Answer one question from one section only. Section B: American option The Great Crash, the Great Depression and the New Deal policies, 1920-41 2 Read the sources and then answer both parts of the question. Source A [Figure A] A cartoon published in a newspaper, February 1937. Source B What the President's plan amounts to is this. The Supreme Court has ruled that many of the New Deal proposals were unconstitutional. He now proposes to make changes to it by 'packing' the Supreme Court with his supporters. This will subordinate the Court to the personal power of the Executive, of which he is the head. I am not just criticising the plans because I am a member of another political party, but because this is an attack on our form of government. This is an attack on our fundamental liberties. In the fourteen public welfare cases where the President tried to increase his personal power, the Court has found that he had violated the Constitution in eight of them. Former Republican President Hoover, writing in March 1937. Source C My reasons for wishing to change the number of members of the Supreme Court are simple. The Court has set aside yet another piece of important Congressional legislation. There can be no minimum wages set. Women cannot be protected from oppressive wages or bad working conditions. Those opposing my changes fail to understand that those who wrote the Constitution wished it to be a flexible document. They are using an incorrect interpretation of the Constitution for political and personal reasons and aim to destroy the New Deal. The Schechter case shows why the Court needs to change to meet the needs of the times. The Court has not interpreted the Constitution in the interests of all Americans, just in the interests of those who oppose the New Deal. This case suggests the judges are aiming to give the Court a position of influence in our system of government, which was never intended. The National Recovery Act (NRA) was approved by Congress. It had every right to prosecute this business. Schechter had broken the law; it sold diseased meat. The public was being protected by the NRA, yet it was declared unconstitutional. President Roosevelt speaking at a Democratic Party rally, 4 March 1937. Source D The Democratic Party is divided over the President's wish to increase the membership of the Supreme Court. Some oppose as they fear that it will offend conservative interests and give too much ammunition to their political opponents. The majority are broadly in favour. They argue that it is strange that in our democracy, where the popular will should be supreme, our Constitution has become what nine elderly judges say it is. They agree with the President over the 'Sick Chicken' case. They know the current judges, all bar one having been commercial lawyers, will interpret our Constitution narrowly in the interests of property and business. The judges support the political opponents of the New Deal in their wish to declare unconstitutional any legislation that displeases men of property. Schechter had been convicted for breaches of NRA rules not only for dishonesty, but also for selling diseased chickens to their unsuspecting customers. The Court felt that the actions of the NRA were unconstitutional, and that Congress had no right to grant such powers to the NRA. From the 'Los Angeles Times', 7 April 1937. Answer both parts of the question with reference to the sources.