# Minnesota Commission of Public Safety *State wartime agency, 1917–1920* The **Minnesota Commission of Public Safety** (MCPS) was a [[Minnesota]] state body created by the [[Minnesota Legislature]] in April 1917 to mobilize the state's resources during the First World War.[^1][^2] MNopedia, published by the [[Minnesota Historical Society]], records that the legislation creating it was signed on April 16, 1917, ten days after the United States entered the war. It also records that the commission's seven members were chaired by the [[Governor of Minnesota]], [[Joseph A. A. Burnquist]], and held "broad powers to act to ensure public safety in wartime".[^1] Wikipedia identifies Burnquist as a Republican.[^2] The commission's documented outputs include several measures recorded by MNopedia:[^1] - a statewide network of county and local safety committees; - badge-wearing "Peace Officers" from May 1917; - a 1917 mandate for English-only school instruction; - a 1918 requirement that non-citizens register property and report family data. Its quasi-military Minnesota Home Guard was organized by commissioner [[John F. McGee]]. It was deployed to Saint Paul during the 1917 Twin Cities streetcar strike.[^2] A House vote of 107–12 in April 1919 ended the commission's operations, and it was formally dissolved in December 1920.[^1][^2] The commission's own *Report of the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, 1919* includes the following:[^3] - a chapter headed *The Suppression of Disloyalty*; - the phrase "a little rough usage"; - the words "may justly be proud". ## Background According to Wikipedia, the federal government created various state programs and agencies after the United States entered the war in 1917, and the MCPS was Minnesota's means of organizing and prioritizing that effort locally.[^2] On March 31, 1917, state senator [[George H. Sullivan]] put before the Legislature a proposal for a seven-person commission under the governor. The proposal was approved on April 14, and the commission was established two days later, on April 16.[^2] MNopedia gives April 16, 1917, as the date the legislation was signed.[^1] As the bill was created, McGee was quoted saying that it "appropriates two million dollars and has teeth in it 18 inches long". He added: "There are provisions in it that are unconstitutional and palpably so."[^2] Wikipedia describes the commission's powers over state and local government as near-dictatorial.[^2] ## The Commission Burnquist chaired the seven-member body. Wikipedia names the other commissioners as follows:[^2] - John F. McGee, described there as committee chair; - Ambrose Tighe, vice chair; - Anton Charles Weiss; - Thomas E. Cashman; - [[Clifford L. Hilton]]; - Henry "Harry" W. Libby; - Charles Hoyt March. Wikipedia also lists two people who assisted the commission without being commissioners: Oscar Larson of Duluth and A. A. Ames, identified there as mayor of [[Minneapolis]].[^2] [[University of Minnesota]] historian Hyman Berman is quoted by Wikipedia on how the commission was organized and how it operated. He says it was modeled on public health authorities and given extensive emergency powers. He also says it presided over "a reign of terror that wiped out civil liberties, wiped out freedom of expression, wiped out freedom of association".[^2] ## Role in Minnesota during the war Wikipedia records that the commission was assigned to help control the state's military functions, police and public safety.[^2] Its services included the following, with priority given to the military:[^2] - food distribution and rationing; - price controls; - fuel rationing. The commission also assisted Minnesotans after the 1918 Tyler tornado and the Cloquet Fire.[^2] The same article lists surveillance, intimidation, political repression and strike breaking among its methods.[^2] MNopedia records county and local safety committees across the state and badge-wearing "Peace Officers" beginning in May 1917.[^1] The project's claim:link catalogue classifies the commission, for 1917–1920, as a "primary enforcement vehicle". That entry is the project's own classification, not an independent finding.[^4] ### Minnesota Home Guard During the war, the National Guard and state militia became part of the regular United States Army. McGee then organized the Minnesota Home Guard as the commission's quasi-military arm. According to Wikipedia, it grew to twenty-one battalions across the state, about 2,500 men, and was sent to Saint Paul during the 1917 Twin Cities streetcar strike.[^2] ### Suppressing political opposition Citing Saint Paul College affiliate Kurt Kortenhof, Wikipedia states that the commission targeted two groups: the Industrial Workers of the World and the Nonpartisan League.[^2] The Nonpartisan League had been opening regional offices in Minnesota since 1917. Its aim was to give farmers greater financial control over their products.[^2] ## Role in German suppression According to Wikipedia, German-speaking Minnesotans remained the state's largest ethnic group in 1917. The article gives their share as roughly 70% of a population of 2 million. It also states that German was the language most taught and spoken in the state after English shortly before the war.[^2] Rural areas such as New Ulm and [[Brown County, Minnesota]] were of majority German ancestry, and residents there openly opposed entry into the war.[^2] After the Selective Service Act of 1917, prominent New Ulm citizens campaigned for young men not to take part in the war effort. These included Mayor Louis Fritsche and attorney and politician Albert Pfaender.[^2] Wikipedia records that protecting Minnesotans from treason and subversion was among the commission's stated roles. It also states that the commission played a large role in the political repression of New Ulm's city government, and records a public meeting held at Turner Park in New Ulm on July 25, 1917.[^2] MNopedia records two measures the commission imposed:[^1] - English-only school instruction, mandated in 1917; - a requirement that non-citizens register property and report family data, imposed in 1918. Wikipedia states that the commission had effectively banned the German language from public use in Minnesota.[^2] ## End of the Commission The commission was ended by the Legislature after the armistice of November 11, 1918.[^2] The two sources describe the ending slightly differently: - **Wikipedia** dates the abolishing act to April 14, 1919, passed by a vote of 107–12, and records the commission's last meeting in December 1920.[^2] - **MNopedia** describes the April 1919 House vote of 107–12 as effectively ending the commission, and gives December 1920 as its formal dissolution.[^1] Neither source gives the vote by party.[^1][^2] The commission's own account of its work is the *Report of the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, 1919*. It contains a chapter titled *The Suppression of Disloyalty*, uses the phrase "a little rough usage", and includes the words "may justly be proud".[^3] Other sources record the following outputs over the same period: - the 1917 English-only instruction mandate;[^1] - the 1918 non-citizen registration requirement;[^1] - the Home Guard's deployment during the 1917 streetcar strike;[^2] - abolition by a 107–12 vote in 1919.[^1][^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Chaired by Governor Joseph A. A. Burnquist, with seven members in all.[^1] - John F. McGee was a commissioner and organized the Home Guard.[^2] ### What - The commission issued the *Report of the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, 1919*.[^3] ### When - The creating legislation was signed on April 16, 1917.[^1] - The commission was abolished in April 1919 by a vote of 107–12.[^1][^2] - It was formally dissolved in December 1920.[^1] ### Where - The commission operated statewide through county branches. - The Minnesota Historical Society finding aid *Records of County Branches, 1917–1920* is summarized as holding records for fifteen counties.[^5] - The summary itself lists sixteen names: [[Anoka]], [[Becker]], Beltrami, Blue Earth, Clay, Cottonwood, Hennepin, Kandiyohi, Kittson, Pennington, Polk, Ramsey, Renville, St. Louis, Todd and Washington.[^5] - Carver County is not among them.[^5] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Minnesota Commission of Public Safety* (n.d.) — establishes the following: legislation signed April 16, 1917, ten days after U.S. entry into the war; seven members chaired by Governor Burnquist with "broad powers to act to ensure public safety in wartime"; county and local safety committees; "Peace Officers" from May 1917; English-only school instruction (1917); non-citizen property and family registration (1918); House vote of 107–12 effectively ending the commission (April 1919); formal dissolution in December 1920. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/minnesota-commission-public-safety [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Minnesota Commission of Public Safety* (revision 1380818294, retrieved 2026-10-26) — covers background, membership, the McGee and Berman quotations, wartime duties, the Home Guard, suppression of opposition, New Ulm, and the 1919 abolition and December 1920 last meeting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Commission_of_Public_Safety [^3]: Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, *Report of the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, 1919* (1919), as excerpted in *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), passage [8] — establishes the chapter heading *The Suppression of Disloyalty* and the phrases "a little rough usage" and "may justly be proud". The pack cites an archive.org full text but carries no URL for it. [^4]: Project claim:link catalogue, *Theory 13 — Institutional Capture Doctrine*, pair CL-Theory13InstitutionalCap-35 (2026) — classifies the commission (1917–1920) as a "primary enforcement vehicle". The pair is linked to the Minnesota Historical Society home page. https://www.mnhs.org/ [^5]: Minnesota Historical Society, finding aid, *Records of County Branches, 1917–1920* (n.d.) — lists the county branch records held; Carver County is not listed. https://libguides.mnhs.org/publicsafety/primary