TAFT, WILLIAM HOWARD

(1857), twenty-seventh President of the United States; b. Cincinnati, Ohio. He came of a distinguished family, his f., Alphonso Taft, having been Secretary of War and Attorney General, as well as Minister to Austria and Ru ia. He graduated with honors from Yale in 1878, was admitted to the bar two years later and began law practice in Cincinnati. He held several minor political offices before being made a judge of the Ohio Superior Court in 1887. In 1890 President Harrison appointed him solicitor general of the United States, and two years later he was made a Federal judge of the Sixth Circuit. Following the Spanish American War, he was chosen as head of a commi ion to establish civil government in the Philippines, March 12, 1900, and in 1901 became the first civil governor of the islands. His succe in that post was remarkable, and his interest in the work was so great that he twice refused appointments to the U. 8. Supreme Court. He became Secretary of War in the Roosevelt cabinet in 1904 and owing largely to the efforts of the latter received the Republican Presidential nomination in 1908. He was elected by 321 electoral votes to 162 received by his opponent, William J. Bryan. His career as President was marked by moderation and conservatism to a degree that estranged from him the more progre ive elements of his party, in openly took i ue with many of the policies of his succe or. Owing largely to party discontent, the elections of 1910 gave the Democrats a Majority in the House of Representatives. As the next Presidential election approached the progre ives drew away from the wing and chose Mr. Roosevelt as their standard bearer. At first it was thought that the latter would capture the Republican convention, as the Republican primaries had gone heavily in favor of Roosevelt, but the alleged ‘steam-roller’ tactics of the Taft followers prevailed and the President was renominated. The result was a separate Progre ive convention that nominated Roosevelt. In the election that ensued, Wilson, won by an _ overwhelming majority of electoral votes, receiving 435 against 88 for Roosevelt and 8 for Taft. The chief developments of the Taft Administration were the institution of the corporation tax; increased powers for the Interstate Commerce Commi ion; reform of the rules of the House of Representatives; establishment of the Postal Savings Bank and the Parcel Post; institution of the Children’s Bureau and the Department of Labor and the direct election of U. 8. Senators. Following his retirement from office, Mr. Taft became Kent Profe or of Law in Yale University and tock an active interest in large public questions. In ‘1921 he was appointed by President Harding as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He is the only man in American history who has held the offices of Chief Justice and President. seaport, on Sea of Azov, Don Co acks, Ru ia; bp.’s see; exports grain; tanneries; bombarded by the Anglo-Fr. fleet, 1885. Pop. 70,000. 99), Ital. surgeon; prof. of Surgery, later of Anatomy, at Bologna; author of once famous work on surgery. E.), town, Aquila, Italy; scene of defeat, Charles of Anjou by Conradin, 1268. Pop. (commune) 9,500. famous Ital. dancer. (1861), Ind. author; founded a school in Bolpur, Bengal, 1901; visited England, 1912, and trans. some of Bengali works into English; Nobel prize for literature, 1913; knighted in 1915. Works, in Bengali, include poetry, novels, dramas, e ays, etc.; in English, has pub. Gitanjali, The Crescent Moon, The King of the Dark Chamber, etc.; also The Post Office, a play, 1914; Nationalism, 1917; Mashi and other Stories, 1918; Lover's Gift and Cro ing, 1918; Home and_ the World, 1919; poetry characterized by idealistic tone and lyric beauty. largest Span.-Portug. river; rises in Sierra de Abarracin, pa es Aranjuez, Toledo, Abrantes, Santarem; enters Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon; length, 550 miles; navigable to Abrantes.