The Home Front
BOHN, WILLIAM E.
A Page of - Features Americana The Home Front By WILLIAM E. BOHN ftpvfe/lc. ¦ 0»ff mrtf* iQOME fellows have it all figured out. I just read a piece by a W smart columnist with a Washington...
...they were bound to leas, doe to lack of concerted action and the inner conflicts...
...And one finds even teas of a justification far the work itself...
...Which mag er *** Wat sagfest to the Rt Rev...
...One of the principal, If not tee main, reason of the tragedy of the labor amvmaagtn boasting a membership of tu enty-six mHlion workers was...
...Bt Leon MarekaL Tke Marm Man Company, Sent York, 1943...
...This may not apply-to ComSTunlstn...
...L. W!Hte'« Qu*m* Die Pretuiiy...
...We have the journalists, the cartoonists, thi sipwtoousd seaastlm saHera We hiTrmllHms nf readers who sre wsiting...
...twmewaee sssarpemaa sasaspsaas, aad msdgjK are alt sctateMed...
...Right along with that geee tile determination to defend the unions and the labor gains made during the past ten years...
...WeB, test week the iPiihai otfored *a a dirissSit, Oa sSo a^«af ^P^^^^?^M^^t^aa^^^a>^^^^^WP^C^ k reign - worsen cmywieoge or woros so tnuse sppneaMe to tae ssv ediate aeods for work aad existence...
...I wish I could make a regular •urvsy and give you samples...
...They are so mad at this Mine Strife that tfcey are ready to vote for the G.O.P...
...Thus with tho abandonment of the octupied factories tr...
...It is not necessary for Hollywood to fabrify facts to make it slightly betteft" By the way, Joe Davies wHl not be'returned to Moscow -as U. S. Ambassador...
...Manager William Wolpert of the Display Fixture Workers Union hroughr Win the other day...
...His break with the collaborators of the Axis dates front the return to power of Laval...
...The thing covers sll sectors snd sections...
...Three stones* from' a "Song for Lobsters": "He i* beautiful as water . AWWrnw ¦ m^t^WWM^HMWWr "*^aV 9 atTas/, J "*'fnftsr^iasn'assmsial fnasiatafi itXb trnm^r *m4*l HnaWvf ^s^awwJ -HK^^^I^ 0\ ^^(MP^ A\\?' ^p9ems Put the kettU en, wife, In tke U**Ur pot...
...A bey named Harry expressed himself thus: "Keep on fighting and keep ap the good work on die heme-front Bant let fascist-mined individuals sabotage¦•the war Offer...
...ffraate the golden *MUk * {jshg...
...THE American Communications Association had sent out an inquiry—what would the beys like to have sent to them...
...You get British and South American and Bnropean labor news along with the local reports...
...What Are We Fighting For...
...Then 1 had another idea...
...Right here in New York I have seen all sort of voters' kick over the traces...
...fJmTmyenterVristeg pilWiafrWT llaVM tat**1 StettCTllWlt OU ttW <fttft f!tf^9T ad- fate nsort hhe* along With thsr s^ovmg tMtjtas he has altaadp printed by trnlaaa1 Lgsa Whtps and Percy Hutch.ton of the New Tork Tt*km Book Remiew Perhaps easy your soul ptisan...
...It is net just one industry or one section of the country...
...I put this journal first on my list because, btrt of Hs 14" pages, six are devoted to letter* from boys la the" services...
...It is fronr^Y^^J^^I^fl^^^T cards and who'value'them highly wM hot jaftaggiffllltshnl patriot* to destroy th.t weapon which they will need to protect themselves from tha enemy at home...
...But by that time things will be set so that the soMjsrsMn vote—and the sailors...
...Everyone is right on his toes...
...The meat rtirrt rtrraaii i> Ike Tanis>i smlseii of the occupation of the factories ia htoly >« awgtiss, Mao...
...v Thafs the way things used to he...
...Do' you see >>w neat that turns out to be...
...Marchal was not a criminal before the break with Vichy, but he is now just aa far from being a hero...
...As a latsosij Ussete...
...There are such headlines so "Organise Heme Front for Victory...
...Mensignor John A. Ryan...
...Jf^^^^eV^kSkkt tA\*}BMtfAyj%V #9 /Alt...
...tttJT't started but to discuss this Washington chap and his idea '"¦•that all of the soldiers will vote Republican...
...It's different from Europe's...
...It always has been...
...Those communists who survived had now ten...
...Once started on this business of tearing up the Washington Msn's neat demonstration, I began to think of the hundreds of soldiers I have talked to...
...TtAah,' sg^sany'*B$*yj*$A who* tiStieoiii of speech" means...
...The true case far Russia is excellent...
...New man for the Kremlin will be Avevili Hammar . . . .• • • *T*h« Assieert—Just n short while ago...
...fa addition, he weaves into has aseeant the work at other svetlfiii s nstei ionsfeslaadc State smd pasaflgy stupid...
...You know what I mean—lists of officers, reports of conventions, long resolutions, pictures of politicians...
...Tea read these letters aad yoa begin to realize that fellow unionists and the union officials keep writing to these hogs...
...There is, first of all, ate will to win the war...
...Here in the J ******* is* ar i esulUtjbn passed by American Legion Pest No...
...It seems that wherever moSahmnts were led by men whose theoretical considerations and hesitations influenced them more than their desire or courage to act decisively, they lest to the men or groups who did not let their actions be hampered by considerations of theory...
...Sovief citteens can be found daily rolling in the aisles of "tBWVtssiva to Mcvcov cinema...
...uss*gaii stfawod him tatst a* had nothing to fear front efgaaaad labcr'aMarst ^fsToasat" meetings or oeeaeional strikes...
...Our tradition is Co •grin— snd mske ap our own minds...
...There win be about 12,000.000 men in the fighting forces...
...S2.50...
...Private Joseph wrote back...
...Aa welT as every other member I know what the union is doing to Better working conditions...
...Books and Writers Failure in Europe By STEPHEN NAFT THS TRAGEDY OF SV&OPtAN cMA^^P^Aa^i dhraM.;Mw«M...
...These Labor papers are no longer parochial and provincial...
...Sounds a bit fussy...
...Lowe iWtoiegaf...
...Ther*Army aha Navy plus the Legion will just counterbalance the trade unionists...
...Yon will recall that m 1940 when John L. Lewis told his miners to vote for Wfflkie -they practically all made their crosses far Rodeevett...
...Thereupon the workers or gssmessYs stesp4a%trike involving at first 500.000 Worses, of sal islitical parties, ahwnahst...
...Most of these 'Ubor "papers hate pages devoted to soldiers letters...
...We're • Coafoakeross Lot THE best thing about us Americans is that we don't always believe what we read or do as we are told...
...I am told that thaw have discipline—even in the election booths...
...And because many are mad at him they will vote for Republican candidates, and agstwot Blrtiriit...
...e Mew Will He Soldier* Vote...
...I have watched elections for quite s spell...
...I will start with the very 'smallest paper of one of the smallest unions, Tke Display Werker...
...The Board reversed h» •aroaeasL and after touch verbal violence explained . . we faal that the deepest principle of human liberty m invarred—ths necessity of telling the public the truth...
...That was an experience...
...Genffemen, fhe Cotter Press WITH two...
...Chatter Inside and Out By MATTHEW LOW *J^^^VNH^^^v* sr*^iflk*^(*em*)ae **^^I^Ofl'* %X% it ansa tfcfsvwP* ^PV* 4kaj ^tf^f9tt*^^^B9t**^t^B*% . . The Daeies film, which was islteeeod by war aae^dejs^hdamssttf (ia pass on), haa had a number of pubitc showings ta Msssow kateii ordibsfy Russian citisens...
...The Republicans already have it tucked away in the bag It is like this...
...Marchal ia no kiWuf* fmUl atteTWn Jupiter and Prometheus than or...
...Mow dboef a Blonde...
...I just read a piece by a W smart columnist with a Washington date-line...
...reVarwer eesad fail to be moved by lines like these, Mt <3effis«s ' reading of our history: asm im* warn prvmiwew^prinnmee *rw...
...Ceteimtia Univemtv Press 389 pages...
...Qi*Tln*k Ajthsftea M indieputobly corn...
...ea thteaMeof the wafer, a l*H*e controversy has been rsgWig in the War Writers Board...
...All right...
...A Page of - Features Americana The Home Front By WILLIAM E. BOHN ftpvfe/lc...
...One searches the volume in vain to find any justification for the author...
...Hero aogem the dedteaafg Sees'test Sang ef Itetiaa labae, bat of Ok gjjiaSif, -gy, I iisji strathtg their iasiecisian...
...When the moment of real struggle, not just verbal dispute, arrived, the masses of the workers, brought up in legalistic tradition and the rather metaphysical belief in the superiority of mind over matter—which, expressed a concrete political terms, means the superiority of ballots over bullets—the washers were bound to lost ami lost SturmthaJ's analysis of past errors of commission and omission should by no means be classified ae easy hindsight His criticism ia well justified and worth reading, to avoid similar errors, although we know that all we learn from history is that we learn nothing front History...
...They were a nightmare of uninspired sameness...
...Most of them had no choice...
...writing the introduction to lain* eolamg' «ddto gVttuedidii's hook...
...The other folks—farmers, businessmen and such—will just naturally vote lepublican...
...or three exceptions the Labor papers of this country " used'to be the dullest lot of printed pages you could imagine...
...He openly supportod fib PaaetSte and the other week he exaiamed again...
...So far as he is concerned, the 1M4 election will be nothing but a 'formality...
...3.50...
...He is drive* to Store tsjgetttleil of what'we have aarsadg read in ate paper...
...You soon find that the union regularly sends them cartons ef • rigsrettes...
...iTHfc author, an official of the french Ministry * of Foreign Affairs, served under the Vichy government up to April, 1942...
...He supports this *y rninWrousrhsTtTiee* fforh ffle History oi European User movement...
...Who won with Om help ef tfts govemtnent MussolinPs victory found aw apt diseiple in Httlar...
...Wound ap Syrvoster: sSargsatJwg a aasVtor ^tjt^h...
...Th* bsnor-able awrt nf Laval's life, haWwner...
...Absorbing reading matter—every one of them...
...to the end of their lives...
...6M, Sdfcay, *T* view with condemnation the statement.of our rtuUNSal fSntsmawr, Reena Waring, m which he urged that drastte •?^**JH*»ite eliminate this Lewis arid everything he stand* f^ We apologise to . . . the-nation for our patt »V fit|ljic_aRB»to of the character and mentality af Roane WatrWtf^jBBtmT ¦ I mend smsls frees haedredref tatters...
...WW llOV'Bl...
...What the Social Democrats jn Germany aad Pmesis did, or rather did not do with their power to prevent the raise of Naarsm is smother question Perhaps what Sturmthal means by tMe expression "pressure group" as distinguished from "political action," is the eternal conflict Between theory aad action, the inability of many men to pass from thought to deeds, which is inevitably followed by the submission to the will of those who are more ready to act without much regard to theories...
...Posnn-crattc Tarty did take ever, at toast outwardly, political power in tad Weimar ltepaht*.' aad aufiataiuuJ it for a long time in Prussia...
...aeeordteg to Sturm thai, labor's unwillingness to aisSaate political responsibility for rebuilding or reehnstiuvllng the political and social form of society and conferring itself with tee rots of pressure groups for the purpose of obtaining immediate demands directly concerned only with problems of Wages and hours...
...Or take John L. Lewis's own organ, the United Mtne Worker* Journal...
...It's time to have The United Sunns Labor HeraM...
...The news, the pictures, the cartoons, the editorials ' —the whole thing is vibrating with vigor...
...But I want to report that the war has brought on a revolutionary change...
...He has nothing to partsrut&r ta reveal to us, far he knows aothiSg...
...And ho seems to be no better HWi asStt* ISaSsfutaa* thi literature of antiquity...
...Tnnra are, to addition, about a million men in the American Legion...
...He was not alone in this belief...
...He bttste^ Wh^^mawlchi^^ touch, from the stupid aneVween ¦ ffisjBjf *te^?tt|*^*s» tUhf^t^gf ^QOmC aa-bOfft ftaaT ftOaNUAr^aMA Caaaflaprf^^yaalsal Peat Gew*Ry*He dldart like the Idea of White, wtm aeed to aw an aetrve Hberal...
...You have splendid, double-page spreads with fine ray-out and' typography and pictures...
...An ordinary -wage conflict he the waeaoaa, mm** Was anawerad by the manutec-taeess ha hick-ten...
...hhl^dsmWflfWaa fill this column...
...Why don't we have the paper...
...Well, first of ail, is it possible to ship a nice blonde about twenty years of age down here to keep -S lonely soldier happy...
...Maybe that sounds funny to you...
...taar-xhisea, gijShsSJ Stli and Catholics alike took par-in this aetSaav bbt only the ataSfiiilthlte (a left Socialist abSvrmliu with certain synatealkst ten-arte) Ismsstiat tfktt the factory ocorpafton shout: be a starting peir- far the aatiai and pel'as...
...The May issue is filled with the pictaPto e# saagisy add sailors from the vsrious locals . And here's fin lilWaifik'HWha., You will recall that our Washington reedy-revfaoher caOTttesn a 1*0% American Legion veto...
...A Slurred Story of Vichy By PAUL TEXTOR VICnY...
...For twenty years smart intellectuals have been running us down as s place without soul, distinction, or folk lore, when, all the time, we had colors on us like s young rainbow and about the richest mythology that ever sprang from men with dirt on their hands from planting seeds in the wflaoW**,*_^ Here is whst he does...
...This explanstion is net entirely convincing in view Qj the fact that the German Stem...
...Peters aad LaVaL "America is -Corn" By MILTON HINDUS Lf ERE is what Pulitaer-Prlse Winner Robert ** Coffin eays in his Foreword: "Our war of life...
...ths beak contains nothing mere than has bean said over aad over again...
...That would be something...
...aselss wa^W...
...Outside of that, about Hie only thing I esahf snag art ia cigarettes...
...In this espae}ty be had ample opportunity to meet laJHTy flh uiaailltent leaders of European labor movements and become thoroughly acquainted with their views and motivations...
...The letters usually start with thanks...
...One soldier concludes his epistle: "I still feel ss if I'm a part ef the union...
...e hitrn-^ntrti from the faetory...
...Net just A. F. of L. or CIO...
...Italy leraa-eaa labor began its march to aeStmetion...
...Leon MavchsM writes n*C aa a ai Stem si hat as a journalist...
...There are about 13,000,000 trade unionists They can be counted on for any New Deal candidate—rf there ia a New Deal candidate...
...Here are people fat fighting mood...
...His fight is partly a personal feud against President Roosevelt...
...Here obvtowsrr is poetry if ynu'vegbt a seaamwh :'tor it' I ahwTNsrnd if Mr...
...Without doubt he believed that he was serving the interests of Franc...
...Or^cashrnarfr S aasgbt &bBB*9S ot slCTOmt* WndsVemat...
...Hie thesis is that almost everywhere—except in Spain—whenever workers showed spurts af iiwstutiultt> action, they did not conceive them as the beginning of a real revolution, hot mainly as a preesare action to obtain conscseaons in the 'pishuai economic snd potitteai system...
...Many Frenchmen remained at their posts, some Constrained by discipline, some because they could ,. not do otherwise...
...According to this seer of heavenly things to come, it hi John L. Lewis who has tamed the soldiers and sailors over into 'the Republican column...
...was Harry 8|l seatei 'ehvChwaaajSsmSstl...
...So that's that The Republicans will be sitting pretty after this war—just as they did from 1866 on down...
...TWO YEARS OF bBCSPTHm...
...His book, against his will, is an accusation against himself aa welt as against his superiors ia the diplomatic ' and governmental hierarchy...
...He recalls the various periods of CsnimulaM aetevi-ties in Germany, their Jsmead af "Un«*d Front" against fascism—with the extlasian of the Social Democrats, so that skis front be rased entirely by Communists obeying Moons a orders which they called a "United Front from Beiew...
...Has the poipoble IiIiSJIi of the OS workers' right to a living wage ever been dinsnnaori by nay priest or bishop ia Bolivia...
...But this boy to Washington seemed awfully aura of himself...
...These sections of the book anal sag with the rote of the' Communists are so wsJU dorumentod, that tar abase alone she bonk is worth reediag and owning...
...r*^^iLiyia5lj*r iTTaamfjl'SsT...
...It ia still not quite decided whom the Coawttnkst hate more, wham they would exterminate first if br whan taeg'WiU have-power— the Nasis or the Socialists...
...He attrihwter to- FiJaht fheus a famous phrase drtwn from the Aung sen of Sophocles: "Whom the Hods 'sstefld-deattoy, they first make mad,'' a* if ft had re«er*aee to Jupiter...
...I thought I would take a look at the Ubor papers that pile up in gnat stacks about this office...
...Tha rest af us are so undisciplined that we vote our own cantankerous notions...
...They are interested in all big issues of the world...
...Russuaas has* are laughing at tha latest comedy bit to come from Aaismisp movie •tudfes...
...When we go arte the election booths nobody bosses us around...
...It is net just one crowd...
...The*, to discredit Laval, he topeeaobas htm with having been * aanlhfce tar * sstmr ef a century' and rehashes- ate stost vnigar cal-umnies sgainst the Socteiiete of 1SS1...
...sMttMtamwaMLy4 flBNH^^^ mietsy 7fm*s^*oTj^toi 'acett1 in the T%ik*m»k*** m**m*SSh-thg fteetd Dallin'i book Rasped Scott: "not so Well ......hsttt a* rmmmsrs translation top-rate...
...News From Our Allies...
...When such divergent groups happened to he on the same side in their struggle against the onslaught of the totslitarisns...
...Was wmtdSrifsg ho* anwene eonld have expected htm to support the Spanish pssgls to rAeu struggle against F-anco...
...r*» OiaaA We took out of the earth , J9v^i^l^^fc...
...We have a new Labor press in this country—a live, informative, argumentative, WSplihag press...
...It ia mighty discouraging to a person in the armed forces, fighting or preparing to fight the enemy in combat te seethat seme ef his representatives in Washington are'MhwJerWg- aiitf aVahy-sag oar victory...
...1 the weU-known Catholic hberal...
...This last headline is typical...
...TaVHETHER one agrees with Adolf SturmthaJ's vie«/s eoncorftrag the * rate*, vise T* causes of European labor's failure to offer any effectJai reabrtance to ita mttlrirhi-tion by fascism, there is no doubt that his book is extremely ioatraetive aad packed with informal ion not available ia- any single volume pobaahed so far...
...Marcha!, on the contrary, was free to choose, for he was out of the country on a mission, and although he could have joined the forces of General da Gaulle, he preferred* to remain in the service of Vichy...
...years to thank this slogan over 'da She mats* t rata on camps...
...Except for the two or three pages-novated to the retail of Owners] Weygand...
...The Board's mo Vic eoasattasH awSated that the picturt he 'favorably rated...
...how later they openly dectered Chat the orincipai aim of communism won to dastSey the social fssetete.'' and that such ssftsda Weate aoeelerate their victory because 'Afar Siter-ffe ?h»:l eonie to newer...
...The more I thought about this meat exercise in arithmetic, the more skeptical I became...
...l l| ji ^illlslteHH Moe^^thaykji^and^^e^jsdlil to grant ^M^iple^eo^ mteiagasatea of aae iiiaaesag...
...But it dates, too, from the time when the balance was turned in favor of the Allies by the entry of the United States into, the war...
...I recalled, too, the hundreds of letters that come to The New Leader from the various fronts and camps...
...John L. is one of the moat distinguished of Republicans...
...His error is to consider himself qualified to give us lessons after having hesitated so long over such a simple decision...
...nT4kwwft^^w^9p 9w^*^d*w^tt^^^^ 0K^9^B*^^t^ a^^^ffPaW^s^aa^ 4 JfcSjSS taHwhd eaok to the veefU . . . • Thrift w+l not ispaMWttl or erime...
...The author was for ten years editor of the ••International infoRnadaoa,'' a new* sheat published in Zurich, dealing with the international labor id rami ill, «»r*-r—»_ tteaatrfy the SOciai-Dernocratic organizations...
...He retoaV tans eld staff often enough without being capable af*sfi>asgs*ahiag He true from the false and with*** a trans ox the i.terary talent Which WOOld enable him- to easrven Ms eatjeet stattsi and shake it ladssmta...
...The Report...
...a ».--.*• ^* esaad fend up tomorrow, and they never would be mimed The review* are all dull and official snd useless...
...The logic is not quite as satisfying as the Wrftmetk, but Who cares...
...There is patriotism in these papers, the most genuine, old-fashioned patriotism yon will lad asgWtiorO in this country...
...Tn m&nv rnun triea with mrtotiCACiafieU IWsmSSBB iff fffMHfr IWflM FH WfUl WtmnAWWIHI iw^MK*^^* the idea seems to have taken hold among the masses of the workers, that radical slogans and revolutionary phraseology were an greets for revolution, and .that legally permitted demonstrations under the more or less benevolent eye of the police were equivalent to revolutionary action...
...Ryan why the people in- gpaia regarded ths aieasttathm of desaecracy aa saeao tsssaMassti ., • • • • *^kr hy Creek:—Theto is a Woaderfm Shga hgtanfkjjtgtgswaar ~ Which prints the ¦ grhv film fwttefite ^ts^ahsvw^asef^ftMte slae> angdos even the sprockets), she hy otei la *of ¦HassaS*eRssg^twlte seer Freud, wearing Trotsky's beard and the DevO, aeaas^aadsVr every bedfellow), and the heiebet jobs of Sander Goriin, (Who believe* "every Asoerteaa citiasn essrht to he tied te^eresssmsr#a Miuion to Moscow several timet")____Aft tie aaam kp*M)*Wm*> it these narrow, sheep mmdfe, and there' r Ifigtaii iiaij'astr fit * every now snd then seeaething special tossed ia as a dividend...
...The editors are not just fighting for better IISOJSB fin en IB l litem craft...
...was precisely that wwfeh he event in thegi,aSahsl Parte at was after he parted f roar the 3 set all sU that he entered awes the way that finally tod to tree sir Marchal is clesrly ignbtaat of she WktJsehng*-rary political history of Ms country...
...Of great fntorest is Stursathal's ssicrigrlon af the role of the Cornmuaiste ia SasWaemn kdtor movements, their sig-sags and disastrous treason to the working masses ef taste eaeaatfce*'whenever the KMnsfin rulers deridedl it eon id advance thetr policy or self perpetuation in power...
...It is falha> like yoa that will mske it better for as when there's peace for all...
...If only the spirit of ail these pspers, of all die trade anion-ists whom they represent, could be rhoimotsd into one grest psper...
...Thu book ia-fhrt oTdte Waii dhVhp ifaStotare ^aS*a*^ title...
...1 ret^ri^^tewmg^rOaSm\\ %*m a Jatitemt- mmL Itlmi, oaina tejeh^frem m*^^^wmt^^imjUt^jA» nsatolhvvetee reeent*nteaaa^e) ^attohaw?' -TaS?» (asBs"am*?S cruel treatment of their siapiepses ewsr haea ast*sms*lir^tasnmp er s priest in Botivto...
...instuhty or fear as tahvag oMh>r power, Itattan labor saeeeHsjiiil the extraiegel activities of the fascists...
Vol. 26 • June 1943 • No. 26
