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University of Iowa
Studies in the Social Sciences
Louis Pe.zer, Ph.D., Editor

E. B. Reorse, Advisory Editor J. VAN per Zzz, Advisory Editor

VOLUME X NUMBER I
BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY
SINCE THE WORLD WAR
by

Cuester E. Srpze, Ph.D.

Published by the University, Iowa City, Iowa

The Editor of this series is under obligation to his colleague, Pro-
fessor Harry Grant Plum, who did the major part of the work of
editing the manuscript for the printer, and whose advice was freely

sought and given during the processes of publication.

Louis Pewzer.

PREFACE

The fired, deswle following the World War has too recently passed
w permit of fins! esmelusionn concorning the events of that period.
There are wy tien, however, more replete with interest and no years
more onnpletely filled with matters of vital importance to our
Yremut wins, economie and political life than the first ten years
after the Vener of Vernaillon, It was the hope of the writer, there-
fore, that he might be able, not to present final and conclusive evi-
denen enverning the meaning of the events of that period, but to
dineaver, if jxmible, nome of the forees, both new and old, which
determined the courve of ono phase of the political life of that
time, Jt was hoped, alo, that some definite trends might be traced
in the apparent confusion and conflict in the realm of foreign
policies during those years, Tho struggle to return to ‘‘normaley’’
after more than four years of destructive warfare, and the deter-
mined effort to avoid wars that were a natural outcome of the
normal working of the dominant forces of the pre-war period, add
to the importance of the problem of international relationships of
post-war years, If the nature of this conflict is somewhat clarified,
and if the manner in which the various forces have reacted upon the
relations of one great nation with other parts of the world is sug-
gested, the purpose of this thesis will have been accomplished.

Cuester E. Sipps
Towa City, Iowa
April 7, 1931

CONTENTS

Caaprer Pace
I. The New Forces .. 7
II. Post-War Imperialism .... 28
IIL The Naval Challenge ..
IV. Great Britain and the League of Nations
V. Continental Relations ....

Footnotes .......

Index

8 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Napoleonic conquests. Economic reconstruction, too, presented
tremendous problem, requiring the attention of statesmen and busi-
ness men alike after the long period of devastating wars with which
the century had begun.

Before the close of the century the countries of Europe were fac-
ing a new economic and political problem caused by the demands of
developing industries for more extensive markets. Many indus-
trialists, their European markets limited by tariff walls, turned for
the solution of their problem to the development of markets in in-
dustrially backward regions. Such a solution was aided by im-
proved means of transportation and by highly developed national
pride, which brought to the economic venture a powerful support.
But the national feeling also made impossible an ‘‘open door’’ com-
mercial policy in the backward regions. Instead, spheres of in-
fluence were drawn and territories were annexed in order that
national trade might be assured of a monopoly.

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, certain French
statesmen were urging their country to assume the burdens and
responsibilities of economic and political expansion, and in spite of
the apathy or actual opposition of the majority of the French na-
tion to imperial expansion, the foundations for a great French
Empire were laid in Africa and Asia.(1) Germany, too, her uni-
fication completed, began after 1870 an unparalleled economic de-
velopment, and her government, succumbing to the demands of
business and of national pride, sought to extend her influence into
Africa and the Near East. Even Russia, in spite of despotism,
corruption, and defeat, revived her struggle for new commercial
outlets.

In this race for imperial possessions, the British were eager par-
ticipants. Even before the beginning of the nineteenth century the
British Empire had been extended to the Far East and to the
regions of the South Seas, while in the British Isles the Industrial
Revolution had already begun the transformation which was to
make the lives of the inhabitants as well as the industries of the
Island dependent upon the intercourse with the outside world.
During the middle years of the nineteenth century, when British
statesmen were discussing the possible dissolution of the Empire,
Lord Palmerston was giving expression to the new aggressive na-
tional spirit which Disraeli was to utilize in transforming the sordid
struggle for business advantage and private gain into a splendid

—

10 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

| British attempt of March, 1898, to arrange an Anglo-German Al-

lianee.(5) Negotiations were renewed in 1899 and in November
of that year Sir Joseph Chamberlain made public the Government’s
definite repudiation of the poliey of isolation, and announced upon
the same occasion, that he believed that an alliance with Germany
was the natural one.(6) Viscount Grey later explained the reason
that this alliance should have been considered ‘‘natural."’ ‘The
greatest fleet in the world was the British, the greatest army was
the German,” he said. ‘‘The Fleet and the Army could not fight
each other; let there be an alliance between them and they could
maintain their own interests and keep Europe in order." (7)

However, this attempt, like others, failed and the Germans
in 1900 the naval building program which was designed to make
sure Germany’s prestige in the field of imperialism.(8) In spite
of this move, which made impossible a final agreement between
Germany and Great Britain, negotiations for an alliance were again
opened in 1901 and again came to nothing, (9) To end the danger
of British isolation by means of a German alliance had proved im-
possible, and Britain turned to other Powers.

An alliance with Japan in 1902 seemed to secure the commercial
interests in the Far East against possible Russian aggression, and
Great Britain turned to France for further support. Freneh and
British differences had been serious, but these were eomposed in

i the face of a growing danger which was common to both. The
agreements regarding Morocco and Egypt were the first step toward
securing safe passage through the Mediterranean, while the Anglo-
Russian Entente of 1907 settled the question of Russian penetra-
tion of Persia and cleared the route to India. Security in the
Mediterranean region was further assured by the secret naval and
military ‘‘conversations’’ which were authorized by the British
Minister of Foreign Affairs. (10) These conversations, begun in
1905, resulted in the withdrawal of the French fleet to the Medi-
terranean in order to further secure that region, and at the same
time to allow the British fleet to concentrate for the protection of
another vital spot in the Empire—the Channel and the Belgian
coast. (11)

Great Britain therefore became a member of the system of con-

. tinental alliances in her effort to maintain her imperial position;
and as the growing German navy became more menacing, Britain
became more closely bound to her allies even though no formal

12 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

by the establishment of a mandate system and a League of Nations.
‘Internationalism was rising to challenge imperialism; and for the
next decade and more, a battle royal was waged between these two
opposing principles for domination of the policies of the British
‘Government, The honors rested sometimes with one and sometimes
with the other and neither could ever claim complete victory.

Tn this struggle between conflicting principles the economic situa-
tion with which Great Britain was faced at the close of the World
‘War would seem to have favored the continuation, even the intensi-
fication, of a policy of imperialism. Never in her history, perhaps,
had Great Britain needed so much the economic advantage that was
to be gained from the exploitation of industrially backward regions.
With great industries built to supply an immense European market
as well as extensive markets in China, in India and in other distant
portions of the world, and with a merchant marine designed to
earry a large portion of the world’s trade, Great Britain's pros
perity was completely dependent upon the economic situation in
the rest of the world. But the war had brought ruin to European
markets, The war had reduced populations; it had swept away
savings; it had brought instability of currency and loss of credit;
and it had resulted in the erection of new tariff barriers, Added
to these problems was that of readjustment of home industries, some
of which had been expanded to mect war demands and some of
which had been neglected because they were considered non-essential
to war. Nor was that all. Countries cut off from the usual souree
of supply of goods had in many instances built up their own in-
dustries or had developed substitutes to provide for needs which
formerly had been supplied by British factories.(15) Great Britain,
therefore, was faced, at the close of the war, with an adverse balance
of trade and with greatly impaired means of compensating for that
situation. The British shipping trade from which a large amount
of wealth had been realized before the war, suffered as did the
British industries; and the income from over seas investments which
might also have compensated for the unfavorable balance of trade,
had been seriously reduced by war purchases. (16)

The attempt to solve the economic problem led to suggestions
that the economic bonds of the Empire should be more closely
drawn, but opposition to such a plan was met both in Great Britain
and in the Dominions. To develop the economic unity of the
Empire would have meant further barriers to foreign trade and

14 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

\
four years of the World War that European ideals of national in- —
dependence reached a height never before attained, and the Wilson-
ian doctrine of self determination was not lost on the people of the
East. This doctrine the British, too, had apparently accepted, for
they had declared in 1918 that their policy in the East was to be
the establishment of national governments under the management
of the native populations, (18) The aid given to the British by the
Indiana and the Egyptians during the war certainly gave those
peoples the right to expect concessions as a reward. At any rate,
the British found in the force of aroused nationalism a power whieh
‘ affected vitally the policy of imperialism, and which necessitated a
trend toward more liberal policies, Internationalism again offered
itself as a substitute for imperialism,

However, added to the force of growing national consciousness
was another factor which was much emphasized by the economic
situation arising from the War and which tended to increase the
hostility of a large class of the British against imperialism, This
factor was a change in the nature of imperialism. Economic de-
velopment began as a search for markets which make possible a
continuous development of home industries; but more and more
during the first part of the twentieth century it became a search for
opportunities for profitable investments. (19) This change became
especially noticeable when brought to light by the serious post-war
economic situation, and tended to alienate from the support of im-
perialism a large group of British who would profit from the de-
velopment of home industries but who had no money to invest
abroad, Then, too, the economic situation which lowered the avail-
able supply of money for foreign investment no doubt destroyed
much of the incentive for an imperialism of investments, (20) |

The growing consciousness of nationalities in industrially back- —
ward regions and the changing nature of imperialism were not the
only factors which Great Britain was called upon to consider in an
attempt to maintain her pre-war policy. The rise of American sea
power offered to Britain's naval supremacy a challenge such as
even Germany had not been able to offer in the years before the
War, Freedom of the seas again became America’s slogan. The

| War brought sharply to the fore the fact that a European war
meant interference with American trade and a consequent loss of
prosperity, even if not final participation in the war itself. During
the war, therefore, the United States embarked upon a naval build-

16 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

burdened with a tremendous debt. Her commerce and industry
were disorganized. She was in no position financially to embark
upon a great naval building program. But America had been made
rich with the vast sums spent upon war supplies by the nations of
Europe. She had been building industrially and financially, while
Europe was being devastated and disorganized. The resources were
limitless. There seemed to be no restriction to her ability to carry
through her plans. To make the matter more serious for Great
Britain, the war had shown that most of the old-type vessels were
out-of-date and practically useless for modern warfare. Her great
pre-war fleet therefore gave her no great advantage over the other
Powers in the new naval building race. (24) Under these circum-
stances, to maintain the old Two-Power standard in the face of
America’s determination to assume a position of first rank was
quite obviously out of the question.

How would British statesmen meet this new problem? Would
they turn for assistance against the competition of the United States
to military alliances and agreements, as they had done to meet the
German rivalry before the war; or would the old course be aban-
doned and a new policy be evolved to meet the new situation? The
conflicting points of view regarding the proper answer to these
questions became evident in the attempts of the various British
Governments to solve the problem.

At the same time when Nationalism in the East and naval aspira-
tions in America were exerting a tremendous power against the old
system of British imperialism, a situation within the Empire itself
arose to menace the old order. An increased spirit of independence
in the Dominions gave warning that a policy based only upon the
economic and political needs of Britain would no longer receive
the undivided support of the Empire. Although in the years be-
fore the war the chief responsibility for the management of im-
perial matters had fallen upon Great Britain, the Dominions had
offered material aid in time of crisis. For many years before the
war, the Dominions had been consulted regarding the policy to be
employed in matters which concerned them directly, but no definite
responsibility had been assumed by the Dominion Governments at
the time of the outbreak of the war in 1914. (25)

The British Government could, therefore, enter the war with little
thought for the attitude of the Dominions; and the latter, accepting
the action of the Government at London, responded loyally and ef-

|

18 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of independent action and their influence in determining the for-
eign policy of the Empire, is indieated by a number of develop-
ments which are suggested in the Times’ article. One of the most
notable of these is the distinction between active and passive re-
sistance in case the Empire should become involved in war. The
distinetion was brought out by the Chanaq incident of September,
1922, (27) The difficulty which arose at that time between Great
Britain and the Turkish Nationalist Government was due to the
resistance of the Turks, following the great nationalist revival under
the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, to the Allied attempt to
divide the old Turkish Empire among themselves and to Britain's
attempt to substitute a Power amenable to British influence for the
ancient Ottoman Empire. The Greeks, who had been left by the
Allies to struggle alone against the rejuvenated Turkish armies,
were defeated and driven back to Europe; but the victorious Turks
found their pursuit blocked by the British at Chanaq on the shores
of the Straits, The Turks demanded the right to cross the Straits
in order to complete their victory over the Greeks. The British
refused. The hope of gaining large material benefits by taking over
the former German imperialistic enterprises in the Near East and
by arranging for the unhampered exploitation of that region had
been much impaired by the rise of Turkish nationalism and would
have been completely lost along with the hope of complete control
of the Straits by surrender at Chanag. The difficulty arose out of
activities which were very frankly imperialistic and although the
circumstances in September, 1922, were very different from those
of August, 1914, a comparison of the attitude of the Dominion Goy-
ernments upon these two occasions brings to light a significant
change. In 1914 the Dominions accepted without question the de-
cisions of the British Government in the matter of foreign affairs.
The interests of Britain were the interests of the Dominions and
the competence of the British statesmen to decide such matters was
‘unquestioningly accepted.

On August 1, 1914, the Canndian Governor-General telegraphed
to the Secretary of State for the Colonies that ‘in view of the im-
pending danger of war involving the Empire my Advisers are
anxiously considering the most effective means of rendering every
possible aid and they will weleome any suggestions and advice
which the Imperial Naval and Military Authorities may deom it
expedient to offer. They are confident that a considerable foree

&

|

20 TOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

or by the provisions of a treaty without previous definite action on
the part of the Dominion Parliaments. (33)

A third significant development in the relation of the Common-
wealth to foreign affairs is the relation of the Commonwealth to the
League of Nations, particularly Canada's efforts, first to eliminate,
then to revise, the famous Article X. The Canadian representa-
tives presented to the Third Assembly two amendments to this
article. The first stated that ‘the Council should take into account
the special cireumstanees and geographical position of each State
member of the League when recommending application of military
measures as a result of aggression or threat of aggression’? (34)
‘The second amendment provided that ‘‘it should be for the consti-
tutional authorities of cach State to decide in what degree the State
concerned is bound to assure the execution of its obligations under
Article X."' (35)

The effeet of these developments within the Empire can be as yet
only a matter of surmise, but British statesmen were forced, soon
after the close of the war, to the realization that the interests of the
British Empire no longer centered in Europe and the island of
Britain. What had been an Empire had become a Commonwealth
of equal nations, ‘‘autonomous Communities within the British Em-
pire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any
aspect of their domestic or external affairs, although united by a
common allegiance to the Crown, and frecly associated as members
of the British Commonwealth of Nations,’’ (36) The question of
‘war was no longer merely a matter of a decision of a cabinet in
London, nor was it a matter of a vote of the British Parliament,
nor even a question of satisfying the people of the island of Britain \
‘as to the justice and wisdom of military action, Governments in
Treland, Australia, America and Africa must also come to believe
in the necessity for the support of the British Government, if the
integrity of the Commonwealth itself was not to be endangered,

The problem af the support of an imperial system inyolves still
another negative factor, The old imperialism was founded on force.
Its maintenance demanded the power to wage effective warfare, if
necessary, both for the control of the native peoples and for the
elimination of the elaims of other imperialistic countries, But in
this matter, after the War, statesmen were called upon to consider —
an awakened public opinion, It is, of course, impossible to measure A
the extent of this development or to estimate its power and decisive- |

aia!

22 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

“the working classes, who contribute most of the soldiers and make
the greatest material sacrifices, are, therefore, the natural opponents
of war.’’ (41) In the opinion of many, such a resolution contains
no force, because of the Socialist surrender to the militaristic and
chauyinistic outburst at the outbreak of the war in 1914; but that
the position and influence of socialism were materially changed by
the war is proved by a glance at the position held by the various
socialistic parties in Germany, Russia and Great Britain during the
years since the war. A closer study of the attitude of the socialist
parties at the time of the outbreak of the war also indicates that
their support of the war meant, not so much a surrender of prinei-
ple, as a temporary suppression. In every European country, bitter
opposition to the war was maintained by the Socialists until war
was actually declared or invasion had beeome a certainty, (42) It
was only then that the Governments were given Socialist support,
and the reasons for the granting of such support were everywhere
the same. These are well expressed in the formal declaration of the
German Social Democratic Party in explaining their action in vot-
ing for the war loan in the Reichstag on August 4, 1914. The war,
the declaration states, was the result of an imperialistic policy.
“The Social Democratic Party has always combated this policy to
the utmost,”’ the declaration continues, ‘‘and even to this hour we
haye agitated for the maintenance of peace by great demonstrations
in all countries, and, above all, by our coéperation with our Freneh
brothers. Our exertions have been in vain. And now we are too
surely confronted by the fact that war is upon us and that we are
menaced by the terror of foreign invasion. The problem before us
now is not the relative advisability of war or peace, but a considera-
tion of just what steps must be taken for the protection af our
country.”” (43)

Even though these forces were in 1914 insufficient to prevent the
entrance of the various countries into the war, the fact that socialist
opposition remained comparatively quiescent, but unerushed, during
tho years of struggle, only to flame forth with renewed vigor as the
old Governments failed, seems even more significant than the fail-
ure. The resolution proposed at the Stuttgart Congress of 1907 by
the Russian delegation, of which Lenin was a member, takes on 4
new and sinister importance in view of events of 1917 and 1918:
“In case war should, nevertheless, break out, the Socialists shall
take measures to bring about its carly termination and strive with

Sa al

fi Ri
4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of 1918, This declares that the party stands for ‘‘the immediate
establishment actually as a part of the Treaty of Peace with which
the present war will end, of a Universal League or Society of Na-
tions, 4 Supernational Authority with an International High Court
to try all justiciable issues between nations; an International Legis-
lature to enact such laws as can be mutually agreed upon, and an
International Council of Mediation to endeavor to settle without
ultimate conflict even those disputes which are not justiciable.’”*
The Conference further declared that it was desirable to have all
nations promise to make common cause against any nation which
dared break away from this fundamental international agreement.
(45)

‘The type of internationalism which calls for the practical oblitera-
tion of national authority and thé substitution of a ‘‘Supernational
Authority’’ is, however, not. found again in the recommendations
of the Labour Party. A much more moderate tone is adopted in
luter expressions. W. Arnold-Forster speaks of internationalism as
the basis of Labour’s Foreign Policy, which is, he says, “‘based on
the idea that particular interests of cach nation should be subordi-
nated to the common interests of the race as a whole,’ (46) But”
the party aim seemed to be, not so much a subordination of national
to international interests, as the recognition that the particular
interests were a part of and dependent upon the interests of the
@itire world. British interests were not to be neglected, nor were
international interests to be served at the expense of British inter-
ests. Rather was British welfare to be attained by furthering in-
ternational interests, The Labour Party did not make the decided,
though often indefinite, distinction made by the Conservative groups

| between matters purcly domestic and affairs of international im-
port. The Labour Party believed that artificial political boundary
lines were insufficient to prevent the invasion of ills originating in
another State, and that the welfare of one, therefore, could not be
separated from that of another. (47)

Not only in socialism is internationalism found to be an ideal.
Tn liberalism as well, internationalism is an inherent element, for

| liberalism is essentially individualistic, Liberalism has as its funda-
mental aim the freeing of the individual from oppressive forces and
the ereation of cireumstances permitting the development of in-
dividual personality. The function of liberal parties ‘‘eonsists in
removing all artificial and harmful impediments to the expansion of

7

26 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

pansion as an ‘irrepressible tendency” which was perhaps not
wholly undesirable, for if properly regulated it might become an
almost unmixed good. (51) To these statements might be added
| accounts of Gladstone's attempted poliey in Ireland, his dealings
with South Africa, and, in fact, an account of Gladstone's entire
foreign policy. ‘Gladstone’s was the judgment of abstract moral-
ity,”? Ramsay Muir states, “‘for which many hold that there is no
place in international relations—His principles were that the su-
premo national interest was not glory or prestige but peace; that
for this end the best ultimate means must be the cordial cobperation
of all the Powers of Europe ;—that all nations should be regarded
as having equal rights, none, not even Britain, being entitled to a
pre-eminent right to be consulted; and that the policy of Britain
should always be inspired by a love of freedom and sympathy with
the oppressed.’ (52)

‘This was an international outlook which was never entirely lost
by the British Liberal Party, Even as the power of imperialism
grew stronger and when even the Liberal Party under the leader-
ship of Lord Rosebery had apparently adopted imperialism as lib-
eralism’s own policy, a segment of the party maintained its op-
position to such a surrender and the ‘lists were thus again set for @
renewal of the conflict on foreign and imperial affairs which from
the days of Palmerston and Bright had continued intermittently in
the Liberal Party and was still smoldering up to the time of the
Great War."’ (53)

It was in David Lloyd George that liberalism found its most de-
termined champion through the period when imperialism seemed
overwhelming. His greatest fight was waged against the Boer War,
when he risked his life as well as his political future in his opposi-
tion to an imperialistie war. ‘‘Since John Bright's great fight
against the Crimean War nothing of the kind had been seen in
England,"’ is the catimate of a biographer of the liberal states-
man. (54) During the years just preceding the war other members
of the Liberal Party, Campbell-Bannerman, Grey and Asquith, as
they saw their country drifting toward war, joined in suggestions
of a league of peace and the renewal of the Concert of Europe, (55)

Liberal internationalism continued as a prominent part of the
Liberal Party ideal after the close of the World War. ‘The new
world has a different faith and a different point of view,’” Lloyd
George stated. ‘It believes in nationalism no less firmly than the

I

CHAPTER II

POST-WAR IMPERIALISM

‘The struggle of the new forces for recognition in the decade fol-
lowing the World War may first be traced in the efforts of the
British to maintain unbroken the economic and political policy
adopted before the war in dealing with industrially backward
regions. To Great Britain the imperialistic system had become
vital. Imperialism had woven itself firmly into the fabric of the
industrial system upon which the very lives of the British people
depended. But this system, as has been noted, was seriously de-
ranged by the war, and imperialism was threatened by forces that
had been enhanced by years of international strife. To what ex-
tent was the problem solved by crushing the new forces, in order
that former foundations of policy might remain intact; or in what
way were pre-war policies modified to meet new world conditions?
A partial answer may be found in a study of the fortunes of British
imperialism itself during the first ten years after the war.

In making such a study, we turn first to the stated policy of the
three great British political parties; for, although stated policy so
often fails to agree with policy as carried out, such statements fre-
quently indicate the tendency of the party and the direction in
which their efforts will be directed.

In the first days after the war, the Coalition Government could be
very frankly imperialistic and bend every effort toward the main-
tenance and extension of the position won by the Allied victory, but
to the process of imperialistic expansion the Labour Party must
necessarily be unalterably opposed, because of their opposition to
war and their ideal of international codperation. Even the Con-
servative Party did not long remain so frankly imperialistic. This
is partly due, no doubt, to the fact that the various industrially
backward regions of the world were quite completely appropriated
by the various Powers. China might be suggested as a possible field
for aggressive imperialism; but public opinion at home, combined
with the rising power of nationalism in China itself, tended to cause
8 modification in this policy of openly aggressive imperialism. Such

28

30 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

trust, the object of which may be defined as the protection and ad-—
vancement of the native races. It is not necessary to elaborate this
position; the lines of development are as yet in certain directions
undetermined, and many different problems arise which require
time for their solution. But there can be no room for doubt that it
is the mission of Great Britain to work continuously for the train-—
ing and education of the Africans toward a higher intellectual,
moral and economic level than that which they had reached when
the Crown assumed the responsibility for the administration of this
territory."’ (3)

The position of the Conservative Party might be considered as
quite clearly indicated, therefore, by their lack of condemnation
of an expanding imperialism and by their complete indorsement
theoretically of the idea of the precedence of native interests in
dealing with British controlled territories, The position of the
Liberal Party apparently differs little from that of the Conserya-
tive, (4) But the stated policy of Labour, as is to be expected, is
much more radical and also less consistent. The opposition of this
third British party to aggressive imperialism is unqualified, and the
reasons for this attitude have already been suggested. The relation
of imperialism to international rivalries and war was made clear
decades ago; and the Labour ideal of international codperation had
permitted no intense national feeling to overshadow the dangers of
an imperialistic struggle and to encourage the Government to eon-
tinue such o process in the name of national glory and honor, Then,
too, economic expansion into backward regions was looked upon,
not only as nationalistic, but as primarily and necessarily eapital-
istie. Imperialistie expansion was the work of capitalism, and, in
the view of many Labourites, was carried on chiefly for the benefit
of a select group of capitalists, while labor’s chief part in it was to
pay the bills and furnish the men for the wars that the system en-
gendered. This fecling wos increased by the growing tendency on
the part of industrialists to invest their money in industries in in-
dustrially backward regions rather than to use these countries for
the building of home industry. It is small wonder that the most
definite condemnation of such a system is found in the Labour Party
programs, (5) We find the Labour Party demanding withdrawal
of troops from China and the restoration of complete sovereignty to
that country. (6) We also find this party passing resolutions de-
manding the right of the Indians to full self-government and to free

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32 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and the increase of markets in the Dominions and in foreign coun-
tries, through codperation and advance of mutual interests, must
be considered; but most important of all were the markets that
might be developed in India, in the Crown Colonies and im the
Mandates of the Empire, where there were great populations who
might be taught to demand the manufactured goods of Britain and
at the same time to develop the vast natural resources which would
furnish much needed raw materials for the home factories, (14) !
Within such « system, there lay a danger which the Labour Party
clearly recognized. Should capital, instead of sending the raw ma-
terials to England to be manufactured, build factories in the eolon-
ies themselves, near the markets, labor at home must be cut off
still further from its souree of livelihood through the further in-
jury to industry in Great Britain, The vast amount of labor avail-
able at wages so far below those of the British laborer offers a
temptation to which capitalistic enterprise has suceumbed in certain
instances in China and in India. (15) And it is not to be supposed
that the development of industries by the natives would meet with
any great favor in the eyes of the Labourites of Great Britain.
The imperialism of labor would be, if carried to its logical conelu-
sion, the old system of mereantilism; for while capital may profit
from its investments in factories run by cheap labor in India, British
labor profits only through the development of her industries at
home. But the party’s modern mereantilism was strongly tinetured
by another element which may have been due partially to idealism
growing out of a fellow-feeling with laborers of all lands, but prob-
ably was chiefly the result of the Labour Party's attempt to modify
a situation which it could not destroy, a sitwation which it had al-
ready accepted as a system to be maintained in some form. The
long hours, low wages, and ehild labor which are features of the
factory system in so many of the countries where the industrial
revolution is just beginning, offer serious competition to the British
laborer, who, if he eannot destroy the overseas industries, must
necessarily work to bring foreign labor up to his own standard.
From this situation came the protests against the exploitation of
lnbor in the backward regions. A typical protest came from the
Labour Conference of 1922 when the President of the Conference
in the course of his address put the followmg rhetorical question;
‘Is it nothing to the factory workers of Lancashire that in the
textile mills of Bombay, women are working twelve hours a day for

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34 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES |

in theory, one important check to the imperialistic proelivities of
the vietorious Allied Powers. The Mandate system had been de-
vised, and had been ineorporated with its famous statement of
“Trusteeship,’’ into the Covenant of the League of Nations. Fur. —
thermore, very definite limitations and obligations were agreed to
by each Power at the time of accepting the Mandate, ‘These regular
tions dealt with such questions as the prohibition of the slave trade
and forced labor, the control of the traffic in arms and of intoxicat-
ing liquors, and the assurance of freedom of conscience and the
material and moral well-being of the natives. (19) An annual re-
port was also to be made to the Mandates Commission and a ques-
tionnaire to be used in making these annual reports was sent to
each Mandatory. (20) Such a report might act as a deterrent to
the exercise of power for purposes of exploitation at the expense of
the natives, for such reports were given full publicity and the Com-
mission was not hesitant about asking for more information and
making suggestions for the improvement of administration by the
Mandatory Power, (21) Protests from the natives themselves have
also been received by the League of Nations. (22) There was, how-
ever, one question of vital importance that had not been settled.
That is the question of sovereignty in the Mandate. The question
did not receive wide attention, although a dispute regarding the
matter arose between the Commission and South Africa. (23) But
the Mandatories would quite naturally expect a practically perma-
nent exercise of predominant influence in a region which was being
developed at considerable expense to the controlling Government
and which had been received into the imperial system ehiefly for the
purpose of obtaining security or economic benefit for the Empire.
The consideration of the inclusion of the mandated territory of
Tanganyika in a federation of British East African territories might
be interpreted as a recognition of residence of sovereignty in the
Mandatory, even though provision for such action was made in the
terms under which the Mandate was accepted. (24) At any rate,
since the Mandatory was responsible for the administration of these
torritorics and since it held them as a part of an imperialistic sys-
tem, responsibility to the League apparently meant little except for
the publicity the latter organization gave. A direct appeal to the
League by the mandated territory for relief from administration
by the Mandatory, should such an appeal ever be made, would be
likely to have meagre results, if we may judge from the effect of

ly

3h =|

H Laat
{ 36 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

were abrogated in order to prepare the way for the Allied Pow-
ers. (26) :

‘This work was carried further by the Treaty of Sévres of August
10, 1920, and by the Secret Tripartite Agreement of the same date
between France, Great Britain and Italy. (27) These confirmed |
Britain's oil and commercial concessions in the Old Turkish Em-
pire, confirmed to her Mesopotamia and Palestine as Mandates, and
turned the former German enterprises over to a Tripartite corpora-
tion, Apparently the Allied Powers had won their rewards and
were to enjoy the fruits of their victory over Germany and Turkey,
but almost at once the arrangements of Sévres wore overturned.
The rise of the Nationalist movement among the Turks made im-
possible the carrying out of the terms of the Treaty. The Allies
themselves, dissatisfied with the disposition of the spoils, began to
quarrel among themselves. The ancient rivalry between France
and Great Britain was revived, with all the old suspicion and
acrimony, in their struggle for wealth and territory. French states-
men believed that Great Britain had taken more than her share of
the spoils end that she was responsible for many of the French
troubles in Syria and Cilicia, while Great Britain thought that
France had no right to abrogate the Treaty of Sévres and surrender
territory to the Turks without agreement of all the Powers. (25)
And Italy, hoping to regain a share of the spoils of which she had
been very largely deprived, joined France in the abrogation of the
Treaty of Sdvres.

But Great Britain's difficulties were not confined to France and
Italy. The struggle with the Nationalist Turks dragged on through
the two Lausarine Conferences. In September, 1922, war with
Turkey appeared inevitable, The strong nationalistic aspirations
of the young Turks were running counter to Great Britain's desire
for the destruction of the Turkish Empire and the transfer of
former Ottoman territory to her own or to international control.
Another serious point of disagreement was the boundary of Iraq,
which Great Britain insisted be placed far enough north to inelude
the Mosul region. In one matter, however Great Britain was in a
more favorable position in her relation to Turkey than was France.
Most of the concessions which Britain held were in the region al-
ready recognized as under British control, while France was de-
sirous of important concessions in Anatolia, the center of the Turk-
ish Nationalist State. This fact tended to draw Britain and the

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38 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the Treaty of the previous year which agreed that the Treaty itself
should be automatically abrogated with the admission of Iraq to
the League of Nations. (37) Four years later a new treaty was
negotiated by the terms of which Iraq was recognized as independ-
ent on condition that the rights of foreigners be guaranteed and
that the British Government be consulted regarding foreign affairs
which would affect both Governments. A British High Commis-
sioner was to remain in Iraq and was to be kept informed of events
there, Great Britain, in return, was to support the candidature of
Traq for membership in the League of Nations in 1932, (38) Finan-
cial and military agreements were left for later decision and in
the attempt to define the relations between the two countries in
these matters, negotiations broke down and the Treaty was never
signed, (39) Endeavors to settle the difficulty were dropped, there-
fore, until the Labour Party took charge of the British Government
in 1929, In September of that year, the announcement was made
that Great Britain had decided to recommend the admission of Iraq
to the League of Nations in 1932 without conditions, A treaty
which would regulate the future relations of the two nations was
drawn up, however, and it was stated that this treaty was to be
similar to that already offered to Egypt and would, therefore, pro-
vide for the continued maintenance of British troops in Mesopo-
tamia. (40) Great Britain was not yet ready to surrender control
of Iraq, whose independence was quite evidently to be largely
nominal. Although her membership in the League of Nations would
give Iraq a place in the discussions and in the decisions regarding
world affairs, it would seem safe to assume that such membership
would make little difference in her relations to Great Britain whose
interests would be guaranteed by a treaty duly ratified by Iraq and
registered with the League.

In Palestine, there was no granting even of nominal independence.
‘The strife between Arab und Jew made necessary a vigorous ad-
ministration by the British, with no concessions in the direetion of
self government if the terms of the mandate regarding the Jewish
National Home were to be carried out. This problem was. brought
to the attention of the Labour Government by conflicts between the
two nationalities in Palestine, but instead of concessions to either
group, the Prime Minister issued a statement which made clear the
intention of the Government to continue to administer the
in strict conformity with the terms of the mandate. (41) But the

= af

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40 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. |

ther inducement for exploitation. This territory was also one of
the most important undeveloped regions of the world, economiecal-
ly. (45) Tt was hoped that by the development of irrigation and by
the introduction of modern methods, the great Mesopotamian Valley
would become a source of vast amounts of raw materials, particu-
larly cotton for the mills of Lancashire, and wheat to feed Eng-
land's great industrial population. This would be another step in
making the British Empire self-sufficing and in maintaining her
prosperity and power.

But there was still another resource that Traq could provide which
was perhaps even more important to Britain than her own wheat
and cotton fields. That is, oil, a product that had become essential
to the existence of the Empire; for transportation had come to de-
pend on oil rather than on coal, as was the case before the war, and
British naval supremacy, dependent, before the War, no less upon
her well distributed coaling stations than upon the size of her fleet,
was threatened because of her lack of fuel for her vessels. (46)

Not only does England herself produce no oil, but neither do
other portions of the Empire as it existed before the war, with the
exception of small amounts in India and Egypt. (47) It is, there-
fore, no wonder that Britain insisted upon having the Mosul dis-
trict of the Mesopotamian Valley, nor is it any wonder that she was
willing to face not only the ill-will of the Turks, but the antagonism
of the French, to gain a distriet believed to be so rich in a product
of which she stood in such dire need. The demand of the French
for a share in this rich region became so insistent that a compro-
mise, the San Remo Oil Agreement (48) was drawn up, an agreement
which gave to France the share that she had demanded, but which
proved to be another source of ill feeling between the two Powers,
when France decided that she had, after all, received the worst end
of the bargain.

The availability of the product of the rich oil fields of Persia also
depends upon the control of the Persian Gulf, the commercial outlet
for the oil fields of that region, And although the Anglo-Persian
Treaty which would have given Great Britain complete control of
Persian resources failed of ratification because of a Persian nation-
alistic revival after the war, and although Russia withdrew from
Persia and renounced all of her imperialistic schemes and sur
rendered her concessions only on condition that no other country
would receive them, (49) Britain, in control of the Persian Gulf,

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42 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

mitted to interfere with the certainty of the safety of British in-
terests there. This was the course that the British Government
continued to follow for a decade. The safety of the Empire de-
manded that the British retain control of Egypt, but a sincere effort
was made to conciliate the Egyptians and to grant all the freedom
that the Government of Britain felt to be compatible with the
security of the Empire, The policy of coéperation was not very
successful, however, largely because of the attitude taken by the
Egyptians themselves, The war had given in Egypt, as in many
other parts of the world, a mighty impetus to nationalism, “In
the March days of 1919 the Egyptian people had attained unity
for the first time. The intelligentsia of the towns were united with
the fellaheen in a common enterprise.—So great was the enthusiasm
at this time that even the aristocracy joined the movement in con-
siderable numbers, or did not dare to oppose it—The most remark-
able occurrence in 1919 was the fraternization of Mohammedans
and Copts, united by the common weal of the newly awakening na-
tion—For the first time Copt priests preached in El Azhar and
other large mosques, and Mohammedans called upon men in the
ehurehes to take part in the national struggle. Christian priests
went through the city streets hand in hand with mullahs, preaching
love of the common fatherland.—In those days, too, Egyptian
‘women were roused to political activity for the first time. They
came out of the harems and demonstrated in the streets. They
marched to meetings and spoke in popular gatherings.’’ (53)

Quite naturally, the Protectorate, with its arbitrary rule, and
martial law, would be totally unsatisfactory to a nation so thor-
oughly aroused and completely united. Open insurrection settled
into passive resistance, with a boyeott and non-coéperation with the
British authorities. The Milner Commission, composed entirely of
British members, was sent to Egypt to investigate and make recom+
mendations; but the Egyptians refused to codperate with it, for
they were demanding complete independence, removal of British
troops, and a share in the administration of the Sudan, (54) The
Commission recommended as a means of settling the diffieulty that
a bilateral treaty be drawn up, a treaty which would permit that
troops be maintained in Egypt, that foreign interests be protected
by the British, and that Great: Britain should legislate on all mat-
ters pertaining to foreign affairs. The Sudan, the Commission
thought, deserved the right of independent development. (55) In

|
44 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

fairs so long as no action inimical to British interests was taken.
Great Britain also agreed to use her influence to obtain revision of
capitulation “in accordance with the spirit of the times,'’ to gain
the admission of Egypt to the League of Nations, and to refer all
disagreements to the League, British judicial and financial ad-
visers were to be kept in Egypt. (58) Although this treaty offered
to Egypt a position very closely approximating Dominion status,
she refused ratification ; for it was still absolute independence, not
Dominion status, that she wanted.

With the accession to affiee for a second time, the Labour Govern-
ment prepared to make renewed efforts toward the final settlement
of the Egyptian problem. The first step in this direction was the
acceptance of the resignation of Lord Lloyd, the British High Com-
missioner in Egypt. In explaining the action of the Labour Govern-
ment in asking the Commissioner's resignation, Mr, Henderson, the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, pointed out that Lord
Lioyd’s attitude had been more harsh and more uncompromising
than Chamberlain himself had desired. Tho foreign Secretary de-
clared that his predecessor's policy had been a minimum of inter-
ference in the internal affairs of Egypt and a liberal interpretation
of the declaration of 1922, but that Lord Lloyd was very elearly not
in sympathy with either of those objects. Henderson then cited in-
stances to prove that the High Commissioner's policy was absolute
tule rather than codperation, (59) The importance of the High
Commissioner in the execution of a policy, and an intimation of
Lord Lloyd's method, are suggested by a writer who is very fayor-
ably disposed toward the former High Commissioner, (60) when he
says that ‘‘Lord Lloyd believes in standing his ground every time
and on evory point, and in trying to earry out the Declaration of
1922 as well as so vague and elastic an instrament ean be suecess-
fully carried out. As most of the questions arising out of the
Declaration and the ‘four reserved points’ call for settlement on
their own merits, the personal judgment of the High Commissioner
has to play an important part in the conduct of affairs, and on
many occasions Lord Lloyd has to exercise his own personal in-
fluence to avercome opposition.’ This tendency toward rule by
foree the Labour Party wished to minimize as far as possible, sub-
‘stitating a spirit of co8peration whenever it eould be attained.

Asa second step in the attempt to solve this problem, the Labour
Government reopened negotiations with Egypt for a new treaty,

==> wal

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46 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

from any other Power. (65) Five years later, membership in the
League was offered to Egypt by Britain, but on condition that ar-
rangements, satisfactory to the latter country, regarding the future
relations of the two countries, could be made.

The imperial problem in Egypt is, of course, primarily a problem
of the defense of the Empire, but economie interest is not Jacking.
Egypt is of great importance in Britain’s cotton industry, sending,
as she does, a large amount of a high grade of raw cotton to Eng-
Tand’s mills and buying large amounts of cotton cloth in re-
turn, (66) and there are extensive British interests to safeguard
there; but it is the maintenance of troops and the control of foreign
policy to insure the safety of the Canal region with which the
British were most concerned. Good-will would be as important in
maintaining the desired economic status as would military foree.
In the control of oil this would not necessarily be true, but Egypt
does not produce oil in great quantities. (67) The Sudan also of-
fers a field for exploitation, and plans for the development of the
cotton raising industry have received considerable attention. (68)
In 1920, the British Government announced an irrigation scheme
for the Sudan, a plan which, when carried to completion, would
mean the raising of cotton that would compete with that raised in
Egypt. But of greater importance to the Egyptians was the fear
that their water supply would be eut off for use in the development
of the territory to the South. (69) The bitter opposition to the
development of the Sudan indicates an important reason for the
British determination to separate that region from Egypt. Lloyd
George stated definitely that Britain could not agree ‘‘to any
change in the status of the Sudan which would in the slightest de-
gree diminish the security for the many millions of British capital
which are already invested in its development—to the great ad-
vantage of the Sudan.’’ (70)

Tn other parts of the world, too, British interests have been pri-
marily economic rather than strategic. The control of Egypt,
Palestine and Mesopotamia have been considered essential to the
maintenance of open communications with India, but there are
regions in the Far East where Great Britain attempted to main-
tain a control of territory which can hold no such position in the
British Imperial System as does the Middle and Near East. In
China, famous as a region of imperialistic rivalries, ruthless eco-
nomic exploitation and territorial division before the World War,

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48 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES |

ference was called in the interest of naval disarmament, but the
Chinese situation and the larger question of the Pacific were elosely
bound up with naval limitation. The elimination of causes for con-
flict must go hand in hand with reduction of armament, and China,
offering by its weakness and disorganization a tempting field for
rivalries and conflicts, was immediately recognized as a major prob-
Jem for the Conference, (73) ‘This problem, as viewed at the Wash-
ington Conference, was not a matter of conciliating China, but of
reducing international rivalry and providing for the protection of
interests in the Far East by re-defining the mutual positions after
the disruption eaused by the World War. In this conference, Great
Britain found that her interests coincided more closely with those
of the United States than with the policy of Japan, the only other
Power whose extensive interests in China survived the war. Japan,
determined to obtain for herself a liberal portion of the disorganized
and helplees Republic, was in a position because of her geographical
location and her unscrupulous agressiveness to obtain what she
wanted. This policy, was, however, vigorously opposed by the
United States, who had no spheres of influence in China. The
policy of the United States offered to Great Britain an opportunity
to continue the development of her investments and her markets
unhampered; but not so the Japanese policy, which would have
meant the re-establishment of spheres of influence and a struggle
for concessions and cessions of territory. And in this game Japan
held an advantageous position, a fact that could not be overlooked
by Britain nor by the Dominions,

The Nine-Power Treaty was the result of the diseussions of the
committee on Pacific and Far Eastern questions at the Confer-
ence. (74) And in this Treaty, following the policy outlined by
the United States, the Powers agreed to respect the sovereignty, in-
dependence, and territorial integrity of China, and declared that
they would refrain from taking advantage of unsettled conditions
to scek special rights and privileges, Equal opportunity for eom-
merce and industry was to be established and maintained; the seck-
ing of monopolies that would interfere with legitimate undertakings
of the nationals of other Powers should receive no support; there
should be no unfair discrimination in the matter of railroads; and
China’s rights as a neutral in time of war should be respected. (75)
A Resolution was then passed calling for the establishment of a
Board of Reference to discuss problems connected with the ‘open

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50 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

was not high enough to be in any way protective. It would not,
therefore, encourage the building of rival factories in China, Then,
too, Britain still held Hong Kong, Kowloon, and Wei Hai Wei, and
although the British were later driven from some of their conces-
sions, troops were kept in China for the protection of British prop-
erty. (83) The surrender of Hong Kong was never considered, and
Kowloon, the British said, was necessary to the protection of Hong
Kong. (84) Wei Hai Wei was to be returned as soon as the other
leased territories were given up. This port, although Chinese soy-
ereignty was to be restored, was to remain open to British ships
without harbor dues and the British were to be permitted to store
naval supplies there. (85) Since this port had been obtained in
order to balance the leases of other Powers in north China, Britain
had no further use for it, exeept as provided in the Treaty of
Retrocession, if Japan would return her leased territories. This
Treaty of Retrocession was finally put into effect in April, 1930,
and the British forces were withdrawn from Wei Hai Wei, leaving
Hong Kong and Kowloon as the only portions of China under di-
rect British control. (86)

The relation of Investments in China to the home governments
has been regulated by a new China Consortium, formed in 1918,
‘The United States had already withdrawn from the old Consortium
because it was opposed to the ‘‘open door’? policy. The withdrawal
of Russia and Germany as a result of the war completed the dis-
solution. Consequently, Great Britain welcomed a suggestion from
the United States for the formation of a new agreement. The new
Consortium, extended to include Japan and France, provided for a
closer relation of the governments and the companies by agreeing
to give diplomatic support to the national group, which all firms of
good standing interested in Chinese investments could be required
to join. Independent firms would receive no diplomatic recogni-
tion. (87) The Powers were preparing ut the close of the war to
continue the old policy of exploitation,

By the middle of the decade, however, nationalism was reaching
a most virulent stage and the uprisings of 1925 seriously threatened
British interests, both through the boycott and the driving of the
British from their concessions. To put down the movement by force
of arms would have involved military operations of major import-
ance which would necessarily have extended to all China and would
doubtless have required the division of Chinese territory among the

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52 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the exploiters in their exploitation and further to degrade the Lan-
cashire factory workers,’’ (90)

‘The course being taken by imperialism in China was quite evi-
dently not proving profitable to British labor, and the Government
poliey which made such a system possible was most severely criti-
cised. It was claimed that armament-factory owners in England
had floated Chinese loans in England. The warring factions were
evidently getting from England the arms with which to earry on
their struggle among themselves. The prevention of settlement
among the factions in China was claimed to be a British policy, for
through division there Britain might maintain her power. (91) But
for the last accusation there seems to be no foundation, especially
in view of the fact that at the Washington Conference the British
delegation had sponsored aw resolution calling for the exclusion of
arms from China until conditions had become settled and the Gov-
ernment had been united under one head. The measure was lost
only through lack of Italian coéperation. (92) The Government in
the course of the same debate was also aceused of sanctioning the
Political oppression of Chinese in many Chinese cities where the
governments were in the absolute control of foreigners, but it was
pointed out thet the Chinese had moved into the foreign-controlled
areas because of the peace and security they enjoyed there and that
they were granted no more political privileges in territory under
native control than in the foreign sections.

The conditions among the laborers there were also painted in
darkest colors and the blame for these conditions was placed upon
England by the opponents of the Government policy. The interest
aroused in Parliament by the criticism directed against the Gov-
ernment because of this situation became so intense that as early as
1924, arrangements were made for an investigation of labor eondi-
tions there. The investigation and reports were made by the British
Consuls in the various Chinese cities and their report was, on the
whole, favorable to tho British. (93) It was acknowledged that
child labor, long hours, poor pay, and unsanitary conditions were
the rule in the factories, but all seemed agreed that conditions were
better in the foreign-owned faetorles than in the Chinese. The
Consul of Foochow, who sent in the most extensive report, stated
that long hours were not generally felt to be a grievance and that
the women were used to heavy work, so did not mind it; that the
Chinese owners would make no move toward reform, and, without

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54 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

1925 had declared that although lives and property must be pro-
tected and the Chinese must be held absolutely responsible for
wanton injury, that did not solve the problem. (96) At the same
time, Lloyd George had pointed out that peace in China was im-
possible beeause of the lack of unity there and that the British were
responsible to a large degree for that situation because of their
policy since the time of the Opium War. MacDonald had sng-
gested that the whole trouble was due to the fact that China was in
the throes of un industrial revolution and he had expressed hope
for a policy which would show to China in a most emphatic way
Britain’s desire to aid her and to eodperate with her. And Mac-
Donald’s hope seemed, at the close of the last decade, in a fair way
to be realized, for in spite of the unfavorable reception given the
Memorandum by the other Great Powers, the British Government,
on January 28, 1927, presented to the authorities at Hankow and at
Peking very definite suggestions for treaty revision. The British
declared themselves ready to recognize the modern Chinese Law
Courts, to accept the Chinese Commercial and Civil Code, to eon-
sider a new penal code, to require British subjects to pay the legal
Chinese taxes, and to discuss modifications of municipal administra-
tion in British Concessions. (97)

Some one has very aptly said that Great Britain, in her dealings
with China, has earried an olive branch in one hand and a sword in
the other, but of the two, the sword has played the more important
role, That this relative importance will be maintained is by no
means certain, The reasons for the change have already been noted
and that these same conditions will force Great Britain into further
consessions is highly probable, The Chinese certainly were not
plaeated by a mere statement of liberal policy, as was proved by the
‘uprisings and the capture of British concession areas in 1926 and
1927. The sword still had its place in British policy, however, for
although British interests might be advanced to a greater degree by
a more liberal policy and by a sincere endeavor to regain the good-
will of the Chinese than by the old policy of military force, the
British still! had immense interests that could not be tamely sur-
rendered, even in an effort to obtain that good-will, without ma-
terial injury to a very influential class in England. ‘Then, too, it
was necessary that the British retreat from their former position in
China should appear voluntary and that it should be covered by a

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58 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

“Trusteeship’’ and they conclude that the British are trustees not
only for the development and advancement of the civilization of the
native Africans, but that they are also ‘‘trustees for the world of
very rich territories,"’ This means that the British “‘have a duty
to humanity to develop the vast economic resources of a great con-
tinent.’’ It would seem that this duty is one which the British in-
vestors and settlers in Eust Afriea were very willing to assume.
But responsibility to the natives and the desirability of economic
development should not conflict, according to the Commission. The
Government has provided for the good of the native inter-tribal
peace, security of life and property, provision for Western stan-
dards of justice and criminal jurisdiction, medical service, schools,
means of communication, and social and political organization,
That something has been done along these lines is acknowledged,
but that there has often been a luck of interest in providing these
advantages and that the native had paid well and was still paying
for the ‘‘progress’’ which the Europeans brought, is only too evi-
dent. There seemed ample justification for the statement that it
‘is still true that ‘colonizing in Africa is making the negro
work,’ ’’ (106)

The searcity of labor im the Colony ‘‘is neeessitating the use of
communal or compulsory labor for the construction of much needed
new roads and it is not inconceivable that similar forms of campul-
sion will be required for public services,"” the Commission reported,
but declared that it was the duty of the British Government to
prevent the chiefs from using compulsory labor for their own profit
and also to define clearly its use under other circumstances. Taxes
were levied upon the native for two purposes, apparently, One was
to make him work, for he could not pay taxes unless he worked to
earn the money with which to pay. But this, from the white man's
view-point, was good for him, and, besides, helped to develop the
region. The other purpose seemed to be to raise money to improve
the settled areas without putting too great a burden upon the white
settlers, The minority report of the Commission states that in one
district over two hundred thousand pounds in direct taxes had been
collected in ten years, but that the same district still remained a
wilderness, and, if the British were to leave at that time, the only
evidence of British occupation would be tho buildings which had
been erected for the tax-collecting staff. Rose claims that the na-
tives, in the twenty-five years from 1900 to 1925, paid in direct

8 =

60 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

native opinion regarding the worth of ‘“Western standards of
justice and criminal jurisdiction’? with which he was favored.

Apparently, however, the British Government made no effort to
remedy the condition deseribed by the Commission. There was no
vigorous nationalism among the natives to keep the matter before —
the minds of the public as was the case in Egypt, India and China, —
The Government did, however, refuse to grant self-government to
the region, and that refusal in the case of Hast Africa was not the
result of mere conservatism. Self-government would have moant
government by the Colonists, an arrangement which would not have
worked to the advantage of the natives. The Governors in the
Colonies themselves recognized the problem, however, and in a Con-
ference of the Governors of the British East African Dependencies
in 1926, the problem of the native in his relation to the development
of the Colonies was considered, as was the question of federation
and the association of white immigrants and natives in the govern-
ment, (110) But as for the Government at London, there seemed
to be no positive, active policy in regard to the Hast African pos-
sessions, These regions were developing satisfactorily, there was no
great internal disturbance that demanded attention, and no great
international rivalry was threatening the security of the territories.
There seemed, to Britain, therefore, no need for active interfer-
ence. (111)

This is more or less characteristic of Britain’s entire imperialistic
program during the latter half of the decade, as is indieated by ex-
amples cited in this chapter. Events in the British Empire indi-
eate that the old-time aggressive militaristic imperialism, such a8
was carricd through in Mesopotamia even after the war, is now
playing a less prominent role in British policy. This may be due
to the satisfaction of imperialistic demands by the acquisitions made
during and just after the World War. So far as this satisfaction
‘accounts for the abandonment of spreading acquisitive imperial-
ism, the change will be temporary, As the new regions are more
fully developed, British capital and British enterprise must reach
further, perhaps for areas that less enterprising nationals have
failed to develop as completely as the British have developed theirs,
But in so far as public opinion has become aroused to the dangers:
inherent to an arrogant, grasping imperialism, and is ready to join
with the more liberal parties in condemning such a policy, to that
extent an important cause of war will be lessened. How far this

=|

CHAPTER TT

THE NAVAL CHALLENGE

Closely allied to this problem of imperialism which presented
itself to the British in new form in the decade following the War,
was the question of control of the seas and the maintenance of the
relative power of the British fleet. Great Britain had been drawn
into the World War through her effort to maintain her supremacy
of the seas and to find security for her great Imperial System and
she had succeeded well in destroying the German Empire, with
its claims to equality with the British. But the war, even as
it failed to solve the problem of Imperialism, failed to establish the
supremacy of British naval power. When the war was over, Great
Britain found that in destroying one menace she had hastened the
rise of another even more formidable, This new rival for supremacy
of the seas, as has already been indicated, was found in America,

‘The British Government did not, however, immediately upon the
close of the War, take up the challenge thrown out by America in
1916. Problems of peace and reconstruction absorbed the attention
of her statesmen and for a time there seemed to be no general recog-
nition of the change in American policy. ‘The unprecedented activ-
ity during the War had given to Britain a fleet which seemed, after
the destruction of Germany, far greater than the needs of the Bm-
pire demanded, and economy and retrenchment dictated Govern-
ment policy. (1) But by the beginning of 1921, the new problem ~
which Great Britain must face was clearly recognized, (2) and a
number of possible solutions were put forward at various times in
the effort to meet the new situation. Formal alliance with the
United States, assistance from the Dominions, the building of a
great air foree, open competition in naval armaments, agreements
regarding naval armaments and alliances against the United States,
were all suggested and some of these plans were tried. The first of
these, an alliance with the United States was suggested in the House
of Commons but was given no consideration. (3) The plan of call-
ing upon the overseas Empire for assistance in building up a great
navy was also dismissed without extended discussion. The First

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64 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

obviously out of the question, but the Admiralty announced, at
samo time that the new naval program was outlined, that a Oni
Power standard had been definitely accepted, (10) and that
increases were necessary to maintain even the new standard,

At the Washington Conference which met near the close of that
same year, the British representative apparently gave assurance of
the acceptance of the demands of the United States for parity.
But the acceptance of agreements which provided for parity be-
tween the two navies was more apparent than real, as was amply
proved by the failure of the Geneva Conference of 1927. Then, too,
as has frequently been pointed out, the meaning of parity has never
boon made clear, Does it mean equality in the number of naval
units; does it mean equality in total tonnage, or in the tonnage of
separate categories; or does it mean equality in so far as national
needs may dictate? The Naval Conference of 1921 did not go far
toward settling the different points of view held by the two eoun-
tries regarding the interpretation to be placed upon a principle
which had been accepted at least nominally. But even though an
agreement was reached only in regard to capital ships and airplane
carriers, the Conference marked, because of the spirit which made
even this agreement possible, a very definite step in advance of the
attitude which had been maintained toward German competition
before the war. It also marked the beginning of endeavors to solve
the new naval problem which had arisen between Great Britain and
the United States by a new method, that of agreement as opposed to
unlimited competition,

The first step taken toward agreements concerning limitation of
naval armament, however, was to provide for security in regions
where the situation made the maintenance of great armaments
necessary. This the Powers attempted to do at the Washington
Conference by drawing up the Four-Power Treaty which was de-
‘signed to guarantee the status quo in the Pacifle hy means of mutual
guarantees of the insular possessions of the signatory Powers. (11)
But this Treaty may be looked upon as something quite different
from a mere foundation for naval disarmament. It may also be eon-
sidered as an attempt to mect the naval problem by means of a
military alliance rather than through mutual understanding. This
contention is based partially upon Article II of the Four-Power
‘Treaty which states that “If the said rights in relation to the in-
sular possessions and Dominions of the Powers in the region of the

par ail

66 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

vice for destroying the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and that it was
supplemented by a definite understanding between the British and
American delegates providing for the cooperation of the two fleets
in the Pacific, thus making possible the domination of the Far Bast
without the expense of maintaining two immense fleets in that
region, That such an understanding had ever been reached was of
course emphatically denied by representatives of both Govern-
ments. (16) But a formal agreement would not be necessary to
insure codperation between the two countries, A similarity of in- |
terest would have the same effect. Buell claims (17) that ‘while
the Four-Power Treaty eliminates the menace of the Anglo-Japanese
Alliance to the United States, it does not destroy entirely the moral
encouragement which that Alliance gave to Japanese imperialism.
Great Britain no longer guarantees Japan’s special interests in the
Far East. Nevertheless her diplomatic freedom is restricted by the
Four-Power Treaty and by her interests in the Orient which Japan
may imperil.’’ The developments of the last few years showed,
however, that British interests in the Orient were much more sim-
ilar to those of the United States than to those of Japan. (18) The
aggressive imperialism of the latter was rather an added reason for
close codperation between Great Britain and America. And there
is no provision in the Treaty itself which would place England un-
der obligation to support Japanese imperialistic interests, as did the
old Anglo-Japanese Allianee. The obligation for granting support,
either military or ‘‘moral,'’ to Japan would, it seems, depend upon
the interpretation ns to what constituted the ‘‘rights'’ of the signa-
tory as mentioned in Artiele II of the Treaty. There seems no
justification for assuming that Japanese imperialistic designs should
constitute ‘‘rights’’ that Great Britain would be bound to defend or
would have any desire to support.

Because of this growing similarity of interest betweon the United
States and Great Britain in the Far East, their fleets could hardly
be considered rivals in that region and since the Treaty, no matter
whether it formed the foundation for a military alliance or not,
offered guarantees which proved satisfactory to Japan and France,
as well as to the great English Powers, it made possible definite
agreements concerning the relative size to be attained by the
various navies. The first attempt to come to a satisfactory agree-
ment regarding this matter was made at Washington immediately
after the signing of the Four-Power Treaty, and resulted in agree-

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68 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCTENCES

light. That national interests had been paramount in the eonsidera-
tions of all of the countries at the Conference of 1921 had been
proved by the heated dispute aver submarines, but at the Three-
Power Conference at Geneva this attitude was over-emphasized to
such a degree that failure was inevitable. This over-emphasis upon
national interests and the refusal of all groups to compromise suf-
ficiently to reach an agreement was due to a number of factors. In ]
the first place, the divergence between the interests of the Powers
had grown no smaller since 1921, but had perhaps been clarified and
emphasized. The representatives of the United States went to the
Conference in 1927 with a plan which would have applied the prin-
ciple of parity to auxiliary vessels and would have extended the
ratio adopted for capital ships at the Washington Conference to all
auxiliary vessels. (22) This proposal the British refused to accept,
chiefly because such an arrangement limited the total tonnage rather
than the number of vessels of cach size. The plan proposed by the
United States would have permitted the building of the great
cruisers up to the limit of the total tonnage granted and Great
Britain would have been forced in order to maintain the One-Power
standard to follow suit. Great Britain, therefore, proposed to limit
naval armament by limiting the size of vessels and by extending the
life of those in use. (28) In addition to these differences, the total
tonnage suggested by the British was twice the amount whieh the
United States delegation considered should satisfy all defensive
needs, (24)

Difference in national need, however, was not the only factor
which entered into the failure of the Conference. In 1927, Great
Britain was not faced with a competitive building program such as
the United States had launched in 1916. America’s demand for
the greatest. navy in the world had materially lessened, for the dis-
comfiture caused by her inability to enforce freedom of the seas
during the war had been forgotten to some extent, and popular de-
mand had been satisfied by the accomplishment of equality with
Great Britain in the matter of capital ships, little distinction being
made in the popular mind between capital ships and auxiliary ves-
sels. There was, therefore, no pressing need for an agreement with
the United States, Great Britain in 1927 held a substantial lead in
the matter of cruisers, a lead that was not likely to be scriously
threatened by any other power. (25) Then, too, France and Italy
had declined to take any active part in the Conference and the at-

b st

70 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

tion implied that any country was a potential enemy which might
at any time threaten England’s trade. Against this enemy or ene-
mies, Great Britain must maintain an indefinite naval strength
which no one nation must be allowed to proximate, The Times of
a later date (27) comes out in an even more definite expression of
this point of view: ‘‘The difference,’’ according to the Z'imes, *“be-
tween the ‘parity’ that means an effective equality in British and
American naval strength and the ‘mathematieal parity” that would
put an American Navy in a position to threaten the internal com-
munications of the British Empire has yet to be fully explained
both to the British and American peoples.”” ‘The intimation here is
that ‘‘effective equality’? means a British navy with sufficient —
strength to protect the Empire against an American navy. The
Times concludes in the same editorial that there is only one solution
for the problem, and that is for each country to go its own way and
for each to determine its own needs for national defense. Such a
solution could mean nothing but unlimited competition.

The Conference itself carried through from first to last a military
atmosphere very different from the spirit of the Conference of 1921.
The note of acceptance of the invitation to the Three-Power Con-
ference sent to the American Government by the British called at-
tention to the speeial geographical position of the British Empire
and the necessity for the protection of the food supply. This, the
note stated, must be taken into consideration along with the special
conditions and requirements of the other countries, when the
tion of limitation of naval armaments was to be considered.(28) The
basis of discussion was evidently to be military needs instead of the
requirements of peace and disarmament. National interests rather
than disarmament was to be the keynote, Such a procedure was in
striking contrast to the Washington Conference at which questions
of mutual security, understanding, and good-will were made the
foundations for disarmament agreement, But even with this foun-
dation, agreement upon the question of auxiliary craft had failed,
Tt is smal! wonder that agreement could not be reached when only
national needs, considered apart from all else, should form the basis
of diseussion.

‘The next indication of the attitude of the Conservative Govern-
ment was in the personnel of the delegation sent to the Conference,
‘The First Lord of the Admiralty headed the delegation which was
overwhelmingly military. Viscount Cecil of Chelwood was the only

tb al

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72 TOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

that had caused the failure of the Geneva Conference. There had
apparently been no change in the national needs of Great Britain
and the United States, and although France and Italy consented to
send delegates to participate in the discussions of the Conference of
1930, their attitude regarding naval affairs had undergone no
change. The attitude of the Governments of the United States and
Great Britain was very different, however, from that whieh had
been exhibited in 1927, During the latter part of 1929, both Goy-
ernments were emphasizing the need for eodperation rather than
the military needs of national defense. (34) This change in atti-
tude is indicated by the nature of the delegations sent to London.
Instead of being predominantly military, as had been the ease at
the earlier Conference, the British delegation was headed by the
Prime Minister and the American delegation was led by the Seere-
tary of State, both being assisted by leading statesmen from each
country, (35) Such a choice indicated the determination of the
Governments to relegate military considerations to a minor position,
while attempting to meet the problem with the wider view of the
statesman, These changes resulted in the overcoming of the diffi-
eulties which had wrecked the earlier Conference and in a further
application of the principle of understanding and codperation which
had been accepted by the Labour Party as the means of solving the
naval problem.

All efforts to reach an agreement with France and Italy failed,
however, as completely as in 1927, but such a failure was not al-
Jowed to bar the way to an understanding between Great Britain
and the United States. Any danger that might arise beeause of the
refusal of the Powers of Southern Europe to participate was elim-
inated by the “‘safe-guarding clause’’ included in the final treaty,
which provided that should national security demand an increase
in naval armaments, any Power might make the needed additions
to its naval foree after notifying the other signatory Powers, who
would then be permitted to make the same increases. (36) The
European situation, MaeDonald said, had proved difficult to solve
and had therefore been put aside for later settlement; but in the
meantime, the safe-guarding clause had made possible an agreement
between the other interested Powers. (37)

The question of cruisers, which was a problem the Geneva Con-
ference had been unable to solve, was also settled to the satisfaction
of the Governments of Great Britain and the United States, in spite

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74 1OWASTUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ed was quite typical of the Conservative Party, whose effort, wl
began in the Preparatory Commission of the League of Nation:
1926, culminated in the Anglo-French Accord of 1928. Th
is much concerning the aims and purposes back of the ag)
ment which had been reached between the Governments of Fra
and England, and much concerning the real meaning of

Compromise, as it was called by the Secretary of State for Fore
Affairs, that has never been made clear, Consequently, there is
cided disagreement us to its full meaning; but, in spite of a lach
clarity regarding aims and purposes, the opposition aroused b;
revealed important new trends, Its consideration is, therefore, ¥
worth while,

Disarmament had been recognized by the League of Nations
one of the great problems with which that organization must d
The solution of this problem had, in fact, been set forth in
Covenant itself as one of the important aims of the League (4
and this body had devoted itself earnestly since the time of
meeting of the First Assembly to the attempt to find a solut)
‘The Geneva Protocol of 1924 had carried a provision for the eal]
of a general disarmament conference, and although the Prot
failed of ratification by the Powers, the League Council, unwil]
to allow the attempt to solve the disarmament problem to drop
tirely, appointed a committee to make arrangements for a gen!
conference. (45) This committee, which began its work in 1{
attempted to draw up some program upon which « conference co
proceed. It was in this Preparatory Committee that the differer
between the plans of Great Britain and France came to light, |
it was the cause for the failure to call the disarmament confere}
‘The inability of these two Powers to agree caused a practical de
lock in the Commission at its session in March, 1928. But
British Foreign Minister and the French Prime Minister had
ready begun negotiations between themselves in an effort to se
the vital differences between the two countries. This action |
announced to the Preparatory Commission in March, 1928, and
parently received the Commission's approval. (46) These nego
tions had proceeded without receiving attention from the peopl
Parliament in either country until the final agreement was reac
in July, 1928, There would seem to be, according to the histor}
negotiations up to this point, nothing to arouse the storm ¥
which the Compromise was met, but there were s number of of

hon

76 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES |

|
alliance with France, or, at least, place her under obligations to the
French as had the military conversations before the World War. |
The Government’s refusal to publish an official account of proceed-
ings until nearly three months later (48) added to that suspicion,
which was further intensified by the comments upon the Com-
promise by various French papers which immediately interpreted
the agreement as a definite alliance, a view adopted by many of the
English ax well as by many Americans, since there was no informa-
tion with which to prove the arrangement anything else. After
Chamberlain’s vague statement in the House of Commons on July
30, there were no further explanations forthcoming from the British
Government until October 22, except reiteration of the purpose as
first stated and categorical denials of the formal alliance, There
was need for such denials, for there was abundant information and
extensive speculation coming from the press. The French papers,
in spite of the statements of the Governments that the terms of the
agreement must not be made known until the other Powers had had
an opportunity to form an unprejudiced opinion in regard to the
matter, had somehow obtained information as to the compromise,
The Governments still refused to publish authoritative information;
but nearly two months later, the New York American published a
letter which the French Government had sent to the French Am-
bassadors in the United States, Great Britain, and Italy, which con-
tained the technical naval agreement which had been reached by
the British and the French. (49) About the same time, the Echo
de Paris published a summary of the correspondence which had
been carried on in making the arrangements between the two coun-
tries. (50) ‘There was evidently a leak in the French Foreign Of-
fice and the opponents of the British Conservative Government sug-
gested that such slips were not unintentional on the part of the
French. (51) The suggested purpose was to make definite, by
means of publicity, the obligation of the British Government to the
French. Even though the Powers refused to aecept the technical
arrangements regarding the fleet, Great Britain might be considered
as publicly bound to stand by her ally. There was, of course, dis-
agreement as to the possible future obligation of Great Britain be-
eause of the public announcement, Chamberlain himself had first
mentioned the agreement in the House of Commons and he had al-
ready agreed to the sending of the plans to the other Powers, al-

— 2S
3 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

would be limited only by the number of able-bodied men of France
suggested the plan of the British Government already referred
to, (50) of allying the world’s greatest fleet with the world’s most
powerful army. The French newspapers were apparently very
frank in adopting just this interpretation of the Accord. (57) “The
Liberal Manchester Guardian Weekly gives a number of quotations
to support this view. For example, the Liberte remarked that it
could not ‘be a mere matter of settling purely and simply armies
and fleets, In the long account this agreement resembles rather a
convention between the General Stafls, Fundamentally we are in-
terested in the naval strength of the English, fundamentally the
English have an interest in the solidity of our army. Often enough
have the Germans said that we are England’s troops. Similarly in
a way the English have become our sailors.’’ (58) The Echo de
Paris regretted that the affair had been announced. Politicians,
this publication thought, should keep as disereetly quiet as do the
military officials. (59) The Temps, in ‘‘an obviously inspired arti-
ele,”’ while claiming that there was no alliance, spoke of ‘‘the eon-
fident Anglo-French collaboration in view of the safe-guarding of
the general peace, a codperation which is in practice at the base of
any policy of security for Burope,"’ (60)

The French note of July 20, 1927, caused much criticism to be
directed against the British Government because of their failure to
answer in any way the suggestion made by the French. The note,
as it appears in English translation in the White Paper, says that

the French Government is ‘‘convinced that the coneerted aetion of
| France and of Britain will enable the two Governments to obtain
the approval of the naval Powers concerned. Whatever the result,
and even should this hope prove illusory, the two Governments
would none the less be under the urgent obligation to concert, either
to ensure suecess by other means or to adopt a common policy s0 as
to deal with the difficulties which would inevitably arise from a
eheck to the Preparatory Commission.'’ (61) The French note,
however, does not mention the Preparatory Commission specifically,
and it might, therefore, be interpreted to imply a much wider field
of cobperation, (62) The French were very clearly suggesting the
closest codperation in case the other Powers refused to agree to the
plan drawn up by Great Britain and France for carrying out their
own schemes regarding military and naval armaments, ‘This sug-
gestion was never answered by the British Government, whose op-

ill

—

80 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of the Conservative policy more because of the attitude adopted
toward the United States in both the Geneva Conference and in the
Anglo-French Accord than for any other reason. Both partics
seem to have given up very definitely any idea of competition with
the United States, whether through building programs or by agree-
ments with other Powers. Supremacy of the seas was not entirely
abandoned by either party, apparently, but the old idea was ma-
terially modified. Their hope lay in supremacy through codpera-
tion with the American power, not through an alliance, nor through
Conversations, or any other agreement which would place one eoun-
try under obligations of any kind to the other, or which would ex-
clude or estrange any other country; but through codperation and
open friendship which would consider the United States as a mem-
her of the Great British Commonwealth of Nations, Even naval
agreements between the two Powers should be unnecessary, since
diseussion concerning parity and national needs implies a lack of
complete understanding and the existence of a fear of future
war. (67) Not only should war between the two countries be un-
thinkable, as the Conservatives also hold, but the fact that war is
unthinkable should make possible, at the least, the greatest ease in
agreeing with one another. American building should not even be
considered as a factor in developing the British program, according
to the liberal position, for competition between the two countries
should be both a disaster and a disgrace. ‘‘The revolution in sea
power, of which the sanction is the American Navy,” declared Lieu-
tenant-Commander Kenworthy, ‘‘is really far more of a menace to
the existing order in our points of view and policies than is the
revolution in social policy. But it is even less a menace to our
peace and prosperity and even more a means to recover our position
and progress, provided we realize how to accommodate our old
ideals to it and how to adapt it to our real interests, Yet we can do
nothing until we recognize the new factors it has introduced into our
old problems and the new forms in whieh it has reeast them.”"(68)

‘The two liberal parties were, therefore, apparently prepared to
face the problem of American naval power squarely and to solve it
by means of the building of friendly codperation and good-will. It
is true that the Washington Conference, in which the Liberals along
with the Conservatives participated, did not solve the problem which
wrecked the Geneva Conference; but from the former the Powers
emerged with a spirit of good-will which was a tribute to the method

t |

—

CHAPTER IV

GREAT BRITAIN ,
AND THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

With the World War there came to many, practical statesmen as
well as idealists, the realization of the need of some new and earnest
effort in international codperation, The old Concert of Europe had
broken down, overwhelmed by conflicting national desires for power,
territory, wealth and prestige; the Hague Tribunals had proved in-
effective in the face of national fears and jealousies; and the great
system of alliances had, instead of preserving peace, merely served
to help drag the whole world to war. But the War, instead af fore-
ing the world to accept the inevitability of such catastrophies, gare
added intensity to the determination to overcome somehow the evils
of an overdeveloped nationalism, It was of this determination that
the League was born, but it came into a world dominated by the
fears and hatreds engendered by the war, and strongly influenced
by the belief that only a relentless military control of the enemies
of the victorious Powers could assure the future peace and safety
of the world. One section of the people saw in the new organiza-
tion something far in advance of the old Concert of Powers or an
association of victorious nations. It was to be an organization with-
in which should reside a tremendous codperative influence more
potent than the causes of international strife. ‘The conservative and
the cynical, on the other hand, saw in the League only something to
satisfy a too powerful idealist who might accept the League in ex-
change for more materialistic considerations, or perhaps an ageney
through which nationalistic ambitions might be realized. There
were those who hoped that the League might become a super-state,
there were others who hoped that it might become at most an agency
through which diplomatic bargaining might be conducted. (1) A
study of the principles that the framers had in mind, or a study
of the provisions of the Covenant itself, tells little of what the
League was or what it might become; for, like all constitutions, the
‘Covenant was subject to various interpretations, and much depend-
ed upon the trend of its development. And because of the confusion

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84 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and by the maintenance of justice and a serupulous respect for all
treaty obligations in the dealings of organized peoples with
one another,"’ (4)

“Tt follows,’’ Chamberlain says, ‘‘that the League must work in
the main not by force, but by persuasion—. It must seek its main
support in the willing coéperation of its members, in public opin-
ion, and in the moral force which it derives from its representative
character—If persuasion fails and its decisions or recommendations
are refused acceptance, the refusal involves no penalties.’’ (5) The
last statement is especially significant because of the stand taken by
the liberal parties. The conservative leader advises caution in us-
ing the League to settle international difficulties, and he expresses
the fear that a too enthusiastic faith in the League will eause med-
dling with matters that lie wholly within the authority of national
governments, It is his hope that the League may gradually, through
custom and a slow increase in good will, become a body capable of
demanding the confidence of the entire world. (6)

If we turn from the cautious, slow-moving policy of the Con-
servative Party to the attempts of the Labour Party to make the
League a determining force for peace, we find a contrast most
marked, a contrast of material importance to the League and to
international affairs of Europe and the world. The first idea of the
Labour Party as to what the League might become is suggested in
their declaration of 1918, already noted, (7) regarding o super-
national state. The declaration was an extreme statement of a type
of political internationalism and was soon dropped by the Labour
Party, their efforts being later directed toward a more gradual
strengthening of the League Covenant, in which lay their hope of
the realization of internationalism and the attainment of world
peace. This effort took the form of the Geneva Protocol, which was
drawn up by the famous Fifth Assembly of the League. The
initiative for a definite attempt to devise means of strengthening
the League Covenant in the interests of peace came from Prime
Minister MacDonald, ably seconded by the liberal Prime Minister
of France, both of whom were present at the opening of the As-
sembly in September, 1924. In his opening speech MacDonald
urged expansion of the Covenant and the application of arbitration
ag a test of aggression. (8)

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86 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the military and naval forces whieh would be available in case of
aggression on the part of a member State, At the same time, all
signatory states agreed to make no increase in armaments during
the time required for the investigation of a dispute. These pro-
visions provided for the enforcement of the principle, stated in the
Covenant, of national safety secured through the mutual enforce-
ment of international obligations. Disarmament was also recog-
nized in the Covenant as an essential step toward permanent peace,
but no definite provision had been made for actual realization of a
disarmament program. Consequently the Protocol provided for the
participation of the signatory states in a conference for the reduc-
tion of armaments which was to meet in 1925,

That the British Government, even under the leadership of the
Labour Party, would have ratified an agreement with such extensive
obligations, is extremely doubtful. It is true that even under the
Protocol the State was to be permitted to determine for itself what
measures it would take in the application of sanctions to an ag-
gressor State, but the obligation itself was to be automatie with the
refusal of any state to arbitrate. The principles contained in the
Protocol, however, disarmament and obligatory arbitration, en-
forced by the pooling of economic and financial resources, combined
with such military equipment os remained for police purposes, pro-
yided the method by which the Labour Party hoped to realize a
general national seeurity that would make war impossible and
armaments a superfiuity. The Protocol, MacDonald thought, would
do much toward the molding of publie opinion in favor of peareful
means of settling disputes. He recognized clearly that publie opin-
jon must, after all, be the determining factor, and that something
must be done to educate the people to depend upon something other
than armaments for their security. In the meantime, peace must if
necessary, be enforced, (10) ‘'Give us ten years of the working of
the Protocol,’’ ssid MacDonald, at a later time, ‘‘and we will have
Europe with a new habit of mind."’ (11)

With the signing of the Paris Peace Pact in 1928, however, a
new line of action was opened. The Geneva Protocol was dead,
declared MacDonald to the League Assembly on September 3,
1929. (12) ‘‘Since 1924,'’ he added, ‘‘we have started upon an-
other road; The Pact of Peace has been signed in Paris, and that
pact is now the starting-point of our further work,’? Further
developments proved that although the Pact furnished a new start-

ll

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88 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

after all, to be little difference between amendment of the League
Covenant by the Geneva Protocol and amendment by the Peace
Pact.

These efforts of the Labour Party to strengthen the League are
indicative, not only of Labour's desire to provide adequate ma-
chinery for peaceful settlement af disputes, but also of the central
position in foreign affairs assigned to the League by the Labour
Governments. The importance of the position that the League
may be made to assume in international affairs is still further in-
dicated by the reasons given by MacDonald for his refusal to con-
sider Briand’s plan for a ‘‘United States of Europe.’’ In such
a plan the Labour Government might be expected, in view of their
international outlook, to codperate wholeheartedly; but. through
such an arrangement, the British Government stated in reply to
the French suggestions, nothing could be accomplished that was
not already possible through the League of Nations.(17) An
additional international body would merely create danger of con-
fusion and might also tend to emphasize or create inter-continental
rivalries and hostilities. (18) This last possibility all British Goy-
ernments would attempt to avoid, for British interests are world-
wide rather than Huropean.

The assignment of the League to a similar position in the con-
duct of forcign affairs has not met with the approval of the Con-
servative Party, however, as was indicated above, This party,
whieh took over the control of the Government in the autumn of
1924, made short work of the consideration of the Protocol. Sir
Austen Chamberlain, who was again the spokesman of the Party,
multiplied the arguments against the Protocol. From these argu-
ments it became very clear that his Party was definitely opposed
to any suggestion for strengthening the Covenant, *'The futility
of this plan [strengthening tho sanctions of the League) is, in the
opinion of His Majesty’s Government, abundantly proved by the
Protocol,” Chamberlain thought. ‘‘For whatever else its pro-
posals give us, they do not give us security. They multiply of-
fences, but do nothing to strengthen remedies. They increase
responsibilities undertaken by individual members of the League,
but do nothing to adjust their burden,’’(19) In rejecting the
Protocol, Sir Austen was chiefly occupied with possible difficulties
that might arise to destroy the Protocol itself. The Conservative
Party was unable to adopt principles with such far-reaching pos-

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90 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL S¢

the League would become merely an agent of the
instead of the impartial body it was designed to be; f
European Powers which were members of the

France and Italy, were still dominated by
Germany and by the feeling that compensations were
tors in the recent war. The administration of the Saar

chairman because of the position that had been accorded the French
in the Saar Valley. (28) The type of administration given by this
Commission is made clear by the numerous protests which finally
found expression in the Council through the representative of the
British Empire, Lord Robert Cecil, who presented a Memorandum
from the British Government asking that an inquiry be made as
to whether the administration of the Saar was being carried out
in accordance with the ‘‘spirit and terms of the Treaty of Ver-
sailles.”"(29) Lord Cecil set forth very plainly in his presentation
of the Memorandum the reasons for the request for inquiry: the
Advisory Council elected by the Saar inhabitants had not been
consulted, the work having been carried on without regard to the
wishes of the inhabitants; some members of the Commission ap-
parently did not realize that they were responsible to the Teague
and not to one particular government; it was alleged that the
Chairman had been acting without consultation with the rest of
the Commission. The compulsory adoption of the franc, the main-
tenance of French troops in the district, and restrictive measures
in matters of speech and press, added to the grievances. The
French Government had been accused of instigating these repressive
measures, a charge which Lord Cecil declared he did
The inquiry, Lord Cecil said, should be a serious one,
interest of no one but the League of Nations. (90)

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92 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of Poland in order to solve the difficulty would have left the Coun-
cil overwhelmingly pro-French, according to the Times, (36) since
it was customary for distant states to send their Ambassadors at
Paris to represent them on the Council. There were good reasons,
the Times sarcastically added, why other members such as Belgium
and Czechoslovakia should not retire, ‘‘The main crux of the
difficulty is, and has been all through the present negotiations,”
the same publication remarked, ‘‘that the League machinery is not
suited to the compacts and bargains of traditional diplomaey.'’ (37)

Other matters entrusted by the Peace Conference to the League
do not bear so clearly the imprint of the attempt of a few great
Powers to dominate. The League was responsible neither for the
assignment of mandates nor the distribution of minorities and the
policy followed in both matters has been one of influence through
investigation, publicity and recommendation rather than of direct
interference. Even Lord Ceeil objected to the assumption by the
League of obligations for the enforcement of definite rules for the
treatment of minorities. (38) The administration of Danzig has
also apparently been much more satisfactory than that of the Saar,
To a High Commissioner appointed by the League was entrusted
the task of assisting representatives of the City in drawing up their
own constitution and dealing with differences which should arise
between Poland and Danzig. (39) The first High Commissioner,
Sir Reginald Tower, was an Englishman with wide diplomatic ex-
perience, (40) and he and his successors, the League records show,
have settled, apparently to the satisfaction of all concerned, a large
number of problems that have arisen in the relations between
Poland and native German inhabitants of Danzig.

In the accomplishment of the second and primary aim of the
League, the abolition of war, Great Britain has also played an
important role. Her aim has been ‘‘Peace First,’"(41) though
the methods of accomplishing that aim, according to erities, have
often stopped short of possible accomplishment and have as often
been negative, In the crises which have arisen to threaten the
peace of Europe, however, the representatives of the British Gov-
ernment have thrown the full weight of their country’s influence
into efforts for satisfactory peaceful settlement. The dispute be-
tween Finland and Sweden over the possession of the Aaland
Islands was brought to the attention of the Council by the British
representative. (42) Sir Austen Chamberlain took a prominent

94 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

the Conference af Ambassadors and in view of the later
nation of Lord Cecil. (48)

In the management of the affairs of the British Empire
the League has not played a prominent part, for the British Gov
ernment has drawn the line closely about affairs concerning the
safety of the Empire. Lloyd George, then Prime Minister, de-
clared most emphatically in 1922 that the trouble with Egypt was
purely a domestic matter and that any effort to bring the question
before the League of Nations would be considered an unfriendly
act to be repelled with all the means at the command of the Em-
pire. (49) Yet Article XV of the Covenant gives to the Council
the power to decide whether or not a dispute is, according to in-
ternational law, solely within the jurisdiction of any nation, and
Jess than two years before Lloyd George's declaration concerning
Egypt, Finland had been forced to accede to this provision in her
dispute concerning the Aaland Islands. (50) Again, in September,
1922, when war with Turkey appeared inevitable, there was no
appeal to the League. Great Britain instead appealed to the Do-
minions for military aid. (51) In the matter of the boundary
dispute between Great Britain and Traq, however, the matter
was referred to the League for settlement, after diplomacy had
failed. (52) Egypt, too, has been offered League membership by
Great Britain, but only after very definite conditions have been
met, (53)

Direet appoal to the League or the interference of the Council
in disputes that have already arisen between nations is not the only
method provided by the Covenant for the abolition of war, how-
ever, Other means provided may very conceivably prove in the
end to be more effective than direet threat of application of sane-
tions. Rappard points out five methods provided by the Covenant
for the destruction of war: (54) international publicity, revision
of treaties, arbitration, collective sanctions, and disarmament. To
these should be added another, not specifically mentioned in the
Covenant but made possible by the existence of the League: the
abolition of war through the promotion of international under-
standing, codperation, and good-will; by means of discussion,
friendly debate, personal contacts, and perhaps by international
diplomatic pressure, Of these methods provided by the Covenant,
the first two have played a minor réle in the disputes which have
arisen concerning methods of abolishing war, the question of in-

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96 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Article VIIE also declares for enforcement of obligations by com-
mon action, a principle which involves the question of compulsory
arbitration and applieation of sanctions provided for in the Geneva
Protocol and the Optional Clause of the Statute for the establish-
ment of the World Court, both of which were definitely rejected
by the Conservative Government, The Third principle of security
ag a pre-requisite to disarmament is the only one that was given
whole-hearted support by the Conservative Party.

When the First Assembly met in 1920, immediate steps were
taken to put into foree the provision of Article VII A perma-
nent Advisory Commission was formed by the Council of the
League. (57) ‘This Commission consisted of military, naval and
air experts, but at the suggestion of the British delegation a Tem-
porary Mixed Commission less military in its composition, and
therefore more likely to be favorably disposed toward disarmament,
was appointed. This Commission met in March, 1921, and at-
tempted to draw up a plan of disarmament, but serious difficulties
at once presented themselves. Demands for national security
forced the Commission to shift its approach to the problem to the
attempt to provide security by common action, and so make possible
an advanee in the matter of disarmament. The result was the
Treaty of Mutual Assistance, which was, however, definitely re-
jected. (58) The Geneva Protocol, which has already been con-
sidered, was an attempt to avoid the objections made to the earlier
treaty. This, too, failed of ratification, but the League Couneil,
unwilling to allow the problem of disarmament to remain unsolved
through a failure of the Protocol, appointed a Committee to begin
arrangements for a conference similar to that provided by the
Protocol. The committee, appointed in 1925, was instructed to
‘make the necessary studies for determining the questions which
should be submitted for a preparatory examination with a view
to a possible conference for the reduction and limitation of arma-
ments and to draft definite proposals to the Council on this sub-
jeet.”’ (59) The Committee recommended the appointment of a
Preparatory Commission for a Disarmament Conference, which
would study the nature of armaments and the possible means of
reduetion. This last Commission was appointed and began its
sessions in 1926. (60) The work of the League since that time, so
far as disarmament is concerned, has been limited largely to the
labors of tho Commission, which attempted to define terms, to de-

98 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

sueceed. The tone of Chamberlain’s speech, which closed the dis-
cussion, was in notable contrast to those which had preceded it.
He emphasized the difficulties of the problem, pointing out that
there was one element necessary to suceess—namely, time. He did
not believe that even the Disarmament Conference would bring
the final solution. Only by slow and gradual steps would it be
possible to arrive at a measure of peace and confidence in one an-
other by which eould be realized the expectations to which the
Covenant gave rise. Lord Cushendun, the British representative
on the Preparatory Commission, later emphasized the need for
care in distinetion between limitation and reduction of armaments,
Tf reduction were adopted, he thought, there was danger of going
beyond Article VIII of the League Covenant, (68)

Tho failure of the British Government to assume the initiative
in the attempt to solve the problem of disarmament stands out
clearly in another phase of the problem, the importance of which
in this question is perhaps not given sufficient recognition, This
is the matter of manufacture and sale of arms and ammunition by
private companies. Just what influence the demand for continued
and perhaps for swollen profits from this source has hnd upon the
whole problem of war and disarmament is, of course, impossible
to determine; but certainly little headway has been made toward
regulation af the means of warfare, although the League Covenant
recognizes the danger which lies in the traffe and provides that
the ‘‘Council shall advise how the evil effect attendant upon such
manufacture can be prevented, due regard being had to the neces-
sities of those Members of the League which are not able to manu-
facture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their
safety.’’ (69) There seems, however, to have been no driving
foree back of the movement. The most influential states were, like
Great Britain, probably too much interested in the economic side
of the question to urge it as a move toward peace. That the in-
terest in the arms traffic goes beyond its relation to national de-
fense is indicated by the failure of the various national govern-
ments to place the manufacture entirely under national control
and by the fact that warring factions are sold arms which certain-
ly contribute nothing to national stability. Herbert Williams, the
Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, stated quite frank-
ly that the British Government was unwilling to prevent the ex-
port of munitions, because of their value to British trade. (70)

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100 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

again called upon to state the Goyernment’s position regarding
the matter, In answer, he said, ‘‘As regards the Arms Traffic Con-
vention of 1925, His Majesty’s Government is prepared to ratify
at any moment when it can secure simultaneous ratifications
by the principal arms producing powers.’' (79) But there is no
record that the Government had made any effort to seeure the
needed ratifications.

The Labour Party might have done something to further the
work of limitation of the arms traffic, but the Labour Party, dur-
ing the brief time that it held the chief positions in the Govern-
ment, found itself in a dilemma in regard to disarmament as well
as in other matters. The Labour Party, beeanse its ideals de-
manded so much more than the practical necessity permitted, ex-
posed itself more than any other party to the charge of perfidy
in the use of ideals for mere political advantage. It was obyious
that the immediate realization of the Labour ideal regarding dis-
armament was not then possible, but such an ideal should, if it
meant anything at all, bring to every movement for disarmament
the highest possible degree of coéperation and of active leadership.
The active interest in this question manifested itself by the work
of the Fifth Assembly in drawing up a definite plan to enforce
peace, The Geneva Protocol, with its recognition of the relation
of armaments to permanent peace, stands in marked contrast to
the five years of inactivity which followed. ‘‘We have to abandon
every vestige of trust in military equipment,’ is the comment of
MacDonald in regard to the attitude of the Labour Party, ‘‘and
with that end in view we have to devise ways by which we can
go through the transition time, when we may have to maintain
a pure defense force relatively adequate, whilst we work sleep-
lessly to place national security on a totally different founda-
tion.’’ (80) But neither of the more liberal parties was given
ample opportunity during the first decade of the League's history
to demonstrate the extent to which, working through the influence
of the British Government, the League might be made to function
in its effort to obtain peace, security and disarmament. But neither
were any of the parties faced with a great crisis which would have
determined the extent to which national prerogative would have
been surrendered, either temporarily or permanently, in the in-
terest of world peace,

‘The third aspect of the League mentioned by Rappard, the

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102 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
of smuggling, (85) Great Britain did, however, join with the

‘United States in a scheme by which manufacturing countries would
limit the output according to the estimated legitimate scientific and
medicinal needs of the world, a scheme refused by France and

Holland. (86) The British Government had also made definite
preparation for the conferences by appointing local committees in
Hong Kong, Malaya and North Borneo, to report upon the situa-
tion there. (87) These reports furnished definite data for the Con-
ferences and presented a view of the actual situation in the traffic
in opium that might serve as a basis for further developments to-
ward prohibition of the traffic.

Viewed as a whole, therefore, the development of the power and
influence of the League in these matters requiring international
cobperation and in the matter of the abolition of war was, during —
the first deeade of its history, somewhat discouraging to the inter-
nationalist. There appears to the friend of the League the danger,
not yet entirely eliminated, of a body dominated by a small part
of the nations of Europe, or by the great Powers to the exclusion
of the small. The League was hampered by failure of great Powers
to join, by the jealous guarding of nationalistic rights, by in-
difference and by lack of faith in the competence of an international
body. But in providing means for publicity, in offering the op-
portunity for effective direct interference to settle disputes between
nations less inclined toward peace, in the development of a public
opinion that may show its power at a later time, the League did
‘a work, the effectiveness of which is not subject to measure. And
in the accomplishment of these things the British Government gave
its assistance in varying ways and with differing degrees of en-
thusiasm but always with the security of the Empire and the peace
of Europe as the fundamental aim. ‘Proceeding tentatively, ap-
plying to each difficulty, as it arises, the best solution that seems
available, not seeking to overstrain its authority at any one mo-
ment or to impose in advance decisions which to be effective must
be the outeome of free codperation, the League may gradually build
out of ease law an international jurisprudence which will command
the assent and receive the allegiance of all.”’(88) This is a de-
scription of the policy followed in large part by the British Gov-
ernment in molding its foreign policy in its relation to the League.
But if the Conservative Party outlined the method, the Labour
Party furnished the ideal toward which the League may strive.

| J. il

CHAPTER V

CONTINENTAL RELATIONS

‘The conflict which characterized Great Britain's attempt to solve
her imperial problem and which marked her relations to the League
of Nations is to be found in the policy adopted in dealing with the
great continental Powers and with the problem of the Near East.
The developing consciousness of a changing outlook and a need
fundamentally different from the needs of pre-war years, as it rose
to challenge the old economie and politieal system, resulted in a
policy lacking in the conciseness and the straight forwardness
which should characterize a strong, clear-cut foreign policy direct-
ed toward the accomplishment of certain definite aims and pur-
poses. In her dealings with France this characteristic was es-
pecially noticeable. Not until just at the close of the decade did
the British Government take a definite stand for her own interests
in direet opposition to the French. Charges of subserviency to
the French were frequently placed against the British Govern-
ment. Yet, at the same time, the quarrel between the two countries
went on almost uninterrupted. The result was described by the
British Foreign Minister, Sir Austen Chamberlain, when he said,
‘Our Policy, not wholly through our own fault, has been wayer-
ing and ineonsistent. Our influenee—has lost something by our
hesitation and our inconsisteney—."’ (1)

The conflict between the antagonistic forces arising from the
pre-war system and the post-war needs first arose with the diverg-
ing economic demands of the two former allies, France and Great
Britain. The necessity for the rebuilding of British industries
after the war has already been discussed. (2) The part to bo
played by Russia and Germany in this reconstruetion may be in-
dicated by a comparison of the trade carried on between these
countries and Great Britain before the war and during the years
immediately following. The value of exports to Russia of goods
produced and manufactured in the United Kingdom in 1913, for
example, was over eighteen million pounds sterling, By 1920, the
value of this same group of exports had shrunk to less than twelve
million, and by 1924, to less than four million. By 1928, the value

104

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106 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES |

than a threat to ceonomie prosperity. It was a threat of war,
threat to the entire existing social, economie and politieal order
in Western Europe, In neither France nor Britain was the danger
due to the growth of Bolshevism within, but the danger of the
spread from Eastern Europe constituted a real menace to both
countries alike. But the two Governments were far apart in their
recommendations as to the best method of handling the situation,
Great Britain’s need of trade, when added to the fact that Ger-
many was no longer a rival in commeree, in colonial Empire or
in naval affairs, inclined the British toward a lenient policy in
spite of the fact that the hatreds and suspicions engendered by
the war and pre-war rivalries were not so soon forgotten. Heonomic
prosperity would destroy the force of Bolshevist arguments in
Germany and help Great Britain to regain normalcy, But the in-
terests and outlook of the French were very different from those
of the English. France wanted, not trade with whieh to rebuild
shattered industry, but money to rebuild devastated areas. And
more than all she wanted security from attacks from her ancient
enemy. And this she believed could be attained only through
military force, Political, military and economie weakness in Ger-
many was much more to be desired by France than rapid recovery
of strength. To France, political considerations stood first; to
Great Britain, the economic became, as the hatreds of war died
down, much the more important. Nor did the threat of Bolshevism
incline the French toward lenient treatment of either Russia or
Germany. The British Ambassador to Germany complained that
France did not seem to realize that the military danger from Ger-
many was past and that the real danger lay in the communist dis-
order. (8) The problem with which British statesmen were faced,
therefore, was the diffleulty of carrying through a policy which
would serve the needs of the Empire and at the same time main-
tain a position of loyalty to their ally, France.

Not only over German policy did the two Governments seriously
disagree, but the problems of the Near East threatened to disrupt
the old Alliance, and Poland proved to be a cause of contention.
Yet through all these quarrels the British Government was making
serious efforts to meet the demands of the French. ‘‘It has been
the weakness of every recent English Government that it dared nat
rely upon moral forces,’’ was the accusation of one critic. ‘Each
Government in turn, knowing that physical force was out of the

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108 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

demands of France for separation of the entire region from Ger-
many, (12) When the plebiscite which was to have settled the
dispute had not proved entirely satisfactory, the matter came be-
fore the Supreme Council, whieh in turn, referred the problem
to the League of Nations, where a solution quite favorable on the
whole to the British point of view was finally reached. But in the
meantime relations between France and Great Britain had become
somewhat strained. Lloyd George declared in a speech in the
House of Commons that Upper Silesia was a nerve center of Ger-
man industry and that the territory should not go to Poland in
order to aid French security. (13) A Memorandum from the
British Foreign Office stated that the industrial area was the heart
of the problem and that the region was indivisible, “‘owing to the
close inter-dependence of mines and factories, water supply, electric
power supply and communieations.’”’(14) The British Prime
Minister had already warned France at the Paris meeting of the
Supreme Council, according to the correspondent of the Manchester
Guardian, (15) that ‘‘the nations of the British Empire would not
be dragged into war which resulted from an oppressive use of
superior force by any ally in the hour of triumph,” a statement
which suggested Lloyd George’s opinions of French policy and
indieated the extent of the lack of sympathy existing between the
statesmen of the two countries,

Even the Separatist movement in the Rhineland in 1923 and
1924 widened the breach between England and France. (16) By
the vote of the French and Belgian members of the Inter-Allied
Rhineland High Commission, this Commission had decided to
register decrees of the Separatist Government, which had been
established within a portion of the Rhineland. This action was
protested by the British Government, which a few days later or-
dered the British Consul General at Munich to investigate the
movement. This decision met with determined opposition from
the French, and when the British continued with their plans for
investigation in spite of the protest, the French High Commissioner
suggested sending a French agent to accompany the British Consul
Goneral. This offer was declined by the British, but the French
agent was sent regardless of this refusal, very evidently to keep
wateh over the British representative. The incident is indicative
of the suspicion engendered by the difference of policies in the
Rhineland,

—- —

a |

0 ~=—s« IOWA STUDIWS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

cessions, for she had been proud of her World Empire and her
great battle fleet and her commercial advantages, He thought, in
view of the German mentality, that the German conception of
justice would differ from that held by the Allies. Lloyd George’s
reply to this communication was even more sarcastic. He reminded
Clemenceau that France as well as Britain was holding parts of
the former German World Empire, and he concluded with the
accusation: ‘‘What France really cares for is that the Danzig
Germans should be handed over to the Poles.'’ (20)

During these first years, however, the divergence in the interests
of France and Great Britain did not become serious. The latter,
as well as the former, was demanding that Germany pay exorbitant
amounts and was giving no thought to the question of ability to
pay or to possible economic results, The nature of the problem
‘waa not yet realized by the majority of the people. Even at the
first London Conference of March, 1921, Lloyd George delivered
a severe arraignment of Germany; but a German delegate to that
conference states that in private conference Lloyd George showed
himself very favorably disposed toward Germany, but that he was
unable to offer concessions because of the French attitude and be-
cause of the condition of public opinion in England. (21) That
the English Prime Minister realized the nature of the problem is
indicated by his comment to Viscount D’Abernon, who quotes
Lloyd George as saying that ‘‘the French can never make up their
mind whether they want payment or whether they want the en-
joyment of trampling on Germany, occupying the Ruhr, or taking
some other military action. It is quite clear they cannot have both,
and they have to make up their minds which they desire,’’ (22)
From other sources, too, were beginning to be heard expressions
of the realization of the possible consequences of the policy that
was being followed by the Governments of the Allied Powers. In
July, 1920, an article by Philip Snowden ascribed the high prices
prevailing in England to the foreign policy, In this article, the
Government was criticized because it had taken no steps for the —
reconstruction of Germany and Russia, the sources of food stuffs
and building materials. (23) The slump in the coal industry of

z

been directed chiefly toward payment in kind rather than in gold,

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112, IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Great Britain. This meant that foreign markets would be captured
by the Germans and that even England might be invaded by Ger- _
man goods, (30) Abandonment of the collection of reparations
would have made the situation even worse. It was, therefore,
Britain’s problem not only to prevent German industry from be-
ing destroyed by the enforcement of the radical demands of the
French, but to see that German industry was again put in a healthy
condition and at the same time to put upon Germany obligations
of sufficient weight to raise the cost of production somewhere near
the English level,

The problem of revival of English industry had, in the mean-
time, become to Lloyd George more than a mere question of German
reparations. At the third London Conference, therefore, the British
Prime Minister insisted that the meeting of the Supreme Council
at Cannes should take up schemes for dealing with the larger ques-
tion of a general European Economie Conference, (31)

The Cannes Conference was itself adjourned by the fall of the
Briand Government in France, and the question of reparations
was turned back to the Reparations Commission which granted to
Germany a brief moratorium. A general economic conference was
called, however, at Genoa and although the question of reparations
was barred at the request of the French, the matter was privately
diseussed, but hope of arriving at any helpful understandings was
shattered by the signature of the Treaty of Rapallo. (82) British
efforts to reach a settlement continued, however, through the re-
mainder of 1922, but all failed in the face of Poinearé’s unyield-
ing opposition,

‘The climax of the difficulty was reached in 1923, At the Paris
Conference in January the British presented a plan for settling
the reparations problem, a plan which marked a wide divergence
from the policies previously carried out. A moratorium of four
years was to be granted to Germany, payments in kind were to
be reduced and the minimum lability was fixed.

The payment of reparations was also bound up with the question
of inter-Allied debts. Great Britain agreed to cancel her claims
against the Allies, but demanded from the latter certain concessions
such as the forfeiting of gold deposited in England by them dur-
ing the War. (33) The plan brought sharply to the fore the dif-
ferences between the British and the French. Poincaré attempted
to prove that the scheme was contrary to the provisions of the

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114: JOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘be done which would add to the difficulties of the Allies, although
the British Government felt unable to participate in the action —
taken by France, (39)

So the matter drifted, until Stanley Baldwin became Prime
Minister of Great Britain. The task of settlement was then again
taken up and on June 7, 1923, a German note, composed under
British influence and offering very definite guarantees, was sent
to the Allies; but France refused to consider the offers until passive
resistance should cease. (40)

‘The British, however, continued to attempt to bring about settle-
ment, offering to reduce their claims against the Allies, and finally
on August 11 intimated that separate action on the part of Great
Britain might be necessary in order to hasten a settlement which
could not be much longer delayed without the gravest economic
and political consequences, (41) The British could avail nothing,
however, and even after passive resistance broke down in October
the French did not withdraw their troops from the Ruhr.

Demands made for a general conference to settle the reparations
problem came to nothing because of the French refusal to co-
operate, but suggestions for impartial committees of inquiry finally
won, and two committees of experts were appointed by the Repara-
tions Commission. (42) The Dawes plan was the result of the
work of these committees, With the adoption of the Dawes Plan
in 1924 and the Young Plan in 1927, reparations became, for a
time at least, an economic rather than a political question, and
the eause for the strained relations whieh had existed between
Great Britain and France because of this question was removed.
There was some difficulty between the two Governments at the
London Conference of 1924, which met to consider the adoption
of the Dawes Plan, over the possibility of wilful default on the
part of Germany; but the Poincaré Government was much more
favorably disposed to accept a more lenient policy toward Germany
than former French Governments had been, and the question was
settled without serious difficulty. (43)

The conflict over reparations therefore closed, temporarily at
Teast, without a definite break between England and France, in
spite of the vital difference in interests, purposes and outlook, and
in spite of the fact that there were times when a break would ap-
pear to have been almost inevitable. But there was another side
to the Anglo-French relations. The pro-French feeling that re

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116 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and precise, nothing less than a defensive alliance concluded in
precise and categorical terms—in which the two parties should
bind themselves mutually to march each to the defense of the other
in the event of attuck, and to treat, in fact, any aggression upon
one or the other as a hostile act in itself.’’ Such an alliance was
to include even an attack upon Poland, as almost equivalent to a
direct attack upon France. France would offer as an inducement
the reduction of her land armaments and the immediate admission
of Germany into the League. (47) France would also join in the
attempt to reconstruct Russia. This proposal was not accepted
but neither was it definitely declined, and on October 21, Briand
suggested an alliance in which the two Powers would guarantee
the interests of each in all parts of the world. But Lloyd George
replied to this that Great Britain was not prepared for the under-
talcing of such extensive obligations, (48)

At the Cannes Conference, negotiations were continued, Licyd
George offering to France the guarantee of British forces for use
on French soil against Germany in case of unprovoked attack, on
condition that France would allow her full satisfaction in regard
to reparations to wait on the economic restoration of Europe.
Other conditions laid down by Lloyd George were that France
should enter wholeheartedly into the economic conference to be
held at Genoa, that she should refrain from hampering British
policy in the Near East, that she should conform her naval poliey
to that of Great Britain and renounce her submarine program, and
that she should inaugurate a truly international program for
Tangier. (49) Apparently, there was a chance that the negotiations
might be brought to a successful conclusion, but the Briand Minis-
try fell and Poincaré returned to the demands for a still more
extensive treaty which should include a guarantee of the eastern
front. (50) The French also later declined to diseuss the problem
of security in connection with the Ruhr, claiming that that was a
purely economic question. (51)

The Labour Government inherited an extremely difficult sit-
uation in 1924. The reparations problem had reached a point
where the British Government was threatening separate action,
the committees of experts had scarcely begun their work, and the
French and the British were at loggerheads over the
movement in the Rhineland. MacDonald immediately set about
the attempt to bring about a better feeling between the two coun-

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118 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ceptance of the status quo in the West. Chamberlain added that
to such an agreement it was essential that Germany be admitted
to the League and that the Cologne area should be evacuated.
‘The result of the negotiations begun in pursuance of the policy
announced by Chamberlain in March was the series of treaties
signed at Locarno on October 16, 1925.(56) To only the first of
these was Great Britain a party. This treaty was signed also by
Germany, France, Belgium and Italy, the last joining with Great
Britain in guaranteeing the obligations undertaken by Germany
on the one hand and France and Belgium on the other, all of whom
fundertook to refrain in all cases from attack, invasion or xesort
to war except in cases of legitimate defense or upon the order of
the League of Nations, and to settle all difficulties by peaceful
means, All Parties, including Great Britain and Italy, collectively
and severally guaranteed the maintenance of the territorial status
quo in the boundaries of Germany and Belgium and of Germany
and France. By means of this treaty, Great Britain apparently
succeeded in guaranteeing the security of France without assuming
the wider obligations connected with former French demands for
guarantee of the eastern frontier, but agreement upon that point
is not complete. MacDonald declared that there wos no distinction.
between the guarantee of one border and the guarantee of both
boundaries. (57) MacDonald’s contention is supported by a study
of the treaties signed at Locarno, For example, Germany signed
with Poland and Czechoslovakia treaties by which all signatories
agreed that disputes would be settled by the World Court or by
a Permanent Conciliation Commission, The duties of the latter,
howover, were made advisory and, according to Article Eightoen
of these treaties, if the two parties should fail to reach an agree-
ment within a month after the termination of the work of the
Commission, the dispute might be brought before the Council of
the League of Nations which should deal with the matter according
to Article Pifteen of the Covenant. But France also signed treaties
with Poland and Czechoslovakia, the first Article of which pro-
vided that in caso the signatories should be suffering from a failure
to observe the obligations assumed at Locarno, these countries
would give each other immediate aid in applying the sanctions
provided by Article Sixteen of the Covenant for enforeing a de-
cision of the Council. In other words, if the Council decision
should be directed against Germany, France would assist her east-

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120 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

justified by the difficulty which arose soon afterward over the ad-
mission of Germany to the League,

The Locarno Treaties did not provide the final solution for the
problem of French security. The question arose again in 1930, in
connection with the efforts to reach an agreement regarding naval
armaments; and again the French demand for security, this time
in the Mediterranean, as a condition of agreement was presented
and was again rejected, the British Government refusing to assume
more extensive obligations than those already undertaken in the
League Covenant and the Locarno Treaties. (62)

In the meantime, however, relations between France and Great
Britain bad improved materially, largely because of the attitude
assumed by the Conservative Government of Britain. Bven in the
efforts of the French Government to keep the balance on the League
Council turned against Germany, the British representative ap-
parently assumed a passive attitude toward the policy of the
French. (63) A few months after the signature of the Locarno
‘Treaties, Chamberlain declared that in the fifteen months he had
been in office, he had ‘‘restored the old confidence and intimacy
between the French and British Governments.’’ (64) The next
step in this reaprochement was the Anglo-French Accord of
1928, (65) The Conservative Government was accused at that time
of planning a formal alliance with Franee, but if sueh was the
plan, it was prevented by the storm of disapproval whieh arose
in England and in the United States,

With the accession of the Labour Party to power for the second
time, all cause for accusation of subserviency to French policy was
temporarily abolished, and French hopes of renewal of the old
Entente were shattered. ‘‘It is not a question of ententes or al-
liances,'’ declared the Labour Prime Minister. ‘‘All that is a
state of mind quite out of date. We wish to inaugurate an en-
tirely new era of European codperation. No more rivalries, no
more agreements for or against this or that Power, no more seeret
diplomacy." (66) The oceasion for the assertion of an independ:
ent British policy came with the presentation of the Young plan
to the Powers for approval. Philip Snowden, the British repre-
sentative, declared at the opening meeting of the Conference which
had been called to approve the plan, that Great Britain could not
accept a scheme which reduced the amount she would receive by
2,400,000 pounds per year as compared to the amount granted at

! _

© The first of these nttompts to extend the und
the two countries was made the next year, 1922,

Rie amos Goer cactansvehish wees MS

the French, be recognized; that the war debts, which wer
large part to Great Britain, be assumed by the Bolshevist:
‘ment;

be

and that individual property lost through n

offered by the Russians instead. (72) The negotiations
tended, but, in spite of Lloyd George’s strenuous efforts to
agreements, the Conference closed without definite

for the restoration of trade. The reasons for the failure
conference apparently were several. 'The disagreement b
France and Great Britain stands out as one of the pi
stacles in the way of success. French hostility to the
‘was apparent throughout. The French Prime Minister
attend, but sent a delegate who was permitted to take nm
without first consulting the Government at Paris, Con:
French adherence to proposals made to the Russians was 1
provisional. The French also maintained a much less
titude toward the Russians throughout the entire «

did the British. (73) The signature of the Treaty of

ing the Conference also lessened the chance for success.

to the German observer of the situation, all hope of n
in oither economic or political questions vanished with th
nature of the treaty between Russia and Germany, The si
‘of both of the signatories was called into question and

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124 = IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

had failed. MacDonald was confident that if aid could be given
to Russia, and if the Eastern Power could be brought into closer
eontaet with western Europe, the danger from that source would
be eliminated. (80)

If, however, the Soviet delegates went to London expecting the
British Labour Government to sacrifice English interests in order
to obtain an understanding with Russia, they were disappointed,
In this opening speech, MacDonald made clear that before English
eapital in any form could become available for Russia, it would
be necessary to make sure that all contracts and agreements would
be honored to the last letter. (81)

‘The questions that arose were the same as those faced in deal-
ing with Russia at Genoa, and disagreements at times threatened
to disrupt the conference, but by the first of August two treaties
had been agreed upon. ‘The first of these, as explained by Arthur
Ponsonby in the House of Commons, (82) was a commercial treaty
which followed the usual lines of commercial treaties and granted
to each country most favored nation treatment in dealings with
the other. The second treaty dealt with financial claims, govern-
ment debts and propaganda. In the settlement of the question
of claims, the Soviet delegates admitted the liability of the Russian
Government to English bond holders and gave assurance of later
negotiations for the final settlement of this question, Property
and other claims were also to be passed upon by committees of
British and Russians at a later date. The war debts owed to the
British were balanced against Russia's interventionist claims, and
both were to be settled later. The third portion of the treaty con-
tained a propaganda agreement very similar to that included in
the Trade Agreement of 1921. Finally, according to Article Twelve
of this second treaty, when nogotiations concerning claims which
were left for later settlement were complete, the British Goyern-
ment agreed to place before Parliament the proposal for a loan
to the Soviet Government,

Again, however, the attempt to come to satisfactory agreement
with Russia failed, even after the treaties had been signed. The
failure this time was due to the overthrow of the Labour Govern-
ment, The proposed agreement with Russia had aroused such in-
tense opposition that it was made an issue in a general election.
In the midst of the campaign the famous Zinoviev Letter, which
purported to have been sent to the Central Committee of the Ex-

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126 10WA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and the Arcos Company. The raid furnished proof, Baldwin said,
that both “military espionage and subversive activities throughout
the British Empire and North and South America were directed
and carried out from the Soviet House.’’ There was no effective
distinction between the duties of the members of the Trade dele-
gation and employees of the Arcos Company. All were engaged
in espionage and dissemination of propaganda. (88)

Just what purpose was behind the action of the Government is
not entirely clear. Chamberlain had already declared that nothing
could be gained by breaking off relations, and in his explanation
to Parliament he failed to indicate any advantage which would be
gained by the action, as his opponents soon made clear. (89) The
opponents also pointed out that England, as well as Russia and
other European countries, regularly made use of espionage for
obtaining military information from other countries. It has been
suggested that the break in diplomatic relations may be explained
by the rivalry which existed between British and Russian oil in-
terests, (90) but for this explanation there is no proof, But, what-
ever might have been the real cause for the action of the Govern-
ment in 1927, the break with Russia remained complete until the
return of the Labour Party to office in 1929. Discussions were
begun with a view toward renewal of diplomatic and trade rela-
tions almost immediately upon the establishment of the new Labour
Government, but negotiations were broken off because of renewed
difficulty over propaganda and were not resumed until Septem-
ber. (91) These discussions resulted in an exchange of Ambassa-
dors in November, 1929, the questions relating to former treaties
and other problems being left for later settlements, as was the
arrangement in 1924. (92) The first step toward final settlement
‘was accomplished on April 16, 1930, with the signature of a new
trade ngreement. This was similar to the agreement of 1922 ex-
cept that there was no clause regarding propaganda, and it was to
determine the relations between the two countries until a complete
treaty covering the causes of differences could be arranged. (98)

The difficulty between Great Britain and Russia over propaganda,
to which reference has already been made, centered largely in Asia
rather than in England itself, although the furor caused by the
Zinoviev Letter indicated that the public could be easily led into
the belief that there was Bolsheyist danger at home, But in Asia,
where religious enthusiasm and awakening nationalism were al-

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128 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

enforee the provisions of the fifth clause, Russia should have the
right te send troops into Persia to enforce them. The treaty with
Afghanistan declared that both countries agreed upon “‘the free-
dom of Hastern nations on the principle of independence and in
accordance with the general wish of each nation.’’ Russia also
agreed ‘‘to give to Afghanistan financial and other help,’ and
both countries bound themselves “‘not to enter with any third
State into military or political agreement which would damage
one of the Contracting parties.”

It was, therefore, not Sovietism that the British had to fear in
the Bast. In fact, the idea of the rule of the proletariat was not
likely to be well received by the small ruling cliques in countries
like Persia and Afghanistan. But the strongly nationalistie, anti-
imperialistic policy of the Soviet Government offered to the Eastern
people inspiration that the British found diffieult to combat. Great
Britain’s protests that the provision of the trade agreement regard-
ing propaganda was not being observed began almost with the sign-
ing of the agreement itself, and as protests multiplied, so also did
the denials of the Soviet Government that there had been any
action contrary to the agreement signed. A protest sent to the
Russian Government regarding action in Persia is typical of many
others: ‘‘The Russian Minister at Tehran has been the most tire-
less, though not always the most suecessful, operator in this fleld.
He has housed Indian seditionists within his hospitable walls, and
has sped them on their mission to India, His Majesty’s Govern-
ment know the exact sums which have been sent him from time to
time by the Russian Government largely for the purpose of anti-
British intrigue; and they have seen instructions that have passed
between him and his superiors—with a view to stirring up anti-
British movements and rebellion in that part of the world.’’ (96)

Afghanistan was another field of action even more favorable, and
in India traincd agitators were arrested as early as November,
1922, according to the same protest. In reply, the Russians claimed
that the British Government had been misinformed, insisted that
the maintenance of a poliey of the development of friendly eon-
nections in the East was in no way contrary to the agreement with
Britain, and reiterated their intention to refrain from all hostile
action against England. (97) And go the controversy raged until
the Arcos Raid and the break in diplomatic and trade rela-
tions, (958) But the propaganda most dangerous to British im-

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130 10WA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘Thrace, and certain islands of the Aegean, were awarded to Greose.
Syria, Mesopotamia and Palestine had already been marked out

was left, only Asin Minor and the territory extending to the east.
But even this region was carved into spheres of influence by the
Tripartite Agreement which was also signed at Sévres on August
10, 1920. (101) The Nationalist uprising in Turkey and the in-
creasing strife among the Allies themselves, however, prevented
either of these agreements from remaining in force, and it became
necessary to call new conferences for the settlement of the question.
‘These met at Lausanne. The Powers agreed to evacuate all Turkish

around the Straits and in Eastern Thrace. (102)

In the provisions of these treaties and in the events and nego-
tiations leading up to the signature of these agreements, a number
of the features of the British policy become clear. One of these
is the new policy adopted in regard to the Straits and the Black
Sea. At Lausanne, Russia demanded that the Straits be left open
to commerce but closed to vessels of war, except for those belonging
to Turkey; but Great Britain demanded the inelusion within the
Treaty of the same provision as that ineluded in the Treaty of
SQvres; that is, the maintenance of entire freedom for passage of
war vessels as well as for merchant ships.(103) ‘In faet,”’ de-
clared Lord Curzon, ‘‘the more closely we examine the Russian
programme, the more clearly does it emerge that it has only one
object in view, viz., to convert the Black Sea into a Russian lake
with Turkey as tho faithful guardian at the gates.’’(104) The
words might have been those of Lord Beaconsfield, who declared to
the House of Lords in 1878 that the effect of the Treaty of San
Stefano would be ‘‘to make the Black Sea as much a Russian Lake
as the Caspian.’’(105) But in 1878, the British were trying to
prevent a great Russian fleet from passing through the Straits to
destroy the communications to the East, and Turkey was the sen-
tinel guarding the gate to the Mediterranean. By 1923, however,
the situation had changed. Russia no longer had a great fleet and
the Straits must be kept open in order that the British could see
that no fleet was built and no forts established. This she obtained,
but Constantinople was returned to the Turks, and Great Britain:

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182 «= IOWA STUDINS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

a branch of which was established in Greece after the close of the
war. (107)

By the Treaty of Sévres, Greece was given liberal portions of
the old Turkish Empire, but she quite evidently was expected to
hold these regions without assistance from the Allies. And in
1920 this did not appear to be a difficult task. Greek forees had
driven back the Turks in Asia Minor even before the signing of
the Treaty of Savres. (108) But this scheme of substituting a
new Power for the obsolete Turkish Empire collapsed before the
two forces which were doing most to frustrate the British Near
Eastern policy; the rise of the Nationalist Turks and the disaffee-
tion of Britain's Allies. The Nationalist uprising placed Great
Britain in an extremely difficult position. The use of force was
‘out of the question, for the movement soon had back of it the great
power of popular approval, and it was soon firmly intrenched in
the monntainous regions of Anatolia. Then, too, it was a liberal
movement, and for Great Britain to have gone to the support of
the old Turkish Empire with its record of centuries of oppression
would have required an occasion of direct necessity, if British
opinion had given its support. There was nothing to do, the Prime
Minister said, except to let the Greeks and Turks fight it out. (109)
Apparently, Great Britain had again baeked the wrong horse, and
her policy collapsed. Had she allied herself with the forees of
democracy and nationalism instead of with force, reaction and
imperialism, suggested a liberal writer in looking back over this
period, England might well have developed a powerful influence
in rejuvenated Turkey and have realized her aims in the Near
East, (110) But in 1920, such an awakening of national spirit
could not be foreseen.

In an effort, to settle the diffleulties which had arisen, a eonfer-
ence was called at London in February, 1921, to which Turkish
representatives from both Constantinople and Angora were in-
vited, but no settlement proved possible. The Allies offered a
modification of the terms of the Treaty of Sévres, but their offers
were refused by the Angora representatives, while the Turkish
suggestion of the internationalization of Smyrna was refused by
the British. (111) The result was failure of the conference and
the Allied proclamation of neutrality, which left Greece to fight
‘it out alone, as Lloyd George had said. The complete defeat of

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134 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

French. But with the destruction of the German fleet the North-
ern region was no longer in danger, and British interest was again
centered in the Mediterranean. So long as the Entente remained
effective, Britain's interests were not endangered there; but aa
has already been indicated, French and British policies were in
eonfliet in the Near East as early as the first part of 1921. The
British, therefore, while maintaining two fleets, an Atlantic and
a Mediterranean, recognized that their positions were such that
the two could be quickly and easily united in the Mediterranean
should the need arise. (115)

In the question of control of the Mediterranean, the policy of
Ttaly, as well as France, required the attention of the British states-
men. For the first year after the close of the war, Italy had still
looked to her Allies for support, and Russia and Greece had been
looked upon as her chief enemies, but Ttalian policy had soon taken
an anti-Anglo-Saxon turn. This change Schneider ascribes to the
demand for payment of Italian debts in England and the United
States, the new United States immigration law, and the depreciation
of Italian currency in England. (116) To these must be added
the failure of Italy to receive the desired share of the spoils of war
particularly in the Near East, and the new intensely nationalistic
attitude which came to dominate the Italian State. Italy had re-
ceived no Mandates from which she might have obtained the oil,
the coal and the raw materials of which she stood in need. Italy
must, therefore, build her own Empire. The Mediterrancan should
become an Italian Lake. But the new Italian imperialism had
found Great Britain in the way of the realization of the greatness
of which Italian imperialists dreamed. (117)

Had it not been for the elash of imperial policies in the old
Turkish Empire, a satisfactory Anglo-Italian agreement might have
been arranged, In 1922, at the Genoa Conference, Lloyd George
and Signor Schanzer, the Italian Foreign Ministor, made an effort
to come to some agreement, but in these negotiations the question
of the old Turkish Empire was not considered. Their mutual needs
in the matter of trade tended to draw the two countries together
and Signor Sehanzer reported upon his return to Rome, according
to the Manchester Guardian correspondent, that Lloyd George had
agreed to a modification of the San Remo Oil Agreement (118) in
such a way as to admit Italy to a share with England and France
in all oil obtained. Arrangements had also been made, Signor

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136 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

faced at the close of the decade, in her relations to the Powers of
Europe, by the two great problems which she had been attempting
to solve throughout the period; namely, the eeonomie reconstruetion
of Burope and the seeurity of the Empire so far as this latter prob-
lem centered in her relation to the continental Powers. Two widely
separated courses had been followed during the decade in the at-
tempt to solve these problems. One course was determined by the
old French Alliance and the opinions resulting from the war and
from pre-war influences. This course, based upon foree and nar-
row nationalism, had led to failure in the Near East, and it had
failed to bring success in Germany and in Russia. The second
course was dictated by England's needs and was based upon a
spirit of international codperation and mutual understanding. Be-
tween these courses British policy had wavered, but as the decade
closed there were indications that the second course was coming
into greater favor and might in the next decade be more constantly
and consistently followed.

The political policies of the first decade after the World War
were often conflicting, confused and vacillating, Militarism, ruth-
less imperialism, intense nationalism, were in conflict with new
economie needs and new demands arising from broadened view
points. The result was confusion which apparently was worse than
before the war. But such a situation is characteristic of every
transition period. A closer study of the chaotie post-war period
makes apparent certain very definite tendencies toward a new or-
der. It is true that for nearly half o deeade the ‘war mind”
dominated Great Britain as well as the rest of Europe, Imperialism
and military Ententes determined the policies of European Govern-
ments. The fear of Germany and of Russia and the demand for
compensation for the sacrifice of the preceding years, at the expense
of those deemed guilty of precipitating the conflict, were the de-
termining factors in policy during the first years after the war.
But by 1923 the tide was turning in favor of new methods of deal-
ing with international problems. New economic forces were mak-
ing themselves felt. The rift in the old Entente became too ap-
parent to be ignored as the fear of Germany and Russia subsided.
An international ideal was beginning to assert itself against ex-
treme nationalism, Faith in militarism and alliances was on the
wane as the demand for peace founded on something broader and
more firm became stronger. That the liberal parties with their

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138 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

pansion, and a growing sympathy for the nationalistic aspirations
of other peoples were destroying much of the old time aggressive
imperialism. Concessions were offered to Iraq and to Egypt in
1929 and 1930 that would have been unthinkable in 1922, while
China, if she had been able to establish a reasonably stable govern-
ment, could have had the freedom from foreign intervention her
Nationalists so much desired. Even the fact that the Powers did
not take advantage of China’s disorder to divide her territory
among themselves was indicative of the passing of the old im-
perialism.

The old Entente, too, was gone, and in its place, so far as Great
Britain was concerned, was an international codperation based on
mutual friendship with Russia, France, Germany, Italy and the
Lesser Powers of Europe, working through the League of Nations
in the effort to eliminate the causes of war.

Signs were not lacking that the new forces, stimulated and
strengthened by the war, were gaining in their struggle against the
old policies which culminated in the World War, and were intro-
ducing a new order based upon an international ideal and designed
to assure the peace and security that the old had failed to bring.

1

FOOTNOTES

CHAPTER I

See 8. H. Roberts, History of French Colonial Policy, 1870-1985, London,
1929.

P. T. Moon, Imperialism and World Politios, New York, 1927, p. 21.

“ Accepting Sir Robert Giffen’s estimate (made in 1898) of the size of
the Empire (including Egypt and Soudan) at about 13,000,000 square
miles, with a population of some 400 to 420 millions,—we find that one
third of this Empire, containing quite one fourth of the total population
of the Empire, has been acquired within the last generation.’” (J. A.
Hobson, Imperialiem, a Study, London, 1902, pp. 18-19).

In May, 1897. (M. B. Giffen, Fashoda, the Incident and Diplomatic
Setting, Chicago, 1930, pp. 128-29).

Ibid., pp. 133-38.

Grey of Fallodon in Twenty-five Years, New York, 1925, 1:41.

Tbid., pp. 41-42.

G. P. Gooch, History of Modern Europe, 1878-1919, New York, 1922, pp.
316-17.

Tbid., pp. 326-30; British Doowments on the Origine of the War, 1898-
1914, 11:80-88.

|. Grey, op. cit. 1:72 ff.
|. Winston Churchill, The World Crisis, New York, 1923, I:114; H. H. As-

quith, The Genesis of the War, New York, 1923, pp. 132-33.
Bethmann-Hollweg, Reflections on the World Wor, Translated by George
Young, London, 1920, pp. 50 ff.; Viscount Haldane, Before the War,
London, 1920, p. 79.

. Grey, op. cit, 1:244.

See Grey, op. cit.; Haldane, op. cit.; Bethmann-Hollwog, op. cit.; British
Documents on the Origins of the War, VI:289, No. 195.

Seo for example, James W. Angell, The Recovery of Germany, New
Haven, 1929.

Discussions of post-war situation: Britain’s Industrial Future, (Report
of Liberal Industrial Inquiry), London, 1928; Henry Clay, Unemploy-
ment, London, 1929. Norman Angell, If Britain is to Live, London, 1923;
Figures given in Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom for each of
Fifteen Years, 1913 and 1915 to 198, Seventy-third Number.

See Hans Kohn, A History of Nationalism in the East, New York, 1929,

3. J. de V. Loder, The Truth about Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria, Lon-

don, 1923, p. 32.
Moon, op. cit., p. 30.
Seo Britain’s Industrial Future, op oit., p. 27.

|. President Wilson’s speech in Kansas City as reported in the New York

Times, Feb. 3, 1916.

. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, Dec. 1, 1920, p. 1.
. H.C. Bywater, Navies and Nations, London, 1927, p. 105.

Infra, p. 63.
Seo H. Duncan Hall, British Commonwealth of Nations, London, 1920,
139

140

s8

SB 8

e
ta

BS S8EBR

ST.

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and Axthor B, Keith, War Governmont of the British Dominions, Oxford,
1921, passim,
The Times (London), Feb. 8, 1925.

. A summary of the constitutional devolopmonta in the British Comm

wealth since the War is given by Arno ‘J. Toynbee, The Conduct of
Wiielah Fepice: Foreign Pelations: Biase he. secs Hettawiens, Lance

Disctssion of tho Chanaq Tneldent, Bp 4093; 4. J. Toynbee and
Ke. P. Kirkwood, Turkey, London, 1926, pp.

Canadian Parliamentary Sessional Papers, No. 40a, Vol. XLIX., No. TL,
191s.

hid. No, 40.

Toynbee, Empire Forcign Relations, p, 49,

Tbid., p. 50.

Tide, p. 52.

Thid., p. 87.

Monthly Summory of League of Nations, 3:198, Sept, 1093,

This, p. 198,

Report of the Intorimperinl Committee at the Tmperial Conferenes of
1926, Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XT., 1926, Cmd. 2768 (1926).

Peace ¥earbook, 1927, London, 1027.

See H, H. Tiltman, J. Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's Man of Destiny,
New York, 1929,

Arthur Ponsonby, Democracy and Diplomacy, London, 1916, pp. 8-9.
Tid., p. 2.

W. E. Walling, The Sociotists end the War, New York, 1915, p. 38.

. Ibid, passim.

Tbid., p. 143.

IRkd., p. 39.

Labour ond the New Social Order (Report of Labour Conference), Lon:

don, 1918, p. 23.

W, Amold-Forster, *+Palicy of, tho Labour Party,!” Foreign Affaire
British), X1;127:30, May, 1929, Seo al MacDonald,

ocialiom’ and Government, London, 190, iis, W. B. Walling, Pro

grcavivien—and After, New Yerk, 1914,

. Report of the Twenty-third Annuat sie of the Labour Party,

London, pp. 75-77.

. Guido de Ruggiero, The History of Kuropean Liberatiem, Translated by

R, G. Collingwood, London, 1927, p. 259.
Ibid. p. AL.

|. Hansard, Dedates of House of Commons, 212;217, June 25, 1872.
. Idem, 267: 1188-96, March 17, 1882.

Ramaay Muir, History of the British Empire, London, 1920, IT:808.

J. A. Spenier, The Life of the Rt. Hon, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman,
G.CB., London, 1823, 1:209-10,

Harold Spondor, The Prime Minister, New York, 1920, p. 117.

©, Howard-Ellis, The Origin, Structure ond Working of the League
Nations, cee ous, pp. 6.75, sf of

H. L, Nuthan and Tf, H. Williams (Editors), Liberalism and Some Probe
lems of Today, Loudon, 1929, pp. 99-100,

Tbid., p. 90.

142

47,

48.
49.
50.

51.
52.

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

following is given by Loder, op. oit. and by E. M. Earle, Turkey, the
Great Powers and the Bagdad Railway, New York, 1923.

. Text of the Treaty of Sévres and the Tripartite Agreements, Parliamen-

tary Papers, Vol. 51 (1920), Cmd. 963 and Cmd, 964.

3. Earle, op. cit. Chapter 12. British correspondence dealing with relations

between France and Grent Britain in the Near East, Parliamentary
Papers, Vol. XXIII., 1922, Cmd. 1570 (1922).

). Article 3 of Treaty of Lausanne, League of Nations Official Journal,

6:1434, Oct. 1925,

|. Idem., Oct. 1924, p. 1360.
|. Idem., Special Supplement No. 44, pp. 168-77.
. The protests against British policy by the Arabians outlined in Official

Journal, 2:331-40, June, 1921, and 8:1262 ff, Oct. 1927.

. Text, Loder, op. cit., p. 32.

Ibid., Appendix IV.
Ibid, p. 101.
Officiat Journal,

1505-09, Dec. 1922.

, A. H, Lybyor, ‘British Plan for the Independence of Iraq,’? Current

‘History, XXX1:404-05, Nov. 1929.
Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXVI., 1927, Cmd. 2998 (1927).

. Lybyer, loc. cit.
|. The Times (London), Sept. 20, 1929.
|. Current History, KXXII:305-99, May, 1930; The Times (London), May

28, 1930,

. Extended summary of the statement of Government policy in The Times

(London), Oct. 21, 1930.

. Loder, op. oit., p. 150.

Earle, op. cit, p. 5; G. L. Beer, African Questions at the Peace Con-
ference, New York, 1923, p. 413.

Earle, op. cit., p. 5.
Francis Delaisi, Oil, Its Influence on Politics, Translated by C. Leonard

Leese, London, 1922,'p. 20.

According to the League of Nations Armaments Yearbook, 1928-1929, p.
895, British India, the only portion of the Empire which produced
enough oil to warrant mention, produced in 1927 only 6% of the world’s
supply of oil. The Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (Vol. VIII. 1927, p.
445), also published by the League of Nations, gives the following figures
for oil in the United States and in the regions in which the British are
interested:

1918 1981 1986
United States 248,400,000 472,200,000 770,900,000 bbls.
India 7,900,000 8,700,000 8,300,000
Persia 1,900,000 16,700,000 35,800,000
Canada ‘200,000 200,000 ‘400,000
Egypt 100,000 1,200,000 1,200,000

Text, Parliamentary Papers, Vol. LI., 1920, Cmd. 675 (1920).

Hans Kohn, op. cit., pp. 333-38.

The report of the British officials in Palestine in 1921 indicated the im-
portance of the region commercially and the possibilities regarding
économie development. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XV., 1921, Cmd, 1499
(921).

Loder, op. cit., pp. 149-50.

Hansard, 121:771, Nov. 17, 1919.

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

not reached until 1922 and then wns not ratiflod beeanse of a change
of government in Chinn. China Yearbook, 1024, yp. 891-80.

. The Times (London), April 19, 1930.

China Yearbook, 1921-28, Text of agreement, pp. 357-60,

. Hnnsnrd, 185:906-47, June 18, 1925,

‘Trovelyan in House of Commons, 1did., col. 013.
Johnston in House of Commons, Zbid,, col. B44.

|. Tbid., col, 945.

Conference on Limitation, 25th Mecting, Jan. 24, 1922, p. 708.

. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXX,, 1924-25, Cmd. 2443 (1925).
. Ibid., p. 46,

Fecha a al tlt Meta a
‘0; Sureey of Internat ry a
2 Vy China Vearbooky 1026, Pp. 750.61. ® Se
ee House of Commons, 185:900-45, June 18, 1925.

Text of moawures, Toynbee, Survey, Appendix V., pp. 494-95,

J. Ramsay MacDonald, The Goveroment of Indio, New York 100
Pp. 19-20,

Parliamentary Papers, Vol. VITL., 1918, Cmd. 9109 (1918).
Hansard, House of Commons, 98:1695, Aug. 20, 1917.
Porliamentary Papers, Vol. L., 1919, pp. 696-758,
‘MacDonald, Government of India, pp. 128-34.

Kohn, op. cit, pe 105.

For abstract at Vol X of the Simon Report ace The Zines (Loalon)
June 10, 1990; Vol. Idem, June 24, 1930. See also ‘The Simon
ommistion’s. ina for"Tadie,'? Current‘ History, SXMEL:S7I86, Aug.

Partiamentary re Vol. IX., 1024-25, Cmd. 2387 (1925).
W. McGregor Rose, ‘*Kenyn—Our Most Restlovs Dependency,”
Gon Afar, (British), 9:110-1, Ost. 1927.

Ibid,

Walter P. Hall, Empire to Commonwealih, New York, 1928, p.

|. Rose, loc. ott.

Parliamentary Papers, Vol. pac! 1927, Cmd. 2904 (1927).

Toca government ud is attracting ‘attention even ta, od. The
Governor of Kenya in Oct,, 1920 warned the i i

Would not te tolerated under any circumstance, but the vuggeation of
the (Lon-

CHAPTER IIT
Debate on Naval Estimates in House of Commons, Merch 17, 1920,
Hansnrd, 126;2296 £,

2. Idem., 13911763-1879, March 17, 1921.

see

Idem, 126:2335, Maxch 17, 1920,
Tbid., cols. 2819-14.
League of Nations Armaments Yeorbook, 1928-20, Genera, 1929, pp

Hansard, House of Commons, 126:2305-04; 139:1763-1879.

—— a)

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Lord Cecil’s letter to The Times (London), March 19, 1928.

|. Foreign Affairs (British), 9:188, Dec. 1927.

Reports of Conference, pp. 94-95.
Hansard, House of Commons, 209:1247, July 27, 1927.

See The Times (London), and The Manchester Guardian Weekly tor Oct,
Nov. and Dee. 1929.

‘The Washington correspondent for the London Times (Dec. 13, 1929)
stated that “‘the composition of the delegation [American] is itself
nifieant. It will have # weight and authority in the political field com-
parable with that of the delegation which conducted the negotiations for
the United States at Washington in 1921-22—.’?

The Round Table, No. 79, pp. 456-60, June, 1930, contains a brief dis
cussion of the terms of the Treaty.

. The Times (London), April 23, 1930,

Idem., April 17, 1930.
The Round Table, No. 79.
The Times (London), April 17, 1930.

|. Ibid.

Address of Secretary of State Stimson as reported in The Times (Lon-
don), April 14, 1930. ‘

. Tid.

Article VIII, Text of Covenant, Official Journal, I:3-12, Feb. 1920.

5. Idem., 6:1529-30, Oct. 1925.
. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXIII, 1928-29, Cmd. 3211 (1928), pp. 20,

33, 45.

. Hansard, House of Commons, 220:1827-28, July 30, 1928.

The White Paper was published on Oct. 22. The reason given for the
delay was that the opinion of the other Powers must first be received.
Italy did not send her reply until Oct 6. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. 23.
1928-9, Omd. 3211, pp. 39 #.

. Manchester Guardian Weekly, Oct. 12, 1928; The Times (London), Oct.

6, 1928; The New York Times, Oct. 9, 1928,
Manchester Guardian Weekly, Oct. 12, 1928.

|. Ibid.

Parliamentary Papers, Vol. 23, 1928-1929. Cmd. 3211, pp. 25-27.

. Ibid., pp. 27-28.

Ibid., pp. 14, 17, 2%, 31.
Tdid., p. 26.
Supra, p. 10.

. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. 23, 1928-1929, Cmd. 3211, p. 29.
. Manchester Guardian Weekly, Aug. 3, 1928,

Tid.

. Idem., Aug 24, 1928.
. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. 23, 1928-1929, Cmd. 3211, pp. 25-26.
. The French note says, ‘

d’adopter une politique comm
permetirait de faire face aux dffeultés qu'un Qchee de cee travaux he man.
querait pas de susciter’’, Cmd. 3211, p. 24.

|. Hansard, House of Lords, 72:75, Nov. 7, 1928.
. Manchester Guardian Weekly, Nov. 2, 1928.
. Hansard, House of Lords, 72:90, Nov. 7, 1928.

148

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Parliamentary Papert, Vol. XXXT., 1924-25, md. 2289, (1924).
The Times (London), Sept. 20, 1929.
William ,, Bappard, International Relations os Viewed from Geneva,
London, 1625, 19.
Treaty of Peace, Part TIT, Annex, Chapter IL, Article 17.
P. Loo Bonns, Europe Since 1914, Now York, 1920, pp. 243-44.
Official Journal, 1:45-50, Mazch, 1920,

dom, 42080, Ang: 1998; Barklomentory Repere, Vol. XXIV, 1983; Oa.
).

1921, (1928
Tikd.

Hansard, House of Commons, 1961057 {f., March 28, 1920; Manchester
Guardian Weekly, March 19, 1926,

. Hansard, House of Commons, 196:1057 f., March 23, 1926.

Official Journal, 6:323-26, March, 1025,

‘The Government's Instructions to Semone Hansard, House of Com-
mons, 19651057 #., March 23, 1!

Thid., cols, 1084-85.

March 16, 1926,

The Times (London), March 13, 1920,

. Official Journal, 7:288, Feb., 1926; 92042, July, 1998,

‘Treaty of Peace, Part IIT., Article 103.

Offiviat Journal, 1:17, 54, March, 1920,

Rappard, op. cit., pp. 163-64,

Official Jowrnal, 1:17, 54, March, 1920,

Hae, 6:1606 f, Oot. 1925; 178 1, Feb, 1920; Parliomentary Papers,
Vol. XXXL, 1924-25, Cmd. 2543, (1925).

Benns, op, cit., p. 227.

Official Jowrnal, 4:1277 1,, Nov., 1923,

|. Ibid, p. 1306.

Bappard, op. oit., p. 199,
Supra, p. 71.
Supra, p. 45.
Officiat ene 1:248, July-Aug. 1920,
Supra, p. 19.
Supro., p. 37.
Supros, ps 44.
International Relations, pp. 105 ff.
aoe Noy, 23, 1928,
‘Tilby, ae of Conservative Party,'’ Foreign Affairs (Brite

* iy RESIEL, May,

Sketch of work Taine to Geneva Protocol, Parliament
XXXL, 1924-25, Cmd. 2289, (1924). ory Ronins, i

Tdem., Vol. XXVIL, 1924, Cmd. 2200 (1924),
Official Journat, 6:1520-30, Oct, 1925,
‘Tdem., 7:218-19, Fob., 1926.

Tdom., 9:1148 #., Aug., 1028,

Supra, pp. 73 i.

. Monthly Summary of the League, 7:354-58, July, 1927.

Hansard, House of Commons, 215 :354-55, March 21, 1928.

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Manohester Guardian Weekly, Oct. 26, 1923, Editorial

. Supra, pp. 91 ft.

Hansard, House of Commons, 132:482, July 21, 1920.
D’Abernon, op. olt., p. 146.

. Hansard, House of Commons, 146:1225-33, Aug. 16, 1921.
. Louis Aubert, The Reconstruction of Europe, New Haven, 1925, p. 29.
. Aug. 12, 1921.

Account of incident, Manchester Guardian Weekly, Jan. 18, 1924; George
Glasgow, MacDonald as Diplomatist, London, 1924, p. 26.

‘Text of Treaty, Part VIII.

Carl Bergmann, The History of Reparations, London, 1927, pp. 22-23.

). Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXVI, 1924, Cmd. 2169 (1924), Memo dated

March 26, 1919.

Tid.

Bergmann, op. oit., pp. 64-67.

D’Abernon, op. oit., p. 134.

Philip Snowden, ‘‘Foreign Policy and High Prices,’’ Foreign Affaire
(British), 2:1-2, July, 1920.

. Bergmann, op. oit., pp. 28 ff.

Reports of Annual Conference of Labour Party, 1921, p. 234.
The Times (London), March 2, 1921 and March 4, 1921,

. Idem, May 5, 1921.
. Idem, May 3, 1921,

Bergmann, op. cit., p. 151.
D’Abernon, op. oit,, p. 245.

. Manchester Guardian Weekly, Dec. 23, 1921.
. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXIII., 1922, Cmd. 1621 (1922); Bergmann,

op. oit., pp. 114 ff.

|. Idem., Vol. XXIV., 1923, Cmd. 1812, Annex IV., pp. 112-19,

To

Ly pp- 194-212.

. Bergmann, op. cit., p. 168.

Henri Lichtenberger, The Ruhr Conflict, Washington, 1923, p. 8.

. Hansard, House of Commons, 160:35, Feb. 13, 1923.
|. Hansard, House of Lords, 53:43-47, Feb. 13, 1923,
. Hansard, House of Commons, 160:5-6, Feb. 13, 1923.

Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXV., 1923, Omd. 1943 (1923).
Ibid.; The Times (London), Aug. 13, 1923,
Manohester Guardian Weekly, Oct. 26, Nov. 23 and Dec. 7, 1923.

. Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXVII, 1924, Cmd, 2270 (1924); Berg-

mann, op. oit., pp. 261-63; D’Abernon, op. ott., pp. 31-2.
Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXVI., 1924, Cmd. 2169 (1924),

step had been suggested by Lloyd George to Clemenceau in March,
1919, the only prerequisite being that Germany should meet the reasonable
requirements that Lloyd George seems to have had in mind at that time.
Tbid., Cmd. 3169 (1924).

Ibid.

. D’Abernon, op. cit., p. 258. Text of Lloyd George’s speech quoted in

Manchester Guardian Weekly, Jan, 13, 1922,

152
82,

83.

115. Hansard, House of Commona, 13

. Hansard, House of Commons, 121

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Hansard, House of Commons, 176:3012 re ny eye, 1924; Text of Com-
Ty

2961 (11
over treats, ride Ord, 9900, (10055. cs ep

‘Pho loiter as published in The Times ‘exten, Oct, 25, 1026, follows
‘A settlement of the relations between thie two countries wil aaaiat tn
the Fevolutionising of the international and. Dritish proletariat not, lwo
sascesaful rising In an; Set ti tote of England, ws

Totnriat, the exchange of workers, ete., make it Le he us to

develop and éxtond the propaganda of Yacaa of Lentini and
the Colonies. Armod warfare must be preceded by a a against the
inclinations to compromise which are embedded of
the British workmen, against the ideas of evolution inion and oo
tormination of eapitalinm,"?
See for NE, fanohester Quardion Weekly, Oct. 10, 1024.

Howse of Commons, 107;777, Juno 25, 1026,
Bid, cals 600.

304 034, Maren 3, 1927,

Taom, 300" 1845, May 24, 1927. Documents found in
lished in Parliamentary Papers, Vol. XXVL, 1927, Omd, ‘en diane

‘ary
Pi Bearer Poxes|of Coma, 80S: S5083010, May 86; 188%

Delnisi, ou.

Manchester Guardian rey, Oct, 4, 1929,
Idem., Oct. 11 und Noy, 22, 1929,

The Times Gentes) “hprl 17, 1930,
Kohn, op. eit, pp. 180-31,

S Menta ghon ia Moncheator Guardion Weekly, April 1, 1081,

Pariiamentary Papers, Vol. XV.» 1022, md. 1860 (os),
Tid, Oma. 1874 (1928) and Cmd. 1890 (192

|. Selections from tho correspondence betwoon th two countries from 1921

to 1927 regarding the question of propaganda are found in Parliamentary

Popers, Vol, XXXVI, 1927, Cmd. Bark foot) and Cmd. 2895, poatid

‘Toynbee and Kirkwood, op. cit., p. 288; Kohn, op. cif, pp. 238:

Parliamentary Papert, Vol. LI, 1920, Cmd. 964 (1920).

I » One EXY, 100 Cmd. 1929 (1922); League of Nations Treaty
| XXV,, 1923, ; League of Na

Beries, Vol. Vol. 28, 1

Parliamentary’ Papers, Vol, XXVI., 1923, Cmd. 1824 ee

Tid.
Quoted by J. A. R, Marriot, The Eastern Question, Oxford, 1924, p. 330.

79, July 21, 1820.
Kohn, op. eit., pp, 247-48.
Hanatrd, Hose of Commona, 138:480, July 21, 1020.
Tdom., 140;1234, Aug. 19, 1921,
Manchester Guardian Weekly, July 26, 1089, aes

Toynbee and Kirkwood, op. ote, abe, 6
Baramentary Pa Papers, vel: XXti, 1090, Cmca, Vero" (Losey

re and Kirkwood, op. cit., pp. 108-09,
22802, Mareh 17, 1920.
H.W. Sal Making the Fasoist State, New York, 1928, p. 32.

ae en Pee +32,

Supra.,
Meche Guardian Weekly, Juno 16, 1928,
ea Daren oy Weekly, Jan, Ea Meas
Christian Corr dor Monitor, Aug.
Foreign Policy dneecistion ajormation Service, Vol IIL, Ne. 1, March

Glangow, op. cit, pp. 98-105; Schneider, op. eit, p. 3%

154

Chinese Commercial Code, 54

Christians, work of, 42

Churehill, Winston, book by, 189

Civil War, 15

Clemenceau, service of, 105, 109, 110

Coalition Government, 28, 41, 48, 128

Collingwood, R. G., 140

Communism, 106

Congo, 9

Congress, 101

Conservative Party, mention of, 28, 30, 43,
61, 69, 74, 16, 76, 19, 80, 81, 88, 84, 68,
89, 91, 95, 99, 102, 117, 120, 128, 125,
137

Conservation, 80

Constantinople, 35, 120, 180, 182

Continental Relations, discussion of, 104-
138

Copt priests, influence of, 42

Corfa Affair, settlement of, 98, 185

Cotton, production of, 40, 61

Craig, Sir James, service of, 68

Craven, P. D., 145

Crimean War, 26

Crown Colonies, reference to, 82

Curzon, Lord, service of, 118, 115, 180

Cushendun, Lord, service of, 79, 98

Csechoslovakia, 92, 117, 118

D'Abernon, Viscount, comment by, 110

Danzig, administration of, 92

Dawes Plan, provisions of, 114, 117

Debts, payment of, 112

Disarmament Conference, 86, 95,

Disraeli, Benjamin, 8

Dodecanese Islands, 185

Dominions, reference to, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19,
20, $2, 48, 61, 62, 64

Dundee, residents of, 83

Earle, E. M., 142

East, route to, 14, $5, 41

Eastern Europe, 105, 106

Eastern Power, 124

East Africa, British in, 58, 60

East African Commission, report of, 67-60
Echo de Paris, 18

‘Economie conditions, 14

Economies, study of, 7

10, 14, $1, 88, 41,
131, 188

England, conditions in, 21, 29, $2, 40, 62,
66, 61, 66, 88, 106, 111; trade with, 69,

125, 126; government of, 74, 81,
118, 115, 117

English, reference to, 78, 107, see England

English Channel, 138

English Prime Minister, 110

English Socialists, work of, 28

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Entente, 69, 118, 136, 138

Europe, conditions in, 7-20, 22, 26, 35, 5%
59, 72, 88, 102-106, 117, 124, 127, 129

Europe, Concert of, reference to, 26, 82

European Economie Conference, 112

European Powers, 90, 135, 136

Executive Committee, 124, 125

Far East, conditions in, 10, 95, $9, 47, 4%,
51, 66, 101, 129

Finland, 92, 94

First Assembly, meeting of, 96

Fifth Assembly, 99, 100

Foochow, Consul of, 62, 58

Foreign Affairs, British Minister of, work
of, 10

Foreign Affairs, Secretary of, 74, 75

Four-Power Treaty, signing of,

France, conditions in, 8 10, 85, 86, 40, 50,
106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 118, 118-121,
138, 184, 188; government of, 65, 74,
76, 72, 78, 89, 102, 104, 112, 113,
114, 115, 116, 117; attitude of, 67, 69,
12, 15, 90

Franco-British Memorandum, 117

French, reference to, 22, 118, 114, 181, sea
‘Franco

French Alliance, 186

French High Commission, 108

French Imperialism, 9

French Prime Minister, 74, 122

French Revolution, 7

French troops, location of, 118

Geneva Conference, work of, 64, 67, 12, 78,
75, 80, 117

Geneva Protocol, 74, 84, 85, 87, 88, 96, 100,
181

Genoa, Conference at, 112, 122, 128, 124,
184

George, David Lioyd, service of, 26, 44, 53,
79, 91, 94, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111,
112, 116, 116, 121, 122, 181, 184, 147

German Social Democratic Party, 22

German World Empire, 110

Germany, conditions in, 8 9, 10, 11, 13,
14-22, 35, 64, 79, 81, 105, 107, 109, 111,
112, 118, 114, 116, 117, 118, 136, 188,

Gerould, J. T., 146

Gibraltar, reference to, 108

Giffen, M. B., 139

Giffen, Sir Robert, 139

Gladstone, William E., 9, 25, 26

Gooch, G. P., book by, 189

Government of India Act, 55, 56

Governor-General, office of, 18, 19, 67

Great Britain, conditions in, 7, 9, 10, 12,
16, 17, 22, 28, 24, 28, £0, 82, 86, 36, 37,
38, 41-46, 49, 51, 55, 56, 58, 62, 68, 66,
67, 68, 69, 70, 72, 76, 77, 78, 87, 88, 92,

INDEX

98, 104, 106, 108, 109, 114, 117-128, 128,
189, 182, 188, 185, 136-188 ; attitade of,
toward League of Nations, 82-108
Great British Commonwealth of Nations, 80
Great Powers, 7, 4, 98, 113
Greco-Bulgarian dispute, 83
Greece, conditions in, 92, 117, 180-138
Greeks, infiuence of, 18
Grey, Viscount, service of, 10, 11

‘Hague Tribunals, work of, 82

‘Hall, H. Duncan, book by, 139

Hall, Walter P., 144

Hankow, officers of, 54

‘Hansard, Mr., book by, 142, 144, 146, 149,
180-152

Hardie, Keir, work of, 31

‘Harris, H. Wilson, speech by, 149

Harris, John HL, 141

Henderson, Arthur, book by, 149

Henderson, Mr., resignation of, 44

High Commissioner, work of, 92

High Contracting Parties, 127

‘Hobson, J. A. 13

Holland, government of, 102

Hong Kong, 47, 50, 102

House of Commons, member of, 25, 85, 51,
62, 63, 76, 19, 117, 121, 124

‘House of Lords, 130

Howard-Ellis, C., 140

Hungary, 117

India, reference to, 10, 81, 82, 40, 4
56, 57, 60, 128

Individualism, discussion of, 25

Industrial Revolution, 8

Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission,
108

International Conferences, 109

International Congress, reference to, 21, 81

International Codperation, 101

International Couneil of Mediation, work
of, 24

International High Court, 24

International Legislature, reference to, 24

Imperial Defence, council of, 71

Imperial Government, 57

Imperial War Cabinet, 17

Imperiallem, discussion of, 28, 62, 104, 186

Internationaliem, discussion of, 11, 12, 18,
“

Iraq, 86, 37, 88, 40, 41, 94, 188

Ireland, conditions in, 20, 26

Irish Pree State, navy of, 68

Italy, conditions in, 86, 67, 69, 72, 76, 79,

, LL, 117, 118, 181, 184, 186

155

‘Japan, conditions in, 10, 47, 48, 60, 66, 67,
ry

Japanese, attitude, 66, 71, 109

‘Jewish National House, 38

‘Jews, reference to, 31, 39, 41

‘Jubeland, reference to, 135

Jugoslavia, reference to, 98, 117

Kelth, Arthur B., book by, 140
‘Kenworthy, Lieutenant, service of, 80
Kenya Colony, reference to, 29, 67, 69, 137
Kerr, Philip, opinion of, 29

King, Prime Minister, 11
Kirkwood, K. P., 140, 162
Kohn, Hans, book by, 127, 181, 189, 142,

148, 144, 162
Kowloon, territory of, 47, 50

Labor's Foreign Polley, 24

Labour Conference, 82

Labour Government, development of, 89, 48,
44, 45, 57, 78, 80, 116, 120, 128, 126,
126

Labour Party, influence of, 21, 28, 24, 20,
81, 82, 88, 88, 48, 61, 72, 84, 96, 87, 88,
100, 108, 111, 120, 187

Lancashire, residents of, $2; mills at, 51

Lausanne Conference, 86, 180

Law, Bonar, service of, 118, 121

League Assembly, 97

League Covenant, 82, 84, 8, 87, 89, 91
101, 118, 120, 185, See League of Na~
tlons

League of Nations, 12, 20, 24, #4, 35, 87,
38, 44, 45, 67, 74, 82-108, 104, 107, 108,

117, 188

Lenin, work of, 22

Liberal Party, 9, 26, 27, 80, 78, 108

‘Liberalism, demands of, 25

Liberal Summer School, 27

Liberte, comment in, 78

Lichtenberger, comment by, 118

Lloyd, Lord, resignation of, 44

Locarno Treaties, signing of, 89, 118-120,

187 .

Locker-Lampson, G. T., work of, 97

Loder, J. de V., book by, 189, 142

London, government of, 16, 17, 20, 83, 186

London Conference, 71, 12, 78, 81, 110, 112,
112, 114, 182

London Times, article in, 91, 92

Lybyer, A. H., article by, 142

‘Mac Donald, J. Ramsay, service of, 21, 31,
43, 54, BB, 72, 84, 86, BB, 89, 116, 118,
119, 128, 141, 144, 149, 151

Magistrates’ Courts, 4t

Malaga, reference to, 102

we

weference ta, 108
dvantien, article In, 78 05,
VOR 118, 184
Mandates, reference vo, $2, 34
‘Manufacturing, development of, 32
Marriot, J. A. Bs, 152
‘Mosilation, International Couneit of, 24
‘Madlterranean Sex, mention of, 10, 69, 120,
120, 184
Memorandum, nresentation of, 62, 90, 105.
109, 118
‘Mosopotamin, references to, 38, 26, 99, 40,
41, 46, 60, 180, 181, 138
Milltarinee, 136
Millry officers, 18
Milly, J. Saxon, book by, 151
‘Milner Commission, work of, 42
‘Mohammedans, Influenes of, 42
Montague, opinion of, 66
‘Montoge-Chelmaford Report, reference to,
6

‘Moon, P. T., book by, 120
‘Moratorium, granting of, U2
‘Morocco, 10

‘Mosul region, reference 10, 16, a7, 40
‘Muir, Ramuay, opinion of, 26, 140
‘Munien, reference to, 108

‘Munitions, manufacture of, 95, 99
Mumolini, reference to, 135

‘Mutual Assistance, Treaty of, 96

Nathan, M, Ge, 10

‘National Council for Prevention of War,
‘Yearbook of, 21

‘Nationallot Turks, 122, 183

Nationallem, discussion of, 16, 42, 56

Nationalism, History. 197

‘Napoleonic Wars,

Naval Challenge, 62-81

‘Naval Conference, work of, 64, (7, 99

aval officers, 18

‘Navy. discussion of, 11, 14, 15, 62-81

Newman, E. W. P.. 43

New York American. 16

New Zealandy navy of, 63

‘Mear Enst, conditions in, 8, 4, 95, 7, 104,
106, 129, 191, 199, 196

Nine-Power Treaty, 48

‘North Borneo, reference to, 102

‘North Sen, 109

9
‘Opium, traffic In, committes on, 101
Opium War, reference to, (4, 61
‘Optional Clause, 89, 96

Orlent, reference to, 13

‘Ottoman Empire, Influence of, 18

{OWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCTENCES

Preifle Ocean, ships on, 61-66

Palestine, reference to, 35, 26, 37, 38,
41, 46, 100, 151

Polmerston, Lord, attitude of, 8, 26

Paria, government of, 123

Paria Peace Pact, signing of, 86, 8, 68

Parliament, 10, 20, 6, 62 Ths The 1. B24

Parllamontary Searotary work of, 0%

Pasha, Musiafn Kemal, leadership of, 18

Peace, ‘Treaty of, 111

Peace Conference, 1V meeting of, 27, 2%,
2, 107, 109

Peace Pact, see Paris Pence Pact

Peking, officers at, 64

Permanent Cincetration Commission, work
of, 118 i

Permanent Court of Intecnatlonal Juxtloe,
85 7

Persia, reference 0, 9, 10, 40, 127, 128.

Poincare, Raymond, service of, 11%, 116, 127

Poineare Government, Lt

Poland, government of, 91, 92, 106, 107,
116, 117, 18

Politics! Parties, discussion of, 22, 22, 26,
27, 28, 20, 18, 86, 57, Gt, 79, 80, AE, 89,
100, 102. 108, 111, 187

Ponsonby, Arthur, service of, 124, 140 |

Post-War Imperialism, discussion of, 15-61

Powers, reference to, 68, 8t, 09, 102, 188

Sexnieson, ‘works ae Taree

”

ter, vifice of, 19, 72, 34, 03, 94,

M0, M4, 182, 181

Quadruple Alliance, terms of, t
Rapallo, Treaty of, 112, 122

Red army, organization of, 105

Reparations Commission, work of, 109, 112

Retrocosston. Trenty of. 50

Rhineland, reference to, 108

Rhodes, 136

Roberts, 8. Hy book by 129

Roeebers, Lord, attitude of, 26

Ross, W. MeGregor, 144

Royal Indian Navy, 63

Ruhr, occupation of 148, 114, 116

Rumania, 117

Ruxeia, conditions In, #, 9, 10, 19, 2%, 25,
40, 97, 104, 105, 107, L10, 145, RET, 219,
121-120, 166138

‘Rumainn Bolsheviats, reference to, 47

‘Russo-Japanese war, reference to, 18

Saar Valley, French In, 90

=

University of lowa
Scudies in the Social Sciences
Louis Pexzer, Editor

J. Van per Zee, Advisory Editor E. B. Reuter, Advisory Editor

Volume Number 2

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY

From Dissertations for the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy as Accepted by the Graduate
College of the State University of Iowa

1922-1930

Published by the University, Iowa City, Iowa
June, 1932

FOREWORD

Anule of this University requires that all theses accepted for the

degree of Doctor of Philosophy must be published within three years
after the degree is granted. This requirement is not easily absolved.
Publishing houses usually do not issue books of no commercial value
and University presses are not sufficiently endowed to support all
scholarly studies worthy of publication. The high cost of printing
creates a burden frequently too heavy for the purse of the author.
For those not fortunate in finding a channel of publication there is
the alternative of publishing fairly full abstracts of their dissertations.
Granting that these studies add to the sum of historical knowledge
it is worth while to make the general results available at once to
scholars in history. Otherwise new knowledge would remain hidden
until the uncertain day when the dissertation would appear in full.

The twelve Abstracts here presented are based upon selected and
unabridged doctoral dissertations in history filed in the Library of the
State University of Iowa. A scholar interested in one of these dis-
sertations is free to borrow a typewritten copy from the Library. The
publication of these Abstracts will not preclude the publication of
any dissertation in full later. The writer of each Abstract is re-
sponsible for the facts and interpretations that appear.

The Department of History acknowledges its debt to Professor
Louis Pelzer for the patient labor and fine editorial skill he gave to
the preparation of this volume for the press.

DeparTMENT oF History,
State Unversity or Iowa.

May, 1932
Towa City, Iowa

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Foreword

I. Robert Hunter, Royal Governor of New York: a Study in
Colonial Administration, by Ricarp LAWRENCE BEYER,
Southern Illinois State Normal University, Carbondale

IL. Maryland in the Time of Governor Horatio Sharpe, 1753-
1769, by Paut Henry Gwoens, Allegheny College,
Meadville, Pennsylvania

Ill. Sir Francis Nicholson, a Royal Governor in the Chesapeake
Colonies during the Period of 1690-1705, by CHELLIS
NatHantex Evanson, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

IV. Credit Relations between Colonial and English Merchants
in the 18th Century, by ARTHUR SHELBURN WILLIAMSON,
Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota

V. Anglo-Spanish Commercial Relations 1700-1750, by James
Hamicton Sr. JoHn, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

VI. The Educational Policy of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Prior to 1860, by Francis IreLanp Moats, Simpson
College, Indianola, Iowa

VII. The Settlement and Economic Development of the Terri-
tory of Dakota, by Haro E. Briccs, Culver-Stockton
College, Canton, Missouri

VIII. The History of the Danes in Iowa, by THOMAS PETER
CurisTENSEN, Iowa City, Iowa

IX. Steamboating on the Upper Mississippi 1823-1861, by Wi
LIAM JoHN Petersen, State Historical Society of Iowa,
Towa City

X. The Public Career of William Boyd Allison, by VERNON
Coorzr, Cotner College, Lincoln, Nebraska

3

19

33

41

61

76

89

105

119

133

XI. The International Status of Belgium 1813-1839, by Howarp
Ricumonp ANDERSON, The State University of Iowa,
Towa City

XII. Anglo-Russian Rivalry in the Far East 1895-1905, by Wiu-
118 Georce Swartz, Southern Illinois State Normal Uni-
versity, Carbondale

8 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

opportunity to participate in the British Colonial System, and Hunter
was only one of several natives of that country to receive appoint-
ments in the early eighteenth century. The new governor was a
popular Whig, an intimate of Joseph Addison and Jonathan Swift,
an officer in the War of the Spanish Succession, a second rate poet,
essayist, and linguist, and a man who might have had a career in
Virginia had he not been captured by the French when en route
to America some years earlier.

Arriving in New York in June, 1710, the new Governor found a
colony with a population of probably twenty-five thousand, no’ minor
percentage thereof being black slaves. The major settled area was
that around the mouth of the Hudson River, although there were some
establishments on Long Island and a few villages on the banks of the
Hudson above New York City. Farther up the river was the village
of Albany, largely Dutch, and second only to New York City in size
and importance. It was the fur trading capital of British America.

The Governor soon learned that New York’s destiny was in the
hands of a narrow aristocracy, a cohesive clique that certainly did
not number more than sixty families. Of the sixty only one-half were
of major importance, the others being families whose fortunes were
either declining or on the ascendancy, or else families without the
resources or inclination to play the greater rdles. Among the leading
families were the Livingston, Schuyler, DeLancey, DePeyster, Van
Rensselaer, Van Cortlandt, Jay, Heathcote, Morris, Smith, Mompesson,
and Van Dam families. No one nationality had a monopoly on the
control; there were Dutch, English, Scotch, and French Huguenot
leaders in this aristocracy.

Property qualifications, a small electorate, non-secret voting, irregu-
lar elections, indifference on the part of the masses, and intimate
manorial life kept the political control in the possession of a dominat-
ing group. Once this was gained the elect did not relinquish it.
Economic and religious bonds further solidified the group. Likewise,
the complex inter-relationship among the leading families, made pos-
sible by inter-marrying, created a strong bond to unite them. More-
over, this assured the unit of perpetuity. It would be impossible to
trace these unions in detail but some of the important ones were the
Livingston-Schuyler, Ver Planck-Van Cortlandt, Schuyler-Van Rens-
selaer, Jay-Bayard, Provoost-DePeyster, Van Cortlandt-DePeyster,
DeLancey-Van Cortlandt, and Heathcote-Smith marriage pacts.

=

10 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘The failure to break the deadlock meant that the colony's finances
were in a garbled state, and, despite the pleas of Hunter, the feud
continued. ‘The Governor even went so far as to seek a remedy
at home and suggested the creation of a revenue by authority of
England. He proposed an increase in quit-rents or a parliamentary
‘impost to defray American expenses. However, only indifferent con-
sideration was accorded the plan in England, and no direct results came
from Hunter's proposal.

Some support was given the governor in 1711, when an expediition
was attempted against the French in Canada, but after that abortive
venture the Assembly relapsed into its old adamant attitude. Even
Governor Hunter perceived the true nature of the situation when he
expressed his desire that the strife be ended, “the more because the
contending Parties seem agreed, as to the Necessity of settling such
a Revenue, and . . . differ only about the Measures and Means.” But
all pleas for support were ignored, and the best that the Assembly
did for some years was to pass some short time revenue bills.

The inter-house breach was not to be permanent, for in 1714
an effort to pay the back debts of the colony was made. Since a
large number of the political leaders were creditors of the govern-
ment, this gesture was not surprising. Hope for concessions from
the Governor was also an important factor, but the decisive one was
the decision of the Assembly not to consider the debtor statute as
a money bill. The act provided for the raising of £27,680, that the
debtors be paid in bills of credit to “continue current” for twenty-
one years, and that they be redeemed by the revenue derived from
‘a liquor excise. This bill was the last major one passed during the
reign of Queen Anne, and before examining the political history
of the province during the Georgian period of the Hunter adminis-
tration, certain of the other phases of the life of New York may
be examined.

‘One of the absorbing aspects of New York's history is the chron-
icle of its frontier, especially the vicinity of the Mohawk Valley, This
was a region of controversy with the French, the area of the Castles
of the Iroquois, and a great North American fur producing center.
The gateway to the frontier was Albany, the English peltry capital
and the rival of the French fur trading city of Montreal. Defense of
the Mohawk Valley was imperative, for its occupation by the French

12 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

vessels and about one thousand lives lost, the British commanders
abandoned the expedition and returnd home. New York, especially
its persevering Governor, was stunned. The colonial levies were
recalled, and a general neurosis seemed to affect the province. It was
in this period following the summer of 1711 that the friction between
Assembly and Council, as well as between Assembly and Governor,
attained its height. Even though frontier dangers were enhanced
because of possible counter-attack by the French, little was done for
defense, and the Governor was compelled to refuse overtures from
New England concerning measures for the common protection. Only
Tndian massacres finally spurred the New York legislature into make
ing some plans for provincial security. All in all it was salutary for
New York that the Treaty of Utrecht was finally signed in 1713,
to end for a while the formal warfare in America.

Peacetime saw a flourishing trade in furs carried on in the Mohawk
Valley—a traffic which had its origins in the era of Dutch control.
Dominating this trade were a few frontier families, the aristocrats
of the North, headed by the Schuylers and the Livingstons. Their
dealings with the Iroquois were profitable but not always pleasant
since there is overwhelming testimony to indicate that the Albany
traders were a corrupt group. Their treatment of the Iroquois was
shameful, and it had much to do with the frequent wavering in their
friendship for the English. The Iroquois were the middlemen in the
peltry traffic since they procured the furs usually from western tribes
and then sold them at Albany. Defrauding the Indians, intoxicating
them with rum, and paying them poorly for furs, were Albany prac-
tices which tended to drive the natives into the arms of the more
considerate but poorly stocked and inconveniently located Frenchmen
in Montreal.

Governor Hunter knew that if the Albany traders were permitted
to carry on without regulation and restriction, the actual hostility of
the Indians would be incurred. Consequently he went to extremes
to treat them as liberally as he could and labored to remove the
reasons for the Iroquois complaints. Lack of funds and certainly
a lack of cotiperation from many of the fur traders hindered the
effectiveness of his campaign to bring the Iroquois more firmly into
an alliance with the English. But even under the existing condi-
tions the trade was valuable and in the fiscal year 1717-1718 peltry
to the value of £10,704 was exported from New York to England.

“ IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

possessions. ‘This was not in line with the best principles of the
British Colonial System, and the Mother Country tried to halt this
traffic. Governor Hunter was instructed to check the illegal trade,
but was unable to destroy it completely even in wartime. New York
vessels frequently made foreign West Indian ports under the guise
of going there to exchange prisoners and by the misuse of flags of
truce. The Governor publicly denounced the trade with the French
islands, but it is possible that he winked at some violations or was
deceived by the merchants themselves.

Not much success attended Governor Hunter in his efforts to
limit the traffic with the French West Indies, but he experienced
even less in shaping the slave trade as England desired. Royal or-
ders favored the Royal African Company, created in the Restoration
Era. These were ignored by the New York traders, and, while 1391
blacks were imported into the province during this administration,
the Company handled none of this business. Equally unsuccessful
was the Governor in suppressing piracy which became quite distressing
during his final years in America. Suspicion always existed that
some of the merchants were in league with the corsairs, but this was
difficult to prove. It is probable that one of the minor aristocrats,
Colonel Robert Lurting, was involved in underhand dealings in the
vicinity of Spanish Florida and the West Indies, but naturally he
denied this charge and the inquiry conducted by Governor Hunter
and the Council was dropped.

Land speculation was another economic interest of the influential
colonists and one not without consequences for New York. Earlier
governors were prodigal, made liberal grants to petitioners, and hence
# scarcity of available domain resulted. “Grants have been made
of all the lands that could be discovered, some of them in very large
tracts . . . ," wrote Chief Justice Roger Mompesson, who probably
bad in mind the extravagant patents issued by Governors Benjamin
Fletcher and Lord Cornbury. These made liberal grants to win the sup-
port of powerful men in the province. Land speculation was not a diffi-
cult game to play. The English land policy worked hardships on
few, for even the annual land tax, a quit-rent of two shillings, six
pence, per one hundred acres, was moderate,

There were definite reasons why such New Yorkers as Livingston,
Schuyler, Van Rensselaer, Hardenbergh, and Heathcote, to mention
only a few, were so grasping. First, in a colony where specie was

zB sll

7

16 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Hunter's major aides, and the appreciative Governor rewarded him
‘in 1715 with the office of Chief Justice.

All of Governor Hunter's efforts were now directed toward the
securing of a long time revenue grant, to assure the colony of support
and its officials of their salaries, In the past, the Assembly, fearing
its control over the Governor would end if such a statute were passed,
had limited its revenue settlements to one year. Procrastinating at
first, the Assembly quickly changed its attitude, and in the early
summer of 1715 a bill to provide a revenue for five years was enacted.
Several reasons explain this remarkable happening—the collusion be-
tween Governor Hunter and the Assembly to resist the charges brought
by Clarendon in England, the expelling of the intransigent Samuel
Mulford of Suffolk County from the Assembly, and most important,
the striking of a bargain between the Governor and the legislators
whereby he gave his approval to a much desired Naturalization Act
in exchange for a revenue settlement. Further, certain features of the
revenue bill were concessions allowed by Governor Hunter to the
Assembly—notably concerning the pay of its members and the posi-
tion of the colonial Treasurer, The Treasurer was an officer respon-
sible to the popular house, and this bill augmented his authority.
This act of 1715 was a compromise, a bargain between prerogative
and popular forces, but it did more than anything else to restore
good feeling. It was no longer necessary for the Governor to dis-
solye assemblies. He had found a body with which he could work,
and the house elected in 1716 continued for the remainder of the
administration, indeed until 1726, which was well into the term of
Governor Burnet.

The reélection of Mulford to the Assembly which had ousted him
in 1715 was embarrassing to Governor Hunter and his friends, espe-
cially as the critic from Suffolk County continued his wild attacks
on the administration. In part, Mulford was agitated by the Gov-
ernor's assessments on the Long Island whaling industry in which
he was involved. The entire dispute was aggravated when Mulford
went to England and distributed “A memorial of several
and oppressions of His Majestys Subjects in the Colony of New York.’”
‘The original complaints were amplified while others pertaining to
Indian affairs and quit-rents were added. On the latter topic Mul-
ford could doubtless write feelingly while his payments were in
arrears. Finally the memorialist argued that Long Island was under-

EN a

18 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Of the unpublished evidence the New York Colonial Manuscripts,
New York State Library, Albany, volumes LIV to LXI, inclusive,
were most valuable. They include much unpublished, intimate in-
formation and fill the gaps in the common knowledge concerning the
colony. The Council Minutes (Executive) explain the activities of
this body in working with the Governor as a prerogative group. The
economic history would be incomplete without an investigation of the
Indorsed Land Papers, 1643-1803. Family papers were serviceable
in providing minutiae concerning the achievements of the aristocrats.
‘Among them are the DeLancey, Livingston, and DePeyster collections
in the New York Historical Society. For trade relations between
the province and England, the transcripts of the Board of Trade
Journals and Papers in Philadelphia were essential.

The published source that eclipses all others in value is the Docw-
ments Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York,
edited by E. B. O'Callaghan. Volume V was important in the prep-
aration of this work. Herein is the correspondence between Governor
Hunter and various provincials on the one side and the Board of
Trade and the Privy Council on the other. Poorly arranged but
informative is the Documentary History of the State of New York,
four volumes, edited also by O'Callaghan. The legislation for the
period is embraced in the Journals of the Assembly, of the Council,
and in the Colonial Laws. The British Calendar of State Papers,
Colonial Series, is partly a repetition of information found elsewhere.
The best accounts of Indian affairs are those of Cadwallader Colden
and Peter Wraxall.

20 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of the Temple. William served as clerk to His Majesty-in-Council.
Both Joshua and John acted as Treasury Solicitors and colonial
agents, John being at one time agent for Jamaica, Barbados, and Nevis.
Furthermore, John was a member of Parliament for Collington, and
upon the death of the fifth Lord Baltimore, became one of the guard-
jans for his son—Frederick, In all probability Horatio Sharpe re-
ceived his appointment as Governor of Maryland through the efforts of
‘his brother—John. On more than one occasion the political influence
of the Sharpe brothers proved to be of inestimable value to the newly-
appointed Governor. It enabled him to secure important military |
commissions, to thwart various designs of Lord Baltimore and Sec~
retary Calvert, to convince them of the practicability or impract- |
ability of certain policies, to secure or prevent the appointment of |
certain Marylanders to public office, and to maintain his standing
with the King and Proprietor. Aside fram these meager facts, no
more can be written about the man who guided Maryland through
troublesome years from 1753 to 1769.

When Governor Sharpe assumed control of the government in Mary- _
land, approximately 154,000 people lived in the colony, Their settle-
ments clung to the shores of Chesapeake Bay, the large navigable
rivers, and innumerable creeks that intersected Maryland. Popula-
tion became thinner and plantations more widely separated farther
inland. Racially, a majority of the Marylanders were of English
stock; nearly one-third of the people were negroes. The number
of Germans, Scotch-Irish, Irish, French, Spaniards, Italians, Bohemians,
and Scandinavians within the province is unknown. About one-twelfth
of the people professed the Roman Catholic faith and held over one-
twelfth of the land. They were not entitled, however, to vote or
hold office; they sometimes suffered from a double land tax; and
they had to help support the Established Church. A third or more
of the people were dissenters; the members of the Presbyterian faith
probably exceeded in numbers those of all other denominations. Two-
thirds of the people belonged to the Established Church, but it had
fallen into disrepute on account of its close connection with the
proprietary government and the lack of any supervisory agency over
the clergy. Some of the ministers had become careless in their duties
and had acquired bad reputations, reflecting discredit upon the Church.
Before the end of his administration, however, Governor Sharpe inau-

="

22, IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

or moved to the back parts of the colony where some tried to become —
useful members of society. eee,
‘The common freemen formed the great middle class. Most of
them were small planters engaged in farming, either as renters or
small landowners with or without a few slaves to cultivate the soil.
‘The average leaseholder held from 100 to 150 acres of land while
the average landowner had from 100 to 250 acres. Associated with
the small farmer, but fewer in numbers, were the shopkeepers, mer- —
chants, and traders of the towns, who lived in small and inconspica-
ous houses suited to the modest ambitions of a commercial class.
Distinct and important, the powerful colonial aristocracy was com- —
posed of a comparatively few distinguished families like the Dulany,
Tasker, Bordley, Lloyd, Tilghman, Goldsborough, Hammond, Calvert,
Key, Plater, Carroll, Hollyday, Brice, Ross, and others. One reason
for the strength and power of this gentleman class was its wealth,
principally in the form of land and slaves, The elder Daniel Dulany,
with the profits derived from his law practice and public offices, early
began to speculate in western lands, The richness of the a
‘moderate climate, the increasing scarcity of land, and the coming of
the Germans, made the venture extremely profitable, When
died in 1753, he owned more than 47,000 aeres of land, of which

perhaps, the richest man in Maryland. The real and personal prop-
‘erty of his son, the younger Daniel Dulany, was confiscated and sold
in 1781 for £84,602. Colonel Edward Lloyd, the outstanding repre-
sentative of his family during Governor Sharpe's time, possessed in
1783: 261 slaves, 700 sheep, 147 horses, 571 cattle, 215,000 pounds
of tobacco, $00 ounces of plate, and 11,884% acres of land. Charles
Carroll of Annapolis, father of one of the signers of the Declaration
‘of Independence, had an estate which was valued at £88,380.9.7, and
included among other items, 40,000 acres of land, a fifth share in an
iron works valued at £10,000, 250 slaves, and silver plate worth
£600, The accumulated resources of fathers passed to their children,
who continued to acquire more wealth. Families grew stronger and
became more firmly entrenched than ever before in the economic
life of the colony.

Besides wealth, matrimonial alliances helped to ‘the aristo-
rats more closely together, For example, several children fell heir
to the amassed fortune, fame, and prestige of the elder Danie} Dulany.

— i

4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

while across the Bay in Queen Anne and Talbot Counties the Lloyds,
Tilghmans, and Goldsboroughs reigned supreme. From these fam-
ilies were drawn the county justices, clerks, sheriffs, deputy surveyors,
and deputy commissaries. And it was not unusual for kinsmen to
act together upon public business for the entire colony. President
Tasker, his son, and son-in-law, Daniel Dulany, sat together upon
the Council for a long period. While Daniel Dulany served as Coun-
cillor, his brother, Walter, acted in the same capacity, and, in addi-
tion, three brothers-in-law sat in the Assembly. Associated with
Colonel Edward Lloyd on the Council was a cousin; a brother served
on the Provincial Court bench, and a half-brother, a nephew, and
two cousins were Assemblymen.

A glance at the Assembly reveals how well the aristocracy monop-
olized the legislative positions, Walter Dulany represented the city
of Annapolis for eleven years, and Mathew Tilghman served Talbot
County for almost fourteen. Despite frequent elections, little change
in personnel occurred in the Assembly. Out of the fifty-eight mem-
bers elected in 1754, forty-two had served in the preceding session.
In the election of 1761, forty-three had previously sat in the Assem-
bly while in that of 1764, forty-six old members were returned. The
committee personnel remained practically the same year after year.
And the same is true in regard to the election of Speaker. Philip Ham-
mond was elected to that office eleven different times while Colonel
Henry Hooper was chosen on seventeen separate occasions.

Another striking feature in politics was the fact that many of the
courtly circle held simultaneously more than one lucrative public
office. Colonel Edward Lloyd acted as Agent and Receiver-General,
Treasurer of the Eastern Shore, Keeper of the Rent Roll for the
Western Shore, and as Councillor. His case illustrates a point which
a dozen or more other examples would substantiate.

Annapolis, the center of this ruling aristocracy, was one of the
most brilliant social capitals in America. Colonial travelers declared
that there was more wealth and luxury in this little metropolis than
in any other American city. Here lived many of the most opulent
families: the Carrolls, Dulanys, Taskers, Bordleys, and others. Those
living on isolated estates often came to the seat of government on
business while the wealthier made it a practice to bring their fam-
ilies and live in the capital during the inclement winter season.

|

26 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

from 100 to 250 acres. The nearer to Annapolis, the center of
politics and of the aristocratic class, the larger the holding. The vast
estates of the landed aristocracy consisted for the most part of
many scattered tracts rather than single large plantations. Large
tracts were held cither for speculative purposes or for a desire to
provide for one’s children or for tobacco cultivation,

Leasing was a popular means of developing large estates. Rents
on leased land varied from 10 sh, to £10 sterling per 100 acres,
depending upon location, quality of soil, improvements, and bargain-
ing power. The average leaseholds contained from 100 to L50 acres.
Numerous estates were worked under the direction of an overseer, a
system which was more profitable and prevented the waste of timber
as well as the exhaustion of the soil,

Proprietary manors were divided into small holdings and leased
like the lands of private citizens. Although rents were somewhat
lower than on private lands, the manors were never completely occu-
pied. Questions relating to terms of leases, sales, and laying out of
new manors were handled by the Governor and Agent while the
routine work of finding tenants, leasing the lands, and collecting the
rents was done by stewards. Despite the fact that the manors brought
jn as much as £1,000 revenue per year, the Proprietor decided in
1765 to sell all cultivated as well as uncultivated reserved lands and
manors amounting to 114,633 acres. They were divided into tracts
and auctioned off to the highest bidder, but the demand was poor,
By 1768, only 17,015 acres had been sold.

From both the Proprietor’s and people's point of view, Governor
Sharpe's record as a land administrator is one of great achievement,
His wise and successful opposition to raising the price of land and
the quit-rent rate favored the planters. On the other hand, his working
out of a more effective method of collecting the quit-rents and per-
fecting the rent rolls favored his employer, The strenuous effort to
discover surplus land was not only beneficial to the Proprietor but
also to the planters who wanted to remove all grounds for boundary
disputes. Where possible, rents on proprietary domains were in-
creased and responsible management provided for those immense hold-
ings. Delinquent and inefficient land officials were dismissed, A.
Board of Revenue was created and given unlimited power over all
proprietary finances. Finally, a building was constructed where all
books and papers relating to the Proprictor’s land and revenue might

. _iasi |

"|

28 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

eight or ten hands operated in different parts of the colony with vary-
ing degrees of success. The manufacture of linen was encouraged
by legislative acts but without great stimulating effect, except among
the Germans. A surprising amount of shipbuilding was carried on
in the colony; most of the vessels were schooners and sloops varying
from twelve to forty tons capacity. However, those who had suf-
ficient capital to establish industries and manufactures chose rather
to invest their funds in lands and slaves or engage in trade,

‘The expanding economic life of the colony was seriously hampered
by the lack of a satisfactory currency. What metal currency there
was, consisted mainly of foreign coins, many of which were so
clipped and cut that they were valued mostly by weight. The scarcity
of coin was so great that all sorts of substitutes were used: wheat,
rye, oats, corn, flax, barley, flour, and a dozen other articles. Be-
cause of thelr large number, bills of exchange assumed an important
place in colonial currency; they were always in greatest demand.
Like other colonies, Maryland resorted to the printing of paper
money, but without the usual results of depreciation. On account of
the exceptional strength of the fund against which all of the paper
money was issued, its value fluctuated very little. Maryland prob-
ably had the most successful paper money issued by any of the
American colonies.

Governor Sharpe’s tenure of office coincided with the opening and
progress of the French and Indian War. But Maryland contributed
little towards winning the conflict, and not more than five hundred
men were supported in the field. Governor Sharpe estimated, how-
ever, that over 2,000 Marylanders enlisted in His Majesty’s land
forces, Financially, the colony contributed a miserly amount. Apart
from £6,000 granted for Braddock’s expedition and a grant of
£40,000 in 1756, no other appropriations were made, Maryland's
obstinate attitude and failure to coljperate in prosecuting the war
may be ascribed to a variety of causes. Sending English regulars
to America inclined the colony at first to shirk its responsibility.
Furthermore, Maryland's frontier was short and fairly well protected
by the position of Virginia and Pennsylvania so that there was little
pressure upon the Assembly to vote men and supplies. Then, too,
unlike Virginia, there was no prospect fer Maryland to acquire
western land. Otherwise, the colony might have coiperated more
heartily. Another important reason for Maryland's indifference was

Liberty, Shortly, news of the repeal of
colony. It was a joyous occasion and elaborate celebrations
held in every town, The Assembly, animated by a spirit of

tude, voted to purchase an elegant marble statue of Pitt to

and her American colonies, it did not settle the issue of taxation
without representation, The passage of the Townshend Acts soon
revived the whole controversy. But the story of Maryland’s reaction
to this and subsequent British acts belongs more properly to the
next administration.

Early in October 1768, Governor Sharpe received word that he
had been superseded as Governor of Maryland by Sir Robert Eden.
As the report spread from county to county, justices of the courts,
members of the bar, grand juries, the city officials of Annapolis,
clergymen, and others, formulated and presented messages of sincere
regret. The Governor could truly write to his brother: “I now
quit the Station I have filled here with as much applause as I could
ever have expected to do.” On Monday, June 1, 1769, the vessel
carrying Governor Robert Eden and his family anchored near Ann-
apolis, and on the next morning Eden was formally inducted into
office. Thus ended the administration of Governor Horatio Sharpe.

Sharpe did not leave the colony immediately; he took up his resi-
dence at Whitehall, a fine country home on Chesapeake Bay eight
miles from Annapolis. Here he spent the next few years in man-
aging his estate and in generous hospitality with friends, That free

‘ and easy life did not last long, however, for in 1773 Sharpe returned
to England to remain until his death in 1790.

Though restless and dissatisfied with his position as Governor
of Maryland, Sharpe nevertheless rendered valiant service. His at-
tempts to improve the character of the clergy, his efforts to promote
public education, his improvements in the administration of the Land. |

| lll

ee

| ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY st

| Office, his dismisss! of inefficient and dishonest officials, his military
service in the French and Indian War, his impartiality in adminis-
‘tering justice, his recommendations for poor relief, and his liberal
attitude towards Roman Catholic subjects, indicate the character
and public services of the man who presided over Maryland for six-
teen years.
* . * .

In the preparation of this dissertation, the writer has utilized
materials in the possession of the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, the Maryland Historical Society, the Mary-
land Diocesan Library, the Library of Congress, and the Commis-
sioner of the Land Office at Annapolis. Especially valuable for trade
and commerce are the following unpublished collections; Alexander
Hamilton Papers; Board of Trade Papers, Proprietics, 1697-1776;
Board of Trade Papers, Plantations General, 1689-1790; Clement
Brooke and Carter Letters; Henry Collister Papers; Hill Papers; Port
of Extry Books, Annapolis; and The Papers of Samuel and John
Galloway. The Calvert Papers is one of the most valuable unpub-
| collections for the investigator who delves into Maryland his-
at any point and on any phase, Another collection of miscel-
letters, petitions, and other proprietary papers is
Port-folio Papers of the Maryland Historical Society.
Books of the Maryland Historical Society contain letters,
petitions, depositions, and other documents dating from
to the American Revolution. In The Debt Books are the names
landowners, the number of acres held, and the amount of
due. Excellent material on the distribution of land may
fn these volumes.
| the more important published sources are the Acts of the
Maryland, the Proceedings of the Council of Maryland,
j and Proceedings of the Lower House, and the Minutes of
y| Revenue. The Correspondence oj Governor Horatio
perhaps the most valuable single source for excellent mate-
phases of colonial life. Letters to Governor Sharpe, 1754-
part of the same series. The old Maryland Gazelte is a
f information on all subjects. The Letters of General Jokn
; ing to the Expedition Against Fort Duquesne; the Cor-
of William Pitt, when Secretary of State with Coloniat
d Military and Naval Commissioners; and the Official

ne
j

=

il
i

ile

ne

32 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Records of Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of
Virginia, 1751-1758, are particularly helpful upon the French and
Indian War. The Unpublished Letters of Charles Carroll of Carrollton
and of His Father Charles Carroll of Doughoregan; The Calvert
Papers (Fund Publication No. 34); Eddis’, Letters from American,
Historical and Descriptive: Comprising Occurrences from 1769 to
1777 inclusive; and “Extracts from the Carroll Papers” in the Mary-
land Historical Magasine, are excellent sources for the political, social,
and economic conditions in colonial Maryland.

FRANCIS NICHOLSON, A ROYAL
GOVERNOR IN THE CHESAPEAKE
COLONIES 1690-1705"

By Cyenus N, Evanson

‘This study deals with the career of Francis Nicholson as a royal
governor in the Chesapeake colonies, He was a staunch and loyal
supporter of education and of the Anglican Church in both Virginia
and Maryland. His appreciation of the British plan for the defense
‘of the New York frontier and the protection of the carrying trade
‘exceeded a mere attempt to carry out his instructions, He saw the
wisdom of the former project, not only as an immediate need for the
border colony, but also, in a broader sense, as a means of uniting all
the colonies in an undertaking for the good of all. In the latter he
was concerned for the benefit of the tobacco colonies as well as
for the Mother Country. In general, he was not only loyal to his
obligation to serve the British government, but also deeply inter-
‘sted in the welfare of the colonies. Better means of communication,
amd certainly the inauguration of a postal system, as well as his
material assistance to the people of Maryland during an epidemic,
teflect a local rather than royal interest. In administration he showed
am untisual breadth of vision when he initiated a conference of gov-
emors at New York. In a quarrel with a powerful group in the
Virginia Council, it is significant that he enjoyed the support of
some of the members of the Council and especially of the Burgesses,
the clergy and the trustees of the College of William and Mary.
His recall indicates the untenable position of royal officials who took
royal instructions seriously. His many appointments in the colonial
‘the confidence of the British government in his merits.

began in 1686 in the Dominion of New England

he Lieutenant-Governorship of New York, 1688 to 1689;

‘directed by Professor Winfred T. Root
3B

a“ IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

he was Licutenant-Governor of Virginia, 1690 to 1692, and Governor
1698 to 1705, and Governor of Maryland, 1694 to 1698; he command-
ed the land forces in the expeditions of 1709 and 1711 against Canada;
and he held the Governorship of Nova Scotia, 1712 to 1717, and that
of South Carolina, 1719 to 1725.

Nicholson came to America in 1686 as Captain in charge of two
companies of British regulars to serve in the Dominion of New Eng-
Jand under Sir Edmund Andros. His experience in the British army
coupled with his service in the Dominion of New England later pre-
served his interest in the military features of colonial administration
in the Chesapeake colonics. He was careful to conduct regular in-
spections of the militia, to sce that these forces were provided with
arms and ammunition, and to attend to the patrol of the frontiers
by specially organized troops called rangers, Although England was
engaged in war during most of the period under consideration, the
Chesapeake forces took no part in the American side of the conflict.
However, the fact that a state of war existed served as an incentive
to Governor Nicholson to keep the militia organized and the rangers
active. While the Chesapeake militia escaped service in the colonial
wars, both Virginia and Maryland were called upon to furnish money
in lieu of men for the defense of the New York frontier, Governor
Nicholson's zeal and understanding were responsible for whatever
assistance the Chesapeake colonies gave to the defense of New York.
His brief but active military service in New England and his short
executive career in New York gave him an insight into the wisdom
ef the British plan of defense not shared by the plantation owners.
And yet, both Virginia and Maryland furnished money for the plan.
But throughout his administrations his appreciation of the British plan
continually surpassed that of the legislatures. Each request for aid
found the Governor increasingly zealous while the colonials repeat-
edly urged the necessity of local defense and emphasized their great
distance from an undertaking which, they stated, was strictly a
problem for New York to settle. In fact, so enthusiastic was the Gov-
emor for the success of the plan that he offered to loan Virginia her
quota from his personal funds without interest. Despite the increas~
ingly provincial attitude of the Virginia Burgesses, who continued to
urge the necessity of local defense, he finally deposited £900 in per-
‘sonal bills of exchange with the Governor of New York in order to
fulfill Virginia’s obligation. The fact that his offer was cancelled by

—— a

wl

56 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

administered. A provisional government by unscrupulous men acted
until Governor Lionel Coplay, the British appointee, took charge.
Even during his administration there had been laxity, and the period
between his death and Nicholson's arrival offered an opportunity for
the continuation of inefficient government. The British government
codperated in the suppression of this trade by reporting the departure
of vessels from Scotland to Maryland and the arrival of vessels in
Scotland from the colony, Twelve vessels were seized in 1694 and the
general conditions of trade were improved when the Governor pressed
the trial and punishment of many cases which had either lapsed or
had been acquitted in the provincial courts. Tn 1697 twenty-elght
vessels were condemned for violations of various laws of trade. Gov-
ernor Nicholson's exposure of the illicit trade between Maryland and
Pennsylvania greatly influenced the Board of Trade to recommend
a patrol boat for the apprehension of violators, Violations consisted
chiefly in shipping rum in casks purporting to contain flour. The
Governor appointed Thomas Meech for this service and later added
two “Riding Surveyors” as land patrols, He also designated Annapolis
and William Stadt as the only ports of entry for the Pennsylvania
trade. 4

‘The rangers guarded the colonial frontiers but their chief duty
was to deal with the Indians and particularly to report the presence
of strange Indians. Neither Virginia nor Maryland suffered any
serious Indian troubles during Governor Nicholson’s administrations,
‘The Governor was on friendly terms with the Indians and always
looked after their interests, especially to safeguard their Jands from
the encroachment of land-hungry settlers. On only one occasion
did the Indians cause the Governor any concern. In 1697 the Pis-
cataway Indians moved out of Maryland and settled in Virginia,
charging mistreatment by the agents appointed to supervise their
welfare. The murder of a negro boy was rumored to have been
committed by the Indians, who, professing their innocence, moved
out of Maryland and refused to return. Governor Nicholson showed
much concern over their departure and appointed a committee to
meet the Indians and induce them to return. Although the meeting
was held, the Indians remained in Virginia and no further trouble
developed. This affair, in itself not serious, indicates his interest
in the Indians and their welfare. He realized the importance of
maintaining peace with the Indians and he was especially fearful

<_ el

pigeon ‘was not realized until the administration of Alexander

Governor Nicholson’s interest in the welfare of the Chesapeake
colonies found expression not only within the scope of routine ad-
‘ministrative affairs but also beyond conventional matters. During
his stay in Maryland he used his influence in having the capital
moved from St. Mary’s to Ann Arundell, renamed Annapolis in 1695.
He personally urged this change for economic and administrative
Teasons, despite the vigorous protests of the residents of St. Mary's.

* He purchased property in the new town and took an active part in
managing the construction of the new statchouse. He gave every

His experience stood him in good stead, for when he returned to
Virginia as Governor of that province in December, 1698, he was
faced with the problem of providing the colony with a statchouse

Jeg Nicholson sought to improve the economic welfare of
‘by urging the construction and maintenance of adequate

province, and Philadelphia. His interest in the
oe assumed humanitarian character when he

support of education and the adyance of the Anglican
h the founding of Virginia had been undertaken as

38 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES —

an economic venture, the cultural and religious welfare of the in-
habitants had not been neglected. Education in the Old Dominion
was first intended for the Indians and two schools were soon founded
for that purpose. But these early ventures were short-lived. The
first endowed free school dates from the bequest of Benjamin Symmes
in February 1625. An institution founded soon afterward by Thomas
Eaton was joined with the Symmes school over a century and a half
later and the union of these two schools in Hampton Academy has
survived until our own times, - Provision had also been made in
carly Virginia for higher education, but the surrender of its charter
by the London Company and the strong opposition to education dur-
ing the Berkeley administration operated against success.

Tt remained for Governor Nicholson and his associate in this work,
the Reverend James Blair, to revive the project of a college in Vir-
ginia and to carry it to a successful consummation. The newly ap-
pointed executive had been in the colony scarcely three months when
he took the initiative in the effort to found a college in 1691, The
Lieutenant-Governor supported the project with money and used his
influence with the members of his Council and the Burgesses to do
likewise, so that £2,000 was subscribed for the college in the prov-
ince. Among other gifts Nicholson donated to the cause £150, one-
half of the sum voted by the Burgesses as a gift to him in 1691,
Other donors included such well-known men in Virginia history as Col.
Philip Ludwell and Henry Hartwell. Dr, Blair was appointed agent
for the colony to secure the charter for the college in England, and
returned with it in 1693. Through his acquaintance with important
officials in England, especially in the Church, he obtained a liberal
charter containing provisions for the grant of almost £2,000 from
the quit-rents of Virginia, a gift of 20,000 acres of land, the income
derived from a tax of a penny per pound on all tobacco exported
from the colony in the intercolonial trade, and the fees from the office
of Surveyor-General in the province, Local taxes on furs and skins
also brought some revenue, The Governor supported Dr. ae
his mission to England as his numerous letters to high officials
church and state testify, A gift fee ee
London tobacco merchants, with whom Nicholson carried on private
business, was probably secured through his efforts.

Dr, Blair, the first president of the college, served for forty-nine
years. Governor Nicholson was made a member of the board of

ae st

40 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and was a donor of books to the library of Yale College. With Dr,
Thomas Bray, Commissary of Maryland, he worked for the estab-
lishment of libraries in that colony and in 1705 he donated £20
for the purchase of law books for the courts of Gloucester County,
Virginia, In recognition of his zeal for the cause of education in
America he was appointed in 1700 to membership in the Society. for
the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, an organization which num-
bered among its members many of the leading scholars and high
officials of church and state.

Royal governors were instructed to further the interests of the
Anglican Church in their respective colonies, Governor Nicholson's
respect for his instructions, and his enthusiasm and liberality, made
him a most zcalous worker for the welfare of the Church, not only
in the colony where he served as executive but in other colonies as
well,

Several problems confronted the Governor in this important work.
‘The geography of the Chesapeake was in itself a hindrance, for the
plantations developed lengthwise out of all proportion to breadth
and the parishes assumed much the same proportions. Hence, parish-
oners were often many miles from a church and the minister who
served more than one parish endured the hardships of much travel.
Governor Nicholson attempted to relocate the parish boundaries on
the basis of the number of parishoners, but he met with only mod-
erate success because the plantation system was so thoroughly a
part of the life of the people that it could not well be changed
to coincide with different parish boundaries.

Far more important than the adjustment of parish boundaries was
the work of supplying ministers. As the representative of the Bishop
of London it was the Governor's duty to induct the clergy into
benefices, while the Commissary exercised the power to hold visitations
and conventions and to superintend the conduct of the clergy. The
power of induction would have been easily exercised because there
was a constant need of ministers, especially in Maryland. Inductions
were not frequent since they followed normally only after the vestry
had made a presentation to the Governor, and an induction usually
fixed the minister in the parish for life. The chief reason for this
was that the vestries preferred the services of a temporary minister
to the lifetime tenure which followed induction. Governor Nichol-
son’s failure to induct clergymen was the basis of one of Dr. Blair's

_ — 3 =ga|

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY at

accusations against the Governor in 1705. In defense of his policy
it may be said that while he could induct ministers without presen-
tation by the vestry after a parish had been vacant six months, his
failure to exercise this power is more than offset by his zeal for the
advancement of the church and especially by the support given him
hy a majority of the Virginia clergy during his quarrel with the
Council and Dr, Blair. In this they indicated that they were satis-
fied with the Governor's administration of his power of induction
and did not insist upon the lifetime tenure of a benefice. Numerous
instances appear of clergymen who retained their benefices over a
long period of time through annual election by the vestry without
presentation or induction,
While the fifty parishes in Virginia were served by twenty-two
dergymen in 1697, the situation in Maryland was much worse. When
Nicholson became Governor of that province there were only three
clergymen in the colony, Although it was not the duty of the
Governor to supply clergymen for work in the American mission
fields, his zeal for the cause and his liberality for its support often
‘met the expense of a clergyman’s voyage as well as his living in the
colony until he could be placed in a parish. For this enthusiasm
he was highly praised not only by Commissary Blair and Commissary
Bray but also by numerous clergymen whom he had befriended. Two
prominent missionaries, the Reverend John Talbot and the Reverend
George Kieth, sent to America in 1702 by the Society for the Propa-
gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, were also among Governor
Nicholson’s many admirers, Nicholas Moreau, one of Virginia's clergy,
testified to the Governor's importance in church affairs: “When I
‘do think with myself of Governor Nicholson T do call him the Right
‘hand of God, the father of the church, and more, the father of the
poor. An eminent Bishop of that same character being sent aver
with him will make Hell tremble and settle the church of Eng-

as well as many other churches in the
building of St. Paul's Church at Chester, Pen
tribute: “We may safely say no man parted

in different and distant plantations in America.”
of £100 toward the erection of King George’s Church in
lina is another example of his support. Tn commenting on
Nicholson's activity for the advancement of the Church:
William Stevens Perry stated that he “conducted
throw a lustre over the closing years” of his service in-
enthusiasm for the welfare of the church was acknowledged reper
in the colonies and in England. Tn his will he left all his
Virginia, New England and Maryland to the Society for the Propa-
fen olsha’ Goopal ce tie ectaeat SO Seca
in the Anglican Church in New England.

From the administrative polat of view Gavin N ie =a

who ‘bad also misappropriated’ fumds,-and) try Andros, ‘whio\imadarn
show of taking over the government prior to Nicholson's arrival.
‘The Andros administration cost the province several hundred pounds
sterling, most of which was recovered by Governor Nicholson, who

contended that the commission held by Andros did not authorize his
taking over the government or accepting pay for his services. Under
these circumstances it must be conceded that his difficulties were
brought about, in part at least, ty the misdeeds of hisipreiecemoas
rather than by misgovernment on his part,

John Coode, an unscrupulous clergyman, sod ms fo didg poe

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 43

suit was instituted against him. When Coode was elected to the
lower house of the legislature in 1696 the Governor refused to seat
him on the ground that according to English law he could not serve
because he was a clergyman. Having sat in the legislature before,
Coode was supported by that body. The Governor refused to change
his decision and was supported by the opinion of the provincial at-
torneys. Coode stated that he had renounced his vows to the Church,
but the Governor, as the representative of the Bishop of London,
maintained that such action could come only with consent of the
authorities in England who had administered his ordination. Coode
withdrew from the legislature but became the leader of any dissatis-
faction which arose in the colony. When Governor Nicholson heard
that Coode was guilty of blasphemy he ordered him removed as
sheriff of St. Mary’s County and his records seized. Coode fied to
Virginia where the Governor claimed he enjoyed the protection of
Andros who made no effort to arrest him and return him to Maryland.
Coode’s son-in-law, Gerard Slye, took part in the quarrel and in 1697
preferred charges against Governor Nicholson before the Lords Jus-
tices in England. When word of this action reached the Governor
he caused his arrest and Slye soon offered his apology. Other part-
ners im the cabal were also brought before the provincial courts and
they also sought the Governor's pardon. When it became known
‘that Nicholson was soon to become Governor of Virginia, the lower
‘house of the legislature joined with the Council and grand jury
in a complimentary address to the executive which was accepted with
ood grace.

When Governor Nicholson returned to Virginia in 1698 he found
MMPNNL Pati Wats tae Gorccs oe) chou us tak
» Andros, While the Governor set about the task
irseee gcveraitent with is customary seal, he came
difficulty with the members of his Council, especially when the

of his program touched several of the members of that
= eit
a ‘f Nicholson’s program whieh incurred the “il-

44 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘The combination was a lucrative one, paying seven and one-hali
per cent on all public funds collected. The Byrd family was promi-
nent in Virginia both in society and politics, It was not only wealthy
but also related to other great families by intermarriage.
members of the Council belonged to the Byrd family group
course the Governor's proposals were sure to be opposed,
favored a wider distribution of the various offices held by members
of the Council, claiming that the execution of the duties was left
too much in the hands of deputies.

While it was the policy of the British government to appoint men
of means to the Council, the preparation of an accurate rent roll
would incur the ill-will of that group because all were owners of
extensive properties which carried a quit-rent fee of two shillings per
one hundred acres, payable in tobacco at one pence per pound. As
the work of preparing the rent roll progressed it was evident that
much of the quit-rent money had not been collected because the
owners of large estates concealed their holdings. The quit-rent prob-
lem was further complicated because members of the Council had
been buying the quit-rent tobacco “by inch of candle” at a low
price, a situation which Governor Nicholson also proposed to remedy.

To these reforms the Council naturally objected and set about
to secure the recall of the Governor, Both parties brought their
case before the authorities in England, Exorbitant charges on both
sides makes it difficult to judge the merits of the case. Governor
Nicholson denied all charges but was recalled. The Queen informed
him that the decision was made for the best of the service and was
not to be interpreted as a mark of personal disfavor. His subsequent
appointments in the British colonial service are ample proof of the
point. The later separation of the two offices in question and the
doubled royal revenues from quit-rents after the completion of the
rent roll in 1704 indicate that the Governor’s program was well
chosen.

While Governor Nicholson was removed from office through the
efforts of such members of the Council as Dr. Blair, Benjamin Har-
rison, Philip Ludwell, John Lightfoot, Robert Carter, and Mathew
Page, he might have gathered some consolation from the fact that
his predecessor, Andros, had been removed by the same body and
one of his successors, Spotswood, also suffered the same treatment.
His removal was not regarded as serious in England for he was

rll

(uma & at

Of the sources consulted, the Calender oj State Papers, Colonial
Series, America and West Indies, was of inestimable value, particu-
larly for the reports and correspondence between the Governor and
various departments and officials in the British government. The
reports were often in reply to requests for information as well as
voluntary information furnished by the Governor. ‘The available
records of both the Council and lower house of each colony are:

and Acts of the General Assembly of Maryland; Pro-
ceedings of the Councit of Maryland; Journals of the House of
Burgesses in Virginia; the Legislative Journals of the Council of
Colonial Virginia; and Hening’s Statutes at Large. Debate was not
recorded, but the Governor's recommendations and the reactions of
the legislature as shown in the statutes furnished indirect informa-
tion of the success of the administration, Almost every session of
the lower house closed with an address to the Governor which re-
flected their attitude toward the executive and his government. In-
formation on the Anglican Church was taken largely from Historical
Collections Relating to the American Colonial Church, edited by Wil-
jiam Stevens Perry, Te History of the American Episcopal Church
by the same author and Francis L. Hawks, Contributions to the

‘Charles William Sommerville’s two articles, “Rarly Career of Gov-
emor Francis Nicholson,” Maryland Historica! Magazine, Vol. TV,
June and September 1909, furnished much information. A mono-
griph, Colonial Trade of Maryland, 1689-1715, by Margaret Shove
Morriss furnished much valuable economic data. “Papers Relating
to the Administration of Governor Nicholson and to the Founding of
William and Mary College,” Virginia Magasine of History and Biog-
| sapky, Vols. VIL, VIII, and TX, 1889-1902, contain pertinent in-
formation regarding Governor Nicholson's part in the founding of
college and also a complete account of the documentary evidence

quarrel with the members of the Virginia Council. A valuable
n 'y account of Virginia during the period is Report of the

46 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Journey of Francis Louis Michel from Berne, Switzerland to Virginia,
October 2, 1701—December 1, 1702,” translated and edited by Prof.
Wm. J. Hinke, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol.
XXIV, January, April, July, 1916. The Writings of Colonel William
Byrd of Westover in Virginia, Esqr., John Spencer Bassett, editor,
furnished valuable information regarding this important Virginia fam-
ily and its relatives in the Council. “Virginia Quit-Rent Rolls, 1704,”
Virginia Magasine of History and Biography, Vols. XXVIII-XXXIV,
contain information covering Governor Nicholson’s imporiant work in
instituting a more accurate account of land holdings.

ae oe voy sot we fe we
sigs, Qa a sagt sa to amcemve sat Dav ore ad
ads be rage” at bermg ast gcnuh sinig tl lo sxvocs is oqumieay

CREDIT RELATIONS BETWEEN
COLONIAL AND ENGLISH MERCHANTS
IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY*

By Arraur SHeceurn Wrn11AMson

American colonial history is well supplied with scholarly accounts
of the commercial policy which England adopted toward her American
colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. There has been
wanting, however, a study of the colonial merchant himself as he
worked in his counting-house and played out the several roles for
which his New World community cast him. He touched colonial
life at many points. He was at once importer, middleman, retailer,
‘banker, and political lobbyist. His business affairs and the perplex-
ing problems he was called upon to meet are not well known, The
present study attempts to investigate one especially persistent prob-
lem which the colonial merchant faced—his credit relations with
commercial houses in England. This problem harassed him through-
out the eighteenth century, particularly during the years following
1760.

‘The kind Providence had endowed the New World with unlimited
‘natural resources. The potential wealth in these resources was early
seen by colonial entrepreneurs who applied themselves assiduously
to its development. By the beginning of the eighteenth century active
trading centers had already been established at Boston, Newport,
Philadelphia, and New York, and vessels from these points were mak-
ing profitable calls at ports throughout the world. The colonies were
pioneer communities, however, and had little capital of their own.
development of their resources was contingent upon the
assistance of outside capital. For this financial assistance the colonies
pended upon England, ‘The Mother Country already possessed
and during the eighteenth century its trade and com-

—<$
tora
-

v

etl

48 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

merce experienced an expansion which created additional supplies
of exportable capital. In the years which followed the War of the
Spanish Succession, much of this capital found its way by devious
paths to the colonies of America,

‘The capital which the colonies borrowed in England was trans-
ferred to America in the form of credits, Money as such was of
little use in developing resources, except in so far as it served as
a circulating medium, What the colonies needed was capital goods—
equipment, utensils, supplies, clothing—for immediate use and con-
sumption while they conquered the frontier world about them. This
credit entered the colonies through the colonial merchants who traded
with England. From the larger merchants into whose hands it first
came, credit was distributed through successive trading operations
to the smaller merchants, storekeepers, and shopkeepers, and thence
wherever it was needed, until it had penetrated the farthest boundaries
of the colonies.

‘An interesting aspect of this movement of credit, or capital, from
England to the colonies was the absence of any conscious design in
effecting it, There was no central planning board, political or other-
wise, to colrdinate the supply of capital with the demand for it.
So long as England’s economic life was dominated by mercantilist
thought, there could be no calculated assistance for the colonists in
developing a many-sided economic life that would result in increased
competition for the merchant and manufacturer in the mother coun-
try. Capital was attracted to the colonies but supplied in the guise
of credit; and it was utilized not only in the production of those
commodities which colonies were expected to provide, but in the
production and accumulation of a domestic supply of capital which
nourished the beginnings of new industries after political independence
in 1783,

Since the northern colonies lacked those preferred staple com-
modities which could be easily exchanged for the manufactured goods
imported from England, the balance of trade tended to run strongly
in favor of the Mother Country. The adverse balance of trade made
debtor communities of the northern colonies and compelled their
merchants to seek every possible means of settling their credit bal-
ances in England. They sent their ships out over the most diverse
trade routes, searching for markets and carrying trade that would
yield the profits with which to settle balances in England. The

~ —— =

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 49

bulk of the export trade of the northern colonies was not with Eng-
land but with the West Indies, both British and foreign, with the
other continental colonies, with southern Europe, and with Africa
and Newfoundland.

By means of this diversified trade the northern colonies were able
to liquidate accounts with English merchants. Settlernent was made
by remitting to England cither cash, raw materials, or bills of ex-
change. Gold and silver coins were a common means of remittance,
but the quantity of hard coin available in the colonies at any given
time was seldom sufficient to pay off the unfavoruble balance of trade,
and other forms of remittance had to be used. Raw materials—whale
oil, turpentine, skins and furs, logwood, sugar—were shipped to Eng-
land in large quantities and served as direct means of remittance.
Other classes of raw materials, such as corn, wheat, flour, bread, staves,
pork, and live stock, all found markets in the southern colonies, the
West Indies, or southern Furope and occupied a large place in colo-
nial commerce and served indirectly to place remittances in the hands
of English merchants.

‘The greater portion of colonial indebtedness in England was liqui-
dated by bills of exchange which the colonial merchants purchased
in the colonies or secured indirectly through their trading activities and
then remitted to England. The supply of bills was dependent on
the existence of available credits in England, and on the willingness
or need of the owners of those credits to draw against them and
then offer the bills for sale. Since the balance of trade was usually
against the northern colonies, there could be no permanent and
dependable source north of Maryland for the supply of bills. The
most important source wes in the plantation colonies, where the trade
balance was more generally in favor of the colonies The northern
colonies thus became markets for the sale of bills drawn in the south,
although, of course, large numbers of bills were drawn also in the
north by merchants who from time to time had credit balances in

A considerable share of the business which English merchants car-
‘ried on with the colonies was done on a commission basis, with the
colonial merchants acting as factors. Even some of the more sub-
onial merchants, with an independent trade of their own,
| more or less extensive commission business, although their

‘made in private ventures. Among the smaller mer-

were capable of doing and which the colonies were capable of sus

taining. ‘The commission business was therefore one means by which

the English everchent was able to inhioes SS
in the colonies.

‘The Englah morchinta by no. edi Confined Meataal eae }
commission business. The bulk of the trade was carried on with
independent colonial merchants who did an extensive business on
their own private accounts. It is in this class of trade that the
problem of credit relations enters. Both the well-established, pros-
perous colonial merchant and the weaker independent merchant en-
gaged in this trade. Their profits were made in the course of an
exchange of trade by which they received European goods which they
sold in the colonies, and in return for which they sent to England
raw materials and other forms of remittance, Capital was required
for such undertakings, and much of it was furnished by the Eng-
lish merchants in the form of credit.

During the first half of the eighteenth century, credit relations
between colonial and English merchants fashioned a framework of
their own that met fairly well the needs of the time, and merits the
term “system” in referring to it. Merchants on both sides of the
Atlantic followed fairly definite policies in their credit dealings with
each other. But since there was no conscious planning back of the
system, such inherent strength as it possessed was capable of meeting

mercantilist policy did nothing to lighten.

‘The credit system operated on the assumption that colonial mer-
chants would buy in England on short-term credit and sell in the
colonies for cash or on short credit. The usual term of credit was
nine or twelve months, within which period a covering remittance
would be expected by the English merchant. No reputable colonial
merchant had any desire to stretch his credit commitments much

oat -

—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY SL

beyond these reasonable limits; and certainly no prudent English
merchant would encourage his client to venture beyond his depth
in these matters. Yet the problem of how to keep abreast of the
debits on his account in England seemed to be of constant concern
to the colonial merchant. The problem became increasingly vexing
as the eighteenth century wore on, and after 1760 it baffled both
the colonial and the English merchant much of the time.

‘That such unbappy situations could arise to distract both colonial
and English merchants, despite the best intentions on both sides, was
due partly to the natural difficulties under which trans-Atlantic trade
was carried on, and partly to weaknesses in the credit structure it-
self. Three thousand miles of water separated North America from
England, and communication between the two was slow and difficult.
Business was conducted almost exclusively by correspondence. Even
under the most favorable conditions, answers to letters sent to Eng-
land could not be expected in the colonies until three months had
clapsed, and the average wait was longer. The uncertainty and the
delays to which correspondence was subjected were responsible for

$0 as to matters of general interest in the commercial and political
o Without knowledge as to the terms on which his order for
of goods had been executed, the colonial mer-
chant was obliged to act in the dark. John Hancock wrote con-
~nitin this subject to Barnard & Harrison in 1764: “Give us
just to mention that we think you are not
in Your answers to Letters & Sending accotts
is Expected; we have Heard many Complaints of
RrWatBecld act say vo cinch, as could have wished,

e
i
&

esiNtci aiycr ne Feldtions. ‘The colonies suf-
the eighteenth century from a scarcity of precious
ee omen ereny even tine
Dabo Of what wos required: to talke-cate of: the
‘of trade, The! merchants” letter-books/ of tse! period
jerenoes to this? scarcity" money, par!

52 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL

here with us it's at psent at a very low Ebb mostly for ofa
medium of Exg to carry it on... .” ee eee
fith of Philadelphia, wrote in 1721: is

Wnt of ss groom, tx ose 4 i
Cuyler of New York wrote; “. . . you Can't Conceive the =
of Cash in this place.”

‘The colonies were never able to cope very successfully with th
scarcity of money, Paper bills of credit, which as a cure for
deficiency of currency came to be reckoned by both colonial
English merchants as possibly worse than the disease itself, relieved
the want of a medium of exchange to some extent. Bui complaints
of the lack of money are heard throughout the eighteenth century,
before, during, and after the paper money régime, Throughout it
all, the British government did practically nothing to provide the
colonies with an adequate and dependable medium of exchange. The
act of 1707 was meant to stabilize such currency as already existed,
but it made no provision for increasing the supply of money, The
acts of 1751 and 1764, which imposed much-needed restrictions on
the emissions of paper money, were constructive in abolishing the
‘worst abuses connected with the use of paper currency, but beyond
that they did not go. The colonies went their way throughout the
eighteenth century without constructive assistance from England in
the management of their financial systems, and both colonial and
English merchants suffered in their credit relations as a consequence
of this defect in the British colonial policy.

The greater portion of colonial indebtedness in England was set-
tled by bills of exchange. The very general use which the colonial
merchants made of this form of remittance is attributable not only
to the scarcity of gold and silver coins and to the lack of that eco-
nomic diversity that would have permitted more extensive payment
in kind, but also to the advantages which bills of exchange enjoyed
over other forms of remittance. The danger of loss through theft,
forgery, or destruction was negligible. But inconveniences of various
sorts accompanied their use, and these interposed delays and un-
certainties in the settlement of accounts. There were times when the
high rates of exchange on bills made it cheaper to ship gold and

- i _— |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 53

silver coins, if the latter were obtainable; or when the scarcity of
bills left the colonial merchant without any ready means of making
small amounts were almost always
wn for very large sums were as dif-

to. dispose. of; ‘The rate of exchange for bills in the colonies
showed considerable fluctuation, caused chiefly by the relation be-
tween the demand for bills and their supply, and by the effects
of the depreciation of paper currency. This fluctuation produced dis-
turbances in trade and at times had a direct bearing on the volume

Hit
:
t
fe
bee

by Christopher Champlin of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1773, ten
were noted for non-acceptance.

When once a colonial merchant had established credit relations
with an English house, it was not difficult for him to obtain additional
extensions of credit. That credit was indispensable was a fact alto-
gether obvious to both the colonial and the English merchant. The
need for it was accepted as a condition to be met rather than avoided.
The English merchants therefore faced the situation frankly and
provided credit in generous amounts and usually on liberal terms.
Various factors and situations, however, conspired to make it difficult
for the colonial merchant to discharge his debits and casy for him
to allow them to accumulate. The English merchant, on the other
hand, was ordinarily content to allow the debits to accumulate within
reasonable limits. In a sense they represented his earnings and sur-
plus capital, by means of which he financed and expanded his foreign
trade, All this was well and good go long as the normal course
of trade was not obstructed or dislocated by unexpected strokes of

‘It must suffice to call attention to only a few of the more im-
eee BE cb eeated to Reep the colonial merchant in debe

this liberty with his English merchant. Throughout the
nth century, the advantageous purchase of raw materials in
nies depended upon a supply of ready cash with which to

his earnings to work as new capital, and frequently received fresh
loans of capital from his creditor. The English merchant,
other hand, was investing his capital in foreign trade through the

mer-

most convenient channel at his command.
Overdrafts were sometimes inadvertent, however. The colonial
chant rarely knew exactly how his account in England stood, and he

as to the disposition and proceeds of the shipment. But to him a
shipment at once became the equivalent of a deposit on his mer-
chant’s books in his favor—that is, it was a credit that could be
drawn against, Tn those cases where the shipment was sold’on credit
“Sis higajtieant ate Kaba eae ee
ceeds simply ‘meant that he hathiset up the equivalent of a-tanking

HIS" foreigAereditor CoN oe Fe emaND Bawaleige
a

—. 1 a el

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 55

‘The course of business, like the course of love, never did run

. Errors and mistaken judgments gave rise to problems
and | Brief mention of a few of the causes of complaint
on the part of colonial merchants will contribute to an understanding
of the problems which confronted the merchants on both sides and
which, in unsettled times, complicated the credit relations between
them.

‘The letters of colonial merchants abound in complaints of goods
that did not please for one reason or another, The quality was
poor, the colors unsuitable, the material too coarse, or the goods
had arrived out of season. The colonial merchant was given to making
‘comparisons between his own goods and those which his competitors
received from their merchants. Any difference in favor of his com-
petitors was promptly made the subject of complaint. Philip Cuyler
of New York wrote sharply to his Liverpool merchant in 1758, com-
plaining of unsatisfactory goods and prices and asking him if he
thought him a fool or an ass. Such treatment, he declared, would
bring on a discontinuance of their connection. High prices touched
‘an especially tender spot in the colonial merchant, He was exceed-
ingly sensitive to overcharges and to prices which gave his competi-
tors an advantage over himself. This matter of unsatisfactory goods
‘was related very directly to credit relations, Remittances to Eng-
land depended among other things upon the regular turnover of
Stocks and on reasonably good profits. Poorly selected goods, or
goods of inferior quality or of excessive cost, found a slow sale in the
coloni¢s; and goods which arrived after the season had to wait for
‘the return of the market or be sold at a sacrifice.

_A study of the credit relations between colonial and English mer-
chants must view the colonial merchant not merely as the second
party in a dual relationship, but also as the middle party in a
ea Nemmesion tavcitogo¢ Yeast three’ groupe of tsadesmen. The
p bought from firms in England and sold
archos; As middleman his successes and failures
pereweited from those of his customers in the colonies.
ti or relation existing between himself and his Eng-
it was reproduced in the relations between himself
3 The chain of cause and effect reached

debts which he owed the storekeeper, the latter wa
his obligations to the colonial merchant; and the
of course, was forced to pass the burden on to his |

‘The colonial merchant was encouraged by circumstances to be gen- |
erous in his extension of credit to his storekeepers and e
When crops failed or cash became scarce, he had his choice between
seeing his goods remain on the shelves, or selling them at a
for cash, or accommodating his customers by supplying them with
goods on credit. In normal times the extension of credit tended to
stimulate trade and commerce and in many cases was a much-appre-
ciated accommodation, Twelve months was the common credit term
taken by colonial debtors, although longer periods were not infre-
quent. A request for four months’ credit was declared by William
Pollard in 1772 to be merely an excuse for taking twelve months.
‘The worst feature of these extensions of credit was the protracted
delay in getting the money. Peter Faneuil of Boston remarked in
1737 that the shopkeepers always took twelve months and some-
times two years in making payment.

Colonial merchants found through experience, just as their mer-
chants in England did, that obliging their customers with grants of
credit was accompanied by many annoying inconveniences to them-
selves. So similar were the complaints and protests which such dif-
ficulties evoked that it is sometimes quite impossible to say from
the tone of a letter whether it is an English merchant or a colonial
merchant who is writing. The following sentence is from a letter
written in 1774; “We would rather pay Interest ourselves than re-
ceive it, our situation in business requiring all the Moncys we can
collect... . ” Such a sentence might have been written at any
time after 1760 by any one of a large number of English firms.
Actually it appears in a letter from Stocker & Wharton, Philadelphia
merchants, to Christopher Champlin of Newport, Rhode Island. Colo-
nial merchants themselves were responsible for the consequences of
their credit policies when the credit was granted voluntarily or under
only slight pressure. When they tightened up their credit terms, the
move was generally viewed with approbation by their merchants in
England, In April 1762, Mildred & Roberts of London noted favor-
ably the decision of Stephen Collins of Philadelphia to reduce his
credit term. “We greatly commend your Intentions,” they wrote,
“of shortening the Time of Credit given on the Sale of your Goods

= =

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 37

& heartily wish you Success in it for its attended with many Incon-
veniencys, besides a very great additional risque.”

‘One of the worst mischiefs with which colonial merchants had to
contend and for which they themselves were partly to blame was that
of overstocking. Of the several factors which acted to slow up
remittances to England, overstocking was one of the most certain
in its operation. Surplus goods became a drug on the market, para-
lyzing sales and retarding remittances, The years 1772 and 1773
were especially bad in this respect, probably the worst in the history
of the colonies, although the evil had made sporadic appearances in
the decade 1760-1770. Instances of overstocking before 1760 ap-
pear to have been isolated events which had no prolonged important
bearing on credit relations. But after L760 overstocking was a factor
which produced pernicious results, and it must be reckoned with in
any treatment of credit relations.

Overstocking can not be explained by any one set of factors. In
some instances it resulted from certain practices of the English mer-
chants. The latter sometimes shipped goods that were unsuited for
the colonial market because they were priced too high, or were not
well chosen, or were out of season, Such merchandise cluttered up
the shelves of colonial stores. At times English merchants seemed
deliberately to have “dumped” goods on the colonial market. What
the colonial merchant called “unsaleable goods” was frequently noth-
ing else than goods which the English merchant had sent him with-
out orders, expecting him to find a market for them in the colonies.
‘Tn other cases overstocking resulted from errors in judgment of colo-
nial merchants. The fault here was that of overestimating the ca~
pacity of the market to absorb goods. The colonial merchant was
allowed to have his own way with his order so long as he remained
in good financial standing with his English correspondents. But
the whole outlook for business in the colonies could undergo a radical
change in the interval between the order and the receipt of the
Baynton & Wharton wrote their English merchant in 1761:
‘observe you intended to ship the Goods directed in the Order
“Which we now sincerely Wish We had reserv'd for an-
As there is no Demand for them—However if They should
ye must do the best we can with Them.” Unforeseen develop-
as depressions and political disturbances, were likely
serious consequences for colonial trade,

er

88 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

One other qualification should be made in connection with over-
stocking. In 1772 and 1773 in particular the excessive quantities
of European goods on hand were due not only to overexpansion on
the part of the well-established colonial merchants but also to a
superfluity of tradesmen in the field of merchandising, most of whom
were importing goods from England. The resulting overexpansion was
a condition of the whole mercantile calling rather than of any par-
ticular merchant's business. It was precipitated by a wave of specu-
lation which swept over the European commercial world in those
years and which brought forth a reckless liberality in the extension
of credit. There are many references in the letters of colonial mer-
chants during these years to the “huge supplies” of goods on hand.

So long as the colonial world was free from disturbances which
might upset its commercial balance, the course of credit relations
tended to run smoothly and evenly. From time to time, however,
the equilibrium of the credit structure was disturbed by defects in
England's colonial policy and by unlooked-for interruptions in the
commercial world. Such adverse conditions and events as depressions,
shortages in the currency supply, crop failures, restrictions on trading
activities as those imposed by the Sugar Act of 1764, wars, and non-
importation agreements, all subjected credit relations to unusual
strains. Under these burdens the colonial merchants enccuntered dif-
ficulties in meeting their obligations, and their English creditors,
especially after 1760, were often sorely distressed over the state of
their investments in the colonies. Perhaps the classic example of a
troubled debtor and a harried creditor is that of Aaron Lopez of
Newport, Rhode Island, and Henry Cruger, Jr. of Bristol. In 1766
Cruger's books showed a debit balance against Lopez of £10,784.84,
and he was sending eloquent ultimatums to Lopez for remittances.
In 1772 the burdensome account had been reduced to £2,452.15.11,
exclusive of interest, but Cruger was still pleading desperately for
a final settlement of the account. “Do, good Sir!,” he wrote, “con-
trive to pay me off this fatal ballance.”

‘There was a danger that the colonial merchant-importer would
emerge from this account of his credit affairs as little more than a
tradesman who was almost perennially in debt to his merchant in
England. Such an impression would obscure the picture of a wealthy
country across the sea supplying needed capital to a pioneer country
through the medium of local merchants. The colonial merchant was

a 2 ad

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 59

unconsciously performing the service of tapping, through his own
debts in England, the credit reserves of the Mother Country. Viewed

own. Since the Mother Country provided no imperial banking sys-
tem, it was only through the colonial merchants that capital from
England was able the colonies and ultimately reach all those

tegions needed, The colonial merchant was more
than a tradesman in debt. He was a social agent engaged in moving
capital creditor region to a pioneer region.

The

. . . .

has been based largely on the letter-books and miscel-
laneous commercial papers of merchants in the northern colonies.

Collins & Son of Philadelphia in the Library of Congress, were par-
ticularly useful. They comprise fifty-six volumes of material and
‘extend over the period 1758-1838. The letter-books of Thomas Fitch
of Boston and William Pollard of Philadelphia, found respectively at
the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, throw considerable light on mercantile transactions of
the time. The former collection covers the years 1723-1734 and the
Istter extends over the period March 2, 1772 to July 20, 1774. Other
‘useful collections were: the Samuel P. Savage Papers from Boston,
més of which cover the long period 1702-1829: the letter-
Samuel Powell, Jr. of Philadelphia, two of which cover the
ry 5, 1740 to August 25, 1746 and September 3, 1746
‘Il, 1747; the letter-book of Thomas Moffatt of Boston,
| over the period February 8, 1715 to October 22, 1716;
book of Thomas Hancock, the miscellaneous Hancock papers
‘the mercantile affairs of both Thomas and John Han-
the well-known collections of letters published in two
he Massachusetts Historical Society under the title Com-
Island. A considerable amount of correspondence

60 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

from the English merchants themselves has also been utilized. This
material, however, is restricted to letters written to a very few colonial
firms and does not give a comprehensive view of relations between
English merchants and their colonial customers. Until access has been
had to the letter-books and general files of the English merchants,
the colonial side of these credit relations will remain more fully
developed than the English side.

=

ANGLO-SPANISH COMMERCIAL
RELATIONS, 1700-1750"

By James Hamicton Sr. Joun

The chief purposes of this study are to present a connected account
of commercial relations between Great Britain and Spain during the
first half of the eighteenth century, to treat the subject from the
standpoint of its connection with British history as a whole, and
to indicate particularly the importance to Great Britain cf the Span-
ish trade proper, the complications that ensued from various British
attempts to exploit the commercial possibilities of Spanish America,
and the influence of commercial considerations in helping to deter-
mine at critical moments British policy toward Spain.

The period was chosen because it marks a well-defined epoch in
the history of Anglo-Spanish relations. In the generation just before
1700, during the reign of Charles II of Spain, England had been
enjoying a fairly peaceful and very profitable trade not only with
Old Spain itself but also with some parts of Spanish America. The
flourishing American trade was made possible by the comparative
supineness of the Spanish colonial administration at that time. The
death of Charles IT without direct heirs in 1700, followed as it was
by the War of the Spanish Succession, ultimately delivered the throne
of Spain and the Spanish Indies into the hands of the French prince,
Philip V, and his successors, whose ideas were different from, and
more aggressive than those of the last sluggish Hapsburg. At the
same time, the treaty of peace gave England the famous Asiento
or contract for supplying Spanish America with negro slaves.

‘Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the years fol-
lowing the Peace of Utrecht were troubled. Friction between England
and Spain soon became chronic, no small part of it being due to
commercial difficulties, which accumulated with alarming rapidity.
After two minor conflicts, in 1718 and in 1727, the climax came

ee directed by Profesor Winfred T. Root
= or

tai -vRh tha: cule? Wer aeten eee

‘were once more readjusted, and the period that
with the death of Charles II came to a natural end
England formally relinquished the Asiento.

Two sets of earlier developments—traditions and treaties—have
be considered as a prelude to understanding Anglo-Spanish |
cial relations during the eighteenth century; for
War of Jenkins’ Ear extend back in English history a
deeply as the reigns of Mary Tudor and Elizabeth. orm
legitimate commerce between England and Old Spain in the time
of Sir Robert Walpole was conducted on the basis of treaties made
during the seventeenth century.

. The threat of Spanish domination that emanated from the loom-
ing figure of Mary Tudor's husband and Elizabeth's suitor, Philip
II of Spain, the horrors of the Marian persecutions, and the nerve-
racking crisis of the Armada, all combined to create in England a
tradition of national hostility to Spain and of bitter antipathy toward
Spain's religion, the Roman Catholic faith. ‘This tradition could
not create a war of itself, to be sure, But it formed a dormant part
of the national consciousness of the English people for at least two
centuries, and was appealed to by partisan politicians or chauvinistic
demagogues in every crisis between 1700 and 1750, Its existence
made the task of Sir Robert Walpole and those who worked for the
maintenance of friendly commercial relations with Spain many times
more difficult than it would otherwise have been. The exploits of
the Hawkinses, Sir Francis Drake, and their many compeers, also

and deepened during subsequent generations by the victories of Crom-
well's captains and the successful plundering expeditions of Sir Henry
Morgan and other buccaneers. This tradition, also, was invoked
in every crisis of the eighteenth century, blinding the British public
to the real issues then at stake, and hampering the ministry in its
efforts to obtain a peaceful settlement of conflicting commercial claims.
One writer of 1741, for example, even went so far as to cite an
imposing array of figures to prove that England had already made

Besides giving rise to traditions of national hostility and greedy
belligerency, the reign of Elizabeth had more practical results, The
victories of the Elizabethan seamen broke the shell of protection
with which Spain had tried to surround her possessions in the New
World, and encouraged subsequent generations of Englishmen to
claims by trading, whether peacefully
or forcibly, with Spanish America. Elizabeth's attitude in counte-
nancing privateering while ostensibly at peace with Philip created
impression that whatever might be the situation in Europe all
fnir in the Caribbean. And in contrast to these tendencies, the

cya
i

H
I
i
|

Old Spain that was needed by both

T lost no time in bringing common sense to bear on the
‘On August 19, 1604, he swore to observe a treaty of peace
with Spain and the Spanish Netherlands. This re-
and made a beginning on the working out of provisions
"1 might live and trade peacefully in Spain
Nothing was said, however, about com-
because Spain would not sanction it

HI

HH

cedulas dated March 19, June 26, and

to the English “nation” in Spain
privilege of choosing and paying a judge conservator of
i of all lawsuits arising between English
all other cases in which English mer-

‘These cedulos were confirmed by the highly important treaty of
‘Madrid, signed May 13/23, 1667, which reestablished ordinary com-
‘mercial relations between England and Spain after the rupture aris-
rom the Cromwellian war and was destined to serve as the
Anglo-Spanish commerce for more than a century,

ators of this treaty, Edward Montagu, first Earl of Sand-
William Godolphin, worked out with painstaking care
ns that English merchants and their families might

Ve

64 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL

their personal liberty, ie pl fh ln
ling of their merchandise and other property, the see
contracts, and the enjoyment of their special privileges, such

of the judge conservator. ‘A real “most favored nation” clause also
inserted in this treaty, was a means of insuring England's Spanish
trade against the encroachments of any other country in the future.
Finally, on July 8/18, 1670, Godolphin signed a supplementary treaty
by which the pacification of 1667 was definitely extended to America
and all commerce between English and Spanish subjects in America
was strictly forbidden, except in case of the granting of such a
contract as the Asiento, With this “American” treaty of 1670, the
groundwork of England’s commercial dealings with Spain in the
eighteenth century was completed,

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Englishmen were prof-
fuing by their economic relations with Spaniards in a number of ways.
First and foremost, there was the Spanish trade proper, or the legiti-
mate commerce between England and Old Spain, which was being
fostered and protected by the treaties just described. Besides buy-
ing many commodities of minor importance, such as lead, tin, to-
bacco, and leather, Spain was one of England’s best markets for her
two outstanding staple products, woolen goods—particularly bays and
says—and fish, In return, Spain was able to supply wines, fruits,
and other consumption goods, raw iron, salt, for the ‘return cargoes
of the fishing boats, and several commodities essential to the Eng-
lish woolen manufacture, such as fine Spanish wool, olive oil and
barilla or soda for making soap, cochineal, indigo, and other dyes.
Many of the English imports from Spain were thus raw materials to
be used in the home manufactures, and were valued accordingly. But
what endeared the Spanish trade especially to English merchants
and statesmen alike was the fact that Spain always had to pay for
most of the English goods she imported with her own most plentiful
commodities, the gold and silver from her colonies, With the bul-
lionist theory of wealth generally accepted in England, which had
then no means of obtaining the precious metals except her foreign
commerce, it is no wonder that English pamphleteers lauded the
Spanish trade as “the Darling, and Silver Mine of England," or
that English statesmen were up in arms when the ambitions of Louis
XIV seemed to threaten the continuance of this happy state of
affairs.

a —

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 65

‘The Spanish import duties on English woolens, though nominally
high—approximately 25 per cent, ad valorem—were reduced so much
practice at this time by a system of gratias or abetements and by
favorable valuations, that they actually amounted to less than 10
of 20 per cent in the Spanish trade were not
unusual. Many of the English merchants in Spain stretched their
profits to still larger figures by employing Spanish factors and ship-
ping goods in their names by the galleons and the flotas to Spanish
America, where much higher prices could be commanded. This meth-
od of trade was strictly forbidden by the laws of Spain, which sought
to restrict the benefits of her colonial trade wholly to Spaniards, It
was widely practiced, however, by English, French, and Dutch alike,
and in general was successful,

‘The highest profits, from dealings with the Spaniards—sometimes
as high as “Cent per Cent, all paid for in Bullion'’—were being se-
cured at this time by the enterprising sloop traders of Jamaica and
Barbados. These ignored laws, treaties, and dangers with equal hardi-
hood, took a voyage of six hundred miles in search of a market as
& matter of course, slipped by the Spanish guarda costas at every
opportunity, and sold negroes, dry goods, flour, and other provisions
to the inhabitants of Spanish America, This sloop trade, illicit
though it was, had been especially flourishing since the beginning
of William TII’s reign, when some Spanish grandees had been al-
lowed to establish an Asiento factory at Jamaica [+ continued
throughout the period of this study, and was one of the most vex-.
ing obstacles in the way of maintaining friendly relations between

of constant friction was to be found in the activities
itters in the bays of Campeche and Hon-

ul colonial commodities; they had supplied
Peibiecet with ast aisch\ of this-usefal dyewood that the
pm £100 per ton in 1660 to £15 per ton in 1700.

than Spain had ever done. France would probably
with the English plantation trade, and perhaps
themselves, and would become an invincible

tive mind of the English public, starting the moment the news of —
Charles II's death reached London, and both points were
explicitly in Article 8 of William TV's Grand’ Alimes, signed See
tember 7, 1701, N. S. ~~
Queen Anne’s declaration of war against France and Spain, dated
May 4, 1702, contained the usual prohibition of all e
or communication with the enemy countries. This prohibition was
not removed as against Old Spain until the beginning of 1705, when
the possession of Gibraltar and the prospect of military successes in
Catalonia and along the Portugese frontier led England to reverse
this policy in the hope of reviving the Spanish commerce. In the
fall of 1705 the Duke of Anjou himself issued a declaration open-
ing all the ports of Spain and the Canaries to commerce carried in
Spanish or neutral shipping, and during the latter part of the war

a very considerable trade was carried on between England and even
the hostile parts of Spain by mutual agreement between the courts
of London and Madrid, Both issued passes protecting the vessels
engaged in this trade from its own ships of war and privateers. The

felt especially by the English clothiers, through the loss of their usual
markets and the failure of their regular supplies of cochineal,

The reopening of what bad hitherto been illicit commerce with
the Spaniards in America, except in stores of war, and

u
representations of the Jamaicans, who had been the chief partici-
pants in the clandestine sloop trade before the war, because the
example, and because the Spanish Indies
had turned a cold shoulder to England's ally, the Austrian archduke,

:
z fl
i
:

the raids of privateers from their own island interfered with the
success of their business dealings. They took as a matter of course
the commercial rivalry of the Dutch and the hostile activities of French
privateers and Spanish gwarda costes, They also did their best to
meet the business competition of the French, who held the Asiento

importations of negroes and European goods. The Jamaica sloop
traders met their many difficulties and handicaps quite successfully.
Several reputable writers estimated that during the last half of the
war they drew between £200,000 and £250,000 annually from their
‘traffic with Spanish America.

‘When peace came to be made at the end of the War of the Span-
ish Succession, the treaties of commerce with France and Spain aroused
widespread storm of protest and opposition, Some of |t was
to political or personal factionalism, but much was based on a
‘concern for the maintenance of sound economic principles and
for the continued welfare of Britain's trade. ‘Two famous periodicals—
, which defended the treaties and the ministry; and the
i aE Rir ech Aflacked ithem—bore leading, paris. ia the

cu which was carried on also through pamphlets, peti-
neers eating Delors tha Doard of Trnde,sand netery
* channels of expression. ‘The Parliamentary bill giving ef-

‘French treaty was defeated in the House of Commons—

c ‘the treaty was a dangerous departure from the prin-

lism by placing French consumption goods on too
ooting in England and partly because the lowering of
French wines would have injured the British trade with
. The treaty of commerce with Spain, signed at
28/December 9, 1713, after repeated careful con-

I |

63 IOWA STUDIES IN ‘THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
sultations between the Board of ‘Trade and the leading “Spanish

since the new basic duty of ten per cent on imports and exports
as an intended improvement over the complicated old system of
gratias, did not include the Spanish excises—the alcabalas, cientor,
and millénes. They also argued that the negotiators of this treaty
had made a vital mistake in giving up the “absolutely necessary”
privilege of the judge conservator, The upshot of the whole agitation
was that the merchants got exactly what they wanted. On December
3/14, 1715, George Bubb signed at Madrid a new commercial treaty

restored from the “good old days” of Charles TI. Nor
status of affairs materially altered during the remainder of
century.

The peace settlement of 1713 also brought to England
famed Asiento. A similar contract had been held at one
the Genoese, more recently by the Portuguese, and
of the Spanish Succession by the French Guinea
British Asiento, signed by Philip V at Madrid on
N. S., and later assigned by Queen Anne to the
Company, was to run for a period of thirty years,
1, 1713. Only three of its forty-two detailed articles may be
in this brief summary: it granted to the South Sea or Asiento
pany a complete monopoly of the negro trade of Spanish America;
it made the King of Spain a one-fourth partner in the undertaking;
and it stipulated that in case of a declaration of war between Spain

Hl
Fae ef

ei

E
?
z
S
é
S
i
s
z
®

be remarked that Spain’s habitual attitude of extreme jealousy in
safeguarding her colonies from foreign influence or interference led
to the insertion of so many conditions and restrictions in this con-
tract that it was a very difficult business agreement to carry out.
Even the “Additional Article,” which gave the Asfento Company each
year the unique privilege of sending one ship of five hundred tons,
Jaden with general merchandise, to trade in the Spanish West Tn-

se ' |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 09

dies, was granted by the King of Spain with the frank admission
that all previous holders of Asientos had lost money on their ven-
tures. Even this compensatory privilege was hedged about with dead-

Up to May 15/26, 1716, when a convention for explaining the
terms of the Asiento was concluded at Madrid by George Bubb, no
annual ship had yet been despatched. The South Sea Company was
forced to unload at an alleged loss in the British colonies the negroes
it had brought up to satisfy the Asiento quota for the year 1713-
1714, since the Spanish colonial officials had refused to permit their
sale in Spanish America on the ground that peace had not yet been
proclaimed there. In consideration of these facts, the convention
of 1716 shifted the beginning date of the Asiento from May 1,
1713 to May 1, 1714 and provided that for the next ten years the
annual ship might have a burden of 650 instead of 500 tons. This
was to compensate the Company for the 1500 tons of goods not
shipped during the three years 1714, 1715, and 1716. The attitude
of mutual dissatisfaction, distrust, and suspicion engendered by this
untoward beginning soon became the normal relationship between
and the Spanish authorities. Instead of en-
bh with splendid profits from the commercial ex-
ploitation of Spanish America, the English Asiento proved to be
Tittle more than a trouble-breeder between Great Britain and Spain,
and a source of constant friction between the South Sea Company
sloop traders, who were far too independent to
the Company's treaty-given monopoly.

h the development of Anglo-Spanish commercial
they existed between 1700 and 1750 has been treated
as the best means of presenting the various factors
and their distinctive characteristics. The
discussion, to combine clearness with brevity, will

;
il

and Spain in three ways, The normal, legiti-
with Old Spain was finally reinstated under
‘king, Philip V, on the same favorable terms thal

70 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

had obtained under the last Hapsburg, Charles If, The illegal,
treaty-defying sloop trade of Jamaica, after suffering a brief check
when all intercourse with Spaniards was prohibited at the beginning
of the war, ultimately received a fresh stimulus through actual of-
ficial encouragement during the later years of the conflict, And, the
British Asiento, held by the South Sea Company, was added to com-
plicate the already dangerous situation in the lawless Caribbean.

Under the fostering influence of the treaty of 1715, which re
newed the basic commercial treaties of the seventeenth century, the
Spanish trade proper soon regained in Great Britain the outstanding
prestige enjoyed previous to 1700, It continued to be valued very
highly by British merchants, manufacturers, statesmen, and publicists
throughout the period of this study. Although the swing toward
French fashions foreseen by the pamphleteers of 1700 caused some
falling off in the demand for British woolens, the competition of
French-mace goods in general was an ever-present factor and always
hard to meet. Even Spain herself, imbued with new life by the
energetic Bourbons, showed some signs of an industrial awakening.

The complementary nature of the commerce with Spain, and its
value in supplying Great Britain with many essential commodities
that she could not produce herself, were evidenced on many occa-
sions and in a variety of interesting ways, When the Spanish Flotilla
was wrecked in 1716 in the Gulf of Florida on its return voyage,
and Europe’s usual supply of cochineal failed to arrive, the woolen
interests of southern England rushed through Parliament a bill free-
ing the importation of cochineal temporarily from the restrictions of
the Acts of Trade, This bill was to prevent their “losing the Trade
of several great Branches” of the woolen industry, which was using
cochineal exclusively for dyeing “into Grain Colours.” Whenever the
unstable mixture of conflicting Anglo-Spanish claims and policies seemed
on the verge of a warlike explosion, a8 in 1726, British vintners hast-
ened to lay in an extra stock of Spanish wines, dyers bought up
emergency supplies of cochineal, indigo, and other dyestuffs. They
hoped thereby to retain their custom by working as cheaply as in
times of peace. The country clothiers sent in special orders to their
Spanish correspondents in an effort to anticipate their needs of olive
oil for their carders and combers and of Spanish wool for their fine
cloths,

— =

a

2 SOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

America little more than half that number. Its opponents sometimes
alleged that it had lost money even on the negroes It had sold. The
Company had been unable to send out “annual ships” with any ap-
proach to regularity; and, except for the last two voyages, was seem-
ingly a loser even by this privilege, intended by the King of Spain
to indemnify it for its probable losses in handling negroes.

The Company's directors themselves had hampered its operations
by their personal dissensions, and many of its servants in Spanish
America had proved to be incapable, dishonest, and disloyal. The
Company complained of untimely embargoes or exorbitant port-charges
on its ships; of interference with its vessels by Spanish guarda costas;
of the unlawful importation of large numbers of negroes into vari-
ous parts of Spanish America by the French and others, partly with
the connivance of the royal officers; and of other improper actions
on the part of Spanish colonial officials that had prevented it from
importing and selling its prescribed number of negroes. It even
charged the King of Spain himself with partial responsibility for
its failure, asserting that on several occasions he had refused to
issue the requisite license for its annual ship, and that at other times
he had allowed rich cargoes to rot or feed the moths in the warehouses
of tropical America when the regular Spanish fleets had not sailed
and no fairs had been held.

‘The Spaniards, on their part, complained that the Company had
fallen down on its contract by failing to provide their colonies with
the required number of slaves; that both the Company and its em-
ployees as individuals had abused their contractual privileges in Span-
ish America by carrying on illicit, clandestine trade in commodities
other than negroes; that the Company had developed the pernicious
practice of sending several smaller vessels as tenders to refill the
hold of its annual ship by night as fast as its cargo was sold, so that
its supposed burden of five hundred tons had been multiplied many
times over; and that normal business in Spanish-American ports suf-
fered a severe slump whenever an annual ship arrived, since the
local merchants, who procured their goods through the galleons or
the flotas, could not compete with the Asiento Company, whose an-
nual ships did not have to pay the royal indultos levied on all other
colonial commerce.

‘The Company's last annual ship, the Royal Ceroline, returned to
England in 1737 and it was discovered that she had made a profit.

— es

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 3

‘The Spanish King’s prompt demand that he be paid his share of this
profit although he had never borne his share in the Company's
losses, was one of the factors that precipitated the crisis between Spain
and Great Britain in 1739. As has been stated, the treaty of 1750
finally cancelled the British Asiento and the King of Spain under-
taking to pay the Company £100,000 in full settlement of all recip-
While the South Sea Company was struggling unsuccessfully to
realize the rich gains that were popularly supposed to accrue to the
holder of the Asiento, the daring sloop traders of Jamaica were doing
their impudent best to discount the intrusion of this new factor in
the affairs of the Caribbean, and to retain for themselves the full
of the illegal commercial connections they had already built
Spanish America. They violated the legal monopoly con-
the Asiento upon the South Sea Company with the same
they had always shown in ignoring the treaty
forbade all commerce between Spaniards and Eng-
ihn Aes From their viewpoint, the granting of the British
‘meant merely that they would now have to trick or fight both
y and the Spanish authorities, instead of continuing their
peng with the guarda costas alone. Though the Com-
‘established an agency at Jamaica, and though public opinion in
was divided as to whether this was or was not an ad-
9 the local inhabitants, the loudest and most energetic fac-
always that of the sloop traders, who maintained that they
real source and mainstay of the island’s prosperity.

| importance of the Jamaica sloop trade in this discussion
f, not so much in the rights or wrongs of its feud with
Sea Company as in the effects it had upon the general
een Spain and Great Britain. These effects were two-
first place Spain would always have good reason for
n, and suspicion, and her diplomatic relations
could not be really cordial, friendly, or secure—
Bourbons on the Spanish throne, Such relations con
; as a large and influential group of Jamaicans infringed
monopoly of her colonial trade, defied laws, treaties,
tas with impartial contempt and used whatever blend
fraud their occasions might require, as long as the
ill its treaty obligations and suppress them. The

f

™ 1OWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

only move the British ministers made toward satisfying Spain's re
peated demands for the suppression of this unlawful trade was ther
promise, a joint declaration of February 8, 1752, N. S., that Britis
colonial governors should not authorize or encourage it, nor British
ships of war protect it. Since the Jamaicans armed their own loops
and defied their own governors when necessary, this promise meant,
really, nothing. In the second place, the activities of British sub-
jects in carrying on illegal trade with Spanish America Jed to re
prisals and counter-offensives by Spain, and these in turn inflamed the
minds of Britons against the authors of the reported outrages, 20
that it was always easy for the Opposition to arouse the old, latent —
hostility to everything Spanish and the old desire for quick, fabulous |
gains through privateering.

Reprisals against those actually engaged in illicit trading were
to be expected, and drew public attention only when accompanied
by alleged “Spanish barbarities.” But it was quite another thing
when the inhabitants of the British island plantations complained
that Spanish guarda costes and privateers were interfering with the
legitimate commerce of the British colonies and were even daring at
times to land plundering expeditions on British colonial soil, The
tide of these complaints began to flow, almost imperceptibly, in the
years immediately following the Peace of Utrecht, and reached its
flood in 1738-1739, when the Opposition leaders took skillful ad-
vantage of its accumulated momentum in their attack on the pacific
policy of Sir Robert Walpole. In the meantime, the failure of Spain's
efforts to maintain the sanctity of her American preserves in any
other way had induced her to advance, early in 1738, what amounted
to a claim to prescribe the courses to be followed by British ship-
ping in American waters—to search all craft caught wandering from
these courses, and to seize all vessels in which cocoanuts, logwood, or
pieces of eight might be found. She contended, rather unreasonably,
that the possession of any of these commodities constituted ipso facto
proof of illicit trade, Spain thus donated another effective weapon
to the already large arsenal of the Opposition, whose orators used
with telling effect the attractive slogan, “No Search.” While no
complete analysis of the causes of the War of Jenkins’ Ear, to which
the crisis of 1739 led, can even be attempted here, it is evident that
the Jamaica sloop trade contributed, either directly or indirectly,
several factors that had very great importance at that critical time.

—— a Ss

THE EDUCATIONAL POLICY OF THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
PRIOR TO 1860*

By Francis Treuanp Moats

Secular education by the Christian churches in America hag re
ceived much less attention by students than have the religious activities
of the various denominations. In the Methodist Church some his
tories of individual educational institutions have been written and one
valuable work, The Early Schools of Methodism, by the Reverend
A. W. Cummings, contains short sketches of many early schools of
Methodism,

‘The aim of the study is to trace the progress of the denomina-
tion in overcoming the ever present obstacles to an educational pro-
gram, The membership of the Methodists was composed largely of
the less educated classes and the first great problem was to arouse
within the church itself a desire for intellectual improvement.

Like other new religious sects with a special evangelistic note the
early Methodists made an appeal to the downtrodden masses in Eng-
land which the older sects ignored, Though at first attempting to
preach hia democratic doctrines through the pulpits of the Established
Church, John Wesley quickly abandoned the plan as hopeless and
recruited men with religious zeal but without the customary intel-
lectual training common to those of the cloth. With a remarkable
capacity for organization and with tireless energy, the new feligious
leader with a devoted group of followers was soon to stir all England
and then to reach out to the New World,

Organized Methodism had its beginnings in the United States in
1766 when a class was formed in New York City under the Iead-
ership of Philip Embury and Barbara Heck. Within a year Robert
Strawbridge was establishing Methodism in Maryland. From these
two points the new church was to be extended into the New World.

“From a diwertation directed by Professor Louis Pelzer
1

_ ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 7

Regular preachers were sent by Wesley in 1768 to minister to the
mew classes. In 1771 came Francis Asbury, the great circuit rider,
who was to be the guiding force in determining the character of
Methodism in America for almost forty-five years,

From the date of Asbury’s arrival the rise of Methodism was rapid.
The membership approached five thousand in 1776 and, in spite
of the hostility to them from the charge of Toryism, they numbered
almost 14,000 in 1783 of whom almost ninety per cent resided south
of the Mason and Dixon line. The impetus given to the new de-
nomination by the formation of a distinctly American church in 1784
resulted in a rapid increase in numbers and by 1800 the membership
exceeded 65,000,

‘From its beginning in America the new church was primarily a
frontier organization. [ts peculiar doctrines and methods of appeal
were particularly effective among the frontiersmen. When the great
westward movement began, Methodists were in the vanguard and soon
after 1800 had outstripped all others in their work of evangelizing
the new settlements. Membership increased at an unprecedented
rate. By 1810 it had reached 175,000 and 476,000 in 1830, When
the schism came in 1844, it had grown to 1,171,000 of whom fully
one-half were west of the mountains.

‘Methodism had became the most numerous religious sect in the
United States by 1845. The nearest competitor, the Baptists, num-
bered 650,000, while the Presbyterians and Congregationalists trailed
with memberships of 350,000 and 202,250. Even greater than the
disparity in total membership was the tremendous preponderance of
Methodists in the Mississippi Valley, where it is probable that from
they could claim a membership equal to, or even
greater than, all other denominations combined.

‘The Methodists had made this remarkable record in the face of

78 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

In 1801, by an agreement for mutual interests, the Congregation-
alists abandoned the West in favor of their more aggressive allies, the
Presbyterians, and for forty years the Congregationalists confined their
efforts to New England. Their mission was not to be frontier evan-
gelization. The Episcopalians had received a blow from the Revo-
lution from which they did not quickly recover. With its organiza-
tion disrupted, its source of revenue cut off, and with little spiritual
vitality this church was in no position after the Revolution to bend
to a great task of evangelization on the frontier.

The Presbyterians, with an intellectual predominance outside of
New England, were first in the field in the New West, but were
appalled at the religious excesses in the great camp meetings, Tom
by dissension regarding the classical education as a qualification for
the ministry on the frontier and by doctrinal controversy, they were
unable, with their insistence on a doctrine of limited salvation that
was ill-suited to extreme democracy, to appeal to the great mass
of illiterate frontiersmen. The Baptists, full of spiritual vigor, had
the zeal of the Methodists but lacked in organization and adminis-
tration. Insuperable demands arose from scattered stations and funds
were scarce. But to such obstacles the Baptists added the impossible
condition of self support for their gospel emissaries, Calvinistic though
they were, yet little emphasis was placed by them on the peculiar
tenets of that religious leader. However, their insistence on immer-
sion as the only true method of baptism served to limit their ef-
fectiveness even in the illiterate West.

Circuit riding became a peculiar characteristic of the Methodists,
‘The circuit rider sought out the scattered settlements and no com-
munity was too small to be overlooked. Like the Jesuit of an earlier
period, he was as much at home when preaching to a half dozen
as to a large assembly in the camp meeting. Log cabins, public build-
ings, or the camp meeting served for his sanctuary, He was ac-
customed to the hardships of the frontier and bore them without
@ murmur,

‘The superior organization of the Methodists was peculiarly adapted
to the sparsely settled areas. Circuits, districts, and conferences were
moulded into an harmonious whole. As the circuit rider advanced
he left behind him a chain of stations. No community was too
small for his ministrations, The circuit rider was familiar to all
communities. The preachers were largely frontiersmen well suited

—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 19

to the hardships so much a part of western life. Few of them were
schooled in the classics and fewer still were schooled in theology,
‘The Methodist Discipline was his guide on questions of doctrine,
Of the two hundred and eighty Methodist preachers in the West in
1820, Peter Cartwright relates that not one had a literary education,
Educated men could not have been obtained for the frontier, but
had they been ayailable, it is doubtful whether they could have been
effective in establishing contact with the frontiersmen. The unlet-
tered Methodists utilized the camp meeting to win whole communities
while college trained Presbyterians were making their appeal to the
more cultured few, ‘The illiterate Methodist preachers set the western
world afire,” declared Peter Cartwright, “while the other denomina-
tlons were lighting their matches.’ Methodist organization, the cir-
cuit rider, the drafting of the zealous frontiersmen as preachers, and
the extensive use of the camp meeting to reach large groups—all
‘these factors had contributed to give the denomination its overwhelm-
ing rank in numbers.

While Methodism bad drawn in great numbers, it had made little
‘appeal to the more cultured classes. The great emotionalism and
religious excesses engendered by the unlettered western preachers made
fittle appeal to the more cultured few, And, in a field where literacy
was low, only a few of the more highly educated were in the ranks
of the early Methodists.

The Christmas Conference in 1734 authorized the founding of
College and already at least one academy had been pro-
for in pees: By the close of the eighteenth century not
a five secondary schools had been founded by the Methodists.
y met with a disastrous fate in 1795, Asbury, never
(eahadeae to cle after struggling a few more years to main-
, finally diverted these efforts to the work of evan-
o. For the first twenty years of the nineteenth century
did not have an educational institution worthy of the name
lemy and for more than thirty years it had no school
ge course,

n was languishing among the Methodists, the Con-
d Presbyterians, though far fewer in numbers, were
n founding institutions of higher learning that were
‘intellectual leadership for many years. With Har-
Princeton to train leaders for educational work they

80 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

were ready to establish new colleges even before the Revolution.
New institutions under their control multiplied after 1783. Zealous
Presbyterians were early in the field in the West and were as secure
in their intellectual predominance as were the Methodists in their
evangelistic leadership. Of the ninety to one hundred institutions
of higher learning in the United States in 1840, fully two-thirds were
under the control of the two denominations. Nearly all in the West
were under that of the Presbyterians. All state universities in the
western region also came under the guidance of this denomination,
for all higher education was still directed by the clergy and only
Presbyterians or Congregationalists had the men trained for educa-
tional leadership.

It is not difficult to understand the failure of the Methodists
to establish permanent educational institutions early in the nine
teenth century. Their appeal to the less educated groups had first
of all provided the denomination with but little intellectual back-
ground. With but few preachers with a college education, the de-
nomination lacked educational leadership. “The calls for workers
in the far flung fields of Methodism were so urgent,” said one Meth-
odist, “and the workers so few that there was no time for education,
nor could any be spared for work in education.”

“There were not a half dozen Methodist graduates in the entire
country in 1821,” said Stephen Olin, “and in several conferences
of the church there was not a single minister or layman who had any
collegiate instruction.”

The attitude of the founders of American Methodism toward edu-
cation is strikingly set forth in the first discipline. “Gaining knowl-
edge is a good thing,” it reads, “but saving souls is better.” . . . “If
you can do but one let your studies alone. I would throw by all
the libraries in the world rather than be guilty of the loss of one
soul.” Only the very meagre conference course of study laid down
in 1816 saved their ministry from the charge of universal ignorance
during this period.

The remarkable success of the Methodist preachers on the fron-
tier in soul winning stood in sharp contrast to the results of the
efforts of the more highly educated Presbyterian and Congregational
preachers. ‘This fact led many Methodists to doubt the wisdom of
education. “I have seen so many of the educated preachers who
forcibly remind me of lettuce growing under the shade of a peach

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 81

tree or like a duckling that has got the straddles from wading in the
dew that I turn away sick and faint. Now this educated ministry

‘The establishing of an academy at New Market, Vermont, in 1817
presaged a new movement in education among the Methodists. Three
Tew academies were in operation by 1820 and in that year the
General Conference, which had been silent on the question of edu-
cation since 1796, adopted a committee report that was of great
significance to the church. The report declared that “almost all
of learning in our country are under the control of the
or of the Hopkinsian principles, or otherwise are man-
aged by denying the fundamentals of the gospel.” The con-
ference recommended that each annual conference should establish
ome of more academies and that by the coiperation of groups of
conferences colleges should be founded.

‘The impetus given to the educational movement by this action
resulted in much greater activity among the Methodists. A half
dozen first class academies were in operation by 1828 and the num-
ber was increased to twenty-nine by 1840. Of even greater import-
ance to the church was the founding of Augusta College in Kentucky
in 1822. For a decade it was the most prominent school in Meth-
odism and from 1825 to about 1833 the only Methodist college
offering a classical course. With the founding of Wesleyan University
(Connecticut) in 1831 the first permanent Methodist college was
established. It was followed the next year by Randolph-Macon
Virginia and in 1833 the Pennsylvania conferences took
over Dickinson and Allegheny colleges, the former of which had had
along history and carried prestige in intellectual circles. McKendreean
Academy at Lebanon, Delaware, added a college course in 1834,
and Indiana Asbury University, now DePauw University, founded in
1837 was able to announce a college course in 1839. Ohio Wesleyan
University, soon to lead all other Methodist colleges in enrollment,
‘opened its doors in 1844 and when the schism came not less than
‘eleven institutions under Methodist control were announcing a full

82 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘The founding of « few colleges did not, however, give Methodism
a place in the intellectual world. Until after the Civil War not
single Methodist educational institution of higher learning commanded
the respect of scholastic leaders. ‘The Methodist constituency pos
sessed neither men of wealth nor of position, Coming from the les
cultured classes with much positive hostility toward higher educatica,
it is not surprising that little support could be obtained for the in-
stitutions founded. Said a prominent Methodist in 1845: “Of all
posts of honor—legislator, judge, justice, author, editor, professors
in colleges, principals and teachers in high schools and academies,
physicians, ministers, and missionaries—of these positions compara-
tively few are in the hands of Methodists. While we constitute one
fourth of the population . .. yet scarcely one in fifty of the public
functionaries and the professional men of the country is a Methodist.”

Of the scores of Methodists who were obtaining a liberal educa-
tion few were being trained under Methodist tutelage. “The result
was,” declared Stephen Olin in 1845, then president of Wesleyan
University, “that three-fourths of all who have been educated in col-
leges not under our direction are lost to our cause,” .. , “The church
must train them [its young men] if it will save them,” said he,
“they are going to be educated—for us if we train them—against
us if others train them,”

Even the Methodist preachers with a liberal education had been
mostly trained by others. “We found them educated to our hands,”
declared a New England Methodist in 1845. “Two-thirds, if not
three-fifths, of the educated men within the Methodist ministry and
in our Methodist high schools and academies are graduates of other
colleges. The consequence is that of the 1,500 students annually
instructed in over fifty-four academies, not one-third of those who
matriculate do so at our colleges. They go where the sympathies
of their tutors and pastors lie . . . and in graduating have the ad-
vantage which attaches to age, wealth and fame.”

‘The deeply rooted prejudice against education for the ministry had
not disappeared at the middle of the nineteenth century. “If God
calls men He will provide what is needed,” declared a prominent
Methodist in 1840. “Students go to college to prepare for one of
the learned professions—law, medicine or the ministry. Not many
Methodists enter the two former professions, and Methodists are
opposed to preparation for the ministry as a profession, hence not

a=)

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 83

many of our students repair to colleges from this motive,” ‘Thus wrote
the Rev. J. P. Durbin, president of Dickinson College, but he con-
"tinued, “A good academic English education and the elements of
Tatin and Greek ought to be obtained.” Even as late as 1853 the
editor of the Western Christian Advocate declared that, “The church
needs preachers from the plow, the shop and the professions as well
as from the college hall. We fear there has been a mistake in urging
$0 many men to enter the colleges rather than the ministry.”
Educational institutions could not prosper in such prejudice—if
not hostility—which existed in Methodism in 1840. The General
Conference of that year warned against the multiplicity of colleges
when lack of financial support was threatening the very existence of
most of the eleven colleges. Nor was the enrollment more encour-

aging than the financial support. In 1842 not more than six hundred
students were enrolled in these Methodist colleges, and it is probable
that many of these were of sub-collegiate grade.

Calvinistic control of western state institutions remained unchal-
Tenged for the first third of the nineteenth century. The western
Baptists were even more hostile to education for their ministry than
were the Methodists, and other sects springing from the disrupted
Presbyterians gave little attention to learning. Consequently they
‘offered no opposition to this control by the Presbyterians. Soon after
1830, Methodists began to challenge this Presbyterian domination of
the schools. The University of Georgia, often called Franklin College,
was the first of these universities to come under the direct control
of that denomination. “They (the Presbyterians) from the first had
& vast preponderance in the board of instruction,” wrote the editor
of the Christian Advocate \n 1834. “We think It probable that
this was the natural result of things as they were many years ago.
They had the suitable men to spare who could be drawn from any
part of the country to the Presidency or professorships of the col-
Jege” “They have fallen heir to the state institutions as soon as
‘they have been founded,” said he. “We do not blame them but
shall protest steadily against their efforts to exclude others.”
retorted that the positions were thrust upon
them because no others were qualified to fill them. Such an explana-
‘tion did not satisfy the Methodists who insisted that such a con-
‘been accepted but for the fact that the entire board
‘of one denomination.

84 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

The controversy was extended to the University of Kentucky, to
the two state schools of Ohio at Athens and Minami and to Indians
University. All of the presidents and most of the instructional stalf
were from the one denomination until after 1840. The Methodists
did not desire to eliminate sectarian influence in these institutions.
‘They proposed that all sects should share in their advantages, In
proportion to their members—a scheme highly advantageous to the
Methodists. But while contending for participation, fair-minded Meth-
odists admitted that it would first be necessary to have at least one
good University where men could be trained to fill the pasitions.

The controversy was most bitter in Indiana. Methodists, said
the Indiana Conference in 1832, could mo longer send their sons
to an institution where doctrines contrary to their views were set
forth. What virtually amounted to a boycott by the Methodists was
given as the chief reason for the languishing condition of western
state institutions, ‘The Indiana Conference drew up a memorial to
the state legislature in 1834 praying that body to devise some means
whereby the principal denominations may have their due propor-
tion of influence in the faculty of the State College at Bloomington.
‘They complained that the self-perpetuating character of the board
of trustees enabled the Presbyterians to maintain this control.

Methodists protested against the alleged claims of Presbyterians
that “none but Calvinistic gentlemen were competent to fill pro-
fessorial chairs.” Presbyterians, said the Indiana resolutions, charged
that “Methodists were an inferior caste, and incompetent for uni-
versity positions. They were, perhaps, good men but they did not
understand Greek; honest, but they had never digged among He-
brew roots, hence they were surely incompetent as teachers.” Failing
to gain control or even a share in the management of the State
University, the Methodists founded Indiana Asbury University in
1837,

Soon after 1840, Methodists gained control of Transylvania Uni-
versity at Lexington, Kentucky. They persisted in their struggle
for the management of other state schools and by 1852 were choosing
the presidents for the Indiana and Ohio state universities. Metho~
dists, after a long struggle, were controlling the state schools of
the West.

Opposition to education among the Methodists was directed most
persistently against special schools for training men for the ministry.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 85

‘The course of study provided by the conference of 1816 came to
include many of the subjects regularly taught in the theological
schools of other denominations. But the prejudice against offering
| these courses in any school was so strong that the new Methodist
| alleges, to escape the charge of being theological schools, avoided
| offering any courses that might warrant the charge. Wesleyan Uni-
versity rigidly excluded all Bible courses from its curriculum for several

‘years.

‘There were about thirty-five theological schools in operation in
the United States in 1840. Of these, twelve were Presbyterian, seven
Congregationalist, nine Baptist, and three Episcopal. More than
1,200 students were enrolled in them and so eager were the Presby-
terians and Congregationalists to promote training for the ministry
that in 1815 the American Education Society was formed in New
England to provide funds for the education of indigent young men
Jooking to the ministry. Though nominally non-denominational, the
society was predominantly Congregationalist and in 1819 the Presby-
ferians organized a similar society. From the date of organization,
the success of both societies was remarkable. In 1837 the American
Society was expending over $14,000, aiding 779 students and in
1849, $30,000 on 435 students. By 1849 the Presbyterian Society
had carried 1,876 students through a regular course and had almost
400 in training.

The Methodists not only had no theological schools in 1840 but
were doing nothing in an organized way to encourage ministerial
students to obtain a college education. Of the few hundred attending
‘Methodist colleges, it does appear that a large proportion were pre-
paring to enter the ministry. As early as 1832 a few Methodists
had advocated theological schools through the Christian Advocate,
‘the opposition was so strong and so bitter that the editor of
closed his columns to the controversy.

some Methodists in New England began planning for a
school in defiance of the wishes of 3 large proportion
ership. A convention for the purpose in 1839 took the
action relative to such a school and soon had the sup-
‘New England, New Hampshire, and Maine conferences.
arose. The Western Christian Advocate declared
theological education, but we shall make known
that a theological seminary will be only evil in the

|

86 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Methodist Episcopal Church.'’ In even stronger language did the
New York Christian Advocate assail the small group of New Eng-
landers who were defying the wishes of the great body of Methodists
in establishing “a school of the prophets.” The Bishop's address
to the General Conference in 1840 was strong in its condemnation of
“establishing schools of divinity, for the exclusive purpose of train=
ing men for the sacred office as for a profession.”

The control of education had long since passed into the hands
of local conferences and in spite of bitter denunciation from many
sources the Newbury Biblical Institute was opened at Newbury,
Vermont, in 1843. Only the conference course of study was to be
offered here and students would be required to fill a regular pas
torate while pursuing their course. That location was too far from
centers of population to obtain preaching appointments for the can-
didates and too far removed from the centers of Methodism for
patronage. It was, accordingly, removed in 1847 to Concord, New
Hampshire, under the name of the Methodist General Biblical Tn-
stitute, The same problems confronted it here as at Newbury and
soon after the Civil War it was removed to Boston.

Although the Concord school was soon sending out annually twenty
students who had completed the course, this number could do little
to raise the general standard of education among several thousand
preachers. Already many leaders in the church were clamoring for a
trained ministry. The young preacher was no longer able to obtain
his training while riding a circuit. Two new sermons for each
month would not suffice for the preachers in permanent stations.
Untrained ministers could not attract and hold the more educated
classes and the denomination was compelled to witness the more
highly educated of their constituency constantly deserting to other
churches. A great calamity threatened the denomination. Either it
must provide trained preachers or find its place permanently as a
church of the less cultured. A determined assault against the old
order was begun about 1850 with the determination to found theological
schools and colleges worthy of the denomination. The movement
begun about 1850 showed much greater strength than that of ten
years earlier and the opposition was much less formidable though still
bitter. In the midst of the controversy the will of Mrs. Eliza Gar-
rett was made providing for the founding of Garrett Biblical In~

i.

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 37
‘stitte. The funds became available in 1854 and in January of the
next year the Institute was opened.

‘The new Institute was provided with funds that insured its per-
manency. Time would make of it an institution of which the Church
ould be proud. The days of controversy had passed. The General
Conference of 1856 declared that it was no longer a question of
whether the Church should have theological schools, for it already
had them; it was a question of policy regarding schools already es-
tablished. A new era in education for the ministry had dawned.

‘The new interest was not confined to the theological schools alone,
Wesleyan University, Dickinson College, Allegheny College, and Ohio
Weeleyan University were making rapid progress in the fifteen years
prior to the Civil War. All along the frontier the Methodists were
turning their energy toward education with the same zeal that they
had turned toward evangelization in the early part of the century,
Secondary educational institutions were established in large num-
bers and the last decade before the Civil War saw the foundations
laid for Northwestern University, Lawrence University, Iowa Wes-
leyan College, Hamline College, Ilinois Wesleyan College, Baker Uni-
versity, Cornell College, and Willamette College. There was lack
of cotrdination and much duplication of effort in the new enthusiasm
for education. The General Conference never attempted to codirdinate
an educational system; but with all the misguided effort the founda-
tion for the present educational system of the church was laid before
1860.

* * . *

‘The ‘material for the study was found in the libraries of the

» of Chicago, Garrett Biblical Institute, Drew Theological

fy , Ohio Wesleyan University, and DePauw University. Other
‘sources were found in the collections of the Methodist Historical
Societies of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. ‘The Methodist

at Cincinnati has a useful collection relating to western

udy of early Methodism in the United States could be made
it the use of the Journal of Francis Asbury. His close con-
with every phase of the activities of the early church gave
ge of its inner workings scarcely equalled by any
‘of his day. Of a similar character but much less com-
ve is a group of autobiographies of early Methodists and

88 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

others very closely associated with the religious and educational activi-
ties of the churches. Of the many such works consulted, those of Wil-
liam Burke (in J. B. Finley, Sketches of Western Methodism), J. B.
Finley, Peter Cartwright, Jesse Lee, B. W. Stone, and Julian M.
Sturtevant are most useful.

The best source for the period after 1825 is the Christian Advocate
(Methodist) published in New York City under various titles begin-
ning in 1826. While primarily religious in character, it served as
a general newspaper as well and carried much information regarding
the educational efforts of the church. Similar and almost equally
valuable is the Western Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, 1834—.

The Journals of the General Conference are indispensable. Begin-
ning with the general conference of 1820, they contain much material
‘relating to education. The records of annual conferences are not
so satisfactory, as only excerpts were printed and most of the manu-
scripts were apparently lost or destroyed. The manuscripts of the
Western Conference and its successor, the Ohio Conference, have been
preserved, dating from 1800. Those of the Indiana Conference dating
from 1832 are extant.

The first Methodist Discipline, printed in 1785, contains the plan
and rules for Cokesbury College. These were reprinted in successive
disciplines up to and including the year 1795.

The American Almanac, published annually in Boston, 1830-1860,
and the Methodist Almanac, published annually in New York, 1833-
1860, are particularly valuable for statistics as are also the annual
reports of the American Education Society, 1827-1872. College cata-
logues, records of college trustees, pamphlets, and a few college his-
tories have been used. While the many books written on Methodism
serve as an excellent background for a proper perspective of the
denomination, not many have touched on the field of education. His-
tories of education are silent on the work of the churches.

THE SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY
OF DAKOTA*

By Hanou E, Briocs

Writings on Dakota history up to the present have been largely
political in nature. This study stresses not only the settlement and
economic development of the territory but also attempts to give the
teader a glimpse of the life of the Dakota pioneer. The period cov-
ered is approximately from. 1860 to 1890.

‘The settlement of Dakota Is described in four chapters: Early
Settlements and Townsites; Settlement and Immigration to 1870;
Settlement, Prosperity and Depression, 1870 to 1878; and The Great
Dakota Boom, 1879 to 1886. The economic development is dealt
with under the headings of Agriculture; Ranching and Stock-raising;
The Black Hills Gold Rush; and Transportation. Each of the first
three topics is handled in a single chapter, while the latter is divided
into three: Pioneer Steamboating; Freight and Stage Lines; and
Railroads. Five maps show the advance of the frontier line of settle-
ment; Settlements and Townsites, 1860; Dakota Forts, 1868; Da-
kota in 1870; Organized Counties, 1878; and Organized Counties, 1885.

various land and townsite companies were active in south-
eastern Dakota in 1857 and 1858, permanent legal settlement was
not possible in that region until the formal withdrawal of the various
Sioux tribes in July, 1959. The only settlement at that time in
the Red River Valley was at Pembina. By 1860 settlements had
aagergd established along the Missouri, Big Sioux, Vermilion,

Fes Bat 7 ee nunc use ieoaelice
aaa

90 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

government, without which they could not hope to develop. The
greatest need of the Dakota settlements in 1860 was the organiza
tion of a territorial government.

After considerable activity and agitation on the part of the Dakota
settlements, a bill creating the territory was signed by the Presi-
dent on March 2, 1860. William Jayne of Springfield, Mlinois, ap-
pointed as territorial governor, arrived in Dakota in May and chose
Yankton as the capital. In the fall of 1861 there were eleven past
offices in the territory.

Although the homestead act became a law about this time, settle
ment of the Dakota area was slow. There were several reasons for
this. With the Civil War came serious Indian troubles in the Dakota
region which not only tended to keep out new settlers, but caused
many of the older settlers to leave, The existence of much good
government land farther east, lack of transportation facilities, the
prevalence of drouth and grasshoppers, all worked against immigra-
tion, There was fear of the lack of timber except along the streams.
‘The military authorities opposed and discouraged settlement by re
porting the soil and climate unfit for agriculture. Writers depicted
Dakota as a land of blizzards and Indians, drouth and grasshoppers.
As late as 1866, George Catlin, a writer of some note, stated that
the Dakotas were a part of that region known as the great plains,
“which is, and ever must be, useless and unfit for civilized man to
cultivate.” The population of the Big Sioux Valley in 1868 was
less than it had been in 1858.

In spite of the many factors and adverse conditions reacting strong-
ly against settlement in the territory during the early sixties, some
influences tended to favor immigration to that area. The provisions
of the homestead act were liberal, while some refused to admit that
the climate and soil of Dakota were unfit for agriculture even when
conditions were at their worst. Surveyor-General George D. Hill at
Yankton in his first report to the Secretary of the Interior in 1862,
spoke favorably concerning the soil and climate of Dakota. The
coming of a New York colony to Dakota in 1863 and the creation
of a territorial board of immigration gave favorable publicity to the
territory.

Most of the scttlement of the Dakota area took place during two
boom periods. The first began in 1868 and terminated in 1874, while
the second, or “Great Dakota Boom,” when the largest addition in pop-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 2

ulation was made, was inaugurated in 1878 and ended in 1886 and
1887, Between these periods of rapid settlement the population in-
creased but little, and sometimes not at all. Each of the booms
was produced largely by railroad expansion and a series of wet years,
‘and each was terminated by poor crops due to drouth or grasshoppers,

General conditions were favorable in 1868 for settlement. The five
year period beginning in 1868 was one of prosperity throughout the
United States. Every line of business felt the stimulus of war
tariffs and high prices. Crops were good in 1867 and 1868, and
several favorable treaties had been made with the Indians. The best
government land had been taken in Towa and Minnesota and it was
necessary for the prospective farmer to go farther west to find a
desirable location. In 1868 the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was
completed to Sioux City, fowa, thus placing railroad connections with
the east within four miles of the eastern line of Dakota and bringing
the territory within two days travel of Chicago. Considerable money
had been expended on government wagon roads while land and real
estate agents were active. Prices for articles purchased by the farmer
were not high and his products brought a fair price. Taxes were not
heavy and there was a demand for all kinds of labor,

‘The census for 1870 shows a population of 14,181 in Dakota, of
which six-sevenths resided in the Missouri River Valley in the south-
eastern portion of the territory, The early settlers were of three
asses: those who had been unfortunate in business and desired to
make a new start in life; young men, impatient with the conserva-
tism of the older communities, who came west for a better oppor-
tunity to make a livelihood; and soldiers who took advantage of the
homestead privileges. The early settlements of Dakota had all the
characteristics of frontier life.

The boom which began in 1868 ended in 1873, and the period
from 1873 to 1877 was one of rather pronounced economic depression
‘throughout the nation. Grasshoppers appeared in enormous swarms
in the mid-western region in 1874-76, They destroyed the crops
and Jeft many of the farmers destitute, In addition to these hard-

‘the winter of 1874-1875 was very severe. By 1877 conditions
3 to improve and the Black Hills gold rush paved the way for
Dakota Boom” in 1878-1886. During those years much
of Dakota was settled and what a few years before
almost uninhabited expanse of prairie, became a fairly

92 IOWA STUDIES IN THE. CIENCE
populous region soon to be divided and admitted into the union as

two states. = tol
The causes for the boom were numerous. The abundant moisture

But the railroads supplied far more than that, They printed pam-
phlets for free distribution and published advertisements in news-
papers and magazines which described the country and enumerated
its advantages. Other sources of advertising were the various land
and townsite companies, the colonizing associations, and the terri-
torial board of immigration. Another potent factor was the rapid
occupation of much of the more desirable land farther east and its
gradual rise in price accompanied by an increase in taxes. Capital
‘was available at this time for reasonable business ventures.

Settlement was rapid in the early eighties and the population of
the territory increased from 135,177 in 1880 to approximately 210,000
in 1882 and to about 330,000 in 1883. In 1880 there were eight
land offices operating in Dakota. These were located at Bismarck,
Deadwood, Fargo, Grand Forks, Sioux Falls, Springfield, Watertown,
and Yankton, Fargo reported the largest number of acres filed upon—
722,000, Sioux Falls was second with 498,000. In 1884 Bismarck
reported 2,563,534 acres filed upon.

The magnitude of the “Dakota Boom” is indicated strikingly by
the following comparisons; During the first five years of the ter
ritorial government (1861-1866) only 100,000 acres of government
land were filed upon, and by 1870 less than 500,000 acres had been
taken. Nearly two-fifths of the entire acreage filed upon in the
United States in the year ending June 30, 1883, was in Dakota.
This was nearly twice as much land (seven and one-half million acres)
as was taken in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Kansas combined. In
1884 there was nearly a sixty per cent increase over the previous
year. During the decade ending June 30, 1889, nearly forty-two
million acres, nearly half the area of Dakota, were filed upon, By
1887 no free land remained in twenty-two counties, and nine others
had only an area of 2,500 acres each, most of which was unde-
sirable.

‘The growth in population during the boom period shows most clearly
the magnitude of the immigration. According to the federal census
‘of 1880, the population of Dakota was 135,177, of which 92,268

i

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 93

were in southern Dakota, including 16,487 in the Black Hills. In
1885 the territory had a population of 415,610, of which 152,199
were located in northern Dakota with 263,411 in the southern section,
of whom 14,842 were in the Black Hills. In 1890 the population
of South Dakota was 328,808, and that of North Dakota was 182,719,
making a total of 501,527. The enumeration for 1880 was made
after the influx was well started, while that of 1890 was made after
there had been an exodus due to two or more crop failures and to
many disappointments on the part of town builders and speculators.
It is therefore impossible to give accurately the total influx to Dakota
during the boom period. The rapid invasion of settlers continued
for some time after the enumeration of 1885. The Bureau of Im-
migration estimated that the increase for 1886 was more than 85,000
and that the population on the last day of June 1887 was 568,477.
Allowing a liberal deduction for overestimation, the increase over
1880 would be at least 400 per cent. The increase over the esti-
mated population for 1878 would be approximately 750 per cent
in about nine years.

Striking as the immigration to Dakota is during this period, when
considered in its larger aspects, it may well be illustrated even more
vividly in the smaller units. Beadle County in 1880 had a popula-
tion of 1,290; in 1885 it had 10,318. Brown County in 1880 had
353 inhabitants and only 468 acres under cultivation; by [885 the
population was 12,241, and 248,346 acres of land were being culti-
vated. Spink County, with a population of 477 in 1880, had 10,446
inhabitants in 1885.

With the year 1885 the high level of the boom passed, although
it was not realized at the time. There were several causes for the
close of the boom, the chief one being crop failures due to drouth.
Railroad expansion had stopped and most of the desirable free land
east of the Missouri River had been taken by the summer of 1887.
‘Over speculation in land and failures in business added to the handi-
caps caused by drouth.

Prior to the creation of the Territory of Dakota, farming opera-
tions had been carried on by the white settlers, Indians, and half
breeds in the Red River Valley. The census reports for 1860 show
2,146 acres under cultivation. The period from 1862 to 1868 was
‘one of agricultural stagnation in Dakota, the result of drouth, grass-
‘hoppers, and Indian troubles. The Civil War also left its burdens

bie

7
94 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

upon the Dakota farmer. The period of prosperity from 1868 to
1873 was followed by five years of hard times caused by grasshoppers
and the financial depression resulting from the panic of 1873. In
addition many homesteaders made reckless by continued prosperity
purchased improved machinery at high prices, often

farms at high interest rates. The winter of 1874 and 1875 was ex-
ceptionally severe, causing much hardship and privation,

‘The completion of the Dakota Southern Railroad from Sioux City,
Towa, to Yankton in January 1873 provided the greatest advantage
to the farmers of southeastern Dakota. It was now possible to
get rid of their surplus agricultural products. The effect of the
railroad is shown in the rapid increase in farm products and in
the price of land. There were 2,275,000 bushels of wheat produced
in the Territory in 1873 as compared with 170,662 bushels in 1970.
All of this was raised in southeastern Dakota with the exception of
150,000 bushels. Improved land which sold for $8 to $15 per acre
in 1870 sold for $15 to $30 per acre in 1873. The Northern Pacific
Railway was completed to the east side of the Red River of the
North in the fall of 1871 and in the summer of 1872 was pushed
rapidly toward the Missouri River, ‘Thus transportation. facilities
were furnished to the farmer of northeastern Dakota.

The life of the pioneer farmer was a hard one, as it was not an
easy task to make a home and develop a farm from the raw, pathless
prairie, remote from neighbors, without schools or any of the ad-
vantages and comforts which the inhabitants of compact settlements
enjoy, It was a hero’s and almost a martyr’s life and it is difficult
to estimate properly the trials and discomforts of such an experi-
ence without having passed through them. With few social events,
infrequent neighborly calls, and only an occasional visiting minister,
the prairie dweller led a lonely life.

The period from 1875 to 1889 was one of large wheat farms in
the Red River Valley. In 1875 a number of bond holders of the
Northern Pacific Railway exchanged their bonds, worth ten cents on
the dollar, for a great block of land in the valley region. Other
tracts were soon taken over, and in the spring of 1875, Oliver Dal-
rymple, an experienced wheat grower from Minnesota, entered into a
contract with some of the owners to take charge. He broke 1,280
acres during the summer and his first harvest in 1876 yielded 32,000
bushels of choice wheat.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 95

As soon as the results of the experiment became known, there
was a rapid shift from mixed farming to large scale wheat produc-
tion. The primary reasons for the development of wheat as a single
crop were: cheap land in the Red River Valley and the increasing
price of land farther cast, the composition of the soil, climate, ad-
vertising, the demand for American flour, and the invention of labor-
saving machinery.

By £880 the movement had made a good start and by 1885 nearly
all of the original “Bonanza Farms” had been established. The cen-
sus of 1890 shows 325 farms in the Red River region exceeding
1,000 acres, with 1,353 of more than 500 acres. Although the large
wheat farms of the Red River country received a great deal of at-
tention during the eighties, their importance was no doubt overem-
phasized. In fact there was far more land owned and farmed by
the small farmers than by the large wheat growers. In Cass County,
the very center of the “Bonanza” district in 1880, the farms aver-
aged 325 acres. In 1890 there were in North Dakota 27,611 farms
whose size averaged 277 acres. At that time only 8.07 per cent
of the farm land of North Dakota was planted to wheat.

‘The reasons for the decline of the great wheat farms in the early
nineties were drouth, economic depression, an increase in the price
of land, and a decrease in the price of wheat. While many of the
large wheat growers with capital were able for a time partially to
overcome these handicaps by more scientific methods, labor-saving
machinery, and careful management, a gradual shift from wheat
as a single crop to diversified farming was inevitable. The big con-
tribution of bonanza farming to Dakota was advertising.

The period of boom and prosperity which began in 1877 developed
in volume from 1878 to 1886 and although wheat continued to be
the money crop in the Dakota area, diversified agriculture was the
general rule. By reading carefully the territorial newspapers of the
late eighties, it is easy to see that by 1886 the best days of the
agricultural boom were over and Dakota was entering upon a period
‘of reaction caused largely by drouth. During 1887 and 1888 the
drouth was local in nature and did not affect the different paris of
‘the territory with equal severity. In 1889 the lack of rain was

throughout the central portion of the United States and
affected Dakota. The Dakota farmer was also affected by

|

s

96 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
the general business depression of the time, ‘The crop report fee
‘i

pasture, the light snowfall of the average winter, and the ability of
stock to travel many miles to market or to shipping points, gave
grazing a distinct advantage over cereal farming.

Notwithstanding these favorable factors, the livestock business, in-
volving a considerable investment as well as
in buildings and fences, did not develop rapidly as a separate in-
dustry, Mixed farming, in which stock raising formed a prominent
part, proved more profitable than either cereal farming or stock
raising alone. This type of farming developed rapidly from 1860 to
1870 in southeastern Dakota before that section was served efficiently
by a railroad. The Indian agencies and military posts of the terri-
tory were excellent markets for beef not needed in the towns and on

in the Territory of Dakota, 56,724 meat cattle,

In the period after the Civil War many cattle were driven “up
trail” from the overstocked ranges of Texas in search of markets
and new feeding grounds. The first Texas cattle arrived in Dakota
in the summer of 1871 and were driven to the southeastern section
along the Missouri River. By 1874 and 1875 they were coming in
rapidly. Until 1875 no cattle were raised in the territory west of
the Missouri River. The Black Hills area was early reported as

into that region in 1875 took cattle with them, In 1876 the
increase of miners and prospectors created a demand for beef and
dairy products. By 1878 there were at least 100,000 cattle in the
Black Hills area, many of which had been driven from Texas, The
Black Hills Live-Stock Association estimated in the spring of 1884
that there were 500,000 head of cattle in that district and that as
many as 200,000 had been marketed in 1883,

By 1878 and 1879 the country north and east of the Black Hills
filled up with herds while in the following years the cattle ranges

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY, 7

were extended into the Little Missouri region of the northern Bad-
lands. During the years from 1883 to 1885 cattle came into the
Little Missouri country very rapidly. They were allowed to run
at large during the winter months, no provision being made for feed-
ing. Some sheep and horse ranches existed in western Dakota in the
eighties but they were the exception rather than the rule.

In the “Hard Winter” of 1886-87 thousands of cattle perished
on the overstocked ranges and many ranchers went bankrupt, The
cattle business was badly hurt for the time being but the Dakota
cattlemen had learned their lesson. The days of the big cattle out-
fits had gone never to return. After the experience of 1986 and 1887,
the herds were comparatively small, and provisions were made for
feeding in case of emergency. Other events also tended to change
the status of ranching in western Dakota. The coming in of home-
steaders and farmers in the late eighties who began to construct
fences around their little tracts interfered with the freedom of the
Tange and cut off the water holes from public use. There was 3
period of contest between the ranchers and the “nesters,” as the farm-
ers were called, which ended in an ultimate victory for the tillers
of the soil, Although the picturesque days of the open range were
over, ranching still continued to be the most important industry west
of the Missouri River.

Before the coming of the steamboat, the navigation of the Mis-
souri River was not extensive and was associated chiefly with the
fur trade. In 1831 the steamboat Yellowstone entered the confines
of the Territory of Dakota. In 1859 the steamer Chippewa reached
a point fifteen miles below Fort Benton. The Harney expedition of
1855, and later the construction of Fort Randall, gave temporary
employment to two or three extra vessels, and at times additional
Steamers were put into operation in the fur trade, Gold was dis-
covered on the Salmon River in 1862 in what later became Mon-
tana. This event brought a rapid increase in steamboat traffic by
the people of the new mining district who soon saw that the Missouri
River was the most economical route for immigration and freight.

‘The Indian Bureau of the United States government transported
its annuity goods up the Missouri to the Indian tribes along the
tiver. ‘The government also sent troops and laborers as well as
supplies by this route to its military posts along the Missouri and
to its exploring and road building parties in the northwest. The

98 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

number of vessels making the trip to Fort Benton rose from 4 in
1864 to 37 in £867, but declined to 11 in 1875. Yankton was the
most important landing in southern Dakota and the local river trade
was reflected in Its steamboat business. Steamboats usually loaded
both ways—made large profits,

Freight rates from St. Locls ‘to! Fart (Benloni wae eave
18 cents per pound down to 1865. In 1866 they dropped to 11 and
12 cents and in 1867 to 9 cents per pound. Rates from Sioux City,
Towa, to Fort Benton in 1868 were 134 cents. Tnsurance rates were
high, often being as much as 15 to 20 per cent. The fare for cabin
passengers from St. Louis to Fort Benton was $150 to $300 for the
round trip, board costing $4.80 per day extra.

In spite of the rapid development of river traffle there were many
obstacles to Missouri River navigation. The channel was made un-
certain and dangerous by swift currents, sandbars, and other ob-
structions. Danger of breakage of engine parts on the trip made
it necessary to carry hundreds of parts for repair purposes. The
scarcity of fuel was another very serious handicap. Steamers con-
sumed large amounts of wood which was expensive when purchased
from the “wood-hawks” and entailed danger and delay when it was
necessary for the crew to find and cut it,

The great rival of the Missouri River steamboat was the railroad
and the struggle between the two lasted from 1859, when the Hannibal
and St. Joseph Railroad reached St, Joseph, Missouri, until 1887
when the Great Northern Railroad reached Helena, Montana. The
base of river trade was gradually shifted up the river by the com-
pletion of railroad facilities to the various Missouri River towns.
‘The discovery of gold in the Black Hills tended to revive river traffic
between Sioux City, Pierre, and Bismarck. The Hills trade was at
its height from 1876 to 1881,

The steamboat in its long ‘and hopeless struggle with the railroad
found an ally in the United States government which undertook to
maintain freight traffic on the Missouri. For many years its work
consisted largely of removing snags and obstructions which caused
about seventy per cent of the Missouri River steamboat wrecks, Con-
siderable money was spent, but little material benefit was gained. By
the early eighties Missouri River navigation was dead beyond the
hope of resurrection.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 99

Steamboat navigation on the Missouri had relatively little influ-
ence on the settlement of the Territory of Dakota since agricultural
settlement was not extensive until after the coming of the railroad
had caused a rapid decline in river traffic. Transportation on the
Missouri was always uncertain and expensive. The Dakota area
‘exported little but imported considerable freight by steamboat. Mis-
souri River traffic had very little influence on the economic develop-
ment of Dakota, partly because of certain characteristics of the
stream. It was swift, crooked, shifting, subject to very marked
fluctuations in volume, and at many points often very shallow. It
was obstructed by many snags and sandbars and was frozen over
for several months during the year. Under these circumstances it
was impossible for steamboats to compete successfully with the rail-
road.

‘The navigation of the Red River of the North began in 1857, with
the transportation of goods through the United States by the Hudson’s
Bay Company. In 1858 three consignments of goods were made to
St. Paul. The first steamboat, the Anson Northup, was launched in
the spring of 1859. ‘The steamer Jnternational was put to work in 1362,
between Fort Abercrombie and Georgetown. The traffic increased in
the seventies. The Merchants Intcrnational Steamboat Company in
1875 carried 24,500 tons of freight and 7,690 passengers, Grandin,
the big wheat farmer, operated the Grandin Steamboat Line from
the spring of 1879 until the early nineties. The Red River traffic
was entirely of a local nature and even that was done under handi-
cap as the stream was not suitable for extensive steamboat navigation.
In any frontier community, before the coming of railroads, over-
fand freight and stage lines are bound to be important, In the early
forties, goods were carried from St. Paul to Pembina in Red River
carts. After arrangements were completed in 1857 for the carrying
‘of goods in bond for the Hudson’s Bay Company, the cart trade from
St. Paul to the northwest grew very rapidly, The Minnesota Stage
Company was organized in the spring of 1859 to handle mail con-
tracts from St. Paul to Fort Abercombie and other northwest points.
‘In 1860 the stage line was extended to Georgetown and mail service
to Pembina. The Indian troubles of the early Civil War period
Satoh ates ct any mriese'ive cargnitas
t] sixties and carly seventics, Red River navigation
. As roads were improved and bridges built, the stage
= did an extensive business and extended their Vines, A Yone

100 IOWA STUDIES IN THE

of stages was established between Fort

in 1871, The first mail from Fort Randall |
ried by individual carriers hired directly by t
emment. A regular mail and express line c:

‘expeditions passed through Dakota to the newly d
‘of the west.

At its session in 1865, piensa nie
roads and bridges by appropriating considerable ai f
for their construction in Dakota as well as in various
of the west to facilitate the rapidly growing travel to the:
of Tdabo and Montana, After‘ the eatablisbinent of FOrti00aisal
at Sioux Falls in 1865, all supplies and freight for the garrison were
hauled from Sioux City. After the connection of Sioux City with
Chicago by rail in 1868 and the beginning of immigration
eastern Dakota there was a rapid extension of mail and stage con-
nections between that place and various points along the Missouri,
Big Sioux, Vermilion, and James rivers. By 1870 a Yankton news
paper advertised four stage lines operating out of the territorial capi-
tal. In the same year mail and stage connections were established
between Bismarck and Fort Buford and from there to Fort Keogh.
With the extension of settlement north and west, transportation facill-
ties followed the line of settlement. -

Soe ne Te a

fad] Minds Suita weaty ata of GED jagons in the spring of
1877 direct from Fort Pierre to Deadwood. “The rate rate per 4
pounds was $4.75, It took a month to make a round trip. In 1880
more than 5,000 tons of freight were carried by the line. In 1876
the Northwestern Express, Stage and ‘Transportation Company estab-
Bibel lg and age aed oct ct Bian ae con-

the east. From 1880 to 1885 when railroad

to the Hills from the south, Pierre was the most important ;
+ wa

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 101

point. In 1883 the stage fare between Pierre and Deadwood was
twenty dollars. Baggage cost ten cents per pound,

‘The greatest factor in the settlement and development of the
Territory of Dakota, except its fertile land, was the railroad. The
carly homesteaders often retained their claims in the hope that a
railroad would appear and make their land valuable. There was no
incentive to the raising of a surplus of farm products until there
‘was some means of disposing of it, The first railroad constructed
in Dakota was the Dakota Southern, which was opened in 1873 for

passenger traffic between Sioux City and Yankton.

‘The first train on the Northern Pacific arrived at Moorhead, Minne-
sota, and crossed the Red River into Dakota in January 1872, The
construction was Iaid to Bismarck in June 1873, and the road was
opened to traffic in July. With the financial crisis of 1873 all rail-
road construction stopped, and nothing further was done on the
Northern Pacific until in the fall of 1878 when grading began west
of the Missouri, The Northern Pacific began the construction of
its Casselton branch twenty miles west of Fargo in July 1879. There
was a rapid extension of railroad lines in all sections of the territory.

A few comparative figures show the development of railroads in
the territory after the panic of 1873. In 1879 there were 449 miles
of railroad in Dakota, which increased to 825 miles in 1880. There
was very rapid extension during the next year, the mileage increasing
to 1,596 at the end of the year. In 1832 the mileage was 1,947 and
by the end of 1883 it was 2,475, In 1884 and 1885 the increase
was not so rapid. The leading addition in 1885 was that of the
Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Line of the Chicago and
Northwestern system, from Valentine, Nebraska, west and north 191
miles to Buffalo Gap, Dakota, It was extended to Rapid City in
the spring of 1886. On June 30, 1886, the total railroad mileage for
Dakota was 2,898 and by December 1889 there were eleven systems
in the territory with a total of 4,463 miles.

The Black Hills region covering an approximate area of 3,500
“square miles is located in the southwestern corner of Dakota between
‘the Belle Fourche River and the south fork of the Big Cheyenne.
Early explorers visited this district and a tradition grew up that it
was rich in gold. The Sioux Indians are supposed to have discovered
‘it, but at what time is uncertain. That the Hills country was pros-
pected for gold almost fifty years before its lawful settlement ta

wl

102 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

1876 and 1877 has been well authenticated by the discovery of vari-
‘ous remains and abandoned “diggings,” of early prospectors who left
many traces of their activities,

The first regularly organized military expedition into the Black
Hills was led by Lieutenant G, K. Warren, accompanied by Dr. F_ V_

the object of proposed projects and expeditions in quest of gold.
‘The Black Hills Exploring and Mining Association was organized
at Yankton in January 1861. An expedition, planned by the Asso-
ciation in the winter of 1866 and 1867, was stopped by the United

territory, By 1872 the gold fever and agitation for the opening of
the area had reached nearly every portion of the country. The
Custer expedition in 1874 reported gold in paying quantities and
vaused the gold rush of 1874 to 1877, The Sioux City and Yankton
newspapers contained evidence of activities early in 1874,

Since the region was still Indian country, the military authorities
made every effort to stop gold seekers from entering, They drove
out many parties but in spite of their opposition many miners went
into the hills. An attempt on the part of the government to come
to an agreement with the Indians failed in the summer of 1875, and

as many as 15,000 miners assembling there during the fall and winter.
Even the Indian troubles following the Custer Massacre did not deter
immigration. The peak of the gold rush was reached in the spring
of 1877 and soon the influx of gold seekers practically ceased. This
was brought about largely by the shift of emphasis from placer to
lode or deep vein mining. All available claims had been taken by
the summer of 1877 and nothing was left for the newcomer. Popu-
lation shifted as new discoveries were made and towns arose like
mushrooms and as quickly declined. Speculation in town lots often
became a furore of the wildest kind. Life in the camps was typical
of mining communities, and there was, of course, a great deal of
crime, Towns were far from being permanent and often deteriorated
as rapidly as they had developed. Custer City in the spring of
1876 was a place of almost 6,000 population, Late in May the mews
of a rich gold discovery in Deadwood Gulch began to circulate and

b -_ |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 103

a stampede began. As many as a thousand people left Custer City
in a single day and within a few weeks its population had diminished
to less than one hundred,

In 1877 the principal towns were Deadwood, Gayeville, Central City,
Lead City, Lancaster City, Pennington, and Galena City, Deadwood
had about 4,000 inhabitants, while Central City contained about 1,500
In 1880 the total population was reported at about 16,000, while in
1885 it had declined to 14,842.

After 1877 there was very little placet mining, the largest amount
of the gold being obtained from quartz mines. The output of gold
for 1878 and 1879 was $3,000,000 annually, $5,000,000 for 1880, and
$4,000,000 for 1881, The amount gradually decreased to $3,350,000
fn 1883 and to $3,150,000 in 1885.

* . * *

Useful books and pamphlets consulted were: Armstrong, M. K,,
History and Resources of Dakota, Montana, and Idako (Yankton,
1866); Brenan, John, Conditions and Resources of Southern Dakota
(Sioux City, 1872); Foster, J. S., Outline of the History of Dakota
aud Immigrant’s Guide (Yankton, 1869); Hagerty. F. H., The Terri-
tery of Dakota (Aberdeen, S. D., 1889); Kingsbury, G. W., The
History of Dakota Territory and Its People (1, I, Chicago, 1915);
Taylor, Franklin, Three Scrap Books (Various dates, Vermilion).

More intimate, concrete material was culled from territorial news-
papers: Bismarck Daily Tribune (1873-1886); Bismarck Weekly
Tribune (1878-1885); Black Hills Weekly Pioneer (Deadwood, 1880-
1884); Dakota Republican (Vermilion, 1874-1889); Fargo Daily Re-
bublicos (1880-1884); Sioux City Register (1858-1876); Yankton
Weekly Dakotion (1861-1871); Yankton Press (1871-1873); and the
Yankton Press and Dakotian (1873-1889),

Another set of sources was the official, territorial documents; the
journals of the Council and House of the Legislative Assembly for
the years 1862-1889; messages of the territorial governor during the
same period; the session laws of the territory; and the reports of the
territorial governors to the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1877-1889.

“Of many secondary source materials the following contained data
‘of good amount and quality: Andreas, A. T., Historical Atlas of
Dakota (Chicago, 1884); Batchelder, G. A., Dakota Territory (Yank-

ll

104 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ton, 1870); North Dakota Historical Collections, -V; Peterson, E. F.,
Historical Atlas of South Dakota (Chicago, 1904); Robinson, Doane,
Encyclopedia of South Dakota (Pierre, 1925); Robinson, Doane, His-
tory of South Dakota (Chicago, 1904); South Dakota Historical Col-
lections, I-XIV.

A HISTORY OF THE DANES IN IOWA*

By THomas Perer CuristENsEN

A study of European background is as necessary for an under-
standing of Danish-American history as it is for colonial history.
‘The introductory chapter, therefore, deals with Denmark in the nine-
teenth century. This is followed by chapters on Danish emigration,
settlement, and organizations in the United States. The main por-
tion treats of the Danish immigrants and their descendants in lowa—
immigration, settlement, organizations, press, schools, some leading
personalities, and general contributions of the group to the develop-
ment of the state. The narrative does not aim at any fullness of
treatment later than 1920,

‘The Napoleonic wars brought a series of disasters to Denmark—
the loss of the fleet in 1807, the bankruptcy of the national bank in
1813, and the loss of Norway in 1814. Social and political agita-
tion followed. Absolutism, paternal and generous though it may
have been, crumbled and a liberal constitution was granted in 1849
by the last absolutist king. It was soon revised, however, in favor
‘of the conservative Rights, who supported an upper house with spe-
cal privileges. But the liberal Lefts gave the Rights no rest until
the administration of the government conformed to liberal demands
and the cabinet was made responsible to the lower house of Rigsdagen
(the Danish Parliament) in 1901.

In the duchies, Schleswig-Holstein, a part of the Danish monarchy
largely German in population—nationalism and constitutionalism min-
gled and demanded an independent Schleswig-Holstein. This dream
did not come true, but the duchies became a part of Prussia after
the second Danish-German war in 1864. To Denmark it was the
second territorial loss of the century and one which deeply affected
Danish character. A common saying in Danish has since been:
What we lost “without” we must regain “within.” But the Danes,

"From a dissertation directed by Professor Louis Pelzer
add 108

106 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL NCES
nevertheless, also continued to hope for a retum of at least a part
of Schleswig,

In spite of the loss of territory the population of Denmark

and political agitation in the first half of the century, but steady

:
fe
|
i
‘i

the close of the century, Denmark was on the road to be what it
‘has since been called, “the most valuable political experiment in the
modern world.”

in the common schools made compulsory. In the forties and fifties

folk high schools began to give the youth of the common people
some of the benefits of a secondary and collegiate education, The
normal schools also afforded new opportunities to the sons and daugh-

ters of the common people. But at the regular schools
and at the University of Copenhagen high costs restricted attendance
largely to the upper classes.

At the opening of the century Denmark was, in the Danish idiom,
“chemically free" from dissenters or Non-Lutherans. Theoretically
at least, practically all the people were members of the Lutheran
state church. At the close of the century there were a number of
well-established though small groups of dissenters, such as Baptists,
Methodists, Latter-Day Saints, and Adventists, some of which had
been formed by missionaries sent by the corresponding American
churches. Many of the dissenters emigrated.

Within the state church two factions developed, largely through
the work of Bishop N, F. S. Grundtvig and Reverend Wilhelm Beck.
Poet, preacher, politician, and educator, Grundtvig was one of the
most outstanding Danes of the nineteenth century. Generally speak-
ing he was both a medievalist and a modernist. When he suggested
that the departed might have “a second chance” of conversion in
the realm of the dead, he reintroduced an idea akin to that of
tory. As the perfect and inspired word of God he put the
before the Bible. He believed in the general enlightenment of the
century and sought to realize his educational ideal mainly through
the folk high school. Liberal in politics he stressed the importance
of freedom rather than of authority. The economic ideal he believed

_ > =)

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 107

would be attained “when few had too much and fewer too little.”
‘Through the influence of Grundtvig and his followers the Danish:
Parliament passed a law granting them the freedom to organize
within the state church, but the law did not exempt them from
paying the regular church dues.

Contrary to Grundtvig, Beck laid down as his fundamentals: that
the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God, that conversion
without any hope of “a second chance” is necessary for salvation,
and that the individual Christian must give proof of his faith through
a life of picty. Some of Beck's followers, the Inner (Home) Mission
people, carried the latter to the point of asceticism. Also, contrary
to Grundtvig, Beck made much use of home missionaries or lay
preachers. Besides, he had but few of Grundtvig’s national and cul-
tural interests. At the turn of the century one-sixth of the minis-
ters in the state church belonged to the Inner Mission group and
three twelfths to the Grundtvigian. The remainder formed the high
(LAA a ca ea ta ean Mba Rae Maa

United States form a well documented chapter in Danish-American
history.

A third personality loomed large in the life of the Danish people
of the nineteenth century, that of Georg Brandes, sometimes called
the Voltaire of the North. Brandes drew his inspiration from the
contemporary Dan philosophers, Soren Kirkegaard and Harold
Hofiding; the British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, and the French
critic, Mes Taine. He admired Henrick Ibsen and Nietzsche.

his vigorous realism he attempted to expose the illusions of Ro-
manticiasm and the obscurantism of the church and drew down upon
himself the wrath of “respectable” Danish society. One of his fol-
lowers significantly translated Darwin's Origin of Species and Descent
of Man, Brandes and his early followers were known as Gennem-
brudsmacndene (the men who broke through). Their influence through
the students at the University of Copenhagen reached the rank and
file of the people, but it waned after the close of the century. With
the Danish emigrants came a number of admirers of Brandes, who gen-
erally settled in the cities.

_ A sporadic immigration to America continued until the thirties and
forties, Then the greater influx began, which reached its highest

be

108 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL |

peaks in 1882, 1891, and 1905 when respectively about eleven, ten,
and nine thousand immigrants from Denmark entered the United
States. Between 1820 and 1920 Danish immigration totaled spproxi-
mately 300,000,

‘The first permanent Danish settlement was founded in southern
Wisconsin in 1845 and three years later Danish immigrants settled
New Denmark farther north in the territory. At the same time
Danish immigrants appeared in the eastern and mid-western cities,
Having worked and saved some money, they frequently went farther
west, and in common with fresh arrivals from Denmark built up
the larger Danish settlements in Minnesota, Towa, Kansas, Nebraska,
and the Dakotas. There were Danes among the early American
settlers in the Far West, particularly in Utah, where large numbers
settled during the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Later a few larger
settlements were made in California, Oregon, and Washington. With
the single exception of Dannevang, Texas, none of the larger Danish
settlements are found in the Southern states. Most of them are
located in the Middle West.

In many instances the first settlements grew up under leaders some-
times referred to as “kings” who, because of a combination of traits
and powers, possessed the confidence of the settlers. Later the Luther-
an churches and the Danish People’s Society directed the formation
of some of the most successful settlements but these organizations
never entirely supplanted “the kings.”

With the planting of settlements, various kinds of organizations
followed. Linguistically speaking there were three stages in the
early history of many such organizations. In the first, Danes, Nor-
wegians, and Swedes combined; in the second, Danes and Norwe-
gians; in the third, only Danes. For the secular societies the first
two stages were of brief duration, and the same holds for the Lutheran
churches. In the case of some of the dissenters the last stage was
never reached, since there were too few of each nationality to form
a strong group.

‘The year 1872 is an important one in Danish-American church his-
tory. Before that year the dissenters were in the ascendant, whereas
subsequently the Lutherans more and more put the dissenters on the
defensive,

Excepting the small number of Danes who joined the reorganized
branch of Latter-Day Saints in Towa, most of the Danish Mormans

Po =)

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 109

who emigrated settled in Utah. Since they did not carry on mis-
sionary work among other Danish immigrants, they had little religious
influence on the Danish settlements outside of Utah, Methodists and
Adventists made some conyerts, but most successful of all the dis-

these synods were Danes who had been encouraged to emigrate by
the Inner Mission leaders and later trained at the synodical semi-
naries. Influenced by national feeling, these “Danish brethren” with-
drew to form their own synod or association (Lamjund) as they
called it.

Tf there had been no Grundtvigians in the settlements, the Inner
Mission people might have organized all of the Lutherans into one
strong Danish-Lutheran church. But a large proportion of the im-
migrants were Grundtvigians who deemed themselves upon a higher
intellectuality and a more humanistic conception of Christianity than
the pietistic Inner Mission people. In Denmark a committee mainly
of Grundtyigian composition was formed for the propagation of Luther-
an Christianity among the Danish immigrants. This committee sent
out ministers who organized a Danish Lutheran Church, not as a
synod, but as a branch of the Danish state church, This, they hoped
would gather under it all Danish immigrants, particularly those who
had not become dissenters. In this they were disappointed. Those
who had left the Norwegian synods continued their own organization.
‘The Inner Mission people who had joined the church organized in
1872 withdrew in 1804. Together with those who had withdrawn
from the Norwegian synods they formed the United Church, con-
sisting thus mostly of Inner Mission people, while the Church of
1872, usually known as the Danish Church, continued mainly as a

‘The United Church and the Danish Church had similar organiza-
tions in which each congregation was quite independent, The con-
‘Bregations called their own pastors and managed their own affairs
without much interference from the general association. Every year
the congregations sent delegates to an annual meeting. At these

~

to the regret of many of the older and some of th
In 1921 the United Church had « population

women auxiliaries. Both effected their general
1882, the Brotherhood not without stiff opposition from the Danish
Church, some of whose members at that time had strong a

feelings. The Danish Societies were recreational and cultural
some of the benefit features of the secret societies,
‘The local organizations of the Danish Societies were ¢
chiefly in the larger towns, whereas the Brotherhood formed |
both town and country. Both have used mainly the Danish |
in their social as well as in their business affairs. In 1922

and the Danish Societies 8,000.
Of the smaller societies the Danish People's Society and

the latter from 1906. It was chiefly through the efforts of

F. L. Grundtvig, the son of Bishop N. F, S. Grundtvig, that’

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY ut

‘The chief exploit of the Danish-American Association was the es-
tablishment of a national park on the moorlands of Jutland, Den-
mark, where under Dannebrog (the Danish flag) and the Star Span-
gled Banner, Danes and visiting Danish-Americans celebrate the
Fourth of July regularly.

Having settled at various places in Wisconsin, Michigan, and IMlinols,
Danish immigrants next took to Iowa and Minnesota which the
Swedish authoress, Fredrika Bremer, had prophesied would be a new
Scandinavia. She mentioned the Danish Lutheran pastor, Claus Lau-
rits Clausen, who Jed a colony of Norwegians to Iowa in 1853, From
that date until 1872 he lived a busy and useful life, taking a deep
interest in Danish immigration, and through his letters and a visit
to Denmark, Towa became known as a desirable place for settlements.

At this time Iowa began the organized encouragement of immigra-

sions from 1860 to 1882. The immigrants left the old country in
the hope of large opportunities in the new. The new country invited
them in the hope that they would create new opportunities for the
people already there. Thus there were two sets of causes in immi-
gration, a fact, which until recently, has been generally overlooked
‘by American historians.

There are no definite statistics of immigration to Towa, but ap-

1890 and 1920 Iowa was the leading state in the number of resi-
dents of Danish descent.

‘The Danish immigrants represented various districts in Denmark
and practically all classes. Large numbers came from the peninsula
‘of Jutland, from the island of Seeland and from other islands. In
the seventies and eighties the married men with their families con-
‘stituted a large proportion. Later young unmarried men and women
predominated. There were urban laborers, but especially farm labor-
ets, cotters (Husmaend), and a considerable number of skilled me-
chanics. The percentage of undesirables was almost negligible, Prac-
ically all could read and write and not a few of both the men
and the women had attended the folk high schools, and in the case

groups began'to ‘chcagréitalta tha este asia eee
the counties of Shelby, Audubon, Pottawattamie, Grundy, Black Hawk,
Cedar, Story, Hamilton, Franklin, Buena Vista, Clay, and Pocahontas.
‘The group in Shelby and Audubon counties became the largest com-
pact settlement of Danes outside the kingdom of Denmark and North
Slesvig. The last rural settlement was founded in 1881 in Emmet
County and named Ringsted after a city of the same name on the
island of Sceland. Groups large enough to have churches and so-
cieties located also in the cities of Davenport, Clinton, Waterloo, Cedar
Falls, Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Audubon, Harlan, and Sioux City.
Most of the Danish immigrants settled in the conical andincks tar eaeen
part of the state.

‘Once settled, the Danish immigrants were affected by general popu-
lation trends. Large numbers left the rural districts for the cities,
cast and west, Others migrated to western and northern states as
well as to Canada.

In the founding and development of the settlements, strong indi-
viduals made themselves felt. None of the settlements, however, ap-
pears to have been at any time a one-man affair. The “king” was
not conspicuous in Towa, Nearly everywhere the church was an
influence to reckon with, and in some cases it directed the estab-
lishment and growth of the community. This was true of Ringsted
where the local church contracted for the purchase of a large tract
of land belonging to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
Company.

|

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 113

In the towns and cities the Danish immigrants engaged in mer-
chandising, sometimes in manufacturing, banking, and professional
work, Many worked as skilled and unskilled laborers. In the country
diversified farming was looked upon as highly desirable, Dairying
‘was thought of as a branch of farming for which they had special
‘aptitude. In the early eighties a Danish immigrant living near Cedar
Falls imported from Denmark a cream separator, then a novelty in
Towa. Codperative associations usually met a ready and hearty re-
sponse in Danish communities. There are still such associations in
@ flourishing conditon both among the urban and rural groups,

Life in the immigrant groups flowed on in two main channels; the
in-group and the out-group. The latter is the general economic and
political group, the former is represented by the home, the church,
the church schools, the press, and the literature of the in-group,

Danish church history in Towa falls into three distinct periods,
‘The first, which lasted until about 1872, has not inaptly been termed
@ period of “sinful confusion" when Lutherans and yarious dissenters
‘strove for the spiritual conquest of the Danish settlements. This was
followed by a Lutheran controversy which narrowed down to a de-
bate in press and on platform between the Grundtvigians and the
Inner Mission people over the question of the verbal inspiration of
the Bible. This controversy was embittered by personal animosities
and disgraced—in the later opinion of both parties—by lawsuits.
During this controversy the Grundivigians were forced to face the
conclusion that if the Bible is not the inspired word of God, it
‘becomes source material to historians to be treated like other his-
torical sources. This controversy ended with the disruption of the
‘Church in 1894, after which the Inner Mission people and the Grundt-
vigians maintained separate church associations, known respectively
as the United Church and the Danish Church. After the nineties
both churches settled down to constructive work, building churches,
parsonages, assembly halls, schools, orphanages, homes for old peo-
ple, the support of home and foreign missions, and the general en-
richment of church life.

‘The United Church (Inner Mission) was very active in home and
forcign mission work. Its people developed a pronounced emotional
spirit and strong loyaltics toward farms and organizations, ‘The
“Church gave much attention to educational work. It was

and dissenters—was in 1920 about 12,000. P
affiliated indirectly. Thus about one-half of the: om
Danes in the state had some connection with cl

cities, but lodges of the Danish Brotherhood appeared in
communities, In 1923 the total mebasiip of te Saeaeeae |
hood was close to 2,000. eae ee }

‘The iientera Halted thelr col actives 8 Siete) ema
schools for the education of ministers. The same was largely true
of the United Church, though here some attention was given to
continuation schools and to academic and collegiate training, The
Danish Church aimed at a more complete system of education to
consist of elementary parish schools, a seminary and a college. The
parish schools after a successful operation for some years
‘The last was closed in 1905.

Dear to the members of the Danish Church as the parish jechodls|
were, even dearer were the folk high schools af which the first in
the United States was opened at Elk Horn, Shelby County in 1878
“for the inspiration and enlightenment of our youth.” To the great
sorrow of the Grundtvigians it was closed as a Grundtvigian school
a3 a consequence of the church split in 1894. For a number of
years thereafter the United Church operated it as a secondary school
of the American type. During the World War it had to be closed
for the lack of students. The building now stands vacant. In the
oft-quoted phrase, the school had become en saga blott—mere

After the church split, the Danish’ Church built up Grand’ View
College in Des Moines as a folk high school, secondary school, and
seminary. Since the World War efforts have been made to advance
the school to the status of a junior college. ime

Each of the Churches had its periodical publications, Besides these,
there has always been a secular Danish-American press. In Towa
this was represented by several periodicals. The only 1
can periodical for women Kuinden og Hjemmet (Woman and

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Ws

has been published monthly in Cedar Rapids since 1888 and edited
by Mrs. N. Fr. Hansen, In 1924 it reported a circulation of 34,000,
For Towa it was 3,000. It should be remembered, however, that this
monthly is Dano-Norwegian. ‘The weekly Dannevicke dates its ap-
pearance from 1880. It was published first at Elk Horn and later
permanently at Cedar Falls. During the greater part of its exist-
ence it has been edited by Mr. M. Holst. Though not an organ of
the Danish Church it has always been a distinctly Grundtvigian
paper. In 1922 it reported a circulation of 3,000 of which about
one-fourth was in Iowa. A Danish Christmas magazine has been
published in Cedar Falls by Mr. P. Falkenberg since the later nineties.
Tts special features are Christmas songs, poems, and stories, but it
also contains other matter of more general interest.
Much poetry, many short stories, and some novels were written
in Danish for the periodicals. Some of the poems and novels were
published in book form. The three most noted Danish-American
poets—F, L. Grundtvig, Adam Dan, and Christian Ostergaard, all
ministers, lived for several years in Iowa. So also did the Danish-
American publicists, J. C. Bay and C, B. Christensen. In an en-
vironment strange and often baffling, but filled with the possibilities
of the future, these and others voiced the hopes and aspirations of the
Danish immigrant.
Of all Danish immigrants, Reverend F. L. Grundtvig fills the largest
place in Danish-American history. He was a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen, While living on a farm in the woods of
Wisconsin Grundtvig became interested in the spiritual welfare of
bis Danisb-American countrymen. After a brief preparation he was
ordained a minister in the Danish Church and served a congregation
in Clinton, Iowa, from 1883 to 1900, when he returned to Denmark.
Shortly after, he died at the age of forty-eight.
‘As a leader of Danish-Americans he sought first of all to estab-
lish the Danish Church as a Grundtvigian church and advocated the
development of settlements under the direction of the church. He
‘Vigorously fought the Danish Brotherhood, which he regarded as
an anti-church organization. For the promotion of a nationalistic,
cultural, and 4 spiritual Danish-American ideal, he created the Danish
(celeron lie i decree
church split. Through his songs he sought to inculcate a
aera kid scien t iveye coamaones Soyaty

a

resulting

thing finer and nobler than any of its component strains. —
‘The Danish immigrants in Towa as a rule learned ©
in a few years “to get along” and became naturalized when |
dence requirements could be satisfied. Most of their ch
attended public schools. They participated in political life wi
showing any decided preference for either of the two major parties
Often they voted with the progressive factions. Without evincing
any special liking for officialdom, they have held local county and
state offices. To the three wars in which the United States
been engaged since 1860 they contributed respectable quotas. ?
have given the authorities but little trouble and the percentage of
delinquency is small. Rarely have they acted as a political ;
‘The only instance on record was during the World War
gether with other foreign groups they protested against the lan-
guage proclamation of Governor W. L. Harding, but without effect-—
ing any organization.

A few general conclusions from the study may be stated. The
ardent patriotism developed in Denmark during the nineteenth cen-

‘Though the majority of Danish immigrants coming to Towa were
farmers, skilled and unskilled laborers and other classes were repre-
sented. Only in pioneer times did the Danes in Towa codperate with
Swedes and Norwegians in the formation and maintenance of churches
and societies. The Danish Lutherans in Towa attempted the estab-
lishment of a complete system of education. In 1920 there were
no elementary parochial schools, except vacation schools and no
f a secondary character except the folk high school depart-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY NT

some Danish Lutheran congregations. The Danish Lutheran Church
polity in Iowa is principally congregational, unlike that of the mother
church which has bishops. The only strong non-Lutheran Church
among the Iowa Danes is the Danish Baptist Church. A controversy
over fundamentalism and modernism disrupted the Danish Lutheran
Church in 1894. About one-half of the Danes in Towa are affiliated
directly or indirectly with the Danish Church. Numerous secular
societies were organized by the Danish immigrants in Towa. The
percentage of Danish delinquency in Iowa before 1920 was small.
Reverend F. L. Grundtvig, pastor of a Danish Lutheran congregation
in Clinton from 1883 to 1900 thought of Americanization not so
much as a process of absorption as an interplay of social forces.
The idea gained a permanent hold on Danish immigrants and their
descendants,
* * * *

‘The sources are numerous, but widely scattered and fragmentary.
‘The statistical data were obtained from the census reports of Iowa
and the United States and from reports of churches and societies.
County histories yielded some biographical data as did also several
memoirs by Danish-Americans. Of the few available biographies
Reverend R. Andersen's Pastor Claus Laurits Clausen “proved valu-
able, especially the diary, which it includes, by Clausen during his
voyage from Denmark to the United States in 1843. Much infor-
mation was obtained from Reverend N. S. Lawdahl’s detailed and
carefully written De Danske Baptisters Historie ¢ Amerika; Henrik
Cavling’s Fra Amerika is a dashing, journalistic description of the
Danes in the United States in 1896. John Bille's A History of the
Danes in America deals mainly with the bickerings of the Grundt-
vigians and Inner Mission people. Danske i Amerika in two volumes
by Dr. P. L. Vig and others contain longer historical accounts of
Danish emigration, the Danish-American churches, societies, and some
of the settlements. Old files of Danish-American newspapers were
studied, particularly Kirkelig Samler (1872-), the official organ of
the Danish Church, and Dannevirke (1880-), a Grundtvigian weekly
containing varied information about practically every phase of Danish-
American life. Some manuscript material, mostly church registers
and minutes, were used. Particularly interesting letters were received
from Danish members of the Reformed Church of Latter-Day Saints
in Towa and from the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Utah.

|

t

118 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

One of the most valuable primary sources of Danish-American his-
tory is the Meddelelser fra den dansk -merikenske Mission, a peri-
odical published in Denmark and giving information about the es-
tablishment and growth of the Danish Lutheran churches in the United
States until 1894. Bound volumes of the files of this periodical are
at Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa.

Most of the sources used are in Danish, some in English, and a
few in Swedish and in German,

STEAMBOATING ON THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI 1823-1861"

By Wituiam Jonn PrTersen

‘The year 1823 marks the first successful undertaking of a steam-
boat to navigate the waters of the upper Mississippi from the foot
of the Des Moines or Lower Rapids to Fort Snelling, eight miles
below the Falls of St. Anthony. ‘The advent of the steamboat on
these waters was the death-blow to the barge, the raft, the keel
boat, the pirogue, and other boats that had been the only craft on the
upper Mississippi.

Tn a survey of steamboating prior to 1823, the hazardous voyage
late in the fall of 1811 of the New Orleans from Pittsburgh down
the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers to New Orleans is the outstand-
ing event on western waters, During the next five years the evolution
and growth of steamboating was slow. Less than a score of boats
were bullt on the Ohio and the lower Mississippi and the mortality
fate was very high. The great cost, the danger from snags and sand
bars, the difficulty of passing the falls of the Ohio, and the War of
1812 all served to hinder construction and navigation on these streams.
The danger of explosions during these experimental years also made
navigators wary.

Strange as it may seem, no steamboat ventured) up the Mississippi

seem to have kept them running on the Ohio and lower Mississippi.
Finally, on August 2, 1817, the General Pike arrived at the St. Louis
levee, the first boat to ascend to that city. During 1818 there were
several arrivals at St. Louis and from that time forward the number
gradually increased.

In the spring of 1819 plans were being made for the building of
‘a fort at the mouth of the Minnesota River. The War Department

‘*From a» disertation directed by Profesor Louis Pelzer
9

120 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ordered two thousand dollars worth of goods shipped up the Mir
sissippi by steamboat to the Sioux Indians in payment for the sile

which had been ceded to Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike by the treaty
of 1805. It was believed impracticable to navigate such craft on
the upper Mississippi and the provisions and supplies were trans

Engineer ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Des Moines
River.

In the years 1818 and 1819 more than fifty steamboats were built

be a gradual increase and expansion in their use. But even with this
added number it is not likely that more than a third of the total
trade on western waters was carried by steamboats. Earlier, how-
ever, in 1817 nine-tenths of the trade had been carried by other
types of boats. After a slight decline in building, the number again
began to increase until in 1826 it reached the high mark of fifty-two.
‘This number was not surpassed during the following five years.

The Virginia, the “Clermont” of the upper Mississippi, was a small
stern-wheeler of 109.32 tons, built at Wheeling, Virginia, in 1819
and awned by Redick McKee, James Pemberton, and seven others.
Tt was 118 feet long; 18 feet, 10 inches wide; and its depth was
5 feet, 2 inches. It had a small cabin on its deck but no pilot house,
being run by a tiller at the back. According to her enrollment at the
port of New Orleans the Virginia was the fifty-first boat built and
documented on western waters, The Virginia completed two suc
cessful trips to the mouth of the St, Peter’s River and one to Prairie
du Chien during the year 1823. Her maiden voyage up the Mis-
sissippi was done in twenty days, of which four were spent in getting
over the Lower Rapids and one in stemming the Upper Rapids.
No fuel had been prepared in advance and the Virginia had been
forced to stop while fresh supplies were cut by the crew, The engines
had stopped each day at sundown, because it would have heen fool-
hardy to attempt to travel at night on a river hitherto unnavigated
by steamboats,

The voyage of the Vérginia was an important one, for it established
the practicability of navigating the upper Mississippi by steamboat.
Late in the summer of 1825 a second boat, the Rambler, made the
ascent to Fort Snelling. After the trip of the Virginia, the govern-

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 121

ment did not hesitate to use a quicker and more reliable way than
previously used of moving troops and supplies, With the advent of
steam navigation it became evident that the Mississippi provided the
‘most expeditious and natural outlet for the huge quantities of lead
that were just beginning to be produced and were soon to reach
mormous volumes, The river also was to become the main artery
along which the great waves of immigration moved steadily into the
upper Mississippi Valley. No other means of transportation was
capable of serving this region so well during the period before the
Civil War.

‘Three inter-related factors—the Indian, the fur trader, and the sol-
dier—were responsible for a steady growth of steamboating on the
upper Mississippi following the voyage of the Virginia, The Indian
played an important role; both directly and indirectly, in developing
steamboating. Thus, before the Civil War, steamboats carried the
fur companies’ goods upstream and returned with cargoes of furs and
pelts. The transportation of troops and supplies also resulted from
the presence of the Indian on the frontier. Steamboating was stimu-
lated directly by carrying delegations to treaty grounds, by the de-
livery of annuity goods as provided by these treaties, and by the
ultimate removal of whole tribes to new reservations. Each process
severed a link in the claim of the Indian to the lands of the upper
Mississippi Valley.

Steamboat captains were constantly on the alert to secure the con-
tract for transporting Indian delegations. Outbreaks between tribes
were frequent and the government often acted as arbitrator in settling
disputes and restoring peace. Indian agents were appointed to super-
vise and regulate the Indian trade, to settle disputes among the
various tribes and between the Indian and the white man, and finally
fo persuade the red man to cede his lands and move farther west-
ward, The activities of such agents as William Clark, Henry R.
Schoolcraft, Joseph M. Street, and Lawrence Taliaferro, may be meas-
ured by the score of treaties to which they affixed their signatures.

Prior to the Black Hawk War most of the councils in the upper

Valley were called at some point near a military post.
‘Fort Crawford and Fort Armstrong were favorite treaty grounds. Thus,
Sioux and Chippewa, Sauk and Fox, Menominee, Iowa, and Winnebago,
as well as a portion of the Ottawa and Potawatomi were assembled
at Prairie du Chien at the Great Council of 1825, Most of these

a

tribes reassembled at Fort Crawford in 1829 and again in 1830, The
whole tribe usually attended. Indians living near the treaty grounds:
came by canoe, on horseback, or on foot. The more distant tribes
were usually conveyed by steamboat. In 1830 the Planet |
delegation of three hundred Sauk, Fox, Iowa, and Oto,
a small deputation of Missouri Sioux and Winnebago to
Chien, The expense of transportation, the many and
tions delivered, and the danger from outbreaks by

corr daihi pep cepa
porting small delegations to Washington. It was also hoped
the Indian would be overawed by the prosperity and power of |
government. The profits of steamboat captains formed no

tion of the expenditures for such delegations. In 1837 the Rolla
ceived $1,450 or $55 per passage for the twenty-six Indians and
attendants for transportation and fare from St. Louis to Fort Snell-
ing. This sum was far in excess of the usual amount paid for such
a trip,

More prosaic but also more important was the transportation of
Indian annuities. Each year goods were despatched to the various
tribes along the upper Mississippi, but where the movement of dele-
gations and tribes required but one trip, the traffic in annuity goods
called for many voyages to the points designated in the treaty. These
annuities consisted of tobacco, powder, bar lead, Chinese vermilion,
verdigris, gun flints, shot guns, blankets, blue and red stroudings,
Selempores calico, thread, needles, brass kettles, garden hoes, fine
combs, box wood fire steels, scissors, butcher knives, looking glasses,
gartering, ribbon, finger rings, Madras handkerchiefs, shirts, arm bands,

ae

wrist bands, and other trinkets.
Large sums of money and goods were often granted in the treaties.
In 1851 the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux provided for the disburse-

to the upper Mississippi, but it was bustling St. Louis which claimed
the lion's share of the trade, Indeed, as early as 1829 Caleb Atwater

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 123

1853 the trade in goods purchased by the citizens of St. Paul and by
white settlers throughout the surrounding country amounted to $390,-
000. The government trade during the same year amounted to fully

$400,000.

Each flourishing community between St, Louis and St. Paul made
strong bids for a portion of this trade and often received a generous
share. For a long time Galena, Illinois, played a leading réle but in
the decade preceding the Civil War other river towns cut deeply
into her trade. In 1857 Davenport and the surrounding territory
in Towa furnished goods to the value of $28,000 for the Sioux of
the Minnesota River alone.

The delivery of annuity goods continued until such time as the
Indians agreed to remove to their new homes in the West. This was
the climax of a drama which held the center of the stage while the
pageant of westward expansion and settlement in the upper Missis-
sippi Valley was in progress. It occupied the four decades following
the trip of the Virginia in 1823. Rich profits were made whenever an
Indian tribe was removed by steamboat. Thousands of dollars were
expended in removing the Winnebago in 1848 and one newspaper
bitterly assailed Governor Alexander Ramsay for originally estimat-
ing the cost of transporting the Winnebago at $5,000 and then de-
$100,000,

But the removal of whole tribes docs not compare in importance
with the transportation of delegations or the delivery of annuities.
The three combined, however, were a constant source of profit to
steamboats. When the season was dull or competition keen, a tramp
voyage to Fort Snelling or the tributaries of the Mississippi always
brought with it a handsome return. Furthermore, captains became
familiar with the channel of the Mississippi and its tributaries, a
fact which was to stand them in good stead a little later. More

still, Indian commissioners and other witnesses wrote glow:
its of the rich lands of the upper Mississippi. These were
read by the discontented in the more settled areas of the
‘States and helped to turn the tide of immigration northward.
fur trader also furnished a lucrative steamboat traffic. Sup-
equipment for the traders and Indian goods formed the
‘upstream cargo and large quantities of furs and pelts were
downstream. Trading posts were planted at strategic points,
‘the confluence of a tributary stream with the Mississippi.

I

jee

*

Pi

ss

124 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Few places exhibited a greater activity than the region about the
Falls of St. Anthony. A steadily receding fur frontier is indicated
by the activity of steamboats, In 1828 there were 99 steamboat
arrivals at Galena while St. Paul bad 85 arrivals in 1849 and 104
the following year. In 1838 the soldiers at Fort Snelling were as-
tonished to see two steamboats lying below the fort but in 1857 a
fleet of 22 craft Iay moored at the St. Paul levee. In all 965 trips
were made by the 99 different steamboats which docked at St. Paul
that year.

Abundant information about steamboats is entombed in the cor
respondence between Hercules L. Dousman and Henry Hastings Sibley.
Franklin Steele, Joseph Laframboise, Martin McLeod, Alexis Bailly,
and Norman W. Kittson were important minor characters. Dousman,
Sibley, and Steele held interests in upper Mississippi craft.

St. Louis was the entrepdt for the fur trade on the upper Mis-
sissippi as well as on the Missouri. “The American Fur Company,”
Caleb Atwater noted in 1829, “have here a large establishment and the
furs, skins and peltry which are brought down the Mississippi and
Missouri rivers cannot amount to less than one million dollars an-
nually,” Not all the furs from the upper Mississippi came to St,
Louis, however, for the trading posts above Prairie du Chien forwarded
most of their goods by way of the Wisconsin-Fox rivers and Green
Bay route. But in 1835 Dousman informed Ramsay Crooks that
it was almost impossible to ship pelts by way of Green Bay because
of the damage to the furs. No immediate action was taken on Dous-
man’s proposal but the subject was revived each year and gradually
more and more goods were shipped downstream by steamboat.

Before 1850 the cost of transportation was generally greater be-
tween Galena and Fort Snelling than a decade later from St. Louis
to St. Paul. Despite these exorbitant prices upper Mississippi steam-
boats did not always reap rich profits and in 1844 the Lynx netted
only $161.04 for the season after deducting losses sustained by injury
to the boat, The following year, however, the Lynx made $11,194.73
and had a considerable amount still due her from tardy shippers.
‘This was probably nearer the average yearly earnings.

A unique steamboat traffic arose from the planting of the Selkirk
Colony on the Red River of the North. Even before the arrival of
the Virginia the importance of the Mississippi as a highway to the
outside world was recognized by the isolated Selkirk settlement. The

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 125

advent of the steamboat on the upper Mississippi was naturally hailed
with delight. Fort Snelling and later St. Paul became the entrepot
for a rich trade. Heavily loaded with the spoils of the chase, long
caravans of ox carts jolted southward each spring to the head of
navigation, there to await the arrival of their supplies on steamboats,
St. Louis, Galena, and Dubuque were important centers for this
trade but after 1850 St. Paul sought a complete monopoly, Steam-
boats continued to transport such goods after the Civil War for as
late a5 1866 the shipment of 1,600 packages of goods to the Red
River Colony was noted in a Dubuque newspaper.

‘The fur trade on the upper Mississippi was important because
it offered a supplementary cargo to the stores and troops shipped
by the government to the Indians of that region. The financial
encouragement of the American Fur Company was also significant
for neither the Indian nor the soldier had capital invested in steam-
boats. Immigrants were likewise attracted to the region with the
increased knowledge from frequent steamboat voyages on the fur
trading frontier.

‘The presence of troops gave steamboating its initial impetus for
both the Virginia and the Rambler had carried public stores to Fort
Snelling in 1823. Approximately four decaces intervened between
the building of Fort Edwards in Mlinols and Fort Ridgely on the
‘Minnesota River. This steadily receding military frontier prompted
more frequent and distant steamboat voyages.

Prior to 1823 keel boats were employed in carrying troops and
supplies to the newly erected posts. ‘Transportation by keels was
slow, uncertain, and expensive, and the risk infinitely greater. In
1819 three cents per pound was charged for taking goods from Belle-
fontaine near the mouth of the Missouri River to Fort Crawford.

Steamboats enjoyed several ways of reaping profits. Scientific and
exploring expeditions were generally dependent on them for trans-
portation of equipment and supplies. Tours of inspection of the
imilitary posts occurred almost yearly. Moreover, troops assisted in
conducting Indians to their new homes or to treaty grounds, thereby
fattening the pocketbook of steamboat captains and owners. But
more important than these was the transportation of troops during
times of war, the yearly movement of troops from post to post dur-
‘ing times of peace, and the hauling of supplies and equipment.

It would be as difficult to estimate the extent of the trade for which

be

126 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the presence of she flay es ICI SO Ra
be to overestimate the importance of the trade itself. the

ditional $500,000 was probable netted during the Black Hawk, |
Mexican, and the Civil War, For transporting scientific expeditions,
assisting in engineering projects, and conveying United States Army
officers on tours of inspection of the military posts steamboats prob-
ably earned an additional $750,000 before the Civil War, The com-
merce arising from the military frontier before the close of the Civil
War, therefore, must have yielded upper Mississippi steamboats almost
$3,000,000. While the trade with the Indian and the fur trader did
not equal this steady traffic in military forces and supplies, the three
combined were significant factors in stimulating steamboating far be-
yond the fringe of settlement.

‘The shipment of lead was the most important factor during the
quarter century ending in 1848 in developing steamboating on the
upper Mississpipi. This valuable mineral was found in abundance
in northwestern Illinois, southwestern Wisconsin, and in that portion
of eastern Iowa immediately adjoining the first two states, More
precisely, it was found in what are now Jo Daviess and Carroll coun-
tics, Tlinois; Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties, Wisconsin; and
Dubuque County, Iowa.

The movement to the lead mines about Galena had begun as early
us 1819, and a government agent was soon appointed to supervise
the district. This was the signal for a slow but steady influx of
squatters from Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and southern Mlinois.
On July 1, 1825, there were 100 miners at the Fever River lead
mines. On August 21, 1826, there were 453 with the number stead-
ily increasing. The population of Galena alone, in 1830, was almost
1,000, while that of the surrounding lead district was about 10,000.

Galena, the metropolis and entrepSt for this region, was situated
on the west bank of the Fever River, about seven miles from its
mouth. It was 425 miles from St. Louis, 175 miles from
and almost 400 miles from Green Bay. Dubuque, Potosi, and Cass
ville vied with Galena because of their favorable location on the

Ls a4

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 127

Mississippi, but the latter remained supreme throughout this period.
Dodgeville, Lancaster, Platteville, Shullsburg, Mineral Point, and New
Diggings were some of the more important inland towns,

‘The history of lead mining from 1823 to 1848 divides itself into
three distinct stages. The period from 1823 to 1829 is one of be-
gimnings in which the whole mineral region witnessed a rapid and
steady growth both in population and production. In 1824, there were
175,220 pounds of lead taken from the mines. By 1829 this amount
had increased to 13,994,432 pounds. A period of decline is noted
from 1829 to 1835. The years 1835 to 1848 may be termed the
stage of greatest activity when the annual production rose from 1t,-
000,000 pounds to 55,000,000. In a quarter of a century, approximately

Prior to 1827 scarcely a dozen different steamboats frequented the
waters of the upper Mississippi, but none engaged solely in the lead
traffic. In the spring of 1827 a wild stampede for the Fever River
lead mines began, and by the close of navigation almost 7,000,000
lead were mined and transported downstream. Twelve
had plied fairly regularly in the lead trade that year.
From 1823 to 1829 inclusive, about 300 trips were made by steam-
boats to the upper Mississippi. Approximately 35 different steam-
boats made about 580 trips during this period. From 1823 to 1834

Over 95 per cent of the lead shipped eastward during the period
‘from 1823 to 1848 made its way down the Mississippi River to New
‘Orleans and thence by ocean to the eastern markets, Notwithstanding
ila shariereeradiagminY the obstructions and

v which confronted the steamboat, and the comparatively short

ee

128 IOWA STUDIES IN; THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

season for transportation, the Mississippi offered alaska
and the best facilities for transporting the orntaci ea

‘The influence of the lead mines upon the development of steam-
boating on the upper Mississippi in the first quarter of a century
of navigation on the river is apparent. First, it encouraged the
immigration of thousands of adventurous settlers. Most of these came
up the Mississippi from St. Louis to a point far in advance of the
frontier line and thereby caused it to be extended. Secondly, the
influx made necessary an ever-increasing supply of importations to
a region which, for a large part of the period under survey, was not
self-sufficient, Thirdly, it created an article for exportation which
gave to the steamboat owners approximately two-fifths of the total
revenue from upstream trade, Finally, the large number of steam-
boats required on the upper Mississippi prepared them for an even
more lucrative traffic than that of lead transportation, Steady waves
of immigrants poured into the region after the creation of the Ter-
ritory of Minnesota, These required commodities for consumption.
And vast quantities of agricultural products found their way to mar-
ket down the broad highway of the Mississippi. Had the steamboat
failed to establish itself as the dominant factor in this transportation
and in communication with the upper Mississippi, the construction
of railroads might have taken place a decade earlier and a picturesque
phase of upper Mississippi Valley life would have been lost to pos-
terity. After 1848, the steamhoat was so strongly intrenched in the
economic life of the region that it was able to wage a thrilling, albeit
a losing, battle against the railroad.

‘Transportation of immigrants on upper Mississippi steamboats be-
ginning with the voyage of the Virginia reached its heyday in the
two decades following the creation of the Territory of Minnesota in
1849. Before 1850 the majority of those who settled along the
river in Tllinois, Missouri, and Towa, came from Indiana, Ohio, Ken-
tucky, and Tennessee, although the Atlantic and Gulf states were
well represented. Only one-eighth of the population of Missouri,
Tilinois, and Towa was foreign born in 1850, the remainder being almost
equally divided between those born within the borders of these states
and migrants from other states. The growth in population of the
counties adjoining the Mississippi between St, Louis and St, Paul
presents in miniature the astonishing development of the entire up-
per Mississippi Valley. :

—— =

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 129

Immigrants came overland by covered wagon, by Great Lakes
craft, and by steamboats from the Ohio and lower Mississippi rivers.
Only six thousand miles of railroads had been constructed in the
United States by 1848 and through service to Illinois was not possible
for several years. The steamboat was the quickest, the cheapest, and
the most reliable means of travel for prospective immigrants.

‘St. Louis was the point of departure for upstream craft and was
surpassed only by New York and New Orleans in enrolled tonnage.
New York enrolled 101,484 tons, New Orleans 57,174 tons, and St.
Louis 48,557 tons of which about one-seventh was engaged in trans-
porting immigrants to the upper Mississippi. Immigration was the
principal factor in increasing the number of steamboat arrivals at
St. Louls from the upper Mississippi from 697 in 1848 to 1,524 in
1860. Measured by steamboat arrivals, the activity of upper Missis-
sippt craft in 1860 almost equalled that of the lower Mississippi,
Missouri, Mlinois, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Arkansas rivers
combined. Two years before, in 1858, St. Paul registered 1,068
arrivals at her bustling wharves. The aggregate tonnage of the 63
boats which docked at St. Paul that year was 12,703 or about one-
half the enrolled tonnage of Philadelphia. St, Louis and the Ohio
River towns employed 7,065 tons in the St. Paul trade, Galena,

and Dunleith 3,141 tons, Prairie du Chien 977 tons, the
Minnesota River 1,254 tons, and two craft totalling 266 tons hailed
from no particular port. Immigration was the life of the St. Louis
and St. Paul trade between 1850 and 1870.

But not all the tonnage employed on the upper Mississippi came

where the Lower Rapids presented a physical barrier to
- The second extended 225 miles upstream to the lead
where a human clement in the form of a dense population
steam craft, The third and longest section embraced the 275
m the lead mines and the Falls of St. Anthony, Along
trough, thousands of immigrants were carried by steam-

od of fifty years, In 1854 Thurlow Weed of the
found the St, Louis levee lined for more than a mile
which gave a highly commercial aspect to the city.

130 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Situated at the other end, St. Pual presented the same activity when
more than a score of boats flanked its levee in May of 1857.

Prior to 1850 the freight receipts from the lead traffic had ew
ceeded those from any other single steamboat cargo. ‘The creation
of the Territory of Minnesota in 1849 had opened up the whole
upper Mississippi Valley to settlement. During the late forties the
famines in Ireland and the revolutions on the continent were re
sponsible for a tremendous influx of immigrants. While it would
be difficult to set a definite date at which to say that passenger re
ceipts became greater than those on freight, the turn of the half
century seems to mark the transition, By 1857 the difference had
become so great that the balance sheet of the steamboat Milwawkee
showed the sum of $53,939.65 from passengers while freight receipts
totalled only $22,809.66,

The influx of immigrants gave captains and owners their richest
profits during the prosperous days of upper Mississippi steamboating.
In diverting immigrants northward, steamboats shaped the political,
economic, social, and religious structure of the upper Mississippi Val-
ley. Thousands of immigrants, both native and foreign, were led
to the land of Canaan by letters from those who had gone before
and were delighted with the facility of transportation as well as the
soil and climate. Accordingly, each steamboat bequeathed its farm-
ers, landseekers, tradesmen, soldiers, and others who helped to settle
the upper Mississippi Valley.

Not only was the traffic in immigrants heavy but a considerable
revenue accrued each year from the tens of thousands of excursion-
ists who visited the historic shrines and beauty spots of the West.
Prior to the Civil War no excursion was so popular as that which
George Catlin designated in 1835 as the ::Fashionable Tour,” a steam-
boat trip to the Falls of St. Anthony. By 1837 this trade had reached
such proportions that steamboat captains advertised trips in the vari-
cous river towns throughout the summer months. The decade of
the Fabulous Forties witnessed many excursions from the thriving
cities of the Ohio and lower Mississippi as far distant as Pittsburgh
and New Orleans. Realizing that tourists would patronize only those
boats which offered the best facilities, steamboat captains were quick
to introduce the latest in accommodations, River craft soon were
in a position to offer satisfactory accommodations to the most fas-
tidious. In 1854 the Minnesota Packet Company carried the twelve

pit 3

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 131

hundred notable guests of the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad on
an excursion to the Falls of St. Anthony. Throughout the excursion
‘the press of the nation was filled with glowing accounts of the beauty
of the scenery and the fertility of the upper Mississippi Valley.
Probably no other single factor was so important in popularizing the
Fashionable Tour with Easterners as this Grand Excursion,

* * + *

A wealth of unpublished material was consulted in the compilation
and writing of this dissertation, Particularly fruitful were the rich
manuscripts contained in the Minnesota Historical Library at Saint
Paul. The Taliaferro Journal, 1820-1840, recorded the arrival of
boats and captains, the cargoes carried, the stage of the water, and
innumerable miscellaneous items. Letters of Hercules L. Dousman
and Henry Sibley form a large portion of the Sibley Papers extending
over a period of thirty-five years beginning with 1815. The Dousman
Papers and the Dousman Photostats contain some of the richest mate-
rial extant on upper Mississippi steamboating. They consist chiefly
‘of itemized accounts of earnings of corporations and boats, ownership
of shares, original cost of boats, itemized operating expenses, and
expenditures in offices and warehouses prior to 1868. The Connolly
Collection, Franklin Steele Papers, and J, H. Stevens Papers, were
lesser but valuable sources.

The rich collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society were con-
sulted. Of these mention should be made of the Merrick Papers,
The writer has in his possession such manuscripts as the Killeen
Papers, the Wellington Papers, and the Jim Manuscript. He also has

numerous bills of lading, diaries, and journals. Thus, a
Lead Book (1828-1830), is a priceless portion of this collection. The
manuscripts and printed material of the Chicago Historical Library,
the Newberry Library, and the John Crerar Library of Chicago were
also consulted. Weeks were spent at the Jefferson Memorial Library
and the Mercantile Library at St. Louis.

‘A hitherto unworked source of information was uncarthed in the
various offices of the United States Steamboat Inspectors at Pitts-
burgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, and Dubuque. The United
States Engineers Office at Rock Island and St. Louis also contain
material relating to the later decades of steamboating. Invaluable
material as yet not consulted by the researcher is found in the Col-
lector of Customs Offices at Dubuque, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pitts-

lade

132 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

burgh. The enrollment of vessels at these places gives the name of
the vessel, date of enrollment, captains and owners, exact measure-
‘ments, and descriptions of the craft. Significant conclusions may be
drawn from these manuscripts.

The published documents consulted include the American State
Papers, Senate and House, and Executive Documents, Annual Reports
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Proceedings of the Board oj
Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels, United States Engineers Re-
ports to the War Department, and similar sources. Diaries, letters,
gazettecrs, books of travel, and contemporary sources of like nature
have greatly enriched the economic background of the picture, The
names of C. C, Andrews, Caleb Atwater, Robert Baird, Giacomo Belt-
rami, Morris Birkbeck, Harriet Bishop, Fredrika Bremer, and George
Catlin are examples of contemporary writers consulted.

No source was more fruitful than the newspapers. Materials gleaned
from the files of periodicals as far distant as New York and St.
Paul, Pittsburgh, and St, Louis, form an important part of the struc-
ture around which the dissertation is built. Approximately one bun-
dred years of the files of the Missouri Republican, the Galena Gazette,
the Miner's Express, Iowa News, and Telegraph-Herald of Dubuque,
and the Minnesota Pioneer and Minnesota Democrat were used. The
files of the Chicago, Cincinnati, Iowa City, Keokuk, Muscatine, Bur-
lington, and Davenport papers together with those of such Minnesota
cities as Red Wing, Wabasha, Lake City, and Winona were consulted.
Wiles’ Weekly Register, The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial
Review, the American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge,
the Army and Navy Chronicle, and the Waterways Journal contained
important materials on steamboating.

Valuable light came also from the publications of the various
state and private historical societies. Particularly important are the
Minnesota Historical Collections and Minnesota History, the Wisconsin
Historical Collections and Wisconsin Magazine of History, the three
series of the Annals of lowa, the lowa Historical Record, The lowe
Journal of History and Politics, and The Palimpsest; the Missouri
Historical Collections and the Missouri Historical Review, the Pro-
ceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association and the Mis-
sissippi Valley Historical Review, The books consulted on steam-
boating, transportation, immigration, and the economic development
of the upper Mississippi Valley form another part of the bibliography.

WILLIAM BOYD ALLISON*

By Vernom Cooper

William Boyd Allison was born near Ashland, Ohio, March 2, 1829,
of Scotch-Irish stock, His grandfather and father lived to advanced
‘ages and seem to have had considerable physical vigor. Allison him-
self enjoyed good health and a long life. He served in Congress
a little more than forty-three years, His name is attached to few
important measures, though he had a fair share in legislation ranging
from fiscal reforms fathered by David A. Wells to the railroad legis-
Istion which Theodore Roosevelt. complacently regarded as a solid
achievement of his administration.

Allison could not, like Joseph H. Choate, boast that his educa-
tion began one hundred years before his birth. He attended a rural
school; he went to a neighboring academy; he spent a year in the
more distant academy of Allegheny College; and a year in Western
Reserve College completed his formal education. Making no allow-
ance for the possible diligence of an aspiring country lad, one may
evaluate his schooling as equal to graduation from high school. His
intellectual range was severely limited. His correspondence and
‘Speeches betray no curiosity about science. He did buy in 1865
Lyell’s The Geographical Evidences of the Antiquity of Man; he
died in 1908 without having cut its pages. He rarely had recourse to
the literary allusions so dear to those scholars in politics, Roosevelt
and Henry Cabot Lodge.

‘He taught two years in rural schools, and he read law while copy-
in the county clerk's office. He married and began the
law in his native county. He spent too little time at
m a learned lawyer. He did not often venture to
discuss in Congress and still less before his constituents questions of

‘apprenticéship in local and state conventions which nominated

—_—
‘From a dissertation directed by Profesor Louis Pelzer
a pte

=

134 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Salmon P. Chase for governor. He actively supported John C. Fre
mont for President.

He located in Dubuque in 1837. He was at the beginning of

and

ments and then retired from the army to enter politics.
from 1863 to 1871 a member of the House of Representatives.
supported the proposal of confiscating all the property of rebels
violently attacked Andrew Johnson, and ably opposed the protective
measures of his party in the late sixties. Acquisition of stock of an
Towa railroad which needed extension of time on land grants, a
furtive connection with one of the earlier whisky frauds, acceptance
of Credit Mobilier stock, and promotion of local enterprises “to
boom" Dubuque marked a man whose scruples did not separate him
from the prevailing taste of the time. It is certain that patronage
was the decisive means by which he controlled the conventions, coun-
ty and district, which gave him his third and fourth nominations for
the Lower House. Though the Credit Mobilier tempest for a time
threatened his career, he derived from these connections ane Im-
mense advantage: he had become what Hilaire Belloc calls “one of
us,” that is, he was admitted into the freemasonry of the privileged
circles, experienced and to a degree calloused. It was the support
of the railroads and office-holders that enabled him to muster in the
first effort an impressive strength and in the second a majority for
the United States Senate. The vested interests counted on his never
leading forlorn charges, He seems to have learned that political wis-
dom consisted in never flouting the public nor in being prompted
by its vagaries into attacking the railroads, the spoilsmen, and those
Pennsylvania interests which contributed funds to the lowa Repub-
licans.

Allison's remaining career can be summarized by appraising his
mental furniture, by explaining the acknowledged and hidden sources
of his political strength, by discovering the currents upon which he
drifted or the winds into which he tacked, and by analyzing the per-
sonal traits and bonds of interest which excited and held loyalties.
It should be added here that seniority gave him important committee
appointments, and that, when he was privileged to choose the chair-
manship cither of the Finance Committee or of the Committee on
Appropriations, he took the latter. He acquired a great deal of de-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 18S

tailed information about political and governmental functions. He
made frequent suggestions concerning technical points, mainly of an
administrative nature, in a wide variety of legislation. For example,
he watched for repetitions and contradictions in tax bills through four
decades; he introduced and secured the passage of a bill revising the
customs service; his suggestions of detailed improvements of the
Civil Service Act were accepted by the reformers; and banking meas-
ures frequently received minor improvements from his practiced hand.
‘The amount of such labor tossed off by him even in old age amazed
younger men. It was generally done without pretension, save it was
oceasionally played up in Iowa to represent him a great man at
Wi 4

Tn one field of public affairs, finance, he was reputed to have
studied seriously, and here his admirers claimed for him considerable
technical knowledge and comprehensive views. In the sixties he
seems to have been influenced by such men as David A. Wells and
Horace White, and he acquired exact information in the laboratory
of the Committee on Ways and Means. Political expediency dic-
tated moderate tariff views after the early seventies, which left him
no great authority on either side. His own party used him to conceal
its true character as the popular current mounted against protection
only to thrust him aside after the victories of 1888 and 1896. He
groped for some feature of elasticity in the national banking system;
but public apathy, opposition, an incurable optimism, or instinctive
caution silenced him; and the financial disorders of Roosevelt's second
administration awakened an interest dormant for twenty-five years,

Allison shared with Coin Harvey and J. Laurence Laughlin an
interest in silver. He understood and always kept as a point of
reference that the establishment of a legal ratio of silver and gold
which overvalued the former would drive the latter from the country,
‘That is no very impressive title to distinction for one who long sup-
ported a policy of circulating silver certificates, in practice, redeem-
able in gold. Nor did his veiled references to the “crime of '73,"
without exactly subscribing to that indictment, allay the suspicion of
‘voters unschooled in money questions. It is one of the amusing tums
‘of history that, when his party was driven to defend the gold stand-
ard, he Inbored desperately to teach his constituents sound and re-
‘spectable views which he bad studiously avoided in previous years,
‘The storm from the Platte startled him, and shaken out of his fecling

~~

136 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of calm, he ominously and solemnly warned the public of the dangers
of remonetizing silver. One of his most intimate friends claimed
that the Allison pre-convention campaign in 1896 was pressed to
compel McKinley to accept sound monetary views. The secret, how-
ever, was so well kept that even the “gold bugs” failed to understand
the game and ungratefully withheld their affection and confidence.

The mildest thing that can be said is that Allison seems not to
have understood the dangers of the silver question until the catas-
trophe was upon him, or that he lacked courage to try to warm
his constituents beforehand, even on the eve of the storm.

His intellectual temper betrayed no bitterness after the trying days
of Iowa “copperheads” and President Johnson. His partisanship was
kept within the decent limit of congratulating the people for wisely
ordering their destiny by Republican victories or of showing them
how obvious and remediable were their errors. If the Democrats
should be driven out. lost opportunities could be retrieved. He had
a great deal to say in the way of flattering his constituents on the
increase of wealth, but he was silent about its distribution. Nor did
he raise disturbing questions about the incidence of taxation. He
aggressively defended resumption after it had become a law, though
he had opposed the heroic program of deflation proposed by Hugh
McCulloch. So far as appearances go he became the most powerful
figure in Iowa in molding public opinion on questions of finance.
But he did not lead. Rather he followed untutored opinion. He
never got beyond cautious schemes of inflation, which caused him
anxieties in 1896.

He made late in life one curious pretension to intellectual leader-
ship. In his last campaign he suggested to his friends that the
measures fixing the national policy in insular affairs had almost all
come before the Senate Committee on Appropriations and that he
had largely determined them. The public never suspected this at
the time nor has any historian since discovered it. His correspond-
ence reveals no interest in the issue at the time. It was an un-
founded boast quite contrary to his usually unpretentious character.

Though Allison’s speeches seem dull, they show a practical intelli-
gence. Towans were obsessed, save during occasional fits of mis-
givings, by the belief that they would hasten the material development
of the state by granting privileges to railroads. The obvious and
superficial facts justified that conviction, if one did not trouble him-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 437

self to inquire whether those terms yielded the largest product of
public welfare multiplied by private gain. Connected with this ques-
tion, o important at a time when the exploitation of an undeveloped
region was undertaken with the new technology, was the use of
patronage to establish political control and to influence public opinion.
Exact ledgers were not kept to enable historians confidently to bal-
ance accounts, but there is no reason to suppose that Allison was
over-serupulous in political appointments. A state convention con-
trolled by him and his friends condemned the efforts of President
Rutherford B. Hayes to check the spoilsmen. A Dubuque paper
devoted to his interests not only criticized civil service reform but
tashly committed itself to the principle succinctly stated by William
LL. Marcy.

‘This game had to be played with skill and a due regard for the
proprieties of popular control of affairs. Tt required lip service to
the Granger doctrines and ideals; but those very Granger leaders,
“old seeds,” who preferred to “reign in hell than serve in heaven,”
were secretly thwarted in their efforts to abolish the plums that
sustained the Allison “gang.” Skilled and adept hands, too, com-
bined various bills to regulate the railroads into one less offensive
measure. This triumph was promptly reported by a trusted friend
to Allison in Washington. ‘The loyalty of the latter to the Lowa

Y espousal of the Grangers can be further gauged by his
borrowings from railroads like the Illinois Central and the Chicago,
Burlington and Quincy. He and his disciplined band defeated James
B. Weaver in 1875 for the Republican nomination for governor by
conscripting the war governor of Towa, Samuel J. Kirkwood—a magic
name in that State. Then, while Allison pretended to be neutral
In the senatorial contest, his friends supported Kirkwood against
James Harlan, all the time keeping their leader advised. Their suc-
cess in this campaign excited their pride; they boasted among them-
selves that the sceptre of political power had passed to them. The
correspondence shows only one obstacle to Allison's election to &
second term; George W. McCrary from the southern part of the
slate seemed a possible candidate who could unite all opposing fac-
tions. By good management or luck—the record is incomplete—or
certainly by conscious effort, McCrary was provided with a berth
in the cabinet of President Hayes. Allison was revlected without
difficulty.

‘The next twelve years (1878-1890)
One of his henchmen, experienced
showed an understanding of the

rather the mild and conciliatory
Republican party. One rule he seems
reward open opposition, He willingly
rivals. He yielded a great deal to some,
eye on the main chance—his seat in the Senate.
pear to have been jealous of ability so long as it
too much his political control.

Since Allison was not a compelling
ton, an examination of his management of
ably be more instructive than following his career in»
But national and Iowa politics intertwine and the true explanation
of some curiosities of cabinet-making lies in Towa.
presented stubborn difficulties, Mutiny threatened the s
chine.” John H. Gear, who had reached the Governor's :
Allison's help, was preparing to dispute Kirkwood’s reélection,

i

have, of course, washed his hands of the Towa factional fight
cepting promotion to that office. But there were certain hazards
of policy, of Eastern suspicion of his views on money, of as
well as the ill health of his wife, which deterred him. There were
other decisive reasons; he loved the Senate; his “machine” was’
threatened, and pride would prompt him to save it. He had with
others signed a statement recommending the appointment of James
Wilson as Secretary of the Treasury. The correspondence shows that
this was done not without consideration of policy and that prudence
required convincing evidence of loyalty to Wilson, Allison was also:
importunate for the appointment of Kirkwood as Secretary of |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 139

toad support was divided. A bitter campaign resulted in another
triumph for the Allison faction. Gear retired to private life till pen-
ance and the intercession of the President of the Burlington Rail-
| road persuaded his former enemies to allow him to enter the Lower
House and finally to succeed Wilson upon the latter’s retirement,

‘That a proper regard for the prerogatives of Allison as the leader
of the Iowa Republicans was the open sesame to promotion and
even to continued tenure is shown by the fortune and grief which
came to various lieutenants or rivals besides Gear. John A. Kasson
was taught a lesson; and after he had learned it, he was treated
with consideration and given foreign appointments, Intractable mem-
bers of Congress from Allison's home district were sunk without trace,
David B. Henderson profited by their mistakes. ‘The rile of a satellite
to the movements of the Dubuque “boss” gave him a long tenure in
Congress and finally the speakership. William Larrabee followed Alli-
son's adyice and gracefully deferred his ambitions to the nomination of
Buren R. Sherman for the governorship, and then he became governar
in his turn. Since Larrabee was suspected of great designs, Henderson
obtained from him a promise never to aspire to the United States Sen-
ate. Personal ambition or devotion to the popular cause against the
railroads caused him to challenge Allison. He too was sunk, but
vast concentric waves marked his disappearance.

Allison's victory over Larrabee in 1890 broke a long legislative
deadlock. The evidence justifies the conclusion that he relied upon
Democratic members devoted to the railroads to elect him, should he
have failed to wear out the opposition in his party. When Gear died
Governor Leslie M. Shaw had the members of the legislature canvassed
for their preference. If a majority of the Republican caucus should
support Jonathan P. Dolliver they might perform their constitutional
function of electing him in special session. If not the Governor
promised to appoint him. Dolliver had begun his career by asking
Allison's permission to run for Congress.

But it was difficult to distribute the political plums, whether elective
or appointive, with satisfaction to all. Allison's later years were
troubled by another revolt, Albert B. Cummins, frankly wet, vigor-
ous and eloquent, had become exasperated at Allison’s equivocation
on prohibition and the tardy recognition of his talent. He took ad-
vantage of a growing suspicion in Towa that vested interests were
too tenderly treated, and was in 1901 elected Governor over Allison's

es

opposition. There followed a few years u
ters as delegates to the national convention and of
publican creed. Allison was inclined to coneiliate and to restrain
chafing railroad lawyers. They wanted to crush this new rival who
unbecomingly argued his case before the people, Finally, Cummins
broke # pledge not to dispute Allison’s reélection, The esprit de corp
of a “machine” long triumphant and disciplined, the money necessary
for an organization which reached into every community of the state,
and the prestige of « national reputation somewhat inflated for the
campaign, determined the outcome in Towa’s first senatorial primary.
Allison whose physical condition had been concealed from the public
died a few weeks after his last victory.

It appears then that skill in adjusting political rivalries in 2 con-
ciliatory spirit was one of the chief causes of his constant success.
His attention to the exacting details of politics commanded the re
spect of a lieutenant who sought the explanation in his philosophy
or in his tough hide. He relied upon the strong bonds of privilege,
whether of spoils of office or of economic advantages, to stimulate
loyalty. These explain his success, and the result in Towa determined
hig career in national politics. He also had the wisdom of knowing
what was obtainable, The allurements of a cabinet post never turned
him from preoccupation with Towa politics. The seductive beckon-
ings of the presidency never caused him to venture too much. Thomas
C. Platt and Matthew S. Quay decided during the convention in
1888 to nominate him, but Chauncey M. Depew, who confused Lar-
rabee's hostility to the railroads with Allison's policy, wrecked the
agreement, In 1895 Allison declared that the vexations and disap-
polntments of those who had aspired to the presidency but failed to
attain it and even of those who had won it taught detachment and
indifference. Devoted friends, however, resolved to further his can-
didacy not without the prospect of powerful journalistic support and
the good will of anticipated favorite-son delegations. The persuasive
resources of Mark Hanna caused the desertion of newspapers and
partially pledged delegates. Those realists in Iowa politics were
amazed at the vulgar realities of national politics,

Allison's views on public questions were not exactly rigid. In his
early years in the House, he showed a zeal for a custom-house in
Dubuque, canals, railroads subsidized by grants of public land, a
high tariff required for revenue, and the Wade-Davis Bill. Support

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 14

‘of these measures required neither originality nor courage. As pub-
lic opinion became more exasperated by President Johnson and the
South, Allison’s temperature rose, His candidly expressed favor for
the railroads was not restated after he was caught with Credit Mobilier
‘stock which was to have been paid for out of dividends. Protection
‘caused some uneasiness among agrarian Republicans, Allison and his
colleague, Kasson, resisted extreme protective rates which weighed
unequally upon their section. Kasson's leniency toward the South
Fesulted in his defeat. by one regarded as a better patriot.

But Allison remained longer and waged the most splendid fight
of his whole life—a struggle cited in after years by protectionists
to embarrass him and by free traders to enlist him in the cause of
moderation. For example, when the Wilson Bill was before the
Senate, Edward Atkinson appealed to him to return to his early
views and lead, if need be, dissatisfied Republicans in revolt. The
term, “most splendid fight,” is used only in comment on courage,
on an argument ably sustained, and on an understanding of perils
abead. His speech on the tariff question, delivered in 1870 in Con-
gress, is distinguished by an amount of exact information, hy a bal-
anced consideration of the varied interests of the country, and by a
Jack of vagueness which marks his speeches in later life, But his
caution reasserted itscli, and a few months later he was assuring
Town Republicans of his orthodoxy in terms which would have satis-
fied a Pennsylvania protectionist. Such caution was a part of the

‘The tariff question, so sensitive to changing technology, so pro-
vocative of sectional rivalries, was never solved by a happy and per-
manent compromise among the interests and passions of politics, As
the surplus in the Treasury mounted in the early eighties and re-
newed resentment spread throughout the country, Allison began to
colleagues for those moderate reductions calculated
impending popular wrath, He asserted that he knew
well the kind of tariff act he wanted and that the subter-
creating a tariff commission, which cleverly promised delays,
the dictates of prudence, not to say his urgent convictions,
to a reduction of the excises, which gave the protec-
advantage. Though he took little part in the debates
bill of 1883, he did oppose the rates on steel, sugar,
| wool. This bill, which he probably disapproved, he defended

le

ThE
Fis
ane

ey

Se |

182 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

with the tricks of partisan oratory in the Iowa campaign of 1883,
And the man who in 1870 had declared the tariff of 1846 the most
perfect in the history of “the ‘conmbry s KesetReat eee Soe eaeas
of the principles of the Revolutionary fathers.

Allison's somewhat moderate views on the tariff qualified him for
useful party service in 1888. He reported out of the Finance Com-
mittee the Senate substitute for the Mills Bill. Though its rates
may properly be called vicious, and though he treated with prote>
tionists who were sending money to the doubtful State of Towa,
his leadership was designed to reassure the public of the self-restraint
of chastened Republicans. In the excesses of 1890 he was brushed
aside,

Since Allison had a sentimental attachment for silver, he found
himself after 1893 in a position embarrassing to a gentleman of in-
tellectual integrity. His devotion to silver was stronger than his
convictions on the tariff. He attributed the disaster of that year
to the very prospect of awkward Democratic revision of the tariff.
‘This course gave McKinley, who was a more consistent protectionist,
an advantage in the presidential campaign of 1896. Within a month
after the election of that year, Allison gave out an interview oppos-
ing any considerable increase of duties. He mildly opposed the
Dingley Bill in committee, but he later praised it for restoring pros-
perity.

His course on the tariff question during the first decade of the
century was so true to form, so inconsistent, and so inconsequential
except to aid his reélection as Senator, that the pertinent details should
be sketched. One complicating factor intruded itself. The Towa
Republican convention of 1901 declared in a plank, about which he
was certainly consulted, for a “modification of the tariff schedules
that may be required to prevent their affording shelter to the monop-
oly.” The next year he proposed a substantial repetition of this
platform with a commitment to protection, At a White House con-
ference he voted with the minority to take up the question of tariff
revision. Yet he thought it unwise in 1905 to put iron and steel
on the free list. The rivalry between him and Cummins seems
to have caused him to rely more heavily upon the “standpat” ele-
ment. The diluted tariff plank in 1906 presaged his advice the fol-
lowing year not to reyise the tariff during a presidential campaign,

A > ad

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 143

for it “should be revised as a business proposition”—a phrase which
has more than once disguised the wolf.

Nor did Allison assert a vigorous leadership in the silver con-
troversy. The compromise measure which he reported to the Senate
as a substitute for the Bland Bill did not solve the problem caused
by the appreciation of gold. He afterwards refused to acknowledge
the defects of that act which Presidents Arthur and Cleveland both
condemned. Indeed, he defended it with a touch of paternal pride
in spite of the fact that George F, Edmunds treated him with that
superior scorn usually shown by the advocates of “sound money”
towards the silverites. While the Bland-Allison Act was in operation
and under criticism, he sometimes blamed Democrats for proposing
the free coinage of silver, for urging the repeal of the Bland-Allison
Act, and for buying only the minimum required by law. His meas-
ure, he felt, was the wise and happy mean, and he was annoyed
that his “western friends” failed “to appreciate the distinguished serv-
ice I did there,” for “that saved the country.”

He assured his constituents in 1885 that silver was not a redundant
specie and would not drive gold from the country, so happily was he
unaware of the impending caprices of gold within the next ten years.
He preferred that silver bullion purchased by the Treasury Depart-
ment be coined rather than kept as a basis for silver certificates, But
since public opinion seemed to require the certificates, he yielded on
that point and defended it as a Republican policy. He thought that
there was some peculiar virtue in the Republicans’ providing a home
market for the larger portion of silver produced in this country.
‘Though he always held that bimetalism could be established only by
international agreement, he did not aggressively lead public, opinion
in that direction, His vague reference to the “crime of °73” and his
accusing the government of the United States of bad faith for failure
to secure an international agreement remonetizing silver hardly in-
‘creased the wisdom of the public. His own efforts at the Brussels
Silver Conference were fruitless. He had no specific instructions,
and his leadership of the American delegation was timid. He did
not call his colleagues together before the opening of the Confer-
ence. Yet his labored apology in the Senate betrayed little embar-
rassment and no humor.

_ Allison's long career in Congress resembles that of Justin Smith
| ‘Morrill both in its length and in its freedom from exciting contests.

Me

144 TOWA STUDIES IN THE

But the latter's steady and candid support wai a of and
finance” was the opposite of Allison's shifting views me que
tions. Nor is the reason for this difference far to seek. While Morrill
represented a constituency fixed in its opinion, Allison had to ad-
just himself to popular changes. Rural Iowa Republicans after the
defeat of the Grangers toyed with inflation and with revolt
protection and sheltered monopolies. Allison easily acquired the
hues of this mixture of disillusionment and expectancy of a “boom
community.” Greater pride of intellect or more rigid views would
certainly have brought defeat. His practical mind never hesitated
between the attainable good which was whatever a majority wanted
and the impossible best.

Bute, did not scruple to, ase devious imeankta) intineana tiene
jority. Towa editors were given the spoils of office, Eastern protec-
tionists sent money to the State, and the railroads were a constant
force whose interests were understood. Such were the materials he
adapted to his own ends. If his course showed no punetilious sense
of honor in supporting the popular cause against vested interests,
it may be argued that he was convinced of the identity of the public
and vested interests.

An element of success, however, lay in his self-restraint. His sole
desire was to remain in the Senate. Nothing higher attracted him,
His chastened ambition never caused him to neglect Towa politics.
Success did not turn his head.

Allison had less pride of intellect than Elihu Root or Thomas B.
Reed. He violated less openly the forms of popular government
than did Platt and Quay, He was less frankly the instrument of
privilege than John C. Spooner and Nelson W. Aldrich, His medi-
ocrity and moderation the more certainly indicate the effectiveness
of the political methods upon which he relied. Without command-
Ing qualities of inventive intellect or resolute courage, unembarrassed
by positive convictions, he followed the current of public opinion
so skillfully that his long career depended upon the nice adjustment
of political details to which his deft hands and wakeful, if pedes-
trian, mind so readily lent themselves.

. ‘ * *

‘This study is based mainly upon the following: Allison Papers;
this collection numbers 525 cases of which $77 are devoted to personal
and political correspondence; in addition to these there are other

rol =

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 145

Allison Papers which fill a box of considerable size, and which had
not yet been systematically arranged when examined; The Allison
Papers are composed chiefly of letters to William Boyd Allison.

He seems to have been a poor letter writer and to have put his
views on paper with painful difficulty. The political correspond-
ence is chiefly concerned with patronage. There are a few biographical
sketches, clippings, and speeches. The Dodge Records is a large col-
lection of the papers of Grenville M. Dodge, among which were con-
sulted twenty-one bound volumes of copies of letters and of notes,
selected and copied under his direction. The Kirkwood Correspond-
ence contains letters from and to Samuel J. Kirkwood. The above
are in the Archives of the State Historical Department of Iowa, Des
Moines, Iowa. Permission to use them was granted by Curator
Edgar R. Harlan to whom the author acknowledges his obligation.
Mr. Lee McNeeley, of Dubuque, Iowa, private secretary to Allison
for a time, has a few valuable letters and clippings, the use of which
he kindly granted.

In addition newspapers, public documents, and local histories were
consulted.

“a &

THE INTERNATIONAL STATUS OF
BELGIUM 1813-1839*

By Howarp RicuMonp ANDERSON

The large plain of northern Europe is divided into two areas: the
German, drained by rivers running from south to north into the
North Sea and the Baltic; the French, whose waters run from east
to west into the Atlantic Ocean. These wide expanses are connected
by a narrow plain, less than one hundred miles wide from Namur
to Ostend, which, from the continental point of view serves the same
purpose as the Strait of Dover off its northern coast. Belgium not
only is situated on this natural highway, but in addition the Strait
is in such close proximity to the continental narrows that the natural
route from Great Britain to central Europe crosses the natural route
from France to Germany, making Belgium in truth, “the cross-roads
of Europe.”

During the Middle Ages the great danger to Flanders arose from
the expansionist policies of the French kings. In consequence there
occurred as early as 1187 an example of what was to become the
traditional policy of the Low Countries—dependence upon England
for support against France. On more than one occasion in the years
that followed, the plan of neutralizing Belgium was proposed only
to be set aside because of the exigencies of European politics. The
repeated aggressions of Louis XTV, however, finally convinced British
statesmen of the necessity of devising some plan for safeguarding
the Low Countries. The result was a series of barrier treaties, tri-
partite agreements between Great Britain, the United Provinces, and
the Emperor, guaranteeing the inviolability of the Belgian frontier.
This arrangement never proved satisfactory. At the outbreak of
the War of the Austrian Succession, the Dutch government with=
drew the garrisons from the barrier fortresses in order to maintain
its neutrality during that struggle, The alliance between Austria

*From a dissertion directed by Professor George Gordon Andrews
46

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 147

and France, and the breakup of the Anglo-Dutch alliance during the
war for American independence, made the whole scheme out of the
question.

‘The amazing victories of the French during the Revolutionary and
Napoleonic era left Great Britain powerless to defend the Scheldt
estuary and the neighboring coast. In the course of the negotiations
leading up to the second and third coalitions, however, British states-
men repeatedly proposed the annexation of Belgium to either the
Netherlands or Prussia in order to establish a powerful barrier state.
When disaster overtook Napoleon in the campaigns of 1812 and
1813, the allied powers came to an agreement that Belgium and the
Netherlands should be united under the sovereignty of the Prince
of Orange. Following the final overthrow of Napoleon at Waterloo
this union was consummated. At the same time, under the imme-
diate supervision of the Duke of Wellington, the work was begun
of repairing and modernizing the chain of twenty-five fortresses along
the French frontier. The expense of this undertaking amounted to
more than £7,250,000, and was financed in almost equal proportions
from the French indemnity, from contributions of the Netherland
government, and from sums donated by Great Britain. This was
the price British statesmen were willing to pay to secure the Low
Countries against French aggression, and thereby insure the security
and maritime supremacy of Great Britain.

It proved far easier to declare the people of Belgium and the Nether-
lands formally united under one ruler than to make them in any
real sense citizens of a single country, Dutchmen and Belgians
remained divided because of differences in their historic evolution,
in their Tanguage and religion, and in their economic life and prin-
ciples. A desire for self-government had been instilled in the Bel-
gians at the time of the French Revolution. Though thwarted in
1815, it operated with increasing strength throughout the period of
union with the Netherlands. When a whole nation is disaffected be-
cause of grievances too long endured, little is needed to provoke an
open revolt, In this case the impetus to revolution came from the
“July days” in Paris which drove the Bourbons into exile. The
rioting first broke out in Brussels but rapidly swept through the southern
provinces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The garrisons of
both Dutch and Belgian soldiers in the barrier fortresses soon be-
came untrustworthy. In consequence the revolutionists gained con-

lL

148 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

trol of all but four of these strongholds within a period of a few
weeks. ‘The Netherlands were wide open to invasion by France

in the southern provinces of the kingdom. The
government, in turn, urged France to enforce the principle of non-
intervention, and sought to negotiate un offensive and defensive alli-
ance between the two countries.

The outbreak of a general war seemed imminent. ‘That it was
averted may be attributed primarily to the improved relations be-
tween France and Great Britain. Louis Philippe and his trusted
adviser, Talleyrand, perceived clearly that the Orleans dynasty must

tion, Great Britain, at the same time, was groaning under a huge
debt incurred during the Napoleonic wars, and was seething with
unrest, Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that these two

refused to grant the request of the King of the Netherlands for armed
intervention. The stand taken by Great Britain greatly influenced
the other powers. Metternich held that it was the mission of Austria
to meet the expected revolutionary outbreak in Italy. Prussia, guided
by her peace-loving king, was disinclined to act alone, or even to
act in concert with other powers unless France sought to extend
her boundaries. Russia alone armed for war, but the outbreak of a
revolution in Poland put an end to Russian intervention and intrigue,
and compelled Nicholas I to use all the military resources at his
command against the luckless Poles,

Even though all the powers came to favor a peaceful solution of the
Belgian question, the future status of the barrier fortresses raised an

al

i

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 149

issue which would militate against perfect codjperation. Under no
circumstances could France accept a plan whereby these strongholds
would be garrisoned by any soldiers other than Belgians. Indeed
to this country the happiest solution was to raze some or all of the
fortresses. The other powers, though unable for the moment to de-
vise any plan which seemed altogether satisfactory, were naturally
reluctant to surrender entirely the idea of a barrier against their
former enemy. Logically enough, Louis Philippe favored the es-
tablishment of an independent Belgium, and, in order to make his
plan acceptable to the other powers, urged the candidacy of the Prince
of Orange, the eldest son of the King of the Netherlands, for the
new throne, This scheme was ruined by the precipitate haste of
the newly elected Belgian National Congress in voting the exclusion
of all members of the House of Orange from the succession. To com-
Plicate the situation further, this body also voted in favor of estab-
lishing a Kingdom of Belgium which would include Luxemburg within
fits frontiers. The question of boundaries thus raised was certain
to provoke the ire of both the Netherlands and Prussia.

‘In the meantime the plenipotentiaries of the powers, assembled in
London, were putting forth every effort to arrange an armistice be-
tween the warring factions, The Belgian provisional government con-
ditionally accepted the terms proposed, but the King of the Nether-
lands, hoping to gain some military advantage, continued his dilatory
and provocative tactics. In order to speed a peaceful settlement, the
London Conference, on December 20, 1830, formally recognized the
Independence of Belgium, and announced its determination to pro-
ceed immediately to a consideration of the details involved in the
final separation of the two countries, ‘The powers took this step
not only because they were in agreement that intervention was out
of the question, but also in order to silence the military party in
France which was openly declaring its opposition to any settlement
which would not permit a future union of Belgium with France.
‘The action of the conference was perfectly acceptable to Louis Philippe
and Talleyrand inasmuch as it indirectly weakened the barrier, and
at the same time tended to restrain the jingoes who constituted a
serious menace to the Orleans monarchy.

The situation both in France and Belgium, however, continued crit-
ical. The French war party demanded that the king approve the
candidacy of his son, the Duc de Nemours, for the Belgian throne,

=

‘The Belgian radicals, hoping thereby to gain French support for
uniting Luxemburg to Belgium, faerie =

tthe’ Duc de Leuchlenberg, the soa of apege ee MAreata ale
the Belgian National Congress was affected; i Becasses nereesladly
blunt in its communications with the London Conference; it insisted
on its right to annex Luxemburg; and refused to suspend military!
operations against the Dutch.

Fearful lest an act of aggression might lead to a general war,
Palmerston, the British foreign secretary, persuaded the bere
potentiaries that the best policy would be to neutralize Belgium in
the interests of peace. This proposal meeting with
little opposition, the London Conference on January 20, 1831, issued
4 protocol which stipulated in part, “Belgium will form a ronobeil
state in perpetuity. The five Powers guarantee her this this ipepetanl
neutrality, as well as the integrity and inviolability of her territory. . .
Although the plan of neutralization was Palmerston’s, Talleyrand, ‘bo
as French ambassador in London represented his country at the Con-
ference, perceived that it offered distinct advantages to France, Just
as the separation of Belgium from the Netherlands favored France
by weakening the barrier erected against her, so the neutralization
of Belgium favored that country by guaranteeing her a friendly neigh-
bor. So long as France herself respected Belgian neutrality, she could,
in the event of war with either Prussia or Great Britain, count on
whichever of these countries was at peace to be as greatly interested
as hersif in preserving this neutrality.

Having decided on the neutralization of Belgium, the London Con-
ference proceeded to outline the fundamental conditions of the sep-
aration of the two countries, Generally speaking these terms favored
the Netherlands at the expense of Belgium, and consequently were
speedily accepted by King William. Th Belgian National Congress
meanwhile sought to further the interests of that country by threat-
ening to elect the Duc de Leuchtenberg to the kingship. The real
intention was not so much to choose this Bonapartist prince as to
compel the French government to agree to the candidacy of the
Duc de Nemours in order to head it off. In this way, the Belgians
reasoned, they might enlist the aid of France in the securing of more
favorable terms of separation, Again, the French government was

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 1st

confronted by a cruel dilemma. Fearful of revolution at home, French
statesmen sounded the powers on the question of Duc de Nemours!
candidacy. Meeting with opposition in every quarter, Louis Philippe
was compelled definitely to reject the crown offered his son.

For a time conditions in Belgium bordered upon anarchy, Gradu-
ally the statesmen of that country became convinced that the Lon-
don Conference could not be ignored. They came to realize also
that more favorable terms of separation could be obtained only by
conciliating Great Britain which resented the continued intrigues look-
ing toward the union of Belgium and France. Diagnosing the situa-
tion in this fashion, many of the Belgian leaders came to favor the
candidacy of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg. ‘This prince had been the
husband of the late Princess Charlotte, and was British in everything
but birth. The new plan of the Belgian National Congress was es~
sentially to make the election of Prince Leopold to the kingship con-
tingent on obtaining more favorable terms of separation. Sensing
the advantage of such an arrangement to his country, Palmerston,
the British plenipotentiary, prevailed upon the Conference to draw
up a new series of proposals for the separation of Belgium and the
Netherlands. These new terms proved acceptable to the Belgian
National Congress, and the very day following their ratification Leo-
pold was elected King of the Belgians, The situation was truly perplex-
ing. Belgium had ignored the original terms of separation, but had
accepted the new terms and had clected a king. The Netherlands, which
had accepted the original conditions proposed by the conference, now
rejected the new terms and refused to recognize Prince Leopold.

The King of the Netherlands proceeded to untangle this Gordian
knot in a manner which might have been expected from a soldier
who had fought in the Napoleonic wars. Early in August the Dutch
armies streamed across the frontiers, sweeping everything before them.
‘Their victorious march was arrested only because the French gov-
emment, in response to the plea made by Leopold, ordered an army
corps into Belgium.

Tf possible the Belgian question was in a worse muddle than ever.
‘The relations of the Netherlands and Belgium had been complicated.
Now a French army was in Belgium, The very thing which British
Statesmen dreaded had transpired. Worst of all, the French gov-
ernment, having lost caste in the dispute over the Duc de Nemours’
candidacy, seemed Inclined to insist on the demolition of the barrier

Meee

152 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

fortresses as the price for their evacuation of Belgian territory. Al-
though the Conference, realizing the impracticability of requiring
Belgium to keep up a huge military establishment, had agreed in
principle to the demolition of certain of these fortresses, yet the pleni-
potentiaries of the four powers now refused to associate the question
of the withdrawal of the French troops with that of the eventual
demolition of the barrier posts. Though the question of the fort-
resses was a vital one both to the French and British, the former
were compelled to yield. By the end of September the French troops
had withdrawn from Belgium.

In order to speed the final separation of Belgium and the Nether-
lands, the London Conference asked these two countries to communi-
cate their suggestions for a definitive treaty. In response to this
request, the former country submitted the terms accepted at the time
of the election of Leopold to the kingship; the latter those embodied
in the original proposal by the Conference. Despairing of reaching
a settlement in this manner, the London Conference itself then pro-
ceeded to draw up a series of articles to serve as a definitive treaty
between the two countries. These new terms were communicated on
October 14, 1831, and in the words of the Conference were declared
to be “final and irrevocable.”

The promulgation of the new terms of settlement provoked indig-
nant protests from both the interested parties. This fact is the best
evidence that the new arrangement was in reality a compromise be-
tween the terms outlined in the first and second proposals made by
the Conference. Bringing heavy pressure to bear on the Belgian
government, the powers soon obtained the ratification of that state
in the treaty of November 15, 1831. The King of the Netherlands,
on the other hand, refused to yield, confident that the eastern powers
would never resort to force to coerce him.

For about a year the London Conference made fruitless efforts to
initiate direct negotiations between Belgium and the Netherlands
concerning the points in dispute. With the domestic question of par-
liamentary reform distracting the attention of Great Britain, no power
was vitally interested in bringing the negotiations to a close. Upon
the enactment of the reform bill of 1832, however, Palmerston, the
British minister of foreign affairs, again was able to concentrate his
energy upon effecting a solution of the Belgian question. The Belgian
government having signified its willingness to engage in direct nego-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 153

tiations, though without prejudice to the terms outlined in the treaty
of November 15, 1831, and the Netherland government having re
fused to participate in such discussions, the Conference once again
faced a crisis. The Belgians having yielded everything that might
reasonably be expected of them, the only thing to do was to coerce
the Netherlands. The plenipotentiaries of the three eastern powers
forthwith announced the refusal of their countries to act in con-
junction with France and Great Britain in such an undertaking.

Despite this lack of codperation, Palmerston and Talleyrand, on
the evening of October 22, 1852, signed a convention whereby their
Tespective countries bound themselves to carry into effect the terms
of the treaty which the plenipotentiaries of the five powers had signed
nearly a year before. The great task confronting the two powers
was to compel the Dutch to evacuate the citadel of Antwerp which
they had held since the early days of the Belgian Revolution. ‘This
was accomplished by a French army acting in codperation with a
British fleet which blockaded the coast of the Netherlands. Before
the end of the year the military operations of the French had been
brought to a successful close, but the Dutch government neverthe-
Tess persisted in its policy of ignoring the treaty of November 15,
and just as stubbornly refused to open the Scheldt to navigation.
‘The ruinous Anglo-French blockade, however, finally compelled the
Dutch to seek a temporary settlement, even though their king still
refused to ratify the definitive treaty. The convention of May 21,
1833, greatly favored Belgium in that it safeguarded that country
from invasion, and secured to it the commercial advantages neces-
sary for prosperity. It even permitted the occupation of the dis-
puted territory in Luxemburg and the non-payment of interest on
the common debt until such a time as the King of the Netherlands
might see fit to yield.

For nearly six years Belgium was left to enjoy the advantageous
terms of this convention. During this period, however, the govern-
ment signally failed to consolidate its international position, Serious
quarrels grew out of the complicated situation in the Duchy of Luxem-
‘burg. This territory was provisionally held by the Belgians. At
the same time it made up a part of the ancestral domain of Wil-
Jiam of Orange; constituted a part of the Germanic Confederation;
and housed a Prussian garrison in its chief fortress. Another quarrel
developed out of the Belgian plans for fortifying the northeastern

<

we

154 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

frontier in order to meet any possible aggression on the part of the
Netherlands. Prussia held that Belgium's fears were groundless in-

by pro-French considerations in matters of foreign policy. During
the period 1833 to 1839, the people of the Nether! oppressed
by the financial burdens imposed upon them anxiously looked for:
ward to the time when the Belgian question would finally be settled.
On March 14, 1838, the King of the Netherlands, at last con-
vinced of the futility of further delay, announced his willingness
to accept the terms outlined in the treaty of November 15, 1831.
Now it was the turn of Belgium to seek to delay the final settle
ment. The neutralized state received little encouragement. The three
eastern powers were distinctly prejudiced against her, Great Britain,
now the ally of France in name only, was interested largely in main-
taining Belgian independence. The only point on which Palmerston
was inclined to yield was in the matter of scaling down the terms
of the debt settlement. ‘This was done because Belgium, in resisting
the provocative policy pursued by the King of the Netherlands had
been compelled to make heavy expenditures for military purposes.
France, acting alone, made a final effort to persuade to Dutch gov-
ernment to reopen negotiations in order to arrange a territorial settle-
ment acceptable to Belgium. When confronted by the refusal of
the Netherland government and the united opposition of the other
powers, there was nothing left for France to do but to yield,
Realizing the hopelessness of resistance, the Belgian government
communicated its acceptance of the final settlement, on April 19,
1839. That very day the plenipotentiaries formally signed the treaties
which embodied the final solution of the Belgian question. By the
terms of these treaties Belgium became an independent and perpetually
neutral state under the guarantee of the five great powers. Neutrality,
as the union with the Netherlands at an earlier period, was imposed
largely at the instance of Great Britain, desirous always of keeping
France at a distance from the territory around the mouth of the
Scheldt. Barrier fortresses and a barrier state had proved impotent

=e

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 185
and impracticable; perhaps “neutralization in the interest of peace”
would prove more effective.

Tt is an anomaly of history that France shared with Great Britain
the réle of champion of Belgian rights in the period 1830 to 1839,
Yet im the final analysis, a neutral Belgium was to prove as favorable
to French interests as to British. Though neutrality doubtlessly was
in the real interest of their country, the Belgians had not wished it.
Realizing the dangers his native land might be called upon to face,
Sylvain van de Weyer, the Belgian statesman, remarked caustically,
“The neutrality of Belgium is guaranteed, without doubt, but guar-
anteed by what? By a treaty, Are there no examples of treaties
of @ most sacred nature that have been violated?”

* . . *

‘This study, based on materials available in this country, discloses
gaps in the sources not consulted: (1) materials in the archives of
the European powers, (2) the journals of the period, and (3) pri-
yate correspondence of the statesmen and leaders of that day. The
seriousness of these deficiencies is lessened considerably because much
of the official correspondence relating to the Belgian question was
printed and because complete files of several contemporary magazines
and periodicals are readily available in the United States.

‘The most important sources for the study of the negotiations lead-
ing to the union of Belgium and the Netherlands, and for the work
of the London Conference were British and Foreign State Papers,
Vols. IT to XX, and the complete collection of treaties edited by
Martens, Recueil de traités, Tomes II-VI, Noveau recueil de traités,
Tomes I-XVI, and Noveaw supplemens au recueil de traités, Tomes
TI. The parliamentary debates of Great Britain and France, Par-
amentary Debates, Third Series, Vols. I to VI, and Archives parle-
mentaires de 1787 a 1860, Deuxiéme Série, Tomes LXVII-CXXIIL,
are valuable also largely because of the facts brought out at the times
when the opposition would challenge the policies of the ministry.

‘Two British statesmen greatly influenced developments in Belgium
in the period 1813 to 1839. Castlereagh was largely responsible for
the union of Belgium and the Netherlands; Wellington was responsible
for the construction of the barrier fortresses during the years 1815
to 1830 and was head of the British ministry at the outbreak of
the Belgian Revolution. It is not strange therefore that a wealth
of material bearing on the Belgian question is to be found in the Cor-

156 IOWA STUDIES IN

respondence, Despatches, and Other
Vols. IX to XII, the Despatches, Correspondence, and
Field Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington, Vols. VIL and
the Supplementary Despaiches, Correspondence, and Memoranda of
Field Marshal Arthur Duke of Wellington, Vols. XT and XII.

‘Talleyrand, too, played a leading réle in the negotiations Ieading
to the independence and neutralization of Belgium. A valuable though
prejudiced account of his efforts may be found in bis Memoirs of the
Prince de Talleyrand, Vols. 11 to V, which also contain generous ex-
tracts from his correspondence. The part played by Palmerston in
the neutralization of Belgium may be inferred from reading Bulwer,
The Life of Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston: with Selection:
Jrom His Diaries and Correspondence. Two other great European
statesmen have left some record of the part they played in this
drama: Metternich in the Memoirs of Prince Metternich, Vols. 1 and
V, and Nesselrode in the Lettres et papiers de chancelier comte de
Nesselrode, Tome VII.

It often happens that lesser personalities can throw a clear light
on certain details of a long series of events. For this reason the
writings of Jean L. Joseph Lebeau who urged the candidacy of Leo-
pold of Saxe-Coburg to the Belgian throne, and of Stockmar who had
the confidence of this prince are important. These are to be found
in the Souvenirs personnels et correspondance diplomatique de Joseph
Lebeau and in the Memoirs of Baron Stockmar, Vol. 1.

The devious réle played by Russia in the period following the
overthrow of Napoleon {s revealed in Aleksandr A. Polovtsoff, Cor-
respondance diplomatique des ambassadeurs et ministres de Russie en
France et de France en Russie avec leurs gouvernements de 1814 @
1830, Tomes I-IIT. The stand taken by this power in the Belgian
question is revealed in the curiously frank correspondence
wife of the Russian ambassador in London with the head
British ministry as printed in the volumes edited by Alfred
Strange, Correspondence of Princess Lieven and Earl Grey, Vi
and III, This charming Russian betrays other confidences in the
lowing volumes: Letters of Dorothea, Princess Lieven, poe
Residence in London, 1812-1834, and in The Unpublis
Political Sketches of Princess Lieven,

Various articles and news items are to be found
of the following magazines published during the

Ltt
s Rie Fiogs
RP fase

i
ul

b

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 157

eration: Edinburgh Review, Westminster Review, Blackwood’s Maga-
sine, Foreign Quarterly Review, Frasier’s Magasine, Gentleman's Maga-
sine and Historical Chronicle, and the London and Westminster Re-
view. Penetrating yearly summaries of conditions in Belgium are
found in The Annual Register, Vols. XXVII to LXXXI. A graphic
account of the strife between Belgium and the Netherlands is con-
tained in the writings of a British diplomatic agent who was on the
scene—White, The Belgic Revolution, 2 Vols.

ANGLO-RUSSIAN RIVALRY IN THE
FAR EAST 1895-1905*
By Wruos Gszosce Swartz

‘The present significance of the Far Eastern Problem in relation
to contemporary international ills is universally recognized. Numerous
treatises relative to the “Opium War.” the Sino-Japanese conflict,
the Boxer Movement. the Russo-Japanese struggle, the Revolution
of LOIL. all attest the importance of this background.

Hitherto. however. scarcely more than passing reference has been
made to the militant rivalry in eastern Asia between Great Britain
and Russia. particularly during the decade from Shimonoseki to
Portsmouth. An inadequate treatment of this important subject may
be due to several factors. For one thing, the antagonism between
Briton and Slav did not lead to a formal military conflict, with the
result that it was overshadowed by the more spectacular struggles of
1894-1895. 1900-1901. and 1904-1905. To this may be added that
only with the publication of the British. German, and Russian docu-
ments relating to pre-war diplomacy have the most striking details
of the Anglo-Russian rivalry been brought to light.

The aim of the present study is an adequate portrayal of the Far
Eastern relations of Great Britain and Russia, as revealed in con-
temporary documents. periodicals, and newspapers. Too broad to be
encompassed in a single monograph. this study has been confined to
the period 1895-1905—the decade when Anglo-Russian rivalry reached
its climax. The Japan-China War, the “battle of concessions,” the
Boxer uprising, the struggle over Manchuria, the Russo-Japanese War
—all were profoundly influenced by the jealousy and antagonism be-
tween Russia and Great Britain. This significant relationship justi-
fies such a study.

Great Britain was the first offender in the modern invasion of the
Celestial Empire when, by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, she ac-
quired Hongkong and the neighboring territory of Kowloon. Russia

‘*From a dissertation directed by Professor Harry Grant Plum.

158

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 159

followed in 1858-1860 with the acquisition of the extensive area north
of the Amur and east of the Ussuri rivers. During the eighties the
scene shifted briefly to Korea, where Great Britain joined China in
opposing both Russian and Japanese aggression, By seizing the stra~
tegically important island of Port Hamilton the British succeeded
in halting temporarily the Russian avalanche, but the Japanese in-
roads continued and resulted in the Japan-China war of 1894-1895.

During this brief struggle the British policy was indecisive and
unstable, with the result that her prestige in eastern Asia suffered a
notable decline. At the beginning of October, and again in Novem-
ber, Great Britain proposed intervention by the powers; but by
March, when France, Germany, and Russia were prepared to inter-
vene, the British government declined to support any form of co-
ercion against the Japanese. In European capitals this action on
the part of Great Britain was viewed as disloyal; actually the London
government had merely concluded that intervention was no longer
necessary or desirable. Despite this deflection on Britain's part,
the triumvirate of Russia, France, and Germany, proceeded to coerce
the Japanese into returning the Liaotung Peninsula to China, upon
the payment of an additional Chinese indemnity. Although Great
Britain advised Japan to accede to the demands of the Dreibund,
the successful intervention of Russia on this occasion marks an abrupt
reversal of British policy toward Japan, from one of opposition to
aggression against China to one of friendship and support against
Russia in Manchuria and Korea,

The period immediately following Shimonoseki found Japan domi-
nant in Korea and Russia supreme in Peking. British influence in
the Celestial Empire had suffered a decided eclipse by virtue of her
own failure and Russia's success in averting serious Chinese terri-
torial losses, Count Cassini, Russia’s shrewd representative in Peking,
was now in a position to obtain far-reaching concessions from his
country, but Great Britain’s fiery-tempered Sir Nicholas O’Conor
chafed in vain under Britain’s new position of inferiority. However,
beyond securing the first loan to China toward meeting her Japanese
indemnity, the Russians for several months wisely refrained from any
overt attempts to capitalize her recent assistance to China, A second
Chinese loan was permitted to go to an Anglo-German syndicate,
after a feeble Franco-Russian effort had fafled through lack of con-
fidence on the part of Parisian financiers,

&

Isc IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

In Kocea Russia seemed content to see Japan make herself pre-
dvericant at Seoul This indifference of Russia might have continued
indefinitely kad Japan used ber power in Korea wisely. But the
assassinative of the hostile Korean Queen by Japanese officers for-
feited foreign respect and drove the terrified King into the arms of
Russia, When the Korean monarch in February, 1896, sought and
obsained refuge in the Russian legation at Seoul, the dominant posi-
tion in the Hermit Kingdom shifted automatically to the same place.
To be sure. Ressia used her predominance wisely, and was even
criticined for net taking advantage of her opportunities. Neverthe
less valuable concessions were obtained. especially in timber cutting,
which were to become highly important later.

Tn St. Petersburg the plan was developing as early as August,
1805, for the concession from China of the right to construct the
Trans-Siberian Railway across a portion of Manchuria, in order to
avoid the longer and more mountainous route beyond the Amur.
During autumn of that year engineers and surveyors were busy study-
ing the Manchurian terrain to determine the most favorable right-of-
way through the province. Their investigations were completed by
February. 18%, and Count Cassini was instructed to open negotia-
tions with the Chinese. Unfortunately. one of the Russians sent to
assist in the powrpuriers became ill and the negotiations were post-
poned for several months.

Meanwhile, China had been invited by Russia to send a suitable
representative to attend the coronation of the young Tsar Nicholas IT
at Moscow in May. 1896. Through adroit maneuvering on Russia’s
part, Li Hung Chang. known to be a Russophil, and the one whom,
as negotiator at Shimonoseki. Russia had saved from humiliation
through the three-power intervention. was chosen for this mission.
Upon his arrival at Moscow, it was decided to transfer the Cassini
negotiations to Russia. In the ensuing pourparlers the Russians
urged the railway concession as a guarantee of China’s future integrity
against Japan, in that the improved transportation facilities would
permit the rapid transit of Russian troops into the zone of Sino-
Japanese military operations. The Chinese envoy not only accepted
this proposition but also agreed to a formal Russo-Chinese alliance,
whereby each country was to assist the other against any future
Japanese aggression. Russia’s supremacy in China now appeared
complete. The fact was, however, that the alliance proved to be

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 16t
hardly more than a mere formality and, for all practical purposes,

Just as in the case of Russia, the stirring events of 1894-1895 in
the Far East had inspired Germany with the desire for a strategic
‘and commercial foothold on the Chinese coast. In the summer of
1897 German representatives cleverly secured the Tsar's consent to
the appropriation of Kiaochow Bay, and in the following November
the murder of two German Catholic missionaries supplied the nec-
‘essary excuse for an enforced lease of the port, Count Muraviev,
Russia's foreign minister, protested in vain that Russia had a prior
aim on Tsingtao. The Tsar's government proceeded to anchor its
Pacific fleet at Port Arthur,

Great Britain accepted the German fait accompli but became gen-
uinely alarmed over Russias “temporary” anchorage at Port Arthur.
Tt was rumored that the English and Japanese had arrived at some
sort of an understanding to check the Russian advance on Korea
and Peking, but the Salisbury government preferred, first of all, to
negotiate directly with Russia. Accordingly, in February, 1898, the
Russian officials were startled by a British proposal for a mutual
settlement of all Asiatic differences between the two governments,
‘The Tsar and his ministers displayed an encouraging interest in the
Proposition, and the negotiations continued for several weeks, until
brought to an abrupt close by the Russian lease of Port Arthur and
the neighboring commercial port of Talienwan. To offset the ad-

a Tease of Wei-hai-wei, on terms similar to those of Russia at Port
Arthur. Nevertheless, the Russians had won another decided victory.

‘The Queen's government had been compelled by Germany's and
Russla’s forward policies in China to make a wide departure from
her traditional policy in eastern Asia. Consistently opposed in the
past to anything that smacked of partition or special privileges in
that region, Britain was now participating in a partition, as well as
recognizing Germany's special economic interests in the Shantung.
Many Britain felt that a firmness toward Russia as dis-
played toward France in the Fashoda crisis, would have saved the
Liaotung for China. Others, like Mr,. Joseph Chamberlain, declared
their readiness to withdraw all opposition to Russian domination in
Manchuria and to concentrate British efforts toward preventing
‘Muscovite aggression. In this connection Mr, Chamberlain

162 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

openly advocated an alliance with Germany or the United States,
in order to protect more effectively the interests and prestige of Great
Britain. Thus, the leasing of Port Arthur by Russia was an im-
portant factor in Britain’s increasing determination to end her “splen-
did isolation.”

Up to this point the St. Petersburg government had been uni-
formly successful in its political and naval programs in the Far East.
Nor was this all. A corresponding success had been attained in the
realm of commerce and finance, largely under the superb leadership
of Count Witte who developed the plan for a Russo-Chinese bank,
as a convenient agency for promoting the policy of “peaceful pene-
tration.” As a supposedly private institution, the bank thus organized
was able to obtain concessions, such as the branch railway from the
Trans-Siberian line to Port Arthur, which could not possibly have
been secured by the Russian government directly. Thanks to its
capable management, the new banking institution was soon on the
road to obtain a monopoly control of commerce and finances in the
northern Chinese provinces.

The recognition of this new economic menace, on the part of
British traders and financiers, led to an active demand for effective
action in London. Consequently, a special commissioner was de-
spatched to eastern Asia to investigate conditions. In Manchuria
and adjacent provinces the same story was repeated everywhere:
British commercial interests were declining constantly in the face of
the advancing Muscovite. Indeed, the Russians did not conceal their
determination to obtain an economic monopoly in northern China.
When, therefore, China negotiated a railway loan of £2,300,000 with
certain British banks, the Tsar's representatives protested against any
such financial activities by Great Britain in the Manchurian area.

In a further effort to prevent further British railway activities in
North China, the St. Petersburg government in the summer of 1898 pro-
posed a joint understanding with Great Britain, in which each coun-
try should agree to recognize and respect the other’s special sphere
of interest—Russia in Manchuria and Britain in the Yangtze Valley.
The Queen’s ministers tried in vain to have the scope of the agreement
extended to include all specific disputes then pending over railway mat-
ters in China. After much delay and negotiation, an agreement was
concluded in April, 1899, whereby Great Britain undertook not to
finance or construct railways north of the Great Wall, and Russia prom-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 163

ised the same with respect to the Yangtze Valley. The importance
of this agreement cannot be overestimated. Li Hung Chang referred
to it as the “Partition of China” in that it marked the extension
of the idea of the “sphere-of-interest” to financial and commercial
affairs. Nevertheless, it did not prevent further railway disputes be-
tween Britain and Russia. The latter was accused of being a par-
ticipant in the Peking-Hankow railway project, as well as of ne-
gotiating for the right to build a road from the Manchurian Railway
to Peking.

‘This growing economic and political rivalry among the powers in
China was undoubtedly an outstanding factor leading to the anti-
foreign aspects of the Boxer movement, The occasion found Great
Britain deeply involved in the South African war and Russian of-
ficials to secure advantages and privileges in China. Be-
cause of their relative proximity, Russia and Japan were in a posi-
tion to anticipate the other powers in sending relief to the beseiged
Iegations in Peking and Tientsin. The British were afraid lest Russia
would take advantage of such a contingency to extend her control
over China. Consequently, the London government urged the grant-
ing of a special mandate to the Japanese, whereby they could send a
large enough force to suppress the uprising. Week after week passed,
with the plight of the beseiged foreigners becoming increasingly more
desperate. Still, Russia persistently refused to approve the British
proposal, until the ‘Tsar's government was in a position to despatch

bitter one, and an international army was assembled near the scene
of the uprising, the British and Russian statesmen retarded the rescue
activities still further by wrangling over the leadership of the com-
bined armed forces: Both powers wanted the honor and the German

Emperor eventually took advantage of the ensuing rivalry to secure
the appointment of a German as generalissimo.

Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that every attempt to cope
with the Boxer menace was colored and hampered by Anglo-Russian
antagonism. But chiefly it was Russia who stood at cross-purposes
with all the other allied powers, except possibly France. Nor was
Russia at all consistent in her behavior. As soon as the Peking
legations were relieved, the Tsar's representatives insisted on the with-
‘drawal of the allied troops and legations to Tientsin, Yet, all the

— fh"

int BARA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

whie. Russa soeps were peurieg by the theusmmds into the de
Sensis prvemece of Manchuria, fn Socx the Tsar's forces assumed
muiirary comcmi 1¢ aff Chimese verrieary amd raibeays morth of Peking.
Beicsh saifecs memmaee: aed cher scas were creed out in favor
o€ Remsiams, and Brccsh caidway materigk were seized in large quar-
cos.

‘To medersamé Emeiamf's position durimg this crisis. it must be
vememberec char se was cil emgromed im the South African War,
anc Sesdes wa: Sced @ cope with Russi advances in centr’
Asta Sie iad arendy absmdomed Mancheria to Rossian economic
supremacy and believing. Eke other powers. that the inevitable break-
up of Cima wa: Srpemcime was amcioss w preserve the Yangtze
Valley for herself. For Ressiz two secure complete military control of
Manchoria. and more particularly of the provimce of Chili to the south,
was to endameer very serccasty Britain's position in the Yangtze.
To strengthen its position against farther Russian encroachments the
London government negotiated the so-called Yangtze agreement of
October. 1900. Therefore. when the Germans ~altered it to make it
agreeable to Russia by exctodine Manchuria from its operation.”
British Sacesmen were “pot very much in love” with the agreement.

Although the Germans cold the Russians in January, 1901, that
they could go as far as they liked im Manchuria. the Tsar's foreign
office maintained emphatically its intention to evacuate that province
as soon as circumstances would permit. In this, however. the foreign
office officials failed to give sufficient consideraton to the plans of
the militarists and other imperialists. Even Count Witte insisted
upon a special Russian priority in all railway. mining. or industrial
emterprises in the northern provinces of China. In the face of this
combined military and commercial menace. Great Britain. Japan, and
the United States formed what amounted to a triple alliance against
Russia. At the same time. the London government entered into seri-
ous negotiations for alliance with Germany and Japan. The pour-
parlers with Germany were unfruitful. but those with Japan were to
culminate, a year later. in an alliance.

As a matter of fact. Germany considered her interests in the Far
Fast as only secondary, whereas those of Japan were more directly
involved. The Japanese were willing to fight Russia in order to
preserve Korean integrity, provided they were assured of English and
German neutrality. Consequently. the British tried in vain to secure

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 165

promise to warn France, in the event of war, to remain
neutral. Nevertheless, the manifold evidence of foreign hostility led
the Russians to modify considerably their demands upon China, and
for a time to drop the negotiations entirely. At the same time, the
foreign opposition to Russia strengthened the determination of the
Chinese not to make any far-reaching concessions to St, Petersburg.
When, therefore, the Russians reopened the negotiations with China,
the Peking government made haste to notify Great Britain and Japan.
‘The receipt of this news hastened the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese
alliance.

‘The Japanese made it clear that their interests in Manchuria were
only secondary and their chief concern was the protection of their
interests in Korea. The British were particularly anxious to secure
Japanese support in protecting India. Thus, the outcome of the
negotiations really turned on the question of India. The Japanese
‘were unwilling to have the scope of the alliance extend beyond the
Yangtze Valley. In the end the British gave way. In doing so, they
were influenced to a considerable extent by what appeared to be an
effort to reach a Russo-Japanese understanding. ‘The announcement
of the Anglo-Japanese alliance was a profound shock to Russia. She
immediately declared her own adherence to the terms of the alliance,
yet attempted at the same time to secure French and German sup-
port to a counter-declaration. Germany refused, but France permitted
Russia to issue a notice to the effect that the scope of the Dual
Alliance was thereby extended to the Far East. The net result of
the Anglo-Japanese treaty was the conclusion of a Russo-Chinese
agreement, whereby Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria within eight-
een months,

Had the Russians lived up to the agreement of April, 1902, further
complications need not have developed. The truth was, however, that

these activities with growing apprehension, Their respective govern-

ments, acting with the United States, induced the Chinese to reject

166 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the new demands, and admonished the Russians for their perfidy.
In the face of this opposition, the Tsar’s representatives withdrew
their demands one by one until few were left. While the British
and Americans were inclined to be satisfied with these economic con-
cessions, the Japanese were concerned primarily with strategic con-
siderations—particularly as they applied to Korea.

The Japanese, in fact, were becoming greatly alarmed over the
new Russian activities in the Hermit Kingdom. Especially alarming
were the Russian demands for a railway concession: from Seoul to
the Yalu and a lease of Yongampo at the mouth of the Yalu. When
the Japanese, in desperation, submitted what amounted to an ulti-
matum to the Korean government in order to forestall those con-
cessions, the Tsar decided in June, 1903, to open negotiations with
Japan. Great Britain, of course, was directly concerned in this
struggle, because the Anglo-Japanese Alliance included within its scope
the territorial integrity of Korea, and the British might therefore be
drawn into a Russo-Japanese war.

The negotiations dragged on through the summer and autumn of
1903 while Japan kept both Great Britain and America constantly
informed on all developments. The attitude of British statesmen
during this critical period is especially noteworthy. Constant pressure
was brought to bear on Tokyo to prevent any modification of their
demands. This was unnecessary in the case of Korea, because of
that country’s primary interest to Japan. But with Manchuria it
was different. Japan’s interests there being only secondary, the
Mikado’s government was more inclined to compromise with the Rus-
sians. Britain’s insistence that Japan adhere strictly to her original
demands was unquestionably an important factor in the failure of
the negotiations.

The Russians obstinately refused to recognize the earnestness of
their Japanese opponents, but the British entertained no doubts what-
ever on that score. At the rupture of relations in February, 1904, the
Russians were taken completely by surprise, and appealed to Britain
for mediation between themselves and Japan. The request was re-
jected. In the words of Foreign Minister Lansdowne, “nothing would
stop Japan but [a] Treaty engagement by Russia to respect [the]
sovereignty and integrity of China in Manchuria,” and it was too late
to avoid the conflict even on those terms. Indeed, the London gov-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 167

emnment, throughout the final crisis, appeared convinced that a war
between Russia and Japan was necessary and inevitable.

Peaceful negotiations once ended, Great Britain’s chief concern was
to limit the scope of the conflict to the original contestants. With
Britain herself an ally of Japan, and France an ally of Russia, a
rupture might develop at any moment between Paris and London.
‘As carly as 1903 King Edward had expressed to French statesmen
his hope that France would maintain neutrality in such a war. Gen-
uine relief, therefore, was felt in London when France issued a procla-
mation of neutrality. Both countries were anxious to remain at peace,
and the Entente Cordiale was hurriedly concluded, a form of co-
operation to prevent other powers from becoming participants in the
war.

‘Throughout the conflict, British sentiment was strongly pro-Japanese,
the more so because of constantly recurring friction between London
and St. Petersburg. At the very outset, Russia aroused strong British
resentment by listing foodstuffs, cotton, and coal as absolute con-
traband. Great Britain retaliated by refusing belligerent warships
permission to take on coal supplies in British ports. Further irrita-
tion was caused by the escape of several Russian war vessels, dis-
gubed as merchantmen, through the Dardanelles, and by their sub-
sequent depredations upon neutral commerce in the Red Sea and
‘Suez Canal regions. But the most threatening issue was precipitated
by the Dogger Bank affair in August, 1904, when the Russian Baltic
fleet bombarded a British trawler outfit, under the illusion that it
was a fleet of Japanese torpedo boats. The British naval facilities
‘were immediately prepared for action, and war was narrowly averted.

‘The German Emperor took advantage of every occasion to poison
the pliable mind of Nicholas II against his British rivals, and all
but succeeded in consummating a Russo-German alliance, in the
famous Bjérké treaty, At the same time, however, Edward VII was
already envisaging an Anglo-Russian entente, and consequently dis-
played a more sympathetic attitude toward Russia than his pro-
Japanese compatriots were prone to do. Leading British statesmen
hoped that both the warring states would become exhausted without
a decisive victory. That proving impossible, a Japanese victory was
much preferable to one by Russia. In the midst of the negotiations
at Portsmouth, the Anglo-Japanese alliance was renewed, and its

‘scope significantly broadened in regard to Korea and India.

Mi

168 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Thanks to Japan's victorious encounter with the Muscovite, the
Russian menace in eastern Asia had now been eliminated, and the
way was thereby paved for the Russo-British entente of 1907. With
the victory of British Liberals in 1905, the movement for a friendly
agreement received additional impetus, and from then on the two
countries were brought step by step to the conclusion of the entente.
While the agreement of 1907 did not include the Far East in its
scope. it did much toward moderating the Russian forward movement
in Central Asia and Persia. Thus, either by virtue of the Japanese
victory or through the agreement of 1907, the principal causes of
Anglo-Russian friction were removed.

From this brief sketch it is evident that Anglo-Russian rivalry in
the Far East. during the decade from Shimonoseki to Portsmouth,
was of genuine international significance. Russia had stood out as
the chief menace to Chinese economic and political independence and
integrity; Great Britain as one of the strongest proponents of the
Open-Door in the Chinese Empire. To be sure, both powers pur-
sued policies of purely self-interest. Yet there was a significant di-
vergence in their respective programs. The British were concerned
primarily with obtaining commercial advantages, but Russia desired
expansion largely for its own sake. It is true that Russia was anxious
to obtain an ice-free port on the Pacific, and the warm waters of China
offered such an advantage. Nevertheless, as long as the immense
hinterland of Siberia remained undeveloped. the acquisition of a com-
mercial port could scarcely be justified.

During the first part of the ten-year period, British prestige and
influence suffered a humiliating decline which became an important
motive in reversing Great Britain’s traditional policy of isolation.
Russia, with few exceptions, enjoyed a spectacular success in her
forward movement in China and Korea, until halted rather abruptly
by the Anglo-Japanese combination of 1902-1905. The Tsar’s gov-
ernment, through its persistent employment of intrigue and deceit,
forfeits all claims to the sympathy of any fair-minded individual. Yet,
despite this continual perfidy on Russia’s part, one can scarcely
approve Britain’s refusal to mediate between St. Petersburg and
Tokyo, on the eve of the war. The London government by this
refusal added weight to the assertion that it was secretly promoting
the war, in order that the Japanese might revoke the Russian menace
in Asia, without any effort or expense on Great Britain’s part. At

170 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

important Russian work by Glinski, Prolog Russko-Jepanskoi
based largely upon material from the Witte archives. Mention
also be made of H. B. Morse’s monumental work, The
Relations of the Chinese Empire, (London, 1910-1918), 3 volumes.

Two magazine articles stand out above all others: W. L.
“Der Russisch-Japanische Krieg,” in Exropdische Gespriche,
(Hamburg, 1926), pp. 279-322; and M. van Larlarsky, “Why
Went to War with Japan,” The Fortnightly Review, XCIII
Series), pp. 816-831; 1030-1044. Both articles are based upon
tensive Russian sources, and are invaluable for this study. Unfor
tunately, M. van Larlarsky’s series of articles were interrupted before!
completion, evidently on account of official pressure from St. Peters
burg.

Likewise generous use was made of newspaper material, particularly
that in the London Times.

SOS enemy ores

University of Iowa
Studies in the Social Sciences

Louis Pexzer, Editor

J. Van per Zee, Advisory Editor E. B. Reuter, Advisory Editor
‘Volume X Number 3
—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY II

From Dissertations for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy as Accepted by the Graduate
College of the State University of Iowa
1927-1934

Published by the University, lowa City, Iowa

FOREWORD

The appearance of this second volume of Abstracts in History indi-
cates that the Graduate College of the State University of Iowa is
convinced that the publication of Abstracts meets a very definite need.
In the first place, the summarized contribution of the investigator is
put into manageable form and made immediately available to the
scholarly public. Secondly, the investigator is thus enabled to meet the
University requirement that his dissertation be published within a
three year period.

The Abstracts here presented are based upon selected and unabridged
doctoral dissertations in history filed in the Library of the State Uni-
versity of Iowa. A scholar interested in one of these dissertations is
free to borrow a typewritten copy from the Library. The publication
of these Abstracts will not preclude the publication of any dissertation
in full later. The writer of each Abstract is responsible for the facts
and interpretations that appear.

The Department of History again finds itself in the debt of the
editor, Professor Louis Pelzer, for his prompt and careful work in
preparing the manuscripts for the press.

DEPARTMENT OF History,
State University oF Iowa.

November, 1934
Iowa City, Iowa

XV.

The Planter ix the Lawer South, 1865-1880, by Cuaxiros
Warsos Txsnar. Edscotionsl Adviecr, Camp Skokie
Valles. Glenview. [imets 137

Lincoln's Aitornes General: Edward Bates, by Fiovo
Avuny McNurz_ Principia College, St. Louis, Missouri 148

The Development of Responsible Goverment in New Zeo-
lend. by Joms Arpas Gaxxxise, Emmetsburg Junior
College. Emmetsbarg, lowa 19

The Emergence of « New American Colomial Policy,
1996-192. by Evexetr Warrnaip Taoaston, Sioux
Falls College. Sioux Falls. South Dekota 1s

American Military Defense and Public Opinion Since the

World War. by Epwrs Hreas Cares, Upper Iowa Uni-
versity. Fayette. lowa 188

8 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and Danzig could not vie with Copenhagen and Stockholm as homes
for fighting ships. Gabriel Posse, the Polish naval commissioner #
Danzig. Gebriel de Roy and Philip von Mansfeld, the Hapsburg marie
agents at Wismar, and George von Schwarzenberg, who directed Austria
efforts at Libeck. worked under such handicaps that they achieved litte
comparable to what was done by the energetic Christian IV of Der
mark or by Karl Karlsson Gyllenhjelm and Klas Fleming, the admirals
of Gustavus II Adolphus.

The struggle for control of the Baltic falls into two nearly equal
divisions. In the years 1626-1629 the Swedes and the Poles bickered
continually outside Danzig, with two battles to enliven the tedium of
the blockade. Meanwhile, in a western sphere of activity, Christian IV
of Denmark successfully opposed Wallenstein’s efforts to create in
Wismar an Imperialist fleet to attack the Danish islands. These wars
merged when Imperialist troops appeared in Prussia to aid the Poles
against Gustavus II Adolphus and Swedish ships and regiments re
lieved the Danes in the defense of Stralsund. The peace treaties of
Labeck and Altmark removed Denmark and Poland from the rile of
participants in the great European war, leaving Sweden and the Holy
Roman Empire to dispute the mastery of the Baltic.

In the second phase of the naval struggle, 1629-1632, such was the
confidence of Gustavus II Adolphus in his fleet that he repeated on the
German theatre of war the same procedure crowned with signal success
in the Livonian and Prussian campaigns against Poland. He used the
navy as a necessary auxiliary force and transferred the scene of battle
to north Germany with full assurance that his fleet would maintain
communications with the homeland. The occupation of Pomerania and
Mecklenburg. completed by the capture in Wismar of the Austrian
fleet, assured the safety of Sweden, and permitted Gustavus IT Adolphus
to inaugurate his great campaign in the Rhine and Danube valleys.
The “Lion of the North” had made the Baltic a Swedish sea before
his death in 1632. The best proof of this statement is the transfer of
his customs frontier from his own shores to the borders of Prussia,
Pomerania, and Mecklenburg. Danzig, “Queen of the Baltic,” was pay-
ing tribute on s hitherto free commerce in such huge sums as to main-
tain the Swedish forces in Germany.

The profits of the Swedish treasury equalled the sums Christian IV
extorted through the Sound Dues. Furthermore, the acquisition of
Ingria, Livonia, the Prussian harbors, and the German coast line
brought Sweden almost to the achievement of her dream. The Baltic,

ww IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

In Pomerania the city of Stralsund had kept free from Imperialist
occupation. In the spring of 1628 von Arnim occupied an island domi-
nating its harbor. Bat this so roused the town that it forced the sur
render of the island and broke off all imtercourse with the Austrin
forces. With Wallenstein organizing a coercive effort Sweden and De
mark sent aid to the town. Several shipments of munitions came from
Copenhagen and in May 1.000 men. The plight of the town became
desperate. but a Swedish regiment under Colonel Fritz Rosladin ar
rived in time to hurl back three successive altempts to carry the wall
by assault. June 26-28. 1628. More Danes. some 1.500 in all, came in
July while the Swedes were reénforced by 1.200 veterans from Prussia.
Early in August Christian IV organized a diversion on the flank of
von Amim’s besieging forces but his army was crushed at Wolgast
by a rapid concentration engineered by Wallenstein. Most of the Danes
regained the ships. although 1.100 were killed and 1.200 captured.
For the rest of the year naval activity consisted of skirmishes outside
Wismar and Danish routine patrols along the rest of the coast.

The intervention of the Swedish king at Stralsund confirmed the
Hanse towns in their refusal to aid the Imperial design for a Baltic
fleet. But Wallenstein persuaded the King of Poland to order his
Danzig flotilla to join the Wismar armada. In January. 1629, eight
Polish vessels came to Wismar. but were kept safely in harbor by the
ubiquitous Danish squadrons. The Danish main fleet made it possible
for Christian IV to undertake the reconquest of Jutland and Schleswig
by landing armies simultaneously on the east and west sides of the
Danish peninsula. But the 1629 campaign was cut short by the sign-
ing of the Peace of Liibeck in June. 1629. Wallenstein, opposed to the
Swedes hoth in Prussia and at Stralsund. restored sll occupied Danish
territory in retum for Danish withdrawal from any pretension to
German lands or influence.

In 1626 the Swedish king. Gustavus II Adolphus, decided to transfer
the scene of the dynastic dispute between his realm and Poland to the
plains of Royal Prussia. Nearer the German battlefields, he checked
the advance of Wallenstein upon Denmark, brought under his control
the fertile plains of the lower Vistula, and anticipated a Spanish plan,
proposed at Cracow by Count von Solre, of assisting Poland by gather-
ing a Spanish fleet in Danzig to act against Sweden. The Swedish in-
vasion of Prussia went over Pillau to Elbing, but did not include an
attack upon the great port of Danzig. However, even the neutrality of
that city could not be secured, and the arrival there of Gabriel Posse,

II Adolphus had collected in time of war.
With the pacts of Litbeck and Altmark, the strug;
entered a new phase in which Sweden faced the Hol;
and its forces. Gabriel de Roy's vessels came out of
tember, 1629, for a skirmish with their new enemy,
range cannon duel with negligible loss to either side,
without shaking the Swedish blockade. In 1630
made great use of his fleet, not only in conveying
men, munitions, and equipment of his German ex
but also in operations against the seaports of Anklam,
Stettin. Late in the fall two sea-fights took place outside
first was indecisive, but in the second Mansfeld’s largest
David of forty guns, was cut off from the rest of the Aust
driven to seck refuge in Traveriinde. There the city of
trated it as reimbursement for losses suffered by its
Austrian privateers during the war. ili
Early in March, 1631, the Swedish besieging forces foi |

tempt by four Austrian ships to reénforce and re-provision the fortress
:

4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Prussia with grain for the army from Pernau, Revel and Riga. In 1631
the Baltic provinces sent 86,000 barrels of grain to Germany for the
use of the army.

However, the most important single service which the fleet performed
for the army was the transport of the fighting forces from the home-
land to the fields of battle. Each year one or two large convoys brought
out numbers of men to Prussia and Pomerania, and smaller groups
were always being despatched as opportunity afforded. Then the fleet
carried home the wounded and unfit; brought to Sweden the discharged
and furloughed; carried regiments from one garrison to another, from
Finland to Livonia, and from Prussia to Sweden; moved back to Fin:
land and Sweden the cadres ordered home to recruit and re-equip; and
brought to the regiments of the line the militiamen selected to replace
men fallen in battle. During the years 1626-1631 a total of 168,000
men were moved by sea, an average of 28,000 a year. Of all this num-
ber, only some two score soldiers fell into the hands of the enemy, and
no large convoy ever failed to bring in adequate time the reénforce
ments needed by the army in the field.

The control of the seas projected the defense of Sweden from her
own and the Finnish shores to those of Prussia and Pomerania, and
made possible those campaigns which checked the military progress
of the Catholic Counter Reformation in Germany, Before his death at
Liitzen the Swedish hero-king had acquired for his successor on the
throne an inheritance of the highest value. The “Lordship of the Baltic”
with its resultant military and financial pre-eminence in the North, had
been transferred to Sweden by the work of her navy, and its continu:
ance and possession rested upon her sea-power.

& ip + pote

‘The sources for this study are in large part the manuscript collec
tions in Sweden and Denmark. In Riks-Arkivet (National Archives) at
Stockholm, Riks-Registraturet, Rddets Registratur, and Latinskt-Tyska
Registraturet for 1626-1631 contain valuable material. The Gustaf i
Adolfs Brev, Brew till Konung Gustaf I! Adolf, Brev till Rikers Réd,
and Rédets Brev till Konungen for 1626-1631 also furnished data of
importance. The Diplomatica of the Stockholm archives are rich in
detail, In their divisions Dartica 1, [V and V1/ contain the reports of
Jonas Buracus and Johan Fegracus, Swedish agents at the Danish court;
while in Germanica A-III, CIV, D-Ill, D-V, and D-VITI rests a major
share of the documentary evidence concerning Stralsund. Here also
are the valuable and interesting letters which Christopher Rasche sent

ea a |

16 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

use; in the Danish and Swedish Treaties and Agreements, now being
published under governmental supervision; and in the Letters of Sir
Thomas Roe, edited for the Camden Society by Samuel Rawson Gardi-
ner. Among works contemporary or nearly #0 the most valuable is
Philip Boguslaw von Chemnits’s Belli-Sveco-Germanici, which appeared
in 1648. Dross and gold are much mixed in Khevenhiiller’s Annalian
Ferdinandeorum, X-XI, and in the Theatrum Europaeum, while some-
what of value can be extracted from Fredrik Spanheim’s Le Soldat
Suedois and J. Abelin’s Arma Svecica,

Of modern volumes the study is most indebted to Nils Ahnlund’s
Gustaf Adolf infor Tyska Kriget, to Gustaf Droysen’s Gustaf Adolf,
and to J. Opel’s Die niedersdchsische-danische Kriege. Much concemn-
ing the activity of the Danish fleet was found in H. Garde’s Den dansk-
norske Somagts Historie, while Axel Zettersten’s Svenska Flottans Hist-
oria proved to be a mine of details as to the Swedish navy. One other
group of volumes must be given separate mention: the studies which
concern themselves with the maritime plans of the Hapsburgs. In this
field fall the works of Friedrich Mares, Anton Gindely, Otto Schmitz,
and Konrad Reichard. Die Maritimen Plane der Hopsburger, which
Reichard published in 1867, is earliest in time, most inclusive in scope,
and perhaps first in value.

18 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

development of culture, which in turn requires that schools be estab-
lished, lest culture and learning be lost. The common practice of calti-
vating a single crop—tobacco in Virginia, and rice in Carolina and
Georgia—lead to the development of large plantations, a factor which
had much to do with moulding the social classes and the political
structure of the colonies. To meet transportation needs, many of the
earlier plantations had a river frontage, and the use of slave labor
on a considerable scale sharpened class distinctions, made possible
larger plantations, and dispersed the inhabitants still more widely.
The lack of town life, the general difficulty of communication, together
with the natural rigors of the frontier, made necessary the modifica-
tion of the old educational ideas and practices to meet the needs of
the new environment.

Education today is well recognized in America as the obligation of
the state, and is, within well defined limits, compulsory, but such a
concept did not rule in colonial days. Public compulsory education
concerned itself with such orphans, and other children, who, because
of neglect, were liable to become public charges. The great mass of
the common people was not considered entitled to state supported
schools. The famous Poor Law of Elizabeth of 1601 was the basis
for English and colonial thought on this question. It emphasized the
care and treatment of children who were unable by their own efforts or
by those of their parents to secure the training which would develop
them into self-supporting citizens. The American colonies went a step
further in their poor laws and required that such children should not
only be taught a trade but to read and write as well. Legislative en-
actments concerning elementary education dealt primarily with or-
phaned and neglected children, while to the individual householder
was left the burden of educating his own children, or not, as he chose.
The financial burden for the education of orphans and other children
who came within the provisions of the acts was placed upon the com-
munities in which these children lived, under the supervision of the
vestrymen of the parish, or overseers of the poor. As the colonies
increased in population other acts clarified earlier practices, but their
fundamental nature was not changed by the later revisions.

Some attempts were made to set up a school system by law. The
Maryland law of 1723 was in intent the most important educational
measure enacted in the South during the colonial era. The design was
to set up a system of schools, one within each of the twelve counties in
the province, to be supported by a tax on imports and by certain fines

In 1671 Sir William Berkeley,
God that there were no free i
‘was not true for at that time there v

colonial period. ‘The phrase “free school”

were charged, but such was not the ease.

open to anyone able to pay the required tuition
paid, cither by the parents of the children att
parish, or from funds left for that purpose. It.
however, to admit the children of the very poor,
exempt them from payment of tuition, but their
limited.

‘The earliest foundation for a free school made by a
North America was provided by the will of Benjamin |
who made the inhabitants of Elizabeth City C
principal beneficiaries, The grant of two hundred
eight cows was confirmed by the legislature in 164:
school house had been built, the school was in active
the herd of cattle had shown considerable increase.
dowed school was also located in Elizabeth City Cou
after the Symmes bequest, Thomas Eaton, a physician,
of five hundred acres of land, two negroes, twelve cows, 0
twenty hogs for the founding of a school. Only ch
living within the county were expected to attend. It
been Eaton's intention to limit attendance to poor ch

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 21

from the fact that the master was required to teach English grammar
which in the seventeenth century included Latin.

‘While the Symmes and the Eaton schools were the most widely
known of their kind, at least three other free schools were founded in
Virginia before 1724, and between this date and 1776 funds were left
for four additional schools. These schools were located in seven
parishes. Of the ninety parishes in Virginia in 1776 eighty-threo were
without such schools. The conclusion is that endowed schools served
@ very small part of the population.

The endowed school idea did not take root in Maryland, nor were
there such schools in North Carolina, although one attempt was made,

“in 1754, to endow a school in the latter province. In that year a liberal

offer was made by George Vaughn, a London merchant, who offered
to devote £1000 yearly to the propagation of the gospel among the
Indians in or near North Carolina. A counter proposal was made by
the legislature that the gift be made available for an academy or semi-
nary for both Indians and whites, and offering to levy a tax on cach
negro in the province to augment the yearly bequest. This offer was
not accepted and the effort came to nothing. There were a few endow-
ments for educational purposes in colonial North Carolina but these
furnished, as @ rule, free wition and fees for only a limited number
of students,

South Carolina had a number of free endowed schools. In some cases
the school district was incorporated by the legislature, but whether
incorporated or not, the principal sources of support were the funds
Jeft for that purpose. One such school was located in Charlestown and
another in Dorchester, Parish of St.George, Berkley Courty. Both
were supported in part by a small annual grant from the public
treasury but mainly by gifts and bequests. There was an endowed
school at Childsbury and another in the Parish of St.Thomas and St.
Denis, near Charlestown. The former was made possible by James
Child who died in 1720, while the latter was founded by Richard
Beresford who in 1722 left the sum of £6500 currency in trust to the
vestry of the Anglican Chureh in the parish for the education of the
poor children within its borders. Altogether there were six free and
charitable schools in the province by 1737, but no new endowments
are reported after this date. Georgia had no endowed schools and for
‘the most part, the education of the children was a private matter. Each
family determined for iteclf the educational opportunity to be given
its children.

wasnt sbvuld sduosin a em elacpuc saan h
of private tutors who devoted their time and talents to |
the plantation. In many cases # child’s entire education

by the tutorial method. In other cases only an
was obtained in this way, after which the sons of the
sent to colleges in America or abroad, while the daughters

at home until they married. Many of the earlier tutors were of Scotch
descent, some of whom were indentured servants, Teachers were also
sent from England, and of these, some were poor men praprsa
number of years of labor, usually four or five, to pay for
while others were unfortunate victims of the harsh English |
‘sent to America instead of being jailed at home. If the i
services had no work for them, he would sell their time to some one
desiring a teacher, and so recompense himself. It was not uncommon:
for members of the clergy to serve as tutors to augment their incomes,
and frequently the parish clerk taught the children in apa
ing his leisure time, Women sometimes were employed as tutors for
quite young children, combining the positions of nurse and teacher. —
Two of the best known tutors who left diaries which tell of their
work, were Philip Fithian and John Harrower. The former was a
native of America, educated at Princeton and was employed to instruct
the children and nephews of Robert Carter of Nomini Hall,
Harrower was a Scotchman, an indentured servant, who sold his ser-
vices to Colonel William Daingerfield, teaching his children and others:
who might be able to pay a fee for instruction, Both were men of
better than average training and ability, whose work was a credit to
their profession. Fithian and Harrower spent their time only in teach-
ing, but it was not uncommon for tutors to be required to help with

|

only a place where x child learned to
grounded in the faith of his fathers.

During the entire colonial period efforts lo
college—in fact the first steps taken for the
in the South were in this direction. In 1617 K
Bishops and clergy throughout England to take
churches, to be used to finance a college for the 1
world. Some money was raised, lands set aside in
manager appointed to oversee construction. But
and the revocation of the charter of the London Com
these carly efforts. The question lay dormant for n
when in 1660 and 1661, because of a serious lack of a |
for the Anglican Church, acts were passed by the Vir,
to found both a free school and a college. But this |
‘The colony was in the midst of a depression, tobacco was selling,
very low price, and the people were in no mood to fi
sary money.

In spite of these discouragements hope did not ab:
the situation in the Anglican Church had become set
of ability were loath to leave England and there was ne
America to educate a ministry in colonial conditions ar
college, it was thought, would remedy the situation an
Population had. grown: tna) pln where Sit eas

Governor, F

it could be built and maintained. The

id itp Cixaranesyp ie Refecend Vane Disc eral
responsible for the renewed interest in the project. The G
a number of occasions had shown his interest in educatio
was a man of energy and foresight who felt that only thr

Ah.

——

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 25

clergy could the Anglican Church prosper in Virginia. In 1691 the
legislature passed the necessary laws for the founding of a college
and Dr, Blair was sent to England to obtain a charter from the King.
‘The proposed college was to be named the “College of King William
‘and Queen Mary.” Dr. Blair was able to enlist support for the under-
toking in England, secured an audience with the King and, despite
considerable opposition from commercial interests, secured both a
charter and grants of money and land.

Construction was begun in 1695 and two years later the work in
‘the grammar school began. From time to time during the colonial
period grants of money were made by the legislature for the support
‘of the institution, For some years only preparatory work was done,
for the college was in the unique position of having to prepare its
students for more advanced work. Hence, until about 1705 William
and Mary was only a free school. Dr. Blair, the first President, held
this office for fifty years. During the entire colonial period it was the
practice to combine the offices of commissary and president of the
college. The student body was never large. In 1702 twenty-nine were
enrolled in the grammar school, and in 1770 the total in all classes,
both preparatory and college, did not exceed one hundred and twenty-
five. William and Mary was essentially a college for the training of
ministers for the Anglican Church, and for a considerable period
little encouragement was given those who might be interested in other
learned professions, The wealthy planters were wont to send their
sons abroad to be educated and the enrollment was further diminished
because of the notorious conduct of some of the teachers. But in spite
of handicaps it filled # need in the South which could not have been
met in any other way. When Williamsburg became the capital the
college became not only a school for clergymen but one for statesmen
as well, Many men who achieved prominence in the service of their
Sate and nation received their early training in the college, which,
because of its location, brought its students into contact with the lead-
ing political figures of the period. Although it was intended to found
im America a new Oxford or Cambridge, conditions in Virginia were
unfavorable for so ambitious a plan. The country was too young and
raw to permit the refinements of living observed in the older colleges

No other colleges were actually established in the South during the
colonial cra, At least five attempts were made in Maryland to follow
the example set in Virginia. There is evidence that the Jesuits con-

hi.

Only one effort sus made tp Sone 8 cola
that was due to the interest of Governor William
office in 1765. Tn 1771 « law was actually passed to
College at Charlotte in Mecklenburg County. This act was
however by the King on advice of the Board of Trade
that it would be unwise to permit the Presbyterian
would control the policies of the college, to gain too
a province where dissenters had already given the ests
Church considerable trouble. The loose wording of a
simply provided a “tax of sixpence on liquor’ without |
whether on a barrel or a gallon, was likewise
as a reason for disallowance, The school was opened without.
under the name of Liberty Hall Academy, but it did not dev
the status of a grammar school,
During the seventeenth century persons from the ie ane
education other than that afforded at home had either to.
colleges in England or the continent, to obtain it. Even

crease in the number of American colleges during
Pee ieaaiad tie coeledie ae ei =

to send their sons, and in a few cases, daughters, abroad. E
especially England, offered many advantages to persons
he educated. ‘ae firs a nets ss ee

Tai manies of te fenly yhsitel ot gue 2 Gn em |
with members of the family who had not gone to the new
the opportunity for those contacts which make for culture

mingling of students during the

tion could not but help make for

sections, and promote a unity of purpo

when decisive action was taken against Ei
In 1697 Reverend Thomas Bray,

ing then available. He conceived knowledge

ment of the soul of man,” and for such

grammar schools or colleges the reading of good b

a profitable substitite, He proposed, therefore,
theology, history, geography, agriculture, medicine,
matics to enable anyone to taste the culture of the
thereby. There were not more than three libraries in
able to the public when Dr. Bray announced his plans,
thought was to furnish the clergy with books, many o
poor to provide their own, but later he devised a
Libraries” in the keeping of the parish minister, to
who cared to read. These books were intended to
because of the remoteness of their homes, were unable to att
service regularly,

Maryland was the principal benificiary of Dr. Bray’
welfare was first in his mind. He was ably seconded by !
Francis Nicholson. Nicholson went #0 far as to propo
ture that some part of the public revenue appro q
defense be diverted to the buying of books for a library at
North and South Carolina were also given libraries through #
of Dr, Bray, A library was placed in Charlestown as
and in 1700 some books were sent to North Carolina. There was 1

EEE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 29

| Records of North Carolina mentioned several other libraries provided
by Bray or by the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel, but no
| mention is made of the number of books or their titles.

‘The libraries founded by Dr. Bray were largely religious in content.
| This was to he expected for they were to take the place af the clergy
in those remote districts which a clergyman could visit only at rare
| Gmtervals, ‘The plan did not do all that had been hoped for it. The
| frontier was too busy with its own problems to pay much attention to

books.

Fortunately the inhabitants of the South were not entirely depend
ent upon parish libraries for reading matter. A considerable number
owned and purchased books of their own. There were comparatively
few large collections of books but the many small libraries mentioned
in the wills and the inventories of estates indicate that books were
fairly well distributed among the landowners and merchants, It is not
possible to determine the number of books owned in the colonies dur-
ing the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, for the wills, inventories,
and other available papers too frequently mention books without indi-
eating number, title, or value. But enough evidence is available to
indicate that during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
libraries included a considerable number, pethaps a majority, of
books on religious subjects, Later, books on law, history, and the
classics became more numerous, but throughout the colonial era few
inventories are to be found which omit titles on religion.

‘The first newspaper was published in English America as carly os
1690, and the first one in the South dates from 1727. This was Park's
Maryland Gazette, the seventh to be published regularly in British
North America. Printing was begun in Virginia in 1682, but the
hostility of the government compelled the printer to remove from the
province. The most notable of the colonial printers was Jonas Green,
publisher of one of the numerous Maryland Gazettes, whose fame as
a printer rests upon his publication of the Laws of Maryland compiled
by Thomas Bacon, This specimen of typography was not exceeded in
dignity and beauty by any production of an American colonial press,

were published in all the Southern colonies, and as a
rule they were called Gazettes. In South Carolina this was necessary
if they wished a share of the public printing for the law required
‘public notices to be published in the “Gazetie.” How extensive a circu-
lation the newspapers enjoyed cannot be accurately determined, With
limited postal facilities their influence was largely confined to the

bi

30 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

towns which contained the presses, the plantations whose owners were
able to visit the towns frequently, and such other communities as hed
a regular means of transportation. The newspapers exerted their great-
est influence in the quarter-century preceding the Revolution by which
time communication between the colonies had become less difficult.

* 8 © ©

The writer has utilized materials which are widely scattered through
the colonial records and other state papers, letters, diaries, parish
records, correspondence, newspapers, inventories of estates, and wills.
The best sources for the legal aspects of the question are: Proceedings
and acts of the General Assembly of Maryland, (Archives of Mary-
land, Vols. I, II, XII, XIX, XXIV, XXXVII, XL, XLVI; Proceedings
of the Council of Maryland, (Archives of Maryland, Vols. XX, XXIII) ;
Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1776; Executive
Journals of the Council of Colonial Virginia, June 11, 1690 to October
28, 1739; Hening’s Statutes at Large of Virginia, 13 volumes; The
Colonial Records of North Carolina, edited by William L. Saunders,
10 volumes; The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, edited by
Allen D. Chandler, 25 volumes; and The Statutes at Large of South
Carolina, Thomas Cooper, editor, 5 volumes. On life in the colonial
colleges the best account is Glimpses of Colonial Society and the Life
at Princeton College, 1766-1773, edited by W. J. Mills. Information
on the Anglican Church was taken largely from Historical Collections
Relating to the American Colonial Church, edited by William Stevens
Perry, especially valuable because it contains the reports of the clergy
relative to education in their parishes and material on the founding
of William and Mary College. J. Bryan Grimes, North Carolina Wills
and Inventories, was invaluable in tracing the ownership of books, as
were the various numbers of the William and Mary College Quarterly.
The first series of this quarterly consist almost wholly of source ma-
terial, most of it pertaining to the period of this study.

“The Diary of John Harrower,” The American Historical Review,
VI, No.1 (October, 1900) and “The Journal of Philip Fithian,” kept
at Nomini Hall, Virginia, 1773-1774, The American Historical Review,
V, No.2 (January, 1900) contain valuable material on the life and
work of the tutors. Of the newspapers, the various Gazettes—Dunlap's
Maryland Gazette, 1775-1776; Rind’s Virginia Gazette, 1766-1773; The
Georgia Gazette, 1763-1776; The South Carolina Gazette, 1760, and the
Virginia Gazette, 1736-1750 are full of references to matters of colonial
interest.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 31

In addition to the William and Mary College Quarterly, the Mary-
land Historical Magazine; Annual Reports, American Historical As-
sociation; Virginia Magazine of History and Biography; Tyler's
Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine; and the South Caro-
lina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, are indispensible, although
the references to education are scattered.

There is much secondary material on the colonial era, with educa-
tional matter, as in the sources, scattered. Perhaps the most helpful
works, especially on education abroad, were E. Alfred Jones, American
Members of the Inns of Court, London, 1924; and David Murray,
Memories of the Old College of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1927. The writings
of Edward D. Neill, especially his Earliest Efforts to Promote Educa-
tion in English North America, St.Paul, 1892; and The History of
Education in Virginia during the Seventeenth Century, Washington,
Government Printing Office, 1867, contribute much to an understand-
ing of the period.

ENGLAND'S COLONIAL NAVAL STORES
POLICY, 1588-1776*

By Justm Wriuuams

England throughout the colonial era maintained « lively interest in
New World shipbuilding resources, and from 1705 to 1776 Parliament
offered bounties to encourage the production and importation of these
materials. Any general history of the colonies contains some reference
to naval stores and a few special studies in the field of colonial
economy and English commerce draw generously from the vast store-
house of data on naval stores to support a major thesis. But the story
of England’s colonial naval stores policy, as such, its origin and
achievements, has not been told before. It is the purpose of this disser-
tation, therefore, to survey for the first time the subject of British
colonial naval stores in its entirety, from the age of Elizabeth to the
American Revolution, with emphasis on England’s bounty policy in
the eighteenth century; why and how the bounty policy was adopted
and what results it attained.

Under the Tudors England turned to the sea, convinced that ships
could furnish the only effective instrument of national defense. At
the same time ships could seize and defend distant territories, provide
a sufficiency of exotic products, and serve as an outlet for English
wares. To construct these sailing vessels large quantities of timber,
masts, cables, sail-cloth, pitch, and tar were needed. But England was
practically destitute of the “furniture of shipping”: her soil and climate
were not friendly to hemp and flax culture and pine trees were not
indigenous to her hills and valleys. The island’s only native ship-
building product came from its oak forests which, by 1600, were re-
duced “to such a sicknesse and wasting consumption. as all the physick
in England cannot cure.”

This deficiency underlay the early development of commercial rela-
tions between England and the Baltic countries where naval stores
were plentiful. Timber came principally from Norway, Poland and

*From a dissertation directed by Professor Winfred T. Root.
32

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 33

and the Gulf of Finland); and pitch and tar from
England feared a dependence on foreign powers for in-
d ship commodities. The supply might be cut off during
: impair the efficiency of the royal navy and merchant marine;
the carrying of such bulky articles, which stimulated shipbuilding,
and brought profits in freightage, was too often

‘monopolized by the Baltic countries themselves; and this branch of
‘trade always left England with an adverse balance to be liquidated
silver, a practice contrary to the economic concepts of

" Elizabethan England looked to colonization as a means of rectifying
these evils, as most of the writings on America before 1607 will show.
| Soon after the first colony was planted we are told that “Virginia hath

no want of many marchandize (which we in England accomplish in
|) Denmark, Norway, Prussia, Poland, etc; fetch far and buy deare)
which advaunce much, and assured increase, with less exchaung of our
‘owne, with so few hazards by sea, and which would maintaine as
frequent and goodly a navie ax what runs the Levant stage.” At the
outset Virginia and New England began producing the desired naval
stores for English consumption; but their efforts came to naught in
the Stuart period because of their inability to compete with the cheaper
labor and lower carrying charges of the Baltic, An exception was a
shipload of New England masts sent in 1634 to the old country, and
im another decade “no colonial product excited so much attention in
England as masts, especially the larger ones destined for the royal
navy." From this time until the Revolution « goodly portion of the
‘mainmasts for the navy were taken from the white pine forests of the
Puritan commonwealths.

Several forces at work near the end of the century were conducive
to a revival of interest in colonial naval stores. First and perhaps
foremost of these was the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-
1697). In this England's heavy losses caused a tremendous demand

on the Baltic countries for fresh supplies of shipbuilding materials,

‘A second factor of importance was the abundance of liquid capital
available for investment which, coupled with the rampant mania for
speculation and the high cost of Baltic products, encouraged the forma-
tion of companies chartered ostensibly to import colonial naval stores.
A third influence was England's recognition of the ever-increasing
value of the colonies as a market, a source of raw materials, and a

——

ra

3 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

spur to shipping and navigation. Finally. Whig supremacy, following
the Glorious Revolution. was not the least significant of the forces thit
brought a renewed eagemess for colonial ship materials, Extreme
mereant the Whigs were guided to a large extent by the balance
sheet.

At the behest of Parliament the Board of Trade was established in
1696 with instructions inser alia to ferret out hurtful trades. Between
1697 and 1705 the Board closely scrutinized every angle of the naval
Stores situation. delving not only into the commercial relations between
England and each of the Baltic powers but also into the feasibility
of procuring plantation materials. The searching inquiry brought to
light two undesirable trends that might be ameliorated by importing
naval commodities from the colonies.

The more disquieting of these was the distressing state of the Anglo-
Baltic trade in the sixteen nineties. which was glaringly at odds with
the principles of mercantilism. The Easterlings drained England of
precious metals. discriminated against English manufactures. crowded
Englishmen out of the carrying trade. and often supplied naval stores
‘on onerous terms. In December 1697. the Board of Trade reported
that the importation of naval stores from Sweden and the south side
of the Baltic “hath much increased upon us” that the ships employed
of late in that trade were no more than half English bottoms. and
that England was therefore overbalanced £200,000 yearly in goods and
freight. From 1691 to 1696. only 39 English. but 1070 foreign ships
entered London with timber from Norway and Denmark. Wars from
1689 to 1721 multiplied the difficulties of importing Eastland naval
stores: the war between England and France lasting from 1689 to 1713
except for a brief breathing spell and the struggle between Sweden
and Russia (The Great Northern War. 1699-1721! for supremacy in
the Baltic. The former increased the demand for naval stores. the
latter interfered with the supplv.

Sweden furnished the immediate cause for the Naval Stores Act
of 1705. The pine trees of Sweden and Finland ta Swedish colony)
made the best and cheapest tar of Europe. Two events in the reign
of William III virtually forced England to seek another source of
pitch and tar than the kingdom of Charles XII. First. the Stockholm
Tar Company was given a monopoly of Sweden's resinous products
in 1689; and second. upon the outbreak of the Northern War in 1699.
Russia overran Finland, the source of Sweden's tar exports. causing
that province to fall “vastly shori” of its former deliveries of tar.

The Balas condition, then, on the
staples in the northern plantations, on
reasons why England encouraged colonial
century. Complete expression was given |
the preamble to the Naval Stores Act of
made of naval stores “being now brought in

in foreign Shipping, at exorbitant and a:
Prejudice and Discouragement of the he
Kingdom.” Then there was the

ful as may be to England, and the bates
there, profitable to themselves.” Colonial naval
would “tend, not only to further Imployment and
Shipping and Scamen, but also to the enlarging, i
the Trade and Vent of Woollen and other Manufa
exchange for such Naval Stores, which are now p
Countries with Money and Bullion.” More than t
able colonists “to make due and sufficient Returns

they otherwise would not have been obtained in

—

into ye Baltique and 4 or 5 to Norway, may be made
to New England, Especially in times of Peace.”

Sir Henry Ashurst, Agent for Massachusetts, also suspected
canery, and he foresaw the ruin of New England if patents were
granted enabling corporations to engross its trade, Bidding for
he and Sir Stephen Evance proposed to import a shipload
stores, and to abtain from the Governor and Assembly of
an estimate of what supplies could be sent over annually. If
plan proved successful, they argued, chartered companies were un-
necessary, The Lords of Trade agreed, and from 1694 to 1696 England
marked time waiting for the arrival of the naval stores ship.

In the meantime English trade became distressed by the long war.
Blaming the Lords of Trade for the commercial disasters, the House
of Commons moved for a more efficient and responsible trade council,
which the crown established in May 1696. The new Board of Trade
promptly began to devise a plan for obtaining colonial naval stores,
Just then Ashurst's naval stores cargo arrived from the Bay Colony
and found little favor with the dockyard officials at Woolwich. Heart-
ened by this setback, the Dudley group renewed its campaign for a
patent of incorporation. Word trickled in of incipient textile manu-
factures in New England. Difficulties of importing Baltic ship ma-
terials were increasing. Edward Randolph wrote from America that
the colonial resources were sufficient to supply England and most of
Europe.

The Board of Trade was confounded, of course. To gev iis bearings,
it decided to send a fact-finding commission to the woods of New
England. Equipped with instruetions from the Admiralty, this eom-

— |) : a

0 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

fall far short of the demand. Payment of sufficient premiums to equal-
ize the difference between Baltic and colonial production costs was
therefore adjudged the only means of building up a considerable trade
in colonial naval stores. In December 1704, a bill drafted by the
Board of Trade provided for the payment of premiums on all pitch,
tar, rosin, turpentine, masts, spars, and hemp imported from the planta:
Peale Fetvonry 1705, poses both (ie Comsecetel amet

‘That additional products to the much needed pitch and tar were
encouraged at this time was mainly due to England's desire to “induce
merchants and traders to turn their stock and thoughts to the trade
in these commodities.” Should this project succeed, naval stores would
no longer be precariously obtained, the adverse Baltic balance would
be wiped out, the problem of returns in the northern colonies would
be solved, and English shipping would be augmented, But it was
fancied that importation of tar and pitch apart from other products
would not engage many ships, or draw New Englanders away from
their spinning wheels to an appreciable degree, or measurably affect
the unfavorable balance of trade with the Baltic. In order to ac
complish any one of these ends, it was deemed necessary to set up
the machinery for accomplishing them all. This point has been over-
looked by students of England’s colonial system,

The act of 170S provided a bounty of £1 per ton on masts, spars,
and bowsprits, £6 per ton on hemp, £4 per ton (8 bbl. of 3144 gal.
each) on pitch and tar, and £3 per ton on turpentine and rosin, These
goods were added to the enumerated list and the Navy was given a
twenty day refusal of such as were imported. In 1713 the act was
extended eleven years, or 10 January 1, 1725. At the end of this period
the bounties were discontinued for nearly four years, In 1719 a more
rigid ingpection law was passed to prevent the importation of pitch
and tar containing dirt and dross, In 1722 the act of 1705 was com-
pletely recast, but did not become operative until the retstablishment
of the hounty system in 1729. The act of 1729 reduced the premiums
on tar, pitch, and turpentine, and dropped rosin from the favored list.
Otherwise it was the same as the original act and remained in force
until 1776,

As regards the production of colonial hemp the bounty system was
a total failure. England annually consumed some 7,000 tons of hemp,
yet only a few dozen tons were brought from America previous to
the War for Independence, The colonies zealously attempted to grow
this valuable crop, however. Virginia, South Carolina, and Pennsyl-

——S

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 41

vania in 1722, Maryland in 1727, New York in 1763, New Jersey in
1765, and Virginia again in 1769, offered rewards—over and above
the English bounty of £6 per ton—to encourage its cultivation. But
fo all intents and purposes they might as well have whistled jigs to a
milestone; for hemp culture required a special technique that the
colonists could not master.

‘The bounty of £1 per ton on masts and spars accomplished nothing
that would not have otherwise been accomplished. From the reign of
Gharles I to the Declaration of Independence England yenrly imported
a few American masts, but these rather supplemented than superseded
the Baltic mast supply. A sailing vessel, whether large or small, re-
quired twenty-three masts, yards, and bowsprits of various lengths
and breadths. The mainmast in a first-rate ship had to be forty inches
in diameter and forty yards long, while the dimensions of a similar
‘mast in a frigate were twenty inches and twenty yards. Mizzenmasts,
maintopmasts, foremasts, bowsprits, main yards, jib booms and the
Tike, for each class of ships, were of many sizes, but all were narrower
and shorter than mainmasts. The fir of Germany and Russia excelled
45 4 mast tree but owing to the absence of accessible virgin forests in
those countries firs above twenty-seven inches were seldom available.
Mainmasts for the big ships of the English navy were therefore of
necessity and not from choice taken from the white pine forests of
‘New England. Size, rather than desire to strike a blow at the un-
favorable Baltic trade or to enhance the commercial value of the
colonies, recommended the use of American masts.

Statistics show that the colonial mast trade was based on nothing
more than the deficiency of great timbers in the East Country. During
the reign of Queen Anne, England annually purchased about 1,000
“great masts” (any mast twenty inches or more in diameter), In the
years 1706-1713, when the bounty was supposedly exerting influence,
a yearly average of only 136 of these big timbers—nearly all above
27 inches in thickness—was furnished by New England. For fourteen
year following the Treaty of Utrecht, when England's maritime affairs
were rapidly expanding, America supplied an average of 179 great
masts each year, mostly the sizes not to be obtained in the Baltic. In
1775 the Navy had on hand a three-year supply of big sticks, 2134 in
all, of which 634 had the colonial stamp. Of these 634, a total of 394
were more than 27 inches thick, 188 were between 25 and 27 inches,
while only 49 were of a width less than 25 inches.

42 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

“Middle masts” and “small masts” were more plentiful in America
than the larger, but they were scarcely used in England. In the first
fifteen years of the seventeenth century, the Navy and merchant marine
bought 17,204 middle masts, of which 333 were supplied by the
colonies. In the same year 29,767 small masts were received from
abroad and but 115 of these bore the colonial mark. This condition
prevailed until the end of the colonial period. The acts of Parliament
restricting the cutting of New England pines without # royal permit
cannot be blamed for the scant trade in small-sized masts, for, the con:
tractors who felled the great timbers, were also privileged to take the
smaller ones,

Concisely, the mast bounty had no effect on Anglo-Baltic trade re
lations or colonial economy, In fact it was impossible to “induce
merchants and traders to turn their stock and thoughts” to the mast
business, simply because they lacked the necessary experience and
financial hacking. From 1652 to 1775 four men, Sir William Warren,
John Taylor, William Gulston, and John Henniker, held most of the
contracts for supplying colonial masts to the Navy (private shipping
used the less expensive Baltic masts). But these men did not under-
take to fetch the big sticks, valued at £100 ($2,500 modern money) oF
more each, except on a commission basis, and thus ran no risk of
losing their fortunes, Residing in England, they retained agents in New
England who hired colonists to cut and haul the logs to the riverside,
where they were loaded and shipped across the Atlantic,

Unlike the bounty on hemp and masts, the reward offered for the
shipment of resinous commodities all but produced the desired results.
Concerning turpentine and rosin the Board of Trade observed in 1717:

‘Turpentine from the Plantations is allowed to be ax good and nseful ss

any whatever (very little of that Commodity having for several! Years

past been imported from any other Parts.

And as Rezin is made out of Turpentine, We observe that the Imports-

tion of the former has very much decreased from all parts in Proportion

as the Importation of the other has encrensed,
In other words, England no longer depended on European turpentine
and the benefits of the trade in that commodity were transferred to
English and colonial merchants and shippers. Very little rosin came
from the colonies and after 1729 the bounty on it was discontinued.

The greatest success of the hounty policy was achieved in connem
tion with pitch and tar, the articles so precariously procured from
Sweden around 1700, Of the 40,000 barrels annually consumed by
English shipping, the colonies, previous to the act of 1705, supplied

ll =

——e

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 43
litle or none. But in the nine years 1716-1724, the smallest batch of
pitch and tar | from America in any one year consisted of

35,367 barrels and the largest, 84,501, the mean being 61488. Dur-
ing the same period, owing to the disturbance of the Northern War,

paid out in premiums—over £50,000 in 1718 alone—the bounty act
‘was not renewed upon its expiration in 1725. From 81,032 barrels in

had the bounties not been restored in 1729, it is impossible to say, but
the necessity of premiums was demonstrated. Even though the bounty
‘was now only slightly more than half of what it had been the trade
was quickly revived. From 33,062 barrels in 1730, the plantation
supply jumped to 47,451 barrels in 1731, to 70,428 in 1732, and to
73.487 in 1733. Thirty-five years later (1768) England imported
135,000 barrels of colonial pitch, tar, and turpentine; in 1770 the
amount was 107,550 barrels; while in 1775 North Carolina alone ex-
ported 130,000 barrels of these three resinous products.

Contrary to England's sanguine expectation, the preponderance of
‘theee resinous products was manufactured in the Carolinas, and not
in the northern colonies, The reason for this is clear. The southeastern
seaboard is the natural habitat of the longleaf pine, which yields more
tar than any other North American conifer. Even the tar exported
from New England, and used in New England shipyards, was mostly
the product of the Carolinas. From these southern provinces Yankee
shippers picked up “A very great Quantity of the best Pitch and Tar,”
which they carried “first to New England and then to Great Britain.”
In 1716 England imported 45,452 barrels of colonial pitch and tar, of
which only 9,147 barrels came from the Puritan provinces, Conversing
with the Board of Trade about this poor showing, Jeremiah Dummer,
Agent for Massachusetts, remarked: “Whereas Y[ou]r Lord{shi]pps
were pleased to observe that New England made but little tar them-
selves nothwithstanding the encouragement given, 1 can only say that
seeing their account in fetching it from Carolina to bring here, there’s
po doubt but as the demand rises, and Carolina has not tarr enough
fo answer it, the people in New England will in course fell the more
heartily into it themsclyes.” The prophecy was never realized.

‘Many benefits to England and the Carolinas followed in the wake
‘of the stupendous shipments of pitch and tar, Firat, as Joshua Gee

Mii

F

i

price
tion

Bill

liquidating the perennial balance against the southern colonies, par
ticularly North Carolina, deprived Sweden of its tar monopoly, and
interrupted the drain of English bullion to northern Europe. The
conspicuous failure of the bounty system was in the matter of returns
for the northern colonies, Yet no better example of mereantilism than
this, in theory or in practice, is furnished in colonial history,

‘This study ix based primarily on unpublished manuscript materia

jc bead one
and the Public Record Office, London. Since the Board of ‘Trad=
formulated and supervised the bounty system, the fol une
published collections are most valuable: Board of Trade Papers, a
tion General; Board of Trade Papers, Proprictary; Board

Journals, Indispensable are the Colonial Office Papers, ondon,
contains a mine of information on colonial naval stores;

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 45

ports, memorials, petitions, representations, particularly for the years
1700-1730.

The most important published sources for tracing England’s naval
stores problem from the reign of Elizabeth to the reign of George I
are the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, American and West
Indies, 1574-1718, the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, 1547-
1703, the Calendar of State Papers, Foreign, the Calendar of State
Papers, Venetian, and the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic,
of the Reign of Henry VIII. Particularly useful reports and hearings
on naval stores in the years 1714-1725 are found in the Journals for
the Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, 1704-1738. The Colonial
Records of North Carolina treat of the colony that produced and
shipped more tar, pitch and turpentine than any other American
province. The work of Earl Bellomont, Governor of New York, is
easy to follow in the Documents Relative to the Colonial History of
the State of New York. The Proceedings and Debates of the British
Parliaments respecting North America, a Carnegie Institute of Wash-
ington publication, contains a few important reports on naval stores
by the Board of Trade, and quotes from speeches on that subject by
members of Parliament. 5

Many interesting bits of information are picked up in the works of
such contemporaries as William Byrd, John Smith, Richard Hakluyt,
Samuel Purchas, William Strackey, Edward Randolph, Josiah Child,
Joshua Gee, George Marie Butel-Dumont, Charles Davenant, Walter
Raleigh, Malachy Postlethwayt, Hugh Williamson, and John Lawson.

THE DEFENSE OF THE FRONTIER, 1760-1775*
By Paut Omeca Carr

The conquest of Canada and the eastern portion of the Mississippi
Valley in 1763 forced England to face sharply heavy and perplexing
problems demanding prompt solution. Not the least was the manage-
ment of the territory lying west of the older colonies and containing
a number of French settlements and a broad belt of hostile Indian
nations. To prevent the French from recovering the valuable fur
trade recently lost, and to pacify the Indians then in rebellion against
British authority, this new territory was taken under direct royal
control by virtue of the Royal Proclamation of October 7, 1763. This
act temporarily closed the region west of the mountains to settlement
by proclaiming the Appalachian divide the western boundary of
colonial expansion. It was expected that land purchases would be
made from time to time by proper authorities and thus new areas
would be opened to colonization. The Proclamation represented #
definite step in substituting British authority for scattered colonial
control in the West. The proclamation line was a galling restriction
to the colonies with charter rights to the unoccupied land of the trans-
montane region and to the land companies interested in the indiscrimi-
nate exploitation of the West. Moreover, the pioneer home-seekers,
angry at this restriction on their freedom to move at liberty across
the mountains in search for better lands, paid little heed to the bound-
ary line.

It is the purpose of this study to describe and explain the military
and political control of the frontier line against the westward move-
ment of population. An attempt is made to study the policies of the
British and provincial governments to defend the Indian lands against
the pushing and predatory whites, to regulate trading activities west
of the established boundary, and to protect the border settlers from
Indian depredations. Occupation and organization of the new terri-
tory, distribution of troops for defensive purposes against internal and
external enemies, the Indian uprising of 1763, the Indian boundary,

*From a dissertation directed by Professor Winfred T. Root.
46

in May and June, 1763, were not felt
‘The state of Indian affairs in the
meeting held at Augusta in 1763. One of
Superintendent of Indian affains in the
call @ general Indian conference with
provinces. Its purpose was to apprise the Indians
the transfer of the territory from France
the Treaty of Paris and to restore peace
Indians and their new sovereign. This gathering, |
by the British government and promptly carried
the governors, prevented the Indian uprising from
South.

General Amherst, safely settled in distant New York
sider the grave consequences of a general Indian
people of the defenseless fronticr. He had expected

ad

were given greater consideration, » war with all
ings would be inevitable. He failed to see that sh
West depended upon the good will of the Indiana,
their power while Sir William Johnson, Superit
affairs in the northern department, saw in them the most
uncivilized people in the world, Not until the news
destruction in May and June did Amherst awake to the |

of the uprising. Once convinced of the nature of the

acted with vigor. But with less than a thousand:
his immediate command, he was handicapped in
military aid to the western country, Almost all
been demobilized. In fact, Great was ill
to assume the new duties of territorial defense.

General Thomas Gage, who succeeded Amherst
the military plans which the latter had drawn up f
1764. Two offensive campaigns had been planned aga
Troops from New Jersey and New York, together wi

vnanlating (cade tader entsctal Lag In fact,
to define clearly the principles to be followed in t

unified system for the management of Indian trade
the next year.

Soon after the Proclamation had been issued, a ©
for the management of Indian affairs was drafted
Trade. Commercial and political relations with all
were to be placed under the control of royal officials. |
grouped into two districts over each of which |
tendent. All laws in the several colonies for
merce were to be repealed. Trade was to be control
department in each district. In the southern district it
ried on at towns located in tribal territories; in the j
al certain fortified posts. All traders were required
the trade regulations prescribed by the Indian depat
officers and governors were forbidden to hold general
the Indians without the concurrence of the rint

(Ge SERRE AR eee |
aldol otien Bone eee tS 00
‘meet this expense it was planned to tax the fu

i

52 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

perfectly well that the land belonged to no one, It was never visited
except perhaps for a week or two each year by some Indian hunting
party. In his estimation ownership was based upon the use made of
the land, and he saw no justice in laws which restricted freedom of
movement in the harsh but richly endowed wilderness. Of course, the
Indian thought differently, The clash of the red men and the whites
upon the American continent was inevitable, Thus the frontier was
the line of contact between two irreconcilable races; real peace eould
not he attained until one or the other was vanquished beyond question.

During the interval of 1763-1770 several treaties between the British
government and the Indians attempted to promote peace along the
frontier, Room for expansion had been provided in Canada and in
the Floridas by the Proclamation of 1763, but, in practically every
subsequent conference with the Indians, additional grants of western
land were made to the English. This the savages consented to, not
always willingly, in the hope that they were at Jast to be permanently
separated from the whites, The settlers continued their intrusions,
Occasionally they were evieted by the army, but by 1766, General
Gage feared a riot if the army attempted to expel the large number
of settlers in the Ohio Valley without the order of a civil magistrate.
He was careful not to involve the army in « quarrel with the provincial
governments. Military force was used to restrain the westward move-
ment of population only when requested by the civil governments.
The colonial assemblies, hesitant in demanding obedience to royal
proclamations, seldom advised the governors to use the regular army
against their own frontier settlers. Many influential men, some of
whom were colonial officials, were not at all sympathetic with the
policy of restricting westward expansion. Governor Fauquier sug
gested that leaving settlers to the mercy of the Indians might be the
only way of preventing settlements beyond the established boundary.
Refusal of protection, however, was no more effective than “mere
proclamation.” It was evident that the British government had pro-
vided a western colonial plan which it could not enforce against the
relentless movement of population across the mountains,

Conferences subsequent to 1765 between the Indian tribes and the
superintendents of Indian affairs revealed that the only temporary
relief from the dangerous situation along the frontier was to be gained
by shifting the Indian boundary as established in 1763 further west-
ward. Settlers and land speculators from Virginia, Pennsylvania, New
York, and the Carolinas clamored for a new boundary line which —

= =

s4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

southern Indians who claimed the ceded region. Johnson had been is:
structed by the Lords of Trade not to run the! any fa
down the Ohio than the mouth of the Great Kanawha River. TM
Indians insisted, however, that the line must extend nese
River and demanded that the traders, who had suffered at the handy
of the Delawares and Shawnees in 1763, should be ct
of land as a compensation for their losses, This proposal was the m
sult of private conferences held with the Indians by the Whartons and
other interested individuals, There is evidence to show that Johnson
Jent his influence to gain the same ends even though he received no
land for himself. He claimed that the region between the Ohio and
Tennessee rivers would soon be occupied by settlers anyway; there
fore he felt justified in accepting as large a grant as possible while
the Indians were willing to part with it. Johnson asserted that in order
to consummate the treaty it was necessary to depart from his instruc:
tions.

At Augusta in 1763, it had been agreed to run a boundary line back
of the southern colonies, and by November, 1768, the line was com-
pleted with the exception of the portion back of Virginia. After John-
zon had received such favorable terms at Fort Stanwix, Virginia, re
Juctant to surrender control of her western domain, refused to accept
the boundary line as previously agreed upon with Stuart. Governor
Norbore Botetourt appealed to the Lords of Trade for a more favor-
able boundary, and permission was granted to run the line back of
Virginia so as to include additional territory. The Indian chiefs met
Stuart at Lochaber in 1770 and confirmed the new cession. When the
line was surveyed in 1771 considerably more territory was added to
Virginia than had been agreed upon at Lochaber. This act, whether
due to a mistake or to the influence of financial interests, was fayor-
ably received by Lord Dartmouth, the colonial secretary, an advocate
of expansion in the Ohio region.

The boundary as completed by 1768, with its modification behind
Virginia, was continuous from north to south. New land had been
opened for settlement in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The
fixing of the boundary at this time was of great importance in quiet~
ing the Indians As a result the Indians in both the northern and
southern departments were satisfied, and they accepted in good faith
the promises of the English and colonial officials that thesis
no more intrusions of settlers upon their lands.

Pa i

> > STE 7 TRE Slat, SSE

we immus =
awe 2

oS Bk eer seers ‘ree tee mero =rentey aed
samme Neeser ae Tmifee Fieeser sual or
es ere toe maces 2 leer ee Teer Nee
Veeco Ere Jere a Similizeeee Ber ces
Got proeeet cese c7re mv ereeesine seus: tee Feet ond kee
semen Drains Su mesror tam

Tai Besiss m 7G amt fe wotetece of fe oe
vote Wer meer mr ce one me moe of ‘be cope
ant Peeve oc: Seocresesesr em ne Imm eeeermee 453
rut u tie acon be or ess soe srece mo 2 eer Inia esr
sainn. + me mer were wr D reson fee peer of the
<0ovs Uru we ow omer a ome te
ao m@eatine tm wes tmor- Sn sececkmes

Tw moun

us Wat Je Tansee bp fe semei sreenmenn: 5e the
eectatien tar hee woud <ucssstuly cmon jeer rer seeders
ait ant nT, Le Re ee wees Zire eceerol

note Ver uet cniet Soe toue wih te Infiene mt amen bee
air wtet ov te are tf he xme raumes, Tye Inniier snperintend
Pee lower wer yeuumet a pliers re ine Crown
Woete teques serves te Shes poem fie fe sale woo

re WC “sneaTRE

sate wut 7

fe opueat Tu

weet gME cp ter rum

what mer

stent ate ny mk
yrtetsi we stes
hy tee + and ther
were nealing te ames cal expense. However. during
the few half of 1770, New York, Quebec. Virziria Pennsylvania, and
Marjland wk hall -beaned t+ bring about concerted action
thei cnnmescinl relations with the Indians. Delegates from these
proviness were appointed to attend a general conference, but there
waa never «time when it was convenient for all to meet. Trade with
the Indiana continued to drift along under the control of the separate
colonies until the western tribes were again seething with unrest.

EEE

_ ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY st

‘The advance of settlers into the Indian country was the most fruit-
ful source of conflict between the two races. The barriers to the Ohio
Valley had heen removed by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and one of
the phenomenal westward movements in American history followed.
\Almost all of the pioneers were home-seckers, not hunters. It was
‘reported in 1773 that for a hundred and fifty miles below Pittsburgh
the country was thickly settled, that a large acreage was in grain, and
that grist mills were being erected. With this rapid westward move-
‘ment after 1768, the old causes of conflict between the Indians and
‘the settlers again came to the surface. From North to South the
‘boundary had heen disregarded. The frontier people were too numer-
‘ous and too independent to be stopped, They entertained slight regard
for treaties made with the Indians whom they considered little removed
from the wild animals of the forest. The governors issued the most
severe proclamations to restrain their people from crossing the bound-
ary line, but they lacked the necessary power to enforce them. General
Gage offered the regular army but it was not used. Colonial militias
would not act with vigor against their fellow colonials; juries would
not conyiet those brought to trial because they often had similar inter-
‘ests; and it was contrary to the settlers’ conception of liberty to have
trials removed to the capitals of the provinces.

The Indian superintendents, through conferences, by giving presents,
‘and by persuasion succeeded in warding off open conflict between the
‘two irreconcilable races until 1774 when the Ohio Indians struck for
revenge against the Virginians. In the spring of that year the pro-
vineial soldiers who had been promised land under the terms of the
Proclamation of 1763 began to locate their tracts in the region of Ken-
tucky elaimed by the Shawnees. This open disregard for the Treaty of
Fort Stanwix, together with the already strained relations existing along
the frontier, crystallized Indian rancor against the Virginians. They
‘were determined that their hunting grounds should not pass from them.
‘On the other hand, Governor Lord Dunmore, backed by public opinion
in Virginia, made plans to reduce the Shawnees to submission. Hostili-
ties on the frontier began as early as April and continued until Chief
Comstulk and his band were defeated in the battle of Point Pleasant
‘on October 10, 1774. The spirit of the Indians was now broken and
terms of peace, as submitted by Governor Dunmore, were accepted by
Cornstalk und his council of war chiefs, The Indians surrendered all
their prisoners and agreed never again to wage war against Virginia,
to give up all of their Iand south and east of the Ohio River, and to

mect at Pittsburgh the following spring for
treaty. The Shawnees, Spartans of their race,

meeting, but his objections were easily brushed aside.
Congress, desiring to strengthen and confirm
Indians, was represented by James Wilson and Lewis
influential chicfs were present. Every article of the px i

was ratified, Thus, the Indians of the western confederacy «
pled of pence: mod frisedabp, et onl ee ae a it
new American Confederacy as well. Tt was this agi
the western Indians quiet during the first two years of the:
ary War. The victory at Point Pleasant and the peace which fol
opened an ever lengthening pathway to western settlement,
to the Weet was now thrown open, and, by 1775, settlements:
far beyond the established boundary, British and colonial
failed to stop the westward march of the pioneers,

ee te

This study has been based primarily on the erage
military officials, Indian superintendents, and colonial rs |
America, and on the letters and reports of the ministerial | Kaye
England. The letters of General Thomas Gage are especially valuable
for a study of frontier defense from 1763-1775. Photostats of these
letters are in the Library of Congress. Valuable transcripts
Library of Congress are the Colonial Office Papers, series 5 and 324,
and the British Museum, Additional Manuscripts, series 21 and 29.
In the Colonial Office Papers, series 5, volumes LVI-LXII, 1760-1763,
is found the correspondence of General Amherst with British and
colonial officials in America, Volumes LXIT and LXIII are valuable for
information on the Pontiac Conspiracy. Series 5, volumes LXV-LXXVI, _
1763-175, contain the correspondence of John Stuart with the secre:
taries of state, the provincial governors in the South, and the | officials |
in the southern Indian department. The military |
General Gage with British and colonial officials in America sadletts
the secretaries of state is found in series 5, volumes LXXXITI-XCIE, |
1763-1775. The Virginia correspondence in series 5, volumes 1330-
1334, 1764-1781, and volumes 1345-1353, 1762-1771, containsenelle |
lent material on land companies, Indian trade, and boundary line —
controversies between Virginia and the western tribes. Other volumes

ae ok _

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 59

in series 5 and volumes XVII and XVIII in series 324 of the Colonial
Office Papers contain miscellaneous information on Indian trade and
boundary lines. Material on the administration of the military depart-
ment is found in the Additional Manuscripts, series 21 and 29.

Important published sources are the Pennsylvania Archives, Minutes
of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, Documentary History of
the State of New York, and Documents Relative to the Colonial History
of the State of New York. The Correspondence of General Thomas
Gage with the Secretaries of State, edited by C. E. Carter, is one of
the best published sources on frontier conditions in America. The
Journal of Jeffrey Amherst, Recording the Military Career of General
Amherst in America from 1758-1763, edited by J. Clarence Webster,
gives information of the Pontiac Conspiracy. Illinois Historical Col-
lections, X, XI, XVI, edited by C. E. Carter and C. W. Alvord, are
excellent for a study of the West from 1763-1769. Documents Relating
to the Constitutional History of Canada, 1759-1791, edited by Adam
Shortt and A. G. Doughty, contain material on the British colonial
policy after 1760. The Papers of Sir William Johnson, edited by James
Sullivan, are not of particular value for a study of frontier defense.
Documentary History of Dunmore’s War, edited by R. G. Thwaites
and L. P. Kellogg and American Archives, edited by Peter Force, are
good for conditions in the West in 1774-1775. Source material was
found in Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society, 4th series,
IX and X; Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, XIX and
XXVII; Collections of the New York Historical Society, 1876-1877
and 1922-1923; Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,
XXXI and XXXII; and in the Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography, XI.

that while America had grievances, these
torily, and future causes for complaint and
avoided by the adoption of a written constitutic
inquiry deepens an appreciation of those co
America’s future lay within the British en

Joseph Galloway was, in the third quarter
Pennsylvania’s wealthiest man. Nor is it
to Benjamin Franklin, he was that colony's

and his writings indicate a broad and a
history and the classics as well as with the

and philosophy, he was a member of the A
Society from 1768 until his death, and ite

1775. In 1769, Princeton conferred upon him
of Laws. Although one of the most critical and for

ceived plan of union for the empire, his fame b
the rdle fate cast for him, Hed bey lite he oe

VE
ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY a

gle on the American side his talents would have brought him to the
forefront among the founders of the republic.

| Born in 1731 (1732?) of a wealthy landed and trading family of
| West River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, he removed as a young

paeaden co iitrassfamioa’ ta ‘kis proféncisa.*\ Oe) ofthe
four leading lawyers of colonial Pennsylvania, he was considered the
foremost pleader of his day, By 1775, although most of his time dur
‘ing the past ten years had been devoted to politics and provincial af-
fairs, he was able to estimate the income from his legal practice at
from £1800 to £2000 per annum. Much of his legal work, like that
of other Pennsylvania lawyers of the day, was concerned chiefly with
wills, land transfers, and litigation resulting from lack of system in
the land office and carelesmess in the filing of warrants.

‘The Quakers, though numbering only approximately a third of the
population, were concentrated very largely in the three oldest counties,
Philadelphia, Bucks, and Chester. With the assistance of the pietistic

expedient of refusing equitable representation to the newer western
counties. To the question of legislative representation, upon which the
colony was split politically, were added other issues such as military
defense and war aids, The Penn family, vitally interested in frontier
defense and aroused by the home government to secure the military

of the province in the wars of the period, turned for sup-
port to the anti-Quaker party. Until the political power of the Friends
was broken there could be no prospect of an adequate militia law or
suilicient legislative appropriations for war purposes. The Frionds,
furthermore, differed with the proprietors on the question of Indian
policy. Contending that the Penns secured the advantages of all Indian
land cessions, the Quakers insisted that the greater portion of the cost

62 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL

of negotiations and Indian presents should | be borne by Sa Ree
As these problems became more acute the ih Vewecenie ei
widened,

‘The French and Indian War, of considerably greater ma t ar
its predecessors, brought in its train greater problems. Deter
conscience from making the necessary contributions of men and money
for the prosecution of the war, the Quakers, in 1756, decided under
pressure from their co-religionists in England, who feared
tastrophe in America might react unfavorably on the society, |
up all public offices in the following year and allow the
government to pass into the hands of others who might be unhampered
by religious scruples. Following the withdrawal of the Friends from
the Assembly, their political machine gave its support to Galloway —
and such others as were friendly to the Quakers. Accordingly, he wat
elected to a set in the House where he remained until 1776 through
annual reelections, with the single exception of the year 1764, From
1766 to 1775, he served continuously as Speaker of the House, with
powers greater than those possessed by any previous presiding officer
of that body. He played a leading part in shaping legislation, served
on most of the principal committees, and when Franklin went to
England as agent, succeeded him in the greater number of his chair
manships.

Galloway's rise to control in Pennsylvania politics was intimately
connected with his leadership of a movement, shortly after entering
the House, to secure a royal government to supplant the proprietors,
in exchange for Pennsylvania's active participation in the war. Al
first the financial requirements of the conflict had been met in Pennsyl
vania by taxation and the emission of bills of credit redeemable over
a period of years, .As the demands of the war beoame| besvy, (Galloy
way joined with Franklin in an effort to tax the large holdings, hither
to exempt, of located but unimproved lands of the Penn family, in
the desire to lift part of the burden from the shoulders of the provinces,
In the sessions of 1755-1756, the issue had been avoided by an out
right gift by the Penns of £5000 out of the arrears of quitrents. In
the following session, however, Galloway, Franklin, and others joined
in a demand for the taxation of the Penn estates as a matter of right, —
and, when this was refused, Franklin, in 1757, was despatched 10
England to lay the matter before Thomas Penn personally, ‘The Penns, —
in order to secure the legislature’s codperation in the prosecution of
the war, finally consented to the taxation of their located but un-

ae al

—

cy IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

of the Navigation Acts would not apply. He further hoped that Parlie
ment might be persuaded to repeal the statute of 1764 prohibiting the
issue of legal tender currency in the colonies in order to supply the
deficiency within the province, and incessantly belabored Franklin, in
London, to puch the matter with the ministry. In the meantime, bills

Tt may be, as Chief Justice Allen contended in 1767, that the need
for a paper currency was not so real as was the desire of the debtor
portion of the province to have it, and that depreciation would cer
tainly follow. Yet Galloway and Franklin felt that there was a real
need on the part of business and that inflation might be controlled
by emitting no more paper than was necessary, The colony eventually
found its way out of the economic doldrums and newer and
political problems soon occupied the attention of leaders and people
alike,

‘The attempt of Parliament, at the close of the French and Indian
War, to tighten up the machinery of imperial organization and raise
a revenuc in America sufficient to defray a part of the cost of the de
fense of the West, Ied Galloway and others to look beyond provincial
interests and to envisage the colony in its imperial connections. His
legalistic mind accepted Parliament as the supreme legislative and
taxing power over the whole British empire. While he admitted the
legality of the Stamp Act, he believed it impolitic. He deprecated the
disturbances which followed its passage, and held that redress could
be obtained by orderly petition to Crown and Paliament through the
provincial legislatures. Hoping to quiet the public mind he published
“a moderate piece” over the signature Americanus. This warned hit
fellow citizens of the possible consequences of their seditious conduct
and admonished them to desist lest Parliament compel their submis:
sion. He professed to believe that it had a quieting effect on the in-
flamed state of opinion. As an outstanding representative of the
propertied class he, furthermore, opposed the execution of legal in
struments without the use of stamped paper unless the courts should
agree to recognize the validity of such documents, His attitude on the
Stamp Act earned for him the suspicion and resentment of the radical
faction not only in Philadelphia but in New England also. Thoroughly
alive to the situation, Galloway did his utmost as a member of the

EV

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 6

Assembly's committee to correspond with the colonial agents in London
to secure the repeal of the Stamp Act and to obtain the modification of
the Navigation Acts as well.

Only a short time elapsed before the passage of the Townshend Acts
brought new problems. While the duties imposed by the acts did not
hear heavily on the Philadelphia merchants, since they were merely
added to the cost of the goods and passed on to the consumer, the
traders hoped to be able to use the popular discontent to secure the
modification of the Navigation Acts. As was pointed out by the Phila:
delphia merchants, the repeal of the duties on paint, glass, and paper
could do them little good. Such articles could easily be produced in
Pennsylvania for local consumption if the duties became onerous and
what was needed was the repeal of such restrictions as hore too heavily
on colonial trade. Furthermore, it was felt that parliamentry taxation
was aggravating the difficulties of the colonies by accentuating the
flow of specie to England. Galloway sympathized deeply with the de-
sires of the mercantile interests and from the very beginning used his
position as Speaker to urge the agents in London to work for the
repeal of the duties. Anxious as Galloway was to secure the repeal of
the Townshend Acts, he hecame much alarmed at John Dickinson's
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the
British Colonies, lest they arouse the unthinking and again Icad to dis-
orders. Ironically, they appeared in the Pennsylvania Chronicle of
which Galloway was part owner. The radical party in Philadelphia
was determined to bring the Philadelphia merchants into line with
the New Englanders and New Yorkers in attempting to secure repeal
through a non-importation agreement. Much of Philadelphia’s trade
was with the West Indies and parts of the empire outside England.
The Pennsylvania merchant, furthermore, had but lately recovered
from the post-war depression; nor did he have much faith in the New
Englander’s adherence to an association, The unwillingness of the
merchants to agree led inevitably to the application of pressure through
public opinion to compel them to do so and numerous letters appeared
in the newspapers. These were answered by Galloway over the pseudo-
nyms Chester County Farmer and A. B. defending the attitude of the
merchants and inquiring whether all that was possible had been done
through regular and orderly channels to secure the repeal of the acts.
‘This he followed by « pamphlet over the signature Pacificus, which he
hoped would act as a sedative to the growing distemper, attacking
“factious” and “turbulent Massachusetts and praising the people of

Yo

66 OWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

Pennsylvania for their good sense and tranquillity. ‘The eorrectnen
of his views was shown when Philadelphians, finally pushed into
cepting non-importation, suffered severely from [oss of trade.

‘The repeal of the Townshend Acts cleared the
ily, but the undercurrent of radicalism and
against the conservative leadership in America SS ae
tion was to all purposes a democratic demand for participation in
government. In the election of October, 1770, the small tradesmen
and mechanics openly flouted the conservative party. Several days be
fore the election there appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette a state
ment by a group of tradesmen and mechanics to the effect that it had
become customary for certain groups “to nominate persons and setile
the ticket for assemblymen, commissioners, assessors, etc,, without even
permitting the affirmative or negative voice of a mechanic to interfer,
and, when they have concluded, to expect the Tradesmen to. give a
sanotion thereto by passing the ticket; this we have tamely submitied
to so long that those gentlemen make no scruple to say that the Me
chanies (though by far the most numerous, especially in this county)
have no right to be consulted. . . . We have as cautiously avoided
putting the name of a Mechanic in our ticket for some years past as
we conld have been in putting in that of a Jew or a Turk.” William
Goddard, who had been associated with Galloway in the publ
venture, also attacked him venomously, Galloway's health at this time
was not of the best and, thoroughly disheartened, he thought for =
while of withdrawing from active political life, but was dissuaded
therefrom only by the active solicitation of his friends, especially
Benjamin Franklin.

For the radical elements in the colonies, Galloway had only the
contempt of the man of property and political power. His cold, intel
lectual, vain, domineering nature inspired no love among the electorate,
and he was maintained in office largely by the efficient functioning of
the conservative political machine, whose hold on the province was
becoming daily more precarious, The determination of the British
government to assist the East India Company by permitting the ship-
ment of tea directly to America without first paying the tax in England
greatly increased the popularity of the radical movement. Franklin,
in London, assuming that Galloway's views were the same as his own,
wrote him advising that the colony assume a firm attitude toward
Great Britain and reject the tea, but Galloway chose rather to ignore
the whole question publicly, for insofar as he was concerned the act

a —

VE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 67

‘was entirely justified. As the tension between the mother country and
the colonists increased and the committees of correspondence became
‘more active, Sr es ee rea nieot tee Amantbly Lorscae
the agents in London authorized to correspond with
“other Committees stesel ty by the several assemblies.” He hoped
in this way to prevent the further spread of the contagion into Penn-
and to forestall the creation of unauthorized committees of
correspondence by the rapidly growing radical group.
‘The impending storm between Great Britain and her colonies was
not long in coming. While the rejection of the tea might have been
overlooked, its destruction in Boston could not be tolerated. Galloway,
teeing in the destruction of the tea only the destruction of private
property by violence, felt that the punishment of Boston was entirely
just bot he was willing to join with the conservatives in advocating
payment for the tea and thus avoid the issue. In popular circles, how-
ever, the punishment of Boston was regarded as much too rigorous
and in the demand for the calling of a continental congress the ques-
tion of the destruction of the tea was entirely avoided. Galloway and
the conservatives expected to remain neutral and leave Massachusetts
to her fate in the hope that radicalism might thus be definitely crushed
in America, This hope was rendered futile by the powerful demand
of the radicals that Pennsylvania should participate in the Congress.
‘The fear that delegates would he sent by illegally elected bodies led
the Assembly to participate in the Congress in the hope that it might
be controlled hy conservatives, Galloway, chosen as one of the dele-
gates, refused to serve unless he should be permitted to write the
instructions of the Pennsylvania delegation. This being agreeable to
the House, he built the instructions to center upon the idea of an ac-
commodation of all questions in dispute with Great Britain.

Galloway could sce no distinction between direct taxation and taxa-
tion for the regulation of trade only, He had no sympathy whatsoever
with independence, which he viewed as the logical outcome of the
radical movement, and believed that America’s future lay in the
British empire, While he was willing to concede that America had

he felt that the basic problem was one involving the nature
‘of the empire and that it might be solved by a written constitution
which would create a supreme governing body, or imperial legisla-
ture, wherein all parts of the empire would participate. He was,
furthermore, thoroughly in accord with the idea of greater autonomy
for the various imperial divisions,

We patriotic
Hall and thus brought the movement .
rather considerable popular support for
Galloway played an important part in
servatives together as well as in
With the adoption of the Suffolk
non-intercourse, the Congress fell more and
the radicals, and Galloway, as a uctive
plan for a written constitution for the empire. The plan ¢
an American legislature which would function as |
and the British Parliament as the upper house of an
ture, with a governor-general for America, The
would continue the administration of their purely i
in all matters of inter-colonial and imperial nature t
Jature would be competent. From the very beginning the
support of the conservatives but the radicals sucei
referred for future consideration. When finally called u
feated by the narrowest of margins and all references to it we
expunged from the journals of the Congress, With 1
the Congress he devoted himself to the preparation
Examination of the Mutual Claims of Great Britain and
which, while avowedly # dispassionate examination of the:
status of the colonics, was a severe arraignment of the
the radical element, and earned for himself popular su
With the close of the Congress the conservatives in
under the leadership of Galloway endeavored, though
to have the legislature petition the Crown for a
Galloway's conduct in the House aroused cot
him in the popular party, which was rapidly
servative elements and laying plans to set up @ pr
to supersede the Assembly. Seeing the inevitable cl
and, believing that he could remain neutral, despite
of Franklin that he join the patriotic cause, he retreat
seat, Trevose, in Bucks County, shortly after the op
at Lexington, Even here Galloway feared for his
fled to the British lines in New York with his dau
leaving Mrs. Galloway to look after the family pr

>. | =

Vt SSEEEe=a=a==—=——_—_—

_ ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 69

‘The British military authorities eventually recognized Galloway's
value, and he was consulted by Howe while the Philadelphia campaign
was being planned. Galloway strongly advised against attacking by
way of the Chesapeake and his fears proved to be justified. Accom-
panying Howe's army to Philadelphia he was made Superintendent of
Police and also acted in the capacity of civil administrator of the
city. He believed that the loyalist sentiment in New Jersey and Penne
sylvania predominated and that the loyalists would rally to the British
standard. In this, however, he was largely disappointed, although he
did succeed in enlisting a troop of horse, which did good service, and
in building up a loyalist association. His knowledge of the geography
and the people of Pennsylvania proved invaluable to Howe and his
organization of the civil administration did much to relieve the dis-
tress Incident to the war.

's active assistance to the British and his efforts in Phila-
delphis, though largely of a humanitarian nature, aroused so much
resentment against him that his continued residence in Philadelphia
after its evacuation by the British was impossible, and, with his daugh-
ter, he accompanied the army on its return march to New York. The
withdrawal of the British from Pennsylvania meant the attainting of
all loyalists and the confiscation of their properties. Galloway's estates
were among the first to be confiscated and sold for the benefit of the
state. Mrs, Galloway, who had remained behind in an endeavor to
save what she could, found herself ejected from their home and re-
duced almost to penury.

In the autumn of 1778, Galloway, sadly and regretfully, sailed for
England where he became one of the leading figures among the emigres
loyalists. As one thoroughly familiar with the military situation in
America. he was a witness before the parliamentary committee for
the investigation of the conduct of the war and his testimony was very
damaging to Howe, whom he felt responsible for the failure of British
arms. Thwarted before the committee by Burke who was determined
not to bring to light too many of Sir William's shortcomings, Gallo-
way severely arraigned the latter's military conduct in a pamphlet
entitled, Letters to a nobleman on the conduct of the war in the Middle
Colonies. Convinced that the superior numbers and equipment of the
British, if properly used, would bring eventual victory, Galloway in-
sisted that the function of the British army in America was to seck
out Washington and compel him to give battle. For this reason, Gallo-
way offered strenuous objection to the long periods of inactivity on

—

aT

70 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the part of the British and to the attack on Philadelphia by way of
the Chesapeake. The British attitude toward the loyalists he roundly
condemned, for he felt that the latter might be organized and armed
and be of great assistance to the royal forces by holding the country
as rapidly as it could be conquered. These views he presented to the
public in An Account of the War in the Middle Colonies. This was fol-
lowed by Historical and political reflections on the rise and progress
of the American Rebellion discussing the origins and tracing the
political progress of the revolution in America. In contradiction to
his later views, that the rupture had been brought on by the stupid
methods employed by a bureaucracy to tax the colonies, he traced
what he chose to regard as the growth of the spirit of independence,
but which was in reality 4 spirit of nationalism, from the very found-
ing of the New England colonies to the opening of hostilities; and
suggested a written constitution for the empire. Subsequently appeared
Cool Thoughts on the Consequences to Great Britain of American Im
dependence, in which a determined attack was made on that small
group of Englishmen who felt that the economic value of the North
American colonies did not justify the expenditure of blood and
treasure necessary to keep them in the empire. These men were, conse
quently, willing to let them go, believing that the trade of America
would continue to come to England and that eventually the colonies
would fall under the political leadership of Britain. Galloway took
issue with this point of view and contended that the loss of the colonies
meant the loss of three million subjects and one of the most valuable
parts of the empire. He insisted that America would very quickly re
cover from the effects of the war and in a few years become a power
ful nation, while England, through her loss of colonial trade and re
sources, would sink to the position of second rate state.

Galloway believed to the very last that the colonies could be re
claimed and kept up a constant correspondence with the loyalists re
maining in America. In this belief he was encouraged by the fact that
many who had supported the American cause before 1778 became
lukewarm as a consequence of the alliance with France. He was,
furthermore, buoyed up by the continued activities of the loyalists
in the middle and southern colonies, The surrender of Cornwallis and
the opening of peace negotiations were staggering blows to the refugees
in England. They had hoped to the last that the revolution in America
would ultimately be crushed. Their chagrin and despair were elo-
quently proclaimed by Galloway. In his The Claims of the American

=

EE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 7

Loyalists reviewed ond maintained upon incontrovertible principles of
Lave and Justice and Observations on the fifth article of the treaty with
America he dwelt upon the sacrifices made and the losses suffered by
the loyalists in consequence of their support of the British cause, He
pleaded eamestly for their more generous trestment. To Galloway,
the fifth article of the Treaty of Paris was a callous betrayal of loyal
subjects. He had no hopes that the various states would, on the recom-
mendation of Congress, enact suitable and equitable legislation to
permit the loyalists to return to their homes and recover their estates.
Under the various acts of Parliament Galloway, however, was re-
imbursed for his losses to the extent of about £10,000 and was granted
4 pension of £500, though his own estate had been valued at £40,000.

With the death of Mrs. Galloway in 1789, a surge of homesickness
‘overcame him and he unsuccessfully petitioned the Supreme Executive
Council of Pennsylvania to dismiss the bill of attainder against him.
Galloway could not realize that he had played far too prominent and
active a part in the events of his day—a lesser man might have been
granted amnesty. Galloway was deeply disappointed. He had espoused
the royal cause from the most sincere and patriotic motives, inspired
by a passionate love for America and a belief that he was saving her
by opposing the radicals and revolution. To the end he felt that all
colonial grievances might have been adjusted by the adoption of a
written constitution for the empire.

Galloway grew old rapidly after 1790 and turned his attention to

writing tracts such as The Prophetic or Anticipated History

of the Church of Rome, written and published six hundred years be-
fore the rise of that church; in which the prophetic Figures and Alle-
gories are literally explained, and preparing commentaries on the
Scriptures such as Brief commentaries upon such parts of Revelation
and other Prophecies as immediately refer to the present time. While
he lived he was ever at the service of Americans. He prosecuted the
claims of the loyalists with the Government and performed whatever
offices he could for his less fortunate compatriots. He died on the 29th
of August, 1803, and lies buried in the churchyard of Watford, Hert-
fordshire.

ceee

To date but one biography of Joseph Galloway has appeared: Bald-
win, E, H., “Joseph Galloway, Loyalist Politician,” Pennsylvania
Mogazine of History & Biography, XXVI (July, October, December,
1902), 161-191, 289-821, 417-442,

eee |

2 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

With the exception of his pamphlets, Galloway has left few ma-
terials from his hand. A few letters are scattered in various places,
His activities are portrayed best in the Penn Mss—especially the Pena
Letter Books, Penn Official Correspondence, and the Penn Miscellaneous
Manuscript Letters—in the possession of the Historical Society of Penn:
sylvania, A wealth of published material is to be found in Moves and
Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Penn
sylvania, Pennsylvania Colonial Records, Pennsylvania Archives, Writ
ings of Benjamin Franklin (Smyth, A. H.., ed. 1905-1907), contempo-
rary Philadelphia newspapers, and in the pamphlet collection of the
Library Company of Philadelphia, Ridgway Branch.

Galloway's own writings are an important source for the Revolu-
tionary and post-Revolutionary periods of his life, but other materials
are to be found scattered through Force, Peter, American Archives,
fourth series; Journals of the Continental Congress (Ford, W. C_ ed.
1904-1922), I; papers of Governor William Franklin in the New Jersey
Archives, X; New York Historical Society Collections, especially the
Deane, Lee, Kemble, and Montressor papers; and in the Loyalist Papers

and Emmet Mss., of the New York Public Library. Other materials
are to be found in the “Diary of Grace Growden Galloway” (Werner,
Raymond C., ed.), Pennsylvania Magazine of History & Biography.
LV, LVIII; Letters to Members of the Continental Congress (Burnett.
E. C,, ed. 1921-1933) ; and Mason, W. S., in American Antiquarian
Society Proceedings, October 15, 1924. A few pieces are to be found
scattered in the Historical Magazine, first series, V, Keith, C. P_, Pro
vincial Councillors of Pennsylvania (1883) and Lincoln, C. H., Reve
lutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776 (1901) contain some
materials. Brief references to Galloway also appear in the Gentlemen's
Magasine for 1780 and 1803, and in the London Monthly Review, LX1
and LXIIH,

PAMPHLET LITERATURE AT THE OUT-
BREAK OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION*

By Bop Canuisue SHAFER

A flood of pamphlets inundated France in 1788 and 1789. Together
with the cahiers they constitute the best sources in revealing the think-
ing of literate Frenchmen at the beginning of the Revolution. The
purpose of this study is to analyze and interpret French public opinion
a8 it manifested itself in these hitherto inadequately studied brochures.
‘The problem is approached through a discussion of the nature of the
pamphlets themselves, by interpretive analysis of their content on the
nature and form of government, on noble and ecclesiastical privilege,
on the place of the third estate and middle class, and on the develop-
ment of nationalism. Throughout, an attempt is made to place the
thinking of the pamphletecrs in its proper historical perspective, as
the popularization of the teaching of the philosophes, and as the ideo-
logical basie for the revolutionary reforms and changes. Very little
was said in the pamphlets that had not been pointed out, at one time
or another, by one of the philosophes. The pamphleteers, faithful ad-
herents of Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Turgot, and Locke,
took from these and other reformer-philosophers of the carlier eight-
centh century, what appealed to them most; and with what seems to
have been surprising agreement, molded a program of reconstruction
for France. During the various stages of the Revolution proper their
ideology and many of their concrete proposals were tried and tested in
the crucible of revolutionary action. Searcely one of their ideas did
not cause reverberations from 1789 to 1815 or even later. Some of
these ideas, representative government, for example, have proven use-
ful. Others, ingenious schemes of taxation and the like, have long been
forgotten.

‘The yeast concoted by the philosophes began to elfervesce vigor-
ously when Brienne was forced to convoke the States General and, on
July 5, 1788, instigated by decree a nation-wide quest for informa-

“From a dissertation directed by Professor George Cordon Andrews.
%

Ts BW A STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

‘Sua conrecumg the coovocatzas. oremmization. and duties of that al
must Sregreem jody. Hamdreds of eager if mot always leareed Freed
men mweered bis <ail wih {ris Lettres. Reflexions. Observations,
Ess: ent Fremx pamphlets of evers tithe and description. A letter
ca che Groece de Leite observed in November. 1788. ~There is not 2
ae = ar permpilets comcerning the States General do
de Fersen wrote his father in December, 1788,
Seveaures appeared every day amd that even the
Samkess were res=ae chem Ip Jue 1°99. Arthur Young wrote in
his ary. “Thirteen “pampblets’ came oat today. sixteen yesterday,
scary on Mat pee Mans of the writings like Sieyés’ Qu'est-ce que
fe sers ¢oxs> went hr-ash several edition: and manv printings.
To:zh many were eazer to pablish few were willing to acknow!-

force sooder= students. if they would ascertain who the authors were,
to we comstantly Barbiers’ Dictionnaire des Ousrages amomymes. and
to search thrash cca’emporery gossip and opinion. Neverthelen,
tole. ecclesiswtic and commoner alike wrote and published. Many
of Base Rondo Sree apes: terohsoeery damals tok op
the zen. Thee zea!
private property acd pat are commonplaces of the demo-
eratic state today. Gathered ::zether in Paris for the most part they
sold their leadets at re I prices. one licre. four sols often. or they
passed them out gratuitously. They were as optimistic as they were
bold. They thought they could evolve political and economic principles
comparable to the laws of Newtonian physics to govern society and
human institutions. As they developed their ideas they not only put
the whole structure of the ancien régime on trial but by implication,
innuendo and direct statement showed the type of social order they
desired for France.

In theory. if not in practice. at the outbreak of the Revolution France
was an absolute. divine-right monarchy. The sovereignty resided in the
person of the king. He. as executive. legislator. and judge. was ac-
countable to God alone in the exercise of his power. and an indissolu-
ble bond held the people to him. Not all Frenchmen in 1789 took
issue with these principles. A few pamphlets, for instance, Goudar’s
L’autorité des rois de France est indépendente de tout corps politique:
elle était établie avant que les parlemens fussent crées. were published
supporting them. But the trend of opinion was toward popular sover-

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ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 75
‘eignty. “All authority,” wrote one anonymous author, “has ita source
in the will of the nation . . . The nation alone has the right to
establish, to direct, and nothing can be done unless it so orders.” The
people, at least those possessing property, had a natural right to
change, to modify, to maintain their government as they saw fit. As
Abbé Raynal put it, “There is no form of government which has an
immutable prerogative. No political authority which, though created
yesterday or a thousand years ago may not be abrogated tomorrow
or in ten years.”

Four major justifications of popular sovercignty were advanced.
‘The people, a term used synonymously with third estate, were sover-
eign, it was claimed, because of their great numerical superiority,
because of the importance of their economic functions in society, be-
cause government originated in and was maintained by a social con-
tract among them, and because they had a natural right to govern
themselves. The privileged orders numbered but 500,000 to 600,000,
the third estate about 24,000,000. Members of the third order tilled
the land, built the cities, were the source of all wealth, “the glory and
foundation of empires.” Moreover, as opposed to the divine right of
kings men had a natural right to choose freely their own government,
and ta make freely contracts among themselves to protect their rights
as men. The “title of man was the first on earth,” the “origin of all
rights.” The social contract did not deprive man of his rights but
rather, to use the words of Condorcet, “Each [man] engages himself
toward society to aid it with all his reaources, Society engages itself
towards each of its members to use the resources of association to
defend them, . . . In reality when men contract freely they make
nothing but exchanges.” Kings, then, had only such power as had
been conferred upon them by the people. No privileged order or in-
dividual had rights superior to society, The people, the mass of indi-
viduals comprising the third estate were sovercign. When the Conven-
tion yoted to dethrone Louis XVI, it could very well have relied upon
the political theories enunciated in 1788 and 1789.

The rule of the general will seemed better to the pamphleteers in
theory than in practice, however. Few, like Babeuf, were willing to
go all the way. For the most part opinion was not democratic, republi-
can or agrarian. As the pamphleteers conceived {t the state was a
gigantic joint-stock enterprise in which those who held stock, ar prop-
erty, were to have an active influence on public affairs. All those who
did “not contribute anything to the maintenance of the state” were

76 IOWA STUDIES IN THE §

classed with women and children,
stockholders, passive citizens. Elected
carry the proxies of the property holder

the propertied. The third estate was, perhaps, sovere
right and human endeavour. It might constitute
who were to have the real power were the well-to-do,
Faced with the actual possibility of achieving power the petits
philosophes of 1789 were not much more republican than they were
democratic. They did not wish to break violently with the past, to
discard altogether as the Convention did the monarehial form of
government. With Monteequieu most of them believed a.
monarchy best suited to a country of the extent and nature of France.
Louis XVI was praised and lauded as was customary and politic. The
royal ministers were at fault, the king deceived. Desmoulins’ was but
an isolated voice when he declared it “only necessary to open the
annals of France, though they were written by monks and [royal]
historiographers, to see that in spite of these panegyrists, no history
presents a longer succession of bad kings.” He loved Louis XVI, bul
to him “monarchy was no less odious.” The absolutist conception of
the state as advanced hy Hobbes was almost gone, it is true, The king
was now found to be subject to the will of the nation and bound by
its law. Nevertheless he was to retain the execative and possibly some
legislative power, the veto, for example. Brissot expressed prevailing
sentiment when he said he favored that form of government which
“conciliates all claims, which does not give too great a shock to the
old form, which prepares, however, for a restitution of power to the
people, that form which is most suitable to the state of affairs in which
the French people find themselves, to the character of their monarch,
and to the power of the States General of 1789, and this form is to
divide for the present the power between the States General eadithe
King.” A number of writers seemed frightened by the possibility of a
too vigorous popular government and with Mounier favored the prinei-
ple of separation of powers so recently put into operation in the newly
formed American nation. Even in their discussion of the form of the
States General most pamphleteers were not so extreme as might have
been expected from the nature of their expressed political philosophies.
If they were theorists, they were also, many of them, practical men
of-affaire. They were willing to modify their
and compromise with the old régime. They believed in gradual prog:

——==_=_—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY W

ress and change in the direction of their ideals. Often propertied and
ambitious as well as idealistic they showed a strong distaste for ex-
‘treme measures with the possible anarchy that might accompany them.
To them, incurable optimists, progress was not an illusion, but a con-
‘crete, enheartening fact soon to be demonstrated before their eyes.
‘Those violent cleavages of opinion, which in 1792 and 1793 appeared
among the revolutionists and made them Jacobins and Girondins, and
citras and ultras, were not apparent in 1789. Above all, the majority
of pamphleteers ardently desired and believed obtainable, an auto-
matically ordered, stable society which, controlled by the propertied
class, would protect property, give individual economic and personal
freedom and a greater degree of social equality.
History and legalism they distrusted as eighteenth century thinkers

of proving what should be done must be what has been done, Becauee
is is precisely what has been done of which we are complaining.” Yet,
as they were confronted with the dilemma of choosing between the
new and untried based on the imagined natural reason and the old
and tried based on custom and tradition, they could not tear them-
selves away entirely from the past or from an appeal to the high
authority of law. Their words, their ideals were derived from the
history of France, They mixed indiscriminately Montesquieu and Rous-
seau, their minds and their emotions. Writers like Target and d’An-
traigues (then a vigorous champion of the third estate) found such
history and such laws to their taste as could be fitted into their scheme
of things. Few Frenchmen, after all, were not proud of the history of
ta belle France. When custom and tradition opposed their designs they
appealed to natural law and the “nature of things,” to a kind of higher
legalism. The pamphleteers needed authority to combat authority.
‘They consequently substituted natural rights for divine right, but they
appealed to “law” and “rights” in any ease. Probably they did not
realise that the preconceived natural order lodged in their imagina-
tion had also to be conjured out of a dim, a very dim past.

OF all subjects on which they wrote the form of the States General
Interested them most. On this important issue every shade and variety
‘of opinion found expression. Séguicr and the advocates of the privi-
leged orders urged the form followed in 1614 which they considered
constitutional; deliberation and vote by order, each order having the

i

B IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENTES

right of veto on all legislation and approximately the seme number of
representatives. The majority of writers though they might well have —
asked for real political equality of the unprivileged |
demanded only a representation of the third estate equa it
the other two orders combined, and vote by head. Sieyés among others
went further and advised his readers that the third estate delegates
should and could constitute the national assembly if the represent.
tives of the first two orders refused to combine with them and vote
by head. But Sieyés, Condorcet, Desmoulins, Le Tellier, nearly all the
major writers (with the exception of Marat who seemed to go further:
than the majority), were willing to take less than real political equality
even for the unprivileged propertied, at least until the new constitu.
tion should be made. If they made concessions to exigencies of the
moment, they were still ardently devoted to their ideals. They evi-
dently thought they could obtain reform and redress without revoli-
tion,

Opinion did not favor violent change, The ultimate goal of these
changes was nevertheless a new society constructed on the twin com
cepts of liberty and property. Not only was the constituent assembly
[sic] to organize the regular legislature, the Due d'Orléans instructed
his representatives through the pens of Sieyés and Laclos, but it was
also to point out to that body its goal, to draft a declaration of rights
which “se réduit developper les points principaux qui sont dans ces
deus mots: liberté et propriété”, The term liberty as it was used con:
noted not license but certain specific liberties prescribed and sanctioned
by both natural and human law. Mounier defined the word as “the
rights which man should enjoy in the social order . . . not the
right of man to do as he wishes without restraint.” In reality the eon-
cepts of property and liberty were closely connected, for the liberties
demanded can be reduced in general terms to two, freedom in the
exercise of personal faculties, and freedom in the acquisition and use
of property. Citizens were to be protected by the nation-state in their
freedom, so long as they did not harm others, to come and go, to as
semble, to think, to speak, and to write. And their various religious
views were at least to be tolerated. The right to property and to
economic freedom was considered a necessary extension of the right
to live and to enjoy personal liberty. In addition, as the physiocrats
had held, freedom in the use and acquisition of property was believed
socially desirable, The general interests of society were those, it was
maintained, which best agreed with individual interests and, conse-

SES

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 9

quently, society ought to guarantee complete individual freedom to
acquire all the satisfactions possible from property. The property,
then, of each Banda tosis hain easeed trast the vale., Breer
man was to have the opportunity to make whatever use of his goods
he could, to buy, to sell, to produce freely. All careers were to be

as internal tariffs and the jurandes and mattrises,

‘As the often recurring phrase “no harm to others” indicates, the
exercise of economic freedom was to be somewhat limited, It was
imagined, too, that the operation of natural laws would automatically
check and adjust extreme inequalities. The real incompatibility of
personal and cconomic freedom was not yet perceived. Theoretically,
all were to have common rights, but they were to obtain them, para-
doxically, amidst inequalities of power and fortune.

The abolition of inequalitics except those of wealth would effect
the eventual elimination of the privileged orders as such. Indeed the
ideological argument for liberties and a partial equality often grew
out of the resentment against the privilégiés. The Marquis de Con:
doreet, whose views were as representative of prevailing opinion as
any writer’s, felt no sympathy for his fellow nobles. “Any nation,”
he asserted, “in which a legally established genealogist exists cannot
be free.” Economic and social privileges based on class were much
Jess charitably received than were similarly founded political privi-
leges. To the dominant, idealistic rationalism of the day all privileges
‘were contrary to natural law, antisocial, anti-national, and were
equally odious, but the economic and social immunities and preced-
ences, being ever present and concrete, came in for most hostile criti-
cism. The attitude of most of the pamphleteers was well indicated by
the irony of an anonymous commoner, “I believe in the privileges of
the nobility, that is to say, in the right it has to march at the head of
armies when it is worthy of doing so, to obtain rewards when it has
merited them, and to share with the third estate the honor of serving
the country in person and by proportional contributions of its wealth.”
Since the nobility no longer performed any peculiar social function,
the privileges they enjoyed possessed no validity. The vestiges of
feudalism such as the capitaincries and corvées were to be swept away.
Financial exemptions in taxation, nearly all writers, conservative and
radical alike agreed, should be abolished. The privileged classes en-
Joying with the people the protection and advantages of organized

=

80
society were to contribute to its support on |
people.

‘a
‘The clergy fared no better than the nobility. With
tions the pamphleteers did not question religion.
attack the institution and class entrusted with its”
tion, That peculiar anticclericalism evinced s0 won i rch
manifested itself clearly in the days before the n t
“écrasez Cinféme” was bearing fruit. While the lower clergy, the curés
and vicaires, were universally acclaimed, the regular and upper secular
clergy were spared nothing. They were declared to be corrupt, greedy,
indolent, debauched, socially useless, The lawyer Le Tellier ar
Jaunched burning indictments of their personal character that would
have brought execution to critics under Louis XIV. More and more
the view (an expression of a historical tendency of five centuries) was
gaining ground that the church should be completely subordinate to
the state. The clergy were no longer to constitute a state within a
state. The wealth of the church and clergy did not belong to either
the institution or the class but to the nation. At Jeast that wealth par:
took of the same nature as all other wealth and should be taxable.
Quite jealously the Gallican liberties were reiterated, Publicists, iri-
tuted by the huge sums sent to Rome and by the papal influence in
France, sometimes argued that both should be drastically reduced. —
Little matter if the privileged orders did not agree with these stric-
tures, To paraphrase the words of Cérutti, the first and second estates
had only “ancient titles,” the third estate had “eternal rights.” Its
members were to obtain not only equality with the privilégiés. They
were to be favored by the government as well. Roads and harbors
were to be built and improved, uniform standards of weights, measures,
and money established, schools created, and interest
ized. The benefits of French trade were to be confined to Frenchmen.
Economy in government was to be practiced, and the debt of the state
consolidated and made a national obligation. In reality the govern:
ment was to become an instrument of [a classe mitoyenne, that class
in which were to be found “enlightenment as well as the virtues, knowl-
edge as well as honesty, the sentiment as well as the actions of true
patriotism.” —*
Patriotism was indeed needed if all these reforms were to be en-
acted. Grouvelle clearly saw that “fl faut une nation pour si gramd
ouvrage, et la Nation est & naitre.” The nation in the moder sense
‘of the term was in fact being bor. Many of the pamphleteers per-

a ES

==——_———

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY th

ceived that the old conception of the state as king and subjects no
longer sulliced, that a nalion of citizens who would regard the “oppres-
sion of one as the cause of all” was needed. Based on the common
cultural heritage and the common political, economic and social aspi-
rations of the propertied class, a sentiment of unity was welding France
into a nation and Frenchmen into patriotic nationalists. Each proper-
tied individual was now cansidered part of a collective, cohesive entity.
Pierre La Cretalle’s definition of nation makes the new conception
clear, “By a nation,” he wrote, “can only be understood the generality
of citizens who inhabit its territory, who are connected there by perma-
nent residence, by landed property, or through an industry which
makes them necessary to those who cultivate the land, who have
adopted its laws, who support its charges, who serve it ond obey it
each in the manner proper to him. As everything is possessed by
them, everything belongs to them, because nature knows no other
domination than possession. As their concourse constitutes the total
force of society, they are the sole arbiters of its use. Nothing exists,
then, in this collective group only by them, neither law, nor taxes,
nor institutions, nor governments.”

The very titles of some of the pamphlets indicate the growth of
nationalism—for example, the Catéchisme patriotique d Uusage des
méres de famille, and the Questions d'un bon patriot, More and more
the word la patrie was used instead of le pays, the word la nation in-
stead of état, the words le citoyen and le cancitoyen instead of le sujet.
From the pens of zealous patriots came appeals for national unity.
Target, a serious lawyer and good business man solemnly declared,
“We have acquired enlightenment, but it is patriotism, disinterested:
ness and virtue that are needed to seek and defend the interest of a
great people. It is necessary that each one forget himself, sce himself
only as a part of the whole . . ., that he detach himself from his
individual existence, renounce all =, and parties, abjure all esprit de
corps, belong only to the great society and be a child of the father-
land.” Ingenious schemes to foster patriotism were formulated. One
Rupe de Baptestein de Moulieres thought to engender love of country
and fill the national treasury at the same time by appealing to personal
honor for contributions to the government in return for lofty titles of
patriotism. Frenchmen, especially unprivileged property owners, were
realizing they each had an investment in the mutual enterprize, the
state, that to insure the future of that investment they had to become
interested in one another, take an increased interest and obtain greater

82 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

power in national affairs. Patrioticm. the pamphicteers seemed to real-
ize. would not only bea Sine sentiment. bet pay dividends in liberty
and property as well. It was becomting patriotic, reasonable, natural
in 1739 to believe in liberty. property and representative government—
all best to be realized through patriotism

When the property of the bourzevisie became the sacred trust of the
nation-state. and its safety the chief end of legislation, when the
economic activities of the bourgeoisie were freed from all restraints
yet given assistance by the nation-state. when the social status of the
bourgeoisie was accepted 2s equal to that of the old privileged classes,
and all careers were opened to them, when their personal liberties
were guaranteed to them by the nation-state. when, in short, the bour-
geoisie became the state and controlled it through representatives
largely to please themselves. then the ideology and concrete proposals
of the majority of pamphlets would be achieved. King. priest, noble
were being discarded. the nation exalted. and the leading thinkers de-
clared the third estate, or rather its propertied portion, the nation. In
the symbol and actuality of nationalism were found the unity and
power exential to the revolutionary changes involved in the transi-
tion from the old régime to the new. Through the nation-state, once
it was established. the middle class could act for what it considered
the best interest of France. its own. The nation, it is true, would still
be divided as Abbé Gourcy pointed out. not into the feudal privileged
and unprivileged. but into the rich and poor.

About four hundred pamphlets published in 1787, 1788 and 1789
were actually used in the preparation of this dissertation, though there
was access to many more. They are found in the libraries of The
State University of Iowa and of Cornell University. Only a few of
the important pamphlets were not available in this country. Varying
in length, in content, and in equality of thought and observation the
pamphlets are of very uneven value for studies of public opinion at
the outbreak of the Revolution. In the space allotted it would be im-
possible to note more than a very few of those found to be most valu-
able. Among these are: Rabaut Saint Etienne, Considérations trés-im-
portantes. . .; La Cretalle, De la convocation . . . des Etats généraux
«+ +5 Target, Les Etats-généraux convoqués par Louis XVI; Condorcet,
Essai sur la constitution . . . des assemblées provinciales; Le Tellier,
Jugement du Champ de Mars . . . ; Cérutti, Mémoire pour le peuple
francois; d’Antraigues, Mémoire sur les Etats générauz ...; Dels-

——S——t—~OS

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 83

croix, Mémoire sur la prochaine tenwe des Etats-généraux . . . ; Morel-
let, Projet de réponse a . . . Mémoire des Princes; Mirabeau, Réponse
aux alarmes des bons citoyens; Metheric, A nosscigneurs des Etats-
généraux . . . ; Raynal, L’abbé Raynal aux £tats-généraux; Mounier,
Considérations sur les gouvernemens . . . ; Grouvelle, De Cautorité de
Montesquieu .. .; Desmoulins, La France libre; Bergusse, Plan de
conduite pour tes députés ... ; Carra, L’orateur des Etats-généraux
+ «++; Seguicr, Fagon de voir d'une bonne vieille ...; d'Orléans
eee ae erections donate «5 @ ses représentans ...5
Marat, Offrande a la patrie . . . ; Sicyés,Qu’est-ce que le tiers-état?;
and his Essai sur les privilages. Among those whose authors are not
yet known might be mentioned the Note essential @ U'usage de MM. les
notables; the Cahier du tiersétat . . . ; the Le plus fort des pamphlets.
Lordre des paysans aux Etatsgénéraux; the Les quarante voeux princi
paux; and réveil du tiers-état, . .

Most utilized of other primary sources were the Archives Parlemen-
taires, 1st series, 1787-1799, 82 vols. tome I, which contains excerpts
of many pomphilets as well as other official and significant documents;
Brette, Recueil de documents relatifs G la convocation des Etats génér-
aux de 1789; the newspaper La Gazette de Leyde (1778-1811), which
often mentioned the pamphlets and is invaluable as a background
for a study of public opinion; the newspaper, Journal générale de
PEurope, which carried summaries of events as well as philosophic
discussions; and the Correspondence littéraire . . . par Grimm, Dide-
rot, Raynal, Meister . . . , especially tome 15, which is almost an
intellectual newspaper of the time. Several diaries and memoirs sup-
plied essential information concerning events, opinion and individuals,
for instance, those of Sallier, comte de Fersen, Arthur Young, Brissot,
Mallet du pan, Morellet, and Gouverneur Morris. The memoirs, for
the most part, were written long after 1789 and suffer from the lapses
of memory and from the prejudices acquired at a later date. Though
the secondary material available on the period as a whole is yolumin-
ous, little has been done on the pamphlets, The articles of Mitchell
B. Garrett in the Howard College Bulletin pertain only to the pamph:-
lets published between July 5, and December 27, 1788, on the convo-
cation and composition of the States General. Together with his critical
bibliography on the pamphlet literature between July 5 and December
27, they suggested many clues for this study and supplied some other-
wise unavailable information, Without the researches of the hiblio-
phile Rarbier who published his findings in the monumental Diction-

—

73 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

naire des oucrages anonymes little would have been known concerning
the authors of the pamphlets. In Carré Le noblesse de France
Popinion publique aux XVIIle siccle, many of the pamphlets referring
to the nobility are discussed, 2s those bearing on socialism are treated
in Lichtenberger, Le socialisme ax XVIIle siécle. Material was also
drawn from the works of Droz, Chérest, Gomel, Aulard, Mathies, Ave-
nal, Hatin, Gallois, Boiteaux, Chasein, Champion, Sée, and Toumexx
among others.

& }0W 4 STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ce ee eee oot ee oS ee eS

eran prosms He 10 a friend that the best means of employ-
ag tas iam was —Neate efter my penne. to have some good books al
Ge.rge Sendrs. who sucoceded him. was a writer of
Sansssce of Ovid's Metamorphoses. completed st
commended by King Charles I.

2 the exact type of books brought to
reczsa was made iz 1555. This was an itemized list of the library
ane Reveommd Jn Goxbeorne. who died on shipboard before ar
rneng it Aserce The © orks were mostly on religion, although there
few Sranses X= medicine and mathematics. The limited in-
regant=z other book collections in the South
-axs Sha: relicioas titles dominated, with works on
law soming dex! in importance.

fod concerning the books of the last
. Medical treatises were frequently de
vex. Richard Ruseell. a Virginia Quaker, in
friends. He provided, too, for
t they might be taught to read.
te of Captain William Moseley
Latin. and English books con-

¢ seneral manner of valuation then

1674. listed a variety of titles
2 of Lewes the 13th

= for planting mulberry trees
a jonel Southey Littleton, said to
have heen a nephew of the famous English jurist. Edward Littleton,
died in Accomac County, Virginia, in 1680. The inventory of his
estate revealed that he had possessed a number of books. among which
were Aesop's Fables in Latin and several works on law and history.

Aes ops * fables.

One of the most interesting provisions for the use of a family library
was found in the will of Francis Pi zott of Virginia. Upon his death
in 1684 his books were devised to his three sons, The library was to
remain in the possession of the eldest son. however. until all had
reached their majo The two younger brothers were granted the
privilege of borrowing books from the library during their minority.

eV

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 87

Tn the last decade of the seventeenth ccntury greater diversity of
interest was manifest in the book collections of the South. Colonel
John Carter of Lancaster County, Virginia, possessed Plutarch's Lives,
Bacon's Natural History, Homer's Iliad, Burret’s Military Discipline,
and many other works. The inventory of the estate of Capiain Joseph
Wickes of Maryland, who died in 1693, included a General History of
the Netherlands, The Complete Attorney, and books on religion, law,

| history, and medicine. In North Carolina, the same year, John Hunt
considered books to be of sufficient importance to warrant court action

| for their recovery. He petitioned that Mrs. Ann Durant be compelled
to “deliver all Books proper and writings belonging to the estate of
Mr Wm Terrell Deceased,” When a Spanish expedition from St. Augus-
line ravaged his estate in 1686, Paul Grimball, of Colleton County,
South Carolina, listed among his destroyed possessions books and maps
to the value of nearly £15.

Colonel William Fitzhugh, « prominent Virginia planter, referred
to books frequently in his letters written during the last quarter of
the seventeenth century. In 1679 he wrote to Richard Lee offering to
pay for a borrowed volume which had been lost. References to legal
works in French and Latin were made in a communication sent to
Robert Beverley » short time later. Governor Francis Nicholson of
Maryland and Virginia also possessed an important library, Governor
Nicholson was much interested in education and, during the closing
decade of the seventeenth century, he helped pave the way for increas-
ing the reading material in the colonics of the South. He greatly en-
couraged and assisted the Reverend Thomas Bray in the movement
for establishing parochial and provincial libraries in America,

‘The Reverend Mr. Bray was appointed Commissary of Maryland in
1695 to assist in promoting there the interests of the Anglican Church.
As a means to this end, he proposed that parochial libraries be estab-
lished in the colonies for the use of both laymen and clergy. For the
divines there were to be works on history, geography, travel and the-
ology. The libraries for the laity were to consist mostly of books and
pamphlets on religion. These libraries were to be housed in a room of
the parsonage under the care of the rector. The books for the minister
were to remain in the library, but those for the laymen were to be
allowed to circulate.

‘The plan met with encouragement in England and in the colonies.
Books were donated by many loyal Anglicans. Governor Nicholson
‘even proposed that part of the fiscal levy, appropriated for arms in

88 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Maryland, should be diverted for the purchase of books. Thirty pa-
rochial libraries were established in Maryland within a few years after —
the time of Bray's appointment. These ranged in size from the two
volumes at St. Paul's, Talbot County, to the collection of 1,095 books
in the provincial Library at Annapolis. There were over three hundred
volumes at St. Mary's, while Herring Creek, South River) King, and
Queen Parish, and St. Paul's, Calvert County, cach possessed over one
hundred books. Over 2,500 volumes were in the thirty parish libraries
in Maryland within a short time after their founding. Books also were
distributed through the Carolinas by Anglican missionaries sent out
by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.

The outstanding result of the Maryland Commissary’s activities was
the establishment of provincial libraries in Maryland, North Carolina,
and South Carolina. For the former colony, Anne, Princess of Den-
mark, as a mark of her approval of Dr. Bray’s plan, donated £400
toward the library at Annapolis. It was named the “Annapoliten
Library” in her honor and at one time contained 1,095 volumes. The
collection was kept in a room of the state house where the books were
accessible to the people. Some retained borrowed volumes too long
and it became necessary for the sheriffs to post notices demanding their
return, The foundation of the provincial library at Bath, North Caro-
Jina, was laid in 1700 when Dr. Bray sent one hundred and sixty-six
volumes there. This shipment was supplemented by elght hundred and
seventy hooks and pamphlets for a layman's library. Al feature ef
interest concerning the use of this collection was the limit of one to
four months allowed to borrowers. The provincial library at Charles
ton, South Carolina, was intended for public use. It was established
in 1700 in 2 room of the rectory of St. Philip's Parish and remained
under the care of the minister. The same lending regulations were in
force there as at Bath. This literary stimulus induced the establish.
ment of the Charleston Library Society about the middle of the eight-
enth century.

The influence of Dr, Thomas Bray continued long after his death
in 1726. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for whose
establishment he bad labored, sent Anglican missionaries to the south-
ern colonies and provided for the circulation of books there until the
American Revolution severed Anglican church connections between
England and her former colonies. The Maryland Commissary, through
his missionary efforts, provided for the teaching of reading to Negroes
and poor white children, Because of his activities, several thousand

eh al

—EV—

hooks were procured for the parochial and provincial libraries of the
South. These libraries greatly increased the quantity of reading ma-
terial aecessible to the planters and to the general public.

One of the most notable collections of books in the colonial South
belonged to the Byrd family. William Byrd 1, it is true, was princi:
pally concerned with augmenting his fortune but he found time for
reading and writing. He laid the foundation of his library during
the last quarter of the seventeenth century. His literary tastes were
‘tutilitarian as most of the books ordered from England dealt with
natural history. Treatises upon minerals and plants were requested
from English friends upon different occasions, Some time before 1675
Byrd purchased The Proviadiogs of the Virginia Company in England
from the estate of the Earl of Southampton for sixty guiness and
brought this notable manuscript to Virginia.

Uniler the influence of the next of the line, the library at Westover
reached its highest development. William Byrd 11 was a man versatile
and very proficient in cultural pursuits. His interest extended to read-
ing, book-collecting, and writing, Letters from Byrd to fellow-mem-
bers of the Royal Socioty frequently alluded to historical works, Criti-
cal comments upon the literature of that time indicated that Colonel
Byrd's reading was not superficial. Requests for hooks sometimes ac-
companied these letters to England.

The Byrd library contained over 3,000 volumes some time before
its disposal in 1777. The care of the books was in the hands of a
Wibrarian during the latter part of the life of Colonel Byrd II. This
is the only record of a librarian having custody of a private book
collection in the American colonies, Colonel Byrd made his library
available to other scholars for research. The Reverend William Stith
used the Westover collection while writing his History of Virginia,
‘The evidence also indicates that Byrd's brother-in-law, Robert Beverley,
did historical research at Westover for his work, The History and
Present State of Virginia,

Some indieation of the extent of Colonel Byrd's reading is revealed
in his three works: The History of the Dividing Line, A Journey to
Eden, and A Progress to the Mines. Allusions are made to the writings
of Homer, Herodotus, and Mohammed, Frequent mention of curious
incidents in many parts of the world indicate Byrd's wide reading of
natural history and books of travel.

Although other planters and readers of his day did not manifest
the extensive literary habits that characterized William Byrd II, there

A

td) PW. SUES 3 SE Sta. SES

2 romaeome stems oo see-colecme om tee Suit dering he
eemesoh wer Bones eee: pee of he Sets of Wee
ma Agr “oles memes “he tee of mv jes 3 oes or shebe
womoet oul m cone nw” meee oe ie a Wiliebert
m7 eee Jee solowert te sme aco a ne Sele Vere
a Villian Jeon omens nf ite ime oe Sem At
te oume one eek oo OM! pe meer: stows time sume of the
Jarnwet ue lat Tor ee eet a

20h te neo Wiliam Sum mr ioe Seereex peed
smmorsens = ont cules le “oeces Joven. of Wiluensbers,
gemenbet ou Wir Som oo (TH er a= mmipst wuiomes om setaral
gminsinn~ ant amesc. Tie Jewrer rule vammmmet meerdy three
aummet sone, Tre dae rf later “tee momen Se 17S is of
pea mes lee 1 Wilimmecorr mca if some rte left the

Sonos, Merartinn. 1 = Comcertos
Areas mui Sims 30 Same.

Pannert peat seac tnes= ans soeret fre simeathre whose ket-

ing Baropean beokemarkets £

Journals and diaries record actual re. ding interests. The diary of
GAonel James Gordon. a wealthy merchant ‘and planter of Lancaster
Virginia. noted on August 23. 1759: “Gave several books
among the neerses.” The following year he wrote of ¢ books to
his friends and of reading Harvey's Dialogues. Philip Fithian. tutor to
the children of Robert Carter at ‘Nomini Hall. noted. in 1773, that Mr.
and Mrs, Carter read philosophy together. In South Carolina the
writings of Eliza Pinckney indicate that some women read extensively.

————E

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 1

This lady spent at least two hours each day in the library, and part
of each moming she devoted to teaching some Negro girls to read-

Several prominent Virginians owned important book collections in
the closing years of the eighteenth century. Colonel William Fleming,
4 prominent physician, possessed over three hundred books including
‘umerous works on history, medicine, and surgery. The inventory of
Patrick Henry's estate in 1799 revealed a library of over two hundred
books. History and legal works predominated. There was little ma-
terial dealing with oratory or debate. John Randolph, of Roanoke,
Kept his books in tightly closed cases to preserve their binding. Part
of these were placed near his sleeping room. A contemporary of
Randolph observed that his library included the best collection of
literature then existing in Virginia.

Some of the best evidence of literary interest in the Old South is
in the voluminous writings and the book collections of the four
Virginians who carly became Presidents of the United States and who
read extensively. Many books in George Washington’s collection came
from that of Daniel Parke Custis, first husband of Martha Custis Wash-
ington. Others were purchased or were sent to Mount Vernon as gifts.
Washington's reading covered principally history and military science.
His devotion to the life of « planter is indicated by the number of
tyeatises upon agriculture in the Mount Vernon library. At the time
of his death, Washington possessed many hundreds of volumes. Some
books, too, belonged to Mrs, Washington and these were devised to
her grandchildren, Washington's part passed into the possession of
his nephew, Bushrod Washington, a Justice of the United States Su-
preme Court.

‘Thomas Jefferson displayed the greatest interest and energy in book
collecting. During his lifetime he possessed three libraries of import-
ance. The first, valued at £200, was lost when his mother's house
burned in 1770. His second, collected in America and Europe in the
forty-five yeare following, contained nearly 7,000 volumes and was
purchased by the government in 1815 as a foundation for the new
Library of Congress. The third, gathered during his declining years,
contained nearly 1,000 volumes and was offered for sale at Monticello
after Jefferson's death in 1826,

‘The classification devised by Jefferson for the volumes at Monticello
was adopted by the Library of Congress after 1815. The great diversity
of Jefferson's interests was reflected in his library and in his writings.
Historians and scientists Frequently sought his advice, Benjamin Ban-

F itl

eeu

92 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

nekar, a Maryland Negro mathematician, sent his almanac and pamph-
lets to Monticello. Jefferson corresponded with learned men in England
and on the continent. Jean Fabbroni, an Italian writer, sent him tracts
on argriculture. From Joseph Priestley, the much persecuted English
scientist, Jefferson received religious and scientific treatises. Volumes
of history, both ancient and modern, were present in large numbers in
the library at Monticello. The knowledge of the philosophers, Plato,
Kant, Locke, Spinoza, and Voltaire, was available to Jefferson and
his friends through his book collections. Numerous works on archi-
tecture reflected the interest of the owner and designer of Monticello.
Jefferson made his books available to his friends so that this greatest
private library in the United States before 1830 could be used by the
learned public to 4 certain extent. James Madison was one of the
close friends of Jefferson who made frequent use of the library st
Monticello.

James Madison read widely and possessed many books, Many of
these volumes were procured for him by Jefferson and Monroe during
their sojourn in Europe. Madison once declined an invitation to visit
Jefferson in Europe rather than interrupt a preseribed course of read-
ing. No catalogue listing the books in Madison's collection has sur
vived. A contemporary observed that books filled all available space
on the shelves and tables of the library at Montpelier. Madison's
books, devised to the University of Virginia, were relinquished some
what unwillingly by his heirs.

James Monroe was financially handicapped during most of his life
but that did not prevent his collecting books, Some of these books
were purchased while residing in Europe. Monroe made his library
available to young students, a practice not uncommon among book
owners in the Old Dominion. This practice was extremely helpful to
poor young men, especially those engaging in the study of Taw. No
catalogue has survived to indicate the size and character of Monroe's
hook collection.

Nearly all reading material for the South came from Europe during
the seventeenth century. Books were frequently mentioned in the in
ventories of merchandise received by the planters. The total
of printed material shipped into the Chesapeake colonies in 1699
amounted to over 11,000 pounds, an index of the demand for reading
matter in the South during the first century of settlement. American
printers and booksellers were more prevalent in the eighteenth century.
William Parks, printer of Annapolis and Williamsburg, sold many

2% ll

4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Carolina Historical and Genealogical Mogazine reveal many facts about
the type of books found in the Carolinas during the eighteenth century.
Specific details concerning the libraries of the Virginia dynasty were
dificult to obtain. The writings of Washington, Jefferson, Madison and
Monroe reveal the kind of books read but indicate little concerning
the manner in which they were obtained. John C. Fitzpatrick, editor,
The Writings of George Washington, (1931); Paul L. Ford, editor,
The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (1894) ; Gaillard Hunt, editor, The
Writings of James Madison, (1900); and S. M. Hamilton, editor, The
Writings of James Monroe, contain the most numerous references to
the books and the reading habits of the first four presidents from
Virginia. The list of books sold by Thomas Jefferson to the Library
of Congress in 1815 was found in A Catalogue of the Library of the
United States, (1815). A copy of this is located in the John Crerar
Library at Chicago. The titles of the books belonging to Washington
are listed in the Inventory of the Contents of Mount Vernon, Worthing-
ton C. Ford, editor, (1909). The information concerning the sources
of books for the South was widely scattered. The Virginia Magazine
of History, William and Mary College Quarterly. The Maryland His-
torical Magazine, the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Maga-
zine, and Emily E. F. Skeel. editor, Mason Locke Weems, His Works
and Ways. Letters (1784-1825), reveal many interesting facts. The
Appendices, forming the second volume of this study, contain cata-
logues of a number of plantation and clerical libraries. Lists of books
offered for sale and laws governing the provincial libraries are also
included in Volume II.

96 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES |

‘The elfect of these events upon Ukrainian be
‘was most serious. Wile fc bes eld a wate, he
of the peasants became smaller in each
of the practice of division and subdivision of n
sons and daughters. The economic problem was aggravated by the
steady growth of the native population, the weight
taxation, the high interest rates of Jewish money.
absence of industries. Although the country was rich in
sources, and possessed an abundance of cheap labor, despotic.
ment hindered its industrial development,

These economic hardships. together with long periods of compulsory
|

military service, and political and religious
during the reign of the Czar Alexander 11]—made the life of the
Ukrainian people unbearable. Many looked to distant countries for
an escape. It was during those years of distress that the masses of the
Ukraine learned of America, It was represented to them as a country
of high wages, cheap food, and personal freedom, with an abundance
of good land at a low price, Following a few casual and scattered
settlers dating from the time of the Civil War, mass migration began
in the year 1877, It was then that on agent of the Pennsylvania anthra-
cite coal mining company, whose workers were then on strike, ap
peared in parts of the Ukraine and caused great interest by promising
steady work and high wages to those who would go to America. In-
tense excitement attended the departure of those who accepted the
invitation. After a little while, money with an astonishingly high ex
change value, began to flow from American industrial sections to
Ukrainian villages. Then in a few months came letters from the immi-
grants describing actual working and social conditions,

In a short time the emigration movement assumed such
especially in the provinces ruled by Austria-Hungary, that the land-
lords feared it would cause a shortage of labor and consequently
compel the payment of high wares, The governments of both Russia
and Austria also disapproved of emigration, at least until the closing
years of the nineteenth century. At first the Austrian government
used mild measures of restraint, such as publishing pen eeiee
requesting the clergy to discourage the movement by telling the
that much hardship awaited them in America, and that they would
have to work hard and, even then, face starvation, But the letters and
dollars from America prevailed over the pronouncements of repressive
governments. Even the refusal of the government to issue passports,

_ i

—e

| ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Lil

and the posting of guards at the frontiers to prevent escapes, failed
to stop the exodus. On the contrary in due time the movement had to
be open and regulated.

A majority of the Ukrainian immigrants were farmers and common.
laborers. Nearly fifty per cent were illiterate. Not many had any
technical skill or profession. Finding themselves in a strange country,
frequently among unsympathetic people, they had to endure abuses dur
ing the first few years in their new homes. Mining became the first field
of their economic concentration in America. Some went to work in
the coal mines of Pennsylvania and in the iron mines of Minnesota
and Michigan. Following a period of hard work and thrifty living,
better economic and social adjustments were possible. In Pennsyl-
yania alone there were in 1933 one hundred and ninety communities
where Ukrainians lived in numbers sulficiently large to maintain

Although « larger number of Ukrainian immigrants lived in Penn-
‘sylvania than in any other state, in process of years they penctrated
all other industrial states, with the exception of Alabama. Neither are
they confined to any ane type of industrial work. They may aleo be
found on the railroads, in packing plants, textile work, lumber camps,
restaurants, in hotelx, and every type of industrial labor that requires
strength and endurance. Big and strong men of the Ukraine frequently
work at the side of those of Sweden and Germany in American facto-
ties.

About 26,000 Ukrainian Americans became farmers. Some of them
spent the first few years working in the factories or mines, and, upon
accumulating a little capital took up farming, Others went to the
farms directly. Whether scattered among the American farmers, as in
New England, Ohio, and Indiana, or in compact communities, as in
New York and North Dakota, they shared in the development of Ameri-
can agriculture. When they came to America the best land had already
been taken and occupied, therefore they faced the following possi-
bilities: to buy modern farms or to work the abandoned farms of
New England, the hilly mining land of Pennsylvania, and the poorer
Jand in northern Wisconsin, There were also open to them the home-
steads of Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. Since a majority of
them had but little capital they were unable to huy the modern farms;
they became, therefore, for the most part, new pioneers in the West.
‘The largest number of Ukrainian farmers may be found in North
Dakota where they are erroneously known as “Russians.” They oo-

98 [OWA STUDIES EN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

cupy several counties in the central and western part of the state, and
have penetrated even to the regions of the Bed Lands Being 2
customed to hardship. and the struggle for existence on small Old
Word farms they made good pioneers. Although the period of
pioneering was coming to an end many of these settlers in the West
heard of the Indian wars. and actnally suffered abuses from lawles
cowboys. Many lived im sod-houses: a few of sach houses still re-
mained in 1933. Aboot two handred Ukrainian families who intended
to go to Canade were sent by an umscrupalous German steamship agent
to Texas Most of them settled on old plantation lands as tenants,
pering their rent in kind. More than a hundred families settled on
the farms of Oklahoma: these are mostly land owners. The settlement
of these Ukrainians in Texas and Oklahome is an interesting circum-
stance in that it carned the “new” immigration into the traditionally
Anglo-Sexoa South.

In addition to the miner. the industrial worker, and the farmer,
Ukrainian business and professional men were added to American
society. Starting with the operation of such common types of business,
chiefly in the service of their fellow countrymen, as rooming and
boarding houses. saloons. and grocery stores. they slowly expanded
into many other fields. The business establishments most frequently
operated by them are butcher shops candy stores, bakeries, restaurants,
creameries. dry goods stores. barber shops. beauty parlors, and funeral
homes. Although a majority of them are small business men, a few
successful individuals are expanding their establishments to such an
extent that they are in transition toward big business enterprises. Fore-
most among the latter is Thor I. Sikorsky. designer and builder of
airplanes. Nearly all of them own their own business establishments,
but in recent years partnerships have developed. Sometimes these are
with men of other nationalities. Also. young men with American edu-
cation hold offices as local managers for large American concerns.

The largest number of professional men and women are in the
churches and the schools. They are clergymen and teachers working
exclusively among Ukrainians. There are also lawyers, journalists,
doctors, and dentists, contractors, artists, singers, and actors. Among
the artists and intellectuals a few of great importance are Alexander
Archipenko, sculptor, Alexander A. Granovsky, biologist, Volodimir
, economist, and John Barabash, musician. The number
n Americans to engage in the professions is insignificant
when compared with the entire number of immigrants, but many more

——a_

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 99

are now in colleges and universities, preparing for the professions.
A considerable number of the Ukrainien immigrants are willing to
deny themselves in order to give their children the best education,

‘The first comers had to adopt a low standard of living, lower than
the American level. Their rented houses were small and in poor sec-
tions of urban communities. Their houses were often bo crowded with
children, roomers, boarders, that any degree of comfort was impos-
sible. Bur hard work, together with thrifty living, frequently brought
prosperity, especially when the men entered business. With prosperity
came social betterment. People bought or built modern houses in
suburbs or better paris of the cities. Home building was promoted by
building and loan associations, Such associations are commonly organ-
ized by the enterprising members of churches in the larger cities. The
groups of Newark, New Jersey, and Chicago are the most prominent.
‘The financial enterprises of the former involved more than $1,000,000
in 1930. Some church members invest their money with building and
Joan associations, others borrow it for the purpose of building or buy-
ing homes. There are cities where all the Ukrainian families own
their houses. Family life still remains a strong unit of society among
these immigrants. Yet less success than in the Ukraine attends the
efforts of parents to instill the old Ukrainian virtues into the minds of
their children, namely, thrifty living, respect for elders, for the law,
and for the authority and sanctity of the church.

As soon as the immigrants were sufficiently increased in number
to have churches of their own they erected them, and brought ministers
from Europe. The first churches were organized in 1884, in Shenan-
doah, Olyphant, and Shamokin, Pennsylavania, by a noted missionary,
the Reverend John Volansky. From then on hundreds of churches
were erected throughout the northeast. But because of religious dif-
ferences, tactlessness, and bad faith, various religious factions were
created, including two Greck Catholic groups, two Ukrainian Orthodox
branches, and several Protestant denominations. At the sume time it
is to be noted that about eighty per cent of the Russian Orthodox
churches in America are really Ukrainian. Consequently people erected
more buildings than were needed or than they could afford. Not in-
frequently, especially since the World War, factions of dividing congre-
gations contested for the church building and the parish house, Such
incidents led to expensive lawsuits and left much hard feeling in the
end, as one or the other group was given a judgment for the church
property. According to several estimates over $20,000,000 were spent

tmutual-aid associations, The Ukrainian National -
heudquarters in Jersey City. Five other important

Pittsburgh, and The Ukrainian Worldnesints
In addition to these there are several Russian fraten
majority of whoee members are Ukrainians, The
lodges, extend throughout the country, wherever the |
live. Some of the organizations also have branches in Ci
though the mutual aid associations are in the nature of bb
organizations, they are operated under state laws as muc
insurance companies. These institutions have insured
men, women and children, and represent an investment
lions of dollars. The two most oustanding from the
of membership are the Ukrainian National Association a3
nenija (Union). For « nominal monthly payment 7
moral und material help in time of distress, and in case of
beneficiaries receive benefits according to the insurance p
face value of which is on an average about one thou

As a further demonstration of the value of these o1
Ukrainian National Aid Association, one of the
fent on casy terms, to its members during the h
1933 a sum of $56,487.34. At the last convention of th
National Association, held in Detroit in May 1933, the
$2,800 for philanthropic purposes. The service of

| =

——eV—

_ ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY tot

is not confined to their membership, for they maintain a national fund
from which to provide scholarships 1o Ukrainian students in American
colleges, to give aid to needy authors in America and Europe, and to
certain Ukrainian institutions and groups in Europe under Polish rule,
notably private schools, libraries, and invalids of the World War.
Contributions are also made to civic projects of importance in America.

‘The vigor of these mutual aid associations has been demonstrated
doring the recent years of industrial depression, These organizations
subsidized many of their members, preventing them from becoming a
burden to their communities when out of work and deprived of their
savings cither temporarily or permanently. Although a large percent-
‘age of the members were out of employment, with a consequent loss
in membership, the organizations all survived, and by 1934 were again
gaining new members, especially the Ukrainian National Association,

Of the minor organizations, the following are also important: The
‘United Ukrainian Organization (The ‘Obyednania’), the Sitch Athletic
Association, the Avramenko Ballet School, and the Ukrainian Women’s
League. Each of these organizations is national in character rather
than local, and in most cases has a wide scope of activities among the
Ukrainians in America and in Europe.

The Obyednania serves more or less as a clearing house for many
financial and civic problems. Although it is not exactly what its name
indicates, nevertheless it is a useful immigrant institution, According
to its monthly reports in The Svoboda daily newspaper, it receives
thousands of dollars, representing voluntary gifts of Ukrainians in
numerous communities in America. During the eleven years of its exist-
ence the orgunizution sent to various parts of the Ukraine $216,288.15,
Most of such funds go immediately to East Galicia to aid the sufferers
under Polish rule. A comparatively small sum is used for the publica-
tion of pamphlets, books, the support of lecturers, and for civie educa-
tion in America.

The Sitch organization is the athletic society for young people,
resembling that of the Slovak “Sokols.” Before the World War this
society had a widespread activity; its influence extended to seven
‘states, and its numerous lodges had thousands of members. Since the
war, however, Old World politicians coming to America have almost
ruined this organization. Through the periodical Séteh they have ad-
yocated monarchistic ideas, backing General Paul Skoropadsky, one-

time figurehead ruler of the Ukraine. American born youth of Ukrain-
ian connection has no interest in such policies and refuses to endorse

102 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
hie React Consequently, ee
and importance.

The Ukrainian Women's League is comparatively a recent creation,
but is growing and very active. ie inal i od aiycese toga
tome nine states, and several thousands of members. ' n
of this group consists of intelligent women who wish to
education to immigrant women and make voters of
time each member promises to bring up her children to
can citizens, and to contribute to American life some of the best ac
complishments of Ukrainian civilization, especially folk-lore, art, and
handicraft, The members manifest their unselfish spirit on |
by contributing to good civic projects even when least able
it, Very frequently various clubs give concerts or Plays, and frome
proceeds help the Red Cross or some other cause. The
began in 1933 to publish at Pittsburgh a monthly fournal, Zixacker Sati
which seeks to express literary values. One-half of it is in Ukrainien,
the other in English.

The value of such immigrant organizations cannot be overestimated
They include a majority of the Ukrainian Americans, many of whom
would not have joined any other social or vocational group, The cost
of belonging to them is a matter of consequence, but it ig considered
to be money well spent. When compared with the immigrants of other
nationalities, the Ukrainians are as well organized as most of them.
Although numerous individuals are joining purely American societies,
the probabilities ore that the Ukrainian institutions will continue to
exist for a good many years,

eee «

The most important primary sources dealing with the Ukrainian
Americans as well as other immigrants are the Annual Reports of the
Commissioner General of Immigration and Reports of the Immigration
Commission as recorded in the Senate Documents of the Sixty-first
Congress, second and third sessions, 1910-1911, especially Volumes:
IX, XX, and LXIX, which deal with the distribution of immigrants
in America, Volumes IX and XII contain good accounts of the back-

ground and the causes of emigration from Europe. Volume XVIII is
a Blbiiouay case study of immigration and crime. Immigrant-in Ine
dustries is an extensive scientific study of the number of immigrants
in various industries. This monumental research is recorded in Volumes
LXVIL, LXX1, LXXI, LXXVIIE, and LXXIX, /mmigrants in Mann-
facturing and Mining, Iron and Steel Manufacturing, is a collection

|

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 103

of many case studies recorded in Volumes VII, LXX, LXXI, and
LXXXIL. These numerous yolumes deal with the historical background
of the Ukrainian immigrants, the causes of emigration, distribution of
‘the immigrants in America, their occupations, and home life. An un-
published manuscript of value in English ie In Ruth's Woy, a story
by Mrs. Anna Bychinsky (Ann Arbor) which ably describes the life
of the first comers.

The largest amount of material on this subject is in Ukrainian. Such
sources include: The Rev. Alex Prystay’s Memoirs, one volume of
which has been printed (New York, 1934). The others are still in
manuscript. They contain numerous unpublished letters, case studies,
church records, copies of telegrams, and newspaper clippings. The
Memoirs of Agapius Honcharenko (Kolomea, 1894) contains an ac-
count of the first prominent educated Ukrainian immigrant who came to
America during the Civil War, and lived until the World Wor. A
collection of letters in the possession of the author constitutes valuable
material gathered on this subject. The letters in English, Ukrainian,
and a few in Russian, are from prominent individuals, many of whom
were pioneers themselves,

The files of old Ukrainian newspapers have much to offer, although
an intelligent search is necessary. The articles of one of the early
‘ministers, the Reverend Nestor Dmitriv, arc important, They appeared
in The Svoboda in February, 1899, May, 1904, and in the Calendar of
the Providence Association in 1924, A keen student of immigration
movements, the Reverend Nestor Dmitriv recorded many important
facts. Other writers dealing with this subject are the Reverend John
Volansky, and Dr. Yolodimir Simenovich, Both saw the immigration
movement in its beginnings. They themselves were the leaders who
Isid foundations for many religious and social institutions. Numerous
articles based on the researches of the author, dealing with economic
and social aspects of Ukrainian immigration, appeared in The Svoboda
(Jersey City), September, 1932, and August, 1933, and The Narodne
Slovo (Pittsburgh), December, 1933. In addition to the Ukrainian news:
papers, some valuable material may be found in the Calendars of
benevolent Ukrainian Associations. The secondary works, books and
‘magazine articles on immigration, are of importance to the extent that
they contain some facts on Ukrainian activities in America, A great
deal of the author's information has been gathered by personal study
and sojourn in Ukrainian American communities. He is himself a first
generation American of Ukrainian ancestry.

tics, and blind to the larger vision of |
Baldwin and Joseph Howe. There were B

form in the United Kingdom who is so

tory for his denunciation of the principles
ponents of self-government for a colonial

an attempt to clarify the position that Russell

A study of Russell's political education
to his entrance into the Melbourne Cabinet in
ence of well-developed principles and a

————— ttt

_ ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 105

formers who bore the name of Foxite Whigs. Their favorite theme had
been humanitarianism, “domestic happiness,” and the principles of
civil and religious liberty. Advocates of free speech, a free press,
and freedom from arbitrary imprisonment, it is of capital importance
to observe that they had been thinking mainly of civil liberties for
individuals and of oppressed minorities. Since they were but a minor-
ity fearful in the presence of a powerful Tory government, they bad
been loud in their denunciation of « tyrannical majority. It is but
natural that they should conceive of the preservation of their cherished
rights as being bound up with the preservation of the Constitution
itself. But it was the “Ancient Conatitution” which was the particular
object of their devotion, and by this expression they meant the basic

upon which their political institutions had developed during
the happy decades of Whig leadership in the previous century. Tt is,
therefore, not surprising to find Russell, in his earliest political essay
in 1821, charging the Tory Government with endangering the very
existence of the Constitution by the introduction of “innovations” con-
trary to its “ancient spirit” by such acts as the suspension of habeas
corpus, tyranny of the majority over a helpless minority, and of re-
straint of freedom of speech and press. While he poured his wrath
upon the Tory Government for its neglect of parliamentary reform, he
was thinking only of rectifying the old system of class representation
in accord with the principles upon which it had developed during its
“ancient period.” [n pursuit of “gradual and timely reform,” he
would adopt a course of cautious moderation, steering clear of the
violent Philosophical Radical on the one hand and the reactionary
‘Tory party on the other. “Now it is a maxim of Newton,” he wrote in
1821, “and succeeding philosophers, not to admit more causes than are
sufficient to explain the phenomenon, so also, it ought to be the maxim
of statesmen, not to propose more innovations than are sufficient to
cure the evil.”

In the spring of 1835, Russcl! entered the Melbourne Government
as Home Secretary and leader of the majority in the House of Com-
mons. The situation which he faced was, however, such as would en:
courage him along the line of his earlier political education. Here
was a new ministry with a slender and undependable majority sand-
wiched between a strong, compact, reactionary Tory party on the one
hand and a small but influential group of Philosophical Radicals on
the other. Even the continuance of the Government's slender majority
‘was contingent upon its successful manipulation of a rather unwieldy

il

Natura iste mar mut jee won ower. for the time,
lompact. Ladeed. whatever

* 1 univ zautious policy was
var gervern che geverdial Charsbdis
“om A wstun ”D learz Sy experience hor
saureas moderation.”

namie 2 Us rNrse If

Vien se
$ as iimensiees. There had
lanaciaa recess, ander che act of 10

anus

ze

armeny with the
ivileged olfcial-
Febind this

responsible to the
was that of gett

f need be. to sail the
PB was to refuse to

What attitude would the M
larly its spokesman in the House of Commons, Lord John Russell?
After nearly two years of delay during which time the Colonial Secre-
tary, Lord Glenelg. had endeavored to reconcile the Canadian advocates
of responsible government to measures which fell far short of thei
demands, Russell, on March 6th. 1837. introduced a set of resolutions
in the House of Commons. denouncing the principle of a responsible
colonial ministry as being destructive of the foundation upon which
the British empire had hitherto rested. His speech in defence of these

—=E=a—_——

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 107

resolutions is significant, reflecting not only his usual attitude of
“cautious moderation,” but also his reverence for “fundamental insti-
tutions” as he had come to understand them. It had hitherto been his
‘mission to defend the English Constitution against the attacks of radi-
cal reformers and of “innovators” of whatever type. With these reso-
lutions before him, he now felt it his duty to defend, first of all, the
ancient and time-honored relationship that had hitherto existed be-
tween the metropolitan state and a subordinate colonial government.
To concede a colonial executive responsible to the representative aa-
sembly would be to abandon the necessary relationship between a
colony and the mother state, and thereby to demolish the ancient frame-
work of empire. He affirmed that,

“To make the Executive Council to rescmble tho Ministry in Groat
Britain would be entirely incompatible with the relation between the
mother country and x colony. These relations require that Hie Majesty
should be represented not by # person responsible to the House of Ae
sembly, bat by a governor sent out by the King and responsible to the
Parliament of Great Britain. This is the necessary constitution of a colony,
and if you have not these relations existing between a mother country and
a colony, you will soon have an end 10 these relations altogether.”

Tn defence of the unitary theory of empire he resorted to the argu:
ment so forcefully expounded by John Louis De Lolme in his famous
treatise on the English Constitution, a work that had long been popular
among the Foxite Whigs. Since the fullness of sovereignty resided in
the Crown, acting through its ministers who were responsible to Par-
Tiament, there could be but one, and only one, set of advisers to the
Crown. To have other sets of advisers in other paris of the empire
would not only deprive the British Parliament of its exclusive right
of voting supplies to the Crown, thus sacrificing the “capital principle”
upon which the Constitution was based, but would deprive the United
Kingdom of its priority over other parta of the empire. As soon as
two or more sets of such advisers offered conflicting advice, there would
be as many independent powers within the empire, and the Constitu-
tion, itself, would be dissolved. It, therefore, behooved Parliament
to euerd jealously its exclusive right of voting supplies to His Majesty.
Again he declared:

“That part of the Constitution which requires that ministers of the Crown

shall be responsible ‘to Parliament . .. is a condition in any imperial

Togislature, and in an imperial legislature only. It i a eondition that can

only exist in one place, namely, at the seat of empirc. Otherwise wo

(SE

‘Britain, but in every separate colony. . . . Each colony would, in effect,

bean independent state, with this singular anomaly, that the executive

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

suet auminane: 3¥ che Kime of England and the troops and forces of the
Raz vt mgar 2e employed to carry the orders of the House of
Asemsiv am sien”

cies of the individual since early youth.
a the rights of oppressed minorities
rights of a small British group in Lower
1 ramzazt French majority. A responsible
chereéire, leave this Anglo-Saxon minority
acts. and the metropolitan government

zection. Absolute independence for
desirable than a responsible cole
independent. then England could.
ss. intervene to see that wrongs

. ilderment over the problem of

ste Dnd of the following December
. out in the lower province.
of serious disaffection.
new demand for “re
2 Colonial Secretary as a
pen.” Meanwhile the
A majority was in
jon. or repealit
the act of 1231 which had surrendered the disposition of a large part
of the Crown revenues to the Assembly on condition that the latter
would vote an adequate civil-list. Lord Howick. who held the port-
folio of Secretary-at-War was the leader of a faction bitterly opposed
of these coercive measures unless combined with a larger
“directed toward the removal of the causes of Canadian unrest
In two lengthy communications to Russell. Howick outlined a plan for
a colonial convention in British North America. for the purpose of
working out the details of a federal system that Sir James Stephen
had envisaged for these distant provinces.

At this juncture Russell, determined to prevent the break-up of his
government. came forward with a program of compromise and con-
viliation. He won Howick’s consent to a temporary suspension of the
Lower Canadian constitution, apparently on condition that his brother-
in-law and intimate friend, Lord Durham, should be appointed as

“wishes and opinions” of the two provinces. It is strongly probable,
however, that Howick expected to convert his brother-in-law to his
favorite scheme before the latter should make his final recommenda-
tions for the future government of the provinces. While Durham
would be a despot in Lower Canada, Russell and Howick agreed, in
‘order to placate the Radicals in Parliament, to make it clear in the
preamble of the suspension bill as well as in an early issue of Dur-
‘ham’s instructions, that constitutional suspension under Durham would
he a benevolent régime. He would make it a temporary expediency
toward a more liberal government than these provinces had yet known,
‘These liberal intentions were further emphasized in Russell's speeches
in the House of Commons while the suspension bill was before Parlia-
ment in the winter of 1838.

‘The Canadian mission of Lord Durham, during the summer and
autumn of 1838, became a storm center of British politics. “Durham's
Despotism” was the object of bitter attack, not only from the Tory
and Radical opposition, but even from members of the Government's
own party in Parliament. Finally the Prime Minister, himself, con-
sented to the passage of an indemnity bill absolving certain Canadian
Teaders, who had taken part in the recent rebellion, from penalties
meted out hy Lord Durham, Since Russell had been the leading
sponsor of the Durham Mission, he now felt strongly his obligation
“to stand by Durham,” daring these trying hours — both for Durham
and for the Government who sent him. In the language of Speaker
Abercromby, Russell did “more than was thought possible” in saving
the face of the Melbourne Government while at the same time defend-
ing Lord Durham,

Disgusted by the conduct of the Melbourne Government, Durham
abdicated his North American mission with a determination to vindi-
cate his administration on the floor of Parliament. Instead of return-
ing home as a “defeated man” asx both Government and opposition
leaders had expected. he was greeted by a wave of popular enthusiasm.
While radical politicians and journalists were “rallying around Dur-
ham,” claiming for him “not mere acquittal but praise and honor,”
while the Spectator and Colonial Gazette pointed to him as the logical

4:6 S7UIES Te THE Sell SCIENCES

vend ¢ 0K Soecre gc mem Eo meeper Fespenmiiiitc. oer 0
Be meresin sur ze te stee nf rome femieoor’ Hew
peur wee soprcest oo gee mstoeci: trom te homer ererrmmest

aon mEMCuoR Tran a coon mms a tee amme rimeS Nor did
wet to pessine tor a ime cou we cme. jeecme oF mates of

Due twat omrcerr Irom tese mec ter mtersse of the empire
aogme bron ie oo oe 2 oe aoe Goes ine oe Teh ad the
won acess of “Temomsine sresrmmen” wonié insist upoe.
Greaing te sner oo comm seb-ewsomenc iner tie of i
otra fuses] wont sues ne ow. commonsense ruc rf “for
RETR EOE TORT.
“osm come Sromo > tome ro em me fe per wore ame me
web ge ban ter ae meen affect te meoe afore of Gee
wens tat sr ree owner weiter fe mm nechuer we
fap Seer soercimecnr WC MESS. MME OE WHEE Dew siannic ne MAK
secu i vonsut te fecime oo te snemes 2 cone re nr crac
wre tr Lecnamre ewe woe © sect semmmmeh icon inet
Fen Me smut wr we me watt oeueremre. Fr 2 em net
Ireanet Age nner mek meme ie tee Somes pewromere tC chew
varus Sear we aE TH sue tee sascacee tee othe sume =eSTir-

At the clow: of the session in August 1839. Russell made prepara-
tim for taking over the work of the Colonial Office. a position held
hy the Marquix of Normanby since the retirement of Lord Glenelg in
the preceding February. Russell wrote to Melbourne on the 16th:
“If you canuld manage it, giving Normanby the Home Ofice . . . and
me the Colonial would improve the ministry.” On the fifth of the fol-
lowing month Russell and Normanby exchanged offices. Along with
this arrangement, he had wrung from Melbourne the appointment of

—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 3

his intimate friend and colleague, Charles Poulett Thompson, as Gov-
ernor-General of the North American Provinces.

If Russell had definitely disowned the principle of “responsible
government” for a colonial dependency but had declared his unwill-
ingness to carry on the government with the support of only a minority
in the colony, then what would be the nature of the régime that he
would seck to establish in the reunited province of Canada?

Tn his instructions to Thompson of September 7th, Russell warned
him that he would likely be pressed by the Canadian leaders for some
statement relative to “a question respecting which the bill to which I
have alluded is necessarily silent.

“7 allude to the nature and extent of control which the popular branch of

the Legislature will be admitted to exercise over the conduct of the Exeeu
tive Government, ond the continuance in office of its principal executive

‘The importance of maintaining the utmost possible barmony between
‘the policy of the Legislature and the Executive Government admits of
‘no question; snd it will, of course, be your anxious endeavor to call to
your councils and employ in the public service those persons who by
their position and character have obtained the general confidence and
‘esteors of the inhabitants of the province,”
‘This statement, in conjunction with his previous assertion in the House
of Commons, indicated that he would have the colonial governor strive
for a working harmony between the legislative and executive branches
of his government, by maintaining in its principal executive offices
persons who were “acceptable and agreeable to the representatives of
the people.” Although not willing to go so far as to concede the type
of responsibility which ministers in England owed to Parliament, it
was apparently his desire that the legislative branch should exercise
& measure of control over these executive olficers,

To accomplish such a result, it would be necessary to reform the
old Executive Council so as to render it a pliable instrument in the
hands of the representative of the Crown in the colony. But certain
obstructions had to be removed before the Council could be brought
to the requirements of the new régime. A colonial officialdom enjoy-
ing virtually a life tenure lay across the path marked out for the
Governor. It was an irresponsible, privileged group, responsible
neither to the Governor on the one hand nor to the Assembly on the
other. How then could the Governor make the needful adjustments
in the personnel of bis council unless the practice of life tenure be
dispensed with? It remained to find some device which, when placed

While it is true that the question of ¢
officers had been raised some days

of his council for disloyalty to the ad

of September 9th was apparently made, not
problem encountered in the Antipodes, but al
ments of the Canadian program aa well.
tioned two remarkable changes in the |
Australian problem had not demanded. Ii
ciple of “tenure during pleasure” to civil
nitely limited the scope of this reform to |

Tels petncie ro. Spelt parece
partments in the provincial government. In
or aouinlag ta osea of eee cates
ernor who appointed them, this draft dispatch
simple limitation by providing, in addition,
called upon to retire from the public service as
Hesfites of, publle polity maky syumeetie

CSS

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY is

between the policy of the legislature and the Executive Government,”
@ condition conspicuously absent in the North American provinces.

‘That Stephen and Russell were thinking of the draft dispatch in
relation to North American policy is indicated by an exchange of notes
‘on September 10th. Stephen wrote to Russell: “These are the circu-
Jars respecting the tenure of public offices. “1 send them to Your Lord-
ehip, not being quite sure whether you would wish that as far as re-
spects Britith North America Mr. Poulett Thompson should not be the
bearer of them.” In reply to Stephen's note, Russell informed his
undersecretary that he thought it best “to reserve these circulars for a
month or two"; they were not to be sent to all the colonies, and “some
further deliberation would be required.”

Russell's conduct in this instance is not without explanation. The
time was hardly ripe in British North America for this circular dis-
patch. He was sorely worried about disturbing reports he had just
received about the “responsible government ery” in Upper Canada,
His attention had just been drawn to 2 aumber of letters that had
Jately arrived from Sir George Arthur, the Lieutenant-Governor of
Upper Canada, “on matters of the highest importance.” Arthur con-
tended that “responsible government” agitators could not be trusted.
“Reform is on their lips, but rebellion is in their hearts.” He was
deeply grieved because a representative of the imperial government
had given a new impetus to the movement which he had been doing
everything in his power to discourage. “These people,” he wrote,
“having made ‘responsible government’ their watchword, are now ex-
tremely elated, because the Earl of Durham has recommended that
measure” After receiving these letters, Russell wrote to Arthur on
the same day that the draft for the circular dispatch had been written,
advising him that “Gov'nr Thompson” was on the point of his de-
parture for Canada, and that he would come “fully possessed of the
views of the Cabinet.” Arthur was urged to arrange speedily for an
interview with the new Governor-General in order that he might gain
a sympathetic understanding of the new program for Canada. Indeed,
to release the circular dispatch in the midst of the prevailing excite-
‘ment over responsible government might well inaure its being inter-
preted by colonial agitators as a virtual concession of the principle
Russell had repeatedly disowned. Until it could be seen in the light
of the higher goal toward which he was striving, Russell would with-
bold from them this change in official tenure “for further deliberation.”

6 10WA
nial Secretary informed S
for sending to the North As
prepared by you as to conti
It is significant that this decision c
was adding the finishing touches
sponsible government,” reiterating hie old
order, endeavoring at the same time
that Jay beneath his own |
it from that advanced by Lord Durl
16 iechrmapa ny iahar acres arala
and especially “since its vagueness is
all encouraged would prove the cause of en
At the samme time, the colonial reformers were a
Government has no desire to thwart the repre
America in their measures of reform and im
Majesty has no desire to maintain any system
North American subjects which opinion o n
2s olijeetians to 5 epee ae
Ses tas tole nice seal
interpreted against the background that Tho
fet ap ta Canale hel pa parte c
hardly be misunderstood, Let the two dispatches,
Now the representative of the Crown in the |
with his task of counteracting the movement for
ment” by “maintaining the harmony between t
lature and the Executive Government,” by adj r
his executive council “as often as motives of public ioe

ns aaa ses OF ee ei
introduced the Canadian reunion bill in the Hou:
23d of the following March, he stated that he

Sa iecalen a serie of ile rome could
cesses eer ae

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY nz
leaders among the majority of the Assembly should be included in the
‘executive government...

T think at the same time it will be necessary... that the Assembly

shall exercise a due control over the officers appointed or kept in office
by the Governor, and over the distribution and expenditure of public

But [am not of the opinion, as I have often deelared, that the olficial
servants of the Governor should be subject to exactly the same respon-
sibility ax the ministers in this country, because the Governor's orders
issue direetly from the Crown, and it fs unjust that the representatives
jin the Assombly should visit with responsibility those who are not the

the

Admitting the right of the Assembly to exercise a “due control”
‘over the principal executive officers, it is still certain that the Gov-
ernor, himself, should be expected to determine, in any instance, just
what the extent of this control should be. It is also clear that Russell
was thinking of the Governor as being the only unifying force within
the executive, that there would be no such thing as a cabinet of the
English type, and that it would be the individual officcholder over which
the Assembly would be permitted to exercise the “due control” of
which he spoke, He did not intend to select his executive councillors
exclusively from the majority party in the Assembly. He intended that
the minority interest, also, should have representation in the executive

government.

Finally on the day of the passage of his reunion bill, Russell drew
up a dispatch to Thompson which affords still more conclusive proof
that he wished each department head to stand or fall according to its
own individual record. He laid down some general rules that were to
govern the several executive departments, so that the work of each
might be rendered subject to careful scrutiny and censorship by the
Legislature, and particularly by the Assembly.

“Every office should be so constituted that all proceedings carried on in it

‘should be = matter of daily record, & where no superior measure of state
Antervenes, such proceedings should, when requested, be laid before the

‘The functions of the Colonial Secretary, the Receiver-General, the
‘Commissioners of Public Lands, and the Board of Works should be clearly
explained to these several officers. The Attorney, and Solicitor General

in all matters of law affecting the Administration &
all these ollicers of the Government shall be responsible to you for the
performance of their duties & for the harmonious conduct of the public

Each would live in its own glass house. There would be
neither cabinet nor “collective responsibility,” but something closely

representative assembly,
wih
adjustments in its subordinate details,

upon the electoral districts to return 1
sembly. Three days later, Sydenham ;
cillors, and on March 17th a ninth member
the reform purty in Upper, and Lower d
were considered as conservative, In appa:
sembly in which the moderate reformers would |
had given to this element the initial ;
Council, «

But other and more dificult principles of the |
applied: the achievement of unified action on tl
which would necessarily include members 1
Jority and minority interests as reflected by ‘
departmental organization with a representation ¢
in one or the other of the houses; the identifi
mental heads with membership in the E
important of all, the making of such timely e
Dership of ih bods. a1 19 enable Se see ni

working codperation with the representative assembly.
probleus cond not be. eclved sith tee abun

na PLE ok ie Cette Se eae
state of mind favorable to the new system.
should refuse? What special resourees could be
its codperation and to wean its members away
abstract theories?

A lengthy private letter which Sydenham wro
after the inauguration of the new government,
might be made of # projected loan of 5
‘previously authorized Thompson to use, if

lb

SS "

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY ng

the consent of the Upper Canadian legislature to a reunion of the prov-
inces. This loan, Sydenham wrote, should be “for the full amount,
and the proceeds should be applied, first of all, toward paying off the
debt of the United Province, and secondly, toward the completion of
public works that have been undertaken.” He then showed how effec-
tively such a loan might be used as a means of eliciting the good will
of the Legislature. ‘This was the logical time, he believed, to let these
people know that the imperial government really intended to do some-
thing for the province, and he showed why the home government could
afford to extend such a loan. It was “good business for England”; for
it would not only hasten economic revival, but would enable the
Canadians to buy more manufactured products from the mother coun-
try. They would be drawn into closer relations with England, and an
imperial sentiment revived. Such a loan, he argued, would be to
Britain's advantage, “even though it be as a gift,” for “England would
get the business,”

On the third of the following May, 1841, Russell sent out a dispatch
to Sydenham, not only assenting to the loan, but also promising as-
sistance in an extensive scheme for Britizh immigration, and to provide
@ fund for assisting newcomers to places where their labor would be
most needed. There was also the promise of a grant for military de-
fense, and especially for the erection of fortifications along the Ameri-
can eg ‘There were expressions of England’s love and “provi-
dent care” for her colonies and her determination to “maintain at all
hazards” the imperial connection,

With this trump card in his hand, Sydenham met the Legislature on
the 15th of the following June, offering for its consideration a crowded
program of public improvements, proposals for the completion of the
public works that had been abandoned for want of funds, and the
“improvement of navigation from the shores of Lake Huron to the
ocean.” Then he announced the glad tidings:

“T have authority from Her Majesty's Government to state that they are

prepared to propose to Parliament... guarantee of the imperial
treasury for a loan to the extent of not less than a million and a half
pounds sterling, to aid the province for the double purpose af diminish-
peal eaemncra oe eae oto cs Ot SAB wabh endif enabling Tso
proceed with the great public undertskings whose progress .. . has
been axrested by financial difhoulties.”

‘Then he told the Legislature that “with a view to further aid immigra-

tion, 1 am authorized to declare to you that a vote of money for that

purpose will be proposed to the imperial parliament,” and that there

eh} 94 STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

oe someon of afiecs deme im nccerdamce with the wishes of the

siear. chen. that the Russell-Srdenham system was one
Srv:iring coe individusl responsitility of each department to the Ay
she spmesc'n! performance of its functions. In order 0
meke chese fomcicms Gefeite a clear-cat departmental organization
to he pevessarr. Bat each department would be respos-
Assemity ocJy to the extent to which the Governor wished
wo sutiet = 15 ccetrol br that body. It was be who would be the
supreme imerpreter of che wishes of the people as reflected through’
their represencatines. and it was his function to make the adjustments
deemed aeressarr i= order to render these heads of departments “ac
cextaiie 25d agreeable to the representatives of the people.” But in
doing sa. be wozld exercise hie own discretion. and be free to exact
ether gasliications for individual olfce-holders than the mere condi-
tion of their possessing the confidence of the representative assembly.

In the same dispatch. Sydenham reported upon the status of the
heads of departments with respect to their membership in the Legis
lature.

t resest a the Heass cf Dezartments are members of the Assembly,

of the Committee of the Council. .
The foar Law OScers. che tee Secretaries. the Receiver-General, the
President of the Board of Werks and the Inspector-General, whom I
propose. shortly to appoint. will be of that body.

For the future I shoald rot consider it absolutely necessary that all
these offces should be thus held, but at the present time, it will in my
opinion be desirable tha: 2 considerable portion be thus filled, and if the
gentlemen who hold them cannot obtain seats, they must give place to
those who can.”

Receiving this report. Sir James Stephen forwarded it to Russell,
observing that these reforms that Sydenham had effected amounted
“to nothing less than a change of the whole administrative system in
Canada,” and that he “could not venture to suggest the course to be
taken on topics so onerous & momentous.” But Russell, pleased with
the adjustments that had been made in the new provincial government,
ruled on the following day that “This arrangement should be approved.
on the ground of Lord Sydenham’s acquaintance with the details, as
well as the principles of administration in Canada.”

Such were the administrative arrangements through which Russell's
ameliorative policy for Canada was being carried into effect, when the
Melbourne Ministry retired from office in August, 1841. His system

——e——

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 1233

was almost purely remedial in purpose, designed to counteract the
‘movement for “responsible government,” by swallowing up factional
and racial differences in a reunited province, by substituting harmony
for antagonism in the conduct of the provincial government, by teach-
ing the discontented elements what good and efficient government really
was, and sweetening the whole program with flattering promises of
financial aid from the imperial treasury. While he strove to direct the
activities of colonial reformers along such constitutional lines as were
‘compatible with the old imperial relation, he apparently could not fore-
‘see the consequences of the details which he, through Lord Sydenham,
‘had arranged for the purpose of carrying the adopted program into
successful operation. In bestowing this benevolent system upon the
colony, he had reached the constitutional limits of the time-honored
‘régime which he had held “in superstitious reverence” since carly
youth. With his fervent attachment to the unitary theory of imperial
order, it was left for him to think only in terms of expanding an in-
sular constitution into a constitution for an empire.

Tt was, however, during Russell's ministry, 1846 to 1852, that the
colonial interpretation of empire began to prevail, first in Nova Scotia
and then in Canada. Looking at the Russel-Sydenham system in the
light of the conditions that surrounded the final achievement of re-
sponsible government in Canada in the spring of 1848, when Lord
Elgin entrusted the conduct of the provincial government exclusively
to the leaders of the majority party that Baldwin and La Fontaine had
perfected, it will be seen that the delicate arrangements that Russell,
through Sydenham, had devised for the purpose of carrying their own
program into effect, proved to be the ideal foundation for the final
realization of the colonial ideal of self-government within the empire.
It remained for the leaders of this majority party in the Legislature
only to lay their hands upon the Russell-Sydenham mechanism and
cause it to move in conformity with their own principles. It is, there-
fore, mainly to this skillfully arranged mechaniem, rather than to his
constitutional theories, that one may look for Russell's outstanding
contribution toward the final achievement of Canadian self-government
under the Crown.

se ee

This study is based largely upon manuscript sources deposited at
the Public Record Office, Chancery Lane, London; and at the Canadian
Archives, Ottawa, Canada, The Russell Papers at the Gifts and De-
posits Division of the Public Record Office is one of the principal

retary from the latter date to the fall of
August, 1841. The Durham Report bas been ©

the Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. This

the title: The Girlhood of Queen Victoria, A cl

fost Diary. bemees she seer LO ea
Esher (2 vols, London, 1922). Material relating t

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 125

General's private secretary, Clinton Murdoch. W. P. M. Kennedy is
the compiler of a very comprehensive source book, Documents of
Canadian Constitutional History (New Ed., Oxford, 1830). Among
the works published by Russell, himself, are: Selections from Speeches
and Dispatches of Earl Russell (2 vols., London, 1870), and the Recol-
lections and Suggestions of Earl Russell, (London, 1875). The latter
is Russell's own account of his public career, but it was written during
the closing years of his life when he admitted that he was “sadly
conscious” of a failing memory. For the most extensive biography of
Russell, see Spencer Walpole, Life of Lord John Russell, (2 vols.,
London, 1889).

THE HISTORY OF FORT KEARNEY*
By Lyre Epwrs Mastoe

MEgration westward daring the cighteen forties made necessary the
estabGshment of military posts along the Oregon Trail to afford pro
tection to emigrants pasting over the trail and to strengthen the claim
of sae United States t0 the Oregon region. The chief purposes of this
study are to trace its history during the twenty-five vears of its exisience
and to present an account of the significance of this post as a factor
im the development of the West. Fort Kearney was located at the
costes Feige of the, Ladin county and was celled ‘spon to, prow

passengers and freighters. until the opening of the Pacific
railroad made such protection unnecessary.

Difficulty was experienced in the selection of the first site for the
pew post. It was finally located at the mouth of Table Creek, on the
Missouri River in 1346. The outbreak of the Mexican War. at the
time the fort was to be garrisoned. left no regular troops available for
this daty. Volazteers from the State of Missouri were pressed into
service and formed the first garrison. The War Department soon
realized that the Missouri River cite was not properly chosen with
regard to the route taken by western emigration. The Missouri River
was not crossed so far north, but the larger part of the emigrants
crossed at Westport. Leavenworth. or St. Joseph. Removal of the fort
to the travelled highway was necessai An exploring party sent out
in the fall of 1: selected a more suitable site for the fort. After a
thorough reconnaissance the engineer officer in charge recommended
a place at the southernmost point of the Platte River. where the Oregon
Trail touched that stream. The fort was moved to the new location
in the spring of 1848. The land upon which the post was located
originally belonged to the Pawnee Indians. and had been partially
ceded to the United States in 1833. Steps were immediately taken by
the Government to enter into a treaty to extinguish the Pawnee Indian
title. The Missouri Mounted Volunteers. moved from the Missouri to
the Platte. were used in the work of constructing the buildings for the

*From a dissertation directed by Professor Louis Pelzer.
126

ee

|

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 127

new post. The little timber available proved to be of poor quality
for lumber. It was necessary to build some of the buildings from sod
and adobe bricks, which were cut and dried by the soldiers. Unac-
customed to such work, they did not do well, and not much was ac-
complished. The close of the Mexican War, for which the volunteers
had been enlisted, caused them to be withdrawn from Fort Kearney
for discharge. They were relieved by a detachment of Mounted
Rifles, upon whom fell the task of completing the buildings begun dur-

Nearly $0,000 emigrants passed over the Oregon Trail during the
gold rush of 1849. There was litile Indian danger until Fort Kearney
was reached, but westward Indians were apt to be encountered at any
time. Most of the gold seekers were inexperienced travellers and found
it necessary to reorganize their trains at the fort. Often, from wagons
too heavily laden, they discarded every possible item of equipment,
and sometimes even food, to lighten loads for the long journey ahead,
‘The stop to rest the animals, to repair outfits, and to reorganize trains,
made the fort a very busy place during the travel season,

Emigration begun in the forties continued through the fifties, A
major portion of the overland travel to California and Oregon passed
over the Oregon Trail. Fort Kearney became a fixed and established
point on that trail, its garrison affording protection in time of Indian
danger and its storchouses providing food and supplies to stranded
‘or impecunious travellers far from home. The commanding officer
at the fort was authorized by a law to issue or sell supplies from the

warehouse, upon requisition, to such persons as he deemed
worthy of aid. The officers were very careful about approving such
requests but despite this many applications were accepted. Large
numbers of persons were inexperienced in plains travel, and because
‘of unwise selection of goods, found themselves in need when Fort
Kearney was reached. Accident, or robbery deprived others of food.
The fort rendered necessary aid in these cases and an important service
to those in distress.

Unrest among the Sioux Indians west of Fort Kearncy became
noticeable during the summer of 1854. Guards were furnished for
emigrant trains and depredations by the savages were reduced to a
minimum. The following year a large force was sent to subdue the
Sioux. Fort Kearney, with Forts Laramie and Pierre, were used as
Bases of operation in this campaign.

ec

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 131

sent to the fort during the winter and spring and the expedition left
Fort Kearney in May, 1867.

At that time Major General John Pope was commander of the Dis-
trict of the Missouri, which included the Department of the Platte, in
which Fort Kearacy was located, He believed that the population of
the west had outgrown transportation by wagons and that the govern-
ment should render material aid in the building of railroads. The
plains could not be settled and the military posts there would have to
tbe maintained as long as there were Indians in the region. Fort
Kearney would be needed for a long time to come, He designated the
fort as the point of rendezvous for all trains destined for Denver City
or Fort Laramie, by way of the Platte River route. Westbound wagon
trains were not permitted to go beyond Fort Kearney unless sufficiently
strong to withstand Indian attack, The provost-marshal of the fort
was held responsible for the concentration of the smaller trains into
greater strength before permitting them to proceed into the Indian
country.

Completion of the Union Pacific Railroad past Fort Kearney in the
late sixties made passenger travel more comfortable by train and safe
from Indian attack, Fares, at ten cents per mile, were about half that
of the stage. Freight rates by wagon from the Missouri River to Den-
ver were much higher than by rail, but despite this fact some freight-
ing was done by wagon, to points not directly on the railroad, for sev-
eral years after the railroad was built. The building of the Pacific
railroad, and the consequent abandonment of the overland route as an
artery of travel, made military protection no longer neceseary, The
garrison at the fort was greatly reduced.

While the railroad was being built the fort furnished guard details
to protect the construction workers. Even after the road was finished
past the one hundredth meridian, occasional Indian danger made the
continuance of such protection necessary. The garrison at Fort Kear-
ney always stood in readiness to meet all demands made upon it for

Military posts established on the public domain were placed upon
reservations ten miles square. The reservation at Fort Kearney in-
eluded slightly more than the one hundred square miles. Scarcity of
timber for lumber and fuel made it necessary to reserve the heavily
wooded inlands in the Platte River for a distance of sixtecn miles,
rather than ten, to insure an adequate supply for use at the fort. Since
most of the troops stationed at the post were mounted, forage for the

L IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

horses was a serious problem. Except for the first few years, when the
gar=son vas small. no persons were permitted to camp on the reser
“on. where all zrass was required for the mounts of the troops.

{a appearance Fort Kearney was not unlike other western frontier
posts, The site of the fort proper was located about a half mile south
af che Plare River. midway north and south within the reservation
Boundaries. -wo miles from the western edge and eight miles from
the eastern. The buildings. constructed of native lumber and sdobe,
were situated around 1 rectangular parade ground four acres in ex-
tent. The daystu¥ stood im the center of the parade ground.

The Indian outbreak of 1364 caused the district commander to
ercet. adjacent to the fort, earthworks surmounted by a wooden stock-
ade. This enclosure comprised an acre and was sufficient to protect
the entire sarrisoa in case of Indian attack. While Fort Kearney was
never attacked by the Indians. a sentinel was fired upon in August,
Wi64,

In addition to the military buildings at the fort. the Overland Stage
Line had teen permitted to erect such buildings as were necessary for
its business The post sutler also had a building near the parade
ground as did the postmaster, Moses Sydenham. who also operated a
book and stationery store. The telegraph office shared the quarters of
his bookstore and was one of the most active places about the post.

Merchants were not permitted to establish themselves upon the
military reservation but the post sutler had the exclusive privilege of
selling to the troops. Two villages grew up at the easter and western
edge of the military reservation. beyond the jurisdiction of military
authority. The one to the west. Kearney City or Dobytown. was nearer
to the fort and was the more important. It derived its name from the
adobe material with which the buildings were constructed.

Dobytown consisted of twelve or fifteen buildings. the majority of
which were disreputable places. Whiskey was the principal article of
commerce. There were several large outfitting stores including those
of Brown and Lydell. and Anson Michel. which catered to the necds
of the emigrants and freighters passing through. These establishments
did a considerable business until the railroad made freighting a thing
of the past. For a time Dobytown was the principal outfitting point
west of the Missouri River.

Soldiers from the fort, and those enroute to posts west, formed a
large percentage of the customers of Dobytown stores. Whiskey could
not be purchased from the post sutler, except under stringent regula-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 133

tion, if at all. But many customers in Dobytown saloons wore the
uniform of the United States. Other goods not sold by the sutler were
also purchased from the nearby merchants. With the passing of the
fort, Dobytown was also abandoned.

The life of the soldiers at Fort Kearney was similar to that of troops
st other western posts, The early years appear to have been spent in
almost ae great isolation as that of a ship at sea. Mails were slow
and irregular and communication between the soldiers and relatives
and friends back home was difficult, Movement on the plains almost
ceased during the winter months. Through the cold weather the post
‘was even more isolated than during the travel season.

Drill and ordinary garrison duty made up the daily routine of the
soldier. The men, when used for duty not strictly military, such as
cutting wood, putting up hay, or doing construction work, reccived,
‘after 1866, extra pay. Escort and scouting duty also occupied much
of their time. One of the most hated of all assignments was that of
‘escort to the slow moving ox trains. Protecting the less monotonous
stages was less objectionable.

Discipline immediately after the war was very lax. Desertions were
surprisingly frequent from the yoluntecr organizations, as many as
eleven men deserting in one day during the summer of 1865, Even
the commissioned personnel of the post was not entirely free from
deserters. With the coming of regular army regiments, most of which
had enviable records of service during the war, discipline was again
restored.

The introduction of the breech loading rifle after the war caused
Fort Kearney, in common with other posts, to be used as a proving
ground for the several models then being considered for adoption by
the army. At the same time the relative merits of ammunition manu-
factured by the Ordnance Department, and that by private firms, was
tested.

By 1870 it was realized that the need for Fort Kearney as a military
post had passed. A few years previously General William T. Sherman
had visited the fort and had considered strongly ordering its ahandon-
ment at that time, During the last years of maintenance the post was
garrisoned by but fifty men, Early the following year the War Depart-
ment ordered Fort Kearney abandoned as a military post, and the re-
moval of its garrison to Omaha Barracks.

Squatters scttled on the military reservation and the site of the old
fort was put to agricultural uses. One of the squatters on the fort

With the organization of the Fort
in 1928, the prospect of creating a state
real. Efforts were at once begun to procure
out this purpose. The money
Sacaeng te ke necks oe a eet ae
which the building of the post stood, was
sat te ras Cor oe 0. ae

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 135

following December, Governor Arthur J, Weaver personally visited the
park and accepted officially the deed to the site of the old Fort Kearney.

eee

This study is based largely upon the Fort Kearncy Post Returns,
‘on file in the office of the Adjutant General of the Army, The com-
manding officer of each military post filed a monthly report, or return,
with the Adjutant General. The file of these returns for Fort Kerney
is very complete. Letters and maps, filed in the office of the Chief of
Engineers in Washington, were also consulted. About fifty letters and
ten maps pertain to Fort Kearney.

Three unpublished diaries were also used. Manuscripts of the diaries
of E. A. Bengon, and F. A. J. Gray, who crossed the plains in 1849
and 1850, respectively, yielded much valuable material. The diary of
L. D. Randall, in the original manuscript, was loaned by his grandson,
Everett Randall, of Kearney, Nebraska, and proved helpful. Numerous
published diaries were consulted for material about, or descriptions
of, Fort Kearney, These are most numerous for 1849 and the years
immediately following.

Two unpublished ledgers of the Michel store at Dobytown were
valuable. These ledgers contain the day to day entries of business
transacted, and give the nature and quantity of goods dealt in, as well
as the prices involved. One, extending from 1864 to 1868, was loaned
by John Lowe, a banker of Kearney, Nebraska, The other, extending
from 1866 to 1872, was loaned by Associate Professor Jennie M. Con-
rad, of the State Teachers College, Kearney, Nebraska,

Several published works, more or less autobiographical, written by
persons at Fort Kearney, were also consulted. Chief among these were,
Root and Connelley, The Overland Stage to California; Eugene F.
Ware, The Indian War of 1864; and William F. Cody, Autobiography.
Frank Root was conductor on the overland stage and relates his ex-
periences in that work, Captain Ware was an officer stationed at Fort
Keamey during the Civil War, and took an active part in the Indian
wars of 1864 and 1865. Colonel Cody was a pony express rider and
stage driver at the fort, and was later stationed there as an officer in
command of scouts.

Public documents were a valuable source of material, The reports
of the Secretary of War were particularly helpful. Many of these
contain reports of the officers commanding the military department in
which Fort Kearney was located. Reports of the Secretary of the
Interior, also in the documents, were valuable for information con-

To TOW. STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

cerning land lowe and policy. The Congressional Globe was helpful
for iy recorded speeches af senators and repseseatatives on bills per
cmumng :o che military policy.

‘The St. Lois Republicem. in the Missouri State Historical Society,
cumains 2 umber af letters written from Fort Kearney in 1849. The
Ve@rasia State Jomrnai. in the Nebraska State Historical Society, con-
suns several articles reminiscent in nature, written by persons who
‘aaat een at che fort. Local histories. state and county, were searched
for pertinent material. Chief among these was Morton and Watkins,
History or Nedrasio. im three volumes.

The unpublished minutes of the Fort Kearney Memorial Association
were used of 2 basis fur material on the organization and work of that
Aseuciatiun. This material was loaned by the secretary of the Aseo-
catiun. In aiditiom Federal and state Statutes were consulted for laws
and resolutions affecting Fort Kearney or military policy.

ua Ws STUDIES IS THE SOCESE SOENCES

sree wf tor Somat: net Seem imvulvest im the crmmemic collape 2
tee ack Of sence eee epee as coriy vesteention of material
welcome

The mcumi searnenom wrought om the plantations im the invaded
dieoecs ume -be sar wos diseetroes im the extreme The com
uamess ost ‘ber gms met preees Livestock was killed of drives
aswel we cual fearoctiom. An Engiik visitor im 187) described
cher aiienr: ~Manv of -he planters were left without a cow or am cr.
woth searce 2 aug or even 2 chicken amd since the war they bave had
@ Suy. Sreet ami recover every useful smimel om their lend It is
forzetfiiness of -fis ject chet hes led wm am exaggerated estimate is
Earove sf be Sormmes mmde in cetton planting frem the high price:
resiized ance -be lose of the war. The planters hed to resume opers-
tioms with -heir farme in raims with fences te rebuild. with labor
sas. scattered amd disorganized. with everything to buy at prices
chree Imes itigher chan before the war: it is certain that bat for the
bisa orice af cotton. cwothirds of the plantations could mot have con-
‘ctmed in cuitvation after the first attempt im 1966.7

Ir nmst be noted. however. thet it was the rice and sugar cane grow-
i che greatest louses at the hands of the enemy. These

pies 3 to che hizhest development of the plantation system.
acd had involved she largest amits and the heaviest investments. Costly
machinery. -specia!ly for sugardmaking. and expensive works for drain-
age ard Sood cont>L made these plantations profitable only when
operated on a large scale. By reason of their location on the “rice
enast™ and in the central river districts they fell into the hands of
Federal troops as early as 1962 When. after three years of abandon-
ment. the owners returned. many found their homes in ashes, and such
homes as remained were stripped of everything valuable; much of
the machinery was ruined by neglect or destroyed; and so much of
the work of reclamation was undone that half the original cost of the
preparation for cultivation would be required to restore it.

But a remarkable measure of recovery in commercial circles came
right after the war in spite of the bitterly adverse economic conditions.
High prices of cotton created a mania for investment in southern plant-
ing and commerce. Many northern men and a few foreigners. who
could supply the necessary capital, embarked upon planting careers.
But the crops of 1866 and 1867 were poor in yield and quality and
the price was declining. Failures in planting and in the commercial

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 139

pursuits dependent upon agriculture, were numerous. These losses

further investment and the Lower South was deprived of
that valuable aid to recovery. Stagnation in business and lack of re-
cuperative power held economic life in an iron grip. But the climax
of discouragement was the inauguration and progress of congressional
reconstruction with its high taxes, wasteful and corrupt administra.
tion, political disturbance, violence, and intimidation, The economic
and social life of the South was so convulsed that capital indispensable
to recuperation fled precipitately as the governments began to function,

‘The best interests of the planters counseled rapid adjustment to the
results of the war. The wisdom of this was apparent, but performance
was very hard. Some were willing to accept the inevitable and make
the best of it, but others refused to do this. To a small number the

‘of remaining in the South after the fall of the Confederacy
was intolerable, During the war persons who wished to escape par-
ticipation had withdrawn to Mexico or more distant countries, Im-
mediately after the surrender of the Confederacy, others, looking about
frantically for an avenue of escape from possible punishment, went
abroad, usually to Mexico, until they could discover which way the
winds would blow at home, In Mexico, Brazil, and British Honduras,
a small number attempted to reéstablish their planting interests, and
a few were able to engage themselves as managers of foreign sugar
and coffee plantations. It appeared for a time that the exodus of
southerners might reach large proportions, Much concern was felt
over such a possibility by those who recognized the need of the South
for its man power. Southern leaders publicly urged those disposed
to flee to remain.

Other influences checked further emigration. Those who had first
gone away to attempt to rebuild in new places returned with discour-
aging reports of failure. Furthermore, improving conditions in the
Lower South, and the realization that the victorious North would not
prove to be a vindictive conqueror led some who had sought a tem:
porary exile abroad to return, At the end of reconstruction, though
a few had permanently settled abroad, most of the expatriates had re-
turned to their native communities. Within the United States there
was likewise a noteworthy movement of people into the Southwest, of
which a small portion were planters, There the frontier of the cotton
belt still offered new land and the opportunity for rehabilitating
wrecked fortunes.

228 a STTDMES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

The sesom wf fe ee ies med cols seventies should not be
silawet 17 mosexre te Sux cht 2 steady process of healing and
wrest wae sume mou] fe wate Sect! adjestment was more cor
imuwus mnt soe icone 2 comsrsctom than was political readjustment.
Thnaza mere if che yianmers sever Lest the motion that the day of all
erat tomes imi yet cwav. the rest majority ef them. unlike the
Ses sce ont he Seecvmeiiaties accepted the inevitable. Vis-
cues ami riers mma a 3e alowed 1 forget how grand might have
deen ner mmr of wimg hed chere beem mo war. bot necesity
freved trem wo che ses rf caxuime cheir deity bread. For a generation
sourtert scommnr “fe “eneuisied and planters were relatively poor,
Bor Sc 3s 2 xAnnft sesh sammie in che description of those convulsive
chmes nur Se reat mess of plemters son regained a reasonable meas
z€ sum iet amd security. Here end there one finds instances of the
sie 2¢ Evirg Foecume was kind to some individuals. The old
remained <2 serve score masters in the capacity of hired ser-
va=’s, Good menrsement made planting a success for some favored
persoms =z spi af che diffeulties of the transition. A few irrecon-
qilailes seetinzed co fret amd fame about the old issues. But these
were largely anheard by thoce elements in society that were chiefly
orate of the order and security necessary
rescme a natural course.

s from planting. the breaking up of some of

fi 2 means of making a living
e down certain aspects of social prejudice and forced
planters into other activities. To be sure. some clung to the tradition
of their past with a strength that was pathetic. But. though there re-
mained certain limits beyond which the late aristocrat did not go in
his resort to labor. other vocations than planting. politics and the more
genteel professions were becoming respectable. Commercial and cleri-
cal pursuits together with increased attention to the professions and
politics claimed the attention of planters who looked besond their
own estates for gainful occupation. To a much less degree embryonic
industrial enterprises drew leaders from the ranks of the landed gentry.
By 1880, when a new generation of men and women was coming to
take its place in the world of men and affairs, the sons and daughters
of the country gentlemen of the old régime no longer looked upon
planting as the only vocation through which they might reach high
social position.

impoverished

justment was sometimes painful. With touching tenacity some held
on to the ancient forms, but their efforts to be sociable and hospitable
were often more like the last splendid banquet of one on the verge
of ruin than rational liberality. But the hard facts would not be de-
nied. “One by one the domestics were dismissed; dinner parties grew
rare; stately coaches lost their paint and became rickety. Carriage
and saddle horses were worn out at the plow and replaced by mules;
at Tast the master learned to open his own gate and the mistress to do
her own cooking.” Others rapidly adjusted themselves to the changed
circumstances. They remodelled their domestic economy, aecommo-
dating it to their smaller incomes and to the uncertainty of houschold
help. They discarded the outside kitchen and brought the domestic
operations as much as possible under one roof so that they might be
more easily dispatched by the members of the family. As for the
southern cultural tradition, though enormously shocked by the war
and its aftermath, it was, happily, not destroyed. The home of the
slaye owner was something unique in American history. There the
planter was surrounded by his slaves and almost everything that was
necessary to make the small community self-sufficient. Generations of
social training had developed a strong sense of power and responsi-
bility. There was a certain spaciousness in the old southern scheme
of things that was destroyed by the Civil War and its aftermath, But
the planters continued to give a distinct tone to southern life, Not
the relatively few specimens of the “broken down aristocracy" who
clung to the shreds of a departed glory were the best exemplars of the
shaken order, but rather those who preserved the charm of the old in
their adjustment to the new.

One of the most significant results of the readjustment was the
changed status of woman in southern society. She had lived a shel-
tered life. Marriage had been the only career open to her. But in
apite of the protected position she had enjoyed, the plantcr’s wife had
shouldered large responsibilities when she undertook the management
of the plantation home. And in the task of rebuilding her home after
the war she demonstrated her ability to meet the stern realities of a
strangely altered and impoverished existence. The loss of fathers,
brothers, and husbands, and the declining family fortunes, forced thou-
sands of women to do their own work, and, what is more important,
broke down the tradition that had kept them from working for sclf
support. Numerous widows and orphaned girls were driven to main:

IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

tain their families, eS eee

nine shoulders Planters’ daughters became school

education of the planters’ children sar «Sane |
private schools replaced tutors and governesses. Ed 7

more practical and girls went to school with the am ci
preparing themselves for selfeupport. There were those | €
askance at such changes and at what seemed to them the degraded
position of the southern woman. ‘There was perhaps less time for the
purely cultural and leisurely pursuits of the ante bellum period, but
the new life wes on the whole welcomed by southern women exger to
take their places in a busy world and to be free of absolute dependence
upon their families.

‘When the plantation system was disrupted by emancipation, and
planting ceased to be the only important interest of the southern gentry,
many moved into the growing country towns, to give to the social life
of these small communities something of the distinction that had once
belonged to the country places or the few towns and cities to which
they had been accustomed to make seasonal migrations. Handsome
country places, once famous, often stood tenantless and uncared for,
a monument to a way of life that had largely ceased to exist.

The changed relations between whites and blacks “upon
emancipation were felt in every phase of life. All people in the former
slave states were compelled to accustom themselves to the idea that the
Negroes were free. The Negroes on their part were unfitted for free:
dom, Ignorant and childlike, the habit of obedience was strong in
them. Docile and easy-going by nature, they had been robbed by years
of servitude of any initiative or sense of responsibility which they
amight have possessed. They had tilled the soil for generations, bot
had not been the owners of property. Planters were greatly tmandi-
capped, if, indeed, not disqualified from treating Negroes as a free
people. They believed that the African race was inherently inferior.
‘That the condition of the blacks was a result of the system of slavery
rather than any racial characteristic did not seem to occur to them.
‘They were convinced without a trial that the freedmen would not work
unless compelled to do so. vn me

Planters did not hate the Negroes. Almost all of the records of the
reconstruction period agree that planters and men of property and
assured social position were inclined to treat the freedmen more fairly
than persons who had never been slave-holders. Slavery left a resi-
daum of mutual affection that both were long in outgrowing. More-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY M3

over, in spite of an carlicr urge to test freedom by movement, the
freedmen tended to settle down in their old homes and work for their
old masters wherever conditions had been reasonably satisfactory under
the slave régime. Even the difficulties of congressional reconstruction
and Negro enfranchisement seldom affected the general attitude of
tolerance on the part of the planters toward the freedmen. True,
planters wished to suppress the political activities of the Negroes, but
the land-holders wished them to work, and it was necessary that they
be satisfied with conditions where they were employed, Planters did
not consider them responsible for the existing state of affairs. They
recognized that the ignorant freedmen were usually the dupes of dema-
gogues of both colors who exploited their votes to enrich themselves,
but with little bencht to the voters. The effect of the Ku Klux Klan
activities and other coercive measures of the whites on the relations
of planters and freedmen, like the disturbing effects of political agi-
tation on the Negroes, has often been over estimated. Planters were
adept in the management of Negroes and both whites and blacks came
to recognize mutual dependence and common interests in an economic
sense. There were numcrous cases of local violence, but such extremes
were seldom resorted to and were frowned upon by the more conserva-
tive clements in the Lower South,

By 1880 a tenant and share-cropping system had almost completely
replaced the old highly centralized slave labor organization on the
cotton plantations, The quarters that had housed the slaves were
usually broken up and moved on to the individual tracts that were
given to each family to cultivate. Cotton culture was reduced to a
routine with which the blacks were familiar, and little attention was
paid to supervision, The results of absenteeism were generally unsat-
isfactory. The tenant failed to care for the planter’s property and the
soil was robbed of its fertility by careless cultivators who had no direct
interest in its conservation.

As a result of this breakdown of the old patriarchal plantation sys-
tem the planter no longer felt the moral obligation to care for his
laborers. He had lost intimate contact with the life of the Negroes,
and their physical well-being was no longer one of his chief concerns.
‘Though he remained almost the only resource of the freedmen in time
of trouble or difficulty, the planter was far more completely emanci-
pated from the bonds of slavery than was the former slave.

In the case of the rice and suger plantations decentralization was
much Jess pronounced than in the cotton belt. The necessity of main-

ihecttliuntoramale platters watered re
Cot ha et 3 a ica oan
the year, Interest and carrying

=
ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY M5

doling out the supplies: it was the greatest assurance that the debt
would be paid, and at the same time it increased the amount of sup-
plies that the tenant must purchase. Lastly, it was 2 hindrance to the
introduction of new techniques and improved methods in agriculture.
From these latter developments the remaining resident planters and the
small independent farmers reaped the greatest benefit,

Tt is easy to assume from this disintegration and decentralization of
the plantation system, and the rising importance of the small farmer,
that cotton planting on the large scale of ante bellum days disappeared.
But such is not the case. There was a decided decrease in the average
size of farma from 1860 to 1880, an increase in the number of farms,
and a decreased total acreage of improved farm land. But there was
another tendency noticeable by 1880: the gradual purchase of many
small units or even whole plantations by merchants and business men
who operated them with tenant laborers. The plantation had not dis-
appeared but it had become “a continuous tract of land of considerable
area under the general supervision of a single individual or firm, all or
a part of such tract being divided into at least five smaller tracts and
leased to tenants." And this type of agricultural unit was hecoming
more firmly fixed in the richer portions of the cotton belt.

The weakened economic position of the planters carried with it
certain social implications that were clearly discernible by 1880. The
leadership of the planter oligarchy had not gone entirely unchallenged
in the ante bellum South, and the results of the Civil War and recon-
struction gave new strength to elements in the population that were
demanding recognition. Planters and their conservative allies con-
trolled the state governments that were set up under the brief period
of presidential reconstruction. But their control was rather precarious,
for cven then some new leaders brought forward by the war were
threatening that control. Congressional reconstruction put an end to
the differences of opinion among the whites. In due time, however,
the experienced planter leadership organized the white voters to “re
capture” the state governments, and common white men did not forget
this exercise of political strength. But the political experience of the
planters and the ever-present fear that a division among the whites
might result in the return of the Negro to power were sufficient, for a
while, to keep the white masses loyal.

The political group that came into power after the reconstruction
was called by its opponents the “Bourbon Democracy,” implying that
the ante bellum slaveholding oligarchy was determined to restore the

‘The sources for this study are numerous }
published material ie used. Few p 2
during the period of reconstruction and Title
collecting such ax do exist. A few
in the Louisiana State University Librar
library of the South Carolina Historical
been examined. cotrentadinss Wi aa
and interviews with others in and about Charleston
threw much light on the subject and provided c

OF the published material, the annual reports
Department of Agriculture and the voluminous reports
of Tefges Fsiiee ond Abe
of the evidence in the latter is questionable, A
Bureau came into direct contact with planters, a
reports of peculiar value, The period of i
productive of numerous investigations by ‘the United §
ment, the reports of which often contain ref
plantations.

sr sie pend a oe
letters and collected documents which are of

and other activities in the South, and the
missionary organizations among the Negroes
them into contact with planters. Travelers, |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 147

writings. Others came with preconceived notions, and the reliability of
their views is correspondingly diminished. Contemporary periodicals
and newspapers, both national and local in their circulation, supplied
valuable data. Promitient among those covering the entire period
from 1865 to 1880 are: The Charleston Daily Courier, The New
Orleans Daily Picayune, The New Orleans Price Current, The New
York Daily Tribune, The Nation (New York), The Rural Carolinian
(Charleston and Cokesbury, S.C.), The Southern Cultivator (Athens,
Ga.), and Debow’s Commercial Review (New Series, 1866-1870).
Numerous books and monographs, usually dealing with political as-
pects of state history during reconstruction, are a very important part
of the material used in drawing together the many scattered threads
that make up the pattern of planter and plantation life in the years

eel

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 149

remained a Virginian throughout his life. Himself of Quaker parent-
age, he was married in the Quaker meeting, in 1771, to a twenty-year-
old Quaker daughter of Virginia, Caroline Matilda Woodson. ‘They
reared a family of twelve children, of whom the fourth and the last
were destined to become illustrious Missourians. ‘Thus it happened
that Edward Bates grew to manhood in Virginia amid the heat and
turmoil of the conflicting political views of Federalists and Jeffersonian
Republicans.

In 1807 an older brother became Secretary of Louisiana Territory.
His influence determined Edward, upon attaining maturity, to cast his
fortunes with those of the West. Consequently, on the twenty-ninth
day of April, 1814, the youngest of the Bates family, “then a ruddy
youth of twenty.” faced the great Mississippi River. Before him was
the village of St. Louis, wherein was to be built his long legal carcer.
‘He crossed the river.

In those days the surest way to fame for young attorneys lay in the
pathway to polities. So it was not surprising that in the fall of 1818
Edward Bates secured an appointment from Governor William Clark
as District Attorney for the Northern Circuit of Missouri. This office
he held until the formation of the State of Missouri,

On the twelfth of June, 1820, there assembled in the dining room
of a St. Louis hotel, the newly elected Missouri State Convention.
Thirty-cight days later, having constitutionally transformed Missouri
from a territory into a state, the members returned to their homes.
While all had officially participated, the framing of the constitution
may be attributed to six remarkable delegates, who so ably directed
the “machine” as to accomplish nearly everything desired by the law-
yers and business men of Missouri. The guiding spirits of this small
group were David Barton and Edward Bates. Barton was destined
to become Missouri's first United States Senator. The younger man
heeame the first Attorney General for the State.

In 1822, Bates campaigned successfully for a seat in the Missouri
House of Representatives. However, the course of circumstances dur-
ing the ensuing year brought to him the appointment of United States
District Attorney for Missouri. In this office the main problem for
several years was the satisfactory adjustment in court of Spanish Jand
grant claims. In April, 1827, he resigned the office of District Attorney
and became a successful candidate for election to the lower house of

But with the adjournment of Congress in 1829, he returned
home to he engulfed by the rising torrent of Jacksonianism in Missouri.

for the Union, Bates and) his eaeoclatesi
dency a man unpledged and owing allegiar

vention were active supporters of the A
as allies with entire unanimity and some ze
two parties supported the American nomi
miserable failure, carrying no State but
Northern Whigs had become Black Repub
joined the Democratic ranks. Ter Wh
Nine years carlicr, Bates had acquired ; fs
man of a great River and Harbor Co wh
Soon offered a seat in Fillmore’s cabinet, he decline
life. But the churning of events in the |
from his seclusion. A former slave holder b
sion of slavery, be was endorsed for the pi
who thought a compromise candidate mi
See te Cee eel
proached, Bates’ campaign increasingly
endorsed by the Connecticut delegation, _

sit

| cael

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 151

Jersey seemed favorable. The Ohio prospect was cheering. Oregon
was instructed for him. T. J. Coffey, a Pennsylvania delegate to the
convention, wrote him in March that nearly half the members of that
delegation favored him for the first ballot and that he was the second
choice of all. In the important Indiana delegation, at least twenty of
the twenty-six members were for him.

Everything turned at the convention on the question of Seward, How-
ever, the Philadelphia Press could inform its readers on the first day of
the assembly, that “there is a strong outside pressure against Seward
today. . . . Lincoln stock is on the rise but his chances are regarded as
very poor... . The fight is generally regarded as between Seward and
Bates.” On the second day the Public Ledger of Philadelphia asserted
that New England was deserting Seward. Then it added, “Judge Bates
of Missouri is the strongest opponent that Seward has.” But the ex-
pectution of a Seward success proved to be a myth.

The night of the second day of the convention offered little sleep to
the leaders of the delegates from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and
Pennsylvania. The Bates forces worked hard to win the support of
Pennsylvania and Indiana. Hearing of this the Illinois leaders de-
livered an attack on Bates’ nativistic tendencies and declared that never
would a German Republican outside of his own State yote for him.
Following the advice of Governor Henry Smith Lane, the entire In-
diana delegation turned to the choice of Illinois, The Pennsylvania
delegation was disposed to go for Bates on the second ballot. But
Governor Curtin was acting in concert with Lance, Ultimately, the
Pennsylvanians were persuaded that with Indiana for Lincoln, the
cause of Bates was the weaker choice, The third morning of the con-
Yention was an exciting oceasion as the delegates filled the Wigwam,
ready to choose the nation’s standard bearer. He was already chosen.

At Lincoln's request, Bates conferred in Springfield with the Presi-
dent-elect on the fifteenth of December. In the course of this mecting
Lincoln asked the Missourian to become his Attorney General. Not
desiring the office, Bates was impressed with the approach of civil war.
No longer feeling at liberty to consult his own interests he entered
without hesitation the new Cabinet.

Many and varied were the opinions rendered by Attorney General
Bates. However, he was meticulous in giving opinions only to the
President and the heads of departments, and only in specific cases pre~
sented for their action and decision. For example, with the specie
reserves in the banks in Washington including the sub-Treasury ex-

On the twenty-ninth of November, he wrote
of color, if born in the United States, are

deblicre oe atlpnea be nataieeees
service who were free on the nineteenth of
tien actiforithe semy exiled: fon palpate

chaplain in a volunteer regiment of is own
sheieeliced nels Dy Avie tea r
ances as the other soldiers in similar

the opm was tranunited who day
‘Senate.

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 153

Scarcely had Fort Sumter fallen, when the Attorney General wrote
to the most successful wrecker on the Mississippi for advice on the
possibility of using steam gunboats on the inland rivers. This was
James B, Eads, destined to become famous as a boat and bridge
‘builder and as an inventor. Soon, as a result of Bates’ earnest solicita-
‘tion, Eads was called to Washington to give to the Cabinet his views
lon the practicability of altering river steamboats into gunboats. Sec-
‘retary Cameron showed no interest in what he termed as “Bates’
‘hobby.” However, Bates persuaded Secretary Welles that naval juris-
diction extended to the navigable rivers as well as the outside waters.
Eads agreed with Bates that Cairo should be made a base of opera:
‘tions on the Mississippi, with shore and floating batteries to control
‘the Ohio River as well. Plans for such a control and a blockade of
‘Confederate commerce were drawn and presented to Welles. They
were approved by the Navy Department, but at this point Cameron
asserted jurisdiction, entailing an irritating delay. However, the At-
‘torney General rode his “hobby” so energetically that the Secretary
of War began at last to cooperate. Rather significantly, the order for
the construction of the first three gunboats for use on western rivers
‘was written by the hand of Bates.

Tn the course of a few weeks the whole program which was to sct
into motion the cleavage of the Confederacy in the West was under
way. Eads became the builder of the ironclads which were to be
famous within two years as the Mississippi Squadron, under Foote,
Farragut, and Porter. The permanent occupation of the South was
rendered possible by the appearance of this navy of little gunbouts.
Of these, the eight which first were built by Eads “formed the back-
bone of the river fleet throughout the war.”

‘As the first year of civil war drew to a close, the Cabinet became
engrossed in long discussions over England's response to the seizure
by Captain Wilkes of Mason and Slidell, En route to England, the
British mail steamer Trent had been stopped by the U.S. San Jacinto.
The ensuing arrest and removal of the two Confederate envoys to
Great Britain and France became an international complication.

Feeling that grave issues of the nation hinged upon their solution
of the problem, the members of the Cabinet criticised with frankness
and candor Seward’s drafted answer to Lord Lyons. As the nation’s
“Tnwyer, Bates waived the question of legal right “upon which all
Europe is against us, and also many of our own best jurists.” He
supported unhesitatingly Seward’s acknowledgment of the technical

War'and)Nivy, lin ought-s0ibeiatlents leas
about the field organizations. However, Bates :
yain. To his brother-in-law, Governor H. R, Gamk
wrote that Lincoln was in great distress over the siti
with a belief that he could not rectify it.

By the middle of March, Stanton was com
ne pilnreiaes Ae

EE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 155
all generals in charge of armies were ordered to report directly to
Stanton.

A discordant factor in the organization of the Cabinet as a working
unit was the tendency of Seward to let the duties of his office overlap
those of his colleagues. On the sixteenth of December, 1862, there
Cle caucus of Republican senators who believed the war was

with sufficient vigor. A demand arose for the
bead ‘of Seward. On the following day, Seward resigned. For hours
that night the subject was discussed by a senatorial committee and the
Cabinet. Ultimately the attack from the Senate was turned and Seward
‘was retained by the President. Interesting and unwitting assistance to
this end came from one source of the whole trouble—Chase.

Parallel with this problem ran that of emancipation. After much
Cabinet discussion the Proclamation was issued on the first of January,
1863. However, in the minds of the Cabinet, the problem of emanci-
pation soon gave way to that of West Virginia. Of the secretaries
recently assailed by the “extreme Senators,” Bates wrote in December
that “they keep their places, but come up manfully to the extreme
measures of their assailants, The chief one is the bill for the forma-
tion and admission of West Virginia.” He had in thought, not only
Seward but Stanton. Then he added, “I think they (including also
Chase) have bought their peace with the extremists hy supporting that
monstrous bill. . . .”

Disregarding all arguments on unconstitutionality or for the “re-
stored government” of Virginia, the friends of the new State pushed
through Congress « bill for its admission into the Union. Under
the power of Congress granted by the “laws of war,” they asserted,
West Virginia could be admitted. The matter was discussed in the
Cabinet. At the instance of the Attorney General, the President asked
each to prepare an opinion in writing, on the constitutionality and the
expediency of the act. Meeting again on December thirticth, the opin-
ions were read aloud and presented to the President, He also con-
tributed a paper on the subject. A thorough discussion followed.
‘Seward, Chase, and Stanton favored the admission of the State. Welles,
Blair, and Bates were opposed. Smith was not present, having re-
signed. In his opinion the Attorney General went far beyond the
others in an analysis of the whole problem. With the Cabinet evenly
divided on the question, Lincoln decided in favor of signing the bill.

The Merryman case of 1861 led to an official opinion from Bates
at the request of the President on the subject of executive suspension

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 157

action of General Wallace. With ill grace Stanton performed the
task. But the order issued at Baltimore was never withdrawn by public

| statement, although it no longer was exercised.

| Hardly was this victory achieved when the Attorney General was
plunged into a bitter struggle with General Benjamin F. Butler over

| the despotic interference of that commander with civil government in
Norfolk. At this time he recorded: “I have heretofore forborne too
much, to avoid « conflict of jurisdictions, but it only makes the military
‘usurpers more held and insolent. Hereafter, in open, gross cases, I
will press the matter fo issue.”

Having secured all ayailable information, the Attorney General wrote
a long letter of protest to the President regarding Butler's arbitrary
action, This was on the eleventh of July, By the sixteenth he was be-
coming discouraged over not receiving an answer from Lincoln, But
on the nineteenth the matter was presented to the Cabinet. Stanton
and Fessenden supported Bates. Seward thought it was a question of
military necessity. Welles seemed to sympathize with the friends of
civil administration in Norfolk who had refrained from voting against
the military. All were agreed that the Alexandria government was
fully recognized by the Government of the United States. Bates wrote
afterward: “I think the President can’t get over revoking the orders,
but [ fear reluctantly and ungracefully.”

A few days afterward, the Auorney General and President Lincoln
discussed at length the Norfolk situation. Lincoln admitted that his
continued inactivity in the matter was due to the fear that if he revoked
the troublesome orders, Butler would “raise a hubbub about it.”
Thereupon, Bates reminded him that the nature of the affair was such
that to ignore it indicated an approval and sanction of it. Inside of
# month a request from General Grant led to the prompt removal of
Butler. One of the reasons offered by the commanding general was
to the effect that Butler's administration of the affairs of his depart-
ment was objectionable,

Upon the reélection of Lincoln, Bates, faced with a recurring illness,
prepared to resign. He felt that the President now would be “a freer
and bolder man.” As for himself, the elevation of Chase to the Supreme
Court as Chief Justice had closed the door to the only office which
held forth any attraction to him in his advancing age. Offered by
President Lincoln a vacant judgeship in Missouri, he refused it, On
the thirtieth of November he retired for the last time from public
office at the interesting age of seventy-two.

158 1OWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES:

He retumed to Missouri to find his State embroiled in the turmoil
of reconstruction. Too ill to resist actively the hated Radicals, be
fought their excesses in long newspaper letters to the people. A new
oath for voting which disqualified all who had taken part in or sym
pathized with the rebellion in any of its phases, he boldly classified
as unconstitutional. He urged all who had not borne arms agains
the Union to “swear and vote.” During the heat of the struggle he
passed away.

se ee

‘The bulk of the source material utilized in making this study was
found in the unpublished separate collections of the private papers,
correspondence, and occasional diaries of some thirty prominent Mis
sourians of the period, 1800-1870. These manuscripts are assembled
in the Jefferson Memorial archives of the Missouri Historical Socicty
in St. Louis. Of inestimable value were the extensive papers of Ed.
ward Bates and of his brother-in-law and law partner and provisional
Civil War Governor of Missouri, Hamilton Rowan Gamble.

less helpful for specific periods were the collections of Frederic Bates,
David Barton, James 0. Broadhead, and James B. Eades. The contempo-
rary issues of the Missouri Democrat and the Missouri Republican con-
tributed at times much political material.

Especially valuable was the Edward Bates Journal of the period
(1859-1866), owned by Miss Helen Nicolay and deposited im the Liv
brary of Congress at Washington. Among many federal and state
documents consulted, most useful were the Attomey General's papers
of the Civil War period, in the Department of Justice at Wa:
and the Official Opinions of the Attorneys General of the United States,
X, XI, edited by J. Hubley Ashton. From a variety of other printed
primary materials used, the papers, memoirs, and diaries of congress:
men and cabinet members were notably helpful, especially the diaries
of Orville H. Browning, Gideon Welles, and Salmon P, Chase. Finally,
reliable secondary works were used frequently in filling in the picture
of the long career of Edward Bates.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESPONSIBLE
GOVERNMENT IN NEW ZEALAND*

By Jouw Avorn Greenee

Students of the constitutional history of the British Empire have held
that responsible government was cither the gracious gift of the Home
Government or the fruit of a victory over a tyrannical Mother-country.
Applied to New Zealand, both interpretations are valid. Less attention
has been given to the evolution of this form of self-government in the
Antipodes than in other parts of the Empire. In New Zealand, one of
the last of the British colonics in which complete responsible govern-
‘ment was realized, nineteenth-century imperial devolution can be studied
to a considerable advantage,

Although in 1769 New Zealand had been claimed for the British
Crown by Captain James Cook, it was not formally annexed until
1840, During the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the archi-
pelago was frequented by whalers who established bases for their ac-
tivities. Traders soon located in the islands to supply the needs of
whalers and to barter with the natives. The native Maoris were hardy
descendants of earlier Polynesian invaders, Far superior in intelli-
gence to the American Indians, they were formidable in battle. Mis-
sionaries learned of the region with interest, for they believed that
among a superior native race in such an isolated location, could be
built the utopia of their dreams, These earnest souls hoped to carry
out a social program among the Maoris which would redeem Chriati-
anity from the charge that it proselyted only to enslave its converts.
Roman Catholic priests came to the Antipodes and were suspected of
being the emisaries of the French Government, which had renewed
the interest manifest by Napoleon in this region. Anglican and Wes-
leyan missionaries came out from the British Isles well financed by
those who sympathized with the Evangelical movement at Home.

Tn 1833 the British Government sent James Busby to be Resident
Magistrate in the Bay of Islands, near the present site of Auckland.
‘The appointment of such a magistrate in savage lands constituted a

“*From a dimortation directed by Professor W. Ross Livingston.
159

Normanby, i
ii New Zealend, wfonsd vs gure
ape seset's Sa pe AEE

a shipload of colonists to the islands
the Colonial Office,

The British Government

Hobson, R. N., with instructions to cat
Crown over New Zealand. This he acco
important Maori chiefs at the Bay of |
to cede their sovereign rights to the B
protection, The Protestant missionaries |
verts so that they acceded to the plan with
the Treaty of Waitangi on February 6, 1840,
of British control in New Zealand,

the Maoris submitted to the Queen's authority
of their property rights in the Jond. And, |
desired to sell land, the Crown should have the |

liament (3/4 Victoria, cap. 62) which
of New Zealand into a separate

by
| Under the Circular Despaich issued hy the C
| 16, 1839, all members of the Legislative (é

_

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY

ion at the discretion of the Governor and to dismissal at the con-
ir of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Thus the will of
e Governor, as tempered by the advice of these officials, became the
of the land within the limits prescribed by Instructions from Home.
New Zealand proved to be a troublesome colony because of the
hunger of the settlers and the complicated process of purchasing
Governor Robert Fitzroy catered to the demands of the settlers
alienated Native land without fair examination of titles, with the
it that the Maoris were soon in active revolt. Governor George
restored order by vigorous campaigns, but won the affection and
of the Maoris by his just dealings in land questions. Hardly had
‘he quelled the rebellion when a despatch from William Ewart Glad-
stone, Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Peel Ministry, informed
him that the Home Government intended that the New Zealanders
“. . should undertake, as early and with as little exception as may he,
the administration of their own affairs.”

Before Governor Grey could formulate and send Home his reactions
to this surprising proposal, the Russell Administration had drafted a
measure enabling Earl Henry George Grey, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, to draw up a constitution for New Zealand. This enabling
Act, (9/10, Victoria, cap. 103) was rushed through Parliament in a
fortnight without critical comment or alteration from either Opposition
or Government benches, and received the Royal Assent on August 28,
1846. In planning the government under authorization of Parliament,
Earl Grey recognized the distinctive features of the New Zealand en-
vironment. Because of the great distances separating the scattered
European settlements. he favored the establishment of two legislative
bodies, one at Auckland and the other at Wellington. To mitigate
the inconveniences which might arise from two parliaments working
along unrelated lines, he planned to delegate members from cach to a
central legislature where a permanent policy for the whole colony
could be worked out under the guidance of a governor-in-chief. The
varied character of the settlers, who had come from all strata of Eng-
lish society, led Earl Grey to return to the usage of the old colonial
system in outlining the proposed New Zealand government. Instead
of allowing the nominees of the Crown and the representatives of the
people to meet together in a single chamber, he decided to set up a
nominee council and‘an elective assembly after the precedent of Bar-
bados, Jamaica, and the earlier North American colonics. In isolated
settlements the voters were to clect the mayor and council to carry

161

‘These houses were to choose from their own meml
Ww the central assembly. The .
province the governor as well as the nominee council
should select the members of the central council. ‘Thus in

coughs were to be extended to New Zealand. ‘

When Governor Grey received the Charter of 1846, he was conclu
ing a skirmish with the Maoris in Wanganui. “Amidst the flashing of
muskets,” be read the despatch which was to strip him of his person!
powers. Finding that the entire control of Native Affairs was to be
placed in the hands of the central legislature, be determined to m=
pend the Constitution until ordered by the Home Government to bring
it into force. On May 13, 1847, he wrote Earl Grey advocating the
suspension of the Charter of 1846 for five years. He asserted his prin
cipal objection to representative government was that it would place at
the disposal of a minority of the population the revenue and rights of
the vast majority of their fellow subjects. Earl Grey magnanimously
accepted the Governor's decision and requested suggestions for « sc
ond and better constitution. On March 7, 1848, the Royal sanction
was given to am Act of Parliament suspending the New Zealand Con-
stitution for five years.

When he sent out the Suspending Act, Earl Grey set forth the base
condition to be fulfilled by any colony before representative institu-
tions would be conferred. The dependency must he able to defray
completely the expenses of its own government. As long as the Home
Government was contributing sums towards such expenditures, it would
continue to control the administration. At the same time, he urged
Governor Grey to indicate: the' form 'guverceseetio a
adapted to the needs of New Zealand.

Governor Grey complied ‘with’thia reualt by ionviiaa aaa
draft constitutions, The legal basis for the New Zealand Constitution
was enacted by his Legislative Council, the Provincial Councils Ordi-
nance of 1851. In August, 1851, he sent bis final plan to Earl Grey.
He proposed to maintain the municipal institutions, but to consolidate
their influence in provincial governments to be presided over by
elected officials. He designed the constitution so that the colonists
would bestow their greatest energies on local government. Thus the
central legislature was to be a popular body, but its liberal bent was

12h. _ |

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 163

compromised by an upper house indirectly elected by the local legis-
atures, and by the regulation that it should assemble at infrequent
‘intervals. Although Governor Grey later became an ardent advocate
of federalism, he based his constitution on municipal governments with
a purely local powers.

Governor Grey had been careful to reserve to the chief executive of
the colony, the post which he expected to fill, all the real power of
government. Not only was the Governor-in-Chief to appropriate most
‘of the colonial revenue, but as the representative of the Crown, he
was also to have charge of Native Affairs and of the sale of waste-
lands, While the Governor seemed to defer to popular influences, in
| reality he planned to maintain not only his own power but also that

of the Colonial Office.

In February, 1852, Earl Grey drew up a counter-draft of the pro-
posed constitution and formulated instructions which illustrated the
general principles upon which his colonial policy was founded. He
adhered to the same organization he had planned in 1846, insisting
on provincial and central governments with bicameral legislatures in
which the upper houses were to be nominated by the Governor-in-Chief.

He rejected Governor Grey's plun for elective provincial executives by
stating that no precedent for an elective executive existed anywhere in
the British Constitution. He stated that all executive authority except-
ing merely municipal powers, “. . . must emanate from the Crown.”
In the matter of control over finance, sale of lands, and Native Af-
fairs, he agreed with Governor Grey that the Home authorities should
deal with them exclusively. Thus Earl Grey believed that it was prac
ticable to endow the colonies with representative institutions and then
to stop without giving responsible government. He proposed to get
the consent of an clective assembly for money bills, but to deny them
the right of administering the expenditure of such funds, He was
convinced that his proposals embodied the most advanced interpreta-
tion of the principles of British self-government. He failed to see that
they resembled more the deadlocked constitution under the early
Stuarts which had produced so much anarchy and civil strife.

Daring this period there was a strong movement substantially repre-
sented in the House of Commons favoring self-government for the
colonies as a prelude to eventual independence. With the abandon-
ment of the economic policy of protection and the repeal of the Corn
Laws and the Navigation Laws in the forties, the old mercantilist sys-
tem was destroyed, and men in public life began to take stock of their

mercantilist Empire. It obliged becitoi bu

in the dearest markets, regardless of location, ;
with the older justification of colonics as val
‘was beneficial to the Mother-country. Richard

the founders and leaders of the Manchester S
which stood for the new free trade conception
no longer justify the continuance of the political
the colonies and England when it had ceased to be prot
but a short step, soon taken by the Cobdenites, to the
colonies were encumbrances and should be cast off as ray
sible, still retaining the good will which would rn
relationship.

Another group interested in the question of colonial refo
composed of disciples of the tradition founded by nm
Earl of Elgin. Charles Buller, and Gibbon Wakefield.
in the value of the imperial connection and did not share t vinior
that colonies were encumbrances destined ultimately to separate them
selves from the Mother-country,

Between the two groups—the champions of free trade and the
Colonial Reformers—there was considerable common ¢
agreed that government of the colonies from Downing
expensive, inefficient, and despotic; expensive, for the phere
no direct return commensurate with the large expenditures om their
behalf by the British Treasury; incllicient, because the government of
forty dependencies of varying needs, customs, and
to a single understaffed department; and despotic, for it was:
cracy in which contemporaries believed despotism to be inheres
unavoidable, There was no general agreement, however, on a
tion whether or not the colonies were eventually to se |
land, It was agrced that responsible government was the ion
for colonial problems, although whether the best way to hold the
colonies or the way to let them go in peace, was not
‘on one point there was almost universal agreement in
Parliament: England could no longer be expected |

4 ee

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 165,
the expenses of loca! defense in the colonics. Sir William Moles-

Peel, Sir James Robert George Graham, and Richard Cobden contin-
wally preached that in proportion as colonies were self-governed they
were governed economically.

Tn spite of a fundamental difference in viewpoint regarding the
future of the Empire, the Free-Traders and the Colonial Reformers

@ fourfold program, which included getting in touch with the colonics,
inviting the appointment of an agent in London by each colony, weekly
meetings during the sessions of Parliament, and the passage or block-
ing of colonial Bills agreed on during the weekly meetings,

With the first of the “Canterbury Pilgrims,” the Colonial Reformers
‘sent John Robert Godley to New Zealand as their representative. He
assisted the colonists interested in the New Zealand Company to or-
ganize the Wellington Settlers’ Constitutional Society. ‘This Society
held its first public meeting in December, 1848, and immediately began
to organize similar groups in each of the European settlements. After
the formation of the Colonial Reform Society in London, the Settlers’
Constitutional Societies of New Zealand appointed Adderley and Moles-
worth their agents and sent them copies of all their proceedings. These
groupe met regularly to consider the future governance of the colony,
and informed one another of their deliberations by means of Committees
of Correspondence. It was not uncommon for as many as five hundred
adults to assemble for twelve hours to discuss and adopt resolutions
bearing on the administration of Governor Grey and the new consti-
tution which he was drafting. The colonists besieged the Colonial
Office with a continual stream of resolutions. They sent William Fox
as their personal representative to discuss with Earl Grey their future
governance. He was never given the courtesy of an interview, although
he was permitted to send a long memorandum setting forth his views.
Fox was welcomed by members of Parliament and by the Colonial
Reform Society so that in the end his mission was successful,

was to have control only areuritcatael
and naval affairs, The settlers ; i
primarily for an extension to New Zealand o
enjoyed by their fellow subjects in the United Ki
Canada. -

The problem of granting self-go

fore, complicated by fost interested SEN
on securing complete control over all their |
ernor and Colonial Office, who were equally
personal powers;
to preserve the imperial tic; and the F
cerned with expanding trade and reducing
to the English tax-payer. At the time the Nev
came to the attention of Parliament, it is no

the situation as one in which utilitarian

for their own internal expenses, made the |
Act much simpler,

‘The Bill drawn up by the Russell Ministry:
ony was divided into six Provinces, each of
by a Superintendent and Council elected by the di
ten pounds sterling annually. These bodies

Ps,

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 167

tions necessary for local self-government and in time, it was believed,
would become purely municipal institutions.

‘The central government was to consist of a General Assembly com-
‘of the three ancient estates: a Governorin-Chief, a nominated
five Council, and an elected House of Representatives. The

Legislative Council was to be nominated by the Crown for life, The
House of Representatives. was to be elected by voters on the same
franchise as the Provincial Councils, except that the Maoris were to
be excluded from voting. The General Assembly was to manage the
‘Crown and wastelands of the colony from the sale of which they were
obligated to pay the debts of the New Zealand Company. The Acts
‘of the General Assembly were to take precedence over those of the
Provincial Councils even when contradictory in provisions, A Civil
List of 12,000 pounds annually was to be reserved from the New Zea-
land revenues, from which were to be paid the salaries of the Governor-
in-Chief and the Judges, and the other expenses of the administrative
‘establishment. To the Crown in the person of the Governor was to be
reserved full contro! and discretion over Native Affairs. For this
purpose the sum of 7,000 pounds annually was to be reserved to be
expended by the Governor-in-Chief at his discretion, Because the Col-
onial Office regarded this Constitution as “experimental,” it was pro-
vided that the New Zealand Parliament with the sanction of the Crown
could alter it in any manner desired, provided the British Parliament
agreed.

After spirited debates in both the House of Commons and the House
‘of Lords, the “Act for the better governing of the Colony of New Zea-
land” received the Royal Assent on June 30, 1852, It was one of the
most liberal expositions of colonial policy enunciated by the British
Government up to this time. For the first time, colonists were given
control of their own wastelands, and incidentally the power of alter-
ing their Constitution with the consent of the Crown and Parliament.
So genera) was the praise of the Constitution as the means of recap-
turing the older Eighteenth Century plan of colonial governance, that
it was overlooked that the colonists lacked complete control of all their
internal affairs and of all their internal revenues. Cor
believed that it was not only = workable and rational plan of govern-
ment, but in addition was the expression of the most advanced ideas of
colonial administration.

‘The new form of government was placed in operation in New Zen-
land on January 17, 1853. Governor Grey provided for the establish

then te. ouletion te tin (Goterrer aD

liamnent occupied in relation to the Q

New Zealand House had some power |
unable to obtain any statistics on

the Supply Bills forwarded by the

House of Representatives compared.

of Commons before the Puritan Re
Mary in 1688.

Oa Fura 2 bes Chea eee ae
for the establishment of responsible g

thse sha’ General. Gorsrament eyuld iat

keep the confidence of the people by “ - . . w
Ministerial) responsibility tn the ooadast-of
tive proceedings by the Governor.” The motion
bated and finally adopted by a two-thirds maj
It was soon presented to the Acting.Governor in an J
he returned a cordial agreement. He it
lishing as an expediency, a provisional form

be practicable for the time being. The |
Bill, giving life allowances to the Crown
istrative posts of the colony. After the p
nee officials would resign, and the Actit
call members possessing the confidence of 1
Council. These members would then take up

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 169

the resignations would have to be submitted to the Home Government
for allowance. As a temporary measure, to mect the needs of the
moment, he proposed that the Executive Council be enlarged by the
addition of as many members of the General Assembly as there were
nominee Advisers,

Wakefield's plan was known to Acting-Governor Wynyard who sub-
mitted it to the Attorney-General for his opinion, which was favorable.
The Acting-Governor and his Advisers realized that the General Ae
sembly would refuse to do business unless its demands were met at
Jeast half-way. Knowing that a failure to pass the fiscal Bill would
increase the already over-halanced powers given to the Provincial
Governments, they determined to adopt the provisional form of Minis-
terial responsibilitiy while waiting for Instructions from Home. It
was therefore agreed between Colonel Wynyard and the House that
he would add to his Executive Council four members of the General
Assembly. This would give the legislature a majority in the Executive
Council, and the Governor ordinarily would be bound to follow their
advice. The House agreed to accept the provisional form, allowing
the nominee officials to retain their administrative posts, thereby leave
ing no executive duties to the responsible majority in the Executive
Council, Meanwhile the members from the House were to carry on
the business of the Government in the Gencral Assembly and to sce
that a Pension Bill was passed. When such legislation had been sanc-
tioned by the Home Government, responsible government would be
placed in operation.

On June fifteenth, in the House, James Edward FitzGerald, Henry
Sewell, and Frederick A. Weld made their appearance as “Ministers”
by delivering Ministerial statements. On the spur of the moment,
Gibbon Wakeficld taunted these men because they had no executive
duties, and said, that although suggested by him, the provisional sys-
tem was not responsible government. But he announced his support
of the program. Wakefield was correct, the system was not responsible
government, but it was characteristic of the'man that within a month
he had reversed his stand and publicly proclaimed the experiment as
one in which responsible government was fully operating. Bills were
presented by the “Ministers” and passed through the various pre-
liminary stages, and the Pension Bill was also introduced. The agree-
ment seemed to be accepted by all factions, and legislation was pro-
gressing satisfactorily, when on the first of August, the legislative

the controversy.

When the General Assembly reconvened o
1854, it was met by a
bon Wakefield and the

The General Assembly then directed the
the legislation necessary for the country.
_ with these demands, and during the next

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY m

lish immediate responsible government in New Zealand. The nominee
‘exceutive officers were to be pensioned and then replaced by Ministers
selected from the General Assembly.

‘The third Session of the First Parliament in August, 1855, passed

division caused the formation of threo Ministries in the short space
of three months before a stable government was finally placed in
power. Although many writers have asserted that New Zealand en-
joyed complete responsible government after the creation of the first
Ministry in 1856, they have mistaken the form for the substance. In
1856, by the practice of Ministerial responsibility, the General As-
sembly controlled the Executive in all of the internal affairs of the
colony with the all-important exception of Native Affairs. The ma-
chinery of responsible government was established in 1856, but it was
not complete for it did not involve direction of all internal affairs
by the General Assembly, including the control of troops needed to
enforce authority among the Maoris,

Following 1856, there was no clearly defined line to indicate the
place where the Governor's responsibility ended and where that of
the Ministers began. The Governor might claim absolute control over
Native Affairs in the name of the Crown, but he was completely de-
pendent on the Legislature for money to carry out his program. Thus,
it came about naturally that the Governor consulted his Ministers and
rarely took any course of action toward the Maoris contrary to their
advice, In 1860, 2 Maori War lasting over a decade was begun by
the Governor, Sir Thomas Gore Browne. Upon the advice of the

George Grey, the local authorities never tried to dodge responsibility
for the war.

Governor Grey suggested a peaceful program toward the Natives,
and for a time was successful in arranging a truce with the hostile
groups. He proposed the formal coéperation of the Governor and the
in handling Native Affairs. A responsible Minister was placed
in complete control of the Native Department, and it was agreed that
the Home Government should pay its costs. Although the arrange-

ii

On November 30, 1864, the House
the “Weld Self-Reliant Policy” which deman
troops and the completion of the Maori Ws
local expense. Early in Lee ES

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Ww

Again the House of Representatives was in an uproar. It hesitated
to take full responsibility for restoring order, and the Weld Ministry
fell in an attempt to support its policy. But colonial forces were
successful in the field, the war again ceased temporarily, and in 1867,
the House seemed willing to accept its task. However, in 1868 the
fanatic Hau-haus escaped from their prison isle and the war broke
out again, The House petitioned London frantically to permit the
last regiment to remain a short time longer, but the Colonial and War
‘Offices had already made arrangements to withdraw it. By the first
of August, 1869, the last of the Imperial troops had left New Zealand,
Although protesting loudly, the Assembly shouldered the obligations
and privileges of complete responsible government.

With the departure of the troops, New Zealand had attained by
means of Ministerial responsibility full control of the executive govern-
ment in all internal affairs, and responsible government came into full
operation. The feeling of bitter disappointment aroused by the British
Parliament's granting and enforcing the “Weld Self-Reliant Policy”
soon declined, Soon afterward the New Zealanders began a campaign
to establish an imperial unity which has finally culminated in a com-
monwealth relationship among the several self-governing British na-
tions.

(Mente at

‘This study has been based primarily upon official documents. The
Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New
Zealand for cach of the years from 1854 to 1888 has been utilized
carefully in this constitutional study. This collection includes the
despatches with their multitudinous enclosures between the Secretaries
of State for the Colonies and the several Governors of New Zealand,
Papers A-3 and A-3A in the first volume for 1883 include the pertinent
documents regarding the establishment of representative institutions.
The New Zealand Parliamentary Debates from 1854 to 1870 are useful
particularly for the study of the growth of responsible government from
the colonial viewpoint. The British Parliamentary Papers for the period
1840 to 1870 contain material bearing not only on the early history
of the colony, but on the development of both representative institu-
tions and responsible government. There are many duplications in
the British Papers and the New Zealand Appendices as well as many
individual memoranda. The British Parliamentary Debates (Hansard),
‘Third Series, were used freely to gain the colonial views of members
of Parliament during this period, The issuance of various govern-

1% IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

mental rulings and papers was substantiated by consulting The Londoa
Gazette, the official publication of the British Government.

Particular attention was paid to accounts of events written by ind-
viduals who participated. Earl Grey's apologia, The Colonial Policy
of Lord J. Russell's Administration, and C. B. Adderley’s Review of
it, furnished abundant material bearing on two different views of
colonial policy during this period. William Gisborne’s impartial sc-
count of his contemporaries, New Zealand Rulers and Statesmen from
1840 to 1897, was especially valuable. Likewise, Sir George Grey's
memoirs dictated to his secretary, J. Milne, Romance of a Pro-consal,
was important. Of considerable value also were the pamphlets written
in 1869 and 1870 and published in London by Henry Sewell, The Case
of New Zealand, and Frederick A. Weld, Notes on New Zealand Affairs.
The anonymous articles by British and Colonial statesmen published
during the period in the London Times, Spectator, Edinburgh Review,
and the Quarterly Review were also found useful.

The principal modern accounts of British colonial policy during the
nineteenth century were used in the study of this topic. Of these, the
works of three New Zealanders, J. C. Beaglehole, Captain Hobson and
the New Zealand Company, J.S. Marais, The Colonisation of New Zes-
land, and A. J. Harrop, England and New Zealand, were most valuable
for background and orientation.

‘THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW AMERICAN
COLONIAL POLICY, 1898-1902

By Evererr Wurrviezp THonnTon

‘The territorial expansion of the United States to the middle of the
nineteenth century rested on the principle that new territory should
be held in trust for the inhabitants until they should form a state and
enter the Union on equality with other states. It was expected that
new lands would be occupied by American pioneers, who would intro-
duce the social and political institutions of the older states, According
to the theory the inhabitants were not to be treated as subject peoples
nor were the territories to be considered as dependent possessions. But
with the purchase of Alaska in 1867 the first divergence from this
principle occurred, aa shown by the treaty of annexation. All previous
treaties annexing territory had provided for ultimate incorporation
into the Union and American citizenship for the inhabitants; the
Alaskan treaty omitted reference to incorporation but it did grant
American citizenship to the people of the territory. The annexation
of Hawaii was made without any statement regarding the future status
of either land or people, during the war with Spain in 1898, The close
of the war saw the future addition of over-seas territory, Porto Rico
and the Philippine Islands, with over 10,000,000 inhabitants foreign
to the United States in race, language and customs. It was impossible,
therefore, to consider these new acquisitions as territories in the tradi-
tional sense and it was proposed that they be held as dependent posses-
sions. This meant the transformation of the republic into an empire.
The colonial policy which resulted was not that of modern European
imperialism, but an entirely new policy of empire, distinctly American
in principle. Tt developed out of the clash of opinion between the
advocates of strict imperialism and those who adhered to the belief
that under the Constitution there was no room for dependent posses-
sions,

The United States, actuated by the same influences then operating in
Europe, had been moving in the direction of imperialism for a decade

‘*From a dissertation directed by Professor W. Ross Livingston,
5

Fac 3°W 2 STUDIES ON THE Sal SCIENCES

3efore be var. Tae =anome development after 1965 together with
che tisaunesrance f i ewe Wow ami made che United States m
axgorang fon .n sean if marke smed. American foreign policy
afer che imddle sonties reiied Db che seeds of bosimes: and com
mera. oterests on che eran f che Pacitic, But American imperial
wan vas cest=uner 3° che amfuence 1f Zaditions by the policy of ole
tan. amt 3° te sediet har here was 20 glace im the American system

win Spam iorieed some of chese traditions and released
2 smewaar “anear amperiaiiem inm vigorous action. The spring and
saw che movement of 4= peek 2: part of a wave of
encment wich swept aver che country. The rise of the
iter Stans as 2 ward power <mied the national imagination. An
matinsiasci: gress declared thar Providence had placed the Philippines
in che sath cf American destiny and that the United States must take
ite glace among che grest satons of the world. There was talk abost
Rew resporsitilites the end of isolation and national duty. New
reeds if American commerce and basiness were suddenly recognized;
it was disenvered in particular that the Philippine Islands occupied a
strategic positioe in relation to the trade with China. The lines of
Biston Berceles, “Westward che Course of Empire takes its way.”

were rerailed acd were reinterpreted as a new revelation of the
afairs of m The few voices raised at this time
againat = of an imperial program were drowned in the uni-
séraal:clamor for expansion.

During this period the first decisions were made which led utlimately
to the annexation of the Philippine Islands. The effect of Dewey's
victory in Manila Bay was to hasten the execution of plans already
made to send a military expedition to the islands. Three days after
the engagement McKinley gave the order to assemble an army at San
Francisco. The first troops arrived in the islands on June 29. and the
city of Manila was taken by General Wesley A. Merritt on August 13.
Meanw the peace protocol had been signed at Washington on
August 12, by which McKinley secured for the American government
al right to occupy Manila pending the treaty of peace and the
final disposition of the islands.

Broken cable connections, however, prevented news of the signing
of the protocol from reaching General Merritt until August 16. The
effect of this delay was to raise a question of signal importance: Did
the Americans hold Manila by virtue of the protocol. signed in Wash-

ie

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Wm

‘ington on August 12, or by virtue of the capitulation, signed in Manila
‘on the following day? The former stats would give to Spain im-
portant advantages, including the release of the Spanish army from
Manila and the liberty to reéstablish her authority in the islands out-
side the city. But General Merritt took the position that the protocol
did not go into effect until the notice of it had been received. He,
therefore, continued to hold Manila under the terms of the military
surrender, The United States government adopted a similar view, al
though international law was on the side of Spain and did not permit
her to send an army for the purpose of policing the Philippine in-
terior. Thus the McKinley administration decided that the Philippines
should be kept “available” in case they should be desired later in the

peace conference. Had the United States yielded to the contentions of
Siatiyieeald have meant the virtual surrender of the archipelago,
and would have made it almost impossible to acquire the Philippines
by treaty,

By the 16th of September, when President McKinley issued his in-
structions to the peace commissioners, he had decided to demand only
the cession of the island of Luzon. But before the end of October he
had demanded the annexation of the entire archipelago. It has been

ly believed that the western tour by the President about the
middle of October caused him to make the new demands. While that
is true in part, other considerations had an carlier and more important
part in his decision. Perhaps the most important was the realization
that it would have been a serious mistake to divide the archipelago
by taking only the island of Luzon. President McKinley became con-
vinced of this after a conference early in October with General F. V.
Greene, who had recently returned from the Philippines. He was like-
wise influenced by testimony taken at the peace conference and cabled
to Waghington. The President was made to see that the foreign trade
of Manila (located on Luzon) depended largely on the reshipment of
sugar and hemp from the other islands, If Spain held those islands
she would have it in her power to destroy the export trade of Manila,
either by refusing to ship through that city or by levying export duties
on goods so shipped, And, because the principal source of revenue for
the government had always been the export duties on hemp and other
products, that too would disappear with the loss of trade. It would
also be necessary to provide by treaty against the possible transfer
of Spain’s part of the islands to a stronger power which might be un-
friendly to the United States. At best it would mean another Spanish

—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 179
in December 1898, and January 1899. Here the issue was clearly

eels seal eidiiGelctacieg. wilibe rwnatota Frinton! ‘They invoked the
doctrine that governments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed, and reviewed the principle of the Northwest Ordinance
that territories should ultimately come into the Union on an equal
footing with the original states. The expansionist group in the Senate
endeavored to show that it was possible under the Constitution to
hold colonies as possessions. They advanced the doctrine that the
right to govern territories was an inherent, sovereign right, with no
constitutional limitations, and that the Constitution did not extend
to newly acquired territory until Congress should so provide, In ex-
plaining their position, they anticipated some of the arguments by
which the Supreme Court later justified imperialism under republican
institutions,

The Senate also discussed the question from the standpoint of policy,
‘The supporters of the treaty put forward all the stock arguments for
imperialism, such as the trust for civilization and the promise of
benevolent government. They appealed to national pride and pointed
to the economic advantages for the United States. The opposition re-
plicd that humanitarianism and imperialism were essentially incon-
sistent, and that the true humanitarian procedure would be to deal
with the Philippines as we had promised to deal with Cuba. The
commercial advantages, they said, were merely apparent rather than
real, Besides, Philippine products would compete with American goods,
The proposed step would mean a great increase in military and naval
expenditures, and would endanger the very existence of republican
institutions. They also declared that the United States was being made
a pawn in the hands of British interests in the Far East.

But all! these arguments could not prevail against the fact that the
Philippine problem was tied up with the treaty of peace. Many
Senators who might have voted against the annexation of the Philippine
Islands, had the question been presented by itself, felt that the treaty
should be ratified in order to establish peace with Spain. Rather than
defeat the treaty, therefore, they were willing to accept the administra-
tion program of imperialism. The annexation of the Islands, there-
fore, would not have received a two-thirds vote of the Senate on its
own merits, although it might have commanded a majority. The final

a0 ro. 29 THES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
amfweare char invert che sezies in favor of ratification was the ot
gees iC che 7ouipoume wnsurcecton :wo devs before the date set for
che ware if te Seary. ven ten vacticstion was accomplished by the
aus muren of me moe more than the necesmery two-thirds and
some 1¢ cue 710 vert riunded a9 in the Last hours through a clever
aad It ‘un serigans 3argain 5~ administration leaders.

The anc-omoeria ists Sirsazhaut che country refused to accept the
ga i¢ Ste Stary as che Gna! decision on the question of im
razmed Tie issue co the country through the pres,
and deveiceed Ge Asc-Lnperisiet League. which had the support of
“eaders, such as Grover Cleveland. John Sherman,
Sadrew Carnegie. and Carl Scharz. During the
che country became deeply aroused over the
insurrertioa. which also became 2 vexing problem for the
az political capital for their opponents. On this
Bryan. which had been divided by the question of
resect a riited front in the campaign of 1900. In the
‘ioeal corvention a platform was adopted that “the
arcing of Sxperialiam growing out of the Spanish war involves
the very exisecce of che Republic and the destruction of our free
paramount iseue of the campaign.”
was forced into the forefront of
leaders endeavored with some

¢ country. The fact that the people re-
2 party out of office after its Philippine
h a full airing showed that the country
rialism.

It still remained for the new program to receive the sanction of the
Supreme Court before its acceptance could be considered final. This
was given in the Insular Cases of 1901. In deciding the validity of
tariff duties on products from Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands
the court was obliged to define the status of the new territories in
their relation to the United States. and thus give an opinion on the
constitutionality of holding colonial possessions. Did the terms “for-
eign” and “domestic” express the only categories for annexed terri-
tory, or were there other relations between those two extremes? Could
there be territories which were neither foreign countries nor states of
the Union, nor yet territories in the process of hecoming states? In
answering these questions the court held that the new territory was

| ll

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 183

ernor and cabinet responsible to the authorities at Washington, and a
legislature whose lower house should be elected by the people.

‘Thus the Schurman plan differed but little from the British type
‘of colonial government to which he had referred in a previous section
| of his report, and which he had described os something of an anomoly,
because it “furnishes occasions for conflicts” between the governor
‘and the assembly. But he believed that such conflicts could be pre-
vented in the Philippines by the separation of the powers to be exer-
cised by the executive and legislative branches. It is dificult to see
how such results could be achieved when the governor and cabinct
were to be responsible to the sovereign power, while the popular as-
sembly would be sure to act in accord with local interests.

‘The Second Philippine Commission, or Taft Commission, was sent
‘out to establish civil government. The guarantee of personal liberty
and @ large degree of home rule in local affairs formed the core of
the policy for the immediate future. But while the commission pro-
ceeded to form a government with autonomy only in local affairs, it
‘was established along lines designed to lead to complete self-govern-
ment and ultimately to independence, should the Filipinos so desire,
Self-rule was to be extended as rapidly as the people became fitted
for it.

‘This program of training for self-government formed the distinguish-
‘ing feature of the new American imperial policy. It meant that Fili-
pino officials must work side by side with American officials in what
Elihu Root called “clinical instruction” in government, It brought
about the establishment of a system of public education for the purpose
of preparing an intelligent electorate. English was made the medium
of instruction in the schools in order “to give them a common lan-
guage,” and to enable them to “breathe in the spirit of Anglo-Saxon
individualism,” as expressed by Governor Taft. It was sought, by that
and other means, to develop a Filipino nationalism which should
finally unite the several tribal groups,

While the local provincial administrations were thus organized along
liberal lines, the central government remained for the time being under
American control. On September 1, 1901, the so-called Commission
Government was completed by the addition of three Filipino members
to the five Americans already appointed. The executive offices were
given to the five American members, while the entire commission func-
tioned as the legislative branch. The arrangement closely resembled
the government of a British crown colony. While designed to be only
temporary, it lasted until 1907.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 189

‘The provincialism of nineteenth century America, partially broken
y the acquisition of « colonial empire after the war with Spain in
was ended by the entrance of the United States into the World
Jar. A new era began with the signing of the Versailles treaty. Affairs
problems of international import crowded aside the local issucs
ich long had occupied the attention of the American people.
Prominent among these new questions was that of national defense.
In 1919 the United States possessed the largest army and navy in its
history and through its financial and military achievements held a
position in the forefront of world attention. What policy concerning
armaments and world peace should the United States adopt? Two con
siderations were presented: one was to withdraw from international
eobperation and follow a course of ultra-nationaliam involving large
armaments and an isolationist policy. The other involved taking a bold
stand for the reduction of national defenses, supporting the movement
for world peace, and terminating the traditional American policy of
aloofness from European commitments. The turmoil in the public mind
incident to making a choice between these two courses gave both paci-
fist and preparedness protagonists a splendid opportunity to advance
their
A study of American military defense and the arguments of the
groups that attack and defend it falls into three parts, The first is an
account of America’s military policy prior to the World War and a
description of the present military establishment as operative under the
National Defense Act of 1916 and as amended in 1920. The second is
an analysis of the crueade against armaments and war conducted by
pacifist, The third is a study of the case for preparedness as outlined
hy defense advocates.

A view of the past reveals that the United States had never pursued
a definite military policy, us that term is understood among European
nations, until the approval of the National Defense Act of 1916. Upon
the outbreak of the European war in August of 1914, President Wilson
proclaimed the neutrality of the United States. But as the months of
the war dragged by, and American lives and property were attacked
‘on the seas, the certainty of America’s participation in the war in-
creased. The possibility of war focused the attention of the American
people upon the issue of preparedness, and after months of delibera-
tion by Congress, on June 3, 1916, the National Defense Act was ap-
proved. This act was the most comprehensive piece of military legisla-
tion in the history of the United States up to that time. The army of

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY i

the nation. The meagerness of the regular establishment is shown
the fact that during the secession movement in 1860, the standing
army of the United States numbered less than 12,000 officers and men,

‘Mississippi River.

the conclusion of the World War the important question of de-
ig the future military policy of the United States faced Con-
committee on military affairs in both the Senate and the
Representatives studied carefully and at great length the past
policies of the United States and possible future emergencies.
formulated an act concerning the American military establish-
ich passed both houses and was finally approved on June

i

Alt

principal provisions of the act are as follows: the maximum
strength of the regular army is fixed at 280,000 men and
officers, with provision for expansion in time of war. The maxi-
mum strength of the national guard is fixed at 428,000 officers and
men. The national guard was henceforth to be under closer super-
vision of the War Department. A reserve of partially trained officers

i

From the standpoint of improving the military establishment the
most important contribution of the National Defense Act of 1920 is
the consolidation of all the armed forces into one organization, For
this reason the act is sometimes known as the “one army plan.” The
various forces—the regular army, national guard when in the service
of the United States, and the organized reserves—are welded into one
force composed of the three components that are different only in their
source, and in the amount of time devoted to military matters.

Another significant development in American military policy which
was begun by the National Defense Act of 1920 is the entrusting to
the Assistant Secretary of War the task of organizing American in-
dustry for its part in any future war. In this plan an elaborate struc:
ture of proposed war industries has been created by this official. A
careful estimate has been made of the type and quantity of articles
needed by the army and navy in the event of a major war, and each
item has been contracted for at a price fair to the producer but which
will at the same time eliminate the system of war profiteering that
existed during the World War.

-

192 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Though hatred of war and agitation against it have long been active
among men, the period since 1918 has been one of particular activity
on the part of individuals and organizations in the United States op
posed to armed conflict. The supporters of the pacifist viewpoiat ix
the United States have entered vigorously into activities seeking to r
duce armaments and to secure the adherence of the United States »
every proposal to end international war. The number of peace organi
zations has increased practically four-fold since the signing of the
armistice with Germany in November, 1918, and methods have changed
from mild requests to a wide concerted drive upon the public mind.

Anti-war advocates rest their indictment of an appeal to arms upoa
a variety of contentions. The following list may be considered as sam-
mary of the pacifist arguments against war as found in numerous peste
publications of peace organizations: (1) modern warfare, as exempli-
fied by the World War, has become entirely too expensive a method
by which to settle disputes between nations; (2) war lowers morality
by giving a free rein to the baser passions of men, and thus retards
the development of the finer aspects of civilization; (3) there is no
victor in modern warfare, since military armaments are so destructive
that the struggle on the battlefield is not conclusive; (4) war is not
inevitable; (5) armed conflict can be eradicated from society without
human nature.
ts have evolved a definite crusade against their opponents.
first objective of the pacifist attack is the group of army and nai
‘The second is the army and navy service organizations. The
third consists of the reserve officers’ association, a national organiza-
tion composed of men who hold reserve commissions in the army of
the Un States. The fourth is the military intelligence association.
‘The fifth is the military training camps association. And the sixth is
the various veterans’ organizations such as the American Legion, Mili-
tary Order of the World War, and the Military Order of the Loyal
Legion,

‘The pacifist opposition to a program of military preparedness is
based on the following points: (1) armaments do not give any nation
security against aggression; (2) armaments in themselves are provoca-
tive of wi (3) the use of armaments for the defense of nationals
abroad advisable; (+) armaments are entirely unnecessary; and
(5) great accumulations of war materials mean rich and powerful
manufacturing firms whose influence is exerted against peace and for
war.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 193

‘The military units maintained in various high schools and colleges
the United States have been the object of much pacifist denuncia-
These units, authorized by the National Defense Act, are estab-
in more than two hundred educational institutions throughout
‘the nation. One of the largest and most active of the pacifist organiza-
‘tions, The Committee on Militarism in Education, has as its sole mis-
“sion the combating of this phase of the War Department's activities,
| Likewise, pacifists have roundly denounced the maintenance of sum-
| mer training camps for boys of high school age at more than thirty
| army posts throughout the United States annually since 1920, When
‘sufficient money was appropriated by Congress more than 30,000 young
men of less than twenty-one years of age attended these camps. Pacifiet
indignation was stirred by the type of advertising carried on by the
War Department to induce young men to attend. Placards and pam-
phlets emphasize the pleasures of thirty days’ camping in the open at
goverment expense, an athletic program supervised by competent
coaches, and training in citizenship. The Committee on Militarism,
which led the attack on these summer camps as well as against educa-
tional military units, charges that this type of advertising is “sugar-
coating” the true purpose of these camps, which is the promotion of
the spirit of militarism and love of military exercises.

The attacks of the pacifist groups in the United States since 1918
have not been dirccted solely against the work of the War Department
and the activities of their preparedness opponents. They have dis:
agreed strongly with the attitude of the Christian church during the
past in openly sanctioning the institution of war. Pacifist literature
has recently urged the church to take an open and bold stand for all
time against the practice of war, and to announce that henceforth it will
never approve another appeal to arms, regardless of the cause.

Advocates of military and naval preparedness describe the objec-
tives of the pacifists as emotional and visionary. They declare that the
pacifist program is not feasible because if it were possible to abolish
war and institute an era of universal peace, conflict would have disap-
peared from human society centuries ago. Defense advocates argue
that there are many definite examples of the failure of idealism to
achieve peace. At the conclusion of each major war of modern times
diplomats gathered to fashion some type of international device which
would prevent another great war, Concerts, alliances, pacts, and leagues
were created in turn, but each time these efforts to enforce peace by
legislation and agreement failed. Wars not only continued to occur

supporters
docs not give a fair presentation of 1
estimate that seventy-two per cent of
future wars is compiled by adding the |
the cost of military pensions to the annual

ras,

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 195

and navy. When considered singly, the total military and naval budget
voted annually by Congress averages only about eighteen per cent of
the Federal budget.

The amount spent for national defense by the United States can not
be considered correctly, argue defense advocates, unless it is made
clear that this nation is a Federal republic, and that provision for the
national defense is one of the few expensive duties assumed by the
national government to the exclusion of the various states. If the total
budgets of the nation, of all of the separate states, and of the units
of local government such as the cities and counties are grouped to-
gether, and the annual army and navy appropriations compared with
that figure, only about five per cent of the total tax dollar is spent on
national defense. To prove this point the statistical branch of the
general staff of the United States army published the following list
showing the per capita cost to the public of these items during the
fiscal year 1929-1930; city government, $73.32; state government,
$13.94; Federal government, $31.67; the military establishment of
the nation, $2.25; and the total per capital cost of national defense,
including the naval appropriations for 1929-1930, $4.91.

The defense advocate firmly believes that nati armaments are
necessary to assure national security. Upon examining the record he
finds that from the earliest beginnings until now men have employed
physical force and offensive weapons to achieve objectives and to de-
fend possessions. Major General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of
the United States army, stated this argument: “On looking back through
the history of the English-speaking peoples, it will he found in every
instance that the most sacred principles of free government have been
acquired, protected, and perpetuated through the embodicd armed
strength of the people concerned. From Magna Carta to the present
time there is little in our institutions worth having or perpetuating that
has not been achieved for us by armed men.” In spite of the earnest
efforts that have been made through the years to change this grim sitaa-
tion, the defender of preparedness declares that he is unable to find
in the order of the modern world any compelling justification for the
surrender of a measurable state of preparedness, It is not that the men
of military convictions look only to the operations of the jungle law
in primitive times. They have regard for the realism of contemporary
life.

Tt is clear to them that al] modern political states have employed
armaments for aggressive ends, The great world powers of the present

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 197

quently enlarged it are included in the United States Statutes at Large.
The first few volumes of the American State Papers give the reports of
various Congressional committees to investigate military affairs carly
in our national history. Discussion of later military problems is con-
tained in the annual Report of the Secretary of War, and the annual
Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army. A description
of the activities of the War Department is presented in publications by
the G-2 branch of the War Department General Staff, The Work of the
Wer Department (Washington, 1924), and Our Military System (Wash-
ington, 1930), stress the civilian character of much of the War Depart-
ment’s duties.

The National Defense Act is explained in detail in a publication by
the office of the adjutant-general of Kansas, entitled, The National De-
Jense Act (Topeka, 1931).

A study of American military policy prior to 1916 is presented in
Emory Upton’s The Military Policy of the United States (Washington,
1904). This traces the gradual growth of the military establishment
as a result of the participation of the nation in the major American
wars. Another general account, though partisan toward a strong na-
tional defense, is Frederic L. Huidekoper’s The Military Unprepared-
ness of the United States (New York, 1925). This includes tables and
data of interest to the student of military history.

To the student seeking technical data about the army, F. B, Heitman,
Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Wash-
ington, 1903) is a guide.

‘The literature of pacifism is very abundant. General accounts of the
pacifist crusade are given in the following: Florence Brewer Boeckel’s
Between Peace and War (New York, 1928), and Efforts of the Found:
ers of the United States and Its Leaders to Abolish War (Washington,
1930); Devere Allen, The Fight for Peace (New York, 1930), A sketch
of the history of the peace movement is in Arthur Derrin Call, Three
Facts of American Foreign Policy (New York, 1921). Statistics regard-
ing the cost of the World War are cited in Arthur Deerin Call, The Will
to End War (New York, 1924).

The pacifist case is stressed in numerous editorials and articles in
the New Republic, The Nation, and The World Tomorrow; also in
William Floyd, War Resistance (New York, 1928), and John Nevin
Sayre, Pacifism and National Security (New York, 1929), Arguments
against the maintenance of military units in educational institutions
are given in various publications of the Committee on Militarism in

of the following are invaluable: Th
Committee on Militarism in Education,
national Peace, Church Peace Union,

Society, Peace Patriots, War Registers’ Le
League for Peace and Freedom, Women's
Peace Foundation.

The preparedness case is presented in books a1
by defense organizations. Joseph T. Cashman,
fiable (New York, 1927), argues for a large nati
ment. Disarmament is scorned by Professor
armament and National Defense” in The Re
‘The stand of the professional soldier is given
Connor in The National Defense (New York,
the National Security League, The editorial
Journal, The Coast Artillery Journal, The Reserve
American Legion Monthly contain much material
and defending the large army and navy enthusiasts,
The preparedness and defense contentions are elabo
in the literature of the following groups:
National Security League, National Civie Found:
of the World War, American Citizenship Fi t
Federation, Allied Patriotic Societies, United States Pa
Daughters of the American Revolution, The Am«
Military Training Camps Association,

l University of Iowa

F Studies in the Social Sciences
:

‘ F, E. Haynes, Editor

4 J. Van per ZzE, C. W. vz Krewrer,

: Advisory Editor Advisory Editor
————
Volume X ‘Number 4

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY III

From Dissertations for the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy as Accepted by the Graduate College
of the State University of Iowa
1934-1937

Published by the University, Iowa City, Iowa

Saks dup
Hot Rae CMe fharte
BF-8F

FOREWORD

Since the publication of the last volume of Abstracts in History the
Department of History in the State University of Iowa has made it a
regular requirement that each doctoral candidate shall submit an
abstract of his dissertation together with the dissertation itself. In
this way the series of Abstracts will become more than a summary of
certain selected dissertations. It will also become an index to the doc-
toral work in history done in the Department. Even if certain theses
are printed elsewhere, either in whole or in part, they will still be
included in the Abstracts. The writer of each Abstract is alone
responsible for the facts and interpretations given.

A complete set of the original dissertations which have been accept-
ed for the doctoral degree is filed in the Library of the State University
of Iowa. Scholars who may wish to consult any of these dissertations
are free to borrow copies from the Library.

The Department of History is indebted to Professor C. W. de Kiewiet
for preparing these manuscripts for the press.

November, 1937 DEPARTMENT oF History
Towa City, Iowa Strate Unversity or Iowa

I.

VI.

vil.

‘Ti.

xi.

cI.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Foreword

Quaker Pacifism and the Provincial Government of Penn-
syluania, 1682-1756, by Guy F. Hersupercer, Goshen
College, Goshen, Indiana

The Indian Policy of Sir William Joknson, by Wittanp
Orax Misuorr, Research Assistant Librarian, Baldwin-
Wallace College, Berea, Ohio

The Missouri River Towns in the Westward Movement,
by WALKER D. Wyaan, State Teachers College, River
Falls, Wisconsin

The West in the Civil War Decade, by Cuartes H.
Norsy, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa

The Military-Indian Frontier in Montana, 1860-1890, by
Merrit G. BuRLINGAME, Montana State College, Boze-
man, Montana

William Salter and the Influence of the Andover Band in
Towa, 1843-1910, by Putte D. Jorpan, Miama Univer-
sity, Oxford, Ohio

The Norse in lowa to 1870, by H. Frep SwANSEN, Dana
College, Blair, Nebraska

The History of the State University of Iowa: The Collegi-
ate Department from the Beginning to 1878, by VERNON
CarsTENSEN, Washington State Normal School, Ellens-
burg, Washington

The Congress of Paris of 1856, by Harowp Hace, State
Teachers College, Bemidji, Minnesota

Forced Labor in the South Pacific, 1850-1914, by RicuarD
Drost, Central College, Pella, Iowa

Four Essays on the Economic Problems of Great Britain
at the End of the Nineteenth Century, by ARTHUR
Grorce Umscuet, Creighton University, Omaha, Neb-
raska

The Influence of Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the Formation of
the British Commonwealth of Nations, by Nex. Hn«rop
BAXTER

The Birth of a New Society in New Spain, by Cect. E.
MarsuHa tt, Assistant Professor of History, State Univer-
sity of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho

19

33

49

59

7m

95

7

129

145

159

169

QUAKER PACIFISM AND THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
OF PENNSYLVANIA, 1682-1756

Guy Frawxuis HersHpErcEr

‘The Christian's relation to the state presents a number of difficult
problems, especially if the strict ethical principles of the New Testa-
ment are to be taken seriously. The essence of statehood is generally
considered (o be its coercive authority, But the New Testament ethic
requires a kindly dealing with one’s fellow men, in the spirit of love.
Here there is no occasion for the use of force as exercised by the
state. For this reason, generations of Christians have asked the ques-
tion: What shal] be my relation to the state? The problem is a real
one. And the effort to arrive at a satisfactory solution has produced
a variety of views on the relation of private to public morality.

Tn the early Christian era there was a sharp distinction between the
church and the state. But in the mediaeval age there was an inter-
penetration of the church and the general social order, resulting in
numerous compromises, so that this distinction was largely removed.
And the result was a virtual identity of private and public morals.
Lutheranism, on the other hand, recognized standards of personal mor-
ality which made for a theoretical difference between the ethics of
Christianity and those of the state. Tn actual practice, however, the
contradiction was ignored. And by a kind of double standard of
morals the individual Lutheran was free to serve either the church or
the state as occasion might demand.

The Calvinist system, however, did not admit of any such comprom-
ise. It assumed a God of majesty who demands a strict holiness on
the part of man. Hence the Calvinist was driven into the world, charg-
ed with the responsibility of making it a holy society, ordered to the
glory of God, under the control of the church, In its political aspect
this meant a state church in which the righteous ruled the ungodly.
And the mora] emphasis was on those principles which derived from
the Old Testament rather than the New, Hence there was no distinc-
tion between the morals of the state and those required of the individual
by the church. Public and private morals were integrated into one
organic whole, and the system swept everything clean before it.

3 TOWA STUDIES [IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

The zeaceful Anabaptists, on the other hand, adhered to a strict
‘New Testament ethic. without any compromises. And inasmuch 3
they considered the coercive authority to be the essence of statehood,
they separated themselves rather sharply from all affairs of the stair.

Sixteenth century Christianity, then, offered at least four solutios
for che social problem arising from an evil world. Each of these for
schemes was desimed for a particular ethical position. The Caix
ists suppressed the distinction between individual and corporate monl-
ity and emptasized an Old Testament ethic adapted to a vigor
corporaze life. The Anabaptists regarded corporate morality as nec
sarily on a low level and emphasized a New Testament ethic of lore
adapted to individuals and small, intimate groups. The Lutherans
and Catholics took an ethical position between these two extremes. The
sixteenth century. therefore, seemed to show that a given moral view
required a particular attitude toward the social order to meet its
peculiar needs.

Then in the seventeenth century the Society of Friends challenged
this idea by combining the ethical position of the Anabaptists with
the Calvinist attitude toward the social order. The Quakers had a
definite political heritage. and their doctrine of the inner light made
for an optimistic belief in the imminent Christianization of society. So
they identified themselves with the civil government, hoping to admin-
ister the affairs of state on the principles of love, brotherly kindness,
and goodwill. The result of this was to be a warless society in which
a peaceful Christian might act as governor or magistrate with perfect
ease of mind.

Here is the point where the Quakers and the peaceful Anabaptists
differed. The latter rejected every kind of force. They were absolute
non-resistants. The Quakers were non-resistant in their personal rela-
tion with their fellow men. And they rejected the military as unchris-
tian and even unnecessary: for a Quaker state would be so governed
as not to invite an invader. And, of course, there would be no aggres-
sion. But the Quakers regarded the use of force by the civil gover-
ment different in principle from that of the military. Because of their
faith in the goodness of man they hoped to reduce even this to a mini-
mum. But the lawfulness of the police force in the hands of Christians
who reject the military was seldom questioned. The Quakers, there-
fore, cannot be classed as absolute non-resistants.

This attempt to combine an uncompromising pacifism with an active
political life was the distinctive feature of Quakerism in government.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 9

‘They believed that the New Testament ethic of love which had hither-
to been applied in individual relationships, and within small, intimate
groups could be applied with equal success in the larger corporate life
as well. But almost before they began they drew a distinction between
the use of force by the military and its use by the civil government.
While rejecting the former as unchristian, they chose to consider the
latter wholly consistent with the New Testament doctrine of brotherly
Jove and peace.

‘This meant, of course, that William Penn and his co-religionists
‘must carry out their political program in Pennsylvania without sub-
mitting to the spirit of ordinary “worldly politics.” And to do so was
Penn's fond hope. But the best evidence reveals a wide hiatus between
this hope and the actual performance of the government. The Quakers
‘were unable to maintain their anti-military principles successfully, And
even their very efforts to do so often developed a spirit of controversy
and of “worldly politics” which weakened the spiritual foundation upon
which the holy experiment itself was laid.

Failure to maintain pacific principles was due in part to outside
forces. The holy experiment was hindered from the beginning by
military obligations written into the very charter itself. And then,
William Penn himself was able to spend less than four years in Pennsyl-
vanin, making it necessary to govern the province with a deputy gover-
nor most of the time. Quaker deputies, however, found it difficult
to deal with all the exigencies of government. Thus as early as 1638
Penn adopted the policy of appointing non-Quaker governors, some-
times even army officers, who could be “stiff with neighbors upon
occasion.”

In 1692 the government of Pennsylvania was temporarily taken
away from Penn, allegedly due to “great neglects and miscarriages” in
government, to “disorder and confusion,” and to lack of provision for
the defense of the province. When the government was restored two
years later, it was with the understanding that the proprietor do every-
thing within his power to “provide for the safety and security thereof.”
Penn accepted the conditions and explained to his friends that “we
must creep where we cannot go, and it is as necessary for us, in the
things of this life, to be wise as to be innocent.” In 1697 he even
offered the Lords of Trade a plan of union for the common military
defense of the colonies. In practical politics Penn found it impossible
to be an inflexible idealist. And in order to save his holy experiment
he compromised his principles and started down the slippery path of

on

10 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

dual morality which must eventually lead to a renunciation of the
ethical position of Quakerism, or a withdrawal from public life.

Other forces also militated against the success of Penn's experiment.
‘The anti-pacifist forces within the province, Penn's unwise selection
of officials, and his unfortunate financial difficulties were additional
factors which eventually led to negotiations for the surrender of the
government to the Crown. An agreement to this end was actually
reached in 1712, but it was never executed. So the province remained
in proprietary hands until the time of the American Revolution.

But the severest test of the holy experiment came in the Internal
politics of the province. The Quakers in the assembly were generally
possessed of lesser qualities than William Penn. This was especially
true of the second and third generation. Many of them were birth-
right Friends who accepted the Quaker way of life because of tradi-
tion and custom instead of a conviction which grew out of an inner
experience. Years of continued prosperity also developed a spirit
of “worldliness” which affected the entire Quaker society and reduced
its spiritual vitality. So, when the militaristic forces on the outside
became too strong, the political Quakers found it difficult to resist
the pressure. The result was numerous compromises and a situation
which grew increasingly serious until the Quaker society was finally
forced to a decision between worldly politics and Christian ethics.

Even without considering the military complications, the strain of
political life itself was a major incentive to this compromise of prin-
ciple. The practical demands of statecraft required methods out of
harmony with the Quaker faith, Ethical standards insisted upon in
private life were found unsuited to public morality, And the politi-
cians in the assembly, much more than Penn, were compelled to re-
nounce that “high attainment” upon which he relied for the making
of his mild and almost uncoercive state. This high attainment finds
its basis in the Christian principle of love. It willingly suffers at the
hand of the enemy rather than retaliate. In private life the Quakers:
were able to maintain this principle with reasonable success, But
in political life there was another principle running counter {o it.
This was the principle of political freedom. And herein lay canie
for their failure.

TWeals of docial justice tant weldom (be fully) wctluyal Salis
exercise of political power. paper
eventually means a struggle for power. And the
can hardly escape the use of methods out of harmony

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY iW

‘Testament ethic, In this the Quakers in the provincial government
of Pennsylvania did mot prove an exception to the rule. They early
developed certain ideals of justice and liberty which they pursued re-
Tentlessly. Obstacles were removed by seizure of power and vigorous
attack. This often led to acrid controversy, bitter feeling, and a selfish
spirit. The Christian principle of love was sacrificed to the search for
political power. And when this was done the foundation of the holy
experiment was seriously weakened.

‘As early as 1683 the assembly began to increase its power at the
expense of the governor. Under Penn’s first frame of government all

originated with the governor and the council, or upper
house. But the struggle for power continued until in 1701 the right
of initiative resided in the assembly alone. And the council became
an appointive body, a mere cabinet of advisers, without any legislative
powers. Out of this struggle grew two political factions, the proprie-
tary and the popular parties, An enormous amount of jealousy and
personal animosity existed between them. Important issues seldom
arose without some one feeling that his power was being challenged or
his official prerogative encroached upon.

William Penn was grieved by these developments. He pleaded for
peace and harmony. In an earnest letter to Friends in the government,
he said: “Cannot you bear a little for the good of the whole? . . . Can
you not for my sake and your own forgive one another? . . . Strive
not, read the fifeh of Matthew, the twelfth of Romans. . . You will see
what becomes Christianity even in government.” This was the heart
of the issue. Could the ethic of Matthew five and Romans twelve be
maintained, “even in government?” This was the faith on which
Pennsylvania was founded. And this was the issue on which the holy
experiment would stand or fall.

‘The Quaker politicians themselves saw the issue, but they made a
bold attempt to rationalize their actions. When they imprisoned George
Keith and William Bradford for publishing a printed attack upon the
authorities they said the arrest was related only to those portions of
the pamphlet which criticized them as magistrates, and in no way to
those affecting them as individuals or as members of the Quaker society.
‘This meant that the Quaker in public office could not tolerate criticism
which he might endure as an individual. The Friend in the meeting
might love his enemies and do good to them that hate him, but not so
the Friend in government. The religious Quaker might be “transform-
ed by the renewing of his mind,” but the political Quaker must be

in 1701. te yay cing wel a se

too factious and troublesome in the go

‘astsably, to ves ard have By etraea ao rds,
practices, disquieted the minds of others to i
disturbances; and some under the fair colours of
have promoted their sinister ends, when indeed
‘vengeance against those whom they had taken disgu
this we cannot but declare our just abhorrence off |
sacrifice the peace of the province to private revenge.”

This warning was in order, but it was not well
istratian of Governor John Evans which came a fey
period of storm and stress, beginning with a dispute o
adjournment, and ending in 1709 with an attempt to |
Logan, the proprietor’s secretary. Logan was charged
and with working against the interests of the people, dep
of their rights, their privileges, and their liberties. And it
was only by executive interference that he was saved
by his brethren in the assembly,

“Tho. casemably's’ dologa bad now) packer aie
minded people of the province could tolerate then
weeks before the election in 1710 the Philadelphia
with the political activities of its members in a lary
bind ‘The official epistle decried “some things.

that in order to be active in politics, Friends |

Pes 3

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 3

alternatives: first, to “be independent and entirely by ourselves;”
second, “if mixed, partial to our own opinion, and not allow the liberty
to others;” third, to be “dissenters in our own country.” James Logan
found it impossible to accept the Quaker distinction between the police
and military force. And he was certain the demands of worldly govern-
‘Ment were in conflict with the Quaker profession which denied the
spirit of the world.

‘This point of view was upheld in vigorous fashion by an anonymous
Quaker writer who declared in 1715 that Christians “have no more to
do in Caesar’s court than in his camp.” He regarded the political
experiment in Pennsylvania as “an innovation, and as great an abuse
‘to our profession, as any that ever yet was introduced into the church
from the apostles to Constantine's time.”

Up to 1710 the course of William Penn's holy experiment was not
very satisfactory, His hope that the Christian principle of love could
be applied in political life as well as in private life had not been real-
ized. But a number of factors helped to improve the situation from
this point on. As a result, the Quaker government of Pennsylvania
entered a period of tranquility, awaiting its final test in the period
beginning with 1739,

In that year, however, at the beginning of the Anglo-Spanish War,
Governor Thomas asked the assembly to put the province into a state
of readiness at once. It was a long time since the assembly had received
such a request. So its first reaction was to say in true Quaker
fashion that laws for military defense would conflict with peaceful
consciences. In a short time, however, the assembly began to weaken
under continuous pressure from the governor. Religious arguments
were abandoned and others used instead. Evasion and delay were
resorted to as long as possible, And in the end the assembly comprom-
ised by voting a sum of money for the “King's use.””

‘This policy was so unsatisfactory to James Logan that in 1741 he
challenged the Quakers of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting to aban-
don political life. He argued that defensive war was essentially the
same as the exercise of the police force, Because he differed with the
majority of the Friends on this point he bad tried to be consistent by
remaining inactive in the official meetings of the society. So he argued
that those of the society who opposed defensive war should also be
consistent and withdraw from all offices of the civil government,

‘Logan's argument was cogent enough. But the yearly meeting did
not take it seriously at this time, Some of its more spiritually-minded

and to do good even to them that hate u

“to be faithful to that ancient 1

vas gaining new strengih in it tuner Wife,
‘Woolman was in part responsible.
But while the yearly meeting was co

again began working on a bill to raise money

it soon reached a deadlock with the governor on
the money. When bills of credit

on the length of time for sinking the bills.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 15
it complained of being rendered “odious . . . to the army that is come

to the proprietors’ insistence that thelr estates be exempt from taxation.
Obviously the time had arrived when the Pennsylvania Friends must
lose their “ancient testimony” for peace, or experience some kind of
awakening to restore the pristine fervor of the faith,

‘The yearly mecting saw this point and struggled hard for a satis-
factory solution. In 1755 it demanded conduct strictly in harmony
with pacifist doctrine. The struggle for rights and privileges was com-
pletely repudiated. Friends were urged to submit to the authorities
‘over them in so far as they could. And if anything was required con-
trary to conscience they were advised to suffer patiently, “not believing
it to be allowed to the followers of Christ, by force and violence to
oppose the ordinances of magistrates .. .” This note is entirely out
of harmony with the actual performance of the political Quakers, and
‘approaches the non-resistant position more nearly than anything found
in Pennsylvania Quakerism for a long time. The yearly meeting could
no longer condone the conduct of the Friends in the assembly.

Tn line with this advice, when a new war tax bill was introduced
shortly afterwards, a group af the more conscientious Quakers petitioned
the assembly not to pass it. And about the same time Samuel Fother-
gill of England, a Quaker minister who ranks with Woolman in his
spiritual qualities, came to the province to assist the Friends in this
trying hour. Like the prophets of Israel, Fothergill prayed and pleaded
with his backsliding people until a few members in the assembly began
to vote against military measures. Then in April, 1756, when the
governor and council declared war against the Delawares and Shawnees,
old Indian Friends of the province, the breaking point was reached,
Fothergill declared that the Quaker government was a salt which had
Jost its savor. And early in June six of the more conscientious Quaker
assemblymen resigned their seats, explaining that office holding was
now equivalent to military service, “which from a conviction of judge-
ment, after mature deliberation, we cannot comply with.” So for the
“peace of our minds, and the reputation, of our religious profession,”
they asked to be excused from further service.

The Pennsylvania assembly as a whole, despite its general departure
from Quaker principles, had failed, nevertheless, to enact military
measures with the speed which the British government desired. For

Quaker members, So is das SU e
reduced to less than one-fourth the total memb
‘It is true, this withdrawal from the

advising separation from the spirit of this world. A
sat on a special committee recommending
DOs aig wai sted eee

Tn line with this advice the yearly m

iets ipa ict of al cei at
under pain of disownment. The minute says:
with us should after the advice and loving adi
persist in a conduct so repugnant to that | .
self-denial incumbent on us, it is the sense and
ing that such persons should not be allowed |
discipline nor be employed in the affairs of truth
Hes misenog endl sch wiedestieni AC Hele ree

‘The year 1758 is a definite turning p jak
notable minute, the society, for the first time,
hold office, With many it was an act of exp

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Ww

In his Jowrnal for 1759, he asks whether civil affairs, “narrowness,
party interest, respect to outward dignities, names or distinctions among ~
‘men, do not stain the beauty of those assemblies, and render the case
doubtful in point of duty, whether a disciple of Christ ought to attend
as a member united to the body or not."

Tn political life Woolman found a force gnawing at the vitals of
‘Christian experience. So be turned his face to other interests, and
with him the Society of Friends entered an era of quietism. There was
now a renewed emphasis on inward religion, and the social message of
Quakerism found expression in the gentler work of philanthropy and
social reform. The Quakerism of this new era had a lively and virile
social interest. But it held aloof from those activities inviting a com-
promise of the Quaker ethic.

‘The special problem of this study has been to determine the out-
come of that unique experiment which proposed to maintain a strict
New Testament ethic on war and peace, in the management of a politi-
cal state. The Quakers had challenged the moral and social views of
their time. They carried into public life principles hitherto accepted
by none save individuals and small, intimate groups, detached from the
world. They challenged the distinction between private and public
morals, proposing to lift the latter to the level of the former. ‘This was
the heart of the holy experiment and this was where it failed. The
ethics of the Pennzylvania government proved to be no different in
essence from that of the other colonies. The practical demands of
statecraft required methods out of line with true Quaker morals, so
that the standards of love and kindness insisted upon in private life
‘were not maintained in government.

ee oe

‘This study is based principally on manuscript sources, government
documents, and the printed journals and writings of Quaker leaders.
Indispensable manuscript sources are the Minutes of the Philadelphia
Yearly Meeting, beginning in 1682, and the minutes of the subsidiary
quarterly and monthly meetings. The Minutes of the Meeting for
Sufferings for Pennsylvania, beginning in 1756, were also of value,
Most of these Quaker meeting minutes are housed at 304 Arch Street,
Philadelphia. Among the important manuscript collections at the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania are the following: the Pemberton
Papers, the Logan Papers, the Penn Papers, the Norris Papers, and
others, The government documents used were: the Minutes of the

18 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, commonly called the Colonia
Records; the Pennsylvania Archives; the Votes and Proceedings of the
House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania; the Docu-
ments Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York; and
the New Jersey Archives. Among numerous Quaker writings used
were those of George Fox, Robert Barclay, Isaac Pennington, William
Penn, James Logan, Samuel Fothergill, John Woolman, and others.
Of particular importance are the two volumes of the Penn-Logen
Correspondence, the Journal of John Woolman, and the Memoirs of
Samuel Fothergiti. A number of printed broadsides and pamphlets
were found helpful. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History end
Biography contains much helpful material.

‘THE INDIAN POLICY OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON
Wrtarp Ors, Misnorr

‘The strategic location of the Iroquois confederacy during the period
of Anglo-French rivalry in North America made its allegiance impor-
tant in peace and war. This confederacy, at one time known as the
Five Nations, included the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagns, Cayugas,
and Senecas, who occupied the western area of the province of New
York, With the advent of the Tuscaroras, the confederacy was sub-
sequently referred to as the Six Nations, although its jurisdiction
extended over the neighboring Delawares and Shawnees in Pennsyl-
vania, whose hunting grounds comprised the upper Ohio Valley. Thus
these tribesmen found themselves between the French on the west and
the English on the east. During peace time their sentiments depended
upon the proximity of French or English posts, the opportunities
afforded for trade, and the treatment they received. In war time,
however, the confederacy was exposed to attack by either neighbor and
its favor inclined toward the contestant exhibiting the greater military
prowess and purchasing power. From 1744 to 1760, the French author-
ities made strenuous efforts to detach the Six Nations from their
traditional alliance with the English. That they failed to do this was
due largely to the influence of Sir William Johnson, Indian agent for
the province of New York and superintendent of Indian affairs under
the British command. It is the purpose of this study to present an
account of Johnson's dealings with the Indians from the outbreak of
King George’s War to the reduction of Canada,

The alienation of the Iroquois by the French in the seventeenth cen-

nized by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), To compete more effectively
with the French at Fort Niagara, the province of New York erected
trading post at Oswego (1727), which was frequented not only by
Troquois, but also by hunters from the Mississippi Valley. Mean-

2 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

grounds. To protect che Iroquois against wascrupeious traders and
settlers. the provincial government crested a board of Indian commis-
sdoners to provide adequate reguiations and to redress griewances. This
board periodically renewed the covenant with the Six Nations and
distributed substantial presents 2s am imdacement to its observance.
Unfortunately, the board was dominated by a sumber of Albany mer-
chants whose location enabled them to trade more profitably with the
French. UCnwillimg to pursoe an official policy at variance with their
Private imterests, the commissioners ceased to fumction, and by 1744,
the Iroquots suffered from loss of trade, unredressed land grievances,
and the neglect of their covenant.

The French tock advantage of English negligence by sending agents
among the Six Nations to promote trade and to inflame them against
the English. While the confederacy prevented the erection of a French
fort at its council seat, Onondaga, it permitted the emigration to Cana-
da of a number of tribesmen, who were henceforth known as Caugh-
mawagas and became valuable intermediaries in peace and war. Gov- ©
ernor George Clinton watched with alarm this intrigue among the
Iroquois as a result of their neglect by the board of Indian commis-
sioners. Upon the outbreak of King George’s War (1744), the north-
ern border was terrorized by raids of French and Indians whose boldness
increased until they attacked and destroyed the outpost of Saratoga
late in the year 1745. The commissioners promptly sought the aid of
the Six Nations in defense, but the latter refused. Thereupon the
governor determined to win their support through personal overtures
and sent out Cadwallader Colden, who for many years had favored a
close alliance with the Iroquois for trade and defense. This angered
the commissioners, who refused further co-operation despite the emerg-
ency. Clinton thereupon took matters into his own hands and sought
the assistance of William Johnson, a rising young merchant and land-
owner of the Mohawk Valley, well regarded by the Six Nations.

Johnson had come to the Mohawk Valley in 1738 to manage the
extensive estate of his uncle, Peter Warren, a prominent naval officer
who had married into the influential De Lancey family of New York.
Within a few years he acquired land of his own near Fort Hunter,
cleared a considerable acreage, founded a thriving settlement, and
established a general store, patronized by neighboring whites and In-
dians. His headquarters at Mount (or Fort) Johnson were strategi-
cally located on the highway between Albany and Oswego, frequented
by traders. A short distance west was the Mohawk village of Cana-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 21

joharie, the eastern castle of the Iroquois, and gateway to the Sus-
quehanna Valley. Pushing into the Indian country, Johnson developed
@ profitable fur trade and won a distinctive place for himself through
honest dealings and personal adaptability. He was soon adopted by
the Mohawks and married into the family of the leading sachem.
Admitted to the deliberations of the confederacy and to the confidence
of its Ieaders, Johnson occupied a unique position among his adopted
brethren. By 1745, he had become a prominent merchant, a prosper-
ous trader, and a wealthy landlord, whose rapid rise was envied by his

intelligence through the Mohawks, to assure them of adequate defense
against the French, and to recruit warriors for service with the militia,
Johnson's immediate success won him a commission as colonel of the
‘Six Nations and commissary in the militia with headquarters at Fort
Johnson. Here the colonel organized and equipped war parties while
be carried on his business under military protection. Since his chief
task was to retain the Six Nations in the English interest, Johnson
devoted much time in conference with leading sachems and warriors,
whom he cultivated with the aid of presents and bounties. No longer
needed, the board of Indian commissioners ceased to function for the
duration of the war, but the members resented their displacement and
Jent their influence to the provincial assembly in its struggle with the
governor over prerogatives. Consequently Johnson encountered both
personal and political obstacles, for the influential merchants resented
his competition under official patronage, and the anti-administration
faction distrusted him as a favorite of the governor. The resulting
delays in transportation, supplics, and funds caused Johnson continual
embarrassment.

Johnson found the attitude of the warriors less favorable than that
of the sachems. In general, the English interest among the Six Nations
decreased as the distance increased from Fort Johnson. While the
Mohawks in the eastern part of the Troquois country were friendly to
the English, the Oncidas, Tuscaroras, and Onondagas showed success
ively less fervor, and the Cayugas and Senecas showed dangerous lean-
ings toward the French. By maintaining the good will of the more
distant sachems, the colonel secured their influence over the warriors.

22 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Furthermore, many Iroquois declined to go on the war path as it
would involve attacking their kinsmen, the Canghnawagas, who were
French allies. Then, too, many warriors had been induced to take up
the hatchet by the promise of an expedition to Crown Point, and were
profoundly disappointed when it failed to materialize. Finally, at
Jobnson’s very headquarters designing whites exploited the Indians,
and by plying them with liquor despoiled them of their equipment,
clothing, and bounty money. But the hostile raids of the Caughnawagas
soon provoked the Iroquois to retaliate, and Johnson personally led a
hasty expedition of impatient warriors toward Lake St. Sacrement more
as a gesture of British zeal than as a threat to the French. The expli-
tation of the savages continued, however, despite prohibitory military
regulations and provincial legislation.

Johnson early adopted a policy of personally welcoming every Indian
who came to his headquarters for the first time, and he extended boun-
tiful hospitality to visiting delegations. To many tribesmen loyalty
to the English thus became a personal obligation. In this way, Jobn-
son offset the perpetual aim of the French to arouse the Iroquois against
tribes friendly toward the English. By the summer of 1747, the
colonel was convinced that the Six Nations would remain loyal to their
covenant. and that they were discouraging their western brethren from
actively assisting the French. Indeed, certain tribes even favored the
destruction of Fort Niagara because it hindered trade at Oswego. As
hostilities centered upon the sea coast, border warfare consisted of
raids and counter-raids in which many prisoners were captured by
Indian war parties. As a result, the French Governor, Comte de la
Galissoniére, sought to treat direcily with the Six Nations for the
exchange of captives. This the English authorities determined to pre-
vent lest it exalt the enemy in the estimation of the confederacy and
undermine the covenant. Accordingly, Johnson labored incessantly
and by cajolery and bribery prevented negotiations. His success as
Indian agent won him the commendation not only of Governor Clinton,
but also of Governor William Shirley, of Massachusetts, who brought
his services to the attention of the Crown.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) suspended hostilities, pending
a final struggle for the mastery of North America. Realizing that any
attempt to possess the Ohio Valley must receive the consent of neigh-
boring tribesmen, the French began a systematic campaign to detach
the Iroquois and their dependents (the Delawares and Shawnees) from
their English alliance. They spread rumors of British attack, taunted

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 23

the Six Nations with cowardice, encouraged them to war against their
southern enemies, the Cherokees, who were friendly to the English,
and prophesied the gradual extermination of the confederacy through
encroachments upon their hunting grounds. To offset this propaganda,
Johnson stationed at the various castles agents who dispelled rumors
and promoted confidence in British friendship. Profitable trae, how-
ever, was the chief factor in preserving the alliance, and the French
were obliged to send traders among the Six Nations with instructions
to meet competition at any cost. Johnson in vain sought the exclusion
of these foreign agents, Thus the French prepared the way for the
expedition of Céloron de Bienville (1749-1750), which not only laid
visible claim to the Ohio region but also secured the good will of the
Delawares and Shawnees, Johnson, however, pointed to one of the
Ieaden plates buried by the expedition as a proof of French designs
against the best hunting grounds of the confederacy.

Johnson had a skillful and zealous rival at Fort Niagara in Joncaire,
the well-known trader, to whose influence among the Senecas, Dela-
wares, and Shawnees their French leanings were due, Yet he found a
greater obstacle in the indifference of the provincial authorities to these
intrigues, Through Governor Clinton, the colonel appealed to Gover-
nor James Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, to conciliate the Delawares and
Shawnees and to fortify the Ohio frontier. Hamilton, however, doubt-
ed the existence of a menace and did not act. Likewise, in New York,
the provincial assembly withheld funds for the erection of defenses in
the Iroquois country, and failed to reimburse Johnson for emergency
outlays in the Indian service. Under these circumstances, Johnson
declined to assume further responsibility at the expense of his personal
interests, and resigned in 1750, over the protests of Clinton and the
Mohawk sachems. The board of Indian commissioners was restored
and the Six Nations were again neglected. In the spring of 1753, the
French erected Fort Le Bocuf, on French Creek, and seized the English
trading post of Venango. Overawed by the invaders, the neighboring
tribesmen refused resistance, but the confederacy resented this invasion
and, through Hendrick, the Mohawk sachem, threatened to abandon
‘the covenant if the English did not provide protection.

‘The reports of Clinton, Shirley, and Johnson to the ministry stressed
the intercolonial aspects of Indian affairs and their bearing upon the
problem of defense. In 1753, therefore, the provincial governors were
urged to resist French encroachments and were directed to unite in
securing either the active assistance of the Six Nations or their promise

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 25

unable to resist the invaders, and they either transferred their support
to the French or declared their neutrality. Johnson again warned the
authorities in London that a general defection of the Six Nations could
be halted only by the expulsion of the French from this region, by the
establishment of outposts along the frontier, and by the removal of
Tand grievances. Early in 1755, General Edward Braddock arrived in
command of the British forces and promptly summoned # council of
governors, to which Johnson was invited. A plan of campaign was
adopted, and Johnson was assigned the twofold task of managing the
‘Six Nations and commanding an expedition to Crown Point, with the
rank of major-general. After preliminary conferences with leading
sachems, the superintendent held a congress at Fort Johnson in the
summer of 1755, attended by over eleven hundred Indians. In a
series of carefully prepared speeches, he reviewed the encroachments
of the French and convinced the tribesmen that the British would
expel the invaders. To this end he sought their aid and declared that
their refusal would indicate either cowardice or enmity. Inspired by
news of the forthcoming expedition and encouraged by a substantial
present, the Six Nations affirmed their loyalty to the British cause
and their intention to give active aid.

‘The results of the great Indian congress were immediately threaten-
ed by the failure of Braddock’s expedition to dislodge the French.
Johnson minimized the debacle as much as possible and dispelled the
warriors’ doubts as to the military capacity of the British. While the
Troquois sachems assured him that the confederacy would not renounce
its covenant, the Delawares and Shawnees were easily incited to border
forays, and Johnson was convinced that an early expedition to Crown
Point was necessary to sustain the English interest among the warriors.
However, 2 misunderstanding with Shirley, lack of co-operation from
the provinces, and military inexperience delayed the expedition until
late in the summer of 1755. Under Johnson’s command, a motley
force of New England militia, New York troops, and Iroquois warriors
moved toward Lake St, Sacrement (renamed by Johnson, Lake George).
Ably assisted by Major-General Phineas Lyman and wisely counselled
by Hendrick, the Mohawk leader, Johnson's forces repulsed an attack
by the French under Baron Dieskau, who was captured. Hendrick was
killed, and Johnson was wounded. The Indians, minus their leader,
and now at odds with the Caughnawagas, who had assisted the French,
departed forthwith. Abandoned by the Indians, and faced with dis-
affection among the troops, Johnson refused to press forward, content

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY a7

help the Iroquois to regain their former prestige among the western
nations. Forts were built for the protection of the Oncidas and Tus-
caroras, although the more distant Nations refused this protection in
fear of French retaliation, The Six Nations, however, permitted the
free passage of British troops through their country to Oswego. Yet
public and private conferences convinced Johnson that these tribeamen,
notwithstanding their avowals of loyalty, were equally receptive to
French advances, and had adopted a policy of watchful waiting for
signs of ultimate victory.

The Six Nations did not regard the battle of Lake George as a con-
vincing indication of British prowess, and they were disgusted with
Shirley's failure to proceed against Fort Niagara, Scouts brought to
Johnson news of the French designs against Oswego, early in 1756, and
the Troquols were amazed at the English delay in reinforcing this post.
In the meantime, the French Governor, Marquis de Vaudreuil, despair-
ing of success in detaching the confederacy, warned the warriors to
‘stay away from Oswego, and surnmoned them to Fort Niagara to insure
their inactivity at the critical moment, In midsummer, 1756, Montcalm,
the French commander, descended upon Oswego with a superior force
‘and compelled its surrender. Having destroyed the fort, he returned
to Canada, leaving the Iroquois country and the Mohawk Valley ex-
posed to attack. The destruction of the lake post nullified Johnson’s
plans to engage the confederacy against the French, for Vaudreuil
threatened reprisal if any of the Iroquois assisted the English. In the
autumn, Sir William, assisted by Croghan, held a general congress of
the Six Nations to ascertain their official sentiments. Censuring them
a3 mercenary and vacillating, Johnson did his best to convince them
‘of the ultimate success of British arms, While the sachems assured
him that the confederacy would not renounce its covenant, the warriors
declared that they must defend their own castles, and declined to render
further assistance.

MN eae tal aemied
EL ae aectey increased the likelihood of attack by

hostile tribesmen. UE As shale cll a gl rene
chief, turned for aid to his southern colleague, Edmund Atkin, who
had maintained the support of the Cherokees and Catawbas despite
the intrigues of the French in Louisiana, Weakened by the defection
of their western allies and the alienation of their dependents, the Tro-
quois welcomed Johnson's suggestion of an alliance with the southern
nations, notwithstanding the enmity between the Senecas and Cherokees.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 29

Licutenant-Colonel John Bradstreet, ably assisted by Oneida scouts,
captured Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario, thereby severing the French
line of communication with the Ohio posts. By this time the French
interest among the Delawares and Shawnees had been weakened, and
Fort Niagara faced isolation. At the behest of Amherst, in command
of the British forces, Johnson began a drive for warriors early in 1759,
and found the Iroquois once more co-operative, now that the French
menace had been reduced. A conference in the spring revealed that
the reduction of French trade was rapidly inclining the western tribes-
‘men toward the English. The Senecas and Cayugas, no longer courted
by the enemy, joined their Iroquois brethren in renewing the covenant,
while the Caughnawagas in Canada promised their neutrality. In the
summer of 1759, Johnson assembled more than nine hundred warriors
to assist Brigadier John Prideaux in an expedition against Fort Niagara.
Upon the death of Prideaux, the command devolved upon Johnson,
who used his Indian auxiliaries to cut off French reinforcements from
Detroit, and compelled the surrender of the stronghold.

‘The capture of Quebec, in the summer of 1759, was followed by
preparations for an expedition to Montreal, In the early autumn,
Johnson relinquished his command at Fort Niagara to Brigadier-
General Gage, and went to Oswego, where he received the submission
of numerous tribes from Canada and the west. After preliminary
arrangements for trade with these Indians, Johnson returned to his
home until spring. Throughout the winter the tribesmen along the
Ohio River and Lake Erie remained peaceful. Meanwhile, former
Indian allies of the French made peace with the Six Nations, induced
by the scarcity of provisions, the promise of trade, and the outlook for
victory. The warriors were now impatient for action, In July, 1760,
Johnson mustered more than seven hundred tribesmen to assist Amherst,
but many deserted when they were enjoined from pillage after the
reduction of Fort La Galette. The remaining forces descended the
river, unhindered by neighboring tribes, and joined the siege of Mont-
real. Deserted by his allies, Vaudreuil surrendered early in September,
although fearful of a massacre. Once more Johnson dissuaded the
warriors from harming the citizenry, while Amherst rewarded them for
good conduct before discharging them and complimented the superin-
tendent upon his management of the Indians,

The problem of Iroquois allegiance was continuous from 1744 to
1760. During King George’s War, Johnson's activity was confined to
the province of New York, but broadened in scope during the final

i
un

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 31

cal Society, Publication Fund Series, are most useful. Finally, the
correspondence of Shirley, Pitt, and Gage throws light on the broader
aspects of Indian affairs and gives a critical view of Johnson’s depart-
ment.

Among the secondary works, biographies proved useful, and of the
five so far devoted to Johnson, William Leete Stone’s Life and Times
of Sir William Joknson, Bart., has not been superseded, It lacks
documentation, but it includes some important source material not
elwhere available. Arthur Pound’s Johnson of the Mohawks, while
colorful, is valuable primarily because of the collaboration of Richard
E. Day, the Johnson scholar. The activity of Johnson’s deputy is
fully portrayed in Albert T. Volwiler’s George Croghan and the West-
ward Movement. The co-operative History of the State of New York,
edited by Flick, shows the effect of provincial politics on Indian affairs,
while Frank H. Severance’s An Old Frontier of France reveals the
French efforts to undermine Johnson’s influence over the Six Nations.
Finally, the historical setting is adequately provided by the works of
Parkman and Thwaites.

THE MISSOURI RIVER TOWNS IN THE WESTWARD
MOVEMENT

Wacker D, Wyman

Any general text on the westward movement in the United States
has chapters on the gold rushes, the settling of Kansas and Nebraska,
and the erection of the Mormon empire. Mention is often made of
the fact that the pilgrims to California came up the Missouri River to
Independence, Missouri, and from there departed to the West. Maps
also show the rise of a string of towns along the river between Inde~
pendence and Sioux City, Towa. It is also common knowledge that
ox-team freighting to government forts, to Denver, and to Santa Fé,
assumed considerable proportions before the extension of the railroads
to the Rockies. But no study has ever examined the position of these
Tiver towns in the westward movement of people and goods, Of what
importance were they to the emigrant and freighter? Did geography
dictate the selection of the point of departure? What artificial methods
of directing the forces of expansion were used? Why did towns seek
such patronage? And why were some successful, and others failures?
‘These questions have never before been answered, It has been neces-
sary to qualify, if indeed not disqualify, some viewpoints commonly
held by historians and cartographers.

Emicration

American emigration up to 1840 had proceeded in a fairly straight
line across the continent. But when the Missouri River was reached,
jit jumped across the Great Plains to the Rockies and the Pacific, later
filling in that area which it had once scorned. The first stream of this
emigration was composed of farmers going to California and Oregon;
the second, of prospective miners to California; the third was again
agricultural; the fourth, gold-seekers; and thereafter the component
parts of the overland traffic were indiscriminately intermingled in one
great wave.

In the movement to the Pacific before the gold rush, outfitting for
the trip was of no great consequence, for most of those going were from
the farms of the Mississippi Valley, They had wagons, oxen, and

34 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

foodstuffs to take along, and hence no business of selling such goods
arose at the three crossings—Independence, St. Joseph, Missouri, and
the “Bluffs” area in the vicinity of the present Council Bluffs, Iowa.

But with the gold rush in 1849 a new set of circumstances appeared.
All classes of American life, many ignorant of the demands of frontier
travel and of mining life, made ready to go. It was these travelers who
caused a development of outfitting towns on the east banks of the river.
The Missouri was the frontier. To the east were settlements, to the
west lay a region practically uninhabited by the white man. The emi-
grant from the East could take a steamer via Cape Horn or could crs.
at Panama. But great numbers who resided between the Alleghenies
and the border were best located to go overland by ox-team and wag,
handcart, or horseback. Three roads led west from the “Great Muddy”:
the Santa Fé Trail leading southwest from western Missouri to Santa
Fé, New Mexico, from where two California trails used by the Spanish
could be taken to the coast; the Oregon Trail running northwest from
the same terminus, and from which one could branch southwest be-
yond the Continental Divide into the land of promise; and the Mormon
Trail starting in western Iowa and following the north bank of the
Platte River. The first path had been broken by frontier freighters and
fur traders, the second by trappers and Oregon emigrants, and the third
by the Saints going to their Zion at Salt Lake. The Oregon and Mor-
mon trails offered the advantage of being more direct, and were the
most popular paths of empire used by “argonauts” through the follow-
ing years.

Before committing himself to the prairies the emigrant had to have
a vehicle, oxen or mules, subsistence, and the utensils, bedding, and
tents necessary for convenience and comfort if possible. The farmer
emigrant could easily provide himself with the oxen, wagons, and some
of the foodstuffs such as bacon; and if he lived on the frontier he could
even afford to haul most of his provisions from home. But the clerk
from Chicago or the young lawyer from Ann Arbor had to purchase the
whole outfit. It would have been foolhardy, under normal conditions,
to buy it in the home town; rather he took a stage or steamboat to
St. Louis and then ascended the Missouri in a boat to a settlement
offering for sale the needed articles. It was this type of emigrant who
gave the greatest impetus to the rise of outfitting depots during the
tush to California.

The question confronting the pilgrim, whether he was a “dirt” farmer
or a “white collar man,” was that of selecting the point of departure.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 35

Af there had been but one town on the Missouri River, that problem
‘would not have presented itself. But there were several: Independence,
‘Westport, and Kansas City in Missouri at the bend of the river;
Weston and St. Joseph farther up the river on the Missouri side; and
@ few posts up near Kanesville, Iowa, on both sides of the river. This
made the selection more diificult, especially to the pilgrim from the
East. Steamboat and stage connections, the availability of outfits at
reasonable prices, the existence of a ferry, and the conditions of the
trail west as well as the comparative distance to the Pacific, these were
to be considered. Because of these factors, towns competed for the
prize of selling goods. Albert Richardson once wrote that man “can
‘no more choose to focus the emigration’s converging tays, than he can
by taking thought add one cubit to his stature.” If that be the case,
the owners of the various town-sites did not believe it to be true. There
is no doubt that geography was the dominant factor in directing the
western-bound. Surely no Wisconsin farmer would drag his wagons
south past the “Council Bluffs area’ and St. Joseph to Independence
just to buy a few goods or to take the Santa Fé Trail. Instead, he
would take the most northern town on the river that was patronized by
others, and that would be in the region of the “Bluffs.” No steamboat
emigrant, who did not passess an outfit, would disembark at a settle
ment without repute as a favorable frontier depot.

‘The thread running through all the towns and through their history
was the Missouri. As far as that geographic force was concerned, they
were largely equal. Differences in steamboat rates from St. Louis did
give the nearest towns an advantage not enjoyed by Omaha and Council
Blufis. The forces other than the river and the general geographic
location were helped or hindered by artificial stimuli from the individual
towns. In the California pilgrimage the business of advertising was
in its infancy. Local papers were almost the only avenue used to
Ppropagandize and they pointed largely to the availability of products
or to the prestige of tradition. Thus Kanesville spoke of the wisdom
of the Mormons in having selected that place for a point of departure
in former years, and guaranteed an abundance of products even when
such did not exist; Independence “pointed with pride” to her Santa Fé
freighting and Oregon outfitting business which assured the pilgrim of
adequate advice and outfits; while St. Joseph spoke of the patronage
of the Oregonians after 1843. Each town pitied the plight of the
emigrant who purchased stores of its rivals. Tradition was the key-
note, and the advantages resulting from past patronage, made up the

36 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL

substance of the speeches. These newspapers, circulating among friends
and relatives “back East,” no doubt gave help to many in selecting
a frontier town, Independence seems to have been the only town which
resorted to the printing of handbills and of distributing these state-
ments of “fact” to the unsuspecting emigrant im St. Louis, Emigrant
guides gave some outfitting information and pointed out the possible
points of departure.

‘A decade later the choice of the emigrant was much more difficult
to make. Instead of three or four points of departure there were many.
Along the Kansas and Nebraska boundary, after those territories had
been opened to settlement in 1854, a hast of aspiring towns had come
into existence. Most of them nursed the idea that pilgrims could be
had for the asking, and that had to be done by advertising. Hence a
development of new techniques which eclipsed those of former years.
The first point to prove was that of being closer to the Pike's Peak
mines than any other competitor. Elaborate maps with an accompany
ing “Table of Distances” were published by practically every town from
Omaha to Kansas City. Each showed beyond doubt that its map was
genuinely based on government surveys, an emigrant guide, or other
reliable sources. The table of distances showed that the route ran
through a country possessing an abundance of water, wood, forage, and
even ranches and stage stations at which hay and corn were available.
Pamphlets, including the map, were sent to eastern hotels, and dis-
tributed on railroads and steamboats by paid “runners.” Special edi-
tions of some of the newspapers were also financed by local business
men, Agents were employed by most of the towns to stand vigil on
roads leading through Iowa and Missouri to inform the travelers of
the high prices charged or the existence of an epidemic in the town
to which they were going. At least two towns advertised the existence
of a new route west with a daily stage, before even the
had been made and the stage company organized, Those innocents
who took the route learned too late of the extravagance of such adver-
tising.

‘The emigration in 1859 and 1860 was shared by Council Blufis,
Omaha, and Nebraska City, Nebraska, St. Joseph and Kansas City,
Missouri, and Atchison and Leavenworth, Kansas. Taken collectively,
many crossed the river at minor towns, just as imany cfossed At iiaGt
points ten years before. But apparently Council Bluffs, Atchison, and
Leavenworth were those most favored in this great pilgrimage,

Emigrants filtered through many of the towns ew route to’ the prairies

i

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 3

of Kansas and Nebraska, but they afforded few outstanding opportuni-
ties, When the rush began to Montana in 1864, the northern towns,
particularly Omaha, by right of geography, provisioned the overland
traffic. Most of the miners who left from the “States seem to have
gone by steamboat, Feeble attempts were made by most of the river
depots to get at least some of the trade, but the efforts were not nearly
30 intense as they had been five years or even fifteen years before.

‘The business of outfitting was not in existence in the beginning
years of the Oregon emigration. In 1849 it was still in an elementary
stage of development, there being but few merchants who specialized in
any one type of service, Oxen were sold by farmers on the streets.
Grain and butter were distributed by the producers as well as the
general stores. No town as yet had become a processing point with
pork plants and flour mills to care for their surplus. But when the
Missouri Valley became fairly well settled in the fifties, these plants
developed. By 1860, the demands of the emigrant could largely be
met by the products of the hinterland; however, the new demands for
oxen by freighters made necessary the extension of the producing area
‘a great distance from the river. Independent dealers and forwarding
houses then sold this stock to the pilgrims. As the overland emigration
continued in the sixties and seventies, demands for oxen, wagons, and
subsistence declined, even though the numbers of western-bound emi-
grants were greater than cver before. Thos emigrants, principally
farmers, were adequately provisioned before leaving.

When the “white collar” emigrant disembarked from the steamboat
in 1849, he was forced to go immediately into camp, The hotel accom-
modations were few even if he were fortunate enough to get his name
on the register. The boarding houses, although more numerous, were
offensive to many. Camp life, perhaps enjoyed at first, served to
educate the novice in the culinary arts. The lack of adequate ferry
facilities at any place on the river caused delay and articulate impa-
tience. In this period of idleness caused by the ferries, waiting for
friends to arrive or grass to come up, the buying was done, acquain-
tances were made, and often savings were squandered at the faro table.
The social life was largely limited to gambling and visiting, the “gala
girls” not yet having arrived In great numbers. Besides these men
were still thinking of home, Here they penned and received their last
letters for many weeks. The towns on some days were bargain places,
homesickness causing a few of the sentimental to sell out and turn
back, The average gold-secker, however, enjoyed his sojourn there.

38 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL

He may have grumbled at the absence of better liquors, for only straight
whiskey was for sale. He may have been sold unbroken mules or
oxen and have faced the consequences before an appreciative audience.
‘Or again he may have been robbed by others than the storekeepers.
The constant intermingling with the other “argonauts”’ intensified his
desire for riches; and he began to Jook at the Jowly oxen with a less
critical eye. Optimism lasted through the purchasing, pen
organizing periods. After the selection of a captain, secretary, and
other officers, and the drawing up of a constitution, resolutions, and
by-laws, the start for the great beyond was made. Then some began
to “see the elephant,” and back-trailed to the fronticr town to catch
a boat home.

The pilgrim en route to Colorado found a different environment in
the Missouri towns. He might come by the railroad as far as St. Joseph,
and then board a steamboat for points above or below. Roads through
Towa and Missouri were then more than obscure trails. ‘The
first three years of the Kansas-Nebraska emigration had been a great
boon to river ports, the panic of 1857 had struck most of them hard,
but in 1859 a sort of noisy expansion was again taking place. The
mercantile establishments were becoming specialized. Hotels were
numerous, and the “runners” were little short of being a menace.
Saloons were far more in evidence than churches, and bawdy houses
and their inmates lent a distinct tone to the night life of the cities.
Hacks and drays thronged the streets. Steam ferries plied at most
points, and delays were few. The arrival of boats no longer caused
the whole populace, resident and floating, to rush to the levee. The
emigrant purchased his groceries at one store, his oxen from s forward-
ing house or professional stock dealer, his wagon from a “manufactory”
or wagon “yard,” and his tools at a hardware store, Organization into
companies with semi-military government was no longer a common
practice. The growth of settlements along the trails at which grain
and food stuffs could be purchased made possible earlier departures in
the spring of the year. Civilization had come, like paralysis, upon the
frontier depots and upon the emigration itself. Fe
1859 there was no time after the first year of the California gold rush
when pilgrims went forth in a helter-skelter manner, ‘Those days were
over. The great emigration of the eighteen sixties, like that between
1849 and 1859, was well equipped, apparently moderately prosperous,
and of no great value to the outfitting merchants. “The reat Ree

over but more than the memory lingered on, <

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 39

‘The conclusion is not warranted that these towns were created as
outfitting posts, existed solely for that purpose, and were “made” or
“broken” by emigrant patronage. The establishment of Independence,
‘Westport, and Kansas City was stimulated by Santa Fé and mountain
freighting. Weston was located as a distributing point for an agricul-
tural community. St. Joseph was originally a fur post, but became a
Missouri port for a settlement of farmers. Council Bluffs was brought
into existence by the Mormons as they waited for the final trek, Omaha
was a speculative enterprise, engineered by Council Bluffs business
men who, hoping to locate the Pacific Railroad there, made it the
capital and sponsored it as an outfitting point. Nebraska City was
located at a crossing used by California emigrants several years be-
fore. Atchison was founded as a potential depot, and Leavenworth,
located near the government post, expected to profit from the business
of catering to the military.

All of the towns on the west side of the river, founded about 1854,
were born in speculative sin. Those on the eastern side did not get the
“new vision” until the emigration began in the forties. The outfitting
demands of the western-bound did not cause any of these towns to
succeed. In fact, they were “made” or “broken'’ by diverse forces of
the westward movement in general. The lucrative business of outfit-
ting was but a segment in their complete economic life and aspirations,
‘To serve as a depot for overland freighters was considered the greatest
honor of all. Being the terminal of a stage route was of only slightly
Jess distinction. To be the upper port of a packet line was earnestly
coveted, The major interest of any town was to concentrate there the
forces of western expansion, and to do that at the expense of neighbor-
fing towns. The obvious purpose of such monopolization was to impress
Congress so that when it should build a Pacific railroad this particular
town would become the castern terminus, Perhaps these dreams were
caused by an abundance of town lots possessed by the alien founders,
who hoped they might establish fortunes on the unearned increment.

‘However, the concentration at any one town did much to turn the
trick. It put that fortunate town on the map, and made available a
ready market for surplus farm produce. This encouraged the rapid
settlement of a prosperous hinterland, and brought into the towns a
tribe of merchants, millers, and blacksmiths—all cager to serve the
hopeful going west, And with them came others—lawyers, physicians,
land speculators, carpenters, and draymen to round out an expanding
community. Hence, it can easily be seen why emigrant patronage was

Aes ed at tote epectolly Sal a een rd

late fifties, ats aernad tos oe ec enae a
compensation, Atchison seems never to have had 4 ‘geography
might have given it, but that unethical rival M

drew much of the emigration which should have outfitted i
Kansas City, or Atchison. The only y Wa
entitled to was that to the hinterland and a share of that to Pike's Peak
Apparently the latter slighted the town for those less deserving, ‘The
berlemsinireipli pininercc
worth, but competition caused much misrepresentation. If m

thirty or more river towns laid out in the fifties dead.

depots, there would have been great cause for!

son's statement that man cannot focus “emigration’s

Ovextann Freicutinc a

‘Transportation ‘has beer one ‘of thas basses problenal
area, especially unti] a state of

attained. The fur trade, military, and settlement |
‘Trans-Missouri West would not have given rise to

of ox-team freighting if the processes of that |
orthodox. When population jumped the Great
Indian posts, to Utah, to the mines of the Rocki
‘west, contact with the States was necessary, fo

that part of the nation for most of the nec
of life. Located as were these patches of civilizati
of unfriendly Indian nations, they relied upon V

hig’ prodded rw’ oaterile'ta| 40cm ER

4

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY at

wool, the processes of exchange took place, enriching both the new and
the old frontiers. Originally the fur trader went to the Indian tribes
primarily for the purpose of getting raw products, the trinkets given
in exchange being incidental. As the Indians became wards of the
government, and as the fur business declined with the encroachment of
white men, the nature of the freighting became reversed, and exports
from the Missouri then exceeded imports. In that respect, the Indian
trade was unique.

‘The greatest events giving rise to overland freighting were the Mexi-
can War, the settling of Utah by the Mormons, and the gold rush to
Colorado, These three frontiers were the destination of the greatest
amount of goods shipped west, while those of the Indian traders and
miners other than the Denver regions, were of secondary importance,
‘The relative unimportance of freighting to the mining areas except
Colorado may be attributed to the use of the steamboat in supplying
the expanding Montana frontier and to the fact that the mineral empire
was largely established after the coming of the transcontinental rail-

‘The Indian trade was the oldest of the Trans-Missouri West. Ft.
William, later known as Bent’s Fort, built on the upper Arkansas in
1814, became a trading point for most of the wandering tribes between
the Platte and Arkansas. Ft. Benton on the upper Missouri and Ft.
St. Vrain on the South Platte, were also famous Indian posts. Others
were established on the rivers between north Texas and the Canadian
Tine and did business exclusively with St. Louis until the rise of the
Missouri River towns in the fifties. In the early period mackinaw
boats brought the furs down the Missouri River to the upper terminal
of the steamboat lines, and pack horses and wagons brought them over-
land. Later steamboats and wagons alone penetrated the wilderness.
‘The American Fur Company, the organization chiefly interested in
western pelts, shipped in thousands of robes and skins each year for
the greater part of a half century,

By the time of the Civil War, some 100,000 furs, peltries, and hides
constituted the annual business valued at one-half million dollars. Yet
it was on the decrease. Buffalo dominated the trade, and three-fourths
of this portion came from the upper Missouri regions by steamboat.
That shipped overland came largely to Kansas City. Commission
‘men there took charge of the furs while New York buyers made the
purchases and prepared them for eastern shipment,

Both stationary and wandering traders found guns, powder, lead,

supplied with farming equipment, provisions, blankets, and clothing
by the government, Contracts were Jet to merchants in St, Louis or
in the Missouri River towns for the goods. From these ports, but
chiefly Kansas City, freighters castrate tn ee tse
stipulated price per pound per mile.

However, ihe Indian trade made up budin|gitece part eae!
overland freighting, even if it antedated all of it, The most extensive
was that to New Mexico, Arizona, and the northern Mexico area. Com-
mercial intercourse began with that Mexican frontier in the eighteen
twenties largely because of the relative proximity of Missouri as com-
pared to the distance south to Vera Cruz, Traders at first took goods
directly from St. Louis, later shipping from the headwaters of naviga-
tion until this private trade finally was concentrated at the bend of the
Missouri, Before the influx of Americans into that region, largely after
the Mexican War, the variety of the imports was not great. Flashy,
colored calico, groceries, and leather goods were exchanged for specie,
hides, and mules, Coffee and sugar were unknown, As the decade of
the fifties waned, almost every article found in the stores of border
state merchants was also available in New Mexico. The demand re-
mained “uncommonly large” for diminutive white hosiery, callcoes, and
bleached domestics, and as Spanish customs crumbled American-made
clothing constituted a great proportion of the total traffic. The Ric
Grande Valley produced sufficient wheat to make the flour needed, but
the appeitites of Americans in that region were not whetted by this
native product. Hence flour was freighted overland from Missourl
Mining machinery also became of importance as an export.

After the American invasion, mules, furs, and specie
articles of exchange. Mule breeding in Missouri made i
necessary; the fur supply diminished as the whites advanced; and specie
was largely drained out of the country. After [857,
load of wool was brought over the Santa Fé Trail, that ©
with goat and sheep skins became one of the greatest native products
brought to the Missouri frontier, e2

‘The New Mexican trade was first in the hands of

a.

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 43

were engaged in the overland traffic, many doing a small business as
compared with the large merchants and forwarding houses. However,
very few border merchants had established branch stores in the many
hamlets scattered over the desert from California to Texas and from
Colorado to Chihuahua. The business of freighting was lucrative, 40
per cent profit not being considered too great in the fifties.

‘The other aspect of the southwestern traffic was that of supplying
government troops stationed in the interior, The army took the re-
sponsibility of freighting its own subsistence stores during the Mexican
War. But after northern Mexico became a part of the United States,
and seven posts were established, garrisoned by 1,000 troops, the con-
tract system, or the employment of private freighters to transport the
goods became the accepted means of furnishing Navajo Land with food.
Ten years later the uncompromising nature of the Apache Indians had
caused the number of posts to increase to sixteen, and troops to over
2,000. Santa Fé was the army depot until 1851 and after that Ft.
Union became the headquarters. Freighters transported goods there
or directly to the scattered posts.

In the earlier years the troops depended upon the Missouri border
for all supplies for themselves and horses. Later the policy of buying
forage, fuel, and a few other items from their own localities was adopt-
ed. But such articles as bread and bacon apparently were shipped
overland during the whole period of ox-team freighting.

‘The number of contractors engaged in this aspect of the Santa Fé
traffic was quite small, During the first few years an average of three
firms received the government contracts. William Russell or Alexander
Majors or both were recipients of a part of the contracts from the in-
ception of the system in 1849. Even before Russell, Majors, and
Wardell organized their great firm in 1858, they had succeeded as
individuals in monopolizing the whole business. The only competitor
of this firm in the sixties scems to have been Irving, Jackman, and
Company, but that firm never excelled the former.

‘The supplies for the Army of the West during the Mexican War were
dispatched from Ft. Leavenworth, the only government fort on the
‘Missouri River frontier. As the town of Leavenworth grew up about
‘the fort and as other towns appeared on the river bank in the fifties,
competition was keen for the honor of being the depot. Leavenworth’s
monopoly was broken in 1858 when goods for posts on the Arkansas
and in the Southwest were dispatched from Kansas City. But the
Civil War effected the transfer back to Leavenworth in 1861 where it

4 IOWA STUDIES IN THE

remained until the end of the war, and
Kansas, became the depot for the troops

private traffic. From 278 wagons in 1850 it gr
perhaps an average of one-fourth of the total co
Trail, But it was as significant as any other, for
purchased e

troops dependent upon New Mexico for all supplies, or of giving the
whole southwestern frontier back to Mexico became clear. This explains
much of the railroad fever that raged in Congress, and it certainly gave
irrefutable arguments to the proponents of such legislation, =
Another phase of overland freighting, that to Utah, dating from 1847,

was of no small consequence, ‘The small nuniber andthe: poverty ef
the residents gave but little encouragement to those St. Louis firms,
which had sold to them for years, to establish branch’ stores! in: the

machinery,

and boots and shoes. With a few exceptions |
were grown after the first few years. By 1860, the

ing flour to the mines in the Rockies, and furs, skins, and some wool
to the Missouri River. Both Gentile and Mormon interests were
engaged in freighting, and even the Church sent annually teams (given
for use in tithing) to the States to get the newly-arrived converts and
those articles or implements needed. The Church purchased in the
East, and billed the goods to Florence or Omaha, Nebraska, for further
shipment. The private traders loaded at towns |
Atchison perhaps being the most important depot. This bu

‘The Saints in thetr settlements beyond

4 ie

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 45

to ane of the briefest but greatest periods in government freighting.
Because of difficulties involving the sovereignty of the federal govern-
ment, an army was dispatched there in 1857. Dependent upon the
settlers SOARES Gee A aed eas trib ices, sal,
the 2,500 troops necessitated the employment of about 3,000 wagons
with public stores and a considerable number for the sutlers who
dispensed the “extras” of army life, Ft. Kearney was specified as the
depot of the Plains, but Atchison, Nebraska City, and Ft. Leavenworth
were the points of departure on the Missouri River—the latter the
most used. Although overland freighting to Utah posts did not cease
with the war, the period of greatest activity passed in 1858, There-
after the military aspect of the Utah traffic was of much less conse-
quence than that to other points on the army frontier.

The discovery of gold in the Pike’s Peak region in 1858 gave the
greatest impetus to the overland traffic and freighting. Population
began to trickle there in the fall of 1858, but in the following two years

nent but a growing one based upon mining and agriculture, a syste-
matic trade began, Most of the emigrants in 1858, and several in
1859, took food supplies with them, In the latter year merchants of

By 1860 the Pike's Peak trade engaged over fifty traders, was slightly
greater than the commerce of the Southwest, and was more widely
diffused among the river towns than any overland commerce in western
history. Although New Mexico and Utah freighted some flour to the
new mines, the trade with the States grew as the sixtics wore on. These

‘The growth of overland freighting from its inception in the second
decade of the century to the coming of the railroad in the sixties is
cone of the most phenomenal aspects of western history, as yet not

46 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

fully understood, ‘The greatest part of it was that of private freighters
and merchants, with government contractors occupying a minor role.
Until the Pike's Peak commerce came into existence Kansas City with
its Santa Fé business was the greatest depot in the West, but the
Colorado discoveries and the circumstances of the Civil War shattered
that prestige which was never regained. However, the Union Pacific
and Kansas Pacific brought an end to the whole business about 1867,
at a time when the total commerce was probably greater by thirty or
forty times that of two decades before, When it died, a gigantic busi-
ness ended: nearly 10,000 wagons had to be dismantled, some 100,000
oxen and 10,000 mules sold, and 20,000 men were shifted to the new
freight lines extending north and south from the railroads or to a type
of work to which they could adapt themselves. River towns no longer
resounded to the curses of men and the bawling of oxen. The nearby
prairies were never again to be dotted with the corrals of the canvas-
covered schooner. The famous Platte River and Santa Fé trails were
goon enclosed by wire fences in the farmer invasion. Instead of long
lines of wagons resembling ships in full sail, the dull-colored train
belching forth black smoke screamed its way actoss the plains so often:
trod by the tired bullwhacker.

ee ee

Questions concerning the function of the Missouri River towns in
the westward movement of goods and people and the effect of that
upon them has been partially answered from the use of travel litera-
ture, newspaper files, city directories, reminiscences, and interviews.
‘The chief sources of information are the public prints, the most yalu-
able of which were: Atchison Squatter Sovereign (1856-1857), Free-
dom's Champion (1858-1863), and Free Press (1865-1866); Brown-
ville Nebraska Palladium (1854-1855) and Nebraska Advertizer (1854+
1855); Council Bluffs Bugle (1854-1870) and Nonparei (1859-1867);
Columbia Missouri Statesman (1849-1864) ; Kanesville Frontier Guar-
dian (1849-1852) and Frontier Guardian and Iowa Sentinel (1852);
Kansas City Journal of Commerce (1857-1866); Leavenworth Herald
(1854-1858), Journal (1856-1858), Times (1858-1864), and Conserpa-
tive (1861-1864) ; Nebraska City News (1857-1867) and Press (18S9-
1865); Omaha Arrow (1854), Times (1857-1858), Republican (1859-
1860), and Nebraskian (1860); St. Joseph Gazette (1845-1848),
Adventure (1848-1853), Weekly Commerciu! Cycle (1853-1854),
Weekly West (1859-1860), Morning Herald (1862-1864), and Morn

= 2

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 47

ing Herald and Daily Tribune (1864-1866) ; St. Louis Missouri Repub-
lican (1849-1850). Without doubt the Journal of Commerce was the
best paper of the whole border. Files for Independence, Westport,
and Weston apparently have not been preserved.

Journals of the emigrants, many of which have appeared in volume
form and in the publications of the state historical societies, give de-
tailed evidence on outfitting. In the writer’s possession are copies of
several original California journals—one of which (John A. Benson,
Diary of a Trip from Louisa County Iowa, to California, via St. Joseph
and the Platte River Route) is a classic. Only one great freighter,
Alexander Majors, has left a general account of his business activities.
The comments of English travelers and of eastern Americans are
illuminating as well as amusing. The following business directories
are an excellent measure of the effects of the westward movement upon
the economic life of the river towns: Charles Collins, Omaha Directory
(Omaha, 1866); N. S. Harding and Company, Nebraska City Direc-
tory for 1870 (Nebraska City, 1870); H. Fotheringham and Company,
St. Joseph Directory for 1859-60 (St. Joseph, 1860); Frank Swick,
Resident and Business Directory of St. Joseph (St. Joseph, 1867); C.
C. Spaulding, Annals of the City of Kansas (Kansas City, 1858);
Sutherland and McEvoy, Kansas City Directory, and Business Mirror
for 1859-60 (St. Louis, date not given); James Sutherland, Kansas
City Directory, and Business Mirror for 1860-61 (Indianapolis, date
not given); Millet and Sloan, Kansas City Business Directory, and
Mirror, for 1865-66 (Kansas City, date not given); and Excelsior
Book and Job Office, Kansas City Directory and Reference Book, with
a Business Directory, for 1867-8 (Quincy, date not given).

Interviews with sons and daughters of the pioneers yielded little or
nothing. Reminiscences appearing in the publications of the Kansas,
Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa state historical societies have shed some
light and much color. The small volumes and pamphlets, such as
A. P. De Milt’s Story of an Old Towm, have been of some aid. Histories
of the states and counties served in some instances. But above all, the
newspapers are the best sources.

‘THE WEST IN THE CIVIL WAR DECADE
Caanixs H, Norsy

‘The American West, though frequently described as the unsettled
part of American territory, may also properly be looked upon as the
settling part of American society. In this section of the Republic
people were continuously and freely though frregularly advancing into
a diminishing area of free land, collecting to form new communities
and new villages, filling in the uncrowded countryside and accumulating
in villages, towns, and cities behind the frontier. Because of this
continuous addition to the population, it was also conspicuously the
scene of material progress. Although there were always dull islands
and sometimes periods of inactivity, production and trade grew rapidly
and at times spectacularly, as farms, stores, mines, factories, and other
enterprises were founded, enlarged, and improved. The East and the
South, when they became distinct in the pattern of national life, were
neither fully formed nor static. But in point of geographic breadth,
democratic participation, and range in the economic scale, the growth
of the West was outstanding in the unprecedented nineteenth century
economic development of the United States.

‘The structure of Western society was continuously transformed as it
moved westward in uneven, saltatory surges, and moved within itself
upward, we may say, in the scale of civilization, The relations of man
to nature, the relations of man to society, and the relations of man to
instruments and institutions were continuously modified. At one period
Louisville was the metropolis of a population spread over a forested
region, engaged mainly in agricultural pursuits, bound to a struggling
new Republic by a system of trail and river transportation. At a later
period the metropolis was Chicago, center of a rail and lake traffic
traversing forest, prairie, plains, and mountains, heaping the products
of farm, ranch, and mine into the lap of an emerging industrial power.
If circumstance counts at all in the explanation of human affairs there
was, strictly speaking, no West. There were only Wests.

A great deal has already been written about the earlier epochs in
Western history. The works of Turner and Roosevelt, excellent state
histories and monographs, illuminate the period before the Civil War.

50 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

State histories and monographs have also covered, in many cases quite
intensively, portions of the later history. In them the significant
changes which fall roughly within the Civil War decade have been
pointed out and discussed. Historians are already familiar with the
removal of Southern checks upon expansion, pioneering on the Great
Plains, the dispersion of mining settlements over the Far Westem
interior, the conquest of the Prairie, the emergence of a railway system,
the extension of lines beyond the frontier, the Sioux outbreak, the
Homestead Act, the rise of the cattle industry on the Plains, the adop-
tion of the reaper, the revolution in agriculture and trade, the transi-
tion to large scale mining of precious metals, the ascendance of Chicago
and San Francisco, and the campaign for settlers. In his book Tk
Last American Frontier, Professor F. L. Paxson has pointed to the
influence of these developments upon the last great waves of the west-
ward movement. But so far no one has attempted to piece these new
developments into the old pattern and draw them together into a com-
Posite analysis of Western life. This investigation into the nature of
economic life in the West during the Civil War decade is an attempt to
turn a few furrows in a fresh, fertile, and extensive field.

In 1860 Western society incorporated Middle Western agricultural
settlements extending north of the Ohio River to the shores of Lake
Erie and into southern Michigan and Wisconsin, and westward from
the Ohio, beyond the Mississippi, into centtal Minnesota, southeastern
Dakota, western Iowa, eastern Nebraska, and eastern Kansas. Ample
spaces of unoccupied, unimproved lands lay within the social frame-
work as well as beyond the frontier, inviting utilization, and influencing
the course of the historic westward movement in the succeeding decade.
It also contained isolated mining, agricultural, and pastoral settlements
in the rugged Far West—in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada,
California, Washington, and Oregon. These varied in compactness,
but all lay within a vast, unpeopled region widely though not univers-
ally hospitable to economic development.

Despite a lack of geographic solidarity, Western society was unified,
and connected with the East and the world at large by an integrated,
organized, and planned system of transportation. Steamboats plied
the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri rivers, ascending the latter waterway
as far as Fort Benton in the shadow of the Rocky Mountaifs. Steam-
boats and sailing vessels coursed the waters of the Great Lakes, and

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY i

larger vessels of the same type, operating upon the high seas, connected
San Francisco and Portland with the East via the Isthmus of Panama
and Cape Horn. Steamboats upon the Columbia, Sacramento, and San
Joaquin rivers brought settlements deep in the Far Western interior
within the orbit of trans-marine commerce. Additional carrying facili-
ties were provided by overland transportation companies and by rail-
ways. A regularized stage and freighting service was conducted in the
region beyond the Midwest frontier, reaching into remote portions of
the Far West with the rise of the new mining communities in Montana
and Idaho. In the Old Northwest the railway network was by 1860
“substantially complete,” and in the ten years following new lines
were extended westward, making deep inroads upon steamboat and
wagon traffic. Before the decade closed three trunk lines connected
Chicago and Omaha, and the Union Pacific linked Omaha and San
Francisco. The railway system had passed out of the period of frac-
tional beginnings. Facilities now existed for continuous long distance
transportation. Bridges, ferries, and ice sledges spanned intervening
waterways. Lines running westward out of Chicago had uniform stand-
ard gauges, and three arterial lines extended from Chicago to the
Atlantic seaboard. Western communities, though separated, were not
out of touch with one another or with the world beyond.

‘Telegraph lines, freight companies, and other commercial ‘agencies
grew as transportation facilities were improved, and in the agricultural
or Middle West economic development became even more impressive
than it was in those days when a sparse population along the rivers
had clamored for a free outlet to the sea at New Orleans, Farmers on
fertile acres, considerable portions of which were unimproved, were
given more direct access to the comforts and conveniences of more
mature societies, and at the same time the potentialities of their lands
were enhanced by enlargement of the accessible market, The laborers
necessary for expanded tillage were scarce and wages were high; the
Civil War, moreover, intensified the labor problem, But farm machin-
ery was available, and it was introduced at a pace which offers some
challenge to Lord Morley’s reflection that the past has moved with
Jaggard paces. Unimproved lands were plowed and sown. Grain pro-
duction increased. Cattle raising flourished on contracted pastures
supplemented by feed bins. Rural activity and well-being grew vigor~
ously though not always hardily on the once virgin prairie. One wit-
ness of the changes who, in looking backward, did not forget that the

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 53

sion of railways stimulated the growth of the cattle industry on the
Plains, farmers in Kansas and Nebraska were relieved of menace from
trampling herds and given opportunity to purchase cattle, lean after
Jong journeys, to fatten and to sell them profitably. The broad frontal
extension of railways, furthermore, promoted the infiltration of settlers
to whom land and produce were sold. It brought a growing society
within the enlivening sphere of influence of the Agricultural Revolution,
and by stimulating social organization awakened new motives and de-
sires for enrichment. Primitive homesteads became rich estates and
thousands of pioneers became well-to-do, influential, progressive “old
settlers."

With the growth of the agricultural industry, Middle Western com-
merce and manufacturing were reinvigorated and stirred into livelier
activity, Retail and wholesale establishments increased in size and
number, The building trades and their ministering factories expanded.
More business men and more workmen were drawn into the varied
service of expansion, and they no less than the frontiersmen lived in
the glow of impending success which, if it did not inexorably descend
upon each of them, enveloped all in a warm atmosphere of anticipa-
tion. They lived on another frontier which was broad enough to
accommodate shifting from employment to employment, from vocation
to vocation, and from place to place. Chicago, with its grain elevators,
its huge stockyard, its packing industry, stood out strikingly in this
‘noisy transition, “Compared with the bustle of Chicago, one English
visitor exclaimed, ‘the bustle of New York seems stagnation.” But
towns and cities grew and flourished at many points in the Middle
West. Even adolescent villages, anticipating a swift passage from
Lilliput to Brobdignag, were laid out on # pretentious scale, each the
“fragment of a city” with soaring aspirations. Their citizens joined
with other prospective beneficiaries of expansion in vigorous attempts
to attract and direct settlement and investment. Extravagant though
it was, the lierature of persuasion which they broadcast was expressive
‘of the temper of the times.

‘Tt is true that improvement was neither continuous nor universal.
Although no widespread crop failures are recorded for the sixties,
excessive rains, drouth, and grasshopper raids halted progress and even
brought distress to numerous farmsteads. The Civil War also brought
ill fortune. Many Midwestern banks, with notes based largely upon
Southern state bank securities, crashed as hostilities opened, striking
a heavy blow at trade and agriculture. Men were drawn from economic

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY $5

swept away. Deep shafis were sunk. Owing to litigation over titles,
isolation in a rugged country, Indian depredations, the cheapness of
money, the attraction of laborers by new discoveries or the

search for new discoveries, expenses were great. But, despite high
costs, large scale operations were highly remuncrative to owners,
financiers, promoters, managers, miners, and numerous small stock-
holders and bondholders in the Far West. They profited, in many
cases, merely from commerce in stocks and bonds. In many cases,
controlling groups and their agents profited at the expense of their
fellows and of Eastern and European investors through dishonest prac-
tices. In Montana alone one competent observer could have pointed
out several managers who had “closed their mills and mean there shall
be no profits realized until the flattened-out stock can be gathered into
the hands of a few who govern the inner circle of the direction.'’ Wealth
accumulated rapidly in the mining country and the extravagant living
and ostentatious giving which arose out of sudden affluence in a boom-
fing, “scantily institutionalized” society strengthened desire for con-
tinued accumulation,

But, as already indicated, success was scarcely more conspicuous
than failure in the history of individual or corporate mining and mine
investment during this period. Rich deposits deteriorated or became
played out. Rich ores defied methods of extraction. Machinery and
other equipment broke down or became useless as new needs arose.
‘The wild buying and selling of stocks, the dishonesty and craftiness,
quickened by the natural “uncertainties of mining, its sudden hights
{sic}, its equally surprising depths, and the eager haste to be rich,”
struck away financial support necessary for productive enterprise. At
many points the industry languished during all or part of the decade,
‘Timidity displaced temerity in the Eastern and European stock and
bond markets, Each collapse made recuperation more difficult,

But new “strikes” frequently opened the way to a resumption of

New discoveries repeatedly provided new opportunities
for those who could and would seek a new field of investment and
exploitation. The failure of over-capitalized corporations opened the
way to new, often saner, refinancing. Crafty and courageous promoters

‘Thovgh it. must be acknowledged thet such activity did not arrest a
general decline in the later years of the decade, it is quite evident that

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 7

cies, it would be necessary to stress the importance of frontier experi-
ence. Life amid primitive surroundings left its stamp on the frontiers-
man and his family. Repeated migrations preserved that impress.
Among those who remained to be enveloped by civilization it was con-
served and only gradually effaced. The frontiersmen were only a
small and comparatively inarticulate minority in the West of the six-
ties, however, and few were perennially birds of passage, In the more
populous regions over which the frontier had passed, the people with
a frontier background can hardly be called preponderant in numbers
or influence. They may have been; but, even granting that, it is
reasonable to doubt that past experience played a greater part in shap-
ing their thought and feeling than the current experience just describ-
ed. Within the limits of the present view, it is apparent that all shared
in common though unequally the effects of a unique social expansion
and development. They lived within or briefly in the pathway of a
moving, building world wherein they might build for themselves. They
were quite generally absorbed in or witnesses of economic careers which
would lead biographers through an examination of varied opportunities,
investment, occasional movements to new vocations and new locations,
tisk, profit, accumulation of property, reinvestment, loss, reborn hope.
All this was part of the fluidity of Western society and all this entered
into the environment and experience of the pioneer and other West-
erners. The venturesomeness, self-reliance, and independence long
ascribed to Western character were nurtured in this soil behind as well
as on the frontier. The agrarian discontent which arose here was not
the voice of grinding poverty such as Burope had long known. It was
‘the voice of loss and frustration in a land of promise. The slow prog-
ress of the arts was a concomitant of preoccupation with other kinds of
creative work, Anyone investigating the politics and culture of the
period will find it profitable to consult the whole range and course of
economic life and to reflect upon the remark of a Westerner concern-
ing the westward creeping Union Pacific, “Yes, sir, I calculate this is
going to be the biggest thing in God's creation.”

ef eee

The Reports of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1862-1870, contain
in addition to general data, numerous articles on special phases of
Western agriculture. The Reports of the Secretary of the Interior,
1860-1870, including the reports of the secretary and the Reports of
the Commissioner of the General Land Office which, in turn, contain

3a IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

the reports of surveyors general, include information on land lw,
land utilization, and general economic conditions in the West. The
census reports for 1860 and 1870 and other miscellaneous government
documents are similarly rich. The first ten volumes of The Americas
Amanal Cyclopedia, covering the period 1861-1870, are principally
concerned with political events but contain a great deal of generally
accurate data on economic aspects of the decade. They are partic
larly useful 2s compact accounts with wide reference to American Hie
which enable observation of the West in its national setting. Other
valuable contemporaneous works—periodicals, travel accounts, guide-
books, commercial directories, railway manuals, and books and pamph-
Jets on a variety of subjects—are plentifully extant in the libraries of
the State University of lowa, the State Historical Society of Iowa, and
the Minnesota Historical Society where they have been consulted, to-
historical monographs, and historical journals, in the pursuit of this

THE MILITARY-INDIAN FRONTIER IN MONTANA, 1860-1890
Merri G. Burcincame

‘The rapid expansion of the cutting edge of the frontier into the vast
areas of the West was one of the most important movements in the
United States during the first century of its existence, The term “free
land,” which was applied to this great region, left out of account the
roving bands of native redmen who had a claim to the land through
the white man’s own criterion of prior occupation. This first century
of expansion was marked by a continuous process of breaking down
the claims of the Indians to the lands of the West.

Not many studies have been made which attempt to trace the in-
fluence of the smaller areas of the frontier upon the formation and
change of the Indian policy of the nation. The local situation was
often the determining factor in the formation and application of the
Indian-military policy. The Indian service and the army were invested
with the duty of promoting the welfare of both the Indian and the
white man, The white invaders moved so rapidly into the western
territories, and the conflict with the Indians was so severe, that both
the army and Indian service were used very largely to protect the
white man.

Military and Indian affairs were closely interrelated and of first
importance in the development of the Montana region. Lewis and Clark
carried on their explorations through the facilities of the army. In
1812, the upper Missouri River area again attracted the attention of
the military authorities. There was every likelihood that the Canadian
influence upon the Indians south of the vaguely traced international
boundary line would be distinctly harmful to the fur traders. Manuel
Lisa, the Spanish veteran of the fur trade, was able to retain the loyalty
of the Indians and peace was maintained in the region. General Henry
Atkinson led an expedition up the Missouri in 1825, found a peaceful
condition still prevailing, and advised against the erection of perma-
nent military fortifications,

‘The Montana area until about 1850 was a fur-trading frontier and
was, therefore, relatively unmodified by the intrusion of the white man.
Frangois Antoine Larocque had come into the Yellowstone River region

i IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

im 1805, in the interests of a Canadian fur company, and Manuel List
buik the first post for a company from the United States in 1807, on the
same river. This early effort was followed by the activities of the
‘Miswori Fur Company, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, the
American Fur Company in the area east of the mountains, and of the
North West and Hudson's Bay companies in the western part of Mon-
tana. All of these companies in the interests of their trade were deeply
anxious to keep the frontier as nearly primitive as possible.

The colorful fur-trading period in Montana brought within its scope
xe af the most powerful personalities in the business. Such men as
Manuel Lisa, William H. Ashley, Andrew Henry, Jim Bridger, Alex-
ander Culberteon, Kenneth McKenzie, Charles Larpenteur, Auguste
and Pierre Chouteau were intimately connected with the exploitation
of the upper Missouri. Fort Union and Fort Benton will always rank
among the more important fur-gathering centers on the continent.

The one civilizing force of note which had come on to the Montana
scene before 1550 was that of the Catholic missions among the Flat-
head Indians. This stabilizing influence was more than offset by the
restless activity of many capable traders and the erection of dozens of
fur posts. So lightly, however, had the imprint of civilization been
Set upon the region, that the withdrawal of the white man would have
allowed the conditions of 1800 to be restored within five or ten years.

The Indians of the region were grouped in the various geographic
divisions. The Flathead nation, composed of the Flathead, Pend
d Oreille, and the Kutenai tribes inhabited the area west of the main
range of the Rocky Mountains. The Crow nation, divided loosely in
the early period into the Mountain Crows and River Crows, lived in
the valley of the Yellowstone River, the River Crows often wandering
into the Missouri watershed. The nation of the Blackfeet contained
the Blackfoot. the Blood. and the Piegan tribes. These ranged the
Plains north of the Missouri. west of the mouth of the Milk River. In
the northeastern section lived the Gros Ventre tribe, distantly related
to the Algonquian nation, and the Assiniboin, a tribe of Sioux.

The factor which brought the most disturbing element into the fron-
tier of the fur trade was the discovery of mineral wealth. A small
amount of gold was discovered in Montana in 1850 by one Francois
Finlay, a trapper for the Hudson's Bay Company. Finlay had no
interest in mining, and the Company, anxious that its fur area should
not be invaded by a mining population, suppressed the information.
The first mining was undertaken by James and Granville Stuart in

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 61

the summer of 185% on Gold Creek in the Deer Lodge Valley. This
‘activity led to prospecting in the general region, which resulted in the
discoveries of the fabulously rich mines at Bannack in 1862, at Alder
Gulch in 1863, and at Last Chance Gulch in 1864. In a ten year
period from the first rough diggings of the Stuarts, mineral wealth to
the value of $81,874,000.00 was taken from Montana,

Wide publicity given to the rich mining camps brought a rapid
influx of immigration. From a population of less than 600 during the
winter of 1862-1863, estimates of from 30,000 to 40,000 were made in
1867. This fell to the rather disappointing figure of 20,580 in the
census of 1870.

‘The concentration of the mining fields in rather limited areas pre-
vented many people from securing paying claims and left them without
& means of livelihood. This group tumed to agriculture, and a remark-
able development took place in the fertile valleys of the Gallatin, Deer
Lodge, Prickly Pear, Bitter Root, and Beaverhead, By this develop-
ment, the population of the area was made comparatively self-sufficient
in the basic commodities of cereals, vegetables, and meat.

‘The army appeared first in the Far West in the role of a civil
servant. Its work of exploration, of survey, and road building was an
invaluable aid to the movement of population. In Montana this work
was begun by General Isaac I. Stevens and his party in 1853-1855. In
this survey for a northern railroad route to the Pacific, the area was
widely explored and carefully described and mapped. The treaties
which Stevens made with the Indians also aided in preventing trouble
when a large mining population rushed into the region soon after.
‘The building of a wagon road from the headwaters of the Missourl at
Fort Benton to Fort Walla Walla in Washington by Captain John
‘Mullan was an incidental result of the Stevens expedition, This Mullan
Wagon Road became the great artery of travel in western Montana.

‘To collaborate with Mullan's road project and also in an attempt to
solve the problem of transporting Indian annuities, the government
sponsored the navigation of the Missouri to Fort Benton in 1859. In
1860, the river was again successfully used when 300 soldiers were sent
to Fort Benton and thence by the Mullan Road to Oregon. The
economy and genersl success of the venture recommended the overland
journey rather than that by water around Cape Hom, or by way of the
Isthmus of Panama.

‘The agricultural progress of the Oregon region and the mining
development in the Idabo area led the army to seck additional routes

tr JOW4 STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

cé cevel irom the ceoval stares 1p the Northwest Captain W. F.
Raynuid: and be aide. Lietenam Henry E. Mavnadier of the army
engineers. wet ix chacee of an expedition im 1855-1560. They were
able 1» make 4 eeneal sucvey of eastern and southem Montana and
the jeasivie gvenues oi approach 10 im from the central simies They
made recommendations concerning the best routes of travel by land,
znd investigated che navigabiiny of the Yellowsome River.

The unces: resuking irom the Civil War and nts aftermath brought
the army ims action upon the northern plains in several ways. The
Yeading membes of the fur companies operating in Montana wer
accused of Confederate leaning: and licenses were revoked. An army
detachment was sent 10 For: Union ior a time to see that the interests
of the North were guarded. The rebellious attitude of the phins n-
dians following the Minnesota uprising of 1862 merited considerable
attention. Genera] Alfred Sully led troops up the Missouri River, o-
operating with forces in Dakota im am effort to quiet the Sioux. He
was to erect a permanent military post on the Yellowstone River if
he felt this w be necessary. He decided, however, that fortifications
were unwarranted. The discovery of the rich gold fields in Idaho and
Montana in the early years of the Civil War created a wave of mign-
tion. This forced the army. against its will, to provide military pro-
tection along the wagon route on tbe northern plains from Minnesota
to Montana, and to direct improvement of roads connecting the Oregon
Trail with the gold fields. The expansion of the white man into the
central plains caused the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians to crowd into
the Montana border region. The movement produced great alarm
among the Montana natives, already irritated by having their lands cut
through by the white migration. The white population was also very
restless. Everyone wished to secure the most advantageous position
possible in at least one of the fields of profitable development: mining,
diversified agriculture, or grazing.

At the close of the Civil War the army attempted to increase the
number of pre-war units, and decrease the size of the individual units.
‘The object was to station soldiers in small detachments at enough fron-
tier posts, strategically located, to preserve the peace. Public mis-
understanding and opposition prevented the full completion of the
plan. In 1866, however, reorganization of significance to Montana was
carried out. A division of the Northwest had been formed in 1862 to
give greater attention to the northern plains. In 1866, the District of
the Northwest was created in the Department of Dakota. In the fall

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 63

‘of 1866, a small military force was sent to establish a temporary post,
‘Camp Cooke, on the Missouri at the mouth of the Judith River. This
post bad as its duty the guarding of the Missouri River boat traffic,
In the summer of 1866, another route of transportation to Montana
was given a suitable guard. Forts Reno, Phil Kearney, and C. F.
Smith were erectéd to guard the popular highway from the Oregon
‘Trail in central Wyoming, east of the Big Horn Mountains into the
YVellowstone region.

‘The threat of Indian outbreaks created widespread alarm in Montana
in the spring of 1867, When the intrepid trailmaker, John M, Boze-
man, was killed by the Indians in April, the militant Secretary and
Acting-Governor of the Territory, Thomas F, Meagher, organized «
‘militia force of several hundred men and carried on a futile and expen=
sive summer campaign. The evidence points to the conclusion that
real fear was soon overshadowed by the desire of certain men to obtain
public attention and of the frontiersmen to secure large profits from
‘sales to the army.

‘The military authorities opposed the militia campaign. They were,
in fact, making arrangements for strengthening the military forces in
the Territory when it occurred, In the summer of 1867, Fort Shaw
‘was established as an infantry post on the Sun River, and in the fall
Fort Ellis was built in the Gallatin Valley and garrisoned with cavalry
and infantry,

The work of the army in Montana to 1866 had consisted almost
entirely of the peaceful work of exploration and survey. With the
establishment of permanent posts and a resident military force, it be-
gan to take an important part in the formation and development of an
Indian policy in the region. Montana inherited the Indian problem
when the controversial phases of its control were in their worst stages.
Until 1849, the War Department had controlled Indian Affairs, The
feeling that the Indians needed civilization rather than coercion led
to the transfer of supervision over them to the newly formed Depart-
‘ment of the Interior in that year. The two departments continued to
disagree over procedure throughout the remainder of the century.

‘The opening up of Montana was one phase of the movement which
caused the failure of the earlier attempt of the government to set
aside the great plains area for the Indians forever. By 1851, treaties
were being made with the plains Indians whereby they agreed to give
way to the expansion which was taking place along the Oregon Trail.
‘These were the first treaties in which the Montana Indians participated

64 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

directly. General Stevens took the first step in his treaties with the
Flatheads and Blackfeet in 1855, to secure the isolation of the Montana
Indians upon reservations. The treaties provided that agents should
be sent to superintend the civilizing work among the Indians.

Practically all of the good and bad features of the agency system
were enhanced in Montana. The Indians were isolated and primitive
in the early period, and capable agents were able to get a quick response
from most of the tribes. Incompetent or dishonest agents, on the other
hand, had a free field. Both types had to contend with the great dis
tance to the source of general orders and supplies. The difficulties of
transportation and communication were added to distance. An unstable
policy on the part of the national administration and the inability to
enforce treaties caused the situation to be doubly difficult for local
agents. The changing policy of selecting agents from civilians, then
from military men, and then from civilians recommended by church
groups, together with an already unstable tenure of office caused such
frequent shifts of personnel that it was impossible for the agent to
formulate and carry out any steady policy. In the eight year period,
from 1866-1874 for instance, the Blackfeet had ten agents, with numer-
ous intervals during which no one was in official charge.

Charges of graft on the part of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs
for the Territory and the local agents were frequently made, and often
substantiated. Collusion among political groups, economic interests,
and Indian office employees worked for several years against the in-
terests of the Indians to produce a number of cases of startling brazen-
ness. Appointments were often political and made for a consideration.
Portions of the annuity goods were frequently traded to the Indians
or sold to white traders. Funds for improvements and salaries were
habitually squandered by incompetent officials or deliberately mis-
appropriated. Among the Flatheads, as one example, a group universal-
ly recognized as being especially susceptible to encouragement, James
A. Garfield found “but little to show” for the expenditure of over
$300,000.00 during a period of twenty years.

A change of policy occurred in 1871, and thereafter the Indian tribes
were treated as wards of the government rather than as independent
people. This allowed the change of a number of agency locations in
Montana, and the gradual contraction of the reservation boundaries.

This shifting of the Indians produced a need for a larger armed
force. The small garrison from Camp Cooke was moved to Fort Ben-
ton in 1809, where its largest policing task in the vicinity was that of

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 65

Fort Logan in 1877.

This army had many tasks to engage its attention. The mining
population, except around Fort Logan, was well grouped in the west~
em valleys and needed little protection, A most disturbing element of
the fronticr, however, consisted of the little bands of prospectors which
pushed out into the Indian country, and often upon Indian reserva-
tions, in search of new mines. The army was forced to guard these
groups even though the expeditions were undertaken in opposition to
explicit orders. The army was often called upon to protect the Indian
in his rights and prevent whites from infringing upon the reservations.
‘The agricultural settlements were sparsely populated and widely scat-
tered. There was a need for constant vigilance to protect the isolated
farmsteads or settlements from Indian attack. Unreasonable fear
rather than real need was a large cause, however, for demands upon
the military. Political pressure by newspapers and individuals of local
‘or state prominence often secured, for pecuniary reasons, the support
of the military for one locality at the expense of another where greater
need existed. There was a constant demand upon the armed forces as
escorts for private and government wagon trains transporting goods.
‘The army took a leading part in surveying and improving the road
system of the region. Beginning in 1870, railroad surveys and the
maintenance of telegraph lines took more and more of the time of the
army. Occasionally adventures in pure exploration took small de-
tachments from the forts. The Yellowstone and Glacier National Park
‘areas were first adequately explored under the guidance of the military.
‘There was always a need for a certain number of the men at the post
to be engaged upon building or repair projects within the fort. So
great was the demand for men for special duty in the early days of
the military in Montana that there were seldom enough men to make
it possible to carry on the purely military activities of drill and tactics,

Long predicted encounters with the Indians occurred in the 1870's,
In January of 1870, Major E. M. Baker of Fort Ellis led an attack
‘against the Piegan Indians, killing a large number and securing peace
‘on the northern plains for several years. Another encounter occurred

wm yOWs STC UIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

ix CEL. wher Majo Bake’: escort for the Northern Pact was atiad-
et aut fhe scorer peccy wae tomed beck

Ter of fae mes thematic emcomers im the history of the military
Ind frome 2 Ames ecomed m Moma = Ip 1876. Mayr
Genre! G. A Came Jed hz emtie command 1 destroction at the heeds
sf ste Store. White thir imcidiern tok place im Montana, the Indies
engaged wert nv: resiiem: of the Iecality. and the Montana military

The second Importam ncdem wz the of the Nez Percé retreat
im 1877 from Idaho through the Eimer Root Valley, Yellows

the full force of the milnars im Momana was thrown into the effort
‘0 capture the enemy.

From the unrest of the 1870's and the discussion incident to the
major battles, there came a crystaHization of the conflicting points of
view on the Indian question. The antagusism among the various groups
made the settling of the Indian problem very difficult. A major group
in the East, removed from all danger. took a highly humanitarian out-
Jook toward the Indian. and insisted upon a peaceful policy of educa-
tion and civilization. The frontiersmen. faced with the practical aspects
of the question, took an opposing view. insisting that the unprogressive
Indian was manifestly destined to make way for the more advanced
race. Many army officers of high rank joined with the frontier group
in suggesting that the true solution of the Indian problem was to
exterminate the Indian as quickly, economically. and painlessly as
possible.

The attitude of the Indians also formed a part of the problem. There
were fundamental differences in the two civilizations which made it
seemingly impossible to reach common ground. The white man de-
manded that the Indian change his social patterns more quickly than
this had ever been accomplished by any race. The failure of the Indian
to do the impossible resulted in his downfall. This came about in spite
of the fact that the Government of the United States tried consistently
to treat the Indians with fairness and justice. It was never strong
enough to force its citizens to respect the standards of equity which
it set up.

Following the spectacular Indian wars in Montana in 1876 and

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 67

1877, the frontier was in such a state of shock that the government
immediately built additional fortifications. Fort Keogh and Fort Custer
were erected in 1877 to guard the Yellowstone Valley, Fort Missoula
was built in the same year to guard the Bitter Root Valley and the
Flathead Reservation. The flight of Sitting Bull and his band of
Sioux to Canada constituted a threat to the peace along the border
which caused Fort Assiniboine to be built in the vicinity of the head-
waters of the Milk River in 1879, In 1880, Fort Logan was abandon-
ed and Fort Maginnis was built in the eastern part of the Judith Basin,
@ fertile agricultural area.

This formidable military force served to guarantee the peace.
Migration into Montana increased after the Indian wars. Good land
was made available by treaties which materially reduced the reserva-
tion areas. Agencies were moved to make the Indian activities center
in fertile areas as far from the white population as possible. Larger
funds and longer experience in agricultural and cducational methods
Jed to marked improvement in these phases in the decade 1880-1890.

During the 1880's rapid progress was also made in the evolution of
Indian policy. Through the collective effort of Indian administrators
the policy of allotting land to the individual Indian and his family was
evolved, Safeguards were thrown about his economic advancement as
an individual, and some of the responsibilities of citizenship were also
placed upon him. The influence of the tribe receded and the Indian
emerged as an individual, This policy was made effective by the Dawes
Act of 1887, Although this plan was not extensively applied in Mon-
tana until it had been modified by the Burke Act in the next century,
certain of its features were used to advantage.

‘The coming of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1880, and the
improvement of the telegraph and highways, made it unnecessary for
the army to be isolated in small, rough posts in thinly populated areas,
engaging in daily scout and guard duty. When these improvements
and the increasing population made it possible to house the troops in
large and comfortable forts where the niceties of life and military
procedure could be observed, the military frontier had come to an end.
By 1890 these conditions prevailed in Montana. Within a decade the
old frontier posts of Fort Shaw, Fort Ellis, Fort Logan, Fort Benton,
and Fort Maginnis had been abandoned and the area was controlled
from the newer, larger forts: Keogh, Custer, Missoula, and Assiniboine.
‘The military frontier had ceased to exist,

The Indians were eventually settled on small reservations and took

|

68 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

up farming and educational activities. When this had been accom
lished and when they began to take pride in the possession of individual
farms and in the excellence of their workmanship, they ceased to be
merely members of a tribe and became individuals, “The disappearance
of the tribe resulted directly in the disappearance of the Indian frontier,

ee oe

Important material for this study was obtained from the archives
of the War and Interior departments in Washington. The files of the
Adjutant-General of the Army contain a sufficiently complete set of
post returns for all of the forts which were erected in Montana, except
Fort Missoula. ‘The records of Fort Missoula still remain in the offices
of the fort. These post returns consist of the letters sent, letters Te
ceived, military orders, reports, and special correspondence relating
to the activities of the military fort. They furnish an
complete and authoritative source of information, The archives of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs contain the important correspondence
relating to the conduct of Indian matters, These records consist of
the reports and requisitions of agents, complaints of and against civil
ian and military groups, instructions, treaty negotiations, and countless
details of the unfolding development of Indian policy.

Much illustrative material furnishing an understanding of details of
military and Indian policy was obtained from the private papers of
Captain G. C. Doane, furnished by Mrs. Mary L. Doane of Bozeman,
Montana, The Government files of papers for Captain G. C. Doane,
Major E. M. Baker, and Captain James L. Fisk in the archives of the
War Department were also of value,

Public documents were invaluable. The reports of the Secretary of
War, containing the reports of the General of the Army and Division
and lesser officers formed a continuous and necessary source of infor
mation, Equally necessary were the reports of the Secretary of the
Interior containing information furnished by the Commissioner of In-
dian Affairs and his agents.

‘The works of Hiram M. Chittenden, The American Pur Trade in the
For West (New York, 1902), and The History of Early Steamboat
Navigation on the Missouri River (New York, 1903), numerous jour-
nals edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, notably certain volumes of his
Early Western Travels (Cleveland, ye aioe sj Canam

Elliot Coues, such as The Personat Narrative of "5
1833-1872 (New York, 1898) and The Me *
4-5 -

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 69

ander Henry and David Thompson (New York, 1898), yielded a great
deal of information on the phases of the fur trade, navigation, and
exploration which they treat.

Certain fundamental studies in allied fields furnished a guide through
the intricate phases of the national policy. Such studies include, Alban
W. Hoopes, Indian Affairs and Their Administration (Philadelphia,
1932); Lawrence F. Schmeckebier, The Office of Indian Affairs (Balti-
more, 1927); James C. Malin, Indian Policy and Westward Expansion
(Lawrence, Kansas, 1921), and Edgar B. Wesley, Guarding the Fron-
tier, 1815-1825 (Minneapolis, 1935).

The resources of the Library of the State Historical Society of Mon-
tana at Helena furnished considerable manuscript material, and
newspaper material of great value. The State Historical Society
Library of Minnesota at St. Paul was also used for diaries and news-
papers of the period.

WILLIAM SALTER AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE ANDOVER
BAND IN IOWA, 1843-1910

Pup D. Jonpax

New England piety, rooted in the tough soil of colonial Puritanism,
drank eagerly from the cup of life proffered by the Second Great
Awakening. Long parched by heretical winds—deism, infidelity, and
apathy—eighteenth-century faith bloomed anew. Indifference which
had blighted American religion during chaotic post-Revolutionary
decades was replaced by sincerity, faith, and zeal. Optimism displaced
rationalism, and men turned their eyes from the corruption of earth
to the glories of heaven. Decadence gave way to hope.

This revival of holiness filled the small, white churches of New
Hampshire with worshippers and descended upon silent Boston meet-
inghouses. The Land of Steady Habits received it joyfully, and its
presence brought comfort to Green Mountain boys, At Yale, students
whom Lyman Beecher in 1795 had described as intemperate, profane,
licentious gamblers, sceptics, and rowdies, became docile. ‘The divine
influence," wrote a young son of Eli, “seemed to descend like the silent
dew of heaven,” impressing scoffers with the importance of regeneration.

Gathering momentum, the spirit of repentance swept southward along
the Atlantic coastal plain, finding its way from Carolina estuaries al-
most to the pine barrens of the deep South. Tracts and testaments,
tucked in pockets or saddle-bags, were distributed in the Appalachian
back-country, Converts and circuit-riders, traveling on the busy Ohio,
held revivals in the frontier settlements of Wheeling, Cincinnati, and
Louisville. Thus, in brief, did the Second Great Awakening reach the
West.

‘The Valley of Democracy was the cynosure of many an eastern
ecelesiastic’s eyes who saw there opportunity for fruitful proselyting.
Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, and Episcopalians, all were competing
for the spiritual conquest of the frontier. “The strength of the nation
lies beyond the Alleghenies,” said the sententious Charles Hodge in
1829, “The centre of dominion is fast moving in that direction. The
ruler of this country is growing up in the great Valley, Leave him

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 73

his cries for reinforcements reached Dr. Badger who hurried to Andover
‘Theological Seminary, stronghold of orthodoxy, for recruits. Here he
found another eleven, boys who even then, walking over Andover hills
when no seminary bell called them to recitations, talked of Iowa.

Badger’s plea, together with information from others, decided them.
By the spring of 1843 letters, written on thin paper, were being ex-
changed between the eleven and Turner. “Don't come here expecting
a paradise,” warned Turner from his desolate Iowa parish. In August,
when it was plain that the Andover Inds would actually start for Towa
in October, Turner sent blunt words of advice, “Come prepared to
expect small things, rough things. Lay aside all your dandy whims
boys learn in college. . . . Get clothes, firm, durable, something that
will go through the hazel brush without tearing. Don’t be afraid of a
good hard hand, or a tanned face.” He told them to “marry wives of
the old Puritan stamp, who could weave and spin and pail a cow, and
churn butter, and be proud of a jean dress or a checked apron.” Two
lads followed his advice literally.

‘The contingent of missionaries—Benjamin Spaulding, Ephraim
Adams, E, B. Turner, Daniel Lane, Erastus Ripley, Harvey Adams,
Alden Robbins, Horace Hutchinson, and William Salter—moved to
Turner's aid in October, 1843. Of these Salter was marked by fate
as the most prominent.

Born in old Brooklyn, within sight of the sea, on November 17,
1821, Salter was the son of William Frost Salter, owner of the ship
Mary and Harriet, upon which William frequently played as a youth,
and of Mary Ewen Salter, who had come to New York with her hus-
‘band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father was descended
from John Salter, a mariner who came from Devonshire, England, in
the latter quarter of the seventeenth century, and settled at Portsmouth.
His mother was a daughter of Alexander Ewen, who emigrated from
Aberdeen, Scotland, to America prior to the Revolutionary War.

‘The lad's early days were little different from those of other children,
but his education was unusual. At the age of ten he was put to the
study of Latin, at the age of twelve to the learning of Greck, and six
years Jater to both Hebrew and Arabic, His carly schooling was
received in S. Johnston’s Classical and English School, of New York
City. His religious inspiration was derived, in part, from listening to
the sermons of the Reverend Samuel H. Cox, pastor of the Laight
Street Presbyterian Church, of Dr. William H, Channing, and of the
evangelists, Jeddiah Burchand and Charles G. Finney. Salter at one

74 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

time thought of embracing the law, and listened attentively to the great
lawyers of his time—David B. Ogden, Josish Hofiman, Daniel Low,
and Prescott Hall.

New York, during Salter's early manhood, offered a variety of inter-
ests for his wide-awake curiosity. At the age of sixteen, Salter heard
Daniel Webster deliver a stirring slavery address in Niblo's Garden.
In 1837 the young man saw the arrival of the first ocean steamer to
enter the port of New York, and he looked with “wondering eyes" upon
the famous Indian chiefs, Black Hawk and Keokuk, as they passed
through New York.

The young New Yorker was graduated from the University of the
City of New York in 1840, and for the succeeding six months taught
in the Academy at South Norwalk, Connecticut. By this time he had
decided to enter the ministry, and therefore attended the
logical Seminary for two years, He then, “thinking from the
din and scenes of a great rio aut piace weal te pe
Andover Theological Seminary for a year of satisfaction and delight.
His studies were largely historical, a fact which had a profound signifi-
cance and influence upon his later life. With the other members of
the Band, he was graduated in theology, amid a salvo of religious Ora-
tory, on September 5, 1843.

Within a month the lads left Albany by rail for Buffalo, then the
terminus of western railway travel in upper New York. ‘There the
steamboat Missouri waited. We have seldom sten, said the editor of
the Buffalo Gazette, such sterling young men of good sense and quiet
characters. For six days, facing head winds and a rough sea, the
Missouri labored through the Great Lakes, finally shuddering to dock
at Milwaukee, Chicago, “‘sitting on the shore of the lake in wretched
dishabille”’ and busy with the labor of growth, paid the missionaries
scant attention. They finally persuaded a farmer, come to the great
market of the middle border with a load of wheat, to carry them to the
Mississippi, opposite Burlington. Canyas wagon
coffee, bread, and bacon,—these items the preachers
on the 250-tile prairie trip. At Galesburg, local residents
‘them either land speculators or Mormons. As the boys Pp
“smooth, broad bosom of the great river, with the last -
the setting sun playing upon it,” they gave three ch
sippi! Their fourteen-day trip from Buffalo to Bui
‘Turner welcomed them tearfully.

After ordination at Denmark, Iowa, the brethren scatt

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 75

establish inland parishes, one to locate in the Sac and Fox Agency,
others to find churches in flourishing river towns, and Salter to enter
upon two arduous years of circult-riding in Jackson County. Each
received a little over $400.00 annually from the Society. Their in-
structions were plain and their commissions explicit. They were to
preach the Gospel, to visit the sick, to stimulate the growth of common
schools, to establish Sabbath and Bible classes, to fight the demon rum,
and to show themselves patterns of good works,

‘The task was not easy, The wicked, the worldly, and the back-
sliders, inspired by frontier whiskey, ignorance, and the devil in general,
made their mission difficult, “The only evidence that I have preached
the truth among them,” wrote Salter querulously, “is that they hate
me.” The equalitarian West resisted strenuously New England's at-
tempt to stamp it with the ethical parochialism of Boston. Its appetite
was not for domestication and culture, but for cheap land, water will-
ing to be harnessed, and the wealth which even then lay “just around
the comer,”

What was this theological system which proved less popular on the
frontier than many other faiths? Its rock was the Cambridge Platform
of Church Discipline first formulated by Massachusetts ministers in
1648. All essential principles for church government lay in the New
Testament, cither in the form of express statutes, or inferred from the
lives of the Apostles. “It is not left in the power of men, officers,
Churches, or any state in the world, to add, diminish, or alter anything
In the least measure therein.” The essential qualification for church
membership was individual piety, determined by examination. All
ecclesiastical power was vested in the local church, and it was required
that members peacefully and cheerfully submit to its discipline. Such,
im essence, was the gospel, aged 200 years in Puritanism, which the
Band carried afoot, on horseback, and in canoes over a western country
more interested in religious individualism than ecclesiastical regimen-
tation,

Not only did the Band fight that most insidious of foes—indifference;
it also took the offensive against other religions. To many, rigid in
uncompromising youth, Catholicism ranked with Mormonism; Uni-
versalists with Swedenborgians; Perfectionists with Infidels; and Bap-
tists with Unitarians. A particularly irritating thorn in Congregational
flesh was Abner Kneeland, once a Boston preacher, but now a free
thinker and devotee of Paine and Voltaire. Shocked missionaries heard
that Kneeland had publicly celebrated the birthday of Thomas Paine,

a

16 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

and shuddered when they read the toasts,

coven a'hin’ Aceon leg te gi Saga

priesteraft, and lay aside their Bibles for the distaff and loom.”
Frontier Congregationalism also assumed a patronizing air toward

the many flaxen-baired, thrifty families from the Rhine and the land

of dykes who swelled Iowa's population during the fifties. Substantial

Germans were said to import an “incalculable amount of infidelity,

superstition, and error,” and to enjoy only in a very limited degree the
divinely appointed means of grace. ‘The Teutonic pipe, stein, and song
were all anathema to Andover piety. It is little wonder then, that these
foreigners, if they forsook their native Lutheranism, turned to the
generous Methodist and Baptist doctrines which welcomed all,

Slavery, obviously, was another controversy to be faced by the Band.
In general, they merely echoed on the frontier the precepts learned in
abolitionist New England. Rarely did compromise or charity temper
their moral repugnance. They bluntly declared slavery a “heinous sin
and a gross violation of the Jaws and Gospel of Christ” Although
the American Home Missionary Society had generously continued to
offer financial aid to churches regardless of their slavery views, the
General Congregational Association of Iowa in 1856 petitioned the
Society no Jonger to grant aid to any church which allowed slavehold-
ing by its members. Salter operated a station on the underground
railroad, as did many another clergyman, and justified this violation
of the Fugitive Slave Law on the basis of “northern” humanitarlanism,
In 1864 he volunteered for forty-days duty with the United
Christian Commission, the only member of the Band in
Clergymen frequently found the rigid exactions of
education a fatal embarrassment, Intellectuality seemed less palatable
to settlers than emotionalism, These were days of sweat rather than
of logic. A ee
drinking, playing cards, and plowing upon the seventh |
antagonisms flourished, many frontiersmen feeling that Ei -
sionaries “come West to civilize the heathen.” ‘Truly,
salvation was delayed by suspicion, ignorance, and intemp
though during the saddle period of Salter’s ministry
of grace and even regeneration, Iowa remained sings
by the salt of Congregationalism,

Five yeats after the Sand’s arrival Foety chara
lished. Many of these were only log cabins with 30
were pretentious structures of finished lumber. A

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 7

towers, and others imported furnishings from Boston. Thirty-two
ministers shepherded a flock of some 1,100 souls. Academies, educa-
tion’s first line of defense in the middle period, had been sponsored at
Denmark, Maquoketa, and elsewhere. Yowa College, later to become
Grinnell, had been opened at Davenport jn 1848.

In 1846 the death of Hutchinson broke the Andover circle of com-
radeship for the first time, and Salter moved from Maquoketa to Bur-
Tington to carry on his work, Not long after, Alden, homesick and
discouraged, returned to New England. Others, as the years advanced,
deserted Towa for fields elsewhere. Some, however, remained at their
posts until relieved by death, Of these, Salter was one,

The pathetically slow growth of his church illustrates the difficulty
Congregationalism faced in Towa even after the frontier had moved
westward and finally disappeared in the mists of romance. Salter
averaged an increase in church membership of only three persons
annually for a period of about half a century. Four years previous
to his death on August 15, 1910, there were only from ten to twenty-
five Congregationalists per 1,000 of population in Iowa. Catholics,
Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Disciples, and Baptists, in the
order named, all had a larger state membership. Among the more
prominent faiths, only the Episcopal Church was less successful on
the frontier than was Congregationalism.

Salter's ministry, however, as that of the Andover Band, must not
be evaluated entirely by the standard of numbers, Not only did Salter
make himself the idol of his city and become known as the preacher
who helped Iowa grow up, but he also engaged in historical writing.
Among his works of marked ability is a biography, The Life of James
W. Grimes, Governor of Towa and United States Senator; a history,
Towa: The First Free State in the Louisiana Purchase; and a collec~
tion of essays, Sixty Years. No other member of the Band left such
a distinguished literary heritage.

‘The Band itself, as Paxson says and Sweet intimates, made the
“frontier democracy of Iowa less completely Jacksonian than most of
the Mississippi Valley was at this moment.” Their pious crusade to
reclaim what one missionary called a frontier Sodom and Gomorrah,
has cast them in the role of Congregational heroes. Trained in the
classics, schooled in Aristotelian logic, disciplined by Puritan morality,
and conditioned by a Federalist aristocracy, their conception of the

differed i

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 79

of Rev. Reuben Gaylord (1899), George F. Magoun, Asa Turner and
His Times (1899), and Julius A. Reed, Reminiscences of Early Con-
gregationalism in Iowa (1885).

Among the general histories of Congregationalism consulted were:
George N. Boardman, Congregationalism (n.d.), Henry M. Dexter,
Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years as Seen in its
Literature (1880), Albert E. Dunning, Congregationalism in America
(1894), and Williston Walker, A History of the Congregational Church
in the United States (1894).

‘THE NORSE IN IOWA TO 1870
H. Frep SwANseN

Norse immigration to the United States in the nineteenth century
began in 1825, but attained little significance numerically until 1836,
From then on, while constantly fluctuating, the number of immigrant
arrivals steadily increased. Great influxes, for example, occurred in
the late forties and middle sixties.

The destination of these first Norwegians was Orleans County, New
York. Here they remained until 1834 when they moved to the fertile
prairies of IMlinois, The mounting number of immigrants from Nor-
way, a small part of the vast westward-moving throng of home-seckers,
soon encountered difficulty in acquiring choice land in Illinois. By
1838 many of these Norsemen were turning to Wisconsin and by the
close of the forties large numbers were making Iowa their goal,

‘The history of the life and work of the Norse in Iowa has never
been fully developed or appreciated, although several excellent mono-
graphic interpretations have appeared. The purpose of this study is
to record the significant factual data pertinent to the Norwegians in
Towa and to interpret their economic, political, and cultural contribu-
tions to that state. This dissertation, however, covers only a part
of the projected plan and is confined in general to the period prior to
1870, It deals with the location of the settlements in the state, the
economic and social phases of pioneer life over a space of about twenty
years, the planting of the church, and the problem of adjustment to
the American environment.

To understand the life and work of the Norwegian immigrant in
America, one must possess some knowledge of conditions in Norway
during the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries.
‘The Norseman left a country where agriculture was the chief vocation,
where scarcely more than 3 per cent of the soil was tillable, and where
the population was increasing steadily during the nineteenth century.
Nature, too, was hard and grudging. While the environment imposed
hardships, it also reared men of strong character, Qualities such as
industry, persistence, endurance, and thrift were essential to the
Norwegian farmer in his difficult task of earning a living. Lack of

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY $3

Veiviser Jor Norske Emigranter (Guide for Norwegian Emigrants),
published in the capital of Norway in 1844, contends that Hans Barlien
and William Tesman fathered this settlement. Copies of letters writ-
ten by Barlien in the spring of 1839 corroborate this view and, at the
same time, lead one to conclude that he (Barlien) came during that
year. Towa manuscript census materials for 1856 support Reierson’s
statement in regard to Tesman and indicate that the latter came to
Lee County in 1839.

Thus it appears that Tesman and Barlien together founded the
settlement in 1839, Tesman and several others came from Shelby
County, Missouri, where they had gone from LaSalle County, Illinois,
in an attempt to establish a colony. Others came to Sugar Creck
direct from La Salle County at about the same time. While a consid~
erable number of Norwegians came to Lee County in the early forties,
the area never became an important settlement center. This county,
the most southeastern in the state, was far removed from the main
current of the Norse immigrant stream,

The second area of Norwegian settlement was in northeastern Iowa,
mainly in Clayton, Fayette, Allamakee, and Winneshick Counties. The
first entry into this region was in 1846 when Ole Valle secured a tract
of land in Read Township of Clayton County, about three miles south-
east of the present town of St. Olaf, At the tum to the fifties Nor-
wegians had entered the four counties mentioned above. Large and
numerous Norse communities soon dotted the whole section, particu-
larly Winneshiek County. Here Luther College and Decorah Posten,
prominent institutions in the cultural development of the group, were
established. The first settlers, who came from Rock and Dane Coun-
tics, Wisconsin, usually entered Towa at McGregor's Landing, a town
directly opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin River. From this point
they proceeded as far as possible in a general northwesterly direction
over the so-called Military Trail, which terminated at Fort Atkinson
in Winneshiek County.

The first colony in the third area was established at St, Ansgar,
Mitchell County. The immigrants, about seventy-five in number,
came from Rock County, Wisconsin carly in the summer of 1853.
‘They entered Towa at McGregor’s Landing, followed the Military Road
to Whiskey Grove, now called Calmar, in Winneshiek County, and
from there traveled west over the prairies, It is noteworthy that the
pioneer clergyman and pathfinder, C. L. Clausen, was the sponsor and
director of this enterprise. From St. Ansgar the settlements spread

a

84 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

to the west as far as Emmet County and also to the north and south
into adjoining regions. Worth and Winnebago Counties of this area
became the destination of hundreds of immigrants.

‘The fourth area developed from a settlement project which was made
in Story County in 1855. These immigrants, coming from Kendall
County, Illinois, organized as a Lutheran congregation before Jeaving
for Iowa. They crossed the Mississippi River at Davenport and moved
west over the route running through the towns of Iowa City and Grin-
nell, They chose sites in the southwestern part of Story County, about
a mile east of the present town of Huxley, From this modest begin-
ning, Norse communities sprang into existence an all sides of the first
colony, especially in Hamilton and Humboldt Counties, In this sec-
tion of the state Story City became the center of Norse cultural activity.

‘These four areas, while not embracing all the Norwegian settlements
in the state, did include the great majority. The disposition of the
Norsemen to settle in definitely segregated communities led to a
group-consciousness that exerted a deep and lasting influence on their
life and cultural expression,

‘The adventure of the Nooe In JO" 5 aoe
executed movement. This had not always been the case in earlier
efforts, In the Beaver Creek, Illinois, and Muskego, Wisconsin, settle-
ments, for example, disappointment, disease, and death resulted from
the purchase of low and swampy lands. Such experiences impressed
upon the newcomer the need of caution in venturing into mew ce
Many of the early Iowa Norsemen had previously lived and
in Hlinois or Wisconsin where they learned important and.
lessons in the rudiments of pioneering, So adequate was their
ation in many instances that it explains, in no small d
economic success of the enterprises.
‘The immigrant, however, grappled with many hardships
appointments in his pioneer home. He was usually far
town. Poor transportation facilities tended to emphasize |

cohec, Eure work, swhathor S¢ portatued $a senclaanae
the crop, was the daily lot of the pioneer. In addition t

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 8s

siderations the immigrant ordinarily had little money and encountered
difficulties, therefore, in ordering his financial affairs.

To anticipate or to master these various situations was indeed a
challenge. Under the primitive conditions obtaining, the settler relied
upon his ingenuity for the immediate needs of the household and farm.
He practiced the same resourcefulness in his efforts to avoid loss and
disaster from capricious nature. A large number of tools, utensils, and
implements, many of them illustrative of this resourcefulness, are
exhibited in the museum of the Norwegian-American Historical Associ-
ation at Decorah. Careful and thoughtful day-to-day planning and
continual exercise of thrift were essential to success. je

While these difficulties were in no way unusual, they, nevertheless,
were real to a foreign-language group unaccustomed to the new and
severe conditions of pioneer life in the United States, The effort
to meet them led to occasional co-operative: efforts between the new-
comer and the native born settler. These contacts, it is worth noting,
‘were advantageous to the immigrant in counteracting the strong ten-
dency to clannishness.

‘The Norseman, appreciating the economic opportunities within his
grasp, was industrious and persevering. In due time he saw with
satisfaction the fruits of his labors. The wild prairies had been meas-
urably transformed into fruitful fields of grain and the immigrant, in
addition to improving his own condition, had contributed directly to
the material development of the state. Incidentally he had also pro-
vided for the economic security of himself and his family, Thus he
grew increasingly fond of his new home and took an active interest
in the affairs of his adopted country.

With the coming of the seventies, economic and social conditions in
the first settlements had changed greatly. The nation’s industrial
expansion of the post-Civil War period reached deeply into the life
of the pioneer communities of the West. Labor-saving devices and
modern machinery were enthusiastically accepted by the immigrants.
‘The extension of credit contributed to the widespread distribution of
these contrivances. Railroad construction brought Iowa into direct
communication with the eastern seaboard in 1855. The demand for
improved transportation facilities in all parts of the state resulted in
the operation of 2,683 miles of railroad by 1870. At this time all of
the Norse settlements had been drawn into the network,

‘These Improvements wrought great changes in the pattern of the
daily life. Farm machinery not only eased the burden of farm labor

and dwellings took on the appearance of p
Houschold equipment and furnishings
cluded, in a few instances, musical instruments

arranged buildings, A striking evidence
erection of the main building of Luther C
‘of $75,000.00. ‘These changes in the home
more congenial environment and also b
enjoyment of a richer life.

Owing to these changes of the early seventies:
pation in activities and institutions not assoc
for existence. Public problems and politics

‘was not infrequent, Periodical publieations like
Fireside) and For Hjemmet (For the Home)
County in 1868 and 1870 respectively.

iis ll ral aivage tne NGG
One of the earliest forms of cultural

ABSTRACTS EN HISTORY 87

the government, assumed a role of more than usual prominence in the
daily life of the inhabitants. Since the Norsemen from childhood were
reared in that church, they were strongly partial to its teachings and
practices after coming to the United States.

In providing for his spiritual needs the immigrant received no aid
worth mentioning from the state church of the fatherland. Lutheran
lay-preachers and missionaries of other denominations found eager
listeners among the first Norwegian settlers of Illinois and Wisconsin,
This led to confusion, In 1843 and in the years immediately following,
well-trained Norwegian Lutheran clergymen made an appearance, The
lay-preachers by this time had large followings and were loath to sur-
render to the theologians from Norway. As a result two brands of Luth-
eranism developed. The lay-preacher and his adherents formed the low-
church; the well-trained clergyman and his supporters, the high.
By 1853 both groups had effected synodical organization. They were
agreed on the aim of perpetuating the faith of the fathers among their
countrymen, but not on the means of accomplishing it. The high-
church group subscribed to the teachings and customs of the state
church of Norway, favored a well-educated clergy, and were averse
to lay-preaching. The low-church adherents, hostile from their ex-
perience in the home land to anything high-church, opposed the formal
ritual of the service, emphasized the inner call rather than formal edu-
cation for candidates for the ministry, and supported the practice of
lay-preaching.

Since the first immigrants in Iowa relied on the missionary activity
of the small Norwegian Lutheran groups, which in the early fifties had
taken the first steps toward synodical organization, there was no seri-
‘ous threat from efforts of other denominations. The Lutheran Church,
moreover, with its familiar language, teaching, music, and customs,
made a strong appeal to the Norseman. In spite of this situation the
Lutheran clergyman bent every effort to curtail or counteract any
advance that threatened the establishment and extension of his own
faith. The first missionary ventures of Norwegian Lutherans took
place in the summer of 1851. These sporadic exertions were supplant-
ed by regular ministerial administration in 1853. During that year
two high-church clergymen accepted calls in north Iowa. In 1855 a
Jow-church pastor took charge of the religious work in the central Iowa
settlements. These preachers were often ably assisted by laymen who
previously had had experience in congregational work in Tlinols or
Wisconsin. The first Norwegian Lutheran congregation in the state

closely resembling that of the state church of
the fact that this element was piloted |
who had come from Norway in r

gauged from some types of its activity.
enterprise was the parochial school. :
the high-church synod, thirty-four teachers, all 1
parted religious instruction to 1,739 pupils. >
ever, did not furnish returns. Records for ot]
able, but these figures, while too low, give is
that work. Luther College, it is worth notin;
northeast Towa in order to insure capable mi
high-church at large. ‘The church also exe

the publication of periodical matter and tt

munton was largely, if not wholly, the result
of this group in Norway. Several of the ¢

Pi &

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 89

County were of this denomination, The first and only congregation,
however, was established in Marshall County in 1864. This organiza-
tion was singular in that it was the only Norwegian-speaking Quaker
meeting in the United States. Methodism was introduced among the
Norse by a staunch upholder of that faith, the Reverend O. P. Peter-
son, who was gent into northeast Iowa by the Iowa Conference of the
Methodist Church in 1851. The results of this and other efforts were
meager, for in the early seventies there were only three congregations
in the state, two in Winneshiek County and one in Winnebago.

Indeed, with the coming of the seventies, the church, particularly
the Lutheran, was an important factor in the immigrant community.
In pioneer life it served a twofold purpose: it satisfied the spiritual
craving of the immigrant and thereby prevented him from migrating
elsewhere at a time when industry and perseverance were essential for
the development of the state. It did not restrict its activity to religion,
but reached into the educational and literary spheres as well.

Immediately upon his arrival in Towa, the Norseman faced the prob-
lem of adapting himself to a new and strange environment. Certain
factors tended to aid that process, others to retard it. ‘The assimilative
forces, in general, were the contacts with English-speaking neighbors
and the public school. ‘he main factors retarding the Americaniza-
tion process were the Norwegian-American press and the immigrant
church.

While the immigrant lived in isolation, he nevertheless made con-
tacts with English-speaking inhabitants. On shopping trips to town,
at meetings and celebrations, at the post office, and at the ballot box
they met, Occasionally the Norse settler secured work that led to
associations with the native clement. The sons and daughters of the
newcomers often worked on the farms or in the homes of Americans,
‘These contacts did much to impart knowledge in regard to American
life and speech. The English language, moreover, was a stepping stone
to recognition and economic progress, hence the immigrant felt the need
of acquiring a speaking knowledge of it.

The most important of the assimilative forces, however, was the
public school. The interest of the Norseman in this institution reached
back to his earlier experiences in Norway. In his frontier home he
often assisted in promoting the work of public instruction, Occasion~
ally adults took advantage of the facilities of the public school during
the winter season, Parents often received aid from the children en-
rolled, particularly in the use of English. The school house, too, was

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 1

the continuance of other foreign customs and traditions. In the Luth-
eran congregation, for example, the custom of employing a sexton, of
having the preacher wear the gown and ruff, of retaining the chanting
asa part of the ritual, of using Norwegian hymns in the service, and
of providing formal religious training for the youth persisted whenever
conditions permitted. This tendency while serving as a check to the
process of assimilation, permitted, nevertheless, a slow, natural, and
intelligent infiltration of immigrant culture into the American mould.
Of necessity, it affected all forms of cultural expression. In spite of
this tendency, foreign manners and institutions were gradually adapt-
ing themselves to the New World atmosphere,

ee ee

‘The materials used in this study are widely scattered and very large-
ly im the Norwegian language, The diaries of Gilbert Gilbertson and
Elizabeth Koren of Mitchell and Winneshiek Counties respectively, also
the reminiscences of Anders N. Teslow of Winneshiek County, give
good accounts of social conditions in the early Norse settlements of
Towa. The diary of Mrs. Koren, now in published form, is especially
valuable on account of its detail. The Gilbertson diary is in the
possession of its writer's daughter, Nellie Gilbertson, of St. Ansgar,
Towa, The Teslow account is in the keeping of Mrs. H. F. Swansen,
Blair, Nebraska. The Assor Grgth letter collection was very useful
in the study, particularly for the social phase of pioneer life, This
collection was placed at the disposal of the writer by Mrs. H. S. Houg
of St. Ansgar, Iowa, a daughter of Mr. Grgth, Smaller letter collec-
tions, some in manuscript, others in typewritten or printed form, also
constituted a valuable source on all phases of immigrant life. Many
of these appeared in books and pamphlets. The church records of the
East Paint Creek congregation, including the catalog of the library,
contained information on various phases of church work in the pioneer
period. The United States Census Reports, and the Iowa manuscript
census material, on file in the Division of Archives of the Historical,
Memorial, and Art Department at Des Moines, proved an invaluable
aid in determining the economic pattern of the immigrant pioncers in
1850 and 1870.

In order to secure information on the social, economic, religious,
and educational phases of pioneer life, the writer prepared a question-
naire which was sent to about fifty Norse pioneers or their direct de-
scendants, About thirty-five responded, a few with detailed accounts.

92 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

Other material on these phases of life was gleaned from personal imter-
views with several of the surviving pioneers and many of the children
of Norwegian immigrants in the various settlements, =

of Eaiporten, oe ia te sore ieate ai kaa
Luther College, Decorah. Other parts of the Emigranten file are st
Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. Of the variow
English-language newspapers used, the North Jowa Times (Clayton
County) and Le Grand Reporter (Marshall County) deserve mention
‘The former, available at the Historical, Memorial, and Art Department
at Des Moines, was useful because of the completeness of the file for
the late fifties, The latter, deposited at Le Grand, was valuable on
account of the large amount of material in its columns on the Nor-
wegian Quakers,

Kirkelig Maanedstidende (Monthly Church Times), the paper of
the high-church Lutherans, was serviceable in the study of church
activities, Symra, a Norwegian-language quarterly published at De
corah for the decade following 1905, contained many valuable com
tributions by Iowa Norsemen on all phases of pioneer life. Studies and
Records, published annually at Northfield, Minnesota, by the Nor-
wegian-American Historical Association, also contained many belpfal
articles.

Pamphlet literature, much of it in the Norwegian language, was like-
wise used profitably. This material was usually in the form of congre-
gation, community, or organization history. Lidt af Gemile Ostre
Paint Creek Menigheds Historie (A Little of the History of the East
Paint Creck Congregation), written by L. A. Grangaard and A. P. Lea
in 1926 for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the congregation, is one.
Seventy-fifth Anniversary, an anonymous pamphlet, published in 1928
to commemorate the founding of the Clausen colony in Mitchell Coun-
ty, is another. The St. Petri Congregation of north Story County
celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1907. For this occasion the Rever-
end Ivar Havneros wrote a pamphlet entitled, St, Petri Menighed's
Historie (History of St. Petri Congregation). oie Serer
of this type of literature.

The large and varied collection of articles on all
life in the pioneer room of the Norwegian-American Histo

== =

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 93

at Decorah was also a rare source. The Egge and Haugen cabins, which
date back to Iowa pioneer life of the early fifties, are a part of the out-
door exhibit.

The secondary works consulted were numerous. These deal with all
phases of Norse immigrant life and activity in the many settlements of
the United States. For background material on the emigration move-
ment from Norway, T. C. Blegen’s Norwegian Migration to America,
K. Gjerset’s History of the Norwegian People, and G. T. Flom’s A
History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States are valuable.
A large and varied collection of secondary works is available in the
Koren Library of Luther College, Decorah, Iowa.

THE HISTORY OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA:
THE COLLEGIATE DEPARTMENT FROM THE
BEGINNING TO 1878

VeRNON CARSTENSEN

In this study the writer has attempted to present a detailed account
of the early history of the State University of Iowa. Although partic-
ular attention has been given to the development of the Collegiate
Department, other phases of the history of the institution have been
discussed, The first section of this paper deals with the relationship
between the University and the State; the second, with the method
and philosophy of the academic function; the third, with the adminis-
tration of the University, This study has carried the history of the
University to 1878. The year 1878 was selected to mark the limits
of the present study because it marks the end of the first period of the
development of the institution.

Since the University of Towa was, in many important respects, typi-
cal of the land grant universities, this study should reveal not only the
forces which served to mould it, but such a study should also focus
attention on some of the neglected phases of the history of higher edu-
cation in the United States,

The state universities owe their origin to two factors in particular:
the land grant from the public domain, and the popular acceptance of
the idea of state control of higher education. Although both ideas had
been expressed before the American Revolution, the state university,
as an institution, belongs particularly to the West. Several important
factors favored the establishment of the state university in the West:
(1) the land grant from the central government, (2) the division of
church and state and the subsequent multiplication of religious sects
along the frontier, (3) the materialism and democracy of the frontier,
(4) the rapidity of settlement in the West, and (5) the idea of a unified
system of education with the university at the head of the system.
‘These factors served to give the state university an advantage over
private and sectarian colleges which it did not enjoy In the older states.

‘The foundations of the University of Towa were being laid at a time
when the population of the State was increasing at a swift rate. When

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 7

should be disposed of under the same general regulations which obtain-
ed for the disposition of the other school lands. It is indced significant
‘to observe at this point that the law regulating the sale of school lands
‘was designed to facilitate in every possible way the early sale of these
Jands, In June, 1851, the Board of Trustees agreed to appraise the

lands “at a minimum of five dollars an acre," and to offer
them for sale. Accordingly, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
offered 35,679 acres of the University land to the highest bidder on
November 1, 1851. Only two bidders appeared, and together they
purchased 482.74 acres at a fraction more than five dollars an acre.
In February, 1852, the Board voted to raise the price of the Univer-
sity lands to ten dollars an acre. Heroic as this policy was, it could
not long endure in the face of the conditions which prevailed in Towa
in the 1850's. Pretmptors and land-hungry settlers were to destroy it.

‘The University lands had hardly been selected before the Board was
besieged by individuals who claimed to have preémpted certain of the
lands before they had been given to the University, and who, in accord-
ance with frontier usage and Towa law, demanded the right to purchase
the land, In the beginning the Board attempted to secure five or ten
dollars an acre from the preémptors as well as other purchasers, but as
the number of preémptors increased, the policy of the Board collapsed.
Tn 1854 it was decided to allow preémptors, upon proving their claims,
the right to the land at $2.0 an acre.

Tn 1854-1855 the first large migration into Towa occurred. It was
estimated that during this time over two hundred thousand people
came into the State, most of them seeking cheap land. Against this
pressure the Board could not maintain the policy of reserving the land
for ten dollars an acre. Accordingly, in 1854 the Board determined
to have the remaining lands appraised at their “actual value,” which
‘was subsequently fixed at $3.64 per acre. But even this price was too
high.

In January and February, 1855, the General Assembly adopted an
Act and a Resolution, each of which was to have immediate effect upon
the policy of the Board. The Act, passed in the interest of land seckers
‘and speculators, provided that all school, University, and saline lands
should be thrown into the market within three months. The Resolu-
tion requested that the Board of ‘Trustees report to the General Assem-
bly on their plans for opening the University. The law left no alterna-
tive for the Board; the remaining University lands must be offered for
sale, The Resolution served to bring home to the Trustees the possibil-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 99

tions which surrounded the Board in the 1850’s, is unfair. The Board
did all that it could to preserve the fund. Indeed, the remarkable thing
is that the University lands brought in as much money as they did.
‘It must be conceded with Thomas H. Benton, Jr. that “of all the grants
made to the State for various objects, none has been so well managed,
and yielded so large an income in proportion to the number of acres,
‘as the one made for the support of the University.” The chief import-
ance of the land grant was that it gave the State means of establishing
a University early in its political history; at a later day it opened the
way for financial support from the State.

Between 1838 and 1846, no suggestion was made as to where the
State University was to be located. ‘The Constitution of 1846 gave
‘the General Assembly authority to establish a University “with such
branches a3 the public convenience may hereafter demand for the pro-
motion of literature, the arts and sciences.” Accordingly the first
General Assembly adopted an act to establish a University. Since it
‘was determined at the same session that the capital of Iowa should be
moved to some point nearer the center of the State, the University
was located in Towa City and was to be given the State building there
after the capital had been moved. It was in the nature of a political
bargain that Towa City was given the University in compensation for
‘the loss of the capital.

‘The first session of the legislature saw several unsuccessful attempts
to divide the University fund between the parent University, branches
of the University, and normal schools. In 1849, however, provision
‘was made for the establishment of two branches of the University; one
‘to be at Fairfield, the other at Dubuque; and three normal schools, at
Andrew, Mount Pleasant, and Oskaloosa; all were to be supported from
the University fund. Fortunately the law which established a branch
of the University at Dubuque contained a provision which saved the
University fund from immediate dissipation: “No monies shall be
‘appropriated to support any branch of the University until the reve-
nues of the parent institution shall exceed three thousand dollars per
annum from the grant made by Congress.” Uncounted attempts to
establish additional normal schools and branches of the University—
all to be supported by the University funds—were made during the
at tee

‘The branch of the University at Fairfield was organized, a site
Ste I | nol acer feaplllaes i dean analion

school at Andrew began operation in 1849 and continued for several

lish normal schools and branches of the U
the University fund, can be understood if o
of the legislators. First, there was a |
oe SS as sun tc one
especially normal schools. Few people could i
one large centralized institution would serve U
each community sought to establish its own co
legislators sought to secure a portion of the |
community for political purposes. Lastly,
branch of the University in a community was
speculators who were almost certain that the
holdings would be greater if a school were lo
factors combined to bring about so many att
versity fund,

‘There tie several eas OS ee
before it was made secure in 1857, The relative

schools. But the Board, at the suggestion
refused to comply until so ordered by th
normal schools failed to secure such an order,
undivided.

In 1857 a constitutional convention met in
@ new constitution for the State, Several of U

‘at one place and without branches. A fet
adjourned, a movement was begun by d

of the State to provide for the perr
constitutional provision. To secure the f
eastern counties, it was also proposed to locate th

| = »

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 101

nently in Towa City by the same means. After considerable parlia~
mentary maneuvering, the proposition was accepted by the Convention,
written into the Constitution, and adopted by the State. Thus, after
ten years, the University was at last settled permanently in Iowa City,
and all branches were abolished.

‘There was only a suggestion of State responsibility for higher educa-
tion in the Constitution of 1848, which provided that the General
Assembly should “encourage, by all suitable means, the promotion of
Intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement.” It was
‘not intended then that the University should receive financial support
from the State, Indeed, in 1950 the idea was not yet generally accept-
ed that the State should support elementary education—to say nothing
of secondary and higher education, Accordingly, at the beginning of
the period under study, the relationship of the University to the State
was that of an institution which was to be under the guardianship of
the State but not financially dependent upon it. In 1878 the State
tacitly assumed fiancial responsibility for the University by providing
for an additional endowment for the University from State funds. ‘The
development of State support can be traced through three steps. First
the State provided funds for additional buildings and repairs, then for
running expenses, and lastly, annual endowment,

At the time the University of Iowa opened, it possessed only one
small rented building. The Faculty, the Board, Superintendent of
Public Instruction, and Governor of the State all urged the General
Asembly to provide a “boarding hall” for the University, on the

such provision, it was argued, only the residents af Towa City and
Johnson County could attend the University. In other words if the
‘intended to derive a widespread benefit from the University
would first have to contribute funds for the erection of a
“boarding hall.” In 1858 the University secured its first appropria-
tion from the General Assembly. As adopted, the bill provided ten

cient for the building designed by the Board, so in 1860 the University
came once more to the General Assembly for an appropriation, Al-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 103

the problem of securing support adequate for the healthy growth and
development of the institution.
‘There: is little evidence to show that religious interests ever actively
eee re wns the Unie. After the pro-
fessional departments of law and medicine were established in 1868

successful in their attempts to have the University deprived of State
‘support, these groups were frequently responsible for reducing the
amount of the appropriation,

"The recognition of the University as head of the public school system
of the State represents another important phase of the relationship
between the University and the State. The process of making the
‘University the head of the system involved four factors: (1) the accept-
ance of the idea of a unified system of education, (2) the acceptance
of the University as the head of that system, (3) the development of
high schools in the public system, and such standardization of these
high schools that they could articulate with the University, and (4) the
abolition of the preparatory department of the University at the time
when it was decided that the high schools had so far developed as to be
able to prepare students for the University.

‘The idea of a uniform organization of the public schools was borrow-
ed from Europe, but was somewhat modified by American theory.
‘American idealists looked to the schools as the means of preparing
children for democracy and business pursuits; and there were some who
thought of education as a universal solvent for social ills. Implicit
in the educational theory of American idealists was the belief that
intelligence was the natural possession of all men; education was the
instrument which could release it.

‘The first suggestion that the schools of Iowa should have a uniform
organization was made by the first Territorial Governor, Robert Lucas.
Although subsequent governors, legislators, educators, and public men
urged the adoption of a unified system of education, most of the provis-
fons for education were the result of special legislation for particular
districts. In 1856, at the suggestion of Governor Grimes, the General
Assembly made provision for the creation of a commission, composed
of three men, to plan for the entire educational system of the State.
‘This commission, mode up of Horace Mann, Amos Dean, and Freder-
ick Kissell, prepared a school Iaw which provided for a unified system of

—_

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 105

| ‘of inducing them to offer courses designed to prepare students for the
| University. Until the high schools could be articulated with the
University, the preparatory department would have to be maintained.
‘In the 1870's the Towa State Teachers’ Association began agitating
for the extension and improvement of secondary education. In 1872
the Board of Regents of the University sought to provide a working
| basis for articulation between University and high schools by provid-
ing that: “The academical faculty (of the University) may admit to
‘the various classes without examination students from such schools or
academies as in their judgment offer sufficient facilities for preparation,
‘but this privilege shall be withdrawn from any school found deficient
im this respect" But to establish public high schools in Iowa was both
difficult and slow; to bring such schools to standardize their offerings
seemed impossible. Yet this had to be done before the University
could serve effectively as the head of the system, before the high schools
could be accepted as preparatory departments of the University. No
single individual or group can be credited with having achieved this
‘end. In the 1870's the faculty of the University, the Board of Regents,
the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Jowa State Teachers’
Association, the editors of the State educational journals, and numerous
newspaper editors joined to urge the extension and improvement of
secondary education. This movement to establish high schools and
make them serve as preparatory departments of the University forced
compromise upon both the high schools and the University. Thus the
University was faced with the vexing problem of having to set standards
Tow enough for the high schools and yet keep them high enough to
maintain the dignity of the institution. The need for the Preparatory
Department cannot be said to have passed in 1878 when the General
‘Assembly adopted a Iaw abolishing it. This law, in effect, was a declar-
ation by the General Assembly that thenceforth the high schools of the
State were to be completely responsible for preparing students for the
University: the University was to assume its place as head of the
public school system.

‘Tur Mernop anv Purosopmy or AcApemrc FuNcrion
Although over twenty state universities were established before the
University of Towa, it cannot be said that a definite idea existed in
1847 as to what the State University was to be and to do. What the
University became was the result of two forces: the historic idea of
the University, and the demands and wants of the society in which it

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 107

student was allowed to come when he pleased, study in such depart-

| ments as he selected—provided he studied in three—and, after he had
mustered the studies of one department, receive a certificate of profi-
ciency toward graduation. Such was the organization of the Univer-
sity that he could secure a Bachelor of Arts degree without having
studied either mathematics or the ancient languages.

‘Thus from the beginning the University sought to harmonize “‘prac-
tical’ and “liberal” education: to provide for Greek and surveying,
moral philosophy and chemistry in the same course of study, Tf this
fs a source of confusion in American universities today, it is a condition
which has been present since the middle of the last century. Signifi-
cant, indeed, is this organization of the University in terms of the
educational theory which it implies. ‘To allow a student to select the
studies which he considered would prepare him for earning a living
was to espouse the principle that higher education had for its object
the preparation of young people for the tasks of life. Cultivation of
the mind was only subsidiary, In the words of the Second Circular
this purpose is suggested:

“But while framed to furnish the loftiest style of culture, it [the Uni-
versity] can adapt itself to the lowest. By its rejection of college classes,
and its adoption of independent departments, it is enabled to furnish to
the student just what instruction he requires, without, at the same time,
compelling him to receive much that he does not want.”

While the opening of the University under this plan did arouse the
interest of Iowa newspapers, no objection to it was raised, But a
complete faculty was never secured, the Chancellor never took office,
and few students appeared who were prepared to take advantage of the
University, The financial crisis of 1857, the adoption of a new school
Jaw, and the advent of a new Board of Trustees brought this first
experiment to an end in 1858.

‘Meeting for the first time in April of 1858, with Amos Dean present
for the first time since his election as Chancellor, the new Board of
‘Trustees, without a great show of unanimity, abolished the Preparatory
Department, climinated the departments of ancient and modern lan-
guage and “theoretical” mathematics from the course of study, exclud-
ed women from the University, and decided to close the University for
two years. The object, as explained by the Secretary of the Board,
was tO establish a new policy: to create an institution primarily de-
signed to offer instruction in Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, His-
tory, Natural Philosophy, Natural History, Applied Mathematics, and

while, too, students were given gymnastic exercise and military drill.
‘Yet this plan of organization did not meet with unqualified approba-
Gon, ‘The faculty found it difficult to administer. In 1863 an exam-
ittee raised the question whether the program was so de-
as to “lay the foundation broad and strong in a general and
thorough course of collegiate study.” The next year the faculty be-
gan to consider a revision of the course of study and a reorganization
of the University. In 1865, the University was reorganized. Nothing
can be clearer, however, than that in the beginning the University
“sought primarily to offer to students the means of securing a practical
education. That it should do so, must be ascribed to the conditions

In 1865 the Board of Trustees, on the recommendation of the Pres-
ident and Faculty of the University, adopted a new plan of organiza-

ed to select one of three fixed courses: one leading to the Bachelor of
Arts degree, one to the Bachelor of Philosophy, one to the Bachelor of
Science. Only a minimum of elective subjects was allowed within each
course. In 1870 the plan of organization was again changed. The
college course was lengthened to five years, and all students were re-
quired to take essentially the same course during the first three years;
during the last two years a student might elect most of his studies.
In 1873 this organization was abandoned on the recommendation of
President Thacher.

‘The new course of study adopted in 1865 made few changes in the
offerings of the University, but during the next few years the course
was enriched by a chair of English Language and Literature, a chair
of Civil Engineering—for a time in the Collegiate Department—and
‘more adequate provision was made for the social studies. Indeed, in
1869-1870, a professor was appointed to the chair of History and Polit-
ical Economy, but at the end of the year he was discharged, apparent-
ly for political reasons. During this period.the Board of Trustees un-

new building (North Hall) instead of the
observatory. In order to secure the most
sofa tin sapmnenet 6 a ;

in this country, In 1871 the English sci
remarked:

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY it

"We trust that these important reforms in science teaching will prove
contagious, and spread rapidly from the plateau of Jowa City to a region
even greater than the American continent.”
‘The same year an American scientist, Edward C. Pickering, asserted
that the laboratory at the University of Iowa was one of the four best
in the country. However, diverging theories of education, inter-
departmental strife, and the advent of a new president brought the
rapid development of the department of physical science to am end.

Even before George Thacher had come to the University as President
im 1871 there was opposition to Hinrichs among members of the
faculty, Some disagreed with him on the theory of education; others
suspected him because he professed atheism; some were envious of his
reputation and the strength of his department. All these factors were
present when Thacher came to the University. Thacher, the oldest
man in this period to serve as President, graduated from the Yale
Theological Seminary in 1843, entered the ministry immediately, and
remained there until called to the University. Possessed of the belief
‘that education had for its purpose the cultivation of the mind, opposed
to “electives,” practical education, and the exclusion of the ancient
languages from the University curriculum, prone to be dictatorial and
emphatic in his religious beliefs, Thacher was not a man capable of
administering the University without friction. Between him and Hin-
richs there was no agreement as to the object of education. From the
very nature of the two men there could be no compromise. During
‘Thacher’s first year he and Hinrichs quarreled, and it was rumored
that the President asked for the dismissal of Hinrichs in 1872, The
Board refused, but censured Hinrichs for his conduct. News of this
reached the public, and the newspapers of the State generally support-
ed Hinrichs. However, in Thacher the various opposition to Hinrichs
found focus, and in the course of study in 1873 this opposition found
expression.

This course of study was prepared by Thacher and two members
of the Board; it was approved by the faculty with Professor Hinrichs
not voting, and Professor Eggert voting in the negative, For the first
time in the history of the University ancient languages were required
for the Bachelor of Arts degree (this requirement was in effect only
until 1884). The number of “elective” subjects was substantially
reduced. ‘The most significant change, however, was made with refer-
ence to the physical sciences. Under the old plan two years’ study of
physical science was required; under the new plan, two quarters. The

which had been present since the beginning o
Jem of offering both practical and liberal edt
Department.

created by and responsible to the G
created by the Board of Education and +
The Board of Baation was responsible to
ecgaltaa ka pate eT eae
responsibilities, Ue es Siete ee

P= S

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 113

University was organized, the details of administration were largely
handled by the officers and the executive committee of the Board, and
the faculty of the University. Occasionally, however, in the early
years, the Board would interest itself in trivial matters such as student
conduct, expenses for minor repairs in the University, and the like.
As the administration of the University became more complicated, the
Board delegated more and more administrative work to the faculty,
and to its secretary and treasurer, ‘Taken all together, the several
Boards, made up for the most part of sincere, honest, and conscientious
men, served the University well.

‘The executive committee came into existence at the time the Uni-
versity opened. In general it was composed of the resident Trustee,
‘one or more members of the Faculty—gencrally the President of the
University—the Secretary of the Board, and a responsible citizen of
Towa City, Its business was largely administrative, and its importance
in the development of the University was only nominal.

From the opening of the University, the faculty held a position of
considerable importance in the administration of the University. It
determined, within general limits, the standards by which students were
admitted, classified, promoted, and graduated. Under authority of the
Board it adopted the regulations which were designed not only to
govern the relations of the student with the University but also to
take care of his religious training, his morals, and his conduct generally.
‘The faculty sought conscientiously to enforce these rules of conduct,

A compact little group, made up for the most part of men who had
once served in the ministry, the early faculties were not noted for
harmony. Gustavus Hinrichs was the most outstanding of the early
professors, although an abundant literature testifies to the popularity
of Professors Wells, Parvin, Leonard, Parker, Currier, and Fellows.
Of the early presidents to serve, Silas Totten, James Black, and
Christian W. Slagle, were distinguished; Slagle was perhaps the most
capable President during the period under study.

‘Most of the students in the University during the early period were
the sons and daughters of Iowa farmers, mechanics, and small mer-
chants; rich men's sons went to Eastern institutions or were sent to
denominational colleges. Students came to Iowa City by train, stage
coaches, lumber wagons, buggies, on horseback, or afoot. Once in Towa
City, % student, often with carpetbag still in hand, would go to see
the president, then make arrangements for his room. After being

ranged from one hundred to three

Sa craveny orked esis eae era

numerable tasks. They sawed, split, and carried :

versity; did janitor work; tutored; St ee

handymen around many Iowa City houses, In 1878 about 30 per cent

of the students in the University were working for all or part of their
ein des

expenses.
Outside the classroom students developed a
religious interests. The most popular, the mast

literary society. This was distinctly a product of |

plied students with means of satisfying their desire
HapeteeryreMeaerrigtercde ee
served in the adult education movement, ‘The literary society, once
accepted as the most important part of college education, has passed
into history because the University course of study has absorbed many
of its forensic features and because the milieu which made it possible
in the beginning has passed. There were four prominent societies on
the campus: the Zetagathians, the Irving Institute, the Hesperians, and
the Erodelphians. The last two were women’s societies. Besides these
four permanent societies, there were innumerable other societies which
existed for a short time and then dissolved. = = ig

AL

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 115

in the University who did not intend to establish a residence in Iowa
City should not have the right to vote. For the most part, however,
harmony prevailed between Town and Gown.

BrsuiocraPHicaL Note

The source materials for the early history of the University are
abundant. The most important of these have already been deposited
in the University Archives; others are located about the campus of
the University and in the historical library at Des Moines. Manuscript
materials include the bound volumes of the records and the miscellan-
eous papers of the Board of Trustees, the minutes of the Faculty, the
letter books of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the
records of the several literary societies. All of these, except the letter
books, are the property of the University.

‘Among the printed sources the most significant are the circulars and
catalogues of the University, the University Reporter (student publi-
cation), the Iowa official documents, newspapers, and educational
journals. The state documents include the journals of both houses of
the legislature, the session laws, the debates of the constitutional con-
vention of 1857, and the journal and laws of the Board of Education.
‘The Iowa City newspapers are particularly useful for the file is almost
complete after 1846, and the items on the University are numerous
and informative. The educational journals of the State (The Voice
of Iowa, Common School, The Iowa School Journal) are valuable for
the background in educational thought which they provide.

THE CONGRESS OF PARIS OF 1856
Haroty T. Hacc

After the fall of Sebastopol in September, 1855, the great powers
allied against Russia were sharply divided on the question of bringing
the Crimean War to a close. In France, the people were overwhelm-
ingly in favor of making peace, and Emperor Napoleon III realized that
the continuation of the war offered little promise of further advantages
for his country. In England, on the other hand, the opinion prevailed
that another military and naval campaign was necessary if satisfactory
peace terms were to be obtained. When Austria, however, sought to
formulate peace proposals together with the western powers and an-
nounced her willingness to undertake armed mediation, England was
obliged to defer to the views of her ally. Late fn 1855, Austria sent
an ultimatum to Russia embodying five points as a basis of peace:
(1) the abolition of the Russian protectorate over the Danubian Prin-
cipalities and the cession of a portion of Bessarabia by Russia, (2) free
navigation of the Danube River, (3) neutralization of the Black Sea,
(4) immunities and privileges for the Christians in Turkey, (5) the
tight of the allies to develop further conditions in accord with Euro-
pean interests. Although Austria and France considered the first four
points sufficient, England had demanded additional terms. After some
controversy, the vague fifth point had been included. The threat of
a rupture with Austria and the grave internal situation in Russia forced
the Tsar to accept the ultimatum. England then insisted that her
supplementary conditions be sent to Russia and accepted by her, before
preliminaries of peace were signed. But Austria and France, anxious
for peace and fearful that such a step would endanger the negotiations,
refused to agree to it. England had to be content with the promise
of Napoleon III that he would make the disarmament of the Aland
Islands a sine qua non condition of peace.

Tt was apparent that the exigencies of domestic affairs were inclin-
ing the French Emperor to adopt a policy more moderate than that of
England. Furthermore, his attitude would be pivotal, since it would
not be feasible for England to renew the war without France. This was
‘the basic factor in the selection of Paris as the seat of the peace con-

—————_--

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 119

the leading questions were settled. Then her envoys were permitted
to share in the revision of the Straits Convention of 1841, to which she
had been a signatory,

Each power sent two plenipotentiaries to Paris. In capacity and
Strength, the delegations contrasted sharply. Clarendon and Cowley,
both men of outstanding ability, represented England. Russian interests
were ably defended by Orloff and Brunnow. Austria was less fortu-
nate in her spokesmen, Buol and Hibner. The first French pleni-
potentiary, Walewski, presided at the sessions. He proved an incompe-
tent president, however, for he lacked the necessary skill and force to
direct the discussions in a capable manner. So far as the great powers
were concerned, Clarendon was the only one of the plenipotentiaries
carrying out anything like an independent policy, and for this reason,
be was the dominant figure among them. Neither the Turkish nor the
Piedmontese envoys had much influence in framing the treaties, but
‘Cavour labored indefatigably outside the formal meetings to gain every
possible advantage for Italy.

‘The Congress of Paris emphasized in striking fashion the restoration
of French prestige and authority, and Napoleon ITT spared no pains
to make the occasion a brilliant one. There was a constant succession
of great balls, receptions, and banquets where the distinguished visitors
were received with a lavish display of hospitality, Its labors seemingly
not appreciably hindered by this social gaiety, the Congress held its
plenary sessions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at intervals of from
one to four days. ‘These meetings were supplemented by informal
conferences in which many of the agreements were reached. Yet by no
means all the important work was done behind the scenes. On some
of the most serious questions, the final decisions were the outcome of
hard struggles in the formal sessions. The Congress completed its
tasks with celerity. The first session was held on February 25 and
im less than five weeks the treaties were ready for signature. This
was largely owing to the short duration of the armistice, a provision
designed to forestall evasive and dilatory tactics on the part of Russia.
‘The improved means of communication, especially the telegraph, were
an important contributing factor.

‘The delimitation of the new frontier in Bessarabia proved the most

After the terms of the Austrian ultimatum had been drawn up, the

———

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 121

marking the first recognition by an international congress of what came
later to be called the right of national self-determination.

Like the territorial settlement, the limitation of Russian naval
‘strength in the Black Sea gave Turkey important strategic advantages.
‘The aim was to secure Turkey against Russian attack from the sea
and thereby check the extension of Russian influence over the Near
East. Neutralization was the device adopted to carry out these objects.
Russia and Turkey were permitted an equal number of light warships
for the service of thelr coasts, and each of the contracting powers was
given the right to station two light war vessels at the Danube outlets
in order to assure the execution of the regulations for the navigation
of that river. With these exceptions, warships were forbidden on the
Black Sea. Naval arsenals were also banned. Clarendon strove to
extend these provisions to the Sea of Azov and the rivers flowing into
the Black Sea, for if Russia remained free to construct warships in
these waters, the neutralization of the Black Sea would not have been
effective against her. But there was no specific provision in the pre-
liminaries for this demand and Russia refused to agree to it. A com-
Promise suggested by Orloff, however, proved acceptable to all parties,
He announced that Russia would not construct in the tributaries of
the Binck Sea or the waters dependent on it any warships other than
those to which she was entitled for the service of her coasts, This
declaration was then embodied in the fifth protocol, Russia, there-
fore, evaded a treaty engagement but conceded the principle. On the
other hand, there was no restriction placed on the Turkish naval force
in the Bosphorus or the Sea of Marmora, The neutralization of the
Black Sea, though it applied nominally to both Russia and Turkey,
‘was really effective against the former only. And, with their country
reduced to impotence on the Black Sea, the Russian plenipotentiaries
were forced to agree to a proposal designed to weaken Russian naval
power on the Baltic. In a separate convention signed by Russia, France,
and England, provision was made for the disarmament of the Aland
Islands. The aim of the allies was to afford a measure of security
for Sweden and Norway against their powerful neighbor and erect a
bartier against the spread of Russian influence over the Baltic area,

‘The new status of the Black Sea made it necessary for the Congress
to revise the Straits Convention of 1841. A provision excepting the
‘vessels to be stationed at the Danube outlets from the rule of closure
was the only modification introduced. The retention of the principle
Of the closure of the Straits while Turkey was at peace afforded her

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 123

aggression. The collective action of the European Concert was to re-
place separate action by Russia. Within the security of these safe-
guards, Turkey could carry out her reform program and become a
well-organized modern state, exercising full sovereignty and dealing
justly with all classes of subjects. The action of the powers was clearly
‘based on the assumption that Turkey was capable of becoming such a
state, Protection against external attack would not suffice to maintain
the Empire if internal stability were lacking. Ultimately the fate
of the Empire would depend on its regeneration, By giving his Chris
tian subjects the benefits of a just and enlightened rule, the Sultan
could command their loyalty and support and remove the menace of
foreign intervention in their behalf. Thus a powerful, regencrated
‘Turkey would serve as a bulwark against Russian hegemony in the
‘Near East. However, the attempt of the Congress of Paris to solve
the complex Eastern Question did not succeed, because the premise—
that Turkey was capable of reform—proved false.

In establishing an international administrative régime for Danube
River navigation, the Congress filled a need long felt. Although the
Congress of Vienna had declared that freedom of navigation should
be the rule for all international rivers on the continent, this principle
had never been applied to the Danube because Turkey was not a mem-
ber of the European state system, Since 1829, Russia had been mis-
tress of the outlets of the river, and because her own Interests were
directly opposed to the development of navigation on it, the manner
in which she exercised her contro! had resulted in much inconvenience
and expense to Danube shipping. Protests by Austria and England,
the powers whose commercial interests suffered most, were fruitless.
Under these circumstances, it was natural that a free Danube became
an important war aim of the powers aligned against Russia.

To eliminate the disadvantages of separate regulation by the ripar-
fan states, the Congress established two international commissions for
the Danube. A European Commission, composed of one representative
each of the contracting powers, was charged with supervising the
engineering works necessary to improve navigation at the river mouths.
After the completion of its task, this body was to be dissolved and the
administration of the river vested in a riparian commission. The new
boundary in Bessarabia, by depriving Russia of her status as a riparian
power and as local sovereign at the delta, insured the freedom of the
international organs from possible Russian interference. Although the
Austrian plenipotentiaries bent every effort to restrict the international

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 125

ea are ane mension Miata spain i calpeel
to afford further security for the peace settlement. The contracting
powers guaranteed the independence and integrity of the Ottoman
Empire and agreed to consider any infraction of the general treaty
of peace as a cosus belli, The eventual conclusion of such a treaty
had been provided for in a previous agreement between the three powers.
Because of the friendly attitude of Napoleon IIT towards Russia, how-
ever, it was soon apparent that the convention had little real force.

‘The last act of the Congress was the adoption of the Declaration of
Paris, a new code of rules for maritime warfare, Privateering was
abolished; enemy goods on neutral ships, with the exception of contra-
band, were not to be liable to capture, nor, with the same exception,
‘were neutral goods on enemy ships. Henceforth, blockades to be bind-
ing must be effective, Privateering had fallen into discredit since 1815
and the other provisions of the Declaration had been admitted by
nearly all the powers. During the war, the allies had put all these
principles in practice, though England had not previously accepted the
rule that free ships make free goods. England now formally conceded
this principle and obtained in return the abolition of privatecring. The
English therefore secured an important advantage in exchange for relin-
quishing their former rule, which they believed could no longer be
maintained.

To a marked degree, the work of the Congress of Paris bore the
impress of the new forces in European life and politics. Particularly
significant was the recognition of the principle of nationality implied in
the Roumanian settlement. Notable also was the establishment of an
international régime for Danube navigation, illustrating the increasing
interdependence of the countries of Europe. The Congress had also
to its credit an endorsement, if made in qualified terms, of mediation
&5 a process of adjusting international disputes, The Declaration of
Paris harmonized international maritime law with the more enlightened
conceptions of belligerent rights at sea which had developed since the
Napoleonic wars. Moreover, the peace settlement which readjusted
the balance of power did not aggrandize national interests so much
‘as it promoted the general interests of Europe.

se ee ©

‘The protocols are the most important source for the plenary sessions.
‘These official reports furnish, on the whole, an accurate and full account
‘of the formal proceedings. They are printed in British and Foreign

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 127

gress as it appeared to a famous English diarist while visiting in Paris
is described in Greville, A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria, vol.
VIII (London, 1888). An almost contemporaneous volume on the
Congress is Gourdon, Histoire du Congres de Paris (Paris, 1857). It
has some useful details on the functioning of the Congress, but makes
no attempt to trace and analyze the negotiations.

Contemporary articles in French and English periodicals have much
valuable material bearing on the Congress. These include Le Corre-
spondant, Revue des Deux Mondes, Edinburgh Review, Saturday Re-
view, North British Review, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Illus-
trated London News, Fraser's Magazine, and British Quarterly Review.
Important phases of the negotiations are treated in two penetrating
secondary studies: Riker, The Making of Roumania (London, 1931)
and Puryear, England, Russia, and the Straits Question 1844-1856
(Berkeley, Cal., 1931).

FORCED LABOR IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, 1850-1914
Ricuaxp Drost

About the middle of the XIXth Century the colony of Queensland
in Australia and such islands of the South Pacific as were being exploit-
ed by European enterprise, began to suffer from an acute shortage of
labor. This labor problem was solved in part by the introduction of
forced labor obtained from the island world of the Pacific. English,
French, and German, as well as American enterprises, were alike eager
to press these islanders into service.

‘These “Kanakas,” as they were called, were held to be better able
to withstand the rigors of these tropical regions than were the whites.
‘Then, too, it was considered far better to usc black, island labor than
to seek to secure resumption of convict labor or the introduction of
Hindu or Chinese coolies against which there were violent protests
throughout Australasia.

Abuses were inseparable from this labor traffic even when all reason-
able official vigilance was exercised. Few natives voluntarily entered
the service of white men, Because of the great need of labor unscrup-
ulous recruiting methods were therefore introduced. Natives were
inveigled into schooners under all manner of pretenses and were then
secured and carried away. There were among the recruiters those who
Tan down canoes laden with natives who had paddled out to the recruit-
ing vessel for sightseeing or trading purposes, thus rendering them help-
less in the water so that they could be easily seized. Other recruiters
took advantage of the confidence which the natives generally placed
in the missionaries. They caused someone on board to pose as a
missionary in order to entice the unsuspecting natives aboard their
vessels, only to be carried away. Some even went so far as to camou-
flage their schooners to make them appear like the well-known mission-
ary ships which cruised regularly about the islands. Numerous cases
of violations of laws of humanity were a matter of record. A few cases
only can be mentioned.

Perhaps the worst instances of malpractice were the raids of Peruvian
slavers during the years of the American Civil War. Thousands of

did well to refer to such matters as length
and conduct. Length of service was at fir
but because of the increasing difficulty of
‘home for so Jong a time, and because of

[i )

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 13t

use of contract labor which began to be applied, the time of indenture
‘was materially lessened. For plantation laborers the time was reduced
to three years. Other industries such as fishing, mining, and sandal-
wood cutting, by their very nature, permitted of much shorter contracts.

Judging by records prior to 1870 which indicate that employers of
island labor were even then willing to pay five pounds per head for
each recruit, those engaged in the work of recruiting found it a most
Profitable venture. These prices prevailed at the time in Fiji, New
Zealand, Samoa, and Queensland. Thus a single vessel of average
size, after a few weeks cruise, might carry a complement of recruits
to some labor market for which a profit of £1200 or some $6,000.00
‘was the reward. With the movement of Europeans into the Pacific
to exploit its varied resources, the demand for labor was increased, and
in consequence the value of labor was increased so that as much as
$110.00 per head was being paid by 1883. The enhanced prices were
due to increasingly drastic regulations applying especially to British
vessels, to the greater profits in raising sugar cane rather than cotton
or coconuts, and to the fact that among the British the labor traffic
was largely a private venture in which usually owners of single vessels
were interested.

Competition among the several labor markets of the South Pacific
also increased the price. Then, too, the islanders themselves became
‘more and more unwilling to leave their homes because of the uncertain-
ty of their return. This uncertainty was due to the fraud and deceit
practiced upon them and to the frightful mortality among them when

as laborers elsewhere,

Tt is to be understood that the hardships inflicted upon the Kanaka
Tay not wholly in the method of recruiting but also in the treatment
which he received while in service. Much discontent and ill will was
created among the natives by unfulfilled promises and violated rights.
Such conduct on the pari of the whites caused frequent outrages perpe-
trated by natives. The cutting of sandalwood, for example, which was
an exceedingly remunerative article of trade, was a challenge to greed
and cruelty on the part of the native workers, This was also true of
pearl fishing which drew many independent ship-owners because of the
extraordinary profits offered. The swimming and diving required by
‘this industry were performed by natives who were in many cases as
auch at home in the water as on land. Both the pearls and the shells
‘were of great commercial value and the industry expanded enormously.
In the Tuamots Islands a trader collected at one point $100,000.00

132 IOWA STUDIES IN 1
worth of shel] at a cost to him:

Tt must be conceded that it took infinite p
planters to train Kanakas to the duties of

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 133

care and comfort, Usually a far greater number of men than women
were recruited, but some plantation owners desired the presence of a
certain proportion in order to insure greater contentment. When
employed on the plantations or in the fishing industries, the women
ail Many, too, were recruited for

Hels prkape try that certain beneis accrued tothe Kanaba labor

foreign parts a more regular supply was assured. Furthermore, service
with the whites increased their knowledge and experience far above
that of the members of their tribe who remained at home.

On the other hand it was claimed that the rigorous life which the
native laborers were made to undergo made physical wrecks of them
by the time their years of indenture were completed, Missionaries com-
plained that such as had the Christian faith instilled into them in their
native islands were rarely able to retain this during their period of
indenture. It was also claimed that the repatriated natives were more
reckless, cruel, and savage than when carried away.

The introduction of this native labor was a matter of concern among

of civilized nations generally. This is evident from the
rather considerable space given to it in parliamentary debates, govern-
ment documents, the press, missionary reports, and reports of travelers,
traders, ship-captains, government inspectors, consuls, and other offcials
of the various interested nations. So much first-hand information tell-
ing of the atrocities of the traffic in natives was continually forthcom-
ing that it became necessary for colonial and metropolitan governments
to deal with the problem. It was deemed imperative that strict watch-
fulness should be maintained to prevent the rise of slavery under vari-
‘ous innocent sounding names. During the course of Kanaka exploita-
tion there was every reason to belicve that the exploitation of the
Pacific Island world was bringing about the enslavement of its dark-
skinned inhabitants, Beginning in 1813 and continuing into the last
hali of the century proclamations by those in authority were frequently
issued dealing with the treatment of South Sea Islanders, In spite of
these official orders the natives continued to be the victims of violence
and inhumanity.

Soon after the first Kanakas were brought to the cotton plantations
of Queensland in 1363, it became apparent that legislation in their
behalf was necessary, Many felt that a great wrong was inflicted by the

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 135

were raised in denunciation of the traffic. This led the British govern-
ment itself to take steps to control the system. As early as January,
1871, the British consul in Fiji was instructed to superintend the intro-
duction and treatment of Polynesian Inborers. During the same year
the Colonial Secretary, the Earl of Kimberley, dispatched a circular
letter to the governors of the different Australian colonies and of New
Zealand in which they were reminded of the numerous unpunished
crimes which were taking place in the labor traffic because of the diffi-
culty of apprehending the perpetrators and of securing evidence against
them. This reminder did not, for various reasons, soon bring noticeable
results. There was a strong group in the Australian colonies which
looked upon imperial legislation as meddling in their affairs. The mat-
ter of expense also acted as a deterrent. Then, too, some wished to leave
the problem entirely to the British navy. Still others refused to be
concemed about a few savages in a far-away corner of the world, Fin-
ally, there were those who felt that the co-operation of all governments
having interests in the South Pacific, especially France, Germany, and
the United States, must be secured in order to insure successful regula~
tion.

Although warnings of travellers and missionaries were many, and the
Pressure of the Aborigines Protection Society in England was great,
opposition was so strong that only some tragic event could bring reform.
On September 20, 1871, Bishop Patteson, the missionary hero, died a
martyr to the cause of the abolition of the labor traffic. His murder
was much lamented in England as well as in the colonies. The result
was the passage of the so-called “Kidnapping Act” of 1872 which had
for its object the prevention of natives being forcibly taken or decoyed
from their homes under false pretenses and under contracts which they
could not understand. This Act declared it a felony to take natives
without their consent and employ them as laborers. Violations were
punishable in any Supreme Court in any of the Australian colonies, The
carrying of natives without license made the master of the vessel lable
to a fine, not to exceed five hundred pounds, The kidnapping of natives
with its attendant crimes made the perpetrators liable to “the highest
punishment other than capital punishment or to any Jess punishment
awarded for any felony by the Iaw of the colony in which such offender
shall be tried,”

Because this Act was unsatisfactory, the Imperial Government in
1875 supplemented the Act of 1872 by “The Pacific Islanders Amend-
ment Act.” This instrument contained a code dealing with the punish-

against the High
(hat he had shown nd eee
and (2) “that he bad shown equally undue

ed recommendations on October 16, 1883, It
could be so regulated that its abuses would |
by more efficient precautions and increased

EE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 137

humanitarian motives, passed a regulation prohibiting the traffic in
liquor and firearms, But because of the resentment caused by this
Measure among recruiters who saw in it a transfer of this lucrative
trade to other nations, the regulation was not enforced until some years
later. Since the liquor trade was held to be an adjunct of the labor
traffic and since the feeling grew that it should be suppressed in order
to cope with the traffic in Kanakas, in 1884 all the British trading
vessels in the Western Pacific were prohibited from offering liquor and
firearms in trade to natives.

‘The most important factor in causing the growth of Kanaka labor in
‘Queensland was the expansion of sugar culture in the 70's and 80's.
‘The profitable nature of this intensive crop and the abundance of un-
cultivated land on which sugar could be grown in northern Queensland,
together with the abundance of available capital, brought a sharp
acceleration in the demand for island laborers. Among employers of
Kanakas and among political leaders many apologists for the system
existed, but there was also a strong and ever more critical opposing
sentiment. In Queensland there developed a partisanship a little like
that which existed between North and South in the United States be-
fore the Civil War. Whereas the early government of Queensland was
dominated by the planter class for whose benefit Kanakas were being
imported, a strong democratic feeling, fostered particularly in labor
circles, came to the front in the political life of the colony in 1872.
Tn Queensland the labor movement affiliated itself with the Liberal
Party whose leader, S. W. Griffith, was willing to lead them to a reali-
zation of their desire to rid the colony of black labor. Henceforth the
‘Kanaka labor question assumed a prominent place in the political life
of Queensland, and it became the source of more party and personal
differences than any other question in the political history of Queens-
Jand. For this reason Queensland’s legislative history is full of changing
policies with respect to labor regulation.

‘The Act of 1880 dealt with almost every conceivable angle of the
traffic. In order to safeguard white labor Kanaka labor was hence-
forth to be restricted to agriculture. Directions for the comfort of the
Kanaka were more specifically given, and suit might be brought for him
in any court of justice. Several changes were made in the Act during
the next few years most of which aimed at the improvement of the lot
of the black laborer. The feeling that, so far as Queensland was con-
cerned, the trade was carried out under such stringent regulations that
it was impossible for abuses, especially kidnapping, to take place, receiv-

im WWs STUUGES IS THE Secial SCIENCES

ot 2 seem Sock weet £m reweee foe eee emus iad
cacrig on al fe pecices of jee wees “Bom eee
omit mo: gece 2 Tate of whet Sis wew wewekoe of bores
meemed 0 be 2 wecesexy yet It 1887 2 mew Ac wos peed cia
img fee Kanak: Grom Geen she fee 22a Gey & Decent,
2M.

Poon meade 0 siecome white eer ir heck ers aed
wit some deeme of eee be ems of immigoei proecs Bet
‘by fae che of See peer 2802 the wey mmr wie had been the keer
3 ihe anch-Kameke owes evodeesd Ieee: w resetrodece black
Jar. Te deteme Geifict cane she be cond me: qty book a
see foowsends of hie coumcrmer rumeed ior feck of labor throeeh the
‘yemsceme poicy” of the Iabor pets. A pecind of serious economic
sores beiped ww dew che atemie zeer from the Kamla qosin
making cf possible ier this formes staunch advocate of a -White
Auscraka” tw have his measure pewed. New regulations were adopted
‘i ap excess endezew tw make the stay of the black borers among

F Ansceless chet was smc secimen: sciaverable to the
rencz cf che Kemet
Te che new movemen: for AmszaGer Federatice che labor vote which

swung s. =och Dy the Somacicarian metive which had been in
the beknce agains: the political. bet by another political move which
owertelaxced an¢ s:twezbed that ci Kanaka labor. namely, that of
federation of the Australian colonies.

Al:bough the Queensland Kanaka labor market was practically clos-
ed in 19C1, New Guinea. the New Hebrides, Fiji, the Solomons, and
the French and German possessions all continued to require black labor
for their development. The problem of securing a regular labor supply
was ever the foremost problem in the development of island industries.

With the spread of trade and commerce, with the increase of mis-
sionary influence. and with the islands becoming subject to European
governments under responsible officials the condition of the island
laborers gradually improved. Nevertheless, it remained an institution

=

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 139

which was constantly attacked as inhuman in practice and unwise in
political economy, and which met with little sympathy in the minds
of those not actually engaged in or profiting by the traffic itself.

‘The results of the labor traffic were far-reaching. They had their
bearing upon international diplomacy, upon questions of annexation,
federation, depopulation, and missionary effort. All of these matters
were of absorbing interest not only in the British colonies but in Euro-
pean countries as well, Such varied interests called for co-operation,
understanding, and skillful diplomacy on the part of nations whose
traders were engaged in or whose possessions were touched by the
Tabor traffic,

Tilustrations of diplomatic exchanges resulting from the traffic are
many. Freee and England by bringing pressure to bear upon Chili
and Peru were able to secure the return of such Kanakas, still living,
as had been taken into slavery during the American Civil War. Eng-
land in 1867 was reminded by France of the wrong practices of Queens-
Tand labor vessels. France was informed by other nations of gross
evils connected with the labor traffic in New Caledonia.

England, the first to feel the danger of the traffic to international
relations, for many years sought an understanding with France, Ger-
many, and the United States to abolish the traffic together with its
dependent trade in liquor and firearms. Attempts at co-operation fail-
ed; each country was afraid of losing the profitable gun and liquor
trade. The proposition that an international commission should act
as a court to try cases of violation was not approved because of the
fear that such a commission, if permanently continued, might give rise
to serfous

Not infrequently diplomatic failure resulted in annexation of islands
and in strained relations between the home governments, Could the
Powers have secured and maintained reasonable co-operation in the
labor traffic there would have been no such race in annexation; at
Teast, the reason most frequently urged would have been lacking. How
to secure the labor and how to free the traffic from prevailing evils
were the problems whose solution by way of annexation caused dis-
putes between powers, differences between colonies, unsatisfactory trea~
ties, threats, discord, and jealousies. ‘The basis of a large part of the
annexation movement lay in the need of securing and maintaining an
unfailing labor supply. The humanitarian desire so to regulate the
traffic as to curb the evils practiced by one nation usually served as an
excuse for annexation on the part of some other power,

iste, Becatso Se wad: bald in open en
advantage of the French, and because the

ed. They also felt that the labor traffic,

for this persistent demand on their part many of 1
now British possessions, might have passed into |

aes ah the Knap eee aE
was the power which a united Australia.

force in the fight for the protection of wi
stricted compctition of a colored population,
social problem which would result from the com
colored labor helped to influence the « 3

ee Y

EE

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 141

to bring the Commonwealth into being. Upon federation, of course,
followed the abolition of Kanaka labor. Late in 1901 a bill was passed
in the Commonwealth Parliament abolishing black labor from Australia.
Few regrets were expressed. As was predicted, very little hardship
resulted from the removal of the Kanaka, and in Queensland there was
genuine satisfaction expressed that she could no longer be characterized
as a slave state.

No consideration of the system of the labor traffic as it was conduct-
ed in the South Pacific would be complete without some reference to
the missionaries. Of those who were interested in the welfare and pro-
tection of the natives they must receive first mention. Because of
their intimate acquaintance with the savages, they were aware of the
evil influences constantly working to the detriment of their protégés,
and their love for humanity revolted against such practices as the labor
traffic exhibited. The missionaries exposed to the authorities, whenever
possible, the infamous deeds of the traders, Their general interest in
the suppression of the labor traffic led missionaries to urge annexation
of various island groups as offering the best means of regulation and
suppression. Then, too, missionaries began to realize more and more
that the conversion of the native into a worker was closely associated
with the development of island industry, and that with wise provision
and control the best interests of the natives could be conserved with
advantage rather than injury to economic progress. For that reason
they became more lenient toward British traders, encouraging especially
those who had established themselves among them, English mission-
aries were especially helpful in establishing and promoting British rule
in newly annexed territories,

An important effect upon native life attributed to the labor traffic
was the rapid depopulation of the islands, Colonial governors, High
Commissioners, and other officials did not hesitate to place the respon-
sibility for much of the existing candition upon the labor trade which
carried the natives, while in the prime of life, away from their homes
for long periods of time. To be sure, the labor trade was not entirely
responsible for this condition. Various diseases, formerly unknown
among natives, seriously depleted their numbers. Social diseases had
been introduced; the use of alcohol brought about debauchery and
degradation.

‘The importance of Kanaka labor in the South Pacific can scarcely
be overestimated, It made possible the sugar industry in Queensland,
Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Guinea; pearl and trepang fishing

Printed Papers of the Federal Council of Aust
tinct value, Queensland documents were not
of the State University of Towa, but two im

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 143

maintained by the British government and the consequent amount of
space given to the question in these documents further assist in over-
coming the lack of the Queensland records. Then, too, it must be
borne in mind that beside Queensland there were other centers of the
labor traffic.

The British Parliamentary Debates furnished information as well as
English reaction and empire perspective. The Stenographische Berichte
des Deutschen Reichstages, espcially the Anlagen, have been of consid-
erable assistance because of the descriptions of rivalries between Ger-
man and English planters and merchants in various parts of the Pacific.
The American State Papers and Die Grosse Politik have been given
some attention.

Documentary material was supplemented by original accounts glean-
ed from Petermann’s Mittheilungen, Deutsche Rundschau, Die Neue
Zeit, and other periodicals, Further illustrative material and atmos-
phere was obtained from numerous missionary accounts, accounts of
travelers, traders, and naval officers, all containing information of a
varied nature. Among these the account of the recruiter, W. T. Wawn,
was especially helpful.

FOUR ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF GREAT
BRITAIN AT THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Artuur Grorcr Umscmerp

Four major economic problems confronted the British people in the
late nineteenth century—the position of Great Britain in the world of
commerce and industry, the question of commercial policy, the plight
of British agriculture, and the movement towards economic consolida-
tion of the Empire.

oe eee

The traditional view has long maintained that the late nineteenth
‘century witnessed the decline of Great Britain in the world of com-
‘merce and industry, It is quite truc that the passing of Britain's man-
ufacturing monopoly cost England the economic hegemony she had so
Jong enjoyed, but from this very obvious fact one has no right to infer
‘an actual decline, Many a gloomy picture has been painted of Brit-
ain’s recession and many a lamentation has mourned her faded glory.
‘From her industrialists and exporters arose cries of despair as foreign
tariffs barred once lucrative markets and foreign traders disputed with
the Englishman for supremacy in the neutral markets of the world.

Tn sharp contrast to this well-known story appear the words of Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in presenting the
budget for 1900, The budget, he said, “. . . bears remarkable testi-
mony to the extraordinary industrial activity and commercial pros-
perity of the year 1899. It is one of a period—T hope of a long period
—of prosperous years; but it has been by far the most prosperous of
all.”

The traditional view is one that will bear some modification. It is
hardly correct to speak of the decline of Great Britain unless by that
term one means a relative decline, Some industries, notably agricul-
ture, sugar, and silk, had gone down through their inability to produce
at the level of world prices which the free trade system allowed to
prevail in the United Kingdom. But at the turn of the century
Britain’s industrial production and foreign trade reached heights never
before attained.

After the industrial revolution had obtained a firm foothold in the

-_

EO

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 147

recession. Iron and steel production in the nineties fell considerably
below the figures for the previous decade, but new heights were at-

American production increased from 4,2 million tons to 22.5 million,
In the export trade, however, Great Britain sent out in 1905-1908
irom, steel, and steel manufactures almost equal in value to those of
Germany, the United States, and France combined. No figures could
give a more eloquent testimony to the value of the domestic market
where the greater American and German output was absorbed.

Coal production increased from 156.4 million tons in 1880-1884 to
254.1 million in 1905-1908, but whereas in the former period Britain
produced an amount equal to that of Germany, the United States, and
France together, in the latter the United States alone produced 380.2
million tons compared with Britain's 254.1 million.

‘The number of spindles employed in the British cotton industry
increased from 36 million in 1870-1874 to 52 million in 1905-1908
and the consumption of raw cotton increased from a value of 1228.6
million pounds sterling in 1871-1875, reckoned at inflated prices, to
1575.4 million pounds in 1891-1895, when prices were near their low-
‘est. The consumption of raw woo! was slightly less in 1900-1904 than
im 1890-1894, but it reached new heights in 1905-1908,

In 1900 the shipping tonnage of the United Kingdom was 9,304,108;
with the added tonnage of the British Empire the figure reached
10,751,392. On the other hand the total registered tonnage of Russia,
Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the German Empire, Holland,
Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, United States, and
Japan was, in round numbers, about 10,000,000, but of this number
some 4,500,000 was enrolled and licensed in the United States for use
on inland waterways, fisheries, and the coasting trade,

In productive capacity Great Britain was outdistanced by the turn
of the century, In the value of her foreign trade she still led the field
with no close competitor, as foreign trade played a role vastly more
significant in her unbalanced economy than was true of her principal
rivals, It is impossible to understand the altered position of British
commerce and industry at the dawn of the twentieth century unless
one takes into account the tremendous increase in the world’s capacity
to produce and consume resulting from the expansion of the industrial

‘rads returns! pote tot eked renee
quent. With Disraeli men believed

but it was also damned. By 1880, ho
some thirty-five years before was empty! — e
was on the decline. In England free traders could be {

mitted that the battle for their doctrines mij
again. .
Controversies over the question of commercia
reflect the state of a nation's trade. Bad trade
agitation for modification of the existing sj
or restrictive, In the United States high p
War. On the Continent, where free trad
rooted in the popular mind, the commercial di
was blamed upon the low tariffs. ‘With the:G
protectionist reaction had begua. erid
had supplanted Adam Smith and the |
British free trade, originally designed fo
pated so confidently by Richard Cobden,
mounting tariff walls of the United S
‘The dawn of the twentieth century found Bi
of insular free trade. -
Tn England itself the protectionist reacti
ress. After 1880 the attention of P

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 149

the subject of commercial policy, but against the large free trade
majority they were at best only idle gestures. The minority in Parlia-
ment opposed to free trade could do little but make themselves obnox-
fous.

‘The epithet of “protectionist” was one which no one in British poli-
tical circles coveted. Hence the early movement against free trade
masked itself under the designation of “Fair Trade.” The Fair Trade
League was organized in May, 1881, and presented a program calling
for the adoption of moderate duties on foreign manufactures to be
tused in bargaining and to check foreign “dumping.” Import duties
were to be levied upon foodstuffs produced in foreign countries while
similar produce from the Empire was to be admitted free. This was
@ tactical blunder and gave the free traders the opportunity to unleash
the fury of their attack upon a minority who would tax the food of
the people.

‘The Fair Trade League was a premature movement, It had been able
to capitalize upon the undue concern in England caused by the tariffs
of the eighties which were not prohibitive in any sense. Strangely
enough, in the nineties, with highly protective tariffs in the United
States and on the Continent, one finds less alarm in Great Britain than
was true in the previous decade.

‘Tt was not until the publication of the Board of Trade memoranda
of 1903, 1905, and 1909, that the burning issue of free trade and
protection could be satisfactorily divorced from the theoretical grounds
upon which it was usually argued. The statistics included in these
Memoranda prove conclusively that, despite the contentions of the
orthodox free traders, the foreign tariffs had seriously crippled British
trade, not by reducing the actual value of British exports to protected
markets, but rather by retarding the tempo of Britain's commercial
‘and industrial expansion, In the protected markets the mounting
volume of British goods had been checked and its proportion to the
total value of all British foreign trade was falling steadily. In 1880-
1884, 42.5 per cent of Britain’s total foreign trade went to the protect-
ed markets of the world; in 1905-1908 the proportion had fallen to 36.2
per cent. If manufactured articles only be considered, the decline was
more pronounced, as might be expected, for such goods bore the brunt
of hostile tariffs. In 1850, 57 per cent of all British manufactures
went to those countries later designated by the Board of Trade as pro-
tected; in 1902 these same markets absorbed only 38 per cent of Bri-
tain'’s manufactured exports. The shift in percentages does not neces-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 151

the decay of British agriculture in the late nineteenth century, In a
world of competitive and militaristic nationalisms Great Britain viewed
‘with complacency the passing of the basic industry in human economy.
‘Tt was the supreme gesture of confidence in faissez-faive.

Of the generation that witnessed the triumph of free trade, there
‘was a strong minority who cried out against the danger of leaving agri-
culture unprotected against the rigors of international competition. But
@ quarter of @ century passed only to discredit these prophecies as Bri-
tish agriculture prospered behind the shelter of natural barriers. By
1875 this protection had been withdrawn. The course of westward ex-
pansion in the New World, aided by technological advance, broke down
the sheltering barriers and the British farmer was rudely thrust beyond
the borders of the island kingdom into a world market in which he could
‘no longer compete.

Had British agriculture anticipated this transition, internal readjust-
ments might have softened the blow, ‘The agricultural system was,
however, poorly designed to mect the challenge of changing times. A
sturdy middle class landowner might have withstood the shock, but a
system composed chiefly of interdependent great landowners and small
tenant farmers found both helpless during the long years of distress.

‘The prosperous years before 1873 led to high rents and land valu-
ation. Tenants, anxious to secure farms, were encouraged to bid for
leases and the highest bidder was successful. The leases themselves
‘were unavoidable products of the system. There was no real freedom
‘of contract and landowners could dictate terms restricting the freedom
of the tenant beyond all reasonable bounds. They stipulated the crops
‘he might raise, the rotation he must follow, the number of animals he
‘might pasture, and the compensation, if any, he was to receive for un-
exhausted improvements, They usually reserved all mineral and tim-
ber to the landlord, while at the same time forbidding the tenant to
destroy any game, even though it ravaged his crops. These leases were
long, nineteen and twenty-one years being most common; when entered
into during prosperous times they became heavy burdens in the years
of

Rents were high, averaging 20s, to 25s. per acre in the early eightics,
To this cost was added an equal amount for fertilizers required on the
exhausted English soil, Rates, special taxes, and the obnoxious tithe
‘were all paid by the tenant with the sole exception of the property tax
which fell to the lot of the landlord. The high cost of inefficient agri-
cultural Jabor constituted an important item in the farmer's operating

amount could be added the loss of

the result would be staggering.

In England the fall in price levels betwee
mated at rom 36 t9 40 percent baton h
commodities it was even greater. V
quarter in 1873 to 22s, 10d, ‘in 1894, a

cds severe handshipy oa the Brldsh farmey
seve ‘kirselt hy aking oct ee
meats and dairy products, the British fi

ot cared] growing land 10 g0 ont of caltyatioat

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 153
In the disastrous year 1879, with half a normal crop, the price of

pression in their final report of 1882, but for some reason, known only
to themselves, they made no effort to solve the perplexing problem.

tion with the cheap, virgin soll of the New World. Railroads and
steamships, often the products of British industry and capital, enabled
the agricultural products of the Western hemisphere to be delivered
quickly and cheaply in English ports. Although the corn farmer bore
the brunt of the attack in the early years, the advent of artificial re-
frigeration in 1880 removed the protection of distance from the meat
producer also.

Attempts on the part of the agricultural Interests to secure govern-
mental intervention met with little success. The intensive farming of
Great Britain could not possibly supply her own needs, and food had
to be imported. Free trade reigned supreme in the halls of Parlia-
ment and no concession was to be expected if even the most trivial tax
upon food was involved. Government after government expressed its
sympathy; domestic legislation was passed; two Royal Commissions
conducted exhaustive inquiries, one in 1879-1882 and the other in
1804-1897, but no modification of the policy of unrestricted imports
could be obtained.

At the turn of the century the pattern of British agriculture was
greatly changed. In 1841-1845 the domestic production of wheat
was sufficient to meet the requirements of 90 per cent of a population
‘of 24,000,000, In 1901-1905 wheat production in the United Kingdom
fed only some 4,500,000 people, or 10.6 per cent of the population,
Parliament was warned that out of every six loaves consumed in Great
Britain, five came from abroad, and four of those five were exported
from potentially hostile countries. In the mid-seventies 85 per cent
‘of the meat consumed was produced at home; in 1901-1905 domestic
production accounted for only fifty-five per cent of the meat used by the
British people. Twenty-six per cent of the corn producing area of the
United Kingdom had gone out of cultivation. The number of agri-
cultural laborers had decreased from 983,919 In 1881 to 689,292 in
1901.

Great Britain entered the twenticth century with a national economy

|

conception was all the more appealing because it was so logical. The
great expanse of the Empire, its rich and varied resources, its product-
tive potentiality, all gave promise of completely supplying Britain's

way. They forgot that more than a century before the embryonic
nationalism of the thirteen colonies would not allow itself to be coerced
for the profits of the British trader. They forgot that in 1846 England
had adopted free trade. They forgot that the right of a self-governing
dominion to choose protection could not be interfered with unless the
unwritten constitution of the British Empire was to be thrown into
discard. In theory the new imperial concept aimed at greater unity;
in practice it contained the seeds of disruption, British free trade
Tmust compromise with colonial protection and British imperialism
must harmonize with colonial nationalism.

From its very beginning the imperial movement clashed with the
free trade ideal. The Fair Trade agitation of the early eighties had as
‘one of its objectives the levy of duties of 10 per cent od valorem upon
food imported from foreign countries while admitting that from the
Empire free. This was a sorry tactical blunder. Upon the heads of
‘those who supported the Fair ‘Trade doctrines fell the wrath of the free
traders, whose anger knew no bounds whenever the suggestion of taxing
food was put forward. If the Empire had contributed a larger share of
Britain's imports, the plea of the imperialists might have carried greater
weight, but four-fifths of the total food imported came from foreign
nations.

‘Under pressure of economic distress during the years of intense de-
pression between 1883-1886, the enthusiasm of the imperialist minor-
ity transcended all previous bounds. Some dreamed of the self-suffic-

——

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 137

from giving preferential treatment to products of the Mother Country.

Following the Conference of 1897 at London, with the Salisbury Gov-
| ernment again in power, and upon the repeated request of the colonial
representatives, the treaties were denounced, ‘The way was paved for
colonial preference on British goods.

‘The colonial preferential tariffs mark the closest possible approxi-
mation to an imperial customs union while Great Britain still clung
to the free trade system. All hope of reciprocal treatment by Britain
for colonial products came to an untimely end after the historic de-
‘bate at the Conference of 1907, when the Liberals, fresh from their
overwhelming victory at the polls only a few months before, interpret-
ed the election as 4 mandate to retain the free trade system intact. The
issue rested thus until Britain’s departure from free trade in 1931,

‘The failure to consolidate the Empire over a period of half a century
‘was chiefly due to the incompatibility of British free trade and colonial
protection on the one hand and British imperialism and colonial nation-
alism on the other. The more immediate explanation was to be found
in the nature of British trade, During the late nineteenth century,
only one-fourth to one-third of Britain's total trade was with the Em-
pire. Free traders were probably more practical than they were given
‘credit for as they argued that 75 per cent of Britain’s trade should not
be crippled by duties in the illusory hope of stimulating the remainder.
‘The idea of the British commonwealth of nations was destined to grow
despite the lack of economic encouragement, but as the twentieth cen-
tury dawned British imperialists realized that whatever might be the
future status of the Empire, at least it did not hold the solution to
Britain's more immediate problems,

ee ee

In assembling & bibliography for these essays, the writer's task has
been one of elimination. A tremendous amount of official and unoffi-
cial material is available, of which only the more significant has been
used. The Parliamentary Papers have been the source most frequently
utilized. The more important include: the series of Memoranda on
British and Foreign Trade and Industry prepared by the Board of
‘Trade, which contain an immense amount of valuable information, much
of which is arranged in a comparative manner; the Statistical Abstracts
for the United Kingdom, the Colonies, the principal foreign countries,
and, after 1905, the British Empire; the reports of Special Commis-
sioners sent by the Board of Trade to inquire into the conditions and

THE INFLUENCE OF SIR WILFRID LAURIER ON THE FOR-
MATION OF THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
OF NATIONS

Nett Hisrop BAXTER

Tn 1896, when Wilfrid Laurier became Prime Minister of Canada,
the British Empire was composed of the British Isles, the Dominion of
Canada, the self-governing colonies, India, the Crown Colonies, and
Protectorates. It was scattered over the American continents, Asia,
Africa, and Oceana, and was inhabited by peoples of different races,
cultures, and in different stages of advancement,

Growth and development as well as geographical conditions had
brought about a wide commercial diversity within the Empire, and as
‘a result each self-governing colony had established its own fiscal policy.
‘The variety of tariff regulations made for confusion and revealed the
need for a closer commercial union, not only among the geographically
co-terminous colonies, but also between all the self-governing colonies
and the Mother Country. Among the first suggestions to be made was
the establishment of a system of preferential tariffs within the Empire.
‘This proposal was made at the first Imperial Conference in 1887 in
connection with a general defense plan but nothing was accomplished.

‘The first practical step was taken by the Laurier government in 1897
when a preference in the form of 1234 per cent reduction from the
general tariff was granted on British manufactured goods. This prefer-
ence was freely given and no concessions were asked from the British
government. In 1898 the preference was increased to 25 per cent and
later raised to 33 1/3 per cent. Under the stimulus of these reductions
British-Canadian trade not only arrested the decline of recent years but
made a remarkable gain. The granting of this preference had several
definite results: firstly, it pointed the way to a new method of co-oper-
ation in an area where uniformity was undesirable and impossible, since
the Canadian government could not abandon protection and Great
Britain would not give up free trade; secondly, it forced the British
government to abrogate unfavorable treaties with Germany and Bel-
gium, which had prevented the granting of preferential treatment of

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 161

each section of the Empire raise, train, and equip a force to serve in
any place within the Empire at the call of the Mother Country, Canada
and Australia objected to this and both insisted that local forces should
be controlled by local authorities. Laurier could not consent to any
such program of centralization. He did agree to reorganize the Cana-
dian Militia so as to bring it more in harmony with the imperial forces.
Laurier could not agree to make direct contribution to the British
Admiralty for naval purposes. ‘The Admiralty demanded full control
of all naval forces of the Empire. To this Laurier was opposed. His
largest group of supporters was composed of the French-Canadians,
provincial people who were jealous of their local privileges and suspi-
cious of anything that might threaten them, Laurier, of necessity, was
forced to shape his program so as to appeal to this group as well as the
English Liberal group who were generally more imperialistic than the
French-Canadians.

The Rt. Hon. R. B. Haldane, Secretary of State for War, introduced
the discussion on defense at the Imperial Conference of 1907. He sus-
gested that each self-governing colony establish its own General Staff
‘to work with the Imperial General Staff that had recently been organ-
ized, These local General Staffs were to be responsible to the local
authorities but to work in close co-operation with the Imperial General
Staff. Because there was no attempt to centralize authority Laurier
could agree to these suggestions. Tt was recognized that each British
community was responsible for providing for its own security and that
each should help in making provision for the defense of the Empire.
‘This involved the problem of the naval defenses of the Empire. It was
essential that the Empire maintain naval supremacy. Once the control
of the sea was lost the Empire was lost. The Admiralty, however, had
‘No new suggestions to make beyond the making of direct contributions
and the building of large dry docks.

Tn March of 1909 the whole defense question was brought sharply
to the attention of the Empire by a debate that accompanied the pre-
sentation of the Naval estimates in the British House of Commons, The
Government asked for markedly increased grants for naval construc-
tion, citing as the reason for this increase the rapidly growing naval
power of Germany. It was not so much the strength of the German
fleet nor even the size of the German fleet provided for in the German
naval law that worried the British statesmen, as it was the fact they did
not know how fast Germany could build and why it was that she insist-
ed on building a great fleet. The British had watched the growth of

—

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 163

‘This was a most important victory for Laurier. It was now possible
to proceed with a naval program since local control had been assured.
‘The Admiralty had, at last, decided that co-operation was possible on
‘this basis and that uniformity of contribution was no guarantee of real
unity, and accordingly they gave up any further attempts to secure cen-
tralized control, The Canadian government proceeded at once with
plans for the construction of a Canadian naval unit.

‘The attitude of the British government changed rapidly in this mat-
ter of defense, and by 1911 the Dominion Prime Ministers were taken
into the confidence of the Imperial Government in matters of defense.
‘Tt was the understanding that each Dominion would shape its program
in the light of the imperial need, but do so voluntarily and with full
control of its own forces in time of peace, and in times of war, at their
own discretion, place them at the disposal of the imperial authorities,
This was a complete acceptance of Laurier’s contentions,

Dominion participation in imperial foreign policy was of slow devel-
opment, The evolution of the Canadian Provinces from colonies with
representative governments to responsible government and then to
Dominion status in a Commonwealth of equal nations was an unprece-
dented development, and the question of the relation of the Canadian
government, of whatever period, to the imperial authorities accompan~
ied this evolution and was constantly present in one form or another,
‘The tendency has been continuously in the direction of greater freedom
‘on the part of the colony as it grew in strength,

‘The granting of fiscal independence was the first step and came as &
result of an exchange of dispatches between the Duke of Newcastle,
Secretary of State for the Colonies, who protested against certain reve-
ue measures passed by the Canadian Provincial legislatures, and
Alexander T. Galt, Minister of Finance in Canada, in 1859. Gallt’s
reply to Newcastle, known as the Galt Memorandum, claimed for the
Government of Canada the right to decide for itself “both as to the
‘mode and the extent to which taxation shall be imposed.” Galt insist-
ed that the Provincial Ministry was responsible solely to the Provincial
Parliament and that if the Imperial Government assumed the right to
disallow a revenue measure they should be prepared to assume the re-
‘sponsibility of the government of the provinces. The British govern-
‘ment was not prepared to go to any such extremes and the fiscal inde-
pendence of self-governing colonies was established. Fiscal independ-
‘ence was necessary because of the commercial diversity that existed
within the Empire. The self-governing colonies were dependent on

—

iin

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 165

way to relieve the Dominion from the obligation of such of these
treaties as the Dominion felt was detrimental to its trade.

It was the contention of Laurier that, in matters of commerce and
trade, the Dominions should be free but that conditions did not yet
demand any further participation by the Dominions in imperial foreign
Policy. His influence was strong enough to block any move to force
the Imperial Government to grant such rights. He was satisfied with
the existing relations between the Dominions and the Mother Country
and saw no reason for changing them until a crisis demanded that action
be taken. Then, the circumstances would determine the changes neces-
sary, as is usual in British political development.

The question of Imperial Federation began to assume great import-
ance during the late 1870’s and the 1880's. The period had passed
during which Englishmen talked of the colonies as burdens to the
Mother Country and that it would be better for all concerned if the
colonies were independent. This revival of interest in the Empire led
to the organization of the Imperial Federation League. This League
suggested to Lord Salisbury, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
that the occasion of the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee
would provide an excellent time for an imperial conference. At this
first conference the questions of communication and of defense were
fully discussed, but the question of political union of the Empire had
been excluded since no opinions on the question had been expressed
by the colonies. Pleased by the results of this meeting and pressed by
circumstances and events, the Colonial Office, in 1897, under Joseph
Chamberlain, called another conference of the Colonial Prime Ministers
to consider the same problems. At this conference definite proposals
for federation were made.

Chamberlain suggested, as the first step to be taken, that an Imperial
Customs Union, similar to the German Zollverein, should be established.
Then, that thére should be established an Imperial Council for the
Empire. He advocated, also, a more highly centralized system of de-
fense in order to assure greater efficiency and to share more equitably
the expense. Laurier was a member of this conference and was respon-
sible for the defeat of the Chamberlain proposals for an Imperial Coun-
cil and a centralized system of defense. The recently established prefer-
ential tariffs by the Canadian government in favor of British goods was
a very practical answer to the proposed customs union,

The Boer War, 1899-1902, combined with the continental military
and diplomatic situation, accentuated the need for imperial defense. In

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 167

“hopelessly impracticable” and that a body that was given the right
to spend but not create revenue was unthinkable. Laurier held that
the majority must respect the views of the minority and no matter how
small, x minority group should not be overridden,

In all of this discussion of Imperial Federation, two theories were
present, the one based upon centralization with an Imperial Parliament
‘or Council, having legislative and executive power for the Empire. ‘The
‘other involved a confederated Empire with no supergovernmental organ-
ization. The latter view, championed by Laurier, held that any com-
‘mercial union should be based upon local fiscal independence, that
political union should respect autonomy, and that any plan of imperial
defense should recognize the rights of the local parliaments to control
their military and naval forces. The Empire rested on loyalty to a
common Sovereign, common institutions, common purposes, and full
recognition of colonial autonomy and control.

‘The British government came slowly to the Laurier position, and con-
ferences among the several British governments became the accepted
rule. In 1907, Canada was given the right to negotiate her trade
treaties, In 1909, the imperial defense plans were shared with the
colonies, and in 1911, the imperial foreign policy was fully revealed to
the Prime Ministers of the Dominions, but they were not admitted to
responsibility for framing that policy. Laurier, the spokesman for the
oldest dominion, had guided the evolution of the constitutional develop-
ment which led ultimately to the formation of a Commonwealth based
upon the unique principle of “spontaneous co-operation,”

ee ee

‘This study has been based almost entirely on published government
documents. The House of Commons Debates, Canada, 1896-1914,
furnished most of the material. The speeches in Parliament of Sir
Wilfrid Laurier, as Prime Minister, were the statements of a responsible
minister of the Crown and leader of the Liberal Party. These pro-
‘nouncements were the official statement of the Government on what-
ever subject was being discussed. If the addresses of other Cabinet
ministers are cited, the same thing can be said of their speeches because
they have not only individual but collective responsibility within the
Cabinet and the statements of any minister can be taken as official,

The Sessional Papers of the Parliament of Canada, 1896-1912, pro-
vided much material for the study, containing as they do, the reports
of the Imperial Conferences, the printed correspondence of the Govern-

THE BIRTH OF A NEW SOCIETY IN NEW SPAIN

Cecr, E. MarsHaty

No phase of the history of Spanish colonization in the New World
has been given more varied and yet more inadequate treatment than
that of the initial contact and subsequent relations between the Spanish
colonists and the native tribes. Some historians have described the
process by which Spanish dominion was extended over a vast continent
and an alien race as one of the most brilliant conquests of all time.
Most writers, however, have taken as their point of view that of Las
Casas, and have told a tale of sordid exploitation and ruthless extermin-
ation of aboriginal inhabitants by colonizing whites. They have, to be
sure, lauded the benevolent intent of the legislation passed by the
Spanish Crown to Christianize the natives and to protect them from
the depredations of gold-hungry colonists. But invariably they have
emphasized the discrepancy between intention and execution and have
reached the conclusion that Spain’s achievement overseas was meager.
There are, indeed, those who doubt the sincerity of Spain’s humanitarian
purpose and see in desire for revenue the chief raison d’étre of the
Spanish colonies. And contrasting the economic success and political
development of the English colonies in North America with the eco-
nomic backwardness and absence of local self-government in the Spanish
they have charged Spain with failure in the colonial field.

Few historians have questioned the validity of these conclusions or
have pointed out the fallacy of approaching the colonial history of
Spain from the same point of view as that of England. Protestant
commercial England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries built
up a largely self-sufficing economic Empire. Catholic mediaeval Spain
created an Empire inhabited by people of many colors. In the English
colonies of North America the Indians were brushed aside by land-
hungry settlers who quickly took away their land and shot down their
wild game. In the Spanish colonies, the fate of the natives was far
different. For the Spanish Conquest of America, somewhat like the
Norman Conquest of England, had as its unique result the essential
fusion of conqueror and conquered in the creation of a new society.

At the close of three centuries of Spanish rule the population of New

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY Ww

well as its justification, was the conversion of the natives to Christian-
ity and their reduction to an orderly civil life.

‘There is stil! another aspect of Spanish solicitude for the well-being
‘of the natives, which, heretofore little appreciated, greatly influenced
Spain's native policy. Francisco de Victoria, Dominic de Soto, Las
(Casaz, and other leading jurists and theologians rejected their view
that the New World was ferriturium mullius and denied the Pope’s
authority to dispose so summarily of the sovereignty of these regions.
‘There was, in their opinion, a natural society of nations founded upon
a divine moral law which granted to Indians and Spaniards equal civil
rights. Whatever political power the Spanish monarchs might have in
the New World was a “trust’’ to be exercised for the benefit of the
natives and its permanence rested solely upon the willingness of the
Indians to accept Christianity and to acknowledge the Spanish King as
their Sefior Universal.

‘The importance of such views cannot be overestimated, Those who
held them were high in the Councils of the Home Government. Noth-
ing is more evident than that the idea of a civilizing mission together
with the principles of the civil as well as moral equality of races mould-
ed the spirit and dictated to a great extent the nature of Spain's native
administration during the years under review. True there was a great
discrepancy between the fact and the ideal in Spanish native policy.
But fo stress Spain's failure and minimize her success is to fail to appre-
ciate the complexity of her colonial problems. And it was precisely
these problems which greatly complicated if not precluded a solution
of the native question on its own merits,

Even more decisive in moulding Spanish-Indian relations were the
social and economic factors which determined the nature of the rela-
tionship between native and colonist, It is well known that the great
majority of Spaniards did not emigrate to the New World to better their
economic condition by manual labor. What is not, however, so well
known is the extent to which this fact affected the status of the Indians,
‘The carly Spanish scttlers looked to the natives to supply the labor to
produce foodstuffs and to mine gold. But the colonists soon discovered
that a people who could satisfy their few wants with two roots from
the forest and a bit of wild honey made unwilling workers. Hence the
need for some system of enforced labor. Curiously enough, this eco-
nomic need received « religious sanction when many colonial mission-
aries became convinced that their proselytizing efforts would prove
futile unless the Indians were weaned from their primitive vices by

172 IOWA STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

profitable occupations and the influence of continuous contact with
Spanish society. Such was not possible unless Spaniards made perma-
nent settlements. And Spaniards would not settle in the Indies unless
they were assured of an adequate labor supply to work the mines and
to till the soil. It was this alliance of local interests and religious aims
that, from the colonial point of view, made the assimilation of the
natives to Spanish society an economic necessity as well as a humani-

Largely in response to these colonial needs there grew up in the In-
dies a unique system of indirect native administration, the encomienda
To the colonist (the encomendero) who held such a grant was given
the right to use the labor of a certain number of Indians and to collect
their tribute. In return, he was required to render military service to
the government and to aid in the conversion of the Indians. The
encomicnda, therefore, contemplated the incorporation of the natives
into Spanish colonial life but on a definitely subordinate plane. The
natives were to be the hewers of wood and the drawers of water for the
Spanish settlers. The social theories by which the colonists sought to
justify this attitude toward the native population were largely those
upon which rested the feudal society of contemporary Spain.

Such a system of social organization inevitably aroused the opposi-
tion of the humanitarians who considered the Indians “by natural law
and reason” free and, therefore, “obligated to render only those person-
al services that were rendered by other free persons of these realms.”
From their point, of view, no native policy was morally justified or jur-
idically defensible which failed to recognize the Indians as free sub-
jects of the King. The Crown was admonished to surrender no con-
trol over its new vassals, but with the aid of the Church and its religious
orders to govern them by a system of direct administration (the
corregimiento). Thus there ensued a severe conflict between these two
attitudes toward the natives which was, at root, a struggle between
two conceptions of society—a feudal hierarchy of privilege and duty,
and a society which contained the germ at least of a more modern social
order.

In the subsequent clash between these two points of view, the Crown
played an interesting albeit an exceedingly difficult role. The rapid
expansion of European trade and commerce during the period of the
Renaissance; the increasing urbanization of European life with its ever-
growing ostentation and luxury; the beginning of an era of international
wars fought by professional armies selling their services to the highest

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 173

bidder; and a rising price level greatly accelerated by the influx of
American gold and silver was rapidly breaking down the mediaeval
economy of dealing in kind, and was ushering in an era of the nation-

yielding colonies in the New World was too obvious to admit of argu-
ment. Then, too, the entire expense of colonial administration—mili-
tary and civil—had to be defrayed by the revenue obtained in the
colonies. Even the contributions the Crown made to the building of
churches, monasteries, hospitals, and orphanages and to the mainte-
nance of indigent colonists, the widows, and children of deceased con-

by the degree to which a benevolent but impecunious government could
reconcile her own needs and those of her colonists with the spiritual
welfare of the natives,

Unquestionably, it was the determination of the Crown to resolve this
diffleulty, coupled with an undoubted willingness to experiment, that
explains much of the changeable nature of Spanish-Indian policy dur-
‘ing the formative period of Hispanic-American socicty. Spain could
not, like England or the United States, grant her colonists land alone.
Owing to their incapacity as agriculturists and their scorn of manual
labor, the colonists desired not land, of which there was plenty, but
Tand made productive by native labor. Perpetual encomiendas, they

ists, The Crown was on the horns of a dilemma. When in the spirit

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 178

economic need and humanitarian desire. The apparent ease, indeed,
with which the colonists at times succeeded in winning the Crown over
to their point of view was, doubtless, owing to the fact that colonial
‘missionaries and churchmen as well as colonial officials joined with
‘them in declaring the encomienda was a3 necessary to convert as to
exploit the natives. Then, too, the policy of converting the natives
iin new areas by peaceful means—a policy to which the government
had committed itself in the New Laws—had not proved to be an over-
whelming success. And when the Crown in 1563 again embarked upon
& policy of aggressive proselytizing in the New World it encouraged
colonization by a system of enforced labor not unlike that which had
developed in New Spain,

‘Yet the Home Government remained under the influence of the views
‘of the humanitarian party. The excomienda itself was regarded at best
@s an expedient to meet the temporary economic needs of the Spaniards
and a means by which the natives might be Christianized and converted
to Spanish ways of living. Thus the Crown refused to carry out its
project (o make « general and perpetual partition of all land and natives.
‘It persistently strove to emphasize the civilizing aspect of the
encomiendas which had been granted by curtailing the powers of the
encomenderos to exploit the natives, Thus the Queen decreed in 1532
that the encomendero had no direct dominion over the Indians he held
in encomienda. And when, in 1571, Philip II gave formal definition
to this institution the jurisdiction of the encomendero was limited legally
to the mere right of collecting the tributes otherwise paid to the royal

treasury.

‘Thus those writers who regard the revocation of the New Laws as
‘the breakdown or abandonment of Spain’s policy of advancing the
‘welfare of the natives must necessarily modify their views when it is
realized that the triumph of the colonists was far from being complete.
‘The encomienda, in theory at least, was a compromise. Its efficacy
‘as an economic institution is unquestioned. Only after the need for it
had to @ great extent disappeared did the Home Government finally
succeed in legislating it out of existence. As a civilizing agency its
‘strength or weakness lay in the character of the individual encomendero
and the ability of the Crown to supervise his activities. Notwithstand-
ing the Crown’s efforts to make grants only to those of good character
and the numerous Jaws enacted to safeguard the natives, enlightened
‘self-interest was often the only restraint upon the inclination of the
encomendero to oppress his Indians. As in the case of the English col-

-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY uy

the desire of the Home Government to protect the natives was far from
being a pious wish or its authority a shadow.

But whatever its merits or demerits, the excomienda system by
establishing economic contacts between Europeans and natives became
‘an important factor in the creation of a new society. The Indians in
‘New Spain were not swept away by the rapid advance of an agricultural
or fur-trarling frontier as in English North America, but like the Hot-
tentots in South Africa were incorporated into colonial society as a
working class.

‘These economic contacts were made still more intimate and more or
less constant by a commercial policy which hamstrung colonial com~-
merce and industry in the int»rests of a few Sevillian merchants, The
Spanish System of annual fleets under convoy; the limitation of trade
‘and commerce to a few ports in the colonies and to Cadiz and Seville
in Spain; the prohibition or strict supervision of intercolonial and
Oriental trade paralyzed colonial trade and industry and made the
colony dependent upon European manufactured goods. Spain’s inabil-
ity to control the seas coupled with a rapidly rising price level acceler-
ated by the flood of precious metals from America, curtailed the amount
and raised the prices of these commodities. The continual export of
gold and silver bullion by the Crown and Spanish merchants; the un-
favorable balance of trade with the Philippines as well as with Spain;
‘the numerous exploring expeditions fitted out in the colony, the differ-
ence in the value of money coined in New Spain and Spain which caus-
‘ed the former to be rapidly withdrawn from circulation; and the inabil-
ity of the colony to offset this lack of specie by the more modern busi-
ness devices of paper money or credit deprived New Spain of capital
sorely needed for the development of its own resources, These factors
‘together with the Spanish Monopoly prevented the diversification of
calenial economic life which would have provided the colony with better
opportunities for supporting its Spanish population.

‘The effects of such a situation were heightened by geographical con-
ditions peculiar to New Spain. The yellow-fever breeding swamps
about Vera Cruz and the silting of its port made the loading and un-
Joading of cargoes a difficult undertaking and exceedingly dangerous
to human life. Then, too, the lack of navigable rivers, and an adequate
system of highways made the price of those goods which trickled through
Mexico City to the internal provinces higher still. The economic in-
stability created by the Crown’s native policy and the insecurity of
land tenures which existed long after the government had abandoned

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 179

early years of Spanish colonization, nevertheless, the growth of colonial
Industries—notably the textile—threatened to subject the natives in
New Spain to industrial exploitation, That danger, however, was
quickly dispelled by the commercial restrictions imposed by the Seville
Monopoly. In Spanish America, therefore, no extensive exploitation
or rapid detribalization of natives took place. The economic depen-
dence of the Spaniards upon the Indians and the social stagnation pro-
duced by Spain’s commercial policy did much to make the transition
from the old to the new social order a rather gradual and natural
process,

In like manner, immigration played a great part in determining the
social structure in New Spain. Spain was convinced that the safety
of the nation and the souls of its subjects lay in unity of religious be
lief. Partly for this reason and partly because Spain, like England,
desired to secure to herself the economic benefits of her colonies, she
undertook to exclude all foreigners and certain classes of Spaniards
from the Indies. As there existed no impelling causes such as desire
for religious and political freedom to send Spaniards with their families
across the seas, the number of Europeans who came to the Indies in
comparison to the number of natives was very small. The natives,
therefore, were not swept away by a flood of white immigration as the
Indians in North America or greatly outnumbered as the Maoris in
New Zealand. The thin stream of European immigrants came into
contact, for the most part, with sedentary agricultural tribes who sup-
plemented the social and economic organization of Spanish colonial
society. Thelr social organization, moreover, was feudal. Thus, to a
great extent, the Spanish colonists merely replaced the Aztec overlords
and continued a social order long familiar to the Indian peasants.

‘Then, too, the Spanish Crown played an important part in creating
@ new society in New Spain by actively promoting the racial fusion of
Spaniards and their families to settle in the Indies, relatively few did
s0. As the Spanish Government, unlike the English Crown a century
later, prohibited the emigration of unmarried women, the colonists were
predominantly of the male sex. Miscegenation was, therefore, to a
great extent inevitable. To prevent illicit relationships between Span-
fards and Indian women, the government freely encouraged the legal
intermarriages of white and red races. This policy was also pursued as
‘an effective means of converting many natives to Christianity and in-
troducing them to Spanish civilization.

Much more important than racial intermarriage in producing a popu-

ABSTRACTS IN HISTORY 181

contacts, facilitated by the social and economic stagnation of colonial
life, stimulated by a favorable moral atmosphere, sanctioned by the
Church, advanced the creation of a new society in Hispanic America,
which with time bids fair to solve all racial problems as they were
solved in Southern Italy in the days of the Roman Empire—by the
complete assimilation of cultures and amalgamation of bloods,

nee ee

‘This study is based for the most part on documentary sources and
the writings of contemporaries of the period. Among the most valua-
ble materials must be noted the numerous Jaws and ordinances passed
by the central and local government for the administration of the
American colonies to be found in such compilations as Recopilacién de
leyes de tos reynos de las Indias, 4 vols., Madrid, 1756; Colecciin de
documentos inéditos para la historia de Espana, 112 vols., Madrid,
1842-1895; Coleccién de documentos inéditos para la historia de Ibero-
América, 3 vols., Madrid, 1927-1928; Colecctén de documentos inéditos
relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organisacién de las antiguas
posesiones espafiolas, 42 vols., Joaquon F. Pacheco, Francisco de Carde-
nas. Luis Torres de Mendoza, eds., Madrid, 1864-1889; Colecctén de
documentos para la historia de México, 2 vols., J. Garcia Icazbalceta,
ed,, México, 1858-1866; Colecciin de documentos inéditos relativos
al descubrimiento, conquista y organisacidén de las antiguas posesiones
espasioles de ultramar, segunda serie, 17 vols., Madrid, 1885-1925;
Puga, Vasco de, Provisiones, cédulas, instrucciones de su Majestad,
ordenansas de dijuntos y audiencia para la buena expediciin de los
negocios y administracién de justicia y governacién de esta Nueva
Esparia y para el buen tratamiento de los Indios desde el aio de 1525
hasta este de 1563, 2 vols., México [1563], 1878; and Relaciones
Geogrdficas de Indias, German Latorre, ed., Sevilla, 1919. In the last
mentioned work is to be found probably the first census report made
of the colony of New Spain. Also useful were Bartolomé de Las Casas,
Historia de las Indias, 2 yols., Jose Vigil, ed., México, 1877, and Alej-
andro de Humboldt, Ensayo politico de la Nueva-Espaia, 4 vols., Paris,
1822. Of the many secondary works referred to in this study mention
should be made of Lesley Byrd Simpson, The Encomienda in New
Spain, Berkeley, 1929, and the scholarly articles in the Hispanic-
American Historical Review,