Hoover Warning of Collectivism 1929...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Herbert Hoover - 31st President of the United States

Herbert Hoover, perhaps one of America's least understood yet most maligned presidents of the early 20th century. While thinking about, or perhaps better said reflecting on our history I came across the following short article on President Hoover.

Arguments about whether or not Hoover was responsible for the Great Depression aside (he actually wasn't and much of The New Deal of FDR was merely an extension of policies Hoover had started) Hoover was correct when he warned of a collectivist government of business.

THE MORAL LIBERAL - Herbert Hoover was born AUGUST 10, 1874. The son of a Quaker blacksmith, he studied at Stanford and became a world renowned engineer.

Trapped in China when the Boxer Rebellion broke out in 1900, Herbert Hoover directed the building of barricades under heavy fire while his wife worked in the hospital. In World War I, at the request of the AmericanConsul, Hoover helped 120,000Americans stranded in Europe return home

He directed the feeding of Belgium after Kaiser Wilhelm II overran it and orchestrated feeding the Allied nations while avoiding rationing at home. After the war, Herbert Hoover arranged the feeding of millions starving in Central Europe and Russia.

He served as Secretary of Commerce for Presidents Harding and Coolidge. When the Mississippi River flooded in 1927,leaving 1.5 million people displaced from their homes, Herbert Hoover mobilized state and local authorities, militia, army engineers, the Coast Guard, and the American Red Cross, and set up health units which stamped out malaria, pellagra and typhoid, gaining him nation appreciation.

In 1929, Herbert Hoover became the 31st U.S. President. In his Inaugural, March 4, 1929, President Herbert Hoover entreated:

“Ill-considered remedies for our faults brings only penalties after them. But if we hold the faith of the men in our mighty past who created these ideals, we shall leave them heightened and strengthened for our children

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Less than eight months later, the Stock Market crashed due to domestic and international conditions. Though implementing a volunteerism plan of aid through the States, political opposition tended to prolong recovery, thereby sabotaging his reelection.

Hoover warned in a speech at Madison Square Garden, NY, October 31, 1932, against his opponent’s collectivist “New Deal” plans of the government taking control of businesses:

“To enter upon a series of deep changes . . . would be to undermine and destroy our American system . . . No man who has not occupied my position in Washington can fully realize the constant battle which must be carried on against incompetence, corruption, tyranny of government expanded into business activities . . . Free speech does not live many hours after free industry and free commerce die.” Read More

President Hoover, like most of our national leaders was a deeply devout Christian whose values and principles were formed my his sincere belief in the Almighty. For those who are devout I encourage you to read the balance of the article. You will find many things that will ring true for you.

For those not unlike myself who abide deeply by our founding principles and the documents our Republic was founded on it is enough for us to know they are ethical and moral based on criteria other than religious faith. Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and her belief in laissez faire capitalism, individual rights, limited role of federal government, and her faith in the United States Constitution is one shining example of which I speak.

Perhaps President Hoover was prophetic. Fast forward to now as we hear our now President in his own words on August 8, 1995, 13 years before becoming our President.



Without the need to run for reelection the progressive tendencies are undoubtedly going to become stronger and want to push to the fore in the Presidents thinking. In as much as the nation is tired of gridlock and contentious government, maybe it is a good thing we still have "divided government" in the structural sense of it's current make up.

Much needs to be addressed as our nation deals with debt, deficits, the looming fiscal crises, and the myriad of other issues both domestic and internationally the leader(s) of the free world has to address. Lets hope the President and Congress does so with a clear eye to the Constitution, the benefits of capitalism, and with the understanding that individual and property rights are two of the hallmarks of of our Republic.