The Public Record
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States, serving from 1909 to 1913. A member of the Republican Party, he was known for his trust-busting policies and efforts to promote international trade. After his presidency, Taft continued to serve the nation as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States from 1921 until his death in 1930, making him the only person to have held both the presidency and the chief justiceship. His tenure as Chief Justice was marked by a commitment to judicial restraint and the rule of law.
It is hereby ordered that the following land in Arizona, being a part of those withdrawn by Executive Order of December 12, 1882, for use of the Papago Indians, be, and hereby are, restored to the public domain: Section 16 and sections 19…
If it should ultimately reverse itself, still no taxes would have been collected until after protracted delay.
Another merit of this tax is the federal supervision which must be exercised in order to make the law effective over the annual accounts and business transactions of all corporations.
If the court should maintain its former view, no tax would be collected at all.
I am informed that a 2 per cent. tax of this character would bring into the Treasury of the United States not less than $25,000,000.
For the Congress to assume that the court will reverse itself, and to enact legislation on such an assumption, will not strengthen popular confidence in the stability of judicial construction of the Constitution.
This course is much to be preferred to the one proposed of enacting a law once judicially declared to be unconstitutional.
It imposes a burden at the source of the income at a time when the corporation is well able to pay and when collection is easy.
The tax on net income is preferable to one proportionate to a percentage of the gross receipts, because it is a tax upon success and not failure.
This order shall take effect not later than six months from the date of the promulgation thereof, except for the use of old French dump cars in use on the Panama Canal, including also the couplers of locomotives necessary to operate them…
I urge upon Congress the appointment of a commission to undertake these national improvements, and to submit a plan for their execution; and when the plan has been submitted and approved, and the work carried out, Washington will really…
The construction of the Lincoln Memorial and of a memorial bridge from the base of the Lincoln Monument to Arlington would be an appropriate and symbolic expression of the union of the North and the South at the Capital of the Nation.
We have had restored by a Commission of Fine Arts, at the instance of a committee of the Senate, the original plan of the French engineer L'Enfant for the city of Washington, and we know with great certainty the course which the…
There is no one with a proper appreciation of our Capital City who would favor a niggardly policy in respect to expenditures from the National Treasury to add to the attractiveness of this city, which belongs to every citizen of the entire…
Every loyal American has a personal pride in the beauty of Washington and in its development and growth.
Washington is so unique in its origin and in its use for housing and localizing the sovereignty of the Nation that the people who live here must regard its peculiar character and must be content to subject themselves to the control of a…
The truth is this is a city governed by a popular body, to wit, the Congress of the United States, selected from the people of the United States, who own Washington.
While the school system of Washington perhaps might be bettered in the economy of its management and the distribution of its buildings, its usefulness has nevertheless greatly increased in recent years, and it now offers excellent…
Washington should show itself under the direction of Congress to be a city with a model form of government, but as long as such authority over public utilities is withheld from the municipal government, it must always be defective.
One of the most crying needs in the government of the District is a tribunal or public authority for the purpose of supervising the corporations engaged in the operation of public utilities.
It is the duty of the Government to foster and build up commerce through the canal, just as it was the duty of the Government to construct it.
Nor would it be wise to forego the opportunity to join with other nations in the inspiring interchange of ideas tending to promote intercourse, friendship, and commerce.
The United States can not with good grace invite foreign governments to erect buildings and make expensive exhibits while itself refusing to participate.
It is the duty of the United States to make the nations welcome at San Francisco and to facilitate such acquaintance between them and ourselves as will promote the expansion of commerce and familiarize the world with the new trade route…
Politicians like Bill Taft
