xt7wwp9t2q46_115 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61.dao.xml American Liberty League 37 linear feet archival material English University of Kentucky This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed.  Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically.  Physical rights are retained by the owning repository.  Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws.  For information about permissions to reproduce or publish, contact the Special Collections Research Center. Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), No. 118 "Abuses Of Power" Speech of Jouett Shouse broadcast over the National Broadcasting Company network on April 8, 1936 text No. 118 "Abuses Of Power" Speech of Jouett Shouse broadcast over the National Broadcasting Company network on April 8, 1936 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_118/Am_Lib_Leag_118_001/Am_Lib_Leag_118_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_115 xt7wwp9t2q46 TIIE AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE   * *
The American Liberty League is organized to defend E
and uphold the Constitution of the United States and to E ‘n7
gather and disseminate information that (1) will teach Q    
the necessity of respect for the rights of persons and Q
property as fundamental to every successful form of gov- Q
ernment and (2) will teach the duty of government to Q _
encourage and protect individual and group initiative 5 .
and enterprise, to foster the right to work, earn, save, g
and acquire property, and to preserve the ownership and Q * * *
lawful use of property when acquired. Q
The League believes in the doctrine expressed by Q
George Washington in his Farewell Address that while Q ,
the people may amend the Constitution to meet condi- Q
tions arising in a changing world, there must “be no  
change by usurpation; for this * * * is the customary   SP€€°h ef
weapon by which free governments are destroyed.” 3 JOUETT SHOUSE
Since the League is wholly dependent upon the con-   . . .
tributions of its members for financial support it hopes   Pmsldcnt of the American Liberty League
that you will become a contributing member. However, g over the network of the
if you cannot contribute it will welcome your support as   _ _
a n0n_c0nn,ibuting membch S National Broadcasting Company
  Aprn 8, 1936
Enrollment Blank  
Date ..................  
I desire to be enrolled as a member of the   Y_w*·€ c4,i,
American Liberty League.   "‘”"T*?
I _;  ·’   5
s‘ S °e~ <»
zgnature .......................................... Q ’P)·Y Lg?
[Name ............. . ......... . ................... g ‘ A
  Street ............................................ Q
*·· :
D-a > ‘
N »..•.......•........•·•..••·•..•.........••• `
3 Town E
é g AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
§ National Headquarters
County .......... . ...... . . . . .... . State. . . . . . . . . . . Q NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
‘ § WASHINGTON, D. C.
Enclosed find my contribution of $ ..........   * * *
to help support the activities of the League.  
um   ”"“_”“`—‘_”’—‘;;‘“
Q g Document N0. 113

 I
» Abuses of Power
ir
L I I SENATOR Lewis B. Schwellenbach continued
r his defense of the unlawful dragnet subpoenas
· ·. of the Black Lobby Committee in a radio ad-
* dress on Thursday night, April 2. The Senator
is a member of that committee, whose search
, and seizure of private telegrams was denounced
and enjoined on March ll by the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia. The court
held that the committee’s raid upon telegraph
I offices in Washington went far beyond the legal
powers of an investigating committee. The deci-
sion was based upon the guarantee in the Fourth
Amendment of the Constitution which reads:
"The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers and effects, against unrea-
“ sonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
  H EN you have finjshgd with this and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause,
. supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
pamphlet Please pass lt .0n to Some describing the place to be searched, and the persons
friend or acquaintance who might be or things to be seized."
interested, calling his attention to the
y membership blank on page 12. The Black Committee was found guilty of an
assault upon that pillar of popular rights and
if liberties. The restraint of the Federal Court
I was placed upon the hands of the committee.
Now it would seem that if Senator Schwellen-
bach, as spokesman for the Black Committee,
has any quarrel, it is with the Constitution
V Jl and the Courts. But instead of meeting that
ir clear issue the Senator’s address was devoted
L l to denunciation of individuals, associations,
p in alleged lobbyists, the World War, vague and
unnamed opponents of neutrality and enemies
of “honest Government.” So wide was the
range that I shall have to confess that I should
not have been surprised if Mr. Schwellenbach
had brought up the question as to why the
V Washington baseball team has not yet hired a
. iirst-string catcher_ to pair up with its excellent
pitching staff.
3

 THE SENATOR’S defense purported to be a does not matter whether the number of tele-
re ] to two radio S ooohos which I made in grams 1n the W&Sh1Hgt0H offices was 14,000,000
P Y P
March with respect to the illegal methods of 01` 20»000»000» I Yapaat that EVEYY 0hE Et thEm
• • ' 66 ' 99
the Black Committee. I shall take t1me to very Was made $tthJEEt tE Pt`Y1hg EYES through uh'
briogy ropoot o Stotomont which has so djs. lawful manoeuvers of the New Inqu1s1t1on.
turbed Senator Schwellenbach. I said on March
6th nd now reiterate that the followin facts t
’ S _ ’ E 1 Now NOTE ONE of my statements that was
had been estabhshcd: Y quoted by the Senator, but, significantly, not
g ‘ ‘ . t' th 1:
"Every telegram sent by any citizen of the United J dcnmd by hlm I refer tf) the asscr 10:11 a
States to anyone in Washington between February 22,000 tE1EgrEmS WEYE COPIES and turne °V°r
1 and December 1, 1935, has been subject to exami- to the Black Comm1ttee. W1ll the Senator or
nation by the Federal Communications Commission any other member of his eommittee or anyone
or the Black Committee. Every telegram sent out in my hearing tonight explain to mc how 22,000
of Washington during those ten months has been
. . . . telegrams could have been selected from the
subject to such exam1nat10n .... I mean that if _ _
you, wherever you live, sent any telegram, however hlES af thE tE1EghaPh Eompahlcs Wlthout the
private, to anyone in Washington or if you sent any necessity of pawing 0Ver countless other Ines-
t€1€€¥`am» however P¤`tVata» Oat of Washhigtan t0 sages? It was a fishing expedition and I am not
anyfme _m the `j"°r1d uhm any SubJ°°t’ during the so credulous as to believe that even the trained
, period in quesuon, your telegram has come under H f th t f al us and
the prying eyes of the New Inquisition.” HECTS 0 C agen S 0 an Overzl? 0 o '
pol1t1cally organ1zed Senate Comm1ttee could
Those assertions are still true in every detail. Et (hd have a ma€>'iE tEuEh Ehahhhg thEm to
Let us see how Senator Schwellenbach answered P°uhEE uPEh th°uSahdS Et Pat-`t1Eh1St` tE1Egt`SmS
thcm_ HC Said, without unlawfully read1ng private messages.
The Black Committee confesses It has read
“A check by °‘h` °°mmittEE as YEPENES t° thE and taken possession of such private telegrams.
Senate of the United States showed that if the fore- It makes this confession when it Seeks to 1,€aS_
going statement was correct fourteen million tele- h 1 b d 1 , h , h d
grams had come under what Mr. Shouse calls the Sure t 8 PEEP 6 Y G? Sung t at It _aS hot an
°prying eyes, of our c0mmit[gg_ Last Friday night,   not IISC SUCII PYIVBIC COH1H'].I]II1CHt1OIIS OI`
speaking from this network, Mr. Shouse revised his make them public. As a matter of fact it did
Sgums gmdl StStEd¤ q“°"?g> That m°}`E dthah E2 cause to be made public a telegram from a news-
$ZE£i'2,t.L°fé1i"f,t$?;‘n §Z{3u§.'§ §"§,‘iH‘i>,,2EaZ,$ Papcr Publisher to Om at his Write which
· · ' h tivities
1, 1935, were copied and turned over to the Black ·‘ th ho way WhatS°EVEr °°h°crh€d t C ac
Committee} In other words, Mr. Shouse now admits of the Black Comm1ttee. AS1dC from that the
that his statement of March 6th was incorrect to the Committee utterly ignores the faet that no com-
umc °f 13’978’000 t°1"gfamS‘” no mitteeman, and much less one of the small
. . f h' d 1; f th C 'tt h
The Black Lobby Committee spokesman 1n aiimy 0 uic age? S 0 C Omml 6% as any
r1ght to read a pr1vate message, or even to take
that comment betrayed a really profound lack _t _ t h, SS,
. . . . . . sse 1on.
of fa1th 1n the mtelligence of his l1steners. He 1 m O IS P0
asks the people to overlook the fact that I did
not say all the telegrams referred to were SENATOR SCHWELLENBACH, entangling
examined. I said that for a ten month period himself still further in atrlet of loose and sweep-
they had been “sub ject to examination? It ing assertions, tells us that every one of the
4 5

 22,000 telegrams admittedly copied was from Commission in an effort to secure information
or to a lobbyist. He said in his speech of last or telegrams.”
Thursday night: I assert that the facts are as follows and will 0
"N€ith€F {110 COHIHIIUQBC 0].‘ IIS agents 6X3II1lDBd 8 leave   Iny llstenfzrs to   Whether the I
SLlI1glB SOIIIHIY ICICQFBIII SCIII to 0I'   ally PCYSOII, Senators Statement IS tru€°
association or corporation that was not engaged in After the managers of the Washington tele-
the business of 10bbYi¤S·” T graph offices had refused to respond to blanket
I , _   subpoenas issued by the Black Committee,
It answer to the Senator S asscrtwn I repeat r agents of the Federal Communications Commis-
the Charge made m my Speech Miuch 27th that —· l sion, accompanied by agents of the Black Com-
thousands °f_ the telegrams dchvcrcd to the mittee, demanded under authority of the Com-
iglack Committee under blank? Subpqcnas bc` munications Commission access to all copies of
<·t<;= tht <=¤¤tt batted such s·=tt¤t·t» wtttttt wétt 100000000 in 1110 said oiiices. These agents Went
Plamly of _a Ptttttt nawjm havmg no rfzlauon through the {iles of the Washington telegraph
to any subject the Committee was authorized to Omega and required the telegraph companies to
investigate, were placed in sealed envelopes on make copies of Such messages as these agents
which was endorsed their Private afld personal desired. More than 22,000 telegrams were thus
charactmg and that those CnY610p(?S m case after copied and turned over to the Black Committee.
igzikwgziuigigzccd alkyl; :1};; Egzcitiggofss Ogctzlldc I assert, further, that these facts will be dis-
11001110100000 101 00 look at 1i10 1`BCOI’dpOf the °1‘?S“d lf at lmpuml SP“T"a1i“V°$tig"ti“$ °°m'
offense which led to the judicial denunciation mlttcc of the Senate WIH can before It the
_ _ member of the Federal Communications Com-
Of thc C?mm1ttc?° In that case thg Csmmtttté mission and its employees who dealt with the
was Seeking to Same all the tfflcgrams of 3 Promb matter and the Washington superintendents and
nent Chlcago law Hrm’ Wlmswm Strawn and attorneys of the two telegraph companies.
Shaw. Those telegrams did not relate to lobby-
ing. Nobody concerned in the sending or re- I HAVE CHARGED before and I repeat thc
cciving °f those messages was in the business charge that in thus permitting itself to be used
of lobbying. I believeoit is a justifiable suspicion by the Black Committee thc Federal C0mmuni_
that ttt¢_Bt¤<=k Csmmtttté wss tsgst std wttttss 0011000 Commission 000 00111,- of 00 illegal 001.
to override the Const1tut1on 1n order to purloin Further I assert that the illegality Of the act
those prrvate commurncauons because one mem- was known to the members of the Commission
btt st tttét law titm tt ttt·=_tt¤¤·t §>t tht mt¤¤t¤ 0 at 1110 11010 the act 1.100 001000011. In 1v100011
State D1v1s1on of the Amer1can Liberty League. Ib of 1935 the Department of Justice had 1, 6 quest B d
l the aid of the Federal Communications Com-
IN THE TWO SPEECHES to which Senator   mission in checking telephone records in St.
Schwellenbach sought to reply I devoted con- Paul, Minnesota, to assist in catching criminals.
siderable attention to the activities of the About the same time the Securities Exchange
Federal Communications Commission. The Commission asked the Federal Communications
Senator makes only the briefest passing refer- Commission to aid in detecting persons carry-
ence to that subject. He says: “Despite what ing on a brokerage business of questionable
Mr. Shouse has said, our Committee did not nature. I have before me a copy of the Minutes
in any instance use the Federal Communications of a meeting of the Federal Communications
6 7

 Commission dated April 18, 1935, 2:30 P.M. J mission holding that a broker must produce
At that time the Commission adopted a letter under subpoena his private papers and books.
to be mailed to the Attorney General of the _   The decision of the Court was a stern warning
United States in which the Commission held against governmental invasion of the constitu-
that it had no power under the law to cooperate tional rights of citizens. A
with either the Department of Justice or the With reference to the action of the Securities
Securities Exchange Commission as requested. f Exchange Commission the Court said that this
Despite this clear and definite decision by the action “iinds no support in right principle or in
Commission of its lack of authority to examine law. It is wholly unreasonable and arbitrary.
telegrams except for the purposes named in the It violates the cardinal precept upon which the
Act creating it, namely, improvement of wire constitutional safeguards of personal liberty
and radio communication service, it improperly ultimately rest, that this shall be a government
and illegally lent itself to the demand of the of laws, because to the precise extent that the
Black Senatorial Committee, of which Senator mere will of an official or an ofiicial body is
Schwellenbach is a member, to make subject permitted to * * * supplant the standing law
to inspection all telegrams in the local offices of as a rule of human conduct, the government
the two telegraph companies between February ceases to be one of laws and becomes an autoc-
lst and December 1st, 1935, and under its as- racy.”
sumed authority actually compelled the tele- The Court then went on to say that “arbi-
graph companies to copy some 22,000 of these trary power and the rule of the Constitution
messages and turn them over to the Black cannot both exist. They are antagonistic and
Committee. incompatible forces and one or the other must
The Federal Communications Commission is of necessity perish whenever they are brought
an independent agency. It is not under any of into conflict. * * * If the various administra-
the various executive departments. It is answer- - tive bureaus and commissions * * * are per-
able only to the President. It is the President’s mitted gradually to extend their powers by
representative in dealing with the branches of encroachments, * * * upon the fundamental
public service over which it has authority. A rights, privileges and immunities of the people,
startling part of the whole business is the fact we shall in the end, while avoiding the fatal
that neither the President nor any one con- consequences of a supreme autocracy, become
nected with his office seems in the least con- submerged by a multitude of minor invasions
cerned over this illegal act of a Federal agency. q of personal rights, less destructive but no less
And the Senate has not interested itself in get- ' violative of constitutional rights.”
ting at the facts beyond the evasive reply of the _
  C°mmiSSi°“ in ”SP°“S€ ‘° a y THE APPLICATION of this opinion to eee.
' l gressional investigations seemed apparent when ‘
_ l the Court uoted a decision of Jud e Sa er
ONLY MONDAY of thm Week the Supreme   concerning; fishing expedition as folFows: Wy
Court of the United States handed down a {
decision directed at the attempt of government J "A generalnroving, oiiensive inquisitorial,· com-
bureaus to use power not given them by law. U plilsory mvcsugamib conducted by a comimismm
The case under consideration was e challenge `"g’°“t ”“yd“1,;°g““°”S’1“p°?. ,”° HX°d,p"’?§"’l°°’
an governs y no ru es o aw, or o evi ence,
of a regulation of the Securities Exchange Com- and no restrictions except its own will, or caprice,
8 9

 it tt¤k¤?‘t’tt tn °“t°l§°£tS‘giutf°¤ tam`] 1;**:;% atfdhfucli Committee of the American Liberty League.
1 • • • •
$;cll;?c;;?;t°l;nlg°;n il;’ml°;’_a1;;l:;r;nny·° rLgct St}; It recommends that all pol1t1cal parties tnclude
power once be established, and there is no knowing . lll thc Platforms to bn adopted nt than cou`
Wham the practice under it would dud? ‘ ventions a declaration reading in substance as
The Court then went on to say “the fear that IOHOIZSI •
some malefactor may go unwhipped of justice on We plauga °ul` ually uuauulwaally l° °pp°a°
. .t . . . any attempt to curtail or abolish any of the powers
Wclghs as mathlng agalnst this Just and Strong - now exercised by the Judicial Branch of the Govern-
ccndcmnaticu nf a Practicc Sc cdlcuS· Alldv ln' ment, whether such attempt be made directly through
deed, the fear itself has little of substance up0I1 proposals to amend the Federal Constitution, or in-
  to rest.   Federal courts are Open to IIIYCCIIY tIII°0ugI] legislative devices IHI€IIdCd to HC'
the Government and the Grand Jury abides as °°flpllSll uw Sama result by u°Vi°uS l`°ul°‘
. . . . Furthermore, we declare that Strict adherence to
the appinptiats consutuuonal mcdlum for the this pledge both in letter and spirit is an obligation
preliminary investigation ni crime and the pre- binding in honor opoo the candidates who ooooot
sentment of the accused for trial. the nominations for the Presidency, and the Vice-
*4Thc Philosophy that constitutional ]imita_ Presidency tendered them by this conventi0n.”
tions and legal restraints upon official action Never fail to remember that independent and
may be brushed asidc upon the Plea that g00fl’ courageous Courts to interpret the guarantees
pcmhanccj may f0110w’ ands na countenance _m of liberty embodied in our Constitution are the
the _Aul°H°au System (lf govcrumcnu An lu` only effective safeguards of such rights as free
Vcaugatmn uoubascd upon Svnciiind grounds IS speech, a free press, religious liberty, trial by
quite as objectionable as a search warrant not jury and Protection of homes and possessions
baaud upfm ?P°°lu° Statements of aacla Such against the whim or the malice of autocratic
all luvaaugauaut °l` au°ll a aaalcllt la unlawful bureaucrats or temporary legislative majorities.
in its inception and cannot be made lawful by
what it may bring * * * to light.”
THIS COURAGEOUS DECISION of the Su-
preme Court will hearten all who believe in the _
protection of constitutional rights, but, like
other recent decisions, it will be condemned by
the bureaucrats of the New Deal and the spokes-
men for the New Inquisition. In prior ad-
dresses I have referred to the studied eHort of
the present administration to break down the
confidence of the people in the Courts. It fore- _
shadows an attempt to curtail or abolish some »
of the powers now exercised by the judiciary.
There is an opportunity for the American peo-   _
ple this year to put an end to this attempt to `
establish bureaucratic tyranny in the United j
States. That opportunity was pointed out in a
resolution recently adopted by the Executive
10 o 11