prevented some of them from
withdrawing their support. The Bryan Democrats were drawn more toward
Roosevelt than toward their own party candidate. It was clear that
Parker represented, on the whole, the weight of conservatism, while
Roosevelt embodied the spirit of progress, and that neither was typical
of his party. Parker was driven by the progressive Democrats to insist
upon a regulation of the trusts; Roosevelt acquiesced in the desire of
the "stand-pat" Republicans and refrained from advocating a lowering of
the tariff.

The result of the election was proof of the public confidence in
Roosevelt. He carried every State outside the South, and Missouri and
Maryland besides. His popular vote was over 7,500,000, while his
plurality over Parker was more than 2,500,000. In the last week of the
canvass Parker charged that the trusts were supporting Roosevelt, and
that the reform demands were only a pose. He pointed out that the
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, who had succeeded Hanna,
George B. Cortelyou, had been Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and thus
in a position to examine the books of corporations. He hinted at a
political blackmail of the trusts, and many of the papers that
supported him were outspoken in their charges. An indignant denial of
blackmail appeared over the President's signature the Saturday before
election. Later investigation proved that many of the great corporations
had, as usual, contributed to the campaign fund, and that Roosevelt had
urged the railroad magnate, Harriman, to contribute toward the campaign
in New York.

As soon as the results of the election were known, Roosevelt answered a
question that was on the lips of many. His three and a half years
constituted his first term. He was now elected for a second term, and he
characterized as a "wise custom" the limiting of a President to two
terms. "Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for or accept
another nomination," he declared.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The history of the recent trust movement may be followed in the writings
upon the United States Steel Corporation by E.S. Meade and H.L. Wilgus.
There is a detailed and gossipy _Inside History of the Carnegie Steel
Company_ (1903), by J.H. Bridge. W.F. Willoughby has made searching
analyses of Concentration and Integration, which may be found in the
_Yale Review_, vol. VII, and the _Quarterly Journal of Economics_, vol.
XVI. The prosecution of the Northern Securiti