THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Return Dear Sirs: I now have good reason to believe that my act in cancelling my subscription (see The People's Forum for September) was in very bad taste. This course of...
...But there are still among us radicals and reactionaries, to whom the many feelings and opinions which democracy has created in the minds of Americans are as unknown as they were to the aristocratic European societies a century ago...
...As you know, there are few editors of the powerful American press who are able or willing or courageous enough to speak the truth, all the truth, and nothing but...
...Fred W. Shorter Church of the People Seattle...
...You neglect to consider the psychological effect of disarmament by a great power on the people of other powers...
...J. B. Stanley New York, N. Y. Miserable Spain Dear Sirs: Earlier this year I was in Spain for some months and was able to get a clear picture of the conditions in that country...
...Mayer's Almighty undoubtedly will provide salvation to those faithful to Him...
...The dilemma is a serious one, and I have great sympathy for those in positions of responsibility who are trying to solve it, but it seems to me there is less risk in our going all out for world-wide disarmament, and in the meantime making no increase in our war preparations, than in the present apparent policy of arming to the teeth before we begin to talk about disarmament...
...Spanish is my native language, and I was able to mix freely and intimately with the people...
...Mayer may yet derive consolation, however...
...Governments get people into war through fear of other people...
...I, too, saw people living in caves...
...Search Ended Dear Sirs: I would like to congratulate you on your magazine and the wide coverage of the world scene from a far more objective point than most magazines...
...Your own argument has a fatal flaw...
...It is my conviction that a genuine crusade for world-wide disarmament, initiated by the United States, would arouse such worldwide support that neither the dictators in the Kremlin nor anyone else would dare stand out against it...
...I had one devil of a time finding your address...
...And then by accident I picked up a friend's copy of The Progressive and read Sen...
...Mayer attributes to men endowments of some sort of deity—which, of course, we are incapable of achieving, even though he thinks of himself as having achieved them—and then reproaches us for not exercising them...
...Thank heaven there are still a few prophets left who have not been altogether silenced by the priests of the status quo...
...The book is published by Doubleday 6 Company...
...These Tennessee delegates will go to the first session of the Peoples' World Convention, which convenes in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec...
...Cannot those who feel offended by them laugh...
...beset the road I was to wander in, Thou wilt not...
...This December issue is magnificent...
...I should be most grateful if anyone who has preserved his letters, or other material concerning him, would lend it to me...
...From all of which you will rightly deduce that I am both a pacifist and world federalist...
...No army camouflaged as a police force...
...Robert S. Lynd of Columbia) and the year before (at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver...
...On all sides I hear only the wary premonitions and sober proverbs of citizens who drive with one foot on the brake for safety's sake...
...If the Chancellor and the government do not consider themselves capable of rescuing the German people from the conflicts of the Great Powers, then they should resign and hand the leadership over to such men and women of the governing party and the opposition, who are willing and able to maintain peace with all the people on the earth on the basis of strict neutrality...
...Only in that way can we arrive at the truth, which alone can make us free...
...Chain-Reaction Dear Sirs: Small wonder that you have such contented readers...
...Okoli Onyekwena, student from Nigeria...
...Roy J. Clampitt New Providence, la...
...Henry H. Crane Detroit, Mich...
...C. W. Funk Rolla, Mo...
...As for myself, I cannot believe I am so far superior to my fellows as to reject their (and my) Caesar...
...I had begun to fear that no one ever stuck his neck out to speak his mind...
...J- IWillow Grove, Pa...
...China & Spain Dear Sirs: The United Nations Political Committee . became hushed as the U. S. Delegate, Sen...
...It is said that the Almighty watches over His own, and Mr...
...No war material, no weapons of war— not even as gifts...
...It has destroyed or modified the old relations of men to each other, and has established new ones...
...Joseph A. Prachar Berwyn, 111...
...With one program, centrally and democratically controlled, various plans now individually pursued (like the U. S.'s Point Four and the British Commonwealth's newly proposed Asian program) could be welded together in a powerful program...
...Mayer's Pacifism Dear Sirs: Milton Mayer's pacifist position, as expressed in recent articles in The Progressive, is as untenable as an anarchist's...
...It has created in their minds many feelings and opinions which were unknown to the old, aristocratic societies of Europe...
...Other peoples will judge us by 'what we are doing and not by what we say...
...I will also write and speak to my friends so that they keep their subscriptions intact...
...Mrs...
...And this distracted earth deserves better of us than it has yet had...
...I am now renewing my subscription, even though I cannot possibly support your militaritst position...
...Richard Holdren College, Alaska Democratic Federation Dear Sirs: I think String fellow Barr has a point in saying that neighbors together can do a better Point Four job than can the U. S. alone...
...Dean M. Kelley Hempstead, N. Y. Germany and Arms Dear Sirs: The new course which Chancellor Kon-rad Adenauer has shaped, without consulting the German people or even his colleagues, leads directly to remilitarization and remilitarization means war...
...Rubin, besides printing Milton Mayer and A. ]. Muste, would follow their precepts, and the stirring implications of Fyke Farmer's excellent article, "A Call for Peace," on the Peoples' World Convention in Geneva...
...So long as the Government tries to increase its armaments, it cannot get anywhere in any talk about disarmament...
...They would then be in a position to make available a substantial source of funds for developing backward areas...
...Others on the committee are Philip Isely, carpenter, and Lou Ihrig, homemaker, both of Yellow Springs...
...Often we feel smaller than that so prematurely split atom...
...But we—and all the German people who are not chauvinists, adventurers, or war fanatics—want: No remilitarization...
...A report which I made on returning to this country tallies almost exactly with the description given by Sid Lens in the report from Barcelona in your November issue...
...No war graves and ruins...
...Substitute Spain for China, Madrid for Peiping, and Spanish for Chinese Government, and you'll have Sen...
...The same argument can be used regarding other nations...
...George Oxford Detroit, Mich...
...Contributors are Vera M. Dean, Harry R. Rudin, Pitirim A. Sorokin, Walter Van Kirk and James P. Warburg...
...He was a prolific letter-writer and had many friends in the United States...
...Douglas' article and then Milton Mayer's...
...Tracy D. Mygatt New York Secretary Campaign of World Government Croton Falls, New York Change of Heart Dear Sirs: Your December issue is tops, the very best yet, in my opinion...
...If you ever let Mayer go, you lose me, too...
...indeed, I visited one such family and shall not easily forget their "home": two cells hollowed out of the earth—no furniture, but blankets spread on the ground, no kitchen, but an empty gasoline can in which they burned cinders...
...Your November issue makes me wish I'd got back on the subscription list long ago...
...the radical betrays his ignorance in his denunciation of American democracy as a fiction of the Old Guard...
...It would be infinitely more in keeping with today's needs and realities—and certainly we need "orderly international intercourse" with a vigorous New China more than with an impotent Franco Fascist Spain...
...Without that fear Russians will not go to war...
...But peace can only be guaranteed on the basis of strict neutrality: political, economic, commercial, and military, so that Germany may assume her geographically given role of mediator between East and West...
...The German people, particularly the German youth, do not want to bleed for dollars, pounds, or rubles...
...This is the proposal of the, Atlantic Union Committee and it reached* Congress in resolutions S.C.R...
...impute my Fall to Sin...
...The only thing left to desire is that Mr...
...The proposed Union would be a meal fcer of the UN Just as at the present time the federal unions of Canada, Australia, and the U. S. are UN members...
...Better All the Time Dear Sirs: Your Progressive gets better with every issue...
...Meanwhile, Te morituri salutamus...
...Barr suggests setting up a World Development Corporation responsible to the UN...
...The participation of the Chinese military in the Korean War is the very thing I feared most, for it can very easily set the world afire...
...I always enjoy Mary Sheridan and was amused to read that she can't grow parsley indoors, either...
...A stimulating description of how he promoted the election of three delegates from Tennessee was given by Fyke Farmer...
...To the writers of these letters I feel as if I were personally indebted for their contribution to democratic living...
...Ironically, you indicate this when you say there's a lot of sense in Mr...
...Daniel F. Moser Washington, D. C. Important Book Dear Sirs: May I have a line or two in The Progressive to bring to the attention of readers a book which seems to me of vital importance—God and the Nations...
...I want you to know that I am very sorry for the many things I had written you...
...57 and H.C.R...
...No war, not even when placed in the frame of European defense...
...Another attraction is the department of published individual letters to the editor...
...The book states that one of its purposes is to get groups of people together for discussion of its contents, and announces a study outline will be ready early in 1951...
...We wish to emphasize, in doing so, that the appointment of an ambassador or minister does not imply any judgment concerning the policies of the government to which they are accredited...
...A more practical way to Mr...
...Theodor Michaltscheff Chairman, German Branch, War Resisters League Hamburg, Germany World Citizens Dear Sirs: In view of your recently published article by Fyke Farmer, and your earlier articles by Garry Davis, subscribers to The Progressive may be interested in knowing that definite steps were taken toward the goal of the Peoples' World Convention when the Town Meeting of World Citizens met in Dayton, O., Nov...
...Wash...
...It is summed up for them by an expression often heard on the lips of the ordinary people, "Este no tiene remedie...
...Dimly I recall having heard such noble sounds before—but that was last year (under Prof...
...An Ohio committee for the Peoples World Government Convention was elected with Erving E. Beauregard, professor of history at the University of Dayton, as chairman...
...I also enjoy Milton Mayer's clever, incisive articles—and their critics...
...It was a terrible blow because I never for one moment felt that The Progressive would compromise by actually supporting military violence...
...Mayer evidently believes that man has God-given rights...
...Fatal Flaw' Dear Sirs: In your discussion of A. J. Muste's, "Accentuate the Negative," you say that his plea for unilateral disarmament has a "fatal flaw...
...All letters and manuscripts will be copied and carefully returned at once...
...Why cannot our State Department and Government make the same substitutions...
...We believe it is now time to return to established practice by permitting United Nations members full freedom to appoint chiefs of mission to Peiping if they choose...
...However, after clearly showing that the specialized agencies of the UN cannot do the job because the UN is not a government and therefore lacks the necessary autonomy, Mr...
...Power to your arm, and to each one of us who strives for the goal...
...It looks like we will not give up our dependence upon arms in this country unless many of us do "accentuate the negative...
...10, 11, and 12...
...One of its first projects will be to promote the election of delegates from Ohio to the Peoples' World Convention...
...Barr's idea is to form a democratically elected government, within the UN, of those countries among which a natural cohesiveness ak ready exists...
...So, in order to change public opinion in this country and get solid backing for Sen...
...31 speech...
...Glenn Price Whittier, Calif...
...Or resolve to improve...
...Rubin's editorials are by far the greatest attraction of your publication...
...The Christian martyrs of Rome had no rights—except in Heaven...
...For this there is no remedy...
...I think you would be making a mistake to try to publish poetry or fiction, as a reader recently suggested...
...I think, if Milton Mayer will allow me, I'D read his "Christmas for Little Julie" this coming Christmas Eve at our evening church service in Central Methodist Church—with my colleague, Dr...
...Lately the din of battle has faded far away, and only occasional reports filter into this stronghold of conservatism (Nassau County, Long Island) on the cautious wings of Time and the daily press...
...We shall be in a stronger position to urge world peace when we base our arguments upon moral principles instead of trying to enforce them with guns...
...More power to you, but not too much prosperity—just enough to keep going with increasing vigor and valor—lest your power be corrupted with plenty...
...I cannot but think that an American empire is infinitely preferable to a Soviet empire...
...I came away from Spain realizing that for a large majority of the people life had become simply a desperate struggle to find the money for food and shelter...
...But before we can have such a crusade we must have a change of heart here at home...
...It could make an impact on our national thinking if enough people read it, and act on it...
...They should be sent to me in care of the Viking Press, 18 East 48th St., New York 18, N. Y. Kingsley Martin Editor The New Statesman and Nation London, England...
...107-111...
...Philip Isely Yellow Springs, O. Material on Laski Dear Sirs: I am collecting material for a biographical memoir of Prof...
...And it is no little satisfaction to have The Progressive charting the course I want so desperately to see end up in safe harbor via pacifism and universal, democratic World Government...
...I hope you will continue this discussion, giving all who have some contribution to make to it a chance to be heard...
...Harold J. Laski, and am anxious to see letters and material which throw light on his life and his opinions...
...The value of Mr...
...They are obscured by his saying we are ready to use atomic bombs anywhere we think they are needed...
...The American Way Dear Sirs: "The Americans have a democratic state of society which has naturally suggested to them certain laws and certain political manners...
...If the government wishes to prove itself worthy of the trust which the German people have placed in it, then they must choose neither for East nor for the West, but only Peace...
...Frank D. Slocum New York, N. Y. Discovery Dear Sirs: Today I discovered your magazine...
...His only way of achieving his rights is to enter Heaven, where they await unsullied...
...Rev...
...The Ohio committee will seek to foster local groups throughout the state...
...I fail to see how creating another body under an admittedly weak authority would supply the needed power...
...Oh, Thou who didst...
...Brethren Service Dear Sirs: In his review of Melvin Gingerich's Service for Peace: A History of Mennonite Civilian Public Service, in the October Progressive, William D. Barns remarked that it might stimulate comparable studies by the other churches participating in Civil Public Service during World War' Readers of The Progressive will be inter ested to know that at least one other such study has been made: Pathways of Peaces A History of the Civilian Public Service Program Administered by the Brethren Service Committee, by Leslie Eisan...
...I hope and pray I can repair all of the damage, even though I cannot give my wholehearted support to The Progressive as I did in the past...
...War can only result in an increase in the area of conflict, and peace can never be established by resorting to violence...
...Truman's statement that "the Soviets are tortured by an inferiority and persecution complex...
...E. Shurley Johnson reading the Scripture portions "antiphonally...
...A century has passed since Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the above, in the advertisement to the second part of his great work, Democracy in America...
...We want to use all available means for these goals...
...It's challenging, exciting reading on the subject of world affairs and foreign policy...
...Rev...
...Yet, we, too, can expect a chain-reaction if we stick with stubborn faith and courage to the only fitting goal for the children of men...
...and Frances Taylor, copywriter, Dayton...
...This course of action was obviously a feeling of frustration and resentment toward the somewhat militarist stand of The Progressive...
...And on earth, man has no rights unless his fellow humans concede them to him...
...the magazine salesman for Fairbanks had not any idea of it...
...Attractions Dear Sirs: Mr...
...Our own disarmament would rid them of that, if they have it, and certainly would take away all fear of us, which we know they have...
...It is heartening that so many still feel strongly enough on current subjects and take the time and trouble to communicate their ideas to others...
...Not until last week, when I visited a friend's home and found a few copies, was my search ended...
...it merely indicates our desire, in the interests of orderly international intercourse, to return to normal practice of exchanging diplomatic representation...
...Sparkman's Oct...
...In Heaven that may be so, but in Heaven man could not be human...
...I will do everything I can to repair the damage I have done...
...BrethVrf ren Publishing House, Elgin, 111.: 1948...
...We want homes, work, security, and well-being for all...
...Since then Mayer and Muste have convinced me that there are some things I can get nowhere else...
...In the face of this it is silly to say, as you do, that disarmament would mean submission to armed powers...
...The fatal flaw is that it fails to take account of the fact that "it takes two to agree...
...Helen B. Hamer Washington, D. C. Reconsidered Dear Sirs: I was quite disappointed with your first issue endorsing our stand in Korea, and 1 almost decided to let The Progressive go and stick to Time—they beat the drums with so much more conviction...
...If the representatives of the people in the Bundestag wish to be trusted by the German people, they must oppose with all their strength the arbitrary policies of the Chancellor, especially remilitarization and re-arming...
...If an individual does not or cannot accept the basic values of his society, he forfeits his "rights" to live in it, except by forbearance of those who do possess rights —the citizens of Rome...
...I have little doubt that Lao-Tze, Mohammed, Joshua, Jesus, Ptolemy, Vercingetorix, Aquinas— yea, even Caesar—are each and every one under the benevolent despotisms of their respective Almighties...
...Peace is no more attainable for humanity than is anarchy, for both states require conditions that negate man's humanity...
...I trust that enough people will be able to give enough more than I to keep The Progressive swimming for some time...
...President Truman's occasional gestures toward disarmament aren't enough...
...For, indeed, everything else has been tried, hasn't it...
...Elinor Ashkenazy Glendale, Calif...
...McMahon's proposal, let us continue to "accentuate the negative," at the same time pointing out the positive things which we could be doing with the money now proposed for armaments...
...The aspect of civil society has been as much altered as the face of the political world...
...As a matter of fact, people of armed powers would not only resist any demand for aggressive crusades against an unarmed nation, but would also demand that the burden of their own armaments be eliminated...
...The reactionary betrays his ignorance in his denunciations of democracy as a fiction of the New Deal...
...Failing agreement, the price of disarmament by one nation would mean submission to the nation remaining armed...
...By federating, the democratic countries could effect great savings in defense and administration costs and generally improve their own economic welfare...
...Not even Russia can take the people into war against their will...
...John J. Sparkman, took the floor to say: "It is now clear that the withdrawal of ambassadors from China as a means of political pressure was both an unsound and impractical departure from this established international practice...
...The author is an associate professor of history at Hanover College, Indiana...
...Muste's proposal—which I thank you especially for printing—is that it may lead toward the proposal you suggest editorially —universal disarmament...
...I cannot deny my own humanity...
...The United States, in its striving for 20th Century empire (to be achieved through the imposition of the Pax Ameri' cana), has succeeded, temporarily at least, in frustrating a similar Soviet drive for 20th Century empire by making the U. N. an instrument of national interest...
...It is a struggle that is made more difficult because there seems no hope for improvement...
...It is true ". . .it is their Caesar against ours...
...But to the common man of America, it is the American way of life, a way which can be improved, but which cannot be destroyed without destroying the hope for the world which De Tocqueville believed democracy in America to be, the hope in which Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln lived and labored long before the New Deal...
...I wish to make it equally clear that our support of this specific action in regard to China emphatically does not constitute any approval of the policies or practices of the Chinese Government...
Vol. 15 • January 1951 • No. 1
