Investigation of Paint Creek Coal Fields of West Virginia: Report; March 9, 1914 (Classic Reprint)
(Excerpt from Investigation of Paint Creek Coal Fields of ...)
Excerpt from Investigation of Paint Creek Coal Fields of West Virginia: Report; March 9, 1914
Sixth. The investigation disclosed that large quantities of ammu nition, pistols, shotguns, rifles, and machine guns were brought into the district by both parties to the controversy and freely used. There is no evidence to prove that these shipments were made by com petitors for the purpose of creating conditions in this district so as to exclude its coal from the competitive markets in interstate trade.
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Investigation of Paint Creek Coal Fields of West Virginia ... Report
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Investigation of Paint Creek Coal Fields of West Virginia ... Report
(
This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Claude Augustus Swanson was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Virginia. He is regarded for his service as United States Representative (1893-1906), Governor of Virginia (1906-1910), and United States Senator from Virginia (1910-1933). He was also one of the organizers of a Democratic political machine in Virginia for decades in the late 19th and early 20th century known as the Byrd Organization.
Background
Claude Augustus Swanson was born on March 31, 1862 in Swansonville, Pittsylvania County, Virginia to the former Catherine Rebecca Pritchett (1834-1873) and her husband John Muse Swanson (1829-1914).
The Swanson family, which had lived in Virginia since the early eighteenth century, traced its descent from Swen Gunnarson, who came to America from Sweden in the mid-seventeenth century and settled on the site of the later city of Philadelphia. Swanson's father, a farmer and local tobacco manufacturer, suffered financial reverses in 1876, and Claude at the age of fourteen went to work on the farm.
Education
Ambitious to continue his education, however, Claude Swanson taught school for two years and thus earned enough money to finance two sessions at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (later Virginia Polytechnic Institute) at Blacksburg. Later, after two years as a grocer's clerk, he borrowed the necessary funds to complete his college education at Randolph-Macon College, graduating, A. B. , in 1885 and winning medals for oratory and debating. While at Randolph-Macon he edited the Hanover and Caroline News, the Democratic party organ in Hanover and Caroline counties.
In 1886 Swanson received a law degree from the University of Virginia and began practice in Chatham, Virginia.
Career
Serving in the House until 1906, Claude Swanson soon became regarded as one of the abler Congressmen. As a member of the Committee on Post-Office and Post Roads, he engaged in a bitter fight in favor of inaugurating rural free delivery service. He was a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee for eight years.
In 1901 Swanson ran unsuccessfully for governor against Andrew J. Montague. Four years later, in the first gubernatorial election held under the state's new direct primary law, he defeated Montague by a substantial margin. Although associated with the conservative element of the Virginia Democratic party, led by Thomas S. Martin, Swanson became more progressive than his backers, and as governor he sponsored measures for dairy and food inspection and the development of the state's fruit industry and secured the establishment of a state board of health, highway department, and board of charities and corrections.
Coming from a state with large naval installations in the Hampton Roads area, he showed particular interest in the navy.
During World War I, as a member of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee (its chairman in the last months of the war), he worked closely with Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, to secure more fighting ships.
In 1932, as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an authority on naval matters, he was sent by President Hoover as a delegate to the General Disarmament Conference in Geneva, where his ability and eloquence gained considerable recognition.
In 1933, when nearly seventy-one, Swanson was picked by President Roosevelt as his Secretary of the Navy. Undoubtedly Roosevelt's interest in the navy led him to choose a Secretary whose views would reflect his own.
But the appointment also had the advantage of opening a Senate seat for former governor Harry F. Byrd of Virginia, and Swanson, who had given important assistance in the 1932 campaign, was representative of a group of southern statesmen who had had much to do with Roosevelt's nomination.
During his six and a half years in the cabinet Swanson was largely incapacitated by ill health.
Nevertheless, he continued to urge the expansion of the navy to the limits established by the London Naval Treaty of 1930, and, thanks to the leadership of a navy-minded President, he lived to see his dream of "the greatest navy afloat" well on the way to becoming a reality.
In February 1936 Swanson was stricken with pleurisy, following a fall in which he suffered a broken rib. He died in office of a cerebral hemorrhage at Rapidan Camp, near Criglersville, Virginia, where he and his wife had spent several summers. Funeral services were held in the Senate chamber, and he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia. On the day of the funeral the navy honored him by naming a new destroyer the U. S. S. Swanson.
Achievements
Claude Swanson had a long list of professional achievements. He served as United States Representative (1893-1906), Governor of Virginia (1906-1910), and United States Senator from Virginia (1910-1933), before becoming United States Secretary of the Navy under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 until his death.
Swanson and fellow United States Senator Thomas Staples Martin led a Democratic political machine in Virginia for decades in the late 19th and early 20th century, which later became known as the Byrd Organization for Swanson's successor as United States Senator, Harry Flood Byrd.
By industry, ability, and a well-cultivated talent for making and holding friends Swanson came to be the recognized leader of the Democratic organization in Virginia. He was a strong supporter of President Wilson's policies, defended the League of Nations, and worked for the adherence of the United States to the World Court.
Personality
A handsome figure in his youth, in his later years Swanson had an erect, rather gaunt frame, abundant gray hair, high forehead, and long, full mustache which gave him a distinguished if somewhat old-fashioned air. Swanson was an eloquent speaker and a skillful campaigner.
Quotes from others about the person
In 1932, according to James A. Farley, he "had the reputation of being one of the shrewdest hands at practical politics in the United States Senate. "
Connections
Claude Augustus Swanson was twice married, the first time, on December 11, 1894, to Lizzie Deane Lyons. He had no children but was extremely fond of his stepson Douglas Deane Hall, to whom he left a goodly portion of his modest estate.
Father:
John Muse Swanson
1829–1914
Sister :
Julia Benson Swanson
1869–1933
Sister :
Sallie Hill Swanson
1867–1950
Sister :
Annie Blanche Swanson
1864–1948
collaborator:
Thomas Staples Martin
American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Charlottesville, Virginia.
