THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Kennedy and The Progressive Dear Sirs: I have been very unhappy with (he contents of The Progressive this past year. It seems that your writers are only bent on criticizing...
...Fromm...
...In « letter to Senator Olin D. Johnston, chairman of the Senate Committee on Post Ofjice and Civil Service, Byron R. White, then Deputy Attorney General and now a justice of the I'nited States Supreme Court, wrote: "Apparently for reasons of germaneness, section 12 (the Cunningham Amendment) « cast in terms directed at postal rates...
...Fronnn's introduction should have a very full discussion from different [Joints of view...
...As for our use of the words "beguiling scoundrel," we would refer Mr...
...Is it reasonable for us to add) to this deficit by delivering Russian propaganda at a loss when our own magazine, Amerika, according to the New York Times, is not distributed in Russia in accordance with an existing agreement to distribute 50,000 copies per month...
...Nothing in the foregoing provision prevents mail carriage of this kind of material at profitable fourth-class rates or at the book rate to colleges and libraries and nothing prevents distribution outside the postal system...
...Once the Attorney General has determined foreign matter to be Communist political propaganda, with the apparent exception of fourth class mail subject only to subsection (b), it may not be received, handled, transported, or delivered to anyone by tile Post Office Department...
...In not recognizing the fact that many of these survivors would go stark mad and that the rest, in search of some shred of security, would turn to a military dictatorship, he shows an amazing ignorance of psychology...
...P.u'i...
...Or is it not rather the simple wish to keep peace in Europe...
...The maintenance of a vast network of Soviet armed forces...
...Obviously the Attorney General must act in accord with all the due process provisions of the Constitution...
...Now they can say something like this to the Russians...
...And, most assuredly his executive decisions are subject to court appeal...
...In crediting Robert Welih with "integrity," we were simply making the point that he believes in his idiocy whereas McCarthy knew he was a fraud...
...They stated that Carnation had been sold a "patriotic program" and had not meddled in its content...
...Marvin Macrlk Department of Political Science Rutgers University Newark, New Jersey Germany and Russia Dear Sirs: In his article, "Adenauer Calls the Tune," in the January issue, Frederick Kuh blames the West German administration for thwart ing all attempts at a relaxation of tensions in Europe and...
...However, there is no question but that [i<] u "'' tended to prohibit, with respect to mail of foreign origin, 'the receipt, handling, trans-, port, or delivery by the United States Post Office Department of mail determined by the Attorney General to be Communist political propaganda.' . . . "Its enactment would not, as its sponsors claim, simply relieve the people of the United States of the burden of paying for the distribution of Communist political propaganda...
...I have also discussed my review with Marx scholars, including the man who first discovered Marx's nianusci ipls of 1814 after they had been completely lost for almost a century...
...Of course, it is irksome to carry Communist political propaganda in our mails...
...Harry Cohon Los Angeles, California 'Censoring the Mail' Dear Sirs: I have been reading The Progressive for a number of years and although not always in agreement with your opinions, I had the utmost respect for your right to express them...
...simultaneously, for trying to get on better terms with Russia by itself...
...that, after an all-out attack, our "industrial complex" could be replaced "in five years...
...In a brief book review it obviously cannot be done...
...that "perhaps ninety per cent" of our people can be saved...
...Michael Harrington, David McReynolds, and James Farmer, and the Reverend John Beckwith...
...Fromm tears...
...however, I wonder if a different presentation of the causes of this process would not require remedies different from those pic-scribed by Dr...
...that "shelters" tan be constructed which "will not be made obsolete by the development of new weapons...
...There has been no credit given, where credit is due, it seems to me...
...The First Amendment was adopted to guarantee the rights of freedom to communicate ideas of all types...
...of testimony . . . expected," "A questionnaire presumably designed to test their indoctrination against Communism...
...The first is that, in case of an all-out attack, there might be even fewer than twenty minutes of warning...
...We have no right to destroy our children's future just because we don't agree with the other fellow's ideas...
...This alliance included military cooperation—rearmament—which meant a further postponement of reunilication...
...They supposed that the management regretted some of the things that were said at Project Alert rallies...
...The Progressive is a tribute to American democracy and a beacon to us everywhere who need the courage to speak up and face the truth...
...and that neither the air nor the ground is likely to be contaminated for long...
...The Cunningham Amendment, moreover...
...One of the foundations of the German-American alliance is the common interest in mutual defense...
...These sponsors were quite open about it, and were listed in local newspapers in this connection...
...they provide new incentives for West Germany to arm...
...But it says no such thing...
...It seems that your writers are only bent on criticizing everything the President has clone or not done...
...Kuh believes...
...I believe you are guilty of hate-mongering against Thurmond, a practice you piously and rightly condemn...
...In view of your attitude toward his inquiry, I can appreciate that it is more convenient for you to write his script, but please don't try to sell it to us as part of "the trullh" which will "make you free...
...Frederic Wertham, M. D. New York City Warning to Mankind Dear Sirs: "The Case Against Civil Defense" in the February issue of The Progressive is not just for Americans...
...In 1841 Marx in his economics was scill under the influence of Adam Smith and had not yet worked out his own economic system...
...The second is his admission that the survivors "would emerge amid millions of dead into a bleak, cheerless world," and that their standard of living "would be near zero for a time...
...but where is there a loriim for that...
...it comprises only trade and cultural relations...
...They asked, if their explanation was satisfactory, to renew my order...
...There are ample constitutional safeguards in the measure...
...Finally, there are his strange omissions: his failure to do justice to his fellow scientists who differ with him...
...This amendment was included because the Post Office Department continues to deliver Communist political propaganda at the expense of the American taxpayer: at the same time, the Russians do not circulate our material and jam the Voice of America...
...his failure to mention the threat of carbon-14...
...Western Germain would jeopardize the military protection she derives from this alliance it she would try to deal only independently and on a large political scale with Russia...
...The Post Office Department operates at a substantial deficit...
...Since the Attorney General administers the Foreign Agents Registration Act, he is the logical officer to make a legal determination as to what is or is not Communist political propaganda...
...The keynote speaker will be professor Mulford Q. Sibley of the University of Minnesota...
...It is Mr...
...The answer should be clear if one remembers that Chancellor Adenauer knows as well as any citizen that Germany would be the battlefield of a third World War...
...The deletion from speeches of, "Co-existence is not a choice...
...Freiburg, Germany Non-Violence in America Dear Sirs: Your readers might be interested in a Symposium, "Non-Violence in America—An Evaluation," to be held at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York, May 1-6...
...Teller's 'Fallacies' Dear Sirs: As a philosopher who teaches logic and as a student of the peace problem for more than thirty years, I find three fallacies in Dr...
...that the United States can survive "an all-out attack" and even "strike the second blow...
...Even under the best conditions and with the best warning system, unless we are to live permanently underground like worms, I do not see how most of our population could get to shelters in time...
...California Dear Sirs: We did not renew our subscription in January because we were disappointed in your continuing loyalty and what we considered unfailing support for President Kennedy...
...Second, he makes two fatal admissions which destroy his whole case...
...Roger Hagan asserts no less than three limes that 1 have not read the book...
...One thing, however, should be clear to the American observer: A Western Ger-inan disengagement would mean—at the very least—her neutralization...
...F. W. Young Granada Hills...
...If You airily dismiss the question of whether military speeches were censored beyond reason, whether the military was "muzzled...
...White wrote, "permits no exceptions with respect to recipients...
...Certainly they can afford not to sell me those few quarts of milk a day...
...Sunday discussion groups on various current aspects of non-violence will be especially directed at student participation...
...Carolyn and Hassy Parma Bangalore, South India Necessity in Africa Dear Sirs: While in the United States I found your magazine a necessity for anyone with a liberal point of view...
...it just says in effect that this material can't be mailed in the loss categories within the U. S. mail system...
...What price the famous issue of The Progressive which dissected the Senator from Wisconsin in his entirety and laid him bare for all to view, particularly at a time when no other journal had the courage to do so...
...Other laws, particularly the Foreign Agents Registration Act, define political propaganda clearly...
...When you permit the free exchange of information in your country and live up to the terms and intent of the Universal Postal Union agreement, when you stop jamming the Voice of America, this legislation barring the American mail system to your propaganda can be reviewed...
...It is the American voice to which we Norwegians like to listen...
...I replied that if such an explanation would be made public, I would be glad to take their milk again...
...Mary Dau Geneva, Switzerland Appreciated in Norway Dear Sirs: The Progressive is highly appreciated in this country...
...As a result, any truth that appears is certain to have no bearing on the primary issue...
...In this you refer to an amendment which I authored to the postal rate bill which would stop the free delivery of Communist propaganda...
...Glenn Cunnincham Member of Congress Washington, D. C. Representative Cunningham doubtless believes that liis amendment does no more than he says it does, but a painstaking study by tlie Department of Justice confirms the soundness of every objection raised by The Progressive in its editorial comment...
...We are all brothers whether we like it or not...
...I found it objectionable on the following specific points: KYou claimed that Senator Strom Thurmond advocated hate-mongering (I don't think he does...
...an unscrupulous villain...
...Those who knew McCarthy personally, as we did, knew how "beguiling" he could be both as cheat and charmer...
...I agree that concern is warranted...
...this is one reason why only two members of the House voted against this provision, which had and has widespread bipartisan support...
...It puts American negotiators in a position of strength...
...Ideas can change, but once the social structure is destroyed there will be nothing on which to rebuild—even if there is anyone left to build...
...Castro and Khrushchev spew out the same line by the hour...
...Those interested can write to me for further information...
...Ross Dog Food, Southern Counties Gas Company, and Carnation Milk...
...I have read not only Fromm but also others who have discussed the manuscripts ol 1844 in a similar vein...
...This is the kind of language the Russians understand...
...The world is loo small for us to think in terms of groups and nations...
...Now, however, I am utterly dismayed after reading your piece in the March issue, entitled "Censoring the Mail...
...At the time I was buying Carnation Milk delivered to my home...
...In the realm of ideas, the basic tradition of the United States has been that of what is now called an open society to which censorship is abhorrent...
...weeklies which reach these parts...
...that, if there is another war, it is likely to be a "limited war...
...Khrushchev that is the cause of the West German rearmament that Dr...
...Bonn is bound by its Western alliance, which Adenauer chose to enter to avoid another isolation of Germany after isolation had proved so fatal in recent German history...
...After reading the list of Project Alert sponsors, I switched to another dairy and informed Carnation why I was withdrawing my business...
...Should we make it easy for the Russians to do this by opening up our full postal system to them, regardless of cost to the American taxpayer when reciprocity is denied to us...
...Lit^ tleboy to G. & C. Merriam's Webster's International Dictionary...
...Don Avery Kampala, Uganda Indispensable Dear Sirs: I have been reading The Progressive for a year and now find it absolutely indispensable...
...Arthur W. Munk Albion, Michigan German Rearmament Dear Sirs: Several months ago Erich Fromm, writing in The Progressive, voiced great concern over West German rearmament...
...Carnation has neither made any public disclaimer of Project Alert nor has it re-solicited my business...
...Furthermore, one should not forget that the range within which Western Germany can pursue a relatively independent policy in regard to Russia is highly limited...
...We write in gratitude to the staff of The Progressive for its crusade to make people think and not lull them into letting others do their thinking for them...
...Participants include Professors Leon Litwack (Wisconsin) and Louis Filler (Antioch), and Messrs...
...Dear Sirs: The concluding paragraph in the editorial note entitled "Welch and McCarthy" in the March issue caused me a moment of sober reflection...
...It lets Americans read anything they wish from wherever it might come...
...I do not care to renew my subscription...
...It is a testimony against madness, against greed and intolerance...
...If your definition of Robert Welch's "integrity" means the wilful dissemination of outright lies, (as in "Dwight Eisenhower is a dedicated and conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy") then we had all better get in touch with G. & C. Merriam...
...He seems disappointed because, he says, we did not call McCarthy "a fraud, a cheat, and a liar...
...Soviet testing of nuclear weapons, and the creation of tension provide the dynamics for West German rearmament...
...it is a warning to all of mankind...
...It the Western powers should decide to withdraw their military protection from Central Europe, any German government would be compelled to try to find a political substitute for the lack of military protection—a large scale political arrangement with Russia...
...Liv Kluce Oslo, Norway...
...In the light of what other scientists have said, this sounds like wishful thinking...
...It therefore would become largely unavailable not only to tlie general public and such special groups as it may be intended to influence, but also to teachers, students, specialists in Communist affairs, newspapers and newspapermen, libraries, scientists, and others with a legitimate and sophisticated interest in the subject...
...Now that I am teaching in East Africa I feel that The Progress sive is an even greater necessity in ordek to neutralize Time and Newsweek, the only U.S...
...Klaus Schwabf...
...In all other fields...
...Second Edition, Unabridged, which defines "beguile" as to "delude," "deceive", "cheat...
...it is a witness for truth and rationalism and love...
...I have to admit it is effective, but this technique is beginning to have a familiar ring...
...Disengagement and disarmament, therefore, must lead to a certain degree of apparent political disloyalty, not because of some inveterate political and national wickedness, but following the simple logic of things...
...Are military aspirations the only motives of such a conciliatory policy, as Mr...
...Our only defense is peace...
...Lauter Department of English Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, New York Marx and Fromm Dear Sirs: In his letter (your March issue) about my review of Erich Fromm's book on Karl Marx...
...Jeff Littleboy Palo Alto, California We appreciate Mr...
...A Familiar Ring' Dear Sirs: Your editorial, "Soldiers and Censors," in the March issue, had a familiar ring...
...This undertaking was sponsored by several well known corporations, including Dr...
...For The Progressive to describe the late Senator McCarthy as a "beguiling scoundrel" instead of a fraud, a cheat, and a liar is at the very least sophistry mellowed by the passing of years...
...This is a self-defeating result, for it would deny us information which we must obviously have...
...Dr...
...It would also frequently operate to deny them the right to receive any such material upon a determination by the Attorney General...
...What Fromm does in substance amounts to the use of the early Marx, especially the 1844 manuscripts, against the later Marx...
...First, he makes the following unproven assumptions which many, just as competent as he, have challenged: that "fallout from nuclear testing is not worth worrying about...
...Keep up the clear sighted honesty with regard to the military-industrial complex and we're with you all the way...
...Various foreign aid and tariff acts define Communist controlled governments...
...Please don't tell me The Progressive's roaring fires have now burned to gray embers...
...Khrushchev directed atomic threats to the northern tier countries of Europe...
...Littleboy's concern, but we hardly feel it is justified...
...Since first-class mail, by law, can only be opened by search warrant issued by a court of law, the security of this class of mail remains as inviolate as ever...
...The Editors...
...There is nothing vague about the provision...
...Moreover, unless the New York Worker is proven to be financed by a Communist controlled government, under the above provision it can continue to be sent through the United States mails at low second-class rates...
...Whether this uncompromising attitude was politically wise or not remains an open question in the eves of many Germans...
...East Germans began to aim long before Bonn...
...We have depended upon the common sense of our people to sort the true from the false and make the right choice in the long run...
...To shut it off from the mails, however, would unavoidably impose some measure of censorship...
...H As in Senator Joseph McCarthy's case, the accuser is investigated, not the accusation...
...But they saw fit to send two representatives to call on me and discuss the whole affair at some length...
...The Editors...
...Fromm fails to estimate the impact of recent Soviet testing...
...Your excellent editorial comments in the April issue have softened our hearts and we are enclosing our renewal...
...it just says we aren't going be foolish enough to propagandize ourselves at our expense...
...panels will consider historical and contemporary aspects of Non-Violence in America...
...But the Adenauer regime has also rejected all multilateral plans for a political deal with Russia, like Rapacki's disengagement proposals...
...Surely both Marx and Fromm deserve a more factual level of debate...
...It helps greatly to throw revealing light on significant developments in the United States which are not competently covered in the European press...
...I believe, however, that if enough private citizens took the step I took, the results might be different...
...James D. Thackrey Santa Ana, California Fires into Embers...
...The only partly affirmative definition is to "divert" or to "charm...
...The Korean War and the Beilin blockade made it conceivable that East Germany would attempt to "liberate" West Germany...
...Since Thurmond expressed his intentions publicly, it is not necessary for you to put words into his mouth and thoughts into his head...
...It doesn't even prevent the distribution of Communist political propaganda within the United States...
...As for "scoundiel," the same source defines the word as "a mean, worthless fellow...
...This legislation strikes a real blow for freedom...
...After making a solid case against emotion-laden hate as a basis for action, you describe Thurmond as indulging in "morbid fantasy," "revolting conduct," "shabby reprisals," of indirectly "seeking to play God," of endorsing "fantastic [conduct] —reminiscent of Hitler's gestapo," and having "contempt for pacifism and hatred of civil rights...
...This section does not involve censorship, freedom of the press, or any other constitutional guarantee in any manner...
...I am convinced that any serious disengagement would endanger the unity of the West, which, in spite of unpleasant memories of Germany, should remain aware that it can survive only as "one world...
...It is a fatal disease," and, "The tenets of Marx and Engels and Lenin are as firm a part of Communist doctrine as when they were first announced," hardly justifies your assertion that "not the slightest evidence" of muzzling was presented...
...If Section 12 had said that no American could read Communist political propaganda, I could understand the concern which has been expressed about the provision...
...and his failure to stress positive ways to peace through the United Nations...
...K You appoint yourself as spokesman for Thurmond and interpreter of his intentions ("this was hardly the kind...
...Thus, in discarding the Rapacki plan, Adenauer actually remains faithful to the Western alliance...
...Yet in the first paragraph of the editorial note, McCarthy is characterized as "a gambling liar...
...Every time the Russians threaten Berlin, whether it be a periodic threat to air corridors or the truncation of the city via the "wall...
...it just says that this material cannot be delivered within those categories of the United States mails which show a loss...
...Virginia Govedare Klamath Falls, Oregon Action against the Right Dear Sirs: Recently Los Angeles was treated to several well-publicized meetings of Fred Schwarz's traveling circus, "Project Alert...
...The amendment was adopted overwhelmingFor a magazine of your stature to miss the point of the amendment so completely and to make such inaccurate statements casts a grave reflection upon the accuracy of your writings...
...This has far-reaching implications which deserve not invective but investigation...
...Walter Teller's recent articles in The Saturday Evening Post...
Vol. 26 • May 1962 • No. 5
