H.A. has his hands full brokering deals between workers and big business. Strife is high.
Over two million workers have been on strike across the country in coal
mines, steel mills, and railroads. The
administration, and sometimes H.A. personally, jumped in to mediate the
strikes. With price controls as a
strong bargaining tool, H.A. was able to settle the strikes in the workers' favor. His efforts have brought higher wages to workers and are very gradually
reducing price controls so the higher wages are not lost with the higher cost of consumer goods. The Whiskey Rebels claim this is Communism; however, things are much different in Russia.
Stalin’s
new five-year plan forces his citizens to sacrifice consumer goods in favor of military
needs. Stalin is building his military because he fears a conflict with American and our allies. The violent rhetoric from the Whiskey Rebels and their allies reinforces Stalins paranoia. This creates a cycle that supports both sides. The Whiskey leaders see the new five-year plan as a declaration
of war and that the U.S. must respond in kind.
If didn’t help that newspapers have reports of Soviet agents funneling
atomic secrets from the U.S. to Moscow via Canada. This continues to inflate the fear mongers
that the president’s administration is riddled with Communist sympathizers and
spies who wanted the Soviets to have the bomb and take over the world. Adding fuel to the fire, George
F. Kennan, our American charge d’affairs in Moscow sent a telegram expressing his fears of Communist expansion.
© 2013 Ron Millar
© 2013 Ron Millar
