THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM 'The Noblest Sense' Dear Sirs: The shock I felt at news of the death of Robert M. LaFollette was like the shock one feels in learning of the death of a friend, of whom one...
...Just what, precisely, is the so grievous affront to these sensitive people...
...Nor am I sure that it is in keeping with your own views to approve of the suggestion that we should have withheld the names of prisoners in our camps...
...Petrel Dear Sirs: Milton Mayer is The Progressive's petrel...
...We have formed a committee which is called "Americans for South African Resistance," 513 West 166th St., New York 32...
...I just get a simple kick out of the article...
...If you do not believe this, study the map of our part of the world and you will see that the Korean peninsula is the back door to China, and that it is natural for us to rally to the defense of our homeland when troops from any nation, or all nations, come ever closer and closer to our vital spots...
...Albert W. Kauffman First Congregational Church Lakeview, Mich...
...It is obvious that a revolution is taking place there...
...Frank D. Slocum New York, N. Y. Correction Dear Sirs: On page 5 of your issue of February, 1953, there is contained a criticism of my testimony on Claude McKay, the Negro poet, which is based on a complete distortion of that testimony...
...It is the sense, which speaks nor of malice toward any other people, but of charity for all peoples, and of firmness in the right, as God gives the fellow countrymen of Lincoln, to see the right...
...The Republicans did not have larceny in their hearts after all...
...Those witnesses were paid off in something more valuable than money...
...LlLLIE roudabush Tokyo, Japan China and the UN Dear Sirs: I should like to share with readers of The Progressive an imaginary letter from Mao Tse-Tung, the leader of Red China, to the UN: "A public man in one of the United Nations has said, 'We cannot allow China to shoot her way into the UN.' This man is admired and respected as a speaker and writer, and I am inclined to think that were China a member of the UN, and some other nation really trying to 'shoot' its way in, we would feel much as he does...
...Lens says some things that should be printed on the front page of every newspaper instead of "hush-hushed" because it's politically expedient...
...I was troubled during the campaign when they stole the Democratic farm program at Kas-son and elsewhere...
...Charles Y. Trigg...
...In this way the flag would become the symbol of real American liberal thinking, and it would be rescued from the opportunists who use it for their own ends...
...From the prosecutor's remarks it appears that such procedure might be the custom...
...We must remember that the people who run first to take the flag down and wave it are most generally those who have some sinister purposes in mind...
...i Walter Gormly Mount Vernon, la...
...Donald Harrington and the Rev...
...Good for Morale Dear Sirs: I am living on a Japanese teacher's salary —about one-fifth or one-sixth of what I received in America, but I do not want to do without The Progressive...
...Uproar over Mayer Dear Sirs: Why the uproar over Milton Mayer...
...And that is the matter with most Americans: they do not think independently...
...he makes you think...
...Not that that would mean that the grant was bad...
...America needs The Progressive...
...The flow of China's men to Korea has been definitely for the defense of China's borders...
...Robert D. Ronsheim Cambridge, Mass...
...I approve your purpose of acting as an unfettered, uncommitted voice viewing current affairs, especially in foreign policy and McCarthyism...
...And it has been a long time since the former Senator from Wisconsin was in the news...
...Frank Williams McDonald Bridgeton, N. J. Flag and Freedom Dear Sirs: "Pledge in Pomona," by Milton Mayer in tKe January Progressive, is excellent in its conclusion that the pledge to the flag should be freely given, and not given under coercion and fear...
...Among the sponsors are Roger Baldwin, Mordecai Johnson, Norman Thomas, Charles S. Johnson, A. J. Muste...
...Had you consulted the transcript of the hearings, or got in touch with the counsel for the House Committee on Foundations, you would have found that your whole comment is based upon a suppression of the major part of what I said...
...Charlotte Dennerline DePauw University Greencastle, Ind...
...But it is true that China would like her rightful place in today's world...
...Were our troops to land in Mexico and fight their way up to the Rio Grande would the U.S...
...That was the issue under investigation and the point to which Budenz was testifying...
...I think the man has a sincere concern for what is happening in the world, and that he is doing what he can, by writing and lecturing, to arouse thoughtful action towards bettering conditions...
...Who knows...
...When The Progressive comes here I first look over the contents to see if Milton is in...
...In the noblest sense, the Lincoln sense, the late Robert M. LaFollette, Jr...
...The flag is the symbol of the good humor with which 150,000,000 people, though different in many ways, accord each other the rights of free thinking and free speech...
...Rev...
...Why not just skip those pages, and read on...
...But since you are often so lonely in your position, it is essential that you be as accurate and fair as possible...
...J. Milne New York, N. Y. Ray of Light Dear Sirs: I have tried to do without The Progressive since my subscription expired, but have now found it impossible...
...Paul Tilford Prairie Village, Kan...
...Louis Francis Budenz Crestwood, Tuckahoe 7, N. Y. Two Dissents Dear Sirs: The first two issues this year have been fine...
...Since this is an illustration of the campaign of misrepresentation which has been carried on concerning the ex-Communists who testify for the government under subpoena, and therefore in defense of the United States, I would ask that hereafter you check on the accuracy of statements or news reports concernnig such incidents before you editorialize upon them...
...Whether it is the form other nations would choose is beside the point...
...But Benson has restored my faith in the Republican's honesty by the celerity with which he has returned the Democratic farm program...
...Also, my parents, who recently spent eight months in Germany as occupation personnel, find Mayer's viewpoint very similar to theirs...
...Geneva Convention and its relation to this problem in his October speech at the UN...
...The Progressive is one of the few magazines that I try to read from cover to cover...
...I regret that in your editorial in the January issue you followed the Lippmann interpretation of the Geneva Convention and the POW issue...
...This, then, is the reason for shooting...
...Let us learn a lesson from this...
...We are sending funds to help the South African resisters...
...have no reason for action...
...Second, the act should never be indulged in when the salute is being carried out under the auspicies of organizations or the promptings of individuals not deserving of the full respect of Americans who are free in conscience...
...I do not care if I s agree with Milton or not...
...And so, each month, 'mid gnashings of teeth, and many fearful groanings, I ask myself, why...
...The more I read in the newspapers what is going on in this world of ours, the more I realize The Progressive must go on giving out its ray of light in the world of darkness around us...
...Every American should understand that the rearmament of Germany is at best a calculated risk...
...By now well over 6,000 non-violent resisters against the unjust racial laws of the Malan government have been arrested...
...First, the act of saluting the flag should be made meaningful for those who participate in it, by making it part of a ceremony in which the Bill of Rights would be read...
...If we get caught in the toils of the law, the way to "beat the rap" is to confess, profess repentance, and implicate someone else, even if no one else is involved...
...How many people among the UN countries know the exact location of the Yalu River, or realize just what is involved in the actions and threats of action of UN troops...
...Perhaps his pacifist thesis is that which offends, but if so, cannot these anguished souls once agree to disagree, and present their own brief in rebuttal...
...Perhaps it should be supplemented by two additional suggestions...
...was an "America First" man as was his distinguished father...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM 'The Noblest Sense' Dear Sirs: The shock I felt at news of the death of Robert M. LaFollette was like the shock one feels in learning of the death of a friend, of whom one has had no news for a long time...
...I do think that it is likely that more prisoners would have been willing to return if our treatment of the problem had been different, but I am disturbed by your seeming suggestion that to end the war we should offer these POWs as sacrifices to the Communists...
...So put me back on the subscription list...
...that he is, on the whole, effective and stimulating...
...Almost every month I read letters screaming "Down with Mayer, cancel my subscription, the dirty dog," etc...
...They merely borrowed the program for the duration of the campaign...
...Max Elitcher and Ruth Greenglass, so the prosecutor suggested, were not prosecuted in the anticipation they would testify against the Rosenbergs...
...We do not want to 'shoot our way into the UN' but were we given our rightful place with the nations of the world, it is quite possible that a spirit of cooperation and brotherhood might develop which would help to settle the disputes along our various borders...
...They wish to hypnotize the rest of us into silence while they proclaim their vicious isms...
...The judge said he didn't give David Green-glass a heavier penalty because of his "assistance" in prosecuting the Rosenbergs...
...If so, I read his article and close The Progressive for some later time to read...
...Today China is united under one government...
...The co-chairmen are the Rev...
...Ours is not a temporary 'fly-by-night' government, but a going concern...
...Since Mr...
...I have a great dislike of Louis Budenz...
...It is good for my morale and very good for giving me a sane point of view on what some people are thinking in America...
...When I read Mayer, although it be with interest, indeed, with pleasure, at no time do I feel constrained to leap forward, boldly to uphold his noble and inspired revelations...
...Irv Kupcinet and the Chicago Sun-Times have had the courtesy to correct this error and have done so in a prominent manner, I request that you do the same...
...Were an enemy to land on the Danish peninsula would Germany, and the rest of Europe, have no reason for action...
...George M. Houser Secretary New York, N. Y. Campaign Loan Dear Sirs: My faith in the inherent honesty of the Republican Party has been restored...
...Acheson was highly inaccurate and deliberately misleading in his detailed account of the...
...Mrs...
...It is here to stay, even as the Soviet government came to stay over 35 years ago (in spite of the hostility of the Western nations...
...Is it having, according to the fault-finders, a bad effect on the paper...
...nor on the other hand am I taken with a feeling of duty to the community to organize a lynch party and serve the blaggart his rightful due...
...We would be glad to send any money on to South Africa that comes to us or to supply the name of the contact person in South Africa to those who would like to send funds directly...
...But to be fair to him you should have made it clearer in your February issue that Budenz was accurate in charging that Claude McKay was a Communist when he received a foundation grant...
...I look forward each month to his articles, and hope that he continues to write as well as he has in the past...
...R. E. Boe Pahokee, Fla...
...Don't let the salt lose its savor...
...We would like to be on friendly terms with the rest of the world, and to have the place that should be ours in the UN...
...The facts are that being subpoenaed and asked under oath whether I knew Claude McKay to be a Communist, I replied that I had known him as such but that he left the Communist Party and became a convert to the Catholic Church...
...There are, however, one or two things to be considered...
...Skip Dear Sirs: I fail to understand why subscribers to the valuable Progressive should discontinue their subscription on account of a dislike of one of the contributors to this most important magazine...
...Mayer's article suggests the need of a carefully worked out code of ethics in our flag salute that would guarantee that no abusive dictatorial movement "could ever capture it for their propaganda use...
...As such, it must never be saluted when held by those who would deny these rights to others...
...Aid for Africa Dear Sirs: I am sure that the readers of The Progressive are following with the greatest interest and concern developments in South Africa...
...A recent letter from one of the younger leaders of the African National Congress who was arrested stated this: "There has been a transformation in the way of thinking of the Africans . . . The Africans are on the march, and what-: ever the result of the present defiance campaign, even if it ends in total defeat at the hands of the government, the country will never be the same again...
...Beatrice L. Barker Cheyenne Agency, S. D. Rosenberg Witnesses Dear Sirs: I have read the transcript of record in the Rosenberg case and find that the three witnesses upon whom the prosecution's case hung were "paid off...
...Steve Newberry New York, N. Y. In Defense of Mayer Dear Sirs: After reading the People's Forum in the March issue blasting Milton Mayer's articles on Europe, I wish to say that we have found his analyses excellent and concur with his opinions in nearly every respect...
...Congratulations on "The German Restoration" by Sidney Lens...
...To salute the flag when it is in the hands of a McCarthy merely means that we infer that what McCarthy stands for deserves the respect and loyalty of the nation...
...I returned to the States this fall after a year spent studying at a German university...
...I have been, in the past, accustomed to feeling that when I am reading controversial material, I am, whatever my own opinions, atvare that it is indeed controversial material that I am reading, that over this will many impassioned breasts be beaten and so forth...
...It is either incorrect or Mr...
...This would prevent it from becoming an act of idolatry depriving us of free thought and making us mere pagan conformists...
Vol. 17 • April 1953 • No. 4
