Editing Square Deal (section)

== History ==

=== Coining of the term ===
[[File:Roosevelt - Address to the Boys Progressive League.ogg|thumb|Address to the Boys Progressive League ''"A square deal for every man and every woman in the United States. . .")'' by former President Theodore Roosevelt, New York City, recorded March 4, 1913 (according to Allen Koenigsberg's latest research).]]

The press was using the term "Square Deal" as early as 1871 in a ''[[New York Times]]'' local news article that reads "Many of the inscriptions on the front of trucks, drays, and other vehicles are quite amusing. On one there is a picture of a hand containing four aces, and over it is inscribed square deal."<ref>{{ cite news | title = Local News in Brief-New York | work = The New York Times | page = 8 | date = 3 July 1871 }}</ref> In 1888, in "letters from the people" (letters to the editor), one writer signed off as "Square Deal".<ref>{{ cite news | first = Square | last = Deal | title = Square Deal's Plaint | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 7 | date = 11 August 1888 }}</ref> In 1890, the phrase started to appear in headlines, e.g., "Give China a Square Deal"<ref>{{ cite news | title = Give China a Square Deal | newspaper = Washington Post | page = 4 | date = 10 January 1910 }}</ref> and "Not a Square Deal".<ref>{{ cite news | title = Not a Square Deal | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 4 | date = 1 December 1890 }}</ref>

An early usage of "square deal" by Theodore Roosevelt in the press occurred in 1899, when ''The New York Times'' quoted his saying, "I did not appoint a man because he came from Dr. Wall's or any other church; I gave each man a square deal on his own account. That is what I mean by [[wikt:Americanism|Americanism]]."<ref>{{ cite news | title = Lake Champlain Events: Roosevelt Makes a Speech | work = The New York Times | page = 4 | date = 22 August 1899 }}</ref>

In 1901, he declared "a square deal for every man, big or small, rich or poor" during a speech in [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], recorded by [[stereograph]] (photo) image.<ref>{{ cite web | title = A square deal for every man, big or small, rich or poor | publisher = Underwood & Underwood | url = https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/stereo.1s01976/ | date = 1902 | access-date = 24 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web | title = A square deal for every man, big or small, rich or poor | publisher = Underwood & Underwood | url = https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/stereo.1s01977/ | date = 1902 | access-date = 24 November 2017}}</ref>

In a 1903 speech in [[Springfield, Illinois]], he stated, "It seems to me eminently fitting that the guard around the tomb of [[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]] should be composed of colored soldiers. It was my own good fortune at [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba|Santiago]] to serve beside colored troops. A man who is good enough to shed his blood for his country is good enough to be given a square deal afterwards."<ref>{{ cite news | title = Last Speeches on President's List | work = The New York Times | page = 6 | date = 5 June 1903 | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1903-06-05_52_16665/page/n5/mode/1up}}</ref>

In October 1904, while Roosevelt was readying publication of his book ''A Square Deal for Every Man''<ref>{{ cite book | first = Theodore | last = Roosevelt | author-link = Theodore Roosevelt | title = A Square Deal for Every Man | publisher = R.J. Thompson | url = https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/stereo.1s01977/ | date = 1905 | access-date = 24 November 2017}}</ref> (Chicago, R. J. Thompson, 1905), ''The New York Times'' reported:

{{ blockquote
| No sooner have the Democrats concluded their task of going through the President's many books with a fine-tooth comb to ferret out campaign material, than Republicans come forth with a pamphlet of about the same size, and prepared on a somewhat similar plan, making conspicuous Mr. Roosevelt's sentiments on numerous civic and governmental questions. It Is entitled "A Square Deal for Every Man" and the paragraphs printed, which are more numerous than those in "Roosevelt, Historian", are culled, to some extent, from the same volumes. Republicans are now considering the purchase of over a million of those booklets. Chairman [[George B. Cortelyou|Cortelyou]] has discussed has matter, and negotiations on the subject were continued yesterday at the [[White House]].
| <ref name="Pamphlet">{{ cite news | title = Battle of the Booklets | work = The New York Times | page = 4 | date = 1 October 1904 }}</ref>
}}

The 94-page pamphlet's 75 topics include: America, A Good American, Alaska, Anarchy, Army and Navy, Capital, Character, Charity, Citizenship, Farmer, Peace, Publicity, Trusts, Weaklings, and World Power. Some imitate the form of proverbs.<ref name="Pamphlet" /> During 1905, Roosevelt capitalized on his slogan in the newspapers, who added "square deal" to headlines:

* "A 'Square Deal' for the Negro" (January 17) about "negro suffrage"<ref>{{ cite news | title = A 'Square Deal' for the Negro | work = The New York Times | page = 8 | date = 17 January 1905 }}</ref>
* "A Square Deal for the South" (January 27)<ref>{{ cite news | title = A Square Deal for the South | work = The New York Times | page = 6 | date = 27 January 1905 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite news | author = Savoyard | title = A Square Deal for the South | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 6 | date = 27 January 1905 }}</ref>
* "Talks of Square Deal: President's Address at Press Club Banquet" (February 14)<ref>{{ cite news | author = Savoyard | title = Talks of Square Deal: President's Address at Press Club Banquet | newspaper = Washington Post | page = 3 | date = 14 February 1905 }}</ref>
* "Upholds the President: Mormons Know He Will Give Them a Square Deal" (April 10)<ref>{{ cite news | title = Upholds the President: Mormons Know He Will Give Them a Square Deal | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 1 | date = 10 April 1905 }}</ref>
* "The 'Square Deal' Defined: President Offers Some Explanations of the Meaning of the Term" (April 15)<ref name="Explanation">{{ cite news | title = The 'Square Deal' Defined: President Offers Some Explanations of the Meaning of the Term | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = t | date = 15 April 1905 }}</ref>
* "The Square Deal" (May 18)<ref>{{ cite news | author = Savoyard | title = The Square Deal | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 6 | date = 18 May 1905 }}</ref>

The press praised Roosevelt's Square Deal:

{{ blockquote
| His explanation of that is entirely plain and understandable. It contemplates no injury to any interest, but an opportunity for all on absolutely equal terms. That is a principle the justice of which is universally recognized, and which ought to be more generally acknowledged in this country than in any other.
| <ref name="Explanation" />
}}

The press also criticized him for it:

{{ blockquote
| In his insistence upon "a square deal for all," President Roosevelt uses a phrase which is as catchy and as impracticable as either of those "glittering generalities" or the Declaration of Independence that have been shining and ringing all over the civilized world for a hundred and twenty-nine years and bid fair to serve for centuries to come as a potent inspiration in every struggle against tyranny and oppression, every movement toward greater liberty.
| <ref name="Explanation" />
}}

Other politicians tried to capitalize on the phrase, too, e.g., U.S. Representative [[Henry Sherman Boutell]] of Illinois.<ref>{{ cite news | title = Would Aid the South: Boutell, of Illinois, Asks for a Square Deal | newspaper = The Washington Post | page = 4 | date = 30 January 1905 }}</ref>

=== Initial legislation ===

In 1903, with Roosevelt's support, Congress passed the [[Elkins Act]]. This stated that railroads were not allowed to give rebates to favored companies any longer. These rebates had treated small Midwestern farmers unfairly by not allowing them equal access to the services of the railroad. The [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] controlled the prices that railroads could charge.

Legislation was passed which specified that meat had to be processed safely with proper sanitation. Foodstuffs and drugs could no longer be mislabeled, nor could consumers be deliberately misled.

Roosevelt gave high priority to environmental conservation, and safeguarded millions of acres of wilderness from commercial exploitation.<ref>Douglas Brinkley, ''The wilderness warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the crusade for America'' (2009).</ref> Roosevelt's conservation efforts were driven by practicality as well as by a love for nature. Influenced by early wise-use advocates like [[Gifford Pinchot]], Roosevelt believed that nature existed to benefit humanity. In a conserved wilderness, water could be taken to irrigate farmland, sport could be had, and timber could be harvested.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html#RECLAMATIONPROJECTS|title=Conservation Efforts of Teddy Roosevelt|work=Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt|access-date=2019-11-19|archive-date=2014-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208012307/http://theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html#RECLAMATIONPROJECTS|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Acting on these beliefs, Roosevelt set up the federal [[United States Bureau of Reclamation|Reclamation Service]] in 1902. The agency, through the use of dams and irrigation, created arable land in areas that had been too dry to farm, and the Reclamation Service eventually brought millions of acres of farmland into service. During Roosevelt's time in office, 24 reclamation projects were set up, and 150 national forests were created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html#RECLAMATIONPROJECTS|title=Conservation Efforts of Teddy Roosevelt|work=Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt|access-date=2019-11-19|archive-date=2014-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208012307/http://theodore-roosevelt.com/trenv.html#RECLAMATIONPROJECTS|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Second term ===

Roosevelt, moving to the left of his Republican Party base, called for a series of reforms that were mostly not passed.<ref>{{ cite book|author=Lewis L. Gould|title=Theodore Roosevelt|url=https://archive.org/details/theodoreroosevel00goul|url-access=registration|year=2012|publisher=Oxford UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/theodoreroosevel00goul/page/2 2]|isbn=9780199797011}}</ref> He sought a national incorporation law. All corporations had [[United States corporate law#Incorporation and charter competition|state charters, which varied greatly state by state]]. He called for a [[Income tax in the United States|federal income tax]], but the Supreme Court had [[Legal history of income tax in the United States#"Direct" income tax unconstitutional: Pollock v. Farmers' Loan Trust Company|ruled in 1895]] that any income tax would require a constitutional amendment.  Roosevelt sought an [[inheritance tax]] so the great family fortunes could not be inherited without the tax for generations.

In the area of labor legislation, Roosevelt called for limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes. Injunctions were a powerful weapon that mostly helped business. He wanted an employee liability law for industrial injuries, pre-empting state laws. He called for an eight-hour law for federal employees.  In other areas he also sought a [[United States Postal Savings System|postal savings system]] to provide competition to local banks, and, finally, [[Campaign finance reform in the United States#History|campaign finance reform]].

He secured passage of the [[Hepburn Act]] in 1906, which increased the regulating power of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Eventually, many of the proposals he championed were enacted under Democrats [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]].  When Roosevelt ran for president on an independent [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive Party]] ticket in 1912, in addition to these policies he proposed stringent new controls on the court system, especially state courts, to make them more democratic.  His court policies in particular caused his anointed successor, [[William Howard Taft]], to lead a counter-crusade which defeated Roosevelt in the Republican presidential primaries in 1912.<ref>Stephen Stagner, "The Recall of Judicial Decisions and the Due Process Debate," ''American Journal of Legal History'' 24#3 (1980), pp. 257-272 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/844667 in JSTOR]</ref>