October 22, 2010

Postage stamp for Charles Curtis?

Someone sent me this:

Postal Stamp for Vice-President Charles CurtisPlease consider this petition for a United States Postal stamp with the picture/portrait of Vice-President Charles Curtis(Native-American) to be issued on or before Jan. 25, 2035; on the 175th birthday of Charles Curtis, the 31st Vice-President of United States of America; from Topeka, Kansas. Please consider all the 'firsts' that are throughout his lifetime.

With all of his achievements; one of his most notable achievement was the original filing of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as Senate Joint Resolution No. 21 on Dec. 10, 1923 as Senator Charles Curtis with House Representative Daniel R. Anthony, Jr. (Susan B. Anthony's nephew); both were Republicans, and both were from Kansas.

Though the resolution failed; the resolution continued to be re-introduced into every Congress since where it finally passed in 1972 with enough votes to be sent to the states for ratification, but ratification (needed 3/4ths or 38 states) failed.
A website devoted to Curtis notes some of his accomplishments:

Charles Curtis:  Native-American Indian Vice-PresidentPolitical Record of support by Charles Curtis, (prior to 1928)

1) Revision of congressional rules to eliminate "joker" legislation

2) Woman Suffrage Amendment (Kansas women received full voting rights 1912)

3) Soldier's Adjusted Compensation Bill ( for World War I veterans )

4) Anti-Child Labor Amendment

5) Bill to give union men the right to trial by jury in contempt cases growing out of the acts committed outside the court's presence

6) Anti-narcotic legislation

7) Bill for protection of Native American women (and children of marriage) who marry foreigners (Frenchmen, white Americans)

8) Bill making all Native American Indians citizens of the United States

9) Bill exempting labor unions from Sherman law

10) Parts of the present Tariff Act protecting farm interests

11) Plan to help wheat growers whose crops have failed

12) Hepburn railroad bill eliminating discrimination against farmers

13) Bill providing for purchase of $50,000,000 issue of Farm Loan Bonds to enable board to make loans to farmers at low interest rates

14) Conceived law to consolidate all Ports of Entry, saving taxpayers $300,000 annually in the collection of customs

15) Proposed amendment to Interstate Commerce Act to help and protect farmers

16) At the time he had more Senate Committee assignments than any Senator has ever before held at one time.
Comment:  On the other hand, as I noted in Obama Isn't the First:By his own experience, Curtis believed that the Indians could benefit by getting educated, assimilating and joining the main society. The government tried to encourage Indians to accept individual citizenship and lands, and to take up European-American culture.Except for his misguided views about assimilating Indians, Curtis had a good legislative record. He probably deserves a stamp for his breakthrough role in American politics: the first minority candidate on a major-party ticket. So give him one.

For more on the subject, see "All-Star" Movie About Wyandot Sisters.

2 comments:

dmarks said...

Any idea what #9 was?

A stamp is a good idea, other than the "The US postal service? Is that still around?" considerations.

Rob said...

What does the ninth item on the list refer to? Possibly this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Antitrust_Act

An important difference between the Clayton act and its predecessor, the Sherman act, is that the Clayton act contained safe harbors for union activities. Section 6 of the Act (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 17) exempts labor unions and agricultural organizations. Therefore, boycotts, peaceful strikes, peaceful picketing, and collective bargaining are not regulated by this statute.