Where the News Ends
SCHLAMM, WILLI
By Willi Schlamm Where the News Ends piFTEEN years ago, or sera Scandinavian gen-tleman, .who had tried hard but with no success to become a British one, titled one of his books, "Are the...
...That would be unfair, since private business is in general necessarily governed by the profit motive...
...At present we are not moving with the necessary speed...
...Among the nine and a half millions whom private capitalism has disemployed there are at least some hundreds of thousands of skilled workers who, if given the opportunity, could quickly learn any new technique that may have been developed since they were thrown out of their jobs...
...While we feel confident that Wendell Willkie is not going to be elected, we cannot afford to take chances...
...The measure now de-cidedhoo will in part correct this evil while providing for the return of the soldiers to a normal position in society...
...the behavior, the inclinations, the instincts, the movement of nations...
...On the one hand, as an - integral part of his governmept machine is the Communist Party, and on the other are members of his cabinet who openly worB with the Falangist elements in Spain...
...We are not yet quite sure how far we are "in it" and how far we want to go...
...We do not wish to put the blame upon the captain* of industry as individuals...
...In fact, they are useless unless combined with a clear, determined realization of the cause for which they are intended...
...But by confining himself to indiscriminate denunciation of the President's policies he leaves it for such supporters as Herbert Hoover and Charles A. Lindbergh to say—and never once has he registered dissent from their views...
...You are undoubtedly publishing the outstanding publication in the coun-try...
...G o n e is the picture of the 3 w aggering, b 1 u s t er ing army sergeant who took gleeful joy in shooting down Cuban students, eliminating from the university those professors who disagreed with him, and of suppressing dissident trade-union elements...
...A revaluation has begun...
...Prior to Labor's coming to .power most of the usable public land had been allowed to pass into private ownership and mostly into ihe hands of large proprietors...
...Admit this, and it follows that what he calls "liberty in general," which is nothing but the algebraic sum of all particular liberties, is hardly worth fighting for...
...i That had to be said before this writer was allowed to warn against a widespread optimism which more and more believes in the assured British victory...
...WHAT is England actually fighting for...
...If they are to win, however, they must remain convinced that their fight makes sense...
...Our right (within proper limits) to say-what we please is precious, he declares, only in so far as the things we say are precious...
...Cmada...
...We think we know the workers of America...
...Publishing the Best...
...f. A DANGER POINT *J*HOUGH the press is playing down the report of an armed Nazist movement in the Argentine district of Misionei there is a large probability of its being true, and if it » verified there will be ground for grave concern...
...Hadn't we, on the old continent, much finer nerves, much greater sense of sub-le.ty, overtones, and shadows...
...Maybe, if we speak very politely and accept those "new relations," the dictatorships will be merciful...
...But the British, who are not as sabtle as the French, dp not want this kind of peace...
...United States, he throws the Monroe Doctrine, even in its narrowest meaning, into .the discard...
...Miami, Fla...
...The American people themselves must be the judges and arbiters of their fate...
...Vptues, about which the French wrote psycho- 1 logical novels, turned out to" be the sober matters of England's daily life...
...More and more they will understand that England alone is materially not strong enough to re-conquer the continent...
...Borchardt...
...under conditions which will enlist their cooperation in development work...
...Grau san Martin...
...Will the workers .of America yield to the treacherous propaganda of the Communists and pacifists, or will they follow the example of the workers of Britain, who have made this war their own, knowing that the victory of the totalitarians would mean the end of everything the labor movement has...
...If we are to give England the aid she must have in order to survive and prepare for an ultimate offensive against the enemy, we must do much more than we are doing in the matter of production of airplanes and other essential weapons and war materials...
...The French, you see, were so refined and aware of sabtle nuances that they finally didn't get the little difference between freedom and slavery...
...There " is no one who questions the fact that hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen are deadly ashamed of their nation's behavior, and , despair over the most pathetic mess a nation has ever arranged for herself...
...Were England ready to accept the totalitarian domination of the continent and of Africa, she could have peace at once and a peace which, probably, would leave the British Empire across the seas more or less intact...
...stood for from its inception, of all opportunity of struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness...
...As far as operas are concerned, the French are by far better...
...The ¦ British gang froid, their much ridiculed cold blood, proves to he* thoroughly healthy fluid, while,it seems that the admired charm of France's sparkling spirit must have originated in the overdosed consumption of somewhat adulterated champagne...
...What those new relations would be, and whether this country would accept the Nazist definition of them if the Republicans should win, Mr...
...Committees, and branches in this city and all over the country afcould si once get as large a supply as they can put into cirenlatM*-Even isolated individuals should send their dimes, quartet* or dollars for smaller lots and distribute them, for the where we have no organization are just the place* die delivery of our message may do the most good . Acting National Secretary August Claessens will respoae promptly to every call...
...Mussolini's official organs have spoken in the same sense and even more impudently...
...Every vote counts, for there are states where » slight plurality at the polls will swing the whole electoral vote...
...Fulgencio Batista, president-elect of Cuba, will shortly visit the United States, in the hope of obtaining a $50,000,000 loan...
...I'..;i All this is perfectly reasonable from the point of view ?of private profit-making business...
...England resists in spite of Chamberlain, but France gave up in spite of Reynaud...
...They are really fighting for a cause, and a great cause it is...
...Colonel Lindbergh in his latest speech, even more clearly than in preceding ones, comes out for a policy of appeasement...
...of their own forefathers who knew how to fight for freedom and to maintain it against threats within and without...
...It is time to drop that boyish theory of history which explains, and writes, history in the mode of Gene Autry adventures where vicious villains ("bad leaders") and pure heroes ("good leaders") are fighting it out in behalf of an innocent virgin ("the people...
...We know that their slogan will be: "To victory through service and sacrifice...
...Goodness knows, we felt terribly superior, modern, and refined...
...If not, England will probably make some kind of peace with the hopelessly stronger hell...
...To^ day, England is- confident - that the democratic world will quickly and in an ever increasing amount materially help it win, and that's the reason why the...
...Best Paper, But Top...
...But It was only a step, the first step...
...In its place is the picture of a quiet president taking a paternal interest in school children—with whom he is so often photographed...
...Z':.'.„-----Reveals Toller Is Not Author Of "Pastor Hall" From JULIUS EPSTEIN To the Editor: A few days ago I saw for the first 1 time the great - picture "Pastor Hall," based "on a story by Ernst Toller...
...It is upon the capitalist system itself that the responsibility must fall...
...He may hope that Hitler and Mussolini will not actually invade Canada or any Latin-American republic...
...aggression which does not directly touch our territory, should face the risk that even so they may not be appeased, and that we should wait to have American blood poured out on American soil in a last-trench struggle against overwhelming forces ¦whoever does thai is a traitor to everything of which our people are proud and comes perilously close to "adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort...
...But it would also be a sensible attitude to stop fighting,.should the British finally discover that this help is not coming...
...That is a matter of 'invasion—of final material superiority...
...The Labor government of New Zealand plans to purchase land at market prices for the settlement of veterans after the war...
...T~ \y E must not generalize—I know, I know...
...Will they follow the road of the French, or will they be guided by the example of the British and...
...Willkie V wisecrack suggestion that he 'phone Hitler and ask for verification of his Statement that a victory for the Republican candidates would please the Fuehrer...
...Piper in the Country From DAVID GALE To the Editor: I'd'lik'e you to know that I have followed The New Leader regu-larly and with interest...
...Louis A. Johnson say in his Monday night radio talk: "If Col...
...In the last several years we have witnessed a strange metamorphosis in the attitude of the American press towards "Senor Batista...
...There Is no point to our government subsidizing^ a - ruthless machine which operates i behind a facade of democracy...
...Certainly, for a few years only...
...But we jhould, at last, abandon the inclination to treat a people like a baby who is never to be blamed for anything...
...That would have nothing to do with Munichism or Lavalism...
...I have but one objection and that is, you are far too modest in tooting your own.horn...
...Hitler, there can be > no doubt, is so terribly interested in a short war that he would pay a lot for it—certainly with the temporary survival of the British Empire proper...
...To this is to be added the fact that the central government of Brazil has been coquetting, to put it mildly, with the idea of V totalitarian state, which would necessarily expect the support of the Axis power* sad would have to earn it by furthering their designs...
...He denounces "partiality for any power"—-by which he can only mean, in the first place that we must do nothing to help save England, and furthermore that we must do nothing to/prevent any countries in our hemisphere from falling under Nazist or Fascist control, so long at .any rate as that control does not take the form of outright annexation...
...In the first place, as we have before pointed out the cry is not justified by facts...
...Most of our acts, considered each by itself, are as trivial as most of our words...
...I . look forward to The New Leader each week for its exeel-lent articles and news reports...
...APPEASEMENT IS TREASON IJENRY WALLACE need not reply to Mr...
...sober peoples like the British want to see a practical way of accomplishing their purposes...
...A dear and persuasive leaflet entitled "Why the Maesej WUi Vote for Roosevelt and Wallace" has been P»hlahefl by the Social Democratic Federation...
...He is on firm ground when he says that freedom cf speech is not an absolute right—that, like other rights, it is subject to limitation—that, indeed, if we all had absolute rights none of us would have any rights at alL That is sufficient for his purpose...
...j/V A LAST-MINUTE CAIjfc J^ESS than three weeks remain for the last-minute d*i*t* * men and women who share the views of which Th* Ps** Leader is a leading exponent to mobilize the votes of the forward-looking elements o'f this country in support of ™* New Deal and a foreign policy clearly oriented to the defense of democracy...
...The higher productive efficiency of the huge plants equipped for the use of the "belt" over smaller and less up-to-date estabttsn-ments in the same industries, checked their growth in the boom days and drove many of them out of business during and after the crisis of I 929-33...
...Permit me to settle the unknown but true fact- that the real writer of "Pastor Hall's" story has never been Ernst Toller but H. H. Borchardt a German author who now lives as a poor refugee in New York...
...In the final analysis a nation, and not her leaders, is responsible for her fate...
...If and when England then shall see convincing evidence of growing and powerful ^assistance from the rest of the world, she will proceed first to take it, and then to strike...
...Another aspect of the problem, purely military, is the .speed and efficiency with which we press our-defense program...
...ID there is any doubt today, whether the British are human beings, it grows from an admiration for the English be- ¦ havior which sometimes, at least to-me, seems to . surpass the average man's aptitude for dignity, ' courage, and proud calmness...
...The British, on the other hand, whom' Europe's supercilious intellectuals believed to be a peculiar sort of clumsy lot with strangely human faces, suddenly managed to grasp all the fine nuances which distinguish men from other animals...
...What England performed during the last weeks, goes beyond all recorded feats...
...The whole plot of the play, the persons, the scenario and much of the dialogues of this play, published by Random House-New York, is the spiritual property of Mr...
...Lindbergh thinks that American independence no longer permits Americans to stand, for honor, integrity, kindness, and decency in international relations, he has misconceived the independence for which Washington fought, which Jefferson, Madison, and Andrew Jackson defended, which Lincoln preserved...
...If Mr...
...He blames the Administration for having "alienated the most powerful military nations of bom Europe and Asia" —by which he can only mean that President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull have offended Germany and Japan...
...but most of the things we say are trivial...
...but her great guts' and her fantastic power of resistance makes victory not at all certain...
...Against the concentrated forces and resources of a totalitarian Europe the British Isles cannot possibly become superior—if the British Isles must fight it out alone...
...Protests Batista Visit for Loan From U. S. From RAYMOND GORINI To the Editor: Col...
...Until these are put to work there can be no valid excuse for demanding longer hours of labor...
...LABOR PLANS AHEAD JpROM the two Australasian members of the British Commonwealth of Nations comes news illustrating the capacity qf labor in politics to foresee problems and deal with them in a constructive way...
...But if, after these have been set to work, it is found that there are still not as many skilled mechanics ai the expansion of special war-time production requires, who or what is at fault ? Certainly not the workers, who could not have acquired skill otherwise than by advancement hr the shop...
...The next and more important step is the training of the youths who will actually be called into service not only in the art of war but in the spirit with which they must be animated if democracy is to win...
...And it then proceeds to warn the American people that after the Nazist forces have destroyed England, "regardless who is president, a new chapter will have to be begun in the relations of Europe to America...
...This northeastern corner of the Argentine Repubhc » adjacent on one side to those provinces of southern Braoj which harbor large numbers of unassimilated German snd Italian immigrants who are known to look to BerBn ana Rome for instructions, and on another side it border* upon the nominal republic of Paraguay, whose history for two hundred and fifty year* has been cursed with the dictatorship first of the clergy and since then of corrupt rnibtary adventurers, to an extent hardly equalled by any other Latin-American state...
...It is made by the character, the *Dirit...
...Lindbergh knows that history, yet he advises us to follow the same course—to rely on appeasement and in no case to strike a blow in defense until the enemy is on our soil...
...II7ITH their wonderful qualities the British can " resist a Nazi invasion...
...But during these few years (so the English could tell themselves) anything might happen, and at least London's children would escape the hellish ordeal...
...A similar policy is to be followed in Australia, where the Labor party is much the largest of the three parties and since the elections held last month has almost as many seats as...
...It is by far the best labor paper published...
...A year of European history has shown, by the fate of ten nations, how much appeasement counts for in averting invasion and conquest...
...Well did Col...
...PROFIT vs...
...Thus, the British will realize, sooner or later ,that the only aim of their almost superhuman efforts today (the liberation of Europe) cannot <be achieved, anyway, and that the retreat into* their more or less damaged Empire is the only sensible alternative...
...Arms, armaments are not enough...
...An universal .earthquake happened...
...It's a sensible attitude...
...Letters To the Editor Lee Disputes Lundberg on 'Free Speech From ALGERNON LEE To the Editor: . It seems to me that at one point Ferdinand Lundberg overpleads his case in fiis recent articles in The New Leader...
...By Willi Schlamm Where the News Ends piFTEEN years ago, or sera Scandinavian gen-tleman, .who had tried hard but with no success to become a British one, titled one of his books, "Are the British Human Beings V It was a very sophisticated volume, supposed to picture the English animal at its strangest, fall of amazement about the British way of life .On the Continent, I remember, many of us used to chuckle wholeheartedly when we read the si"7 little stories the Scandinavian explorer had to tell...
...And since every vote counts, every effort counts, no matter how difficult and no matter how small...
...Whoever, aspiring to public office in the United Stares, gives even his tacit assent to the proposition that- we should assure the totalitarian aggressors of our consent to every...
...Forty-eight men working forty hours a week can do mock mam than forty men working forty-eight hours...
...From the time that so-called line-production became practicable in one industry after another, the interest of the Owners of plants required that the employment of highly skilled mechanics be kept at a minimum, so aa to hold down labor costs and leave more for profits...
...The answer has been given by the Frankfurter Zeitung, one of the most authoritative organs of the Reich government...
...Willkie knows that history, but he says nothing that conflicts with Lindbergh's (and Hoover's) utterances...
...Willkie has carefully refrained from saying...
...is the composition of the elements backing * Batista...
...Modest in Tooting Own Horn From SOL BERMAN To the Editor: Your .paper is better thai} ever...
...Yes, the Germans are to blame for Hitler, although millions of them hate, him...
...The third act of the book edition was not written by Dr...
...Borchardt For a long time I had the opportunity to study the materials about this matter, and I am wondering at the conspiracy of silence about these facts in spite ' of so many outstanding witnesses who know the whole truth...
...History is as little made by traitors as by great men...
...the Trench are to blame for Laval, although millions of them are not in love with him...
...the governing coalition of bourgeois and agrarian aliments, and is therefore able to exercise a powerful influence on legislation...
...The honestly republican elements now dominant in At-gentina" and Uruguay have good reason to dread a disturbance centering in the Misiones district If serious trouble develops there it will present a difficult but unescapabk problem to our own government, which has rightly pledged itself to the defense of the Americas from Hnds^jfrPjl" to Cape Horn—for a first principle of effective dsyjsfSj* that the enemy shall not be permitted to intrench hirnseu behind the defenders' lines...
...But with all these qualities they cannot expect to re-conquer the continents-alone...
...and the British are responsible for Churchill and Bevin, although millions of them arc probably not that good...
...r -. Illinois...
...Borchardt, former professor of a gymnasium in Berlin and later professor of the University of Minsk, Soviet Russia, wrqte the whole first two acts of "Pastor Hall" and Toller used this manuscript...
...If the American people are to play their part in the battle for freedom—whatever that part may be—they must experience a rebirth of their old faith, the faith of "Give me Liberty or give me Death I" This is the spirit in which our new people's army must be trained within the next twelve months...
...And I want to go on the record that I would thoroughly understand such a decision...
...There are decent liberal ele-5 ments in Cuba—ledby Prof...
...But the consequence a that, in a moment when danger to our democratic institutions and even to our national independence looms dose ahead, the enormous expansion of certain industries which i* vitally necessary to avert that peril may be retarded by a shortage of specially skilled labor directly resulthsa^Msi the normal development of capitalist productionThis is but one of many instances which prove that, in the present stage of economic and social development, capitalism cannot be counted on to serve long-range national interesta—to aay nothing of the social interests of the masse* within the nation...
...England wants to try and to continue her struggle, through the dark winter months to come...
...Lacking this spirit, nothing can save us...
...Sound intelligence being one of these qualities, the British might in a. few months from now arrive at the conclusion that 40 millions are by far less than 400 millions if the rest of the world does not really care...
...It would be merely the intelligent answer to a world which left 40 million British fighting the world's battle alone against 400 millions of continental Europe who are, for all practical purposes, completely at Hitler's service...
...Indeed, he goes' farther than that When he sweepingly declares against any armed action beyond the borders of the...
...FORWARD TO BATTLE AND VICTORY •jT/HE registration Of 16,000,000 American youths for mili--tary service last Wednesday was the most eJoquezrt answer yet given by American democracy to the conspiracy of the totalitarians against mankind and this country in particular...
...While we had plenty of opportunity to learn that sophistication does not help against meanness, we learn now that the British know how to be brave and decent and wonderful Wfthout having the talent of fussily showing it in French style...
...Because the British, you see, are human beings...
...To leave eight idle and overwork the other forty would be econornically stupid as well as unjust...
...This time it wouldn't he Chamberlain's England, but Churchill's and Bevin's...
...PUBLIC NEED *J*HE outcry over an alleged shortage of skilled labor to meet the national emergency, which is being raised h» representatives of Big Business and used as an aignswt for lengthening the workweek, is in two ways discreditable to the class which thinks it alone is capable of running our industrial system...
...France with her "crack" army cracked up because the soul of freedom and readiness to die for it had gone out of the French people...
...Against the aggressive, fanatical faith of the totalitarians we must pit with equal fanaticism, if you please, with equally aggressive . determination our faith in the ideals and institutions by , which we live...
...The supply of SMKMsM of the older generation has been sufficient and l|p'ls*rc than sufficient to meet the slowly growing demand and taw of the younger men have had a chance to learn...
...Interesting, too...
...therefore the right itself is not of much value...
...Let us hope that we will face this problem seriously after the national election is out of the way...
...If the arms we are now acquiring are backed by this spirit ' we will win...
...Let us put it more bluntly...
...But then will arrive spring, and a new year of ordeal...
...British are so calmly and bravely meeting the challenge...
...But I think he errs in minimizing the value of freedom of free speech, and that he mistakes the nature of its value...
...Lundberg's reasoning at this point is correct, their none of our rights is very precious...
...For the liberation of Europe and for the survival of world's democracy—not for her own survival...
...This state of mind is not less dangerous than the general defeatism for the British cause was a few months ago...
...A few million years passed since the nineteen twenties...
...In a featured editorial displayed on Monday this paper declares that while both presidential candidates avow their desire to keep the United States out of war, Willkie is to be believed and Roosevelt is not...
Vol. 23 • October 1940 • No. 42
