Ohio History Journal

Book Reviews

 

 

 

The Life of Mr. Justice Clarke: A Testament to the Power of Liberal

Dissent in America. By Hoyt Landon Warner. (Cleveland: Western

Reserve University Press, 1959. ix+232p.; frontispiece, bibliography,

and index. $5.00.)

In the past few years there has been a marked revival of interest in the

United States Supreme Court as is shown by the flood of articles, mono-

graphs, and books that have appeared on the court and its members.

Such interest may reach a high point when the full-length study of the

court (which has been made possible by the bequest of Mr. Justice

Holmes) gets well under way. Since Ohio, which may be thought of

more frequently for its contribution to the presidency, has provided the

supreme court with eleven of its members, including three of its chief

justices, the work of these Ohio jurists undoubtedly will be in for more

systematic attention.

These developments are all to the good. Although extensive work

has been done on such Ohio justices as McLean, Chase, Taft, and Day,

further study would greatly improve our understanding of the work

of Waite, Matthews, and Swayne, and some hard digging may be neces-

sary if we are to properly appreciate the work of a few others. Until

the appearance of Professor Hoyt Landon Warner's study of John

Hessin Clarke, which is the subject of this review, it could be said that

some particularly hard digging would be needed in his case, since only

meager biographical materials were available. Indeed Mr. Justice Clarke,

either from modesty or reticence, did not encourage such an undertaking,

expressing the somewhat surprising view that his life was "not suffi-

ciently unusual or important" to justify a biography.

In consequence, Professor Warner had "to start from scratch" in this

undertaking, seeking out, organizing, and interpreting the scattered ma-

terials that might throw light on his subject. Fortunately his previous

explorations into the social and political aspects of a rapidly industrial-

izing Ohio in the period of "progressive reform" (1897-1917), had pre-

pared him well for his exacting task, which he has performed in a manner

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that does full credit to his scholarly apprenticeship. It may also be said

that he has presented his findings in a clear-cut and interesting fashion.

The result is a well-etched vignette of the long and varied life of Mr.

Justice Clarke from his birth in 1857 in the little Ohio village of New

Lisbon (now Lisbon) until his death in California in 1945. Thus we

see him after his graduation from Western Reserve College in 1877,

beginning his professional life as a small town lawyer, first at Lisbon,

then at Youngstown (1878-99); then through long years in Cleveland

as counsel for various large railroad corporations (1898-1914); followed

by six years on the United States Supreme Court (1916-22). We also

see his long-continuing association with the Youngstown Vindicator and

Telegram, both as an editorial writer and part owner; his political

activities as a twice defeated candidate for the United States Senate; and

his battles against "bossism" and Calvin S. Brice, "bigotry" and the

A.P.A.; his relationship with Tom L. Johnson, Newton D. Baker, and

their associates (such as Fred Howe, Brand Whitlock, and Peter Witt)

in the "reform movement" that was bent on making Cleveland a "City

on a Hill"; his later-day activities in behalf of a world order that would

make for peace, as part of the League of Nations Non-partisan Associa-

tion (in which he battled vigorously for the ideas of Woodrow Wilson);

and his still later role as an "elder statesman" of the Democratic party,

in which he supported the program of Franklin D. Roosevelt as against

the views of his long-time friend Newton D. Baker. We also see him

at every stage of his career (with the exception of one unhappy experi-

ence as a "Gold Democrat" in 1896) giving strong support to the

program of the Democratic party.

His judicial career, it will be noted, represents the shortest and in its

later stages perhaps the least congenial phase of his long working life.

Indeed the evidence suggests (1) that he was never completely happy

with his work on the supreme court; and (2) that he derived more

satisfaction from his work on the district court, where he was in charge

of his own program, than from his duties on the higher court, where it

was necessary to arrive at some form of collective judgment. It also

shows (1) that he wrote 12 opinions while on the district court as com-

pared with 129 opinions and 23 dissents as a supreme court justice; and

(2) that his opinions generally reflect the social and political views which

had drawn him toward the progressive wing of the Democratic party

in state and national affairs. Thus we find him supporting a broad

extension of national and state powers over the economy and approving

numerous regulatory and social-welfare laws. In the civil liberty field we

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find him expressing interest in the individual's rights to fair trial and to

protection from arbitrary procedure, although his opinions in a number

of cases arising out of war-time measures are somewhat mixed.

In his brief six years on the court he could not be expected to have

made the contribution of a Holmes, Brandeis, Cardozo, or Stone, even if

he were interested in doing so. Actually it seems that he was never

given to wide philosophical speculations on the larger problems of law

in society. Nevertheless, his opinions clearly reflect his view that the

constitution should be looked upon as "a working charter for a living

government" and that it was "perfectly adaptable to conditions of life

of which its framers never dreamed." Although he strongly defended

the power of judicial review, he urged that it be exercised with great

discretion and never in a way that would encroach upon the preroga-

tives of the people's representatives.

He was particularly sensitive to the effects of five-to-four decisions

and proposed that the court adopt a rule declining to hold a statute

unconstitutional whenever two or more justices concluded that it was

valid. While urging the adoption of such self-imposed limitations on

the court's power, he strongly opposed various plans that would impose

external limitations on the court. Thus he opposed (1) a suggested

amendment to permit congress to overrule a supreme court decision by

a majority vote; (2) Theodore Roosevelt's scheme for reversing court

decisions by popular referendum; (3) various proposals for the recall

of judges; and (4) the Ohio constitutional limitation requiring the

concurrence of all but one of the state supreme court judges to hold

void state legislation unless affirming a judgment of the court of appeals.

This provision differed from his own proposal in that it was imposed

from without the court.

In the light of his criticism of such plans, it came as a surprise to many

that he would take a public position on the court reorganization plan of

1937, despite his privately expressed misgivings at the "restraining influ-

ence" of some of the court's decisions. He did so, however, and his

statement (made in a nation-wide radio broadcast) that the plan was

"clearly constitutional" was greatly appreciated by President Roosevelt,

if not by his former associates on the court. In taking this position he

was probably running true to form, both from the standpoint of his basic

political and social philosophy and his strong party loyalty.

In summing up his career, Professor Warner concludes that the con-

tributions which he made to the judical process and to world peace, while

important, are probably secondary to his influence as a militant crusader

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BOOK REVIEWS           425

 

for better standards of life on many fronts. He sees his total career as a

testament to a certain flexibility of mind and generosity of spirit which

not only made him responsive to new ideas but impelled him to a vigor-

ous course of action to adjust existing institutions and practices to the

changing needs of society.

In presenting this study of Mr. Justice Clarke, Professor Warner has

performed a very useful service and is to be commended for his efforts.

Needless to say, there are one or two small slips (for example, William

Jennings Bryan is inadvertently referred to as "the Kansan" on page 50,

and Justice Cardozo's name is misspelled on page 121). Then, too, some

readers may question the emphasis given to the "liberal elite" (following

Richard Hofstadter) and the "upper class dissent" (following Eric F.

Goldman) in fitting Mr. Justice Clarke into the context of his times.

Even those who have some reservations on this matter, however, would

have to agree that Professor Warner has done an excellent job and that

the Western Reserve University Press has produced a handsome book.

A useful bibliography and index is appended and a gracious introductory

note by Dean Carl F. Wittke is to be found on the dust-cover.

Ohio State University                    FRANCIS R. AUMANN

 

Portrait of America: Letters of Henry Sienkiewicz. Translated and

edited by Charles Morley. (New York: Columbia University Press,

1959. xix+300p.; frontispiece and index. $5.00.)

Most Americans who know the name of Sienkiewicz know him as the

author of Quo Vadis?, but relatively few are aware of the fact that he

spent several years in the United States, from 1876 to 1878, as a young

journalist whose impressions of America were sent home in the form

of letters to be published in the leading newspapers of Warsaw. Sien-

kiewicz originally came to the United States to select a site for a little

Utopian colony which a handful of Poles wished to establish in California

on the model of Brook Farm. He chose Anaheim, in southern California,

which was a predominantly German community, but within a few months

the little communitarian venture had collapsed. Sienkiewicz' reports

to his fellow countrymen on what he saw in America were a significant

contribution to the extensive travel literature produced by Europeans

after longer or shorter sojourns in the United States.

Professor Morley's translation makes these letters available for the

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426        THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

first time in English in book form. Little of the author's brilliant style

seems to have been lost in this excellent translation, which preserves

the spirit and literary flavor of the original. The translator has added

brief introductions, some explanatory notes, and an index, and by skillful

elision has reduced repetition to a minimum.

Sienkiewicz covered the country from New York to San Francisco,

and described life in America as he saw it both in urban centers and on

the raw frontier. He crossed the continent by railroad, and with the

enthusiasm of a naturalist and a poet, wrote of its vast natural resources,

the vitality of its boom towns, and the steady migration into the Far

West. In New York, he was disturbed by the city's materialism,

vulgarity, and spoils politics, but he was favorably impressed by its

schools and the freedom of religion which existed in America. The better

he came to know the American people, the more he came to respect

American democracy, which had repelled him at first, and he wrote

glowingly of social equality, the dignity of labor, the rights of private

property, and the benefits of public education.

In his account of the West, Sienkiewicz discussed the status of Indians,

Negroes, Chinese, and Mexicans and life among the squatters in the

mountain canyons of California. He went on a bear hunt, shot buffalo

in Wyoming, and descended into a silver mine in Nevada. In concluding

chapters he described Chinese and Polish communities in the United

States. For his countrymen he painted a realistic picture of the hard-

ships, misery, and loneliness of the newly arrived immigrant, but he also

pointed out the promise of American life for those willing to make the

initial sacrifices. He regarded the United States as a natural home for

minority groups, for there was no forced assimilation here, and the new-

comer found not only an asylum in the United States, but the same legal

rights for foreign-born and native-born.

These are but a few of the gleanings from this noted Polish traveler's

observations about America, when the republic had just completed the

first hundred years of its history. Some of these observations were the

inspiration for some of Sienkiewicz' later short stories. His letters were

written in a style that makes them fascinating reading even for those

who may not be especially interested in them as source material for

United States history.

Western Reserve University                       CARL WITTKE

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BOOK REVIEWS           427

 

Ohio Town Names. By William D. Overman. (Akron, Ohio: Atlantic

Press, 1958. ix+155p.; bibliography. Cloth, $4.00; paper, $3.00.)

Few types of research combine fascination and frustration to the same

degree as the study of geographical names. The investigator is con-

fronted by numerous changes in the names themselves and in their

spelling, by contradictory traditions, and by grotesque local legends

nearly as fantastic as the supposed origin of Moscow in Clermont County

from a boy's call as he searched for "Ma's cow." The rewards are the

fascinating reminders of national, state, and local history reflected by

the place names.

This fascination is illustrated again and again in an attractive paper-

bound compendium (a hard-cover edition is also available) of Ohio town-

names assembled by William D. Overman of Akron. In a brief preface

he analyzes the most common origins of names. Each entry in the body

of the work includes the location of the community, a note on its found-

ing, the origin of its name, and a reference to one or more of the sources

in the bibliography. The entries are concise and informative. There is

also at the end of the volume a list of towns that have changed their

names. Except that this list might have been alphabetized according to

the current names, it is difficult to see how the format and arrangement

of the book could be improved. It is convenient and functional.

Useful as it is, the book has its limitations. For one thing, as the

title indicates, it does not touch names of counties, townships, or streams.

These would require a book of equal scope. The list of altered names

is also selective; a complete index to name-changes like the one under

way at the Ross County Historical Society is an enormous, perhaps

insuperable task. Moreover, this book is not an index to all towns. In

one relatively small category, the letter "K," at least fifteen of forty-odd

settlements are omitted: Keno, Kerr, Key, Kidron, Kileville, and others.

A few entries might be more informative; that Kingsbury derives from

Kingsbury Creek, for example, enlightens very little.

Despite these limitations, however, this is the most useful and com-

plete index to Ohio town names ever published.

Wittenberg College                            WILLIAM COYLE

 

With Pipe and Tomahawk: The Story of Logan, the Mingo Chief. By

Grace Stevenson Haber. (New York: Pageant Press, 1958. 126p.;

illustrations and bibliography. $3.50.)

When Chief Logan's nephew, Tod-kah-dohs, was a lad, his aunt

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428        THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Alvaretta told him that the Great Spirit made men to love one another,

red and white, and his uncle added that it was often easier to kill than

to let live.

This attitude was the guiding principle of Logan's life from the time

when he became magistrate and head of all the Iroquois Indians on the

banks of the Susquehanna throughout his migrations farther west to the

Ohio country. During the series of conflicts between the Indians and

the French and English and between the Indians and the Americans,

Logan counseled both white and red men, urging them to use under-

standing and moderation. His honesty, dignity, and bravery won him

the affection and trust of both Indians and palefaces as he constantly

negotiated and prayed for peace.

Then, when Logan was about fifty years of age, there occurred the

massacre of Yellow Creek. Logan was at the time following the hunter's

trail, and when he learned of the slaughter of his youngest brother and

of his only surviving sister, "he shook the ashes from his peace-pipe and

pulled the tomahawk from his belt." Within a few months he had taken

thirty scalps and prisoners, but he had "thrown away his life-time honor

among the white men."

Saddened, torn by conflicting emotions, Logan watched the relentless

encroachment of the white men on Indian lands and realized the fate of

his race. His own fate was to be equally tragic.

Careful research has preceded the writing of this book, which according

to the jacket, is designed primarily for the twleve to sixteen age group.

Historical events are meticulously traced, and descriptions of the customs

and life of the Indians are interestingly pictured. But a more consistent

narrative approach and a more sustained point of view would have given

the story greater appeal for young readers. A great deal of information

is contained in these pages. Mrs. Haber has absorbed the temper of

those early days of restlessness and ruthlessness and has portrayed them

not only in words but in her own charcoal drawings. There is an

embarrassment of riches in her material.

Oxford, Ohio                          MARION M. HAVIGHURST

 

The School Library in Ohio, with Special Emphasis on Its Legislative

History. By Frederic D. Aldrich. (New York: Scarecrow Press,

1959. viii+237 p.; illustrations, bibliography, appendix, and index.

$5.25.)

This book is a thesis written by the author as a part of his doctoral

studies at Western Reserve University. It is well documented and

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contains a comprehensive bibliography and an index. A chronological

presentation of major legislation concerning school libraries in Ohio

appears in an appendix.

The author describes the educational foundations in territorial Ohio

and the few instances where libraries were in existence at the time. He

presents a picture of the emerging interest in schools and libraries during

the early years of Ohio statehood in the first half of the nineteenth

century. The state's first constitution covered the period 1803-51, and

by the middle of this period leading school men were urging tax-

supported public schools and public school libraries.

The second constitution, adopted in 1851 and still in force, established

the principle of full state responsibility for schools, setting the stage for

the general school law of 1853, which included provision for school-

district libraries. From this point the author then traces the decline or

demise of the school-district library of that period: the schools more or

less abdicating financial responsibility for the service; the consequent

shifting of such responsibility to other political subdivisions--city, vil-

lage, and township--and the development of the State Library.

A considerable part of the book is given over to library progress

since 1900, which has been the period of greatest development.

In his conclusions the author points out several areas of need which

library leaders must tackle--"leadership in the improvement of school

library standards . . . recruitment program for qualified school librarians

. . . serious neglect in the present school library program . . . publishing

or interpreting [school library statistics] . . . unevenness in school library

services both in quality and quantity."

The interpretation of present library laws (p. 185) may be questioned.

The author says statutes now in force in Ohio permit too much leniency

in allowing various subdivisions to establish libraries. Since 1947 new

libraries may be established only by the county. The other three sub-

divisions--city, township, and school-district--were allowed to continue

any libraries already in existence, but they may not establish new ones.

For better understanding of the present situation we wish the author

had distinguished more clearly between "school libraries" and "school

district libraries," currently and since 1923 a distinction of considerable

importance and concerning which there is great confusion even on the

part of school boards and school administrators. A school library is one

organized by a school to serve the school. It does not serve the public.

A school-district library is one which, although established by resolution

of a board of education, is a public library created to serve the residents

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430    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

of the school district. It is not a school library to any greater extent

than is a library organized by resolution of the legislative authority of

the other political subdivisions--city, township, or county.

The author has done an excellent job in bringing together the available

information on the vexing problem of school library service, a problem

for which no satisfactory or adequate solution has yet been found. School

library service in Ohio will make great strides in the next half-century

(1950-2000), and this study provides an excellent background for any

future developments. But it does even more. Since public library ser-

vice in Ohio has been so closely interwoven with schools--a situation

unique to Ohio--the book covers a much broader area than the title

would indicate.

Ohio State Library                             WALTER BRAHM

 

The Ohio Company: Its Inner History. By Alfred P. James. (Pitts-

burgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1959. xxiv??³⁷5p.; map,

appendices, bibliography, and index. $6.00.)

In this latest book about the Ohio Company, Dr. James has written

an essay of 185 pages presenting a resume of the company's "inner his-

tory." Deliberately keeping to a narrow compass and avoiding the

broader issues which are discussed in other books, he directs his attention

to documentary material both old and familiar or newly found. Dr.

James states that the thorough student of the Ohio Company should

consult Kenneth P. Bailey's The Ohio Company of Virginia (1939), and

Lois Mulkearn's George Mercer Papers Relating to the Ohio Company

of Virginia (1954).

As a result of this procedure certain important matters are sidestepped.

A discussion of Christopher Gist's instructions is omitted because "stu-

dents of the field of history are very familiar with them" (p. 40). On the

other hand, commerical transactions, often of the most minute pro-

portions, and records of litigation, often unexplained, stud the text.

Deluged by facts, many of them difficult to correlate and of little signific-

ance as textual matter, the "inner history" is not the sort of intimate

narrative which the reader might have expected from the title.

It does, however, amplify Bailey's work and draws on materials from

Mrs. Mulkearn's. The text stands midway between a chronicle of events

and a calendar of historical documents. As such, much of the narrative

part of the book has limited readability. The presentation of so much

data concisely is a problem not eased by the author's style. His opening

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sentence, "Important human organizations or institutions have two as-

pects in common," may be cited as an example.

The second part of the book is made up of appendices. One lists

chronologically 1,228 documents relating to the company. Another

prints ninety of them selected for various reasons. No doubt, the list

will be of value to those writing histories of the Ohio Company, and

the printing of the documents may be useful even if their transcriptions

are not entirely accurate.

It is Dr. James's hope that the additional data and new light contained

in his book may furnish a different and fuller interpretation of the

company. In summarizing on page 184, he states, "Thus with the data

now available, one can no longer accept the old idea of the great financial

losses of the Ohio Company." This summary is not in conflict with

Bailey, who made it clear twenty years ago that whatever loss the

members of the company sustained, it was inconsequential. In his con-

clusion, Dr. James observes of the company: "In one respect it was a

notable success. Its place in history is beyond cavil."

Historical Society of Pennsylvania  NICHOLAS B. WAINWRIGHT

 

Western Lands and the American Revolution. By Thomas Perkins

Abernethy.  (New York: Russell and Russell, 1959. xv+410p.;

maps, bibliography, and index. $7.50.)

Most students of the old Southwest will need no introduction to this

book, since it has stood for more than twenty years as the most important

study of its kind pertaining to that region. However, it is a work with

rather unusual characteristics which, now that they are being per-

petuated through a reprinting of the book, call for renewed identification

and appraisal. To begin, Abernethy's concern is not with land, as his

title might suggest to many readers, but with land speculation, and,

although the period of the American Revolution is centrally placed in

his narrative, the author by no means confines his attention to that war.

The subject of the book is, in fact, the politics of speculation in the lands

of Virginia's western claims, from the organization of the Ohio Com-

pany in 1747 to the end of the Confederation and the near-approach of

Kentucky's admission to the Union in 1789.

Dealing with affairs which the men involved attempted to keep as

private as possible, Abernethy displays a resourcefulness of scholarship

which compels admiration, but he frequently presents his interpretations

with an unelaborated finality which can be misleading. For example,

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in reviewing the conduct of George Morgan as supplier to Fort Pitt

during the Revolution he draws upon excellent manuscript sources, but

in passing judgment (severely adverse) upon Morgan's motives he gives

no indication that his opinion is widely at variance with that expressed

in an authoritative biography of the man--a biography which he cites

as a reference. Footnotes throughout the work are restricted to the

identification of sources, a practice which, while it makes for compact-

ness, denies to the reader the reassurance which supporting quotations

might provide.

Ever since the original publication of this book in 1937, its record of

the decisive western influence sometimes exerted by great speculators

has served to counterbalance a well-established tradition of historical

writing celebrating the democratic triumphs of ordinary frontiersmen.

Today, in so far as the book belongs in the general line of inquiry made

famous by Beard's Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, its

reappearance may have yet another counterbalancing effect. By coin-

cidence, the most ambitious attack yet directed against Beard's position

in the study just cited has come forth this year. In the face of the con-

siderable attention which the book embodying this attack has already

attracted, it is to be hoped that the fact will not be forgotten that highly

placed men sought and obtained official protection for their special

economic interests at the founding of our nation. If Abernethy's work

is still as much read as its republication implies, this would seem to be a

hope well founded.

University of California, Los Angeles    WILLIAM D. PATTISON

 

Guide to Manuscripts and Archives in the West Virginia Collection. By

Charles Shetler. (Morgantown: West Virginia University Library,

1958. x+160p.; index. Paper.)

Between 1936 and 1953 five reports on acquisitions in the West Vir-

ginia Collection were issued. The holdings listed in those reports and

collections acquired through June 30, 1958, have been included in the

present Guide.

There are 715 entries covering approximately 1,130 collections, which

vary in size. The sizes of smaller collections are given in terms of the

number of items they contain. Other units of size used are folder, for

manila folders of letter or legal size; box, for metal-edge letter or legal

size document cartons; file cabinet drawers, for standard vertical file

units; bundle, for odd-sized materials not filed in any of the above units

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BOOK REVIEWS             433

but shelved with the collection. Volumes are bound manuscript volumes

shelved apart from the manuscript boxes.

Each entry carries a description of the types of papers and documents

in the collection, biographical data for personal papers, the date spans

of papers, source of collection and date of acquisition, size of collection,

and a list of writers of letters for some of the collections.

In addition to the manuscripts, the West Virginia Collection includes

about ten thousand books and pamphlets and an extensive file of West

Virginia newspapers. There are sixty loose-leaf notebooks of genealo-

gies of West Virginia families, as well as cemetery and early marriage

records for some of the counties in the state.

Unfortunately, many of the three million items are typescripts, photo-

stats, microfilms, newspaper clippings, and printed matter. The Guide,

however, should be of value to West Virgina historians and genealogists.

Indiana University                             ELFRIEDA LANG

 

The Royal Governors of Georgia, 1754-1775. By W. W. Abbot. (Chapel

Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early

American History and Culture, 1959. ix+198p.; map, bibliographic

note, and index. $5.00.)

In lean and sinewy prose Abbot has written a penetrating account of

royal government in Georgia. His narrative centers on the three

governors, each of them sharply etched, who represented the crown until

Georgia and her sister provinces did away with royal governors alto-

gether. The research is meticulous and based almost wholly on primary

sources, many of them still unpublished.

Abbot chose John Reynolds, Henry Ellis, and James Wright as his

protagonists not only because they held the commanding position in the

colony but also because their leadership quickened the economy of

Georgia. His early chapters show how population and trade grew under

the enlightened policies of Ellis and Wright, and quite properly he

stresses the cooperation between governor and merchant-planters that

made this rapid growth possible. The policies of the governors respecting

lands, Indians, taxes, and the currency were worked out in consultation

with the men who held economic and political power. The political

struggle which developed between people and governor forms a large

part of the book, but it does not obscure the constructive role played

by the royal government. Thus Abbot's narrative achieves balance, a

balance often lacking in historical analyses of events leading up to the

American Revolution.

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One of the strengths of this book is the author's ability succinctly to

suggest the meaning of events with considerable imaginative insight,

soundly applied. Deftly he assays the impact of the stamp act crisis on

Wright's character and on Georgia's political climate, although there

was much less turmoil over the stamp tax in Georgia than elsewhere.

Again, he distinguishes perceptively the differences between the revolu-

tionary struggle in Massachusetts and the merely aggressive struggle in

Georgia. The contest between the governor and the assembly in Georgia

prior to 1774 grew out of conflicts faced by other colonies earlier and

was conditioned by Georgia's greater dependence on Great Britain. In

this period revolutionary sentiment in Georgia was mainly a wavering

reflection of the radicalism of South Carolina. These distinctions and

the emphasis on the constructive efforts of the royal governors give this

study of Georgia larger significance; it is here that Abbot breaks the

bounds of merely local history.

Carefully analytic though it is, the book has pace. In fact, a dis-

criminating sense of word and phrase and a knack for arresting metaphor

make it a delight to read.

Marietta College                             ROBERT J. TAYLOR

 

The Union Reader: As the North Saw It. Edited by Richard B. Har-

well. (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1958. xxii+362p.;

illustrations and index. $7.50.)

Richard B. Harwell, one of our harder-working scholars of the Civil

War period, has put together a collection of writings and a number of

official papers in what is called The Union Reader, "as the North saw

the war." It presents colorful phases of the great conflict as seen by

both the men who fought it and those who viewed it from the home front.

The material, arranged chronologically, as though to present a running

story of the war, is an assortment of letters, songs, speeches, prison

experiences, battle orders, and humorous writings. There is some per-

sonal narration which, at this late date, may seem of little consequence;

yet in it lies the story of the men who fought at Shiloh, Fredericksburg,

Bull Run, Winchester, and on the sea.

One of the brighter sections of the book is an account of a day in an

army hospital by Louisa May Alcott, written after the battle of Fred-

ericksburg. There is a dramatic account of the battle of Winchester

by a man in the ranks, but it is a misnamed "Sheridan at Winchester,"

the famous general making his appearance only to the extent of less

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BOOK REVIEWS                 435

 

than a dozen lines. Our personal preference is Dr. Steiner's description

of the occupation of Frederick, Maryland, locale of the Barbara Fritchie

myth.

The editor's introduction, a thing of extraordinary length, sets a high

standard, but the reader suffers a sudden descent when he plunges into

the text. In other words, we think Mr. Harwell might have produced a

finer book had he himself written it and used mainly excerpts from the

pieces he quotes in entirety.

Ohio Historical Society                    ROBERT S. HARPER

 

From Wilderness to Empire: A History of California. By Robert Glass

Cleland. Edited by Glenn S. Dumke. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,

1959. vii+445+xvip.; maps, illustrations, bibliographical essay, and

index. $6.95.)

With a thousand newcomers arriving in California daily to take up

residence, the westward movement continues unabated. The next census,

it is confidently predicted, will show that one in twelve Americans is a

Californian. From the overcrowded beaches along the Pacific shore,

across the traffic-snarled freeways of Los Angeles, to the trailer-jammed

camping grounds of Yosemite, the boat-infested waters of Lake Tahoe,

and the packed parking lots of the gleaming new shopping centers that

spring into existence overnight among the citrus groves, scurrying

Californians bustle about as if driven by demons. Little time in such

an atmosphere for a contemplative study of history.

Yet, in history-past and in history-in-the-making the state abounds.

Just a few miles from the institution where the present reviewer teaches,

a sparkling, new electronics-missile plant shoulders up against a Francis-

can mission that was established when Americans on the other coast

still considered themselves loyal subjects of George III.

The present volume offers a revised and reduced version of the late

Professor Robert Cleland's earlier two-volume study of California his-

tory, now more than a dozen years old. It is the product of a peculiarly

happy set of circumstances. Glenn S. Dumke, president of San Fran-

cisco State College and formerly professor of history at Occidental

College, where he had earlier studied under Professor Cleland, has suc-

ceeded admirably in reducing the length without altering the spirit of

Cleland's volumes. Skillfully incorporating the results of recent scholar-

ship in a number of places where revision and amendment were needed,

Dumke has added an intriguing chapter describing "California at Mid-

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436    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

Century" and a most useful bibliographical essay on "The Literature of

California History."

The work remains largely narrative in approach and style. Very help-

ful maps and illustrations increase its usefulness. Altogether, the volume

provides for the student of history and the general reader as well a con-

cise and fascinating account of the rise of the Golden State--the land of

sunshine and smog, Mt. Whitney and Death Valley, cactus and sequoia,

John C. Fremont and Earl Warren, oranges and oleanders, beatniks and

cultists, Barbary Coast and Huntington Library.

Los Angeles State College                       DAVID LINDSEY

 

American Automobile Manufacturers: The First Forty Years. By John

B. Rae. (Philadelphia and New York: Chilton Company, 1959.

xii+223 p.; illustrations, notes on sources, and index. $6.00.)

Judging from the number of references cited, 644 in twelve chapters,

John Rae, professor of history at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

nology, did a prodigious amount of research in gathering the factual

material incorporated in this history of the automobile manufacturing

industry. His sources include early motor magazines and periodicals,

newspapers, a few manuscript collections, and selected monographs deal-

ing with the pioneers in this field. While he does not recount all the

quarrels and controversial aspects of the early days of this industry in

great detail, he read enough about them in various sources to enable him

to form opinions. His conclusions are set forth in a brief and succinc

manner.

Professor Rae says that "the most important single contribution to the

founding of the industry was the bicycle business." He goes on to say

that, on the technical side, an astonishing number of features of auto

construction originated in the bicycle: pneumatic tires, wire wheels, ball

and roller bearings, differential axle, variable speed transmissions, and

steel-tube frames. He says further, that the men whose approach to

auto manufacturing was from the engine to the vehicle rather than from

the vehicle to the engine were a diversified group ranging from college

trained engineers through highly skilled mechanics to self-taugh

mechanics. He shows how the internal-combustion gasoline motor came

to have general acceptance over other motive powers like steam or

electricity. He traces the evolution of a host of small and independent

companies through combinations and mergers eventually resulting in the

few giant companies of today.

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BOOK REVIEWS           437

 

There is an amazing amount of information crammed into this little

volume, and the fact that it is indexed makes it of great value as a

reference work. The author has succeeded as well in presenting this

huge catalog of facts, dates, and data in an interesting narrative.

Akron, Ohio                              WILLIAM D. OVERMAN

 

William Dean Howells: The Development of a Novelist. By George N.

Bennett. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959. xvii+

220p.; illustrations and index. $4.00.)

Apart from its steady intelligence, Mr. Bennett's book is useful because

it is a particular kind of book. It does not try to embrace all of the

many-sided Howells: the critic, the editor, the playwright, the literary

influence, etc. Instead it focuses upon his growth as a fiction artist, and

it sticks to the point. In so doing, its analyses of the novels assume that

the reader already knows Howells pretty well; it is a book aimed at a

well-informed, probably a professional audience. Happily, being a pro-

fessor (of English, at Vanderbilt) has not kept the author from writing

well. While other students of Howells are conscientious and precise,

Mr. Bennett is in addition graceful and concise. It is a pleasure to watch

him set up the target, then hit the bull's-eye every time. His style is

nearly as attractive as Howells' own.

Because of the busy Howells "revival" of the past ten or fifteen years,

it is no longer possible to be wholly original in writing a book on this

subject. But Mr. Bennett thinks for himself. He rejects a number of

faddish or automatic assumptions. He exposes the unreliability of

Howells' idealized reminiscences of his early transplantation--for in-

stance, of the influence of a Boston plating upon a young Ohio-bred

author, or of close friendship with the Brahmin aristocrat, James Russell

Lowell. And of Howells' fifteen-year stint as editor of the Atlantic

Monthly, for example, Bennett makes the cogent case that, far from

being the ideal meal ticket for an apprentice artist, the fatiguing grind

coupled with the cozy promise of sure acceptance of whatever he wrote

undoubtedly hurt Howells' achievement as a novelist.

Bennett's principal heresy, however, is his refutation of those who

persist in prizing Howells' fiction for its extra-literary values--whether

sociological, economic, or political ones. Such critics (whose heyday

was the socially conscious 1930's, but whose vogue hangs on) have pro-

nounced Howells' "economic novels" of the early 1890's to be his best

work, and have felt that his later fictions were disappointing surrenders

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438    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

to the commercial market. But Bennett is interested in Howells pri-

marily as an artist, not as a propagandist or social philosopher; and while

he respects the economic novels, he makes clear their rather frequent

failure to amalgamate story and idea--that is, their failure, whatever else

they were, to be really well-integrated works of art.

In rescuing Howells' books from their "equally confining praise and

blame as social documents and economic treatises," Bennett returns them

to their status as literature, judging them as such. And throughout his

cool-headed book he avoids the tendency of too many Howellsians to

inflate Howells' excellence into a dubious superiority. In a typical

sentence Bennett asserts simply that "Howells is well enough served by

the truth."

"It is less important," he concludes, " that the accolade of greatness

should be withheld from [Howells]--though he had at least moments of

greatness--than that he should be granted importance in appropriate

terms." In clearly defining these terms, which were philosophical and

artistic, Bennett's book helps us to understand better a fine, if unfashion-

able, American artist.

University of Illinois, Chicago             JAMES B. STRONKS

 

Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints

1830-1900. By Leonard J. Arrington. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard

University Press, 1958. xx+534p.; maps, illustrations, bibliography

and index. $9.00.)

This volume does much to fill the gap which its preface notes in the

economic history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Writing in cooperation with the Committee on Research in Economi??

History, Professor Arrington, who is associate professor of economics

at Utah State University, has combined both interpretive synthesis an

voluminous descriptive detail.

The author's thesis, which remains clearly in focus thanks to frequent

recapitulation, holds that Mormon economic and religious institutions in

the nineteenth century were inseparable and that the church made it's

economic program the means to the establishment of the Great Basin

Zion. In a "triumph of superb organization over the many obstacles

presented by desert colonization," the Mormon Church stimulated pro-

duction of an agricultural surplus, but attempts to produce sugar, iron

woolens, and lead could not be supported by an agricultural economy

alone. Nonetheless, the "gathering" went on; the priesthood drew up

• 17
 

BOOK REVIEWS           439

tithing for credit and labor and "called" workers to new enterprises to

achieve the Mormon goal of shared self-sufficiency. The completion of

the Pacific railroad in 1869 threatened the Mormon kingdom with

engulfment by the nationalizing processes at work in the rest of the

nation. For two decades the church met this new challenge with its now

traditional collective response, including a notably successful cooperative

movement. But the growth of "anti-Mormon" legislation in congress

brought capitulation of the kingdom after the passage of the Edmunds-

Tucker act of 1887 to forces it could no longer resist. Self-contained

Mormon society, characterized by the "unity and cooperation of church

and business," could not survive the individualistic and laissez-faire

trends of the nation after the Civil War.

The hand of the economist as well as the historian is evident in the

discussion of the Great Basin as an underdeveloped region and in the

analysis of the Mormon barter economy. The author points up a host

of paradoxes in Mormon economic development: the judicious mixture

of private and public enterprise; the "unhallowed windfalls" accruing

from such boons as the Gold Rush of 1849; intensive community life in

a region of dry farming; and Mormon autarchy subjected at every turn

to the course of national growth. Sympathetic treatment is given Mor-

mon ideals, although Professor Arrington observes in the paternalism of

Brigham Young a tendency to give divine sanction to economic policies

fashioned from the exigencies of the moment. "By the end of the cen-

tury," he concludes, "the most objectionable--and some of the most

praiseworthy--aspects of Mormon life were eliminated. Nevertheless,

. . . the ideals and methods of the Great Basin Kingdom still inspire

a million and a half members" (p. 352).

One might wish in this informative volume for clearer delineation of

the geographic limits of the Mormon Great Basin Kingdom, more de-

tailed description of Mormon irrigation and fuller discussion of the dis-

senting opinions voiced in the councils of the saints. But perhaps the

most serious criticism for the general reader is the author's excessive use

of quotation. For justification he has cited the inaccessibility of his source

material (p. viii), but he has satisfied the specialist at the sacrifice of his

narrative. Moreover, the specialist will take greatest interest in the final

119 pages (one-fifth of the book) devoted to bibliographic essay, notes,

and index. In sum, here is a scholarly analysis of one of the most

??emarkable manifestations of American communitarian utopianism and

of its conflict with the new America of the post-Civil War era.

Miami University                              RONALD SHAW

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440    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

Martin Van Buren and the Making of the Democratic Party. By Robert

V. Remini. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1959. ix+²⁷1p.;

bibliography and index. $5.00.)

In writing this book, Professor Remini of Fordham University inter-

rupted his study of Martin Van Buren's career to produce a work which

describes the New Yorker's "contribution to the formation of the Demo-

cratic party." The book deals with the years 1821-28 and examines Van

Buren's relationship to national politics and New York affairs.

It is evident that the Little Magician became disgusted with Monroe's

policy of party amalgamation soon after he arrived in Washington to

serve in the senate. As a figure who was already well known because of

the prominence he had achieved in New York, he undertook the resus-

citation of the old Republican party. He believed the congressional

caucus was the only device that could unite those who were still loyal

Jeffersonians. His course in insisting that a caucus be held and the

tenacity with which he and most of the other radicals supported the ail-

ing Crawford are detailed in this work. Remini shows very clearly the

magnitude of the disaster which befell Van Buren at the close of the

1824 campaign. He also refutes the widely held theory that the New

Yorker, anticipating a deadlock in the house balloting, intended to desert

Crawford for Adams.

As for Adams, Van Buren feared his acceptance of Monroe's "fusion"

policy and his deviation from Jeffersonian principles. The appointmen??

policy of the new president and his nationalistic program forced the Little

Magician into a working arrangement with the Jackson-Calhoun men

The manner in which Van Buren brought the radicals and the divers??

Jackson groups together into a fairly cohesive party is told in the las??

forty percent of the book. The author contends that the New Yorke??

was the guiding strategist and organizer in this important politica??

development. In this connection his discussion of the tariff of 182??

which was previously printed in a scholarly journal, overturns old??

concepts.

It is obvious that Remini is well acquainted with the Fox of Kinde??

hook; furthermore, he is successful in presenting an understanding ar??

balanced picture of the man. The work is incomplete, however, becau??

it is apparent that the reaction of westerners to Van Buren's politic??

efforts was not seriously canvassed. Similarly, contemporary opini??

in the Atlantic states has not been fully measured. One wonders if V??

Buren's reversal of position on internal improvements was not influenc??

more by the impending completion of the Erie Canal than by a matt??

• 19
 

BOOK REVIEWS           441

 

consideration of Jeffersonian principles. There is no supporting cor-

roboration for the claim that Van Buren's statements regarding the

Missouri Compromise were pro-southern. What evidence is there that

the new Jackson party accepted Van Buren's brand of Jeffersonianism,

as the author implies?

It must be added that it is disconcerting to find sources used in the

footnotes which are not listed in the bibliography (Ch. 3, n. 24; Ch. 8,

n. 28; Ch. 13, n. 23). A changing style is used in citing the publications

of the American Historical Association (pp. 252, 257, 258). Mahlon

Dickerson was from New Jersey, not New York (Ch. 10, n. 6); the

Cumberland Road toll gates bill was passed during the first session of

the seventeenth congress (Ch. 3, n. 1).

Despite its shortcomings, this book is worth reading if handled with

the proper caution.

Ohio Wesleyan University                  RICHARD W. SMITH

 

History of the Progressive Party, 1912-1916. By Amos R. E. Pinchot.

Edited with a biographical introduction by Helene Maxwell Hooker.

(New York: New York University Press, 1958. xii+305p.; ap-

pendices and index. $7.50.)

In the usual discussion of the Progressive party in general histories,

Amos Pinchot, when he is mentioned at all, is linked with his brother

Gifford. The two appear like twin stars in the political firmament, the

more illustrations Gifford inevitably eclipsing the lesser known Amos.

This volume removes its author from the enveloping shadow of his

older brother and reveals the man himself. Amos Pinchot, for the most

part, pursued an individual course; it was only briefly at the birth of the

Progressive party that he ran in tandem with Gifford; but soon there-

after the two parted political company. Unlike his brother, Amos held

no public office; he served his party behind the scenes in committee

work, fund raising, and writing campaign literature. Later he became

a self-appointed gadfly to the Progressive leaders Theodore Roosevelt

and George W. Perkins.

Pinchot's History is an intensely personal, selective, and critical one.

In no sense is it a comprehensive account. Helene M. Hooker, the editor,

who teaches English at Queens College, has been obliged in her long and

indispensable biographical introduction to round out the picture of many

significant events in the life of the Progressive party, even those in

• 20
 

442    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

which Pinchot himself played an important role. The History was begun

in the ¹⁹²0's as the political counterpart of a much more ambitious

economic study which was abandoned, and even the History was never

completed--five chapters remain unrevised and the final one unfinished.

The History does not alter the major outline of the party's rise and

fall as presented by George Mowry in Theodore Roosevelt and the

Progressive Movement, but it does add dimension to the story and

corrects some of the interpretation. There are provocative portraits of

the three principals of the party in 1912--Roosevelt, Perkins, and Frank

Munsey--which reflect Amos Pinchot's ambivalence toward them. The

author was repelled by their favoritism toward trusts yet attracted by

their personalities and political skills.

This volume contains the fullest account in print of the dilemma which

faced the Republican progressives during December 1911 and January

1912, in choosing between Robert M. La Follette and Roosevelt as their

presidential candidate. The record here indicates that Mowry has been

too severe in charging that Amos Pinchot and others played "a double

game," "broke faith with La Follette," and "with indecent haste . . .

transferred their fealty." Amos Pinchot's approach was open and direct,

but it proved to be impossible to persuade either man to support the

other or to withdraw. By the end of January, Amos, his brother, and

a few others were convinced that La Follette was losing ground poli-

tically, that he could never defeat Taft, whereas Roosevelt with his

immense popular appeal did have a chance to win. The most serious

charge that can be made against them is that these men yielded to ex-

pediency in shifting from the more progressive La Follette to the less

progressive Roosevelt.

Another episode that receives extensive documentation is the mysteri-

ous disappearance of the plank endorsing the Sherman act from the

progressive national platform of 1912. An exchange of letters between

Pinchot and Roosevelt on the subject of the plank and the trust question

in general is printed in full in the History. Pinchot, a determined foe

of the trusts, pinned the responsibility for the elimination of the plans

on Perkins, financial angel of the party and also a director of the steel

and harvester trusts. Roosevelt made a labored and involved defense of

Perkins and the action taken, which did not satisfy Pinchot, nor does

it satisfy this reviewer.

It was Pinchot's continued distrust of Perkins, who remained a

manager of the party, that led to the author's break with the Progres-

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BOOK REVIEWS           443

 

sives in 1914. In an open letter he demanded the removal of the man

"who has been monopoly's ardent supporter . . . a handicap to the

party and a fraud on the public" (p. 54), in order to make very clear

that the party took the people's side in "the struggle between democracy

and privilege." Pinchot's attack proved to be virtually a one-man re-

bellion; he did not carry the members of the national committee with

him, and Perkins survived. Mowry's interpretation of the episode as

discrediting Perkins is, therefore, questioned by the editor. The fact is

that the party manager did win a vote of confidence and that it was

Pinchot in defeat, not Perkins, who felt compelled to leave the party.

After 1914 Amos Pinchot became even more of a political maverick.

Because of his opposition to war he joined the Volunteers for Wilson

in 1916 and campaigned for the Socialist candidate for mayor of New

York City. He defended labor unions, supported The Masses, an avant-

garde socialist publication, and protested the denial of mailing privileges

to socialist newspapers. After the war he joined the Committee of 48

to found a third party with La Follette as its nominee, but the latter

declined. In 1932 Pinchot supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, then turned

against the New Deal, alarmed by the tremendous expansion of govern-

ment in Washington and by the foreign policy of the president. Pinchot

died in 1944 in the midst of the Second World War, which he had

decried, a melancholy figure who felt he had lived and fought in vain.

But his pessimism was unjustified. He had the moral courage to con-

tinue the campaign for individual and minority rights after losing many

a battle and the breadth of spirit to be charitable towards his opponents.

Amos Pinchot emerges from this volume as a man of intellectual tough-

ness and moral strength who in a minor role served his party and his

country with distinction.

Kenyon College                               LANDON WARNER

 

Teapot Dome. By M. R. Werner and John Starr. (New York: Viking

Press, 1959. x + 306p.; illustrations and index. $5.00.)

This is another of those self-styled "complete stories told for the first

time." The authors are free-lance popularizers whose previous produc-

tions include Barnum, Brigham Young, and Privileged Characters for

Werner and Hospital City for Starr. The story of the Teapot Dome

conspiracy is based on the hearings of the senate committee investiga-

tions of the oil scandal, the court records of the ensuing trials, "the press

• 22
 

444    THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY

 

clippings of the investigation and trials," reports of the treasury depart-

ment secret service men assigned to trace the Liberty Bonds given by

H. F. Sinclair to Secretary Albert B. Fall, and personal interviews with

detectives, government lawyers, friends of Harry M. Daugherty, United

States Senators, and officials of the navy department, department of

justice, and the police force of the District of Columbia.

The story is told against a background of two politicians: the im-

pecunious plotter and suddenly affluent Secretary Fall, and the alleged

puppet-president Warren G. Harding. Fall bamboozles Harding, the

navy, Daughterty, congress, et al. into transferring the jurisdiction over

government oil leases to the interior department and then makes the

famous leases of the Teapot Dome reserve to Harry F. Sinclair, and of

the Elk Hills reserve to Edward L. Doheny. In return Fall receives

Liberty Bonds from Sinclair and cash from Doheny. The hero's role is

played by Democratic Senator Thomas J. Walsh, who dominates the

special investigation by the senate committee on public lands and surveys,

chairmanned by Republican Senator Reed Smoot. The evasiveness, lying,

contempt, and arrogance of Fall and his benefactors are meticulously

reported. Court justice is sought by President Coolidge's special counsel,

Owen J. Roberts and Atlee Pomerene, who prosecute twelve lawsuits

with varying results. The leases are cancelled. Fall and Doheny are

acquitted in a joint trial. The Fall-Sinclair joint trial results in a mistrial

because of jury tampering. Sinclair is then acquitted, but Fall is con-

victed in separate trials. However, Sinclair is convicted of jury tamper-

ing, as well as of contempt of the senate. Others are acquitted of

contempt of the senate and of perjury.

There is no completeness or finality to this allegedly complete story.

The authors do not understand the legal intricacies which resulted in

the seemingly inconsistent verdicts. They merely reflect on the defense

attorney Frank J. Hogan's integrity and on the bias of juries. The

authors show no adequate knowledge of the development of twentieth-

century oil capitalism, which is just as logical a background for the story

as is politics. And in describing "the foray of the Harding administra-

tion against the government" they accept the popular anti-Harding

thought-pattern with its exaggerated and hearsay "evidence." Above all,

the study is practically unfootnoted, most of the twenty-odd footnotes

being merely explanatory and not documentary.

University of Toledo                     RANDOLPH C. DOWNES

• 23