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Jouett Shouse Collection (American Liberty League Pamphlets), "Bulletin Of The American Liberty League", Vol. 1 No. 6, January 15, 1936 text "Bulletin Of The American Liberty League", Vol. 1 No. 6, January 15, 1936 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_0006/bulletin6_1/bulletin6_1.pdf 1936 1936 1936 section false xt7wwp9t2q46_138 xt7wwp9t2q46 R ¥ 2Rlc €R#c ¢" ’~· a t n · ¤ 2%?;¤e€;p ckiggmeip · Ty \_€ Ty \_€ 0I' THE S NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING WASHINGTON. D. C. VOL. 1 JANUARY 15.1936 N6. 6 A GUILTY I ‘“ President Roosevelt during his theatrical appearance before Congress to deliver what was ironically described as a Message on the State of the Nation, entered a plea of guilty on one of the most important counts in the indictment against his administration by those interested in maintaining constitutional government in the United States. He said! " ......... .we have built up new instruments of public power. In the hands of a people's government this power is wholesome and proper." Stated in another way, Mr. Roosevelt announced that under his administration the Federal Government has seized, or attempted to seize, powers which would be unsafe in hands other than » his. That is precisely the criticism which has been leveled against him and his administra- tion by many intelligent persons and organizations of citizens, including prominently the American Liberty League. Leaving aside for the moment the question of the safety with which such powers may be entrusted to Mr. Roosevelt and the collateral question of his infallibili- ty, concerning which there may be some room for legitimate dispute, the President has stated bluntly the underlying principle of the New Deal, which is perhaps the most objectionable and _ dangerous of all. . y hr "A pécpiéls government" is a term that has been used consistently by modern dictators. It is a disguise that attempts to lull into a feeling of security the apprehensions of the ` ; masses. The theory behind it is the age-long theory that monarchs rule by Divine Right and that the King can do no wrong. ‘ ‘ To proclaim to the American people that their government is unsafe in the hands of any save those who have been willing to destroy many of its basic tenets and to ignore the Con- stitution upon which it is founded is an insult to the Nation and a desecration of its sacred principles. The campaign speech of Mr. Roosevelt, delivered from the rostrum of the House of Representatives, went forth on the night of Friday, January 3d. Three days later, January 6th, the Supreme Court by a sweeping decision outlawed one of those "new instruments of public »power" to which Mr. Roosevelt referred. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration, commonly known as the AAA, was sent down the road to oblivion on the heels of the late unlamented National Recovery Administration or NRA. But the battle is not yet won. The same persons who drafted these acts and induced their passage by a complaisant Congress still hold official power. They are checked temporarily but the future must be watched and guarded with absolute vigilance if the basic concept of the American Government is to be preserved. r WASHINGTON DINNER » The League has announced the following speakers who will address the public dinner to be held at the Mayflower Hotel in washington January 25th, following the joint meetings of the Executive Committee, the National Advisory Council and the National Lawyers Committee during that day: ‘ l Alfred E. Smith, former governor of New York and member of the~League}s National Executive Committee; ` Charles I. Dawson, former United States District judge for the western ‘ - District of Kentucky and chairman of the Kentucky Division of the . League; Dr. Neil Carothers, Director of the College of Business Administration, Lehigh University, and a member of the League's National Advisory Council. ` Enthusiasm aroused by announcement of the dinner was so great that two weeks before the . iw date set more than five thousand applications for reservations had been received while the seating capacity of the dining hall is only two thousand. The speaking program will be broadcast. Beginning at 9¤OO P.M.(Eastern Standard Time)the speeches will be carried by the American Broadcasting Company over the following stationsi wOL-washington, WCBM-Baltimore, WDEL-Wilmington, WIP-Philadelphia, WMCA—New York City, WPRO- Providence, wMEX—Boston. At lO¤l5 the program will be switched over to the nation-wide net- work of the Columbia Broadcasting System. This part will include the address of Governor Smith. It is suggested that members of the League unable to attend the dinner organize parties of their friends to listen to this program. PROGRAM FOR CONGRESS Answering challenges from administration defenders for the presentation of alterna- tives to the reckless experimental policies of the past three years, the League published a pamphlet (Doc. No. 83) entitled "A Program for Congress" embodying a constitutional re- ` covery program containing twelve specific suggestions. The twelve points covered are the budget, relief, public works, taxation, monetary and banking policies, government in busi- ness, public utilities, social security, agriculture, reciprocal tariffs, executive usurpa- tion and preservation of the Constitution. ' EXCERPTS FROM THE PAMPHLET¤ IA "L T"? Vnjl ""iy M ; "The United States has had a saturnalia of lawmaking. Much of it has been in conflict both with the Constitution and with sound economic princi- ples. ............ "The purpose of the Congress during the new session should be to put the Government's house in order. The Congress should reassert its rights and pre- rogatives under the Constitution in such positive fashion as definitely to check the trend toward dictatorship. ............ ` "The imminence of the 1956 primaries and elections makes the approaching I session of the Congress of special importance. Issues which are developing bear on the preservation of the essential characteristics of the American form » of government. The members of the Congress will be judged by the extent to which they join in the movement toward a centralization of power in a dictator- ial government or remain steadfast for the principles of the Constitution. The movement for centralized government turns its back upon the American sys- tem of free enterprise and is grounded on the absurd demagogic pretense that democracy has failed." LAWYERS COMMITTEE I The National Lawyers Committee of the League in a report made public December 30 ex- pressed the opinion that the Potato Act of 1935 is flagrantly unconstitutional. The Com- mittee summed up its conclusions in language strikingly similar in substance to that em- bodied in the Supreme Court decision invalidating the AAA. The Committee said; "Summarizing our conclusions, we are of the opinion that this Aet is unconstitutional as not within the scope of the Federal power under the commerce clause of the Constitution and is not rendered constitutional by the attempted improper use of the taxing power, and further because no such discretionary power as 1s sought to be vested in the Secretary of Agricul- ture by the Act, no such invasion of States' rights, and no such taking of the property of the private citizen, is authorized by any provision of the Constitution. To sustain this legislation would mean the abolition of all distinction between our dual form of Federal and State sovereignties, a nullification of the rights of States, and the establishment of the prin- »ciple_of a paternalistic Federal government." The Subcommittee which presented the report on the Potato Act is composed of Merritt Lane, Chairman, Newark, New Jersey; Rush C. Butler, Chicago; Harold J. Gallagher, New York City; william R. Perkins, New York City. ~ LEAGUE LITERATURE " · within the next few days all members of the League will receive the first of a series of small leaflets for which it is hoped the widest possible distribution may be attained. Any member willing to aid by distributing copies to his friends may obtain without charge whatever quantity he may need by applying to national headquarters. These leaflets are in addition to the documents heretofore issued and which will be issued in the future. CLASS PREJUDICES . g Speaking over the nation—wide network of the Columbia Broadcasting System on December ’ 23, President Shouse discussed the topic, "Arousing Class Prejudices" (Doc. No. 84). Mr. Shouse analyzed President Roosevelt's Atlanta and Chicago speeches, touched upon the method by which the Democratic National Committee has sought to levy contributions under the dis- guise of Jackson Day Dinners and outlined some of the peculiar processes of democracy em- ployed in Iowa in an endeavor to build up an impressive looking popular vote in favor of the administration during the recent referendum on the corn-hog program. · EXCERPTS FROM THE SPEECH: ' "The Atlanta speech embodied a distinct effort to create class prejudices and class hatreds. The Chicago speech, like the speech to the newspaper corres—. p pondents on May 3lst, was a definite attempt to arouse classes of our·people against the judicial branch of our government. Those facts must be faced. ...... "I for one refuse to believe that either the American people as a whole, or any considerable portion or class of them, is prepared to accept governmental regimentation and dictation. I refuse to believe that for the sake of what seem temporary benefits doled out by a paternalistic government they will surrender the liberty which is their birthright. I refuse to believe that they will en- dorse the attempt to array one class of our population against another or to arouse prejudices toward the Supreme Court in the exercise of its judicial func- tion to uphold the Constitution.". y TOWNSEND PLAN Dr. walter E. Spahr, Chairman, Department of Economics, New York University, and mem- ber of the League's National Advisory Council, spoke over a nation—wide network of the National Broadcasting Company January 5 on "The Fallacies and Dangers of the Townsend Plan" (Doc. No. 85). EXCERPTS: "It (the Townsend Plan) would wreck the country. It would tax people be- yond their capacity to endure the burdens. It would fall most heavily upon the wage earner and the poor. It reveals the Townsend Plan as the nat1on's great- est single enemy of the poor. It provides for an unconstitutional l1cens1ng$ plan. It confuses money with wealth. It would destroy the American standard of living. It would penalize thrift, saving, Investment, Insurance, and pru- dent living. ......... . C "The spread of this fantastic scheme shows very clearly that it is high ` time that the people of this country wake up and get a grip on themselves. It shows how easlly people can be Imposed upon. It shows what some of the notions I spread over this country by the New Dealers can look like in concrete form when . ‘, applied by a man like Dr. Townsend." . ~ THE SO-CALLED BUDGET A League pamphlet entitled "The 1957 Budget" (Doc. No. 86) contains a comprehensive analysis of the amazing message which the President sent to Congress presumably as a state- ment of the nat1on's financial status. The pamphlet describes the Pres1dent's Interpreta- tion of the facts revealed by his budget message as "mlsleading and even dece1tful." EXCERPT: ‘ "The Government under the Securities Exchange Act, compels private cor- porations to f1le unequivocal and complete information as to their fiscal affairs. If any corporation should offer a statement as deceptive and con- fusing as the Pres1dent's budget message, It would be prosecuted under the penal section of the statute." ` ` TYPICAL COMMENT _ · TROY (N. Y.) TIMES-RECORD, January 6, 19561- _ A "The American Liberty League takes exception to the harangue of President Roosevelt to the people of the United States via the avenue of an alleged pres- ldentlal message to Congress. It is right In doing so. The whole event was one of the most regrettable scenes of recent history. It violated every canon of good taste; and, when all was said and done, It contributed little or nothing to the moment's problems." · · P l ‘ MINNEAPOLIS (MINN.) TRIBUNE, January 1, 1956i- "The continuing nature of Mr. Farley's problem Is brought to mlnd by the protests currently made by Jouett Shouse, president of the American Liberty . League. Mr. Shouse has just recalled that there is a federal law which forbids federal employes to solicit funds for political purposes. In view of this law, he would like to know why the Postmaster General of the United States should be helping to promote Jackson day dinners which are expressly designed to raise campaign funds for the Democratic party at prices ranging from $5 to $50 a plate. "We must confess that we do not know the answer to Mr. Shouse's question. ° we doubt, as a matter of fact, If Mr. Farley knows the answer, or 1f anyone con- nected with the administration could enlighten Mr. Shouse. But if the Postmaster General finds his position embarrassing, there is at least one simple way out of 1tZ to resign from one of the two jobs he now holds .......... "