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https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] SOUTHERN CONGRESSMEN AND AGRICULTURAL REFORM: 1913-1917 A thesis submitted as a requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Glasgowo ALASTAIR ROSS MITCHELL Department of Modern History, University of Glasgow, Scotlando December 1981* ProQuest Number: 10646839 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uesL ProQuest 10646839 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 CCfS-C, Z ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people aided me during my work, and I accept gladly this opportunity to acknowledge my debt and to express my gratitudeo 1 received the help of many librarians in Scotland and the United States, too many to record in detail, but I am particularly indebted to the staffs of the National Archives of the United States, Glasgow University Library, and the Mitchell Library, Glasgow. I owe thanks to all members of the American Seminar at the Johns Hopkins Univer sity for having provided a rigorous insight into the study of American history, especially Professor William Freehling, Mark Kornbluh, and Larry Shore. Professor John Higham supervised and aided my work at Johns Hopkins. Professor Arthur Link of Princeton University gave an afternoon of his time to discuss Woodrow Wilson and Southern progressive politics. I am particularly grateful to Mr. Bernard Aspinwall and Dr. Bruce Collins of my own department for their support and encouragement of my work. I owe my greatest debt to Professor William R. Brock. His expert supervision, unfailing interest, and kind assis tance have been essential from beginning to end in both Baltimore and Glasgow. Alastair Mitchell Perth, Scotland. December 1981. CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 Chapter I Southern Politics and Constitutional Thought 26 Chapter II Southern Agriculture 98 Chapter III Educational Legislation 155 Chapter IV Financial Legislation 220 Chapter V Marketing Legislation 275 Conclusion 348 SOUTHERN CONGRESSMEN AND AGRICULTURAL REFORM: 1913-1917 A SUMMARY Between 1913 and 1917 the Democratic party enacted an agricultural reform programme that provided federal funds for agricultural education and highway improvement, estab lished a fiscal structure for agricultural credit, licensed warehouses, and regulated speculative dealings on cotton exchanges. These formed a major landmark in American agri cultural policy, influencing later legislation. As the first major implementation of matching funds legislation between the federal and state governments they determined the nature of future central government intervention in the economy. Southern initiative and support secured the passage of these measures. Southern congressmen came from the class that tradition ally dominated Southern politics, being lawyers from agricul tural areas. Despite industrial growth, agriculture con tinued to provide the bulk of Southern wealth and to dominate Southern politics. As a consequence of the Populists defeat and the passage of the disfranchisement laws Black Belt land owners found their authority unchallenged. While generally profitable. Southern agriculture ran below its full potential and serious structural problems existed such as the spread of tenancy. Only federal legislation provided a realistic solu tion, the state legislatures being too inactive or impover ished to face the challenge. The Democratic victory of 1912 provided Southern congressmen with the opportunity to aid Southern agriculture. The/ The South dominated the government as no region has since: the President and most of his cabinet had Southern connec tions; Southern congressmen controlled the major congress ional committees and formed the Democratic leadership. While influenced by the activities of lobbyists, these congress men retained a degree of independence^ voting according to their convictions, and not solely on the command of an interest group. More experienced than most congressmen Southern leaders ensured that the many novel and controver sial aspects of the reform legislation passed with the mini mum of amendment. They managed debate in a sympathetic and professional manner, defeating the efforts of New England and Midwestern Republicans to pass damaging amendments. As Woodrow Wilson took little interest in agricultural reform this required considerable skills on the part of Southern leaders. In addition to shepherding the reforms through Congress they had to initiate and draft the legislation. The agricultural reforms demonstrate Congress's ability to initiate and enact reform despite the presence of a charis matic President. While eager to extend the functions of federal govern ment, most Southerners distrusted the extension of federal power, due to their perceived experience of the Civil War and Reconstruction. For federal legislation to be accept able to Southerners, it had to incorporate checks upon the federal power. In the agricultural reforms this was achieved by involving state governments on a matching funds basis. Southern leaders ensured that the state governments retained financial and initiatory powers thus preserving local/ local autonomy. Although no funds were involved in the financial legislation the fiscal system operated in a decen tralised fashion, achieving the desired aim. This accorded with the Southern interpretation of federal government, as taught by legal education, political experience, and histori cal circumstance. The states rights argument provided legal and constitutional solutions to economic and social problems that the Southern elite found acceptable. States rights could advance as well as defend the interests of the Southern elite, and this explains its attraction and survival after military defeat in 1865. This reform legislation operated throughout the 1920s and while guaranteeing that Southern agricultural life improved, it ensured that landowners were the only direct beneficiaries; tenants however received indirect benefits. INTRODUCTION In 1913 the majority of Americans lived on farms or else in small towns dependent on agricultural production: they lived neither in highly industrialised areas nor in great cities. They formed the largest lobby group in American politics, yet until 1913 few legislative measures had been enacted designed specifically to aid them. While almost all legislation affected the rural community in some way and very few politicians could afford to sponsor legis lation that harmed it, no legislation existed in the United States comparable to that in Europe where central govern ment actively supported the farmer. By 1917 however the American farmer was favoured with a body of legislation without equal in either its breadth or depth. It was no coincidence that this legislation was drafted, sponsored, and shepherded through Congress by the congressmen of the most agrarian region of the union, the South. The reforms are most conveniently grouped under three headings: educational, financial and marketing legislation. The Smith Lever Agricultural Extension Act of 1914 and the Smith Hughes Vocational Education Act of 1916 comprised the educational reforms. The Hollis Bulkeley Federal Farm Loans Act of 1916 formed the main financial legislation although some clauses of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 directly influenced rural finance. The Smith Lever Federal Warehouse Acts of 1914 and 1916, the Shackleford Bankhead Federal Highways Act of 1916, and the Smith Lever Federal Cotton Futures Act of 1916 covered marketing. Within/ Within the context of progressive reform, the agri cultural legislation was unusual in its comprehensiveness. While many of the social measures passedat federal level such as child labour regulation, workmen's compensation and maximum work hour legislation inter-acted, very little was conceived as a whole. The agricultural reforms, by contrast, were so conceived, the areas of each measure being carefully defined. Hoke Smith, the Georgian senator who sponsored much of the legislation, remarked at the beginning of the debates on the Agricultural Extension bill how this would be the first act of a whole programme that would ultimately include vocational education, public road improvement, the regulation of commodity exchanges and rural