THE LEVER ACT 



rapidly developing. While there had been other bills offered 

 in other years looking to some form of extension work, none 

 of them made any considerable progress. For this reason 

 attention is here given only to the bills which were somewhat 

 similar in their provisions and which were looking to the 

 same object. These bills all practically contributed to the 

 same purpose. They developed sentiment. 



It was nearly five years from the time of the first intro- 

 duction of the McLaughlin bill till the passage of the Lever 

 Act. In 1912, however, sixteen different bills on this sub- 

 ject were submitted. Senator Smith of Georgia introduced 

 a bill in the Senate which was very similar to the one which 

 Mr. Lever introduced in the House. Mr. Lever's bill passed 

 the House and Senator Smith accepted the Lever Bill in lieu 

 of his own. When it was brought up in the Senate, how- 

 ever, the Page bill, which was similar to the Dolliver bill of 

 1910, was substituted for it. Both bills, therefore, failed for 

 that session. The next year, Messrs. Lever and Smith intro- 

 duced their bills with certain modifications. This time the 

 Lever Bill passed the House and when it went over to the 

 Senate it was substituted for Senator Smith's bill, pending 

 there, and passed. It was signed by the President on May 8, 

 1914. Thus was written upon the statute books a law which 

 confirmed and ratified the excellent work already in ex- 

 istence, and also looked to the further development of this 

 great work in the future. Its scope is as broad as the 

 prairies, and as high as the mountains. It provides an ever 

 expanding horizon. If the development keeps up at the rate 

 it has started, a half century will reveal the greatest and 

 most helpful organization of its kind in history. 



It was in the minds of the congressmen to render a 

 service, not only to the people in the country districts, but 



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