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Merwin Kimball Hart (June 25, 1881 – November 30, 1962) was an American lawyer, insurance executive, and politician from
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
who founded the National Economic Council, Inc. and was "involved in controversial matters throughout his career."


Background

Merwin K. Hart was born on June 25, 1881, in
Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...
. His parents were H. Gilbert Hart and Lucy Lord Kimball. In 1904, he obtained a BA from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(in the same class as
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
). He spent a half year studying in Germany. He then studied law.


Career

In 1905, he joined his father's law firm, Hart-Crouse Company. He formed the "Industrial Liberty League." He then became a director of the New York Radiator Company of Utica, the Chamber of Commerce, and the First National Bank (of which his great-grandfather Ephraim Hart had also been a director). In 1906, Hart was a Republican member of the
New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...
(Oneida Co., 1st D.) in
1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...
and
1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...
. On June 11, 1908, he sponsored the
Hart–Agnew Law The Hart–Agnew Law was an anti-gambling bill passed into law by the Legislature of the State of New York on June 11, 1908. It was an amalgam of bills enacted as Chapter 506 and 507 which were sponsored by conservative Assemblyman Merwin K. Har ...
, an anti-
gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...
bill passed by the
New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an offici ...
that led to a complete shutdown of
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...
in the State (1911–1912). In 1909, he formed the "Republic League of Oneida County." In 1911, Hart was admitted to the New York bar. In 1914, he formed the "Mutual Workmen's Compensation Insurance Company", later the Utica Mutual Insurance Company. During the First World War, Hart served in France, as Captain, although the Army first wanted Hart to serve in Ordnance; interference by Roosevelt helped Hart get his demanded commission. After the War, Hart returned to practicing law. From 1926 to 1929, Hart was a member of the New York Industrial Survey Commission. In April 1929, Hart and others founded the "New York State-wide Economic Council", a legislative lobbying organization that sought to curtail government interference into the economy in the aftermath of the economic collapse in 1929. Roosevelt's
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
would provide for new challenges to the organization, especially to Hart personally, who saw in the New Deal something far removed from the American way of life. Another factor, Hart believed, too, was interfering with society:
Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. In 1931, the council renamed itself the "New York State Economic Council": Hart gave up practice of the law to become its president. In 1937 Hart toured Europe and praised
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...
’s Nationalists for opposing Communism. In the 1940s, Hart became briefly a target of Secretary of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes Harold LeClair Ickes ( ; March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold th ...
. Ickes spoke about "
fifth column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...
" interference in the United States at an address at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, and classified Hart as being part of the "native fascist minded group." Hart demanded a retraction by Ickes, saying that his "statements are absolutely false." In reply, Ickes offered Hart a "trade." "I will retract my statement gladly when I hear that you have come out to fight against the asserted gangs of native Fascists and fifth columnists that are trying to pave the way for the dictators here as they prepared it in other lands; when I hear that you have come out in defense of civil liberties and American democracy. Until then, my dear sir, you remain in my eyes, and in the eyes of the American people, what I said you were." An unsatisfied Hart replied, "I am and always have been absolutely opposed to fascism, nazism and communism in the United States ... heyare building up in Washington a government well-nigh as fascistic, as despotic, as anything in the dictator countries of Europe." Ickes would later denounce Hart as a bigot, one of the five American "
Quisling ''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English to mean a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force; it may also be used more generally as a synonym for ''traitor'' or ...
s." Hart accused Ickes of slander again. In 1943, the council changed its name again, this time to the National Economic Council." A few noted
libertarians Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...
did some work, Albert Jay Nock,
Frank Chodorov Frank Chodorov (February 15, 1887 – December 28, 1966) was an American intellectual, author, and member of the Old Right, a group of classically liberal thinkers who were non-interventionist in foreign policy and opposed to both the America ...
and
Garet Garrett Garet Garrett (February 19, 1878 – November 6, 1954), born Edward Peter Garrett, was an American journalist and author, known for his opposition to the New Deal and U.S. involvement in World War II. Overview Garrett was born February 1 ...
, but none joined the Council. The National Economic Council itself would work together with the National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government during the next years, a committee founded by
Frank Gannett Frank Ernest Gannett (September 15, 1876 – December 3, 1957) was an American publisher who founded the media corporation Gannett Company. He began his career in 1906 as half owner of the ''Elmira Gazette''. He soon added newspapers in Ithac ...
. After World War II, Hart tried to set up a
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
, but did not find enough followers. In 1947, the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...
cited Merwin K. Hart's National Economic Council along with
Gerald L. K. Smith Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (February 27, 1898 – April 15, 1976) was an American Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Disciples clergyman, politician and organizer known for his Populism, populist and Far-right politics, far-right demagoguer ...
's Christian Nationalist Crusade and the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
as organized anti-Jewish organizations... which had significant influence, resources and membership." In 1960, Hart became a chairman of the New York branch of the
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and ...
. Although he denied allegations of
anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
before the Buchanan committee, the 1961 letter of the National Economic Council carried the following statement:
... If there were 6,000,000 Jews within reach of
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, which number is widely questioned, and if they have all disappeared, where are they? ... Is it not likely that many of these 6,000,000 claimed to have been killed by Hitler and Eichmann are right here in the United States and are now joining in the agitation for more and more support for the state of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
—even if the American Republic goes down.
A few years after Hart's death, the indebted National Economic Council was conveyed to
Willis Carto Willis Allison Carto (July 17, 1926 – October 26, 2015) was an Far right in the United States, American far-right political activist. He described himself as a Jeffersonian democracy, Jeffersonian and a Right-wing populism, populist, but wa ...
.


Personal life and death

On November 20, 1909, Hart married Katherine Margaret Crouse. His second wife was Constance Gray Dall. He had three sons and a daughter. Hart was a fourth-generation member of Masonic Order Utica Lodge 47. Hart died on November 30, 1962. He is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.


Legacy

Hart appears as a McCarthy-style Red hunter in ''
The Vital Center ''The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom'' is a 1949 book by Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. It defends liberal democracy and a state-regulated market economy against the totalitarianism of communism and fascism. Summary Schlesin ...
'' (1949), in which author Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. describes his efforts in the late 1940s:
The most recent textbook witch-hunt provides an edifying example. In August 1947, on the letterhead of an organization calling itself the National Economic Council, Inc., a man named Merwin K. Hart wrote to every member of the boards of trustees of colleges using ''Elements of Economics'', an economic text written by Professor Lorie Tarshis of Stanford University. An enclosed review denounced the book for its exposition of the doctrines of Lord
Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...
and identified Keynseianism as a form of
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
.
Hart's letter had an immediate effect. Organizations of small businessmen passed resolutions in his support. Trusettes and alumni wrote outraged letters to college presidents. Yet who was Merwin K. Hart? His record had been long known to students of the American proto-fascist demimonde ...
Fortunately enough college presidents knew Hart's record to stand up courageously to the uproar ... The
American Economic Association The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics, with approximately 23,000 members. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Review, an ...
eventually appointed a special committee to deal with the attacks on the Tarshis book and on other economic texts.


Works

*''America, Look at Spain'' (New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons, 1939)


See also

* Edward A. Rumely of the Committee for Constitutional Government * Joseph P. Kamp of the Constitutional Educational League


References


External links


Guide to the Merwin K. Hart papers at the University of OregonEconomic Council Letter
(June 15, 1948)
Harvard Art Museums
Caricature of Hart *

' (1950) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Merwin K. 1881 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American far-right politicians 20th-century American lawyers Politicians from Utica, New York Harvard University alumni United States Army personnel of World War I New York (state) lawyers Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly American conspiracy theorists American fascists American Holocaust deniers American segregationists John Birch Society members 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature