The Washington herald., 1921-10-13

former President Harrison and
Judge John b. Dillon. Matter sub
mitted by Mr. Knox decided Messrs. |
Harrison and Dillon in error and |
that the franchise had further life |
of several years, which Mr.. Harri-
son finally agreed upon, after fur
ther examination
In the trial, Mr.. Knox only took |
forty-fivc minutes to present his !
case, while the opposing lawyers
took four and eight hours, respec- |
lively. For the decision Of the suit
on points presented by Mr. Knox,
he received a Zee of $4,000 for his
services.
In April Of 1901. President McKin-
ley again offered the portfolio of At
torney General TO Mr.. Knox. and he
accepted it. He was invited to re-
main in this position by Theodore
Roosevelt, when the latter succeeded
to the Presidency through the death
Of President Mckinley. His office had
now come to be OF tremendous i'm
portance. The entire people seemed
to have risen against the so-caIIed
trusts and freight rate determinations.
Under the Sherman antitrust law. he
entered proceedings against various
corporations.
While they were pending. the Senate
Judiciary Committee called upon Mr.
Knox for an opinion as to what fur
,her legislation was necessary to make
governmental prosecutions more cer.|
tain He made a report and Congress
crystallized the essential recommenda-
tions into laws. Injunctions were
( rendered prohibiting railroads from
granting rebates and making dis
ordinations. He conducted the suit
! to dissolve the so-called Northern Mer-
ger, and was successful. He waged
! war on the beef trust. prohibiting it
from continuing and contested the
combinations.
Brilliant In once.
The conduct Of his office. brilliant
as it was. was only small part of his
work. On October 2. 1902, before the
! Pittsburgh Chamber OF Commerce he
! delivered n profoundly learned ad-
dress. i'm which he declared: The con-
spicuous noxious features of trusts,
existent and possible. are these: Over
capitalization. lack of publicity in op-
eratiOns. determinations in prices
which destroy competition, insufficient
personal responsibility Of officers and
directors. tendency to monopoly. and
lack of appreciation of the relations
toward the people"
Mr.. Knox's guidance in other lines
made favorable the use Of the Pacific
cable by the government. his talents
in great service matters. such as ac-
quiring title to the Panama Canal.
and on one occasion, in a notorious
extradition case under his jurisdic-
tion. an appeal was made successfully
from the decision of the Canadian au-
thorities to the privy council in
London.
Praised by Roosevelt.
In 1904. Gov. Pennypacker appointed
Mr.. Knox to fill the vacancy caused
by the death of Senator NJ. S. Quay
ut the beginning Of the second session,
and he was subsequently elected to I'LL
the unexpired term. then reelected to
the full term of six years. SO useful
did President Roosevelt find him. he
is quoted to have said: You have
deeply affected for good the enlarge
ment of our entire political system, in
its relation to industrial economic
tendencies Of the times"
Mr.. Knox resigned from the Sem
ate to accept the position of Secre-
tary of State in President Tafts
Cabinet on March 4, 1909. and re-
NAMED in this office until March
5, 1913. He served with great dis
tinction, his diplomatic service in
relation to the South American
states was particularly useful,
bringing those countries into more
Intimate sand satisfactory relation
ship with the United States.
On Many Vital Committees.
He was elected to the Senate in
November. 1916, to succeed Sena-
tor George T. oliver. In this term
of office. Mr.. Knox served with
great distinction on the following
committees: Cuban Relations, For
eign Relations. Interoceanic Canals,
Library. Military Affairs. Patents.
PHILIPPINES, Privileges and Elections,
and as chairman of the Rules Com
mittee.
In reference to the magnitude of
mentality and diminutive physical
proportions, he was called The
Little Great Man. Critics of a
cynical turn called him "the corpo-
ration lawyer" and accused him of
belonging to the Pennsylvania
Railroad" His reply was only a
smile, and a statement that he
would have greatly appreciated a
chance to look into their legal busi-
ness. but had never been asked to
do so.
Was BIg-Hearted Man.
President Roosevelt affectionate-
ly styled him "a sawed-off cherub."
His clear blue eyes, and round.
well-balanced face denoted him a
man of no ordinary intelligence. He
was resourceful in sudden emergen-
cies, and possessed an almost un-
canny ability to read human nature.