THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . 'Wasting Your Vote' Dear Sirs: Judging from the records and from the campaign promises of the two major parties, i.e., the Republican and the Democratic, it would...
...Of course, with war criminals the common citizens do not mean the German...
...They are going into training to form a force so strong that, by its very existence, it will keep the threat of war far away from our shores...
...Mrs...
...3. The "ivory-tower" aspect of such education, which trains not in techniques for a profession or vocation, but only in what are loosely and glibly characterized as "logical processes...
...Thomas free of charge...
...However, if the jousting candidates of the two major parties have truly gauged the mental level of their prospective voters, it is entirely possible that the Socialist Party candidate has a credible chance to walk away with the coming election...
...Arnold's Treaspn Dear Sirs: Someone has said, "A good politician is one who can disagree without being disagreeable...
...Before it was accomplished, he was arrested, tried for treason, and found guilty...
...I look forward to its arrival every week and would miss it very much...
...Roosevelt's treatment of Finland is one of the blackest, most shameful pages in American history, and a stench in the nostrils of not only the American people, but decent, justice-loving peocle everywhere.What became of the Moscow Pact, the Atlantic Charter, and the Four Freedoms...
...Let us examine the facts, and, first, compare bank failures: "COOLIDGE PROSPERITY" Bank Failures ................1923—646 Bank Failures ................1926—976 "HOOVER DEPRESSION" Bank Failures................1930—1352 Bank Failures................1931—2294 "ROOSEVELT DEPRESSION" Bank Failures ....................1934—34 Bank Failures ....................1940—22 According to the wiseacre from Owosso, our people can face 976 bank failures in one year, as under Coolidge...
...Equally sensible techniques' are open for other diseases that pay toll now to the drug monopolies...
...It is only by such maneuvering that the major parties have prevented the Socialist Party from becoming strong enough to compete "with them for direct control of the country...
...From 1923 to 1929 we had the worst depression America had ever experienced...
...Be it known he is ballyhooing'for that 27 per cent of the population that gets 20.9 per cent of the take...
...They are really doing a Christlike chore—for little pay and little thanks and under conditions of great personal hardship...
...Moreover, war with Japan was expected due to our Asiatic policy and our intention to support Great Britain...
...He has true aristocracy of mind and a democratic genius for expressing it...
...Eugene I. Roe, 1545 Branston St., St...
...paul V. bacon Editor-in-Chief Allyn and Bacon sosicai^Mass...
...The panic began in 1929 and ended in 1933...
...John W. Harvey, Jr...
...I can't supply all the details now—but this may interest you: Public health" conditions in many cities sire primitive — but nurses from the Rockefeller office are doing saintly work improving living conditions and teaching natives how to improve their own standards...
...The first one that comes to the mind of this writer and which in scope and potential magnitude overshadows them all on account of the immense effect it will have on the future is: What will be done with the war criminals...
...s/sgt...
...The jewels of consistency have Svev?*'~-ftdorned New Deal crowns...
...Confusion Dear Sirs: That The Progressive spreads confusion is self-evident...
...2 Forum) that praises Villard also praises Pegler...
...Many skeptics in the medical profession are far from praising it...
...A depression lasted from 1873 to 1878—or five years...
...Paul Hacker Olympia, Wash...
...Yes," he said, "the k greatest traitor in history...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . 'Wasting Your Vote' Dear Sirs: Judging from the records and from the campaign promises of the two major parties, i.e., the Republican and the Democratic, it would seem that any voter giving his vote to either one is simply wasting his vote...
...At the close of a meeting where I was invited to speak, an able lawyer took exception to my remarks and stated I violated the sedition laws, should be in jail as a pro-German, and had insulted the President of the United States...
...Even the so-called good Germans will follow any leader into the next war with the same enthusiasm they have always followed their leaders into wars...
...And he knew all about Henry Wallace...
...The powers of darkness and secrecy now concocting our destiny at "Secret Castle" have after extended debates agreed on the method of execution...
...A significant characteristic of our depressions is that they occur only during conservative administrations...
...george J. Fox Salt Lake City, Utah...
...As soon as a minor party is supported by a substantial number of votes, one or the other of the major parties is going to steal its thunder by backing its measures in Congress in the hope of winning over most of its supporters in the next election...
...Neither does anti-vivisection out of hysterical emotionalism fight against "killing" of animals, nor is it true that every great technique for healing man is the result ftf vivisection...
...Trustees of the fund are: President, William C. Arndt, Secretary, :^>lk County Cooperative Association, DseS^s-SXl8...
...However, his recent article, "It Should Not Happen To A" Dog," instead of the usual enjoyment, aroused dismay...
...3, 1940, President Roosevelt in assuring everybody that our boys were not to be sent to foreign wars, most certainly did not include the words: "In case of attack...
...As long as one class controls both machines and the public can be kidded into believing that they are fundamentally different in their policies, all is fine and dandy with the wirepullers behind the scenes, and their system is hailed as the essence of democracy...
...Of course they were doing as they are told, which is undoubtedly to deceive the Americans as thoroughly as possible as to their real attitudes, for in this way all the Nazis are gotng to get off much more easily...
...LaFol-lette's articles...
...N. C. Little, Manager Co-op Press, Inc...
...You omitted the case of the old woman who came up to our men and said, "I like you...
...18 issue should be printed in leaflet form...
...others try to be PMia-, delphia lawyers and re-interpret the phrase "duration...
...Cort...
...A person couldn't find any fault with you even if they wanted to...
...They claim that the duration is a phrase which both the President and the" War Department can so interpret that soldiers can be kept in the Army for any period of time...
...effie mcquillin Delta, O. * * * Compliments Editor Dear Sirs: Please give your excellent Editor, Morris Rubin, our compliments on his splendid article, "The Progressive Path to Peace," in the Aug...
...Liberals, if that is not a misnomer for your writers, are certainly a hodge-podge of scrambled thinking...
...It is common knowledge how futile have been the efforts to find, through torturing of animals, a cure for infantile paralysis...
...That such an idea should be so widely accepted by so many men in the Armed Forces is a sign that they are losing faith in the American system of government, and they are turning towards an acceptance of dictatorial belief...
...We also need immediate elucidation of the Atlantic Charter and its Four Freedoms...
...Cort Memorial Fund Dear Sirs: A prize scholarship fund as a memorial to the late founder and first manager of the Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Mr...
...If any further proof were needed that candidate Dewey is ill-informed and unqualified for President, his foregoing and similar statements should suffice...
...Eugene I. Roe...
...Shame...
...Bachur could not conceivably have referred, in this connection, to Tom...
...La Follette's work for some time, but assume he is up to his usual good works...
...Spiteful Attacks' Dear Sirs: My admiration for Sen...
...Exposure Dear Sirs: It seems to me that the most constructive work The Progressive is doing today is the exposure of selfish interests who strive to preserve the status quo no matter how much suffering and misery they bring to the rest of the human race...
...His vote is in the bag, but the independent voter must be catered to at once...
...The peace at the conclusion of the war by no means will make America secure...
...While many of the articles make me feel very depressed, at the same time they help me to interpret the news I read in our daily newspapers...
...Throw rocks at our tanks...
...It seems to me that when Congress lengthened the period to the duration plus six months they meant explicitly the cessation of hostilities plus six months from that date...
...CrueItyTo Finland Dear Sirs: By now most of the world knoVs the cruel, vicious peace terms imposed on honorable, debt-paying democratic, freedom-loving, long-suffering, noble little Finland, by the Colossus Red Russia...
...New York, N. Y. War Criminals Dear Sirs: Many current questions confronting' our nation at present are arousing intense interest...
...But if any other class, not of their ilk or renegade from it, adopts-j the machine system to an extent that might upset the applecart of the Old Guards, the new machine is denounced as undemocratic...
...Why then should we waste our time going to the polls to vote like a bunch of marionettes to the orders of the powers that be in the ridiculous belief that such an American election is democracy in action...
...Shame...
...With regard to high sea pleasure-fishing, I am inclined to back yonder Doctor of Social Therapy, Milton Mayer, whose prescription once called for a kick in the pants out of office for misbehaving heads of government...
...first Yice President, Wiliiam~ Gi.^5J^e' field" man, Midland Cooperative Wholesale, Minneapolis, Minn., and Milwaukee, Wis...
...Dewey classes the QoolidgeJ depression as "Coolidge Prosperity," the panic years under Hoover, from 1929 to 1933, as "the depression," and from 1933 to 1940 inclusive, as "the Roosevelt depression...
...pfc...
...but they "simply cannot face" 34 bank failures under Roosevelt—although under the latter the bank deposits are insured, while depositors lost two billion dollars under Hoover, with "prosperity just around the corner...
...2. The categorized, absolutist, and possibly undemocratic thinking which may result from the St...
...A substantial number of contributions have already been received by the treasurer, Mrs...
...mrs...
...La Follette's work...
...I like and admire her very much...
...Jack Oppenheimer Alexandria, Va...
...In 1898, by reason of insolvencies still being abnormal, the Federal Bankruptcy Act was passed by Congress...
...I am afraid that your point of view is warped by long residence among the good German-Americans of Wisconsin...
...Midland Cooperative Wholesale, a federation of consumer cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and one 01 the leading consumer institutions in the United States, is representative of the significant achievements growing out of the pioneer cooperative efforts of Mr...
...Of course, plenty of torturing of animals is going on outside of laboratories...
...A. J. evans Cresco, la...
...as representative of the Progressives...
...If the President and the War Department possess the power to interpret the duration in such a broad meaning, they can execute power endlessly without the checks and balances which Congress and the Supreme Court wielded over the President...
...This can be easily verified...
...If such is the case our efforts have been futile and our heroes have died in vain...
...Well, the independent voters hold the balance of power in elections taken as a whole on the long pull, and the major party machines are out to get substantial blocks of the'ir votes...
...The same reader (Oct...
...Roosevelt's pledge and promise most certainly do not fit the facts...
...I would like 500 leaflets for distribution...
...rather they sec in it the main source out of which big drug monopolies are fed...
...For light and truth, I have learned to depend on The Progressive...
...Who can deny that when President Roosevelt made that statement we had abandoned neutrality, war preparations were under way and as ships were being sunk by us, to protect Britain, we were already virtually in a state of conflict with Hitler...
...Just what did you expect these women and children to do...
...I talked yesterday with a 14-year «M c^-iio<?lhnv...
...The public for their self-preservation and in order to establish conditions in the world that will make peace a possibility instead of a dream, doubtless will insist on having those men brought to trial, and if not hanged, at least rendered impotent to conduct any further destructive activities...
...His declaration is entirely erroneous...
...E. G. Cort, has just been established by his friends and former business associates...
...This group of people operates in eve.'y "atiorl large^or small as the actual but invisible srt_>Y"£!'5!'m<n-t...
...Miss Kenny, the nurse in the Australian hinterland, found a sensible way...
...18, reminded me of the elementary tale of the Three Pigs...
...Well acquainted with the pecuniary motives of his old employer, Hearst, as Milton Mayer is, he lets himself be carried away by "emotion" to paint a caricature of an earnest and reasonable movement of which he knows not enough...
...Paul, Minn...
...Service Men Speak For Compulsory Training Dear Sirs: Marion P. Bryant's letter "Peacetime Conscription," in The Progressive Sept...
...Ratliff Rockwood, Tenn...
...Whether we call it thoughtlessness or sadism, whether we take animals as our brothers in-Christ, or in Darwin, a higher grade"-of respect for animal life is a mark of true civilization...
...sharpless walker Santa Ana, Calif...
...So to protect the democratic form of government, the intelligent voters must gang up on the major machines by voting independently...
...Disunity, confusion, futility—a raw parade of all three are packed in each issue and named The Progressive...
...It Will Make New Friends...
...Dorothy Houston Jacobson, Vice President Co-op Services, Inc., all of Minneapolis, have also accepted an invitation by the Trustees to work with the committee...
...Barnes On Johnston DearJSirs: "Trarry Elmer_Barnes' review of Eric Johnston's booi^ ^nierica Unlimited, in the Aug...
...c. B. ballard Appleton, Wis...
...Consequently no soldier can have any idea when he will be released...
...There is a way out...
...Roll down your sox, brother, and let's hear you give out with "Shoo Shoo Baby...
...Italian, and Japanese war lords who are only the creation and tools of the hidden but real war criminals on whose shoulders the responsibility for the world conflagration irrefutably rests: those who by transferring enormous quantities of essential materials and unlimited amounts of money and credits to the disposal of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo, thereby making their attack possible...
...28 issue, and all his editorials...
...Similar results have ob-teji""^ ™ *ne case °^ v°tes thrown m^a^m^TJS^F party candj" dates in sufficient qt^ity to be worth while going after...
...A look into the literature put out by -ti-vivisec*ion gQcje^es, can convince any UnprejudTebd persoj that the movement is based oiTgood, hard-headed reasoning...
...L. A. appleberry Yellow Spring, O. * * * Light And Truth Dear Sirs: I thought I could get along without The Progressive but find I can not...
...Gertrude Nafe Seattle, Wash...
...Margaret.S...
...Cort, an invitation to contribute to the Fund...
...I'd wager that a poll of your readers would disclose a broader sympathy for Gerald L. K. Smith than for our President...
...Dewey On Diprssions Dear Sirs: - - "The United States simply cannot face another period of depression like the Roosevelt depression, which lasted for eight years...
...Shame...
...Wants Education Articles Dear Sirs: I am in complete agreement with the proposal made by George Bach-ur in The Progressive for Sept...
...Henrietta Thurman Phoenix, Ariz...
...sgt...
...V. S. Alanne, Central Cooperative Wholesale, Superior, Wis...
...F.D.R.'s Pledge Dear Sirs: Please note that in a speech made in Boston, Mass., Oct...
...That result has been achieved because a substantial number of voters "threw away" their votes on the Socialist candidate who didn't have a chance...
...Get acquainted with a Technocrat, and he will tell you...
...4. That, in general, a retreat to the Middle Ages type of thinking reflected by the Neo-Thomists will not help the extremely contemporary world out of its difficulties...
...I'll bet not only Joe Stalin but the whole Russian nation had more than one good laugh at our expense when they heard about the mountains of wholesome food we destroyed while at the same time no less a person than our own President informed us that one-third of our population was ill-fed...
...Losing Faith Dear Sirs: Being a soldier in the Army of the United States, I have heard quite a bit of talk about the release of men from the armed forces.-* ef"^Tr""f?—™»int system of release...
...I'm sure the experience will prove useful after the war, but right now there's no place like home...
...I say the best way to keep out of trouble these days is to say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing...
...Treasurer, Mrs...
...D. R. S. APO 500 San Francisco, Calift * * * Praise For Meyer Dear Sirs: The article, "Invitation To The Goosestep," by Ernest L. Meyer in the Sept...
...Nuff said...
...I am anxious that liberal forces shall not split...
...michael castor Brampton, Mich...
...For instance, the pamphlet, Millions Thrown Away in Cancer Research, by M. Morden, M. D., published by the Maryland Anti-Vivisection Society of Baltimore, shows how little vivisection has helped to cure and prevent cancer...
...The purpose of the fund is to provide, through one of the state universities, scholarships and prizes to outstanding graduate or undergraduate students submitting an acceptable thesis on the evaluation of personnel policies of consumer cooperatives in the United States, including a consideration of the best modern personnel methods that would further the development of consumer cooperation...
...The President can proclaim the duration to exist long, long after Germany and Japan have been defeated...
...You mentioned a couple of cases where the Germans acted in a friendly way to the invading troops...
...iYes, that is all we do if we vote for a major machine-controlled candidate whether he is labelled Republican or Democratic...
...It is the sure way to strip the democratic gear...
...A. P. Rasmussen Gilroy, Calif...
...Free competition in markets and services, made possible through a borrowing fund, available to all nations according to need, and an open world where people could come and go, would take away all excuses for war criminals...
...It is certainly great reading after all the hooey we get handed us in the regular papers which get out here from the States...
...J. S. Love Field Dallas, Tex...
...Miss Mary Cordiner, former staff member of the Midland Educational Department...
...Mark Twain said, "If we all think alike, no one would do much think-ing...
...I haven't been able to follow Sen...
...14~is5Ub sure brought chuckles...
...Free Competition Dear Sirs: We enjoy the thought-stimulating news and information presented in The Progressive and hope that some day truth and justice will prevail throughout the earth...
...another, from 1893 to 1898—or five years...
...11 for the presentation of two articles on education, one to be written by Robert M. Hutchins, representing the Neo-Thomists, and the other, by John Dewey (Mr...
...L. G. S. Rome, NY...
...The crisis from 1929 to 1933 was not merely a depression, but an unparalleled panic...
...Take, for instance, the people who go to sea in palatial yachts for no other purpose than to see the effect of an iron hook in the throat of a baited fish, to enjoy the agony of the death struggle...
...This topic has formed quite a bit of controversy in the field where I am stationed...
...I have been asked by some high school students for my opinion regarding the voting age being reduced froth 21 to 18 years...
...George W. Jacobson, Secretary, Minneapolis, Minn...
...A. E. Friedell, widely-known city physician, and Mrs...
...Our great Lincoln said no nation can exist half free and half slave—can the world do it...
...Every writer, including those on the editorial page, are 100 per cent for humanity...
...Gag Derby Dear Sirs: Judging from the way the Presi-dentiarcampaign is starting out, it looks as though the guy who can pull the fastest gags and get the mostest laughs, is going to win...
...In my opinion, the one little year of compulsory military training is an intelligent step toward a preparedness program for any future aggressors, and at the same- time is teaching our citizens of tomorrow how to adapt themselves to a variety of environments...
...La Fol-lette's work and for many of your ¦writers—Ernest Meyer, McAlister Coleman, for instance—makes me renew The Progressive, although most of my friends are dropping it because of what seem almost spiteful attacks on the President...
...How so...
...Franklin D. Roosevelt's statement follows: "And while I am talking to you mothers and fathers I give you one more assurance...
...Mayer Carried Away Dear Sirs: When The Progressive arrives with Milton Mayer's name on the index of contributors I, as possibly many others, read him first...
...What respect he must have for the folks in the armed forces...
...Why not educate for a better world to live in by advocating the use of Henry George's masterpiece, Progress and Poverty, in the high schools as a textbook in economics...
...What did he do...
...ensign P. H. ' ! c/o Fleet P. O. New York, N. Y. * * * Antidote For Hooey Dear Sirs: The Progressive is a godsend to more than a dozen of us here...
...If you cannot see beyond the carrot dangling in front of your nose and still want to be a donkey or an elephant for that matter, that is your privilege...
...The machine voter can wait...
...and the irony is that they think they are outstandingly intelligent...
...EL* K. Golds borough * * * . Mayer's Genius Dear Sirs: The more by Milton Mayer the better...
...John G. McDonald . San Francisco, Calif...
...I offer my strategy to Mr...
...If-Benedict Arnold was a traitor for attempting to turn over West Point fo the British, what about turning over the whole United States to the British...
...He knew the population and location of our large cities, our national holidays and the reasons for them, and the biographies of Jefferson and Lincoln and Roosevelt...
...Johns type of learning process, with its non-elective system, its worship of the past, and its tendency to create a cultural elite...
...The country is also flooded with pictorial posters, showing the American war effort and also pictures of Allied political and military leaders...
...Johns vs...
...This is a free country...
...Pass This Paper On...
...Isn't it possible to go on with your great liberal work without personal attacks ? I do admire every moment, I think, of Sen...
...the 'W^5o.i£M^ea'-" i FuJ*fr" more, I hope the article or Otto will stress and elaborate upon such points as: 1. The error of those who believe that education in the liberal arts can only be obtained from a set number of great books, since anyone who seeks comprehensive education does not, in such a manner, exclude from his consideration all the other rich and varied sources which are available...
...WasneJ' On Germans Deaf" Sirs: Your editorial about the good Germans in the Sept...
...The flimsy houses constructed without hardship or sacrifice were easily demolished by the enemy, but the brick house made with labor and sweat was safe from the threats of the enemy...
...I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again...
...Milton Shrader, Sr...
...The purpose of our defense is defense...
...For Humanity Dear Sirs: You have a wonderful magazine...
...To me there is only one answer: If 18 years of age is a qualification to fight in a war, it should likewise qualify that individual for voting...
...In place of pro-German sentiment, which used to be common, we now have an increasingly warm feeling for the United States...
...second Vice Pres., Joseph Gilbert, former editor of the Midland Cooperator...
...What the people want to know from Washington is as follows: Will our great military establishment and large natural resources by secret treaties be guaranteed to the use of foreign powers for the purpose of upholding and perpetuating such monstrous abominations of slavery and oppression as the African and Asiatic empires of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium...
...Bachur's letter, of writing such a paper myself, and submitting it to The Progressive, but I gladly bow to those who, by virtue of their training and reputation, are obviously more qualified to do it than I. However, I take the liberty of suggesting a title which I believe to he rjjDriate here: "St...
...As a result more socialistic . legislation has been enacted than the Socialist Party could ever have put across as a major party in office against organized opposition...
...who spoke Ejiglish weirandtknew more"ab6tlt tne'uni ted States than most 14-year old boys at home...
...See the CIO Political Action Committee as a case in point...
...and even 2,294, as under Hoover...
...Manistee, Mich...
...The depressij* began in 1923, and lasted 6 years prior to 1929, when it flowered into a panic, and continued as such until the accession of Roosevelt, or in all, from 1923 to 1933—10 years...
...Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars...
...Churchill, who represents and speaks for the British Empire, and the President of the United States are partners, so we arg now part of the British Empire...
...Well, what are you going to do about it...
...Or, to bring it closer home, you might even request such articles from Milton Mayer and Max Carl Otto, respectively...
...Mrs...
...Dewey asserts that the depression began in 1929, and that by 1934 it had lasted five years, or "longer than any other depression in America in 100 years...
...I especially like Mrs...
...I had seriously thought, even before seeing Mr...
...Harry P. Galke Riverside, Calif...
...In the name of all that's holy, just what are you trying to do...
...The Board of Trustees is extending to all individuals and organizations throughout the area, interested in honoring the memory of Mr...
...South American Report Dear Sirs: I am "somewhere in South America" in charge of a 26-man gun crew on a merchant ship...
...The fund is incorporated under the name of the E. G. Cort Memorial Fund...
...You can't and don't like Dewey...
...One or the other of these parties is bound to win because of the party machine system, Which, carried to extreme, has wrecked democratic governments through the world...
...He tried to turn over the military post at West Point to the British and was to be rewarded by 2 commission as general in the British Army together with a large sum of money...
...Raul, Minn., to whom checks or donations should be sent...
...It is the only way to make one's vote carry weight...
...25 number of The Progressive reminds me that you must not confuse the present German nation with the good Germans who inhabit Wisconsin, and who are descended from the old Carl Schurz democrats who came over in the middle of the last century...
...I informed the gentleman I was a full-blooded Englishman and asked him if he ever heard of Ben-* edict Arnold...
...Secretary, George W. Jacobson, Secretary-Treas., Group Health Mutual Incorporated, St...
...E. A. Bowen, General Secretary, Cooperative League of the United States, Chicago, 111...
...Eric Johnston wants to see this same economic system perpetuated...
...Issue after issue spreads hate for our allies, pity for their deadly enemies, contempt for our Government (in time of war...
...oscar F. peterson Seattle, Wash...
...You would be interested in the fine work being done by Nelson Rockefeller's office — much in evidence all over this country...
Vol. 8 • October 1944 • No. 42
