Philip Dru: Administrator

Philip Dru: Administrator: A Story of Tomorrow, 1920-1935
Title page, 1912
Author Edward Mandell House
Country United States
Language English
Genre Political novel
Publisher B. W. Huebsch
Publication date
 1912
Pages 312
OCLC 1533564

Philip Dru: Administrator: A Story of Tomorrow, 1920-1935 is a futuristic political novel published anonymously in 1912 by author Edward Mandell House, an American diplomat, politician, and presidential foreign policy advisor. According to historians, House highly prized his work and gave a copy of Dru to his closest political ally, Woodrow Wilson, to read while on a trip to Bermuda.[1][2][3]

Synopsis

Set in 1920-1935,[4] House's hero leads the democratic western United States in a civil war against the plutocratic East. After becoming the acclaimed leader of the country, he steps down having restored justice and democracy.

Historian Paul Johnson wrote: "Oddly enough, in 1911 he [House] had published a political novel, Philip Dru: Administrator, in which a benevolent dictator imposed a corporate income tax, abolished the protective tariff, and broke up the 'credit trust'—a remarkable adumbration of [Woodrow] Wilson and his first term."[5] House outlined many additional political beliefs such as:[6]

Senator Sherman Discovers the Basis of Political Morality, cartoon published in The Forum (1910)
  • Federal Incorporation Act, with government and labor representation on the board of every corporation[6][7]
  • Public service corporations must share their net earnings with government[6][8]
  • Government ownership of all telegraphs[6][9]
  • Government ownership of all telephones[6][10]
  • Government representation in railroad management[6][11]
  • Single term presidency[6][12]
  • Old age pension law reform[6][13]
  • Workmen's insurance law[6][14]
  • Co-operative marketing and land banks[6][15]
  • Free employment bureaus[6][16]
  • 8 hour work day, six days a week[6][17]
  • Labor not to be a commodity[6][18]
  • Government arbitration of industrial disputes[6][19]
  • Government ownership of all healthcare[6][20]

Cast of Characters

The book has several characters: Philip Dru is the main protagonist of the story. Other characters include Gloria Strawn and her brother Jack Strawn. There is also a character named John Thor and a Senator Selwyn.

References

  1. ↑ Colonel House: A Biography of Woodrow Wilson's Silent Partner
  2. ↑ Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House
  3. ↑ See also: Link, The Papers of Woodrow Wilson - Volume 25
  4. ↑ English Mechanics and the World of Science, Volume 92
  5. ↑ Johnson, Paul (1999). A History of the American People. New York: HarperPerennial. pp. 635–636. ISBN 0060930349.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 What Colonel House Thinks Book review by William Marion Reedy, Reedy's Mirror, April 6th, 1917
  7. ↑ Chapter XXXII
  8. ↑ Chapter XXXII
  9. ↑ Chapter XXXIII
  10. ↑ Chapter XXXIII
  11. ↑ Chapter XXXIII
  12. ↑ Chapter XLI
  13. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  14. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  15. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  16. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  17. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  18. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  19. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
  20. ↑ Chapter XXXIX
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