Frederic C Howe

Privilege and Democracy in America. by Frederic C Howe

Frederic Clemson Howe (November 21, 1867 - August 3, 1940) was a member of the Ohio Senate, a dedicated yet flexible Georgist, Commissioner of Immigration of the Port of New York, and published author. He was also president of the League for Small and Subject Nationalities. He received a bachelor's degree from Allegheny College in 1889 and a Ph. D from Johns Hopkins University in 1892. In 1901, he was elected to Cleveland City Council, Ohio as a Republican. During his tenure, he became a key advisor to Tom L. Johnson, mayor of Cleveland at that time. He ran for reelection as an independent, but lost. In 1904, he married Marie Jenney. He studied law at Miami University in Ohio. In 1919, Howe was targeted during a bombing spree, but was unharmed. On 27 July 1933, George N. Peek, head of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration appointed Howe as the head of the Consumers' Counsel. Howe was associated with other left-wing members of the Roosevelt administration. Rexford Tugwell claimed that Howe was "the subject of vitriolic attacks by the business interests" and was "pictured as a Red."[5] Chester R. Davis now decided to get rid of Howe. He later recalled: "Fred Howe was a man of high ideals and very practical sense. He was the 'turn the other cheek' type. He was a well-meaning man who permitted his organization to be loaded down with a group of people who were more concerned with stirring up discontent than they were with achieving the objectives of the act." Howe is buried in Meadville, Pennsylvania.