The feeling that the great corporations were not only beyond the control
of law but even controlled the government in the interests of a few, led
to a belief that the government was passing out of the hands of the
people, and that the function of our republican government was being
arrested. The radical and the agitator were getting the ear of the
nation, for the faith of the nation was shaken. Then came President
Roosevelt to take up a task of greatest difficulty, and for nearly eight
years, amidst the applause of the plain people, he administered the
affairs of the nation firmly, honestly, and with efficiency. The
Republican convention in Chicago by its nomination of Mr. Taft had put