Henry Gage

Henry Gage

Henry Tifft Gage (born December 25, 1852 in Geneva , New York , † August 28, 1924 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American politician and the 20th governor of the state of California and ambassador of the United States to Portugal .

Early years

Although born in Geneva, New York, Henry Gage spent his youth in East Saginaw ( Michigan ), where his parents had moved. He studied law and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1873. There he worked for a year in his father's law firm before moving to California, where he settled in Los Angeles. There he worked as a successful cattle dealer between 1874 and 1877, mainly selling sheep to the surrounding farms. Then he turned back to justice and opened his own law firm, which, due to its successes in court, soon became very popular and attracted attractive and wealthy clients. These clients included the Southern Pacific Railroad , which had used Gage's law firm for decades.

Political rise

His political career began in 1881. As a member of the Republican Party , he had been elected District Attorney for the City of Los Angeles. In 1888 he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago . In 1891 President Benjamin Harrison appointed him prosecutor against the crew of the steamer "Itata", which was charged with illegal arms trade. The incident was related to a civil war taking place in Chile at the time . By 1898 Gage was known as an extremely successful lawyer who was in the highest business and economic circles in his state. He also owned a successful gold mine. In 1898 his party nominated him for the office of governor. He was also supported by one of his best clients, the Southern Pacific Railroad, who on the one hand showed their appreciation for the services they had provided and at the same time wanted to see a governor in California who was friendly to the railroad, after the previous governor James Budd was a staunch opponent of the major railroad companies and especially the Southern Pacific Railroad. Thanks to this help, Gage managed to win the 1898 elections.

Governor of California

On January 4, 1899, he was sworn in as the 20th governor of his state. In his inaugural address, he made it clear what mattered to him. With a view to the areas recently acquired by the United States in the war with Spain , such as Hawaii or the Philippines , he demanded that the American center of trade should be moved to the west (California). He saw great future opportunities for the Californian trade and its industry and economy in general. One of his first official acts was the reopening of the state printing plant, which his predecessor had closed for cost reasons.

The bubonic plague affair

In 1900 the bubonic plague was introduced in San Francisco . The governor and his friends in business and industry decided to cover up the matter and deny the outbreak of the disease because they feared negative effects on the economy and trade of the state. In their opinion, a quarantine would have been detrimental to the economy. The pro-government newspapers supported the governor in this endeavor and also denied the outbreak of the disease.

Because of the dangerous situation, leading medical professionals in San Francisco sought help from the federal government. Now Gage had to agree to the establishment of a medical investigation committee, which then confirmed the outbreak of the epidemic. Now the dispute escalated even more. Gage denied the commission's findings and banned her from using medical schools, including the University of California laboratories, and the commission's medical qualifications were disputed. The governor also forbade the federal government to interfere in California's domestic problems.

The dispute continued, and the epidemic widened in 1901 and 1902, while the governor continued to officially deny its existence and even imposed press censorship to stop reporting. Finally, he reached a secret compromise with the federal government that resulted in the recall of Joseph Kinyon , the director of the San Francisco Navy Hospital, who had repeatedly pointed out the dangerous situation. But that didn't settle the matter. Some of California's neighboring states are considering quarantining the entire state of California; after all, there was a risk of the epidemic spreading nationwide.

Riots in the Port of San Francisco

Gage's next problem was rioting in the Port of San Francisco. There workers had gone on strike for social reasons, and it quickly spread. At times there were up to 16,000 men on strike. Riots broke out and the employers asked Mayor James D. Phelan to seek the use of the National Guard from the governor. The mayor refused this request. When the violence increased, the governor intervened personally. He disguised himself as a striker to get a personal overview of the situation. Then he negotiated a secret compromise that eventually defused the situation.

Term expires

As the next elections approached in 1902, the conflict over the bubonic plague was still not resolved. The governor's old friends were startled by threats from other US states to quarantine California. Such a quarantine would have harmed their interests far more than admitting the existence of the bubonic plague. Above all, the Pacific Railroad, but also other former allies of Gage now only viewed this as an embarrassment and dropped it. He was no longer nominated at the next Republican electoral convention. Gage held on to his stance on the plague until the end of his term.

Old age and death

After leaving office, he returned to Los Angeles and returned to practice as a lawyer. In 1909 President William Howard Taft appointed him ambassador to Portugal. In this role, however, he only worked for a little more than five months. The political revolution in Portugal and the poor health of his wife forced him to give up this post. He returned to California, where he died on August 28, 1924. Since 1880 he was married to Francesca V. Rains, a member of an old California family. The couple had five children.

literature

• Marilyn Chase: The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco. Random House 2003, ISBN 0-375-50496-6 .
• Myron Echenberg: Plague Ports: The Global Urban Impact of Bubonic Plague: 1894-1901. New York University Press, Sacramento 2007, ISBN 0-8147-2232-6 .

Web links

• Biography of Henry Gage, Library of California (English)
• Henry T. Gage: Biographical Information . Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society
• Henry Gage in the National Governors Association (English)
• Henry Gage in the database of Find a Grave (English)