FROM THE NEW LEADER MAILBAG
Readers of the article by August Uaessens in the issue of last week must have been puzzled by tie misplaced type which made it almost unintelligible. Due to some error in the make-up...
...New York...
...it means working elaar solidarity...
...Ms first reaction to the suggestion was sona* . what In the nature ef heated dtssgnsment...
...then, I think we shaoM accept the CbaUenge...
...For example, the Democratic Party will be telling tbe people bow they retained tbe five-cent fare as promised...
...Brookwood was, however, founded and has throughout been maintained by progressive elements in the labor movement, who are not in accord with many of the reactionary policies of the officialdom on the one hand, or with Communist tactics on the other hand...
...It is a crying shame that some trade union leaders either ignore this hideous tragedy or even work against old age pension legislation...
...Members of trade unions should have no consideration for the tender feelings of fat and satisfied labor men who dodge a solemn duty on this issue...
...The significance of this, however, lies in the fact that If we had been bstened to at that time It would have meant a saving of thousands of dollars te tbt city...
...International enterprises become involved in a straggle...
...What has been done 4s t»restate, and.clarify oar-policy.-Thfe was made necessary by the attacks made vpangns during the past year by bote the extreme right and extreme left elements...
...He kos joined by Justices Brandeis and Sanjcrd...
...A. J. MTJSTE Brookwood, Katenah, N. T. Editor, The New Leader: I have Just finished reading Comrade Berenberg's letter and I thoroughly agree with him...
...Young says that the fighting comes of capitalism crossing frontiers and coming into conflict with the capitalistic enterprises of other nations...
...Schuimmer's right to citizenship...
...In such matters we may well bear in mind En gels' warning against the "is or is not" way of thinking...
...It would probably take years of effort as deny all of the vicious things m> puted to the word "Socialist...
...Watson of Indiana, former special barker for tbe National Association of Manufacturers, has been assigned to the subcommittee on agricultural schedules...
...They shnat/j won't let you talk about taxing parasBai | out of existence...
...Thaer share, deway, dead faces save^the^ewful asanas * lass* beta the Shamed te am hew they g» ersr, and ran aad fad...
...Young can say it and it is cabled across the Atlantic to the New York World...
...and "You can't change • Human nature...
...We note that the G. O. P. orators- said nothing regarding Ijovay's career as a, labor agitator in the East before he went to Wisconsin...
...She is an sgaS and states in strong and, I do aat tbsfii sincere words her belief that mm m> disappear and that thr Impends* jZTl tiny of mankind is to unite tn ajayjK leagues...
...Young was a little indiscreet and yet we are tliankful for his frankness...
...It fs a rather hazardous- thing to celebrate the birth of an...
...They do not have to because there is no fundamental oppo...
...We must make It as plain as we possibly can, however, to prospective students where Brookwood stands in the labor movement, and what it is trying to do, in order that those who come as students may have some appreciable desire for what we are trying to provide and may not come under any false idea of what the school ls, which results inevitably in disappointment and a sense of having been deceived, which is not conducive to good ' educational results...
...has placed the age limit for ncir men at 30 years...
...The lecture by ProfessoCStttgerS any the: "NeeeeaHy of Being a Snob" has irritated our snobocracy not because he Ued but because ha tsad the truth...
...K And recurring to the opinion that ban I this applicants way...
...And as to the opinion the whole examination of the applicant shows that she holds none of the now-dreaded creeds but thoroughly believes in organized government and prefers that of the United States to Sny other in the world...
...Socialism is as widely understood in the United States as Hh-J steto's theory of relativity...
...Modern wars are the crucifixion of the meek- for the observation of the mighty.—Wilfred WeHock...
...It h) agreed that she Is qualified far citizenship' except so far as the...
...about social justtat and International peace...
...In the first place...
...Would we be false to these ideals J we were to desert our name...
...The Grand Oil Party nPHE REPUBLICAN PARTY has been celebrating the 75th anniversary of its birth and there i* a dispute as to whether Ripon, Wis., Jackson, Mich., or Pittsburgh, Pa., cradled the Grand Oil Party...
...So far as the adequacy of her oath Is concerned I hardly can see how it ls affected by the statement...
...We do not ha*f« to act hastily...
...As a rule these urban Babbitts accept the dope carried to them by the capitalist press, especially the "prosperity" brand, while aU around them agriculture is decaying, farmers are becoming desperate, and no ray of hope has penetrated this dark cave of capitalism...
...event or an individual without first ascertaining what happened later...
...Whatever opinion any of us individually may hold .about this thesis as an abstract proposition, we...
...Outcasts at Forty-five sf"ACCASIONAL letters received from readers ofThe New Leader confirm the general complaint of workingmen regarding the dead line being established in industry...
...They represent "an obvious and significant lack of scientific attitude manifested by uncritical reactions along habit-worn and comfortable lines of tradition and authority...
...mOmt the war book...
...contract, ™* :The Grand OH Party became the Cjrrand Oil Party and as such it remains...
...Brooklyn, N. T. SHALL WE CHANGE OUB NAME...
...They appear to be so busy accumulating and aping the latest Babbitt mannerisms that they have no time to think of the decay of the countryside...
...Mr...
...People In the rural 'districts are even mortgaging their cows In the hope that they will be able to save something and there are instances of household goods being' mortgaged for the same reason...
...If others like him would be just as frank the masses who pay the price of preserving the "capitalistic basis" would not remain so blind...
...It is time that a cry of protest should rise from every labor union hall...
...Editor, The New Leader: Harry LaicDer started something when be suggested that we change the nam of the Socialist Party of America...
...Her position and motives are_ whoUy different from those of Schenck...
...They assumed ;n ancestry that included noble Englishmen but investigation in many instances showed that in the colonial line v.ere transported-criminals who worked upon highways securely bound in chains...
...I do not share that optimum aar 4%M think that a philosophic view el tan world with regard to war is ahsaad...
...He warns against tbe danger of neglecting fundamental principles...
...What with debts' and mortgages the farmers are becoming peasants...
...Probably there is no real disagreement on this matter between Berenberg and myself...
...I agree with him, and warn against the alternative danger of Ignoring the present application of those principles...
...But that seems to me unfounded...
...Ripon appears to have the lead in the dispute and Allan Bovay, the leading spirit at the Ripon meeting in 1854, is accorded the chief honor...
...By OKveir Wendel Holmes Justice of the IL> S. Suprcjuc (Minority Opinion in the Rottito Schwimmer Cm*e) rwTHE applicant seems to be a woman of X superior character and intelligence, obviously more than ordinarily desirable as a citleen of the United States...
...The essential thing is s well directed, aggressive program for the social revolution in the United States...
...The Issue between Dr...
...At this time, and as the time for the municipal election approaches, aU parties, including our own, wul be singing praises of what they did do and wul do.: It is most necessary, at this time, to distinguish between the two old parties and our party...
...3m most people who have known It IBg2 it with horror, as a last resort, aad an] If not yet ready for cosmopofitaai at* forts, would welcome sny practaajSi combinations that would incases* 2 power on the side of peace...
...The most practical method ef sstag this would be to reprint the platform of former years of all the parties, so that people can see for themselves how ta in advance we Socialists have' atwayi been...
...The notion that th- applicants- ss-1 tlmistic anticipations would makeihsfai worse citizen ls sufficiently answere£Wi her examination which seems to assail better argument for her sdmtsstsa that j any that I can offer...
...The New L-ader correspondent spent two months in Kansas City early this year and talked with union men and a few small business men regarding economic conditions...
...To aw it connotes an tbe ideals embodied is the Bed Flag...
...ticular Improvement looking to the abolition of war seems to me not materially different in Its bearing on this case from a wish to establish cabinet government as in England, or a single house, -or one term of seven years for the President;' to touch a more burning question, only a judge mad with partisanship would exclude because the applicant thought that the eighteenth amendment should be repealed...
...No firms want a man over 45 years old...
...IN A NUTSHELL For any one to argue, after the British Labor Party victory, that our American trade union policy of "rewarding friends and punishing enemies" is the beat is like trying to prove that an ant hill rises higher than a mountain...
...Would* be an act of cowardice...
...In your Issue of June 8, there is a serious typographical error...
...The Impression which most readers win get from Comrade Berenberg's letter (though perhaps not the one he meant to convey) is that he regards the exposition of general principles and the discussion of specific issues as alternative courses, of which w; must accept the one and reject the other...
...they are out trj scalp Karl Marx and everything tbarj think we stand for...
...Of course, there are some human beiiigs who are doing excellent work in educational institutions and they are the hope of the future, but conditions are bad enough...
...About the only kind of arms that we favor without any reservation la the cooperation of the two arms of labor, political and economic, to abolish the arms of imperialism...
...However, I am prepared to offer what Comrade Berenberg might be Inclined to term a "practical-Utopian" suggestion...
...Ty...
...He declared that "the world's capitalistic system is inadequate in international relations' because it "lacks the spirit of cooperation...
...A Socialist may make the same observations but he will not get into the headlines...
...I am using it here in an attempt to state a fact, not in order to attach a stigma to anyone...
...Always in the infinite confidence of the Almighty...
...He has huge stakes in its preservation and we would not " expect him to take any other position...
...The man tn the street, the potential voter, is not Interested in whether be b going to have an honest administration ¦ He even admires those that "can gat...
...In the second place, your headline which states that the Brookwood directors announce a "new policy" to 'likely to be misleading...
...So "morality" conies to the rescue of sugar...
...stut Western Front," pshUsbed few ****** ¦»» '^''^i^'^^'f^ sags* they eaah/ whsaasae saftly fee cam leeks at ahcae...
...The sugar baby from Utah proposes an amendment to the Food and Drugs Act which would authorize an investigation of any "manufacturer of a tlrug or food product whose public sales are partly -or wholly unjustified by the facts...
...It was costly, to say it during the World War as Eugene V. Debs and others learned by experience...
...The survey recalls what George Bernard Shaw once cabled to this country when he was informed that an American judge had told striking'girls that they were striking against God...
...The Utah Senator drones a protest from «a 12-page manuscript...
...Delightful, medieval...
...The "nation...
...I would tosses that the Quakers have done their than to make the country what it ls...
...Where is the SoeilSet campaigner who hasn't felt the urge tt , resort to physical violence when eomt ' parrot chirps: "How can we get ales...
...sition at Washington...
...All the more imperative is a fiery crusade for old age pensions and a system of taxation of our fat masters that will make them pay for the keep of these outcasts of capitalism...
...It is probably unfortunate that this word has to be used...
...as we offer...
...aPerhaps a little re- flection would reconcile him to the irony of his, terry whereby a movement beginning in radical ideals should in later years-be gutted of everything-worth while and be made the special agency for protecting a 'new breed of human despoilers...
...At least 37 percent of them expressed the opinion that "one should never allow his Own experience and reason to lead him in ways that he knows are contrary to the teaching of the Bible...
...As a matter of pedagogy, he wul agree with me on this pedagogical doctrine: That In order to get anyone to understand, accept, and retain a new idea, and especially one which is general or abstract In Its nature, we should link it up with concrete and specific things which he already knows and in which he Is Interested...
...Regardless of our name, we must never fall a) point that whatever social reform ta endorse Is to us the alleviation of bunas' misery and stepping stone for the co-aserattve commonwealth...
...He has observed advertisements of the American Tobacco Company which urges all and sundry to reach for a cigarette "instead of a sweet" after meals...
...One letter from Kentucky is typical...
...He was twice wounded while fighting in the Union army during the Civil War...
...Justice Pierce Butler wrote into the decision the militarist' and class prejudice which he so freely expressed before he -was rewarded with a seat on the Supreme Court bench...
...views set forth in a statement of facts "may show that the applicant Is not attached to the principles of tbe Constitution of the United States and wen disposed to the good order and/ happiness of the same, and except in so far as the same may show that she cannot take the path of allegiance without a mental reservation...
...Calhoun and the other members of the Brookwood staff is not that the latter wish to change the fundamental policy of the school...
...He is anxious for the cooperation of nations to insure the survival of civilization on a capitalistic basis...
...as I happen to know, a very good one...
...If we conclude that It Is possible to win more Individuals and groups to this program under another name...
...The Utah Sugar Baby NOT since the days of militant slave-owning politics have we seen* such complete domination of legislation by capitalist interests as in the pending tariff bill.' Senator Smoot goes to the front for the sugar-beet capitalism of his state with almost religious fervor...
...I thick that we should adhere to that pnaebjltj with regard to admission into, as wat^p to life within this country...
...If Bovay could have looked at the top hats gathered at the recrnt Ripon meeting, the empty politicians that, serve the great capitalistic organizations of the country, we do not think that he would be happy over the celebration...
...What do our capitalist rulers think human beings, who are discharged or refused employment at middle age, are going to do...
...Think of this as an educational ideal...
...Now I hold that if our propaganda, is not to be mere emotional persuasion or dogmatic indoctrination—and Berenberg does not wish it to be that, any more than I do—If it Is to have the effect of making our hearers think actively and constructively, we should apply to it this same principle which good teachers apply in the class rom...
...Her par. Scruples against military mnrdef are viewed by the U. S. Supreme Court as undesirable...
...It would be a good idea, then, to recaU to the ever-proverbial-failing memory of the public that we Social'sts have stood for these measures leag before the two old parties thought of them...
...what thf* ! think This is certainly a tertous ohet*» , cle and one which has to be ccmsidetsd...
...Our apologies are due to our Headers and to Comrade Claessens for the blunder...
...Calhoun wishes to have Brookwood adopt a Communist policy...
...Reading the results of this survey one gets the idea of schoolmen in an old world oligarchy resting on the backs of peasant laborers and.ruled by satisfied Junkers...
...My contact with them showed that they have no comprehension of what is happening in the rural districts...
...Capitalism, he said, manages to get along at home but when it crosses frontiers trouble begins...
...it means that while each wB love tbe spot that gave trim birth, sfwul unite in striving to bring into actual life those glorious days of which Tennyson sung, when: ¦ "The war drums throb no longer And the battle flags are furled...
...Berenberg Is a teacher—and...
...Surely it cannot *how lack of attachment to the principles of the Constitution that she thinks that it can be improved...
...The survey includes 3,000 educators, representative of ajl types >v*\ sections who replied to 71 questions...
...Justice Oliver Wendel Holmes entered a minority opinion upholding Mrs...
...The loan companies in this one county alone have taken over no less than 600 farms and this is not the end of the tragedy...
...Smoot whose very name suggests a compound character from the works of Dickens, a Uriah Heep and Pecksniff in one, rises in the Senate in a 'moral" crusade for his sugar princes...
...that many citizens agree with the applicanTi belief and that I had not supposed htmerto that we regretted our inability to expel them because they behave mm* than some of us do in the teachings sf~ the Sermon on the Mount...
...Because Rosika Schwimmer, noted pacifist, frankly stated she could not beer arms in peace or war-time, the Court has refused to grant her application for citizenship...
...Inasmuch as she is a woman over 50 years of age, and would not be allowed to bear arms If she wanted to...
...This seems to me a mistaken view...
...Substitute tobacco for sugar ? Great Gawd ! Emotion sways the speaker as he "views with alarm...
...I am sorry I cannot renew my subscription," says the writer...
...without capital...
...Each wants control and there isn't an umpire to prevent a fight...
...Let us 'blnk it staB and decide for ourselves whether tbr price of our name is too great a saCTiSoJ tor whatever progress we may mahe under) another label in uniting t: • t,a^*JH America in a movement for the traajM formation of the capitalist system mm tbe co-operative corcmor-'oeKI: name of tbe Labor Patty of K3j39*f...
...for Ttt^if ffotfofro...
...As for the fighting, it is a rather crude way of settling differences, but he knows that he and his class are not likely to be at the front...
...The correct statement is as foUows: "We certainly want militant, radical workers, young people with vision and- labor enthusiasm, to come to Brookwood in addition to more conservative trade unionists, who are ready and willing to study and analyze in an openminded fashion the problems of life in the modern world, and to consider critically all problems affecting the labor movement...
...Finds Pacifism Not Incompatible v on Schwimmer Cast...
...I am 64 years old and have been let out because of old age...
...Thetl what counts with him...
...rounds good to me...
...Young "Says a Mouthful" IN THE language of the street, Owen D. Young, chairman of the Board of the General Electric Company, "said a mouthful" at a luncheon given to banker Lamont in Paris...
...and eventully assumed the contract for making the rules by which humble folk a«t skinned by a new oligarchy...
...j It is my opinion that the rani as* file as weU as the spokesmen of SoesaVj Ism In the United States should sertomtTi reflect on this question...
...Reed of Pennsylvania worships at the steel altar and will do valiant service for the feudal chiefs of that phase of American capitalism...
...He was inspired with the view that with slavery out of the way tbe workers of the nation would be free of the aristocratic trends of the period...
...ALGERNON LEE...
...The Republican Party began its career in simple innocence and noble ideals- but its earlv promise was never fulfilled...
...That distinction is reserved for those who have no big stakes in capitalistic enterprises that provoke the quarrels...
...By the omission of the word "not" at a critical point you make the Brookwood statement of policy say that we are departing from our former policy of aot discriminating against individual student applicants on the ground of race, etc...
...Of course the fear is that If a war came tbe applicant would exert activities such as were dealt with in Schenck v. United States, 2« U. S. 47...
...As it grew up it began to play "with brigands, gamblers and con men...
...We should by all means talk Socialism, talk about exploitation of labor, concentration of wealth, conflict of class interests, and the economic meaning of political action...
...or that they are laying plans to relieve the housing situation in five years...
...The issue is that Dr...
...Some American "locators" ABOUT the most drastic taaTrimatf ever made against American educational institutions is found in the survey made by Dr...
...The increasing practice in Amerir can industries -is even behind the old slave standard in the South...
...Manly H. Harper of Teachers College...
...Calhoun wishes Brookwood to adopt as the basis and forefront of its teaching the proposition that fundamental social changes can be accomplished only by violent revolution and that any one who falls to keep this before the minds of the workers is a betrayer of labor...
...There were many cases in the South of owners of slaves keeping aged Negroes after they were no longer useful on the plantations...
...Ohio...
...Missouri Farms , Fall Injto Hands Of Loan Sharks (By a Me* Lesser Cerless—Seal I MILAN...
...And in order, not merely to get the people's attention, but to make them understand what we are talking about, we should connect these general ideas with familiar and specific facts of political as weU as industrial life...
...In the parliament of man, The Federation of the World...
...All the rtfinfflia^nces regarding its youth by the top hats »t Kipon or elsewhere cannot make it otherwise...
...The survey shows the majority to be "siiper-conservative and ^reactionary in their social and political views...
...away with it," but he wants to know boa he can save himself some money...
...America," cabled Shaw...
...BROOK WOOD'S POLICY Editor, The New Leader: May I nave a little space to comment on one or two aspects of the recent developments st Brookwood...
...It is true that our name has suffered from the vilest kind ef mlsrerjresentetfss...
...The views referred to are an extreme opinion in favor of pacifism and a statement that she would not bear arms to defend the Constitution...
...Indifference or inaction is really playing the role of accomplice in this shocking policy of American corporations...
...I suppose that most intelligent people think that it might be...
...Holmes' opinion is particularly interesting since it comes from the only justice tcho has served in the U. S. Army...
...Certain pompous Virginians have had this experience...
...From The New Leader Mail Bag PRINCIPLES AND ISSUES Editor, The New leader:: When I read David Berenberg's letter in last week's paper I was reminded of scores of letters I have read In our party press and scores of speeches I have heard in our party meetings, on one side and the other of that ever recurrent question: Should we In our propaganda emphasise general principles or deal with specific issues...
...We have no wish to depart from our former policy of not discriminating against individual applicants otherwise qualified, on the ground of race or on the ground of political, social, religious or economic views or affiliations...
...It was with ¦ little reluctance that I finally convinced myself that the name is not so important...
...Young, of course, is anxious for the continuance of civilization on a capitalistic basis...
...They hold, for example, that their Interest in the Conference for Progressive Labor Action ls in hne with the position in the labor movement which Brookwood has always occupied...
...Some of bar 'ga»$ swers might excite popular prejudice, ny if there Is sny principle of the Cc-mjtetfon that more imperatively cans toe at tachment than any other it Is the pavl ciple of free thought—not free thooge] 1 for those who' agree with us but freeasn tor the thought thaw we hate...
...Caatiaaa* tram Pas* 1> Justice Holme...
...In this way...
...The chubby infant goo-gooing its innocence in the cradle may later become a shady character worthy of swinging from the gallows or decorating an electric chair...
...A&^)ns»t en...
...Eighty per cent of the remaining farms are mortgaged and practically all the owners will lose them...
...We had to say that the fighting was for "democracy" then...
...Mo.—Conditions in this section of American trustdom are worse tor fanners and laborers than anything vrlthtn the memory of old Inhabitants...
...The Cincinnati Telephone Co...
...Are they and their families expected to drag out a miserable existence living from hand to mouth...
...Should the investigation proceed we hope that it will extend to sugar babies, especially the one from Utah...
...The verf mention of the word seems to make tht | average American forget all about real* Ities and delve into the mysterious aad unchartered "ultimate...
...Specifically, for example...
...Why not work as this complex...
...He would like to avoid rows if possible, but if they come the workers in his enterprises and other enterprises must serve—the owners...
...Due to some error in the make-up this unfortunate and unusual example of "pied" type was not detected...
...We Socialists know that all these reforms and welfare measures that have been instituted by Tammany Hall were preached by the Socialists a good many years before Tammany was forced to Institute them...
...These gentlemen would at least camouflage their purposes...
...And, oh...
...He will do the farmers good—if you get what we mean...
...The n*ment you mention It, the uninformed af misinformed person begins to talk about riotous theory...
...They believe that legislation should forbid "much of the radical criticism" of the "injustice of our country and government...
...How then can we combat these claims of the two old parties...
...I rather like tbe name...
...Ocosionatiy the Democratic Party got the...
...are all agreed that it is irrelevant to the present situation in the United States, ls not in accord with historic Brookwood policy and that its adoption, whether anyone so intends or not, would actually make us a part of the Communist party movement or at least of the Communist-dominated left wing...
...Justice...
...This naked servility to great capitalist interests Would not occur if there were a powerful party of workers in this country...
...With these things before the people, it will be' hard to persuade the voter to change his vote for a philosophy...
...SAMUEL I. BOTHENBEBS...
...j FRANK 3. XASSTS& jj * Petals i ill...
...We do not desire to be put in this position any more than we desire to be dominated by reactionary elements among tbe labor officialdom...
...The first requirement of teaching is to know how to think, and to teach others how to think but this survey shows that a big majority of our educators do not know the art, do not want to know it, oppose others who do know it, and would accept legislation that would penalize radical and funadamental criticism of American life and American institutions...
...In biblical phrase, our answer to the question should be: "This ought ye to have done, and not left the other undone...
Vol. 8 • June 1929 • No. 22
