McCook's favorite son, Sen. George W. Norris

(Note: As Heritage Days approached last week I had occasion to visit with a newcomer to McCook. He asked me about the Heritage Days Norris Breakfast. This led to the question, "Just who was this Norris fellow. I see his name all over town." As a more complete answer to his question I have turned to the Gazette Archives and brought back this column on McCook's George Norris.)

One cannot be in McCook, Nebraska, very long before he comes under the spell of George W. Norris, "The Fighting Liberal from Nebraska."

Our main street is Norris Avenue. Our central city park is Norris Park, across the street from The George Norris Home, now a Nebraska state monument. It is apparent that the unusual number of governors, as well as other politicians from McCook, who have left their mark on local, state, and national policies, got their inspiration from the example of George Norris.

Norris was born in Sandusky, Ohio, in the year that our great Civil War began, 1861. He was drawn to the law and politics by newspaper stories of Rutherford B. Hayes' presidential campaign, yet he supported himself and financed his college education by working on area farms and teaching school.

After law school, at Baldwin University, he taught for one term in Washington State to earn money to buy his law library. After that, he came to Nebraska and set up his first law practice at Beaver City. In 1895, he was elected judge of the 14th District. Since that position involved considerable travel, he and his wife, Pluma, with their two little girls, moved to McCook, which was more centrally located, with more convenient transportation means. McCook appealed to the young Judge -- it had its own electric plant, its own waterworks, and was a vibrant, growing community of 2,445.

By 1900, George was again engaged in private law practice and things were going well for the Norris family. That year they bought the home on Main Street, across from a fine City Park, both of which now bear his name. But tragedy was not far away. In 1901, Pluma passed away just five days after giving birth to their third daughter, Gertrude.

In 1902 Norris was elected to Congress, and with a new wife, Ellie (Leonard), left McCook to assume his place in Washington, D.C., which except for brief periods, would be his home for the rest of his life.

Norris won his seat as a Republican, but Maverick would be his real label during his political career, a career marked by vigorous stands on a variety of issues, which defied both Democrat and Republican Party labels.

In 1910, Norris led the revolt in Congress against the dictatorial Republican Speaker of the House, Joseph Cannon. He was one of the original leaders of the National Progressive Republican League, but then switched his support to Theodore Roosevelt's Third Party (Bull Moose). In 1912 he was elected to the Senate as a regular Nebraska Republican.

At first, Norris supported new President Wilson, a Democrat, but as World War I loomed, Norris became increasingly isolationist, and was at the front in leading opposition to United States participation in a European War.

He was one of only six Senators who defied President Wilson and voted against the U.S. entry in the war. After the war, he led the opposition against Wilson's plan of a League of Nations.

In the 1920s, Norris crossed swords with Henry Ford. The federal government had developed plants in Northern Alabama for producing nitrates for munitions during World War I. The prevailing process at the time took tremendous electricity, so dams were placed on the Tennessee River, at Muscle Shoals, and the project was referred to as the Tennessee Valley Authority. After the war the government chose to sell off this facility to private interests, which would use the nitrates for making fertilizer. Henry Ford was the top bidder, of $5 Million, for the facility, which the government had built for $106 million.

Sen. Norris led the fight in the Senate to keep the TVA as a government owned facility, and expand the scope of the project, but it was not until President Roosevelt assumed power in 1933 that the TVA was finally signed into law.

The TVA created a government corporation whose purpose was to control floods, navigation, generation of electricity, reforestation, the power use of marginal lands, and the economic and social well being of the people in the Tennessee River Basin, which comprises some 40,000 square miles and covers parts of seven states.

Closer to home, passage of the TVA led to Norris' next project, the Rural Electrification Administration, which has brought electricity to farmers, throughout the United States. For the REA Norris had considerably less opposition than he did for the TVA. It didn't hurt that he also had the strong backing of Franklin Roosevelt.

There are two other issues that have affected State and National laws, which are generally attributed to Senator Norris. The first is the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, referred to as the "Lame-Duck Amendment". This Amendment moved the date on which a new administration takes office from March 4th, to January 20th. Norris had begun to push for such an Amendment in 1923, but it was not until ten years later that he succeeded in changing the law. In 1933 it was felt that Roosevelt could have been more successful helping the country with his New Deal programs had he been able to begin his administration 43 days sooner.

In the 1920s Norris conceived the idea of the Unicameral Legislature for state governments. In an article in the New York Times, entitled "A Model State Legislature" Norris argued that the two-branch legislature was a relic of the past. Two houses made it impossible to place the blame or attribute success for legislation. The element of secrecy, characteristic of the conference committee (of the two bodies) was "the greatest evil of the two-house legislature". On the other hand, all business in a Unicameral Legislature would be conducted in the open.

Norris felt that the Unicameral should be non-partisan. "Qualifications, not politics should be the criterion for public service". For greatest efficiency he believed that not more than 20 Legislators should make up the Unicameral (Nebraska has 49).

By 1933 Norris was ready to promote the Unicameral seriously. The campaign was kicked off in McCook in November 1933. 60,000 signatures were obtained across Nebraska. When workers got discouraged Norris was there with encouragement, and at least once with a $1000 donation to beef up flagging spirits. "I would rather be a pauper the balance of my days than to have this proposition fail," he said.

The campaign was slow going. Newspapers, business organizations, railroad officials, utility companies, and political parties opposed the Unicameral. Norris decided that it was imperative for him to play a key role in bringing the amendment to reality

In October 1934 he embarked on a speaking tour of the state, endorsing the Unicameral Amendment. In one month he covered more than 5,000 miles and gave 39 speeches to large crowds at every stop. On election night, Nov. 6, 1934 he was gratified when the amendment received 286,086 votes, 93,000 more than were needed. Eighty-four of the state's 93 Counties approved the Unicameral Amendment.

Though Norris voted with the majority for U.S. entry into World War II in 1941, there were increasing signs that he had lost touch with his constituents in Nebraska. His 1942 campaign against Republican Ken Wherry was almost non-existent. He said that the voters knew how he stood. Still he was surprised and disappointed when the voters failed to reelect him. At age 81, and having waged political battles for half a century, he was tired and looked forward to retirement in McCook. The next year he was dead.

(Note: A rather new addition to the Norris Home is a life sized statue of Senator Norris on the lawn of the Norris home on Norris Avenue. The statue is the joint collaboration of two McCook artists, the late Jon Leitner and Gary Ginther)

Source: Gazette 100th Edition 1882-1982