What was huey long plan to end the depression

Those are the things we propose to do. That makes us all a sovereign. For 20 years I have been in the battle to provide that, so long as America has, or can produce, an abundance of the things which make life comfortable and happy, that none should own so much of the things which he does not need and cannot use as to deprive the balance of the people of a reasonable proportion of the necessities and conveniences of life.

The whole line of my political thought has always been that America must face the time when the whole country would shoulder the obligation which it owes to every child born on earth—that is, a fair chance to life, liberty, and happiness. The organized families who control the wealth of America have been able to keep the ,, people in bondage because they have never once known how to effectually strike for their fair demands.

Ninety-six percent of our people live below the poverty line, while 4 percent own 87 percent of the wealth. America can have enough for all to live in comfort and still permit millionaires to own more than they can ever spend and to have more than they can ever use; but America cannot allow the multimillionaires and the billionaires, a mere handful of them, to own everything unless we are willing to inflict starvation upon ,, people.

God, which includes the preserving and storage of surplus commodities to be paid for and held by the Government for the emergencies when such are needed.

I now ask those who read this circular to help us at once in this work of giving life and happiness to our people — not a starvation dole upon which someone may live in misery from week to week. Before this miserable system of wreckage has destroyed the life germ of respect and culture in our American people let us save what was here, merely by having none too poor and none too rich.

The theory of the Share Our Wealth Society is to have enough for all, but not to have one with so much that less than enough remains for the balance of the people. Let everyone who feels he wishes to help in our work start right out and go ahead.

Smith, a charismatic minister from Shreveport with a gift for public speaking. By the summer of , there were more than 27, Share Our Wealth clubs with a membership of more than 7. There were no dues, just fellowship and discussion, and membership was open to all races. White supremacists charged that Long was attempting to organize blacks to vote.

Long countered that Share Our Wealth was meant to help all poor people, and black people were welcome to participate since they were the poorest people in the country — a radical inclusion for a deeply segregated society. Long countered that the national newspapers were the pawns of the wealthy Wall Street financiers who were threatened by his program. Liberal journalists alleged that a prominent Wall Street bank hired a public relations firm to plant negative stories about Long in the media.

Long by-passed the negative press by distributing his own newspaper, The American Progress, and he spoke directly to a national audience through radio speeches and speaking engagements. Long was known for his avid reading, photographic memory and an audacious personality with no inhibitions about offering his opinion. During high school, Long won a scholarship to Louisiana State University in a debate competition. His older brother George paid for attendance at Oklahoma Baptist University to become a preacher, but Long never registered.

George then gave his brother money to switch to the University of Oklahoma Law School , but Long lost that gambling.

After hustling for a job, Long attended for a semester, but by his own admission, learned more about gambling than the law. He left to become a traveling salesman again. At the end of , Long was arrested in Shreveport for creating a disturbance in a brothel, though Long later claimed he was falsely arrested for the shooting of two men. He was in Shreveport to propose to Rose McConnell. Long had met Rose in at a baking contest he organized to promote a shortening called Cottolene while he was still in sales.

Serving as the judge, he gave the top two prizes to Rose and her mother. They were married in April He received special permission to take the Louisiana bar exam, passing at age In Long won a seat on the Louisiana Railroad Commission and used his position to fight monopolies and utility rates, winning favor with working people. In , he became the chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and sued the telephone company for raising rates.

Long rankled the conservative establishment and confrontations with them sometimes erupted into violence, including a knife attack. At the age of 30, Long announced his candidacy as a Democrat for governor, attacking Standard Oil as controlling the corrupt New Orleans political machine. Long lost by 7, votes, placing third, which he blamed on torrential downpours preventing rural voters from getting to the polls. His battles against Standard Oil were often on behalf of companies that he benefited from financially.

Democratic Governor Long began his agenda of centralizing power around the executive office — a move that brought accusations of a dictatorship, pressuring the legislature to pass laws allowing him to seize control of multiple state agencies. The lowest estimate is that 4 percent of the people own 85 percent of our wealth.

The people cannot ever come to light unless we share our wealth, hence the society to do it. Everyone has begun to realize something must be done for our old people who work out their lives, feed and clothe children and are left penniless in their declining years.

They should be made to look forward to their mature years for comfort rather than fear. Such a pension would retire from labor those persons who keep the rising generations from finding employment. This applies to all industry. The longer hours the human family can rest from work, the more it can consume. It makes no difference how many labor-saving devices we may invent, just as long as we keep cutting down the hours and sharing what those machines produce, the better we become.

Machines can never produce too much if everybody is allowed his share, and if it ever got to the point that the human family could work only 15 hours per week and still produce enough for everybody, then praised be the name of the Lord.

Heaven would be coming nearer to earth. All of us could return to school a few months every year to learn some things they have found out since we were there: All could be gentlemen: Every man a king. About the easiest of all things to do when financial masters and market manipulators step aside and let work the law of the Lord.

When we have a supply of anything that is more than we can use for a year or two, just stop planting that particular crop for a year either in all the country or in a part of it. Let the Government take over and store the surplus for the next year. If there is not something else for the farmers to plant or some other work for them to do to live on for the year when the crop is banned, then let that be the year for the public works to be done in the section where the farmers need work.

There is plenty of it to do and taxes of the big fortunes at the top will supply plenty of money without hurting anybody. In time we would have the people not struggling to raise so much when all were well fed and clothed. Distribution of wealth almost solves the whole problem without further trouble. To care for the veterans of our wars: A restoration of all rights taken from them by recent laws and further, a complete care of any disabled veteran for any ailment, who has no means of support.

Taxation is to be levied first at the top for the Governments support and expenses. Swollen fortunes should be reduced principally through taxation. The Government should be run through revenues it derives after allowing persons to become well above millionaires and no more.

In this manner the fortunes will be kept down to reasonable size and at the same time all the works of the Government kept on a sound basis, without debts. Source: www. Source: Social Security History. Huey Long was one of the most interesting men ever to enter American politics!

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