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The advent of prohibition in America in the early 1920's brought on wide-spread smuggling activity along the Canadian and Mexican borders as well as along the Atlantic coastline. Since many of the smuggling vessels sought protection from American authorities by foreign registry, the State Department initiated efforts to enable American officials to enforce prohibition without interfering with legitimate commerce. Washington concluded compromise agreements with fifteen countries that provided for American enforcement measures and suitable liquor cargo arrangements for the other signatory nations. The liquor conventions were not a final solution to the smuggling problem but they did provide for better enforcement. The agreements reinforced existing principles and represented an attempt to eliminate possible sources of friction on the international level arising out of American prohibition enforcement.

This thesis demonstrates that Calvin Coolidge applied a philosophy of limited government to his executive decisions concerning two domestic issues, Prohibition and agricultural policy. In both matters, various groups attempted to pressure Coolidge into permanently increasing the scope of the federal government's activities. Coolidge refused to comply with their demands and maintained his belief in the benefits of a federal government that limited itself to minimal activism by mediating the disputes of conflicting interest groups. Through both Prohibition and the agricultural problem, Coolidge exhibited his effectiveness in handling divisive political issues while maintaining his philosophy of limited government. Overall, this thesis contributes to the scholarly revisionism of Coolidge. / Department of History