The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1912-05-09

idency he constantly sought to appear
as a stanch and true progressive. But
on that November night In 1908 when
the count Of the votes showed that be
had been elected to the presidency. he
ceased to make any effort actually to
be progressive. For some time he
continued to. wear mask as a pro- |
gressive, but in the last two years Of
his presidency he has not kept up even
that feeble effort to deceive the people
of the country. BY his constant, asso-
citation with the Aldriches, the Cam
mons and the Lorimers, by his ready
submission to their influence and ad-
vice. by his active support Of the meas
ures they devised and favored. by his
cooperation with them in matters Of
patronage, and by, his unblushing at
tempt to coerce the real progressiyes
through the braZen use Of federal pat
ronage, he has stamped himself openly
as the reactionary which he has al
ways been at, heart.
I A single illustration will suffice for
the demonstration Of this proposition.
IN his speech ut Cincinnati, in JULY.
l9OS, accepting the nomination for the
presidency. Mr.. Taft took occasion to
reiterate his Endorsement of Mr.. Roose-.
Yelt and to enumerate. some Of the acts
which he regarded as the distinctly
beneficial achievements Of his prede-'
cessor In that speech he said:
lie (Mr. RooSevelt recommended
the passage Of law, which the Re-
publican convention has since specif-
ically approved, restricting the future
issue Of stocks and bonds by interstate
railways to such rs may be authorized
by feredal authority. He demonstrate
ed to the people by what he said, by
what he recommended to congress. and
by what he did. the sincerity Of his
efforts to command respect for the
law, and to save the country from the
dangers Of a plutocratic government.
toward which we were fast tending"
In numerous speeches during the
campaign of 1908 Mr.. Taft declared
his cordial support Of Mr.. Rooseyelt's
proposition to secure the enactment Of
law controlling the Issue of securi-
ties by interstate carriers. When he
became president, he pretended to
make such law one Of the paramount
measures Of ~his Legislative program.
He caused to be prepared, with much
advertisement and publicity, a bill pur-
porting to contain provisions aimed ut
such control Of the issue Of securities.
This bill was drafted by the eminently
successful corporation lawyer whom
MI. Taft had placed at the head Of the
department Of justice. The moment
that bill was read by the genuine pro-
gress1ves of the senate and house, they
denounced its provisions to control the
issue Of securities as intended really
to further the designs of the railroad
/ reactionaries and the special interests
whom Mr.. Taft has steadily sought
to please from the day he was inaugu-
rated.
! After! a hard fight in the house.
the Wickersham provisions were
stricken from the bill and a subs uute
provision was adopted which nc least
embodied a recognition Of the Drin-
ciple Of federal control over the issue
of such securities, and was, therefore,
distinct step in advance. When that
measure reached the senate. Mr. Taft's
allies and cronies there were vastly
distributed by this provision Aldrich.
Crane, PenroSe, Gallinger and all the
other representatives Of the special
interests in the senate at once pro-
tested against it. These were the
men with whom Mr.. Taft was asso-
ciating intimately, with whom he was
working constantly. and upon whom
he was relying for support in the
senate.
They were the same men who had
most vigorously opposed his nomtna-
ton when they, like MI RooSepe cit, be-
lleVed him to be real progressive,
but already they had learn that his
progressiveness was merely mask
worn for the purpose Of securing the
presidency. They knew now that he
was as good a reactionary as any Of
them and they counted upon his sup
port in defeating this provision for
the control Of the issue of securities
by interstate carriers. They did not
count in vain.
With Mr.. Taft's knowledge and con-
n1yance, they arranged a deal with the
Democratic opposition in the senate
whereby they not only struck from the
bill this provision which was In nc-
cordance with the Republican platform
and the many speeches Of Mr.. Tafts
campaign, but they stopped the further
efforts Of the real progressives in the
senate to make the railroad bill Of
which this provision was part, a
genuinely effective and valuable meas
ure. Then they inserted in the bill as
sop to the public clamor for real
legislation provision for the appoint
ment Of q commission which was to de-
termine not the method by which tho
government was to exerisefits right to
control the issue Of securities by inter-
state carriers but whether or not the