THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT IN ILLINOIS, 1910-1916

560 Pages·032.811 MB·English

by  STRAETZ, RALPH ARTHUR

COPYRIGHTED
BY
RALPH ARTHUR STRAETZ
1952
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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
THE GRADUATE COLLEGE
I
j
June 12, 1951________________
I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY
SUPERVISION r y Ralph A rthur S tra e tz____________________________
f/n ttttt.F D The P**ogresslve Movement in I llin o is , 1910-T916
BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
Doctor Philosophy In P o litic a l Science
THE DEGREE OF.
IiyCharge of Thesis
Recomrryfnjdatipn concurred inf
Committee
on
J n z l
/ S . Final Examination!
t Required for doctor’s degree but notifor master’s.
M440
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THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT IN ILLINOIS,
1910-1916
BY
RALPH ARTHUR STRAETZ
A.B., University of Chicago, 1938
Ed.M., Boston University, 1942
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE
IN THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF TIIE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 1931
URBANA, ILLINOIS
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... i
CHAPTER I . INSURGENCY IN ILLINOIS: THE FIGHT
AGAINST LORIIVF'RTSM AND JACKPOTISM.............................. 1
CHAPTER I I . A PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICAN IS A GOOD
GOVERNMENT REPUBLICAN .......................................................... 67
I
CHAPTER I I I . ILLINOIS PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICANISM
CROSSES THE ILLINOIS L IN E ................................................ 101
1
CHAPTER IV. PROGRESSIVE REPUBLICANISM BECOMES
ROOSEVELT REPUBLICANISM: PROM LA FOLLETTE
TO ROOSEVELT............................................................................. . 152
CHAPTER V. ’’THOU SHALT NOT STEAL" ; "THE TIMS HAS
COME POP. A NEW THIRD P A R T Y ."......................... 235
CHAPTER VI. NEW THIRD PARTY OR TEMPORARY REBELLION?
ROOSEVELT'S COATTAILS PROVE TOO WEAK. . . . 331
CHAPTER V II. THE PROGRESSIVE IN THE LEGISLATIVE
ARENA: HOW PARTISAN CAN A NON-FARTISAN BE? . 404
CHAPTER V III. AMALGAMATION, THE SIREN: 1914,
THE LAST GASP............................_.......................................... . 468
CHAPTER IX. THE RETURN TO THE PARTY OP OUR
FATHERS: PROM JANE ADD A:.IS TO BIG BILL
THOMPSON............................................................... 516
CONCLUSION......................................................... 540
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................... 546
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' INTRODTJC TX ON
Although the w rite r might have found p leasu re in the
company of such as Lincoln S te ffe n s, Xda T arb ell and C harles
Edward R u ssell, th is tr e a tis e is no t another muckraking attem pt®
I f th ere are v illa in s in th is p iece, they are the in d iv id u a ls
who took the p o litic a l p arty w ith a l l i t s p o te n tia l u sefu ln ess
as an instrum ent of e ffe c tiv e and resp o n sib le dem ocratic
governments, used i t and abused i t w ith callo u s d isregardb The
v illa in y was committed by men of a l l p o litic a l h u es, some of
whom used th e p o litic a l p a rty as a means to p erso n al aggrandize­
ment o O thers x^ere s a tis fie d w ith th e power secured through th e
p a rty , re v e llin g ap p aren tly in the us© of the ta c tic s which kept
them in power® O thers recognized th e n e c e ssity of p rin c ip le as
a m ajor component of party p o litic s though th ey , as a re s u lt of
p o litic a l in ep titu d es most o fte n floundered between an unw illing*
ness to use the weapon o f compromise a t s tr a te g ic a lly im portant
tim es and an all,. too freq u en t succumbing to the p ressu res of
espediencyo
This is a study of the r is e and f a l l of one statew ide
segment of a th ird p o litic a l party® The P rogressive Movement in
Illin o is no more began w ith th e I llin o is P rogressive Convention
of August, 1912 than the N ational P rogressive Movement began
w ith the P rogressive N ation al Convention of th e same month®
Though the P ro gressive Movement in I llin o is , lik e i t s n a tio n a l
co u n terp art, was a Republican movement, to argue th a t i t was
th erefo re only a re v o lt w ith in the R epublican p a rty , not a re a l
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ii
th ird p a rty , Is unnecessary in te lle c tu a liz a tio n © The P rogressives
considered them selves a re a l th ird party on both the n a tio n a l and
s ta te levels© For more than two years u n its of the P rogressive
stru c tu re were organized from the p recin ct to th e n atio n al level©
Large sume of money were ra ise d , leg a l b a rrie rs were overcome, and I
ream s of p u b lic ity were produced© P rogressives won seme and lo s t
many elections© For those who fought w ithin the P ro gressive
ran k s, these were the actio n s o f a th ird p a rty , even though i t s
ex isten ce was shortlived© I
A v a rie ty o f economic, s o c ia l, and p o litic a l id eo lo g ies
g ra v ita te d in to the p h ilo so p h ically loose c o a litio n which even tually
became known as the P rog ressive party© There were among them so c ia l
workers who knew th a t th e ir settlem en t houses were but p a llia tiv e s ,
A
re c re a tio n is ts who thought supervised play in open a ir would
re v o lu tio n ize so c ie ty , p o litic a l mechanics who were assured th a t
a sm all amount of tin k e rin g w ith the m achinery of government would
c le a r out a l l the poison in our p o litic a l and economic system s,
and o th e r reform ers whose answer to a ll d if f ic u ltie s was to f i l l
government o ffic e s w ith honest and e ffic ie n t individuals© Here
1
and th e re were the P rogress! ves who had in te rp re te d th e ir C roly
c o rre c tly and recognized the d ifferen ce between p a llia tiv e s and
m ajor so cial and economic reform© I t was n o t su rp risin g th a t th is
d iffu se aggregation sought surcease by s e llin g th e ir souls to the
charm and p o litic a l m agnificance th a t was Theodore Roosevelt©
1© H erbert C roly, The Promise of American L ife , (New York4
The M acmillan Co©, 1909)©
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H i
Here, then, is the n a tu ra l h isto ry of one segment o f a
p o litic a l movement - - a fo m e n tin g pageant of men, ideas and
in s titu tio n s — w ithin the p o litic a l and geographic u n it th a t is
khown as Illin o is®
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C hapter I
INSURGENCY IN ILLINOIS THE FIGHT AGAINST LORIMERISM
%
AND JACKPOTISM
X
The instar gene y ram pant on the W ashington scene in th e
f i r s t two years of the T aft admini s tr a ti on had alm ost no support
from the I llin o is Republican d eleg atio n in W ashington„ There wasp
m oreover l i t t l e evidence th a t much but annoyance was f e lt tow ard
s
th e reb ellio u s group by any im portant segm ent of the R epublican
p a rty in th a t s ta te 0 W ithin the Illin o is s ta te R epublican
o rg a n iz a tio n however* th ere was no sign of any such u n ity of
feelin g o Evidence of a stro n g s p lit had been c le arcu t as early
as the Republican s ta te convention in 1904® At th is convent!on
9
th ree g u b ern ato rial candidates rep resen ted the dominant com peting
groups w ith in the s ta te organizations Frank Oo Lowdena C harles
So Deneens and Governor R ichard Yateso Lowdena known as the
candidate o f the "fe d eral crowd was also id e n tifie d w ith Big
- D
B ill Larim erp Republican boss of Chicago»s West S id ec The
s,anti~m achin factio n was supporting Deneen who had won g re a t
e n
acclaim as a crusading s ta te 's atto rn ey in Cook County <> Y ates„
the son of I llin o is ' C iv il War governors had achieved h is p o sitio n
to some ex ten t by v irtu e of his name and a sm all w e ll-k n it
o rg an izatio n of h is own but p rim arily through shrewd and w ell-
tim ed manoeuverso .
10 Kenneth Wo Hechlers a clo se stu d en t of th is periods d efin es
insurgency as "the stru g g le of th e -a n ti-T a ft factio n w ithin the
R epublican party to carry out what Colonel R oosevelt nebulously |
c a lle d 'my p rin c ip le s ’ «>n Kenneth Wo Hechler* Insurgency p 0 13o
s
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2
By 1904 the lin e s were c le a rly drawn and th e two stro n g ­
est fa c tio n s, those led by Lorimer and Deneen, showed no w illin g n ess
to compromise on Yates or any other can d id ate. P rio r to the 1904
cam paign, these two strong men of the R epublican p arty in I llin o is
had been c lo se personal and p o litic a l frie n d s . But the s itu a tio n
had changed, Lorimer claim ed th a t Deneen had sold out to the
o
Chicago new spaper tru s t and refu sed in any way to a s s is t Deneen8s
g u b ern ato rial am bitions, Lorimer thereupon had thrown h is support
*\
behind Lowden, a well-known co nservative law yer w ith la rg e farm ing
in te re s ts , as a re s u lt o f which th ere was a w idespread feelin g
th a t Lowden was only a s ta lk in g horse fo r the Lorimer machine®
L incoln S teffen s described the Lowden of th is period as nthe kind
of man p o litic a l bosses put up when the rin g is on the verge of
a d e fe a t, and being 'good men 8 they cloud issu es and save the
rin g s ow®
As the 1904 convention progressed ( it la ste d a record
breaking four weeks includ in g a ten days re c e s s ), i t became
obvious to Y ates and h is frie n d s th a t h is renom inati an was not
p o s sib le 0 A fter considerable d iscu ssio n th is group threw I ts
support behind Deneen ^7hich tipped the sc ales in the l a t t e r 8s
b eh alf and brought about Lowden8s d e fe a t, Y ates was to claim
la te r th a t in re tu rn fo r h is support Deneen had prom ised to support
him fo r the Republican nom ination fo r U nited S tates S enator in
1906®“ This d eal was denied by Deneen whose support was in no
N
2® For many years Lorim er-had been v io le n tly opposed by the
Chicago Tribune and the o th er R epublican papers in Chicago w ith
th e exception of the Chicago Inter-O cean e The "newspaper tr u s tw
as he lab eled the o p p osition press was now vigorously supporting
Governor Deneen®
3o Lincoln S te ffe n s, The S truggle foir Self-G overnm ent, p e 76,
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s
way forthcom ing, A3 a re s u lt i t was no t su rp risin g to fin d Y ates,
w ith the activ e support of Lorim er, running ag ain st Governor Deneen
in h is 1908 bid fo r renom ination©
The R epublican prim ary of 1908 again c le a rly in d ic a te d
th a t th ere had been no decrease in the b itte r feelin g between the
Deneen and Lorim er fa c tio n s. According to Deneen, Lorim er had
m aintained a working a llia n c e ag ain st him, w ith Roger S u lliv an
th e Cook County Dem ocratic bo ss, in both the prim ary and the
e le c tio n th a t year©® One r e s u lt of th is a llia n c e was th e
o rg an izatio n of a T aft-Stevenson Club throughout th e s ta te w ith
the lead ers of th is b ip a rtis a n combine boasting th a t 55when old
Stev©nsonn was e le c te d they ,Jwould hold the s ta te in th# hollow
of th e ir hands o The stre n g th of th is move to k n ife Deneen was
ahosn by th e number of v o ters who scratched the governor’s name
in November, W hile T aft receiv ed a m ajo rity of 161,953, Deneen5s
8
m ajo rity was only 23,911,
The m eeting o f th e nex? G eneral Assembly in January, 1909,
saw the r i f t in th e R epublican p arty w ider than ev er. At the f ir s t
m eeting of th e Republican caucus in the low er house, only those
members o f the party a f f ilia te d w ith Governor Deneen were present©
4© H earings before the Senate Committee to In v estig ate th e
E le c tio n of W illiam Lorim er (Senate Document no© 17, ~62 Cong©,
2 Seas©) VoT,™ XI, p, 1087 (h e re a fte r c ite d as Hearings on the
Lorim er c a s e ) 0
5, Ib id ,, p , 1109o
60 A dlai Stevenson, form er v ice-p resid en t of the U nited S tates
was the Dem ocratic nominee fo r governor©
7, P u b lic, A rgust 21, 1909, p, 56©
8 , r llin o is Blue Book, 1911-12, p, 311,
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