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N0KFQ > TODAY 15.08.12 22:22l 67 Lines 3190 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 15
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<ON4HU<CX2SA<ZL2BAU<XE1FH<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120815/2015Z 26780@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.52
Aug 15, 1930:
Hoover looks to combat drought and economic depression
On this day in 1930, President Herbert Hoover gives a press
conference in which he offers plans for relief of individuals and
businesses affected by a series of devastating droughts. The
droughts, combined with a major stock market crash in October
1929, resulted in dire economic conditions in the country that
lasted throughout the early to mid-1930s, an era known as the
"Great Depression."
In 1930, the drought conditions had caused bankruptcies among
small farmers who were then forced off their lands in search of
work. A domino effect resulted in layoffs of workers in
farm-related industries and agricultural banking. These
unemployed agricultural workers flooded a labor market already
suffering from job losses due to the stock market crash of 1929.
In addition, water levels in some places shrunk to the point
where public health was threatened by diseases caused by stagnant
water.
Although critics later blamed Hoover for not doing enough to
fight the Great Depression, his press conference of August 15
indicates that he at least attempted to put forward some
emergency measures to stave off the economic collapse of the
agricultural industry. In his statement, Hoover called for a mass
mobilization of aid workers in response to the drought; asked
state governors to organize committees to draft suggestions on
how to aid the unemployed; and tasked the Red Cross with getting
immediate aid to impoverished families. He asked the War
Department to provide artillery range land to Montana cattle and
sheep farmers for grazing. He also proposed a plan that Franklin
Roosevelt would later expand upon: increasing federal money to
drought-stricken areas to begin road-building programs for
unemployed workers.
Hoover's piecemeal, primarily state-led relief plan, however, was
not enough. As economic conditions worsened over the next two
years, growing numbers of Americans plunged into poverty and
shanty-towns of unemployed men sprang up in city parks; they were
dubbed "Hoovervilles." Hoover and his wife Lou were criticized
for maintaining a lavish lifestyle in the White House; this
perceived lack of concern on the part of the president for his
fellow citizens, combined with his reluctance to implement
government spending relief programs, resulted in his ouster in
1932. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was swept into office that year
on a platform of increased government-spending programs that he
called the "New Deal." These programs included the establishment
of massive infrastructure-construction projects, Social Security
and the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Despite his reputation for insensitivity, Hoover's political
career, both before and after his stint in the White House,
included high-level positions in humanitarian-aid policy
development. After World War II, President Truman tasked Hoover
with finding ways to deal with a widespread European famine
caused by the prolonged fighting. Hoover is best remembered,
however, as the man who failed to save the nation from the Great
Depression.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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