Ohio History Journal

BOOK REVIEWS

THE MAKING OF URBAN AMERICA: A HISTORY OF CITY PLANNING IN THE UNITED STATES. By John W. Reps. (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1965. xv??574p.; illus- trations, maps, bibliography, and index. $25.00.) This massively documented, beautifully illustrated book is a masterful historical survey of a long-neglected subject. John Reps, professor of city and regional plan- ning at Cornell University, has success- fully traced, from European antecedents through colonial and nineteenth-century experiments, the origins and forms of urban planning in the United States. In an exhaustive cartographic search, the author examined tens of thousands of maps, charts, plats, and aerial views of American cities and towns. Having care- fully selected three hundred and fourteen of these to reproduce as textual examples, he not only encompasses most major com- munities and regional and cultural types but also clearly dispels the heretofore popularly accepted myth that American town designers unvaryingly followed the standard gridiron pattern. Readers interested in Ohio will delight in the author's sympathetic presentation of early town plans in the Western Re- serve. Here designers harmonized func- tional aims with natural site conditions and provided for ample lots, wide streets, and commodious, orderly, imaginatively formed greens, squares, and other open spaces. To be sure, the founders of such communities as Canfield, Chardon, Elyria,

Leroy, and Madison were not unmindful of possible profits, but they were also concerned with beauty and function as they applied designs to their town loca- tions. Marked for respect also are Marietta and early Circleville, both of whose origi- nal planners intelligently and adroitly in- corporated the prehistoric Indian mounds and natural formations of the town sites in their plans. Marietta persevered in pro- tecting and preserving this early legacy; thus today's citizens and visitors enjoy the charm and serenity of the old river city. Circleville, in contrast, permitted avaricious and short-sighted denizens to engage in a ruthless redevelopment of the unique town center which reduced it to the standard monotonous grid. While the Western Reserve and the Ohio Company (particularly in Marietta) produced a generally high form of town planning in northeastern and southeastern Ohio, south-central and southern Ohio fared less well. Reps rightly concludes that community planning in these areas re- flected the primary concern for land spec- ulation, as well as the southern origin, of the early settlers. Crudely and unim- aginatively laid out, as the author main- tains, "these communities added nothing to the art of town planning in Western America." This book's major weakness is its decep- tive subtitle; it is not a complete history of city planning in the United States. Only five percent of the text is allotted to the

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era from 1890 to World War I, and the subsequent period to the present is sum- marized in less than two pages. The prob- lem is semantic: the author would have us term twentieth-century planning re- planning, because the basic form of most American cities had been established by the turn of the century. Missing yet is a survey history of twentieth-century city planning that would tell the story of the maturing of the disci- pline into a distinct profession and explore its ever-broadening attempts to solve aes- thetic, social, and economic problems re- lated to the urban physical environment. Professor Reps should be urged to fill this gap by producing a second volume which would properly conclude the history. KENNETH W. WHEELER Ohio State University       HENRY JAMES AND JOHN HAY: THE RECORD OF A FRIENDSHIP. By George Monteiro. (Providence, R. I.: Brown University Press, 1965. xiii??205p.; calendar of uncollected letters, bibliog- raphy, and index. $5.00.) During the Henry James revival of the past twenty-five years, virtually every phase of his career has been explored. That the point of diminishing returns has been reached or exceeded is indicated by this book, which wrings dry every aspect of James's rather casual acquaintance with John Hay. The book is divided into three parts. An account of their friendship even records occasions when they failed to meet. "The Journalistic Record" reprints Hay's introductory note for James's somewhat unsuccessful travel letters in the New York Tribune and his reviews of Daisy Miller and The Portrait of a Lady. The final sec- tion reprints fifty-three letters, only seven of them by Hay since James apparently destroyed most of the letters he received from him. The complete text of one James letter is "All thanks -- Friday 8.15." Each of the longer letters is fully annotated. Wisely perhaps, the author has refrained from speculating on the possibility that James's acquaintance with Hay might have influenced his creation of American charac- ters. A mid-westerner with literary aspi-

rations who married a rich man's daughter and turned to public service despite an occasional longing for an expatriate exist- ence, Hay would seem to have been an authentic Jamesian prototype. WILLIAM COYLE Wittenberg University         HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPT DEPOS- ITORIES IN PENNSYLVANIA. Com- piled by Irwin Richman. (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965. iii??73p.; index. $1.00) This small guide book should encourage scholars in the field of American and Penn- sylvania history to work the rich mines of manuscript materials in scattered local depositories. Its descriptions supplement the material in Philip M. Hamer's Guide to the Archives and Manuscripts in the United States, and both guides should be used by those seeking source material. This book lists only manuscripts relating to American history in Pennsylvania insti- tutions. Not included are all kinds of public records and institutional archival material. It contains 105 entries including twenty- seven which were not included in the Hamer guide. The entries are arranged alphabetically according to the location of the institution. Such valuable information as the exact address, the name of the person in charge, hours the depository is open, brief descrip- tions of the holdings, and the availability of copy services is included for each entry. If a printed guide is available, that too is indicated. Descriptions of the holdings are very brief and in some cases a more ex- tended description can be found in the Pennsylvania section of the Hamer guide. A good index adds substantially to the value of the work. This is the kind of publication for which all scholars should be profoundly grateful. Its compiler was able to visit nearly all of the institutions whose holdings he de- scribed and the final result of his labor shows his unusual care. The depositories listed contain source material for nearly every aspect of United States history with more, perhaps, on economic and Civil War

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history than others. Of course, many of the collections are most valuable for Penn- sylvania history. Several collections are not completely processed, and all who have worked in manuscripts realize that a trip to a new depository often brings pleasant surprises and unexpected rewards. Such guide books as this one should lead to re- warding research and ultimately to an improved view of our American past. LARRY GARA Wilmington College         KEEPERS OF THE PAST. Edited by Clifford L. Lord. (Chapel Hill: Univer- sity of North Carolina Press, 1965. 241p. $6.00.) This volume presents brief biographies of eighteen men and women whose work has sped the evolution of historical soci- eties, public archives, historical collections, historical museums, and historic sites. The sketches include men like Lyman C. Dra- per, J. Franklin Jamesen, and Henry E. Huntington, and women of the caliber of Ann Pamela Cunningham. The editor, Clifford L. Lord, president of Hofstra Uni- versity and intimate participant in the state and local historical movement in the United States, chose as contributors to the volume men from various areas of the history profession who, by association or by particular interest, were well qualified. For more than 175 years, hundreds of unsung people have contributed signifi- cantly to the areas of history described in this book. The selection of a list of eight- een leaders was undoubtedly one of the editor's most challenging tasks. As in every such attempt, there will be no uni- form acceptance of those picked for inclu- sion, but there can be no quarrel concern- ing the value of such a sampling. Keepers of the Past is important be- cause it takes a tentative first step toward the delineation of milestones in the his- torical preservation movement in the United States. Until recently, this move- ment had little cohesiveness and for the most part was carried forward by individ- uals on the state and local level who, by training or inclination, sensed the need and

the worth of collecting and preserving the tangible elements of history while there was yet time. In communities throughout the nation such individual effort served as a nucleus around which public and private organizations grew. Now firmly established, these organizations have continued the work of collecting, preserving, and dissemi- nating our historical legacy, though gener- ally with the self-consciousness and meas- ured tread that come with maturity. It is not surprising that the quality of the research and the writing of the essays is uneven. It is more regrettable, however, that concern with "the sort of people they were" often obscures the methods, the sem- inal thinking, and the ultimate significance of the men and women under discussion. A uniform note of praise premeates the en- tire volume, and though deserved, it sounds flat after a time. But these are minor criticisms. Keepers of the Past calls atten- tion to people who put historical commit- ment into action and succeeded in making a reality of ideals. Their example should provide stimulation and inspiration for all who share an interest in making the past present. RICHARD W. HAUPT The Cincinnati Historical Society         THE BASIC PAPERS OF GEORGE M. HUMPHREY AS SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, 1953-1957. Edited by Nathaniel R. Howard (Cleveland: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1965. xxix??644p.; illustrations, chronology, and index. $12.50.) Ohio has not been awarded a great many cabinet posts, perhaps in part because of the number of presidential terms she has won; but of her cabinet officers, prior to 1953, at least four served with distinction in crucial situations -- Chase and Sherman in the Treasury, and Taft and Baker in the War Department. A fifth, as Attorney General, won notoriety rather than notabil- ity. The four served under presidents who regularly used the cabinet as a consultative entity and who allowed its members to ex- ercise much initiative and responsibility. This was true also of Eisenhower in his relationship to George M. Humphrey, who

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was Secretary of the Treasury from Jan- uary 17, 1953 to May 30, 1957. These two were warm friends, sharing much the same conservative views on politics and finance and, in outdoor recreation, taking keen pleasure in each other's company. By the time of the Eisenhower Adminis- tration the "new economics," growing largely out of Keynesian doctrines and postwar international imbalance, had made deep inroads upon the traditional theory and practice of public finance. During this period there were politicians and econ- omists who preached the virtues of spend- ing rather than saving, of social welfare and full employment over a balanced budg- et; and large dollar appropriations were becoming a hard-fought practice. Modern capitalism was being caught in a changing balance between public and private power. In other words this period had transitional Treasury importance. But insofar as Republican exigencies at home and "containment of Communism" abroad permitted, Eisenhower and Hum- phrey remained wishfully committed to a balanced budget and a "sound" dollar as real but elusive administration obligations. In fact, a balanced budget was fleetingly obtained for 1956 and 1957. A compulsion to reiterate this faith seems to have in- spired this book. It consists of an assem- bling within one volume of Humphrey pronouncements on taxation, the budget, inflation, economic stability, and other fi- nancial and economic problems of those four years -- pronouncements given in tes- timony before congressional committees, in speeches, articles, television broadcasts, and so forth. Most of these were made more or less public at the time. Background for these pieces is sparingly provided by the editor of the volume (Nathaniel Howard, longtime editor of the Cleveland News) in terse comments mostly placed after the piece to which they refer, thus placing the reader at some disadvan- tage. That Mr. Howard knows more than he reveals is suggested by his comments on such matters as the duel with Representa- tive Daniel Reed (pp. 35-37, 74-75, 335), the independence of the Federal Reserve Board (pp. 127, 236, 298, 541-2), the Suez crisis (pp. 279, 484-6), the confrontation with Senator Byrd (pp. 298, 427, 573, 626),

and relations with the President and his staff (p. 579). Since the term "papers" in historical usage normally refers to manuscript collec- tions (largely correspondence), this volume of Basic Papers might more accurately have been titled, "Public Financial and Political Pronouncements." There should still exist, in the accepted sense of "papers," a considerable body of Humphrey corre- spondence with business and political leaders. It may be too much to hope for the existence of a private journal or diary; but the importance of the period and the man warrants the hope that, if he has not yet deposited his real "papers" (for both his private and public career) in the capable hands of the Western Reserve Historical Society, he may do so soon. Thereby the writers of American economic and political history could more adequately preserve the record of the principles and practices of the first Eisenhower Adminis- tration and of his first-chosen Secretary of the Treasury. JEANNETTE P. NICHOLS University of Pennsylvania       LANDMARKS OF TENNESSEE HIS- TORY. Edited by William T. Alderson and Robert M. McBride. (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society and Ten- nessee Historical Commission, 1965. x??321p.; illustrations. $4.00.) In 1960, William T. Alderson, Jr., then editor of the Tennessee Historical Quar- terly, solicited a series of articles from historians and writers describing the his- tory, manner of acquisition, and process of restoration of the state's most important historical sites. The series was designed as the commission's contribution to further- ing an interpretation of the state's land- marks. The articles were originally pub- lished, one per issue, in the Quarterly. Reprints were made available at cost to the administering body of each site. Now, Dr. Alderson, director of the American Association for State and Local History, with Robert M. McBride of the Quarterly's staff, has prepared fifteen of the illustrated articles for publication between two covers. Through many of the essays there runs a common theme: the struggle of private

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associations and individuals to secure funds, public and private, with which to purchase and restore historic sites. This book, although not formally dedicated as such, is an appropriate recognition of the years, even decades, of private initiative expended to secure official recognition and support for preservation in Tennessee. Eight historic houses, five national his- torical parks, a fort (Loudoun), and a re- created prehistoric Indian town (Chuca- lissa) are given affectionate treatment aug- mented by photographs and drawings. The association value of structures with the famous men who inhabited them is the dominant theme throughout, belying, to a degree, Dr. Alderson's prefatory statement that the state's historical sites are becom- ing educational facilities rather than shrines. There are all too brief descriptions of architectural features, interior furnish- ings, and decoration. Features of grounds and gardens are well delineated; but battle- fields and outdoor sites lack, in these articles, the detail which would permit them to be used as site guides. Ohio readers will be particularly inter- ested in the roles played by Buckeyes in Tennessee preservation. Congressman Charles H. Grosvenor of Athens guided the legislation through Congress which created the Chickamauga National Mili- tary Park. General Anson G. McCook was the senate clerk who breezed the Chicka- mauga bill through that body during a twenty-minute roll call. General Don Car- los Buell served on the original federal commission which administered the Shiloh National Military Park where the battle- field roles of Ulysses S. Grant and Johnny Clem, the drummer boy, are portrayed in new museum exhibits. Cragfont, one of the mansion landmarks, was the home of Gen- eral James Winchester, who won distinc- tion in Ohio and the Northwest during the War of 1812. A decade before Dr. Alderson conceived of his plan to interpret his state's land- marks in article form, the staff of The Ohio Historical Society was using its monthly bulletin, Museum Echoes, as a vehicle by which short, reprinted leaflets were made available to State Memorial visitors. Because of their relative brevity, Ohio's leaflets served as site guides as well

as sources of pre- and post-visit informa- tion. The Tennessee articles, individually or in this compendium, are undoubtedly finding their best use as a preparation for a pilgrimage in the quiet of one's living room or in a motel room after completing a day's itinerary. Those Ohioans planning to join four mil- lion Americans in 1967 on a tour of Ten- nessee's landmarks will find this book use- ful for and a meaningful souvenir of a visit to a state which, since the 1950's, has doubled the number of its public historical attractions. DANIEL R. PORTER The Ohio Historical Society       THE RISE OF THE WEST, 1754-1830. By Francis S. Philbrick. (New York: Harper and Row, 1965. xvii??398p. maps, illustrations, appendix, and index. $6.00.) With The New American Nation Se- ries, this is chronologically the first of four specifically concerned with the history of the West. The next, Ray A. Billington, The Far Western Frontier, 1830-1860, has already appeared. The West is a term of many meanings. For Francis S. Philbrick it is more par- ticularly: geographic -- trans-Appalachia westward to the Mississippi, especially the Northwest Territory; and temporal -- from the close of the French and Indian War to the end of the Great Migration. The pres- entation, at once sequential and topical, heavily emphasizes diplomatic, nationalis- tic, and institutional developments. The primary strength of Philbrick's study is its incisive analysis of long ac- cepted interpretations of frontier move- ments and developments. He is refresh- ingly concerned with perspective so that his data are not burdensome and are much to the point. He marshals support for his own conclusions partially by devastating what he regards as specious or faulty rea- soning of others. In some instances this seems all too pat because his legal back- ground prevails over his historical method. If other than long accepted interpretations are arrived at, however, a contribution is made. The more angles from which some- thing is viewed, the truer the historical

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picture. Also, this may force re-examina- tion and re-evaluation by others. Among the author's conclusions are; The Proclamation of 1763 "had little if any effect upon the development of the West" (p. 4). The Plan of 1764 was conceived in ignorance, "but the most enlightened civil service could have done little better" (p. 14). British denial of their title to the land and the exclusion of the Indians from international agreements, "were not sub- stantive injustices to them" (p. 24). Vir- ginia's October 10, 1780, cession of her western claims and the conditions pre- scribed for their development are "the greatest date and act in the history of American federalism" (p. 116). The War of 1812 came principally because the United States was "contemptibly weak, but resented the arrogance with which the British had treated them since 1783" (p. 265). Philbrick takes issue with those who label James Wilkinson as the "tarnished warrior" especially with regard to "what is known as a 'Spanish Conspiracy'" (p. 175). There is "no evidence whatever" that Wilkinson was a traitor (note, p. 252). Concerning "the supposed Burr conspir- acy" (p. 236), there are two obstacles that stand in the way of determining what actually happend: the sources -- a few ciphered letters and a mass of gossip -- are of the "poorest quality"; historians have not treated the "alleged conspiracy to commit treason or violate a statute . . . purely legal matters" as legal matters (pp. 244-245). Further, there is "not a shred of evidence" of a Burr-Wilkinson conspiracy (p. 251). Philbrick is no disciple of Frederick Jackson Turner. Turner's frontier is "to- tally unreal" (p. 370), and "his explana- tion is totally unacceptable" (p. 380). There is an "astonishing lack of evidence that Turner gave any thought to the basis of his various conceptions" (p. 381). His- tory cannot be based on "a suppositious fact; and imagination, Greek mythology, and an attractive style are fitter as decora- tion than as foundation" (p. 386). Pleading insufficient space for a bibli- ography, it was decided, instead, to devote ten pages to a "further discussion" of Turner even though more than adequate

attention is given to Turner in the text. It is unfortunate that the volume lacks a bibliographical listing or essay. The sug- gestion that the footnote citations suffice in lieu of a bibliography does not hold up for one who tries to thus utilize the foot- notes. Also, since it is not abundantly evi- dent, there should be substantial indication of the author's awareness and use of the relevant literature of the last several years, whether it confirms or alters his thinking and conclusions. The Rise of the West, nevertheless, is one of the most provocative books on the subject in several years. It will undoubtedly bring spirited discussion in the ranks of frontier historians. DWIGHT L. SMITH Miami University       INDIANA IN THE CIVIL WAR ERA, 1850-1880. By Emma Lou Thornbrough. Vol. III of THE HISTORY OF INDI- ANA. (Indianapolis; Indiana Historical Bureau and Indiana Historical Society, 1965. xii??758p.; illustrations, map, bibli- ographical essay, and index. $7.50.) This book is one of a five-volume series projected by the Indiana Historical Bu- reau and the Indiana Historical Society in observance of the sesquicentennial of Indiana's statehood in 1966. It covers three decades of Hoosier history with a thorough- ness that on some aspects of economic and social life becomes almost a catalogue of factual information. Seven of the fourteen chapters deal with political history, but include an introduc- tory background chapter and a lengthy one on the state's military contribution. Indiana was consistently Democratic, con- servative, anti-Negro before 1854, but the party revolution of the decade shifted it to the Republicans by 1860. That party held control precariously until the depres- sion of the 1870's and the rise of green- backism brought on a succession of defeats. Indiana was both a center of Copper- headism and near the top in furnishing manpower for the Union armies. In deal- ing with the controversial measures of Governor Oliver P. Morton, the author balances the older Unionist version of his exposures of disunionism with the more

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recent criticisms of Professor Klement and others. Certainly, Morton, as governor and United States senator, was Indiana's out- standing figure in this period. Other na- tionally known leaders in both parties -- Jesse D. Bright, Schuyler Colfax, George W. Julian, Thomas A. Hendricks, Daniel W. Voorhees -- hardly merit high rating as statesmen. Indiana, too dependent on the Ohio River before the railroad era, fell behind her neighbors in drawing immigration from the East and Europe and in her industrial progress. The author does not gloss over the resultant cultural lag, still in evidence by 1880. This is shown by the high rate of illiteracy (highest of a northern state), the inadequacy of educational facilities, the lack of interest in reform movements other than sporadic temperance forays, the low state of organized labor, and the per- sistence of frontier vigilante activities, mob outbreaks, and lynchings. A bibliographical essay evaluating pub- lished and unpublished sources and giving topical references will be invaluable to scholars working in this period. A number of contemporary illustrations add interest, but the reader is dependent on a map of the railroad network in 1880 for geograph- ical information. Maps showing distribu- tion of population, agricultural and indus- trial production, and significant elections would have provided useful supplements to the statistical information. There are some minor slips -- for exam- ple, the consistent misspelling of siege -- but the book is a valuable work of historical information, although in places its details make for heavy sledding for the reader. EUGENE H. ROSEBOOM Ohio State University     THE NICKEL PLATE STORY. By John A. Rehor. (Milwaukee: Kalmbach Pub- lishing Company, 1965. 438p.; introduc- tion, illustrations, rosters, maps and pro- files, and index. $16.50.) This is a history of which it can rightly be said that it has something for every- body with an interest in railroads, and especially for Ohioans. It tells an interest- ing and significant story; it illuminates a leading aspect of our economy; it sketches

the careers of some famous business leaders and some of dubious fame. It is fully and skilfully illustrated and handsomely printed; it is extremely comprehensive; its various rosters cover both the Nickel Plate and all the underlying roads. The maps and profiles are numerous and clear, and the index is a model. It is well written and appears singularly free of errors. In sum, this is railroad history at its best. The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railway was organized in 1881 by a syndi- cate of audacious promoters, including four Ohioans, who dared to challenge the mighty William H. Vanderbilt's hold over rail traffic between Chicago, Buffalo and New York. With remarkable speed they put up all the necessary cash and constructed a first class line between Buffalo and Chi- cago. It soon acquired the nickname of Nickel Plate, in those days a popular com- plimentary term. Three days after it opened, and a mere seventeen months after organization, Vanderbilt bought control at a price that yielded the promoters a profit estimated at seventy-five percent. Virtually on the heels of the opening, Vanderbilt carried out an incredible legal and financial coup that resulted in the first mortgage being declared null and void. The compromise that followed greatly strengthened Vanderbilt's hold on the Nickel Plate, as well as causing consterna- tion in Wall Street. Thereafter, for more than thirty years Vanderbilt's New York Central so controlled the Nickel Plate to its own advantage that there was no real competition, and by 1916 the latter was of negligible value. Enter two Cleveland real estate devel- opers, the Van Sweringen brothers, Oris, aged 37, and Mantis, aged 35. In 1916 these promoters bought the New York Central's controlling interest in the Nickel Plate for 8.5 million dollars on amazingly liberal terms and with virtually no cash of their own. Thereafter there seemed to be no limit to their triumphs. Seven years after paying for the Nickel Plate with half a million dollars of borrowed cash and a series of notes, they had expanded that 527-mile road to a 1695-mile system, of which they held a majority of the voting stock. In so doing they realized a profit of 17.25 million dollars and acquired two

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more railroads, with their eastern termini in Ohio -- the Lake Erie and Western, and the Toledo, St. Louis and Western, com- monly called the Clover Leaf. Each of these roads had an adventurous history of its own which loses nothing in Rehor's telling. The o'erleaping ambition of the Van Sweringens drove the brothers, even before these two acquisitions had been consum- mated, to strive for more. They proposed, one after the other, several ingenious schemes of consolidation which narrowly failed of success, in the final case because they over-reached themselves so outra- geously. In the course of their scheming they had saddled the Nickel Plate with such a heavy burden of debt that when the stock market crashed in 1929, the Vans and their railroad were up against the wall. A coalition of New York banks, headed by Morgan, rescued them in the belief that business would improve. It got worse. Crisis followed crisis in Nickel Plate affairs, the two Van Sweringens died, worn out by the struggle, and by 1937 that rail- road was being managed jointly with the Chesapeake and Ohio. These were the only two Van Sweringen roads able to ride out the depression. This hasty scanning passes over, but Rehor does not, the remarkable accomplishments of the Nickel Plate in fast freight operations, improved locomotive de- sign, and general engineering progress. The end of 1942 saw the end of joint management, and thereafter the Nickel Plate went it alone. Its fortunes soared and its treasury filled, enabling it to lease the valuable Wheeling and Lake Erie Rail- way in 1949. The history of that road and its colorful predecessors, which added some much needed traffic balance to the Nickel Plate, is related with zest and detail and constitutes a story in itself. But time was running out for the latter line. Unable to conclude a merger on satisfactory terms with another major railroad, it was finally merged into the Norfolk and Western in 1964, in an arrangement that included the Wabash, the Pittsburg and West Virginia, and the Akron, Canton and Youngtown. Rehor's account of this combination con- cludes with the remark, "Of all the com- panies involved (including the Wheeling

and Lake Erie), only the Nickel Plate passed totally out of existence." Among the striking personalities sketched are Jay Gould and his son George; Calvin Brice of Lima, who shared with Gould pere the tag "smartest man in America"; General Jack Casement, the railroad builder; the Vanderbilts; and, of course, the amazing Van Sweringens themselves. More prosaic but of great importance are the schedules of the money-making mani- fest freights; the spasmodic improvements in motive power which was alternately neglected and exalted; the construction of the monumental Cleveland Union Termi- nal; the rise and fall of passenger traffic and the passing of the glamorous "varnish"; and the part played by the road's presi- dents whose strong personalities shaped the Nickel Plate in their own image. The only aspect given slight attention is labor -- but to say this is merely to yearn for perfection. This book is as close to perfection as anyone should ask. WALTER RUMSEY MARVIN Columbus       CINCINNATI LOCOMOTIVE BUILD- ERS, 1845-1868. By John H. White. (Washington, D. C.: Museum of History and Technology, Smithsonian Institu- tion, 1965. ix??167p.; illustrations, appen- dices, bibliography, and index. $2.00.) The Case of the Missed Opportunity, even though there is no particular mystery about it, might well be the title applied to the story of the short-lived locomotive in- dustry in Cincinnati. The opportunity and many of the ingredients necessary for suc- cess were there, but lack of adequate capi- tal and credit proved fatal. From 1845 to 1868 some five hundred locomotives, it is estimated, were manu- factured by four Cincinnati builders and one in Covington, which are here lumped together. For the most part, the engines appear to have been well built, were light in weight but suited to their tasks, and were cheaper than the eastern ones. Stand- ing on the threshold of the tremendous ex- pansion of the railroad network in the Midwest, which was their front yard, why were the Cincinnati locomotive builders

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unable to stay in business? The author gives two main reasons. First, midwestern railroads were largely built by eastern capital and staffed by men from that section. Prejudice in favor of eastern products was to be expected. Sec- ond, long-term credits were needed to fi- nance the purchase of locomotives, and the Cincinnati builders lacked the neces- sary resources. The panic of 1857 was the coup de grace for two of the firms. The final company lingered on until 1868, when losses arising from the Civil War caused it to go under. The lack of capacity to build the larger engines demanded by the railroads as they developed was also a contributing factor. A curious forerunner of things to come was the center-rail system of lightweight cars and other equipment called the "Pio- neer System," which was proposed by George Escol Sellers, a Philadelphian who lived in Cincinnati for ten years. He saw the need for cheap, easily built railroads to open up the West, but he was unable to enlist backing. A generation later the be- lievers in narrow gauge railroads used similar arguments to support their case. Still another generation later the promoters of the interurbans were repeating these arguments, and within thirty years inter- urban buses were proving some of the arguments still valid. Sellers is here credited for the first time with being the maker of a model locomotive and tender (eighteen-inch gauge) on dis- play in the Ohio State Museum in Colum- bus. It was built to prove the feasibility of the center-rail system, the author says, pointing out that although the principal parts essential to that system have been removed, enough vestiges remain to clinch the identity. This book is a credit to the author, who is associate curator of transportation of the Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution. It is an attractive little monograph, well researched and, happily, well written. The index falls short of perfection but the rest of the scholarly impedimenta appear adequate.   WALTER RUMSEY MARVIN Columbus

CORNBELT REBELLION: THE FARMERS' HOLIDAY ASSOCIA- TION. By John L. Shover. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965. 239p.; illustrations, bibliography, and index. $5.95.) The "Cornbelt Rebellion" was a desper- ate reaction of farmers in normally pros- perous dairying and swine-raising areas in the upper Mississippi Valley to the devas- tating deflation of the early 1930's. In Iowa and its neighboring states the first world war had encouraged widespread speculation in land, one aspect of which was the assumption of heavy mortgages, often with only a ten percent down pay- ment. The market crash of 1929 and its aftermath depressed the prices of farm produce to levels comparable with those of the 1890's. Farmers who a few years before had been regarded as wealthy could not even pay their taxes, let alone meet their mortgage payments. Dreams of a comfortable retirement in California, even those of educating their children, were sadly abandoned. A feeling of desperation pervaded the farm belt, and one which was not confined to the farmers. It was felt by every merchant and every imple- ment dealer, every banker and every com- mission-agent. Ultimately it helped to bring forth the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. In the upper Mississippi Valley, how- ever, the farmers did not wait for national legislation. In some places, when their neighbors were faced with the loss of every- thing they had earned in a lifetime, they turned sales, held for the foreclosure of real-estate or chattel mortgages, into "penny auctions" so that the creditors got next to nothing; they brought pressure to bear on the state legislatures, which passed mortgage-moratorium laws; and in late 1932 they engaged in violent "direct action." The organization chiefly identified with the headline-making direct action was the Farmers' Holiday Association, an offshoot of the Farmers' Union. In the beginning it sought only moratoriums on farm mort- gages, measures to promote currency infla- tion, and a guaranteed price for farm products which would reflect production costs. Recognizing that moral suasion would be a weak weapon, it adopted the

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device of a "farmers' strike" -- the with- holding of farm products from the market. Obviously the members who refused to deliver their own milk to the dairies would hurt only themselves if their neighbors failed to cooperate. Many of these as a matter of fact did not cooperate, and ac- cordingly they were stopped at roadblocks and had the milk dumped from their trucks. Soon the movement got quite out of control, with the result that two Iowa counties were placed under martial law. The farmer-strikers comprised only a mi- nority of the rural population, and their actions shocked their neighbors without achieving anything significant for them- selves. When economic conditions improved somewhat, the movement disintegrated. The most prominent personage in the Farmers' Holiday Association was Milo Reno, who had long been identified with farmers' organizations. As he was more an evangelist than a charismatic leader, he was never really able to control the move- ment, and in the middle 1930's completely failed to swing it into the Coughlin-Lemke Union Party. The Association got some support from the Communists, which was never really welcome. The Communists were completely disappointed in their ex- pectation of being able to take over its direction. This study is a straightforward and care- fully researched account of the rise and fall of the Association, its limited success, and its relations with other organizations. The author has used to advantage the papers of Milo Reno, and has managed to obtain much additional information from surviving participants, including even one important Communist source. He has effec- tively placed the movement in the national context of the beginnings of the New Deal. His work will be the standard authority on the subject. ROBERT LESLIE JONES Marietta College     PETROLEUM V. NASBY. By James C. Austin, (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1965. 159p.; chronology, bibliography, and index. $3.50.) For this addition to the comprehensive Twayne's United States Authors Series,

James C. Austin has chosen one of the most interesting writers to emerge from the American Civil War. David Ross Locke, an itinerant Ohio newspaper man for much of his life, was a reformer and satirist. His fictional character, Petroleum Vesuvius Nasby, attained such large and popular proportions in the public fancy that, as Austin's title indicates, Locke, the creator, and Nasby, the bumbling, alcoholic, illiter- ate creation, merged into one identity. Professor Austin's study of Locke and his work is valuable. Not only does it res- cue Locke from the obscurity into which he has now passed, but it examines his work in the context of both nineteenth century journalism and humor. Particularly im- portant is Austin's emphasis upon Locke as a satirist and reformer as well as a political partisan. Locke's service in the cause of human justice was valiant, and Austin gives it the recognition it merits. Particularly important in this respect is Austin's examination and evaluation of Locke's post-Civil War career in journal- ism, writing, and on the lecture platform. Although Locke amassed a comfortable fortune, Austin emphasizes that his dedi- cation to reform never wavered. Unfortunately Austin's study is not de- finitive. Not only do biographical problems, such as the nature of Locke's questionable relationship to the Sixty-fifth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, remain unanswered, but Locke's works do not receive the close critical attention that they deserve. Con- sequently Professor Austin's study is in a sense prefatory to the definitive study that is certain to follow. But these comments are mere carping; the study, like the others in the series, was not intended to be definitive. As an intro- duction to the life and work of Locke, the book makes valuable contributions to our knowledge of both; it relates them to the sweeping issues of nineteenth century America, and it makes evident the fact that Locke eminently deserves the attention he is now getting. The study belongs in the hands of anyone interested in the human drama of the great ages of abolition and reform in America. DAVID D. ANDERSON Michigan State University

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INDIAN PATHS OF PENNSYLVANIA. By Paul A. W. Wallace. (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1965. viii??227p.; endmaps, maps, appendices, bibliographical note, and indices. $6.00.) Of undoubted historical importance -- as channels of cultural diffusion and trade, as determinants of strategics and battle sites, as avenues of travel and communication -- Indian trails are too much neglected by scholars of Indian and pioneer history. Now, however, Pennsylvania history is enriched measurably by this study by Paul A. W. Wallace. The travel routes of Pennsylvania's In- dians were mostly overland. Eastern rivers were not suited to water travel, the Alle- gheny Mountain barrier between east and west was not breached by any river, canoe birch and satisfactory trees for dugouts were lacking, and climate encouraged trav- el in the woods. Dry, level, and direct are the key words to an understanding of the trails which the Indians used. Astonishing, as the author demonstrates, is the complexity of the system the paths comprised and their adaptability to the changing seasonal con- ditions of travel. Wallace dispels the "Leatherstocking" anthropology that portrays trail life as dangerous and monotonous. He discredits the popular belief that wild animals blazed the trails which the Indians later adopted as their own. Although the buffalo was undoubtedly a pioneer road engineer in some parts of the country, not so in Penn- sylvania. Simply, the buffalo never called Pennsylvania home. From Allegheny Path to Wysaukin Path, a concise topographical, place-name, utili- zation, variations and spurs, and connec- tions with other routes--description is pre- sented for each. Frequent cross-references are made to other trails. Wallace's paths range from the 200 yard-long Tioga Portage to such major arteries as the Tuscarora Path from North Carolina to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, or the Great Path from Pittsburgh to Detroit. Pioneer whites frequently made use of the trails. The author details some particularly very important instances, as in the case of George Washington's 1753 journey to Fort

Le Boeuf. Nearly all include at least one or two most helpful sketch maps. The end- maps of the entire state are simple and to the point. For most there is a FOR THE MOTORIST section with, whenever pos- sible, precise directions. If not, the author frankly says, for example, "there is no road that follows" this path. "Make the best way you can to individual points along the route" (p. 149). The discussion of method in the author's essay-introduction is valuable. Documenta- tion is sparse and insufficient and the bib- liographical note is only a general dis- cussion. The name index is a considerable aid, and the list of paths by county has desirable utility. With the unnumbered, the multiple, and the appendix entries, some 140 paths are considered. The author makes no pretense that his coverage is definitive, as indeed it could never be, but this is the principal work and the standard reference on the subject. It is a prototype to be followed for other states and areas. DWIGHT L. SMITH Miami University     GEORGE BELLOWS: PAINTER OF AMERICA. By Charles H. Morgan. Introduction by Daniel Catton Rich. (New York: Reynal and Company, 1965. 381p.; illustrations and index. $8.50.) Early in the twentieth century American art boiled: rarely had it been so exciting. Progressive artists were attracted either to the iconoclastic realists in New York, who explored the life about them, or to the revolutionary modernists in Paris, who changed our notions of form and color. Charles Morgan's book is concerned with George Bellows, one of the period's major realists who tried to accommodate certain abstract features used by the latter group to his basic point of view. The book reflects a growing interest on the part of historians to study critically the early-century real- ists. Once neglected, these artists are now becoming the center of focus for biographi- cal and critical analysis. Morgan has written an exhaustive ac- count of Bellows' life. Indeed, its sub-title should be changed from the misleading Painter of America to the more appro-

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priate Day by Day. Hardly a detail es- capes the author. The baseball games Bel- lows played as well as the birth of his daughters are recorded in considerable detail. Undoubtedly, Morgan, working with a staggering amount of material, has done his research well. And this, sad to say, is one of the major faults of the book. From the opening sen- tence -- "Anna Smith Bellows sat in her rocking chair as her pains came and went, and the Ohio sun of August 12, 1882, blistered the paint on the iron fence around the lawn" -- the reader is over- whelmed by a mind-numbing barrage of useful as well as totally irrelevant facts, items, and data. From the artist's birth in Columbus to his arrival in New York in 1904 and subsequent maturity and success, we are told all that happened. But rarely, if ever, why. In his apparent desire to record every written scrap of material, Morgan becomes side-tracked by tangents left and right and the reader becomes lost in a maze of detail. Nor is there any signifi- cant discussion of such critical factors as the influence of Robert Henri's ideas and style on Bellows, or of Jay Hambidge's theories of dynamic symmetry, or of the importance of the Thomas Eakins ex-

hibition of 1917, although Morgan quotes Bellows who called it "the greatest one man show I've ever seen." Morgan also appears to have been so involved in detail and documents that he throws only occasional glances at the paint- ings. He quotes (ad nauseum) from art critics, many of whom obviously knew little about art, and, more often than not, relies on the words of others instead of confront- ing the paintings directly. When he does, he is often hazy and muddled. To describe eighteen lithographs of 1918 in the follow- ing way -- "Violence is there, and tension, melodrama, and tragedy" -- is to say little about them. The reader looks in vain for explanations of Bellows' point of view, his style, or his fame, or even the artistic milieu in which he lived, or, for that matter, any of the vital questions one would ask of an author writing a book on Bellows. It may be said, however, that Morgan had no intention of writing such a book, preferring instead to record the trivial events of summer vaca- tions, artists' parties, and family dinners. But, then, why else write a book about Bellows? MATTHEW BAIGELL Ohio State University

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