The Conservative Manifesto of 1937

The Conservative Manifesto was written by U.S. Senator Josiah Bailey of North Carolina in 1937 in opposition to the New Deal. As the dawn of the Newer Deal and the Even Greater Society approaches, it is fitting to reflect on these solid ideas against collectivization which are still valid today. A recent UCLA study concluded that FDR's socialist New Deal caused the Great Depression to last seven years longer. Presently, financial analysts predict a recession on the horizon. The same brand of policies that lengthened the American Great Depression will undoubtedly be proposed by Congress and the President Elect. History will repeat itself. Not necessarily in the form of "Great Depression; The Sequel" but in a prolonged financial crisis irritated by government intervention.

The Conservative Manifesto 1937
1. Immediate revision of taxes on capital gains and undistributed profits in order to free investment funds.
2. Reduce expenditures to achieve a balanced budget, and thus, to still fears deterring business expansion.
3. An end to coercion and violence in relations between capital and labor.
4. Opposition to “unnecessary” government competition with private enterprise.
5. Recognition that private investment and enterprise require a reasonable profit.
6. Safeguarding the collateral upon which credit rests.
7. Reduction of taxes, or if this proves impossible at the moment, firm assurance of no further increases.
8. Maintenance of state rights, home rule, and local self-government, except where proven definitely inadequate.
9. Economical and non-political relief to unemployed with maximum local responsibility.
10. Reliance upon the American form of government and the American system of enterprise.