ROOSEVELT’S ADMINISTRATION.

684. The New President and His Policies.—Upon taking office, President Roosevelt announced that he would continue the policies and retain the Cabinet of his predecessor. It was not to be expected that such a pledge would be kept to the letter, since the new Executive differed greatly from President McKinley in temperament and in training, and was soon confronted with a new combination, if not precisely a new set of problems. He was more direct and vigorous in his methods of conducting the nation’s business, more impetuous and less politic in his relations with men and in his appeals to the people for support of his measures. His honest, fearless, aggressive personality soon made him the most popular of modern Presidents and enabled him to secure a considerable amount of good legislation and to put his own stamp, not only upon the national administration, but upon the general course of politics throughout the country. He stood for an efficient civil service, clean if somewhat partisan politics, and a resolute enforcement of such laws as affected the methods of business employed by monopolies and great corporations. He soon seemed to be the representative of the interests of the many as opposed to those of the few, and, as a result, he was praised by radicals and censured by conservatives. In consequence, party lines began to be broken, and it may be that Mr. Roosevelt’s greatest service to the country will be found to lie in the personal influence he has brought to bear upon the task of wresting his own party from the control of capital, and of awakening the masses of the people to the importance of preventing the chief agencies of production and transportation from falling into the hands of monopolists. Perhaps the criticism most often urged against his administration is his failure to use his great power in support of the protests made throughout the country against the excessive protective tariff, which has fostered unfair monopolies and a corrupt use of money in politics.

Admiral W. S. Schley.
[Copyright by Pach Brothers, New York.]

685. The President’s Chief Advisers.—During his term as successor to President McKinley and throughout his term as elected President, Mr. Roosevelt’s Cabinet underwent many changes, most of which it is needless to specify. The secretaries of the various departments, to whom was added in 1903 a Secretary of Labor and Commerce, formed a competent body of advisers and administrators, but, on the whole, only three strongly impressed themselves upon the country. These were John Hay, who took charge of the Department of State under McKinley and retained it until his own death in July, 1905; Elihu Root, who continued to act as Secretary of War until February, 1904, and then, after a short interval, succeeded Mr. Hay in the Department of State; and William H. Taft, who relinquished the post of first civil governor of the Philippine Islands under American rule to become Secretary of War in place of Mr. Root. Under both secretaries of state the consular service was improved and the influence of America in international affairs was greatly strengthened, especially by Mr. Root’s visit to many of the South American states in 1906. Mr. Taft brought to his post a unique knowledge of the problems of colonial administration, and he was soon recognized by the country as a skillful administrator and a sound and sympathetic adviser of the President in all the phases of the latter’s activity.

686. The Schley Court of Inquiry.—Controversies growing out of the claims of Rear Admirals Sampson and Schley,[[304]] relative to the battle of Santiago (see § [669, note]), led the latter to request a Court of Inquiry, which convened at Washington in September, 1901. After lengthy proceedings, the Court, of which Admiral Dewey was president, brought in a report that partly vindicated and partly condemned Admiral Schley. The latter, whose cause had won great popular favor, appealed to President Roosevelt, but without avail.

687. Political Events of 1902.—Shortly after the accession of the new President the attention of the country was directed to the municipal campaign in Greater New York, which resulted in the victory of a reform ticket supported by Republicans and Independents over the Tammany Hall Democrats. The reform government took office on January 1, 1902, and gave the city, under Seth Low as Mayor, an effective and honest administration; but, unfortunately, it did not prove popular, and Tammany came into power again in 1904.[[305]] People had been shown, however, that municipal and State reforms could be secured if voters would abandon party lines and act together for the public good, and, as a result, the past few years have witnessed much improvement in local legislation and administration throughout the country. Meanwhile, the Fifty-seventh Congress, which began its first session in December, 1901, accomplished less than was to be expected in view of the large majority possessed by the Republicans. Its comparative inactivity was mainly due to the fact that on the evacuation of Cuba by the American troops (May, 1902) and the setting up of a republican government in the island, it seemed desirable for the United States to aid the weak young country by reducing the tariff duties on Cuban sugar and tobacco. The President’s efforts to secure the needed legislation were blocked for a considerable period by the opposition of the extreme advocates of protection. It proved difficult, also, to obtain adequate legislation for the Philippines, but finally an act was passed providing for their temporary government, and the insurrection in the islands was proclaimed to be at an end. Another subject which occupied Congress was the choice of a route for the proposed interoceanic canal. The Nicaraguan route seemed to be favored, until the Panama Company offered to sell its property and rights for $40,000,000. This offer was finally accepted, and the construction of the Panama Canal authorized, provided a proper title to the route were secured (June, 1902). The Congressional elections in the autumn of 1902 left the Republicans still in control, but with a reduced majority.

688. The Anthracite Coal Strike.—Popular efforts to oppose, through the action of legislatures and courts, oppressive and illegal accumulations of capital in so-called trusts and combinations, and struggles between organized labor and capital, greatly occupied public attention throughout the year 1902. The most conspicuous event in this connection was the strike of the anthracite coal miners in Pennsylvania, which lasted from May to October and caused considerable suffering. The miners, who were led with much intelligence by Mr. John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers of America, were willing to submit their claims to arbitration, a fact which secured them much popular sympathy. The mine owners, whose chief spokesman was Mr. George F. Baer, President of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company, refused to arbitrate, and attempted to work their property with non-union miners. Rioting followed, and the militia had to be called out; but it was the rise in the price of fuel and the dread of a coal famine during the approaching winter that most alarmed the public and that finally led to a compromise. The situation seemed so threatening that President Roosevelt, acting as chief citizen but not as Executive, called a conference of representatives of the owners and the miners, and urged them for the sake of the country to arbitrate their differences. The owners at first stood out upon their rights,—which were regarded by many persons as doubtful,—but they finally yielded, and a commission of seven arbitrators was appointed by the President. The commission made its report in March, 1903, decreeing certain advances in wages, but forbidding discrimination against non-union men.[[306]]

689. Events and Legislation of 1903.—During this year a treaty was concluded with Great Britain for the settlement of the dispute between Canada and the United States as to the boundary of Alaska, and a mixed commission was appointed under it, which met in London and rendered a decision almost entirely favorable to the United States. A reciprocity treaty with Newfoundland was also concluded, and, in general, the high reputation won for American diplomacy by Secretary Hay was sustained. A reciprocity treaty with Cuba designed to benefit the planters of the island was, however, defeated, and it was only after an extra session of the Senate and one of the Fifty-eighth Congress that the resistance of the protectionists was overcome, and tardy concessions were made to Cuba.[[307]] Meanwhile, the Fifty-seventh Congress, before it closed, accomplished more in the way of legislation than might have been expected, in view of the bickerings to which the administration’s Cuban policy had given rise. Bills were passed, among others, which looked to the regulation of trusts, to the creation of a general staff for the army, to the increase of the navy, and to the checking of undesirable immigration. Even more important to the welfare of the country was the firm stand taken by the President in ordering the fullest investigation of gross scandals in the administration of the post office, and in other departments of governmental activity. The year was marked also by numerous important strikes,[[308]] by many race riots, which were not confined to the South, and by convictions of persons accused of holding negroes in “peonage.”[[309]]

690. Panama and the Canal.—In June, 1903, the Congress of the republic of Colombia rejected the treaty negotiated between the Colombian commissioner and Secretary Hay, and proposals were made to the United States, looking to Colombian sovereignty over the zone of the contemplated canal. These proposals were rejected, and in their anger at the situation thus created, the inhabitants of Panama revolted from Colombia and set up an independent republic. This was at once recognized by President Roosevelt, and a new treaty was concluded with it. Though these steps were regarded by the Colombians, and even by some Americans, as high-handed and contrary to precedent, they were extenuated by the importance of the political and commercial interests involved and by the necessity of safeguarding the United States from intrigues designed to secure a heavy payment for all concessions. Fortunately the revolution at Panama led to no serious disturbances either in its inception or in its consequences. The presence of American battleships prevented Colombia from landing troops to recover the seceded state, and the efforts made by the Colombian special envoy to induce the government at Washington to abandon Panama to its fate were fruitless. In February, 1904, the new treaty with Panama was ratified by the United States Senate. Shortly afterward a decision in a French court entirely cleared the title of the Panama Canal Company to dispose of its property and rights to the United States, and about the same time the commissioners for the construction of the canal were appointed, and preliminary work was begun.[[310]]