UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



5991 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



tion marked the end of the period of depression 

 following the panic of 1893; the industrial and 

 commercial expansion was phenomenal. One 

 result of this expansion was the formation of 

 great monopolistic corporations, popularly 

 called "trusts;" in April, 1899, the total capi- 

 talization of the greatest trusts was double 

 that of April, 1898. Anti-trust laws and anti- 

 imperialism were the chief planks of the Demo- 

 cratic platform; the Republicans stood on their 

 record and begged the voters to reelect Mc- 

 Kinley, thus assuring the continuance of the 

 full dinner pail. McKinley was easily re- 

 r-Ircted, but his second administration was 

 scarcely begun when he was assassinated. 

 Theodore Roosevelt, the Vice-President, who 

 was immediately sworn in as his successor, re- 

 tained McKinley's Cabinet and announced that 

 he would continue his predecessor's policies. 



Progress and Reform. It soon became appar- 

 ent that Roosevelt was unlike McKinley in 

 character and unable to adhere fully to his poli- 

 cies and methods. Even in foreign affairs, the 

 new administration showed itself inclined to 

 take short cuts and willing to make new ven- 

 tures. In 1901, in connection with the attempts 

 of Great Britain, Germany and Italy to enforce 

 claims against Venezuela, the President an- 

 nounced that the United States would not pro- 

 tect any state against punishment, provided 

 the punishment was deserved and did not take 

 the form of loss of territory. In 1905, when 

 Santo Domingo's finances were similarly in- 

 volved, the President assumed control of them 

 although'the Senate refused until 1907 to con- 

 firm the treaty under which the change was 

 made. In 1903 the isthmian canal question was 

 settled in a direct manner essentially character- 

 istic of Roosevelt (see PANAMA CANAL). 



Of the other events of this administration the 

 most important were the great anthracite coal 

 strike of 1902, \\lnch was ended through the 

 personal efforts of the President; the creation 

 of the Reclamation Service in 1902 (see IRRI- 

 GATION); the Elkins Law of 1903, which in- 

 creased the powers of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission, and the formation of the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce and Labor in 1903. The 

 result of the election of 1904 was never in 

 doubt; Roosevelt waa elected over Alton B. 

 Parker by a plurality of 2,500,000 votes and by 

 an electoral majority of nearly 200. He had 

 proved himself a popular leader, and he exerted 

 pressure, through his personal utterances, on 

 lation and other events during his term of 

 e. The Railway Rate Regulation Act and 



the Federal Pure Food Act of 1906 are instances 

 of this influence. In 1905 he was instrumental 

 in ending the Russo-Japanese War, and shortly 

 afterwards he sent a United States fleet on a 

 cruise around the world. 



The President's insistence on his policies led 

 to quarrels between him and his party leaders 

 in Congress. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon in 

 the House, with Nelson W. Aldnch and Eugene 

 Hale in the Senate, were the leaders of the con- 

 servative, or "stand-pat," Republicans, and they 

 prevented the passage of most of the legi>h- 

 tion requested by the President in the last two 

 years of his administration. He did, however, 

 raise a new national issue by calling attention 

 to the crying need for conservation of natural 

 resources, and his influence was sufficient to 

 force the Republican national convention of 

 1908 to nominate his choice for President, Wil- 

 liam Howard Taft. The Republican platform 

 endorsed the Roosevelt policies, promised a 

 revision of the tariff, postal savings banks and 

 more railway legislation. The Democrats again 

 nominated William J. Bryan, on a platform 

 which also promised tariff revision and postal 

 savings banks, besides the application of crimi- 

 nal law to anti-trust cases, the adoption of an 

 income tax and direct election of Sena; 



The Republicans won by an overwhelming 

 vote. Congress, in special session, passed tin 

 Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act (1909), which was ap- 

 proved by the President; only unimportant 

 duties were lowered, and moM of the duties on 

 important commodities were raised, a general 

 result which the country did not approve. An- 

 other incident which caused discord was tin 

 Pinchot-Hal linger controversy over the p- 

 of c< >MM -nation, resulting in serious charges 

 against Ballinger. who was Secretary of tin In- 

 terior. The growing unpopularity of the Taft 

 administration and the fractionary character of 

 the Republican majority in Congress led to an 

 insurgent movement, in which the progressive 

 Republicans unit. .1 \\ith the Democrats in 1910 

 to overthrow the old organisation of. the House 

 of Representative; they practically destroyed 

 the powers which long custom had granted to 

 the Speaker. This fight of the progressive ele- 

 ment for a voice in affairs was a forerunner of 

 the t ill elections of 1910, which gave the D 

 crats a majority in the House. A spectacular 

 feature of the campaign was Roosevelt's a< 

 participation in many states with speeches on 

 the "new nationalism." The elections not only 

 gave the Democrats a majority in the House, 

 but gave them, by combination with some of 



