William Lloyd Harding (October 3, 1877 – December 17, 1934) was an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Iowa, from 1917 to 1921.
Early life
William Lloyd Harding was born in Sibley, Iowa, on October 3, 1877, to Orlando B. and Emalyn (née Moyer) Harding, the fourth of nine children. and "millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy live amongst us....Should there be any disloyalty it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression." On May 23, 1918 he addressed these issues in an edict whose title was the Babel Proclamation, stating:
<blockquote>FIRST. English should and must be the only medium of instruction in
public, private, denominational or other similar schools.
SECOND. Conversation in public places, on trains and over the telephone should be in the English language.
THIRD. All public addresses should be in the English language
FOURTH. Let those who can not speak or understand the English language conduct their religious worship in their homes.</blockquote>
In response to complaints from pastors, Harding stated that "there is no use in anyone wasting his time praying in languages other than English. God is listening only to the English tongue."
His hostility towards immigrants and foreign ethnic groups extended beyond Germans and included Iowans of Norwegian and Danish descent. He was convicted on December 22, being sentenced to life in prison in Anamosa Men's Reformatory. Rathbun's attorney, George Clark, appealed the conviction to the Iowa Supreme Court. Harding went to the Iowa House to offer his version of events and demanded that the legislature either charge him or clear his name.