New-York tribune., 1908-06-19


make known TO the restless people the entirety
friendly policy OF this country toward them III
the administration of the affairs OF the canal
zone. This he succeeded in doing, and ne aiso
took advantage of the opportunity to famiiiari@e
himself with the work on the excavations 1his
the first OF numerous foreign trips mace ps
him In the course Of his membership IN 'hs
Cabinet which have made him a power IN "orio
affairs. and which fulfilled prophecy made In
one of the reviews when he took office. that ms
influence likely to be felt far beyond 'he
limits Of his department.
In the summer Of 1905 Secretary Taft made
official visit to the Philippines In company
with "a large party of members Of Congress
one Of whom Representative Nicholas Long
worth, of Ohio. There were several women IN
the party among whom was the Presidents s
daughter Miss Alice Roosevelt now Mrs. Long
worth. While the visit ostensibly one OF
inspection, the chief purpose was TO enable sec
retary Taft to settle some of the questions 'ha'
had not been disposed OF when he was CNi'
Governor Among these were perfecting the
title to many acres of the lands which the Span
ish friars had held and the determination OF
the railway problems which had arisen under
the law granting subsidies TO aid developing
transportation facilities in the islands An
especial effect of his visit was to arouse IN the
a
United States and to encourage spirit of self
helpfulness and to smooth over all causes OF
local dissatisfaction. On the way home Secre-
tary Taft and his party visited Japan and We're
for several DAYS guests Of the government. hav-
ing a special reception by the Emperor
DECLINES SUPREME COURT SEAT AGAIN
In March, 1906. Secretary Taft again decnned
place on the bench OF the Supreme Court ol
the United States, the appointment to succeed
Justice Brown being offered to him. He felt
that he could not conscientfousiy ABANDON AT
that time the work of building the Panama
Canal. even if It might forever cut him Off
from gratifying his personal ambition. AflaHS
on the isthmus were still a subject of unfriendiy
criticism and while Secretary Taft knew That
they We're better than they had been repre-
sented he considered that his first task shoulu
be to place the work of building and adnihls-
tering the canal the basis desired by the
President and by himself, and thus most erect
ually remove all possible grounds OF COM
plant. Besides. his intense interest III the
Filipinos was in itself enough to make MN
feel In duty bound to remain in post where
he could most effectively carry out the plans
ne had promoted for their welfare
A new opportunity for Secretary Taft to ex-
hibit his peculiar talents as a 'paciher and
administrator came to him afterward In
the same year. When, in September, 1906, the
experiment of Cuban self-sovernment receiver
such q check, by the progress of the insurrection
of the Liberals who had been dereated at the
polls in the national election, that II seemed
likely to fail altogether. President HooseVell
sent his Secretary Of War to Havana on an
other of his peaceful missions AS the event
proved the only way Of effecting a settlement
between the contending factions was by settlns
Mr. Taft TO do the work which President Palma
had been elected to perform, and which his res
ignation and the failure Of the Cuban Congress
to provide successor to him had left. so to
speak to be done at large. President Roose-
Welt appointed Secretary Taft Provisional Gov
ernor backed him up with troops and marines
and left him to put the state in order. This
he did promptly. With firmness, gentleness and
Justice he set about reconciling the differences
between the discordant political elements ana
brought order out of what had been chaos He
was soon able to make way for his successor
Governor Magoon y In March and April 1907,
Secretary Taft. by the direction of the President,
visited Cuba and Panama. and stopped at Porto
Rico on his way home to look after pending
matters and to famiarize himself with existing
conditions. and on his return reported that
everything was In a satisfactory condition.
WORLD ENCIRCLING TRIP.
In September OF last year Secretary Taft set
ont on a world encirclng trip westward He
sailed from San Francisco to Japan, where he
WIS received with the highest honors He then
visited Shanghai and Hong Kong. and went to
Manila in October where he present at the
opening session of the first Filipino Assembly
and witnessed the elimination of the work he
had begun in giving the natives measure of
self f-government. He then went to Vladvostok
md A Sta TranSSiberfan
wav paying visit to Emperor Nicholas in St.
Petersburg and spending day in Berlin, and
sailing for home from Cuxhaven early in De-
cember, getting back to his desk before Christ
mas. In the course of last winter Mr. Taft
made many speeches In different parts of the
country Last May he made another trip to
Panama to arrange the settlement of questions
which had arseIf
With all his foreign Journeys for the purpose
of pouring oil on the troubled waters OF po-
ltical discomfort Mr.. Taft has not neglected the
department duties lying more nearly and natu
rally at hand. He had the difficult and dis
agreeable problems caused by the outbreak OF
negro troops at Brownsville. Tex. TO deal with
and his Judgment and actions on that occasion
were if criticised in certain quarters at the
time justified by the later Investigations. His
general administration of his department, in
deed, has been characterized equally by pa
ternal interest in the welfare of the army. labor
ing necessarily for legislation for the better
ment Of the service. ard by determination TO
have every man do his full duty, and to have
the army deserve the benefits he strove to pro-
cure for II.
Since 1905 Mr.. Taft has been president Of the
American National Red Cross. He has received
the degree of LII. D. from Yale. Harvard. the
University of Pennsylvania and Miami Uni
he rtaJt
Helen Heron, Of Cincinnati. daughter of ex-
INIT tate ATTORNEY