THE PEOPLE'FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM 'The U.N. Must Live' Dear Sirs: At a meeting of the board of the San Diego Chapter of the American Association for the United Nations, your November issue editorial entitled,...
...I was completely wrong...
...Conn., when she writes in the People's Forum of your January issue that the Chinese people are Justified in hating America for Its treatment of them...
...is being revealed day after day in many parts of the ; world through the commissions and specialized agencies working with the Economic ! and Social Council of the General Assembly...
...At the end (78) of an enjoyable life I believe my aims use my energies to man's advantage...
...I try to cultivate interest in my opponent...
...idiotic Analysis' Dear Sirs: "In Europe a conspiracy is exactly what Communism isn't...
...If known to him, he betrays a singular lack of moral sensitivity in concealing his knowledge so well...
...UNICEF...
...Toward Totalitarianism Dear Sirs: Milton Mayer's article in the January issue of The Progressive, in which he reports "the rebirth of free speech in America," unhappily illustrates again how completely we have forgotten what free speech means...
...Readers of The Progressive will recall that during the time of the Hitler-Stalin pact, U.S...
...Let us revive our good manners and courtesy...
...Diversity I like The Progressive because it gives me slants that no other periodical does, and it does not clutter itself and my time with what one can pick up in a dozen places...
...Mrs...
...So with nations the same road has to be traveled...
...Communists became as ardently interventionist as they had been anti-interventionist before...
...Helen Mears New York, N. Y. Pacifists and Communists Dear Sirs: As a wartime conscientious objector I was especially interested in Milton Mayer's January issue article about the Philadelphia Fellowship of Reconciliation providing a platform for a Communist speaker...
...To maintain a government in which we can have confidence and for which we can have respect— which puts honor and principle higher than compromise—I shall most probably vote Republican even if Eisenhower should not run...
...Douglas for President Dear Sirs: How about Paul Douglas for President...
...Yet it is very doubtful whether I shall vote Democratic...
...John Buchanan Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada Refreshing Experience Dear Sirs: Last April I received a subscription to The Progressive as a surprise birthday gift...
...But we do not believe that these blunders are proof of fatal diseases...
...And in fact Mr...
...My sympathies are with Mr...
...Inevitably, it plays into the hands of the isolationists and reactionaries who are not only hopeful that the U.N...
...Mayer, of course...
...In effect, monkeysl I he whole point of free discussion Is that those engaging in it may be influenced by the arguments of the other side...
...The Progressive has hitherto been true to its name, an expression of the liberal spirit, a pillar of strength in these perilous times when basic freedoms are threatened in the United States, even as they are in the United Nations...
...to sponsor the meeting...
...Daisy Lee Worcester San Diego, Calif...
...But while I believe they would be justified in hating us for these reasons, I know from trips to China, including trips since the Communists have taken over, that such is not the case...
...Your magazine is weak because it is just what some people want to hear but does not provide an honest, unbiased argument to convince anyone who is not already on your team...
...Within the limits imposed by the English language, I don't know a more accurate term than "conspiracy" to apply to the Communist Party, whether in the United States or anywhere else...
...Such was your conclusion to an article whose title precluded any last word of hope...
...I think it is because I personally feel so deeply about other oppressed people, that his indictment so disturbed me...
...One cannot co-exist in a climate of fear and hatred...
...I was unexcited by the announcement, much as I appreciated the thoughtfulness of my friend, feeling that yours was to be just another of those publications which covers Important topics but in the usual boring, tedious manner...
...With the memory of this behavior it was reasonable for the F.O.R...
...That is, as Mr...
...He correctly states "it is easy to legislate for people other nations oppress...
...Truman was, yet I doubt that he is more willing than Mr...
...Louis, Mo...
...I found The Progressive always informative, meaningful, lively, and most stimulating...
...Even if he is willing, I doubt whether he is able...
...And all honor to the F.O.R...
...Mayer—this suggests deliberate oh-fuscation...
...Your suggestions for resuscitation meet with our complete approval: "Opening the U.N...
...that as President he would oppose turning them over to only four of our states as was later done by Congress with the approval of the present Administration...
...Truman to put the people above his party...
...When angry I am not much different from any other fool...
...In his campaign speeches in Texas Adlai Stevenson asserted that if elected President, he would obey the II...
...Alice Hamilton of Had-lyme...
...However, it is also familiar history that the moment Hitler broke the pact, U.S...
...Gertrude M. Adams Sandy Lake, Pa...
...When A. J. Muste said years ago, "If I cannot love Hitler...
...has a strong constitution, that it has repeatedly demonstrated its amazing vitality: In Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Indonesia...
...We agree that "walkouts, boycotts, and by-passing by the Great Powers" have contributed to a malady which now seriously weakens the U.N...
...K. Kauffmann-Grinstead Hot Springs National Park, Ark...
...in 1949 not to collaborate "organizationally" with Communists did not mean that the group went on record as hating Communists, though it reflected a disapproval of Communist tactics and doubtless of Communism itself...
...Board to decide it would be unwise to enter into cooperative "peace" activities with Communist groups...
...A. James McDonald Leesville, La...
...Stevenson Incorruptible Dear Sirs: The framers of our Constitution successfully sought to give us a representative form of government in which every American citizen could, as far as possible, participate equally...
...What could be more stubbornly ignorant than the belief that you are casting light on the nature of Communism by stating that "in the capitals of Europe . . . you [canl look up the _ Communist Party in the telephone book...
...This is simply because the Communists are not interested in peace as such, but only in protecting the Soviet Union from war with the United States...
...But I wish I for one were not so quick on the trigger...
...Pfc I. R. U.S...
...N. Y. Ridicule for Dulles Dear Sirs: Congratulations to The Progressive for calling for the resignation of Secretary Dul-lardl You give good reasons for your request, but personally I doubt that they will be as effective as ridicule—getting Americans laughing at the spectacle of the bitter little man flying hither and thither to make his useless pacts and spend our money for armaments that intelligent people do not want...
...But this editorial seems like a betrayal of the liberal spirit...
...I would like to suggest that this decision was based on sad experience...
...Chinese Hate the Communists Dear Sirs: I agree with Dr...
...If similar cash contributions were made to and accepted by a majority of our Congressmen, we would have a Congress squarely on the auction block serviceable only to the highest bidder...
...ICAO, WMO) cooperating, working almost as a unit, wiping out disease, hunger, and illiteracy, training workers for agriculture, industry, and government service, developing modern methods of travel and communication in a barren desert land, the newly independent state of Libya—these are expressions of the life-sustaining spirit of the U.N., implementing the last of the purposes stated in the Preamble to the Charter: "to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom," a purpose directly related to the goal of permanent peace...
...Here are my reasons: 1. A stay of three months in Europe in several countries whose languages I speak, confirmed my belief that Mr...
...Must Live' Dear Sirs: At a meeting of the board of the San Diego Chapter of the American Association for the United Nations, your November issue editorial entitled, 'The United Nations Is Dying," was discussed with deep concern, even with some anxiety for its ultimate effect...
...Eisenhower ran, I campaigned for him, and if he runs again, I shall again campaign for him...
...After tolerance I hope to find some common ground which may lead to love...
...is man's only hope for continued survival...
...This would end all semblance of representative form of government Gigantic frauds similar to the tidewater oil lands affair would pass unnoticed, making the fundamental democratic rights of the average citizen as worthless to him as if he were merely existing under some totalitarian government...
...Mayer seems not even to sense this...
...Moved by Kempton Dear Sirs: Ihave just finished reading Murray Kemp-ton's article in the January issue, "An Article of Secession," and must "obey that impulse" and tell you how it moved me by its power...
...wide as a free forum for untrammeled inquiry and debate on all issues affecting the peace of the world, making membership available to all nations, and employing the instruments already on hand to prevent disputes from exploding into violence...
...David T. Burbank i>t...
...With interest alight I try to add tolerance...
...However, I find your slant so biased that the magazine is too irritating to read...
...That I am a liberal, you can judge from the gift subscriptions to The Progressive and the many reprints of Progressive articles I have ordered...
...George C. Marshall's mission to China, thus granting to the Communists a year to be armed by the Soviets...
...Harriet Harding Clarksville, Ark...
...I cannot love at all...
...Odd, how ideologically insecure we are...
...It . . • proclaimed its purposes in 1848...
...I formerly voted Democratic, until the corruption in Washington began to stink to high heaven...
...Some of us did not keep quiet about these things even during the late war, when respectable liberals made little McCarthys of themselves in their spleen at people who refused to play footsy with Stalinism...
...It fought in the open...
...Hamilton...
...For today, in our one-time democratic country, virtually everybody equates freedom of speech with love of communism...
...Explosive Quaker Dear Sirs: I am a Quaker, and a hot tempered, explosive one at that...
...It is this river of blood—my indignation forces me to use a cliche which is nevertheless precisely accurate—which separates the old socialist movement from the new Stalinist movement, the conspiracy against socialism which took form in the twenties...
...I took it in the first place believing that it would give me a "liberal" yet honest slant on the news...
...Mildred D. Barden Chicago, 111...
...S. Supreme Court decision that our federal government had the paramount rights in the tidewater oil lands...
...Jean B. Morein Los Angeles, Calif...
...But Mayer's asinine attempt to equate A. J. Muste's violation of the Civil Defense Law...
...It fights in the open...
...I believe the Chinese would be Justified In hating us for enforcing the year of truces during Gen...
...Kefauver-Humphrey Ticket Dear Sirs: I wonder how many Progressive readers will agree with my opinion that the 1956 Democratic convention would do well to nominate Tennessee's Senator Estes Ke-fauver for President, and Minnesota's Senator Hubert H. Humphrey for Vice President...
...Today, we are no more inclined than we were then to "applaud uproariously" the appearance of a spokesman of that gang on the platform of the Fellowship of Reconciliation or any other organization...
...When Mr...
...We deplore the fact that our country, possibly the greatest of the Great Powers, has failed repeatedly to affirm its own democratic and revolutionary traditions at times when such affirmation was needed to combat the evils of colonialism...
...As usual, Mayer's approach is to prick our consciences, but I think he is not on sound ground in this case...
...Considering our current climate of opinion, it was courageous of the F.O.R...
...Communists were among the most vocal of the anti-interventionists...
...He paraphrases Claude Bourdet as saying that "the most depressing fact of the America he visited last year was the invariable opening of every address by every American liberal, 'I hate Communism.'" Yet Mr...
...Mayer defends free speech for a Communist on the grounds that it is perfectly safe for Americans to listen to him since some non-Communist will at once make a monkey out of him...
...But in recent years we beheld the shameful spectacle of a U. S. Senator seeking the Vice Presidency who accepted an $18,500 cash contribution from a small group of wealthy constituents...
...You are intelligent people...
...and in any case, they are so busy hating the Communists, that they have no time for second degree hates for us, in spite of the misinformation that somebody has foisted on the venerable Dr...
...This was one of the most drastic of the many zigs and zags of the party line...
...John A. Masters Midland, Tex...
...In his hurry to escape "guilt by dissociation," he has taken up "slander by association...
...This was a contribution to augment his Congressional salary because he favored the enactment of legislation desired by these wealthy contributors...
...Adlai Stevenson was upholding the Constitutional authority of our highest court even though he knew that his respect for this decision of the Supreme Court would cost him the electoral vote of Texas, as it did...
...WHO, FAO, ILO...
...Mayer—seems prepared to accept the possibility that any American non-Communist could consider any Communist statement to be anything except evil or ludicrous...
...James B. Fleek Jacksonville Beach, Fla...
...Fortunately for us, the mass of the Chinese people do not know these actions of ours...
...The latter quality has been a refreshing experience under the conditions of Army life...
...Friends of mine who were Communists made this clear enough to me ten years ago...
...If the same material, the same warnings, and the same constructive proposals had been made under the caption, "The United Nations Must Live," you might have given some direction to the activities of those like ourselves who believe that the U.N...
...1. While it is true that in the Eisenhower Administration big business has a decisive influence, it is equally true that whenever even a shadow of its misuse appears, the Eisenhower men act quickly and promptly to let the wrong-doer go...
...Mayer...
...Eisenhower is the greatest power for peace...
...may die from Internal disorders, but are continuously engaged in administering large doses of poison through false and scurrilous attacks, designed to hasten the end...
...In praise of diversity...
...The magnificent achievements of seven ; of these organizations (UNESCO...
...Or stubborn ignorance of a truly heroic character, which is a foolish kind of protest against McCarthylsm...
...First of all...
...Compare this with former President Harry Truman's policy of covering up for his cronies until public pressure no longer permitted it...
...Adlai Stevenson is personally as honest as Mr...
...but most of all, we know that the real spirit, the soul of the U.N...
...for there you seem to still cherish the "hope that the member nations, particularly the Great Powers, can make a genuine effort to breathe new life into the dying body...
...We know that the U.N...
...The GOP His Choice Dear Sirs: In your December, 1955, issue, you express the view that liberal independent voters will "doubtless find themselves voting the Democratic ticket...
...and A. J. Muste— whose energy and courage during our current dark age have helped immeasurably to lighten our darkness...
...Alfred Kohlberg New York...
...Aside from the slaughter of millions of workingmen and peasants, unconcerned with politics, Stalinism's rise to power was marked by the murder of tens of thousands of active socialists, adherents of the humanitarian tradition of the old socialist movement from 1848 on, who were liquidated in the great purges of the 1930's, in the Spanish Civil War, in the enslavement of Eastern and Central Europe following World War II...
...Use of the term does not even begin to solve the problem of how to deal with the Communist Party...
...Many genuine pacifists were fooled into collaborating with Communist groups in anti-war activities...
...But nobody—including now Mr...
...It said what it was and what it proposed to do and how it proposed to do it...
...Henry C. Anderson Lake Mills, Wis...
...He reports that the Philadelphia Fellowship of Reconciliation permitted a Communist to speak from a meeting the F.O.R...
...I agree with her because, having armed more than 30 of China's 280 divisions of troops during the war, we disarmed them after V-J Day by blowing up their reserve ammunition and spare parts in India, or dumping it in the Indian Ocean when the toll of death from the explosion became too great...
...Mayer opens his piece (which he says describes a "rebirth of freedom") by declaring that Communists are...
...let me say that we do not challenge your facts, nor do we deplore those facts any less than you do...
...I am sure he does not wish to imply this should not be done...
...Army Nuremberg, Germany Too Irritating My subscription to your magazine has expired, but I will not renew it...
...Our diplomacy may become once more a credit to us after a decade of disaster...
...But the fact that such a meeting should represent courage is final proof of how far toward complete totalitarianism we have progressed...
...Surely you can see some truth and reason in the "conservative" side of public questions...
...Muste "made a monkey out of him...
...Here is the type of President we must have—a President who is not only fundamentally incorruptible, but who also has the political experience which will enable him to defeat the designs of the forces of special privilege...
...He is by all odds the brainiest in Congress and by same odds the most high-minded...
...Our government accepts the idea that some Communists can change their minds—and in fact it has based its prosecutions of thpse who haven't changed on the charges of those who have...
...Since most Americans are convinced that nuclear war is too destructive to the world, ourselves included, to be practical, why not explore the possibilities of co-existence...
...I could wish that reprints would be made available for meetings of Democrats (I am one of them), and that the NAACP utilize it...
...Mayer reported it, the meeting did not hear a debate which included an exchange of views during which each debater might clarify problems, doubts, and perhaps thereafter change or modify his views, but instead heard a presentation of two opposed set positions...
...The scholarly histories and eyewitness accounts which have made the whole bloody and complex story a matter of public record are apparently unknown to Mr...
...The decision of the Board of the F.O.R...
...he was not indicating an approval or love of Hitlerism or the Nazi ideology...
...Your last paragraph of the editorial convinces us that you do not really share your professed despair...
...A more idiotic analysis of the nature, of Communism than this of Milton Mayer's in the January Progressive 1 have not come across in years...
...sponsored, but adds quickly that at the close, A. J. Muste made a "formal rebuttal of the Communist" and that Dr...
...on the one hand, and the activity of the Communist Party, on the other hand, as "conspiracies" of essentially the same character, Just as "the program of Franklin, Adams and Jefferson . . . before 1776" and the program of Stalinism in 1956 are undifferentiated by Mr...
Vol. 20 • February 1956 • No. 2
