Henry Gage
Encyclopedia
Henry Tifft Gage was an American
lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican
, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th Governor of California
from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister to Portugal
for several months in 1910.
. Relocating with his family to East Saginaw, Michigan
, Gage spent his teenage years in Michigan
, studying law with his lawyer father. In 1873 at the age of twenty-one, Gage was admitted to the Michigan Bar, working for his father's law practice in East Saginaw for over a year. Over a year later, Gage relocated to California
, settling in Los Angeles
. Between 1874 to 1877, Gage was a successful sheep dealer, selling sheep to various farms around Los Angeles County. In 1877, Gage returned to law, opening his own practice. Largely successful in court, his practice quickly began to attract a number of prominent corporate clients in Southern California
, including the Southern Pacific Railroad
, who would enjoy a decades-long relationship with Gage. Three years later, Gage married Francesca V. Rains, a great granddaughter of a Californio
family. The Gages settled in Bell Gardens at his wife's family home.
Running as a Republican
, Gage was elected as Los Angeles City Attorney in 1881, beginning a slow rise within party ranks. At the 1888 Republican National Convention
in Chicago
, Gage was chosen as a delegate-at-large during the proceedings. In a speech to the convention, Gage seconded the motion to nominate Levi P. Morton
as the party's nomination for the vice presidency
.
In 1891, President Benjamin Harrison
appointed Gage as a federal prosecutor to prosecute the crew of the Chile
an steamer Itata due to the Itata Incident
. The U.S. federal government charged the crew with knowingly assisting an illegal arms purchase. Its cargo had consisted of weapons purchased for National Congressional
insurgent forces fighting in the Chilean Civil War
against President José Manuel Balmaceda
. Upon review of the federal government's case, Gage dropped all charges against the Itata's crew, claimining that the government had mistaken the arms purchase as illegal.
By 1898, Gage had become a prominent corporate lawyer within Los Angeles business circles, as well as a successful owner of real estate, particularly the Red Rover gold mine in Acton
in the Santa Clarita Valley
. At the state Republican convention that year, Gage was nominated in the first round of voting as the party's nomination for the governorship. His nomination was largely orchestrated by the Southern Pacific Railroad
, who had worked with Gage since the 1870s, and saw him as supportive of their interests.
In the 1898 state general elections, Gage defeated his Democratic rival, House Representative James G. Maguire
by a modest 6.7%. Other minor candidates in the election included Job Harriman
of the Socialist Labor Party of America
and Prohibitionist
J. E. McComas, a former State Senator
.
on January 4, 1899. In his inauguration speech, Gage spoke lengthy over foreign policy, favoring the recent results of the Spanish-American War
and their effect on California's economy
. "The peaceful acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands
, extending our empire beyond our Pacific shore, should be followed as a political necessity by the annexation
of the Philippines
," Gage spoke. "The center of commerce must move westward. California
, favorably situated, will, among other advantages, reap the harvest of trade with these new territories, developing our many varied and growing resources, creating a western merchant marine for the carriage of our imports and exports, and luring to our markets the nations of the world."
In one of his first acts, Gage's administration reopened the State Printing Office, closed down earlier by previous governor James Budd
in order to cut governmental expenditures.
From early on in his administration, Gage was highly partisan, due mostly to frequent accusations from Reform Republicans and Democrats alike who accused Gage as being a pawn for the Southern Pacific
. When a newspaper published a political cartoon portraying railroad tycoon Collis Potter Huntington leading the governor around on a leash, Gage was so incensed by the accusation that he ramrodded a censorship
bill through the California State Legislature
, restricting the press whenever editorial content involved politics or politicians.
, unknowingly bringing to the city rats
carrying the Third Pandemic
of the bubonic plague
. The disease soon made home in the cramped ghetto
quarters of the city's Chinatown. Rumors of the plague's presence abounded in the city, quickly gaining the notice of authorities from the federal Marine Hospital Service
stationed on Angel Island, including the Marine Hospital Service's head in San Francisco, Joseph J. Kinyoun
.
Allied with powerful railroad and city business interests, Gage publicly denied that any pestilence outbreak in the city, fearing that any word of the bubonic plague's
presence would deeply damage the city and state's economy. Supportive newspapers, such as the Call
, the Chronicle
and the Bulletin, echoed Gage's denials, beginning what was to become an intense defamation campaign against Joseph Kinyoun, director of the San Francisco Quarantine Station. In response to the state's refuting of the plague's existence, U.S. Surgeon General
Walter Wyman
recommended to federal Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage
to intervene. Secretary Gage agreed, creating a three-man medical commission to medically investigate the city. The commission conclusively discovered that bubonic plague was present.
Like Kinyoun, the Treasury commission's findings were again immediately denounced by Governor Gage. Gage believed the federal government's growing presence in the matter was a gross intrusion of what he recognized as a state concern. In his retaliation, Gage denied the federal commission any use of the University of California, Berkeley's
laboratories to further study the outbreak. The Bulletin would also attack the federal commission, branding it as a "youthful and inexperienced trio."
The clash between Gage and federal authorities intensified. Surgeon General Wyman instructed Kinyoun to place Chinatown under quarantine
, as well as blocking all East Asians from entering state borders. Chinese residents, supported by Gage and local businesses, fought the quarantine through numerous federal court battles, claiming the Marine Hospital Service
was violating their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment
, and in the process, launched lawsuit
s against Kinyoun. In these court proceedings, residents insisted Gage was correct in his denials of the plague outbreak. The courts initially agreed that Chinatown residents were correct in that the quarantine violated their civil rights, yet most of these lawsuits were eventually thrown out of court on later dates.
Between 1901 and 1902, the plague outbreak continued to worsen. In an 1901 address to both houses of the California State Legislature
, Gage accused federal authorities, particularly Kinyoun, for injecting bubonic plague
into cadavers. In response to what he said to be massive scaremongering by the Marine Hospital Service, Gage pushed a censorship bill through the Legislature to gag any media reports of plague infection. The legislation failed, yet laws to gag reports amongst the medical community succeeded in passage and were signed into law by the governor. In addition, $100,000 was allocated to a public campaign led by Gage to deny the plague's existence. Privately, however, Gage sent a special commission to Washington
, consisting of Southern Pacific
, newspaper and shipping lawyers to negotiate a settlement with the Marine Hospital Service, whereby the federal government would remove Kinyoun from San Francisco with the promise that the state would secretly cooperate with the Marine Hospital Service in stamping out the plague outbreak.
Despite the secret agreement allowing for Kinyoun's removal, Gage went back on his promise of assisting federal authorities and continued to obstruct their efforts for study and quarantine. A report issued by the State Board of Health on September 16, 1901 bolstered Gage's claims, denying the plague's outbreak.
, stevedore
s and fireman
belonging to the City Front Federation. Between 10,000 to 16,000 men joined the strike.
Employers grew quickly frustrated with the strikers, asking for San Francisco Mayor
James D. Phelan
to request Gage in ordering in the state militia to crush the strike. Phelan refused, though violence between strikers and officers of the San Francisco Police Department
began to break out in September.
Gage became increasingly concerned that violence along San Francisco's waterfront was spilling out of the city's control. On one instance, in order to reassure himself that violence was not increasing, Gage disguised himself as a striker and walked amongst the stevedores to observe conditions personally. In October, Gage negotiated settlement with employers and the Teamsters, though the terms of the settlement were never made publicly known. Gage was the first California governor to negotiate an end to a labor strike.
continued to worsen. Despite San Francisco-based newspapers continual denials, contradicting reports from the Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press
on the plague's spread had made the outbreak become publicly known throughout the United States
. The state governments of Colorado
, Texas
and Louisiana
passed quarantines of California, arguing that since the state had refused to admit a health crisis within its borders, states receiving rail or shipping cargo from California ports of call had the duty to protect themselves. Threats of a national quarantine grew.
As the 1902 general elections approached, Southern Pacific
supporters increasingly saw Gage, a man who had represented their interests since his days as a Los Angeles
-based lawyer, as an embarrassment to state Republicans. Gage's public denials of the plague outbreak were due to protecting the state's economy and the business interests of his political allies. However, instead of putting allegations of the outbreak to rest, conflicting studies and reports from federal officials and the media continued to prove Gage incorrect. In turn, Gage's denials were creating economic headaches to shipping and rail companies within the state and throughout the country, who now faced quarantine and economic boycott
s from other states.
At the state Republican convention that year, the Railroad Republican faction refused Gage renomination for the governorship. In his place, former Mayor of Oakland George Pardee
, a German-trained medical physician, received the nomination. Pardee's nomination was largely a compromise between the Railroad and the growing progressive-minded Reform factions of the party.
In his final speech to the California State Legislature
in early January 1903, Gage continued to publicly deny the outbreak, blaming the federal government, in particular Joseph Kinyoun, the Marine Hospital Service
and the San Francisco Board of Health, for damaging the state's economy.
, Gage returned to Los Angeles to resume his law practice. In 1909, President William Howard Taft
appointed Gage as U.S. Minister to Portugal
. Gage served in Lisbon for a little more than five months until November 1910. Political instability in Portugal, due to the Revolution of 1910
that deposed King Manuel II
, as well as his wife's deteriorating health, forced Gage to submit his resignation to the U.S. Department of State and President Taft. He returned to California shortly afterwards.
Gage died in Los Angeles
on August 28, 1924 at the age of 71.
in 1901.
In 1902, Gage appointed Ulysses S. Webb
as California Attorney General
. Webb became one of the most successful, longest-serving attorneys general in the history of California.
Gage Avenue in Los Angeles was named after him on October 28, 1929. Henry T. Gage Middle School, also located on Gage Avenue, is named after the governor. The Gage Mansion located in Bell
is now the oldest remaining home in Los Angeles County and is a registered California State Historical Site.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer, politician and diplomat. A Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Gage was elected to a single term as the 20th Governor of California
Governor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
from 1899 to 1903. Gage was also the U.S. Minister to Portugal
United States Ambassador to Portugal
This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal.Bilateral diplomatic relations between the United States and Portugal date from the earliest years of the United States. Following the Revolutionary War, Portugal was the first neutral country to recognize the United States. On February...
for several months in 1910.
Biography
Gage was born on Christmas Day, 1852 in Geneva, New YorkGeneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...
. Relocating with his family to East Saginaw, Michigan
East Saginaw, Michigan
East Saginaw is a defunct city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan.East Saginaw was founded in 1850, and was incorporated as a village in 1855 and as a city in 1857...
, Gage spent his teenage years in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, studying law with his lawyer father. In 1873 at the age of twenty-one, Gage was admitted to the Michigan Bar, working for his father's law practice in East Saginaw for over a year. Over a year later, Gage relocated to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, settling in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Between 1874 to 1877, Gage was a successful sheep dealer, selling sheep to various farms around Los Angeles County. In 1877, Gage returned to law, opening his own practice. Largely successful in court, his practice quickly began to attract a number of prominent corporate clients in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, including the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, who would enjoy a decades-long relationship with Gage. Three years later, Gage married Francesca V. Rains, a great granddaughter of a Californio
Californio
Californio is a term used to identify a Spanish-speaking Catholic people, regardless of race, born in California before 1848...
family. The Gages settled in Bell Gardens at his wife's family home.
Running as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, Gage was elected as Los Angeles City Attorney in 1881, beginning a slow rise within party ranks. At the 1888 Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Gage was chosen as a delegate-at-large during the proceedings. In a speech to the convention, Gage seconded the motion to nominate Levi P. Morton
Levi P. Morton
Levi Parsons Morton was a Representative from New York and the 22nd Vice President of the United States . He also later served as the 31st Governor of New York.-Biography:...
as the party's nomination for the vice presidency
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
.
Benjamin Harrison
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
appointed Gage as a federal prosecutor to prosecute the crew of the Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an steamer Itata due to the Itata Incident
Itata Incident
The Itata Incident was a diplomatic affair and military incident involving the United States and Chilean insurgents during the Chilean Civil War in 1891. The incident concerned an arms shipment by the Chilean ship Itata from the United States to Chile, to assist insurgent Congressionalist forces in...
. The U.S. federal government charged the crew with knowingly assisting an illegal arms purchase. Its cargo had consisted of weapons purchased for National Congressional
National Congress of Chile
The National Congress is the legislative branch of the government of the Republic of Chile.The National Congress of Chile was founded on July 4, 1811...
insurgent forces fighting in the Chilean Civil War
Chilean Civil War
The Chilean Civil War of 1891 was an armed conflict between forces supporting Congress and forces supporting the sitting President, José Manuel Balmaceda. The war saw a confrontation between the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy, which had sided with the president and the congress, respectively...
against President José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Balmaceda
José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández was the 11th President of Chile from September 18, 1886 to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile...
. Upon review of the federal government's case, Gage dropped all charges against the Itata's crew, claimining that the government had mistaken the arms purchase as illegal.
By 1898, Gage had become a prominent corporate lawyer within Los Angeles business circles, as well as a successful owner of real estate, particularly the Red Rover gold mine in Acton
Acton, California
Acton was founded in 1887 by gold miners who were working in the Red Rover Mine. It was named after Acton, Massachusetts by one of the miners. Two of the best-known gold mines located in Acton were the Red Rover mine and the Governors mine. Mining of gold, copper, and titanium ore continued into...
in the Santa Clarita Valley
Santa Clarita Valley
The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant...
. At the state Republican convention that year, Gage was nominated in the first round of voting as the party's nomination for the governorship. His nomination was largely orchestrated by the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, who had worked with Gage since the 1870s, and saw him as supportive of their interests.
In the 1898 state general elections, Gage defeated his Democratic rival, House Representative James G. Maguire
James G. Maguire
James George Maguire was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from California.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Maguire moved with his parents to California in February 1854. He attended the public schools of Watsonville in Santa Cruz County and the private academy of Joseph K....
by a modest 6.7%. Other minor candidates in the election included Job Harriman
Job Harriman
Job Harriman was an ordained minister who later became an agnostic and a socialist. In 1900 he ran for Vice President of the United States along with Eugene Debs on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America. He later twice ran for mayor of Los Angeles, drawing considerable attention and support...
of the Socialist Labor Party of America
Socialist Labor Party of America
The Socialist Labor Party of America , established in 1876 as the Workingmen's Party, is the oldest socialist political party in the United States and the second oldest socialist party in the world. Originally known as the Workingmen's Party of America, the party changed its name in 1877 and has...
and Prohibitionist
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
J. E. McComas, a former State Senator
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
.
Governorship
Gage was inaugurated as the 20th Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of California
The Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced...
on January 4, 1899. In his inauguration speech, Gage spoke lengthy over foreign policy, favoring the recent results of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and their effect on California's economy
Economy of California
California's economy is the eighth largest economy in the world, if the states of the U.S. were compared with other countries. As of 2010, the gross state product is about $1.9 trillion, which is 13% of the United States gross domestic product...
. "The peaceful acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, extending our empire beyond our Pacific shore, should be followed as a political necessity by the annexation
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
," Gage spoke. "The center of commerce must move westward. California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, favorably situated, will, among other advantages, reap the harvest of trade with these new territories, developing our many varied and growing resources, creating a western merchant marine for the carriage of our imports and exports, and luring to our markets the nations of the world."
In one of his first acts, Gage's administration reopened the State Printing Office, closed down earlier by previous governor James Budd
James Budd
James Herbert Budd was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. Involved in federal and state politics, Budd was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 2nd California district from 1883 to 1885, and later elected as the 19th Governor of California from 1895 until...
in order to cut governmental expenditures.
From early on in his administration, Gage was highly partisan, due mostly to frequent accusations from Reform Republicans and Democrats alike who accused Gage as being a pawn for the Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
. When a newspaper published a political cartoon portraying railroad tycoon Collis Potter Huntington leading the governor around on a leash, Gage was so incensed by the accusation that he ramrodded a censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
bill through the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
, restricting the press whenever editorial content involved politics or politicians.
San Francisco bubonic plague outbreak
From 1900 onwards, Gage's administration was often rocky. That year, the ship Australia laid anchor in the Port of San FranciscoPort of San Francisco
The Port of San Francisco lies on the western edge of the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate. It has been called one of the three great natural harbors in the world, but it took two long centuries for navigators from Spain and England to find the anchorage originally called Yerba Buena...
, unknowingly bringing to the city rats
RATS
RATS may refer to:* RATS , Regression Analysis of Time Series, a statistical package* Rough Auditing Tool for Security, a computer program...
carrying the Third Pandemic
Third Pandemic
Third Pandemic is the designation of a major Bubonic plague pandemic that began in the Yunnan province in China in 1855. This episode of bubonic plague spread to all inhabited continents, and ultimately killed more than 12 million people in India and China alone...
of the bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. The disease soon made home in the cramped ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
quarters of the city's Chinatown. Rumors of the plague's presence abounded in the city, quickly gaining the notice of authorities from the federal Marine Hospital Service
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
stationed on Angel Island, including the Marine Hospital Service's head in San Francisco, Joseph J. Kinyoun
Joseph J. Kinyoun
Joseph James Kinyoun MD was founder and first director 1887-1899 of the United States' Hygienic Laboratory, the predecessor of the National Institutes of Health.- Early life :...
.
Allied with powerful railroad and city business interests, Gage publicly denied that any pestilence outbreak in the city, fearing that any word of the bubonic plague's
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
presence would deeply damage the city and state's economy. Supportive newspapers, such as the Call
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
, the Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
and the Bulletin, echoed Gage's denials, beginning what was to become an intense defamation campaign against Joseph Kinyoun, director of the San Francisco Quarantine Station. In response to the state's refuting of the plague's existence, U.S. Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
Walter Wyman
Walter Wyman
Walter Wyman was an American physician and soldier. He was appointed the third Surgeon General of the United States from 1891 until his death in 1911.-Early years:...
recommended to federal Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage
Lyman J. Gage
Lyman Judson Gage was an American financier and Presidential Cabinet officer.He was born at DeRuyter, New York, educated at an academy at Rome, New York, and at the age of 17 he became a bank clerk...
to intervene. Secretary Gage agreed, creating a three-man medical commission to medically investigate the city. The commission conclusively discovered that bubonic plague was present.
Like Kinyoun, the Treasury commission's findings were again immediately denounced by Governor Gage. Gage believed the federal government's growing presence in the matter was a gross intrusion of what he recognized as a state concern. In his retaliation, Gage denied the federal commission any use of the University of California, Berkeley's
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
laboratories to further study the outbreak. The Bulletin would also attack the federal commission, branding it as a "youthful and inexperienced trio."
The clash between Gage and federal authorities intensified. Surgeon General Wyman instructed Kinyoun to place Chinatown under quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
, as well as blocking all East Asians from entering state borders. Chinese residents, supported by Gage and local businesses, fought the quarantine through numerous federal court battles, claiming the Marine Hospital Service
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
was violating their rights under the Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
, and in the process, launched lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
s against Kinyoun. In these court proceedings, residents insisted Gage was correct in his denials of the plague outbreak. The courts initially agreed that Chinatown residents were correct in that the quarantine violated their civil rights, yet most of these lawsuits were eventually thrown out of court on later dates.
Between 1901 and 1902, the plague outbreak continued to worsen. In an 1901 address to both houses of the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
, Gage accused federal authorities, particularly Kinyoun, for injecting bubonic plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
into cadavers. In response to what he said to be massive scaremongering by the Marine Hospital Service, Gage pushed a censorship bill through the Legislature to gag any media reports of plague infection. The legislation failed, yet laws to gag reports amongst the medical community succeeded in passage and were signed into law by the governor. In addition, $100,000 was allocated to a public campaign led by Gage to deny the plague's existence. Privately, however, Gage sent a special commission to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, consisting of Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
, newspaper and shipping lawyers to negotiate a settlement with the Marine Hospital Service, whereby the federal government would remove Kinyoun from San Francisco with the promise that the state would secretly cooperate with the Marine Hospital Service in stamping out the plague outbreak.
Despite the secret agreement allowing for Kinyoun's removal, Gage went back on his promise of assisting federal authorities and continued to obstruct their efforts for study and quarantine. A report issued by the State Board of Health on September 16, 1901 bolstered Gage's claims, denying the plague's outbreak.
Labor agitation
As Gage fought his growing battle with the federal government, labor agitation was starting to spill over along the San Francisco waterfront. In the July 1901, members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters went on strike, protesting against recent orders to haul luggage for a non-unionized cargo company. The Teamsters strike was quickly joined by sympathizing sailorsSailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
, stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
s and fireman
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
belonging to the City Front Federation. Between 10,000 to 16,000 men joined the strike.
Employers grew quickly frustrated with the strikers, asking for San Francisco Mayor
Mayor of San Francisco
The Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco is the head of the executive branch of San Francisco's city and county government. The mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative branch....
James D. Phelan
James D. Phelan
James Duval Phelan was an American politician, civic leader and banker.-Early years:Phelan was born in San Francisco, the son of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy during the California Gold Rush as a trader, merchant and banker. He graduated from St...
to request Gage in ordering in the state militia to crush the strike. Phelan refused, though violence between strikers and officers of the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
began to break out in September.
Gage became increasingly concerned that violence along San Francisco's waterfront was spilling out of the city's control. On one instance, in order to reassure himself that violence was not increasing, Gage disguised himself as a striker and walked amongst the stevedores to observe conditions personally. In October, Gage negotiated settlement with employers and the Teamsters, though the terms of the settlement were never made publicly known. Gage was the first California governor to negotiate an end to a labor strike.
End of administration
Gage's troubles over the bubonic plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
continued to worsen. Despite San Francisco-based newspapers continual denials, contradicting reports from the Sacramento Bee and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
on the plague's spread had made the outbreak become publicly known throughout the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The state governments of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
passed quarantines of California, arguing that since the state had refused to admit a health crisis within its borders, states receiving rail or shipping cargo from California ports of call had the duty to protect themselves. Threats of a national quarantine grew.
As the 1902 general elections approached, Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
supporters increasingly saw Gage, a man who had represented their interests since his days as a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based lawyer, as an embarrassment to state Republicans. Gage's public denials of the plague outbreak were due to protecting the state's economy and the business interests of his political allies. However, instead of putting allegations of the outbreak to rest, conflicting studies and reports from federal officials and the media continued to prove Gage incorrect. In turn, Gage's denials were creating economic headaches to shipping and rail companies within the state and throughout the country, who now faced quarantine and economic boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
s from other states.
At the state Republican convention that year, the Railroad Republican faction refused Gage renomination for the governorship. In his place, former Mayor of Oakland George Pardee
George Pardee
George Cooper Pardee was an American doctor of medicine and politician. The 21st Governor of California, holding office from January 7, 1903, to January 9, 1907, Pardee was the second native-born Californian to assume the governorship, after Romualdo Pacheco, and the first governor born in...
, a German-trained medical physician, received the nomination. Pardee's nomination was largely a compromise between the Railroad and the growing progressive-minded Reform factions of the party.
In his final speech to the California State Legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
in early January 1903, Gage continued to publicly deny the outbreak, blaming the federal government, in particular Joseph Kinyoun, the Marine Hospital Service
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
and the San Francisco Board of Health, for damaging the state's economy.
Post governorship
After leaving SacramentoSacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, Gage returned to Los Angeles to resume his law practice. In 1909, President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
appointed Gage as U.S. Minister to Portugal
United States Ambassador to Portugal
This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal.Bilateral diplomatic relations between the United States and Portugal date from the earliest years of the United States. Following the Revolutionary War, Portugal was the first neutral country to recognize the United States. On February...
. Gage served in Lisbon for a little more than five months until November 1910. Political instability in Portugal, due to the Revolution of 1910
5 October 1910 revolution
The revolution of 1910 was a republican coup d'état that occurred in Portugal on 5 October 1910, which deposed King Manuel II and established the Portuguese First Republic....
that deposed King Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
, as well as his wife's deteriorating health, forced Gage to submit his resignation to the U.S. Department of State and President Taft. He returned to California shortly afterwards.
Gage died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on August 28, 1924 at the age of 71.
Legacy
Despite his administration being characterized by historians as both rocky and incompetent, a lasting legacy of Gage's tenure of office was his signing off on the establishment of the California Polytechnic State UniversityCalifornia Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
in 1901.
In 1902, Gage appointed Ulysses S. Webb
Ulysses S. Webb
Ulysses Sigel Webb Born in West Virginia, an American lawyer and politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He served as the 19th Attorney General of California for the lengthy span of 37 years. Webb's parents were Cyrus Webb, a civil war captain, and Eliza Cather-Webb. He was educated in...
as California Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
. Webb became one of the most successful, longest-serving attorneys general in the history of California.
Gage Avenue in Los Angeles was named after him on October 28, 1929. Henry T. Gage Middle School, also located on Gage Avenue, is named after the governor. The Gage Mansion located in Bell
Bell, California
Bell is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Its population was 35,477 at the 2010 census, down from 36,664 in the 2000 census. Bell is located on the west bank of the Los Angeles River and is a suburb of the city of Los Angeles...
is now the oldest remaining home in Los Angeles County and is a registered California State Historical Site.
External links
- Henry Gage bio on State of California web site
- Henry Gage bio and genealogy on Santa Clarita Valley History web site