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Mr. Frank Waskey, his wife, child, and nurse, at Flat Creek, near Nome, Alaska. He will present to Congress the claims of the mining men of the Territory, being himself an active miner

THE

FEBRUARY, 1907

VOLUME XIII

NUMBER 4

E

The March of Events

VERY man of a right and high mind, to whatever party he belong, ought to take an instant interest even in the preliminary discussion of possible nominees for the Presidency; for a Presidential campaign ought to show the highest qualities of a free people, and it is of the. first importance that the character of the nominees and the conduct of the campaign be clean and clear-cut.

The first move of some of the Republican campaigners is to cry down the President and to seek the support of delegates from the South -delegates of ebony, with gold. This is so pure and high and gentle a method that it will make selfish joy at Lincoln, Neb. If, in

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lican" mean less outside of a few states such as Texas and Vermont than they have meant for many years. No campaign after Mr. Roosevelt's administration can be conducted on the same issues as before-that is quite certain. We have moved away from the old battlegrounds.

If the Republican managers in Congress be sincere in their wish for a clean campaign, they' will pass the bill prohibiting the receiving of campaign funds from corporations. This may turn out to be a more important issue than they seem now to think it.

MR. TAFT AND THE PRESIDENCY

R. TAFT is clearly the best man that

addition to this initial mistake, the Republican M the Republicans could nominate for the

plan-makers select a candidate who is identified with the "persecuted" corporations and will stand pat for a changeless tariff, then Mr. Bryan's day of triumph may yet come. There may be other fatal qualities that some of the Republican candidates now at work may have, but these are enough.

In the Democratic camp, there is not much early activity. Perhaps the party has made up its mind or resigned itself to Mr. Bryan. If the friends of other possible candidates are bestirring themselves, they are working very quietly. The people are not in favor of such radical measures as Mr. Bryan speaks for, but they would rather have him, believing that he would not be as radical as his talk is, than to go backward in the movement to make corporations obey the law. For this is the subject now in men's minds and not the oldtime party issues. "Democrat" and "Repub

Presidency. He has given practically his whole life to the public service as a judge and as an executive. His legal training and his judicial experience have given him solidity and safety of mind. His creative work in the Philippines -for that was a great achievement of which time will give us an increasing appreciationand his executive work in the Cabinet have been of the very highest order. Perhaps there is not a man in the country who has had a better training for the Presidency.

His independence of mind is a good measure of the man. He has always been a Republican, but he has never been the slave nor the follower of any boss. His rebuke to the low boss rulers of Ohio ought to be a reason for the highest commendation-if the party wishes to have a President who stands for its best traditions and its best aspirations.

Copyright, 1997, by Doubleday, Page & Company. All rights reserved.

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Copyright, 1906, by Vander Weyde, New York MR. WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, AT THE AGE OF SEVENTY "A writer who has kept his pen true to the decency and the dignity that underlie American life"

[See "The March of Events," page 8493)

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MR. JAMES MCCREA, PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD His life-long training has qualified him to carry on the policies of the late president, Mr. A. J. Cassatt

[See "The March of Events," page 8487]

The silly talk that fills some of the newspapers -that Mr. Taft is the "Administration candidate" and is, therefore, at a disadvantagewhat does that mean? The "Administration" received more votes than were ever before cast for a Republican candidate. Is it a disadvantage, then, to have an "Administration candidate?" Of course, the meaning of the phrase in the mouths of the "old guard" is-that Mr. Taft is Mr. Roosevelt's man, or heir, or something. All this is the sheer idiocy of politics. Mr. Roosevelt is one man, Mr. Taft is another man. They are both vigorous personalities. They have much in common. Mr. Taft, as a member of Mr. Roosevelt's Cabinet, is as loyal to Mr. Roosevelt as Mr. Roosevelt would be loyal to Mr. Taft if their positions were reversed. But the idea of subserviency-who that knows either ever had such a thought? If Mr. Taft were President, the President would be Mr. Taft just as certainly as the President now is Mr. Roosevelt; and nobody need have a moment's doubt about that.

Mr. Taft has the advantage, too, of being known to the people-known by his public service. His personality has impressed itself on the public strongly and favorably; and he is an unselfish and patriotic man to an unusual degree. He has regarded his public duties always as his first duties. He is an admirable He is an admirable

type of the best citizenship of the Republic. And he has another quality that has played a great part in the careers of many of the most successful public men in our annals-his good nature and his sense of humor. He is as sincere as a Puritan and as jolly as a monk; and this is a combination of qualities that gives any public man a great advantage.

IS THE PRESIDENT'S INFLUENCE WANING?

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T is easy, in the false political atmosphere of Washington, to make the mistake of supposing that Mr. Roosevelt's popularity and hence his political influence are on the wane. But it is well to remember that he has never been popular with the politicians, and that the people, having confidence in his integrity and in his earnestness for a square deal, care very little about what are called his political mistakes. There is every evidence that he and his principal policies are as popular as they ever were.

True, he has lately run into squalls such as old mariners expect after a long period of smooth sailing. He had an unfortunate am

bassador to Austria, but that is an incident which was properly soon forgotten. He has promoted Mr. Cortelyou, the chairman and, therefore, the collector of the last campaign committee, to the Secretaryship of the Treasury. He has appointed the Attorney-General who prosecuted corporations to a seat on the Supreme Bench. He dismissed a battalion of the Twenty-fifth Infantry from the army. Worst of all, in the eyes of Mr. Roosevelt's political enemies, Secretary Root made an after-dinner speech in New York in which he traced the growth of the power of the Federal Government and the relative loss of power of the state governments. You may, therefore, hear and read many and solemn criticisms of the President by the campaign-smiths, in the organs of the trusts, who are trying hard to make ammunition for themselves or for candidates of their type.

Mr. Cortelyou, by the conduct of his Department, may justify his appointment to the Treasury. The President knows him better than the public knows him; but he has never revealed himself to the public as a man who would be naturally thought of for such a post.

As for Mr. Moody's appointment to be a Justice of the Supreme Court-why not? He is a lawyer of ability and of distinguished service; and he did his duty in prosecuting violators of the interstate-commerce and antitrust laws. He did his duty and nothing but his duty.

The President's dismissal of the infantry battalion and the subsequent court-martial of the officers seem, at least to the lay mind, a proper act of discipline. That it happened to be a battalion of Negro troops has nothing to do with the President's action: he would have done the same thing if they had been white troops. But it has had much to do with the criticism that has been made of their dismissal. It is not the Negro's fault, but it is our great misfortune that, whatever he do or whatever be done to him, he at once becomes "an issue" alike in every part of the Union. He is the most convenient subject that the demagogue has ever had. Politically he might be defined as the provocafion of both sentimentality and unreason in the political white man. Óbserve the comical turn of folly whereby the same President, who a few years ago was damned in one section of the country as a "negrophile," is now berated in the other section of the country as a persecutor of the

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