,
notwithstanding the language of the act makes no such exception. In
other words, we are asked to read into the act by way of judicial
legislation an exception that is not placed there by the lawmaking
branch of the government.... It may be that the policy evidenced by the
passage of the act itself will, if carried out, result in disaster to
the roads.... Whether that will be the result or not we do not know and
cannot predict. These considerations are, however, not for us. If the
act ought to read as contended for by the defendants, Congress is the
body to amend it, and not this Court by a process of judicial
legislation wholly unjustifiable."
It was no doubt fortunate for the business interests of the country that
no earlier administration undertook a searching and drastic prosecution
of combinations under the Sherman law; for in the view of the language
of the Court it is difficult to imagine any kind of important
interconcern agreement which would not be illegal. This very delay in
the vigorous enforcement of the law enabled the country at large to take
a new view of the trusts and to throw aside much of the prejudice which
had characterized politics in the eighties and early nineties. The
lawless practices of the great combinations and their corrupting
influence were extensively discovered and understood; but it became
increasingly difficult for demagogues to convince the public that any
good could accrue to anybody from the ruthless attempts to disintegrate
all large combinations in business. The more radical sections, which had
formerly applauded the platform orator in his tirades against trusts,
were turning away from indiscriminate abuse and listening more
attentively than ever to the Socialists who held, and had held for half
a century, to the doctrine that the trusts were a natural product of
economic evolution and were merely paving the way to national ownership
on a large scale.
Consequently, between the two forces, the representatives of corporate
interests on the one hand and the spokesmen for socialistic doctrines on
the other, the old demand for the immediate and unconditional
destruction of the trusts was sharply modified. Corporations came to see
that undesirable as "government regulation" might be, it was still more
desirable than destruction. They, therefore, drew to themselves a large
support from sections of the population which did not share socialistic
ideas, and still could see nothing but folly in attempting to resist
what seemed to have the force of nature. Many working-class
representatives ceased to wage war on the trusts as such, for they did
not expect to get into the oil, copper, or steel business for
themselves; and the farmers, on account of rising prices and a large
appreciation in land values, listened with less gladness to the
"war-to-the-hilt" orator. Nevertheless, a large section of the
population, composed particularly of business men and manufacturers of
the lesser industries, hoped to "reestablish" what they called "fair
conditions of competition" by dissolving into smaller units the huge
corporations that dominated industry.
In response to this demand, Mr. Taft pushed through the cases against
the Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company; and in May,
1911, the Supreme Court handed down decisions dissolving these
combinations. In the course of his opinions, Chief Justice White, who
had dissented in the Trans-Missouri case mentioned above, gave an
interpretation of the Sherman Act which was regarded quite generally as
an abandonment of the principles enunciated by the Court in that case.
He said: "The statute, under this view, evidenced the intent not to
restrain the right to make and enforce contracts, whether resulting from
combinations or otherwise, which did not _unduly restrain_ interstate
and foreign commerce, but to protect the commerce from being restrained
by methods, whether new or old, which would constitute an interference
that is an _undue_ restraint." Thus the Chief Justice restated the
doctrine of "reasonableness" which he had formulated in his dissenting
opinion in the earlier case, but this time as the spokesman of the
Court. It is true, he attempted with great dialectic skill to reconcile
the old and the new opinions, and make it appear that there had been no
change in the theories of the Court; but his attempt was not convincing
to every one, for many shared the view expressed by Justice Harlan, to
the effect that the attempt at reconciliation partook of the nature of a
statement that black is white and white is black.
The effect of these decisions was the dissolution of the two concerns
into certain constituent parts which were supposed to reestablish
competition; but no marvelously beneficial economic results seem to have
accrued. The inner circles of the two combinations made huge sums from
the appreciation of stocks; the prices of gasoline and some other oil
products mounted with astonishing speed to a higher rate than ever
before; and smaller would-be competitors declared that the constituent
companies were so large that competition with them was next to
impossible. No one showed any great enthusiasm about the results of the
prosecution and decisions, except perhaps some eminent leaders in the
business world, who shared the opinion of Mr. J. P. Morgan that the
doctrines of the Court were "entirely satisfactory," and to be taken as
meaning that indiscriminate assaults on large concerns, merely because
of their size, would not be tolerated by the Court. Radical
"trust-breakers" cried aloud that they had been betrayed by the eminent
tribunal, and a very large section of the population which had come to
regard trusts as a "natural evolution" looked upon the whole affair as
an anticlimax. Mr. Taft, in a speech shortly after the decisions of the
Court, expressed his pleasure at the outcome of the action and invited
the confidence of the country in the policy announced. He had carried a
great legal battle to its conclusion, only to find those who cheered the
loudest in the beginning, indifferent at the finish.
_The Overthrow of Speaker Cannon_
From the beginning of his administration, it was apparent that Mr.
Taft's party in Congress was not in that state of harmony which presaged
an uneventful legislative career. The vote on the tariff bill, both in
the Senate and the House, showed no little dissatisfaction with the way
in which the affairs of the party were being managed. The acrimony in
the tariff debate had been disturbing, and the attacks on Speaker Cannon
from his own party colleagues increased in frequency and virulence
inside and outside of Congress.
Under this astute politician and keen parliamentary manager, a system of
legislative procedure had grown up in the House, which concentrated the
management of business in the hands of a few members, while preserving
the outward signs of democracy within the party. The Speaker enjoyed the
power of appointing all of the committees of the House and of
designating the chairmen thereof. Under his power to object to a request
for "unanimous consent," he could refuse to recognize members asking for
the ear of the chamber under that privilege. He, furthermore, exercised
his general right of recognition in such a manner as to favor those
members who were in the good graces of the inner circle, which had
naturally risen to power through long service.
In addition, there had been created a powerful engine, known as the
"rules committee" which could, substantially at any time, set aside the
regular operations of the House, fix the limits of debate, and force the
consideration of any particular bill. This committee was composed of the
Speaker and two colleagues selected by himself, for, although there were
two Democratic representatives on the committee, they did not enjoy any
influence in its deliberations. The outward signs of propriety were
given to this enginery by the election of the Speaker by the party
caucus, but the older members and shrewd managers had turned the caucus
into a mere ratifying machine.
Under this system, which was perfected through the long tenure of power
enjoyed by the Republicans, a small group of managers, including Mr.
Cannon, came to a substantial control over all the business of the
House. A member could not secure recognition for a measure without
"seeing" the Speaker in advance; the older members monopolized the
important committees; and a measure introduced by a private member had
no chance for consideration, to say nothing of passage, unless its
sponsor made his peace with the party managers. This system was by no
means without its advantages. It concentrated authority in a few eminent
party spokesmen and the country came to understand that some one was at
last responsible for what happened in the House. The obvious
disadvantage was the use of power to perpetuate a machine and policies
which did not in fact represent the country or the party. Furthermore,
the new and younger members could not expect to achieve anything until
they had submitted to the proper "party discipline."
If anything went wrong, it soon became popular to attribute the evil to
"Cannon and his system." Attacks upon them became especially bitter in
the campaign of 1908 and particularly venomous after the passage of the
Aldrich-Payne tariff act. At length, in March, 1910, by a clever piece
of parliamentary manipulation, some "insurgent" Republicans were able to
present an amendment to the rules ousting the Speaker from membership in
the rules committee, increasing the number, and providing for election
by the House. Mr. Cannon was forced to rule on the regularity of this
amendment, and he decided against it. On appeal from the decision of the
chair, the Speaker was defeated by a combination of Democrats and
insurgent Republicans, and the committee on rules was reconstructed. A
motion to declare the Speakership vacant was defeated, however, because
only eight insurgents supported it, and accordingly Mr. Cannon was
permitted to serve out his term. Although this was heralded as "a great
victory," it was of no consequence in altering the management of
business in that session; but it was a solemn portent of the defeat for
the Republican party which lay ahead in the autumn.
_Dissensions_
The second half of Mr. Taft's administration was marked by the failure
to accomplish many results on which he had set his mind. The election of
1910 showed that the country was swinging back to the Democratic party
once more. In that year, the Democrats elected governors in
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, and some
other states which had long been regarded as Republican. The Democrats
also carried the House of Representatives, securing 227 members to 163
Republicans and 1 Socialist, Mr. Berger, of Wisconsin. Although many
conservative Republican leaders, like Mr. Cannon, Mr. Payne, and Mr.
Dalzell, were returned, their position in the minority was seriously
impaired by the election of many "insurgent" Republicans from the West,
who were out of harmony with the old methods of the party.
In view of this Democratic victory, it was inevitable that Mr. Taft
should have trouble over the tariff. In accordance with the declarations
of the Republican platform, he had recommended and secured the creation,
in 1909, of a tariff board designed to obtain precise information on the
relation of the tariff to production and labor at home and abroad. The
work of this board fell into three main divisions. It was, in the first
place, instructed to take each article in the tariff schedule and
"secure concise information regarding the nature of the article, the
chief sources of supply at home and abroad, the methods of its
production, its chief uses, statistics of production, imports and
exports, with an estimate of the ad valorem equivalent for all specific
duties." In the second place, it was ordered to compile statistics on
the cost of production at home and abroad so that some real information
might be available as to the difference, with a view to discovering the
amount of protection necessary to accomplish the real purposes of a
"scientific" tariff. Finally, the board was instructed to secure
accurate information as to prices at home and abroad and as to the
general conditions of competition in the several industries affected by
the tariff.
If there was to be any protection at all, it was obvious that an immense
amount of precise information was necessary to the adjustment of
schedules in such a manner as not to give undue advantages to American
manufacturers and thus encourage sloth and obsolete methods on their
part. Such was the view taken by Mr. Taft and the friends of the tariff
board; but the Democratic Congress elected in 1910 gave the outward
signs of a determination to undertake a speedy and considerable
"downward revision," regardless of any "scientific" information that
might be collected by the administration. There was doubtless some
demand in the country for such a revision, and furthermore it was "good
politics" for the leaders of the new House to embarrass the Republican
President as much as possible. The opportunity was too inviting to be
disregarded, particularly with a presidential election approaching.
Consequently, the House, in 1911, passed three important tariff
measures: a farmers' free list bill placing agricultural implements,
boots and shoes, wire fence, meat, flour, lumber, and other commodities
on the free list; a measure revising the famous "Schedule K," embracing
wool and woolen manufactures; and a law reducing the duties on cotton
manufactures, chemicals, paints, metals, and other commodities. With the
support of the "insurgent" Republicans in the Senate these measures were
passed with more speed than was expected by their sponsors, and Mr. Taft
promptly vetoed them on the ground that some of them were loosely drawn
and all of them were based upon inadequate information. The following
year, an iron and steel measure and a woolens bill were again presented
to the President and as decisively vetoed. In his veto messages, Mr.
Taft pointed out that the concise information collected by the tariff
board was now at the disposal of Congress and that it was possible to
undertake a revision of many schedules which would allow a considerable
reduction without "destroying any established industry or throwing any
wage earners out of employment." These last veto messages, sent in
August, 1912, received scant consideration from members of Congress
already engaged in a hot political campaign.
Mr. Taft was equally unfortunate in his attempt to secure reciprocity
with Canada. In January, 1911, through the Secretary of State, he
concluded a reciprocity agreement with that country by the exchange of
notes, providing for a free list of more than one hundred articles and a
reduction of the tariff on more than four hundred articles. The
agreement was submitted to the legislatures of the two countries. A bill
embodying it passed the House, in February, by a Democratic vote, the
insurgent Republicans standing almost solidly against it, on the ground
that it discriminated against the farmers by introducing Canadian
competition, while benefiting the manufacturers who had no considerable
competition from that source. The Senate failed to act on the bill until
the next session of the new Congress when it was passed in July with
twelve insurgent and twelve regular Republicans against it. After having
wrought this serious breach in his own party in Congress, Mr. Taft was
sorely disappointed by seeing the whole matter fall to the ground
through the overthrow of the Liberals in Canada at the election in
September, 1911, and the rejection by that country of the measure for
which he had so laboriously contended.
During the closing days of his administration, Mr. Taft was seriously
beset by troubles with Mexico. Under the long and severe rule of General
Porfirio Diaz in that country, order had been set up there (at whatever
cost to humanity) and American capital had streamed into Mexican mines,
railways, plantations, and other enterprises. In 1911, Diaz was
overthrown by Francisco Madero and the latter was hardly installed in
power before he was assassinated and a dictatorship set up under General
Huerta, in February, 1913. After the overthrow of Diaz in 1911, Mexico
was filled with revolutionary turmoil, and American lives and property
were gravely menaced. In April, 1912, Mr. Taft solemnly warned the
Mexican government that the United States would hold it responsible for
the destruction of American property and the taking of American life,
but this warning was treated with scant courtesy by President Madero.
The disorders continued to increase, and demands for intervention on the
part of the United States were heard from innumerable interested
quarters, but Mr. Taft refused to be drawn into an armed conflict. The
Mexican trouble he bequeathed to his successor.
FOOTNOTES:
[79] Congress by an act of 1907 forbade campaign
contributions by corporations, in connection with Federal
elections, and in 1910 and 1911 enacted laws providing for
the publicity of expenses in connection with elections to
Congress.
[80] The Sixteenth Amendment was proclaimed in force on
February 25, 1913.
[81] See below, p. 332.
[82] See above, p. 135.
[83] United States _v._ Trans-Missouri Freight Assn., 166 U.
S. 290.