THE POLITICAL CAREER OF SENATOR BRONSON M. CUTTING Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Seligmann, Gustav L. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 11:41:37 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/284916 This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received. 68^1024 SELIGMANN Jr., Gustav Leonard, 1934- THE POLITICAL CAREER OF SENATOR BRONSON M. CUTTING. University of Arizona, Ph.D., 1967 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc.. Ann Arbor, Michigan © COPYRIGHTED BY GUSTAV LEONARD SELI6MANN JR. 1968 ill THE POLITICAL CAREER OF SENATOR BRONSON M. CUTTING by Gustav Leonard Seligmann Jr. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 6 7 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby reconmend that this dissertation prepared under my direction by Gustav Leonard Sellgmann Jr. entitled THE POUTICAL CAREER OF SENATOR BRONSON M. CUTTING be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement of the degree of " Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Director Date After Inspection of the dissertation, the following members of the Final Examination Committee concur in its approval and recommend Its acceptance:* A). YFR/I, ? % W^J *Thls approval and acceptance Is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense of this dissertation at the final oral examination* The inclusion of this sheet bound into the library copy of the dissertation is evidence of satisfactory performance at the final examination. STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allow­ able without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manu­ script in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. PREFACE While everyone concerned with the political history of the state of New Mexico will readily admit that Bronson M. Cutting is a figure of major importance very few are able to explain why he looms so large. This study is an attempt to answer that question. Within the framework of purely local politics Cutting was at one time or another deeply involved in the affairs of the Progressive, Republican and Democratic parties. He operated with apparent disregard for party loyalty as he successfully crossed party lines in his support of candidates at the local, state, and national level. Until recently the only materials available to aid in assessing Cutting's role were (1) the files of his newspaper the Santa Fe New Mexican, (2) the articles written about him during his lifetime, (3) the several publications and theses prepared under the direction of the Department of Government at the University of New Mexico dealing with the political affairs of many of his contemporaries, and (4) a Master's thesis by Jonathan Cunningham entitled "Bronson M. Cutting, A Political Biography" (University of New Mexico, 1940). iv V All of these sources have their shortcomings. The files of the New Mexican discuss problems from one point of view only, the published material on Cutting suffers from a lack of his­ torical perspective and in the studies of his contemporaries he received treatment as a peripheral figure. While Cunning­ ham presented a substantial contribution, he did not have access to the Cutting papers. In 1957 Patricia Armstrong, who had catalogued and arranged the Cutting Papers for the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, completed a Master's thesis discussing Cutting's role in New Mexico politics through 1926. This study based upon the papers is indispensable but it suffers from a major defect; Miss Arm­ strong's understanding of New Mexico politics is based too heavily on her reading of the Cutting Papers. Moreover, her study omits Cutting's role as a national figure. It would appear from a reading of the standard works covering the period 1927-1935 that most historians of that period are puzzled by Cutting's many political roles. They are impressed by his independence of thought and action but are not always able to explain him at critical moments, such as when Cutting and President Roosevelt split in 1934. This study atten^its to fill in many of the gaps existing in explanations of Cutting's political career. vi Through the use of the papers of Cutting's friends and ene­ mies, as well as the Cutting collection itself, the author has attempted to present a more balanced picture than one gets through only the Cutting papers. The Cutting papers have been edited, to be sure, especially those dealing with Cutting's years in the Senate; the author has therefore been forced to rely very heavily on the Congressional Record in discussing this period from 1927 to 1935. Unfortunately, because of the dearth of first-hand information he has been compelled to speculate, perhaps too frequently, about Cutting's motivation in sponsoring and opposing various pieces of legislation. This, he realizes, leaves something to be desired in the way of a complete understanding of Cutting. It may be possible to discuss Cutting in more detail in the future when the papers of his friend and ally, Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., and those of his opponent, Dennis Cha­ vez, are opened to researchers. But until that date, unless there is a body of papers unknown to the scholarly world, the author feels that he has presented a contribution, albeit a minor one, to the small body of knowledge to covering New Mexico politics since statehood and to the much larger liter­ ature of twentieth century political history. ACKNOVILEDGMENTS For a work of this nature done over a period of years from material gathered in a variety of places one can hope to do no better than merely noting and thanking the people who helped him the most and hope that the others never learn that they have been ignored. I would like to note with appreciation and thanks the staff of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park and the staff of the Coronado Room at the Zimmerman Library of the University of New Mexico. Their assistance was invaluable. It would have been much harder to gather the voting statistics in chapter six had it not been for Mrs. Mildred Barrett of the New Mexico State University Library. Three cheers and a tiger are in order for the staff of the Dupre Library at th^ University of Southwestern Louisiana from the students who shelve the books through to the Director. But three individuals especially should be mentioned, the Director, Mr. Kenneth Toombs, Mr. Dudley Yates, head of the Circulation Department, and Mrs. Mayo vii viii Blanchet, who is in charge of inter-library loans. I sup­ pose I could have finished without their assistance but it would have been much harder. Senator Ernest Gruening (D. Alaska), Senator Edwin Mecham (R. New Mexico) and Oscar Chapman gave the author invaluable assistance and excellent advice when he was in Washington. He is most appreciative. I would also like to thank the several New Mexico politicians who would not per­ mit their names to be used but who were most helpful. Cruz Alvarez of Mesilla, New Mexico and Carl Dunifon of Santa Pe were also most helpful particularly in their discussions of the way the citizens of the state felt towards Cutting. t The author would also like to thank Professors Ira Clark and Burl Noggle for encouraging him as an undergrad­ uate to become a historian. Professor John A. Carroll should also be thanked for letting the author sit in on his seminar on historical writing. I hope what I learned ^ows up in this study. Professor Conrad Joyner of the Government Department at the University of Arizona also needs 'thanking for past favors, ideas, and advice. Professors Robert R. Jones, Allen E. Begnaud and James Dorman of the University of Southwestern Louisiana helped the author in innumerable ix small ways but mostly they listened to him babble on about Cutting, they didn't throw him out of their offices and we are still friends. For this the author is most grateful. I would also like to thank Professor Robert Crisler for being a good boss, they are hard to find. A special thanks is due to my friends and colleagues from both Arizona and Louisi­ ana, William Elkins and Edward Renwick, for innumerable sug­ gestions and improvements. A word of appreciation must also be given to Mrs. Gloria D. Murray of the Academic Typing Service at Louisiana State University, who endured typing numerous rough drafts and tfie final copy of this dissertation. I would like to thank Professor H. E. Bateman for putting up with me and with this when it was in its more primitive stages. Greater patience hath no man than those who direct dissertations. A note of appreciation is also due my wife, Janelle, and my daughter. Amy, who neither read this nor typed it. They did, however, not leave me when I was working on it. To have asked for more would have been a cruel and inhuman punishment.