xt7wwp9t2q46_140 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. 8, March 15, 1936 text "Bulletin Of The American Liberty League", Vol. 1 No. 8, March 15, 1936 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_0008/bulletin8_1/bulletin8_1.pdf 1936 1936 1936 section false xt7wwp9t2q46_140 xt7wwp9t2q46 tRic . x=.R ic
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V l   OF THE 1 O 1 , -
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING WASHINGTON, D; C.
VOL. 1 MARCH 15,1936 · Ne. 8
 
  , A M `_ "THE;AEAI_$ENIIj_Q" y .
. within the past two weeks the American publ1c has begun to appreciate the New g
Deal's real challenge to constitutional rfghts and liberties. One of the New Deal's
most partisan agencies -— the Senate Lobby Investigating Committee, headed by Senator
Hugo L. Black of Alabama —- is responslble for this development.
Newspapers throughout the land, both Democratic and Republican, have been f1lled
wfth editorial denunciatlon of the methods followed by the Black Comm1ttee in 1ts _
‘ effort to throttle the right of citizens to express themselves concerning the affairs
of their government._ _ g _ 'f
As set forth by Jouett Shouse, President of the Amer1¤an Liberty League, in his
radio address of March 6th, it has been revealed that the Committee instigated the
Federal Communications Commission to pervert the Comm1ss1on's authorlty in order to
open the f1les of the Western Union and Postal Telegraph companies in washington to
Inspection by the Comm1ttee's agents. All messages sent to or from washington during
about ten months in 1935 were either examined or subject to examination. It made no
difference what the telegrams were about. Many of them undoubtedly were messages
between husband and wife relating to family affalrs. D0ubt1eSS many more were com-
munications between lawyers and their clients. Some probably contained medical ad-
vice given by physicians to their patients. They were all open to inspection by the
· Commltteefs agents. T _ _
No one outside of the Committee and its large corps of employees knows Just what 
messages were copied. No one knows how many copies were made or to whom the extra t
copies, if any, were delivered. _
- The revelation of this action on the part or the Committee and 1ts tool, the Q
Communications Commission, has made it clear to the American people that the New Deal
‘ has no respect for constltutlonal rlghts. If the principle established ln this case
is allowed to stand unrebuked, a citizen may no longer have any conf1dence_that his W
mall fs not tampered with} that his telephone wires are not tapped; that dictaphones
are not placed in his own home or office. Never since the days of_the infamous write `
of Assistance, which did much to bring on the American revolution, has there been in
the United States such an outrageous violation of human rights., »
1 It should be remembered that there was not even the pretense of showing that the
1 telegrams examined dealt with public questions or had anything remotely to do with
what 1s usually known as lobbying. The Committee merely engaged in one of those
"flshing exped1t1ons" such as have been declared to be lllegal by a decision of our
highest court. It is well for all citizens to reflect that 1f this is possible rm
washington 1t can be done also in every city and hamlet throughout the nation. The
great mass of citizens who must resent such_tact1cs would do well to notify their
, Senators and Representatives that they will not tolerate the continuation of such 4
abuses of authority. . V

 It ls assumed that among the telegrams examined were those to and from the Amerlcan
Llberty League. So far as the League 1s concerned, the Commlttee is welcome to the A A
telegrams lt obtained. The League has no skeletons ln its closet. It has exerted every
effort to make its posltlon on public questions widely known. But the League joins
heartily and emphatically ln the natlonwide protest precipitated by revelation of the
Commlttee's action. It ls glad to know that the public is awakened. That awakening is
A addltlonal proof of the lmperatlve need for an organization such as the League.- A°
The League has no disposition to attempt to take credlt for the marked change ln
public oplnlon whlch has taken place during the past twelve months with respect to the
New Deal. , A A A
It ls, however, stated and stated confidently that the courage of the men and women
who organized the League, their willingness to stand up and be counted, their willingness
to face abuse and misrepresentation, their willingness to bear the consequences of their
course no matter what, dld much to re-inspire ln Amerlca a spirit of self—respect and self-
assertion. Fortunately a large part of the people of the Unlted States have begun to
understand the lnsldlous and dangerous thlng that was being accomplished under the guise
of relief and recovery. Fortunately through the League and other important agencies of
publlc opinion the truth has been made clear. The common sense of America is beginning to
re-assert itself. The sanity of America ls beglnnlng once more to control.
”l1l§.Bl.<&1l'I-Q.1~1.E§TIEQ.N"
. Mr. Shouse's radio discussion of the tactics of the Black Investigating Commlttee,
with the connlvance of the Federal Communications Commission, included the_followlng¤
A _"May I not suggest to my hearers from one end of the country to the other A
that they join with us ln a mammoth petltlon of protest against this monstrous
invasion of our fundamental rights which has been perpetrated by the present A A
Administration at washington through lts so-called Federal Communications Com-
mission and by the Black Commlttee of the United States Senate." `
Hundreds of messages and letters have been received by the League from all parts of
the country ln response to thls suggestion. To facllltate the registration of thls I
natlon—wlde protest, the League has prlnted and distributed blank forms of a petltlon of
protest. Copies have been sent to all members and to others who have indicated lnterest.
Members are urged to do everything they can to obtaln the largest possible numbers of
signatures to these petltlons and to mail them promptly to the League's national head-
quarters, National Press Building, washington,-D.C. Additional coples of the petltlon
blanks wlll be sent upon request. A `
_ A APPEAL_TQ_T§§_gM§§ICAN BAS V ‘A
The Leagueis National Lawyers Committee has called upon all members of the Amerlcan
Bar to asslst ln arouslng the public to a reallzatlon of the dangers and confusion which
would result from any curtallment of the powers now exercised by the Federal judiclary.g
The Commlttee's statement (Doc. No. IOS) declares that: AA ‘
"The developments which have followed the decisions of the Supreme Court
polntlng out the conflict between the prlnclpal New Deal laws and the Constltu-
tion make lt clear that there ls an affirmative duty ln the matter resting upon
all lawyers." A A A A
The Committee adds! A A a
"The members of this Committee believe that without a Supreme Court for
theAflnal interpretation of the Constitution, there is no Constltutlon; that a

 rightness or wrongness of the decision 1s less important than its certa1nty;Q¢f,[,Yg
that there 1s a rational and orderly remedy_for erroneous interpretation but _;
that there 1s no remedy for the disorder and~uncerta1nt1es;wh1ch—weuld'ac— ~t,t _ _
company the curtailment of final review by the supreme Court of the United ‘ " t
l Jk"We°respectIul1y invite all members of the Amer1can_Bar to give to the l`ll I ;t?» _V‘d G
people or their respective states and communities and to their representat1ves” "
1n Congress the beneflt of their collective and-1nd1v1dual,reflectLon upon _, J
these questions, which are vital and should be nonepartisan in their un1versa1Y ,»_,
acceptance. II the American Bar fails now to give to the country the informed
guldance which it is competent to provide In this emergency; it will for they A,
flrst t1me in American history have falled to sustain the principles of con- .:.n
stltutional liberty against arbitrary power." ,’
LEAGUE LIT§§AQURE· , V P I
ADDRQQSESZ ` A ’ ,. · ·J _ t ‘, v ,- J,) so "
"The_Qownseng_Utop1ai s Speech by Dr. Ray Bert_Uesterf1e1d,,Professor er Pollticale
Economy, Yale University, and member or the National Advisory Council of the American
Liberty League. J(Doc,-No.-99) J ~ » - A . · n—‘ ‘v»r · ‘*
· jghall ye Pggw;ggge;_;he Supremeégourtgl-.Speech by Jouett $house,.Pres1dent ef the)
American Liberty League, qDoc» No. 101) ad. M  v_,; a V ;~) ;g,_H__.a a . g
"lnflation and Our gold Reserve; - Radio address by Dr. Edw1n walter Kemmerer,n
walker Professor or International Finance in Princeton University and member or the g
National Advisory Council of the American Liberty League, _LDoc- No. 103) . V A A . `,
"The Poger_g;_Eegera1 gourtg_to Deglare_Agtg of Cgggges§_Qnconst;tut1onalf”—*Speech
by Hon. John H,·Hatcher,-Presldent of the Supreme Court oI,Appeals,;$tateaof,westtV1r-
g1n1a., (Doc. No. 104) ~ _—V ,. A - 4 _ an _  t tneitt, M. ;e°,,n,e_ _ an
  Speench ‘¤>r    lfaeés  `A·jH¤¤¤»  m¤m¤<->r  
of the National Lawyers Committee of the Amer1can_L1berty League, (Docr_NorVlO5) )"·
Qghe H;ght_g;LPet1t1on; e Speech by Jouett Shouse, President of the American Liberty
League, (Doc. No. 1ll)A ‘jV " ‘ A _ _ b‘J
5&\l£Ii&.E';§$. A . . .   A
jEhat_thg_ggn§t;tutLgn Means_to theggltggeni ¥ Article by Hon. George w. Maxey,
Justice of the Supreme°Court”o£,Pennsy1van1a.· (Doc» No. 106)~~s~=·-° -¢ -· · Nw ‘
fgnet c__gy_§g;¤u;;_;_q1;__;;_v_ghact'1t meane__g¤Tth.e gman;;;g_;1;e_streeg,4 'Ai+t1c1eQ_pt,byi’Je_nn  L y "
Davis, member of the National Executive Committee of the Amer1can.L1bertyQLeagueg (Doc,_
"The Townsend Plan; - An analysis of an attempt to perpetrate a cruel hoax upon a
trusting people. (Doc. No. 102) ‘ ‘
Qghe gtggy oI_an Honest Man; — what happened to Major General Johnson Hagood when,
at the request of a Congressional Comm1ttee,`he dared to speak the truth as he saw 1t.
(Doc. No. 107)
it A gfghe New AAA" - Analysis of a measure which seeks to circumvent the recent declslon
of the Supreme Court and regardless of constitutionality·perm1ts resumption of the pay- l
ment of subsidies to farmers. (Doc. No. 110) ' M ‘ ’” *` · '

 LEAFLETSLA t 1 .. ,,,~ g. . I ~
;The_yew_Qeal workg;§rggram———As_§een by_an_Emgngnt Journalist; - Some pert1nent
facts about how billions from the public treasury are being spent. ‘(Leaflet No. 3)
[EBQ.&§2£L£§B.QLEQEEX-L9aEBQ;;;A§-§22§.PX.§-Ql§ElEBBl§QQQ.éE§ELQQHLEQBQQEQEK "
Dr. Ray Bert westerfield of Yale Un1vers1ty dfscusses the necesslty for an organization
like the League.  (Leaflet No. 4) _
"A Farmer_Speak§" — Elmer Willis Serl, Wisconsin farmer, makes some blunt obser-
vatlons about the operations of the more abundant l1fe government. (Leaflet No. 5)
"w1ll?It_Bg Ave Caesarji — Reprint of an editorial from the washington Herald _
raising some important questions concerning present-day trends In government. (Leaflet `
No. 6) — · I I
"gg_gggg;cAN ;gEsTAPo·"
”It 1s a trifle annoying to be forced, endlessly, to trot out the American con-
stitution as a reminder to the Roosevelt adm1n1strat1on that there 1s such a document
and that as yet 1t/has not been repealed by the people of the United States. *. * *
· "The course of action chosen by Senator Hugo Black's lobby Investlgatlng committee --
and nobody is more w1ll1ng to concede the viciousness of lobby lnfluence on legislation
A than the Beacon Journal -- smacks of the spy systems of Europe, of the hated 'terror' of
old Russia, the state police of Mussolini, and the 'Gestapo' of Hitler. * * *
"NBVST has there been the slightest effort of the Black committee to specify the
subject upon which It ls seeking data, or to request the 1nd1v1dual or firm upon whom It
is putting the lnqulsltorial thumb screws for the essential files dealing with the matter
under probe. ¥u_¥, * A , _ , .
"The average citizen can easily see that if the government can seize telegrams, it
1s but a simple step to opening, Inspection and seizure of mall; to 1nvas1on of homes
1n the hunt for messages, letters, documents, and to all the other familiar abuses of
tyranny.. The New Dealers who so dearly love to pun1sn those who cr1t1c1ze them are mere-
ly reverting to despotism as old as government 1tself, to government by oppress1on."
( A —- Excerpts from an editorial In R‘
The Akron Beacon Journal, March 6, 1956.
A TEXAS FARMER_§PEA§§ A
"I am a native Texan---always a Democrat---am now near B2 years of age. Maybe
I am of 'Horse and Buggy days.' If I am, It means to me that I am 'too old' to stand
for the policies of the present Federal administration. .1 find many others, men
younger than I am, who feel as I do." ‘
» y _ A A A _A.. _ A —- Excerpt from a letter from yy
A. w. Carpenter, V1ctor1a, Texas ‘ A _
. (Coples 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.) _ (