The Promise of American Life

by Herbert David Croly

INDEX

A

• Abolitionism,
  • the good American democratic view of,[49];
  • belief of supporters of, regarding slavery,[78]-[79];
  • a just estimate of work of, [80]-[81];
  • perverted conception of democracy held by party of, [80]-[81], [86];
  • baleful spirit of, inherited by Republicans, and its later effects, [95];
  • was the one practical result of the struggle of American intelligence for emancipation, during the Middle Period, [422];
  • strength and weakness of the intellectual ferment shown by, [423].
• Administrative reform in states, [333] ff.
• "Admirable Crichton,"
  • trait of the English character illustrated by, [14].
• Africans,
  • as proper subjects for colonizing, [259].
• Agricultural community,
  • the Middle West at first primarily a, [62]-[63];
  • passage from, into an urban and industrial community, [101];
  • the transformation of Great Britain from an, to an industrial community, [234].
• Agricultural laborers,
  • effect of organization of labor on, [396].
• "American Farmer, Letters of an," [8]-[9], [10].
• Apprentices to trades, [391].
• Architects,
  • illustration drawn from, of improvement of popular standards, [444]-[445].
• Aristocracy in British political system, [231]-[232];
  • loss of ground by Great Britain traceable to, [233]-[235];
  • resignation of economic responsibility by, a betrayal of the national interest, [234]-[235].
• Armies,
  • essential and justifiable under present conditions, [256] ff., [264].
• Arts,
  • technical standard in practice of, [434]-[435].
• Asiatics,
  • as proper subjects for colonizing, [259].
• Association,
  • necessity of, for nations as well as for individuals, [263]-[264];
  • the modern nation the best machinery for raising level of human, [284];
  • necessity of, in case of laboring classes, [388].
• Australian ballot,
  • professional politicians uninjured by, [341];
  • question of desirability of, [341]-[342].
• Austria,
  • policy of Bismarck toward, [248]-[249].
• Austria-Hungary,
  • effect of disintegration of, on Germany, [253];
  • unstable condition of, renders disarmament impossible, [257];
  • secondary position of, in Europe, and reasons, [311].

B

• Balance of Power,
  • development of doctrine of, [220].
• Bank, National,
  • Hamilton's policy in creating, [39];
  • reasons for hostility of Jacksonian Democrats to, [57];
  • view of, held by Republicans, [57]-[58];
  • campaign of Jackson and his followers against, [58]-[59];
  • Whigs' failure in attempt to re-charter, [68].
• Bank examiners,
  • difference between Federal commissions and, [363]-[364].
• Birth-rate,
  • lowering of, in France, [245].
• Bismarck, Otto von, [8], [242], [256];
  • personal career of, [247];
  • unification of Germany by, [247]-[249];
  • course of, as Imperial Chancellor, [249] ff.;
  • inheritance left to German Empire by, in the way of overbearing attitude to domestic and foreign opponents, [251];
  • provoking of Germany's two wars by, was justifiable, [256];
  • quoted on what constitutes the real nation, [265]-[266].
• "Boss,"
  • the coming of the, [118]-[121];
  • character and position of the, [122];
  • dealings of, with big corporations, [122]-[124];
  • his specialized leadership fills a real and permanent need, [124]-[125];
  • is the unofficial ruler of his community, [125];
  • is the logical outcome of a certain conception of the democratic state, [148]-[149];
  • method proposed for destroying the, [338]-[341];
  • Australian ballot and system of direct primaries have no injurious effect on, [341]-[343].
• Bourbon monarchy, the, [219]-[220];
  • cause of downfall of, [220].
• Bryan, William J., [136], [144], [151];
  • particular consideration of, as a reformer, [156] ff.;
  • special reforms advocated by, [156]-[158];
  • incoherence in political thinking shown by, [158]-[159];
  • policy of, toward large corporations, [358].
• Business man,
  • origins of the typical American, [106]-[108];
  • business regarded as warfare by, [107]-[108];
  • relation between railroads and the, [109]-[111];
  • rise of, in Great Britain, and relations with aristocracy, [234]-[235].
• Butler, Nicholas Murray, quoted, [408].

C

• Cabinet, or executive council,
  • suggested for governors, [338]-[339].
• Calhoun, John, a leader of the Whigs, [66]-[67], [79], [82].
• Canada,
  • question of coöperation of, in establishment of a peaceful international system, [303]-[304];
  • desirability of greater commercial freedom between United States and, [304]-[305];
  • preparing the way for closer political association, [305]-[306];
  • lines along which treaty between United States, Great Britain, and, might be made, [306].
• Carnegie, Andrew, [202], [402].
• Catholic Church,
  • as a bond between Western European states, [217];
  • losing battle of, with political authority, [283].
• Central America,
  • opportunity for improving international political conditions in, [303].
• Centralization,
  • nationality and, [272]-[279];
  • demand for more rather than less, because of growing centralization of American activity, [274]-[275];
  • increase in, injurious to certain aspects of traditional American democracy, [276];
  • perniciousness of prejudice against, [278]-[279].
• Chapman, John Jay, work by,
  • cited, [408];
  • quoted, [418].
• Checks and balances,
  • system of, [33], [316];
  • system of, proves especially unsuitable for state governments, [323]-[324].
• China, questions raised concerning American foreign policy by, [309]-[310].
• Christianity a common bond between early European states, [217] ff.
• Church,
  • change in function of the, resulting from change in modern nations, [283].
• Cities,
  • relations of state governments to, [347]-[348];
  • as fields for economically and socially constructive experimentation, [349];
  • home rule in, [348]-[350];
  • policy of, toward public service corporations, [372]-[373];
  • measures to be taken against monopolies in, [374].
• City states,
  • Greek and mediæval, [215].
• Civil service reform, [143];
  • disappointing results of, [334]-[335];
  • causes of partial failure of, [335]-[337].
• Civil War,
  • a case of a justifiable war, [255]-[256];
  • as a surgical operation, [269].
• Class discrimination, [129], [191].
• Clay, Henry,
  • Whig doctrine of, [52], [66];
  • reason for failure of ideas of, [69]-[70];
  • as a believer in compromises, [76];
  • an example of cheapening of intellectual individuality of leaders during Middle Period, [427].
• Cleveland, Grover, [168].
• Colonial expansion,
  • the principle of nationality not hostile to, [259];
  • incompatibility of, for European powers, with aggrandizement at home, [260]-[262];
  • not a cause of wars, but the contrary, [260]-[261];
  • question of what are limits of a practicable, [262]-[263];
  • is accomplishing a work without which a permanent international settlement would be impossible, [263];
  • validity of, even for a democracy, [308];
  • of the United States, [308]-[310].
• Commerce,
  • question of control of, by state or Federal government, [351]-[357].
• Commissions,
  • supervision of corporations by, [360]-[361];
  • the objection to government by, [362];
  • false principle involved in government by, in that commissions make the laws which they administer, [364];
  • public ownership contrasted with government by, [366];
  • the great objection to government by, in its effect on the capable industrial manager, [368].
• Communal state,
  • the mediæval, [215], [216].
• Communities,
  • religious, [283];
  • various brands of socialistic, during American Middle Period, [422].
• Competition,
  • wastes of, lessened by big corporations, [115];
  • restriction of, by labor unions, [127], [386]-[388];
  • coöperation substituted for, by big corporations, [359].
• Compromise,
  • erected into an ultimate principle by British governing class, [234], [238];
  • in America in the interests of harmony, to be avoided, [269]-[270].
• Congressional usurpation, danger to American people from, [69].
• Constabulary,
  • state, [344]-[345].
• Constitution,
  • the Federal, founders of, displayed distrust of democracy, [33]-[34];
  • despite error of Federalists, has proved an instrument capable of flexible development, [34]-[35];
  • legal restrictions in, [35];
  • defect of unmodifiability of, [36];
  • on the whole a successful achievement, [36]-[37];
  • an accomplishment of the leaders of opinion rather than of the body of the people, [38];
  • sanctioning of slavery by, [72];
  • power bestowed on lawyers by, [132]-[134];
  • immutability of, regarded as a fault in the American system, [200];
  • serious changes in, not to be thought of, at present, [316];
  • in all respects but one is not in need of immediate amendment, [351];
  • distinction made in, between state and inter-state commerce is irrelevant to real facts of industry and trade, [351]-[352];
  • will in the end have to dispense with the distinction, [356]-[357].
• Constitutions of states, [119].
• Constitutional Unionists,
  • belief of, concerning slavery, [78];
  • present-day lawyers compared to, [137].
• Corporation lawyers, [136].
• Corporations,
  • growth of big, [110]-[116];
  • dealings between big, [113]-[114];
  • fights between, prelude closer agreement, [114];
  • decrease in wastes of competition by, [115];
  • profits of, disproportionate to their services, [115];
  • equivocal position in respect to the law, [115]-[116];
  • unprecedented power wielded by, [116];
  • political corruption and social disintegration the result of, [117];
  • the political "Boss" and the, [122]-[124];
  • similarities and dissimilarities of labor unions and, [130]-[131], [386];
  • agitation against and its varying character, [143];
  • Federal regulation of, advocated by W.J. Bryan, [158];
  • problem of control of, [351] ff.;
  • interference of state governments with railroad, insurance, and other corporations, [352]-[355];
  • exclusive Federal control of, an essential to their proper conduct, [355]-[356];
  • two courses that may be followed in policy of central government toward, [357];
  • W.J. Bryan's suggested policy toward, [358];
  • the Roosevelt-Taft programme, of recognition tempered by regulation, [358]-[360];
  • tendency of, to substitute coöperation for competition, [359];
  • supervision of, by commissions, [360]-[361];
  • danger of impairing efficiency of, by depriving them of freedom, [362]-[363];
  • laws which should be made for, on repeal of Sherman Anti-Trust Law, [364];
  • the proposed remedy for management of, is one more way of shirking the ultimate problem, [367];
  • disposal of question of excessive profits of, [370];
  • state taxation of, one means of control, [370];
  • American municipal policy toward public service corporations, [372]-[373];
  • the question of public ownership, [375]-[379] (see [Public ownership]);
  • necessity for uniformity in taxation of, [385].
  • See [Municipal corporations] and [Public service corporations].
• Council,
  • legislative and administrative, suggested for state governments, [329]-[330];
  • appointment of an executive council or cabinet by the governor, [338].
• Courts,
  • failure of American criminal and civil, [318];
  • protection of inter-state corporations by Federal, [355]-[356];
  • decisions of, on labor questions, [394].
• Crèvecoeur, Hector St. John de, quoted, [8]-[9].
• Criminal justice,
  • failure of American, [318];
  • reform of, by states, [344]-[345].
• Criminals,
  • treatment of, by states, [345]-[346].
• Critics and criticism in America, [450]-[451];
  • broadening of the work of, [451]-[452].
• Crazier, John B., quoted, [15]-[16].
• Cuba,
  • relations between United States and, [303], [308].
• Cumberland Road, the, [67].

D

• Debt, national,
  • Hamilton's belief in good effects of, [40]-[41].
• Democracy,
  • as represented by Republicans at close of Revolution, [28]-[29], [30]-[31];
  • Federalists' antagonism to, [32]-[33];
  • misfortune of founding national government on distrust of, [33]-[34];
  • misunderstanding of, as an ideal, in 1786, [34];
  • Hamilton's distrust of, [41];
  • Jefferson the leader of, against Hamilton and his policies, [42]-[43];
  • Jefferson's view of, as extreme individualism, [43];
  • real policy of Jeffersonian, as revealed upon triumph of his party, [46]-[49];
  • Jeffersonian, becomes reconciled with Federalism, [46]-[47];
  • fifty-year sway of Jeffersonian tradition, [48];
  • questionable results of triumph of Jeffersonian, [50]-[51];
  • existence of a genuine American, proved by War of 1812, [54]-[55]
    • (see [Democracy, Jacksonian]);
  • slavery as an institution of, [80] ff.;
  • work of Abolitionists in the name of, [80]-[81];
  • Abolitionists' perverted conception of, [80]-[81], [86];
  • Lincoln an example of the kind of human excellence to be fashioned by, [89];
  • Lincoln's realization of his ideal of a, [94];
  • the labor union and the tradition of, [126] ff.;
  • the American, and the social problem, [138]-[140];
  • the ordinary conception of, as a matter of popular government, [176]-[180];
  • the true meaning of, [176] ff.;
  • and discrimination, [185]-[193];
  • the real definition of, [207] ff.;
  • a superior form of political organization in so far as liberty and equality make for human brotherhood, [207]-[208];
  • principles of nationality and, in England, [230] ff.;
  • and nationality in France, [239] ff.;
  • principles of, and of nationality in America, [267] ff.;
  • and peace, [308] ff.
• Democracy, Jacksonian (or Western), [52] ff.;
  • suspected by Hamilton, appreciated by Jefferson, [52]-[53];
  • disapproves Jefferson's policy of peaceful warfare, [53];
  • forces Madison into second war with England, [53]-[54];
  • the first genuinely national body of Americans, [54]-[55];
  • characteristics of, [55]-[56];
  • reasons for hostility of, to office-holding clique and the National Bank, [57];
  • causes leading to introduction of spoils system by, [57], [59]-[60];
  • error of views of, [60]-[61];
  • the first body of Americans genuinely democratic in feeling, [61]-[62];
  • the true point of view in studying the, [63]-[65];
  • reason for triumph of, over Whigs, [69]-[70];
  • attitude of, toward slavery, [73]-[74], [84];
  • in 1850 Stephen A. Douglas becomes leader of, [84];
  • rally to Lincoln's standard, [86];
  • made to understand for the first time by Lincoln that American nationality is a living principle, [88].
• Direct primaries,
  • fallacy of system of, [342]-[343].
• Disarmament,
  • undesirability of, under present conditions in Europe, [257];
  • a partial, would be fatal, [264].
• Discrimination,
  • democracy and, [185]-[193];
  • class, in certain legislative acts, [191]-[192];
  • constructive, [193] ff.
• Distribution of wealth,
  • improvement in, [209]-[210];
  • in France, [244]-[245];
  • equalization of, by graduated inheritance tax, [381]-[385].
• Divorces,
  • the matter of, [346].
• Douglas, Stephen. A., [84]-[86], [281].

E