Where the News Ends

...England's wavering friends—Greece...

...But it will not be an easy fight...

...Britain's lifeline is cut, oil supplies cease...

...Blum has incurred the hatred of the Vichy gang because he was one of the few who had the courage to vote against granting absolute authority to the Petain government and opposed the adoption of the new quasi-totalitarian constitution...

...Only the victory of England can save them...

...The United States can spare them at this time...

...F L Y I N G FORTRESSES F E W moments before this editorial was written the tickers clattered in the newsrooms that Italian forces under Commander Graziani had crunched their way over desert sand to the first really important town eighty miles inside Egypt...

...PAPER IS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF To the Editor: I can honestly say that The New Leader is something to be proud of, and I want to see it live and grow...

...But the long motor trains of fascist fighters and water carriers crawl inexorably towards the Suez Canal...

...That Jellinek dispatch alone was enough to tag you, and I found similar performances, in quantity...

...Willkie has the support of the same reactionary political and industrialist elements here who in France support the Vichy regime and cry for Blum's blood...

...The defects of the bill as passed will have to b e corrected later...

...A Roman emperor excused a tax on public lavatories with the words "Moneta non olet"— Money doesn't smell...

...Possibly this appointment is intended as an easy means of disposing of Mr...

...We cannot escape Hitler's wrath and avoid the dire consequences of a Hitler victory by remaining nonbelligerent...

...Caesar's Gallic legions, Cromwell's Ironsides, and Napoleon's O l d Guard were not made up of youngsters...

...A beginning has been made toward solving l» by public action, but only a small beginning It must be carried on...

...It is...

...Leon Blum decided to stay because he has the virtues of his faults...

...EVEN Blum, much as he always has suffered from optimism, certainly had not the slightest illusions concerning the fairness of the gentlemen in Vichy and Riom...

...Had Leon Blum, I repeat, preferred exile to the purgatory which now waits for him, no intelligent reproach against him would have been possible...

...Being a Socialist and a Jew, he realized fully that this was a particularly heavy responsibility: every step, every move of his would involve the fate of two hated minorities—the Jews as well as the Socialists...

...Arnold on the Supreme Court, A Danger to Labor From HARRY PAGE To the Editor: The rumors which filter through Washington bureaus here, have it that Assistant Attorney-General Thurman Arnold, now in charge of anti-trust prosecution, is slated for the next I T Q M I I I ' V rm Sunppmo PnlTT-t...

...Editorials BLUM AND WILLKIE TPHE arrest of Leon Blum for trial with other former French leaders on charges of responsibility for the collapse of France serves to emphasize the moral and political bankruptcy of the Petain regime...

...Whoever is rot Hitler's en«*»" is his friend...

...OUR STAKE [ N ICELAND J U S T where the lines are to be d r a w r between what we call the Eastern and Western Hemispheres may be » subject of dispute...

...If so, there's a humorous precedent for this action...

...He did not want to make himself believe that in exile he could contribute to the liberation of France...

...for example quite possible that, in order to speed up production, it will become Labor's duty to —ark time in the matter of higher wages and a shorter work week—possible even that con cessions should be made...

...Perhaps he was wrong...

...Action was necessary...

...p.ans for tlx very near future include an attempt to seize Iceland...

...A good army must unite the steadiness of mature years with the reckless elan and exuberant vitality of youth...

...Putting Blum on trial will not exculpate the real traitors...

...The parallel is strengthened by the fact that those staging the trials at R i om are the very persons who betrayed the country to the enemy, as did Stalin in executing the Tukhachevsky group of military leaders on charges of plotting to betray Russia to Hitler, which facilitated Stalin's long-planned scheme of making his treacherous pact with Hitler in 1939...

...and that we should give continued and increased aid to the British people (meaning aid short of w a r ) . As reasons for your not asking for war now, you say that there is no call for an expeditionary force, and that as for war on the seas, a large part of our navy, with its supporting air force, must be kept in the Pacific to hold Japan in check, while the remainder is needed to maintain defense in the Atlantic...

...if it comes, will be to p-eserve for ourselves and (what is implied in that) to restore for other peoples the benefits of freedom, or peace, ana of orderly social progress...

...It is not because of the military situation that we still are out of war, but because the American people are not yet psychologically ready for war-like actions...

...will have been in vain...

...Bitter experience has proved that they cannot safely be left to private enterprise...

...and our strengri and power of endurance if we have to fight will depend partly on how much w e have done to improve our socia...

...However it —.ay be with nations that art actually on the fighting front, for us at this time there is nc need and therefore can be no excuse for pigeonhohnf: questions that concern the general we.fare of the people in ordinary times...

...Willkie supports the Petain-Laval regime b y insisting again and again that Blum brought France to collapse by the very moderate program of social and labor legislation tardily adopted under his premiership in 1936-37...

...Until you called me up, I hadn't been reading it...

...W o u l d American intervention there be unneutral' *course it would...

...Technical training is not the only thing needful...

...If it comes to the point of helping our neighbor nations to guard twenty thousand miles of coast, the number may be far too small, for it must be remembered that the aggressor chooses his point of attack...

...This ** ought to do and not leave the other undone...

...The special need we admit, but the general need is not thereby lessened...

...Twelve hundred thousand is not one too many...

...Not even Wendell Willkie's repeated thrusts at Blum in a dishonest effort to hold him responsible for France's tragedy and comparing President Roosevelt's administration with Blum's will have any effect...

...Had Leon Blum gone into exile, he might have furnished the Lavals and Doriots with the most welcome weapons for driving the French workers into an anti-democratic hysteria...

...It is impossible to discuss this matter adequately in a short "letter to the editor...

...Here, if ever, a man acted with that peculiar sense of genuine tragedy which creates the great legends of mankind...

...W e fancy that profits extorted from the nation's direst need are partciularly sweet in the nostrils of men whose first thought in the present emergency was that now labor .standards might be broken down...

...THE NEXT PROBLEM C O M P R O M I S E S had to be made in order to get past the barrage set up by pettifogging politicians and sordid profiteers which had so long delayed the enactment of the Draft* Bill...

...It was Reynaud, not Blum, who was premier of France at that moment...

...We believe the American people will know how to evaluate Mr...

...Beneath the strata of reasoning and intellectual deliberation I feel that Leon Blum did the right thing...

...Would it b e an act cf war...

...Here, at last, is a man who remained true to himself...

...I told him I suggest that PM not call me again...

...The time to act is while England is still unbeaten...

...His candor, so shamefully abused by Stalin's professionals during the unfortunate Popular Front period, is thoroughly genuine...

...Whatever Leon Blum did wrong in his decent political career—he ends it in the style of a true prophet...

...Third, and certainly net less important, is the protectior and promotion of the people's health...

...HOUSING...

...In any event, that many it is to be at this time...

...But suppose we just put a hypothetical question : If, somehow, we became involved in war, by Germany's declaring war on us or otherwise, is there anyone who believes that we could not and would not, at once, do more than we are doing...

...The price had to be paid...

...Leon Blum, disciple and political heir of Jean Jaures, went through the appalling Dreyfus affair when he was young and thus, when France became purulent again, remembered well enough to what depths of infamy French political life can sink...

...the sacrifices in Lcr.ccr...

...Arnold and the Supreme Court...

...For practical poses in the present international crisis, however, it is clear that Greenland, being much nearer to inhabited portions or North America than it is to any part of Europe, must be included in our scheme of defense: and that Iceland, being nearer to Greenland than to any European lands, and yet within striking distance from German bases in Norway, " not to be disregarded...

...In this, Mr...

...If the "ditch" is taken by fascist forces...

...The addition of former premier Blum, who is a Jew, to the list of defendants, follows closely upon the promulgation of the antiserniric decrees...

...It will require a struggle in the next congress to right this wrong...

...Nothing illustrates more convincingly the crooked character of the Republican presidential candidate and his backers, including Henry Ford, the American Thyssen...

...One has to draw the line somewhere, and your sheet does not, on its record, deserve the courtesy with which I, as a former newspaper worker, am accustomed to treat any newspaper and any newspaper-, man...

...Leon Blum did not want to deceive himself...

...But without it, at this juncture, danger would not b e the word—disaster would be certain...

...The delay was shaTneful, and it may yet prove tragic...

...According to Wall Street's favorite, the social and labor legislation adopted under Roosevelt is making for the same results in this country...

...we would not refrain from military action and capitulate to Hitler for fear of Japan...

...Letters To the Editor Wants War Now As Effective Aid To the Allies From BELA LOW To the Editor: Your editorial in the issue of Sept...

...I am glad that you base your argument solely on the premise that American participation in war now would not be helpful...

...Being a Jew, Blum resolved to show the French people that he never lied when he felt himself a Frenchman, and that in the hour of national catastrophe he wants to remain among his compatriots—for betfer or worse...

...They should be told that British democracy is more important than vote snaring...

...that we should rearm adequately for defense as well as for possible future attack upon the totalitarian nations...

...And those legislators in whose power it it to dispatch these planes will shortly be home for the good old American custom of pre-election f er.ce-mencir.g...

...Willkie's utterances, just as the French people will know h ow to pronounce a true verdict upon those who are now trying to crucify Blum as the scapegoat chosen for appeasement of the reactionaries and antisemites in their country...

...to prepare for what may, be unescapahle war...

...Thus, his French patriotism and his . genuine place among the working people were always questioned by that vicious whispering campaign which French reactionary journalism and political vipers can conduct so expertly...

...Apparently it seemed to him that but one thing remained to be done: to prevent the Laval gang from burying France's democratic past under mountains of dirt, thrown on Leon Blum the Socialist, and Leon Blum the Jew...

...But why did Blum decide to play this unhappy role in this dirty burlesque ? Why didn't he leave France ? He had the time and opportunity to do so...

...He accepted that double burden...

...principal supporter and financial backer of the pro-Nazi and antisemitic movement in the United States...

...And his anti-trust actions gives the trade union movement good grounds for stopping any action contemplated in relation to Mr...

...Perhaps the provision as adopted is better than either the Senate's proposal or that of the House...

...The northern row c f stepping across the Atlantic must not be allowed to fall into tow* tarian hands...

...At least six weeks out of the twelve was deliberately wasted...

...part of our navy would join the British navy in patrolling the oceans...

...He must have known his fate— and he wanted to take it...

...In many parts of_the country there is a shortage of physicians, dentists, hygienist*and trained nurses which accounts for thousands of avoidable deaths from disease and in childbirth...

...above all, we would raise, train and equip an army and produce the necessary impliments of war much faster than we can possibly hope to do while we are at "peace...

...Our officers may have to be re-educated...

...It is nonsense to allege that men over thirty-one, or even over thirty-five, are unfit for military service...

...They could be sent to the Royal Air Force for use against the Axis...

...and economic conditions while there is yet time...

...Instead, the French people have been handed over to the Nazis to be exploited and humiliated at Wjill...

...It is not without good reason that Sidney Hook, and other left-wing reviewers of the book, remarked of Arnold's superficial veneer of "Pegler" tough-guyism, and the cynical frame of mind beneath which leads to no action...

...But there are ether lines of progress which need not anfl should not be suspended cr relaxed...

...the noblest motives resulting in sinister misfortune...

...Arnold's grotesque distortion of Veblenesque irony does not help in fostering a respect for the integrity of the little fellow and the democratic way of life...

...The incidental dangers of military preparation must not be merely accepted as unavoidable...

...Being a Socialist, Blum believed the last and perhaps greatest service he could perform for his lifelong faith in the Socialist cause might be to show the French workers how deadly true was •his devotion to them...

...rXURING his whole political life Blum had to ^ take and to overcome this double handicap of being a well-bred intellectual and a Jew...

...PIERRE DE NIO...

...In biblical words...

...Moreover, you can't expect me to believe that you are just another dumb upper-class Communist-Party-line innocent...

...final catastrophe without personal guilt...

...The regrettable thing is the sacrifice of the Russell-Overton amendment—the so-called "conscription of wealth...

...We believe it will be set right...

...The quality of the training these men are to get now becomes a question of vital and urgent importance...

...If Suez is cut...

...Arnold by quietly kicking him upstairs...

...Washington, D. C...

...Beginning within four weeks twelve hundred thousand men in the prime of life will be called for a year of training and for service if the nation needs it...

...Such sabotage is due partly to our clumsy system of "balanced powers" and fixed terms of office, still more largely to the political immaturity of large sections of the American people, their easy tolerance of abuses until they become literally intolerable...

...The-substitute provision leaves the great industrial capitalists practically free to hold up Uncle Sam as they have done in similar crises in the past...

...Our conscript soldiers will fight better if they realize that they are still citizens of a democratic republic...

...The difficulty here will not come from the ranks, but it may come from the officers, many of whom think of patriotism as the opposite of democracy and social progress...

...Some of these might, indeed, become ever more acute in wartime than they now a.-e...

...Their eyes will be on November...

...Let Hitler U.J •* and slangy America will respond— And so what...

...we must not forget that our aim in that war...

...they must be overcome...

...There is ground for believing that Nazis...

...Jugoslavia, and Turkey— and the entire near East become Nazified cr Scvietiied puppet states...

...We would send a large number of our airplanes with pilots and ground-crews abroad, where the fight is going on...

...Dear Mr...

...So much more reason for us to state what ought to be done in order to preserve civilization and our own freedom...

...Only let the other side ac st well, and we need not fear for that...

...Blum now faces trial before the "special court" in Riom—a bunch of obedient Petain fans who will deliver exactly the verdict Hitler expects from them...

...He felt the tremend ous weight of his personal responsibility for a crucial period of France's history—and he felt very old...

...There are some sixty so-called "obsolete flying fortresses lying idle in United States' army hangers...

...POWER...

...If and when that becomes nee essary...

...When he decided to stay in fascist France, he did it certainly not because he had any hope for a just trial and for an opportunity to, defend himself under constitutional guarantees...

...L a b o r will do its duty...

...Arnold would be a dangerous person for the Supreme Court...

...You are obviously publishing, not a newspaper, but some kind of a phony propaganda rag...

...Where the News Ends By Willi Schlamm ?F future generations wijl retain any further * interest in matters beyond parachutes and football (which is at the moment rather doubtful), someone will necessarily write a tragedy around the figure of Leon Blum...

...As Wilson's Attorney-General in 1916, he had made a reputation as a thumping trust-busting progressive...

...But when I took the trouble to check your handling of the Trotsky case, I got a real jolt...

...Public opinion is already more alert than it was in 1917, and it is rapidly developing...

...That will depend upon events beyond America's control— except in so far as, by quicker and more openhanded aid to England, we can obstruct Hitler's advance...

...Shunted upstairs there evolved the process of mental arterio-sclerosis...

...vO«D" mon sense tells us that if such an attempt is —.ace American and British guns will speak together in the only ianguag that Nazis understand...

...I have no information concerning the conscious motives of Leon Blum's self-sacrifice...

...14, entitled "Where We Stand on War," states that The New Leader is not calling upon the United States to go to war with Germany...

...A coward— and a Jew...

...Having advocated France's military resistance to Nazism, Blum decided to stay at home and risk the last sacrifice—just as thousands of French soldiers did before they were betrayed by their generals...

...The compromise as to age limits need not be lamented...

...In such a struggle as is now- goflng on t » »" can be no real neutrality...

...To the contrary—there are probably many very good arguments that flight might have been wiser and more useful to the activity of free Frar.ee...

...While grouchy, Supreme Court Justice McReynolds holds the bastion of archreactionaryism on the court, one time he too was a liberal...

...Ingersoll: A while back a representative of your paper phoned me and asked who, in my opinion, was responsible for the assassination of Leon Trotskv...

...One of these is the development of the economic policies that are briefly indicated by the letters T V A. Productior...

...It means intelligent and therefore cheerful cooperation from the high command to the men in the ranks and back again...

...I feel obliged to state: there can be no doubt at all that Leon Blum's voluntary martyrdom provides our generation with an experience it has seldom encountered—with the opportunity to have unlimited respect for the courage, the sincerity, the personal purity of a politician...

...Here are all the ingredients of tragedy in the truly classic style: the combination of greatness and failure...

...The French people are entitled to know—as some day they surely will—who was responsible for the collapse of France.- To determine the ultimate responsibility will be a complex task, but there is no doubt even today as to who is responsible for her immediate plight...

...He paid allegiance to France while she was happy, but, discovered, becomes a stranger when France's Golgotha began...

...but precisely because I have disagreed with almost everything Blum has done during the last fewyears...

...Almost everywhere there is an even more terrible shortage or hospital facilities, not to speak of facilities for convalescence and for such rest and recreation as would prevent disease^ Private enterprise cannot deal with this evil...

...Pope Alexander V I tried to settle the question, but he made a bad j o b of it...

...It is the final act of desperation on the part of the muddleheads, traitors, and cowards now forming the so-called government of France who prevailed upon Paul Reynaud at the critical moment last July to run up the flag of surrender and to throw France upon the mercy of the Nazi conquerors...

...There is already an attempt to shelve the normal public housing program, on the pretext that expansion of war industries will raise a special problem of so-called defense housing...

...James Rorty Hits Jellinek's, PM's Story on Trotsky Killing From JAMES RORTY To the Editor: You may be interested in the following letter which I sent to Ralph Ingersoll, editor of PM...

...Morale is not to be neglected, and good morale does not mean a habit of unthinking obedience...

...Not only have I in mind his union-busting actions, which have roused the organized labor movement, but also the expressions of contempt for the little fellow which dot his "Folklore of Capitalism...

...Calmly and deliberately Leon Blum resolved to sacrifice himself...

...Those who are n ow staging the trials at Riom are the very ones who had long urged and worked for appeasement of Hitler, and are n ow trying to cover up their crimes with these frame-ups...

...So is his humanitarian pathos, his naive faith in a given word, his moderate optimism, and all those features of Blum's personality which made him such an easy prey for the clever croons of French politics...

...Conscription has its dangers...

...If, instead of that, it becomes a question of striking Hitler and Mussolini before they can strike at us, twelve hundred thousand may be more than can quickly be put into action...

...Why then refrain from taking such measures at once...

...It is s sociai problem...

...HEALTH ^ ^ H I L E we are being forced, little as we like it...

...It is quite possible, though it is not certain, that on certain lines there must be "a breathing spe...

...Were it not for the Vichy band of cowards and reactionaries, France would today still be fighting with her fleet, her air force, and her magnificent African armies, helping England hasten the day of Hitler's downfall...

...Gibraltar falls, the position of the British fleet in the Mediterranean becomes untenable...

...You are welcome to print this letter, but in any case I am sending a copy of it to The New Leader...

...These huge bombers could cruise the length of Africa, if necessary, to v»';.pe out large Italian forces...

...As much as this writer would have understood and defended Leon Blum's flight frorn France, just so much does he now feel the urge to bow in deep respect in the face of Blum's tragic decision...

...Another is the rehousing of the people For various reasons, the business interests directly concerned cannot he trusted to provide ample and up-to-date homes for a growing population with legitimately rising standard* of homf comfort...

...Even though outnumbered in men, armored cars, tanks, and planes, the British succeeded in striking back repeatedly, inflicting heavy damage and fatalities...

...Whether active service will be needed before the training is complete no one can say...

...of electric current, improvement of internal water transport, prevention of floods, conservation of the soil, protection »n0 extension of our forests—ail these are vitally important IT times of war as well as in times of peace...

...The attempt of the Petain government to try Reynaud and others together with Blum recalls the notorious amalgam of the Moscow frame-ups, lumping together defendants of various political and moral categories in accusations of treason and sabotage...

...The devonon of young men who risk their lives in war would be ill repaid by letting their families back home remain in tumbledow^ shacks or in gloomy and unsanitary tenement bouses...

...It has the air of eternity...

...that assumption, however, is untenable...

...But there are also the imponderables of history, and they turn out to be just as powerful as sensible arguments and material facts...

...That's the man you have trusted," would have been the poisonous argument, "a coward who never felt really one of you, who refused to share your lot in rainy days as well as in sunshine...