NEGenWeb Project - Adams County
Who's Who in Nebraska, 1940
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Nebraska History |
Who's Who |
and house to report desirable changes in the interest of
economy and social progress. Addison E. Sheldon, secretary,
assembled the material and wrote the report of this committee.
This report of forty-eight pages became the basic document in
discussion of changes in state and local government in the years
which followed. It was the first document of its kind in the
United States and was called for around the world. Among its chief
recommendations were these:
1. Radical, specified reforms in legislative
procedure.
2. Radical reduction of legislative
employes.
3. One-house legislature of about sixty members.
(First time proposed in Nebraska.)
4. A true cabinet system of state government
similar to the cabinet systems in western Canada.
5. A scientific study of Nebraska resources and
income of her people, and a planned program based thereon.
6. A state budget system prepared by the
governor, with expenditures based on the general income of
Nebraska people from year to year.
7. Consolidation of state offices and
institutions, and location of the latter at one of two geographic
points.
8. A state efficiency survey as basis for
further reform.*
*The joint committee making these
recommendations consisted of J. N. Norton of Polk County,
chairman; O. A. Corbin of Johnson County and H. C. Palmer of Clay
County, for the House: Walter Kiechel, Nemaha County; J. M.
Talcott, Knox County; B. K. Bushee, Kimball County for the Senate;
Addison E. Sheldon, secretary.
This committee held a number of meetings. It
went over the vast amount of material secured and digested by its
secretary. It agreed upon an unanimous report which was printed in
pamphlet form.
The legislature of 1915 adopted part of this
program. The part adopted has continued in force. The new
legislative procedure reduced legislative expenses about $30,000
for each session and made legislative work simpler, more
responsible and efficient.
The next step in the march toward changes in
Nebraska state government was the constitutional convention of
1919-20. One hundred members of this convention, chosen at a
special election Nov. 4, 1919, met in the capitol on Dec. 2, 1919.
The chief division in the convention was between progressives and
conservatives. The conservatives were in a decided majority.
Forty-one amendments were submitted to the voters at the special
election Sept. 20, 1920. All were adopted. Only about one in six
voters voted at the election. Most of the amendments were not
important. Salaries were doubled and trebled to correspond with
war prices. This large raise in salaries was the main motive of
many members. New officers were provided for. Other features
included woman suffrage; initiative and referendum; taxes (other
than property); public utility control; irrigation; co-operative
associations. Submission to the voters of a one-house legislature,
a cabinet form of state government, a tax system for promotion of
tree planting, with other advanced steps, were all voted down by
the conservatives.
The "Code" Controversy
The constitution makers of 1875 planned to
prevent the creation of more offices and more state expenses by
directly forbidding them. As the state grew, demand arose for new
state services such as health protection, fish and game
regulation, livestock disease prevention, and many others. To meet
these demands and "get around" the constitution, the legislatures,
from time to time, created "commissions" and "boards" to perform
these new duties. These commissions and boards were attached (in
a. nominal way) to the offices created by the constitution, but
their real work was done by additional officers. By 1913 there
were so many functions of the state, governed by eighty-two
different departments, boards and commissions, that a demand arose
for their reduction or consolidation. This demand was voiced by
governors in their messages and put in strong, statistical
argument in the Legislative Reform Committee Report of 1913.
Governor McKelvie, Republican, and the
Republican legislature in 1919 undertook to do this job of
consolidating. They made the same mistake President Woodrow Wilson
made when he went overseas to set up the League of Nations. Wilson
took no Republicans on the job. McKelvie took no Democrats.
New Departments Established
The Republican made Civil Administrative
Code, called "the Code" for short, created six new departments of
state work, each with a head appointed by the governor. In these
six new code departments it merged most of the former boards and
commissions. Passage of this act, prepared and presented by a
partisan group, precipitated a bogus campaign issue in Nebraska
politics for the next ten years. The Democrats saw their chance
and used it. "Abolish the Code" became the Democratic battlecry,
and in it joined some Republicans. The fact that the battle-cry
was bogus was fully disclosed in 1923, after Democrat Charles W.
Bryan had become governor on a platform demanding abolition of the
Code. Bryan's bill for this purpose repealed the Republican Code
law but re-enacted its program under a new set of names. The Bryan
bill was beaten and the Code still exists In Nebraska. No party
pretends it should or will be abolished
Bryan was elected governor in 1922. The vote
stood:
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C. W. Bryan, Democrat |
214,070 |
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C. H. Randall, Republican |
163,735 |
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H. O. Parmenter, Progressive |
13,435 |
Campaign issues most talked about were the
great increases in state expenses, which had doubled since the
World War began. Mr. Bryan promised to reduce them. Mr. Randall,
Republican nominee, lost most votes from the fact that he had
voted in the senate for the bill forbidding instruction in any
foreign language of any child who had not passed the eighth
grade.
Another illustration of party politics and
deception in Nebraska during this period to the
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in Nebraska |
Nebraska History |
"deficit" in the state treasury. Under the Nebraska
constitution, no state debt above $100,000 can be created. But
when there is no money in the state treasury to meet current
appropriation bills, there is a "deficit" in the form of unpaid
state warrants drawing interest--which is a state debt under
an-other name. Several times in our history this has been the
case.
Governor Bryan in his outgoing message of Jan.
18, 1925, disclosed existence of a "deficit" of more than
$2,000,000. The existence of any deficit was promptly denied by
the Republicans. Each party called the other a liar many times,
but the facts were never clearly established. At the election in
1926 the Republicans discovered that there was a "deficit," and
that it was made by Governor Bryan.
Adam McMullen, Republican of Beatrice, was
elected governor in 1924 over J. N. Norton, Democrat, as shown by
the official canvass:
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Adam McMullen, Republican |
229,067 |
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J. N. Norton, Democrat |
183,709 |
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Dan B. Butler, Progressive |
35,594 |
The Democratic national convention named C.
W. Bryan for vice president with John W. Davis for president. It
was a Republican year. Calvin Coolidge and his brand of prosperity
were popular. The LaFollette Progressive vote in Nebraska was
nearly as large as the Davis and Bryan vote for president.
"Poverty has been abolished," the nation was
advised. Employment was at its top. Profits were at their peak.
Stocks and bonds were at their summit and still going higher.
Salesmen by the thousands were making magnificent salaries. The
people who bought their wares were made richer every morning by
advance in prices. The future forecast held nothing but pictures
of boundless prosperity for everyone,--if only the agitators and
trouble makers could be kept suppressed.
Arthur J. Weaver became governor of Nebraska the
same year that Herbert Hoover became president. He was elected
over C. W. Bryan by a plurality of more than 77,000. The vote
was:
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A. J. Weaver, Republican |
308,262 |
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C. W. Bryan, Democrat |
230,640 |
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F. Philip Hafner, Socialist |
2,095 |
When Governor Weaver first sat down in the big carved armchair in the office of the chief executive, he inherited more political grief than he realized. At the top of his trouble was the state banking situation. This had become a peril of the first magnitude. As early as 1909 the Nebraska legislature had passed the Bank Guaranty law which required all state banks to pay a small annual tax to create a bank deposit insurance fund. When any bank failed, its depositors were paid at once from the insurance fund. The assets of the failed bank were, converted into cash and used to reimburse the insurance fund. Depositors would be made safe, runs on banks would be avoided and the financial interests of the community made stable and sound. In its first years this system worked well. Conditions were fairly prosperous. Few banks closed. Depositors were promptly paid. The cost of the insurance was low. Confidence in the banks grew. Deposits increased. The people were pleased.
Prosperity Period.
Later, the World War brought a business boom. Prices rose. Speculation increased. Promoters seized upon the state banking business as one with promise of great profit. Only $10,000 capital would start a bank. With its deposits insured, such a bank might secure hundreds of thousands of deposit money to loan. Loans were freely made. Profits rolled in. A tabulated statement shows the state bank situation.
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Number of state banks |
659 |
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Capital |
$ 12,000,000 |
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Deposits |
71,000,000 |
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Number of state banks |
1,012 |
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Capital |
$ 26,000,000 |
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Deposits |
248,000,000 |
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Number of state banks |
739 |
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Capital |
$ 19,000,000 |
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Deposits |
268,000,000 |
Then the banking situation in Nebraska grew
worse. Banks continued to close their doors, The big world
depression was on. The deficit in the bank guaranty fund rose to
over $16,000,000. Interests of bank depositors and of surviving
banks clamored for safety. The regular 1929 session of the
legislature found no solution. Governor Weaver appointed a
commission (with former Gov. A. C. Shallenberger at its head) to
investigate and report. This committee made report March 3, 1930.
The report is an important historical document as a review of the
state's banking policies and experience.
On March 4, 1930, Governor Weaver called the
1929 legislature to meet in special session and to repeal the Bank
Guaranty Law of 1909--to free the state, as the governor said, of
a "condition intolerable to depositors in the failed banks, the
existing state banks, and the public." The legislature promptly
passed the act repealing bank guaranty. In its stead it passed a
new law for two-tenths of one percent on average daily deposits of
surviving state banks for ten years. This fund, with proceeds from
closed banks, was called the "Final Settlement Fund" for
depositors in broken banks.
And thus ended the twenty-year Nebraska state
experiment in guaranty of bank deposits.
"The breaks" favored the Democrats in the state
election of 1930. Their campaign platform denounced the Weaver
administration as "one of
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Nebraska History |
Who's Who |
the blackest pages in the history of Nebraska," emphasizing the
plight of bank depositors who could not get their money, and the
increase in state expenses.
The personal campaigns of the rival candidates
for governor took on the same color. Mr. Bryan knew that the
Republicans were in the majority in the state, but the growing
depression and public unrest made it possible for him to win. It
was necessary to mix strong medicine and hand it out hot to the
voters. Mr. Bryan handed it out red hot. At first Governor
Weaver's reply speeches were a reasoned review of the conditions.
Soon he became convinced that was not what the campaign required.
He joined in the game of mixing strong personal medicine for his
opponent and handing it out hot. So the campaign became a hammer
and tongs series of personal attacks. This was a sad and
unsatisfactory campaign for intelligent voters who knew both men
and the real facts of the campaign.
But the governorship campaign was a thirty-two
watt electric bulb beside a naval searchlight as compared with the
campaign for U. S. senator.
Senator George W. Norris was the most bitterly
hated and most ardently loved of public men in Nebraska. He had
bolted Herbert Hoover and supported Al Smith for president in
1928. The Repubican faction opposed to Senator Norris filed an
unknown grocery clerk at Broken Bow, who bore the name of George
W. Norris, as candidate in the Republican primary. The purpose was
to deceive voters, split the Norris vote and beat the senator. The
attempt was prevented by an order of the Nebraska supreme court.
Its effect was to arouse voters who were opposed to, campaign
trickery, and to help nominate Senator Norris in the primary and
elect him over Gilbert M. Hitchcock in the election. Some of the
most prominent Republicans in the state organized "Hitchcock
Republican Clubs" and covered the state with anti-Norris
literature and radio speeches. The election returns were as
follows:
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For United States Senator: |
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George W. Norris, Republican |
247,118 |
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Gilbert M. Hitchcock, Democrat |
172,795 |
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Beatrice Fenton Craig, petition |
14,884 |
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For Governor: |
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Charles W. Bryan, Democrat |
222,161 |
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Arthur J. Weaver, Republican |
215,655 |
Years of Depression and Conflict
Gov. Charles Bryan began his service Jan. 8, 1931, with a legislature Republican in both branches:
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Senate |
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House |
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The big battle of the 1931 legislature was
the budget battle between Governor Bryan and the Republican
legislature. The governor's budget for state expenses, payable
from taxes on property, totaled $10,687,098. After a long winter's
fight the house finance committee report recommended
$15,965,141.
On April 8 by a vote of 53 yeas to 41 nays, with
6 not voting, the house turned down its own finance committee and
passed the Bryan budget. The senate passed the bill with numerous
increases over the Bryan budget. The house refused to accept the
senate bill.
On May 1 the governor amended his budget, adding
$382,500, and sent it to the legislature. No agreement could be
reached, and on May 3 the legislature adjourned with no
appropriation bill passed. For the first time in its history the
state government was left with no means of support after July
1.
A special session was called by Governor Bryan
for June 9, 1931. He presented a new budget increasing tax
appropriations to $13,413,078, as against his original budget of
$10,687,098. Both houses of the legislature took up the job of
finding figures which would be supported by the necessary
three-fifths vote. The final result increased Governor Bryan's
third budget by the sum of $728,750. This passed both houses by
practically unanimous vote. The most stubborn and dangerous
conflict over state expenses in the history of Nebraska then ended
in compromise.
The election of 1932 was a Democratic landslide
greater than the Republican landslide of 1928. In Nebraska the
entire Democratic ticket was elected by overwhelming majorities.
The vote for governor was as follows:
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Charles W. Bryan, Democrat |
296,117 |
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Dwight Griswold, Republican |
260,888 |
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John M. Paul, Socialist |
6,783 |
When the legislature met in 1933 Governor
Bryan reviewed his fight for reduction of state expenses and the
economics of his two-year administration. He declared that the
total cash value of Nebraska crops for 1932 was $86,880,000, while
the total taxes--state and local--were $49,588,994. He said: "We
meet in the most unfavorable and distressing economic conditions
ever inflicted upon us," and presented a budget calling for
property taxes of $10,736,750--a reduction (26 percent) from the
similar appropriation of $14,523,436 in 1931. After the usual tax
fight during the session the final amount appropriated was
$11,012,167.
Salaries fixed by the constitution of 1920 may
be changed not oftener than once in eight years. The legislature
of 1933 undertook to reduce these salaries according to the
following schedule:
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State Officers |
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1920 |
1933 |
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Governor |
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$7,500 |
$6,000 |
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Lieutenant Governor |
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Twice that of |
a legislator |
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Secretary of State |
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$5,000 |
$3,400 |
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Auditor of Public Accounts |
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5,000 |
3,400 |
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State Treasurer |
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5,000 |
3,400 |
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Supt. of Public Instruction |
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5,000 |
3,400 |
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Attorney General |
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5,000 |
4,000 |
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State Railway Commissioner (3) |
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5,000 |
3,400 |
*The Nebraska supreme court on July 20, 1933, held this reduction of salaries unconstitutional and the 1920 salaries were restored. The form of its decision is regarded by competent students as a permanent supreme court bar on future attempts to reduce the top salaries in our state.
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in Nebraska |
Nebraska History |
Party Circle Dropped
An act was passed removing the party circle
from the ballot so that the voter must make separate choice for
each office in marking his ballot. The state banking department
was reorganized.
Roy L. Cochran of North Platte was elected
governor in 1934; re-elected in 1936 and 1938. He is the first
governor to serve six consecutive years in that office. Coming to
the governor's office after eleven years' service (1923-1934) as
chief engineer at the head of the Department of Roads and
Irrigation, he will be known as Nebraska's civil engineer
governor. In this period of 1923-40 (with Cochran as chief
engineer and governor), the creation of a state highway system of
11,142 miles and development of Nebraska's irrigation system to
cover 900,000 acres and several hundred miles of irrigation canals
took place.
The vote for governor in the past three
elections is shown by the following figures:
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Roy L. Cochran, Democrat |
284,095 |
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Dwight Griswold, Republican |
266,707 |
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Ralph W. Madison, by petition |
4,630 |
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Roy L. Cochran, Democrat |
333,412 |
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Dwight Griswold, Republican |
257,267 |
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Peter Mehrens, by petition |
5,746 |
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Roy L. Cochran, Democrat . |
218,787 |
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Charles J. Warner, Republican |
201,898 |
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Charles W. Bryan, by petition |
76,258 |
Governor Cochran's six-year administration
has been called upon to face (in Nebraska and the nation) a
revolution in the relation of government to the individual; to
provide means to pay the current cost of revolution out of greatly
reduced taxpayer income; to meet the clamorous demand of
belligerent taxpayers, organized and unorganized, for a radical
reduction in all public expenses; and the equally clamorous needs
of state institutions and of people unemployed and suffering for
the ordinary necessities of living.
Social security, relief and unemployment have
become the chief political and economic questions with which
Nebraska and national governments have had to grapple in the past
decade.
Nebraska has experienced four major financial
depressions since her birth: 1857-59, 1873-79, 1890-99,
1929-39.
The assessed value of property in Nebraska has
shrunk from $3,167,489,300 In 1929 to $2,033,302,482 in 1939.
Each of these panic depressions has been
worldwide--more severe in some parts than elsewhere, but felt over
the civilized world. The people of Nebraska in former depressions
have "starved it through" with no general tax supported relief
program. The legislatures of 1891-95 voted $450,000 from the state
treasury (partly as a loan for seed and feed to farmers). The
federal government in the grasshopper-drouth period of the
seventies distributed a few thousand dollars of relief through
army officers. People out of employment (and there were many)
lived upon their neighbors. The aged and sick were cared for by
their relatives and friends. There was no general, continuous
government relief or employment in those former depressions. There
was no state or federal budgeted relief Life was hard for all of
us. We accepted it as part of the risk of living and hoped for
better times--which came.
The total appropriations of the state
legislature in the past decade, for all purposes and from all
funds, compare thus:
Personal Direct Relief
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Biennium |
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1929-31 |
$42,624,249.93 |
$18,047,171.67 |
$24,577,078.26 |
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1931-33 |
43,575,591.21 |
14,047,171.67 |
28,081,054.00 |
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1933-35 |
25,184.675.19 |
11,012,667.41 |
14,172,007.78 |
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1935-37 |
38,169,621.30 |
11,560,281.24 |
25,984,633.38 |
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1937-39 |
56,415,788.31 |
12,629,761.22 |
43,786,027.09 |
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1939-41 |
50,493,585.00 |
10,856,392.00 |
39,637,196.00 |
Figures show the following status of our population during four of Governor Cochran's six years:
Personal Unemployment Relief
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Personal Direct Relief |
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Years |
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1936 |
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$6,735,360 |
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1937 |
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6,601,030 |
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1938 |
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7,790,800 |
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1939 |
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8,010,000 |
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Personal Unemploy- |
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ment Relief |
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1936 |
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$14,160,000 |
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1937 |
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12,768,000 |
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1938 |
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18,252,000 |
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1939 |
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15,540,000 |
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Highway Expenditures |
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Years |
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1935-37 |
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$15,471,510.00 |
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1937-39 |
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13,622,887.00 |
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1939 |
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6,606,968.45 |
It is this new public opinion and new
economic status which Governor Cochran's administration has had to
meet during the past six years. The problem has been the most
difficult--the most exacting--of any six years in Nebraska
history.
Among other new features of Nebraska government
during the past six years have been these:
(1) Unicameral Legislature, first urged by the
writer of this sketch as secretary of the Legislative Reform
Committee in 1913; championed by Senator George W. Norris and
voted by the people In 1934. Started in operation in January,
1937.
(2) State Planning Board, recommended by
Legislative Reform Committee In 1913. Instituted by Governor
Cochran in 1937.
(3) State Assistance Department, under State
Board of Control, taking charge of the State Relief program. Begun
in 1935.
(4) Irrigation and Water Power Creation, by
joint action of the federal government and state, of a giant
program of dams, canals and hydro-electric plants to utilize the
waters of Nebraska for production of power and irrigation of
land.
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Nebraska History |
Who's Who |
Social Problems and Movements--1867-1940
The most important section of Nebraska history is not the list of officers elected, the political majorities nor the temporary controversies. The state of Nebraska has been a fluid society, with great shifting of population, of occupation, of questions considered, decisions made and undetermined problems carried over. In this closing chapter I shall state some of the more important social problems fought over, and some of the Nebraska movements in the evolution now going on.
1. Extension of Democracy
There has been an extension of democracy in
Nebraska society. Causes of this extension have been
dissatisfaction with the original representative form of
government and the unequal distribution of wealth and political
power achieved under that set-up. The chief legal landmarks of
this revolution in Nebraska are:
(a) Australian ballot, giving secrecy and
independence to the voter. Enacted 1891.
(b) The direct primary, superseding the old
caucus-convention plan and providing for direct nomination of
candidates for office by popular vote. Enacted in 1907.
(c) Initiative, referendum and recall, giving
direct people's control of lawmaking and public officers.
Municipal form enacted in 1897. State form adopted 1912.
(d) Woman suffrage on same conditions as man
suffrage. Adopted 1920.
(e) Limitation of campaign expenses, and sworn
reports of the same. Enacted in 1915.
(f) Non-partisan nomination and election
(replacing political party choice) for judicial and school
officers. Enacted in 1917. Extended to unicameral legislature
1934.
(g) Election of United States senators by
popular vote instead of by legislature. Adopted 1913.
2. Growth of Government Functions and Expenditures
This growth had been continuous throughout Nebraska's statehood--more aggressive in some years than in others, but continuous and rapid. It is partly measured by the increase in money expenditure by the state and by the local subdivisions. It may be stated in its broadest form by the fact that from 1890 the population of Nebraska has increased about 32.2 percent, while the annual expenditures of public money by the state have increased 1628 percent.
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Year |
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1890 |
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$ 2,886,575 |
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1900 |
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2,875,289 |
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1910 |
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6,186,553 |
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1920 |
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23,939518 |
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1930 |
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43,675:590 |
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1940 (est.) |
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60,493,688 |
3. The Extension of Public Ownership
Public ownership has been extended from a few
basic needs, like roads and schools, to include the principal
necessities of life--water, light, heat, power, transportation,
libraries, school books, public auditoriums, irrigation,
drainage.
4. Extension of Public Service
Public service has been extended to cover the
principal phases of community life, such as health, employment,
insurance, security, home building, parks, recreation.
5. Group Protection from Competition
This includes laws to limit competition in the
principal occupations of the people. Each group is constantly
seeking legislative aid to limit its competition and increase its
income. In the profession of law, medicine, ministry, school
teaching; in the, fields of engineering, transportation,
merchandising and salesmanship, there has been special activity. A
series of restrictive acts alleging a purpose of protection to the
public, but with a main motive of reducing competition in the
interest of those engaged in various lines of business, has been
enacted through the years. The future program is filled with
further plans.
6. Social Security--Employment Assurance--Assistance
All three of these additional social expenses
and programs have had their chief development in the past ten
years. They have become integral parts of the government
undertakings. Based upon coordinated federal expenditures
(matching dollars), they have become the largest items of public
expense in Nebraska and probably a permanent item in the social
budget. (See figures in previous pages.)
Unsettled Nebraska problems find fit place in
this closing chapter. Some of these questions are not political
issues at present. Some are not on the active list, although
subjects of discussion. It is certain, however, that these issues
will be active in the coming Nebraska years.
1. Land Ownership and Use
The whole subject of land control, use and
production is coming rapidly forward in Nebraska and other states.
Access to land is the first condition of human existence. At
present 50 percent of Nebraska farm land is farmed by tenants.
This percentage is increasing. Universal suffrage and landless
population do not go together. The Republican party slogan in 1860
was "Vote yourself a farm." That slogan may return with new
application.
The question of large-scale farming versus
small-scale farming is certain to be a live issue in the near
future. Improved machinery makes food production cheaper on the
large farm. But the small farm makes a family home. It makes a
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© 1999, 2000, 2001 for the NEGenWeb Project by Ted & Carole Miller