MASTER'S THESIS M-2679 SMITH, Linda Ann CHARLES SUMNER HAMLIN: BOURBON DEMOCRAT OR PROGRESSIVE REFORMER? HIS POLITICAL THOUGHT 1 8 9 2 -1 9 1 4 . The American U niversity, M.A. , 1959 H istory, modem University Microfilms, A XERQKCompany , Ann Arbor, Michigan CHARLES SUMNER HAIttDI* BOURBON DSÏ.ÎOCRAT OR fROO REÈShrE REFORMER? TÏÏS R)Li!ricALTHotiGriT ib^z-i^lU by pO Linda A. Smith Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree o f Master of Arts United States History Signatures of Committee* Chairman* / At* K/ Dean of the Colie^ Date » Af j Date : /féf The American University Washington, D* G# t h e MUERIOAN U W fM lT Y - JfcHtOWJO TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER l î INTRODUCING A PROPER BOSTONIAN............................................ h CHAPTER II» EARLY POLITICAL CAREER............................................................... 9 CHAPTER n i ; A FRIEND TO THE LABORING HAN................................................. 1? CHAPTER IVÎ A BAY STATE PROGRESSIVE................................................................2k CHAPTER V: INTEGRITY — AND A TIME OF CONSERVATISM...........................38 CHAPTER VI» A]'] APPOINTED PUBLIC SERVAIT!................................................... 52 CHAPTER VII» A FOE OF SEGREGATION................................................................ 62 CHAPTER V III» CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 70 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY................................................................. 73 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................. 75 Filmed as received without page(s) 3 UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS. CHAPTER I INTRODUCING A PROPER BOSTONIAN Charles Sumner Hamlin ( I8 6 I-I 9 3 8 ) fits the standard progressive profile like a glove.^ Occupationally, he practiced lav, the most conmon "progressive" profession, graduating in 1883 from Harvard, a most typical university for progressives, and receiving his lav degree cum laude in 1886 from the same institution. Hamlin was of British stock and from a family whose ante­ cedents reached proudly back to colonial America, The first Hamlins came to Massachusetts in 1639, and one of his ancestors commanded a regiment in the Revolutionary War, His cousin, Hannibal Hamlin of Bangor, Maine, served as Lincoln's Vice President, Both his parents and grandparents were upstanding and well—respected citizens of the solid middle class, Hamlin was a devout and active Episcopalian, ^The "standard p ro g ressiv e p r o file " i s based on George Howry, The Era of Theodore Roosevelt and the Birth of Modern ^erica, 190^1912. (New TorïcT Harper and Row, 1^58), chapter 5 , pp, B5-105, and on A lfred D. Chandler, "The Origins of Progressive Leadership," from Siting E. Moris on, ed,, The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt (Cambridge t Harvard University Press, Apperriïx ÎÎÏ of Vol. ïnEII. Also, small "p« (progressive) w ill always refer to progressives in general iriiile capital "P" (Progressive) w ill refer to the P ro g ressiv e Party or members th e r e o f. - b - and in politics he was no Mugwump. "I can claim," Hamlin made clear, "that ny father was a Democrat and ny grandfather and great-grandfather, therefore I can stand here as a Democrat,"^ Hamlin, born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, had the urban background which was typical of progressives. The oldest of six children, he received his early education in the Boston public schools. At Harvard "Charlie," as his class­ mates knew him, studied political econony and finance. Almost as good a singer as after-dinner speaker, Hamlin served as secretary of the Harvard Glee Club, He also played tennis and belonged to some of the most exclusive clubs of Boston — the Puritan Club, in company with "lots of Cabots and lots of Coolidges,"^ the Apollo Club, and the Longwood Cricket Club, At thirty-six Hamlin married Hybertie Lansing Pruyn of Albany, Hew York; their one daughter, Anna, died in 1925, before reaching the age of thirty. In 1886 the "rotund, smooth-shaven, smooth-voiced"^ Hamlin received his law degree, ran unsuccessfully for public office, and set up a law practice. For the next several years he prac­ ticed law in Boston in association iTxth two influential lawyers. Hamlin Papers, Library of Congress, Scrapbook, Vol. 3, p, 17. ^Ibid., Vol. 1, p. iji;, Boston Record, November 10, 1888, For reference to Hamlin as a tennis player, see ibid.. Letter from H e rb e rt M, B ru n e, May U, 189U. 3Ibid. , Scrapbook, Vol. 3, Woonsocket Evening Reporter, A p r il ? , I 8 9 2 • - 6 - Marcus 'torton and Robert M, Morse, Soon, 'lowever, he acquired a varied practice of his own, especially in the line of jury trials.^ Since Hamlin's background qualifies him as almost the perfect progressive prototype of the Mowry-Chandler model, a study of whether his ideas and thought also qualify him as a progressive would seem useful, Robert Wiebe holds that progressives con­ cerned themselves with three general issues ; regelating businesses and businessmen to distribute wealth and privilege more justly, maximizing popular participation in government, and attempting to improve the lot of the underprivileged and dis- n advantaged,*^ These three issues, I feel, adequately capture the essence of progressive thought, and I w ill attempt to relate Hamlin's thought to these. In addition, if Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, who used the power of their high office at one time or another to promote progressive objectives, could be considered bona fide progressives, and if Hamlin's thought is generally in tune with For this background information see a pamphlet on the sketch of his life inserted at the very front of the General Index, Vols. 1-89, of the Scrapbooks, See also "Hamlin, Charles Sumner," Dictionary of American Biography (New York* Charles Scribner's Sons, l95Hy, Vol. XXII, ^ . 273-275, For his genealogy see Representative ifen of Massachusetts (Everett, Massachusetts* Massachusetts Publishing Company, Ï&98), p. 6U. For more information on his religious activities see Hamlin's Diary, Vol. I, December 5* 1901, and Vol. 2U of the Scrapbook, p p . 2 3 , 2ht 1*2 , and 1 1 0 , ^Robert H, Wiebe, Businessmen and Reform* A Study of the Progressive Movement. (Cambridge* Harvard University Press), 1962 pp.^ 6 ^ - 7 - theirs, then Hamlin, too, could be considered a progressive. Historians do not agree, however, on the extent to which Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow W ilson advanced progressivism or to which they were philosophically committed to progressivism, A good case can be made that Theodore Roosevelt was philosophically a typical progressive and sincerely a moderate reformer, even though some historians find him opportunistic and staunchly conservative,^ George Mowry, though, considers Roosevelt to be a bona fide progressive even though his legis­ lative achievements were modest,^ Albert Ganley also argues effectively in favor of Roosevelt’s basic progressivism, even though he revealed the moderation typical of progressives,^ And Eric Goldman fits Roosevelt w ell within the progressive framework by applying his achievements to a definition of progressivism sim ilar to Robert W iebe's, Goldman argues as follows: "the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, however much it wobbled, moved in the general direction of ^ee Daniel Aaron, ?'en of Good Hope * A Story of the ^erican Progressives , (New York: Oxford University"Press, 1961), pp, 2^5-280.See also a passage from Richard Hofstadter, The American Political Tradition and the Men Vflio Made It, which is quoted in Albert Ganley, ^hé Progressive Movement : Traditional Reform. (New York: Macmillan, 196U), pp, 56-57. 2 Mowry, Era of Theodore Roosevelt, pp. 197-225. ^Ganley, The Progressive Movement, pp. 1*2-59. - 8 - the use of federal pov/ers to promote clean, efficient govern­ ment, to check exploitation by large-scale capital, and to strengthen the bargaining position of Icwer-income groups,"^ Concerning Vfilson, it would be d ifficu lt to argue that he did not substantially alter his conservative views, for whatever purpose, sometime between 190? and 1910. A good case that he contributed much to the passage of moderate reform legislation can be made. Through his efforts the conservative Glass currency reform b ill (Federal Reserve b ill) became a much more liberal measure. His leadership was crucial in the enactment of the tariff b ill, the Clayton antitrust b ill, and the federal trade commission b ill. True, in 1911* he opposed much proposed legislation tending toward federal social reform (child labor laws, woman's suffrage, for example), and he gave a "minimum of concessions to advanced progressive concepts,"^ Thus, he was certainly no advanced liberal, but he threw his weight, his power, and his energy behind a program of moderate progressive r e fo r m . ^ ric F, Goldman, Rendezvous With Destiny* A Histo^ of Modern A m erican Reform . (New Y ork* Alfred A. Knopf, 1952) , p . 163. ^Arthur Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917. (New York* Harper and Row, 1951*) p. 80. For more detail see Arthur Link, Wilson* The New Freedom. (Princeton* Princeton University P r e s s , 1 9 5 6) . B o th lO Ib e rt G anley, The P ro g re s siv e Movement, p p . 67 - 8 I , and Otis Pease, ed,. The progressive Years* The Spirit anS Achievement of American Reform. (NewT York, George B raziller, 1962), pp. 19-21, consider wllson a sincere and bona fide progressive. CHAPTER I I EARLY POLITICAL