Thomas Mann Answers Hitler
Thomas Mann Answers Hitler On January 30, the twelfth anniversary of Nazi power, Mtf Hitler Mid to the German people: "Whatever aeferisgs our enemies may inflict on our German cities, m Gennsn...
...yBot Germany's opponent* are not S.S...
...A good part of the virtue of our Constitution we owe to free and vigorous criticism...
...present hell ? Is that not what you real Germans, •art one mills inmost soul, really want...
...It is true that after two years of debate sn imperfect constitution was adopted and that ws should all be thankful for this fact...
...You, better thsn your brothers bt the rest ef Germany, know that these words are true...
...Germany ran never fall deeper in suffering and despair than she Is now...
...Some days later, Dr.Tkmm Wm replied ,4o this desperate appeal In i radio broadcast which was short-waVed to Germany, la dear kid concise words he tried to set the German ¦scale straight about what allied lietery will mean to them: "Hitler is one* more lying to a people which has given its all in the support of his criminal cause...
...YjH» knew that all that Hitler says about the anti-Nazi Allies and their intention to persecute and destroy Ger-msuy is nothing but lies...
...Every vigilant defender of liberty who pointed out defects wss making a contribution to his country's security snd happiness...
...From members of Congress wa have had some suggestions that the lid is to be lifted, that issues will bo brought out into the open...
...Federsi, stats snd local gov-•ssient machinery would be enlisted in the plan, ss tojld an advisory eommittes consisting of three labor, »*• 'srm, and.three commerce repressntativoi, slt-M with delegates from federsi sgeneles...
...I -Msay told the Senate that this bill was patterned the Tennessee Valley Authority, and would be administered by a three-man board, plus a general manager carrying out their program This bill would "safeguard against the concentration if Una in the hands of a few large landholders/' Hartsy »»'d, "J0,t M we mUBt th« concentration ,{ Indurtrisl and financial control in the hands of a few...
...Some delegates refused to sign it...
...To pievent large land holdings, the bill provides far ths irrigation only of family-type farms not to ssewd 160 acres...
...These agencies tried to push through a substitute in the last session, pro-rilig for a flood control program under their juris-diction...
...Living up to a civilized human code, they jas^jfighting an enemy who was limited oy no such cheek mi his ferocity...
...He implied that there are plenty of things wrong with the statements that were drawn up and the things that were done...
...He pretend* that yon would have to suffer all the agonies visited by the Gestapo on the inhabitants of countries occupied by Nazi troops...
...But, as Mr...
...It was sdopted snd has worked well for 1M years...
...This precious part of our heritage came, hot from the compromises devised by the members of the convention, but from'the hot opposition of members of the state assemblies...
...Having drawn this thought from Acting Secretary Grsw's parallel, one goes on inevitably to the conclusion that the real friends of inter* notional peace and security in 1941 are not those who devoutly receive every word that comes from Teheran and Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta with uncritical eyes and loud huzzas...
...In the words of John Quincy Adams, our great instrument of federal government was extorted "from the grinding necessities of a reluctant nation...
...Any-*to»g will be better than this...
...Mutiny »sys that his bill is much broader, and will have more lasting value for the Vslley...
...Sepport is expected from organised labor, which is M record in favor pf the MVA plan, the Farmers' Union, many influential citizens' groups in the area, and residents of the Tennessee Valley Authority area who know how much the TV A has done to benefit them...
...When, after the secret sessions of the convention, the great document was published, it was met by a storm of criticism...
...document...
...It is true that we owe a debt to the statesmen forced to compromise behind closed doors...
...President Koosevelt has already told Congress h« approves of the plan...
...Some of our |st1ftnt leaders, a few of our journalist*, here and there a civic leader, Should rise to the level of statesmanlike debate...
...From this set of fscts Crew goes on to argue thst we should be content with the results of Yalta snd Dumbarton Oaks, We should "give the difficult labor of creation every possible chance to succeed...
...You citizens of the occupied areas in the West have already djicovered this...
...He tries to make you think thst the opponents of Germany an Nazis and that when they take this country over taey will act like Nasis...
...The Actual, the Attainable and the Desirable ACTING Secretary of S/ate Joseph C. Grew made a persuasive plea in favdV of the results of the L Yalta Conference last week...
...JMs#e than 17 percent of the tree of the continental "sited -States wodld be covered by the proposed Mis-»o*i Valley Authority, which, according to the bill, *)jri<r "establish and mslntoln a broad progrnm of •Meg Water control snd resenrce derelopmsnt for the MU,„uri Valley region...
...Grew correctly states, Washington's view prevailed...
...Washington has decided to compromise on the ewstien of cartels, and abandon the effort to force British raw materials monopolies to break up...
...H4 wants you to continue to suffer, bleed and die in a battle which is already lest To drive you to the eearsge and tenacity of desperation be swears that nothing Which you ensure new can 'be even distantly sdipared with the horrors which t would follow German sttrrender...
...Labor Backs Missouri VaHey Power Prbgrom WASHINGTON (LPA).—A bill that would set up machinery for democratic planning for development of the Missouri Valley basin and *"d resident, of the Tennessee Valley Authority area «ss introduced Februery 16 into the Senate by Jsmes i M»«tor (D., Montana...
...Understanding and eoopera-*>> with other peoples...
...From there he went on to draw a parallel lietween the present situation and that which faced our ancestors when they adopted our Federal Constitution...
...More unreasoning approval, saere partisan opposition, more propaganda and herding af opinion, la unworthy of America at a time of groat decision...
...Charles Beard Is authority for the statement thst "scarcely s line of the Constitution escaped attack...
...Stiff opposition will come from the Army Engineers Reclamation Bureau, which tried to kill the bill H the Isst session of Congress...
...There is s painful eagerness to find good in the Yalta announcement, to ignore its alarming aspects...
...Nothing more horrible than N*si domination ever existed or could exist...
...Nothing else is possible, fe the fullest possible extent the evil wrought under the •Stler leadership aunt be atoned for...
...The natural conclusion to draw from this line of reasoning, then, is precisely the opposite of the conclusion reached by Acting Secretary Grew...
...Wo recall with such pain the reservations with which President Wilson wss defeated that wo scarcely dare whisper of defects...
...Will that not be better than <fS...
...The voice of the liberal pares hss been notably foebls...
...t This comparison of our present period with the yesrs ?1787-89 may well prove to be fruitful if its implications are followed tlirough...
...Between now snd then ws have ton weeks for open discussion...
...But it is equally true thst earnest defenders of liberty outside those doors have made a priceless contribution to our basic law...
...In seven of the thirteen states the victors war* forced by their opponents to sgree to the addition of a Bill of Rights to the origins...
...For a time the very decency of the pipes was a disadvantage...
...But it Is also true thst one of the most useful features of thst constitution as we have it today rose directly out of that period of heated argument...
...that would befall us if the plutocratic-Bobhevistic conspiracy were victorious...
...Those who are classed 'as liberals are so tied up to President Roosevelt OH the one side or to Joseph Stalin on the other that they unite in what amounts to a conspiracy of silence...
...One waits in vain for the voice of a Patrick Henry or of a Jefferson The San Francisco Conference will meet on April 25...
...Murray wants the bill to be considered bf the 8enate Agriculture and Forestry Committee, wtkh worked on the original Tennessee Valley bill...
...To you people of Aschtn 'General Eisenhower ssid: 'We come as vie-tort, not as oppressors...
...butchers...
...By a parliamentary maneuver, the sill w*s referred to the hostile Senate Commerce Com* gjttee, headed by anti-labor Senator Josiah Bailey 0. K C...
...If sharp criticism got constructive results 156 yesrs ago, it will serve equally welt In our day...
...Thus fsr, it must be confessed, tin American Of OSS . hss fsiled to rise to its opportunity...
...Wendell Berg* will not dictate policy on this question...
...Those who sre able anal willing to, go over and over the points for and against it are few...
...Kirrsy's bill faces a tough fight, though it has wide amort, both In the Missouri Vslley area and through-,at the country...
...Germans must expect »tough and meager life...
...Thomas Mann Answers Hitler On January 30, the twelfth anniversary of Nazi power, Mtf Hitler Mid to the German people: "Whatever aeferisgs our enemies may inflict on our German cities, m Gennsn landscapes and, above all, on our people, all ttet eennot bear any comparison with the irreparable ¦JMry...
...r^*ut there will be peace, security, law, the slow re-••aksning to the enjoyment of life, release from this flPMp&ef being the chosen race destined to dominate ftjiNMt sn«T, eventually...
Vol. 28 • February 1945 • No. 8
