Chapter X: Foreword: By Rasmus B. Anderson (4)

The last report of the attorney-general continues the opinions, January 1, 1916, to December 31, 1916, and the eighth biennial report, July 1, 1914 to June 30, 1916. The first 65 pages contain a summary of the work of the attorney-general. An examination of these pages shows that during the period indicated 68 civil, 59 industrial commission, 2 bankruptcy, and 8 forfeiture cases were disposed of. Thirty-six criminal cases were disposed of, 23 in lower courts, 12 in the Supreme Court, and 1 in the United States Supreme Court. The official opinions of the attorney-general, filling 917 pages, embrace in their scope a great amount of state activity. In the printing of these opinions there is no classification or grouping of the material, such as in the reports of the attorney-general of Indiana, for example. A strictly chronological order is followed.

The report of the dairy and food commissioner for the year ending June 30, 1916, illustrates the vital need of protecting the public against the sale of adulterated and misbranded foods. It contains the reports of the state chemist, dealing with the inspection of beverages, canned vegetables, dairy products, dried fruit, and drugs; of the assistant dairy and food commissioner, and of the inspector of weights and measures. Special attention is called to the new dairy and food laws, and the new era in the dairy industry of Wisconsin which these laws introduce. As a result of unsanitary conditions in cheese factories and meat markets, and misrepresentations of foods, 79 convictions were secured. Druggists to the number of 226 were selling spirits of camphor not standard. Between April 17 and June 30, 2,221 factories were inspected. It was found that 35% of the butter factory operators and 24% of the cheese factory operators were complying with the license law and the new regulations. Much has been done in the economic interests of the public by the inspector of weights and measures, for the number of inaccurate computing scales decreased from 17% in 1914 to 8% in 1916.

_The Country Church an Economic and Social Force_ is an interesting bulletin edited by the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin. It points out that the thriving church in a rural community tends to unify agriculture, which in turn serves to nurture the church. The country or hamlet church thrives best where population is constant, and successful farming is advanced through the influence of the church upon daily habits. It is suggested that principles for the re-parishing of rural districts might be established through a joint commission of the national religious bodies, with a view toward creating stronger churches for the farmers. Several descriptions are given of Wisconsin country churches in which the religious leaders are fostering a progressive agriculture through coöperative social development. The remarkable story of a great country pastor, John Frederick Oberlin, who for sixty years labored for the social, industrial, and religious uplift of a poverty-stricken community, is given in illustration of the theories advanced in the bulletin.

The seventeenth biennial report of the Wisconsin state prison is largely statistical. The average number of convicts for the year ending June 30, 1915, was 807; for the year ending June 30, 1916, it was 906. During the latter period 140 to 180 convicts were employed and housed outside of the walls of the institution. Under the chaplain’s direction, school was held from one to two o’clock, three days a week, during six months of the year. There were fourteen classes and an average attendance of 110 men. Instruction was given the illiterate in four grades in reading, arithmetic, writing, and spelling. Earnings of inmates for the year were $35,696.50. New prisoners admitted numbered 511; of these 483 were male; 23 were under twenty years of age, and 117 over fifty years; 495 were white, 12 black, 3 Indian, and 1 mulatto; 230 were Catholic, 148 Protestants, 108 Lutherans, 3 Hebrews, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Seventh Day Adventist; 17 had no religion; 27 were illiterate, 41 had high school education, and 7 were college men; 174 were native to Wisconsin, 28 to Illinois, 29 to Michigan, 19 to Minnesota, 20 to New York, and 11 to Pennsylvania; 26 were born in Austro-Hungary, 20 in Finland, 34 in Germany, 10 in Norway, and 27 in Russia. The others came from various states and countries throughout the world. Statistics are given concerning occupations, residence by counties, crimes, terms of sentences, discharges, pardons, population since the organization of the prison in 1852, the binder twine plant, farm and gardening operations, and many other matters.

The merit system for the public service of Wisconsin was established in 1905, and the sixth biennial report of the Civil Service Commission has now been issued, covering the work done from July, 1914, to July, 1916. The classified service of the state comprises the exempt, competitive, noncompetitive, legislative employee, and labor classes. In these classes there are about 3,200 employees. From July 1, 1914 to July 1, 1916, 4,995 persons took competitive examinations. Of these, 2,903 passed, 2,079 failed; 376 permanent and 147 temporary appointments were made. That is, 58% passed, and 10½% were appointed to positions. The number of applicants for positions at state institutions has decreased, for various reasons. The report contains a map showing the number and distribution of employees in the state classified service. It also presents the results of certain studies aiming to increase the efficiency of the service. Half of the report consists of financial tables and rules.

The chief functions of the state fire marshal, as indicated in his ninth annual report, are two: combatting incendiarism, and doing fire prevention work. Coöperating with the local departments, the fire marshal has investigated 389 fires during the period covered by the report, from July 1, 1915 to December 31, 1916. Forty-six arrests were made, 12 persons were convicted and sentenced, 5 pleaded guilty and were sentenced, 6 were paroled, and 5 were sent to the hospital for the insane. In the year ending December 31, 1915, 3,066 fires in the state damaged buildings and contents to the extent of $5,932,980. These figures show the importance of the educational campaign for fire prevention conducted by the fire marshal. Thirteen newspaper articles were issued. These are printed in full in the report. Some of the titles are: _Some Fires and Their Lessons_, _Safe Homes_, _Gasoline_, _Kerosene_, _Spring Clean Up_, _Safe Schoolhouses_, and _Holiday Fires_. The report contains tables dealing with values, losses, classification of property, fire causes, number of fires according to classification of risk and cause, and other matters.

The biennial report of the adjutant-general deals with the two fiscal years ending June 30, 1916. It is a survey of the military activities of the state of Wisconsin during a period of trial and service. From July 1, 1914 to June 30, 1916, the Wisconsin National Guard increased from 201 officers and 2,990 enlisted men to a total of 208 officers and 4,224 enlisted men. Of these the report states that “4,168 officers and men are temporarily in the service of the United States in response to the call of the President issued June 18, 1916.” Since the date of this report, the war has placed a new responsibility upon the guard. The adjutant-general’s report gives information in regard to organization and strength, legislation, equipment, instruction, small arms firing, naval militia, medical department, expenses, military reservation, and pensions. The National Defense Act oath, making obligatory a three-year term of reserve service by national guard organizations, was taken by officers and enlisted men of the guard “with fine zeal and loyalty to their country, their state, and their organization.”

The first biennial report of the State Conservation Commission is one of unusual interest. Through a law of 1915 this commission (consisting of three commissioners and a secretary) succeeded to the powers and duties of the Forestry Board, State Park Board, Conservation Commission, Commissioners of Fisheries, and the State Fish and Game Warden Department. The purpose was to consolidate “all the closely related duties and problems of administration over forest and stream, fish and game, and to give powerful impetus to the conservation of the natural resources of the Badger State.” The result has been a notable increase in efficiency and economy. The change, it may be noted, dispensed with the services of twenty-two members of boards and commissions. A strict civil service régime has been inaugurated. The report contains a considerable number of papers and division reports dealing with the conditions, problems, constructive plans and achievements which are shaping the conservation movement in the state. A large number of admirably chosen illustrations show the richness, variety, and beauty of the resources of nature in Wisconsin. These pictures enhance the value of a report which contains information of peculiar interest and significance to the people of the state.

The biennial report of the secretary of state is largely a collection of financial statistics covering the fiscal years ending June 30, 1915 and June 30, 1916. The condition of all state funds, receipts and disbursements, the net disbursements of the state, the valuation of taxable property in the counties, and the apportionment of tax and special charges for 1914 and 1915, collected in 1915, are shown in detailed statements, and various tabular statements.

Part four of the ninth annual report of the Railroad Commission is an elaborate collection of financial and operating statistics of railroad companies for the period from June 30, 1914 to June 30, 1915. The report is divided into three parts: steam railroads, electric railways, and express companies. There are 234 closely printed pages of statistical tables and figures, which lay bare with utmost exactness and detail all phases of the finances and operations of the three classes of public carriers mentioned. The statistics are not confined merely to Wisconsin; for example, the tables exhibiting the income account of steam railroads for the year ending December 31, 1914, show first the accounts of interstate roads in Wisconsin, and thereafter the records of the entire systems of interstate roads which operate in Wisconsin.

The Railroad Commission of Wisconsin has published a digest covering the decisions contained in volumes I to XV of the official reports of the commission. The digest therefore covers all the decisions from July 20, 1905 to February 4, 1915. The compilation has been made by Harold L. Geisse. Its purpose is “to state briefly and yet clearly the principles and facts set forth in the decisions of the Commission….” The subject titles are alphabetically arranged, and carefully supplemented by cross-references. Precise references to sources are given for each decision. The value of such a compilation for lawyers is obvious. It should be noted that the separate volumes of the reports are each provided with an “index-digest.” For example, in volume XVI, recently published, this index covers pages 869 to 936. Volume XVI contains the opinions and decisions of the Railroad Commission from February 10, 1915 to November 15, 1915. Reports are given on hundreds of important cases dealing with railway, telegraph, telephone, express, and public utility problems.

Though the task of administering the income tax law is not at all times pleasant or easy, yet, in the opinion of the Wisconsin Tax Commission, “five years of experience have proved the law workable; taxpayers generally comply with its mandates without objection; and the resulting revenue has exceeded all expectations.” A chapter dealing especially with problems in the administration of the income tax law, and a series of tables showing the results of the income assessments of 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916, form an interesting part of the eighth biennial report of the Wisconsin Tax Commission. This report is a detailed statement of the work of the commission for the years ending June 30, 1915 and June 30, 1916. In addition to the section on the income tax, the chief features of the report are its chapters on “Duties of Tax Commission,” “General Revision of Tax Laws Recommended,” “Assessment and Taxation of Public Service Companies,” “Inheritance Tax,” “Report of Engineers,” “Municipal Statistics,” and “Statistics of Assessments and Taxes.” A thoughtful address by Thomas E. Lyons on the subject “Our Increasing Public Expenditures” is included. Mr. Lyons finds the remedy for the situation in a closer limitation of the taxing and borrowing powers.

The Wisconsin state budget for 1917 was compiled for the use of the legislature of 1917 by the State Board of Public Affairs. In scientific completeness it represents a considerable advance upon former publications of the kind. To aid the legislature in “determining policies, and in working out a definite fiscal program and in the drafting of appropriate measures,” complete information is furnished along six lines. These are as follows: a report of actual receipts and disbursements for the three fiscal years prior to July 1, 1916; departmental estimates of receipts and disbursements for the current year 1916-1917; estimated treasury balances as of July 1, 1917; departmental receipts and disbursements for the biennial period beginning July 1, 1917; appropriations available beginning July 1, 1913; appropriations requested by the state departments, boards, commissions, and institutions for the biennium, beginning July 1, 1917. On January 5, 1917, after hearings and investigations, the Board of Public Affairs issued a typewritten bulletin with its recommendations on the budget. The 344 pages of the budget are mimeographed and bound.

The third biennial report of the Wisconsin Highway Commission deals with the state aid highway operations in the years from January 1, 1914, to January 1, 1916, together with preliminary estimates of operations to December 31, 1916. In the first five years of work under the state aid law, 4,846 miles of all types of roadway have been constructed in Wisconsin; of this mileage, 2,771 miles have been surfaced with various materials; in grading, approximately 10,300,000 cubic yards of earth have been excavated and placed in fills; 8,662 concrete culverts have been built on these roads, containing 100,000 cubic yards of concrete; since July 1, 1911, 2,819 county and state bridges have been constructed in accordance with the plans of the commission; at the height of the working season in 1916 the daily employment in the work included 175 engineers, county highway commissioners, and inspectors, 600 foremen, 6,000 laborers, and 2,500 teams. The daily pay roll for state, counties, and towns was in the vicinity of $22,000. In state aid roads and bridge construction in 1915, there was expended $4,134,830; in 1916, $4,215,183; the report estimates an expenditure of at least $4,600,000 in 1917. The report contains many discussions of phases of the road problem that are of timely importance. Many interesting illustrations of the types of construction built under the state aid law are given.

The address on John Muir delivered by President Van Hise upon the occasion of the unveiling of a bronze bust of the famous naturalist at the University of Wisconsin has been published as a small eighteen page pamphlet. At the age of eleven Muir came to America from Scotland with his father, and settled on a farm a few miles from Portage. He spent four years at the University of Wisconsin, maintaining himself by “doing odd jobs during the term and working in the harvest, fields in the summer.” In speaking of his departure from Madison, Muir writes in his book _My Boyhood and Youth_, “But I was only leaving one university for another, the Wisconsin University for the University of Wilderness.” President Van Hise gives an eloquent account and interpretation of the life of this noted son of Wisconsin. “The great public service of John Muir,” writes President Van Hise, “was leading the nation through his writings to appreciate the grandeur of our mountains and the beauty and variety of their plant and animal life, and the consequent necessity for holding forever as a heritage for all the people the most precious of these great scenic areas. Probably to his leadership more than to that of any other man is due the adoption of the policy of national parks.”

_History of the Civil War Military Pensions, 1861-1885_ is the title of a bulletin recently issued by the University of Wisconsin in its _History Series_ (vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 1-120). It is the doctor’s thesis of John William Oliver. As the title indicates it is a survey beginning with the reorganization of the pension system as a consequence of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, and it carries the study through a period of twenty-four years. Beginning with a description of the situation before the Civil War, the author examines the succession of acts passed between 1861 and 1870, and the various administrative problems occasioned by the war. “By 1871,” writes Mr. Oliver, “it appears as if Congress had extended the benefits of the pension laws so as to include all possible claimants. Within ten years, over 261,000 Civil War pensioners had been added to the rolls, and the Government had already paid out more than $152,000,000 for their benefit.” The enactment of many contradictory laws led to the codification act of 1873. This act is described in the second chapter of the book, together with attempts at reforming the pension system. A third chapter discusses the act passed January 25, 1879, providing for the payment of arrears----“the most significant and far-reaching piece of pension legislation enacted during the period covered” in the study. The effects of this act may be seen in the increase, during the first six years after its passage, of the number of pensioners from 223,998 to 345,125, and in the amount expended annually from $27,000,000 to $68,000,000. The last chapter of the bulletin deals with the relation of pensions and politics, which assumed considerable importance in the years following the Arrears Act. At the conclusion of the thesis, development to 1885 is summarized. A later monograph is promised, to treat of the new epoch which the pension system then entered.

The biennial report of the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin for the years 1914-15 and 1915-16 consists largely of the report of the President, followed by reports of deans, directors, business manager, and other officers. The President’s report contains two main divisions: “The Progress of the University,” and “The Needs of the University.” The faculty numbered 389 in 1913-14. The number increased to 437 in 1915-16. In the year preceding the biennium the total number of students, including the short course and summer sessions, was 6,765. The number increased to 7,596 in 1914-15, and to 7,624 in 1915-16. Though the survey conducted by the Board of Public Affairs resulted in controversy, and led to no direct results, yet in consequence of a spirit of self-inquiry at the University a large committee was appointed by the faculty in the autumn of 1915, which was divided into a number of special committees to consider means of improving the University in undergraduate instruction, research, graduate, and field work, foreign language requirements, faculty organization, faculty records, and University physical plant. As a result of this inquiry, new legislation to be put in effect during the next biennium is expected materially to improve the efficiency of the University. These subjects are considered in some detail in the report. The needs of the University are discussed under the heads of salaries, and constructional needs. The varied activities of the University may be comprehended by a study of the many departmental and other statements included in the report.

The first annual report of the state chief engineer of Wisconsin issued in March, 1917, reveals the enormous work that has been taken over by that department. Five separate divisions known respectively as the railroad and utility, the highway, the architectural, the power plant, and the sanitary divisions have been established, and special experts placed in charge of each. The railroad and utility division was faced with duties greater than those of any other department. In making a physical valuation of all the steam railroads in Wisconsin it was found that there are over 11,000 miles of track in the state. The cost of the rolling stock, terminals, stores, and other equipment exceeds $385,000,000. The twenty-eight electric railways of the state have over 400 miles of track, with properties valued at $57,000,000. The state highway division reported that over $3,600,000 had been expended for state aid construction of roads in 1916. Over a half million dollars was spent in state aid bridge construction and 352 bridges of all types were built. The architectural division has formulated a standard for contracts, plans and specifications for labor and material to be used by the different institutions of the state. The power plant division supervises the operation of the various state plants, the purchase of fuel, specifies the plans for construction work and examines all bids. The sanitary division, aside from conducting the investigation of different water supplies, drainage, and sewage systems, is also vitally interested in enlightening the public upon the importance of sanitation.

According to the _Twentieth Annual Report_ of the Building and Loan Association there are seventy-seven such organizations in Wisconsin. The past two years have been unusually profitable for them. Their total assets amount to $16,873,000 which was an increase of $2,500,000 over the previous year. Their membership now numbers 45,891, showing a 21 per cent increase over the preceding year. Although their business showed a considerable increase, yet the report states in some cases money was so plentiful that it could not always be loaned with profit.

That there exists among the farmers of this state an unusually strong system of coöperation is proved by a bulletin issued by the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin in July, 1917. The industries that are managed on a coöperative basis in this state do an annual business amounting to more than $62,000,000. The creamery industry leads all the others, and in 1916 those plants that were run on a coöperative plan did business amounting to over $19,000,000. The two organizations that are most instrumental in promoting this spirit of coöperation are the American Society of Equity and the Grange. The former has a membership in Wisconsin now in excess of 12,000, while the Grange societies have over 2,200 names on their rolls. In addition to these two organizations there are sixteen others listed that tend to promote unity among the farmers of the state. The most important ones mentioned are the National Agricultural Organization, the farmers’ mutual insurance companies, the community breeders’ associations, feed and elevator companies, coöperative creameries, packing plants and others. The coöperative organizations are so numerous throughout the state that but few farmers can be found who are not identified with one or more of the agencies. The day of individualism among Wisconsin farmers is fast disappearing.

The sixteenth edition of the _Manual for Elementary Course of Study_ in the schools of Wisconsin was issued in July, 1917. The state superintendent of public instruction has rendered a valuable service by discussing many pedagogical questions and in making concrete suggestions to the teachers. The object of the department was to place in the hands of each teacher a brief pedagogical treatise in connection with the subject matter to be taught. This report combines what may rightly be called a textbook on pedagogy with a state manual. More than ever the department of education is emphasizing the importance of bringing about a closer relationship between teacher and pupil, and some very practical and simple suggestions are laid down for promoting this relationship. The method for teaching children how to study properly, the importance of careful assignments of lessons, and the manner in which recitations can be made interesting and spicy are all discussed in a practical way. The policy of reducing the number of daily recitations is suggested, and the combining of classes most closely related is advised, especially in rooms where the work is crowded.

In a leaflet issued by the State Council of Defense, July, 1917, announcement is made of a course of instruction to be given for health aides in several of the larger hospitals of the state. The plan is to offer six months of intensive training to young women in order to prepare them to care for the civilian sick when the regular registered nurses are drawn into military hospitals. The cost of training, board, lodging, and laundry bills will all be paid by the State Council of Defense. In return for this instruction each of the successful candidates is required to sign an agreement to attend the sick in the state of Wisconsin for a period of two years after completing the six months’ course. The first training school was opened at the Milwaukee County Hospital, Wauwatosa, July 1, 1917.

SOME PUBLICATIONS

MERK, FREDERICK. _Economic History of Wisconsin During the Civil
War Decade._ Publications of the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin _Studies, Vol. I._ Published by the Society, Madison,
1916. Pp. 414.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has inaugurated its series of _Studies_ by the most elaborate work of constructive history it has published, which is also the most comprehensive treatment of the economic history of any state during the constitutional period, taking rank with Bruce’s _Virginia_ and Weeden’s _New England_. The author has produced a book which is of interest not only to the state with which it deals, but to every student of American history.

The American state, at least today and in the West, is an artificial unit, whose political separateness barely justifies that exclusive devotion of the historical student which the vastness of the United States seems to render necessary if the roots of our life are to be discovered. To recognize the influence of national conditions, without making the treatment national, to individualize the community without making it appear a detached entity, requires a variety of skill which can not be produced by scientific study alone, but demands also real literary ability. This skill Merk clearly possesses, and he has created an impression of an economic life, distinctly confined to the area of the state, yet part of that of the Union, and in touch with that outside the national limits. He is fully conscious of the importance of Wisconsin wheat in our relations with Great Britain, and of the interstate functions of a medium of exchange, but he is not betrayed into a discussion of diplomacy or of national banking.

A similar difficulty is always presented when one attempts a cross-section of any history, for periods are even more artificial than state lines. Economically the “Decade” of the Civil War does not have those distinguishing features which are generally used to mark off, for convenience of study, one set of years from another. Doubtless the consideration which determined the selection was again artificial, the United States system of decennial censuses. Mr. Merk, however, allows himself more latitude in this case, and his work actually covers the real economic period, 1857 to 1873.

The chronological difficulty is intensified by the rapid changes of a new community. Wheat growing reaches its apex and declines, lumbering waxes, but neither begins nor culminates, movements feebly originate that are later of absorbing interest. The adjustment of proportions between these conflicting interests is delicately handled. The picture is that of the time, but the stage in the development of each industry is clearly indicated, and the origins of later movements given in some detail. The volume will afford a base for histories of the earlier and later periods, but has not skimmed their cream.

The technical character of the work is high. Newspapers and statistics were not only used, but are analyzed. The great resources of the State Historical Society were supplemented by personal interviews. The volume contains ample footnotes, illustrations, a map, index, but no bibliography. Its make-up is in the new, and more satisfactory, form recently adopted by the Society.

The title indicates that the center of interest is the effect of war on the Wisconsin community. This problem runs throughout, and is of especial interest today. Mr. Merk emphasizes the relative facility of adjustment in an agricultural community. Another general feature is the tendency toward coöperation in industry, particularly agriculture, for the purposes of education and general improvement, which later became so characteristic of Wisconsin.

Agriculture properly opens the volume with its vital but somewhat monotonous progress enlivened by the lively episode of hops. Lumbering receives fewer pages, but two chapters; the first, on the industry, the second, on the lumber wars. Railroads receive five chapters and almost as many pages as both, including two picturesque fights, which formed, in large measure, the basis of state politics during the period. Banking and trade about equal agriculture, and reveal a state youthful but less reckless than many others. A chapter on labor is chiefly concerned with the beginnings of the labor movement, labor in industry being largely discussed in connection with the various fields. There are other chapters on mining, manufacturing, the commerce of the Upper Mississippi, and the commerce of the Great Lakes. No one reading of the lumber wars or the Anti-Monopoly Revolt can complain that economic history is dry.

The most unique contribution is doubtless that on the history of lumbering. Nevertheless the study of railroading reveals the advantages in taking up so vast a subject by localities. Generalizations become vivid by the detail that is given them. One sees how the railroads were unscrupulous, how the voters were unreasonable. The handling of such questions on a scale that involves personalities is a searching test of historical poise, and Mr. Merk shows a candor and a fair-mindedness that are impeccable; he sometimes criticizes action, but never impugns the motive.

The reviewer hesitates to close without adverse criticism, for fear that the review may be considered perfunctory. He could not, with honesty, do otherwise than express his conviction that the work is unusual in the degree and the well-rounded proportion of its excellence. If anything more could be desired, it seems to be a concluding chapter, not to add new facts, but to give a greater sense of development. Each chapter moves, but the topical method brings its inevitable result; one cannot entirely escape the impression of a street corner rather than a river bank.

CARL RUSSELL FISH.

Two of the four leading articles in the October number of the _American Historical Review_ are by Wisconsin men. Prof. Herbert E. Bolton, now of California, discusses “The Mission as a Frontier Institution in the Spanish-American Colonies.” Prof. W. T. Root, of the University of Wisconsin, writes of “The Lords of Trade and Plantations.” Other leading articles in the magazine are “A Case of Witchcraft” by George L. Kittredge, and “The History of German Socialism Reconsidered” by Prof. C. J. H. Hayes.

The September number of the _Mississippi Valley Historical Review_ contains three articles of special interest to Wisconsin readers. The first, “The Rise of Sports,” by Prof. Frederic Logan Paxson, curator of the Society, was delivered as the recent annual presidential address before the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. It traces in interesting fashion the development in America between 1876 and 1893 of a widespread interest in out-of-door exercise. B. H. Schockel writes on the “Settlement and Development of the Lead and Zinc Mining Region with Special Emphasis on Jo Daviess County, Illinois.” The district treated of consisted of Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette Counties in Wisconsin, and of Jo Daviess County, Illinois. Although the latter county affords the particular locus for the study, it applies with almost equal force to the three counties of southwestern Wisconsin included in the lead mining district. Finally, Prof. James A. James, of Northwestern University, writes on “Spanish Influence in the West during the American Revolution.”

The Wisconsin Archeological Society has recently issued two reports, one describing the antiquities of Green Lake, the other describing the early Indian remains of Shawano County. The latter report is based upon the recent surveys made of the Shawano Lake and Wolf River Region by George R. Fox, a former resident of Wisconsin, but now a curator of the Chamberlain Museum in Three Oaks, Michigan. The Society is now making an earnest effort to preserve a fine Indian mound on the shore of Lake Anderson, in Forest County. This mound, 10 feet high and 45 feet in diameter, stands at the edge of an old Indian village site and is the only one in that part of the country. Relic hunters have already begun to dig into it, and the state Archeological Society, realizing its historic value, is urging the owner to preserve it permanently and mark it with a descriptive tablet.

The first issue of the _Michigan History Magazine_ published by the Michigan Historical Commission appeared in July, 1917. Like similar magazines, its chief purpose is that of serving as an historical news bulletin, and as a medium of publication for papers of historical interest. The first number contains five contributed articles, with sections devoted to historical news, notes, and comments. One of the features to be mentioned is that of securing reports from all the county and local historical societies regarding their activities. Since the local societies cannot support a joint publication, this method offers a good substitute. By this exchange of news, each society is kept in touch with the proceedings of the other. A contributed article of more than ordinary merit appears in the first issue by Rev. F. X. Barth on “The Field for the Historian in the Upper Peninsula.” Aside from indicating the numerous points of historical interest found in the Upper Peninsula, many of which are shared jointly by Wisconsin, the paper presents one of the strongest appeals for the value of local history study that can be found anywhere. It is recommended to every reader of our Society.

Dr. George N. Fuller, Secretary of the Michigan Historical Commission, is the author of a new book entitled the _Economic and Social Beginnings of Michigan_. The study deals with the settlement of the Lower Peninsula during the territorial period from 1805 to 1837. Doctor Fuller has given special attention to the purely economic conditions that existed in the Michigan Territory until her admission into the Union. It is by far the most interesting and authentic volume on the early history of Michigan that has appeared. The work is richly illustrated and is printed in large, readable type.

The Michigan Historical Commission proposes to reproduce by photostatic process the rare files of the _Kentucky Gazette_, 1787-1800, and the Detroit _Gazette_, 1817-1830. Of the former, but one file is known to exist, that in the Lexington Public Library. Of the latter file, the Wisconsin Historical Library possesses six bound volumes, covering over one-half of the total period. It is proposed to issue ten sets of each paper for as many subscribing libraries.

The Filson Club of Louisville has issued as number twenty-eight of its publications _The Kentucky River_ by Mary Verhoeff. In this and other similar studies supported by the Filson Club, Kentucky is accumulating a valuable history of her state development. River navigation played a larger part in the early history of Kentucky than in almost any other of the western states. Miss Verhoeff’s chapter on the “Beginnings of River Commerce” contains one of the most interesting discussions of trade in the early Ohio Valley that has recently appeared. The study is profusely illustrated, consisting of six chapters and 257 pages. In marked contrast with the expensive volumes that thus far have been issued by the Filson Club, the present one appears in a most simple dress with covers of heavy paper.

Mr. A. C. Quisenberry has an interesting article in the September number of the _Register_ of the Kentucky State Historical Society on the “History of Morgan’s Men.” There are few chapters in the military history of the Confederacy that compare in interest with the swift, dashing raids of Generals Morgan and Forrest. There are many historical readers who do not know that the southern forces ever came north of the Ohio during the conflict between the states. But during the summer of 1863 the citizens of Indiana and Ohio were given the greatest scare they ever experienced when General Morgan led 2,000 men in a mad dash across these two states and reached Columbia County, Ohio, where surrounded by over 80,000 regulars, volunteers, and home guards, he surrendered. Mr. Quisenberry’s article gives us a praiseworthy review of this brilliant raid.

One of the most important publications of original documents that has recently appeared relating to the southwestern portion of the United States and Louisiana Territory is the collection of the official letter books of Gov. William C. C. Claiborne, edited by Dr. Dunbar Rowland of the Mississippi Historical Society. Governor Claiborne was perhaps the most important man in the entire Southwest from 1803 to 1817. He touched American life at many vital points, and his correspondence during the years in which he served as Governor of that vast territory is filled with observations and suggestions that relate to every important activity of the Southwest. The letters now made available for the first time comprise the chief source material from which the history of that significant section of American history must be written. The letters fill six octavo volumes, personally edited by Dr. Dunbar Rowland.

With the passing of the American frontier and the rapid settlement of every habitable portion of the western states, the present generation of readers welcomes with interest the personal reminiscences of those who figured in such epoch-making events. The death of Col. William F. Cody, more widely known as Buffalo Bill, marks the passing of the most famous and picturesque character of his time. In his autobiography entitled _Buffalo Bill’s Own Story_ published by John R. Stanton, 1917, we have a vivid and in many respects an historical work of no slight importance. Mr. William Lightfoot Visscher who for two score years was a boon companion of Colonel Cody adds a chapter dealing with the incidents attending the last days of the noted pioneer, and an account of his death and burial. No man in all America could approach Colonel Cody in popularizing the events that played so prominent a part in the passing of the Indian and the westward migration of the whites. As scout, Pony express rider, Indian fighter, law maker, and showman he became an international character, and the dramatic events that marked such a career have passed from the active stage of western history.

The September, 1917 issue of the _Georgia Historical Quarterly_ has as its leading article a biographical sketch of Mrs. Eleanor Kinzie Gordon, of Savannah, recently deceased, granddaughter of John Kinzie, the well-known Indian trader of early Chicago. Mrs. Gordon’s father, John Harris Kinzie, was sub-Indian agent for the Winnebago, stationed at Fort Winnebago for several years prior to 1834. To this frontier fort her mother, a cultivated New England girl, was brought as a bride in the year 1830. She is best known to later times by her charming book _Wau Bun_, a semi-historical narrative of family traditions and personal experiences in the early northwest. Its contents deal for the most part with the author’s life at Fort Winnebago and the book may fairly be regarded as a classic of early Wisconsin literature. Mrs. Gordon, the daughter, was born in Chicago in 1835. In early womanhood she married a citizen of Georgia and so for upwards of sixty years her home has been in that state.

Within the last few years Henry Ford has won for himself a place in the heart of the American public fairly comparable to that achieved long since by Thomas A. Edison, who, like Ford, was a Michigan boy. A good biography of Ford would be welcomed, we believe by thousands of Americans, not including those who own Ford cars. “Henry Ford’s Own Story” as told to Rose Wilder Lane (New York, 1917) is a hastily constructed narrative put together in characteristic reportorial fashion and frankly laudatory in character. Nevertheless it presents the essential facts about the noted manufacturer’s career, reads interestingly, and should at least serve to whet the appetite of the reading public for a biography which should be really worthy of its unique subject.

Bulletin of Information No. 87 of the Society, which has recently come from the press, is an account of “The Public Document Division of the Wisconsin Historical Library.” The immediate purpose of the bulletin is to serve as a guide to our own public document division. The full treatment which the author (Mrs. Anna W. Evans, chief of the document division of the library) has given the subject of the bulletin, however, should render it a valuable bibliographic aid to any library or student who has occasion to deal with American or British public documents. Members and friends of the Society will be pleased to know that our collection of public documents is believed to be the best west of the Alleghanies and to take high rank among the leading collections of the entire country. In the treatise under discussion the author has especially sought to emphasize the friendly, human qualities of the contents of the documents entrusted to her care. She has fully succeeded in realizing her aim.

A history of Sauk County, Wisconsin, it is understood, is shortly to be issued by the Lewis Publishing Company of Chicago.

_A Son of the Middle Border_, by Hamlin Garland, published by the Macmillan Company of New York, is a narrative of unusual interest to Wisconsin readers. In it the author tells the story of his early life, first on a “coulee” farm in western Wisconsin, later as an emigrant (with his parents) successively to northern Iowa and the Dakotas. Many of those of maturer years who read the book will find depicted in it with extraordinary clearness scenes and conditions of a life, now largely vanished, which they themselves have shared in earlier years.

A survey made by the United States Department of Agriculture in December, 1916, on the number of silos in this country shows that Wisconsin leads all other states in the Union. Out of a grand total of 333,160, Wisconsin had 55,992. New York was second with 42,846. The past year saw several thousand more silos constructed in Wisconsin, and the Agricultural Department of the State Council of Defense estimates the number will now reach 60,000. The average capacity of Wisconsin silos is 120 tons, while those of New York average but 62 tons.

The State Historical Society of Iowa has begun the publication of a series of pamphlets issued under the general caption _Iowa and War_. The object of the Society is “to present in attractive form a series of small pamphlets dealing with a variety of subjects relating to interesting matters connected with the history of Iowa.” Volume I, number 1, published in July is devoted to an account of “Old Fort Snelling” by Marcus L. Hansen. Old Fort Snelling belongs to the Upper Mississippi Valley in general and Mr. Hansen’s account of it should possess as much interest for citizens of Wisconsin as for those of Iowa. “Enlistments from Iowa during the Civil War,” by John E. Biggs is published in No. 2 for August. No. 3, for September, contains an account of “The Iowa Civil War Loan,” written by Ivan L. Pollock.

Since the declaration of war by the United States upon Germany, the study of military history in this country has practically monopolized the attention of historical investigators. The leading article in the _Iowa Journal of History and Politics_ for July, 1917, deals with “Enlistments during the Civil War.” Like Wisconsin and other northern states, Iowa found herself utterly unprepared for a war. The writer states that at the beginning of the conflict in 1861, there was not a single unit of the regular army in Iowa, nor were there any forts or garrisons. There was not a military post in the state and the nearest arsenal was in St. Louis. A discussion of the draft and its administration in Iowa forms a valuable part of the study.

C. W. Johnston, a Des Moines lawyer of thirty years standing, “concluded to discontinue and enter upon a period of travel.” _Along the Pacific by Land and Sea_ (Chicago, 1916) contains a series of breezy letters which he wrote back to the Des Moines _Register and Leader_. They contain the reactions of this son of the Middle West toward the new environment afforded by a visit, apparently his first, to various cities on the Pacific coast. Through dint of reiterated remarks on the subject the reader leaves the book with the not entirely valid conviction that one of the “certainties” for which Des Moines bears the palm among her sister cities is that of being the dirtiest place in the United States.

The importance of religious denominations in the growth of our State and national history is being recognized more and more by historical students. In the _Indiana Magazine of History_, June, 1917, appears an interesting article by Rev. Elmo A. Robinson entitled “Universalism in Indiana.” While the writer deals primarily with the growth of that denomination in Indiana, yet mention is also made of the influences of Universalism in the other states of the Old Northwest. A review of the proceedings of the Northwest Conference of Universalists shows that the Wisconsin delegates figured prominently in the activities of this denomination.

VOL. I, NO. 3 MARCH, 1918

THE
WISCONSIN MAGAZINE
OF HISTORY

PUBLICATIONS OF THE
STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN.
Edited by MILO M.
QUAIFE, Superintendent

CONTENTS

Page

A WISCONSIN WOMAN’S PICTURE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN
_Cordelia A. P. Harvey_ 233

THE DUTCH SETTLEMENTS OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY
_Sipko F. Rederus_ 256

PIONEER RECOLLECTIONS OF BELOIT AND SOUTHERN WISCONSIN
_Lucius G. Fisher_ 266

DOCUMENTS:
Chicago Treaty of 1833: Charges preferred against George
B. Porter; Letter from George B. Porter to President
Andrew Jackson 287

HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS:
The Disputed Michigan-Wisconsin Boundary; An Early
Wisconsin Play 304

EDITORIAL:
The Professor and the Finger Bowl; The Printing of
Historical Publications; Is War Becoming More Horrible?;
Some Leaves from the Past; The Development of
Humanitarianism; Other Agencies; Some Facts and Figures;
Bravery Then and Now; Schrecklichkeit 309

QUESTION BOX:
The First Settler of Baraboo; The Chippewa River during
the French and British Régimes; The Career of Colonel G.
W. Manypenny; Treaty Hall and Old La Pointe 319

COMMUNICATIONS:
More Light on the Originator of “Winnequah”; A History
of Our State Flag 327

SURVEY OF HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES:
The Society and the State; Some Wisconsin Public
Documents; Some Publications 330

The Society as a body is not responsible for statements or opinions advanced in the following pages by contributors.

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

A WISCONSIN WOMAN’S PICTURE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN

CORDELIA A. P. HARVEY

Hundreds of loyal women labored devotedly during the Civil War ministering to the needs of the northern soldiers. Of them all, none worked more effectively or earned a larger measure of appreciation and devotion on the part of those she served than Mrs. Cordelia A. P. Harvey, wife of Governor Lewis Harvey of Wisconsin. After his tragic death by drowning at Savannah, Tennessee, while engaged in a mission of mercy to Wisconsin’s wounded soldiers, Mrs. Harvey conceived the idea that it was her duty to carry forward the work that her husband had left unfinished. In September, 1862, Governor Salomon appointed her sanitary agent at St. Louis, and until the end of the war she continued in this service. Some idea of her methods and of their effectiveness may be gained from the narrative which follows. What the soldiers thought of her is sufficiently indicated by the title “The Angel of Wisconsin,” which they bestowed upon her.

The narrative we print is from Mrs. Harvey’s typewritten copy of a lecture which she delivered following the close of the war. This manuscript the owner, Mrs. James Selkirk of Clinton, Wisconsin, permitted the Wisconsin History Commission to copy a few years since, and it was made the basis, in large part, of chapters VIII and IX of Hurn’s _Wisconsin Women in the War between the States_, published by the commission in 1911. Prior to this the portion of the paper pertaining to President Lincoln was drawn upon by J. G. Holland in preparing his life of Lincoln. Thus the paper has twice been drawn upon freely for publication. Notwithstanding this, the complete story in Mrs. Harvey’s own words is sufficiently interesting and important to justify its publication at this time. In the preparation of the narrative for publication a few changes in punctuation and typography have been made, and one paragraph, clearly interpolated for the benefit of the lecturer’s younger hearers, has been deleted. These things aside, the story is now printed for the first time just as Mrs. Harvey composed it.

* * * * *

Perhaps it is not well to open too frequently the deep wells of past sorrow that we may drink the bitter draughts which memory offers. Still, we would not forget the past--our glorious past--with all its terrible trials, its untold sufferings, its unwritten history. The Christian never forgets the dying groans on Calvary that gave to him his soul’s salvation; neither can an American citizen forget the great price paid for the life and liberty of this nation. Next to love of God is love of country.

It is not my object to awaken any morbid feelings of sentimental sorrow, or to open again the deep wounds which time has healed. Neither do I wish to serve up to an unhealthy imagination a dish of fearful horrors from which a healthy organization must turn away. I would only ask you to look at the shadows a little while, that the life and light of peace and plenty which now fill our land may by contrast impress upon your hearts a picture more beautiful than any artist could place on canvas. Shadows always make the light more beautiful.

In the fall of 1862 I found myself in Cape Girardeau, where hospitals were being improvised for the immediate use of the sick and dying then being brought in from the swamps by the returning regiments and up the rivers in closely crowded hospital boats. These hospitals were mere sheds filled with cots as thick as they could stand, with scarcely room for one person to pass between them. Pneumonia, typhoid, and camp fevers, and that fearful scourge of the southern swamps and rivers, chronic diarrhea, occupied every bed. A surgeon once said to me, “There is nothing else there: here I see pneumonia, and there fever, and on that cot another disease, and I see nothing else! You had better stay away; the air is full of contagion, and contagion and sympathy do not go well together.”

One day a woman passed through these uncomfortable, illy-ventilated, hot, unclean, infected, wretched rooms, and she saw something else there. A hand reached out and clutched her dress. One caught her shawl and kissed it, another her hand, and pressed it to his fevered cheek; another in wild delirium, cried, “I want to go home! I want to go home! Lady! Lady! Take me in your chariot, take me away!” This was a fair-haired, blue-eyed boy of the South, who had left family and friends forever; obeying his country’s call, he enlisted under the stars and stripes because he could not be a traitor. He was therefore disowned, and was now dying among strangers with his mother and sisters not twenty miles away; and they knew that he was dying and would not come to him. Father, forgive them, they knew not what they did.

As this woman passed, these “diseases,” as the surgeon called them, whispered and smiled at each other, and even reached out and took hold of each others’ hands, saying, “She will take us home, I know her; she will not leave us here to die,” not dreaming that hovering just above them was a white robed one, who in a short time would take them to their heavenly home.

This woman failed to see on these cots aught but the human [beings] they were to her, the sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers of anxious weeping ones at home; and as such she cared for and thought of them. Arm in arm with health, she visited day by day every sufferer’s cot, doing, it is true, very little, but always taking with her from the outside world fresh air, fresh flowers, and all the hope and comfort she could find in her heart to give them. Now and then one would totter forth into the open air, his good constitution having overcome disease, and the longings for life so strong within him that he grasped at straws, determined to live. If perchance he could get a furlough, in a few weeks a strong man would return and greet you with, “How do you do, I am on my way to my regiment!” Who this stranger might be, you could never imagine until reminded by him of the skeleton form and trembling steps you had so recently watched going to the landing, homeward bound. But if, as was too frequently the case, he was sent to convalescent camps, in a few weeks he was returned to hospital, and again to camp, and thus continued to vibrate between camp and hospital until hope and life were gone. This was the fate of thousands.