THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Pungent Quotation Dear Sirs: William E. Gladstone, the distinguished British statesman, once said: "Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence; conservatism is...
...It seems we have now slipped in the words "Under God"—words that somehow the earlier patriots had forgotten to include...
...Mayer also found out it takes money to operate a car...
...Our members, bless them, are vigorous letter writers and do not spare pen, pencil, or typewriter to vent their feelings about the various actions of the organization, which are fully reported in our monthly bulletin, weekly news service, and annual report...
...The longer I study the history of educational problems, the more complicated and difficult they become—which is, in fact, one of the points I must make, in my ignorance, in the course I am giving at Teachers College, Columbia University...
...all conservatives ride on black horses and are crooks, demagogues, or reactionaries...
...At two cents per stamp, 5,000 stamps would cost $100, at three cents per stamp, 5,000 would cost $150...
...Greatly Disappointed Dear Sirs: We are greatly disappointed with The Progressive and do not wish to renew our subscription...
...I am referring to the policy of giving undesirable discharges to men based on alleged pre-service activities and associations...
...We therefore seek contributions to a fund that we, the undersigned committee, have agreed to sponsor and administer...
...Gene Antley Chamblee, Ga...
...Cohn's suggestion that others follow his lead and resign from the ACLU is strange in the light of his first paragraph which correctly states the ACLU's impartiality and broad defense of civil liberties principles...
...Mrs...
...One of our affiliates, the Southern California branch, is already pushing ahead on this, and the national Board is delighted at this advance...
...Progressive Education Dear Sirs: In my article, "The Obscurity of Fame," in the April issue, I remarked upon the inadequate sense of history of a young generation that has been "encouraged, by misguided permissiveness in formal education, to regard a knowledge of history to be irrelevant—and by the rampant forces of popular entertainment, to look upon only the immediately novel as important...
...their powers are confined to voting for members of the larger National Committee which in turn is partially responsible for electing the directors...
...Cohn does not understand that the ACLU, both nationally and locally, is an action organization which must be ready at a moment's notice to act hi specific cases...
...To my mind came the words I'd heard as a child in Sunday School: "Not everyone that saith unto me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven...
...I cannot help but believe that when the final count is taken that an individualist who is trying to do the right thing, like Milton, will surely be in our corner...
...Edwin T. Dahlberg Dr...
...Evelyn G. Wallace Cloquet, Minn...
...Park Chamberlain San Francisco, Calif...
...It has met with nation-wide protest, and several Congressmen, notably Senator Hennings of Missouri, have been active in an attempt to change it...
...Not all of the ACLU's meetings are lectures by "experts...
...In the present session of Congress, Rep...
...Cohn is right that there are no membership policy meetings, and for this there is a simple explanation...
...In this consistent stand for civil rights the ACLU has been in accord with my personal moral values as no other group has...
...The entire article seems to be written in a vein of "all liberals ride on white horses and are good men...
...Milton Mayer makes the startling discovery that Adlai Stevenson is a war monger...
...Men and women, white and Negro, who stand for what they believe as Christians, are undergoing persecution comparable to what members of the early church endured...
...Some day he may find out it costs less to be dead than alive and then clear the decks for operation suicide...
...Vernon Ward Belhaven, N. C. Error and Explanation Dear Sirs: In his May issue article "Something for Nothing...
...As this structure develops, there is opportunity for neighborhood units in which the face-to-face discussion Dr...
...None of them was fully insured...
...As liberals we want and need to work with other liberals, constructively and practically, but The Progressive seems preoccupied with attacking liberals for their imperfections while proposing no constructive or practical alternatives...
...The great," he said, "are likely to be transmuted into celebrities . . . their greatness reduced to appearances...
...These placards read In large letters: "FOR GOD AND COUNTRY," and underneath in smaller type, "Join The American Legion...
...And the way to help build the ACLU is not to resign but to participate by feeding us suggestions for improving our structure and working with us for their adoption...
...Perhaps more important than the formal manner of choosing officers are the actual procedures for adopting policy...
...conservatism is distrust of the people, tempered by fear...
...Dworkin's article, which said so well what so many of us are thinking...
...Time, Newsweek, and the like are experts in whipping the liberals...
...I am not a particular admirer of Senator Johnson's, but the abuse to which he was subjected in this article approaches the ridiculous...
...There is no "ja" vote in the selection and election of our directors...
...Was this my unconscious sympathy for the small food retailers pressed economically in the trading stamp squeeze...
...There is no neutral corner...
...John Oliver Nelson Prof...
...Why liberals the world over have not reiterated it from the time it was first proclaimed, I do not understand...
...Cohn wants can occur...
...von Hilsheimer, in his letter in the May Progreessive, objects to the phrase "misguided permissiveness," accusing me of "ignorance" and of taking up "the cant of the anti-liberal Deweyphobes" in educational controversy...
...In all seriousness, I still believe with all my heart in Patrick Henry's immortal words, "Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be bought at the price of chains...
...Anti-Democratic' ACLU Dear Sirs: It is not easy for me to charge the American Civil Liberties Union with anti-democratic practices...
...receiving an undesirable discharge gets no veterans benefits...
...Second, when I saw the placards displayed in many store windows during the recent membership drive of a newer group of patriots...
...Patrick Murphy Maun Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union New York, N. Y. Victims of Violence Dear Sirs: Dreadful things are happening in some parts of the South these days...
...Sometimes members visit our office and personal talks are conducted...
...They are deductible for income tax purposes...
...Thank you again for Mr...
...I have concluded from my experience as a member of the ACLU that the organization feels its principles to be so precious, rarified and fragile, that they cannot be entrusted to just anyone...
...Wilson Hall...
...Henry Cadbury Texas Insulted Dear Sirs: I read with interest and disgust David C. Williams' "The Legend of Lyndon Johnson" in the April issue of The Progressive...
...As for the directors voting in elections and having a large say In policy matters, perhaps Dr...
...Encircling the Soviets Dear Sirs: I would like to call the attention of readers of The Progressive to a recent interview between Irving R. Levine, Moscow correspondent of the National Broadcasting Company, and Mrs...
...Though he may be slightly right of the ADA line, he is usually a little bit too liberal for most Texans...
...I can understand how his professional affiliation makes him sensitive to attacks upon "progressive education...
...Ordinary members are not consulted at all, for all power rests with the directors...
...W. A. Hamman San Diego, Calif...
...This program started in response to the late Senator McCarthy's query, "Who promoted Major Peress...
...This would mean war for us...
...two churches that had very little insurance were completely destroyed...
...Ordinary members have no direct voice in electing directors...
...We are a national organization defending civil liberties all over the nation, but we are just beginning to build our organization on a community-by-community basis...
...Does Mayer actually maintain that no person has the right to defend his life and his property, that one, like us Jews, should continue to flee for thousands of more years...
...For many years I have admired this organization's principled stand for freedom...
...Having made his straw-man, he then presses his cliche button, and proceeds to blow the man down with a remarkably concentrated series of wheezy gusts out of the wind-tunnel of educationist polemics...
...von Hilsheimer who makes the association of my remark with "anti-progressivism," etc...
...There is spirited discussion in the nominations committee (composed of Wo from local affiliates, two from the Board and one from the National Committee), which considers the names sought and received from members of the Union, local affiliates, and National Committee and Board members...
...I found the above quotation a few months ago in Five Thousand Quotations, edited by Lewis C. Henry, first published in 1952...
...To show the fluidity of board membership, it should be noted that in the past five years thirty board members either have »• signed, have not been renominated, or have failed of re-election...
...In addition, ordinary members can indirectly influence the election of directors through affiliated bodies...
...A G.I...
...There is some error here...
...They are fully answered and further comment solicited...
...If one sits in a comfortable armchair, it is easy to hear the call, but I fear that is about as far as it goes...
...Somehow the sentence came out "two to three cents per stamp...
...Fashionable magazines have been on a Schweitzer 'kick' for years, publishing reverent articles about his 'Reverence for Life' between advertisements for murder mysteries, sports cars, and brassieres, and superciliously aesthetic appreciations of the niceties of Spanish bullfighting...
...I must say, however, that I deliberately avoided any such pejorative specification, as I believe there is much, much more involved than mere cavils about the purities of Dewey's philosophy and its applications...
...I know not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death...
...Joseph J. Seldin writes: "At $10 to $15 for 5000, depending on quantity, the retailer pays two to three cents per stamp...
...Jacob Levin Chicago, Ill...
...Williams insulted Texas...
...Whence cometh the idea that Lyndon Johnson is not a "party-liner...
...George A. Buttrick Bishop Matthew W. Clair, ]r...
...Martin S. Dworkin New York, N. Y. Dworkin's Perception Dear Sirs: As I read Martin Dworkin's keenly perceptive observations in your April issue, on the Charles Lindbergh and the Albert Schweitzer movies, I was deeply interested and impressed...
...Joseph J. Seldin New York, N. Y...
...Its credit has been undermined, its buildings destroyed by bombs, its homes machine-gunned, its children shot at as they played on the playground...
...Despite all this, I decided some time ago not to renew my membership in the ACLU and I feel it my duty to urge others to refrain likewise from supporting the organization...
...no other group has been as courageous in demanding justice for all: justice for Communists, for Fascists, for anti-Semites, yes, justice also for racketeers and criminals...
...I can tolerate his vague assertions and aspersion, but must he drag the name of Texas through the mud...
...Paul Scherer Prof...
...Not once was there an oppor-tunity for me to meet, discuss, and decide policy with other members...
...In Montgomery, Alabama, four Baptist churches and the homes of three ministers were bombed...
...But farther on Dworkin comes out in even more inspired tones...
...With respect to membership participation in policy affairs, there are many ways in which this participation is carried out...
...But even if one were to grant this premise (which I do not), it would still be necessary to accuse the organization of hypocrisy: in the name, and ostensibly in the interests of democracy, the aristocratic ideal is promoted through actions and through example...
...These words have come to my mind twice more, lately: Once when I heard repeated our new and sanctified version of the salute to the flag...
...Perhaps he is neither, but is a John calling us to repentance or an Amos calling us to righteousness...
...Levine correctly points out that for us to be establishing military bases in Tokyo, Pakistan, Korea, and elsewhere, is precisely as if the Soviet Union were establishing military bases in such countries as Canada, Mexico, and Cuba...
...I cannot resist adding that I cheerfully accept Mr...
...Werner Cohn Department of Sociology Northland College Ashland, Wis...
...To maintain the Egyptian affair is the same as the Hungarian affair is blasphemy or ignorance...
...Cohn gives the impression that the Board of Directors is a tightly-knit group of self-perpetuating officials which pays no heed to members' views...
...Henry Hitt Crane Dr...
...See section 7 of the revised constitution, adopted January 7, 1957...
...All of the organization's business is managed by a board of directors which is largely self-perpetuating...
...made visible to be sure . . . yet hidden in the coruscating obscurity of notoriety...
...Park Chamberlain correctly notes At mathematical error in my article on trading stamps in the May issue...
...I wish Mayer would please mention an Arab atrocity every time he mentions the way Israel, Britain, and France overran Egypt...
...It is pungent, penetrating, and profound...
...But there is a check on the Board's decisions, in the form of our Biennial Conference, at which our local affiliate representatives, elected by the membership locally, have full opportunity to review and make recommendations on Board actions...
...No Neutral Corner Dear Sirs: Alas, my dream is shattered, my idol has fallen...
...von Hilsheimer's assertion of my "ignorance...
...Why should we subscribe to The Progressive for more of the same...
...429, providing for discharges based solely on the quality of service rendered, and for review of previously issued less-than-honorable discharges on the same basis...
...He devotes a whole article to this thesis...
...It is for these reasons that I urge all present ACLU members to discontinue membership until such times as they can participate in the formulation of policy...
...Perhaps the officers of the ACLU are ultimately right in their aristocratic conviction that only an elite can be entrusted with the affairs of civil liberties...
...Many of these letters contain important suggestions which are carefully considered by the staff and appropriate committees...
...Elmer A. Fridell Rt...
...We believe Christians everywhere will want to join us in making financial aid available to these and other victims of hatred and violence...
...In Americus, Georgia, a community of Christians attempting to live on a New Testament basis has been under almost ceaseless attack because Negroes and whites live as neighbors and equals...
...The three depictions of Lyndon Johnson that are given seem to be (1) the crooked politician for whom every principle can be sacrificed to political expediency, (2) the ambitious egoist, always working, thinking, acting for the future of No...
...Gene Clements Houston, Tex...
...For this reason our national and local boards must be ready to decide Civil liberties issues quickly...
...In New York City and other places affiliate meetings are held for the membership at which we request questioning from the floor, for the express purpose of obtaining members' views and ideas...
...We are thinking especially of Fred Rodell's March issue article, "Our Languid Liberals"—an amazing holier-than-thou wholesale attack on nearly every liberal active in politics—and Milton Mayer's continuing political irresponsibility...
...The errant sentence should have read: "At $10 to $15 for 5,000, depending on quantity, the retailer pays two- to three-tenths of a cent per stamp...
...Checks should be sent to the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Box 271, Nyack, New York...
...James Roosevelt of Los Angeles has presented a bill, H.R...
...Mrs...
...The undersigned, representing different segments of the Christian faith, have felt moved to commit their prayers and some financial help to these brothers and sisters, and consequently have welcomed the invitation of the Fellowship of Reconciliation to form a special committee to bring this situation to your attention...
...The ACLU Replies Dear Sirs: Dr...
...Ruth Sicular . Berkeley, Calif...
...Threat to Youth Dear Sirs: In recent years the Armed Forces of the United States put into their discharge program a practice which is both punitive and dangerous...
...Dear Sirs: Mr...
...But the third group of electors empowered to select directors are the directors themselves...
...He has also indicated he doesn't approve of TV...
...We feel that liberals in politics deserve a much more sympathetic hearing than you give us...
...he does, however, receive a stigma which threatens his economic security...
...Your gifts will then be apportioned as they are needed, with nothing deducted save the actual costs of the appeal...
...consequently, an elite is utilized to safeguard this precious heritage...
...Mayer's Call Dear Sirs: Once I wondered if Milton Mayer were an idiotic genius or an ingenious idiot...
...Levine and Mrs...
...And there is equally spirited discussion in the Board when it decides on nominees, always greater in number than the places to be filled...
...Hall are to be congratulated, I feel, for going as far as they did toward telling the truth under present restraints—and not without some risks to their own positions, I imagine...
...I can see his father even now disapproving of the radio and his grandfather refusing to buy a phonograph...
...W. Appleton Lawrence Prof...
...But in building a lasting structure to defend civil liberties, we hope our first steps will not be interpreted as denial of membership participation...
...And the sharpest thrust, to my way of thinking, was in the words, "For it has become eminently fashionable to praise Schweitzer, and to appropriate his virtue as a medallion against our own total disregard of the beliefs and way of life to which he has been devoted...
...It seems to me that the policy on the part of the military attempts to intimidate American youth into an acceptance of the status quo in a manner which has no place in a free and democratic country...
...It was like hearing again one of those fearless prophets of the Old Testament, full of bitterness and scorn, while agonizing inwardly for the souls of his people...
...In practice, this complicated procedure amounts to a self-perpetuating body of officials...
...In fact, outside of annual lectures by "experts," there were no meetings whatever for ordinary members during the several years that I held membership in the organization in New York City...
...The best possible method of fighting this threat would be to write to your Congressman asking him to support H.R...
...1, and (3) the slave-holding, string-tie version of Southern "boss-type" politician...
...John K. Love Minneapolis, Minn...
...In Tallahassee, Florida, a struggling Negro Presbyterian church has had the support of its sponsoring white church withdrawn because its minister was a leader in the non-violent protests against segregation in the buses of that city...
...The ACLU is organized according to a principle which can only be called aristocratic...
...Williams should learn that, though Texas politics is divided, like all Gaul, into three parts, a Texan's first allegiance goes to the Republic (of Texas...
...I must point out that it is Mr...
Vol. 21 • June 1957 • No. 6
