Misplaced Pages

#916083

49-406: These three demands are often referred to as the "three C's" of Roosevelt's Square Deal. Thus, it aimed at helping middle-class citizens and involved attacking plutocracy and bad trusts while at the same time protecting business from the most extreme demands of organized labor . He explained in 1901–1909: When I say that I am for the square deal, I mean not merely that I stand for fair play under

98-464: A federal income tax , but the Supreme Court had ruled in 1895 that any income tax would require a constitutional amendment. Roosevelt sought an inheritance tax so the great family fortunes could not be inherited without the tax for generations. In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes. Injunctions were

147-432: A Liberal , economist Paul Krugman says plutocracy took hold because of three factors: at that time, the poorest quarter of American residents (African-Americans and non-naturalized immigrants) were ineligible to vote, the wealthy funded the campaigns of politicians they preferred, and vote buying was "feasible, easy and widespread", as were other forms of electoral fraud such as ballot-box stuffing and intimidation of

196-694: A board of arbitration which settled an important dispute between the operatives and officers of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad . From 1914 to 1923, he taught constitutional law and international law in Georgetown University , in Washington, D.C. He was short of stature, very erect and dignified of carriage, alert in movement. Distinctly of the scholarly type, he was very widely read, and active, so long as he resided in Chicago, in

245-503: A central role in negotiating a compromise to end the Coal strike of 1902 , which was threatening the nation's energy supply. He decided they also needed a square deal, and a stronger voice and collective bargaining with corporations. Plutocracy List of forms of government A plutocracy (from Ancient Greek πλοῦτος ( ploûtos )  'wealth' and κράτος ( krátos )  'power') or plutarchy

294-543: A counter-crusade which defeated Roosevelt in the Republican presidential primaries in 1912. Labor unions in the age of Samuel Gompers were generally on the Democratic side, but Roosevelt felt that favorable policies toward them would gain votes or at least neutralize their opposition. He had opposed unions in 1896, when they supported William Jennings Bryan, then came to appreciate their value after 1900. He played

343-465: A love for nature. Influenced by early wise-use advocates like Gifford Pinchot , Roosevelt believed that nature existed to benefit humanity. In a conserved wilderness, water could be taken to irrigate farmland, sport could be had, and timber could be harvested. Acting on these beliefs, Roosevelt set up the federal Reclamation Service in 1902. The agency, through the use of dams and irrigation, created arable land in areas that had been too dry to farm, and

392-517: A man because he came from Dr. Wall's or any other church; I gave each man a square deal on his own account. That is what I mean by Americanism ." In 1901, he declared "a square deal for every man, big or small, rich or poor" during a speech in Lynn, Massachusetts , recorded by stereograph (photo) image. In a 1903 speech in Springfield, Illinois , he stated, "It seems to me eminently fitting that

441-643: A member of the lower house of the state legislature, and from 1897 to 1911 a representative of Chicago districts in Congress. There he was a member of the committees on Rules, and on Ways and Means, and was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures of the Navy . He was an effective speaker and of considerable influence, but his tariff views were unacceptable to business interests in Chicago, which forced his retirement. President William Howard Taft then appointed him to

490-508: A nation that is experiencing rapid economic growth, income inequality will tend to increase as the rate of return on innovation increases. In other scenarios, plutocracy may develop when a country is collapsing due to resource depletion as the elites attempt to hoard the diminishing wealth or expand debts to maintain stability, which will tend to enrich creditors and financiers . Economists have also suggested that free market economies tend to drift into monopolies and oligopolies because of

539-488: A phrase which is as catchy and as impracticable as either of those "glittering generalities" or the Declaration of Independence that have been shining and ringing all over the civilized world for a hundred and twenty-nine years and bid fair to serve for centuries to come as a potent inspiration in every struggle against tyranny and oppression, every movement toward greater liberty. Other politicians tried to capitalize on

SECTION 10

#1732765133917

588-473: A powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries, pre-empting state laws. He called for an eight-hour law for federal employees. In other areas he also sought a postal savings system to provide competition to local banks, and, finally, campaign finance reform . He secured passage of the Hepburn Act in 1906, which increased the regulating power of

637-481: A unique electoral system for its local administration , separate from the rest of London. More than two-thirds of voters are not residents, but rather representatives of businesses and other bodies that occupy premises in the City, with votes distributed according to their numbers of employees. The principal justification for this arrangement is that most of the services provided by the City of London Corporation are used by

686-447: Is a picture of a hand containing four aces, and over it is inscribed square deal." In 1888, in "letters from the people" (letters to the editor), one writer signed off as "Square Deal". In 1890, the phrase started to appear in headlines, e.g., "Give China a Square Deal" and "Not a Square Deal". An early usage of "square deal" by Theodore Roosevelt in the press occurred in 1899, when The New York Times quoted his saying, "I did not appoint

735-755: Is a society that is ruled or controlled by people of great wealth or income . The first known use of the term in English dates from 1631. Unlike most political systems, plutocracy is not rooted in any established political philosophy . The term plutocracy is generally used as a pejorative to describe or warn against an undesirable condition. Throughout history, political thinkers and philosophers have condemned plutocrats for ignoring their social responsibilities , using their power to serve their own purposes and thereby increasing poverty and nurturing class conflict and corrupting societies with greed and hedonism . " Dollarocracy ", an anglicised adaptation of

784-1002: Is given in Who's Who in America , 1908–09; and in the Biographical Congressional Directory 1774–1911. See also obituaries, Mar. 13, 1926, in the Chicago Daily Tribune and the Washington Post , as well as the sketch in Harvard College Class of 1876 , Tenth Report (1926). United States Congress. "BOUTELL, Henry Sherman (id: B000672)" . Biographical Directory of the United States Congress . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of

833-411: Is in the interests of everybody else. So you persuade yourself that, actually, government services, things like spending on education, which is what created that social mobility in the first place, need to be cut so that the deficit will shrink, so that your tax bill doesn't go up. And what I really worry about is, there is so much money and so much power at the very top, and the gap between those people at

882-467: The "rich class", is waging class warfare on the rest of society. In 2005 Buffet said to CNN: "It's class warfare, my class is winning, but they shouldn't be." In a November 2006 interview in The New York Times , Buffett stated that "[t]here's class warfare all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." Reasons why a plutocracy develops are complex. In

931-525: The American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts". Gilens and Page do not characterize the U.S. as an "oligarchy" or "plutocracy" per se; however, they do apply the concept of "civil oligarchy" as used by Jeffrey A. Winters with respect to the U.S. The investor, billionaire , and philanthropist Warren Buffett , one of the wealthiest people in the world, voiced in 2005 and once more in 2006 his view that his class,

980-519: The Civil War. Money, according to contemporary progressive and journalist Walter Weyl , was "the mortar of this edifice", with ideological differences among politicians fading and the political realm becoming " a mere branch in a still larger, integrated business. The state, which through the party formally sold favors to the large corporations, became one of their departments." In "The Politics of Plutocracy" section of his book, The Conscience of

1029-617: The Democrats concluded their task of going through the President's many books with a fine-tooth comb to ferret out campaign material, than Republicans come forth with a pamphlet of about the same size, and prepared on a somewhat similar plan, making conspicuous Mr. Roosevelt's sentiments on numerous civic and governmental questions. It Is entitled "A Square Deal for Every Man" and the paragraphs printed, which are more numerous than those in "Roosevelt, Historian", are culled, to some extent, from

SECTION 20

#1732765133917

1078-639: The Interstate Commerce Commission. Eventually, many of the proposals he championed were enacted under Democrats Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt . When Roosevelt ran for president on an independent Progressive Party ticket in 1912, in addition to these policies he proposed stringent new controls on the court system, especially state courts, to make them more democratic. His court policies in particular caused his anointed successor, William Howard Taft , to lead

1127-563: The Literary Club of that city. His speeches, which reflected his reading, were always graceful and sometimes eloquent. In his political opinions he was fairly liberal, but in the regulation of purely personal affairs and conduct he was notably conservative. He was a rare combination of force and urbanity. Although unfailingly careful to avoid giving offense to anybody with whom he came in contact, invariably gracious, and charming in manner, his opinions were not lacking in definiteness, and he

1176-520: The Reclamation Service eventually brought millions of acres of farmland into service. During Roosevelt's time in office, 24 reclamation projects were set up, and 150 national forests were created. Roosevelt, moving to the left of his Republican Party base, called for a series of reforms that were mostly not passed. He sought a national incorporation law. All corporations had state charters, which varied greatly state by state . He called for

1225-624: The U.S. may be drifting towards a form of oligarchy , as individual citizens have less impact than economic elites and organized interest groups upon public policy. In the U.S. Congress itself, more than half of all members are millionaires. A study conducted by political scientists Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University , which was released in April 2014, stated that their "analyses suggest that majorities of

1274-497: The United States is a plutocracy in which there is a "fusion of money and government." Chrystia Freeland , author of Plutocrats , says that the present trend towards plutocracy occurs because the rich feel that their interests are shared by society: You don't do this in a kind of chortling, smoking your cigar, conspiratorial thinking way. You do it by persuading yourself that what is in your own personal self-interest

1323-490: The businesses in the City. Around 450,000 non-residents constitute the city's day-time population, far outnumbering the City's 7,000 residents. In the political jargon and propaganda of Fascist Italy , Nazi Germany and the Communist International , Western democratic states were referred to as plutocracies, with the implication being that a small number of extremely wealthy individuals were controlling

1372-525: The class, for the first time, as "a tiny group – just one-quarter of 1 percent of the population – and it is not representative of the rest of the nation. But its money buys plenty of access." In modern times, the term is sometimes used pejoratively to refer to societies rooted in state-corporate capitalism or which prioritize the accumulation of wealth over other interests. According to Kevin Phillips , author and political strategist to Richard Nixon ,

1421-498: The countries and holding them to ransom. Plutocracy replaced democracy and capitalism as the principal fascist term for the U.S. and Great Britain during World War II. In Nazi Germany , it was often used as a dog whistle term for Jewish people in their antisemitic propaganda . Joseph Goebbels , the Reich Minister of Propaganda , found the term to be particularly favorable, describing it as "the main concept at which

1470-603: The form of proverbs. During 1905, Roosevelt capitalized on his slogan in the newspapers, who added "square deal" to headlines: The press praised Roosevelt's Square Deal: His explanation of that is entirely plain and understandable. It contemplates no injury to any interest, but an opportunity for all on absolutely equal terms. That is a principle the justice of which is universally recognized, and which ought to be more generally acknowledged in this country than in any other. The press also criticized him for it: In his insistence upon "a square deal for all," President Roosevelt uses

1519-432: The greater efficiency of larger businesses (see economies of scale ). Other nations may become plutocratic through kleptocracy or rent-seeking . Henry Sherman Boutell Henry Sherman Boutell (March 14, 1856 – March 11, 1926) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He became a Congressman from Illinois, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal by President William Howard Taft . Boutell

Square Deal - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-448: The guard around the tomb of Lincoln should be composed of colored soldiers. It was my own good fortune at Santiago to serve beside colored troops. A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards." In October 1904, while Roosevelt was readying publication of his book A Square Deal for Every Man (Chicago, R. J. Thompson, 1905), The New York Times reported: No sooner have

1617-652: The ideological struggle will be aimed". Some modern historians, politicians, and economists argue that the U.S. was effectively plutocratic for at least part of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era periods between the end of the Civil War until the beginning of the Great Depression . President Theodore Roosevelt became known as the "trust-buster" for his aggressive use of antitrust law , through which he managed to break up such major combinations as

1666-413: The largest railroad and Standard Oil , the largest oil company. According to historian David Burton, "When it came to domestic political concerns, TR's bête noire was the plutocracy." In his autobiographical account of taking on monopolistic corporations as president, Roosevelt recounted: ...we had come to the stage where for our people what was needed was a real democracy; and of all forms of tyranny

1715-462: The least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of a plutocracy. The Sherman Antitrust Act had been enacted in 1890, when large industries reaching monopolistic or near-monopolistic levels of market concentration and financial capital increasingly integrating corporations and a handful of very wealthy heads of large corporations began to exert increasing influence over industry, public opinion and politics after

1764-615: The modern United States resembles a plutocracy though with democratic forms. Paul Volcker , a former chair of the Federal Reserve , also believed the U.S. to be developing into a plutocracy. One modern, formal example of a plutocracy, according to some critics, is the City of London . The City (also called the Square Mile of ancient London , corresponding to the modern financial district, an area of about 2.5 km ) has

1813-500: The other party's voters . The U.S. instituted progressive taxation in 1913, but according to Shamus Khan , in the 1970s, elites used their increasing political power to lower their taxes, and today successfully employ what political scientist Jeffrey Winters calls "the income defense industry" to greatly reduce their taxes. In 1998, Bob Herbert of The New York Times referred to modern American plutocrats as "The Donor Class " (list of top (political party) donors) and defined

1862-476: The phrase, too, e.g., U.S. Representative Henry Sherman Boutell of Illinois. In 1903, with Roosevelt's support, Congress passed the Elkins Act . This stated that railroads were not allowed to give rebates to favored companies any longer. These rebates had treated small Midwestern farmers unfairly by not allowing them equal access to the services of the railroad. The Interstate Commerce Commission controlled

1911-550: The post of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal , on March 2, 1911. He never assumed its duties, and on April 24, 1911, he was given a similar appointment to Switzerland. In this post he served from May 17, 1911, to July 31, 1913. He did not find the diplomatic service to his liking, and resigned. Before he did so he had declined the chief justiceship of the United States court of claims tendered him by President Taft (January 1913). With this his public career ended, except for service (November 1913) as chairman of

1960-503: The present rules of the game, but that I stand for having those rules changed so as to work for a more substantial equality of opportunity and of reward for equally good service. A progressive Republican, Roosevelt believed in government action to mitigate social evils, and as president he in 1908 denounced "the representatives of predatory wealth" as guilty of "all forms of iniquity from the oppression of wage workers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing competition, and to defrauding

2009-452: The prices that railroads could charge. Legislation was passed which specified that meat had to be processed safely with proper sanitation. Foodstuffs and drugs could no longer be mislabeled, nor could consumers be deliberately misled. Roosevelt gave high priority to environmental conservation, and safeguarded millions of acres of wilderness from commercial exploitation. Roosevelt's conservation efforts were driven by practicality as well as by

Square Deal - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-424: The public by stock-jobbing and the manipulation of securities." During his second term, Roosevelt tried to extend his Square Deal further, but was blocked by conservative Republicans in Congress. The press was using the term "Square Deal" as early as 1871 in a New York Times local news article that reads "Many of the inscriptions on the front of trucks, drays, and other vehicles are quite amusing. On one there

2107-503: The same volumes. Republicans are now considering the purchase of over a million of those booklets. Chairman Cortelyou has discussed has matter, and negotiations on the subject were continued yesterday at the White House . The 94-page pamphlet's 75 topics include: America, A Good American, Alaska, Anarchy, Army and Navy, Capital, Character, Charity, Citizenship, Farmer, Peace, Publicity, Trusts, Weaklings, and World Power. Some imitate

2156-470: The very top and everybody else is so great, that we are going to see social mobility choked off and society transformed. When the Nobel Prize–winning economist Joseph Stiglitz wrote the 2011 Vanity Fair magazine article entitled "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%", the title and content supported Stiglitz's claim that the U.S. is increasingly ruled by the wealthiest 1%. Some researchers have said

2205-675: The word "plutocracy", may refer to "a specifically American version of plutocracy". Historic examples of plutocracies include the Roman Empire ; some city-states in Ancient Greece ; the civilization of Carthage ; the Italian merchant city-states of Venice , Florence and Genoa ; the Dutch Republic ; and the pre- World War II Empire of Japan (the zaibatsu ). According to Noam Chomsky and Jimmy Carter ,

2254-522: Was admitted to the bar and began practice in Chicago . Although both able and prominent as an attorney, representing, for example, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in securing a right of way into Chicago , and in the erection of its terminal there, his tastes from the beginning ran to public life, and he was soon both active and useful as a worker in the Republican Party . In 1884, he was

2303-771: Was born at Boston , Massachusetts, the son of Lewis Henry and Anna (Greene) Boutell. A colonial ancestry entitled him to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution and in the Society of Colonial Wars . He was also an hereditary member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States . His college education was secured at Northwestern (A.B. 1874, M.A. 1879) and Harvard (A.B. 1876, A.M. 1877). After studying law in an office, in 1879 he

2352-622: Was married to Euphemia Lucia Clara Gates of Providence, Rhode Island . He died at Sanremo, Italy . Several children survived him. He was the great nephew of William M. Evarts , great-grandson of Jeremiah Evarts and the great-great-grandson of Roger Sherman . His father Lewis Henry Boutell (July 21, 1826 – January 16, 1899) wrote the book, The Life of Roger Sherman (Chicago: A.C. McClurg and Co., 1896) Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich: Thomson Gale. 2005. [1] The chronology of Boutell's life

2401-402: Was not in any way colorless. These qualities should have won him great distinction either in law or diplomacy, but in politics they left him merely a staunch and dependable "party" man, whose mental independence and natural talents were hampered by party platforms. He did not win in public life the renown of which his abilities and early professional success gave promise. On December 29, 1880, he

#916083