The Washington herald., 1913-03-05

CiiiHcfy SOilpdHS, ucdNS hHcS anu Jdii
sentences procured before a Federal
court In Ohio against twenty-nine officers
and district superintendents Of the Ma
| tional Cash Register Company; the un-
successful prosecution under the criminal
clause Of the Sherman law of the Beef
Trust officials.
Criticised Tariff Attitude.
President Taft's tariff attitude, which
started the SNOWFALL of discomfort which
ultimately developed into a political
| avalanche has been vacillating in the
extreme. and has laid him open to seri-
Gus charges Of lack of sincerity in this
respect.
The Republicans renewed their lease on
power in 1908 largely on what was be-
lieved to be a strong, downward revision
tariff plank. Immediately after his cleo
tion he called a special session OF Con-
gress to redeem the tari1 plank in the
platform. Representative Serene Payne
Of New York. chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee, and Senator Nelson
W. Aldrich OF Rhode Island. gave the
name TO the new bill. an omnibus meas
ure which was passed in both houses by
the weight of the Organization" and
which in many respects was a vicious
repudiation of the party pledge. Schedule
X, the wool and woolens schedule was
attacked most vigorously, and at one
time, after he had signed the bill, was
characterized by President Taft himself
as indefensible This revision bill was
put through after Taft in July OF that
year had served notice that he expected
a downward revision. But the Presi-
dent signed it. supposedly because he
believed that it was better than no bill
at ALL
The Payne-Aldrich bill was the object
of general attack from the date of its
appearance in the House. 1t was purely
committee measure, in which special
interests represented by powerful lobbies
were given every possible opportunity to
obtain protection, and which was char
acterized in its passage through both
houses by outrageous log-rolling and
trading.
Following the passage OF the Payne
Aldrich bill, August s. 1909, with the
tariff commissionSr rider attached, Mr.. Taft
appointed the commission. the personnel
or purpose OF which was above criticism.
Then he started in to defend the new
bill It was the best tariff bill we have
had when he signed 1t that summer.
When he was well launched on his
IS, ,0OO-mile trip through the West and
South. which begun September 10 and
concluded November 10. 1909. he quickly
learned of the discomfort throughout
those sections OF the country over the
bill. Then he urged the country TO await
reports from his tariff commission. a
wait of approximately two years before
the report on the first schedule could be
expected.
Announces Reciprocity Plan.
In September of the following year
Mr. Taft announced that reciprocity
negotiations would begin with Canada in
October In November the Democrats
came into power In the House because
OF the Payne-Aldrlch tariff bill. At the
conclusion of the short session following.
Mr.. Taft called the Sixty-second Con-
gress into extraordinary session to frame
a reciprocity measure. which was passed
and rejected by Canada that fall. During
the extra session the Underwood Ways
and Means Committee began reporting
out tariff bills schedule by schedule
Mr.. Taft despite the 'indefensible" fea-
lures of the Payne-Aldrich bill, gave it
to be understood that he would not ap-
prove any tariff bills pending the report
of the tariff commission. Two bills were
sent to the White House and were vetoed
the cotton and wool bills. both of which
had been passed in the Senate with the
aid of progressive Republicans. and by
them amended.
Particularly was the President criti-
cised for his veto OF the wool bill. which
veto. in the last analysis. was because
the Underwood-La Toilette bill called
for ad valorem instead of specific duties.
The President intimated that II the mi
nority bill of the Ways and Means Com
mittee. prepared by Representative Eben-
eZer Hill of Connecticut. with the ad-
vice of the tariff commission, should be
substituted. he would sign it. The Hill
bill called for specific duties and original
ly precast the report Of the tariff board.
Before it was presented, however. Mr.
Hill was forced to make certain arbi-
trary increases in duties on raw wool
by his Republican colleagues on the
Ways and Means Committee, so that as
II was presented to the House it carried
a greater measure OF protection than the
Underwood-La Toilette compromise bill,
which the President vetoed. And the
Underwood-La Toilette bill carried al
most exactly the same measure of pro-
lection as the Hill bill did when it came
from the Presidents tariff board and
before the high protectionists forced Mr..
Hill to arbitrarily add several cents a
pound to the duty on raw wool. The
wool bill was vetoed August Il. and the
veto was sustained by a dangerously
close vote in the House on the following
day. The tariff board report on the
wool schedule did not come out until
December %.
II President Taft had no other feature
of his administration to look back upon
with complete satisfaction. say those who
know him most intimately. he would feel
amply compensated for four years of
arduous and. at present, little appreci-
ated effort because of the hand he has
had in building up a strong Federal judi
ciary. and in the fact that his work in
thisoregard has forced for itself general
and favorable recognition.
OF the nine members of the United
States Supreme Court, four are Taft
appointees, involving the elevation in
December. 1910, of the present Chief
Justice. Edward Douglas White, to sue
ceed the late Chief Justice Melville W.
Fuller. The new members and the dates
of their appointments are Associate JUS
tees Horace Harmon Lurton. Democrat
January J. 1910; Charles Z. Hughes, Re-
publican, May 2, 1910; Willis Van Devan-
ter, Republican. December 16 1910;
Joseph Rucker Lamar, Democrat, De-
cember Il, 1910. and Mahlon Pitney. Re-
publican, February 10. 1872 The deaths in
the Supreme Court during Mr.. Tafts
administration were Chief Justice Fuller.
and Associate Justices John Marshall
Harlan, David Josiah Brewer, and Rufus
W. Peckham. Associate Justice William
Henry Moody resigned because of i'll
health In November 1910.
The Supreme Court, as now constitu-
ted, has vindicated completely every one
Of Mr. Taft's appointments, many of
which were bitterly attacked at first. 1t
is considered an exceptionally able and
sagacious body of constitutional lawyers,
even for a United States Supreme Court.