t under the administrations of Taft and Wilson in laws
reserving to the federal government the ownership of coal, water power,
phosphates, and other natural resources while authorizing corporations
to develop them under leases for a period of years.

=The Prosecution of the Trusts.=--As an executive, President Roosevelt
was also a distinct "personality." His discrimination between "good" and
"bad" trusts led him to prosecute some of them with vigor. On his
initiative, the Northern Securities Company, formed to obtain control of
certain great western railways, was dissolved by order of the Supreme
Court. Proceedings were instituted against the American Tobacco Company
and the Standard Oil Company as monopolies in violation of the Sherman
Anti-Trust law. The Sugar Trust was found guilty of cheating the New
York customs house and some of the minor officers were sent to prison.
Frauds in the Post-office Department were uncovered and the offenders
brought to book. In fact hardly a week passed without stirring news of
"wrong doers" and "malefactors" haled into federal courts.

=The Great Coal Strike.=--The Roosevelt theory that the President could
do anything for public welfare not forbidden by the Constitution and the
laws was put to a severe test in 1902. A strike of the anthracite coal
miners, which started in the summer, ran late into the autumn.
Industries were paralyzed for the want of coal; cities were threatened
with the appalling menace of a winter without heat. Governors and mayors
were powerless and appealed for aid. The mine owners rejected the
demands of the men and refused to permit the arbitration of the points
in dispute, although John Mitchell, the leader of the miners, repeatedly
urged it. After observing closely the course affairs, President
Roosevelt made up his mind that the situation was intolerable. He
arranged to have the federal troops, if necessary, take possession of
the mines and operate them until the strike could be settled. He then
invited the contestants to the White House and by dint of hard labor
induced them to accept, as a substitute or compromise, arbitration by a
commission which he appointed. Thus, by stepping outside the
Constitution and acting as the first citizen of the land, President
Roosevelt averted a crisis of great magnitude.

=The Election of 1904.=--The views and measures which he advocated with
such vigor aroused deep hostility within as well as without his party.
There wer