The Washington herald., 1909-03-05

the period from March. 1852. until he
went 10 the Philippines. That was the
tinle OF the panic. a good deal Of North
ern capital bad been invested in Ken
tucky and Tennessee. and when the hard
times came one corporation after another
went % pieces
Held High Authority.
Almost before he realized the situation
the young judge found hc was expected
to administer the affairs of railroads.
coal mines. grocery corporations, ban&s,
tobacco plantations, stock farms and al
most every kind of enterprise in which
Northern capital could be induced 20 en-
ter. They were au in proceedings which
obliged the Federal judge 20 appoint re-
ceivers and 20 ASSUME general direction
Of the multitudinoUs business affairs.
"Do YOU know said NJ. Taft during
a. casual conversation az his house re-
cardfnr the details Of his professional
career. THAT when I went 10 the Philip
pines the thing which disturbed me most
was whether could possibly learn how
70 administer purely executive afairs2
was as-o7iShed more than anybody else
when ] discovered that the process ~
r--u-fDe a r-vernueHt was exactly Ike
that Of conducting a big corporation
E There were hundreds and thousands oi
new situations 70 be met but the same
! rc.,,~s in h,sssnoss life I found that
executive experience had come 20 me
while 7 was on the bench. owing 70 the
hard times. II it had been prosperous
period the chances are / would have oeen
unfamiliar with the general executive
work. because there would have been
! fewer receiverships and banNrupicies,
/ and the Federal court. as usual, would
! have concerned itself largely with mat
! ters Of theory.
Meets Theodore Roosevelt.
But before ore t1kes final leave OF
! President Taft Is Solicitor General OF
the United States there IS one other faci
10 be recorded: and that is that it was
during his iucumbency OF this Office
that he met Theodore Roosevelt
Il was natural that these two mer
I should become close friends. Their
ideals we're much the same; they were
alike in the intensity Of application and
the desire sor and the power for work
Each man was devoted 70 the service
/ Of his country. It IS said that even ther
! Theodore Roosevelt had his eye on the
/ Presidency os the United states as hi.
ultimate goal Taft's ambition was th'
chief justiceship Of the Supreme Court
! They worked along similar lines -tRt
world knows whither those lines have leC
both men
The acceptance by President Taft Of th'
/ United States circuit judgeship in OhiC
/ emphasized once more the fact that Taft
/ the public servant. had little thought fol
the mere financial emoluments Of Office
/ The reputation he had won IS Solicitor
I General by the handling Of importan
/ cases had secured him a reputation
/ which would have been worth an enor
: nous income in private practice, but th'
/ appointment OF President Harrison wa:
a long step toward the goal Of his de
sires and ambitions, and he hesitated no
at al when the opportunity came % him
in spite Of the financial sacrifice involved
The district over which he was judge
includes the states of Michigan Ohio
I Kentucky, and Tennessee. and Presiden
! Taft became associated there with Judgt
| William R. Day. afterward Secretary O.
State and now an associated justice G.
the Supreme Court. and with Judge n. II
circuit. Judge Taft retained his position
TOT eight years. and during that peTiOS
i his reputation extended throughout IN,
country as an able and upright jurist
absolutely fearless I'm the execution OF hi!
: duty -Four years after his appointment
as United States judge he received th,
I degree Of Doctor Of Laws from Yale Uni
veTsity. and in the same year becam'
dean ard professor in the law school O
Cincinnati University
Three Big Decisions.
During his incumbeacv of the Unite,
States judgeship President Taft rendere,
three great decisions which have be
come part Of the well established law o
the United States Each Of these de
( cisions distinguishes bis service as a Fed
eraI judge They have all had far-reac ach
Ing results. and one. the famous Ad
dyston Pipe case. marked an epoch il
the exercise Of the power OF the Fedora
government 10 requisite and control in
terstate commerce The other two IA
nous cases were labor cases. and il
both Of these he aw0ke the violent op
position of organized labor by issuin:
injUnctions which had the effect o
breaking strikes
Many anecdotes are told Of Mr. Taft
| steady and persistent refusal TO ALLOW