program. He
recommended, and Congress created, a special court of commerce with
jurisdiction, among other things, over appeals from the interstate
commerce commission, thus facilitating judicial review of the railway
rates fixed and the orders issued by that body. This measure was quickly
followed by an act establishing a system of postal savings banks in
connection with the post office--a scheme which had long been opposed by
private banks. Two years later, Congress defied the lobby of the express
companies and supplemented the savings banks with a parcels post system,
thus enabling the American postal service to catch up with that of other
progressive nations. With a view to improving the business
administration of the federal government, the President obtained from
Congress a large appropriation for an economy and efficiency commission
charged with the duty of inquiring into wasteful and obsolete methods
and recommending improved devices and practices. The chief result of
this investigation was a vigorous report in favor of a national budget
system, which soon found public backing.

President Taft negotiated with England and France general treaties
providing for the arbitration of disputes which were "justiciable" in
character even though they might involve questions of "vital interest
and national honor." They were coldly received in the Senate and so
amended that Taft abandoned them altogether. A tariff reciprocity
agreement with Canada, however, he forced through Congress in the face
of strong opposition from his own party. After making a serious breach
in Republican ranks, he was chagrined to see the whole scheme come to
naught by the overthrow of the Liberals in the Canadian elections of
1911.

=Prosecution of the Trusts.=--The party schism was even enlarged by what
appeared to be the successful prosecution of several great combinations.
In two important cases, the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the
Standard Oil Company and the American Tobacco Company on the ground that
they violated the Sherman Anti-Trust law. In taking this step Chief
Justice White was at some pains to state that the law did not apply to
combinations which did not "unduly" restrain trade. His remark,
construed to mean that the Court would not interfere with corporations
as such, became the subject of a popular outcry against the President
and the judges.

PROGRESSIVE INSURGENCY AND THE ELECTION OF 1912

=Growing Dissensions.=