IN THE presidential campaign of 1912 the logic of Hearst's
political philosophy should clearly have made him a supporter
of Theodore Roosevelt rather than of Woodrow Wilson. In the
leading article of the November 1911 issue of the World Today
a paper (later to be called Hearst's International) purchased by
him in that year, he reiterated his position on the trust problem
with that clarity of expression which was always his in those rare
moments when he was not under the immediate sway of personal
ambition. The article was entitled "Combination a Phase of
Progress: its Evils must be Eliminated; its Advantages must be
Retained." Hearst's argument was summed up in the following
words:

The trust is a labor-saving device that can lower the cost of pro-
duction. The trust is also a great power which can raise the price of
its commodities, rob its weaker rivals, corrupt legislatures and oppress
the public. These evil deeds of the trusts should be made criminal
and adequately punished. The trusts should be regulated and re-
stricted, but they should not be destroyed and, what is more, they
cannot be.

Elsewhere in the article he wrote: "Mr. Taft may call this
state socialism or whatever he pleases, but calling a thing a name
does not discredit it if the thing itself is right and furnishes a
solution and the only solution to an acute problem."

All this was essentially identical with the program of the Pro-
gressive Party and was essentially opposed to Woodrow Wilson's
endeavor to revive free competition. Furthermore, Wilson's

-176-