THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . Prayer On D-Day Dear Sirs: I hope that The Progressive will reprint the.enclosed editorial, "Let Us Pray" which appeared in the Westchester County (N. Y.)...
...Pretending that we can fight a war, heavy in cost of lives, of labor, and of natural resources, and not pay for it...
...Thomas Dewey in your June 12 issue...
...I can only say that I hope our children will have sense enough to initiate a more sensible system of financing—one in which service is honestly paid for as it is given, and one in which nothing but service is paid for...
...Thousands of years of "blood and tears" do not seem to have improved the lot of the common people of Italy, nor does the present conflict appear to guarantee anything more than the heavy burdens as borne by their ancestors for both them and their children...
...I have suggested this as the Republican Presidential campaign slogan: "Win the war and save America...
...Robert S. Hoagland's letter in The Progressive of May 29 brings to mind what Tiberius Gracchus said in 200 B. C. to the Italian people in these words: "The men who fight and die in defense of Italy, enjoy, indeed, the air and light but nothing more...
...Will they worm into the game under the pretense of advocating and promoting humane improvements in our social and economic system, grab control of postwar plans, and then steer us into the same old status quo...
...is one of the most valuable articles ever published in The Progressive...
...News Behind The News' Dear Sirs: After reading two unusually fine articles in your June 5 issue, namely, "We Have Got To Lick Churchill Too" and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," I felt doubly inspired to write this note of appreciation for your paper...
...Riis' memory is indeed short-lived...
...They do not take life too hard as they are British...
...Help us to succor the weak, bind up the wounds of the maimed and mangled and from our own store of faith and confidence in a new world to be, set them on their feet once more, eyes alight with hope, unafraid...
...Broadly speaking, the essence of interest rests on the proposition that mere ownership entitles owners to acquire more goods or services or both...
...An editorial in the Boston Globe closes with these words: "Millions of women are in the valley of decision...
...The Greatest Graft' Dear Sirs: Walton Hamilton's "Whose Is The National Debt...
...Whidden Graham New York, N. Y. * * * Prejudice Warps Dear Sirs: I wish everyone could read your paper, but prejudice so warps people's minds that they will not read...
...La Follette writes that the future of mankind depends on the elimination of cartels and monopolies,, he strings together the conventional line of inaccuracies...
...Nelson Arthur Vallejo, Calif...
...As an unblushing radical I believe that collecting interest on borrowed money is probably the greatest and most brazen graft ever devised by human greed and arrogance...
...Dewey was nothing much at Columbia Law School...
...Is that proof that Wisconsin dairy interests had a monopoly ? He goes on to say that this company held a monopoly...
...I guess our children will have to pay for ours...
...Shape your sentences so there is no place for reverse methods...
...This was true throughout the aircraft industry — and at a time when the Aluminum Corporation of America was still stifling competition wherever it rose...
...Y.) publications on D-Day...
...Democracy At Ebb Tide' Dear Sirs: Mr, Rodell's article on Tom Dewey in your June 12 issue is alone worth a year's subscription to The Progressive...
...He is 25 years old making Rupee 50 per month or about $15...
...Why not Norman Thomas with the situation being what it is...
...Help us, no matter what the cost, to hold high the Torch of Liberty to all peoples throughout thy beautiful world...
...It seems a spirit comparable to that of Lincoln's Inaugurals and Gettysburg Address...
...He used his "prayer" to explain to his fellow citizens why he did not proclaim a Day of Prayer, and to accustom them to the idea of probable military setbacks...
...Walter Creason Tulsa, Okla...
...Teach us to pray for those whom we must restrain, to hold without hate and O God, give us the power to quench the burning fires which threaten world destruction...
...Roger William Riis New York, N. Y. EDITOR'S NOTE: Mr...
...Not for petty gain, not for national greed, not for empty Tevenge, but to one high purpose—to bring in The Brotherhood of Man...
...I cannot vote for him, nor for Mr...
...Certainly...
...H. C. Kennedy Somerset, Ky...
...Ripe For Change Dear Sirs: F. E. Spicer in the May 29 People's Forum has given you the best reason why your subscription list is growing...
...It will be the end ©f the Two Party System in America...
...Nor will merely winning the second World War prevent a third World War...
...The commonest way to be misquoted is to use the language carelessly...
...Vague Promises Won't Do Dear Sirs: Winning the first World War did not prevent the second World War...
...In writing and speaking there must be caution in the use of words...
...Rodell, and to The Progressive...
...Fearing defeat in 1912, President Taft endeavored to buy the support of the newspapers by having a special clause inserted in the Canadian Reciprocity Pact putting newsprint paper on the free list, without waiting for action by the Canadian Parliament...
...Especially hopeful are the new Progressive principles...
...The publishers got their free newsprint but did not keep their agreement with the standpat Republicans...
...Matt H. Thomson C. P. S. Camp 52 PVweEsville, Md...
...What's worse, believing that we are prospering through the fight...
...If President Roosevelt is elected to a fourth term it will be the end of the American Way of Life...
...Riis will read the records of the Bone, Kilgore, and Truman Committees and the Department of Justice, and learn how cartels and monopolies paralyzed our war effort for so long, he might well hanker for more "hue and cry about worn-out old 19th Century shibboleths...
...How many of his associate "leaders" will support his views remains to be seen, but it is certain that he would not have stated them at this time if he had not been convinced that the voters of the great Middle West, particularly the farmers, do not favor a high tariff swindle...
...And even in Wisconsin, you ain't too powerful...
...The people are ripe for change and they grab at straws...
...But winning the war is the sole plank left in the President's platform...
...Progressives could render valuable assistance...
...In a letter from an Army major who has served in India for almost a year are these words: "Many Indians have no homes, so they live in the streets, manage to get something to eat, and a few rags to cover themselves . . . Labor is cheap...
...If Mr...
...I remember the elder La Follette had the same thing done to him many times, but never in his own magazine...
...Dewey that has appeared in any journal in America...
...Rodell were inclined to do so he could write an interesting article on President Roosevelt's scholastic attainments...
...From this it follows that lenders of money, through collecting interest, claim—and exercise—a "right" to receive, from those who work and produce real wealth, a portion of the product of their toil, and to receive it without giving anything whatsoever in return therefor...
...Or is there something fundamentally lacking in the parental makeup of Americans...
...It started out as a form of radical socialism but has gradually become fascistic...
...Hamilton invites discussion of "this issue...
...This, it seems to me, is democracy at ebb tide—a choice between two men who are not what they seem...
...I don't like your slurring article on Tom Dewey...
...In WPB's words, "to bring production more closely in line with consumption...
...Give us, O God, unselfish hearts, that we may be eager to share Thy gifts with those whom hunger and plague seek to destroy...
...Amen...
...C. W. Mims Easton, Md...
...The Government charged the match industry with shutting down factories — "withdrawing them from production" was the phrase...
...Are we just little children playing "let's pretend...
...N. C. Public Apathy Dear Sirs: A recent editorial in the Springfield Union captioned "The Eagle Screams,", in commenting on the statement of Mr, Hull's that liberty for everybody is what America champions, says: "Americans, that is, those who love to have everyone free, will be glad that Mr...
...Too New Dealish Dear Sirs: I am disgusted with The Progressive because it supports the New Deal...
...We don't believe in oligarchy yet...
...It was so wonderfully heartwarming to read in so influential a magazine as 'Life that when Progressives opposed involvement in wars, "they did so for reasons that were neither cowardly nor ignoble: they suspected [and rightly so], a diversion from the New Deal's domestic reforms...
...He attended Columbia Law School for three years and failed in his final examinations so that he was unable to secure a LLB degree...
...Hull has let the eagle scream a bit, for a change...
...Would you mind referring to your files and sending him the story of the Government's Anti-trust suit against the Aluminum Company...
...Pass This Paper On...
...Rodell, I voted and worked for Mr...
...Dewey did se--cure his law degree at Columbia University...
...Eunice Burton Armstrong Scarborough-on-Hudson, N. Y. EDITOR'S NOTE: Herewith the editorial from Westchester County Citizen-Register: 'Let Us Pray' "O God, America kneels at Thy feet, humbly confessing the sin which holds us back from complete Sacrifice at this crucial hour...
...in the June 5th Progressive, is one ray of reason in a season of cloudy thinking...
...Paul speech, "We did have grievances with Germany...
...M. S. Alderton Palo Alto, Calif...
...I will venture to say that some people do not like the policy of The Progressive, and yet it is very interesting to people starving for knowledge and courage...
...As proof of its sinfulness, he says that Germany, before the war, produced more aluminum than we did...
...It is important to think about, as well as act on postwar plans now, but the giants of industry who are directing the destiny of this nation will still be in the saddle at the close of this "war for the Four Freedoms...
...We dedicate our lives and the lives of those whom we love to that Spirit of Sacrifice which alone can bring in the long awaited hour, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done, on Earth as it is in Heaven...
...The New Deal has been America's outstanding curse...
...As a whole it is excellent, and I sincerely feel that you are out to print the truth as nearly as it can be comprehended and expressed...
...Why don't you kick out those rabble-rousing writers, and get some writers who are well known, or who can write, and with a liberal policy, not a "New Deal" personality...
...Whether it will do any good is a question...
...In fact, he almost lost his seat in the Senate because of an error in quoting a speech of his...
...Florence Howe New York, N. Y. * * * 'Magnificent Portrait' Dear Sirs: All praise to Prof...
...Rodell says that Dewey was not much of a scholar •at the University of Michigan, and then he adds the following: "I believe Mr...
...Public Money Control Dear Sirs: Your paper, with its intelligent discussions of world events, is a great satisfaction these truly terrible days...
...But there was a place for it...
...It impresses me as being intended as a smear article...
...With what seems like bad taste, or but was probably only the slip of the pen of a tired, rushed, and harassed man, the President used the phrase "We shall return 'again and again...
...When Mr...
...The problem of national debt is one phase of a greater problem — the money problem...
...These sacrifices will be in vain, if we do not demand from the President an answer to the question— win the war for what...
...It is not good La Follette tradition to raise the hue and cry about worn-out old 19th Century shibboleths...
...It does seem to me that Progressives ought to help do the job...
...Lawrence J. Vair Pinecliffe, Colo...
...Sen...
...Dear Sirs: I certainly hope you don't get on the Dewey bandwagon...
...Rodney D. Snyder 7314 S. E. 14th Ave...
...Editor, is and will remain sauce for the gander, if you care to take a gander at this story...
...A lie, for out of so many Romans not one has a family altar or an ancestral tomb, but they fight to maintain the wealth and luxury of others, and they die with the title of 'lords of the earth' without possessing a single clod to call their own...
...Neither is there held out to them anything better as their masters realize that without pauperism they would not enjoy their luxury...
...Rodell has confirmed my worst forebodings about Dewey, and it leaves me in a frightful quandary...
...Keep up the fine work of stating facts and assisting us laymen to get the "news behind the news...
...Ownership, as in the case of the money lender, is, as Albion W. Small long ago pointed out, a mere matter of status, and not a matter of function...
...If this year's Republican convention adopts a tariff platform along the lines suggested by former Gov...
...Finally, ask him to look at the back page of the New York Times for May 2, where the carry-over of the Page 1 story on the match industry suit ran right next to a WPB story...
...A copy of it should go to every high school and college student as well as to each member of the armed forces of our country— minds capable not only of accepting truth but potentially able to act upon it—to do something about it...
...It seems too much to hope that this generation may acquire the necessary intelligence to see through the bond racket, both corporate and Government bonds, but then—what is life without hope...
...Shabby Ritual Dear Sirs: Rev...
...The New Deal trend is now along the same lines as those in Germany and Italy, which eventually resulted in dictatorships in each of, those countries...
...If only our President had asked us to join him in such a prayer...
...In order to acquire goods or services workers must work, but owners, as lenders, need only "eat strawberries, sugar, and cream" and twiddle their thumbs—if they feel in the mood to indulge in such strenuous exercise...
...Riis exults at the fact that aluminum production now ex ceeds consumption, let him remember that it was an aroused public opinion and more than 600 million dollars of Government funds that brought about plant expansion — not any special initiative or patriotic vision on the part of Alcoa...
...Frankly the time to lick Churchill is now before the present military struggle is over...
...Avoiding Misquotation Dear Sirs: John Chamberlain's letter to you in the May 29 issue, regarding a typographical error in your print ing of an article of his that gave it the exact opposite meaning, is nightmare to all who write, or are quoted in print...
...The Republican national platform of 1908, and the Presidential candidate, W. H. Taft, declared for "tariff revision," generally regarded as meaning "revision" downward...
...There's not much chance for errors there...
...La Follette might have said: "Grievances with Germany...
...The Best Dear Sirs: We think The Progressive is the best paper that was ever printed...
...With deepening humility, we seek Thy guidance for the restored freedom of all peoples...
...And how heartening it was to find Life wondering if, after all, this Progressive movement founded by the La Follettes might not be "the missing political link between the past and the future of this great democratic land...
...In just a few words just work out an-entirely new paper...
...The president was a mediocre student at Groton...
...America may be willing to exchange its isolationism for a genuine fellowship of all peoples, guaranteeing the security and liberty of each, but it will be found as unwilling as in 1919 to exchange it for vague promises...
...But President Roosevelt used all the publicity of press and radio that his office can command to send a "directive" to God, notifying Him that the invasion of Europe by the United States had begun, and telling Him what its outcome would be, and notifying Him what we should require of Him for the success of our arms...
...Sen...
...Maude Whipple Olympia, Wash...
...Before the war a household servant was paid Rupee 18 per month, about $6...
...Yet who of the men we call leaders is more worthy of our trust...
...We are paying him Rupee 75 per month...
...Of course, there are bound to be some things in it that one doesn't like...
...The newspaper version had it: "We did not have grievances," etc...
...Jane Parks Chicago, 111...
...So what...
...Shall we be wise to let a man who shows so little humility toward God or his fellow men lead us "again and again...
...The Republican Party is the only human instrumentality that can save America...
...I can't figure out just what is in The Progressive that holds any interest...
...Dewey in the June 12 issue of The Progressive...
...Rodell for his magnificent portrait of Gov...
...J. M. Norton Boston, Mass...
...In Thy Name, we go Dear Lord, as Soldiers of God...
...Sen...
...We know that an appreciable number of Congressmen in both houses would stand for this change if their constituents would support them...
...I hope you will change your "Nu Deal personality" to a more liberal view...
...Accordingly I refuse to pay you...
...And by all means, the most vital part is the demand for public control of credit and government owned and operated banks...
...I have an Indian boy woiking-for me as...
...With his unbounded confidence in F. D. R., the President made grandiose promises with only picayune thought of his ability or willingness of war-united nations to fulfill these promises...
...The best reason is that this is election year...
...And we have a right to demand that that "what" be said in something more realistic than honeyed words...
...This, to my mind, is a terrible acknowledgment that he has failed to translate his cocksure promise of Four Freedoms for all mankind at the beginning of the war, into any program for a new international deal, that will assure world peace...
...The press of the United States is thoroughly subsidized from the counties on up...
...To this High Purpose, we dedicate the Sons and Daughters of America — the Home of the Free and the Brave...
...I hope this letter of criticism will serve to be constructive...
...But take it all around, we like it fine...
...The Republican leaders want to hold power for an indefinite period, and they know that a return to high tariffs would quickly throw them out...
...And so you want to make him look bad...
...in fact he is no better than Josh Lee, whom we kicked out in '42...
...In his last paragraph Mr...
...La Follette always supports "Dr...
...Why don't you quit harping "Progressive" when you know that your party hasn't got a chance of electing anyone outside Wisconsin...
...Indeed, I wish that every paper would republish it daily so long as this war shall last, for I believe that only as we act in such a spirit can we safely win a war, or be part of a world truly at peace...
...Many of them supported Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in 1912, President Taft carrying only Utah and Vermont...
...In the same letter the major says: "The managers of the estates have beautiful bungalows with large yards, flower gardens, trees, tennis courts, and everything in the way of comfortable living...
...In that instance the wot was stuck in...
...There is only one time to save America and that is this year...
...Mott P. Blair Marshville...
...For 50 years past the great prairie states have favored moderate or low tariff rates, as was shown by the votes of their Senators and Representatives in Congress...
...Take a single instance, the most prominent case he cites in the May 22 issue, that of the Aluminum Company...
...Rev...
...The Bond Racket Dear Sirs: The article "Whose Is The National Debt...
...A just peace is more important than a military armistice and our youngsters who have to do the fighting and the dying are intelligent enough to understand that, were such truth made clear to them...
...The Republican Party does not rely on "one man" to run for office...
...But when the Payne-Aldrich tariff law was enacted it made few reductions, and in many cases the rates were increased...
...Bob La Follette is always a welcomed writer, as is also Angelo Pa-tri, William B. Hesseltine, and Morris H. Rubin...
...A lack which one business man expressed in this way: "Well, we have had to pay for our parents' wars...
...I feel that we readers of The Progressive have been privileged to have placed before us the most honest, the most realistic, and the most courageous analysis of Mr...
...A Proud Moment' Dear Sirs: It was a proud moment for many of us when Life Magazine recognized the greatness of the contribution that the La Follettes and The Progressive are making to the cause of democracy and a geniunely free world...
...And Italy is not alone in this bit-'terness and exploitation...
...Make us to know the pure joy, which comes from a life fulfilled in service to all mankind...
...It has remained for The Progressive to present the best — Fred Rodell's masterly analysis in the June 12 issue...
...But if posterity ever succeeds in learning to act as though it possesses a modicum of brains, it will rise up and solemnly say to owners of war bonds and similar "obligations": "Ladies and gentlemen, I was not a party to the transactions upon which you base your claims against me...
...Interest, which we expect our children's children to pay and pay...
...We shall not have any reforms until the state legislatures change their election laws, by outlawing the nominating conventions and national elections and substituting state nominating primaries and direct elections for the electoral college...
...One wonders for how long the masses are to be lured by their masters "who with a lie in their mouths" repeat "again and again and again" the shabby ritual of 2,-000 years ago...
...My hat is off to Mr...
...Prospering while we take up a mortgage of billions in bonds in order that a few privileged bondholders may eventually enjoy a substantial income from interest alone...
...At Gettysburg Lincoln felt his words unworthy of their occasion, but in 266 words he expressed for all men forever the tragedy of war, and the humility, lack of hate, and vengefulness, and the good-will and reverence necessary if "freedom shall not perish from the earth...
...The first article was a staggering volley of truth from the pen of Milton Mayer which simply could not be denied...
...In the days of suffering to come, help us to remember Thy great command—Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself...
...We pass it around to others and only wish more people could read it...
...That invitation, I for one, gladly accept...
...Homeless and without spot of ground to rest upon, they wander about with their wives and children, while their commanders, with a lie in their mouths, exhort their soldiers to defend their tombs and temples again the enemy...
...It was good to have others recog--nize that the La Follettes "favor international cooperation 'with the forces which share their ideals for political freedom and economic opportunity...
...Mrs...
...And finally, I know countless readers of The Progressive must have thrilled to the realization that the editors of Life also feel that "tyranny is not permanently safe so long as America harbors her La Follettes...
...Old Shibboleths' Dear Sirs: Even, or especially, a U. S. Senator must keep his facts within shouting distance of reason...
...As a result, after colossal expenditure of money, and frightful expenditure of men, we are back—not to where we started from—but to the old deal America and world...
...Dewey...
...Oliver L. Tanquarry Hughes Memorial Methodist Church Edmonds, Wash...
...Masterly Analysis' Dear Sirs: I have read articles on Dewey in half a dozen magazines in recent months...
...Roosevelt in 1932, 1936, and 1940, but I feel he is no longer the progressive he once was...
...Why Not Thomas...
...Like Mr...
...This is another reason...
...Then when awakened from this woozy experience, they discover that they are in the same old rut, while their chains are also a wee bit tighter than before...
...Without something better to look forward to, the weight of this hideous war would be unbearable...
...a clerk...
...Being actively concerned, in getting back to legal money, I welcome this particular plank heartily...
...If enough of them are wise, there will be progress toward a decent postwar world...
...Mrs...
...The money problem is involved and hard to understand...
...A little less of W. H. Chamberlin wouldn't do any harm...
...Give us, each one of us, O God, the faith and the fortitude of our forefathers...
...Portland 2, Oreg...
...Beneficiaries and would-be beneficiaries of our competitive private profit system have seized this fact and devised various ways to manipulate money with a view to acquiring an inordinate share of it for themselves...
...It was during World War I. The Senator had said in a St...
...The Government sued on 140 counts—and lost on 140 of them...
...The storm of protest against what was denounced as "broken pledges of tariff revision" resulted in a Democratic majority in the House in 1910...
...Landon, I don't believe that there will be another repudiation...
...They are often too prone to hop on some new bandwagon, and permit themselves to be taken for a ride up a new blind alley...
...Frank D. Slocum New York, N. Y. Rodell On Dewey Dear Sirs: I have just read Fred Rodell's article on Gov...
...I shall not be among "those present" when most of posterity arrives, so I shall never know how wise or how foolish posterity may be...
...E. C. Barney Los Angeles, Calif...
...S. J. Hyde Philadelphia, Pa...
...Apparently too few people seem to possess any kind of a principle very long without wavering somewhat, when some more promising and immediate scheme happens to loom on the horizon of their hopes...
...The Life editorial, in their June 5 number, said so concisely what I have sought often to say in reply to those who have unfairly branded the La Follettes as "isolationists" with a selfish concept of letting the world go hang...
...Denmark produced more butter...
...If Mr...
...Lenox B. Smith Northampton, Mass...
...He made passing grades at Harvard, but was not an outstanding student...
...In the next column, WPB closed down two aluminum plants...
...Nu Deal" on every measure...
...Sauce for the goose, Mr...
...He seemed to ask pity only for those on our side sacrificed in this war, and not God's pity nor men's shame for a sinning world at war...
...It would be a tragedy, if, while ©ur boys are fighting to secure the supposed blessings of the Four Freedoms for Europeans and Asiatics, we should lose them at home...
...Two years ago this month, when we faced military disaster after disaster and the Axis was everywhere on the march, the Glenn L. Martin Company complained publicly it was running 20 per cent below plane production capacity because it could not get the aluminum it needed...
...This is something we people back home can do with effect...
...When Sen...
...Thus, they have helped along the merry acquisitive process which has resulted in creating the unedi-fying and socially-menacing spectacle of widespread poverty in the midst of potential plenty...
...These people are fighting also for the "Four Freedoms" but as the Romans of the past, they "enjoy the air and light and nothing more...
...You admit, when you write such a ridiculous editorial, that he has a better than 50-50 chance of beating "Old Frank...
...Landon On Tariffs Dear Sirs: The most important recent utterance by a Republican leader is the statement,given to the press by the former Governor of Kansas, Alf M. Landon, Republican candidate for President in 1936, in which he declares that the Republicans must abandon their traditional policy of high protective tariffs and favor what he calls "liberal tariffs...
...It Will Make New Friends...
...Due to much common apathy in many common people, what hope they may have had for a progressive commonwealth begins to vanish into the stratosphere, disintegration rapidly sets in, followed by inocuous desuetude, unless they happen to recall, and then act in conformance with that immortal saying, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...
...This can be accomplished only by refusing to vote for anyone to succeed themselves in the same office...
Vol. 8 • June 1944 • No. 26
