Recollections of full years

by Helen Herron Taft

So ended that period of wondering what we were to do. At least I thought it was ended, and while I settled down to the continued and continuous round of social “work” and pleasure, Mr. Taft proceeded with his strenuous fight against accumulated and complicated difficulties. We had Major General and Mrs. Miles with us at Malacañan for a time and after they left I went down to Batangas, where General Bell was in command, to “rest” awhile in Mrs. Bell’s somewhat less crowded and exciting circle. I accepted with a high degree of pleasure the prospect of perhaps two more years in this very interesting field of work, but President Roosevelt had other views. It was scarcely a month after the Supreme Court incident was supposed to be closed when Mr. Taft received a letter which reopened it with a decisiveness which seemed final. Such parts of the letter as bear directly on the proposal to Mr. Taft I shall quote:

Dear Will, I am awfully sorry, old man, but after faithful effort for a month to try to arrange matters on the basis you wanted I find that I shall have to bring you home and put you on the Supreme Court. I am very sorry. I have the greatest confidence in your judgment, but, after all, old fellow, if you will permit me to say so, I am President and see the whole field. The responsibility for any error must ultimately come upon me, and therefore I cannot shirk the responsibility or in the last resort yield to any one else’s decision if my judgment is against it. After the most careful thought; after the most earnest effort as to what you desired and thought best, I have come, irrevocably, to the decision that I shall appoint you to the Supreme Court in the vacancy caused by Judge Shiras’ resignation.... I am very sorry if what I am doing displeases you, but as I said, old man, this is one of the cases where the President, if he is fit for his position, must take the responsibility and put the men on whom he most relies in the particular positions in which he himself thinks they can render the greatest public good. I shall therefore about February first nominate you as I have suggested.

With affectionate regard,

Ever yours,

Theodore Roosevelt.

This seemed final enough as to be quite unanswerable, so I heaved a sigh of resignation and made some remark about the not unpleasing prospect of our all getting home alive at any rate. General Wright was to succeed to the Governorship, which was a great consolation to my husband, and we began at once to outline a programme of obedience to the President. Mr. Taft announced his impending departure and really considered that further argument was useless, but conditions were such that he could not resist the temptation to hazard one more protest. He cabled to Mr. Roosevelt:

The President, Washington, Recognise soldier’s duty to obey orders. Before orders irrevocable by action however I presume on our personal friendship even in the face of your letter to make one more appeal, in which I lay aside wholly my strong personal disinclination to leave work of intense interest half done. No man is indispensable; my death would little interfere with programme, but my withdrawal more serious. Circumstances last three years have convinced these people, controlled largely by personal feeling, that I am their friend and stand for a policy of confidence in them and belief in their future and for extension of self-government as they show themselves worthy. Visit to Rome and proposals urged there assure them of my sympathy in regard to friars in respect to whose far-reaching influence they are morbidly suspicious. Announcement of withdrawal pending settlement of church question, economic crises, and formative political period when opinions of all parties are being slowly moulded for the better, will, I fear, give impression that change of policy is intended because other reasons for action will not be understood. My successor’s task is thus made much heavier because any loss of the people’s confidence distinctly retards our work here. I feel it is my duty to say this. If your judgment is unshaken I bow to it and shall earnestly and enthusiastically labour to settle question friars’ lands before I leave, and to convince the people that no change of policy is at hand; that Wright is their warm friend as sincere as they think me, and that we both are but exponents of the sincere good will toward them of yourself and the American people.

Taft.

After this things began to happen which nobody, least of all my husband, had anticipated. When the announcement was made that we were to leave there was, at first, just a buzz of astonishment and incredulity, but within two days the whole city of Manila was placarded, in all the necessary languages, with the simple and uniform sentiment: “Queremos Taft,” “We Want Taft.” Mr. Root’s rendering of this in English was “I want you, Mah Honey, yes, I do.” These announcements were printed in letters of all sizes and all colours, but the wording did not vary in the slightest degree; just, “We Want Taft.”

Then on the morning of the 10th of January—the letter from Mr. Roosevelt was received on the 6th—we saw marching through the gates of Malacañan a column of citizens, blocks long, with bands playing, flags flying and many transparencies bobbing over their heads. These citizens packed themselves around the entrance of the Palace and proceeded to make a demonstration. It was rather saddening to us in view of our conviction that we must go, but we listened with what composure we could command to the eloquent speeches. The speakers came up into the Palace and addressed the crowd from a great window over the main entrance.