The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-03

that station in the entire history of
 the government. Furthermore. there
 is only one other instance where fath-
 CT and son have graced the ofncial
 family of the Presidents of the United States. Paul Morton. Roosevelts
 Secretary of the Navy for time. Is
 the son of J. Sterling Morton. who
 was Clevelands Secretary of Agricul- lure. MT. Taft also holds the distinc- ton of being the only former Cabi-
 net officer whose father held two cab
 inet positions Judge Alphonso Taft
 was first Secretary of War. and later Attorney General.
 In the early days of the republic the State Department was the favorite training school of Presidents. Six of the fifteen Presidents who served dur ing the ante-bellum period had been Secretary of State before reaching the Presidential station. A number of others who were candidates for the presidency had also been Secretary of State. But since the civil war no pfemier of the Cabinet has ever reach cd the position. of President. When there Is no Vice President. the Secre- tary of State Is the heir apparent by succession, but such a situation has never yet arisen. Perhaps the nearest approach to 1t was when President Roosevelt came within an ace of los- ing his life in the Pittsfield trolly &C., cident.
 The Treasury Department has never been presided over by a President in prospect. A. number of its Secretaries have courtei the place. but they have lost out. notably John Sherman and Leslie Shaw. The War Department has given three Presidents-Monroe Grant and Taft. Thus endeth the chapter of Cabinet ofhcers who have graduated into the presidency, al- though many of the incumbents have heard the presidential bee a-buzzing.
 MT. Taft has had no legislative ex- perience. never having been a member Of the Senate or House. There was but single President before the civil war who had not seen service in the Continental Congress or the United states Congress. That single excep- ton was Zachary Taylor, the old Rough and Ready of the Mexican war. Since the civil was there have been put four Presidents who have not seen Cleveland and Roosevelt. The latter was Vice President and presided over the senate for short while. If he pc included among those who have nad Legislative experience, only five of the Presidents have not seen ser vice Tn congress. Mir. Taft being among that number At the same time Taft can go all his predecessors one better because ne Is the only jurist who ever reached the presidency.
 Mr. Taft's first public office soon aiter his return from college. was mat or assistant prosecutor of Hamil- ton county, Ohio. That position n sald Judge Taft. in recent converse ton with a friend twas a snJend,a thing for me. It gave me roueh- anu ., tumble experience in the law at |! .ne tlme or life when I was ready for f.o.. was taught the necessity of to % ana now to get them. I learned so search for truth and. to value evJ- aence. The training I then rec.,,,aa mas been of the highest fmports noa .a me ever since. Truth-that is n,ho. oo tne world needs all the tfmen
 NO fresident of the United States sor ., had greater capacity for eats o,ns 10 the bottom of things than Mr at No matter how strenuons tha oay Work behind him. no matter how the questions presented in court martial findings, Taft nevar na, mitted final action on them 'nnIess PJ,. himself had mastered the intricac cies on each individual case. General Bell Cniet or Stan. learned this early in his oHlcial relations with the then Sacra- tary or War. T think If you will read the conclusion contained in the Judee Advocates memorandum" he once said the papers in court martial case to the Secretary, you will not need to go farther into the details.
 NO. was the reply, T prefer to go through court martial cases myself" He came across the Judge Advocates It recommended elem ency. But he kept on. He went into every detail of the trial. Suddenly he strengthened up in anger. Why, the fellow lied" he shouted; "1ied out right The sentence should be car ried out" And it was There was no for clemency q can't take another mans judgment in judi cial matters" Secretary Taft explained, semi -apologetically. I've never done that sort of thing in my life"
 His love of justice,''- said Judge L. Dickson, of Cincinnati, who was one of his classmates. was made manifest in the most striking man. ner when 1t came to the election of class orator. Will Taft was elected to that honor by a majority of just a few votes. In some manner he learned that an irregularity was involved. It seems that more votes were cast at the election in question than there were voters present in the room, As soon as the situation came to Taft's atten ton, he called another meeting of the class. In a brief address he resigned the post of honor to which he had been elected. His sense of justice and fair play would not permit him to ac. cept it in the manner in which 1t had come to him. But we made 1t difficult for him to get out of 1t, Ills splendid performance made a deep impression on his classmates. We held another election and conferred the honor on him unanimously"
 A close friend of MT. Taft's states 1t as his belief that the new President will not make a record for witty say ings during his term as President. He is appraised as humorous rather than witty. It Is said that during all his he did not make single "come back" at any one which had the snap of wit about it. If bluntness Grover Cleveland. suav- ity William Mckinley. and strenuous ity Theodore Roosevelt, bubbling hu- nor without the sting of wit will be characteristic of Taft.
 Mir, Taft Is the second man who was the son of jurist to reach the high station of President John Tyler was the other. The men who have given sons to the Presidency have largely dents who were sons of clergymen- Arthur and Cleveland-served the one after the other. Three of the Presi- dents had merchants for their fathers -Buchanan, Hayes and Roosevelt. Only two of the Presidents had an ancestry which hailed from elsewhere than the British Isles. They were Van Buren and Roosevelt-both of Dutch extraction. MT. Taft adds another to the list of those who have come down