, and the farmers and their families were fed. The national media, however, portrayed it as a mob of starving angry farmers robbing and looting the town of England. The negative portrayal of the scene led an already worn and frightened public to worry about unrest and revolution.The conditions were hardly better in the large cities. In Detroit, were the entire economy centered on the auto manufacturing facilities of the Ford Motor Company, conditions were especially bad. Mayor Murphy tried to give as many people welfare as he could, but soon the number of people needing help forced the program, and the city with it, into desperate financial straights, but because of Hoovers policies, there was no federal money to help them. The members of the communist party, never numbering more than 2000, led thousands of workers in protests on Detroit streets. One of these protest led the workers to the outskirts of Detroit, and the grounds of the Ford plant. They were met there by the Detroit police and the armed plant guards, who warned them that they were not going to be permitted to continue onto Ford property. The marchers held a quick meeting, and then decided to continue. As they did so, the police and guards opened fire on them, killing four of the marchers, and causing more disgruntlement in the already perturbed citizenry of the nation.The worst of the tragedies to result from Hoovers policies was the march on Washington DC by the American Legion and the World War One veterans. The vets had been promised that if they enlisted, they would be awarded a bonus in 1945. Many of the vets though, felt that because of the terrible economic situation they deserved to be awarded their bonuses early. They marched in by the thousands to Washington DC and set up camp in old building and on the outskirts of town in tents and shanties. The city government was very accommodating to them, and did not harass them at all. The marchers milled ar...
