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The Birth of the Unicameral · Nebraska History Podcast

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The following episode features a historic article from the
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Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
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language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
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valuable insight into the past, may contain expressions or
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viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
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Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
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perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
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Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
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I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles
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written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
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The idea of a unicameral legislature was a latent passion
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for Senator George Norris. In the 1920s.
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He sought to keep his idea alive by writing newspaper and
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magazine articles emphasizing the advantages of the One House
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system. Let's look back at these early
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ideals of the unicameral in this 1964 article titled George W
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Norris, The Unicameral Legislature and the Progressive
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Ideal by Robert F Wesser. Recently, historians have
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undertaken a re evaluation of the decade of the 1920s in
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America. They have sought to emphasize
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the periods relationship to the progressive movement on the one
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hand, and the New Deal on the other hand, thus shifting the
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historical focus of the Jazz Age from its bizarre qualities to
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its continuities with past and future developments.
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Often cited as illustrating the bridge between early 20th
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century progressivism and New Deal liberalism is the career of
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Nebraska's renowned US Senator George W Norris, and
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specifically Norris's lonely fight to save federal government
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properties at Muscle Shoals, AL from the outstretched hands of
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private power companies. Within this context, the Muscle
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Shoals controversy resolved itself from a debate over public
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water power, policy, conservation, and federal state
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relationships, and throughout the decade served as a haunting
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reminder of the languishing spirit of progressivism.
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There was another phase of Norris's work in these years,
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his efforts in behalf of establishing a unicameral
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legislature in Nebraska, which harked back to earlier 20th
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century reformism, it's political and governmental
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ideals. To the progressive mind, one of
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the chief wrongs in American life was the growth in the
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latter 19th century of the large corporation and the inevitable,
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if regrettable, consequences of the vast accumulations of
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capital. Men of wealth could, and often
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did, ally themselves with politicians in order to secure
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for their businesses legislative favors and preferred treatment.
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The progressive response to this phenomenon was simple and
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direct, calling for some form of societal control and regulation,
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particularly of private utilities engaged in the public
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service, and simultaneously for the re establishment of
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political responsibility among governmental officials.
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In various ways such responsibility was to be
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restored, each in turn rendering local, state, and even federal
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office holders more directly accountable to the people whom
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they presumably served. So there were the direct
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primary, the initiative referendum and recall, the short
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ballot, the direct election of senators and others.
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Also in these years, the idea of a unicameral legislature took
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hold in a number of states, though in no single instance was
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the change affected during the Progressive Era.
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Senator Norris's own interest in reforming what to him was the
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illogical bicameral system went back well beyond the Progressive
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period to the 1880s, when, as a young lawyer in Beaver City, he
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had several opportunities to run for the Nebraska State
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Legislature. However, the low pay of a
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lawmaker and the fact that legislative sessions coincided
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with his busiest legal season, both characteristic weaknesses
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of the conventional system, he later argued, compelled him to
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refuse nominations. It was not until 1923 that
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Norris, now with 20 years of congressional experience behind
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him, publicly confessed his determination to reform the
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machinery of government as well as the law.
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Specifically, he mentioned the Nebraska Legislature and even
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expressed a desire to retire from national politics the next
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year in order to devote most of his time to the great fight that
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lay ahead. When, indeed, his avid
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supporters virtually compelled him to seek reelection to the
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Senate, Norris grieved over his inability, as he put it, Quote.
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To follow my own inclinations in this matter.
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End Quote. Often frustrated and despondent
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in these conservative years, the sensitive liberal resolved that
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before he died he would perform one outstanding service for his
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home state. Quote.
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The replacement of the unwieldy and inefficient 2 chamber
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legislature by 1 compact body. End Quote.
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With Norris, the idea of a unicameral legislature became a
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passion, albeit a latent passion, through the 1920s.
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Too busy with his determined battle to save Muscle Shoals, he
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scarcely had time for this, his other pet project.
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Strangely enough, the history of these two significant aspects of
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his career had striking parallels.
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In principle, they reflected different features of the
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progressive ideal. Moreover, just as Norris learned
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early in the Muscle Shoals imbroglio, the fruition of his
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dream for the Tennessee River Valley lay in the future, so he
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came to understand that the realization of his unicameral
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reform awaited a resurgence of liberalism.
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In the meantime, he sought to keep his idea alive by writing
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newspaper and magazine articles emphasizing the advantages of A1
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House system over the anachronism of the bicameral
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system. Norris's first literary endeavor
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in behalf of his reform, entitled A Model State
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Legislature, appeared in 1923 in the New York Times.
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This article contained all of the basic arguments that were
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used over and over again right up to the successful conclusion
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of his campaign in 1934. Taking as his point of departure
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the progressive notion of re establishing political
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responsibility among public servants, Norris candidly put
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forth the case for the unicameral legislature,
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proposing a small lawmaking body elected on nonpartisan basis in
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place of the large, unwieldy, often violently partisan
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conventional arrangement. The Nebraska senator, in typical
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fashion, began his discussion by citing criticism after criticism
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of the existing framework. He concentrated his attack upon
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the quote undemocratic conference committee, End Quote,
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which meets when bills passed in both houses vary in content.
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This process, Norris maintained, grants arbitrary power to the
6:53
few men who are chosen to put legislation in final form.
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Making matters worse, he added, is the fact that this third
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house, as he would call it, often meeting behind closed
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doors, is a haven for lobbyists, who usually need to influence
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only two or three legislators. When finally the conference
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report reaches the separate houses, Norris went on,
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individual lawmakers find it difficult to express opposition
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to any specific provision that the bill in revised form
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contains. In turn, the conscientious
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citizen cannot properly evaluate the efforts of his
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representative. The end result is a travesty of
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the democratic process. The unicameral legislature in
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small size, Norris continued, would be free of the evils
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characteristic of the two House system.
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Conceding that in theory a larger body is supposed to be
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more representative of a citizenry, he argued that in
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practice each man loses his individual rights.
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Committees must determine procedure by special rules,
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there is a deprivation of the right to offer amendments and
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there is less time for deliberation.
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Writing much later on the same thought, Norris asserted that
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professional lobbyists had told him that the easiest situation
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to handle was the large legislative body.
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Here only two or three leaders needed to be controlled, while
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in a small body, quote, every member has all the rights of
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every other member and is much more difficult to control.
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End Quote. The Senators final proposal, and
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the one nearest his heart, was the election of representatives
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on a nonpartisan basis. Since his later years as a
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congressman, Norris had himself been free of blind party loyalty
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to him. The Republican Party was subject
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to the same influences that dominated the Democratic Party.
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Both, quote, were machines controlled, and the Democratic
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and Republican machines the Muscle Shoals fight had taught
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him worked in perfect harmony of brotherly love.
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End Quote, the removal of this stumbling block to good
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legislation, nor thus attached to his unicameral reform.
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Hollow as these proposals may have sounded in the Harding
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Coolidge era, the unicameral idea was an old one.
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In America. The first constitutions of
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Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Georgia provided for single
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house legislatures, although in each case a board of censors was
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established and in effect operated as a second house.
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Of these states, Vermont kept the arrangement the longest,
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until 1836. Approximately 70 years elapsed
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before the idea again took hold. When, during the Progressive
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period, governors of six states recommended to constitutional
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conventions revision along unicameral lines.
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In New York and Ohio, the reform was considered but not acted
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upon. In Oregon, Oklahoma, and
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Arizona, the people themselves turned down efforts to institute
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the single deliberative assembly.
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A joint legislative committee of Nebraska studied the possibility
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and filed a favorable report. But little was done until six
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years later, in 1919, when a motion before the Constitutional
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convention providing for a unicameral body was defeated by
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a close vote. While one feature of the
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composite Norris plan had thus become familiar to Nebraskans,
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the foundation had been laid for another Back in 19 O 9
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partisanship had been abolished in elections all the way from
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local boards of education to state Superintendent, and in the
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judiciary from the lower courts to the supreme bench.
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Yet these moves were insignificant next to Norris's
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proposed governmental change, and the very radical nature of
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his program contributed to the 10 year delay in his campaign.
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There were, of course, compelling reasons why, to
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Senator Norris and to others, 1933 loomed as a Goodyear in
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which to launch the fight in Nebraska for the unicameral
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legislature. The Depression itself bred much
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discontent with existing institutions, and once again
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Americans appeared willing to implement new and challenging
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ideas. Furthermore, the Democratic
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landslide of 1932 brought in its wake a Nebraska Legislature
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sporting inexperienced lawmakers whose first efforts proved
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unimaginative and fruitless. Finally, there was Senator
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Norris himself, now a towering figure not only in his home
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state but across the nation as well.
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The quote fighting liberals and quote, brilliant record in
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Washington and the promise of further achievement gave him a
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measure of prestige and influence which few politicians
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can boast in their lifetime. Indeed, by the time the
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unicameral campaign was begun, Norris had lived down his
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reputation as a member of that, quote, little group of willful
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men and quote who attempted to sabotage President Wilson's
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preparedness efforts in 1917. People had come to know the
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Senator as a man who had labored incessantly for the farm block
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throughout the 1920s and had been remarkably successful in
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securing a National Labor Anti injunction law in 1930,
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acceptance by Congress of his proposed lame duck amendment to
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the United States Constitution in 1932, and finally enactment
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of his Tennessee River Valley Plan in 1933.
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He was rapidly on his way to gaining the reputation later
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described by the once critical New York Times as, quote, a
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contemporary founding father, always remote from the scramble
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of politics, a thinker and a philosopher.
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End Quote. Busy as Norris was in Washington
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in 1933, he never lost sight of his earlier declarations on the
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unicameral experiment. To be sure, he was no longer
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interested in retiring from national politics to devote all
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of his time to the One House campaign, but he was willing
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more than ever to plunge himself into such a movement to a
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friend. He optimistically announced that
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his reform quote could be brought about if we would
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organize and make the right kind of fight.
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End Quote. Hard on the heels of this and
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other similar statements came letters of support and
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encouragement from people all across Nebraska.
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So enthusiastic was this response that Colonel John G
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Maher, long one of the Senators, close associates and a pillar in
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the single House movement, called a public meeting in
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Lincoln on February 22nd, 1934. Appropriately, Norris was
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invited to deliver the main address in behalf of the
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unicameral reform and the campaign was underway.
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Senator Norris took full advantage of his appearance in
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Lincoln, NE to tie his reform proposal to his long held
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progressive philosophy. He traced the origins of the
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democratic ideal in America, asserting that the history of
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our civilization has been basically a contest between the
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rulers and the ruled. The Constitution, he insisted,
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was designed in accordance with the theory that the quote common
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people were not sufficiently civilized and sufficiently
14:01
educated to govern themselves. End Quote.
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But, he continued, history has seen inevitable advances towards
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the achievement of democracy. Already we have repudiated at
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least one of the old conservative features, the
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election of senators by state legislatures.
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Others will follow in due course, Norris added, implying
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that the success of his unicameral plan in Nebraska
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would spur other states to adopt it.
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Following Norris's impassioned speech, the enthusiastic throng
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of 800 adopted a resolution commissioning Colonel Maher to
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organize a committee to circulate petitions in
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compliance with the state constitution.
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Since preliminary details had been ironed out well before the
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Lincoln meeting, it was announced that 57,000 signatures
14:48
were necessary to submit the question to a referendum in the
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November elections. Already a careful observer,
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confident in the Nebraska Senators widespread influence,
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had predicted that this task would be an easy one for such a
15:02
quote organized as the friends of Norris are prepared to
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perfect End Quote. Yet the early stages of the
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unicameral campaign transpired less smoothly than was
15:13
anticipated. The Model Legislative Committee
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itself ran into difficulty when it attempted to revise the
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Senators tentative proposals. Individual members were
15:23
especially reluctant to include the non partisanship feature,
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which, although acceptable in principle, would, they believed,
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endanger the rest of the amendment.
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Trouble had been foreshadowed when Arthur F Mullen, the leader
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of the Democratic Party in Nebraska, was refused to
15:40
compromise by Norris in which the controversial provision was
15:44
to be dropped in return for Democratic support.
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Furthermore, the determined Norris refused even to listen to
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another committee criticism that the election of a governor on a
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partisan ballot would lead to complications.
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Only on one matter, the number of representatives in the new
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single House deliberative body, would this senator compromise.
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Here the issue was pure and simple.
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Nebraska farmers, long the core of Norris's strength, apparently
16:12
felt that fewer legislators would result in city domination
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of the state government, a condition which they naturally
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feared and abhorred. So he capitulated and acquiesced
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in an increase of membership from 30 to 50 representatives.
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The final number would be determined by the 19351937
16:33
Legislature. With these difficulties thus
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ironed out, the committee drew up a set of proposals calling
16:39
for a unicameral body with members elected in single
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districts on a nonpartisan basis, the right of a lawmaker
16:47
to introduce bills at any time during the legislative session,
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the only reservation being that no bill could become a law in
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less than 5 days. And finally, salaries of $1774
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per member for two years work together with transportation
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expenses to Lincoln once each session.
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In essence, the details of the unicameral plan followed closely
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Norris's general principles. In the meantime, petitioners
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busied themselves throughout the state in an effort to obtain the
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required number of signatures. Here are two obstacles were met.
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The chief difficulty stemmed from a provision from the State
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Constitution stipulating that each petition could offer only
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20 names and had to contain an affidavit verifying that the
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circulator personally witnessed every signature.
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Furthermore, the names had to be distributed among at least 62 of
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the 93 counties, burdening the unicameral organization with the
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task of finding petitioners in each locality.
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At first, volunteers were not readily available, and the
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committee sought funds with which to pay circulators.
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This effort proved futile, however, as the proposed reform
18:02
engendered little enthusiasm among substantial citizens, so
18:07
desperate did the situation become.
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At one point, the campaign chairman, Donald Gallagher,
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wrote discouragingly to Senator Norris in Washington, suggesting
18:17
the possibility of postponing that campaign for two years.
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Alarmed over the drop in morale of his group, Norris generously
18:24
enclosed a personal check to Gallagher for $1000 to help
18:29
defray mounting expenses. Fortunately, as the unicameral
18:33
movement gained impetus, more and more volunteers poured into
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the Lincoln headquarters, and little additional money was
18:40
needed. The final and most crucial stage
18:43
of the unicameral campaign came in the fall of 1934, with
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Senator Norris himself assuming the greatest burden.
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Already in September his secretary had set up quarters in
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the state Capitol, and he followed along the next month.
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Norris knew that the task ahead was still a difficult one, for
19:03
in spite of the work of his cohorts, the amendment had not
19:07
had the advantage of being proposed in any recent session
19:10
of the Legislature, nor recommended in a gubernatorial
19:14
message, or, for that matter, even intelligently discussed in
19:17
the state press. Yet the determined senator
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despaired not and instead plunged wholeheartedly into the
19:25
campaign. Senator Norris commenced his
19:28
whirlwind state tour in Hastings where he humbly confessed his
19:32
irritation at statements. In punging his motives, people
19:36
often asked him and he admitted, quote, what does Norris get out
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of it? End Quote.
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To him, public service, not personal gain, had always been
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his chief inspiration. In subsequent speeches, he used
19:49
all of the arguments at his disposal against the
19:52
inefficiency and corruptibility of the traditional two House
19:56
system. Norris often cited the case in
19:59
the Nebraska Legislature, where a majority favored a bill
20:02
permitting certain municipal plants to extend lines outside
20:06
of the municipality, just as private utilities had done.
20:10
However, as a result of clever manipulation of the conference
20:13
committee, the private interests not only blocked the legislation
20:18
but caused so much confusion in the process that the electorate
20:21
remained totally ignorant of the issues at stake.
20:25
When the air finally cleared, he added, a referendum was held and
20:28
the measure received overwhelming popular support.
20:32
To this illustration, Norris usually appended equip directed
20:36
at his opponent's quote in every two House legislature.
20:40
If we post the checks and the balances after the end of the
20:43
session, we shall find that the politicians have the checks and
20:47
the interests have the balances. End Quote.
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Needless to say, Norris's opposition, composed largely of
20:55
newspaper editors, the leaders of both parties, and a vast
20:59
majority of present and past legislators, was not silent.
21:04
They literally cringed at such an irreverent attack upon the
21:08
time honored system and cited the great authorities Alexander
21:12
Hamilton, James Kent, and Joseph Story, whose arguments in behalf
21:16
of the bicameral legislature rested on a defense of property
21:20
rights. As if to modernize this old
21:23
version, several anti unicameral speakers and writers emphasize
21:27
the importance of maintaining 2 houses for checking sectional
21:31
interests. It is still true, wrote Walter
21:34
Dodd quote, that one house does check the other to some extent.
21:38
End Quote. Anticipating this objection,
21:41
Norris could only reply in terms of his own experience as a
21:44
member of the House of Representatives and the United
21:47
States Senate. Quote With very few exceptions,
21:50
it makes little difference whether a representative lives
21:53
in a rural community or whether he comes from the heart of a
21:56
large city. End Quote.
21:58
He himself had always been sympathetic to labor's plight,
22:01
though his particular community and state were essentially
22:04
rural. Norris did concede, however,
22:07
that states with large urban centers should strive to attain
22:11
sectional balance in an experimental unicameral
22:14
legislature. As the unicameral campaign drew
22:17
to a close in early November, the Norris organization was
22:20
confident that their reform would, quote, receive a larger
22:24
vote than people expected. End Quote.
22:26
Certainly its fate captured national attention in the period
22:30
immediately before and shortly after its enactment.
22:33
Colliers had early come out strongly against the idea on the
22:37
ground that A1 House legislature of so few members quote is a
22:41
plea for authority more centralized.
22:43
End Quote. The representative Government
22:45
Association concurred and in a pamphlet added that the proposed
22:49
UN American change would break down the hold which the people
22:54
have over their representatives. Even the Christian Science
22:58
Monitor cited the desire for, quote, centralization and
23:01
authority. End Quote.
23:03
But look at the proposal in a more favorable light.
23:06
While the Saturday Evening Post insisted that there was no
23:09
justification whatsoever for a state bicameral legislature,
23:14
originally, they added, senators quote were expected to be of
23:18
superior wealth and social standing, End Quote, and
23:21
property qualifications were required of electors of the
23:24
upper house. In recent times, however, aside
23:28
from the manner and size of apportionment, the only
23:30
difference in the two houses has been the senators serve longer
23:34
terms. Finally, the American
23:36
Legislators Association conducted a survey of segments
23:40
of the population and concluded that 59% of those polled opposed
23:45
the Nebraska experiment. Significantly, state and federal
23:48
legislators rejected it by a vote of approximately 3 to one,
23:52
while professors of government and others engaged in research
23:56
along these lines favored it 4 to one.
24:00
The results of the Nebraska Unicameral campaign in November
24:03
1934 was indeed decisive. The proposed amendment carried
24:08
the state by a plurality of over 90,000 votes.
24:13
Only 8 counties out of 93, Norris happily noted, turned
24:18
down his idea. For him, the triumph was a rich
24:22
reward, following a more vigorous campaign than he had
24:25
ever waged as a candidate for an elected office.
24:28
But in his customarily modest way, the senator took little
24:32
personal credit for the victory, applauding instead the stellar
24:36
efforts of his organization and the enlightened state of the
24:39
Nebraska electorate. It was another two years before
24:43
the unicameral reform actually went in effect in Nebraska, and
24:47
in the meantime Norris returned to his desk in Washington.
24:50
His work, however, was not forgotten when, in January 1937,
24:55
the One House legislature commenced its deliberations.
24:58
The aging senator was invited to deliver the first message.
25:03
Proudly standing before his peers, he took this momentous
25:06
occasion to appeal once again in behalf of the progressive cause.
25:11
Sensitive to the role that unicameralism might play in
25:14
improving democratic government, Norris asked for the cooperation
25:18
of all and warned that lobbyists, politicians, quote,
25:23
and every representative of greed and monopoly are hoping
25:26
and praying that your work will be a failure.
25:29
End Quote. Upon completing his remarks,
25:32
Norris received a standing ovation and was escorted from
25:35
the platform by several prominent Nebraska leaders.
25:40
Undoubtedly, Senator Norris's victory in his home state in
25:43
1934 resulted from a renewed spirit of liberalism and
25:47
experimentalism which swept across the nation in the
25:50
Depression years, together with his own personal dedication and
25:54
determination. The gentle night of American
25:58
progressive ideals, as President Franklin D Roosevelt so aptly
26:02
called him, had again succeeded in achieving a specific
26:05
objective within a tradition of reform which had guided his
26:09
political career for over a quarter of a century.
26:13
If today the Norris formula for the perfection of representative
26:16
government and the realization of the democratic ideals appears
26:20
too simple and perhaps somewhat naive, it is because simplicity
26:24
and perhaps even naivete were characteristics of the
26:28
progressive impulse as it sprang out of the 19th century America.
26:33
George Norris was a product of that America and her inherent
26:37
belief in the perfectibility of human institutions.
26:41
Thank you for listening to the Nebraska History Podcast.
26:44
To learn more about Nebraska History Magazine, to listen to
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more podcasts, or to support our podcast by becoming a member of
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the Nebraska State Historical Society, go to
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your favorite podcast platform. Until next time, I'm Chris
27:05
Goforth.