LA FOLLETTE 



LA FOLLETTE 



first consul, during whose period of rule In 

 Jived in retirement. 



In 1815, when Napoleon was sent to Saint 

 Helena, the monarchy was restored and Lafay- 

 ette took his place in the Chamber of Depu- 

 ties, where he was always on the side of the 

 Liberalists. The revolution of 1830 enlisted his 

 sympathy; he was one of its chief promoters 

 and acted again as commander-in-chief of tho 

 National Guard. 



Estimate of His Character. Lafayette is one 

 of the popular heroes for whom no apologies 

 are needed, for in all his long public life he 

 said and did nothing which could stain his 

 reputation. Brave, disinterested in his motives, 

 devoted to liberal ideals to the point of sacri- 

 ficing his fortune to them, he escaped even the 

 unjust reproach which so many good men have 

 been forced to bear. A.MC c. 



Consult Tower's The Marquis de Lafayette in 

 the American Revolution; Tuckerman's Life of 

 Lafayette. Women readers will be interested, 

 also, in Crawford's The Wife of Lafayette. 



LA FOLLETTE, lajol'et, ROBERT MARIOX 



(1855- ), an American political leader, one 

 of the most conspicuous figures in the group 

 of men who have fought for political progress 

 in government in the United States. In Wis- 

 consin, his native 

 state, he led the 

 fight for reform, 

 and made the 

 words "Wiscon- 

 sin" and "prog- 

 ress" almost syn- 

 onymous. In the 

 United States 

 Senate, of which 

 lie has been 

 member since 

 1905, he has been 

 of the determined ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE 



few who have re- One of the leaders in the 

 r j j. u i_ i American Congress, with 

 lused to be bound much "advanced" legislation 



by party tradi- to his credlt - 

 tions and have acted and spoken as they 

 thought besk A favorite remark of his indi- 

 cates his aims: "The great issue before the 

 American people to-day is the control of their 

 government." La Follette is a difficult man to 

 swerve from any purpose; once his mind is 

 made up, he fights for his opinions with a 

 frankness and a vigor which earned for him 

 years ago the nickname "Battling Bob." 



He was born at Primrose, Wis., and was left 

 fatherless when only a few months old. As a 

 207 



hoy and young man he bore the burden of 

 supporting his family, and at the same time 

 succeeded in earning enough to pay for his 

 own education, and he was graduated from the 

 University of Wisconsin in 1879. In the year 

 following he was admitted to the bar, at once 

 opened his own office, and before the end of 

 the year had been elected district attorney 

 o! Dane County. His success was due partly 

 to a personal canvass of his district, and partly 

 to his skill in raising a distinct issue for his 

 campaign. 



After four years as district attorney he was 

 elected to the national House of Representa- 

 tives. When he took his seat in 1885 he was 

 the 3 T oungest member of the House, but he 

 soon won recognition, not only as a speaker 

 but as a hard worker on committees. He 

 served in the House for six years, and during 

 his last term, as a member of the Committee 

 on Ways and Means, had an important part 

 in framing the McKinley Bill of 1890, a high- 

 protective tariff measure. 



At the election of 1890 La Toilette's con- 

 stituents showed their disapproval of his 

 activities by defeating him. Then for ten years 

 he practiced law at Madison, but continued 

 to take an active part in Republican politics. 

 About the year 1895 he was becoming recog- 

 nized as the leader of a group of Republicans 

 who were in revolt against existing political 

 conditions as shown in local state rule. Against 

 those controlling affairs La Follette took up the 

 fight with characteristic vigor. His ideas on 

 reform were outlined in two pamphlets written 

 in 1897 one called The Menace of the Ma- 

 chine ; the other, The Nomination of Candi- 

 'l<it<* by Australian Ballot. La Toilette's fol- 

 lowers were called the "Half-Breeds;" the 

 opposing Republicans were the "Stalwarts." 

 Finally, in 1900, the "Half-Breeds" succeeded 

 in electing La Follette as governor. 



His inauguration was the beginning of an era 

 of progress which made Wisconsin for more 

 than a decade the model for political reform. 

 Most of the "advanced" legislation was urged 

 by La Follette, and was literally forced upon 

 his opponents. Direct primaries, equalization 

 of taxation, control of railroad rates and pub- 

 licity for campaign expenditures are a few 

 examples of the reforms he achieved. He was 

 twice reelected, but at the beginning of his 

 third term, in January, 1905, he resigned the 

 governorship to become United States Senator, 

 an office to which he was reelected in 1911 and 

 in 1917. 



