Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1908-06-24

. ridcut- m hi- life. ' mau named Hose i wa- then mnning hlackmaillng pa l per iu Cincinnati. Ilc had the repuia ! ton of being % dangerous man llc : had been a prize fighter, and vas us- unlly accompanied by gang of rough~ | ready tu assault any whom hc wanted punished. Alphonso Taft had been | tir unsurrc-sful candidate for govern or ai that election, and Roses paper slnudcrouslv a<.alcd him. For oncc young Taft forgo, his judicial tcmpcra mcut and legal training. and instead of | setting the law uu the harkmailer he | marched down to his office and gave Rose terrific thrashing. When Rose | begged for mercy Taft said:
 "if you ll agree to leave town l II | let up. I'Il come down here again to- night. and if you ar" still here then ! this thing i. only a start.
 Rose was glad to get on on such terms. lie quit Cincinnati that nigdt and his paper never appeared again. | Young Taft had hnd his first spectacu. | lar fight. and it was in behalf of | somebody else.
 lt |, not the purpose of this little ! sketch to attempt a detailed biography of Mr. Tnfi. 'It merely seeks, by a dis. cus.ion of a few of the more import ant events of his life to show what ] manner uf man he is. They reveal him a~ student of application and ability; a man with an abiding sense of jus ! ticr, slow to wrath, but terrible in anger; courageous, aggrcssivcly honest and straightforward; rcadicr to take up anothrr's cause than his own. This | k a foundation on which experience may build very largely. and that i' what it has done for Taft.
 The Call to Public office.
 He was hardly out of his boyhood when hc was called to public office. and i'm most of the years since then hc has devoted himself to the public service First he was assistant prosecuting at' torncy of Hamilton County, and help ed to drive ont the old Campbell ring whose influence long had dominated the Cincinnati court house. In 1881 he became collector of internal revenue for the first Ohio district. and demon ~tratrd the same ability in business
 thn, he had shown in the law. yeni later he resigned that office and wen back tn inc practice of law. with hl' fathers old partner. II. r. Floyd. h ] INNA If nffNiNF lNNlNNtlUA 'NNHNf
 Iicitor. Two years later Governor For akor appointed him Judge of the Su
 prrior Court. io succeed .ludson liar
 mon who had resigned to enter Prrsi dent Cleveland cabinet.
 In lss6 Judge Taft married Mis-
 Helen Heron. daughter of Hon. .iohi W. Heron, of Cincinnati. They have three children. Robert Alphonso, stu dent at Yale. Helen, a student at Bryr Mawr. and Charles Phelps, 2d, who at tends the public schools in Washington
 His Judicial Career Begun.
 His appointment as Judge of the Su pcrior Cour, was the beginning of tho iudicial career which was Taft's ambi tion. and for which he was so emin ently fitted. He made such n record as a judge that at the close of his ap pointed term he was triumphantly elected for another term. But already he had attracted attention outside his stato and he had served but two years of the five years for which he had been elected when President Harrison asked him to take the difficult post of Soli citor General of the United States This was an office of the utmost nm portancc, involving not only wid, learning and tremendous applica ton. but the power of clear and force
 ful presentation of argument. Two of the eases which he conducted as soli
 citor general involved questions of vital importance to the entire country The first grew out of the seal fisheries controversy with Great Britain. Mir Taft won against such eminent counsel as Joseph II. Choate who K widely recognized as leader of the American
 bar. The other was a tariff case in which the law was attacked on th, ground that Speaker Reed had counted n quorum when the bill passed the
 House. That, too, he won. li was dur
 ing his term as solicitor general that Mir. Taft met Theodore Roosevelt, then civil service commissioner, and began the friendship which has continued and
 grown ever since and which mas haC such far-reaching influence upon the lives of both men.
 On the Federal Bench.
 MT. Tafts record as solicitor general so clearly proved his fitness for the bench that aftcr three years in Wash
 ingtOn he was sent back to Ohio as
 judge of the Sixth Federal Circuit. q
 post generally recognized as a prclim
 mary step to the Supreme Court, wnicl
 was then the goal of his ambition.
 It was during his seven years on th,
 federal bench that Mr. Taft's qualitie'
 as judge became known throughout the country. He was called upon thcr
 to decide some of the most important eases that have ever been tried in th, federal courts, in the conduct of whic, he established an enviabc reputation for learning. courage and fairness three essential attributes of grca lurist. His power of application anC his ability to turn off enormous masse of work received ample demonstration during this time. II was in this pcrio, , of his service that he rendered th' labor decisions which have made hin 5 famous as an upright and fcarlcs judge. In his treatment of both labo [ and capital ne showed that here was
 judge who knew no distinction of par