New Order of Cincinnatus

The New Order of Cincinnatus (NOOC) was a young men's political organization established in Seattle, Washington in the 1930s. The short-lived "conservative and moralistic reform group" was a municipal party that challenged both the Democratic and Republican parties, electing David Lockwood (in 1934) and Frederick G. Hamley, a lawyer, public official and judge, and Arthur Langlie (in 1935) to the Seattle City Council. Lockwood, age 26 at the time of his election, was the youngest person ever to sit on the council. In 1938, Langlie became Seattle mayor, but by then the NOOC was fading. During its brief existence, the group spread beyond Seattle, and was active in Tacoma, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco.

An outgrowth of Seattle's non-partisan Municipal League, named for the Roman farmer and statesman Cincinnatus, the NOOC was founded in September 1933 by approximately 10 young men including Seattle attorney Ralph Bushnell Potts. Potts, who Richard C. Berner describes as the "prime mover and first commander" of the NOOC, had resigned from the presidency of the Consolidated Republican Clubs of King County to start the group. The NOOC's idealistic, mostly middle-class professional supporters reacted against both political corruption and labor unionism. They required the candidates they supported to disaffiliate from the established political parties and to limit campaign contributions to US$25. A May 1934 NOOC leaflet called for a "rebirth of political idealism among the younger citizens of America… [T]he major political parties have become nothing but job-hunting cliques… Cincinnatus advocates a Spartan-like devotion to honesty, efficiency, and ability in government." The group called for a reduction of 40% in Seattle city taxes, in a context where the city had already made large cuts: by the time the NOOC had a significant foothold on the city council, opposing councilman James Scavotto could argue that the city had already cut operating costs 50% in five years.

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