Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-19

he had been elected unanimously to the
place in Grants cabinet now held by the
Department of Justice, and finally into
the diplomatic service. as minister frs
| to Austria and then to Russia. His moth
| er, who was Miss Louise M. Torrev. also
came of that stanch New England stool
with whom conscience is the arbiter o.
action and duty performed the goal OF
service.
| 1t was her express command that sem
him away from her last fall when botf
knew that she was entering uDOn the las,
stage of har life He had promised the
Filipinos that he would go to Manila an6
in person formally open their assembly
| IT was to he their first concrete experience
| in elf-eovernment. and he. more thar
any other man. had made 1t possible. Il
| he should not keen his promise there was
danger that the SUSPICIOUS Filipinos would
| minute his failure to sinister motives, tC
| Indifference or altered purpose. with re-
suit vastly unfortunate to them and to us
Mr. Taft saw all that very clearly. vet ir
view of his mothers health he would
have remained at home. But she forbade
I She said his duty Law to tho people he
| had started on the path to liberty and
| although II involved what each thought
to be the final parting. she commanded
| him to go. He went. and before he could
| return his mother had passed away.
Taft's Early Life.
or course he went to Yale. His father
had been the first alumnus elected to the
corporation. and when young Taft had
completed his preparatory course at An
dover he went to New Haven for his col
lege training He did enough in athletics
to keep his 225 pounds of muscle in good
condition. but gave most of his time to
graduated Taft was its salutatorian
having finished second among 12O. He was
then not quite twenty-one.
He went back to Cincinnati and be-
ean>the study Of law in his fathers Of
flee. at the same time doing court report
ing for the newspape owned by his half
brother. Charles p. Taft. His salary at
first was Sc a week. He did his work
so WELL however. that Murat Halstead
editor Of the Cincinnati Commercial Ga
zette,. employed him to work for that pa
per- at the increased salary of. $25 a
week.
While he was doing this he was keep
ing up his studies. taking the course at
the Cincinnati Law School. from which
he was graduated in 1890. dividing first
honors with another student and being
admitted to the lar soon afterward.
Not a Mollycoddle.
That fall there occurred one Of the
most characteristic incidents in his life
man was then running a Matchmaking
paper in Cincinnati who had the reputa-
ton of being a dangerous man. He had
been a prize fighter. and was usually &C.
companied by a gang of roughs ready to
assault any whom he wanted punished
Alphonzo Taft had been the unsuccess-
fMl candidate for governor at that cleo
ton. and the paper slanderouslv assailed
him. For once young Taft forgot his
judicial temperament and legal training.
and instead of setting the law on the
blackmailer he marched down to his Of
fee and gave the publisher terrific
thrashing. When the blackmailer begged
for mercy Taft said:
'If You'll agree to leave town I'll let
up. I'll come down here again tonight.
and If you're still here then this thing
is only a start"
The man was glad to get off on such
terms. He quit Cincinnati that night and
his paper never appeared again. 80
Called to Public Office.
He was hardly out of his boyhood
when he was called to public office. and
in most of the years since then he has
devoted himself to the public serv-
ice. First he was assistant prosecuting
attorney of Hamilton county and helped
to drive out the old Campbell ring. whose
influence long had dominated the Gin
cinnati courthouse. In 1881 he became a
collector Of internal revenue for the first
Ohio district. and demonstrated the same
ability in business that he had shown in
the law. A year later he resigned that
Office and went back to the practice of
law, with his fathers old partner. H. p.
ty solicitor. Two years later Gov. Foraker
appointed him Judge of the superior court.
to succeed Judson Harmon. who resigned
to enter President Cleveland's cabinet.
In 1886 Judge Taft married Miss Helen
Heron. daughter of John w. Heron of
Cincinnati They have three children.
Robert Alphonso. student at Yale:
Helen. student at Bryn Mawr. and
Charles Phelps. I'd. who attends the public
schools in Washington.
His appointment as judge of the supe-
rior court was the beginning OF the jul
dicial career which was Taft's ambition.
ted. He made such an excellent record as
judge that at the close of his appoint
ed term he was elected for another term.
Already he had attracted attention out
side his state, and he had served but two
years of the FIVE years for which he
had been elected when President Harri-
son asked him to take the difficult post
OF solicitor general. OF the United States.
Becomes Solicitor General.
Two of the cases which he conducted
as solicitor general involved questions OF
vital Importance to the entire country
The first grew out Of the seal fisheries
controversy with Great Britain. Mr.
Taft won against such eminent counsel
as Joseph H. choate. who is widely rec
ognized as q leader of the American bar
The other was a tariff case In which
the law was attacked on the ground that
Speaker Reed had counted quorum when
| the bill passed the House. That. too he
won 1t was during his term as solicitor
general that Mr.. Taft met Theodore
Roosevelt, then civil service commission
err and began the friendship which has
continued ever since.
Mr.. Taft's record AS solicitor general
proved his fitness for the bench. and
| sitter three years in Washington he was
sent back to Ohio as judge of the sixth
| federal circuit.
Taft's Labor DECISIONS
| IT was during his seven years on the
federal bench that Mr.. Taft became
known throughout the country. He was
called upon then to decide some of the
most important cases that have been
tried in the federal courts. in the con-
duct of which he established an enviable
reputation. His power of application and
] his ability to turn off enormous masses
of work also received ample demonstra-
ton during this time. 1t was in this
period Of his service that he rendered