Where the News Ends
CHAMBERLIN, WILLIAM HENRY
Where the News Ends By WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLIN Impressions of the Middle South MORRIS TOWN. Tennessee.—For the'lasl two weeks I have been engaged in itinerant lecturing in the Middle South,...
...President Roosevelt can probably sir next year...
...WHAT IS SECRET...
...and has sabotaged the administration's agricultural program...
...There are gallant educational pioneering ventures in localities that were sadly underprivileged in that respect...
...This makes it more difficult for some rising political reformer or crusading district attorney to go gunning for him...
...The little town of Morristown, where I happen to be writing this piece, has a way of life that most residents of New York and Chicago and Philadelphia have never known, or have forgotten, if they came originally from small towns themselves...
...Bargaining should have proceeded: A mutually acceptable formula could have been worked out...
...Congress has refused to enact s tax bill calculated to curb War profits and to call upon the corporations and those of high incomes to make their proper contributions to the cost of the war...
...T*HE last mine crisis occurred m June...
...Since Russia would be an important member of the League this proposal safeguards her against a German attack...
...as I learned from personal experience one can travel all day and a large part of the night in one direction and still •remain in the state of Tennessee...
...She could not move East in strength without ths consent of the League...
...These working it was maintained whether or old...
...If the Southerner often has less to live on than his fellow countrymen in the North or East, he often knows how to live at a more leisurely, reasonable pace that probably generates fewer cases of dyspepsia and hardening of the arteries...
...British snd U. S. officialdom don't sgree on terminology...
...Theoretically, taesaa of living may go up one per cent a taombv or in one happy summer month it may-em} recede a fraction—but what a worker aefcan% buys has gone up by frightening lease...
...Aurelio was in the hands of the voters, but he had nicely arranged things so that stupid voters .would place the wrong man on the bench...
...Obviously, Republican politicians are guilty along with Democrats of having nominated Mr...
...One cas make long trips ¦without passing through any large towns...
...c) A tariff union with the Rhineland...
...Thsvmajorities were, in some cases, even larger...
...The British label a document "secret" when Americans call the same one •confidential...
...Since the inflation flood ha been allowed to burst through at that «*the wage end, too, must be permitted ts n*aa This concession is a military necessity, tafia CIO language, "morale, health and efifesissj* are suffering...
...tLICTlONS—1*43.1*44 'f'HE Republicans are justified in raising cries * of jubilation from unaccustomed throats...
...and the mountaineers are hospitable, likable people...
...2) There are only eight great powers...
...Upstate—ns we call everything outside of New York City—did a friendly readers in our C'ty, answering to the call of our friend M. Green, met and talked over ways and means of stimulating a greater interest and a larger circulation of The New Leader among the intelligent people in this Great City by Sea...
...The TV A with its cheap and abundant power, has done much to alleviate poverty in Eastern Tennessee...
...3) Of these, the U. S, England and Franca ace satisfied have nations...
...5) Italy and Japan will lose their navies and, lacking raw materials, will be reduced to second rate powers...
...LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Old-timers will naturally recall their history...
...The stay-away vote was just as large...
...It contains most of the Negro population of the United States, although, because of migration to the North, Negroes are no longer the majority ;«of the population in any state, as they formerly were in Mississippi and South Carolina...
...If in the near future he undertakes a clean-up campaign, it will be clear that he allowed this crime to proceed for the lowest of political reasons...
...gone on voting as their hrthmv did...
...He had his own reasons for refusing...
...lf'Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn could return to life they would probably feel .mure at home in one of these Southern small towns than anywhere else, although their eyes would bulge with surprise at automobiles and buses and airplanes — until they acquired the Vl?e to run these fascinating mechanical toys themselves...
...The President snd fix party sre separate...
...One can see this poverty reflected in the desolate -.cheerless looking little towns in the cotton and timber counties of northern Mississippi and Ala- baraa...
...the Democrats take over...
...Glib editorials about vreraj* nam* and cost-of-living indices have nothing « S) with the ease...
...E. H. Crump, who displays a huge advertisement of his insurance business in the building adjoining the police station, city hall and courthouse, which he completely contrpls...
...tf, Reader Proposes Peace Plan From I. E. LADERMAN To tko Editor: Ths Culberteon plan is far from Utopian...
...For this election the City of New York stands disgraced before the world The New Leader emphasises for the record that both of the great political parties are guilty...
...for greats* 1*0* President Roosevelt's vote leg largely come from the younger age groups OW fellows ifcofi...
...But poor soil and lack of educational opportunities and isolation from the outside world have held them back...
...Millions of workers— net sab miners—spend practically all that tsar as...
...The reasoning behind the plan is simple: 1) Great warn can be fought only by groat powers...
...A Washington report marked "secret" is the equivalent of a London stamp "most secret...
...For reports interchanged by the two governments, both U. S.-British terms are used...
...The city has a tradition of violence that would make any outbreak of racial strife there a very ugly prospect For many years it regularly ran up more homicides in proportion to population than any other city in the United States...
...Unless we'wish to repeat WQjeh's mistake of getting nothing because we insist on a perfect scheme the advocates of peace through international action should be prepared to offer a plan involving a minimum loss of national sovereignty...
...The two parties joined forces to name the associate of racketeers...
...But I carry away from this trip a strong sense of how rich the United States is in regional differentiation and how necessary it is for someone, some day, to write a big interpretive book about these United States, showing both how and why Kansas, say, is different from Tennessee and Kentucky from Maine...
...Because of this strike the war wiU last longer...
...Southerners will tell a visitor, and not Without some historical justification, that their section was given a dose of almost colonial exploitation after being defeated in the Civil War...
...It concentrates on the one great problem of war and leaves the controversial economic questions out of the picture...
...It was boys and girls ing twenty-one bi twees lfr** new who hsve rolled Up ties for the New Deal The SU> jority of the boys sad gtrli « ag office had their opinion txpraeeaf by one who said: "Watl fcnVmm boys come hack...
...Franken thaler's name on the heabsty They knew their man could not be stents i They were obviously pursuing this codes* to put the Democrats in a hole...
...Since * then the administration has had five months in which to give the nation a feeling of security about coal...
...The thing is stark failure...
...may get worse instenc >f oeocr...
...The war—our part of it—has gone on for two years...
...It is evident thst the surest wsy to get rid of crooks in this state is to build up the ALP...
...The industrial army sang have its rations...
...4) China ia insufficiently industrialized...
...During of desperate struggle, we have not' a labor policy designed to keep the men at their jobs and to keep their morale up to the porrit necessary for 100 per cent production...
...and many of the cabins • in which they live, with a pig or two on the front porch and litter scattered about...
...would be the would naturally vote for S Deal candidate like General hell . Bat this time they eonW they, were unable to funstius...
...Woshisqtos Isroosi 1310 ft...
...V) There nsfiiin only Russia and Germany...
...A Senate poll-on the Ball resolution found 33 senators opposed to an international police force and only ,24 out of a necessary 64 in favor of it...
...Their eons and brothers are in the fighting forces...
...But his party cannot wtn this year...
...Memphis lives under a streamlined modern boss system symbolized in Mr...
...But since you are so skeptical of great changes in matters international permit me to offer a peace plan that will require no loss ot national sovereignty and could operate even in the absence of the-U.S...
...For them skfifiM are important...
...What tightens Crump's grip on the political situation ia that, by the admission of his severest critics, he does not filch public funds or allow his henchmen to do so and he gives the city a reasonably cheap and efficient administration...
...Matthew M. Levy received 217,577...
...There must be, the delegates said, "wage adjustments to levels necessary to maintain morale, health and efficiency...
...He wet supported by ether* who counted up the ttenSfifiM who hsve left the itnss for •»» jobs...
...It is only the more forwardlooking people in the South, and in the North also, for that matter, who realise that the abject poverty of the masses of Negroes, insofar as it ia a product of lack of equal economic opportunity, tends to drag down the standard of health and cleanliness in the whole community...
...The absentee vet* ft more than V. is not to bt # counted for entirely on the of lack of interest...
...What Is Secret...
...Such is my plan for the hiternational control of an independent Rhineland stale to guarantee peace in Europe and hence probable peace throughout the-world...
...Tennessee.—For the'lasl two weeks I have been engaged in itinerant lecturing in the Middle South, mostly in Kentucky and Tennessee, with glimpses of northern Alabama and Mississippi...
...This plan would positively prevent Germany from ever again moving West...
...T\NE cannot generalize too freely about such a large section of the country as the South...
...The demand for coal increase...
...One the one hand," say these loyal Roosevelt supporters, "wages have been subjected to severe limitations...
...It is easy te my that there is a rhythmic best in our r "tintsi stk and that there is nothing to be done about fit...
...This coal would have made guns and tanks and planes...
...But there are •a few characteristic facts about-the South that ¦.would impress any outside visitor...
...Matthew M Levy was a dignified and splendid candidate...
...So far there have been no serious racial incidents in Memphis, but thoughtful observers see signs of ominous tension...
...It is...
...And this stoppage is net an isolated thing...
...Apart from the physical devastation of having the war fought on its territory and the fiscal chaos of a so-called Reconstruction that was undertaken in a spirit very different from Abraham Lincoln's phrase, "With malice toward none, with charity for all," the South, as an agricultural region, suffered from high tariffs designed to promote Northern industries and still complains about discriminatory freight rate...
...The resolution conduder with a demand that the Little Steel formula be eliminated...
...It is obvious thst there are hundreds of thousands of voters who still vote the party ticket straight...
...Street MX—Til aid an 21 J* rite* price...
...You wffl filetsee s different picture...
...National issues were only indirectly involved, but it cannot be denied that the Republican Party as of today ia in an excellent position...
...These two facts put together intricate as Democratic weakness...
...efcasn* take over the politics of the ossuary...
...INHERE are many causes for the poverty of the ¦* South...
...Aurelio, it is well known that many of the district captains ordered the faithful to roll up the vote for him...
...Failure at this point anum lessened production...
...v*i have little hope of regular and mourning progressive regime until we have a reganr progressive party...
...of among the union members...
...More of our men will be killed...
...The ondb> pnted accomplishments of the Roosevelt administration cannot be forgotten wnhin s fits years...
...Governor Dewey has no right to point an accusing finger at anyone...
...The Governor said the fate of Mr...
...Nothing can be said by way of excuse or mitigation...
...They are as patriotic as any section of our population...
...The party carried on for him an energetic and intelligent campaign...
...Before any ' milk is given away gratis to Hottentots it would be advisable to consider the possibilities of a big internal improvements scheme in the postwar period, with the South as one of the principal beneficiaries...
...But this is only part of the tale...
...With all the handicaps and difficulties of the South, there are very attractive sides of Southern life...
...Ten million tons of coal wiH be left in the ground...
...Heated partisans should take we-mng, Jml is a time for statesmanship...
...That is a Ripley, "Take it or leave it" story...
...The Governor could easily have headed off the whole shameful business by calling a special session of the legislature...
...Memphis is s flourishing river . port, a huge cotton trading centre, with industries that are booming, like industries everywhere, with war orders, and with almost a hundred and fifty thousand Negroes in a population of some three hundred snd fifty thousand...
...Aurelio in the first place...
...The Republicans were in newer ley tf years, the Democrats controlled for I yean, the Republicans followed for a period at B years, and now the Democrats have hem the reins for three terms...
...Distances are impressive...
...One result of his action was that Aurelio...
...Street Hew York AL 4 fiM 4111...
...The election returns are precisely in line with whatever swell was evident last year...
...Levy and Frankenthaler together received 858,177...
...There is an easygoing good fellowship, an unhurried way of life in, a typicsl Southern town that I always find pleasant and reposeful...
...They should be recognized as such and given credit for their part in our great effort...
...It may be that if the United Mine Workers were led by a man Mite William Green or Philip Murray, this strike could have been prevented...
...There never has beer s New Deal Party...
...The President has the Support of the tea too solid South, of the urban political smdnoM of the North and of the organized tabor forces...
...Then the Republicans proceeded to split the opposition vote by placing Mr...
...I think the plan is important enough to merit a symposium on the Leader...
...The general staff ef our army of production just ienk there The wage policy is...
...This leas hurried, simpler way of life is reflected in various sights and sounds and smells: hi the autumn leaves that are falling and being heaped up in piles and burned, in three boys in a vacant lot going through football maneuvers and shouting signals in broad southern accents, In crowds of farmers and their wives who have come In "to town" on Saturday to do the shop-ping and perhaps take in a movie and who stand -around Morris town's long main street, swapping stories and neighborhood news...
...b) Make an independent republic out of the Rhineland...
...The machines are in disrepute, am Labor is too loosely organized t» fmottui effectively in local elections...
...The resolution adopted on Tuesday at the national convention of the CIO goes to the root of the matter...
...of course, but an aspect of the entire stabilisation program...
...But Mr...
...Newspaper fatuously about ths that the ruin would farmers at home and as the Democrat* City slickers' talk in this wsy dost farmers Country folk take : ties seriously...
...U-©* Is C—fiia, ttJtt ha Imrama and C^a+ral * Yoi.XXVL No...
...The evidence of skulduggery is blatant, and it is not all on the side of the Democratic Party...
...Lewis could not have played his anti-administration part if the miners had no real and deep grievances...
...Recently the colored clergymen of the city invited their white colleagues to a meeting and stressed two particular grievances of their community: rough handling by a police force in which there are no Negroes and very discriminatory accommodation on buses that are badly crowded anyway...
...Such meditations are too easy and superficial...
...Now conditions, by general agreement, have improved, although one may be a little skeptical as to how far one should credit the version of the situation put forward by some patriotic Memphians, zealous for the honor of their city, that victims of homicidal attacks in neighboring parts of Tennessee, and also in the neighboring states of Arkansas and Tennessee, were dumped into Memphis hospitals and added to the city's homicide score, if their injuries ended fatally...
...name was left on the ballot...
...gresa and the Office of Economic MoOihxsnm take it all very calmly- The War Labor Bsnn) really has nothing to say...
...Millions of others are held in line only by loyal union officials...
...Th strike pledge was giver, by the eisclad^ of the A F. of L and CIO These dene their loyal best to hoop that there - are dangerous hwflcatiom...
...An administration coming in after seek a tremendous failure as that of the CoshsgeHoover regime wns justified in expecting, i longer term of popular support...
...One found the problem of race relationships in concentrated form in the course of s visit to Memphis, sn interesting city for more reasons than one...
...What the audiences got, or didn't get from my lectures is not for me to amy...
...From here ea...
...His quota force principle offers an almost certain guarantee of permanent peace with a mimimum loss of national sovereignty...
...With a deep sense of gratitude to all the brilliant writers who so generously share their keen, rational and constructive thinking with us poor, emaciated mortals through the columns of The New Leader, I am cordially yours, JOHN J. Nathan...
...The men from the coal pits naturally want to work...
...Denurciatn»n-e} John L. Lewis will do not good...
...The stoppage itself is s tragically serious affair...
...It is now exactly' a year went into North Africa...
...c) Permanent occupation of the Rhineland by a League army...
...He and they together made a fine combination...
...Here is the "tangible result our meeting: a check for amount of $22-00, which I am enclosing herewith...
...81 But Germany can be controlled easily: a) Create a new League of Nations...
...case, by destroy-Big its fneno* WTsoMug^fc own support...
...They realise, as much as anyone, that coal is vital to our war , effort., There is no, possible 'excuse for the part played by John L. Lewis...
...ft Ifa' not been held...
...The South is poor, by American standards...
...A million railway wot beta are hi baoehna of taking a strike vote...
...From there on, up to a certain point, the followent of Governor Dewey most take more blame than their opponents...
...Attention was directed at the right point in the demand for a genuinely stabilised economy...
...During the past five mouths the President, the Wsr Labor Board and the Director of Stabilisation have had time to get together and work out a policy...
...In the place, hundreds of tho them are in the fighting ferenv Everyonc take...
...SATUtDAY, NOVIMiggTW little better I knew this be so...
...Levy would have been elected...
...9) Germany can be reconciled by si Limited reparations...
...Ainsmkoa east against the miners leave thing* k«st-m they wore...
...In the five months nothing has been done to help A good deal has happened to embitter the miners and drive them back to their traditional strike weapon...
...WHO ILECTED AUtf LI07 HERE are some telltale election returns...
...Moreover, the agriculture of the South has been oriented too largely on one crop, cotton...
...EDITORIAL COMMENT FAILURE OF A LABOR POLITICS HERE LIES AH AMERICAN haml and Justice...
...One finds beautiful scenery in Eastern . Tennessee, especially in autumn, when the forests "on the mountainsides are ablaze with yarious colors...
...Perhaps many of them ! still within the state hot been moving about and not been able to establish a' residence...
...What do you think, Mr...
...citizens...
...The" Washington authorities continued, like men under a hypnotic spell, straight toward this strike...
...The people art away...
...But these men, who are literally tion of our manufacturing system, have coldly been given the run-around...
...for food and clothes...
...Keen though 'the new agreement will prevent strikes for the period of government operation, a week's work will be loot...
...but there is vast room for improvement before living standards will reach a level abreast with those in most other parts of the country...
...Or is tht— solid basis for their aetjafi*T-^natern s...
...No matter mm) happens—on that nay yea vet* But in this groat state, whs some 8,000.000 vote, the combined poll of Rsnhv and Haskell was 3.308.432 In my office this situation km created an argument whiea I would like to submit to yoo !• decision...
...MEMPHIS ia one of the big Negro centres of the South and its Beats Street is famous as a Negro Broadway, full of cafes and night clubs...
...But they have also helped to disgrace a high court of the State of New York...
...b) Full equality politically and in trade...
...He may be electee' at Qnumander-ln-Chief whOe his polities...
...The eooTitry shouic be warned Tab...
...In this thfy have succeeded...
...There is open equality in guilt...
...the of the *3 New Leader OnfeJal Orqas of Has SacM Editorial Ofhce—7 lost Iff...
...10) To guarantee World peace: Limit the production of offensive weapons to the Rhinemnd snd the U. S. A Chect for Tfca Mew Leo der From a Group ef fr'eadi To the Editor: In ray opinion, there can be no better reward than the excellent and well-selected reading material which your publication offers ua every week so abundantly.' As a token of appreciation -to The New Leader, its editors and collaborators, a small group Why the Democrats Lost — Of Will the Soldiers Vote for of from WILLIAM TODD To ik* Editor: We have about 4,000,000 voters in New York City, and last Tuesday fewer than a million and a half took the trouble to pull down keys on the voting machines...
...Though the heads of the Democratic machine disowned Mr...
...And the tenant share-cropping system, in which the tenant, whether Negro or White, is usually in debt to the landlord, makes for a shiftless and unprogressive type of farming...
...Obviously, if there had been no Frankenthaler on the ballot, Mr...
...Aurelio received 267.381 votes for the office of Judge of the Supreme Court in the First New York District...
...It works vithm un limits of the Little Steel formula It late to ask that Vie price line he held...
...They are soldiers of production...
...In this dark picture, the American Labor Party furnishes the only relief.' Mr...
...Much could have been done—entirely outside the matters of wages and hours—to strengthen the morale of the men...
...suggest Eastern Europe more than the United States...
...on the other hand...
...If tconteatf sharp enough, union dasctplinc wiU r>» The national administration, which oepssaMm largely on trade union support fw 5t3m eution of its war program, will eid...
...Agreements were shuttled back and forth front one bureau to another: Summer ended...
...It is true that dareless and stupid citizens must bear part of the blame for what happened...
...Aosydhg tr present indications, fhe Presiden?Jf*Bl'flh* next year—may serve out Ha time as a Ken Deal island in the midst of a Repabhfinvjm) reactionary sea...
...Are these debaters just in the dark...
...But U. S. "restricted" equals U. hL "confidential...
...one of the more predominantly rural '.regions of the country...
...Frankenthaler received 140,6*00...
Vol. 26 • November 1943 • No. 45
