o
our Canadian neighbors to join us in developing commercial relations on
the western continent.

What effect will this Progressive movement have upon party organization?
As matters stand at present there are in reality four parties within the
bonds of the two old parties--(1) the Conservative Republicans of the
East; (2) the Conservative Democrats of the South; (3) the Progressive
Republicans of the West; (4) the Progressive Democrats of the West. Out
of this tangle it appears that either a new party will be formed by the
combination of the Progressives of both old parties, or this Progressive
movement must gain control of one or the other of these parties. Should
the former happen, we may see the peculiar alliance of New England and
the South.

President Taft, it is maintained by many of his supporters, is himself a
Progressive, and they point to his attitude toward the great questions
of the hour. He urged, they say, reciprocity with Canada; called for
revision of the tariff in the light of facts and scientific tests;
proclaimed unlimited arbitration; advocated the conservation of our
natural resources, income taxation, extension of civil service reform,
employers' liability, and economy in the administration of governmental
affairs.

In answer it is asserted that President Taft declared the Payne-Aldrich
tariff law to be the best ever passed upon the subject, and that his
advisers and supporters in all of the congressional contests over vital
measures were the senators and representatives known as reactionaries or
standpatters.

[1912]

President Taft himself, a few months before the convening of the
Republican convention called to meet in Chicago, June 16, 1912, stated
his honesty of intention in the following words: "I am very grateful for
the honors the people have given me. I do not affect to deny the
satisfaction I should feel if, after casting up the totals pro and con
and striking a balance, they should decide that my first term had been
fruitful enough of good to warrant their enlisting me for another. Any
man would be proud of such a verdict. But I have not been willing, nor
shall I be, to purchase it at the sacrifice of my freedom to do my duty
as I see it. My happiness is not dependent on holding any office, and I
shall go back to private life with no heartburnings if the people,
after an unprejudiced review of my administration, conclude that some
one else can serve them to their greater advantag