THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . Peacetime Conscription Dear Sirs: The President recently asked the public to do some thinking about the advisability of a program of peacetime military conscription...
...A. WT...
...Neera Gokhale Schenectady, N. Y. * * * Technocracy's Proposal Dear Sirs: Regarding G. Edward Lind's letter on "Solving Unemployment" in your Aug...
...Unless a better world comes out of this war, bringing hope and equality and opportunity to all men everywhere, we had better beware of the future...
...They have disclaimed desire for additional territory—if they seek to protect their borders, that is no more than our own country or any other nation would do in similar circumstances...
...Praise For Steele Dear Sirs: May I congratulate you on the piece, "Steamshovel At The Treasury," by Addison Steele, and may I inquire how you are permitted to print such articles and get away with it...
...Therefore he says he will vote for Roosevelt for the fourth time...
...Our sons are fighting all over the world for an indefinite objective known as the Four Freedoms, and Dorothy Thompson said: "It is a sad comment on human nature that ideals one holds when losing are so easily scuttled when winning...
...Many articles are so phrased as to deceive the average reader, unless he is willing to read anything pro and con...
...Good Articles Dear Sirs: Articles containing information, common sense, and justice were: Harry Paxton Howard's "Toward a People's Foreign Policy" in The Progressive of Aug...
...One area I have not yet found in The Progressive, but which would be tremendously helpful to me in my parish work, would be a "practical helps column...
...Irving Morton Mayo, Fla...
...Hollywood, Calif...
...Externally, your movement has rendered a service to the whole world...
...Stimson...
...As a strong supporter of the principles and ideals of the Progressive movement and as a citizen who prides himself on at l?ast trying to be civilized', I hotly resent this slurring falsehood as I am certain you do...
...Paul Brinkman, Jr...
...If he had been of greater stature, he would have walked out of the Democratic convention and aligned himself with the nation's progressive elements who would like to start a third party movement...
...An Uncertain Fence' Dear Sirs: I've been trying to get a clear-cut understanding of the policies of The Progressive since I subscribed, but today am just as puzzled as before...
...Both articles contain historical facts .combined with experience, knowledge, and judgement and express a sentiment which, in my humble opinion, is much superior to the numerous articles I have read from various writers on the subject...
...Until the postwar national situation is clarified, it seems to us extremely unwise and even dangerous to commit the nation to such a revolutionary change in fundamental national policy...
...As Oswald Garrison Villard has said, passage at this time of such legislation would be defeatism pure and simple, and would concede that future wars are inevitable...
...It is now obvious that Wisconsin has been chosen by radical, unreasoning internationalists all over America to bear the brunt of a national condemnation of isolationism...
...Indefinite Objective Dear Sirs: As time has swung along throughout the ages human nature seems to have followed the same general pattern of predatory instinct, together with a strong trend for monopolistic control of the public wealth, with a flair for pretense, either by the "divine right of kings," or through some other legalistic hocus-pocus...
...Allan Nevins' Article Dear Sirs: In the September issue of the American Legion magazine Allan Nevins, in his article, "Whitewashing the Nazis," says, "Already it is getting under way...
...G. F. Fischer Centuria, AVis...
...Packing courts, purging, those that refuse to bow to the Great Brain, destroying foodstuffs (despite hunger) while tossing billions of the taxpayers' money around in utter abandon, completely violate true and tried American principles...
...Pass This Paper On...
...Marion P. Bryant Pinehurst, N. C. * * * For The Common Man Dear Sirs: I am glad to send my support to a paper which I believe is working for the best interests of the common man rather than the war lords and munition makers...
...II, Pages 475-76...
...28 issue of The Progressive, very simply states the fundamentals with which every thinking person is familiar...
...Hereafter, no great nation will be unprovided with an ultimate means of protection against cancerous growths...
...C. C. Bang Cleveland, O. * * * Wallace's Grave Dear Sirs: What will happen to Henry Wallace...
...Your weekly news reports, special writers, and regular features, like Milton Mayer and Harry Paxton Howard, are excellent...
...Some of the writers recommended Marx's Capital, but when I asked them to mention the volume, chapter, and page, they refused...
...A copy of this issue of the Call may be had by writing to the Call, 303 Fourth Ave., New York 10, N. Y. George H. Couch Bryant, Ark...
...The Financial Backers Dear Sirs: Inasmuch as the handling of our war criminals seems to be in order, I'd like to make one little inquiry: How are we to look upon the financial backers of fascism and Nazism, and how should we handle them...
...Two of the country's leading newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post, have editorially supported Mr...
...Klein Los Angeles, Calif...
...Churchill issued the following public statement (which subsequently was reproduced in the Congressional Record on Feb...
...It appears some people prefer to remain uninformed, for it is, evidently, much more pleasant to go through life with a full belly and an empty head...
...Imperialism has followed the same general line of endeavor, with a plausible excuse for invasion as a necessary step in the liberation of people from totalitarian slavery...
...Just how anyone could hold the opinion this writer from Washington holds of Mr...
...Howard's fine article in your Aug...
...Norton's con-elusion is an irrefutable campaign speech that will stand the gaff in 1944 in the worst of political weather...
...A. S. Albert Oceano, Calif...
...Churchill who was interested in maintaining the imperial prestige and its balance of power...
...No, he might not be elected, but a large vote for Thomas would scare more progressive reforms out of the winning party, whether Democrat or Republican, than they could get by voting for the lesser evil of the two old political parties the rest of their lives...
...Technocracy's . proposal of total conscription to shorten the war and win the peace can bring about a smooth transition into America's destiny...
...Shaw On Hitler Dear Sirs: Here are some recent words from George Bernard Shaw on his 88th birthday which I believe are well worth reprinting: When asked how Germany "can best be prevented from springing again at the throat of Europe," he replied, "Treat Germany decently...
...He is an accomplice, if not the top criminal...
...After all, it is a real question that if America had the same circumstances that Germany has had whether or not we too would not have had some American version of Hitler at our Government's head...
...Shaw also said that Germany's relationship with her conquerors "will be that of a wounded prisoner of war to his captors...
...The Progressive, after letters from my fiancee, gets first reading in the morning mail...
...The American Socialists in the Socialist Labor Party have pointed out that fascism is just one of the evils spawned by capitalism...
...It Will Make New Friends...
...Hale Bicknell, Jr...
...and "Isn't it throwing your vote away to vote Socialist...
...Lind, and help save America before it is too late...
...Roosevelt I should think he would feel he would be doing worse than throwing his vote away by voting for him...
...Hope On Our Side Dear Sirs: The last paragraph in The Last Column in the August 21 issue is an important observation...
...He eliminated Dewey as his choice on the ground that he is not qualified to serve as President, and too, he is opposed to a rock-ribbed Republican...
...E. E. Wyatt No...
...How can he feel he is being practicable...
...Which does Mr...
...The Fundamentals Dear Sirs: The leading article, "The Progressive Path To Peace," by Morris H. Rubin, appearing in the Aug...
...From my recollections of recent history they have been trying to maintain collective security and support of the weaker nations...
...14 issue and asked him to try to have one of their broadcasts take up this subject of our foreign policy being placed in Congress instead of the Executive Department...
...14, a splendid definition of past, present, and future conditions in this world of turmoil, dealing with facts and postwar policies...
...Edmund K. Goldsborough Washington, D. C...
...President Roosevelt, by uttering no word of remonstrance to Mr...
...She cannot be treated as a criminal— at least not lawfully—because war is not a crime by the laws of nations...
...The overhead cost of war in blood, sweat, and tears never enters into the calculations of those who profit by war, and when the boys return they ought to be wary of being lured into the camp of special interests, the mythical guardians of civilization, who strive to perpetuate the fat boys' paternal interest in materia] prosperity for themselves, and continue in circulation, world without end...
...Secretary of War Stimson has stated, "It is my view that the most important provision which can be made by Congress...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . Peacetime Conscription Dear Sirs: The President recently asked the public to do some thinking about the advisability of a program of peacetime military conscription in America after the war...
...Maybe...
...All your editorials follow the same lines, and you give me, at any rate, the depressed feeling that all is wrong with the world and cannot be righted...
...To eradicate it, capitalism must be abolished...
...Consider this passage from a joint pronouncement issued March 13, 1944, by the Educational Policies Commission of the N.E.A., the American Association of School Administrators, and the Problems and Plans Committee of the American Council of Education: "In our judgment it is unwise to commit the nation at this time to a year of universal military service...
...None of these replies contains a clear and logically sound definition of capitalism, nor an effort to prove that capitalism is the basic cause of unemployment...
...The time has arrived when lovers of democracy and freedom must unite in a concerted effort to defeat this attempt from within to take from us the human rights which the "enemies" from without have failed to take...
...is a system of universal military training...
...But, ironically, you are assailed as persons attempting to obstruct the course of justice and shield the offenders...
...Instead, he has jumped into the grave the President dug for him...
...And right in line with these thoughts regarding the punishment of Hitler we had a rather comprehensive statement from Harold Laski when he said that if we punished Hitler we would also have to punish a lot of industrialists as well...
...Russell Egner Minneapolis, Minn...
...Wishful thinking is out...
...and "What's This World Coming To...
...The American people are fighting this war with the high hope that it will eventuate in an enduring peace...
...The Progressive's readers might be interested in two informative common sense articles by William Hard in the December, 1943 and September, 1944 issues of the Reader's Digest...
...This writer will go so far as to agree that Hitler should be punished, but not made an object of vilification, vindictiveness, and revenge...
...Portland, Oreg...
...This little letter surely hits the nail on the head, and all the Republican and Democratic orators cannot take anything from nor add anything to it...
...21 issue, I wish to state that America, in 1944, has developed her science and technology to such a high degree that our quality production is accomplished with continually less and less employment of manhours, which in turn is eliminating the old-fashioned outmoded price system distribution...
...Is democracy possible then...
...Then she will not want to spring at our throat...
...Germany's conduct under Hitler is in large part explicable from the fact of scarcity economy, one of the greatest creators of Hitlers...
...G. H. Carlson Pittsburgh, Pa...
...Kerr edition...
...Day Of Reckoning Dear Sirs: People who prefer justice to deceit and subterfuge have no patience whatsoever with political machines of the Kelly-Hague-Flynn variety...
...For being war leaders...
...When the people quit voting for crusts, on the idea that they are being practicable, and begin voting for the whole loaf, that soon, and no sooner, will they get the whole loaf...
...A high-powered campaign can be expected...
...It Will Make New Friends...
...For the moral courage to call for the maintenance of such principles at a time when malice dominates the minds of almost every human being, you deserve the sincere admiration and gratitude of the nation...
...We give him every care until he is cured, exactly as if he were one of our own sol-fliers...
...I refer to his statement that he intends to vote for Roosevelt as the "lesser evil of two possibilities...
...Churchill opposes fascism with several "buts, ifs, and excepts...
...Lin Yutang remarked that he would be willing to forego the Four Freedoms if he could have but one other—"freedom from humbug...
...14 issue, but it is very encouraging to know that somebody is doing something in a practical way to help make our foreign policy understood by the people and accepted by those in authority...
...and Wisconsin, with much of its population the descendants of immigrants, appeals to be an ideal candidate for the position...
...Walter Braver Dixon, 1U...
...a new campaign of 'revision.' Any reader of The Progressive, issued at Madison, Wis., will see writers in that journal waving the first whitewash brushes at the war guilt of the Nazis...
...I notice many of our church folk holler about war, but continue their sharp bargain driving, sowing the seeds of war...
...The American Legion is of course in on the drive...
...What would happen...
...Lind want...
...Instead, you have a group of writers who are always critical —not constructive—and most of them are distinctly anti-Soviet...
...We have gone so far that we cannot go back to anyone's yesterday...
...Keep up the good work...
...21 issue gives a vital exposure of past history which throws light on the subject of war and peace...
...Howard's Fine Article Dear Sirs: I have written Mr...
...That is how we shtdl treat Germany if we have any sense...
...No Republican can blow it away...
...Let us hope there will be many more touring the states and actually getting the people to take a definite interest toward a good foreign policy...
...We held that view not only in 1927, when Churchill was singing its praises, but as far back as 1910 when we warned the world that if capitalism was not destroyed, "feudo-capitalism" or "industrial feudalism" would bring a new dark age to us...
...Apparently the "Piper" has changed his tune, for on a return from a similar trip to Italy in 1927, Mr...
...Her contributions to the political development and progress of this nation have not been surpassed by another state in this union...
...This column might help churches and community organizations, etc., to get to work practically on constructive action on the evils which you so often capably point out...
...Norman Thomas has an article in the July 28 issue of the Call, answering the questions, "Why are the Socialists campaigning for President...
...Pass This Paper On...
...First Reading Dear Sirs: My roommate at Yale Divinity School introduced me to The Progressive, and I have found it the kind of a weekly for which I had long been searching...
...Where shall the punishing stop...
...Muskogee, Okla...
...Aaron M. Orange Powelsville* Md...
...Your appeal has been fer a just, fair, and honorable peace devoid of hate, petty vengeance, and malice...
...Replying to the question, "Should Germany be made to help rebuild the cities she destroyed...
...People have been abjured not to be a knocker, crab, or sour-puss by the high and mighty, and have been bombarded wi.th high pressure slogans appealing to their emotional pride in the "American way" and their ability to take it on the chin, with especial emphasis on their sense, of patriotism, which, as old Samuel Johnson put it, was the last refuge of a scoundrel...
...He then sizes up Roosevelt by saying that his progressivism is thin and artificial, and that power is more important to him than principle...
...None of the writers seems to be aware of Marx's discovery that unemployment gives birth to capitalism and that without unemployment capitalism cannot even spring into life...
...Investigate it at once, Mr...
...Churchill On Fascism Dear Sirs: In a recent dispatch from Rome we are informed that Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, warned Italy not to "fall into the clutches of the fascist totalitarian system in any guise in which it might present itself...
...Carefully read a little letter there called "Only One Choice," by H. J. Norton, Boston, Mass...
...Vote For Thomas Dear Sirs: A writer from the state of Washington whose letter appeared in the July 31 issue of The Progressive, makes the error that hundreds of thousands make every election year...
...She [Italy] has rendered the necessary antidote to the Russian poison...
...Yes, Mr...
...If the Argentine brand dees business with British capital, the British bulldog's bark becomes a coo...
...Rather than cast the blame of our pre-war folly upon those who are guilty, they prefer to choose a scapegoat...
...Although all liberal and left wing groups seem to trod the same path, some are more vigorous and understanding in their methods to put across a message: frankly, I think you are not even trying to travel along the middle of the road but to stay on top of an uncertain fence...
...Unemployment must therefore be prior to capitalism and must have some other cause...
...This should suggest only one thing to Progressives and liberals of our country—an equally high-powered campaign to educate the public of the grave dangers involved in such a program...
...In fact, Marx has refuted this view (Capital, Vol...
...Herbert M. Fink Le Raysville, Pa...
...When you stop to remember that our total dead in World War I was around 50,000, that figure becomes truly appalling...
...25, 1941) : "If I had been an Italian, I am sure I would have been wholeheartedly with you from start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of Leninism...
...Victor Starzenski Burnt Hills, N. Y. * * * Normandy Casualties Dear Sirs: According to one news story I read, American casualties in Normandy numbered more than 112,-000...
...Lenox B. Smith Northampton, Mass...
...I have decided to let The Progressive do the work of shifting reports, etc., for me, and finding facts and trends in the welter of reports and news, but I would also like it occasionally to point out how I can use these facts...
...Churchill's observations, apparently coincided with him, later coming out with a declaration that the only terms of peace would be Unconditional Surrender, a high-blood-pressure proclamation, more appropriately a matter for either international experts, if such exist, or Congress to squabble over, rather than an outright decision for one man, who may not be infallible...
...The Last Column," by Morris H. Rubin in the Aug...
...Mrs...
...Why haven't our commentators and writers said something about this, or have they...
...Therefore, any plans to save our "free enterprise" system simply mean the bringing on of the very fascism in America which our boys are dying on foreign soil to eradicate...
...Sometimes there is so much writing about things and little actually done toward accomplishment...
...Denny of Town Meeting of the Air about Mr...
...I am just another plain American who would like to see everything right with the whole world...
...It is easy for you who have a well-organized Progressive party in Wisconsin, but what do we in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut do...
...It is obvious, to anyone who "thinks"—as the President has asked us to do—that peacetime military conscription by its very nature substitutes the principle of state-direction for self-direction in human life...
...Then he turns to Thomas, the Socialist nominee for President, stating that he is a thoroughly admirable person, and that he would like to cast a complimentary vote for him, but "must choose between two possibilities, and not between a possibility and a wishful thought...
...Harry Elmer Barnes' "How Can We Build A Peaceful World...
...Virgil S. Coffman South English, la...
...Get out of Wisconsin and come to New York, California, Texas, and Florida and give us something worthwhile to think about—real constructive issues instead of doubt, contrary thinking, and slams at the other fellow...
...100 Answers Dear Sirs: With reference to my letter in The Progressive of May 22 on capitalism and unemployment, I have received until now 100 replies including the five letters published in The Progressive...
...Hope is on our side yet...
...When asked what the punishment of German war leaders should be, Shaw replied, "Punishment for what...
...In New York a so-called Citizen's Committee for Universal Military Training has been organized, with the sole purpose of selling this repugnant and dangerous policy to the American people in the midst of the war confusion...
...In your Aug...
...It is however necessary to add that in one respect I have been disappointed...
...This kind of thinking and voting is the very reason why we have to accept crusts instead of getting the whole loaf...
...The Atlantic Charter—a vague promise of protection for small countries—was tossed overboard by Mr...
...28 issue, on a discourse about the gathering at Dumbarton Oaks, your attitude is always critical, particularly of England and Russia...
...Praises Norton Letter Pear Sirs: I urge all the Republicans, as well as all the Democrats, from Portland, Me., to the last hamlet in California on the Mexican border, from the historical strait of Juan de Fuca' to the last of the Florida Keys, to get a copy of The Progressive, issue of July 31, for The People's Forum, page seven...
...I have been sounding this note for over a year...
...It is my sincere belief that Wisconsin is one of America's greatest strongholds of progressive liberalism...
...he said, "Germany will hardly be able, without our help, to rebuild German cities we have destroyed...
...but I would much rather follow the path of Soviet policy...
...J. R. Allen Anderson, Ind...
...The day of reckoning approaches and millions of good citizens will protest at the polls in November against the prevailing political order, or rather disorder...
...It would also sanctify war as a proper means of settling international disputes— contrary to democratic, liberal, and Christian principles...
...M. E. Brady Philadelphia, Pa...
...We look for measures of international cooperation which will reduce the necessity for large scale postwar military establishments...
...Keep on writing about it...
...Just suppose all these "lesser evil"-complex voters reformed, and voted for Norman Thomas...
...May we have more of them...
...President, the public had better do some "thinking"— and some acting...
...If against this background of great expectations, a year of compulsory military training is urged, many Americans will interpret such action as a signal for the return to the cynicism of the 1920's, or as an admission that we shall all continue to live in an armed camp and that the hopes of a peaceful world are not to be realized...
...It seems clear that Mr...
...Milton Mayer says he will get a super-ambassador's job next Winter...
...Roosevelt and then cast a vote for him, is more than I can understand...
...Praise For Howard Dear Sirs: It was not only gratifying to read Harry Paxton Howard's article, "Toward A People's Foreign Policy," in the Aug...
...Your attitude on issues is more or less like that of the Socialist Party which for the last 25 years has been weak-kneed and forced many of us to follow a more vigorous group of thinkers...
...If he is correct in his opinion of Mr...
...I am wondering if you intend to reprint this article for more general circulation...
...It would be impossible to over-emphasize these dangers to freedom and democracy as we have known them— and to the chance of world peace...
...Who knows where our own freedom will be when our natural resources are used up and our population is well up into the 400 millions...
...Indeed, it seems to me that the financial backer is more than an accessory...
...If the particular national brand of fascism steps on British capitalism's toes, it must be watched...
...I'm thankful to all these people for the trouble they have taken to help me...
...The educational bodies of this country have already done some clear "thinking" on this matter, Mr...
...we face the choice of the greatest social change in history on this North American continent (the distribution of an abundance) or we face fascistic chaos...
...I will say a word on the international aspects of fascism...
...Why cannot you give us a strong policy of issues so that we can follow you...
...what to do now that we have discovered the boat we are in...
...He had just left Rome after a visit...
...an analysis of postwar peace plans that is deserving of study and consideration as he strikes vital points...
...The reason for my asking the question was that I had already read some parts of Capital and I knew that Marx does not hold the popular view, namely, that the "capitalistic profit system cuts down the purchasing power of the producers and thus gives rise to unemployment...
Vol. 8 • September 1944 • No. 38
