March 22, 1935: Louisiana’s ‘Kingfish’ stirs up trouble
Even from 3,000 kilometres away, Edmonton was not immune to the eccentricities of colourful United States Senator Huey P. Long.
The “Dictator of Louisiana,” also known as “The Kingfish,” stirred up a minor hornet’s nest of trouble among local Social Credit groups by announcing he had organized nine clubs in Edmonton supporting his Share the Wealth program.
The program with the motto “Every Man a King,” was started in 1934 and designed to provide a decent standard of living to all Americans by spreading the nation’s wealth among the people to curb poverty and homelessness.
Long, a Democrat who was governor of Louisiana from 1928 until 1932 when he was elected senator, believed the Great Depression was the result of the vast disparity between the super-rich 15 per cent and everyone else.
Five million people had joined Long’s Share the Wealth clubs where members met weekly to discuss his ideas and spread his message. Besides Edmonton, Long claimed to have started clubs in London, Ont.; Toronto; Quebec City; and Montreal as well as throughout the U.S.
Social Credit party officials countered by saying they had just organized nine Social Credit groups in Edmonton and suspected Long was attempting to take all the credit. The basic premise of social credit — that all citizens have the right to the wealth they jointly produce — was at the heart of numerous Social Credit study groups devoted to the theory that sprang up across Alberta.
Long refused to name any of his club members or their organizers, explaining that his club members might become victims of discrimination. The Journal story said a diligent search had failed to find any trace of his organization here.
That August, barely months after its formation, the Social Credit party defeated the governing United Farmers of Alberta to form a majority government and remained in power until 1971.
Six months after visiting Edmonton, and shortly after announcing he would challenge president Franklin Roosevelt in a run for the White House in the next election, Long was assassinated on Sept. 8, in the Louisiana state capital building in Baton Rouge. He was shot point-blank in the abdomen by Dr. Carl Weiss, who was angry about rumours Long had spread about the doctor’s in-laws, who had opposed Long politically.
The 42-year-old Long died in hospital two days later.