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dc.contributor.advisorProcter, Ben H.
dc.contributor.authorAtkinson, William Eugeneen_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-11T15:10:55Z
dc.date.available2019-10-11T15:10:55Z
dc.date.created1978en_US
dc.date.issued1978en_US
dc.identifieraleph-235364en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/33571
dc.description.abstractJames V. Allred, attorney general of Texas from 1931 to 1935, was a product of the closing frontier. From the experiences of his pioneer family, he inherited a respect for the traditional virtues of self-reliance, hard work, education, and competition. During his youth in the North Central Texas community of Bowie, he observed its evolution from boom town to commercial center and acquired an appreciation of rigorous, honest, effective law enforcement. Upon completing his law degree, Allred soon became district attorney in Wichita Falls. A skilled prosecutor, he quickly established an impressive reputation with a personal crusade against dishonest public officials, bootleggers, and the Ku Klux Klan. In 1925 he achieved statewide attention through his prosecution of Mayor Frank Collier for the brutal murder of his son-in-law. Losing his 1926 campaign for attorney general, Allred learned from his political mistakes and ran again in 1930, convincingly defeating incumbent Robert Lee Bobbitt, During his four years in office, he tackled an enormous and varied workload of litigation, He liquidated the Guaranty Fund and salvaged approximately $2,000,000 for state bank depositors, He prosecuted fly-by-night insurance companies, defended Texas in the Red River Bridge dispute with Oklahoma, established significant precedents permitting the state to reduce abuses of the notorious fee system, upheld local authority over intrastate commerce, and pursued the collection of delinquent taxes, As the effects of the Depression became more pronounced, Allred utilized the powers of his office to attack price-fixing and monopoly, Convinced that recovery lay in restoring free competition, he fought illegal combinations among utilities, rail and bus lines, and trade associations. In his most spectacular case he sued seventeen major oil corporations which were operating under Federal Trade Commission approval to restrict the distribution of petroleum products, Recognizing that the economic health of Texas also depended upon a vigorous oil industry, Allred devoted considerable effort to the development of petroleum. In a series of land and royalty cases, he secured millions of dollars for the Permanent School Fund and established clear titles to the richest oil lands in Texas. And in the chaotic East Texas field, he wrote the first effective proration orders. During his last two years in office, Allred became increasingly involved in politics. He fought to protect the independence and integrity of the state Highway Commission, Railroad Commission, and Relief Board from the manipulations of James E. Ferguson. He challenged the principles of regulated monopoly which President Franklin D. Roosevelt had advanced in the National Industrial Recovery Act. His ideals of free competition and States' Rights jeopardized by federal action, he took his case to the people as a gubernatorial candidate in 1934 and after a bitter campaign emerged as the Democratic nominee for governor.
dc.format.extentvi, 385 leaves, bounden_US
dc.format.mediumFormat: Printen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofTexas Christian University dissertationen_US
dc.relation.ispartofAS38.A87en_US
dc.subject.lcshAllred, James V., 1899-1959en_US
dc.subject.lcshTexas--Politics and government--1865-1950en_US
dc.titleJames V. Allred: A political biography, 1899-1935en_US
dc.typeTexten_US
etd.degree.departmentDepartment of History
etd.degree.levelDoctoral
local.collegeAddRan College of Liberal Arts
local.departmentHistory
local.academicunitDepartment of History
dc.type.genreDissertation
local.subjectareaHistory
dc.identifier.callnumberMain Stacks: AS38 .A87 (Regular Loan)
dc.identifier.callnumberSpecial Collections: AS38 .A87 (Non-Circulating)
etd.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
etd.degree.grantorTexas Christian University


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