THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Praise for Lens Dear Sirs: After reading "Labor's Urgent Need: 'Unionize the Organized,'" by Sid Lens in the March issue, I am inspired to the point where I feel compelled to...
...Dworkin, "From Stage to Screen," "But there is a kind of oddly satisfying appositeness about the comparison of juxtaposition, however fortuitous it may be, when one considers how much has been made of the two modern works, in our industrial mills of evanescent fame, and how much more truly the fanfare now greeting the new reading of Richard III is deserved, today or any other...
...Sure, methods...
...As a matter of fact, contrary to the impression gathered in most articles on the subject, a lot of us in labor aren't cynics at all, but are actually optimistic about the state of labor today...
...They wouldn't have the vaguest idea unless they were in labor themselves or read Labor's Daily...
...It would do much, I know, to restore Adlai Stevenson to his rightful place as the nation's best hope in the 1956 election...
...How many Progressive readers know about the new, successful political action methods labor is using in parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and elsewhere...
...In reading the recent literature on the labor movement, I must admit I have found a more reliable picture of labor painted in some conservative publications than in most liberal periodicals...
...If the conservative press praises labor today it is precisely because we have moved more in its direction...
...Sid Lens Chicago, 111...
...Why not give space to thoroughgoing, documented, balanced discussion of so vital a problem...
...He tried to out-Shakespeare Shakespeare and failed—one can't be too harsh with a man of such lofty aim...
...And yet Mr...
...F. J. Miller Cedar Rapids, Iowa Ablest Commentary Dear Sirs: Your April editorial, "First Reflections on the Campaign," was without doubt the ablest, most thoughtful, and most cogently argued commentary I have seen anywhere...
...Paul Hubbell Ann Arbor, Mich...
...He writes honestly from where he sits...
...He has a point of view which is valuable and should be heard...
...Take The Progressive, for example...
...Rodell's invigorating article...
...It seems to me that the glib superficiality of this mood piece, which leaves the impression that there is little or no unfettered, unstifled creative or scholarly work on our campuses, is characteristic of far too many contributors to your journal...
...He did not even rebuke Secretary of Commerce Weeks for discharging an employee who stepped on the toes of some of Weeks' pals in doing his duty in the Bureau of Standards...
...Eisenhower is the greatest power for peace...
...Prosperity has taken the heart out of our rebellious spirit...
...Time to Drop Dulles Dear Sirs: As President Eisenhower said, there is no longer any alternative to peace...
...Unlike Mr...
...And above all there is an enormous amount of apathy on this subject—in some places, harsh hostility...
...and I've made that point in every article or book I have written...
...Elsenhower endorsed Richard Nixon for Vice President even after it had been proved that Nixon had accepted $18,500 in cash for favoring legislation desired by his wealthy contributors...
...Kauffmann-Grinstead describes himself as a liberal Democrat but says he will vote for President Eisenhower because of the crooked dealings of the Truman Administration as compared with the righteousness of the Eisenhower Administration...
...I quite disagreed with its general tone, several specific assertions of fact, and one of the implications in his conclusion...
...Dworkin as a yokefellow of the "scholar" in Mr...
...Stevenson in 1952...
...How hard did it fight McCarthyism a couple of years ago when it was not fashionable to criticize McCarthy...
...Don't fire Dworkin...
...Rodell, specifically, cites fewer than five examples of individuals or institutions...
...William Abbott Assistant Education Director United Rubber Workers, AFL-CIO Akron, Ohio Mr...
...Lens Replies Dear Sirs: Not only labor but our whole society is far less idealistic today than it was two decades ago...
...Truman in 1948 but supported Mr...
...Dulles who boasts of his "brink of war" policy...
...Rodell's 'Sockeroo' Dear Sirs: Wow...
...Abbott is right when he says that "political action methods" have improved in many states...
...D in English literature at the University of Wisconsin...
...I feel American periodicals have a responsibility to their readers to deal less in distortions and more with situations as they exist...
...George H. Horne Portland, Ore...
...I wish it could be read by every American...
...It's true that there are quite a few union leaders fighting the good fight in the South...
...He supported the giving away of the nation's tide-land oil and favored the attempted Dixon-Yates steal...
...Joseph F. Shotwell Washington, D.C...
...The decline of the non-Communist left and the decline of idealism in all segments of our nation is so obvious I didn't think it would require exhaustive proof...
...Eddy has helped us greatly to understand the issues at stake and to appreciate more vividly the fact that Chiang Kai-shek cannot possibly regain the Chinese mainland...
...He describes President Truman as personally honest but "covering up for his cronies," whereas, under Mr...
...Glib Superficiality Dear Sirs: I have been wondering what purpose other than light entertainment was served by Fred Rodell's article, "Ah, Scholarship," in the April Progressive...
...Unionize the Organized" should be published, republished, and then published some more...
...The misdeeds of the Truman Administration are minor compared to those of the present Administration...
...Mabel Scanlan Philadelphia, Pa...
...And if a magazine that is friendly to labor, like The Progressive, points to Its faults and attempts to rekindle the flagging spirits of idealism, I can only hope that there will be many, many more of the same...
...Senator Neuberger is terrific...
...Fulton Catlin Lynchburg, Va...
...Elsenhower, "whenever even a shadow of misuse appears the Eisenhower men act promptly to let the wrongdoer go...
...There is no longer the solidarity of the '30s...
...Grinstead's appraisal of the Eisenhower Administration is not in accord with the facts...
...P.S...
...There is much less non-conformity and much less willingness to speak out...
...I really enjoy The Progressive...
...Unfair to Labor Dear Sirs: I have long admired labor writer Sid Lens for his thoughtful, readable articles...
...In liberal magazines there seems to be too little realization of the fact that there are a few other people in unions besides the top brass, or that unions do exist outside of New York or Chicago, or that there has been a profound and encouraging evolution in labor during the past twenty years...
...Eddy on China Dear Sirs: I wish that Sherwood Eddy's April issue article, "The Blacks and Whites of Red China," could be read by all Americans...
...Quote from Mr...
...There are more idealists in labor— even today—than elsewhere...
...Eisenhower has only words of praise for former Secretary of Interior McKay, who engineered the Hells Canyon give-away and the Al Serina mining scandal...
...How vigorously is it fighting on the civil rights issue...
...Lou Montenegro Representative International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Chicago...
...Chicago and New York may represent one small part of labor, but there's also that devoted, hard-working union guy in Waco, Texas, or Eau Claire, Wisconsin...
...The temptation has been great many times but this one I just cannot resist...
...This does not accord with the views of the Manchester Guardian and other prominent European papers which are greatly worried by "massive retaliation" and "brink of war' statements uttered by Mr...
...In his March issue article...
...But what about ideology: How vigorously does the union leadership fight against militarism...
...Martha Stone Evanston, 111...
...That was a sockeroo Fred Rodell gave us in the April issue with his "Ah, Scholarship...
...I hope that sometime soon someone will rise in China above both the Communists and Chiang to lead the Chinese people away from both extremes...
...Sure it's out of context, so are "orchidaceous decadences", "parvenu enthusiasm', "variegated maleficences", "textual emendations", etc...
...Labor, unfortunately, has not risen above its milieu...
...How many know of the activities of a large industrial local union and of the idealism and work of its stewards and officers...
...Praise for Warburg Dear Sirs: James P. Warburg's "The Bi-Partisan Conspiracy of Silence" in your April issue is one of the best and most concise articles on American foreign policy I have ever read...
...The gap between leader and rank and file is greater today (witness the salary gap alone...
...But in or out of context such abortifacient aberrations are exponible and fadnorous examples of semasiology which in my book places Mr...
...R. Henry Campbell Springfield, O. Nation's Best Hope Dear Sirs: Congratulations to The Progressive and to Senator Neuberger for giving so superb and delightful an article as "Way over People's Heads," which appeared in your April issue...
...Kauffmann-Grinstead also believes that "Mr...
...That man is too good to be a professor, but it might be worth keeping him in the trade if he can continue to sweep out some of the dust that is piled high in the ivory towers...
...Let's hear more frequently from Sid Lens...
...How many know of the courage displayed by some union leaders in the South on the racial question in the face of the fury of Citizens Councils and the Klan...
...There are some union officials leading Citizens Councils...
...But labor isn't leading that fight or eves giving it all-out support...
...its ideals have declined along with those of other social sectors...
...And there are some unions that are seceding or threatening to secede because of labor's support of the Negro's rights...
...Harold E. Fackert Jersey City, N. J...
...It is the most realistic, down to earth analysis of what I consider to be one of the biggest problems our labor movement has to contend with...
...How many of its readers know of the great impact unions are currently making in communities throughout the nation...
...Ah, Dworkin Dear Sirs: This is my first letter to the editors...
...The lapse of time between articles Is too long...
...Multiply these people by tens of thousands and you begin to get a realistic picture and understanding of modern labor...
...Unfortunately, however, the only fare we are usually served in friendly publications is this point of view which isn't shared by many who work day in and day out with unions...
...I'm not arguing that there is none (witness the Westinghouse strike), but I am arguing that it is far less (remember the tens of thousands who joined picket lines in front of Chrysler and General Motors in 1936-37...
...Admittedly there are places where that idealism has declined less than in Chicago or New York...
...It is time, too, that the United States performed in deeds in a way to measure up to some of the fine things President Eisenhower has said...
...Admittedly, too, there are good and decent people in the labor movement...
...It is time President Eisenhower dropped Dulles...
...Unionize the Organized," he displays another talent—that of polemicist...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Praise for Lens Dear Sirs: After reading "Labor's Urgent Need: 'Unionize the Organized,'" by Sid Lens in the March issue, I am inspired to the point where I feel compelled to write a letter of compliment to The Progressive for publishing such a wonderful article...
...Administration Misdeeds Dear Sirs: In the People's Forum of your February issue, Mr...
...But the overall picture has changed for the worse...
...I feel the Lens' article was distorted, but I don't blame him...
...I received a Ph...
...Eisenhower's Secretary of State...
...Eisenhower retains John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State—the same Mr...
...I enjoyed Fred Rodell's "Ah, Scholarship" so much that I was still chuckling to myself when I reached Page 25 of the April issue and ran smack into this bit of gobbledy-gook...
...Grinstead I am a libera] Republican who voted against Mr...
Vol. 20 • May 1956 • No. 5
