ries of fraudulent investment schemes and the draining of deposits from local commercial banks led to a movement in some states to enact shareholder protection laws. Popularly known as "Blue Sky" laws, these enactments were intended protect shareholders by forcing the disclosure of certain information by securities traders and corporations selling stock to the general public. It is interesting to note that these laws were first enacted in western and southern agricultural states, the backbone of the Progressive movement in American politics. Supporters of these laws frequently invoked dark images of encroaching urbanization in America and an evil conspiracy of eastern and European bankers/industrialists. Not unnaturally, the most ardent supporters of blue sky laws were the local bankers, who were losing depositors to increasingly popular stock markets, and small farmers, who could not obtain credit because of the drain of capital to out-of-state interests.
As noted earlier in this paper, the first of the Blue Sky laws was enacted in Kansas in 1911
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