The Political Life and Times of Governor Pat M. Neff Of
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PORTRAIT OF A SOUTHERN PROGRESSIVE: THE POLITICAL LIFE AND TIMES OF GOVERNOR PAT M. NEFF OF TEXAS, 1871-1952 Mark Stanley, B.S., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2011 APPROVED: Richard B. McCaslin, Major Professor and Chair of the Department of History Elizabeth Hayes Turner, Committee Member Roberto Calderón, Committee Member Aaron Navarro, Committee Member John Todd, Committee Member James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Stanley, Mark. Portrait of a Southern Progressive: The Political Life and Times of Governor Pat M. Neff of Texas, 1871-1952. Doctor of Philosophy (History), May 2011, 361 pp., references, 150 titles. Pat M. Neff was a product of his political place and time. Born in Texas in 1871, during Reconstruction, he matured and prospered while his native state did the same as it transitioned from Old South to New South. Neff spent most of his life in Waco, a town that combined New South Progressivism with religious conservatism. This duality was reflected in Neff’s own personality. On moral or religious issues, he was conservative. On economic and social issues, he was Progressive. He thus was a typical Southern Progressive who de-emphasized social and political change in favor of economic development. For instance, as governor from 1921 to 1925, his work to develop and conserve Texas’ water resources brought urbanization and industrialization that made the New South a reality in the state. Neff was a devout Baptist which influenced his politics and philosophy. He was president of Baylor University, a Baptist institution, for fifteen years after leaving the governor s office and he led the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in the 1940s. He combined Progressive and Christian values as he argued for the establishment of the United Nations and advocated forgiveness and brotherhood after World War II. The war’s end marked the beginning of the American civil rights movement. Many within the SBC advocated an end to racism and discrimination, others did not. Neff’s unwillingness to challenge racial traditions was typical of southern Progressives. The convergence of national politics and southern evangelical religion is evident in the final chapter of Neff’s career. His selection of President Harry S. Truman as the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Baylor offended many religious conservatives. Neff overcame the opposition but it damaged his reputation and ultimately forced his resignation, ending his public career. By the time of his death in 1952, Texas had become everything the New South was supposed to be—urbanized and industrialized. Neff’s activities were crucial to making that happen. Copyright 2011 by Mark Stanley ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I wish to thank the members of my committee who have given me the training and knowledge necessary to complete this dissertation. Richard McCaslin, Elizabeth Hayes-Turner, Roberto Calderón, and Aaron Navarro have never failed to offer useful insight and advice. Special thanks go to Randolph B. “Mike” Campbell who first suggested this topic and directed my Master’s Thesis. I would never have had the broad understanding of Texas history and politics without the benefit of his work and influence. None of this would have been possible without the support of others. Dr. Tom Wagy, of Texas A&M-Texarkana, my alma mater, has been both an inspiration and source of support of long-standing. I especially wish to thank my friend and colleague, Jessica Brannon-Wranosky who has spent many hours discussing nearly every aspect of this project. She has been truly invaluable. I also wish to express my thanks to the University of North Texas’ College of Arts and Sciences, Richard B. Toulouse Graduate School, and Department of History, as well as the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation for their generous financial support. No biography of Pat M. Neff is possible without the cooperation of Baylor University. I wish to thank its administration for access to official records. Ellen Kuniyuki Brown, and all of the personnel of Baylor’s Texas Collection were wonderful. There are many others too numerous to thank directly. My parents, Lewis and Karen, and my siblings James, and Catherine have been supportive and visibly proud—thanks. I hope this accomplishment is an inspiration to my nieces Casey Durham and Madison Stanley and my nephew Tyler Durham. Yes, you too have tremendous capability and potential—please use it well. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapters Page 1. INTRODUCTION: HISTORIOGRAPHY ............................................................. 1 2. THE PROGRESSIVISM OF PAT NEFF ..............................................................19 3. TEXAS IN THE 1890s: A POLITICAL PLACE AND TIME .............................37 4. NEFF AS THE SPEAKER OF THE TEXAS HOUSE ....................................... 59 5. PROGRESSIVES, PROHIBITIONISTS, AND THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION ................................................................................................................................81 6. VOX POPULI, VOX DEI: NEFF’S ELECTION—1920....................................108 7. AN OMINOUS BEGINNING—1921 .................................................................130 8. KEEPING THE LID ON—1922 ........................................................................ 150 9. TOWARD A MORE PROGRESSIVE AGENDA—1923 ................................. 188 10. A LAST HURRAH—1924 ..................................................................................206 11. A SOUTHERN PROGRESSIVE IN THE POST-PROGRESSIVE ERA ..........230 12. EDUCATION: SAVING AND BUILDING BAYLOR......................................257 13. OLD PROGRESSIVES NEVER DIE ................................................................ 284 14. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 316 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 325 iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: HISTORIOGRAPHY Pat M. Neff was born in Coryell County, Texas, in 1871 and died in Waco, the county seat of neighboring McLennan County, in 1952. Historically, Neff’s life spanned the period of time between Texas’ redemption from Republican Party rule following Reconstruction to the beginning of the “Republican revolution” that marked a significant change in southern and national politics. Neff, a politically engaged individual, was either directly involved in or very near some of the most important events during Texas’ transformation from the Old South to the New South. During the course of his political career he served as a state legislator, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, assistant county and county attorney, governor of Texas, and Texas Railroad Commissioner, as well as a member of the United States Board of Mediation. Neff was politically active almost continually between 1898 and 1932 at which time he assumed the presidency of Baylor University in Waco. Ideologically, Neff was a typical southern Progressive. Politically he was a Democrat—mostly Progressive but occasionally conservative. In many ways, his political life is a commentary on the fluidity and change of Texas and southern politics during the formative years of the New South.1 In The Mind of the South, Wilbur J. Cash identifies some important factors in bringing about the transition from Old South to New South. Among the most important are the “factory” and the “school.” Cash asserted that the “factory,” or industrialization, would make the South “rich” and that education in turn would “train” southern leaders how to “take advantage of the opportunities afforded” by industrialization. Neff is an example of a young man who took advantage of educational opportunity to become a leader of his state. Furthermore, Neff, like 1Thomas E. Turner, "NEFF, PAT MORRIS," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed February 12, 2011, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fne05. 1 Cash, understood the importance of these factors in raising the South and made them a major focus. Neff’s work for the cause of water conservation played a major role in Texas’ industrialization. During his tenure at Baylor, Neff sought to extend educational opportunity to economically disadvantaged students. Neff and Cash had similar visions of what the New South should be; Neff spent a major portion of his life bringing it about in Texas.2 By contemporary standards, Neff would probably be considered a very “down-to-earth” man. He had a strong connection to the land and never strayed far from the farm on which he was born. As an attorney and public official, Neff had a deep respect for the law and its enforcement. Most importantly, Neff, a devout Baptist, saw service to God in particular and society in general as a Christian obligation. These are the issues that drove the man and are the main themes of the recent biography entitled The Land, the Law and the Lord: The Life of Pat M. Neff, Governor of Texas 1921-1925 by Dorothy Blodgett et al. This work offers a significant basis for further research by providing a framework of the particulars of the governor’s life and career. Nevertheless, Neff’s participation in or close proximity to important events in the development of the New South in Texas offer the opportunity for greater analysis. For the purposes of this dissertation, Neff is used as a case study of political trends and events during his lifetime—from Redemption