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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 7617920 TRAYLOR, JACK WAYNE WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE AND H%8 DEMOCRACY, 1919.1944, t h e u n i v e r s i t y Of OKLAHOMA, PH,D,, 1978 UniversiW Microrilrns International s o o n , z e e b r o a d , a n n a r b o r , m i -is io e © 1978 JACK WAYNE TRAYLOR ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE AND HIS DEMOCRACY, 1919-1944 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY JACK WAYNE TRAYLOR Norman, Oklahoma 1973 WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE AND HIS DEMOCRACY, 1919-1944 APPROVED BY s: DISSERTATION COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people have faithfully assisted me in various ways during the course of my research and writing in the graduate school of the University of Oklahoma. For their patient guidance I wish to thank my dissertation committee: Professors Arrell M. Gibson, David W. Levy, H. Wayne Morgan, and Henry J. Tobias, I owe a debt of gratitude to the curators of the William Allen White Collection, Emporia State University: Mr, Robert Hampton, Mrs, Mae Andrews, and Mrs, Dorothy Hoiranan, The entire staff of the Kansas State Historical Society has been most helpful, particularly Joseph W, Snell, Executive Director; Robert W, Richmond, Assistant Secretary; and Nyle H, Miller, Executive Director Emeritus, Finally, I want to thank my parents, Mr, & Mrs, Wayne B, Traylor, for their tireless support. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... 1 II. DEMOCRACY, CHRISTIANITY, AND WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE'... 6 III. THE CRISIS OF DEMOCRACY........................... 50 IV. WHITE ON THE POSTWAR PE A C E ........................ Ô2 V. WHITE ON THE 1920s ................................ Il6 VI. WHITE ON THE GREAT DEPRESSION .................... 157 VII. WHITE ON THE DICTATORS* THREAT..................... 19# VIII. AN EVALUATION..................................... 229 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................. 236 IV WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE AND HIS DEMOCRACY, 1919-1944 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION William Allen White was one of America's leading political observers from the end of the nineteenth century until his death in 1944. His biographers tell how hundreds sought his advice, from those in the most humble stations of life, to presidents. Millions read his books, articles, and editorials. Those same biographers indicate that White reached his pinnacle of influence and popularity during the last twenty-five years of his life, the period from 1919 to 1944. But they have not fully explored the reason for this. Why did White rise to such a venerated position after World War I? The answer can be found in a thorough examina­ tion of his writings during that time, and an analysis of one of the leading issues of that quarter-century. That issue, with which White dealt more than any other, was democ­ racy and its future. But White's idea of democracy differed from that of most other observers. White wrote "democracy is the institutionalized expression of the Christian philosophy 1 in ordinary life. As world conditions changed over a span of twenty-five years. White altered his position on various issues and therefore seemingly contradicted himself on numerous occasions. But a thorough analysis of his writ­ ings reveals his consistent emphasis on democracy, and says much about the thinking of an old Progressive as he inter­ preted a changing, post-World War I America. White had preached the importance of maintaining and strengthening democracy in America based on a Christian social philosophy, which he equated with the concept that an individual should treat his neighbors as he wished to be treated, since his early Progressive days at the beginning of the century. But his support of this doctrine did not elevate him to his highest position in American life until after World War I when democracy came under attack. Although this idea appeared in all forms of White's writing— unpublished manuscripts and letters as well as published articles, books, and editorials— he developed his reputation as country statesman and defender of democracy after World War I through his published works, those that millions of Americans read and from which they came to know him. Perhaps more Americans read his numerous magazine articles than any other form of communication because of the wide circulation of that medium. But certainly many also read his books and ^William Allen White, "What Democracy Means to Me," Scholastic. Vol. XXXI (October 23, 1937), 9. newspaper articles, including his Emporia Gazette editorials which received attention around the country. Even his speeches and radio broadcasts had a wide impact for many publications printed them, either in excerpt form or in their entirety. White’s "letters-received files" in the White Papers at the Library of Congress and in the White Collection at Emporia State University testify to his regional, national, and inter­ national following, and indicate the importance of his opin­ ion to both the famous and the unknown of the world. White’s biographers have pointed to the 1920s, 1930s, and early 1940s as the time when he reached his peak of 2 influence and recognition in America. And they have cited his support of democracy and Christian principles. Some have touched on White’s beliefs about democracy while con­ centrating on his varied activities. Others have presented intimate personal portraits of their subject or briefly men­ tioned the importance of democracy and Christian philosophy to White’s thought. But none have delved into the connection between his near obsession with those ideals and his ascension to prominence during the last twenty-five years of his life.^ ^Walter Johnson, William Allen White’s America (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 194V)» p. 331» bavid Hinshaw, A Man From Kansas; The Story of William Allen White (New York': P.' Putnam’s Sons, 1945)/ P» 179» ^Everett Rich, William Allen White: The Man from Emporia (New York: Farrar & kinehart. 194l)î Johnson. WHite’s America; John DeWitt McKee, William Allen White: Maverick on ^in_Street (Westport, CT; dreenwood Press, 1975)? Hinshaw, ^ n Prom Kansas ; Frank C. Clough, William Allen White of Ëmp'ori'a (iJew fork: McGraw-Hill Book Conç>any, l94i). ' ' This study will focus on the relationship between White’s emphasis on democracy and the position of esteem he held in America from 1919 to 1944. V/Mte was born in Emporia, Kansas, February 10, 1868, and grew up in nearby El Dorado, which at that time was still a rough frontier town. After high school, he attended the College of Emporia for three semesters, then moved on to the University of Kansas at Lawrence, He never completed require­ ments for a degree, but did establish something of a reputa­ tion for himself as a writer on the school newspaper,^ He then worked as a reporter, first on the Kansas City Journal. and then on the Star. In 1893 he married Sallie Lindsay, who became his lifelong companion and adviser. In 1895 they pur­ chased the Emporia Gazette, and with the great public acclaim of his "What’s the Matter with Kansas?" in 1896, White was well on his way to fame. In that editorial he blasted the farmer-Populists as a detriment to the state’s progress, and looked to the prosperous as the hope for a stable society. White was a strong supporter at that time of those he called the "best people," the leaders of government and b u s i n e s s , ^ It was not until after the turn of the century, when he became a leading Progressive, largely through the influence ^William Allen White, The Autobiography of William Allen W M t e (New York: Macmillan Company. 1946). p, 3; Clough. White of Émporia. p. 55; Rich, Mfen from Emporia, p.