National Union for Social Justice (organization)

The National Union for Social Justice was formed in 1934 by Father Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest and radio host. It was a political action group that heavily criticized communism, President Roosevelt's administration, and capitalism while also advocating for the nationalization of utilities and banks.

The Union was one of the most powerful movements to challenge President Roosevelt's New Deal policies.^[1] NUSJ fought for social equality and promoted populist ideologies. Membership was open to all Americans regardless of race, economic background or religious faith. At the height of the Union's popularity, it reached a membership of 7.5 million people, including African Americans, who were registered voters.^[2]

Coughlin founded the union on 16 principles, which included:

• Liberty of conscience and liberty of education.
• Every citizen willing to work and capable of working shall receive a just, living, annual wage which will enable him both to maintain and educate his family.
• Nationalizing those public resources which by their very nature are too important to be held in the control of private individuals.
• Private ownership of all other property.
• Upholding the right to private property but in controlling it for the public good.
• Abolition of the privately owned Federal Reserve Banking system and in the establishment of a Government owned Central Bank.
• The right to coin and regulate the value of money, which right must be restored to Congress where it belongs.
• The Central Bank must maintain the cost of living on an even keel and arrange for the repayment of dollar debts with equal value dollars.
• Cost of production plus a fair profit for the farmer.
• The right that the laboring man to organize in unions but also in the duty of the Government, which that laboring man supports, to protect these organizations against the vested interests of wealth and of intellect.
• Recall of all non-productive bonds and therefore in the alleviation of taxation.
• Abolition of tax-exempt bonds.
• Broadening the base of taxation according to the principles of ownership and the capacity to pay.
• Simplification of government and the further lifting of crushing taxation from the slender revenues of the laboring class.
• In the event of a war for the defense of our nation and its liberties, there shall be a conscription of wealth as well as a conscription of men.
• Preferring the sanctity of human rights to the sanctity of property rights.^[3]

Coughlin promoted the National Union for Social Justice by spreading the word on his weekly radio program, Hour of Power. His program helped spread the organization's ideologies and practices through its viewership.^[4] Coughlin fused his political rants with his organization and would promote that his organization's political views would combat capitalism and big business.

The National Union for Social Justice also created their own publication, titled Social Justice, in 1936. This publication promoted the ideologies of NUSJ and promoted anti-Semitic themes as well. However, Social Justice did not last long. In 1942, the publication's mail permit was revoked under the Espionage Act of 1917.^[5]

NUSJ served as a foundation for the formation of a third political party, called the Union. It was formed to challenge Roosevelt in the election of 1936. Its founding members included Father Charles E. Coughlin, activist Francis Townsend, and politician Gerald L. K. Smith. Their goal was to propose a populist alternative to the New Deal reforms made by Roosevelt, as well as to help draw democratic voters away from Roosevelt so a Republican could be voted into office. This short-lived party broke up following the re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.^[6]

The NUSJ did not impact the election as they had anticipated, and their political agendas were becoming unfavorable in the United States. The NUSJ eventually ended in 1937.

References

1. Brinkley, Alan. Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression. New York: Knopf, 1982. Print.
2. Carpenter, Ronald (1998). Father Charles E. Coughlin: Surrogate Spokesman for the Disaffected. Westpoint, Connecticut: Greenwood. ISBN 9780313290404.
3. Coughlin, Charles. Father Coughlin & The Search For "Social Justice". Social Security Agency. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
4. Warren, Donald (1996). Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio. New York: New York Free. ISBN 9780684824031.
5. Jeansonne, Glen (July 2012). The Priest and the President: Father Coughlin, FDR, and 1930s America. The Midwest Quarterly 53 (4).
6. Phillip, Grant (January 1990). The Priest in Politics: Father Charles E. Coughlin and the Presidential Election of 1936. America: History & Life 101 (1)