xt7wwp9t2q46_20 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. 23 "Where Are We Going?" Speech of James W. Wadsworth, March 29, 1935 text No. 23 "Where Are We Going?" Speech of James W. Wadsworth, March 29, 1935 2013 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7wwp9t2q46/data/59m61/59m61_23/Am_Lib_Lg_23_001/Am_Lib_Lg_23_001.pdf section false xt7wwp9t2q46_20 xt7wwp9t2q46 Pamphlets Available * *
rk
Copies of the following pamphlets may ‘ APB
be obtained upon application to the i
League’s national headquarters: ?
Why, The American Liberty League?
Statement of Principles and Purposes *
P . Ch ——S h b J it
rgggfse VS angc Pew y we The Constant Question
Recovery, Relief and the Constitution-- 1
Speech by Iouett Shouse
American Liberty League——Its Platform
An Analysis of the President’s Budget ` * * *
{ Message _ l
N. R. A.-—-Its Past, and Recommenda-
tions for the Future _
Analysis of the $4,880,000,000 Emergency Speech of _
Relief Appropriation Act
Economic Security-——A Study of Pro- JAMES W• WADSWORTH
posed Legislation Representative and Former Senator from L
Democracy or Bureaucracy °?-—S peech by V N°“’EY°1`k and igcmbcr °f th*;_N¤1:i°¤¤l
Jouett Shouse xecutive ommittee o t e
The Bonus——An Analysis of Legislative Amcucau Liberty League
P'°P°$“’$ Mama 29 1935
The Constitution Still Stands—Speech 5
by Jouett Shouse - _
Inflation-Possibilities Involved in Ex-
isting and Proposed Legislation
The Thirty Hour Week——Dangers In-
herent in Proposed Legislation `LEMC
The Pending Banking Bill-—A Proposal V
to Subject the Nation’s Monetary I,. M
Structure to the Exigencies of Politics
The Legislative Situation—¢Speech by IP" Y L9}
Iouett Shouse -
The Holding Company Bill——An Analy-
sis of Proposed Legislation.
"What is the Constitution Between I
Friends`?”———Speech by James M. Beck
* AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE
National Headquarters
Write to NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING
AMERICAN LIBERTY LEAGUE WASHINGTUN D- C-
NATIONAL PRESS BUILDING * I *
WASHINGTON, D. C. A ‘
I V Document No. 23 U
on through the years and to become permanent
if the country should consent to such a thing.
WHERE ARE WE GOING? Among the more unique
* Prosperity and experimental meas-
W Through ures aimed at this general
I-IENEVER I leave Washington and go to scarcity objective is the agricul-
IIIY IIOIIIC in W€StCI`II New YOI`k, or visit $0]]].6 tural adjustment act, gon.
other C0¤1m¤¤itY» I encounter m¤¤Y P€0PI€ who erally known as triple A. It has been admin-
Put this question ts m€» "Wh¢r¢ sm W6 S°m§?” istered on the extraordinary theory that the
W-hCH IIIBY HSC IZIIC APITODOUH “we” IZIICY IIICGH * pgoplo may bo made prosperous the dolib.
the government and the nation. They are ‘* erate and planned creation of a scarcity of food.
dCCpl.y COHCCIYHCC]. GS GIZIZCIIIPI to CSIIIIIEIC AS you all know, farmers are receiving ulouoy
present day tendencies, and to cast their from the government, amounting to scores of
thoughts toward the future. They want to be- millions of dollars, for refraining, in part, from
lieve all is well but they are puzzled and full producing food. The money which they receive
of doubt. The answering of such inquiries in- —and most of them receive it with their tongues
volves what may be called a large order. I in their cheeks-—is raised by the imposition of
hesitate to attsmpt it, lsut I suPP0s€ I {¤u¤t·_ taxes upon all those persons and concerns en-
The broad issue which the country 1S facing gaged in the processing of the controlled crops.
today differs not at all from the one which it It is the consumer who pays the tax when he
faced a year ago. It is fundamental in character makes his purchases. This tax is imposed by
and, in the last analysis, involves our whole the Secretary of Agriculture, not by the Con-
philosophy of government under the' Constitu- gress of the United States, which, if we are
UGH- C0mm€¤€1¤g im 1933 ths Admm1sUi`sU0¤ faithful to the Constitution, we must regard as
embarked upon a Vast program d6Sigl16Cl to the only governmental agency authorized to levy
establish what the President was pleased to call V taxes. In this case the Constitution is openly
a planned economy applied to all forms of busi- flouted and to the extent of hundreds of mil-
116ss and 3€1‘IC¤Itu1'€· To WHY this out U`€m0¤' lions of dollars we are being taxed without re-
dous powers were voted to the President and by presentation, the very thing against which our
him delegated to the bureaucracy. The organ- forefathers protested when they rebelled against
ization built up here at Washington and spread- the mother country back in 1776. It is a curious
ing out over the country is really gigantic——so situation, but I suppose it may be accounted for
much so that no one person can comprehend it , by the fact that in 1933 and throughout 1934
all. It has stretched its arm out over the farms, the people were willing tb try anything, to grasp
, down into the mines, through the factories, into at any straw, and, furthermore, were willing
the storgs, and into 11;early eveilry place in wl`}/rich to forget, or did forget, the fundamental prin-
men an women see to earn t e1r iving. ost I ciples upon which our whole governmental
of these measures have been enacted under the structure has rested for a century and a half.
pressure of the emergency and some with the The Administration is preparing to continue
assurance that they were to be temporary. _ triple A, and actually to expand its powers over
Some of us took occasion back in the summer an indefinite number of years. At this very
of 1933 to point out that the Administration moment it is urging upon the Congress an
adhered to a school which teaches that the amendment to the act of 1933 granting to the
human race would be happier and more pros- Secretary of Agriculture the ultimate power to
perous if it marched along the highway of life put under license every person and firm engaged
guided and controlled by superior wisdom in dealing in, or handling, or processing agricul-
lodged in government, and that these so-called tural products. The condition upon which a
temporary measures would turn out to be but license may be issued is to be fixed by the Sec-
the beginning of a vast program to be carried retary.
2 2
A /
The Administration does Thus we see one great
The Farmer not dare to urge the New Deal arm of the New Deal tug-
Scheduled fer licensing of farmers Versus ging and pulling against
Regulatigrr themselves, but it knows New Dea] another great arm of the
full well that if it can New Deal. Is it any
regulate, through a license system, every person wonder that people ask, "Where are we going?”
engaged in buying or selling or processing farm Referring more specifically to N. R. A. we have
products, the farmer himself will be regulated. ` a most extraordinary and unheard of situation.
That is the objective. There can be no question fl When the Congress passed that act in the spring
about it. I shall not spend much time in com- f of 1933 it turned over to the President the
menting upon the achievements of triple A up ~‘ power to proclaim so-called codes of fair com-
to date. When it reduced the cotton crop by petition to be imposed upon any industries.
paying the planters not to raise cotton, and fol- When a code is finally prepared it is submitted
lowed this by pegging the price of cotton at to the President. He may change it if he pleases;
twelve cents a pound through loans extended to he may reject it entirely, or he may write a new
the planter, it not only greatly increased the one himself and impose it upon the industry
cost of cotton textiles but opened wide the door involved. Whichever way it happens the code,
for foreign countries to start in planting cotton when once proclaimed by the President, assumes
themselves and to under-sell American cotton automatically the force of Federal law. Those
in the great foreign markets. who disobey its provisions may be prosecuted in
Remember that something like two-thirds of Federal courts as under a criminal statute. ·
our cotton has been normally exported to other In other words, the Congress, charged under
countries. Already our exports have decreased the Constitution with the duty of making the
very materially and foreign production is in- laws for the nation, has presumed to turn this
creasing by leaps and bounds. Thus we are function over to the chief executive, and has
threatened with the loss of a tremendously im- actually authorized him to make law by procla-
portant part of our export trade. I am wonder- mation. Would any one have guessed three
ing how long the South will continue to dig its years ago that such a state of affairs could exist
own grave by supporting this scarcity of cotton in America? To be sure, N. R. A. expires by its
program. The Secretary of State may work for own limitations on June 16th next, but it will
years and years at his task of increasing our for- be noted that the President is urging the Con-
eign trade, but he can never expand it suffi- gress to continue it. Legislation to continue it
ciently to make up for the staggering loss we in effect is now pending in the Congress, and
shall suffer if our cotton no longer goes abroad. j if the Administration has its way it will go
A curiously interesting announcement appeared through, with the result that for another period
in the papers day before yesterday. It comes of time we shall have a single law maker presid-
from the headquarters of N. R. A. and it is ing over industry, unless, indeed, the courts
directed to the cotton textile industry. The an- hold, as some of them are beginning to hold,
nouncement is to the effect that, due to the that the Congress has no right under the Con-
inability of the mills to sell their fabrics to the stitution to delegate its law making power.
consumer these same mills may reduce their I say this is an extraor-
production by twenty-five per cent, which The Imperial dinary situation, but we
means, of course, that they must reduce the Government must remember that this
working hours of their employees proportion- Objeetive Administration has an
ately. N. R. A. explains that this discouraging extraordinary objective
state of affairs is due to the processing tax im- in view, namely, the complete transforming of
posed upon all cotton textiles by triple A and the government of the United States—a trans-
by the program of the government in making formation which will involve whittling away of
cotton scarce and high in price. the powers of the states, the building up of a
4 5
gigantic imperial government clothed with $4,800,000,000, eehtaihihg the Very II1il¢`l€St of re-
pewer to regulate the life of the citizen as he p straints, is now on its way through the Congress.
attempts to earn his bread, This is “planned Every cent of it must be borrowed and added to
3conomy_°° To hasten the program we Qnd the tl1C 1'13tl0I1&l débt, already mounting to 'l1I1l1B3I’d
government going into the business of generat·· ef tigt11`eS· Scarce any plans for this vast ex-
ing and distributing electricity in direct eem. penditure have been made. It is claimed that
petition with its own citizens. We find the 3,500,000 Pe1’S011s will be usefully employed on
whole utilities industry under attack by the Puhtie W01`l