Library of Congress La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE 2869 8-B LA FOLLETTE'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY A Personal Narrative of Political Experiences BY ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE ILLUSTRATED LC MADISON, WIS. THE ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE CO. 1913 E664 L16L16 Copy 2 E664 .L16L16 Copyright, 1911, 1913, by ROBERT M. LA FOLLETTE All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian Price 1.50 Nel. C ©Cl.A343809 No 2 v CONTENTS PAGE La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress Introduction ix CHAPTER I. Political Beginnings 3 II. In the House of Representatives 49 III. The Reed Congress and the New National Issues 91 IV. The Crucial Period of My Public Life 135 V. Six Years' Struggle with the Wisconsin Bosses 176 VI. My First Term as Governor and the Problems I Had to Meet 225 VII. How We Passed the Railroad Taxation Laws 278 VIII. Progressive Government Produces Business Prosperity: What Was Accomplished in Wisconsin 319 IX. Alone in the Senate: Experiences With Roosevelt; Railroad Rate Regulation 370 X. Reinforcements: A National Progressive Movement 427 vi XI. Why I Became a Candidate for the Presidency; Taft's Unavailability; A Complete History of Roosevelt's Course After His Return from Africa; Formation of the Organized Progressive Movement; Pressure for a Real Progressive Candidate 476 XII. The True History of the Campaign of 1912 for the Republican Nomination to the Presidency 530 La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress XIII. Why I Continued as a Candidate; Roosevelt Never a Progressive; His Record 671 Appendix: Address of Robert M. La Follette at the Annual Banquet of the Periodical Publishers' Association, Philadelphia, February 2, 1912, Dealing with the History of the Growth of the Power Represented in Trusts, Consolidated Railroads and Consolidated Banking Interests Controlling Money and Credits, and Suggestions for Meeting Recognized Evils 762 Index 799 vii ILLUSTRATIONS Robert M. LaFollette Frontispiece FACING PAGE Birthplace 6 La Follette Family (from a daguerrotype) 12 La Follette at Nine Years of Age 18 President John R. Bascom 28 General George E. Bryant 46 Mrs. Robert M. La Follette, early 90's 66 La Follette, when elected to Congress 84 Judge Robert G. Siebecker 140 La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress Philetus Sawyer 170 A. R. Hall 212 Samuel A. Harper 218 Mrs. La Follette, a late portrait 314 Wisconsin's first Railway Commission 348 Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver 434 Fac-simile page stenographic transcript Senate proceedings 478 Fola, Robert, Philip, and Mary La Follette 494 La Follette Campaigning 562 The La Follette home, Maple Bluff Farm, Madison, Wisconsin 612 Theodore Roosevelt 684 William Jennings Bryan 750 ix INTRODUCTION IN THE preparation of this narrative I have no literary intent whatsoever. I am not writing for the sake of writing, nor for the mere purpose of relating the events of my political life. I have not yet reached the secluded age when a man writes his life story for the enjoyment the exercise gives him. La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress Every line of this autobiography is written for the express purpose of exhibiting the struggle for a more representative government which is going forward in this country, and to cheer on the fighters for that cause. Most of these chapters were written at Washington between the close of one important Congressional struggle and the opening of another. The final chapters were written after the National Convention and before the presidential election of 1912. Thus the entire narrative may be said to have been written from the field. x We have long rested comfortably in this country upon the assumption that because our form of government was democratic, it was therefore automatically producing democratic results. Now, there is nothing mysteriously potent about the forms and names of democratic institutions that should make them self-operative. Tyranny and oppression are just as possible under democratic forms as under any other. We are slow to realize that democracy is a life; and involves continual struggle. It is only as those of every generation who love democracy resist with all their might the encroachments of its enemies that the ideals of representative government can even be nearly approximated. The essence of the Progressive movement, as I see it, lies in its purpose to uphold the fundamental principles of representative government. It expresses the hopes and desires of millions of common men and women who are willing to fight for their ideals, to take defeat if necessary, and still go on fighting. Fortunes of birth, temperament and political xi environment have thrown me into this struggle, and have made me in some degree a pioneer in the Progressive movement. I am therefore writing my own story in these pages because I believe this to be the best means of mapping out the whole field of conflict and exposing the real character of the enemy. I shall give as faithful an account as I know how of political events in which I have participated and I shall characterize the strong men whom I have known, and especially La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress I shall endeavor to present those underlying motives and forces which are often undiscerned in American politics. I believe that most thoughtful readers, perplexed by the conditions which confront the country, will find that they have been meeting in various guises the same problems that I have had to meet, and that their minds have consequently been traveling along much the same lines as mine, and toward much the same conclusions. I trust this book may be the means of causing many men to think as one—and to fight as one. xii It is a pleasure to express my grateful appreciation of the valuable assistance which Mr. Ray Stannard Baker has given me in the revision of the manuscript for this work and of the helpful suggestions of Professor John R. Commons and his verification of the statistical and economic data. Robert M. La Follette . Washington, D. C ., October 1, 1912. A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF POLITICAL EXPERIENCES 3 CHAPTER I POLITICAL BEGINNINGS FEW young men who entered public life thirty years ago had any wide outlook upon affairs, or any general political ideas. They were drawn into politics just as other men were drawn into the professions or the arts, or into business, because it suited their tastes and ambitions. Often the commonest reasons and the most immediate necessities commanded them, and clear understanding, strong convictions, and deep purposes were developed only as they were compelled to face the real problems and meet the real temptations of the public service. La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M. La Follette ... http://www.loc.gov/resource/ lhbum.07510 Library of Congress My own political experiences began in the summer of 1880 when I determined to become a candidate for district attorney of Dane County, Wisconsin, and it resulted almost immediately 4 in the first of many struggles with the political boss and the political machine which then controlled, absolutely, the affairs of the State of Wisconsin. I was twenty- five years old that summer. A year previously, in June 1879, I had been graduated from the University of Wisconsin, and after five months' study of the law, part of the time in the office of R. M. Bashford, and part of the time in the university law school, I had been admitted to the bar, in February, 1880. I was as poverty-stricken a young lawyer as ever hung his shingle to the wind. I had no money at all. My single term at the university law school had been rendered possible only through the consideration of the faculty in making an extraordinary exception in my case, and permitting me to enter without paying the usual matriculation fee. I had no money— but as fine an assortment of obligations and ambitions as any young man ever had. I had my mother and sister to support, as I had supported them partially all through my college course—and finally, I had become engaged to be married. 5 To an impecunious young lawyer almost without clients, the district attorneyship of Dane County, paying at that time the munificent salary of $800 a year with an allowance of $50 for expenses, seemed like a golden opportunity. Though it appeared immeasurably difficult of attainment, I determined to make for it with all my strength. What I wanted was an opportunity to work—to practise my profession—and to make a living. I knew that trial work would appeal to me, and I believed I could try criminal cases successfully. I had an old horse which I had used during my university course in riding out to a district school I had taught to aid in paying my way, and borrowing a buggy and harness from Ben Miner, a friend and supporter, I now began driving through the country and talking with the farmers about my candidacy La Follette's autobiography; a personal narrative of political experiences, by Robert M.