JOSEPH F. GUFFEY - AUTOGRAPH CIRCA 1934 - HFSID 327247

JOSEPH F. GUFFEY
Signature from the U.S. Senator in black ink
Signature: "Joseph F. Guffey", in blue ink, 6x4½. Joseph F. Guffey (1870-1959), a Princeton University graduate, began working for the United States Postal Service in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1894. He was general manager of a utilities company from 1901-1918. He owned an oil company, but after a number of financial misfortunes during World War I he was indicted by a federal grand jury for misuse of funds. The charges against him were later dropped in a deal made during the Harding administration's Teapot Dome Scandal. Guffey was a member of the Democratic National Committee (1920-1932) and in 1934 he was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat from Pennsylvania (1935-1947). While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining. The Guffey Act (also known as the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935) was passed as part of the F.D.R's New Deal, the law sought to set the price of coal in order to keep the industry from having lower and more competitive rates. However, it was ruled unconstitutional to give the federal government the right to control prices by the Supreme Court and was replaced by the Guffey-Vinson Coal Act in 1937. Corners worn and creased. Binding holes on left margin. Slightly soiled. Ink notes (unknown hand) on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.