Criticism of the New Deal - Warren Hills Regional School District

Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
The Great Depression stunned the nation. Hard-working men and women found themselves out of work, starving, and at a complete loss of what to do. The confidence of the
1920s had evaporated into a time of self doubt, and humiliation for millions. One of the best known songs of the Depression era was written by E.Y. (Yip) Harburg, the son of
Jewish immigrants from Russia who lived in the lower East Side of New York City. Working with composer Jay Gorney, Harburg wrote “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” in 1932.
Bing Crosby - "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Do Now:
1
•
What feelings does this song convey?
•
What do the images tell you about life at the time?
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
HW Directions: Read the following information about Huey Long and answer the questions that follow.
Born in 1893 to middle-class parents in north-central Louisiana, Huey Long is best known as the populist governor of that
state. Although Long showed early promise as a gifted student with a photographic memory, he dropped out of high
school and soon became a successful salesman. Further, after no more than a year of formal study he took and passed the
bar exam in 1915, then established his law practice in Winnfield, Louisiana. Later he would say, "My cases in Court were on
the side of the small man—the underdog." Soon Long was beginning his political climb, on the State Railroad Commission,
and later as chairman of the Public Services Commission. In that role, he sought to lower rates on essential "people services"
such as telephone use, gas and electric power, and streetcar fares. Long ran for Governor in 1928, campaigning on a slogan
from the late 19th century populist, William Jennings Bryan, "Every man a king, but no one wears a crown." Making
education and attacks on powerful corporations his main themes, Long won the governorship by the largest margin in
Louisiana history.
Introducing major reforms, including free textbooks and free night courses for adult learning, Long also launched a program to build a school within
walking distance of every child in the state. Moreover, the Democratic governor improved the state’s infrastructure. When Long came to office the state had less
than 350 miles of paved roads; during his tenure he paved 3000 miles of roads using money from a tax on gas. He supported the building of 111 bridges, a new
airport in New Orleans, and a medical school at Louisiana State University (LSU). During his time in office, Long increased the taxes of large business in the state,
especially the oil companies.
Despite impressive reforms, Long’s critics accused him of being a dictator, noting that he overcame virtually all opposition to his program of economic
and social reform through intimidation and patronage. In 1929, he was impeached on charges of bribery and gross misconduct, but the state senate did not convict
him by a narrow margin of just two votes. After that, his tactics became more ruthless and demagogic. Elected to the United States Senate in 1930, he refused to
take his seat in that federal legislative body until he had assured that one of his own supporters would take his spot as governor. From Washington, he continued
to run the Louisiana government. By 1934 he began a reorganization of the state that all but abolished local government and gave himself the power to appoint all
state employees.
In 1930, Governor Huey Long was elected to the United States Senate. Although he had supported the presidency of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in
1932, by 1934 Senator Long was claiming that the president’s New Deal had done little to alleviate the problems of the depression. He began to criticize FDR for
being too mild of a reformer. Believing himself capable of becoming president, Long used the floor of the Senate to expound his views on the redistribution of
wealth.
By the fall of 1933 the Long-Roosevelt alliance had ruptured, partially because he believed FDR had failed to provide real help to the people and became
too cozy with the same people who had caused the Depression; and in part over Long’s growing interest in running for president. In 1934 Long organized his
own, alternative political organization, the Share-Our-Wealth Society, through which he advocated a populist program for redistributing wealth through sharply
graduated income and inheritance taxes. As his national recognition grew, he spoke with increasing frequency to national radio audiences. No politician in this
era—except Roosevelt himself and Long’s sometime ally, Father Charles Coughlin—used radio as frequently and effectively.
In the early 30s, many outside of Louisiana became captivated by Long, whose colorful oratory, and promises of "every man a king" resonated with the
poor during this Great Depression Era. Though he was a Democrat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered Long a demagogue and privately said of him that
2
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
"he was one of the . . . most dangerous men in America." Promising a redistribution of wealth through a plan of economic and social reform called "Share Our
Wealth," Long envisioned himself as president. That plan was cut short when Dr. Carl A. Weiss assassinated him in the State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge on
September 8, 1935. He is now buried on those Capitol grounds.
Long charged that the nation’s economic collapse was the result of the vast disparity between the super-rich and everyone else. A recovery was
impossible, Long argued, while 95% of the nation’s wealth was held by only 15% of the population. In Long’s view, this concentration of money among a handful
of wealthy bankers and industrialists restricted its availability for average citizens, who were already struggling with debt and the effects of a shrinking economy.
Because no one could afford to buy goods and services, businesses were forced to cut their workforces, thus deepening the economic crisis through a devastating
ripple effect.
“We do not propose to say there shall be no rich men,” Long told an audience of millions. “We do not ask to divide the wealth. We only propose that,
when one man gets more than he and his children and children’s children can spend or use in their lifetimes, that then we shall say that such person has his
share.”
Long believed that it was morally wrong for the government to allow millions of Americans to suffer in poverty when there existed a surplus of food,
clothing, and shelter. He blamed the mass suffering on a capitalist system run amok and feared that impending civil unrest threatened the democracy. The concern
was great enough for the Democratic National Committee to commission a secret political poll in 1935 (perhaps the first use of polling for this purpose) to gauge
his appeal; it found that he could get as much as 11 percent of the vote if he ran as a third party candidate in 1936.Long enthusiasts created 27,000 Share-OurWealth Clubs with perhaps as many as eight million members.
3
1.
When and where was Long born?
2.
What is admirable about his passing the Bar Exam and becoming a lawyer?
3.
Who did Long commonly defend as a lawyer?
4.
What was his campaign slogan as he very successfully ran for Governor of Louisiana in 1928?
5.
List 8 improvements (in short bulleted format)Long made while governor of Louisiana?
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
6.
What were some negative or non-democratic features of his tenure as a governor and then senator from Louisiana?
(Turn over)
7.
List the 4 reasons Long stopped supporting and began criticizing FDR.
8.
In 1 sentence summarize Long’s “Share our Wealth” philosophy.
9.
How did Long die?
10. According to Long, what was the main obstable to what he considered to be real help for the majority of U.S. citizens?
11. According to Long, why was the government morally wrong “to allow Americans to suffer in poverty?”
12. Provide 1 piece of evidence that FDR considered Long to be a threat to his popularity
4
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
“Share the Wealth”: Huey Long Talks to the Nation
Huey Long first came to national attention as governor of Louisiana in 1928 and U.S. Senator in 1930. He ruled Louisiana as a virtual dictator, but he also initiated massive
public works programs, improved public education and public health, and even established some restrictions on corporate power in the state. While Long was an early supporter of
Franklin Roosevelt, by the fall of 1933 the Long-Roosevelt alliance had ruptured, in part over Long’s growing interest in running for president. In 1934 Long organized his own,
alternative political organization, the Share-Our-Wealth Society, through which he advocated a populist program for redistributing wealth through sharply graduated income and
inheritance taxes. As his national recognition (and ambitions) grew, he spoke with increasing frequency to national radio audiences. No politician in this era—except Roosevelt
himself and Long’s sometime ally, Father Charles Coughlin—used radio as frequently and effectively. In this April 1935 radio address, Long sharply criticized FDR and the New
Deal and then sketched out his alternative program.
WE WILL LISTEN TO AN AUDIO EXCERPT ACCOMPANIED BY THE TEST BELOW.
Huey Long: Now in the third year of his administration, we find more of our people unemployed than at any other time. We find our houses empty and our
people hungry, many of them half-clothed and many of them not clothed at all.
Mr. Hopkins announced twenty-two millions on the dole, a new high-water mark in that particular sum, a few weeks ago. We find not only the people going
further into debt, but that the United States is going further into debt. The states are going further into debt, and the cities and towns are even going into
bankruptcy. The condition has become deplorable. Instead of his promises, the only remedy that Mr. Roosevelt has prescribed is to borrow more money if he can
and to go further into debt. The last move was to borrow $5 billion more on which we must pay interest for the balance of our lifetimes, and probably during the
lifetime of our children. And with it all, there stalks a slimy specter of want, hunger, destitution, and pestilence, all because of the fact that in the land of too much
and of too much to wear, our president has failed in his promise to have these necessities of life distributed into the hands of the people who have need of them.
Now, my friends, you have heard me read how a great New York newspaper, after investigations, declared that all I have said about the bad distribution of this
nation’s wealth is true. But we have been about our work to correct this situation. That is why the Share Our Wealth societies are forming in every nook and
corner of America. They’re meeting tonight. Soon there will be Share Our Wealth societies for everyone to meet. They have a great work to perform.
Here is what we stand for in a nutshell:
Number one, we propose that every family in America should at least own a homestead equal in value to not less than one third the average family wealth. The
average family wealth of America, at normal values, is approximately $16,000. So our first proposition means that every family will have a home and the comforts
of a home up to a value of not less than around $5,000 or a little more than that.
5
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
Number two, we propose that no family shall own more than three hundred times the average family wealth, which means that no family shall possess more than
a wealth of approximately $5 million—none to own less than $5,000, none to own more than $5 million. We think that’s too much to allow them to own, but at
least it’s extremely conservative.
Number three, we propose that every family shall have an income equal to at least one third of the average family income in America. If all were allowed to work,
there’d be an income of from $5,000 to $10,000 per family. We propose that one third would be the minimum. We propose that no family will have an earning of
less than around $2,000 to $2,500 and that none will have more than three hundred times the average less the ordinary income taxes, which means that a million
dollars would be the limit on the highest income.
We also propose to give the old-age pensions to the old people, not by taxing them or their children, but by levying the taxes upon the excess fortunes to whittle
them down, and on the excess incomes and excess inheritances, so that the people who reach the age of sixty can be retired from the active labor of life and given
an opportunity to have surcease and ease for the balance of the life that they have on earth.
We also propose the care for the veterans, including the cash payment of the soldiers' bonus. We likewise propose that there should be an education for every
youth in this land and that no youth would be dependent upon the financial means of his parents in order to have a college education.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WE WILL LISTEN TO AN AUDIO EXCERPT WITHOUT TEXT. The excerpt is from one of Long’s more famous speeches – the “Barbecue Speech,” delivered at
the Washington Press Club in 1935. He consistently used the phrase “Every man a King, but no one wears a crown,” which adequately encapsulated his economic
strategy.
Share Our Wealth Proposal
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
6
Cap personal fortunes at $50 million (equivalent to about $750 million today)
Limit annual income to one million dollars each (about $12 million today)
Limit inheritances to five million dollars each (about $60 million today)
Limit poverty by providing that every deserving family would share in the wealth of America and guarantee every family an annual income of $2,000 (or
one-third the national average – $24,000 today)
Free college education and vocational training
Old-age pensions for all persons over 60
Extensive veterans benefits and healthcare
A 30 hour work week so that overproduction could be prevented, and workers could enjoy some of the recreations, conveniences, and luxuries of life.
A four week vacation for every worker, which would also increase employment.
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
10. To balance agricultural production with what could be sold and consumed, to maintain stable prices for farmers.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why did FDR (and most of the members of Congress) consider Long to be so dangerous?
2. Do you agree/disagree with Long’s general philosophy to share the wealth? Why or why not.
3. Do you agree with these specific proposals:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Personal Salary Caps
Inheritance Limits
Guaranteeing a minimum income
Free College and Vocational Education
30 hour work week
Mandatory allowance of 4 weeks’ vacation
4. Where on the political spectrum do you think Long belongs? We will discuss using a diagram.
7
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
Do Now:
In the Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck described the hard times faced by farmers in the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Many Dust Bowl farmers could not pay their debts and lost
their land to the bankers because they could not pay their mortgage. These bankers were heavily resented by the farmers because they owned much land (due to foreclosures),
and this land was not being used for farming. That reality combined with the overall wealth of the bankers and their general lack of what the farmers thought to be real
suffering, created a tremendous level of resentment and bitterness between the two groups. In the selection below, farmers who have lost their land argue with the new
owners. Read the selection carefully. Then answer the questions that follow. Note: A squatter is a person who lives someplace illegally and without ownership.
“You’ll have to get off the land. The plows’ll go through the dooryard.”
And now the squatting men stood up angrily. “Grampa took up the land, and Pa was born here. Then a bad year came and he had to borrow money. The
bank owned the land then, but we stayed and we got a little bit of what we raised.”
“We know that – all that. It’s not us, it’s the bank. A bank isn’t like a man.”
“Sure,” cried the squatters, “but it’s our land. We measured it and broke it up. We were born on it, and we got killed on it, died on it. Even it it’s no good,
it’s still ours. That’s what makes it ours – being born on it, working it, dying on it. That makes ownership, not a paper with numbers on it.”
8
1.
According to the farmers, how did the bank become owner of the land?
2.
Why do the farmers feel they are the real owners of the land?
3.
What do the new owners mean when they say “A bank isn’t like a man.”?
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
Location:
Colorado, Kansas, New
Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
(Plains States)
Ignited Mass Exodus from Plains
States:
1. 100s of thousands becoming
__________________________
Causes:
2. Labeled "__________" or
"________________________s"
1. 1930 -1936 Abnormally low rainfall =
__________________ and dry baked land
3. Many headed to
________________________
2. ______________________ land during 19001930
4. Found no or poorly paying
____________________ farm jobs
3. __________________ were allowed to overgraze
Dust
Bowl
4. Result - _________________is loosened
5. Vulnerable to ________________
(1930s)
Dust Storms:
1. 1932-19_______
2. gigantic dust clouds (day looked like night)
3. 12 tons of dust on _________________
9
Overfarmed land:
1. New farming technology (tractor, harvester-thresher)
4. Dust reached Boston, _______ and Atlanta
2. Pressure from _________________ investors to grow increasing
amounts of cash crops (wheat, cotton)
5. Result = nonfertile land, suffocated animals,
paint stripped off houses, respiratory diseases
3. Strips the soil before it can replenish itself = loose dusty dead
____________________
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
CHARLES ARTHUR FLOYD: 'PRETTY BOY' FROM COOKSON HILLS
By Joseph Geringer (Source: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/floyd/1.html)
Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd rose from being a callus-fingered cotton picker to trigger-fingered gunslinger, one of the most colorful bank robbers in the history of
Depression-era America. He became a symbol of a troubled era – the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. A Robin Hood figure who enjoyed hitting back against the wealthy - in
defense of the poor, he is remembered in legend and in song, recalled not with a shudder of fear but with almost a fond salute. In Oklahoma's Cookson Hills, where he grew up,
he is an icon. "Pretty Boy," says biographer Michael Wallis, "is the stuff of legends."
His beloved Cookson Hills was heavily impacted by an undeniable financial depression and a series of droughts and dust storms that destroyed their livelihood. Like so
many others who found it humanly impossible to cope with suffering, he fought back. And when he did so - he didn’t receive the romantic glory gained by Jesse James and other
boyhood heroes who had grown up on the same roads.
The world was changing rapidly - policemen now moved quicker behind the wheel of a Ford Sedan than in the stirrups of a horse. New technology — radio and
telephone — produced a communications system that outdid the old days when Jesse James could ride faster than the news of his latest bank robbery. Floyd couldn't ride
faster, but he tried. To the death he tried.
Many say that Charles Arthur Floyd —, they called him Choctaw, or Choc — in an earlier setting, might never have resorted to crime. "He robbed banks, but he had
morals, he had truth," nephew Glendon Floyd tells us. Even though in the 1920s the U.S. ignored many social wrongs, it was the big city gangster in Chicago and New York who
enjoyed that benefit. But, Pretty Boy could not buy the politicians nor pay off the brilliant lawyers; Pretty Boy stole just enough from the banks to keep himself and his gang
members fed, their automobiles gassed and his fellow Okies out of the poor house.
In the end, Choc Floyd was betrayed. Not by a woman in red, as was Indiana bank robber John Dillinger; not by a death wish like Bonnie and Clyde. But, allegedly, by J.
Edgar Hoover (FBI) who thought Floyd would be better a stepping stone (for himself) to higher things if he was killed and not incarcerated.
Pretty Boy Floyd (lyrics) – Woody Guthrie, RCA Studios, Camden, NJ, 26 Apr 1940, released on "Dust Bowl Ballads.”
Hard times provoked defiance by those who were suffering – they wanted the government to act – and under Herbert Hoover their cries fell on deaf ears.
Folk singer Woody Guthrie’s song “Pretty Boy Floyd” glorified those that stole from the rich and gave to the poor. From the perspective of poor farmers of the
Dust Bowl whose land was taken by wealthy bankers when the farmers could no longer pay the mortgage, the difference between the outlaw robber and the
banker was not always clear. Several robbers gained notoriety during the 1930s, including Bonnie and Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, and John Dillinger. Guthrie’s
song lyrics express the similarities between the robber and the banker, and even refer to the police who often were the “enforcers” for the bankers.
10
Criticism of the 1st New Deal(Radicalism and the Dust Bowl) 1930s
Come and gather 'round me, children,
A story I will tell
'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd, an outlaw,
Oklahoma knew him well.
It was in Shawnee, Oklahoma
A Saturday afternoon,
His wife beside him in his wagon
As into town they rode.
There a deputy sheriff approached him
In a manner rather rude,
Vulgar words of anger,
An' his wife she overheard.
Pretty Boy grabbed a log chain,
And the deputy grabbed his gun;
In the fight that followed
He laid that deputy down.
Then he took to the trees and timber along the river shore
Hiding on the river bottom
He never came back no more
Yes He took to the trees and timber
To live a life of shame;
Every crime in Oklahoma
Was added to his name.
But there’s a many a starving farmer
The same old story told
How the outlaw paid their mortgage
And saved their little homes.
Others tell you 'bout a stranger
That come to beg a meal,
Underneath his napkin
11
Left a thousand dollar bill.
It was in Oklahoma City,
It was on a Christmas Day,
There was a whole car load of groceries
Come with a note to say:
Well, you say that I'm an outlaw,
You say that I'm a thief.
Here's a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
Criticism of the New Deal
“This is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie (February 1940)
th
Woody Guthrie, born in Oklahoma in 1912 in a poor and troubled family, was one of the great folk singers of the 20 century. In
1940 Guthrie penned “This is Your Land.” Though quite radical/rebellious in spirit, it became a patriotic anthem – being printed in
many textbooks and sung in schools around the country. But in many cases, the song’s final two stanzas, which speak to Guthrie’s
sense of social justice, have been deleted.
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
This
From
From
This
land is your land, this land is my land
California, to the New York Island
the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
land was made for you and me
As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me
I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
This
From
From
This
land is your land, this land is my land
California, to the New York Island
the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
land was made for you and me
The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.
12
Criticism of the New Deal
The following is an excerpt from Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States. Zinn begins by explaining the conditions
that FDR faced as he took office in 1932. He then moves on to discuss the time period of 1934-1935 – the period between FDR’s two
New Deals – essentially critiquing the first New Deal. He concluded by analyzing the New Deal as a whole.
The stock market crash of 1929, which marked the beginning of the Great Depression of the United States, came directly from
wild speculation which collapsed and brought the whole economy down with it. But, as John Galbraith says in his study of that event
(The Great Crash), behind that speculation was the fact that "the economy was fundamentally unsound." He points to very
unhealthy … banking structures… much economic misinformation, and the "bad distribution of income" (the highest 5 percent of the
population received about one-third of all personal income).
A … [radical] critic … [could] say that the capitalist system [i.e. US economy] was by its nature unsound: a system driven by the
one overriding motive of corporate profit and therefore unstable, unpredictable, and blind to human needs. The result of all that:
permanent depression for many of its people, and periodic crises for almost everybody. Capitalism, despite its attempts at selfreform, its organization for better control, was still in 1929 a sick and undependable system.
…Clearly those responsible for organizing the economy [i.e. the elite] did not know what had happened, were baffled by it,
refused to recognize it, and found reasons other than the failure of [capitalism]…Henry Ford, in March 1931, said the crisis was here
because "the average man won't really do a day's work unless he is caught and cannot get out of it. There is plenty of work to do if
people would do it." A few weeks later he laid off 75,000 workers.
There were millions of tons of food around, but it was not profitable to transport it, to sell it. Warehouses were full of clothing,
but people could not afford it. There were lots of houses, but they stayed empty because people couldn't pay the rent, had been
evicted, and now lived in shacks in quickly formed "Hoovervilles" built on garbage dumps.
…These people were becoming [considered] "dangerous," [by the elite]… The spirit of rebellion was growing. Mauritz Hallgren,
in a 1933 book, Seeds of Revolt, compiled newspaper reports of things happening around the country:
…Detroit, July 9, 1931. An incipient riot by 500 unemployed men turned out of the city lodging house for lack of
funds was quelled by police reserves in Cadillac Square tonight. . ..
Indiana Harbor, Indiana, August 5, 1931. Fifteen hundred jobless men stormed the plant of the Fruit Growers
Express Company here, demanding that they be given jobs to keep from starving. The company's answer was to call
the city police, who routed the jobless with menacing clubs.
…Chicago, April 1, 1932. Five hundred school children, most with haggard faces and in tattered clothes, paraded
through Chicago's downtown section to the Board of Education offices to demand that the school system provide
them with food…
…The Roosevelt reforms … had to meet two … needs: to reorganize capitalism in such a way to overcome the crisis and stabilize
the system; also, to head off the alarming growth of spontaneous rebellion in the early years of the Roosevelt administration…
st
… the [1 ] New Deal's organization of the economy was aimed mainly at stabilizing the economy, and secondly at giving
enough help to the lower classes to keep them from turning a rebellion into a real revolution.
That rebellion was real when Roosevelt took office: Desperate people were not waiting for the government to help them; they
were helping themselves, acting directly. Aunt Molly Jackson, a woman who later became active in labor struggles … recalled how
she walked into the local store, asked for a 24-pound sack of flour, gave it to her little boy to take it outside, then filled a sack of
sugar and said to the storekeeper, "Well, I'll see you in ninety days. I have to feed some children . . . I'll pay you, don't worry." And
when he objected, she pulled out her pistol (which, as a midwife traveling alone through the hills, she had a permit to carry) and
said: "Martin, if you try to take this grub away from me, God knows that if they electrocute me for it tomorrow, I'll shoot you six
times in a minute." Then, as she recalls, "I walked out, I got home, and these seven children was so hungry that they was a-grabbin
13
Criticism of the New Deal
the raw dough off-a their mother's hands and crammin it into their mouths and swallowing it whole."
All over the country, people organized spontaneously to stop evictions. In New York, in Chicago, in other cities-when word
spread that someone was being evicted, a crowd would gather; the police would remove the furniture from the house, put it out in
the street, and the crowd would bring the furniture back…
...Perhaps the most remarkable example of self-help took place in the coal district of Pennsylvania, where teams of
unemployed miners dug small mines on company property, mined coal, trucked it to cities, and sold it below the commercial rate. By
1934, 5 million tons of this "bootleg" coal were produced by twenty thousand men using four thousand vehicles. When attempts
were made to prosecute, local juries would not convict, local jailers would not imprison.
These were simple actions, taken out of practical need, but they had revolutionary possibilities…
…A million and a half workers in different industries went on strike in 1934 [between the 2 New Deals]… That same summer of
1934, a strike of teamsters in Minneapolis was supported by other working people, and soon nothing was moving in the city except
milk, ice, and coal trucks given exemptions by the strikers. Farmers drove their products into town and sold them directly to the
people in the city. The police attacked and two strikers were killed. Fifty thousand people attended a mass funeral. There was an
enormous protest meeting and a march on City Hall. After a month, the employers gave in to the teamsters' demands.
In the fall of that same year, 1934, came the largest strike of all- 325,000 textile workers in the South. They left the mills and set
up flying squadrons in trucks and autos to move through the strike areas, picketing, battling guards, entering the mills, unbelting
machinery. Here too, as in the other cases, the strike impetus came from the rank and file [i.e. the workers, regular people – not
union leaders], against a reluctant union leadership at the top. The New York Times said: "The grave danger of the situation is that it
will get completely out of the hands of the [union] leaders."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------…[These strikes] were especially dangerous to the [capitalist economic] system because they were not controlled by the regular
nd
union leadership…It was to stabilize the system in the face of labor unrest that the Wagner Act of 1935 [a 2 New Deal Law],
setting up a National Labor Relations Board, had been passed. The wave of strikes in 1936, 1937, 1938, made the need even more
pressing…Unions were not wanted by employers, but they were more controllable-more stabilizing for the system than the wildcat
strikes, the factory occupations of the rank and file…
… The history of those years seems to support the argument of Richard Cloward and Frances Piven, in their book Poor People's
Movements, that labor won most during its spontaneous uprisings, before the unions were recognized or well organized: "Factory
workers had their greatest influence, and were able to exact their most substantial concessions from government, during the Great
Depression, in the years before they were organized into unions. Their power during the Depression was not rooted in organization,
but in disruption."
…The minimum wage of 1938, which established the forty-hour week and outlawed child labor, left many people out of its
provisions and set very low minimum wages (twenty-five cents an hour the first year). But it was enough to dull the edge of
resentment…The Social Security Act gave retirement benefits and unemployment insurance, and matched state funds for mothers
and dependent children-but it excluded farmers, domestic workers, and old people, and offered no health insurance…
When the New Deal was over… The rich still controlled the nation's wealth, as well as its laws, courts, police, newspapers,
churches, colleges. Enough help bad been given to enough people to make Roosevelt a hero to millions, but the same system that
had brought depression and crisis-the system of waste, of inequality, of concern for profit over human need- remained.
14