Third Winter
"One good old wordwork" was President Hoover's first prescription for meeting the Depression which crashed down upon the country in the fall of 1929. On his orders a potent army of industrialists, railmen, motormen, bankers, manufacturers, public utilitarians and labor leaders marched to the White House where they pledged "business-as-usual." More public works were planned to absorb unemployment. Private companies were urged to go in heavily for new construction. Income taxes were cut 1% to spur economic recovery.
In spite of the President's best efforts, the conservative American Federation of...