Volume Vi Part 25 (1/2)

The President vetoed all of these measures upon the ground that, since the Tariff Board was to make its report within a very short time, it would be wiser to defer action on the tariff until the report could be used.

The Reciprocity Bill, which met the approval of the President, provided that our markets should be free to Canada's leading agricultural products, live-stock, fish, lumber, etc. Print paper and wood pulp were also to be admitted as soon as the Canadian provincial governments should withdraw the restrictions upon the exportation of these products.

The duties on some other products--iron are, for example--were to be reduced. Canada was asked to admit free our agricultural products, live-stock, etc., and to reduce the duties on coal, agricultural implements, and some other manufactured goods. The September elections in Canada, however, showed that the reciprocity treaty was not acceptable, for the Conservative party, which was strongly opposed to the plan, gained a decisive victory. The act as pa.s.sed by Congress still remains law in the United States, and stands as a constant invitation to our Canadian neighbors to join us in developing commercial relations on the western continent.

What effect will this Progressive movement have upon party organization?

As matters stand at present there are in reality four parties within the bonds of the two old parties--(1) the Conservative Republicans of the East; (2) the Conservative Democrats of the South; (3) the Progressive Republicans of the West; (4) the Progressive Democrats of the West. Out of this tangle it appears that either a new party will be formed by the combination of the Progressives of both old parties, or this Progressive movement must gain control of one or the other of these parties. Should the former happen, we may see the peculiar alliance of New England and the South.

President Taft, it is maintained by many of his supporters, is himself a Progressive, and they point to his att.i.tude toward the great questions of the hour. He urged, they say, reciprocity with Canada; called for revision of the tariff in the light of facts and scientific tests; proclaimed unlimited arbitration; advocated the conservation of our natural resources, income taxation, extension of civil service reform, employers' liability, and economy in the administration of governmental affairs.

In answer it is a.s.serted that President Taft declared the Payne-Aldrich tariff law to be the best ever pa.s.sed upon the subject, and that his advisers and supporters in all of the congressional contests over vital measures were the senators and representatives known as reactionaries or standpatters.

[1912]

President Taft himself, a few months before the convening of the Republican convention called to meet in Chicago, June 16, 1912, stated his honesty of intention in the following words: ”I am very grateful for the honors the people have given me. I do not affect to deny the satisfaction I should feel if, after casting up the totals pro and con and striking a balance, they should decide that my first term had been fruitful enough of good to warrant their enlisting me for another. Any man would be proud of such a verdict. But I have not been willing, nor shall I be, to purchase it at the sacrifice of my freedom to do my duty as I see it. My happiness is not dependent on holding any office, and I shall go back to private life with no heartburnings if the people, after an unprejudiced review of my administration, conclude that some one else can serve them to their greater advantage.”

One thing is certain: the idea of government by the people has come into our national politics to stay. It now controls one-third of the votes in the Senate and has affected the laws of two-thirds of the States. The end sought is good government responsible to popular rule. Through this rule justice for all is sought; equality of opportunity in political and industrial life; the safeguarding of the interests and well-being of all; and through this rule an honest attempt is being made to establish a government which will render the best service for the community, guaranteeing to each individual all his rights, but no more than his rights.

APPENDIX

I

CONSt.i.tUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSt.i.tUTION for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I

SECTION 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

SECT. II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature.

2. No person shall be a Representative' who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamps.h.i.+re shall be ent.i.tled to choose three, Ma.s.sachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.

SECT. III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be a.s.sembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three cla.s.ses.

The seats of the Senators of the first cla.s.s shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second cla.s.s at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third cla.s.s at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies.

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.