THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . That 'Second Front' Dear Sirs: The Frank Hanighen article in the Oct. 4 issue was especially good—clicks with all the data I have, and has more of it. You probably...
...W. C. Goodhue Hemet, Calif...
...When one wants help he doesn't go to his enemies for it and yet that is exactly what the American people have done time and time again...
...Turkey's oil was taken by England...
...There would have been frightful slaughter, and it is very questionable (to put it cautiously) whether we could really have established and expanded a firm foothold there...
...Ada M. Laffrey Los Angeles, Calif...
...She was stripped of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania...
...If we try to uphold our Exclusion law it will take more than an act of Congress to get us out of the mess...
...We might have hanged Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee, but we didn't...
...But I wonder what would have happened if the cross-Channel attack had actually been launched last year—as Moscow demanded, and as Gen...
...Some time it will not be...
...Prior to Pearl Harbor days, Americans could go in and out of China at will...
...Their constitution grants the right to vote from, the age of 18 up...
...Such ideas prolong the present war, and sow the seeds of the third racial war which is inevitable if we have a majority of persons like him...
...These little countries tasted freedom and want to keep it, but Russia signed up with Hitler and has incorporated them into the U. S. S. R. This problem is almost beyond solution...
...Some of Moscow's friends in the United States think we should "repay" Russia for that by doing the same fool stunt for Moscow that the Czarist generals did for French financiers 28 years ago...
...Nor, apparently, was the huge sum for veterans' bonuses paid under Legion sponsorship considered to be squandered funds...
...The white man's prestige in the Fast East is gone with the wind...
...Applauds Barnes Dear Sirs: Why so much misinformation on Russia...
...Marshall wished...
...We have an over-all government and an over-all supreme court, which have the final say-so...
...The Towhsend Plan is a thousand times better than the Senator's proposal and is more in keeping with the American spirit and progress...
...India's contribution to the last war was repaid with the Amritsar Massacre instead of the freedom she was made to believe she would get...
...He was allowed to fill places of dignity and honor...
...It looks like an instance of the suppressed wish taking a verbal form and breaking through conventional inhibitions...
...John Haynes Holmes is a true man of God...
...New York, N. Y. How To Aid Japan Dear Sirs: May I answer Mr...
...the entire coal, oil, mineral, and timber resources of the nation...
...Taking cognizance of the potential ability of this country to produce an abundant life for all, I think the Senator's proposal is very picayunish...
...If his country had recently been victorious, then he was made a soldier in the army that was expected to defend his country from invasion...
...Chicago, Ill...
...Not too much nonchalance about "rubbing out" liberal, labor, and other people who happen to disagree with Uncle Joe...
...True we have developed far beyond them in some lines after ac-quiring organs of speech and hands...
...He says America is for the white people and not a dumping ground for Orientals...
...While we need to know the ugly facts, citing "war profiteers" and giving out what many of the conservative papers suppress, yet the many notable achievements that are being accomplished and progress that is being made in overcoming almost insurmountable difficulties, should at least have passing notice by a patriotic progressive publication...
...They got nothing and England got the oil...
...Petersburg, Fla...
...Watch out, Dr...
...Born more than 80 years ago...
...If he is to again appear with one of his "insane" articles on the front page, just forget that I am a subscriber and scratch me off your list...
...Such a statement is excellent propaganda material and Japan will use it to persuade all Orientals to join hands and fight us...
...Won't all those fellow-travelers like Barnes, Ward, Lamont and the like be surprised when the party line changes...
...This phenomenon is known in psychology as "identification," caused by intense feeling...
...The promise of freedom made to the Arabs for fighting under Lawrence was broken...
...Justice Robert Jackson, Prof...
...Are we fighting this war for world peace, or for imperialism and balance of power...
...It clarified my ideas, helped me to get in tune with life and to accept my place in the up ward climb...
...They breed war...
...4. B. J. Adams New York, N. Y. * * * 'The Nine' Dear Sirs: Except for his rather hard judgment of Mr...
...I want you to know that among the excellent group of contributors to The Progressive, I highly commend Harry Paxton Howard and Frank C. Hanighen for their revealing truth and facts...
...Ludendorff, and the outburst on that occasion was but slight...
...If the ghost of the Unknown Soldier could speak, I would be interested to hear what it would say in reply to this attempt by Commander Waring to whitewash the Legion of its errors, shortcomings, and stupidity during two decades of isolationism, and all the selfishness, prejudice, intolerance, and distrust that attended it...
...Anyone who opposes the Stalinist dictatorship is an outright fascist," so they say...
...all electric, gas, water, power resources now in private hands...
...Let's have 'em...
...Now it's the Thomas-Lewis-Dubin-sky-Chanin, etc., etc., etc...
...M. H. Spangler Baltimore, Md...
...Wagner's article was immensely important of course, but I ardently wish Harry Paxton Howard's article, "These United Nations," could have had the first place this time...
...therefore we should love our neighbors as ourselves, according to Christ's teaching...
...Waring's Scapegoats In the August issue of the Amer-ican Legion Magazine beneath a picture of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Roane Waring, former commander of the Legion, has an article in which he criticizes the nation for its unpreparedness for the present war despite the Legion's preparedness efforts...
...Here, more so than in any other so-called civilized nation, is the money system operated to exploit the people...
...I wonder why the Senator, if he is really interested in social security, did not study the bill introduced by Congressman Cannon, H. R. 1649...
...Robert F. Wagner on social security in the issue of The Progressive of Sept...
...Now, what is the matter with labor unions that they are doing no planning more than collecting dues after their men have fought and won the war...
...If you 'think the Town-send Plan is wrong we would like for you to tell us how so...
...This would leave millions in the hands of the low income groups to spend after the war when we will be sorely in need of purchasing power to keep industry going, and the tax fund thus collected would be prorated out among the aged, the blind, the crippled, and widows with dependent children, and they would be required to put it back into the business stream every 30 days...
...God forbid that we become, a part of such policies as I have mentioned...
...We were concerned over the horrors in Czechoslovakia and Poland —why not over the horrors in India...
...It is logical that the boy of Europe had to be born either while a war was in progress or during the period between two wars...
...This policy of cultivating public sentiment and backing it up by institutions has worked in America, as it has worked in other countries...
...Robert F. Wagner's social security proposal and jour editorial boost of it...
...For the moment Dr...
...Lewis W. Douglas, president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and deputy administrator of war shipping, will take the podium to speak on 'Some Observations on the International Situation.' Douglas was present at the recent Quebec conference of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill...
...In view of just these few things, how could we be sure of England's good faith...
...But in many other different lines .their powers far transcend ours...
...Bertha Strong Cooley So...
...Mrs...
...Truman's exposures of big business "patriots" in mind, I cannot but think of a comment by Clement Wood in The Outline of Man's Knowledge: "The poor fight with their bodies, which too often pay war's red price...
...As such he has no qualms at all in having Norman Thomas shot...
...On Aug...
...If he was born between two wars, he was born either in a country which had recently been defeated by the enemy or in a country which had recently been victorious over the enemy...
...Does he know how we Americans have enjoyed privileges in China...
...Mayer Sickens Him Dear Sirs: You have some good writers, and for this I can commend you, but your editorial policy for the most part is rotten...
...If Prof...
...We have completely or partially out-grown vigilante committees, KKK, and lynch practices...
...Of the men of his time, the memory of Lincoln is most highly revered...
...So we should do internationally...
...Ellen Berry Chicago, Ill...
...I wondef what the American Indian thinks of our legal status in this matter...
...We didn't act in that manner when we made peace following the Civil War...
...And since we do not comprehend their languages how can we know that they don't have intelligent ideas...
...L. S. Mastrude Tacoma, Wash...
...They wrote the Versailles Treaty and wanted the League to enforce their unjust peace...
...I believe in an honest world cooperation between all nations, regardless of their form of government...
...Ruth Stephens Porter 2710 Dartmouth Ave...
...There are, of course, some "Americans" who are prepared to carry on to the last American soldier in order that Stalin can win the war...
...conspiracy...
...He does not say whether funds used to provide jobs for the veterans of the battle of Anacostia, driven from Washington by Herbert Hoover's armed forces, are consid-e r e d "squandered funds" nor whether those CCC boys who are now fighting our battles should have been permitted to spoil their lives wandering over the country in idleness and hunger...
...Prof...
...Napoleon said: "Let China sleep...
...if she awakens God help the world...
...The Commander regrets the squandering of funds for unnecessary governmental undertakings, but says not a word about the many airports and great power plants, so essential to war, that absorbed a large portion of the funds...
...I came to consciousness under an exacting theology that required as the first step in its plan of salva-tion, the conviction of sin...
...Keep on thinking, sisters, don't consider everything settled and completed and go on climbing upward...
...I say you should have at least 100,000 reprints made at once, and let us scatter them...
...But what is the matter with this plan...
...Barnes defends Stalin through all his devious ways, the pact with Germany in 39, the purges, including the execution of Alter and Erlich...
...It will remove pensions from the political stage, and will prevent our old people from becoming the victims of every political fight, as they are at present...
...If we can keep all at work in wartime, why can't we keep them at work in peacetime, and then the aged, the blind, the crippled, and the widow with dependent children, who will be of no use in our productive system, can be maintained as purchasers of our goods through annuity payments...
...For this is the time, if a third war is to be prevented, for all humbly to confess guilt and resolve never again to permit the United States to be isolated from full responsibility in the community of nations...
...It is practical and workable and will tie our pension system to the price level, and prevent the starvation of our old people in times like this...
...There's no doubt that a great many Germans and Japs are having a similar psychological experience regularly, with President Roosevelt as the victim...
...In short, everything in existence must be owned and operated by all the people to advance the happiness and welfare of all the people...
...Barnes to Norman Thomas calls for emphatic protest from Socialists as well as all others who hold that justice, honesty, and truth are not to be sacrificed in the interest of expediency...
...History proves this...
...When Grant asked Lincoln what to do with Davis, "I don't want Jeff," said the humane and wise President...
...Let him slip away unbeknown to yourself...
...Barnes hands it straight from the shoulder in the Sept...
...the entire machinery of distribution now in private hands...
...some will say this is the Townsend Plan...
...Jesse T. Kennedy 607 S. Wells St...
...Injustice In India Dear Sirs: To those who state that it is none of our business what England does in India may I ask, why shouldn't America be concerned ever the injustices under which India is struggling...
...So Britain and France won the war—and Russia LOST it...
...George Woodson National Representative Townsend Plan Clarksburg, W. Va...
...Battlefield Of Europe Dear Sirs: Europe has been the favorite battleground of Mars for the past several centuries, due to the feud •which is now worldwide in scope...
...If we are fighting for freedom in Europe, why not all over the world...
...I wish he would...
...Carl Engstrom Elk River, Minn...
...We refused to do this...
...Protests Barnes' Reply Dear Sirs: The recent reply of Prof...
...Why should the government pay out billions in interest on bonds deposited by private financiers and allow these parasites to issue the government's own money and loan it out to the people at a high rate of interest...
...26, 1921, under the headline, "Berlin Crowds Cold to Military Display...
...The League of Nations was the 14th Point...
...I quote from the report: "The lack of enthusiasm among the spectators was notable, only a few persons uncovering when Die Wacht am Rhein was played by a veteran band . . . the only enthusiasm shown during the day was brought forth by the appearance of Gen...
...What monstrosities in human flesh are those imposters posing as ministers of God, spreading hate and destruction in condoning war...
...Every nation is wholly at the mercy of its financial masters...
...No Vindictive Peace Dear Sirs: We want a lasting peace to follow the war...
...And Lee, because of his many noble traits, was more than forgiven...
...Jesus spoke of God's care for the sparrow...
...This issue should be decided by the people through a national referendum, or in the election of 1944...
...It is quite certain he is reinforcing Japan's slogan: "Asia for Asiatics" and indirectly creating racial war...
...There is some truth in what Waring has written, but it is regrettable that at this critical time he should attempt to make scapegoats of others when there is enough blame for all, including a major share for the American Legion with its "No Foreign War" policy...
...Wagner Dear Sirs: I have read with a great deal of interest the article by Sen...
...Breitenbach ever examined the contents of the Fourteen Exclusion Laws, from 1882 to 1924...
...I contend that this exhibition by Dr...
...We are the citizens of the so-called Christian country...
...Barnes calls for an explanation by a psychologist, not to mention a psychiatrist...
...His second one is to rope in 15,000,000 more workers as taxpayers...
...Norman Tubiash Roxbury, Mass...
...Keep up the good work...
...Whoever manipulates the money system determines the destiny, of a nation...
...Holmes Dear Sirs: E. M. Porter's defense of war in the Forum of Sept...
...Here is an interesting psychological datum...
...27, Sen...
...Prof...
...Collectivism Or Else Dear Sirs: If the people had sense enough and courage enough, they would have the government nationalize completely the entire banking, financial, and money system of the United States...
...That is his number one suggestion...
...There seems to be a hurry to get us to sign on the dotted line before we get the blue print...
...If China has had the courage to fight Japan bare-handed she will not hesitate to fight anyone in the future...
...This rally was reported on Page 2 of the New York Times for Aug...
...This I was unable to acquire though painfully aware of imperfections and shortcomings...
...In short, we should exclude the Chinese in order that our laborers might benefit...
...This promise was repudiated...
...It undoubtedly, however, would have contributed to Stalin rather than Great Britain winning the battle for Europe and points south...
...We could do almost anything we pleased in China...
...Herein lies the only hope for a society sick unto death...
...William A. Mueller Mishicot, Wis...
...It is not necessary to say that Socialists have the greatest admiration for the Russian people for their heroic struggle against their Fascist foes, but we hope that eventually they will free themselves of their own dictatorship and establish a real cooperative commonwealth...
...Malcolm A. Green Austin, Tex...
...Barnes speaks of socialist criticism of Stalinism as an unpardonable sin...
...Leave it as it is...
...Kipling wrote: "He hears the cry of the little kit fox and the lemming in the snow...
...The war is about over and some people are interesting themselves about the peace— The following news item highlights the most interested concerns : "Attracting leading financiers of the country on Oct...
...24, 1921, a great military demonstration was held in the old Berlin Stadium...
...But we won't get it by vindictive means...
...all the land now held privately and used to exploit the workers...
...From England's record of the past 50 years, there is no evidence that she contributed to peace...
...He acknowledges he knows nothing of these men and concludes that Norman Thomas can know nothing of them...
...England, France, and Germany accepted Wilson's Fourteen Points as a basis for peace...
...Barnes, with all too evident glee, transfers his personality imaginatively into the dictator of the Soviet Union...
...Picayunish Proposal' Dear Sirs: I have read Sen...
...The Party Line Dear Sirs: Shades of the Daily Worker...
...Why should the "Federal" Reserve Banks not belong to the people of the United States instead of to private financial buccaneers...
...Howard's is the long view, the view that advances democracy...
...I am afraid this one-sided viewpoint is not only out of date, but it creates international hatred and pushes China, our next potential ally, to the Japanese side...
...Germany was outraged at this, since Wilson was back of the Armistice, thus reflecting on our very honor...
...Rodell's handling of "The Nine" was worth a lifetime subscription to The Progressive...
...Big Boys In A Huddle Dear Sirs: One hundred conventions are being held in Chicago during October...
...They Get That Way' Dear Sirs: Harry Elmer Barnes passes this sentence on Norman Thomas in your issue of Sept...
...Shall we remain a free country and protect our sovereignty, or become a part of the international financiers' balance of power pact and its cartels...
...14 and 15 will be the American Bankers Association wartime trust conference at the Drake hotel...
...Marshall among these devoted friends of Moscow here...
...It is too sickening for even a strong stomach...
...Clement Droz Lyndhurst, N. J. * * * World Peace The Fulbright Resolution, Union Now, World Federation, and the proposal for a World Wide Federal Reserve Bank, should be defeated by the Senate and the people of our country...
...We may take a cue from America, however imperfect her performances are...
...Let us never forget that all roads inevitably lead to collectivism or complete social dissolution...
...the rich fight with their wealth, which has a shrewd way of multiplying itself with increased rapidity during an hour of national peril...
...You know the rest in the good old U.S.A...
...Earl C. Woltersdorf Tucson, Ariz...
...I buy a poll tax receipt for the right to vote...
...William Putnam Boston, Mass...
...I do not, of course, include Gen...
...W. F. Hiller Brighton, Colo...
...Why shouldn't it work internationally...
...This insane procedure exploits the people indirectly through the government and directly at the hands of the money lenders in the name of "Free" Enterprise and the American Way...
...Boiling Hitler and Mussolini and their henchmen in oil won't help...
...Do we want to mix up with England's policies...
...the entire commercial transportation system...
...Just the ether day a group of them flew to England where they held conferences—and planned and planned...
...all commercial insurance companies...
...Has Mr...
...In the same days the American Railway Development Association will meet at the LaSalle hotel...
...Natural resources and capacity to produce useful goods for the benefit of all constitute that solid foundation...
...William C. Weiss San Francisco, Calif...
...The capacity of the public carriers will be over-taxed in bringing the delegates and carrying them back home...
...Italy, an ally in the last war, was promised certain spoils in the Secret Treaty of London in return for her part in the war...
...Money and credit should be based on a solid foundation...
...Little did the people in the grandstands realize then that they would be listening to him someday too...
...With the Republican and Democratic nominees the same as they were in 1940, his vote might surprise the politicians...
...Harry Howard New York, N. Y. * * * Howard's Long View Dear Sirs: In the issue of Sept...
...Italy entered this war against Britain and France...
...Then the book I speak of came my way...
...But there is such a thing as carrying "gratitude" too far...
...Frank Sheridan Hollywood, Calif...
...To accentuate your lack of a truly American spirit during this time of crisis we have had to tolerate Milton Mayer...
...Otherwise all the talk of such things is nothing more nor less than wishful thinking...
...It seems to me that the people who reject the findings of evolution put an unjustifiable distance between ourselves and what we are pleased to call the lower animals...
...In World War I, as you may recall, the Russians "saved" their western allies by their terribly costly offensive on Germany's eastern front...
...I am not a military authority, but some persons who are, believe that it would have been a terrible disaster for the attackers—another Gallipoli...
...They are huddling everywhere...
...27: "If I were Uncle Joe and could get my hands cn him, I would lose no time in backing him up against a concrete wall and perforating him liberally...
...Edward Torney 166 East 82nd St...
...If his country had recently been defeated, then when he became of age he was made a soldier in the army that was expected to avenge his country's defeat...
...If this is done, we will have a better world to live in and the common people will get a better share of the good things of life, not more wars to fight every 20 years or so...
...Deerfield, Mass...
...Charles Amlin South Pasadena, Calif...
...They would have had no such opportunity along the heavily defended Channel coast...
...That's why Eddie Rickenbacker, Joe Davies, Frank Hague, now that they've fallen in love with the "Soviet Fatherland," have become accordingly great democrats (according to the Communist definition of democracy...
...It will be remembered as one of the great tragedies of all time that there was no one in that stadium bold enough to warn the people to defend themselves against their real enemies—the military chieftains who were speaking to them, because down there in the enclosure, marching in obscurity with the war veterans, I am sure that an ex-corpora] named Adolf Hitler was' dreaming dreams about the future of the German Reich...
...And their judgment is not contradicted, but confirmed, by what happened at Salerno, where disaster was averted largely by the fact that the landing forces could move southeastward—away from the strongly intrenched German forces to the north...
...This bill provides for a gross income tax of three per cent on all gross income exempting the first $1200 per year...
...But these seemed part of my inheritance and my feeling about them was a vague resentment rather than penitence...
...Everyone else still interested in a free, unshackled labor movement, equality among all peoples, and the triumph of the democratic socialist revolution, is now a "ver-dammte" fifth columnist...
...As It Is!' Dear Sirs: Sometimes people write you that they would like a larger women's section, but my wife says, "No...
...We do not hear so much about the book now but it must be obtainable...
...A mutual profit-sharing world trade free from tariffs, is desirable...
...6? He maintains that the Chinese Exclusion Act should be upheld in order to protect our laborers and keep high our standard of living...
...Townsend vs...
...Thomas For President Let's get back of Norman Thomas for President...
...Furthermore, we are not the United Nations, fighting for the Four Freedoms, unless we consider the Chinese race as our equal...
...War's Unequal Price Dear Sirs: With Sen...
...Just why in the name of common sense the people continue to tolerate these two old, corrupt parties, both of whose political records are rotten to the core, is beyond me...
...Nor should we think ourselves specially the objects of divine solicitude...
...We r.hould have a representative and cooperative world government and a world court to receive appeals and make decisions...
...Russia, an ally of England, was sorely punished...
...I have a number of such cases on file which indicate that people get that way when they become Stalinized...
...If what Germany does in Poland is our business, why not what England does in India...
...England promised Palestine to both the Jews and the Arabs...
...Lawrence Stahl Dayton, Ky...
...Britain's Record Dear Sirs: What is meant by "cooperation with England to keep the peace...
...But they have undoubtedly been a political influence at Washington...
...But we feel that to slander the gallant souls who were executed by the Stalin regime because they refused to compromise their ideal of human brotherhood with Stalinism might far better be considered an unpardonable sin...
...Barnes has ceased to be the thinker and has become an all-powerful, ruthless man of action...
...This should not be...
...Keep On Thinking Dear Sirs: I wish the eight Los Angeles women who signed their names to one letter on the Mayer-Barnes row over evolution would read Drummond's Ascent of Man...
...Barnes chooses to justify Stalin for his suppression of free speech and execution of dissenters, he will have the company of the Stalinists and their following, but we feel that the American people in general will disagree with his statement that Stalin would be justified in executing Norman Thomas...
...If he must be endured, at least cut him down to a few straightforward lines, and give him a less conspicuous place in the paper...
...all newspapers, publications, radio facilities in private hands...
...H. C. Dekker Portland, Ore...
...Japan with her modern military equipment has not conquered China during the last 10 years...
...Praises Dr...
...C. E. Mathers Silver, Tex...
...Smash Old Parties Dear Sirs: In my opinion, before we liberals and progressives talk about reform such as public ownership of power plants, railroads, banks, etc., we must smash both old, international-minded political parties...
...It should not be difficult to understand why the international feud has been so catastrophic when we consider the vainglorious conditions under which the ordered masses of Europe have suffered and died needlessly, a generation at a time...
...What is democracy...
...Never during all that period have I read a more masterly analysis of the men sitting on that bench than Fred Rodell's brief but brilliant discussion, "The Nine," in The Progressive for Oct...
...27, and the thing that impressed me was his proposal to create several thousand more political jobs...
...Barnes...
...If women will only read the whole paper, they will get more out of it, than they will out of fancy work, patterns, etc...
...Now why should we have any unemployment among our able-bodied young men...
...You probably recall Churchill's jubilant declaration, as soon as we landed in Northwest Africa: "I did not become His Majesty's Prime Minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire...
...George Brei-tenbach's letter in The Progressive of Sept...
...Now here is an interesting thing...
...But after using us, England and France repudiated their pledge to take no spoils and they seized spoils equal to the area of continental Europe...
...Yes sir, the big boys are now planning the peace...
...Quite recently England closed the Burma Road against China, at the time when she was bombed and needed food, medicine, and weapons...
...The farmer has the land forever, labor runs industry, the people elect Stalin to his position...
...27 is absurdly ridiculous...
...But he says nothing about the Legion's "No Foreign War" policy, which, of course, nullified all other Legion policies having to do with the security of the nation and aided in conditioning the minds of the people for the Neutrality Act...
...He credits the Legion with the National Defense Act and deplores that it was nullified by one penurious Congress after another...
...Nationalization of all banks and financial institutions and abolition of gold as a monetary base is necessary before we can even think of having a just world peace...
...The next logical step would be the nationalization of all the factories privately owned in the United States...
...The establishment of a permanent peace is an arduous, hot an unaccomplishable task...
...The fact is, these men's lives were well known to Thomas and to Socialists generally for their brave struggle for freedom and justice for the common people of Poland...
...all schools privately operated for profits...
...27 issue...
...Rodell's Masterly Analysis Dear Sirs: I have practiced at the bar for 32 years and during that period have read deeply in the history and the writings of the Supreme Court...
Vol. 7 • October 1943 • No. 42
