xt7wwp9t2q46_135 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), "Bulletin Of The American Liberty League", Vol. 1 No. 3, October, 1935 text "Bulletin Of The American Liberty League", Vol. 1 No. 3, October, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_0003/bulletin3_1/bulletin3_1.pdf 1935 1935 1935 section false xt7wwp9t2q46_135 xt7wwp9t2q46 ,r·\‘· ’€` a io
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0I' THE
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING WASHINGTON, D. C.
V -
VOL. 1 R A OCTOBER,1935 N¤_3
 ' " " ' ' " ' ' ' i`  
` I FREE SQQECH ANQ_TH§_NEW QEAL
For those naive enough to bel1eve that the present administration 1s concerned about
the preservation of the oonstftutfenal rights and lfbertles of cftfzens, there fs food for ,
thought ln recent events. L ‘
When the American Liberty League made public the report of its National Lawyers Com-
mittee expressing the opinion that the National Labor Relations Act fs unconstitutional,
Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes felt it incumbent upon himself to denounce the
Lawyers Committee as being guilty of ta gross impert1nence" and as "an evidence per se of
disrespect for the Supreme Court."
The lnescapable implications of Mr. Ickes’ outburst were pointed out inla radio address
(Doc. No. 69) by James M. Beck, former-Sol1c1tor—General of the United States, and a member
of the National Lawyers Committee. Mr. Beck said:
“When a lawyer ls called to the Bar, he takes fn open court a solemn oath that
he will support, maintain and defend the Constitution. While such defense 1s the
duty of every American, whether he takes a formal oath or not, yet as the judicial
- interpretation of the Constitution can only arise ln litigated cases, it is the pec-
uliar duty of the lawyer to advise h1s_clfents, and if need be the general public,
as to whether some newly enacted legislation fs or fs not a violation of the Con-
stftutlon.
G "Hfs right to express an cpfnfon fs indeed a.part of the right of free speech,
guaranteed by that Constitution, but he has a peculiar responsibility, for the
citizen cannot effectively assert his constitutional rights fn a court of justice
unless he is advised by a competent lawyer that his rights have been violated.
"All thls would seem too obvious to require statement were it not for the »
fact that the lawyer's right has recently been challenged by high officials who
pretend to believe that when Congress passes a law wnfcn fs plainly ln excess of
its authority, the lawyer must remain silent, and that if he ventures to suggest
that the law is a nullity, he is guilty of leee meleste. This 1s the rule in
Russia, Germany and Italy, but it fs not, as yet, the rule in free America, where, ·
thank God, the Constltution still guarantees the right of free speech."
I It fs possible that some secret Executfve Order has been issued deslgnatfng Mr. Ickes as
A Federal Administrator of Free Speech, or perhaps he was merely illustrating the New Deal fond-
ness for denunciatfon of anyone who dares to question the”1nsp1red fnfallfbllfty of the present
administration. He was notfcably silent when,a few days laten a fellow member of the Cabinet,
the Honorable Henry A. Wallace, declared to Washington newspaper ment ";_eeeLt_weet_te_ee-
£........<>1‘<>¤ *¤hs>.P...¤ ¤el¤.a.Q2¤...Lrs>.l.A21;_e.¤&....<>2e.<1.-.1•er_f1;e.lasf.Q2as;eee· l_aa-a.<>.1_¤.s.f2_d2.ell.l.¤&.a_¤2 
. avoie enfcreeeg the Poteto geeeeol §ell." This 1s the same Mr. Wallace who, when he assumed

 his present office, took the following oath:
"I, Henry A. Wallace of Iowa, do solemnly swear that I will support and de-
fend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
.. that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation
freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well
and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so
help me God." _ A _
In justice to Mr. Ickes, it must be said that he was absent from Washington when Mr. l
Wallace made the announcement that he was going to do everything he could to avoid enforc·
ing a law duly enacted by Congress. Mr. Ickes at that time was on President Roosevelt's
special train speeding westward across the continent. Presumably,Mr. Ickes heard the
President's speech at Fremont, Nebraska,on September 28 in which Mr. Roosevelt used lan-
guage wh1ch,if it had any meaning at all, expressed a hope that the Agricultural Adjustment
_ Act will be held constitutional by the Supreme Court. So far, there is no record of Mr.
Ickes feeling called upon to take the President to task for that speech. —
The truth underlying the situation illustrated by the foregoing incidents is that de-
spite all the camouflage utilized by a huge army of administration press agents —— supported
out of the public treasury -— those high in administration circles realize that the American
people are beginning to understand the utter impracticability and inefficiency of many New
Deal experiments. It is that realization which hurts and the resulting howls of anguish
constitute evidence that it does hurt. ·
l A MIAlI§IE.B.lI§I‘l1*?·.§ TO IEE PRESIQEEI
President Roosevelt's famous letter to the ministry —— the authorship of which Mr.
Roosevelt appears to share with Gov. LaFollette of Wisconsin, or other persons unknown —-
has drawn some interesting responses. One such response was that from the Rev. Edgar C.
Lucas, Pastor of the First Christian Church of Augusta, Georgia, in President Roosevelt's
"second home State". Excerpts from this letter, as reproduced in the Augusta Chronicle of
October ll, includei .
· "Personally I am wondering ......... _
"I wonder how a man can appeal to the citizens of the Republic to elect him to the
Presidency of the United States on the principles of the Democratic Party, then ignore
that platform, and proceed to enact into legislation the pledges of the Socialist Party."
......... I wonder concerning your place in history, Mr. President. Will your place in
history be that of the First President to: ·
"l. Establish an absolute dictatorship in peace time? l
”2. To lead the nation into the unenviable position of repudiating its Just finan-
cial obligations to its own citizens?
"B. To openly violate the sacred oath of office to, *Preserve, protect, and defend
the Constitution of the United States'?
"4. To raid the Public Treasury for campaign funds with which to overthrow the very
form of government by which you were raised to power? I
"About these things, and many more, I wonder!" a
· , FQRGQTTEN MAN
As pointed out in a League pamphlet, "Consumers and the AAA" (Doc. No. 67), the con-
sumer is the real forgotten man of the present administration. Increases in staple food

 costs slnce May, 1933, when the AAA became effective, lncludei .pork chops 116%; sliced
bacon 11TH lard 148%; eggs 93%; s1rlo1n steak 43%; flour 47%; corn meal 48%; rice 45%.
There are many others.
Up to the end of September the AAA had spent about $1,200,000,000. Consumers have
pald about $920,000,000 of this in processing taxes and taxpayers generally, including
consumers, have provided the remaining $280,000,000 from the Federal treasury. All this
to finance an economic merry—go-round which, unless halted, must lead to complete regula-
tion of all agricultural production with consumers paying whatever prices may be fixed =
by a soclallstlc government. ' _ _
, l STRANS
The League pamphlet, "Straws Which Tell" (Doc. No. 68), is a compllatlon of excerpts
taken from about 9,000 letters and telegrams received by Senator Millard E. Tydlngs, Dem-
ocrat of Maryland, following his speech in the Senate last April on "Recovery for the
United States". In that speech Senator Tydlngs was outspokenly critical of many New Deal E
experiments; particularly the AAA and the NRA. Only two of his correspondents expressed
disagreement with him; others commended his attitude. Typical excerpts; l
,From4an_offlclal of_the Nlllfam Jennfng§_Bryan Memorfal_Assoc1atlgn;
"I would like to distribute ln and about Boston, Mass., as many copies of
your flne talk ln the Senate as you may be pleased to send me. The more the
better."
From a veteran Democrat_fn Cooperstown, N. Y.:
"I have been a Democrat since the day of Grover Cleveland and have stood by
the party, but I cannot see where the end will be 1f some of the laws proposed
. 1n Washlngton are passed. I can assure you that there are many Democrats who
have been loyal to the party who are not going to stand any longer for the un-
stable plans that have been promoted to bring prosperity by young theorists out
of college without exper1ence." I
QUDGET QROSPECTS f
Inda comprehensive analysis of the budget situation (Doc. No. 71), the League has
discussed the dangers brought about by the profligate spendlng policy of the present adw
mlnlstratlon In v1olat1on of campaign pledges. The Nation ls now in the sixth successfve `
year of treasury deficits which w1ll aggregate approximately $lS,000,000,000, or more than
the entire Public debt at the beginning of the depression. The per capita debt has in-
creased from $42.26 in 1932 to more than $63.00 for this year.
§xgerpts_from theéLeague_analyslg= I
"If the President and the Congress so choose, it ls within their power to
reduce the annual deficit in 1937 to an insignificant amount or even to attain
an approximate balance between receipts and expenditures ......... If thls pro-
gram 1s put into effect for the next fiscal year, there wlll be no difficulty
about a completely balanced budget for the fiscal year 1938. .........
"The record of the adminlstratlon with respect to the budget offers little
"reason for hope that great significance can be attached to the Pres1dent's state-
ment that *the 1937 budget is now befng prepared Wlth a vlew to sharply decreas- ,
lng the spread between income and outgo.' ' .

 L§AGU§_DOCUM§NQ§
N Copies of League documents mentioned herein are available upon request to the League's
national headquarters. Individual copies will be supplied to non-members of the League at
a price of 5¢ per copy. ‘
. WONDQBS OF_BUREgQgg&gX
Excerpt from_address of James_NL_garsonL_MiamiL_§lgrida, bgfgre the Rotary Clgb_at Fort
&~‘¤...¤<1e.r;Q.e.l1<¤ .1·`....1¤...¤‘1.L.» .§222a¤l22-lll_l?.§§= i
5 A ”We have a weather bureau in Miami, but due to this centralized bureaucracy
in Washington the man in charge of it has no authority to receive or to transmit
to his superiors a weather report except as requested by them. He has no power
» to issue a warning to the people of this or any other community until he is told
to do so by the next office up, which is in Jacksonville. Jacksonville won’t
have power to do that, if they think it is against the wishes of New Orleans; and
New Orleans won't have power to do it lf they think it is against the wishes of
Washington. ,
"So if a hurricane happens to hit here on Labor Day, which is a holiday, when
the bureaucrats in New Orleans or Washington are taking a holiday, then under the
ruling of the Weather Bureau the warning of imminent danger cannot be issued, and
the people will suffer from it. On last Labor Day, September 2, 1955, many hundred
lives were lost in the Florida Keys, because a Weather Bureau, run from Washington,
e failed to warn in time of an_extreme1y dangerous storm."
QXQlggL_OOMMENT
Bristol, Connecticut,Press — October 7, 19352
”Much has been said about the 'forgotten man' and many are the speculations
concerning his identity, but the Liberty League announces that it has just dis-
covered him in the Consumer. There is much to justify this opinion for the Con-
sumer has been more than neglected — he has been derided. No better example of
this truth can be found than in the detestable Potato Control Act." _
New York Sun — September 21, 19551 `
"Secretary Ickes is sarcastic over the pronouncement of a group of lawyers
V that in their opinion the Wagner Labor Relations Act is unconstitutional .......
common folk are now supposed to be silent until the official augurs have spoken.
Not only must there be regimentation in economics but also regimentation of
thought. Let him who would rebel, beware lest he be stepped upon by elephantine
satire." - I
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,Inquirer — October B, 19552
1 ” ...... 4... the Liberty League describes the Consumer as the real forgotten
man of today ...... and this 'forgotten man' who is footing the bills is not
likely to be a forgetful man in placing the blame where it belongs for the in-
creasing cost of 1iving." `