Haphazard Career
Woodward, W. E
Haphazard Career The Difficulties of Writing an Autobiography By W. E, Woodward IUSEn to think, when I was many year* younger, that the writing ef an autobiography must be one of the easiest of...
...it was published in the News-Chronicle on June 18...
...Not at all...
...By Abba P. Lerner Professor of Economic...
...If anything funny creeps in...
...y are like the framework of a house, iitit one's life is not merely an empty structure...
...to other people...
...1 was well acquainted with Ruppert, saw him frequently and we had lunch together about once a week...
...This is war, man...
...Although their conaciencss prevented them from trying to influence th* vote by suppressing poll No...
...it ia a threat to our democracy: its cost is tremendous...
...6. , . , Trenton, N. J.: August Claessens apesks on "British Labor's Rise to Pawer," Sunday, Nov...
...Just at that time Carnation Condensed Milk was being widely advertised as: "Milk From Contented Cow*," and the advertisements carried a picture of cows grszing in s field...
...That is the way my writing career started—simp'y haphazard, without premeditation...
...3 ws* suppressed because the moral issue was >'• longer strong whan the voting was over...
...Ws vigorously protest your recommendation to Congress and consider it s msjor snd tragic error of your administration...
...Haphazard Career The Difficulties of Writing an Autobiography By W. E, Woodward IUSEn to think, when I was many year* younger, that the writing ef an autobiography must be one of the easiest of literary exercises for ths reason that everything in ths book would corns quite naturally from ths author's memory...
...All three of them should commit to this world government all of their military strength...
...When I was a young man I threw up my job on the Atlanta Constitution because one of the editors made a slight, passing criticism of mv work...
...A crime wave is sweeping Germany, as well as Polsnd and many liberated lands...
...There would be no days and weeks <>f pawing over aged torn a* to verify dates, no reading of yellowed manuscripts, no lingering: doubts concerning some event that waa described in four or Ave conflicting ways by vsi i ouh eye-witnesses...
...Hup...
...If they told their Liberal readers that they could expect only about 10 percent, many Liberal voters might feel that voting Liberal was hopeless and so switch to one of the other parties to avoid wasting their vote...
...11, 6:30 p. m., at Astoria Mansion...
...if I should put in the story of my life everything that I would like to include the whole thing would run to about seven log volume*, but I muat get it all in one book...
...L>el>s Banquet at 6 p. m. M J. Coldwell...
...He ordered an aide to get him an automobile for some urgent emergency...
...The owner wanted 25 kroner, and that's too much," he said...
...The secret of the bomb should lie committed to a world government...
...Ordinarily I would not have resented the remark for there was really nothing to it, but on this single occasion I threw ths papers and proof-sheets on the floor, told the editor where he could go, walked out of the building and bought a ticket for New York...
...18, 8:30 p. m., at the Labor Lyceum, 159 Mercer St...
...r*4 ON ATOM BOM I SECRET • Lt...
...What, he neglects to say is that neither Russia nor the USA will agree to commit to any world government all of their military strength and all of their secrets...
...The trouble about it is that I cannot recall readily why I did this or that, and 1 find that I must spend much time, all alone, thinking of the motives that stirred me to action thirty or forty years ago...
...No, none of that...
...It seemed to me then that the writing of an autobiography should be as simple as the composition of a long, many paged Irltn to a friend to tell what hail happened during a summer vacation at a seaside resort...
...Woodwsrd's hand* and turn it over to some other executive of your agency...
...NEW YORK CITY General aseaabership meeting Tuesday, Nov...
...of Control" 1>I!K Labor landslide in the British general election in July of this year was a surprise to nearly everybody, and it is generally conceded that the tabor Party itself was found unprepared for the magnitude of its majority...
...On thi* eventful day the subject came up again and then my evil genius sf humor ros« to th* surface...
...Aujust Claeasens speaks on "Is a United States of Europe Possible," Friday, Nov...
...It is also revealed how close Franco was to defeat in 1936...
...author of "The Economic...
...This would be much mor* reliable than poll' No...
...they "obeyed orders without question er hesitation...
...of Canada and others will speak...
...Sharper opposition was expressed by the president of the CIO's largest union, R. J. Thomss of the United Auto Workers, who wired President Truman that peacetime military training "can be of no contribution to world peace...
...it will be simply bemuse I can't keep it out...
...Einstein said: "'I do not believe that the secret of the bomb should be given to the United Nations organization...
...Discussion on continuation of meetings with other Socialist groups and with the possibilities of joint activities...
...But I cast away that quiet, pleasant certainty in a moment of child-inn vexation, without apparent rhyme or reason...
...The obvioua thing was to take a poll of how people) had actually voted...
...When I left the banking business I was forty-eight years old and 1 expected to become a * toe k broker, or something of the sort While I was waiting for my plans to mature I began to write a novel, just to pass the time...
...Algernon Lee speaks every Saturday, 9:30 p. m., over Station WEVD...
...Yah, I'll get the car," grumbled his aide, "but if you keep on this way it's sure going to be an expensive war...
...2, and- will make a coast-to-coast tour between December 20 and January IS, speaking at S.D.F...
...They asked the same freedom in collecting and sending news that is enjoyed by Soviet journalists in America and Britain...
...The Italian Armistice terms were finally published...
...The rest of it—the facts of material existence—grow out of these inside forces, and unless one sets down in his autobiography the inner meaning of hia doings most of the real worth of the book is left out...
...Brooks Atkinson, Moscow's latest convert to Soviet "democracy," solemnly cablet the Times: "The Russian official record in China is beyond reproach...
...41,000(1939) 254,000 As in France, a coalition government will be necessary...
...Sup...
...The aide returned to report he couldn't get the suto...
...Fundamentally, all human life is mental and spiritual...
...they are not as onerous as rumored, and why they were kept secret so long only bureaucratic military minds can comprehend...
...po*e we adopt this ides.' Hsve in taek advertisements these headlines...
...It is surely impossible to suppose that this hypothetical question was asked without first putting the direct question: "For whom did you vot...
...The-wditors have been informed of other sources that this is in fact what happened...
...I was in the advertising business for nearly ten years —in my thirties— and for about half that period I was with a large New York advertising agency, in charge of some of their big account...
...Ruppert asked scroti th* coffee cups...
...Maggin's home, 1245 Grand View Place, near 167th St...
...Since learning that lesson...
...Bensonhurst Branch meets Monday, Nov...
...Wishful thinking succeeded, where party interest fsiled, in depriving the world of scientific procedures and extremely valuable information...
...That is always a serious matter to him...
...a new world federation should be created before we turn over the atombomb secret to any nation...
...Nominations were in on June 15...
...One is the Importance of the problems raised by the fact that publication of forecasts can significantly influence the very things forecast, cither making them come true or falsifying them...
...This is whst probably bothered the Liberals of the Nsws-Chronicle most...
...The Liberals had expected to get about 20 percent of the vote...
...Instead of having the usual three-column headline, the poll waa published in s single column, snd it wss put in a much less favorable place than usual...
...That thing ia what we call a senss of humor and it has often done me much harm...
...British Election (Continued from Page Sis) from this episode...
...I sent it to a publisher...
...The Foreign Affairs Commissar declined to reply...
...Speakers: August Claesaens, Aaron Levenstein, and others...
...Joseph Shore, pioneer Social Democrat, will be honored at a 60th Birthday Dinner on Sunday, Nov...
...Jens Christian ¦ Hauge, 30-year old Minister of Defense, has retold a story of the Underground days...
...We advertised his beer...
...What must hsvs happened is that the Liberals of the New-Chronicle could not b^lic** the evidence of the polls that their calculations of a 20 percent Liberal vote was quite out of line...
...Hauge cursed him fluently...
...1 was considerably puzzled by hit gravity...
...William Rubinsen...
...12, 8:30 p. ra., at 862 East Trcmont Ave...
...He seemingly approves the demand raised by the N. Y. Herald-Tribune (and Daily Worker) that American troops be withdrswn forthwith from the Chinese theatre...
...It i* not hard t« see that there had been a struggle in the council room* of the Liberal Newt-Chronicle...
...Then I chuckles appreciatively, but Ruppert didn't laugh or even smile...
...a pleasut...
...On one proposal Russia, France, and the German Social Democrats are agreed — the internationalization of the Ruhr, Germany's industrial center...
...Why, yes, I hsve," I replied...
...For many years public opinion and public preference poll* had been developed for use in just such an occasion...
...Why should the way people were going to vote have been such a dark secret...
...He was a genial, hearty fellow, who** laughter was loud and joyous...
...Either course would be like the action of a man with capital, who, wishing another man to work with him on some enterprise, should start out by simply giving his prospective partner half of his money...
...17 and 18...
...New Schotd for Social Research...
...That's all well and good as applied to the other fellow, but I too find my ova life not in the least a humorous affair...
...A new S.D.F...
...The atombombs dropped on Japan were firecrackers compared with what will be developed in ten or twenty years...
...Russia likewise rationed aid to the loyalist Republican Government but for different political purposes...
...Column 2 shows the earn* figures on a poll taken aft*r nominations wars in...
...and S.P...
...Where was the Gallup poll...
...Twrf important iessons can be learn**1 SDF NEWS NATIONAL New Haven, Conn.: August Claetsens apeaks on "Lits snd Work of Eugene V^tor Debs," Saturday, Nov...
...The other lesson it ths degree to which people's wishes Influence what they believe...
...Einstein implies that the UNO as it exists is not a real world government worthy of trust...
...Jt was accepted and brought out in 1823, and the publisher persuaded me to sign a contract to write two more novels...
...When the latter are withdrawn, ths danger will grow, for economic conditions will worsen before they improve, • Mololov spurned the request of foreign correspondents in Russia to end or ease the censorship of despatches...
...I could have remained on that paper to this day, 1 am sure, and by now I should have been pensioned as an old and faithful employee...
...He looked at me sternly, put hia napkin down, and said: 'Well, I'll have to be going...
...leadership in obtaining agreement of the nations of the world to disarm, and to create an international police force, was ths answer of the CIO Executive Board to President Truman's proposal for compulsory peacetime military training...
...The British Election Mystery Why Was the Labor Landslide a Surprise...
...Htvt you any now suggestions tot ( catch phi a...
...Maybe this throws light en how the nkvd obtained confessions In the Moscow purge trials...
...it is as persistent and insidious as a drunkard's desire for liquor...
...One of these advertising accounts was that of Jacob Rup-pert, the famous brewer...
...But all these dates, places, occurrences arc nothing more than outside facts, like something that one looks up in the W vld Alumnae...
...Seised documents reveal how Nasi scientists msde prisoners st Dachau into "zombies" with marionette-like behavior...
...The Soviet Government is not giving the Chinese Communists help and not directing the affairs of the Chinese Communists...
...It hsd made a hit...
...But they are not agreed on how and why...
...No such poll was published...
...EINSTEIN VS...
...Of course dates and •vents are sasy to handle...
...All ths good fortune that haa com* to me— and I hav« had my share of it—has burst upon me like a flash of light, without any expectation or planning on my part...
...Sam Stein, an esteemed member, died last week...
...Claessens-East Bronx Brsnch meets Monday...
...The editors replied: "The statement was cut for space reasons and that paragraph, among others, omitted in order to speed the buildup for his main statement that we SHOULD give it to a world government...
...When the book was finisher...
...Decisive help from Russia or the democratic nations would have enabled the liberals to win—before the Spanish Communists gained predominance...
...12, at 241 South 4th St., Brooklyn...
...17, 8:30 p. m„ at Dr...
...1 do not believe that it should be given to the Soviet Union...
...meetings in a ¦umber of cities...
...Here is what my mistaken sense of humor did for m* on one occasion...
...and, of course, I shall have to leave out not only many occurences, but also scores of people whom I have known and who, in one way or another, had soins influence over me and my career...
...CIO HITS CONSCRIPTION PLAN Washington (lpa>—An appeal for U.S...
...Yet thi* poll was not published until July 4, the day before the election, although publication three or four days earlier would hsve been / better journalism...
...Debs Celebration, Jan...
...Among the worst criminals sre Nszis and the "dregs of the displaced persons," according to Edd Johnson of PM, and they are "heavily armed...
...May In- it will interest you...
...Branch will be organized...
...It show* the percentage that ssid I bey they would vote for each party (out of those who had an opinion as U. how they would vote...
...Voting did not take place until July 6, three weeks later...
...It opened up s new snd much bigger world of sction, and nowadays when the Coitnl'tntton prints article* about my books it never fails to say that I received my early training oil that newspaper...
...Philadelphia, Pa.: Debs Banquet, Wednesday, Nov...
...the newsmen pointed out thst only in Russia snd her satellites is wartime censorship retained...
...IN SUMMARY: uavia, Australia, and New Zealand, gave the prewar world the best examples of peaceful progress toward social democracy, and in the postwar period will continue this evolution, ssdly interrupted by wsr...
...We rose snd parted st the door...
...Mid-Bronx Branch: Social and Welcome Home to Arthur Fassberg and Mitchell Rosenblatt, returned from the service, en Saturday, Nov...
...From Contented Horses.' And right under it have a picture of i herd of horses grazing in a field...
...Now I am actually engaged in writing the story of my own life, and to my surprise) I have found it to be an extremely difficult Job...
...28, under the auspices of the SDF...
...Convincing evidence, if not proof, of this 1* the Gallup poll (published in the News-Chronicle) according to which 12 percent of the voters answered "Yes" to the question: "If there had been a Liberal candidate, would you probably have voted for him...
...Next day my advertising agency received a letter from Ruppert in which he said: "I want you to take my advertising out of Mr...
...I put on a thoughtful expression when listening to a businessman who is discussing his own life or trade, even if he still nothing bu'_ fiy-swatter* or library paste...
...The answer to this curious puzzle can be extracted without too much trouble from the following simple table of Gallup polls as published by the London News-Chronicle—the only important daily paper that publishes the Gallup polls in England: r~Party~~~Z-T~Y _ 2 3 4 1 | Ub*r __________ 45 47 — 48.11 I Conservative ______ SZ 38.5 — 38.31 I Liberal ______________ 15 lt.5 — 8.2 I Other _-__________8 | 4 | — | . 5-7 | [Tatal ........|I8t 1188 _— 1H_J Column 1 shows the results of a Gallup poll taken before June 15, when tb* nominations were in...
...The inescapable conclusion is that such a poll was taken hut was not published...
...I learn nearly everything the hard way, and I learned on that occasion that no matter how jolly a man is, he will be annoyed by joke* made about the business to which he has devoted his life...
...Thtre was no food reason why nesrly everybody should hsve been sstonished and caught unprepared en July 20...
...8, which recorded only how people bad aaid |hey would vote...
...We believe," the Board resolution says, "that the energies of all Americans, through their government, should be con-n minted on the solution of the economic snd social problems which produce war and not on the development and accept ance of a policy of militarization which defies the ideals for which we profess to be fighting st this moment...
...Get me a car no matter what it costs...
...2, poll No...
...J p. m., at W. C. Branch 183 Houston St...
...Its absence is indicated in column S. Column 4 shows how the people of England actually cast their votes, and fully bears out the accuracy of the prognosis of poll No...
...it may I* likened to a house of many rooms, ranging from garret to cellar, from kitchen to bedrooms, all Ailed with plain and ornate furniture, curios ami locked and bolted closets...
...Desperate men resort to theft to fill their bellies, and hungry women sell their bodies for a loaf of bread...
...I have found that humor is distasteful to a lot of people and, in the course of time, I have trained myself to be, on occaaion, as grim and serious as a funeral director...
...This self-investigation has shown me that some of the moat eventful moves of my life seem to have been based on mere whims, unsupported by any definite logical reasons...
...They are neceseaiy...
...part's Beer...
...During the extenaive self-examination that I have beer going through a* a preparation for writing the book I realize that something which has bean a comfort to me and a pleasure has not alwsys...
...Nevertheless, as 1 look back I realize that it was one of the best things I hsvs ever done for myself...
...1:30 p. m., at kit Lebanon Cemetery...
...Vladeek Branch meets on Monday, Nov...
...10, at 0 . m in the W. C. Labor Lyceum, Legion gt . . . Pittsburgh, Ps.: Victory Celebration, Sunday, Nov...
...With the statement of the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation that tax-exempt organizations have an income of 13,000,000,000, there is due a new drive to tax the incomes of unions, cooperatives, and educational organizations...
...He hints that American policy in China is identical with Russian policy in Eastern Europe...
...The second man might choose to start a rival enterprise, when what was wanted was his co-operation...
...William A. Rusher wrote to I'M protesting the suppression of an important part of Albert Einstein's statement regarding the atombomh...
...at Second Ave...
...I wonder if that is true of most people...
...The drop in the percentage of those who said they would vote Liberal or "othar" (I.e., Communist, National Liberal, Common-Wealth <>r Independent) is due t* the large number of constituencies in which there were no Liberal or "other" candidates...
...BeFORE I wrote my Arst book 1 had no intention of becoming an author—not the slightest...
...at the New Era Club on Friday, Nov...
...City Executive Committee meets Wednesday, Nov...
...I think the proposition need* new blood...
...The plan* on which I set great •tors and on which 1 worked so carsfully, have usually pstsrsd out, slowly but surely, leaving the bar* fragments in my hands...
...12, st 6416 Bsy Parkway, Brooklyn...
...1 want to make it clear that the autobiography that I am now writing will not be a humorous book...
...Denmark's four largest parties received the following popular votes in the recent elections, as compared with 1943: 1943 1946 Social Democrats......888,000 C<>6,00fl Liberals.........................370,000 471,000 Conservatives...........417,000 372,000 Communists...
...There wera another three weeks of impatient uncertainty while everybody waited for a result that might change the whole complexion not only of England but of Europe and th* world...
...2. While technicians have frequently criticized the Gallup poll for mistakes and for clumsiness in the way it sometimes puts its questions, to suppose that the Gallup poll did not think of asking how people had voted implies a far greater degree of ineptness than can be considered...
...I have never beer able to plan my own life with any noticeable degree of certainty, and my observation of peopU convinces me that I am not alone in this raspect...
...Newark, N. J.: Newark J.S.V...
...Now I have the writing habit...
...One of the big problems that one encounters in writing an autobiography is concerned with what should go in the book and what should be left out...
...I am able to wall most of thstn, and whan a doubt cotase Y'j I have only to refer to my letter Ale, or to a book of memoranda in which 1 have, for many years, set down fbv gist of important happenings...
...This government should be founded by the United States, the Soviet Union and (treat Britain—the only three powers with great military strength...
...The result* of the election were not published until July 28...
...One day Ruppert and I were at lunch discussing some new advertising which lay in proof-sheet* on the table between us, a persistent problem for months had l»een to devise a catch phrase which could be always used in connection with Rup-pert's beer, but nothing suitable had been suggested, and we were still searching...
...National Secretary on Tour: August Claetsens will be in New Kngland on Dte...
...The Labor landslide could have been foretold with certainty en July 6, was foretold with considerable certainty on June 18, and could have been foretold almost as certainly considerably before that if our wishes and our fears had not undermined ear faith in a valuable instrument ef social science...
...Lewis L. Ncttleton, London financial expert for the N. Y. Times, cables: "Although one would have thought Britain's Labor Government had ita hands full of pressing and difficult problems concerning rehabilitation and urgent international affairs without harrying on its nationalization program, it is displaying speed and determination in proceeding to put fhia policy into effect, which is surprising and disturbing to the business world...
...26, in Webster h*u...
...I'll bet that would make a hit...
...However, this temptation to suppress the poll was resisted and the poll was published, although belatedly and in a conspicuously inconspicuous manner...
...Authentic Nazi documents seized in Germany prove that Hitler rationed aid to Franco in the Spanish civil war, to lengthen the fighting and divert attention from Germany's war preparations...
...Untrained and often unarmed German police are unable to cope with the criminsls, nor esn the occupying military forces suppress them...
...1 am uneasy if a day passes without my having written something...
...Hers is one instance that I pick nut from others like it...
...Unveiling of monument to the late Alexander Smith, pioneer Brooklyn Socialist, Sunday, Nov...
...Branch 3: Annual Dinner, Sstur-(jay, Nov...
...and Mrs...
...City Convention will reconvene on Nov...
Vol. 28 • November 1945 • No. 45
