Exam 23: Coping With Change

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The McNary-Haugen bill refers to a series of proposed federal laws during the 1920s, specifically designed to support American agriculture by attempting to stabilize the prices of farm products. The bill was named after its chief sponsors, Senator Charles L. McNary of Oregon and Representative Gilbert N. Haugen of Iowa, both of whom were Republicans.

The significance of the McNary-Haugen bill lies in its attempt to address the agricultural economic crisis of the 1920s. After World War I, American farmers faced a severe drop in the prices of their products due to a surplus in production and a decline in demand both domestically and internationally. This was a stark contrast to the war years, when demand was high and prices were supported by global needs.

The proposed legislation aimed to establish a government program that would buy surplus crops at guaranteed prices and then sell them on the international market or dispose of them if they could not be sold. The difference between the guaranteed price and the selling price would be covered by a tax on domestic sales of farm products. This mechanism was intended to ensure that farmers would receive a fair price for their goods, thus providing them with a more stable income.

The McNary-Haugen bill was introduced several times in Congress during the 1920s but was vetoed twice by President Calvin Coolidge, first in 1927 and again in 1928. Coolidge and other opponents of the bill argued that it would distort the free market, increase consumer food prices, and lead to government control of agriculture.

Although the McNary-Haugen bill never became law, its concepts influenced future agricultural policies. The plight of farmers remained a critical issue, and with the onset of the Great Depression, the need for federal intervention in agriculture became even more pressing. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, incorporated some of the ideas from the McNary-Haugen bill, such as paying farmers to reduce production in order to raise prices.

In summary, the McNary-Haugen bill was a significant legislative effort in the 1920s to support American farmers by stabilizing agricultural prices through government intervention. Although it was not enacted, it set the stage for future agricultural policies that sought to address the economic difficulties faced by the farming sector in the United States.

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Al Capone, also known as "Scarface," was one of the most infamous American gangsters of the 20th century. Born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian immigrant parents, Capone became involved in gang activities at a young age. He moved to Chicago in the early 1920s to take advantage of the opportunities in the criminal underworld during the Prohibition era.

Capone's significance lies in his role as the boss of the Chicago Outfit, a crime syndicate that was involved in illegal activities such as bootlegging (the illegal production and distribution of alcohol), gambling, and prostitution. Under Capone's leadership, the Chicago Outfit gained a notorious reputation and controlled large portions of the illegal liquor trade.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929, in which seven members of the rival Bugs Moran gang were gunned down, is often associated with Capone, although his involvement was never definitively proven. This event contributed to his notoriety and depicted the violent nature of organized crime during that period.

Despite his criminal empire, Capone was famously brought down by the U.S. government on charges of tax evasion. In 1931, he was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. He served part of his sentence at the then-new Alcatraz federal prison in San Francisco Bay. His health deteriorated while in prison, partly due to syphilis, and he was released in 1939. Capone spent the last years of his life in his mansion in Palm Island, Florida, and died on January 25, 1947, from cardiac arrest after suffering a stroke.

Al Capone's legacy is that of a symbol of the lawlessness and corruption of the Prohibition era, as well as the government's efforts to combat organized crime. His life has been the subject of numerous books, movies, and television shows, cementing his place as an iconic figure in American popular culture.