leader, and when the Republican the Republican national convention met in Chicago, June 21, President Roosevelt was nominated unanimously on the roll call of the States. The nomination for Vice-President was tendered to Charles W. Fairbanks, of Indiana, by acclamation. the delegates were disinclined to nominate Mr. Bryan for the third time, although the convention was still sufficiently under the spell of his personality to eliminate a sound money clause that had been inserted by the conservatives. The theory of the Democrats, apparently, was to endeavor to capture the conservative elements of both parties who were displeased with the radicalism of Mr. Bryan and President Roosevelt. The Democratic party, however, was not only divided, but in desperate straits for а standard-bearer. A movement was instituted to nominate Mr. Cleveland for a third term, but antagonism of the Bryan wing of the party and the refusal, finally, of Mr. Cleveland to consider such a proposal, forced its abandonment. The choice then lay between Judge Alton B. Parker, chief justice of the New York Court of Appeals, and William R. Hearst, proprietor of the New York Journal and other papers of In its platform the Republican party reiterated its adherence to the gold standard; the policy in the Philippines was commended; the inauguration of the Panama Canal was referred to as being due to the Republican party; the protective tariff was again upheld, but a plank in favor of reciprocity was included; ship subsidies, a stronger navy, exclusion of the Chinese, enforcement of the Civil Civil Service Law, and the encouragement of international arbitration were all favored, while disfranchisenegro ment in the South and combinations of capital and of labor were disapproved. The platform ended with an enthusiastic eulogy of President Roosevelt, closing with the following the so-called "yellow variety." The words: former was comparatively unknown, the delegates not even being aware of his position on the money question until after his nomination, while the latter was only too well known as an agitator. Judge Parker was nominated on the first ballot, receiving 658 votes out of 1,006, the minority giv "He has held firmly to the fundamental American doctrine that all men must obey the law; that there must be no distinction between the rich and the poor, between strong and weak; but that justice and equal protection under the law must be secured to every citizen without regard to race, creed or condition. His administration has been throughout vigorous and honorable, high-minded and patriotic. We commend it without reservation to the considerate judg- ing a vote of 178 to Mr. Hearst. The ment of the American people." The Democratic national convention was held in St. Louis on July 6, and lasted for three days. It was evident from the very beginning that nomination for Vice-President was tendered to ex-Senator Henry G. Davis, a retired capitalist of West Virginia. Just after the announcement of his nomination, a telegram from Judge Parker was read announcing his adherence to the gold standard. This produced a sensation, yet the writer of it had carefully selected the wording, and the time for its presentation, and the result was the one anticipated. After a heated discussion, the following resolution was passed by a vote of 798 to 184, and telegraphed to Judge Parker: "The platform adopted by this convention is silent on the question of the monetary standard because it is not regarded by us as a possible issue in this campaign, and only campaign issues were mentioned in the platform; therefore there is nothing in the views expressed by you which would preclude a man from accepting a nomination on said platform." The tariff, the trusts, and imperialism were the main issues in the platform of the Democratic party. It also declared for the enactment of laws regulating the relations of labor and capital; favored inland waterways and the reclamation of arid lands, the election of Senators by popular vote, and the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine; ship subsidies were condemned, as was polygamy; and in its close paid its respects to the Republican administration in the following terms: "The existing Republican administration has been spasmodic, erratic, sensational, spectacular and arbitrary. It has made itself a satire upon the Congress, the courts, and upon the settled practices and usages of national and international law." Four other parties held conventions and nominated candidates: the Populists nominating Thomas E. Watson, of Georgia, and Thomas H. Tibbles, of Nebraska; the Prohibitionists nominating Rev. Silas C. Swallow, of Pennsylvania, and George W. Carroll, of Texas; the Social Democrats nominating Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, and Benjamin Hanford, of New York; and the Socialist Labor party nominating Charles H. Corrigan, of New York, and William W. Cox, of Illinois. The campaign, like the one of 1900, seemed to inspire little interest until the date of the election drew near. It was, however, stirred up by two announcements; one by Thomas Lawmidst of his spectacular fight against son, who was at that time in the the Standard Oil group and the the financial rottenness of the great insurance companies. In this address to the people, he stated that a vote for Judge Parker was a vote for Wall street and the corporate in terests that centered there. In contrast with this was the statement made by the Democratic candidate himself a few days before the balloting to the effect that the Republican party, through Mr. George B. Cortelyou, had been soliciting contributions from these very corporations, thereby pledging the party to enact no legislation in opposition to the same. The President denounced this accusation as "Unqualifiedly and atrociously false, if elected I shall go into the presidency unhampered by any pledge, promise or under standing of any kind, sort or description, save my promise, made openly to the American people, that so far as in my power lies, I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more." That there were grounds for Judge Parker's charges, was fairly well established in the insurance investigations that took place in the succeeding year, but that the statement of the President regarding himself was true in every respect no one at the time or afterward had any doubt. The result of the voting was an overwhelming testimonial to his popularity. Mr. Roosevelt received a poular vote of 7,621,985, with an electoral vote of 336; that of Judge Parker being 5,098,225, his electoral vote being 140. The popular vote of Roosevelt thus exceeded that of Mc Kinley in 1900 by 415,308; that of Parker falling short of Bryan's in 1900 by 1,276,172.* This astounding victory was more than a mere expression of admiration for a popular idol; it was in addition the ratification of certain progressive policies that he advocated, which the reactionary forces were fighting with all their might. With this election a new era was instituted in the national life, and in his forthcoming administration President Roosevelt kept his promised word to give every man, as far as was in his power, "a square deal." *The entire vote cast was 13,544,705. The following votes were counted for the candidates of the minor parties: Watson, 114,106; Swallow, 258,039; Debs, 397,208; Corrigan, 32,516. A large Republican majority was also returned to Congress. The Cabinet-The influence of Secretary Hay-The struggle with the trusts Acts of the Fiftyninth Congress - Amendment of the Interstate Commerce Law - The Pure Food Law - The Chicago stock-yards and the Beef Inspection Law - The conference of governors - Conditions in Porto Rico and Cuba · - The statehood bill Oklahoma admitted Booker T. Washington and the Brownsville affair - Venezuela and the foreign powers-An era of catastrophes San Francisco earthquake - The voyage of the American The currency bill-The campaign of 1908 and the election of William H. Taft. Immediately after his inauguration President Roosevelt sent to the Senate for confirmation the names of those selected as his official advisors. These were: Secretary of State, John Hay, of the District of VOL. X-17 fleet Columbia; Secretary of the Treasury, Leslie M. Shaw, of Iowa; Secretary of War, William H. Taft, of Ohio; Secretary of the Navy, Paul Morton, of Illinois; Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, of Missouri; Postmaster-General, Robert J. Wynne, of Pennsylvania; Attorney-General, William H. Moody, of Massachusetts; Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, of Iowa; Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Victor H. Metcalf, of California. During the course of the administration the following changes occurred in the Cabinet, owing to resignation or death: Secretary Hay was succeeded by Elihu Root, of New York; Secretary Paul Morton by Charles J. Bonaparte, of Maryland; Postmaster-General Wynne was succeeded by George B. Cortelyou, and AttorneyGeneral Moody by Philander C. Knox. By the death in the office of Secretary Hay a vacancy was made that was almost impossible to fill. He had He had been the friend and counsellor of McKinley, during the trying days of the war with Spain, and during the equally trying time that immediately followed. These services continued when the death of McKinley placed Roosevelt in the executive office. the executive office. During Secretary Hay's régime the United States gained some of its most notable diplomatic victories; his hand guided the delicate negotiations with the powers that led up to the treaty of Paris; to him was due the 66 open door policy " in China, and the rational settlement of the Boxer difficulties; the Hay-Pauncefote treaty that gave the United States a free hand in the construction of the Panama Canal; and finally, to him more than to anyone else is due the adoption of arbitration methods in the settlement of national disputes that have become crystallized in the conventions established by The Hague. In fact, Secretary Hay may be considered the founder of the new diplomacy of the United States of America. Its The twentieth century marked the entrance of the United States into the family of world powers. early years had been concerned with the conquering of the wilderness in preparation for the building of a great nation. The movement toward national coherence, national coherence, however, was checked by the Civil War and delayed still more by the reconstruction policies. Nevertheless the wounds gradually healed; the North expanded industrially in a marvelous way, and the South applied itself heroically to the work of rebuilding its shattered institutions along new and unfamiliar lines. In the meanwhile the tide of emigration had for a century swept over the West, transforming wildernesses and desert lands into the dwelling places of millions of American men and women. Railways and telegraph lines brought these distant regions into that intimate touch out of which springs understanding and sym pathy. The result was that the vast expanse of the nation was more united in 1900 than it had ever been, even when the Alleghenies formed its western boundary. The solemn warning of Washington in his farewell address advising the people to avoid entangling alliances had been obeyed as consistently as conditions would permit, and in fact had been accepted as a national policy. Temptations to intervene in favor of oppressed people of the old world, as in the case of Kossuth's appeal for Hungary, had been summarily resisted, and in general the relations of the United States with other powers had been largely concerned with boundary affairs and minor matters of international polity. At the end of the war with Spain it became impressed upon the people that the nation could no longer stand apart from other nations. The exiThe exigencies of commerce and rapidity of communication had been emphasizing the need for a change of attitude, and preparing the way for the sudden transformation resulting from this war. It was therefore fortunate that at this time the chief executive should be a man who possessed in addition to a genuine enthusiasm for his native country, an international point of view. A man of action, and an advocate of war when imperative, his labors have nevertheless been for the cause of world peace. One of the final acts of President Roosevelt's first administration was the proposal made by him (September 24, 1904) for a second peace conference at at The Hague. The first one, which had been held in 1899, had been called at the instance of the Czar of Russia and had resulted in a distinct advance toward the settlement of international disputes by peaceful methods. The fact that this conference was called by the autocratic head of a great military power came with startling effect to the masses of the peoples who in accord with tradition had looked upon an opponent of war as a spineless sort of individual. Whatever may have been the motive of the Czar in calling the conference of the nations, the result was the same. The first conference concerned itself exclusively with questions of non-increase of armament and amelioration of war, the question of international arbitration being an auxiliary topic. being an auxiliary topic. The latter subject, however, assumed from the beginning of the sessions an importance not assigned to it, revealing the true work of the conference. The calling of a second conference at The Hague was considered highly desirable, yet action on President Roosevelt's proposal was deferred for reason of the war between Russia and Japan. It was deemed wise to wait until peace had been established before calling the representatives of the powers together. In addition, the nations of Latin-America had determined upon a meeting of the PanAmerican conference in 1906. These nations had not been invited to take part in the first Hague conference, and it was the feeling of President Roosevelt that their voices should be heard. This was further justification for delay. During the early months of 1905 it was clear that the position of Russia |
