Blocs
Blocs names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Blocs LEGISLATIVE. The term bloc has long been used in
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LEGISLATIVE. The term bloc has long been used in European politics to designate a combination of parties or groups in a parliamentary body either for the purpose of supporting some particular program or for the purpose of creating a majority to carry on the government, as in the case of a government " bloc." Where numerous political parties exist and where no one party numbers a majority of seats in a legislative assembly, a bloc is necessary for the constitution of a working cabinet. In the United States, the so-called agricultural or farm bloc was organized in 1921, consisting of about 100 members of the House of Representatives and 22 members of the Senate, chiefly from the agricultural States of the West and South. The membership is drawn from both the principal national parties, the purpose of the bloc being merely to support legislation favorable to agricultural interests. The opponents of the farm bloc have objected to it as a form of class government, the forerunner of other blocs to support the interests of self-seeking classes, and as inimical to party government and party responsibility. The members of the bloc, on the other hand, declare that its purpose is only the protection of an interest fundamental to the national prosperity, and that it is not to be regarded as an organized group, but rather as a movement. The bloc members hold conferences to consider measures of legislation and have regular recognized leaders in Congress. A so-called "tariff bloc" was organized in the Senate in March, 1922, consisting of members demanding speedy action toward the enactment of a permanent tariff to protect agricultural as well as manufacturing interests. It includes the Republican members of the farm bloc, but not the Democratic.
Blocs LEGISLATIVE coming of a child desirable and that
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LEGISLATIVE coming of a child desirable and that, to this end, it should be permitted to mothers and potential mothers to receive from the medical profession and in answer to their own requests such scientific hygienic and physiological information as they may wish. At present there are nine States in which information to prevent conception is expressly permitted to be given by regular medical practitioners, either to prevent the transmission of inheritable diseases or in a general way; ten States permit information to be given in medical schools or standard works; while six States forbid the circulation of printed information, 1921) forbids the dissemination of any law prohibts the sending of birth-control information through the mails or by interstate carriers. The birth-control movement is mainly educational, but the sterilization of the insane and feebleminded is advocated.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's described the farm bloc in 1921 as a novelty whose critics called it "class government," it was watching the birth of a permanent feature of American politics. That bloc, formed in May 1921 from Western and Southern members of both parties, promptly delivered the Packers and Stockyards Act (1921), the Capper-Volstead Act (1922) exempting farm co-operatives from antitrust law, and the protectionist Fordney-McCumber tariff the same year, and its descendants still shape the farm bills passed roughly every five years. The word itself has largely moved on: in Congress such groupings are now called caucuses, of which there are hundreds registered, while "bloc" in modern usage more often means the Cold War's Eastern bloc or a trading bloc such as the European Union. The European sense Collier's put first — parties combining to make a workable cabinet majority — remains entirely accurate for coalition politics today.
Written for this edition, 2026.