Newlands, Francis Griffith, 1848–1917, American legislator, b. Natchez, Miss. After practicing law in San Francisco from 1870, he moved (1888) to Nevada. He became well known for his interest in irrigation and reclamation and for his advocacy of free silver. He was (1893–1903) U.S. Congressman from Nevada and served (1903–17) as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate. He wrote the Newlands Act of 1913, concerning mediation and conciliation in labor controversies, and the Reclamation Act of 1902. He played an important role in the establishment of the Federal Trade Commission (1914) and in preparing the way for the Transportation Act of 1920.
See M. F. Hudson, ed., Francis G. Newlands: His Work (1914); A. B. Darling, ed., Public Papers of Francis G. Newlands (2 vol., 1932).
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