Where the News Ends

CHAMBERLIN, WILLIAM HENRY

Where the News Ends By WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLIN I RECENTLY learned from an unimpeachable source a bit of unpublished history about the negotiations which preceded the establishment of diplomatic...

...Their orgaming to do with democracy...
...It is Labor's own aneaeeh* ate moat he taken care of by labor offends 2 the trade union membership...
...policies oppeaad to such proees^smmj^H they clearly imply—what it the tram m a number of large organisations am a 3 trarily controlled from the top dosja^l that this fact is one of the most uapssafl problems faced by trade unionists atthsgj eat time...
...and the four independent railroad brotherhoods...
...It's not worth-while to enter into details of Mr...
...The-aatistW twenty railways and to seven unions jjkWaM, let us hbpe, that the committee wiH fcnmasw on play the part in the manpower 'sttoetieji that it was designed to fill Trains have been wrecked beceasstat HsV ways lack sufficient trained emajspam, at Ha same time, thousands of exporisoeaf - B in men have been thrown out of ttksWjAssis «a train crews because unions and hare combined against them...
...My opinio* and that of others who have nibstl Ibail for H is that it is the bast weekly labor paper which does not walk on the chalk line in regard to events...
...N . J. • •* Editor t Sou: TJte A/ew W a r ho* always followed A » • » ! **/ fcoepm...
...What is suggested » a Bill ef Rights, ajg for the onions, but for the members sBssh the unions...
...But one such story has filtered through...
...Ms-sm can hand liberty to anyone else...
...jfcjjssah>g direetBSsa to trade anions, the f ^ s i s n r l CammhiN on Fair Employment Pi H(s>, as recognises the fact that we have entered wpcm a nee...
...approves of these measures and advocates the adoption, of similar opea hi the other states...
...Extremely few Americans have enjoyed the opportunity of living in foreign countries as children and learning the languages in the easy natural way, by daily use...
...Receiving Molotov ' first, he asks solicitously: "How are you getting on with Kaganovitch...
...One sees evidences of study not only of the more familiar European languages, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, but also' handbooks on Chinese and Japanese, with now and then a dictionary of one of the leas known European languages, such as Rumanian, or an exotic looking Arabic grsnv mar...
...confronted with Bullitt's message, played out his game with considerable histrionic skill...
...Fifteen unions," we are told, "exclude Negroes by explicit' constitutional provision or by ritual...
...If Litvinov could not, on behalf of^hja Government, sign a mutual pledge of non-interference in the internal affairs of the other country which the American Government regarded as an indispensable condition of normally friendly relations he could pack up his belongings and go home...
...Americana, by and large, have not been among the world's best linguists, and for a rather obvious reason...
...The authors of this report are oppose...
...In these <teys, *dj3 both management and Labor ate so htjfi dependent upon government, public aphtha fe more than ever important So it wffl ha am for labor men to scan carefully what tSm men have to say...
...The worker should havs-rsjhhr 1—To membership in the suitable ots^sasV tion without any discnrc.natios except os4ss basis of "incompetence ki his trade er eaflftm bad moral aharactar or a record of eJAfjs]B activity...
...And, although this particular incident is tttft likely to be described in any State Department White Paper release at the present time, r think\it is worth relating, if only as a guide to the future conduet of such discussions...
...Finally Wllham S. Bullitt, a prominent figure in the negotiations, called at the house where Litvinov was staying in Washington with the President's authorisation to deliver a polite but firm ultimatum...
...By the time Molotov is dismissed he is cherishing serious doubts as to the friendship and intentions of Kaganovitch...
...Badoglio is doomed, in the . opinion of every man of character, with full right...
...The United States had somehow staggered along without exchanging absassadors with the Soviet Union for some sixteen years...
...probably never been a period in * American history when so many Americans have been studying foreign languages...
...Wet, I am a Jew...
...Bonfante's verbiage...
...ahd have indicated so...
...Lynn is asking to be discharged from the Army on the grounds that he was selected in a segregated Jimrow quota (allNegro) and that this method of selection is specifically forbidden by the Draft Act of 1940, Section 4a, of which states that "in the selection and training of men under this Act . . . there shell be no discrimination against any person oh account of race or coter.'' -j...
...I am told that this is the court on which Jerome Frank and Learned Hand ait, and so we may expect a relatively liberal attitude on the part of the bench: It seems highly unlikely, however, putting it mildly, that the court will decide for Lynn...
...art prepared to carry the case directly to the Supreme Court, It will rsise not only the great issue of the Army's discriminatory treat- ment of colored draftees an issue, incidentally, which no other case in this war has railed' hut also the question Of anti-Negro discriminatkn practiced hot by some Southern state hut by an agency ef the Federal Government itself...
...Whether Americans will blossom out speaking all the tongues of the world after this war will probably depend on how many will be stationed in foreign lands for long periods of time...
...The ass* bers of racketeer-cursed nisaiiiislbaa sM never have democracy unless they wis i M themselves...
...Stalin starts to work on Kaganovitch...
...COMES TO U K T H I S WEEK we shall pass the second anniversary e f oar entrance into the war...
...All' of this is, of course, precisely opposite to the facta...
...It was the general pre-war experience with diplomatic, military and naval attaches and missionaries that two or three years of intensive, concentration en Japanese, to the exclusion of everything else, was a pre-requisite for an adequate mastery of that very difficult and complicated language, with its thousands of heiroplyphe...
...There is hare careful discussion of the election and authority of officers, the freedom of discussion within the locals, the degrees to which the conventions represent the will of the membership, the ways in which minorities are guaranteed (or denied) the right of expression, the possibilities of coercion through job control and many other aspects of union democracy...
...A conspicuous feature of the displays in the windows of bookstores in the scholarly environs of Harvard University is the number of grammars'and dictionaries of foreign tongues...
...All that a report liks tins em do is to set things going in the brain earn of trade unionists...
...Hays and the A.C.L.U...
...THERE has...
...Where the News Ends By WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLIN I RECENTLY learned from an unimpeachable source a bit of unpublished history about the negotiations which preceded the establishment of diplomatic .relations between the United States and *he Soviet Union...
...He protested that he could not sign the required pledge...
...he is simply a mean egotist and toady...
...It is (true that by signing he passed a diplomatic check that went unhonored for almost a decade, lit was only last spring that the promise - not to admit on the territory of either state any group or organisation seeking the subversion of the government of the other country was implemented, formally at least, by the dissolution of the Communist' International...
...And the product which he has thrown on the home market* upon -his' return makes up in abundance for its poor quality—a very large quantity of chaff...
...The agreements aamasjlatntoas...
...The trade union forces never saksdf Civil Liberties Union to offer a setettaaX this problem...
...These include some of the most powerful unions in the country, such as the Machinists, the Railroad Telegraphers, the Railway Mail Association and the Switchmen, the Commercial Telegraphers—all A. F. of L. affiliates...
...He complained to his fellow liiatotg that it is difficult to obtain accurate figures m Washington...
...B*cmm*e a jstter* column is a leatMOt** *ehwA and net the paper'* * » * do net fed it neeeeeary to indicate entente' • n%ent or dt*og-rrmcnt «-t*A kttm...
...Molotov assures him that he i* getting on excellently...
...But one hopes that the incident has not vanin hed from the recollection of the men who may be called on to negotiate other difficult and ticklish problems with representatives of the Soviet Union nv'the future...
...During his 20,000-inile tour of Sooth America, his mental millstones were grinding away at high speed...
...We are getting from Mexico and South America increasing amounts of minerals and other products absolutely necessary to oar war effort...
...And Stalin rubs his hands, remarking: "Now I can work in peace...
...Winfred Lynn feels so strongly about Army Jimcrow that when he was .originally drafted, he wrote a letter to his drait board —he was> Lang Island landscape gardener in civil life—offering to serve in a democratically organized army but refusing to enter the present Jimcrow army, i After a period in jail, Lynn was finfBy-Induced to submit to induction in order to make a test case, the courts refusing even to hear the case unless he first obeyed the •a...
...we often run article* that o » atei dieagrted wit A isMtsiaiBy...
...That they are well informed about the numerous) forms of coercion within the unions is evident on many pages...
...Well, why does Kaganovitch go around telling everyone that you stutter...
...ma 4 w r f c f l « « lecom.Lisge-iiti...
...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Theiynn Case — A Civil Liberties Test of a Jim Crow Army From DWIGHT MACDONALD So far there has been very little publicity given to an extremely important civil liberties case: the Wiafred Lynn ease...
...AfSjpkBBt* pav vided that colored workers wert.'.jfjtjt.* hired or—if already in the »n iliq astte-te advanced...
...Some of the estimates of the linguistic capacities of soldiers and sailors in training seem to be pretty optimistic, especially as regards Japanese...
...Camera, the American Federation of Railroad Workers and the Rural Letter Carriers' Association...
...Its a fact...
...For about 6.000.000 of these jobs," the authors explain, "union membership is a condition of employment...
...2—To democratic partichssflhssw the conduct of the union to which he tweiaaf 3—To protection within his union SgsmatS bitrary proceedings of a disciplinary shmm ter...
...Churchill is ef at value, because Mr...
...if« lett-or eohtsoW fa* AM sue state t* ear easdJliK' *%C**d articl— do not asesteSfls) reflect tkt opinion* ef ike eUteii...
...Th* only teat was the winning of battles with the enemy...
...No social gathering was complete without the telling of a few...
...The New Leader will he glad to publish corrections from their officials...
...Five A F. of L. affiliates, mostly in the' building trades, have no rules barring Negroes from membership, but locals exclude then by tacit consent...
...So convinced was be of this difficulty that he never made the attempt...
...Under these circumstances it us of the utmost importance that citixens generally, organs of public opinion and government officials ^ should be well informed about trade union poBctes, In this connection, the analysis presented in the C. L. U. report will serve an important purpose...
...F.E.P.C...
...EDITORIAL COMMENT Civil Liberties and the Unions TPHE long-awaited report of the American * Civil Liberties Union on Democracy tn Trade Union* symbolises public recognition of the change "** * * k e n Pi*** to t h* nehedy's bttamrts &ut their own...
...Litvinov battled fiercely against signing the specific pledge, barring the harboring of the Communist International on Soviet territory, which was ultimately included in the settlement...
...It could continue to exist under the same conditions if the Soviet Government was unwilling to give such an elementary gesture of goodwill as suspension of the activities of a closely affiliated body, the Communist International, which was avowedly out for the destruction, by intrigue and violence, of the American form of government...
...There is emphasis on the fact that such means of niss'asJjf used in such ways in only a nunorite* organisations The author* show, BssamB that both of the great iecera:>ons S M O ^K era...
...Ik i Bhsetnseral Worhnrs.' the Federation of .Basal Latter...
...He reported that we have scattered $6 billion over toe people of Latin-America—$60 per person...
...Yes,' but Molotov talks about it in an unpleasant way and makes anti-Semitic jokes...
...The Senator does his beat .to foist jm jas the notion that the Good Neighbor Policy is nothing hat an international WPA...
...They are fpeaxing fat'2 part of the public that it most mtasmteJtC the well-being at Labor...
...Asking him how he gets on with Molotov and receiving a favorable answer, Stalin goes on: ''Wrty does Molotov tell everyone you are a Jew...
...V.K#«YJBD To the Editor: * - - I have been reading Th« New Leader for the mat tinea and a half years...
...Since the anions have power to control men's bread, it is important that conditions of membership be determined opon a just and democratic basis...
...i .•• - Lea Aagetee, Caf Raises Issue of Letter Writing From ANDREW CORDIAN To the Editor: With some surprise I read the lengthy vindication of the butcher of Ethiopia by Giulano Bonf ante, because yon did not add the necessary comment...
...The ways' in which ft is possible for dictatorial officials to rctedn power tksough control of the administrative machinery are clearly outlined...
...These are the Plumbers and Steamfitters, the Electrical Workers, the Asbestos Workers,' the Flint Glass Workers and the Granite Workers...
...True, be waa never an upright fascist, bat he will never be a sincere liberal...
...For more than a yeju;„||sjrasav plaint has been given the run«aremut lea, under the leadership of Malcolm BoapTpi President's committee has issued a attest* order that all discriminatory pvects*J|wft cease...
...A National Cltisens Committee for Winfred Lynn has been formed to raise funds for the case and to give it some publicity Among its sponsors are Alex Rose, Broadus Mitchell, Jchn Haynes Holmes, A. Philip Ban-, dolph, George Schuyler, Wills rd Town send, and Algernon Black It has just issued a leaflet describing the case in detail, which may be obtained by writins the committee at l West 125th St, New York 27, N . Y. text Weekly Papar . Free...
...Domination of a trade union eaganixation by a gang of hotd-np man is obviously to the disadvantage of the members—or so the writers of this report assume...
...The seeming diplomatic defense by Mr...
...All of us who love justice are fortunate that Winfred Lynn is willing to make a stand for his V Arthur Garfield Hays, acting tor the American Civil liberties Union, has argued Lynn's ease in a lower court already and will again appear before the Circuit Court of Appeals...
...Seven A. F. of L. and two independent anions- confine Negroes to Jim Crow auxiliaries where they pay data but or* denied a voice in union affairs and opportunities fur advancement in the traae...
...I do stutter...
...Thosn Iskclnde the BiTslerma^TT ahdt Shihswildera, the Maintenance of Way Employes, the Railway Canaan, the Railway Clerks, the TTlai •jaallhs...
...Stalin, so runs the anecdote, arranges successive meetings with two of his chief lieutenants, Molotov and Kaganovitch...
...According to this rapid traveler's thought, we have spent money on foolishness and have reaped nothing but the contempt of the beneficiaries...
...Yes, but Kaganovitch talks about it in an unpleasant way, makes fun of you...
...But it is implicit in their sasm approach that their hope is centered eksssj in activity set an motion from within...
...Payments made by "RFC and RFC subsidiaries" were put down as $2,840 million, and immediately afterward an outlay of the Export- Import Bank, one of these subsidiaries, was listed separately as $824 million...
...In the meantime, it is a healthy thing to have this dark picture spread before the public If the report does injustice to any of the organisations mentioned...
...He beat his head and issplored Bullitt not to be "hard on him...
...War, with its channeling of so much energy into purposes of destruction, was still making people at home, by and large, more prosperous, with the fuller employment and higher wages...
...aA>employers have such an important bearing sat public policy that they have become the business of the entire country...
...Unyielding firmness on matters of principle will get far better results and will lead to smoother relations than fumbling attempts at maneuvering and appeasement...
...The C L.U...
...If the gsfmblicans want to win next year's election, they had better stick to Mr...
...Since the case is expected to come up before the U.S...
...The New Leader congratulates this long-delayed order...
...and the natural Russian gift fox sardonic wit constantly generated new anecdotes to replace those that were growing stale...
...We are obtaining invaluable help in 11—ring the harden of war, and at the same time we are laying the basis for continued industrial and cultural cooperation, stretching into the future...
...The subject of racketeering in the unions is only j#jJNfr dealt with...
...As soon as his figure was published, newspaper men who had never been to South America saw through his bad arithmetic Items mounting into the billions he had counted twfesj...
...The writer* of letter* take ash re*pon*ibilitp for their eninjefm, On our article page* urn MS* *Srried many article* attack*** 9edogtio, including e very sus/fclrtir tag portrait b„ Prof...
...The Unssah made up of public spirited citizens iatenapm hi the organisational problems of ttafsH ers because they imping* vitally SySUjj public welfare...
...CBSIIW • no more than a British torr sae imperialist who is eagerly teat on the saving of the rest ef 6a European kings hi order a* • leave his British king hstag tat last and lone remnant ef anaasua Flesaiagteu...
...A Contraband Soviet Anecdote " ANECDOTES," or satirical stories used to be •* * Quoted at about a dime a dozen in Moscow...
...Then...
...Closely tied up with this is the reactionary notion that money spent on health and public improvements is money thrown away...
...This leads directly op to the burning problem - of discrimination against Negroes...
...But it ansa only last Tuesday that the President's Fair Employment Practices Committee achieved sufficient gumption to intervene decisively on behalf of thousands of Negroat who have been deprived of the chance t» saws their country on the railways...
...Willkie...
...We were most prosperous in the twenties because, although we didn't have lendlease, we were inducing foreigners to take great quantities of our products and getting from them gold and more or less worthless paper...
...The survey opens with tile statement that "more than 3,000,000 jobs in the United States—over a third of those subject to unionization— are covered by collective bargaining agreements...
...The abuse af$a% should hang its head in shame at tat isjem which has been done to the Negroes aps tp harm which has resulted to our war effort...
...Five states hove laws which provide in principle that unions may not exclude applicants from membership on the ground of race er natigion...
...Exigencies, of war and censorship have made these anecdotes as scarce as genuine Russian caviar...
...In aorprdarirs with this Brie of thinking, it 4a their opinion that the core for racketeering is,democratic procedure It la this matter of democratic controls within that anion that forms the chief center of interest in this report...
...A deadlock seemed to have been reached on this issue...
...Finally Kaganovitch is sent away, convinced that Molotov is far from friendly...
...Litvinov...
...legal interference with trade union PmsfjBfi They do suggest a public agency "far sawing . . . on suspensions or expulsjem fjBf the unions...
...There is always something stiff and artificial about classroom instruction in the rule* of grammar...
...Here the investigators may, perhaps, be accused of pulling their punches- There is no such array of facte as those given in connection with the discrimination against Negroes Possibly the authors recoiled from the idea of patting propaganda material into the hands of Labor's enemies...
...So—according to the old tenet "Qui tacet, coosen tit" one gets the impression that yon approve of this whitewashing of the undoubted contemptible opportunist Badoglio, whose acting now has no other purpose than to save his skin...
...4—To fair and equal treatment whh n> spect to job placement...
...G*oi*m Salvemeni...
...o • • Some Icoaem)c Paradoxes I RECENTLY heard a midwestern professor of economics get up and, with a disarmingly simple and naive manner, utter a series of devastating paradoxes that might have stemmed from Thorstein Veblen and that«dded up to a pretty severe indictment of the existing economic order...
...Circuit Court of Appeals here in New York on December 8, and since it squarely raises the whole issue of the Jimcrow policies of the Army, your readers may be interested in a brief account The Lynn Case is a habeas corpus action, brought by a Negro draftee now in training on the Went Coast...
...There is enough truth in this topsy-turvy picture ot inspire some very searching thought t?PU«UCAN PtILUDi CENATOR HUGH BUTLER'S fling into in*~ tematiorjal affairs is most alarming as a partial previewfof the coming Republican campaign At home, in Omaha, the loquacious traveler functions as a miller...
...The members were the only public that mattered...
...But when Bullitt reached the stage of asking what ship would be most suitable for Litvinovs homeward trip and put on his hat to leave, the Soviet Foreign Commissar changed his tane and consented to sign on the dot ted line...
...It would be tough on a good many folks," said our midwestern Socrates, "if the war should suddenly end...
...And, like most of these substitutes for the nonexistent Soviet free press, it gets over a serious point in the form of a funny story...
...As an illustration of the Soviet dictator's "Divide and rule" methods this anecdote is not bad...

Vol. 26 • December 1943 • No. 49


 
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