Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-06-29
What Is The New Deal

What Is The New Deal
What Every Worker Should
Know About NRA
They are two cent phamplets
written by EARL BROW
DER for sale at the Workers
Book Shop and reviewed by
JACK LEWIS
| believe it takes cOmrade
BrOWder a little too long to
warm up to his subject in the
two or three opening pages OF
his booklets, but after that he
presents a most able and read
able account of life in America
since 1929, especially the New
Deal period. Well told, in many
places witty and always effective
BrOwder drives home each point
in the tangled situation of New
Deal life with simplicity and
force. Surplus words are not
there, and each one is effective.
Why was the NRA made into
law? Because the economic life
of the nation under traditional
capitalism has sreally broken
down; the NRA was to save it
from complete collapse and keep
people from knowing its true
situation. The NRA promises to
restore workers to their jobs
and end the crisis. 1t does none
of these because capitalism
can't lift itself by it's bOOtstraps.
HOOver's temporary economic
boom was brought about with
out very great efforts on the part
of the government; Dy the time
Roosevelt appeared, the next
bOOmlet took continual prim-
ing of private business with great
quantities of money from the
public pump. And today there
are twice as many surplus"
goods in warehouses as in 1882.
The cheapening of the dollar, in
crease in prices, etc. brought
about the last bOOmlet; but the
next will strain capitalism to the
breaking point because con-
sumption is less all the time.
Food prices are up 20 percent
and more; the number of relief
rolls increase steadily. Speed
up throws ever more workers
out of jobs. NRA has meant an
attempt to enslave workers in
stead protect them. The auto |
industry succeeded in getting an
open shop code right off the bat.
When militant workers tried to |
take advantage of what the NRA
is supposed to give them, as
with the Florida tobacco work
ers, their property is destroyed,
they are beaten up and jailed.
The poor farmers have been
hit as hard as the workers; they |
have been reduced often to the
ranks of starving poems. Mort
cages eat up their land. The
plows under their |
meagre crops. They face star
While the workers and farm
ers are being starved with one
hand of the government, they
are being prepared for interna-
tiOnal slaughter with the other
hand. Billions are being spent
on ornaments.
Out OF all this grows the germ
Of American fascism. The near
breakdown of the rule of finan.
&c capital is it's signal of ap-
proach, ROosevelt's campaign
promises of social insurance and
adequate relief have been follow
ed by the refusal of insurance
and little relief With
forced labor camps instead.
With a cry Of"take the gov. a.
way from Wall Street" Roose-
velt has brought about the
greatest state OF monopoly finance
capital that has ever existed.
classification, initiation. direct
subsidies to finance ital, in
creasing taxation of the masses,
an intensified economy program,
huge military and naval apprOp-
riations, and an attempt at the
militariZation of the masses
have been followed by increas-
ed starvation. A symbol of New
Deal progress Is Ford's increase
Of production of 10 percent with
D 20 percent decline in the num-
Der of workers employed.
While these things were going
on under rugged individualism,
Soviet Russia was able to:
Increase three fold her pre-
war production while ours fell
to half; abolish unemployment
while we had seventeen million
80 ..Au-.