perhaps, nevertheless appeared to react from his type and take on the ideals and traits of the pioneer. In many other ways their careers were strangely at variance with their temperaments, for it was destined apparently that McKinley, a man of peace and compromise, should be the nation's executive in time of war; while Roosevelt, with ideals quite opposed, should control in times of peace. It doubtless is fortunate that such was the case; the cautious nature of the former served as a restraint upon rash and unwise spirits; while the radical and impetuous disposition of the latter drove him to exert his energies against those social abuses that arise and develop in times of greatest peace and prosperity.

President McKinley was not a man of genius, yet the very adaptability of his nature permitted him to attain his point when a more inflexible personality would have failed. This quality, too, explains the remarkable development he apparently experiapparently experienced after he became the nation's executive. During the earlier years of his career, his affiliations and his record indicate that his horizon was that of the average American politician, but the stress of great events and great necessities appeared to broaden and deepen him, until the politician became transformed into the statesman. Yet in spite of this he owed much to his friends, and it is no secret that had it not been for the financial aid and personal efforts of one in particular, Mark Hanna, he

might never have attained the Presidency, and it may be that the price paid was a shutting of his eyes to certain tendencies just then revealing themselves in the social and economic fabric of the state. The debts made in 1896 are drawing interest to this day. The social conflict that was imminent at that time was aborted by the Dingley Law, the war with Spain, but above all by the yielding of a free hand to industrial forces and interests that have since assumed a magnitude that almost overshadows the state itself. These were the problems and conditions McKinley's successor had to struggle with during the seven years of his presidency.

Mr. Roosevelt was sworn in at Buffalo, September 14. After taking the oath of office he turned to the members of the Cabinet who stood around him, and stated his policy in the following words: "In this hour of national bereavement, I wish to state that it shall be my intention and endeavor to continue, absolutely unbroken, the policy of President McKinley, for the peace and prosperity of our beloved country." He then requested that each of his predecessor's official advisors retain his place as his own. These words and this act did much towards restoring the confidence of those who were at first dismayed by the sudden elevation of what they conceived to be a rash young man. His initial act thus was instrumental in gaining for him the good will of many who had previously opposed him. He knew very

well that by electing Mr. McKinley the people had approved his policies, and therefore to institute a policy of his own would be a virtual opposing of his own will to that of the public. That Mr. Roosevelt endeavored to do this exceedingly difficult thing during the three years that followed there is no doubt; that he failed in a measure to keep his pledge consistently was doubtless not due to intention, but to temperament and to the stress of unforseen conditions.

The situation in which he found himself was little less exacting than that which confronted President McKinley at the outbreak of the war with Spain. The transformation that had taken place in the external relations of the nation found their reflection in its internal affairs, and Mr. Roosevelt came into office when these were in a state of flux and transition. Those who thought that he would make mistakes that would carry with them fatal consequences seemed to ignore the fact that he was one of very few Presidents of the United States who was adequately prepared for the position to which he had been so suddenly called. The majority of his predecessors had either been political leaders or soldiers. If these were prerequisites, he possessed both, and in addition he possessed a scholar's knowledge of the history of his country and of the principles that governed its development. He had He had followed with interest the movements that had marked the expansion of the nation, and had written with great

enthusiasm and scholarship regarding that tremendous enterprise that he calls so appositely" the winning of the West." The result of these studies was a breadth of vision and a knowledge of past affairs that tended to check the vagaries of a disposition that was far less erratic and impulsive than the public thought. In addition in President McKinley's cabinet were some able men, and in one of them, Secretary Hay, he found a mentor whose advice was always sane and in the highest sense patriotic.

It was a time that demanded sanity and patriotism, and most of all, courage-not the courage that leads wild charges up bullet-swept hills, but the kind that could meet the subtle and cunning attacks of vicious elements, great and small, that prey upon organized society. The tremendous upheaval produced by the war with Spain and its aftermath, brought as has been indicated an era of remarkable prosperity. Much of this was legitimate and wholesome, but along with it came an expansion of credit that was a god-send to every speculative spirit. Fraudulent enterprises were exploited in great numbers; corporations were capitalized beyond their earning power; and, in addition, the tremendous growth of pools and combines, so strong as to seem beyond the constraints of the law, and acting at times in positive defiance of it, menaced more and more the welfare of the masses of the people.

President Roosevelt in his first pro

nouncement to Congress on the opening of the Fifty-seventh Congress brought these facts sharply before the people of the United States. After paying a tribute to President McKinley and calling upon Congress to pass legislation necessary to suppress anarchism and to prevent a repetition of what he termed "a crime against the human race," he proceeded to the topic he conceived to be the transcendent issue before the American people that of corporations and trusts. He called attention to the fact that such prosperity as the nation was enjoying could not come from man's effort, unaided by the bounty of nature, nor would it be maintained if the policy of gain at another's cost were continued. He paid a tribute to the work of captains of industry who opened up new territories for homemakers, and discovered new methods for rendering life more and more beautiful. He warned against unwise attacks on corporate interests, but went on to say that there was a conviction in the minds of people that the great corporations known as trusts were in certain of their tendencies hurtful to the general welfare. He asserted that this feeling was not based upon prejudice, but upon the conviction that some sort of control was necessary. This was not to be obtained by abrogating property rights, but by insisting that these organizations do not work an injury to the people and to their institutions. President Roosevelt in this message recommended two methods of obtain

ing this end-publicity of corporate activities and some form of national control over corporations doing an interstate business.

President McKinley's messages had contained statements similar to the one quoted, but they were generally appended to an enthusiastic account of the nation's great prosperity. They were fruitless appeals, however, for Congress took little notice of them if results are to be considered. Indeed no additional legislation was needed, for the Sherman act was still on the statute books, and if it had been applied would have proved sufficiently drastic to discourage the most enthusiastic" high financier." But it was not applied, and the trust promoters knew that it was not going to be. The late President in their terms was "safe and sane." With respect to his successor they were either very voluble or very silent, and the whole country waited to see whether the President would carry the threats contained in his messages and his speeches into effect. They must now determine whether Roosevelt's words were to be supported by deeds. The test was not long in coming. The Attorney-General in his Cabinet, Mr. Philander C. Knox, was a man who had spent his life as an attorney in corporation cases, and was thereby thoroughly prepared to deal with the problem from the point of view of wide experience. A suit was instituted against the beef trust in May 1902, and an injunction was granted May 20 by Judge Grosscup of the