Martin McNulty Crane
“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you will only legislate to make the well to do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them. … You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities shall spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country. … You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.” – William Jennings Bryant, fellow proponent, with his prominent and stanch supporters Texas Governor James S. Hogg and his Lieutenant Governor Martin McNulty Crane, later, also, Texas State Attorney General, of Populism, Progressivism in the United States and the Granger movement.[1]
‘’’Martin McNulty Crane’’’ (D) (1855-1943) was an influential Texas Granger movement and Populist politician. The son of Martin Crane and Mary nee McNulty, the younger Martin was born in West Virginia. His mother died when he was aged four years. During the ensuing year before his father also died, young Martin first moved with his father to Kentucky and, then, to Tennessee. Completely orphaned by 5 years old, Martin McNulty Crane was raised by various family friends in Tennessee until at age 17 he emigrated from Tennessee to Texas, where he worked at various occupations and read law. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1877. Within a year thereafter, he was elected a prosecuting attorney and reelected to the same office in 1880. Politically, Crane sympathized with the beleaguered North Texas farmers. In 1884, he was elected to the Nineteenth State Legislature and supported programs put forth by the Farmer’s Alliance. In 1890, Crane was elected to the Texas State Senate. In 1892, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas. In 1894, he resigned this office to successfully seek election as Texas Attorney General. He further distinguished himself over the next four years, by as Attorney General, successfully, arguing a number of precedent setting antitrust cases. During his legislative, executive and prosecutorial career, he sought to curb the then unregulated powers of the railroads, oil companies and mercantile banks, which were anathema to the interests of Texas farmers. He was a staunch supporter of the reform efforts of Texas governors James S. Hogg and Charles A. Culberson. In 1917, Crane served as the chief prosecuting counsel for the successful impeachment of Texas Governor James E. Ferguson. In the 1920s, Crane headed the Dallas County Citizens League, which had been established to oppose the growing political influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Crane died in 1943 at age 88, after a short illness.
External Links
[1] This online article about Crane includes an extensive bibliography.
Notes
- ^ Hogg actually spoke on Bryant’s behalf during both the 1896 and 1900 presidential campaigns. Hogg and McNulty Crane, though, were even more provocative in word and, certainly, in deed than William Jennings Bryant. Hogg, himself, once stated “Let us have Texas, the Empire State, (be) governed by its people, not Texas, the truckpatch, ruled by corporate lobbyists.”, and the pair (Hogg and McNulty Crane), even, once indicted Standard Oil Company magnate John D. Rockefeller for price fixing under Texas 1889 antitrust act and, actually, tried, unsuccessfully, to have him extradited from New York to Texas for trial.