THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . Nd Credit To Clergy Dear Sirs: The Paris clergyman who on Sept. 17 advocated and urged the killing of every German, making no distinction between soldier or...
...I wonder why...
...I get quite a kick out of Dewey's Willkie "campaign oratory...
...It was a start...
...and out of that pay a sales tax on practically everything we buy, and being chiseled on every street by merchants, all having a different price on goods...
...I am against intolerance...
...I heard a prayer offered by an Episcopal High Church priest in which he asked God to annihilate the Germans and protect our forces, going into detail for punishment desired...
...Robert Gordon Sproul, this group believes that "whenever and wherever the Constitutional guarantees are violated in the treatment of a minority, no matter how unpopular or helpless, the whole fabric of American government is weakened, its whole effectiveness impaired...
...He "views with alarm" the record and the result of 12 years of Democrat Administration...
...A protest meeting drew only about one-third as many people as the meeting in support of returning evacuees to the Coast...
...Your paper is indeed an example of a truly free press and as such must be continued in every state and city of these United States...
...You know, the writers in your pages—and they can't be praised too much — are awfully good at pointing out blind spots, inconsistencies, and hidden motives in other people and other groups...
...H. H. Ophus Erskine, Minn...
...Awaken, brothers...
...Better Than Dewey' Dear Sirs: Perhaps it is true that President Roosevelt has not given us the kind of liberal government we had a right to expect, but he is still so much better than Dewey that there can be only one choice for right-thinking Americans...
...Dewey and the GOP in the coining election...
...I agree with Sutton and believe Chamberlin was somewhat in error in thinking the USSR guilty of onesided and unfair brutalitarianism in her wartime dealings with Finland...
...Frank Schultz lone, Wash...
...But v/e may as well recognize the fact that the next President will be either Dewey or Roosevelt...
...These young Americans are aware of the fact that our ideals are constantly being challenged at home—not only abroad...
...Help...
...An early tabulation showed the score to be 96 in favor of the board's policy, and six against...
...Prior to this time the tools of production were crude and simple and were owned by the worker who used them...
...William H. Hughes Fayetville, Ark...
...However, what I'm thinking about is that in 1934, with some millions of elderly people in this country in want, with no possible way of relief except charity, and that denied generally, our Government said we could not afford to pension these people—that a $2,-000,000,000 fund, set up by the Government to start off pensions, would bankrupt the nation...
...Prior to World War II, German Army officers carried out an intensive training of Finland's Army...
...In 1934, there was a fantastic pension plan put out called the Town-send Plan...
...The Progressive would well serve the cause of liberalism in throwing its weight for F.D.R...
...For that reason, I shall vote for Norman Thomas...
...Could it possibly be the deluge of propaganda which the press is publishing so freely, urging Congress to let down our immigration bars so that certain industries can get an additional supply of low-wage labor...
...All the snobs in town are for him for the first time because they want to do what Churchill wants done...
...The machine owning class wanting cheap labor and high profits, and a property-less working class wanting high wage's...
...It is necessary that we secure for ourselves an honest new deck, that is, an entirely new economic system based on peace, plenty, and freedom for all...
...For all practical purposes, the Presidency will be given to Mr...
...A hampered press will be a great loss to the freedom which each citizen of this country or any country is entitled to...
...He seems to be under the impression that the American people have forgotten that period of American history...
...Help...
...At the University of California in Los Angeles, a group of World War II veterans approved unanimously the return of loyal Japanese-Americans...
...Another store wanted 18 cents for the same item, and only 10 blue points...
...Help the Poles, brother...
...If we can be yelled at via radio and newspaper to dig down and help every country in the world, why can't we be prompted to help our own aged fathers and mothers ? In this land of ours the war will soon be over...
...Dear Sirs: It's said that the pen is mightier than the sword...
...Dewey is an ardent exponent of the laissez-faire philosophy and it is hardly likely that the common people of this country will benefit by any constructive social welfare legislation if he is elected...
...These plans would have barred the USSR from every sea lane in the West, including, of course, the closing of the Black Sea later with the conquest of a frightened Tur-key-in-Europe...
...However, the Soldier Vote Law provides that time will be granted only for rebroadcasts of political talks...
...Letters poured in...
...It shows what a vast influence you have when nearly 50 letters will come to one who only has a small item in your columns...
...The need is great, great, great...
...The Hitler inner circle also agreed with the Japanese inner circle (long-before the Nazi invasion of the USSR) that when the Nazi armies drove the Soviet armies behind the Ural Mountains, the Japanese were to seize the entire USSR Pacific coast, including American bases for airplanes and submarines off the Alaskan coast...
...Galen M. Harvey Elkton, Oreg...
...Using this party as a means they swept themselves into political supremacy in 1860, and for many years thereafter they controlled the political policy of the nation...
...Socialists have been told for so many years that they were "throwing their votes away" that by this time the argument is stale and more than a little tiresome to hear...
...Among other notable social reforms achieved by the present Administration, the people's bank deposits have been insured against loss, the people's homes have been saved by the HOLC from foreclo-sure,and they have built new homes through the FHA...
...I'm for him because I think Dewey is a fake, and I guess that's reason enough...
...It must be gratifying to those who really contribute large and more extensive articles to receive the attention which must be theirs from interested readers all over the world...
...Under no other leader in recent times has the working man achieved the exalted status he now enjoys...
...Whidden Graham New York, N. Y. The Republicrats Dear Sirs: Since the publication of my For-um letter entitled, "F...
...Dear Sirs:The progressive-minded of these United States have1 only one choice —Franklin Delano Roosevelt...
...It will soon be Nov...
...That is all there is to it...
...Inasmuch as we have to put up with one of them, I'm hoping that it will be Roosevelt...
...Ned Mauston Los Angeles, Calif...
...The elderly people will again be in want and hunger...
...The talks are being made, but we need the help of all American progressives and liberals to raise the $15,000 to pay for them...
...Thomas appears to stand for just what you want, a person wonders what is holding you back...
...Norman Thomas and the Socialist Party were the first to ask for that right, challenge Acting War Secretary McCloy's reversal of the War Department's original grant of time, and then contact and work with other parties to the end that all might be heard by the millions of Americans abroad...
...If carried out in that manner it will be the foundation laid down for future world war...
...Those letters merely show the whims or fancy of the newspaper...
...Roosevelt or Mr...
...Policy Of Negation Dear Sirs: I disagree with your condemnation of the Administration and your views on the international situation...
...John Pearson Red Granite, Wis...
...You forget that it is 25 years since we ruined our other chance at a lasting peace, and that many conditions are different...
...Your policy of negation is harming the progressive movement and if it were applied to the international situation, another war would be inevitable...
...To those writers I want to say, with all the emphasis possible, that / am ¦not...
...Nor have they forgotten what happened when the bubble burst: the most destructive, devastating, widespread, and distressful depression in the country's history...
...7, and also the fine letter of Melvin Sutton of Shelton, Washington, in your People's Forum of Aug...
...Alice K. Sturtzen Milwaukee, Wis...
...j. B. Kniskern Chicago, 111...
...Dewey's shoes, there would be a purpose in sniping at Mr...
...It called for $200 a month for all over 60 years who were in want...
...or to recall the multiplied billions of war profits, the freezing of wages to the "Little Steel" formula, the Baruch-Han-cock postwar plan, with Will Clayton to operate it, the anti-strike law of a Democrat Congress, etc...
...From that time Germany and Great Britain actually dictated Finland's foreign policy...
...7, the day on which we must either save the country or let it go to Helen Damnation...
...Being a good Republican, Mr...
...Looks like Tweedledum and Tweedledee to me...
...As evidence of this, one has only to read the national platforms of the two parties...
...17 advocated and urged the killing of every German, making no distinction between soldier or civilian, and in the destruction of men, women, and 'children, claiming he knew the spirit of the Bible, ought to be chained to a field piece in the infantry and put in the front lines...
...Their presiding officer said, "We do not think that Japanese-Americans should be discriminated against on the basis of their race...
...His election will put an end to this nation being dictated to by Stalin and Churchill...
...For more than two years this issue has been held before the public by the Committee on American Principles and Fair Play...
...Therefore, we must put on our talks over domestic radio stations and make enough transcriptions to reach the 120 army radio stations abroad...
...It would appear now that there is a conspiracy between both old parties to take the vital issue of foreign policy out of politics...
...At this time we are faced by a very similar situation...
...But won't you, in the interests of democracy, help give us the chance to be heard by the men and women overseas...
...It has been this kind of teaching that has emptied the church pews, filled the taverns, jails, and prisons of the world...
...Russia For Refugees - Dear Sirs: A dull radio commentator announces his great discovery: that the letters-to-the-editor in our newspapers are the best barometers of public sentiment...
...In view of Dewey's record in public office up to this time he will in my opinion make a good President, certainly a distinct improvement...
...When I consider the many excellent articles that have appeared in your paper since I became a reader of it early in 1942, it is inconceivable to me that you could logically give your support to either Roosevelt or Dewey...
...Arthur Roos San Jose, Calif...
...7 will exercise his precious privilege and vital duty in casting his ballot for that candidate who he believes will best serve the welfare of all the American people...
...Truly Free Press' Dear Sirs: Thank you for publishing my recent letter in The Progressive...
...Please make out your check to the Overseas Radio Fund, Socialist Party, 303 Fourth Ave., New York 10, New York...
...W. V. Moore Granger, Ind...
...In every Presidential election there are many people who are so afraid of "throwing their votes away" that they can convince themselves that Tweedledee is just a tiny bit better than Tweedledum...
...This is a very bad suggestion and is against Christian principles...
...In some states the national ticket of Thomas and Hoopes will not be on the ballot because of restrictive ballot laws...
...An interesting revelation of the thinking of young people came into the controversy...
...Guess I'll support Norman Thomas...
...The years of peace ahead will enable him to give us a new and better version of the New Deal...
...Choice Dear Sirs: It's Roosevelt and/or reaction...
...If a La Follette were now in Mr...
...If all those people who really believe that Norman Thomas and the Socialist program offer the only real hope would vote for him instead of the lesser of two evils, much progress would be made...
...The liberalism of The Progressive is exemplary, but its lack of .realism during the present political campaign is to be regretted...
...A campus poll conducted by the Junior College Chronicle showed 90 per cent of opinion favorable to the school's "open door" policy...
...Los Angeles newspapers tried to sensationalize the event, and for a brief two or three days it looked as if the home-front was in great danger...
...According to Dr...
...What a craven people we are to hear those pleas day in and day out via radio and still continue to live on our pension of $50 a month...
...William McDermid Chicago, 111...
...His election will render impotent the foreign isms of Earl Browder and Sidney Hillman, and break the backs of the powerful corrupt political machines that now have a strangle-hold upon several of our larger cities...
...After the abolition of chattel slavery, that party attempted to look after the material interests of the Middle Class—the small capitalists of the country which were being crowded" out, or absorbed, by Big Business under the protecting wing of the G. O. P. Recently, however, the Democratic Party has become, jointly with the Republican party, the political agent of Big Business...
...Harry Fleischman Socialist Party, New York, N. Y. * * * For F.D.R...
...Both of these deals came from the same old outworn deck of marked cards...
...It's what you believe and what you stand for...
...History would in all probability repeat itself and the people would again face the emptiness and inadequacies of the Harding-Coolidge-Hoo-ver era...
...Another store said to forget the points, but the price was 25 cents...
...Those persons residing in those states who want to vote Socialist should write in the names of the candidates or the names of the electors where that is required...
...It is a lone oasis of sanity and humanity in a war-mad, world-weary age...
...I with several others left the meeting, not that we were not good Americans, and hoped for victory for our forces, but because of the brass of his appeal...
...through housing projects many people have been salvaged from the slums, through the monumental TVA the people of that vast valley have enjoyed the blessings of electricity at nominal cost...
...In the large meeting, Dillon S. Meyer and Robert A. Millikan discussed fairly and squarely all issues brought up by the opposition...
...Dewey says he is for all the programs of the New Deal, and he wants a chance to show how good they are by running the show...
...George F. Curry Martins Ferry, O. * * * Roosevelt Or Ruin Dear Sirs: It's Roosevelt or ruin when you get down to it...
...George Barr Chicago, 111...
...While the latter is not as leftist as the La Follettes would like to see him be, the former represents the extreme right...
...John Warmer Los Angeles, Calif...
...It would indeed be unfortunate to hand over the reins of government to the inexperienced hands of Thomas E. Dewey who was so lacking in statesmanship as to vociferously oppose Lend-Lease on the fantastic grounds that it would "bring an end to free government in the United States and abolish Congress for all practical purposes...
...We have had the New Deal and before that we had the Old Deal...
...Again it will be said, "We can't afford to help our people...
...Concurrently, the Soviet bear, between the two vast droves of jackals, was to be assaulted by the Finnish whelp...
...Inasmuch as the election of any minor party candidate is out of the question at this time, progressives should help elect Dewey, thereby safeguarding our democratic institutions, so there will remain both hope and opportunity of electing a progressive President at some future election...
...William Hare Whittier, Calif...
...At the end of World War I, most of those gains were wiped out by native fascists with the assistance of fascists among the Allies, particularly by the help of fascists from Great Britain and France, and even from "newly-conquered" Germany...
...Both the Progressive and the Socialist parties have endorsed candidates outside their own camps, so it can't be lack of precedent...
...F.D.R...
...What...
...It may be in some respects, but not in crying for economic justice in this country...
...With the coming of the machine the means of production became too complex and too expensive to be used, or owned, by the individual workers...
...I agree that the government of Finland was probably more democratic under the late Czar than it has been since...
...Granted that there are many faults with the Administration and that Great Britain has a very undemocratic imperial policy, I still believe that an adherence to your policies would inevitably lead to placing the Republicans back in power and this would kill any chance of reforming our economic system in such a way that manage ment, labor, and farmer can prosper...
...Roosevelt...
...We know that either Roosevelt or Dewey will be our next President, because no other candidate has a Chinaman's chance...
...I do not believe that the people who were most personally and vitally affected by the conditions which existed during that period have forgotten that, after a Democratic Administration had safely and efficiently guided the nation through the difficult period of World War I, the three Republican Administrations which followed succeeded only in creating a period of "bubble prosperity...
...As an example, I wrote brief letters to 10 of our leading newspapers, pointing out that Russia has hundreds of millions of acres of vacant fertile lands, great forests, vast mineral and metal deposits, and huge waterpower resources, and asking, "Why not send the refugees from Poland, Rumania, Germany, and the Balkans to Russia...
...A vote for either of the two old party candidates will be interpreted as a stamp of approval for a campaign of personalities instead of an honest discussion of the real issues of our time...
...A one-man crusade against fair play gained support from a few intolerant patriots and from less than five anonymous letter-writing "cranks...
...His election will put an end to the regimentation that is surely leading to out and out dictatorship...
...I can think of some reasons but none of them weighty enough in this time of crisis...
...Most of the really democratic citizens were murdered, jailed, or put to flight...
...Russia And Finland Dear Sirs: I read the splendid article on Finland by William Henry Chamber-lin in your issue of Aug...
...what more do we need...
...I do not question that your intentions are of the highest but I believe your present application is wrong...
...There's not much choice...
...Today these Town-send people I hear have reduced the amount to $60 which is more reasonable, although not enough to live in decency...
...they organized themselves into a political party of their own, and called it the Republican Patty...
...Foundation For War Dear Sirs: I have heard over the radio that there was a squabble in the executive branch of the Administration over the suggestion made by Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau that the vanquished countries should be cut up into very small agricultural districts, thus depriving them of the chance of ever coming together again and forming a strong nation...
...During that time your contributors have continually exposed the sham and hypocrisy of the two old parties...
...Dear Sirs: The American citizen on Nov...
...But I would rather put my faith in the bunch that thought up social security and TVA and the others, than let a young newcomer take them over and perhaps wreck them...
...Thus were born in American soil ciety two distinct classes, with material interests diametrically opposed one to the other...
...Not one paper printed my letters...
...AVhat are we going to do about the bludgeoned Poles, the liberated French, the hounded Slovaks, the starving Greeks, the mud-bespattered Italians, the frightened Finns, the frozen Norskies...
...R. L. Smith Minneapolis, Minn...
...Finding no political party existing that would or could serve them, they acted wisely, and did as other well-organized and intelligent classes had done before and since...
...What did they do with their money...
...Your paper is doing all of us a great service, not only giving us an opportunity to express our views openly and without fear of being criticized or condemned and for the great number of important writers you have on your growing staff...
...Civil Rights In Pasadena Dear Sirs: Pasadena, Calif., city of roses and of quiet conservatism, had the spotlights of the nation focussed on it last week as Esther Takei, Nisei student, returned to the West Coast to enter Pasadena Junior College...
...Pasadena's school board stood firm in announcing that "the doors are open" to all American citizens...
...I hope that you will find it possible to give a clear and forthright endorsement to Norman Thomas, the only candidate for President who brings a message of hope for the future to the people of America...
...Help, help, help...
...Can We Afford Pensions...
...The old parties always take due notice when there is a marked increase in the Socialist vote...
...A large Socialist vote would loom large in the eyes of the old party politicians as a warning from the people that such conspiracies will not be tolerated in the future...
...Yet since, we've raised many times that amount and actually given it away to foreign lands with no idea of getting it back, in many instances...
...For Dewey Dear Sirs: Obviously Progressives would rather see Norman Thomas elected President than either major party candidate...
...Under the great autocrat was established the first universal suffrage for men and women and there were powerful democratic labor unions and an almost free system of parliamentarianism, including the ascendancy of the Social-Democratic Party, till prominent Finns were boasting their small country was the first dominion under the' iron heel of the Czar to become a socialist commonwealth...
...Hence they became the property of monied men, called capitalists, who hired the workers in groups to operate them...
...Dewey or to Mr...
...You know that the attitude of American veterans may be the greatest single factor in determining the political future of the United States—advance to real democracy or retreat to fascism...
...D. R. Has Never Been Left," I have received many letters, some from people I have never known, asking me if I am supporting Gov...
...We must not permit the postwar period immediately ahead of us to be bungled as was that which followed World War I. Surely it is not too much to hope that we learned something, at least, from that experience...
...Wasted Votes Dear Sirs: It is encouraging to see so many of my fellow readers of The Progressive endorsing the candidacy of Norman Thomas, the Socialist candidate for President...
...Contrast this incompetent thinking with the farsighted leadership of Franklin Roosevelt who was able to foresee what dangers lurked ahead for the American people and had the fortitude to initiate those measures necessary for our national security in spite of the hue and cry raised by our extreme isolationists...
...John Friday Luke, Md...
...I have not, however, heard of him "pointing with pride" to the record and the result of the 12 previous years under the administrations of the "three blind (Republican) mice...
...Three Blind Mice' Dear Sirs: "It won't be long now...
...Roosevelt...
...To me you appear in a false position...
...The family in whose home the Nisei student is a guest issued a statement agreeing with Associate Justice Frank Murphy who said, "It isn't blood that makes an American...
...And live in California on $50 a month, old and unable to work, under a Republican governor who worked for Hoover against Roosevelt...
...The Democratic Party was, prior to the Civil War, the political guardian of the slave-holding autocracy of the South...
...False Position Dear Sirs: I wonder why The Progressive does not endorse Norman Thomas for President or, failing that, explain why not...
...The Soviet government, now haying a copy of the Hitler timetable covering the Ukraine to the Ural Mountains and the proposed Jap seizure of her Pacific coast, as well as a knowledge of the Finnish and Chamberlain duplicity, would have indeed been asinine and naive not to have started preparing for immediate war with the marionette and its first master...
...The response to the first one I had in your splendid paper a few weeks ago brought an avalanche of letters from interested parties in all sections of the country...
...You may not agree with everything we have to say about these issues...
...As a result of a friendly national policy, the manufacturing class has grown from the "Infant Industries" of 100 years ago into the huge combines, corporations, trusts, monopolies, and cartels of today...
...W. C. Morse Orange, N. J. * * * Oasis Of Sanity Dear Sirs: I read many other magazines, but The Progressive is the most interesting and instructive publication in America...
...Dewey and Mr...
...Appeal For Aid Dear Sirs: Knowing readers of The Progressive, we are sure they want real democracy and are proud, as we are, that democracy has scored again with the granting of equal time to all political parties for overseas broadcasts to soldiers on campaign issues...
...Give to the Dutch, the Chinese, the Bul-gars—give, give, give...
...Each such violation establishes an evil precedent which is inevitably turned against another minority later, and eventually against the very principle on which our nation is founded, namely, the dignity and worth of the human individual...
...has emphasized the social character of beneficial human endeavor and has done much legislatively to counteract the odious philosophy that human labor is but a commodity...
...This man is not the only one of the cloth that advocates and condones such action...
...I (and no one else) have to live with my conscience for the rest of my life...
...His election will put an end to the bungling, inefficiency, and corruption in government that is so obvious at the present time...
...Past records speak for themselves...
...W. E. Fitzsimons Denver, Colo...
...Reason Enough Dear Sirs:, Frankly I can't stand the company I'm keeping, but I'm for President Roosevelt for a fourth term anyway...
...It is his kind of religion that has been taught the peoples of the world the past 2,000 years and has been the cause of wars and murder and brutality...
...It Will Make New Friends...
...For F.D.R...
...As Josh Billings used to say, "The gentleman is mistook...
...Since you cannot endorse either Mr...
...As an intelligent working man, I could never support the political party of the original and continuous exploiters of labor...
...I happen to know that the Republican Party is now, and has been since its formation, a few years prior to the Civil War, the business agent on the political field of the monopolistic capitalist class...
...Pass This Paper On...
...The main question to be answered was: "Have the American principles of individual freedom been preserved—or lost—during this war...
...He can offer promises only, as did his predecessors of the preceding decade...
...Certainly he is more desirable than Dewey and more practical than Thomas...
...The laboring man has good cause to retain our President in office...
...J. C. Thompson Mooringsport, La...
...The next President faces not only the formidable domestic problems of reconversion and reconstruction, but he will be charged, along with the leaders of the other nations, with the momentous task of formulating and enforcing those principles which will avert in the future the settlement of international disputes by brute force...
...The host's statement continued: "Pasadena has been a battle zone for civil liberties and it is to the continued credit of our community that the people have overwhelmingly shown themselves in favor of guaranteeing American principles to all its citizens...
...Yesterday I paid 20 cents for a can of vegetable juice and 20 blue points at one store...
...The murder and brutality going on all over the world today are no credit to the majority of the clergy...
...Dear Sirs: The radio shouts this morning to come to the assistance of the "cornered Chinese"—Give, give, give...
Vol. 8 • October 1944 • No. 44
