Van Loon's Diary - Plain Talk About the 'Peace Planners'
LOON, HENDRIK WILLEM VAN
Van Loon's Diary — Plain Talk About the 'Peace Planners' By HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON J FEEL greatly flattered. Five editors have asked me to something about Mr. Culbertson's Plan for World...
...The New Leader has given encouragement to those who fight with us against tyranny...
...but it perplexes me and puzzles me and baffles me to an extent where all I can do is throw my typewriter "it* the airland say, "This is beyond my ken...
...Because of this, the present war will haye to decide if individual liberty, freedom in general, will reign over this world—or some other form of totalitarianism will take its puce...
...HeH...
...Van Loon's Diary — Plain Talk About the 'Peace Planners' By HENDRIK WILLEM VAN LOON J FEEL greatly flattered...
...Our statesmen are either funny or pathetic...
...looking op at him m surprise...
...An independent press which freely and courageously presents to the people all of the facts and the different points of view affecting public issues, is one of the basic cornerstones of a functioning democracy...
...The emphaais, he says, cannot be on plana bat an people...
...1' Senator Homer T. tone npHE New' Leader/wQI shortly celebrate its 20th anniversary within the next few days...
...During my years- of service in the Senate your publication has frequently come to my desk and I have found/its treatment of current events both interesting and enlightening...
...There is a moral somewhere in that rtory which Is not entirely unconnected with the problem of the present deluge of books about the world after the war...
...Schmalz was delighted...
...Pearl 5. Buck Author, Nobel Prize Winner-tMY congratulations to The New Leader on "» its twentieth anniversary...
...nor will he reathe the same air with him, nor will tolerate his presence the boundaries of a land that has been contaminated *l» the Nazi blight...
...In these times, which are truly trying men's souls, it is important that we present to the people of America a realistic picture of current events...
...Too often, when in opportunity for action presents itself, we look for reasons why we should not actr * I find this to be true when it is a question of increasing the circulation of our press...
...I opened the first copy I got at random and on page 16 'read an "outline for Regional Federation...
...It has fought a good fight, and keeps ea fighting it...
...If we go about saying to one another: "Alas, how few we are...
...how much I have to put aside to meet my income tax next quarter...
...They take the abstract names of countries and link them together into their neatly-ordered schemes, without regard to the types of government, the social structures and the passions of people...
...For in history, it is not a question of j"68- It is a matter of the.players...
...I find it to be true when it is a question of increasing the membership of our organization...
...Six weeks later the drummer paid a routine visit to his customer...
...George N.Shuster | hope yen will permit me to congratulate The 1 2bw I wler eei^ eeopsioB ef^nat 9Jafc-a*ni-versary...
...Norway, Sweden and Finland...
...Matthew Wolf rice-President, ,4inn-icon Federation of Labor DERM IT ma to m-* tend my congratulations to The New Leader oa the occasion of Its 20th anniversary...
...Nevertheless I still think it is a good paper, which has done a good job for human freedom at home and abroad.' Washington, D. C. Eleanor Roosevelt IAM very glad to have this opportunity to send yoa a line of congratulation on the twentieth anniversary of The New Leader...
...To provide a better world order with the Four Freedoms enunciated by our President as the heritage of the common man becomes oar great objective...
...I assure you of my deep appreciation of the very fine service your paper renders hi the promotion of social justice, 1 iber-alism...
...Our diplomats (since they ceased to be students of the human soul), are merely funny...
...Culbertson so simple-minded that he does not realize that at least wring the lifetime of the present generation, no self-respecting Norwegian, Swede, Dane or Hollander will ever know-"w spend...
...I am afraid we American Social Democrats are falling into that error...
...In all fairness to the highly destructive species of mammals to which we happen to belong, we have done fairly well and there were periods (often lasting as long as an entire century) when at last it seemed as if we had overcome our tendency to destroy our own kind, a strange habit which we share with no other members of creation, who may eat their neighbors but who at least spare their own kind (at least, so I am told by my friends, the naturalists...
...That is a normal duty of our organization...
...I shivered, for Mere under the caption "Germanic Nations" I read a sug-JTCtod combination of Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Uenmark...
...The New Leader then showed the courage and conscience that is often necessary to subordinate party allegiance to the greater objective of securing for the people of America a larger measure of freedom and material abundance which the spirit and wealth of America make possible* Although we often disagree, it is with profound recognition of the paper's outstanding contribution to the vital processes of democracy that I extend to you and all of the others associated with Tne New Leader my congratulations on the occasion of this anniversary...
...That is why the influence of The New Leader is even deeper than its editors suspect...
...I would not insult any editor by tolling him that I always agree with what appears in his pages...
...It sounds so plausible and so per-sw'Ve' t(> me' suc'1 blue prints for the millennium are a wasts of time...
...any time in the same room with a German, if ™t Germain has in any way been connected with the Nazi movement i(and what German has not...
...And no matter how you un/ lraproTe tne rules, it will be the same old crooked game **s first-of all you are able to change the players...
...Morgenthau had got his share...
...I know that their efforts arc doomed to failure because they want to make over the outer structure of society before they have endeavored to change the inner structure of men's souls...
...It is an event that is indicative of a living American democracy in which independent journalism can flourish...
...All this is even more true of a geieap them of an individual...
...These thoughts are expanded in this number of Van Loan's diary printed above, in his inimitable fashion...
...They work however in the quiet obscurity of their laboratories and their sick-wards and the world at large will hardly observe them, for it is difficult to change either the minds or the points of view of the average citizen (who is primarily a creature of habit) and we won't hear about it until the miracle shall actually have become a part of every-day life...
...During the two dee-ides of its existence, The New Leader has performed a very worthwhile function and has faithfully served the best interests of the American labor movement and of the country generally...
...the old economic boundaries have changed...
...Salva».will have to come from our doctors, our psychologists, specialists within the realm of the brain, both normal and abnormal...
...I wish you to include me among the friends of Hie New Leader...
...They plan, too, in 1939 terms with no comprehension of the tremendous changes which the European continent has undergone in the ruthless events of war...
...Toasts on Our Twentieth Birthday Cordell Hull Secretary of State Ish0u!d like to take this opphilualli of extending hearty congragulations to the editors fBi staff of The New Leader on the occasion of te twentieth anniversary...
...I wish yoa continued success...
...it is in that direction that salvation lies and not within the pages ofAhese well-intentioned volumes, now being written by hundreds of well-intentioned authors who seem to know all things but who have overlooked this one fundamental truth—that the study of man lies within the soul of man himself and that it is useless to hope for any lasting changes until first of all we shall have learned to understand the raw material with which we are dealing and that raw material, my good reader, is that vague (as yet) substance upon which (for lack of a better term) we have bestowed the name of the human soul...
...How poor we are...
...I turn the crank and rfght there I know exactly which of the salesgirls was late, how much petty o»sh was pilfered, when that bum salesman m the nations department sneaked oat half an hour earty lor lunch, how much money 1 have made and lost durmg every hour of the day...
...Your every issue contains some things that other periodicals do not care—or dare— to touch...
...Schmalz...
...Do you think I have had any time for business since I started tending this machine...
...Congratulations on your 20th anniversary...
...Washington, D. C. Eugene Lyons Editor, American Mercury AS one editor to another, permit me to add a few words to the flood of greetings on the occasion of your anniversary...
...Let the dead sleep on their laurels...
...It has been a beacon in exemplifjrhsg Ja ike pages the broad principles of true lfrai sllem 4/gernonLee State Chairman, Social Democratir redera&m CONGRATULATIONS to The New LeeMr on having lived twenty years...
...If not, there is no virtue in our beliefs...
...You have steadfastly upheld the principles of freedom, liberty and democracy and have un-eonajprossfadilghTUfmoejed tolBlttirftnrtanl'AlaJ dictatorship both at home and abroad...
...Pennsylvania...
...But we have no right to be proud of our past unless we live up to the standard we then set...
...I HAD barely finished this little meditation when two more * books devoted to the bra ve-new-world-after-the-war were dumped upon my rural mailbox with urgent requests for Observation and if possible some kind of review...
...flMShim and democracy...
...there are many admiral qualities in its pages...
...We dp well to bear that in mind...
...i BELIEVING as I do that the human brain is endowed with *^ the possibilities of almost unlimited perfection, I feel that given enough time we shall eventually reach a state of reasonable development at which we shall cease to live up to the old adage that "Man is a wolf unto his fellow-men...
...It was a honey...
...Is Mr...
...From its very inception it hag fought all the so-called political "sicknesses" of our times and it hasr become the most influential organ of democratic and Socialist public opinion—a relentless fighter for democracy ail over the world ^ Bomethhig a^aordm^ ^ocurred^ after esme into power and this Socialism without ftaaiam taomafarased itself bsea a naantfles* tyranny...
...Alexander Kerensky Former Premier of the Russian Republic DROUDLY indeed, can The New Leader look * back on its twenty years of existence...
...Most plans, apparently, hold true over tine, space and any other dimension...
...The White House...
...That's fine," said the man who had sold him this treasure...
...You turned the crank and then at once you knew how much money you had made that day, what the profits were an the sales, how much petty cash had been pilfered, how long the sales force had stayed out for luncheon, what your chances were for the next day's sales and how much money there would be left over after Mr...
...Hou weak we are...
...It is a marvel, that machinef" he answered...
...The human race, as we know it today, is still almost ridiculously young...
...D. C. Mbmtt F. Wofner 1 send wannest personal greetings to the edi-tors and readers on the 20th anniversary of The New Leader...
...We face the assurance that our decisions will affect the future of the world for an indefinite period...
...I hate to hurt the feelings of persons who are seriously eon-^°us of a mission with a capit,al M but this World Federa-°n plan is merely another League of Nations or Atlantic garter, set this time to the music of a score-card...
...said Mr...
...On the contrary, all my live long days I have * human beings and as a result, I am as much of of N 88 thut son of a Jewisn carpenter in the little village «aaareth, who almost two thousand years ago had the , jt to »ay, "Brethren, you are avoiding the issue...
...William C. Bullitt IT is particularly appropriate that the twen-* tieth anniversary of The New Lamhr occdrs during a period which calls for clear thinking and progressive measures if the crusade against the Nazis and their satellites is not to fail...
...Schmalz," he hailed him cheerfully, "how do you like your new machine?- Did it live up to its promisee...
...and indeed I believe The {few Leader has attacked me at greater length, if not more frequently, than any other publication...
...It is almost the only weekly which has not declared a moratorium on truth and conscience for the duration...
...I can only say that your paper is definitely on the threshold of maturity...
...Rob.M.LaFolletteJr...
...We hear of a "United States of Europe," a "Pan-Europe," Federated Europe," "Regionalized Europe," "Zoned Europe...
...We believe in our ideals, but do we Setteve in ourselves...
...We have done great deed in years gone by...
...Tour paper has rendered definite and substantial service to the organised labor movement in America...
...Culbe rtson is not dealing with scientific facts nor to a pack of 52 cards which can be arranged in only just many combinations...
...I have been obliged to tell each one of them that <* a bad pl^n...
...ad infinitum...
...I ET me congratulate you upon the Twentieth Anniversary of The New Leader...
...If our spiritual leaders shall see the light (and I hear most hopeful reports about the generation of our younger chaplains in both the army and the navy) and will join forces with the scientists, will accept the fact that "life belongs to the living" and that we must work towards the future rather than towards the past, the process of civilizing the world will tie greatly hastened and will be carried along at a much greater rate of speed...
...From his roaming over the long expanses of history he has come to a wise toleration of human beings...
...And the virtue of The Mew Leader consists in the fact that it understands this problem and conducts its • Ideological war without any compromise or hesitation...
...Its independent guidance and stimulating insight, its so-und and progressive patriotism, have helped greatly to illumine the pathway of America /toward unity on the home front, complete military victory over our enemies, and victory at the peace table...
...Our "painters" and "planners" are wasting time, paper and ink...
...Federation of Labor Iextend to The New Leader my warm personal greetings upon the celebration of its 20th year of publication...
...It is wonderful...
...Hendrik Willem Van Loon, encyclopedist of our times, sees another perspective...
...It has pursued a consistent course of opposition to all types of totalitarianism and has given a form for the expression of truly progressive American views...
...Let me say: "May your light shine ever mess brightly...
...The New Leader with its stimulating political articles has consistently and courageously filled a need in presenting phases of political questions which must be solved if this world is to offer better opportunities for the common man...
...Victory in this war is a matter of life and death for the Nation and any contribution any of us can make to the success of our war effort in attaining a better understanding of what is going on about us, will enable us to help achieve the right kind of peace...
...Of course we shall improve and a thousand years hence, a war like the present one will strike, our descendants as something as hopelessly indecent and as unpardonably unnecessary as we ourselves consider the fury of the Thirty Years War or the witch-hunting of the late Middle Ages...
...The New Leader has maintained a foremost place in that endeavor...
...One upon a time, so this tale ran, there was a salesman for a marvelously ingenious new kind of cash-register-machme and one day he sold the product of his factory to a merchant whom we shall call Mr...
...May your shadow never grow less" is a hackneyed phrase...
...The one I ralue most is a sort of down-to-earth realism which I like to think is American...
...It is hegimrrog to strike me that more and more people are devoting aB their energies towards the world-after-victory and that fewer and fewer take any real interest in the much more pressing problem of how exactly we are going to win this war...
...All very D°MLr^C an<i no doubt jt would work beautifully on paper Mr...
...Self-satisfaction, if" carried to excess, may distort and even ruin a man's life or the life of a movement or of a nation...
...I must underline, with a deep sense of gratitude, that The New Leader supports Russia in its struggle with the armies of Hitler, realizing that the Russian people are shedding blood not only in the defense of their borders but for establishment inside Russia of a political system of freedom—because without a free Russia there cannot be a free Europe...
...To aid in every manner the righteous cause in which our republic and the United Nations are now engaged is our all important task...
...But, as I see it...
...But we are tackling this problem from the wrong angle...
...He is dealing with human values and defy all attempts at order and classification, f^peat, I am sorry...
...Washington, D.-C...
...I hope The New Leader will continue to render a high type of service in the dissemination of both news matter and intelligent comment...
...James M. Mead U. S. Senator from New York VTOUR support of the Administration's war * effort, your fight against the menace of totalitarianism, and your advocacy of the rights of the American labor movement have been noteworthy...
...The record and achievements of The New Leader throughout the past twenty years have been a significant contribution in this respect...
...In spite of its very long presence on this planet, it did not become conscious of its duties towards its fellow-men until at most four or five thousand years ago...
...TMt.is a i.ormal duty of our press...
...Us splendid contribution in the ight against totalitarianism of every load shoald be appreciated by all liberty-loring people...
...Sen...
...Of course that decent state of affairs for which we now pray will come about, for at this very moment and in every part of the globe, the most patient and intelligent of our fellow-men are devoting themselves to that very task...
...she**™ v0t ° reli?iou8 "ort °f person and I always feel a little wpish when I act the preacher, but this is not the time to of**"*1 word,> f°r whosoever plays with words in th« year wb~*PM«-»f8 also plays with human lives...
...May I upsrisHy wish -0u continued success in your-aTd in creating I better understanding utliktyu policy...
...I would like to repeat a little story which I told apt infrequently during the days when I was younger and still believed that I could benefit my fellow-citizens by lecturing unto them...
...Elmer Davis Director of the Office of War Information IAM sorry 1 shall not be able to attend the New Leader Dinner, bat send my congratulations to the paper on its twentieth anni-TWsaiy...
...such times, the general public, as well as those primarily concerned with the labor movement, need the best that American journalism can offer...
...I recall that in 1924 although my father was not in agreement with the Socialist program, it joined with liberal and progressive forces which supported my father for the presidency...
...David Dubinsky President, ILGWU ON the* occasion of the twentieth anniversary of The New leader, I wish to join its host ef friends in •steading ray felicitations and heartiest food wishes...
...In many ways rt ha ¦become a medium' through which a large section «f-*ne democratic leadership of the United States finds expression...
...The continued vigorous existence of The New Leader is one of the bright spots in a gloomy period...
...MOW don,t tell me that I am a sentimentalist and don't in J™cierstanci 8uch things because I am a dreamer and live d h clouds...
...Self-depreciation, as Victor Hugo has wisely said, is the beginning of baseness...
...For living men, laurels wither and rot if they are not kept fresh by new deeds...
...Jerry Voorhis Cong rent of tJie U. S. KAY warmest— greetings to The New Leader *" on the 20th anniversary of it* founding...
...William Green President, American...
...Culbertson's Plan for World Federation...
...It is a joy...
...I consider The Xe« Leader a real voice of our people' and I value its forthrightness and integrity...
...Industrial areas have been overhauled, foad areas expanded...
...In these trying days, the people's sacrifices of life and treasure are steadily mounting, and the administrative problems and economic and political cross-currents of total war loom especially large on the home front...
...But, unwholesome as it may be to think too well of ourselves, it is paralyzing to think too ill...
...I leek forward to a victory of the forces of freedom and democracy the world over, and voice the hope that The New Leader will continue to play its vital part in this •haggle...
...An even hamate a sound objective judgement of our own <psah-ties and powers, were best...
...we do but palliate and cherish our own laziness and our own timidity, and thereby we make our movement smaller and poorer and more weak...
...For their benefit...
...1 am not particularly despondent about the present state of affairs...
...When both duties are fulfilled, both ereSthnV-tion and press grow stronger and more Helpful each to the other...
...The New JLouder has been a champion of good causes and has served the cause of labor...
...In the era which we are now entering,,It will find its services;more needed than ever, and I am glad that you are prepared to be of service...
...But paper is scarce...
...More power to you...
...Good wishes for the year and the years to come...
...WeH, Mr...
...Van Loon's Diary appears regularly in The New Leader...
...EM it do all I toM you it would do...
...Schmalz...
...There ills -ii0ne gle solution to the als of tWs world an* t^08* , "ul stay with you until you shall have learned to truly , y°ur 'wighbor as yourself...
...Suppose you find it out for yourself...
...Wisconsin...
...Washington...
...When either WBT M shirked, both press and organization l^mMuh...
...MOST, of the plans for post-war organization of Europe are couched in strangely unreal terms...
...Ever a champion of freedom...
...And how is business...
...I only know me th h*8 ^US"1 "»« «nd history has definitely taught ot*> cannot hope to travel very far if one puts the L^°rP the hor8enot care by what high-falutin'-terms the authors of these short-cuts to everlasting peace are pleased to offer their wares to their eager public...
...I congratulate you upon the success which you have met during two decades d difficulties and opposition...
Vol. 26 • April 1943 • No. 15
