TAFT 



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TAFT 



term expired he was reflected, but he resigned 

 in 1890 when President Harrison appointed him 

 Solicitor-General of the United States. 



Thus at the early age of thirty-three Taft 

 was second in command of the Federal De- 

 partment of Justice. In this position he was 

 given charge of the "Sayward case" before the 

 United States Supreme Court. This was a test 

 case brought by the Canadian government to 

 determine the authority claimed by the United 

 States over the seal fisheries in Bering Sea (see . 

 BERING SEA CONTROVERSY). Taft's brief was 

 clear on every point and convinced the court. 

 Shortly afterward he was called on to defend 

 the McKinley Tariff Act, whose constitution- 

 ality was attacked because it had been passed 

 by a quorum counted by the Speaker of the 

 House of Representatives but not voting on the 

 roll call. The Solicitor-General convinced the 

 court of the constitutionality of the law by 

 pointing out the clause of the Constitution 

 which provides that a minority in either House 

 may "compel the attendance of absent mem- 

 bers in such manner and under such penalties" 

 as it may provide ; this clause would be worth- 

 less if the returned members could prevent a 

 quorum by refusing to answer to their names. 

 In both these cases Taft's arguments won na- 

 tional attention. 



On the Federal Bench. In 1892 President 

 Harrison appointed Taft to the bench as judge 

 of the sixth circuit on the newly established 

 Court of Appeals. During the eight years in 

 which he sat on the bench, Judge Taft became 

 a national figure, particularly for his decisions 

 regarding railroads and organized labor. These 

 decisions were noteworthy for the open-minded- 

 ness with which he dealt justice both to capital 

 and to labor. Perhaps the most important 

 case which Judge Taft decided was one involv- 

 ing the Addyston Pipe & Steel Co. This case 

 was a suit by the Federal government to break 

 up a monopoly in cast-iron pipe. In his 

 opinion Judge Taft reviewed the history of this 

 typical trust, and showed that it was in fact a 

 combination which aimed at and had succeeded 

 in placing restraints on the trade in cast-iron 

 pipe. The decision was all the more important 

 because the case involved the three principal 

 illegal features restraint of trade in interstate 

 commerce, conspiracy and .fraud and also be- 

 cause it had been preceded by a number of 

 cases in which the government had been de- 

 feated. Taft's opinion was so complete that 

 the United States Supreme Court, when it re- 

 fused to set aside the judgment, incorporated 



it bodily in the decree of affirmation. In 1894 

 Judge Taft granted an injunction against one 

 F. W. Phelan, because the latter, as the agent 

 of Eugene Debs, was endeavoring to tie up 

 railroad traffic, and about the same time he 

 delivered a decision declaring the secondary 

 boycott illegal. 



Governor of the Philippine Islands. In 1900, 

 at the close of the Filipino insurrection, Presi- 

 dent McKinley appointed a civil commission, 

 partly to investigate conditions and partly to 

 govern the islands. Of this commission Judge 



WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT 

 His ambition was to become a useful member 

 of the Supreme Court, but he became President of 

 the United States, almost against his will. 



Taft, against his desires, was made chairman. 

 With the four other members he made a tour 

 of the islands to learn their needs at first hand. 

 As a result of this investigation civil govern- 

 ment was restored on July 4, 1901, and Judge 

 Taft became the first civil governor. During 

 the four years for which he held this office he 

 not only carried out the work he was sent to 

 do, but made himself popular both among the 

 natives and the American residents, and won a 

 high reputation as a colonial administrator. 

 After order was restored, Governor Taft intro- 

 duced, one by one, minor civil courts in various 

 parts of the island, a new system of land rec- 

 ords, records of vital and social statistics, sani- 

 tary regulations, common schools, with Ameri- 

 cans as teachers, and many other improve- 

 ments. One of the greatest achievements of 

 his administration was the successful negotia- 

 tion with . Pope Leo XIII for the purchase of 

 the friars' lands, vast tracts owned by the four 

 Roman Catholic missionary Orders established 



