USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. IV 1896-1920 > Part 22
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During this special session of the fall of 1920, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a series of measures for the relief of tenants. One repealed the law passed at the regular session recognizing twenty-five per cent. increase in rent during the year as fair, in the absence of proof to the contrary. Another permitted a tenant sued for non-payment to set up the defense that the rent was not reasonable and required the landlord to show his costs to prove that it was. The maintainance of summary proceedings was suspended for two years so as to leave tenants secure in their homes except as it might be proved in the Supreme Court that they were objectionable or that the owner (not a corpora- tion) wished to occupy the property himself or to demolish it for a new building on approved plans. New York City was authorized to exempt from local taxa- tion, for ten years, new apartment buildings meeting prescribed regulations. Mayor Hylan sought authority to lend sinking fund moneys for new home-building up to 80 per cent. of the value of the securing property, but this measure was defeated.
The Legislature also appointed a special joint com- mittee, which came to be known as the Lockwood com- mittee, to investigate the housing troubles. This
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committee, with Samuel Untermyer as its counsel, took a large volume of testimony through the autumn and brought forth sensational disclosures of combina- tions, involving both contractors and labor union lead- ers, to advance building costs on both public and private buildings and to levy blackmail upon property owners. Many indictments followed, and the work was well under way at the end of the year.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1920
T HE first unofficial State convention in prepara- tion for the Presidential campaign was held by the Republicans in New York City on February 18, with Elihu Root as temporary and John Lord O'Brian as permanent chairman. In his speech Root pictured the evils of class rule, declaring that the chief enemy of democracy was not the arbitrary rule of a monarch but the cruel and relentless domination of a class bent on exploiting all not of its own group. He called for the ending of the war powers of the admin- istration and criticised the President's attitude toward the Senate with respect to the League of Nations cove- nant. The platform favored the ratification of the treaty with the Senate reservations, opposed Article X of the covenant, and favored the establishment of an international court. It urged the ratification of the Federal Suffrage amendment and the establishment of
an Industrial Relations commission to prevent strikes and assure labor a share in determining the conditions of its own employment. It favored the reduction of public expenditures, revision of the tax laws "to pro- mote enterprise and not hinder it," a national budget system, private ownership of railroads and of the mer- chant marine, a small standing army with a trained
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reserve, and the reorganization of the Federal Trade commission, which, it declared, had "persecuted, not promoted, trade." It claimed credit for the Republican party for hearty support of the government in the war and for passing the Selective Draft law. This platform was mainly the work of Nicholas Murray Butler, chair- man of the committee on resolutions, who was a candi- date for the Presidency. As Elihu Root was about to go to Europe, he declined to be a delegate to the national convention, and the delegates-at-large recommended were James W. Wadsworth, Jr., William M. Calder, Nathan L. Miller, and William Boyce Thompson. These were all chosen at the April primary, the only opposing candidate being William M. Bennett, who made a campaign directed chiefly against Thompson.
Though New York had a candidate for President in Nicholas Murray Butler, the sentiment of the delega- tion and of the voters behind it was much divided. An active campaign had been waged in behalf of General Leonard Wood, and he had a strong following that refused to fall in with the plan to give the delegation to Butler, for at least a few ballots. Governor Lowden of Illinois was the favorite of most of the organization leaders who were opposed to Wood. Herbert Hoover, who at first appeared as a candidate of no party and as such received the enthusiastic support of the Demo- cratic New York World, but later aligned himself with the Republicans, had a considerable popular following though little support among the delegates. Governor Coolidge of Massachusetts and Senator Harding of Ohio had a few friends in the delegation, who con-
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sidered them eligible "dark horses." Sixteen States had direct Presidential preference primary laws, but no complete list of candidates mentioned was printed on the ballots. In some cases only two candidates actively contesting a State were on the ballot, and in others a single name appeared. In Pennsylvania the only printed name on the Republican ticket was that of Gov- ernor Sproul, who received 250,000 votes, while about 11,000 voters wrote the name of Hiram Johnson and about 4,000 that of General Wood. Similar conditions prevailed in the Democratic primaries. Therefore the expression of popular preference became a farce in both parties, and the selection of candidates necessarily be- came a matter of convention adjustment in the old fashion ; for nobody, Democrat or Republican, had any authentic mandate.
The Republican national convention assembled in Chicago on June 8. Henry Cabot Lodge was both temporary and permanent chairman. Ogden L. Mills of New York, who had taken the lead in a movement for the tentative formulation of platform suggestions based on consultation with Republicans of all classes, was a candidate for chairman of the committee on reso- lutions, but was defeated by Senator James E. Watson of Indiana. The chief struggle over the platform turned on the attitude of the party toward the League of Nations. Senator Hiram Johnson, a leading candi- date for the Presidency, bitterly opposed the whole treaty and in that stand was supported by Senator Borah. The "mild reservationists," led by Senators Kellogg and Lenroot and powerfully aided by Win-
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throp Murray Crane, demanded a platform favoring the treaty with reservations. Johnson and Borah opposed the indorsement of even a modified treaty, and fears of a bolt were entertained. Finally Senator Lodge, who had led the Senate fight for the reservations that the President refused to accept, forced a compromise. The "irreconcilables" yielded as to form, provided no specific reference be made to ratification even with reservations, and a plank was agreed upon which adopted the language of Elihu Root. It read :
"The Republican party stands for agreement among the nations to preserve the peace of the world. We believe such an international association must be based upon international justice, and must provide methods which shall maintain the rule of public right by the develop- ment of law and the decision of impartial courts, and which shall secure instant and general international conference whenever peace shall be threatened by political action, so that the nations pledged to do and insist upon what is just and fair may exercise their influence and power for the prevention of war. We believe that all this can be done without the compromise of national independence, without depriving the people of the United States in advance of the right to determine for themselves what is just and fair when the occasion arises, and without involving them as participants and not as peace- makers in a multitude of quarrels, the merits of which they are unable to judge."
The plank declared that the covenant signed by Presi- dent Wilson signally failed to accomplish this, and that the "unfortunate insistence of the President upon hav- ing his own way without change and without any regard for the opinion of the majority of the Senate, which shares with him in the treaty-making power," forced the Senators to vote according to their own judgment on the treaty as presented. It held that in so doing they per-
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formed their duty faithfully, and added : "We pledge the coming Republican administration to such agree- ment with the other nations of the world as shall meet the full duty of America to civilization and humanity in accordance with American ideals and without surrender of the right of the American people to exercise its judg- ment and its power in favor of justice and peace."
In other respects the platform excited little contest. Eamon de Valera, the putative Irish President, was in Chicago and with his friends sought to secure a reso- lution for the recognition of the Irish republic. The committee drafted a resolution of sympathy, which he pronounced of no value to his cause, and at the last it was dropped from the platform. The instrument was severe in its indictment of the national administration, charging it with unpreparedness for war and unpre- paredness for peace and with waste in not dismissing place-holders after the war, and promised "to undertake to end executive autocracy and to restore to the people their constitutional government." It favored coopera- tion of capital and labor, denied the right to strike against the government, advocated measures to safe- guard public employes and to establish public tribunals for the investigation of labor disputes affecting public utilities, opposed government ownership of railroads, and called for simplification of taxation, an executive budget, and reorganization of Federal departments. It contained a strong pronouncement for constitutional free speech, free press and assembly, and, perhaps with a view to the case of the expulsion of the New York Socialists, for the sacred right of the qualified voter to
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be represented by his duly chosen representative, but added that no man might advocate resistance to the law or violent overthrow of the government. Declaration was made that aliens were not entitled to agitate against the government and immigration should be limited to the number and character that could be assimilated. President Wilson's request for permission to accept the mandate for Armenia was attacked as tending to throw the United States into the maelstrom of Europe, but a liberal foreign policy was promised. The platform also criticised the President's Mexican policy and declared that no Mexican government should be recognized unless it should be able and willing to guarantee the lives and property of American citizens. The party reaffirmed its belief in protection but declared that owing to the world situation no definite policy could be formulated. This platform was adopted without objec- tion except from Wisconsin, which proposed a plat- form with characteristic LaFollette views, including a radical anti-League plank.
Several New Yorkers participated in placing the can- didates in nomination. Ogden L. Mills presented the name of Butler, and Helen Varick Boswell seconded it. Nathan L. Miller nominated Hoover. Mrs. Doug- las Robinson, a sister of Theodore Roosevelt, seconded Wood. Jules S. Bache seconded Senator Poindexter of Washington.
From the beginning of the convention it was clear that General Wood had the largest number of delegates, though not enough to win unless he should receive con- siderable accessions. His friends were confident of
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securing the nomination after the preliminary demon- strations for favorite sons. Congressional investigation into pre-convention expenditures, however, had shown the use of such large sums of money in his behalf that many of the astute leaders of the party were con- vinced that his choice would be a grave blunder. They were inclined to look with favor on Governor Lowden, but the money cry was also raised against him because a contribution that he had intended for general public- ity work in Missouri had been retained by a follower who was himself chosen a delegate ; moreover, he faced a bitter factional fight in his own State through the antagonism of Mayor Thompson of Chicago. Knox of Pennsylvania was a favorite with the Senatorial group, and on account of his strong anti-treaty views enjoyed the friendship of Johnson, but he had really no affirma- tive following. While Governor Coolidge and Gover- nor Sproul were much discussed in the search for a compromise candidate, neither appealed to the dele- gates as possessing exceptional availability. In the newspapers Hughes was favorably mentioned, and sub- stantial support was given him in the popular straw votes, notably the Literary Digest poll, but he had declined to be a candidate and had no organization or even personal representative in Chicago.
On the first eight ballots the contest was between Wood and Lowden for first place, with the final result that they were practically tied though neither was able to draw sufficient votes from the remaining candidates to show any prospect of overcoming the initial disad- vantage of strong and resolute opposition. The conven-
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tion, under the guidance of its leaders, then turned to Warren G. Harding of Ohio as the most acceptable and available man, and he was nominated on the tenth ballot by 6921/5 votes out of a total of 984.
The New York delegation on the first ballot voted as follows: Butler, 68; Wood, 10; Hoover, 3; Coolidge, 2; Harding, 2; Lowden, 2; Poindexter, 1. Harding's two supporters were George W. Aldridge and his fel- low-Rochester delegate, James L. Hotchkiss. Nathan L. Miller, Otis H. Cutler, and William L. Ward voted for Hoover. Butler's only votes outside of New York were 1 from Kentucky and 1/2 from Texas. Before the ballot Butler had disavowed a desire to be con- sidered a mere favorite son. He wanted no compli- mentary vote for a few ballots while the delegates were "feeling out" the situation and deciding where to throw their effective strength, but only the support of those who believed that the convention might ultimately pre- fer him and who were prepared to stand by that convic- tion. Nevertheless, the tactical situation required that the leading candidates should be kept at a substantial equality if a deadlock was to be effected and any minor candidate nominated. So after the first ballot the But- ler votes had to be thrown in increasing measure to Lowden to offset the Wood strength.
Butler received on the second ballot 41 votes-40 from New York and 1 from Texas; after that his sup- port was confined to his own State, declining to 25 on the third ballot, 20 on the fourth, 4 on the fifth and sixth, and 2 on the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth. On the final ballot New York voted: Harding, 68;
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Wood, 6; Hoover, 4; Coolidge, 4; Lowden, 3; Butler, 2; Lenroot, 1. Miss Katherine Hammer (Butler's alternate) and William Boyce Thompson stood with Butler to the last. The Lenroot vote was cast by F. H. LaGuardia. Hoover was voted for by Nathan L. Miller, William L. Ward, Arthur W. Lawrence, and George M. Champlin. Elon R. Brown Henry M. Sage, and Perry G. Williams were for Coolidge. Robert L. Bacon, Henry L. Stimson, George Henry Payne, Lansing G. Hoskins, Otis H. Cutler, and John Taber supported Wood. Herbert Parsons, William J. Tully, and John W. Dwight voted for Lowden.
Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts was nominated for Vice-President on the first ballot. New York voted : Coolidge, 59; Lenroot of Wisconsin, 21; Allen of Kansas, 8.
The Democrats held their unofficial State convention at Albany on February 26, under the chairmanship of Francis P. Cullen of Oswego. It proposed Alfred E. Smith of New York, Elizabeth Marbury of New York, Harriet May Mills of Syracuse, and Louis E. Des- becker of Buffalo as delegates-at-large to the national convention, and adopted a platform that dwelt on the progressive legislation given the country by the national administration, especially the Federal Reserve, Farm Loan, and Parcel Post systems, its taxation methods, and its work in the war; advised immediate ratification of the treaty of peace and the League covenant; favored revision of the tax laws; commended the administration of Governor Smith in general, and in particular his
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calling of a special session to ratify the Woman Suffrage amendment; declared unalterable opposition to prohi- bition by Federal amendment, which it pronounced an "imposition of ideas of an active minority against the wishes of the great majority and an intolerable inter- ference with State rights"; and recommended a refer- endum for all future constitutional amendments. The referendum proposal was offered by George R. Lunn as a substitute for the anti-prohibition plank, but the convention by a large majority refused to expunge that plank and merely added the demand for the refer- endum.
At the primaries the suggested delegates-at-large were chosen without contest. The sentiment in the State was divided as to the Presidential nomination. George R. Lunn and Franklin D. Roosevelt led the supporters of McAdoo, but the majority of the delega- tion were opposed to McAdoo and believed to favor Cox ultimately. Tammany announced its intention to enforce the unit rule despite the strong objection of Lunn.
At a meeting of the State delegation in Albany on May 7 it was decided to recommend to the national convention a declaration for universal disarmament, and a resolution favoring the enforcement of the Eight- eenth amendment was ruled out of order. Governor Smith was chosen chairman of the delegation. Lunn made an attack on the unit rule and declared that he would vote for McAdoo in spite of it. Thomas F. Conway supported him, and Samuel Seabury made a speech attacking Murphy. Nevertheless, the delegation
NATHAN L. MILLER
Nathan L. Miller, 46th governor (1921-); born at Solon, Cortland county, N. Y., October 10, 1868; graduated from Cortland normal school; studied law, was admitted to the bar and practiced in Cortland; state comptroller, 1902-1903; justice of the supreme court in the 6th judicial district, 1903- 1913; appointed designate judge of the court of appeals, Janu- ary 1, 1913 ; resigned to become general counsel to the Solvay Process company, August 1, 1915; delegate to republican national convention 1920; elected governor, November 2, 1920.
JOHN F. HYLAN
John F. Hylan, mayor of New York City; born on a farm in Hunter, Greene county, N. Y., April 20, 1868; educated in public schools; received the degree of bachelor of laws from the New York law school, 1897; admitted to the bar in 1897 and began practice in Brooklyn; candidate for municipal judge, 1905; city magistrate, 1906-1914; appointed judge of the county court of Kings county, 1914 and elected, 1915; elected mayor of New York City, 1917 and reelected in 1921.
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by a vote of 64 to 8 adopted the rule as consistent with the historical policy of the New York Democracy.
The Democratic national convention opened in San Francisco on June 28. Homer S. Cummings of Con- necticut was temporary and Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas permanent chairman. The supporters of the Wilson administration were in full control. On the subject of the peace treaty the platform favored imme- diate ratification without reservations that would impair the essential integrity of the League of Nations cove- nant, but announced that the party was not opposed to reservations "making clear or more specific the obliga- tions of the United States." Help for Armenia was favored, but without allusion to the President's man- date proposal. The high cost of living was declared to be due to the war, to inflation of foreign currency, and to profiteering, and the Republican majority in Con- gress was condemned for not restoring peace condi- tions. With reference to labor, the principle of collect- ive bargaining was approved and there was general sympathetic expression concerning the claims of the working classes, but with respect to the government service the right of the people was held to be superior to the right to strike. The Republicans were condemned for not revising the war tax laws; Woman Suffrage was indorsed ; a fair test of the Esch-Cummins act restoring railroads to private operation was advocated ; belief in tariff for revenue only was reaffirmed, and a budget sys- tem was favored. The duty of the United States with reference to Mexico was declared to be recognition and assistance when that country should establish a govern-
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ment able to maintain law and order. Sympathy was expressed for the Irish in their aspirations. The con- vention adopted a new rule providing for equal repre- sentation of women with men on the party's national committee. The unit rule was abrogated so far as con- cerned States having mandatory statutes for the selec- tion of delegates by districts, except where by law dele- gates were subject to instructions from a State con- vention.
William J. Bryan undertook to have the convention pronounce for "bone dry" prohibition and also for the acceptance of such reservations respecting the League of Nations as should prove necessary to suit the Senate majority and to secure ratification of the treaty. He was defeated in both endeavors. The vote of the New York delegates on his prohibition plank was 3 in favor to 87 against. W. Bourke Cockran offered a resolution in the interest of permitting the use of beer and wine, which the New Yorkers supported by 78 to 12 but which the convention rejected by 7261/2 nays to 356 ayes. The Democratic platform, like the Republican, was consequently silent on the liquor question. A radical Irish plank was proposed but voted down, eighty of the New York delegates being for it. The platform as reported was adopted without change.
The leading men proposed for the Presidential nomi- nation were William G. McAdoo of New York, A. Mitchell Palmer of Pennsylvania, and James M. Cox of Ohio. Mr. McAdoo in positive terms announced his unwillingness to be a candidate, but his followers persisted in urging his nomination and maintained
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remarkable strength throughout the balloting.1 Three other New Yorkers were placed in nomination: the Governor of the State, Alfred E. Smith ; Francis Burton Harrison, Governor-General of the Philippine Islands ; and James W. Gerard, former Ambassador to Germany. Governor Smith's name was presented in an eloquent address by Cockran, and seconding speeches were made by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mrs. Lillian B. Sire. There was a demonstration-spontaneous and whole- hearted ; but it was well understood that the voting sup- port given the Governor would be essentially compli- mentary and that it was quite impossible that he could prove a strong competitor for the prize. The other New York candidates, Harrison and Gerard, were named, respectively, by Miss Bessie A. Dwyer, a dele- gate from the Philippines, and U. S. G. Cherry of South Dakota. Both these latter candidates were without substantial following, and the few votes that they received at the start not only failed to increase but soon went to others.
In the long and exciting struggle for the nomination the course of the New York delegation coincided with general expectation. Governor Smith at first received
1Not since the Republican convention of 1880, with its famous 306 for Grant, has an ultimately unsuccessful candidate before a national nominat- ing body received such consistent and unflinching support as that given McAdoo. Clark's vote in the Democratic convention of 1912 showed great lasting strength, but steadily declined as the fight drew to its finish. On the other hand, the vote for McAdoo, while at times falling off, soon mounted again after each ebb and even rose higher than it had previously stood. On the first ballot it was 266, on the second 289, on the third 3231/2, and on every subsequent ballot up to the last was in the three and four hundreds-the high mark, 467, being reached on the fortieth. On the final ballot it was 269, three more than on the first.
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its solid vote,2 but on the seventh ballot he was dropped, Cox becoming the favorite of a large majority of the delegation, although the unit rule was not enforced. The vote of New York on the seventh ballot stood : Cox, 68; McAdoo, 16; Palmer, 2; Gerard, 2; John W. Davis, Ambassador to Great Britain, 1; Champ Clark, 1. The vote for Davis was cast by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who unsuccessfully sought to carry with him other friends of McAdoo. Davis was urgently advocated by the New York Times. Following the seventh ballot the steadiness of the support accorded Cox by the major part of the New York delegates was a marked feature of the contest. But the McAdoo men in the delegation (conspicuous among whom were Cock- ran, Lunn, and John Pallace of Rochester) stood firm, and even on the final (forty-fourth) ballot, resulting in the triumph of Cox after the roll-call showed his near approach to the necessary two-thirds, they retained their full strength. The vote was: Cox, 7021/2; McAdoo, 2661/2 ; Palmer, 1. The New York vote was : Cox, 70; McAdoo, 20.
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