Hunting Down Social Darwinism Will This Canard Go Extinct

Progressivism 107

and dependsuponhim.Eventhoughall restrictionson political,personal,and contractu-

al rightsweretakenaway,andshe stood,so far as statutesare concerned,uponan

absolutelyequalplanewithhim,it wouldstill be truethatshe is so constitutedthatshe

willrest uponandlookto himfor protection;thather physicalstructureanda proper

dischargeof her maternalfunctions—havingin viewnot merelyher ownhealth,but the

well-beingof the race—justifylegislationto protecther fromthe greedas wellas the

passionof man.Thelimitationswhichthis statuteplacesuponher contractualpowers,

uponher rightto agreewithher employeras to the timeshe shalllabor,are not imposed

solelyfor her benefit,but also largelyfor the benefitof all.

AndBrewerremarkedthatthis wasconsistentwiththe increasinglyrespectedopinion
thatthe “liberty” of free contracting“is not absolute,andextendingto all contracts,and
thata Statemay,withoutconflictingwiththe provisionsof the FourteenthAmendment,
restrictin manyrespectsthe individual’s powerof contract.”^25 The Centerfor American
Progress’s (CAP’s) pamphletThe ProgressiveTraditionin AmericanPoliticslionizesBran-
deisas saintlyprogressiveand mentionsnoneof his misogyny.^26

TheEugenicistArgumentfor Regulation

Alsointeresting,anotherof the justicesrulingfor CarrieBuck’s sterilizationwasfor-
merPresidentWilliamHowardTaft.^27 Someleft-wingprofessorsdecryJusticeTaftas a
conservative.^28 WilliamHowardTaftwasthe fatherto futureU.S.Sen.RobertA. Taft
(1889–1953)whotendedto favorderegulationovergovernism.^29 Additionally,one might
findit incriminatingto Sumnerthat the two Tafts—bothfatherand son—werestudentsof
Sumner’s at Yale.^30 Despitehis son’s reputation,though,WilliamHowardTaftwasyet
anotherProgressive.Massachusetts-basedscholarsDaronAcemogluand JamesA. Robin-
son admitthatTaft“prosecutedtrustsevenmoreassiduously” thandid TR.^31 Arthur
Ekirchadmitsthis as well.^32 PresidentTaftinitiatedtwiceas manyantitrustsuitsin one
presidentialtermas TheodoreRooseveltdid in two.^33 Taft,observesEkirch,“wasby no
meansthe servicecreatureof big businessdepicted” by progressiveswhowerefarther
Leftof himpolitically.^34 Additionally,in 1909Taftimplementedthe USA’s firstfederal
corporateincometax.^35
Just as it did withJusticeBrandeis,SDATstressesWoodrowWilson’s bonafidesas a
slayerof socialDarwinism.SDAThappilyquotesthis passagefromPresidentWilson’s
NewFreedom: “The manwithonlya littlecapitalis findingit harderto get intothe field,
moreand moreimpossibleto competewiththe big fellow.Why?Becausethe lawsof this
countrydo not preventthe strongfromcrushingthe weak.” Wilson,of course,promised
that whilein officehe wouldrectifysuchinjustice.^36
Wilsonalsostated,“Therehas beensomethingcrudeandheartlessandunfeelingin
our haste” to “succeed” financially“and be great.Ourthoughthas been,‘Let everyman
lookout for himself,let everygenerationlookout for itself,’ whilewe rearedgiant”
corporate“machinerywhichmadeit impossiblethatanybut thosewhostoodat the
leversof controlshouldhavea chanceto lookout for themselves.” Howfortunate,Wilson
decides,that we “havecomenowto the sobersecondthought.”^37
For the latterset of words,WilsonwinsdeeppraisefromgovernisthistorianJames
TruslowAdams.“Hereoncemore,” saysTruslow,“wasthe authenticvoiceof the great
Americandemocracy;hereoncemorewasthe prophetspeakingof the Americandream,
of that hopeof a betterand richerlife for all the massesof humbleand ordinaryfolk who
madethe Americannation.It wasthe voiceoncemoreof the democraticfrontier.. .”
Wilsonis great,pronouncesTruslow,for havingprovided“the firstgraduatedincome
tax,” the FederalReserveAct,andan antitrustprovisionknownas the ClaytonAct.^38