THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Solution for Berlin Dear Sirs: Today, in the aftermath of the Cuban crisis, there is a new opportunity to negotiate a favorable settlement of the Berlin problem and transform a...
...If The establishment of a U.N...
...Wilson states that Congress accepts any expenditure for space exploration or defense and calls for more...
...We know her better than any other woman, and she knows the country better than any other individual, including her husband, and the profit is all on our side...
...Senator Proxmire, in a recent national magazine article, tells of an instance of such Congressional recklessness with taxpayers' money...
...For an additional dollar a year, its readers should be able to subscribe to a Reprint Service which would allow them to send for a specified number of reprinted articles for mailing to those they feel to be in a strategic position to do something about the problem, or who badly need to know...
...Finished, I turned back to the review from which I had got no clue to the book...
...in clear violation of the treaty, adopted a West zonal currency and prepared to merge their three zones into one...
...But I want to refer to this article some more, and now I don't have it...
...that press, radio, and TV were silent partners in this justification of our bipartisan foreign policy...
...I know whereof I speak...
...Curtis P. Esser Arlington, Virginia Waste and War Dear Sirs: In a small group discussion about a speech he had delivered on the cold war, Nobel prize winner Lord Boyd Orr said, "I trust no government, not even my own...
...Page 91 contains this direct statement by the president of the Allen-Bradley Company (a major defendant in the $262 million industrial control indictment): "No one attending the gatherings was so stupid that he did not know the meetings were in violation of the law...
...Some kind of German unification might still have been possible, but it was now made impossible, not by Soviet action but by American action in launching the militarization of the West German state . . . Soon the Soviet Union militarized East Germany...
...Commission, supervising access to West Berlin and overseeing the other treaty provisions: such a Commission may include in its membership, among others, representatives of the Federal German Republic, the German Democratic Republic, the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France...
...But it would seem that if Hoffa is entitled to devote a legion of lawyers and a fountain of funds toward bending the law, perhaps a little extra effort by the Justice Department isn't the beginning of the Spanish Inquisition...
...They are taken chiefly from a speech by Fred Warner Neal, a professor at Claremont Graduate School and research professor last year at the Institute de Science Politique, Paris...
...Not only is most programming atrocious but interference makes it impossible to listen to the good ones from a distance...
...Senator William Proxmire, among others, seem to indicate we Americans might well be doing just that...
...The electrical industry, and especially the power companies spend a lot of money condemning T.V.A...
...Hatred against the evils of illiteracy, hunger, and helplessness is balanced by a love for the many and a respect for the ordinary desires of mankind...
...Stanley Hamilton Richmond, Indiana Too Many AM Stations Dear Sirs: Newton Minow, FCC Chairman, is quite right (March issue) to want more television stations, but as for the 4,000 AM radio stations we have now, they are too many, and I think he knows it...
...Balancing the budget in bookkeeping terms is far less important than balancing the national economy in human values...
...The FCC should encourage some AM stations to broadcast music to help driven stay awake, at least until FM car radios become inexpensive enough to be used generally...
...For example, Wilson, in a column under the caption, "Hasn't Anyone the Courage to Cut Government Waste...
...A burning passion consumes almost every page of this book...
...Eugene Eagle 1561 Fillmore Street San Francisco 15, California Human Values Dear Sirs: President Kennedy's fiscal approach to the problem of a persistently sluggish economy deserves the support of all liberal-minded Americans...
...In reducing the Cuba tensions both President Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev moved from rashness to reason, from displays of power to flexibility...
...But it is the only way a business can be run...
...The following quotations from the column, dealing with a speaking appearance in San Francisco by Mrs...
...The reviewer objected to the fact that the book was not easy reading...
...Other people feel, without necessarily ignoring the dangers of Communism, that war is the greatest mena-.'e confronting man, and they, too, wish to impress their fears on as many as can be induced to listen—and this is their privilege...
...The United States is presently in a favorable position to seize the initiative and press for such a settlement...
...He asks whether getting to the moon first is really worth $30 billion dollars and says that to talk of launching a thousand atomic war heads is to speak of the apocalypse...
...I would feel that my reading had value beyond my own enlightenment...
...Each time he has won...
...There are only 20,000 Viet Cong troops...
...Never will I forget what life was like under a dictatorship, but neither will I forget climbing out of the rubble of bomb shelters, over corpses, into an ocean of flames...
...The other day I put my April copy of The Progressive into the hands of a member of the State Department who I felt might be able to act in the light of the devastating criticism of our Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in the article by Harold Taylor, former president of Sarah Lawrence College...
...Raymond Bracer Miami, Florida...
...To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds has never been a sign of great intelligence, only Central Intelligence...
...I am not a member of the organization, but have followed its work with interest and respect...
...Snow makes clear the claims and aspirations of the Chinese Communists with a result that, as the reviewer says, his reportage "defend (s) the Communist regime against all comers...
...Roberts does not feel we have "a dispassionate account of Chinese reality...
...General Accounting Office little blue books that tell the sad story of how hundreds of millions of taxpayers' dollars go down the drain...
...I think we can take the wraps off and call her the greatest American woman, because there is no other who works as hard or knows the low-down truth about the people and the troubles in their hearts as well as she does...
...Tax reduction is necessary to pump much needed blood into an economic system that has been faltering short of its potential for too many years...
...On the basis of these four trials I do not understand how people can continue to hold to the absurd presumption that Hoffa is guilty, no matter what...
...Criticism of the President's program by business leaders who complain they will not get the tax relief to which they think they are entitled is not justified by facts...
...It is a misstatement bordering on falsehood to say, as Secretary Dulles and President Eisenhower once said, that the Soviet Union agreed at the 1955 Summit Conference to reunification by free elections and then went back on its pledge...
...Mrs...
...Every minute which I can spare I am trying to spend alerting my fellow citizens to the dangers of both dictatorship and war...
...Best Ever Dear Sirs: The last two issues of The Progressive are the best ever...
...Ronald Roeke East Lansing, Michigan Hoffa and Justice Dear Sirs: Sidney Lens may have a point (May issue) about the unjust prosecutions of James Hoffa by the Justice Department...
...Mrs...
...But the work of this Fellowship, like the churches, is primarily to create a climate of opinion in which men can act wisely and generously in pursuit of the ideal of brotherhood...
...The U.S.S.R...
...A book entitled The Gentlemen Conspirators by John G. Fuller tells about the gatherings at which these industrialists conspired to exploit the public in violation of the laws of the nation...
...All men are entitled to their day in court...
...By now the wartime agreements on Germany were already a dead letter as James P. Warburg said . . . The rationale for the Western powers being in Berlin was that it was necessary for control and administration of Germany . . . The Western action in establishing a West German state ended this rationale...
...Now we are hearing from McNamara, the man who knows more than any other about the business, that notwithstanding the billions that have gone into nuclear armaments, we still do not have security...
...Indeed not...
...Moscow then began the Berlin blockade in retaliation...
...I do not see how it can be argued that the pursuit of peace is a purely political action...
...Further, we are in Vietnam in violation of our own Constitution, the U.N...
...member country knows that the dutiful U.S...
...And I don't like to part with my copies of The Progressive...
...Marsh F. Beall Portland, Oregon Reprint Service Wanted Dear Sirs: How often do not most of us feel, after finishing a particular article in The Progressive, "If only this could be read the length and breadth of the land...
...The Soviet agreement was only on condition that the reunified German state be excluded from NATO...
...When Snow first met the present leaders of Communist China in the 1930's he felt that they shared such feeling with him...
...In passing, it is hard to understand why a youth who steals twenty-five dollars may be sentenced to ten years in prison, while a captain of industry who steals }250 million gets off with a thirty-day jail sentence...
...The reader is challenged by an unaccustomed display of encyclopedic knowledge, unparalleled personal experience, exhaustive insights, and thorough research...
...The United States has a valid and vital interest in protecting the political integrity of West Berlin, in reducing the use of East Berlin for progaganda and espionage, and in keeping open and unimpeded channels of access to the West...
...Hoffa has not only had his day, he has had four long trials...
...flag...
...Malcolm Nelson Milwaukee, Wisconsin Exploiting the Public Dear Sirs: The recent court cases in which the price fixers in the electrical industry received a slight tap on the wrist have been noted in the daily press...
...Though the vital interests of the United States and the Soviet Union with respect to Berlin are different, they are not incompatible...
...Edward N. Kearny Washington, D.C...
...There is one phase of the case that did not get any publicity in the industry-oriented press...
...cites the steady flow of U.S...
...Mrs...
...that the net effect of the agitation by imported aliens degraded the United States and endangered the true purpose of the United Nations...
...On a four months tour of fourteen European countries, I found no such war hysteria as we have in this country...
...Ruling Dear Sirs: I have written the following letter to Mortimer Caplin, Commissioner of Internal Revenue: "I am much surprised to learn that the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a religious (though not sectarian) organization that has worked to find non-violent solutions to the problems of war, racial integration, and labor relations for over forty years should be suddenly deprived of its tax-exempt status...
...If we do not quickly replace hysteria with sanity in Berlin we will make World War III inevitable...
...It is these qualities which, if applietl to Berlin now, may avert the kind of crisis which brought the world close to disaster over Cuba...
...This is clearly a religious function and one of prime importance to our survival...
...When driving along expressways, especially at night, listening to the radio can literally be a lifesaver, but more and more I keep it turned off...
...It is free enterprise...
...It was the sight of China's miracle-like progress and advance that made him say this...
...Can any group, no matter what its program, that includes the word 'Christian' in its title obtain this status...
...has a valid and vital interest in reducing the use of West Berlin as an enclave of armed opposition, and in stabilizing the situation of the German Democratic Republic...
...Both tempered hostility with recognition of community of interest...
...I know life under a dictatorship, and life in a war...
...His visit of last year apparently revealed to him little evidence to change his mind...
...I am attempting to do what my parents should have done in Germany thirty years ago, namely, to speak upl Margaret Hofman Austin, Texas Pegler on Mrs...
...And every horror story of war I can match with one of life, for a Jew, in Nazi Germany...
...Our position in Berlin is untenable, militarily, diplomatically, and legally...
...If The freedom of West Berlin to develop its own economic and currency relationship with any country...
...Alas, Mr...
...Some people feel, without necessarilv ignoring the dangers of war, that Communism is the greatest menace confronting man, and these people are eager to impress their fear on as many as can be induced to listen—and this is their privilege...
...The Administration plan would give industry a five per cent cut, reducing the maximum rate from fifty-two to forty-seven per cent, but it must be remembered that business—and business alone—received a ten per cut last year through an investment credit and a faster writeoff of business investment...
...At this moment, I would send copies of Gerald Walker's May issue study in desegregation, "The Price of the Picture," that magnificent small epic of Martha Holmes' experience at Murphy High in Atlanta, to the teachers and principal of that school, so that they may be moved to better understanding in the future...
...Nevertheless, it is high time that Americans know they are paying $3 million for the privilege of playing on both sides before a world audience...
...Stewart Graves Rice, Minnesota Hoffa's Trials Dear Sirs: Perhaps I am old fashioned, but I still believe that a man is innocent until proven guilty, Jimmy Hoffa included...
...I trust you will reconsider your action and restore the tax-exempt status to the F.O.R...
...My point is that The Progressive should enlarge its effectiveness by providing a new service...
...Any attempt to reveal the truth of this extraordinary situation provokes intimidating tactics from the CIA and the FBI...
...However, we are intrigued by Chrisline Wise's suggestion and plan to explore its possibilities.—The Editors...
...Mrs...
...A great journalist like Snow is rare indeed in this country...
...True...
...The public should be informed of the fact that the free enterprise which the power companies and the electrical industry are so vigorously defending is not the great American system of free competition, but rather the monopolistic system envisioned in the statement of the president of Allen-Bradley...
...If Acceptance of the German Democratic Republic as a legal state and the Oder-Neisse line as its boundary with Poland...
...1[ Rights of access between the German Federal Republic and West Berlin...
...The Nation of March 2 gives an eyewitness report of 700 a week, or 36,000 a year...
...I am about as close to knowing both red and dead as is possible...
...On all four occasions the government's accusations have failed to convince juries...
...Or, "I'd like to send this to the chairman of such and such a committee or to my Congressman...
...If I am near Detroit, I can listen to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which is still civilized, but its signals are not very strong...
...It follows that we are engaged in a genocidal policy against civilians...
...You are surely aware of the motto of UNESCO—'Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.' "The main effort of the Fellowship is to create the will to peace in peoples' minds and hearts...
...William G. Rice Madison, Wisconsin Peace Is 'Suspect' Dear Sirs: Why is it something to be eyed with suspicion when sincere people attempt to share, with their more complacent fellow citizens, their concerns for the future of mankind...
...John Neufeld East Lansing, Michigan Berlin's Second Wall Dear Sirs: Although the fact is well known to many thousands in West Germany, few people in the U.S...
...Is it possible that the concept of safety through nuclear megatonnage is being promoted by this military-industrial complex and should be viewed with a bit of Scottish skepticism...
...I am reminded that Al Capone was the object of similar extra effort by the Federal government, and we are still free...
...Christine Wise Appleton, Wisconsin The Progressive's present policy is to publish reprints whenever sufficient demand develops for additional copies of a specific article...
...Roberts, who has praise only for Snow's "travelogue," admits to a lot of "homework" being done...
...It would be of added benefit to mark certain passages and request comment, agreement, or disagreement, from one's representatives in Congress...
...Charter, and the 1954 Geneva agreements...
...I can conceive of wanting several dollars' worth of such reprints...
...According to the Senator, an appropriation of roughly a half billion dollars for bombing planes was passed by the Congress although the President's budget did not include the item and Secretary McNamara said that the planes were not needed...
...Does it make sense for us constantly to threaten Russia with total nuclear destruction and yet to run like a scared rabbit whenever Konrad Adenauer growls at us as he frequently does...
...All attempts to improve the human condition will almost surely lead to some sort of political action, and I realize it may often be difficult for the Internal Revenue Service to know where the line should be drawn for tax-exemption purposes...
...The following historical facts show how we have reached the present impasse...
...Having some stations go off the air at night or cut their power does not solve the problem...
...They are so full of meaty thought and material not found elsewhere...
...Why are military parades patriotic, but peace marches controversial, to be thought and read about with a condescending smile...
...Roosevelt, are entirely within the context of the column: "It had been another routine day in the life of one who is stingily described as the 'most remarkable' and 'most energetic' woman of her time in this country, but who deserves more than that...
...to which we never agreed . . . The West Germans are calling the tune on Berlin and are, in effect, dictating American policy...
...Every other U.N...
...In the electrical industry, evidently "free enterprise" means freedom to violate all laws of the nation in order to stifle competition, freedom to violate all codes of ethics in order to exploit the public to the maximum, without any interference from government...
...It is the wall of vicious hate and fear built up for years by Konrad Adenauer and fanned to a white heat of hysteria by our State Department and press...
...That the CIA organized and financed the demonstrations is a peculiar American secret...
...Any reader who wishes to help place the facts before the American people, in an effort to have our troops withdrawn and to urge free elections in Vietnam, under the auspices of the United Nations, is urged to contact the undersigned...
...This is quite different from the meaning of the term "free enterprise" that the public and the consumer are supposed to have...
...know there is a second wall in Berlin which carries much greater danger than the one built by the Communists...
...In his final address as President, General Eisenhower warned against the growing power of our military-industrial complex...
...It is vitally important that we do so...
...Snow on Red China Dear Sirs: After reading Henry L. Roberts' review (February issue) of Edgar Snow's The Other Side of the River, I read the book...
...For people like Snow faith in man is always indestructible...
...But why is the action of the first group acceptable, whereas the action of the second group is suspect...
...At the same time they tell the public what gigantic eftoi ts they are putting forth to defend the great American system of free enterprise...
...Cyrus S. Eaton Northfield, Ohio Genocide in Vietnam Dear Sirs: The January 25 issue of Life states that we are presently killing 10,000 Vietnamese a year...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Solution for Berlin Dear Sirs: Today, in the aftermath of the Cuban crisis, there is a new opportunity to negotiate a favorable settlement of the Berlin problem and transform a dangerous crisis area into a point of constructive initiative...
...Roosevelt has been before us for five years now...
...Americans of good conscience must face the painful fact that all this is being done in their names...
...Can it be that we Americans could "do with," as the Scots say, a bit of such skepticism as that expressed by Lord Orr...
...Thus the much vaunted "rights" of the Western powers in Berlin, to which our press and radio have referred thousands of times, are shown to be only the right of might, devoid of legal status...
...There were never any real negotiations on German reunification...
...The IRS action seems the more extraordinary to me in view of the fact that an organization with headquarters here in Madison—the American Council of Christian Laymen—which carries on a strange campaign of hatred and vilification is taxexempt...
...Stuart Chase Erich Fromm Homer Jack Rollo May Stewart Meacham Walter Millis Fred Warner Neal J. David Singer Harold Taylor Norman Thomas Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Protests F.O.R...
...Roosevelt Dear Sirs: I thought your readers might be interested in several interesting excerpts from a column written March 17, 1938, by Westbrook Pegler...
...The net result of this vast propaganda has been the creation of a highly emotional climate of hate and fear...
...Before the House Armed Services Committee he stated, "Even if we were to double and triple our forces we would not be able to destroy all of the Russian hardened ICBM sites quickly, and even if we could do that, we know no way to destroy their missile-launching submarines at the same time...
...In 1948, "the Western powers...
...Knowing this, the general public might not be so receptive to electrical industry propaganda...
...Ralph J. Kugelman Wenatchee, Washington Playing Both Sides Dear Sirs: Senator Keating's bill in Congress to reimburse New York City for the cost of protecting the Communist heads of state at the United Nations in September, 1960, is quite in order, except that the extra wages for New York's police should be billed to the Central Intelligence Agency...
...and other public power agencies as being socialistic...
...If American and allied occupation forces remaining in the city but placed under the U.N...
...taxpayer supported both the demonstrators and the police to control them...
...Some facts pointed out by columnist Richard Wilson of The Minneapolis Tribune, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, and U.S...
...It is his uncompromising devotion to truth that leads Snow to say near the middle of the book: "There is reason to believe in man and his future after all...
...If Ending the use of Berlin, East or West, as a base for propaganda, espionage, and other activities by one side against the other...
...The interests of both powers would be safeguarded by agreement on: If The territorial integrity and independence of West Berlin...
...I don't want my children to have to jump with fear whenever the door bell rings, nor do I want them to carry gas masks to school as I did...
Vol. 27 • June 1963 • No. 6
