THEODORE ROOSEVELT 423 Decision^ the conviction of post-office grafters and public-land thieves^ the direct investigation and prosecutions of the Sugar Trust customs fraud, the prosecution of suits against the Standard Oil and Tobacco Companies and other corporations for the violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the reduc- tion of the interest-bearing debt of the United States by more than $90,000,000. One of Mr. Roosevelt's conspicuous achievements is what he did towards making our nation a world-power. During his administration our navy doubled in tonnage and greatly increased its efficiency through system- atic organization. But in spite of Mr. Roosevelt's reputation as a man of war the world has no greater advocate of peace, as is evidenced by the second Cuban intervention, resulting in Cuba's being re- stored to the Cubans ; by his bringing about the settlement of the Russo-Japanese War by the Treaty of Portsmouth; by avoiding during his administration the pitfalls created by the stress on the Pacific Coast due to the Japanese embroilment, and his negotiation of twenty-four treaties of general arbitra- tion. But what has made Mr. Roosevelt most hated by the poli- ticians and most loved by the people was his determined op- position to corrupt politics. First, corporations were forbid- den to contribute to poUtical campaign funds; and second, he opposed the spoils system and advocated Civil Service Re- form. Some of the polides that Mr. Roosevelt stood for but failed to realize are : reform of the banking and currency sys- tem, inheritance tax, income tax, passage of a new Employers ' Liability Act to meet the objections raised by the Supreme Court of the United States ; postal savings-banks, parcels post, revision of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, legislation to remedy the evils of corporations, the Child Labor Act and many other progressive measures now taken up by his opponents. When Mr. Roosevelt's four years as chief magistrate were over, he stepped down, and took a well-earned vacation in the most sensational hunting expedition recorded in all history — a trip through the interior of Africa. Instead of conquering the human race as did Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, men
