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細節
TAFT, William H. (1857-1930), President. Typed letter signed ("Bill"), to Howard C. Hollister, Washington, D. C., 13 November 1904. 2 pages, 8vo, on War Department stationery, salutation in Taft's hand, with original White House envelope.
"THE VICTORY IS SO GREAT AS TO BE ALMOST ALARMING": TAFT ON TR'S LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN 1904 AND ON RACIAL POLITICS IN THE SOUTH.
A vivid letter a few days after the election about GOP success at the polls and race relations in the South, with the rare sign-off "Bill." "I agree with you," Taft says, "that the victory is so great as to be almost alarming. We need to keep our heads and see that our house is put in order. This is no judgment in favor of reckless government. It is only a vote of confidence which it is our duty to show we deserve." Taft regards the Republican victory as a foregone conclusion: "The victory is so overwhelming that I cannot think that anything that was done in the way of speaking had any particular effect. The motions had to be gone through with, and we went through them, but the victory is a tribute to the personal popularity of the President."
Then turning to race relations, Taft hits the nail squarely on the head of why Southern white leaders perpetuated their segregated system: it gave them and their constituents exaggerated voting power in the Congress: "The question in the South makes one pause. There are many difficulties connected with it, and yet if the leaders would assume a heroic attitude and be willing to give up their representation, which they now unfairly hold, they could work out the problem themselves if they really hold toward the negro the earnest desire to better the race. Perhaps that is what will come out of this victory. Let us hope so." Roosevelt bested his Democratic opponent, Alton B. Parker, by over 2.5 million votes in the popular tally, and by the even more lopsided margin of 336 to 140 in the Electoral College. Democrats only showed strength in the South, where Roosevelt won the hatred of white voters for his 1901 decision to entertain Booker T. Washington in the White House, where the two men engaged in a long conversation on race relations.
"THE VICTORY IS SO GREAT AS TO BE ALMOST ALARMING": TAFT ON TR'S LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN 1904 AND ON RACIAL POLITICS IN THE SOUTH.
A vivid letter a few days after the election about GOP success at the polls and race relations in the South, with the rare sign-off "Bill." "I agree with you," Taft says, "that the victory is so great as to be almost alarming. We need to keep our heads and see that our house is put in order. This is no judgment in favor of reckless government. It is only a vote of confidence which it is our duty to show we deserve." Taft regards the Republican victory as a foregone conclusion: "The victory is so overwhelming that I cannot think that anything that was done in the way of speaking had any particular effect. The motions had to be gone through with, and we went through them, but the victory is a tribute to the personal popularity of the President."
Then turning to race relations, Taft hits the nail squarely on the head of why Southern white leaders perpetuated their segregated system: it gave them and their constituents exaggerated voting power in the Congress: "The question in the South makes one pause. There are many difficulties connected with it, and yet if the leaders would assume a heroic attitude and be willing to give up their representation, which they now unfairly hold, they could work out the problem themselves if they really hold toward the negro the earnest desire to better the race. Perhaps that is what will come out of this victory. Let us hope so." Roosevelt bested his Democratic opponent, Alton B. Parker, by over 2.5 million votes in the popular tally, and by the even more lopsided margin of 336 to 140 in the Electoral College. Democrats only showed strength in the South, where Roosevelt won the hatred of white voters for his 1901 decision to entertain Booker T. Washington in the White House, where the two men engaged in a long conversation on race relations.