TAFT 



5681 



TAFT 



in the islands. In order to complete these ne- 

 gotiations, Governor Taft made a successful 

 trip to Rome. 



In the Cabinet. In 1903, in the midst of his 

 work in the Philippines, Governor Taft was 

 offered a place on the Supreme Court of the 

 United States, a place he much desired. His 

 reply to President Roosevelt reveals the heavy 

 responsibility which rested on him, and by in- 

 ference, shows the vast influence he had won in 

 the islands among the natives. It was as fol- 

 lows: 



Great honor deeply appreciated, but must de- 

 cline. Situation here most critical from econom- 

 ical standpoint. Change proposed would create 

 much disappointment and lack of confidence 

 among people. 



A year later, however, he accepted the Secre- 

 taryship of War in President Roosevelt's Cabi- 

 net. Great progress had been made in the 

 islands in the year, so that the change was less 

 hazardous. As the islands, too, were under the 

 direction of the Secretary of War, Taft's ex- 

 perience proved most valuable. Far from, re- 

 stricting his activities to office work, his new 

 position widened his range. He was soon rec- 

 ognized as the spokesman of the administra- 

 tion, and represented it on many occasions. In 

 1906 he served temporarily as Governor of 

 Cuba, after the intervention of the United 

 States in the affairs of that infant republic. 

 A year later he visited the Panama Canal Zone, 

 and established American government there. 



In the same year he made a trip around the 

 world, primarily for the purpose of attending 

 the opening session of the Philippine Legisla- 

 tive Assembly. He also visited Japan and 

 China, and diplomatically disposed of several 

 problems which had caused complications in 

 the relations of the United States with those 

 countries. 



Candidate for President. It was about this 

 time that President Roosevelt let it become 

 known that he favored the nomination of Taft 

 in 1908 as the Republican candidate for Presi- 

 dent, and in the months immediately preceding 

 the national convention the President's influ- 

 ence was ardently thrown in favor of his Secre- 

 tary of War. In a public statement Taft had 

 previously said: 



* * * my ambition is not political ; I am 

 not seeking the Presidential nomination ; I do not 

 expect to be the Republican candidate. 



Taft's own popularity, added to President 

 Roosevelt's influence, easily gave him the nomi- 

 nation, by a vote of 702 out of 980 delegates on 

 the first ballot. His running mate was James S. 

 Sherman of New York, a well-known member 

 of the House of Representatives. The Demo- 

 cratic candidate was William J. Bryan, already 

 twice defeated. The campaign was not very 

 exciting, and Taft and Sherman were elected 

 (November, 1908) by 321 electoral votes to 162 

 votes for Bryan and John W. Kern. The popu- 

 lar vote was 7,679,006 for Taft to 6,409,106 for 

 Bryan. 



The Administration of William Howard Taft 



The Payne-Aldrich Tariff Law. During the 

 campaign and the months immediately follow- 

 ing his election, President Taft was generally 

 believed to be progressive. The fact that he 

 had President Roosevelt's support was as- 

 sumed as evidence that the Taft administration 

 would proceed along the same lines of policy as 

 had its predecessor. But such did not prove to 

 be the case. After his inauguration President 

 Taft at once called Congress in special session 

 to revise the tariff. The popular sentiment was 

 unquestionably in favor of "revision down- 

 ward," but the Payne-Aldrich law as finally 

 passed made few important reductions and a 

 considerable number of increases in duties. 

 Even the President admitted that the law was 

 too strongly protectionist, and that it did not 

 comply with the spirit of the Republican plat- 

 form upon which he had been elected. He ap- 

 proved it, nevertheless. 

 356 



Important Legislation. In view of its amaz- 

 ing political results, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff 

 is perhaps the outstanding legislative feature of 

 the administration. The administration should 

 be judged, on the contrary, at least partly on 

 the constructive measures passed. These in- 

 cluded the establishment of the postal savings 

 bank system (1910) and the parcel post (1912), 

 the organization of a Commerce Court and the 

 enlargement of the powers of the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission (1910) ; acts requiring 

 publicity for campaign contributions for Fed- 

 eral elections; and acts providing civil govern- 

 ment for Alaska and creating the Department 

 of Labor. In 1912 Congress passed an act ex- 

 empting American-owned ships from the pay- 

 ment of tolls for passage through the Panama 

 Canal. This law caused foreign complications, 

 and the exemption clause was repealed in 1914. 

 Another interesting bill, which was vetoed by 



