nsibilities for capital, and had a
new understanding of the wants of labor. The only personality that even
threatened to rival that of Roosevelt in 1904 was that of "Uncle Mark"
Hanna.

Roosevelt had been made Vice-President to get rid of him in New York.
The single life that stood between him and the White House was removed
by an assassin, and as a President by accident he desired to establish
himself and secure a nomination on his own account in 1904. By the
summer of 1902 he appreciated the growing interest in the problems of
capital and labor. A speaking tour in 1902 gave him a chance to demand a
"square deal" for all, and the control of the trusts. From some sections
of the West came the suggestion that the way to approach the trusts was
through the tariff.

The Dingley Tariff was unpopular with the Republican farmers of the
Northwest, and for some years they tolerated it in silence as a test of
party loyalty. In 1902 a liberal faction, controlled by Governor Albert
B. Cummins, captured the Iowa convention and demanded a revision of the
more extreme schedules. The belief that the tariff was the "mother of
trusts" was spreading, and the Iowa idea gained wide acceptance. In
Congress, in the session of 1902, the Republican organization had shown
the stubbornness with which any opening in the tariff wall would be
opposed.

Cuba was set free in the spring of 1902, her government having been
formed under the guidance of the United States. The duty to aid the
young Republic, and in particular to mitigate the severities of the
Dingley Tariff impressed the President, who used all his influence to
get such legislation from Congress. He failed signally, raising only a
new issue by his attempt to coerce Congress. His speeches in the summer
showed a willingness to revise the tariff, while his interference in the
coal strike in the autumn showed his willingness to oppose the ends of
capital. How far he would go in breaking with the leaders of his party
was unknown, but their disposition to "stand pat" and do nothing with
the tariff was marked before the end of 1902.

In 1902 it became a habit of Republican state conventions to demand the
renomination of Roosevelt in 1904. Whatever his effect upon the party
leaders, the rank and file liked him and believed in him, while his
personal popularity among Democrats led many to think his strength
greater than it was. His candidacy was formal and authorized, but his
opponents hoped