The Everything Theodore Roosevelt Book by Arthur G. Sharp Page A
Authors: Arthur G. Sharp
Tags: United States, General, History, Biography & Autobiography, Americas (North; Central; South; West Indies)
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mayor of Buffalo, New York, in 1881 and governor of New York in 1882, based on his reputation as an anti-graft reformer. His battle cry was “I regard it as the culmination of a most bare-faced, impudent, and shameless scheme to betray the interests of the people, and to worse than squander the public money.”
The governor’s veto convinced TR to take a second look at the bill. He acknowledged voting for it originally even though he believed it was wrong. But he voted for it more to punish Gould than anything else. After careful consideration, he realized that Cleveland was right. He voted to sustain the veto, which the Legislature sustained. The governor had taught him a valuable lesson: People’s first impressions are not always the right ones. There were other lessons TR would learn as he matured politically.
Touring with Gompers
One of the men who influenced TR most in his formative years was Samuel Gompers, a young man who had experience making cigars in New York City tenements, where he lived. He attempted to get a bill passed in the New York State Legislature that would protect the women and children making the cigars. He persuaded TR to tour the tenements where the cigars were being made. The tour—and Gompers—had a profound effect on TR’s life.
TR did not like what he saw in the tenements. He said, “My first visits to the tenement-house districts in question made me feel that … as a matter of practical common sense I could not conscientiously vote for the continuance of the conditions which I saw. These conditions rendered it impossible for the families of the tenement-house workers to live so that the children might grow up fitted for the exacting duties of American citizenship.”
TR was no stranger to the city tenements and the poverty and squalor that were associated with them. As a child, he had accompanied Thee on his visits to city slums often. His visit with Gompers heightened his desire to alleviate the cigar makers’ conditions. He got the chance, but the attempt ultimately went up in smoke.
The Cigar Makers’ Union introduced a bill into the Legislature seeking to ban the manufacture of cigars in tenements. TR was appointed to a three-member committee to investigate the conditions in the tenements. He learned a valuable lesson about the role of political influence in legislations.
One other member of the committee said he had to vote for the bill because he represented labor interests. A second said his orders were to vote against it because he represented businesses. But he told TR he did not care personally one way or the other which way the vote went.
Another Change of Heart
Initially, TR was against the bill. After he toured the tenements, he changed his mind and supported it. He was not sure that Governor Grover Cleveland would sign it, though. The governor was not sure either.
The Cigar Makers’ Union pleaded with TR to convince the governor the bill was needed. He did, and Governor Cleveland signed it. Ultimately, a Court of Appeals declared the bill unconstitutional, much to TR’s chagrin.
The Court of Appeals based its decision on the fact that one home in which the cigars were made was an ideal spot for the process. They labeled the law an assault upon the “hallowed” influences of “home.” The outcome of the case taught TR “the courts were not necessarily the best judges of what should be done to better social and industrial conditions.”
TR said later that this decision completely blocked tenement-house reform legislation in New York for at least twenty years. In fact, he emphasized, it was one of the most serious setbacks the cause of industrial and social progress and reform had ever received.
But, as so often happened in TR’s case, the setback turned into a victory of sorts. He learned more about playing the political game and impressed Governor Cleveland. The two would work together closely again, despite their different political affiliations.
The
The governor’s veto convinced TR to take a second look at the bill. He acknowledged voting for it originally even though he believed it was wrong. But he voted for it more to punish Gould than anything else. After careful consideration, he realized that Cleveland was right. He voted to sustain the veto, which the Legislature sustained. The governor had taught him a valuable lesson: People’s first impressions are not always the right ones. There were other lessons TR would learn as he matured politically.
Touring with Gompers
One of the men who influenced TR most in his formative years was Samuel Gompers, a young man who had experience making cigars in New York City tenements, where he lived. He attempted to get a bill passed in the New York State Legislature that would protect the women and children making the cigars. He persuaded TR to tour the tenements where the cigars were being made. The tour—and Gompers—had a profound effect on TR’s life.
TR did not like what he saw in the tenements. He said, “My first visits to the tenement-house districts in question made me feel that … as a matter of practical common sense I could not conscientiously vote for the continuance of the conditions which I saw. These conditions rendered it impossible for the families of the tenement-house workers to live so that the children might grow up fitted for the exacting duties of American citizenship.”
TR was no stranger to the city tenements and the poverty and squalor that were associated with them. As a child, he had accompanied Thee on his visits to city slums often. His visit with Gompers heightened his desire to alleviate the cigar makers’ conditions. He got the chance, but the attempt ultimately went up in smoke.
The Cigar Makers’ Union introduced a bill into the Legislature seeking to ban the manufacture of cigars in tenements. TR was appointed to a three-member committee to investigate the conditions in the tenements. He learned a valuable lesson about the role of political influence in legislations.
One other member of the committee said he had to vote for the bill because he represented labor interests. A second said his orders were to vote against it because he represented businesses. But he told TR he did not care personally one way or the other which way the vote went.
Another Change of Heart
Initially, TR was against the bill. After he toured the tenements, he changed his mind and supported it. He was not sure that Governor Grover Cleveland would sign it, though. The governor was not sure either.
The Cigar Makers’ Union pleaded with TR to convince the governor the bill was needed. He did, and Governor Cleveland signed it. Ultimately, a Court of Appeals declared the bill unconstitutional, much to TR’s chagrin.
The Court of Appeals based its decision on the fact that one home in which the cigars were made was an ideal spot for the process. They labeled the law an assault upon the “hallowed” influences of “home.” The outcome of the case taught TR “the courts were not necessarily the best judges of what should be done to better social and industrial conditions.”
TR said later that this decision completely blocked tenement-house reform legislation in New York for at least twenty years. In fact, he emphasized, it was one of the most serious setbacks the cause of industrial and social progress and reform had ever received.
But, as so often happened in TR’s case, the setback turned into a victory of sorts. He learned more about playing the political game and impressed Governor Cleveland. The two would work together closely again, despite their different political affiliations.
The
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