Abstract
American military and foreign policy in the period 1905 to 1908 was dominated by concern over the intentions of Japan in the Pacific. America was determined to assert control over that ocean, and the actions of the Republican administration in the Caribbean, Central America, and the Philippines reaffirmed the importance of this goal. The failure of Root’s army reforms to deliver promised military efficiency made certain that army reorganisation remained an important political issue. Conservative and Neo-Hamiltonian Republicans continued to believe business organisation represented efficiency and progress. Roosevelt and others, however, were less impressed with business organisation as reports of industrial incompetence, dangerous working practices, and threats to public health by the drive for short term profit appeared with alarming regularity. In 1905 Charles Evans Hughes uncovered serious mismanagement in the three largest insurance companies in America. The companies used money to purchase political favours and to deal illicitly with financial houses on Wall Street. This scandal was followed by reports exposing flagrant abuses of public health by several food and pharmaceutical companies.1
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Notes
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© 1998 Ronald J. Barr
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Barr, R.J. (1998). International Suspicion and Fear of Japan: 1905–1908. In: The Progressive Army. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26888-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26888-7_7
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