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AN ARISTOCRAT ON TRIALt THE CASE OF RICHARD T, ELY
By Theron F. Schlabach
44 A S the world now stands, we hold it to
^A
be the solemn duty of all writers, preachers, and professors, who are engaged in the work of reform, to refrain from denun¬ ciations of the existing society and social arrangements." Thus wrote the editors of The Nation, Edwin L. Godkin and Horace White, in June of 1894, a year of economic depression, unemployment, and the violent Pullman railway strike and boycott. Godkin and White's solution to the prevailing social ills was to reassert the principles of laissez faire. "The common practice among Chris¬ tian and other socialists and Utopians of abusing . . . the existing constitutions of society as an engine of fraud and oppression," they continued, "has undoubtedly done much to produce the 'militant anarchist' and give a sort of moral justification to his attacks on life and property.""
The editors did not reveal to just which socialists and Utopians they were referring, but when Oliver E. Wells read the editorial he was able to apply its charges more specific¬ ally. Wells was Wisconsin's State Superin¬ tendent of Education, an ex officio member
of the University of Wisconsin's Board of Regents, and, according to one observer, "as pugnacious as an Irishman at a fair."" In a letter to the editors Wells asserted that "the teaching and practice of the University of Wisconsin" supported The Nation s state¬ ment—especially the teaching and practice of the German-educated director of Wiscon¬ sin's School of Economics, Politics, and His¬ tory, Richard T. Ely."
Ely, charged Wells, justified strikes and practiced boycotts. A year or so earlier, when printers had struck against two Madi¬ son printing firms, Ely had entertained in his home a union organizer from out of town and had constantly consulted with him. At one firm where Ely was having some printing done, he had demanded that the management sign a contract with the union and had with¬ drawn his printing when the firm did not comply. Furthermore, Wells alleged, Ely had told a proprietor of the firm that it was better to employ "a dirty, dissipated, unmarried, unreliable, and unskilled" union man than "an industrious, skillful, trustworthy, non¬ union man who is head of a family"; the skilled family man could join the union, and if he had scruples against that, he was merely a "crank." In effect, Ely had said "to citi¬ zens and taxpayers, 'Stand and deliver, or
' "The Moral of Carnot's Assassination," in The Nation, 58:480 (June, 1894).
" Manitowoc Pilot, quoted in Madison Wisconsin State Journal, July 21, 1894.
" Oliver E. Wells to the editor, in The Nation, 59:27 (July 12, 1894).
146
Object Description
| Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 47, number 2, winter, 1963-1964 |
| Article Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 47, number 2, winter, 1963-1964 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | State Historical Society of Wisconsin |
| Series | Wisconsin Magazine of History ; v. 47, no. 2 |
| Format-Digital | xml |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol47no020000 |
| Description | This issue includes articles on the lumbering industry, the wheat trade in the Civil War, and Oliver E. Wells’ attack on UW professor Richard Ely. |
| Volume | 047 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year | 1963-1964 |
Description
| Title | 146 |
| Page Number | 146 |
| Article Title | An aristocrat on trial: the case of Richard T. Ely |
| Author | Schlabach, Theron F. |
| Page type | Article home |
| Format-Digital | jpeg |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol47no020048 |
| Description | An Aristocrat on Trial: The Case of Richard T. Ely: In 1894, Oliver E. Wells (1853-1922), the Wisconsin State Superintendent of Education attacked University of Wisconsin professor Richard Theodore Ely (1854-1943) for his socialist tendencies and his association with labor unions after reading an editorial Ely wrote for The Nation. The article follows with an examination of Ely's personal and teaching philosophy and his political and social affiliations. The scuffle between the two men led the UW Board of Regents to convene a committee to investigate Wells' accusations of Ely, and the remainder of the article concentrates on the events surrounding the trial that ensued, the arguments made on each side, Ely's eventual victory, and the impact of the case on academic freedom at the UW. (14 pages) |
| Volume | 047 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year | 1963-1964 |
| State/Province | Wisconsin |
| Personal Name | Ely, Richard Theodore, 1854-1943 |
| Organization Name | University of Wisconsin |
| Subject | Social conflict; Trials |
| Full Text | AN ARISTOCRAT ON TRIALt THE CASE OF RICHARD T, ELY By Theron F. Schlabach 44 A S the world now stands, we hold it to ^A be the solemn duty of all writers, preachers, and professors, who are engaged in the work of reform, to refrain from denun¬ ciations of the existing society and social arrangements." Thus wrote the editors of The Nation, Edwin L. Godkin and Horace White, in June of 1894, a year of economic depression, unemployment, and the violent Pullman railway strike and boycott. Godkin and White's solution to the prevailing social ills was to reassert the principles of laissez faire. "The common practice among Chris¬ tian and other socialists and Utopians of abusing . . . the existing constitutions of society as an engine of fraud and oppression" they continued, "has undoubtedly done much to produce the 'militant anarchist' and give a sort of moral justification to his attacks on life and property."" The editors did not reveal to just which socialists and Utopians they were referring, but when Oliver E. Wells read the editorial he was able to apply its charges more specific¬ ally. Wells was Wisconsin's State Superin¬ tendent of Education, an ex officio member of the University of Wisconsin's Board of Regents, and, according to one observer, "as pugnacious as an Irishman at a fair."" In a letter to the editors Wells asserted that "the teaching and practice of the University of Wisconsin" supported The Nation s state¬ ment—especially the teaching and practice of the German-educated director of Wiscon¬ sin's School of Economics, Politics, and His¬ tory, Richard T. Ely." Ely, charged Wells, justified strikes and practiced boycotts. A year or so earlier, when printers had struck against two Madi¬ son printing firms, Ely had entertained in his home a union organizer from out of town and had constantly consulted with him. At one firm where Ely was having some printing done, he had demanded that the management sign a contract with the union and had with¬ drawn his printing when the firm did not comply. Furthermore, Wells alleged, Ely had told a proprietor of the firm that it was better to employ "a dirty, dissipated, unmarried, unreliable, and unskilled" union man than "an industrious, skillful, trustworthy, non¬ union man who is head of a family"; the skilled family man could join the union, and if he had scruples against that, he was merely a "crank." In effect, Ely had said "to citi¬ zens and taxpayers, 'Stand and deliver, or ' "The Moral of Carnot's Assassination" in The Nation, 58:480 (June, 1894). " Manitowoc Pilot, quoted in Madison Wisconsin State Journal, July 21, 1894. " Oliver E. Wells to the editor, in The Nation, 59:27 (July 12, 1894). 146 |