Essay #9: Government Reform

At the turn of the century, the United States was a world power, experiencing much prestige and prosperity for big businesses and the upper class. However, things were not as perfect as they appeared. Much of America was in poverty, facing horrible working conditions and being forced to put children to work. Corruption thrived without persecution. Big businesses used monopolies and amoral practices to achieve their goals. Eventually, the people and the government began working to reform America, creating the Progressive Era. The government played a substantially large role in reform in the early twentieth century. It did this through state-level political reforms, including limits on campaign expenditures and lobbying; state-level economic reforms, such as regulation of railroad and food companies and graduated income tax; state-level social reforms, like workers’ rights laws and attempts to ban child labor; federal political reforms, such as the 17th amendment, establishing direct election of senators; federal economic reforms, including strengthening of the Interstate Commerce Commission though the Elkins, Hepburn, and Mann-Elkins Acts and Wilson’s attacks on the “triple wall of privilege”; and federal social reforms, such as acts and supreme court rulings for laborers’ rights and the prevention of child labor.

Many state-level reforms took place in Wisconsin, led by Robert La Follette. Laws were passed in Wisconsin limiting campaign expenditures. These laws were the predecessors of campaign finance reforms. La Follette also established a direct primary system for the nomination of Presidential candidates, taking the power away from the machine corruption of the cities. At the same time, La Follette also led Wisconsin in passing laws that limited lobbying activities and created agencies and commissions to investigate political problems. La Follette’s reforms eventually became known as the “Wisconsin Idea” and Wisconsin became the model progressive state, as Wisconsin was the only state taking part in this much political reform.

Although most economic reform at the time took place through the federal government, there was also state-level reform. Woodrow Wilson, Governor of New Jersey, created reforms to address corruption in business practices. Hiram Johnson, Governor of California, worked for railroad regulations. Other states adopted similar reforms. Many states created restrictions for the food industry as well as insurance and railroad companies. Graduated income taxes for businesses were also adopted in multiple states, where they replaced the fixed income tax. The graduated income tax allowed for more prosperous businesses to pay more in taxes, imposing less on businesses that could not afford it and allowing smaller businesses to exist more easily.

Social reforms were very common at the state level. Theodore Roosevelt, as Governor or New York, created reforms to address the problems of living conditions in urban areas. Many other states adopted reforms to improve the lives of fellow human beings. Most of these reforms dealt with protecting the rights of workers. Some provided pensions for families of men who were killed while working. Workers’ compensation was established to protect victims of work-related accidents. Women were given special treatment through maximum hour laws because people felt that they were weaker and could therefore withstand less work. Lastly, quite a few states made attempts to ban child labor, although this reform movement was not successful at first.

The most important example of federal political reform was the seventeenth amendment. Before this amendment, Congress had had a very close relationship with big business. As a result, the Senate was comprised almost entirely of America’s richest people. Some went so far as to nickname it the “Billionaire’s Club.” These rich senators usually worked to help the corporations (or their “masters”), rather then the people they were supposed to represent. After much pressure from the people and the States, the seventeenth amendment to the Constitution was passed, establishing direct election of Senators. This was a huge step away from political corruption, as the Senators were now working to please the people rather than the wealthy companies.

A lot of the federal government’s focus in the early twentieth century was on economic reform. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson all worked to reform the economy, but had different methods of doing so. Roosevelt and Taft both preferred to regulate monopolies, while Wilson regulated competition. Together, Roosevelt and Taft passed three acts that strengthened the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The first was the Elkins Act, which outlawed second rebates for railroad companies. The second was the Hepburn Act, which set up more regulations for railroad companies, including maximum rates. Last was the Mann-Elkins Act, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission the authority to regulate the communication industry and gave additional power for regulating railroads. In addition, Roosevelt created the Bureau of Corporations, which investigated trust violations. When Woodrow Wilson gained power, he worked against what he called the “triple wall of privilege,” which included tariffs, trusts, and banking. He attacked the first with the Underwood Tariff, the first major reduction in over 50 years. This helped the consumer by lowering prices and, he believed, helped businesses by forcing them to become more efficient. He tacked the second with the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. This was a modification of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It gave unions exemptions when they were “pursuing legitimate aims.” This allowed government to limit labor’s power. Finally, he addressed the third part of the wall of privilege with the Federal Reserve Act. It divided the country into 12 Federal Reserve Banks controlled by the government. This allowed the government to regulate banking practices and the amount of money in the economy, both of which had previously created currency problems.

All three branches of the federal government played roles in social reform. The legislative and executive branches both gave their support for the Adamson Eight-Hour Act and the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act. The Adamson Eight-Hour Act established an Eight-Hour workday for railroad employees and required extra payment for overtime work. The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act outlawed interstate trade of items produced by children under fourteen. Unfortunately, this was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The judicial branch did, however, support a different social reform. In the case of Muller v. Oregon, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of limited work hours for female laundry employees. This was because women were considered to be weaker and in need of more protection than men. Although thus was sexist, it was still a positive step for workers’ rights, as were the Acts produced by the government’s other two branches.

The government played a very significant role in reform in the early twentieth century. States such as Wisconsin had political reforms to limit lobbying and campaign expenditures. States reformed America’s economy through regulation of corporations and the establishment of the graduated income tax. Finally, states created social reforms by creating laws to protect workers’ rights. The federal government reformed America politically by allowing for senators to be elected directly, taking power away from big businesses and giving it to the people. The federal government created economic reforms through Roosevelt and Taft’s acts strengthening the Interstate Commerce Commission and through Woodrow Wilson’s work against the problems of tariffs, trusts, and banks. Lastly, the federal government reformed socially by using all three branches to protect workers’ rights. As a whole, all different levels of government managed to reform America in multiple ways.