“SHARE OUR WEALTH”

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 August 1935, Page 3

“SHARE OUR WEALTH”

CAREER OF “THE KINGFISH” Senator Huey Long, popularly known as “The Kingfish” and long regarded as a political buffoon, has come to the front of late as a leader of the radical forces arrayed against President Roosevelt. Overnight “The Kingfish” has become a genuinely national figure, not a little known abroad. “The Kingfish” is Huey Pierce Long, the senior United States senator from the State of Louisiana. While for a long time he has been potentially the leader of an important movement, though clearly a combination of nimble-finger and farceur, it is only now, and by a series of strange events, that he has actually placed himself at the head of a group of dissidents and under-privilig-ed persons in American life. Senator Long has been the political storm-centre of his home State for a long time. Several years ago when, as State Governor, he engaged in a scries of bizarre publicity stunts, he was lampooned in the newspapers as an amusing, if somewhat fatuous, clown, who believed in liberally intermixing horseplay with his political whipcracking. Receiving- visiting dignitaries in pvjamas, seriously debating the correct manner of eating “potlikker.” and rushing his national guard troops around in all sorts of fantastic manoeuvres, he was laughable to most of the American people. But since the advent of the Roosevelt Administration, and more especially as a. result recently of the growing dissatisfaction with the President’s recovery programme. Senator Long has become a rallying point for the opposition. He has openly defied Mr. Roosevelt, whose overwhelming personal popularity was clearly indicated al the last election; and more important still, ho has seriously delayed the Administration’s programme in Congress, and with startling success has carried a message of distrust to the American people.

THE REAL LONG Of the scores of journalists am! political commentators who have analysed Senator Long as a political phenomenon, few have agreed upon his real character. Some hold him to be merdv an exhibitionist, caring only for the thrill of seli-dramatisa-ticn. Others see in him an extremely ambitious man. eager for both wealth ami power, who has lonml in politic., a means to these closely, allied ■.• mis. Some believe him l<> be sincere in In solicitude for the poor ami the downtrodden; others say that he is nothing but a "rabble-rouser,” appealing to th? credulities of the great mass of people who are eager for any solution of their personal financial problems. But all agree that he is among the most effective of demagogies, versatile and sagacious to an unusual <le-

grp 4 ?. Senator Long’s economic philosophy is pack.-d up in the seductive phras< •■Share Our Wealth." He continually pleads for enactment of his "Share Our Wealth" plan. He claims to have organised “Share Ou. Wealth" (lube in thousands of cit: s. with millions of members. In rec'ut elaborations of Ills plan Senator 1 .mg lias repeated the brief outline of the procedure to be followed in sharing the wealth.

but he has purposely omitted details of its Operation. These are to be “worked oiit later.” The basic premise of his scheme is that private fortunes should be strictly reduced, three cr four million dollars being indicated as probably the outside limit of the holdings of any one man. The limitation is to be procured by steeply graduated -taxes on income and by capital levy, with all wealth in excess of the prescribed figures in effect confiscated by the Government. Thus a great pool of wealth would come under governmental control, and it would be parcelled out to all the people on the basis- of their needs, regardless of services rendered. Senator Long estimates that under his plan enough surplus wealth would be available to supply every family in America with a modern home, a motor-car, a wireless set, a complete education, secondary as well as primary for its children, and about five thousand dollars (£1000) of capital.

TREMENDOUS APPEAL There is a tremendous appeal in the Long plan. But not a fraction of one per cent, of a nation’s or an individual’s wealth is in ready cash, as critics point out; and if capital wealth were to be liquidated into taxable wealth —that is, money—values of securities, land, and commodities would immediately collapse to next, to nothing. Almost daily he pleads for a sharing of wealth. Between times he carries on a campaign against President Roosevelt’s “New Deal” —a campaign which seems to be gaining in effectiveness. For several days on the floor of the Senate he will attack alleged corruption in the office of the Post’ master-General (Mr. Farley), the President’s chief political adviser. On other orca: ions ho will issue broadsides against the N.R.A., the A.A.A., and other divisions of the "New Deal.” For almost three weeks he successfully filibustered against the President’s Work Relief Bill, and he was on<> of the senators mainly responsible for the defeat of the resolution providing for American adherence to tie. Permanent Court of International .li’stio, so strongly advocated by the President. Senator Long's pleasant voice, his etm.lv phraseology, his southern drawl have made him a favourite of l:st< ners. His manner of beginning • important, address is invariably -omfthing like this: “Good evening. ' !:• amt gentl'-mcii. This is Huey I'. Lon.-,-, senator from Louisiana. ■ ,i' in-.-,. I have some important st.it' mon!s to make to you to-night. ' t ■. r f w minutes I'm just going :' < ", about not king much at a’l. j While I'm doing this got on your tcle- | phom-- and call up several friends land tell them Huey I*. Loin; has some imporiaiil statements to make to them. He then gives the name of the wireless station :nd its wavelength, and rambles on for a few minutes until his 'i.deners presumably have rm erititcd a much larger audience throt;:-!) th ■ use of the telephone. Then Im ■ •o< e. ii... y it h his address.