BOOK REVIEWS
Joseph Benson Foraker, An
Uncompromising Republican. By
Everett Walters. (Ohio Governors
Series, I. Columbus, Ohio History
Press, Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, 1948. xiii
+ 315p., illustrations, bibliography,
and index. $3.50.)
Ohio during the closing decades of the
turbulent nineteenth
century was in many ways the hub of
national politics. The state
had produced a simply amazing number of
legislative giants and
private individuals who knew how to
stand quietly in shadows and
pull strings. Among Ohio's important
leaders were Rutherford B.
Hayes, Mark Hanna, John Sherman, and
Joseph Benson Foraker.
All, regardless of what may be thought
concerning their philosophy
or ethics, profoundly influenced both
the state and national scenes.
Until Mr. Walters published his solid
study of Foraker, no
really extended or detailed biography of
this Cincinnati lawyer
who fought his way to the governorship
and on to the United
States Senate and who more than once
came close to securing the
presidential nomination, had been
written. Mr. Walters' book,
fittingly enough, marks the first volume
in a series to be devoted
to the lives of Buckeye governors.
Foraker, as the author of this biography
makes perfectly
clear, was a most conservative
Republican. Indeed he was so
reactionary that he had the utmost
difficulty in keeping his peace
with other members of his party, who,
conservative as they were,
seemed relatively liberal when compared
with Foraker. In inter-
national affairs Senator Foraker was an
unqualified imperialist,
not only urging United States
intervention in Cuban affairs in
1898, but also calling for the retention
of important economic
areas. "As a matter of simple business
policy," he said, "we owe
it to ourselves to retain the whole of
the Philippines and Porto
Rico."
After the Spanish-American War was over
and the Treaty of
Paris concluded, Foraker was
instrumental in the formation of a
government for the island of Puerto
Rico. This, Mr. Walters
476
BOOK REVIEWS 477
writes, was "the most important of
his senatorial services." Then
Foraker's biographer goes on to describe
the work of the Ohioan
as an administration senator, tells of
his differences with Roosevelt,
and explains in detail the Brownsville
Affair, a tempest in a teapot
when it originated, but one which soon
assumed major significance
and resulted in Foraker's losing his
chance for the presidency in
1908. A little later came the dramatic
publication of the Standard
Oil Letters, which as Walters points
out, impressed upon the mind
of the American people that Foraker was
at one and the same time
serving two masters-the United States
Senate and the Standard
Oil Company. Foraker's career as a
public servant was at an end
and he retired to the practice of law.
In a very real sense this story of a
life, compiled from personal
papers and other primary sources, is a
political tragedy. But it
cannot be doubted that Foraker reflected
the sentiments of a large
portion of the people of Ohio and of the
nation. Had he been a
little smaller, a trifle more
constricted in his thinking, Foraker
would have been insignificant; had he
been able to be a little more
liberal, he might easily have been
distinguished. Actually, he fell
pathetically between the limbo of
mediocrity and the heaven of
success. Mr. Walters' fair and objective
volume recognizes this.
The book is a real contribution to the
story of Ohio political life
and is a competent introduction to the
other volumes which are to
come in the series devoted to the
state's political leaders.
PHILIP D. JORDAN
University of Minnesota
Old Cahokia, A Narrative and
Documents Illustrating the
First Century of Its History. Edited by John Francis McDermott
and others. (St. Louis, St. Louis
Historical Documents Foundation,
1949. ix + 355p. Paper, $3.00; cloth
$4.50.)
Cahokia, Illinois, marked its 250th
anniversary this year,
reminding us that it is the oldest
settlement on the Mississippi
River. Founded as the Mission of the
Holy Family in 1699, it
has had continuous and independent
existence down to its recent
fate as a suburb of East St. Louis. A
group in St. Louis grasped
478
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the opportunity of the
bisesquicentennial to tell the story of Old
Cahokia and buttress it with numerous
documents. With the help
of the Joseph Desloge Fund, of which
this is the first publication, a
volume of entertaining and sound
scholarship has been produced.
It is a cooperative work of narrative
and documents. Pro-
fessor McDermott was general editor and
also wrote an introductory
essay of fifty-four pages on the
founding and growth of Cahokia.
Father Joseph P. Donnelley has edited a
dozen documents related
to the mission, which was authorized by
the Seminary of Quebec
and disputed by the Jesuits. He also has
contributed two other
chapters of burial records and the
correspondence of Dom Urban
Guillet to Bishop Plessis over an
abortive attempt to maintain a
Trappist monastery near Cahokia,
1809-12. Rose Josephine Boylan
has edited two dozen legal documents to
illustrate life in the settle-
ment. Besides the endless confusion over
land titles, certain cus-
toms are revealed by the marriage
contracts, wills, and lawsuits,
while the appraisals of property
indicate the surprising possessions
of the French. The details and risks of
the fur trade are recalled
by Charles Gratiot's letters of 1778-79,
edited by Brenda R.
Gieseker. Capt. Joseph Bowman ruled
Cahokia for George Rogers
Clark; his accounts and letters, edited
by Charles van Ravensway,
show the conflict between military
authority and civilian desires.
Finally, Irving Dilliard has offered
transcripts of two court de-
cisions in Illinois that throw light on
the older social customs
in Cahokia. All the documents have been
carefully annotated, and
each group is preceded by a brief
introduction. The book is illus-
trated with five maps and six pictures;
it ends with a fine index.
At best it is difficult to reconstruct
French life in the interior
of North America. Documents are not common; neither are
diaries, travelers' accounts, or
newspapers. Quebec and Montreal
are less mysterious, but a further
difficulty besides sources is that
Americans tend to focus their attention
on the English colonies.
The history of Detroit, Vincennes, the
Illinois settlements, and St.
Louis is considered popularly to begin
after they passed into Eng-
lish hands. Yet in this interior the
French developed an economy
and community life that the later
American immigrants did not
achieve in this region until years after
United States possession.
These documents make clear that Cahokia
was no God-forsaken out-
BOOK REVIEWS 479
post of lonely men, but a self-contained
community of families
with farms, stores, slaves, and a
church. For one thing, the French
did not fight the wilderness or the
Indians; instead they used them,
although in such an adjustment it may be
argued that French cul-
ture suffered rather than prevailed
unsullied.
Even as late as 1830, tourist James
Stuart reported that the
people "still speak the French
language. They lead an indolent
life in this fine climate. They can
support themselves by working
two or three days in the week. They
dance and fiddle the rest
of it."
What more did he want, pray tell? New
Harmony never
achieved that! And what do you mean, Stuart Chase, that an
economy of abundance lies ahead of us?
HOWARD H. PECKHAM
Indiana Historical Bureau
The War of 1812. By Francis F. Beirne. (New York, E. P.
Dutton & Co., 1949. 410p. $5.00.)
Francis F. Beirne, associate editor of
the Baltimore Sun, writes
of the War of 1812 in a sprightly style
likely to revive the interest
of Americans in that too-often-forgotten
conflict. He is not writing
for an audience of academicians, and the
professional historian will
find no new material nor any new
insights. The author candidly
states that his two chief sources are
Henry Adams' History of the
Administrations of Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison and
Benson J. Lossing's Field Book, the
latter a secondary account writ-
ten more from the point of view an
antiquarian than an historian.
Apparently previously unacquainted with
the many anomalies of
the conflict and many of the facts of
the struggle now common
stock in American history survey
courses, the author approaches
his material with an unsophisticated
enthusiasm kindled by what to
him were new and exciting discoveries.
The military and naval aspects of the
war furnish the main
theme. Only ninety-five pages are
devoted to the events leading
up to the war and one brief chapter to
the making of the peace.
480
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
There is no attempt to deal with the
economic or social develop-
ments of the period.
In writing of the military and naval
battles, Beirne excels in
giving clear and concise pictures of the
personalities involved, the
relative strength of the combatants, the
particular problems faced,
and the strategy employed by the
respective commanders. The
author, having mastered the details of
every engagement, does an
exceptional job of giving the reader a
clear picture. He is
cautious in his criticism of the
military leaders, and even General
William Hull receives sympathetic
treatment, although there is no
attempt to cover up the tragic
inadequacies of the military leaders.
In his preface and in his conclusion
Beirne seeks to justify
his writing on the War of 1812 by
pointing out certain lessons to
be learned. These pages detract from an
otherwise straightforward
account. Beirne sees in the experience of
1812 the futility of
American faith in neutrality when a
general European war breaks
out. The American people, according to
the author, have repeatedly
deluded themselves into believing that
there was nothing that they
wanted and that therefore they could
stay out of the struggle. In
the year 1812 they did want trade with
Europe, although they
assumed that they wanted nothing, and
therefore became involved
in war; but having deluded themselves
they were wholly unprepared
for the hostilities. In the two more
recent wars the allies staved
off the enemy until the United States
could prepare. "In the case
of the War of 1812," writes Beirne,
"we had time to prepare but
we made no use of it. As a result the
war was waged at our fire-
sides and we knew the terror and
distress of invasion." Beirne, in
his conclusions, assumes that we went to
war in 1812 in order to
protect our trade, a thesis often
refuted and one which the author
does not support in the earlier part of
the book when writing on
the causes of the war.
While the facts of the present world
situation argue for a
policy of preparedness, the arguments
based on the experiences of
the United States in the War of 1812 are
not very convincing. One
could as readily contend that the war
was brought on by expansion-
ists, that it settled none of the issues
outstanding between the two
antagonists, and that it was an
unnecessary and futile struggle.
Nevertheless, Beirne has written an
excellent popular history
BOOK REVIEWS 481
which is free from error, does not
falsify facts for the sake of
arousing interest, and has an admirable
tone of restraint in passing
judgment upon the past.
PAUL A. VARG
Ohio State University
The University of Wisconsin, A
History, 1848-1925. By Merle
Curti and Vernon Carstensen. (Madison
University of Wisconsin
Press, 2 vols., 1949. Vol. I, xx + 739p.; Vol. II, XII + 668p.;
illustrations, bibliographical essay,
and index. $10.00; separate
vols., $6.00.)
In the ranks of American higher
educational institutions, the
University of Wisconsin has long held
top honors. Everyone inter-
ested in education is familiar with the
extensive roll of its distin-
guished faculty members and its service
to the state and nation.
To name but a few of its teachers and
scholars will recall the
university's astonishing breadth of
interest: Richard T. Ely in
economics, Max Otto in philosophy, John
R. Commons in labor
history, Frederic A. Ogg in political
science, Grant Showerman in
classics, Willard G. Bleyer in
journalism, Stephen Babcock in dairy
technology, Charles Slichter in
mathematics, Harry Steenbock in
dairy research, and, of course, such
famed historians as Frederick
Jackson Turner, William L. Westermann,
Carl Russell Fish, and
Frederick L. Paxson. In addition to
pioneering in research at a
state university, Wisconsin, under such
renowned presidents as
John Bascom, Charles R. Van Hise, and
Edward A. Birge, has
prepared thousands of students for life
work and intelligent citizen-
ship and has rendered outstanding
"service to the State" politically
and economically.
In their centennial history Professors
Curti and Carstensen,
aided by a corps of researchers, have presented
seventy-seven years
of the university's history in
overwhelming length. Indeed so
voluminous is their history that the
reader fails to grasp the story
of this great university's founding and
development. Mere length
need not per se militate against
a history, yet in these 1,327 pages
length, in this reader's opinion,
precludes a clear understanding of
482
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
the university's growth. For example,
John Bascom, philosopher,
psychologist, political economist,
prohibitionist, advocate of wom-
an's suffrage, is widely separated from
John Bascom, president.
Two chapters are devoted to this stout
leader, but the story and
significance of his administration are
lost. Similarly, the career
of President Van Hise, Wisconsin's
remarkable president from
1903 to 1918, is not accorded the unity
which would have resulted
from a briefer more compact treatment.
Those who possess sufficient
perseverance to complete these
volumes may well question what segment
of the population Pro-
fessors Curti and Carstensen had in mind
when designing this
monumental history. Certainly few
"old grads" will plow through
these rather colorless pages, or will
many others muster enough
interest to read more than a few
chapters. Unquestionably only
a relatively few people interested in
higher education will read
this history. A shorter, more compactly,
more brightly written
account would have found a wider
audience among alumni, academic
groups, and even general readers.
For the specialist interested in the
history of higher education,
these volumes bountifully illustrate the
problems surrounding the
founding and growth of a state
university. At the very outset
arose the question of the character of
the university, i.e., should
it teach only the classical subjects,
should it provide practical
courses for farmers, mechanics, etc.,
and should it also include
law, medicine, theology, and teaching.
All too soon began the
interference of the board of regents,
many members of which be-
lieved in the board's right to prescribe
curricula, set administrative
policies, and maintain discipline. These
men, it should be noted,
would have served better had they given
more careful consideration
to the choice of president and then
placed full authority in him
and the faculty. Similarly, the
university felt strong pressures
from numerous sources: the legislature,
the state educational sys-
tem, the smaller denominational
colleges, and from sectional
groups. Yet despite these handicaps and
a legislature perennially
reluctant to grant sufficient funds,
Wisconsin forged ahead to
world-wide reputation chiefly through
the effort of her great leaders.
Other state universities have not been
so fortunate.
The University of Wisconsin Press is to
be warmly congratu-
BOOK REVIEWS 483
lated for the beautiful format,
typography, binding, editing, and
painstaking scholarship of this history.
It is an artistic triumph.
All publishers should examine these
volumes as examples of su-
perb bookmaking. The authors likewise
may be complimented on
their exacting research into all phases
of the university's history.
EVERETT WALTERS
Ohio State University
The Army Air Forces in World War II. Edited by Wesley F.
Craven and James L. Cate. Vol. I, Plans
and Early Operations,
January 1939 to August 1942. (Chicago, University of Chicago,
Press, 1948. xxxi + 788p., foreword, illustrations, maps and
charts, appendixes, glossary, and index.
$5.00.) Vol. II, Europe--
Torch to Pointblank, August 1942 to
December 1943. (Chicago,
University of Chicago Press, 1949. xxi +
897p., foreword, illus-
trations, maps and charts, appendix,
glossary, and index. $6.00.)
According to the present plan the story
of the army air forces
in the last war will be completed in
seven volumes. It is the inten-
tion of the editors to make it a
comprehensive report "for the
people to whom that air arm
belongs," without any glossing over
of "the mistakes and wasteful
sacrifices."
From the viewpoint of this avowed
purpose there can be
little criticism of the first two
volumes. The tragic confusion at
Clark Field in the Philippines during
the first Japanese attacks,
the mishaps of the paratroops over
Sicily, and the tremendous
losses of men and bombers in daylight
raids over Germany are
told without apologetics. Also, in
matters still under dispute the
writers give all sides and all evidence
a chance to speak before
advancing their opinion as to the most
probable answer. In some
cases, for example, the events of
December 8 and 9, 1941, in the
Philippines, no last word is possible
from the available sources
even though the historical office of the
air force has used every
means at its command to set the record
straight.
These first two volumes are based
chiefly upon the official
documents of the air force and the field
reports of historical officers
attached to the different war theaters
and air commands. There-
484
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
fore the story is told from a one-sided
view and is not definitive
in a large sense. Fortunately the German
air force documents
were available for a hasty survey before
the second volume went
to press and some of their disclosures
are used to correct the
American records.
This use of enemy sources to compare
American claims with
actual German losses provides one of the
most interesting sections
in Volume II. The purpose of daylight
raids was not only to
cripple German industry but also to
destroy the German air force.
American claims of enemy planes
destroyed were from the first
considered high and were trimmed down
before being released in
communiques. It was obvious that the
German air force could not
survive such losses for very long. The
corrected record tells a
vastly different story. For instance, on
October 9 and 10, 1943,
American bombers claimed 122 and 204
German fighters destroyed,
with a loss of only 28 and 30 bombers.
Now it is known that the
Germans lost only 14 planes on October 9
and 22 the following
day. Thus American figures, considered
conservative, were ten
times too high-in fact, the Germans were
only losing one fighter
for every bomber. Much the same
situation prevailed in regard to
the estimated damage to German industry.
Allied bombing did not
disrupt German production to the extent
supposed. Furthermore,
the decision not to make the electric
plants a priority target was a
bad mistake as three-fourths of German
industry was dependent
upon this source of power.
The organization of this vast and
complex subject deserves
special commendation. The editors have
avoided a strict chrono-
logical account, although the story of
the different theaters, com-
mand decisions, maintenance operations,
and home front activities
are fitted within the larger framework
of the time element. Volume
I deals with the air forces during the
first months of defeat, small
scale operations, and frenzied
preparations, and its locale is prin-
cipally the home front and the Pacific
war. Volume II is devoted
to European operations and is
conveniently divided into North
African and Italian operations and the
bomber offensive based in
England. It is planned to continue and
conclude the European
air war in Volume III, with the
following two volumes being de-
voted to the air offensive against
Japan. Volume VI will deal with
BOOK REVIEWS 485
the home front, while the last one will
include an account of the
air transport command and other related
air branches.
The editors are also to be congratulated
on the even and con-
sistently good writing of the
contributing authors. The stylistic
differences so apparent and distracting
in most joint authorship
enterprises are not present, and the
editors have maintained a care-
ful balance between the heroic exploits
of individuals and the larger
story of the group to which these
aviators belong.
The maps and charts and excellent
illustrations add color as
well as value to the text, while the
glossary is a necessity as
abbreviations are used copiously for
reasons of space economy. The
long forewords are employed to acquaint
the reader with the plan
of the work and the problems of
collecting the information; it is
to be hoped that the editors will
continue this practice in the
succeeding volumes.
It would be a shame if an economy-minded
congress should
halt publication of the history. Not
only will the completed account
prove profitable to the military
historians and air force personnel,
but the average citizen interested in
aviation will find it a well-told,
comprehensive record of the greatest air
armada of all time.
HOWARD D. KRAMER
Cleveland College, Western Reserve
University
A Bibliography of William Dean
Howells. By William A.
Gibson and George Arms. (New York, New
York Public Library,
1948. 182p., illustrations and index.
Paper, $2.25.)
This bibliography by William A. Gibson
of Williams College
and George Arms of the University of New
Mexico contains a list
of about 200 books wholly or in part by
Howells and about 1,200
periodical pieces published over a
period of sixty-eight years. The
compilers have attempted to include
everything which could be
attributed certainly to Howells except
first editions published in
England and on the continent and
reprinted works which do not
carry any revisions of the original text
by the author.
The bibliography includes a check list
of works and partial
486
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL
AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
works; a check list of periodicals,
newspapers, and "departments,"
with dates of Howells materials;
collations of works and partial
works; and a list of critical writings
selected on the basis of intrin-
sic importance, the authority of the
writer, and representativeness.
There is also a twelve-page index.
The collations are in the most approved
bibliographical style,
are apparently exact and consistent; the
attributions are made with
great care; and, judging from the scope
of the compilers' research,
the list is complete within the limits
set. The compilers are to be
congratulated on a scholarly
bibliography of an important Ameri-
can author.
S. WINIFRED SMITH
Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society