THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM ¦ ¦ ¦ A Soldier's Faith Dear Sirs: As a regular subscriber I read the People's Forum and am much interested in the points of view expressed. The enclosed copy of a letter from...
...In all the past years, because of the profit system, employment and prices of farm produce went up and down, depending on foreign markets...
...Barnes writing again...
...If Harry Hopkins, who advocates perpetual policing of stricken nations, would compare the skull of a German with a Briton, Russian, or American, like the seer, he would detect no difference...
...Remember the words of Abraham Lincoln: "Give first, and at all times, high esteem to labor, for had labor not existed first, capital could not have existed...
...The drive put on by the old American Legion and V.F.W...
...I believe that most of us still possess some of that spark of liberty which caused our ancestors to fight a war for independence...
...Paper money issued exclusively by Government could periodically be exchangeable for old issues, at a small discount...
...to recruit members from this war is looked on with suspicion...
...No matter if this incurable disease was long standing, the youth is inducted if at the time he is called all symptoms are arrested...
...It makes one wonder whether it is worth our while to do away with fascism in Europe and Asia if in doing so we allow the same evil to get such a hold on our own country...
...It is addressed to the leader of the Humanist movement in this area and he has given his permission for reproduction...
...I had commenced to think that he was not going to write any more...
...Once a nephritic, always a nephritic...
...Not we, but the capitalists and their defenders stand on a "level with thieves...
...Jesse T. Kennedy Chicago, Ill...
...Harold Fox Renton, Wash...
...Mrs...
...If this gross debt of the United States of $300,000,000,000 would be levied on a per capita basis of the 1940 United States census, showing a population of 131,669,275, the per capita debt would be $2,278.43...
...E. B. Hill California Hot Springs, Calif...
...It controls the press, the churches, police, military, and political leaders...
...The laborers are in a majority, let us have it so.Why any more dictatorship...
...2 when I went to the hospital and survived for the second time in a year a major operation...
...Bones And Gold Dear Sirs: An ancient ruler, observing a philosopher digging into a pile of bones, asked him what he was doing...
...He gave the President hell for meddling in private business...
...Briefly stated: Money of today is hoardable and accordingly demands interest...
...Sire, I am searching for the bones of your illustrious ancestors but am unable to distinguish between them and your slaves...
...This pseudo-panacea for protection against future aggression is a straight path to World War III...
...Edmund K. Goldsborough Washington, D. C. * * * The Army And Nephritics Dear Sirs: Thousands of parents of the 18 year-old infantry replacements are greatly concerned over the policy of the Army...
...Nevertheless it is latent and Army fatigue may cause a recurrence...
...If profits are to be made, the laborers are prohibited from using and enjoying what they produce, but if the foreign markets will buy all the produce that the laborers cannot buy, then there is a chance of full employment...
...The "Gold Standard" and an elastic currency are the most colossal frauds of all time ever perpetrated upon gullible people...
...She is worried, but she has hope...
...Bear with me and all orders for samples, bundles, and subs will be filled...
...I took the job prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...
...I would like to know more about cooperatives...
...Mayer Misunderstood Dear Sirs: We sure enjoy reading The Progressive...
...Could you or some of your many readers tell me this: What right has our Government to make laws which permit a draft of labor, as has been contemplated, or for that matter, either wartime or peace-time military conscription...
...Praise For Lincoln Dear Sirs: I greatly enjoyed the article, "The Revolution Against Scarcity" by Murray Lincoln in the March 26 issue...
...Mr...
...The cost of mailing this time will be $150 in postage, plus labor which I hope to deliver at no cost...
...With the profit system eliminated and no one permitted to make a living off of those that do labor, every man, woman, and child could enjoy the comforts and pleasures of life to the extent of our capacity to produce...
...Ida Toexfert Cincinnati, O. Forum Supplement Dear Sirs: Why wouldn't it be a good idea to issue the People's Forum as an 8-page supplement and charge $2 a year extra for same...
...Mayer...
...Mosher could have told that it was impossible for the business men and industrialists to get more money from the laborers and farmers than what they paid them...
...It is tragic enough to send poorly trained 18 year-olds into battle, but extremely inhuman to so expose a nephritic...
...It is a collective society of international gangsters, with cartels in every nation where human exploitation is permitted by rent, interest, and profit, and above all, it is a continuous system of destruction of the best in man and woman because it will not permit any lasting good to develop...
...All told his speech was a lot of generalities that explained nothing...
...To me it seems that conscription in any form is forbidden by our 13th Amendment, for isn't conscription, if not slavery, at least involuntary servitude...
...Here in a foreign land, we become acquainted with our neighbor and in the exchange of ideas we find common ground, a desire for a better world, a respect for the other man's opinion, a breaking of old traditions and a grasping of new progressive ideas...
...In advocating the abolition of capitalism as it now affects land and money, we do not mean the abolition of private property in what men create or of private management but rather instead to remove present restrictions upon men's initiative and energy and by so doing to increase opportunity for all...
...However, a challenge is made which I feel impelled to answer...
...I like your paper just as it is...
...These experiences have renewed my faith in the innate goodness of man and I feel the strength of its power pushing onward to a better world...
...After a long period of continuous flying in Burma, this land of Pagodas, green jungles of teakwood and bamboo, colorful Burmese, and yellow rice paddies, I've earned a j week's rest, a time to sleep long hours, to eat good American rations on our picnic tables out of doors...
...The notion of keeping millions of Germans, Japanese, Italians, and others in everlasting subjection, on account of the misdeeds of their rulers, is hardly consistent with the principles embodied in the Atlantic Charter, not to mention the Four Freedoms...
...It is difficult to understand why earnest souls who have the welfare of humanity at heart do not seriously study the epoch making works of Silvio Gesell, more especially The Natural Economic Order and The Foundations of Peace, for until familiar with his practical, irrefutable teachings it is well nigh impossible for anyone to discuss intelligently land and currency problems...
...I work in a war plant...
...c/o Postmaster N. Y. * * * Mrs...
...Laurie and Harold Steere Minneapolis, Minn...
...He gave no explanation why there would be more jobs, nor why there ever was a shortage of jobs...
...If Congress should pass a labor-draft law I am sure that a great many of the farm and industrial workers (including myself) who are trying hard to do their best for victory will no longer feel any patriotic obligation to work at their assigned posts...
...There is no hope unless the working people, the producers of the country, organize in one great body which will fight capitalism everywhere...
...There can easily be two cars in every garage and a chicken in every pot and every Hottentot can have a quart, or even a gallon of milk every day...
...La Follette's Faith Dear Sirs: That article "Room of Our Own" in the March 26 issue deserves a second and third reading as well as reprinting...
...Capitalist ownership is continuous graft and alienation...
...Here in America, as elsewhere, "The Snag" is that we cannot have constant, full employment for all, because capacity production inevitably destroys the interest system...
...In spite of political bungling and the waste of material and manpower caused by cost-plus contracts, I remained enthusiastic about my job and hopeful that I was helping to shorten the struggle for victory, but when I consider the present governmental interference with private rights, such as restrictions on the right to change jobs and to earn one's living wherever and in whatever manner one chooses, especially when the lack of work makes one feel that he is only a surplus employe, I certainly lose a lot of my enthusiasm...
...John Gamper Medford, Wis...
...I urge you to keep up your noble work and to do everything in your power to campaign against passage of such a bill...
...It is the object of any good government to see to it that labor gets the full social value of its finished products...
...Then some of those narrow minds that wish to cancel their paper on account of what some contributor said, could just cancel the supplement and still keep on reading The Progressive itself...
...The only way I can interpret the Army's ruthless policy is that it expects that serious symptoms of the inducted nephritics will not incapacitate them as soldiers before they are killed in battle...
...26 you printed a very fine letter from His Grace, The Duke of Bedford, one of Britain's most distinguished liberal thinkers and a worthy exemplar of the grand old motto, noblesse oblige...
...Give A Friend The Truth Send Him The Progressive Today Against Labor Draft Dear Sirs: I know nothing of the secrets of the legal profession, but I can read, and I have, I think, average intelligence...
...I ask: 'Would you rather have us rule you?' Their answer: 'We don't want to exchange one master for another...
...Unhoardable money need not necessarily be "stamped money" or in any way less convenient than traditional money...
...Why should it be allowed to continue to breed wars and innumerable crimes, engulfing countless millions in misery and despair...
...Nick Theisen Antigo, Wis...
...If it doesn't hurt one person to labor, it won't hurt another...
...In the evenings I watch the Indians preparing their rice curry and baking their flat bread called 'Cha-patties' on their black wood stoves...
...Likes Roll Calls Dear Sirs: We want to thank you for your Feature Supplement and Review, especially for the excellent listing of the way our Senators and Congressmen vote on various relevant issues...
...L. Miller Houston, Tex...
...In a natural economic order, money would be subject to a periodical demurrage assessment, which would positively prevent its withdrawal from circulation, thereby simplifying Government regulation in complete control of volume of output, velocity of circulation, and stabilization of values, all of which are indispensably essential in a truly scientific monetary system...
...We are a nation of 400 million souls, we have our own destiny.' "My squadron is made up of men from all states in the Union, we argue the merits of the North and South, the Negro problem, national health and venereal disease, Government projects like the TVA, Boulder and Shasta Dams, socialized medicine, postwar planning, and international alliances...
...It is too bad though that some people can't get any good out of the opposite side to their ideas, as is so evident in the Forum...
...So all promises of jobs are just so much hooey as long as profits are collected...
...Lincoln, capitalism is not private in any sense of the word...
...Isabel La Follette is fully aware of our nation's difficult position at the present time...
...This is the "Iron Law" of our unnatural money system...
...I was ready to run Coalition Bulletin No...
...The enclosed copy of a letter from one in India would seem to be timely and appropriate for printing during the San Francisco Conference...
...W. T. APO 690—165th Ln...
...I feel the same way about the subject as the Idaho Senator...
...We talk in a mixture of Hindustani and English...
...It is not a true medium of exchange but a cruel means of exploitation...
...To many the most interesting part of The Progressive is what John Q. Public thinks, and this would enable you to publish most of the letters received...
...I have read the Constitution of the United States...
...R. H. Knapp Saginaw, Mich...
...Sqdn 1st Air Commando Grp...
...All the billions that were spent for pump-priming (job making) he shied around and did not explain why such vast spending did not make plenty of permanent jobs...
...to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin...
...Send A Gift Subscription Today Our Debt Dear Sirs: Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States reads in part: "Congress shall have powers to levy and collect taxes, duties, imports and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States, but all duties, imports and excises shall be uniform through the United States...
...Our present system demands interest-tribute...
...If the enemy doesn't kill him, then he is damned to the creeping death of Bright's disease—with all his mental faculties as keen as those who enjoy the full measure of health—as a result of his Army life...
...It cannot be reformed, it must be abolished before it destroys civilization...
...D. Bahnsen Watsonville, Calif...
...Quite frequently, some of your contributors very nearly "hit the nail on the head" but unfortunately miss it when they either ignore or purposely evade the all important thing in economics: "Dated Money...
...I was more than pleased to find Mr...
...Here in a fantastic foreign country of Rangoon and Kipling's Man-dalay, I sit in the shade of a burned and blackened brick building and exchange my political and social ideas with British Tommies sitting cross legged with their Sten guns across their knees, talk to the fighting Scotch, whose regiment made history in this 'Green Hell,' listen to the exploits of the Aussies and Spitfire pilots, all these men who in combat zones freely criticize and praise the respective merits of their governments, their social life, and their traditions...
...without it, no circulation, no production, no employment, no wages...
...So for these men to make a profit, or get more money than they formerly had, they must have a foreign market for goods...
...I can find nothing in it to repeal or refute the 13th Amendment which states in part, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as in punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction...
...I see a great hope for the future in this breaking down of national boundaries and this blending of the personalities of the world, a friendliness of men for men, disregarding nationality or race or religious convictions, and feeling the common ground in their desire for lasting peace and social and economic security, a friendship grounded on personal contact with men in their own society, rather than a fear created by a misguided or corrupted press...
...Ray Johnson L. L. Wilber Akron, O. * * * Kennedy Explains Dear Sirs: In fairness to The Progressive for selling me advertising space for the sale of pamphlets I want to state that subs and bundle orders are piling in...
...Renew Your Subscription Today Jobs And Capitalism Dear Sirs: Recently - Ira Mosher of South-bridge, Mass., president of the National Association of Manufacturers, gave the people here in Houston a pep talk...
...Controlling as it now does, his income through taxation and determining to a great extent bis daily activities, the modern state is constantly and increasingly infringing upon the natural rights of the individual...
...In the 79th Congress on March 12,1945 a Bill H. R. 2404 was introduced providing for the increase of the public debt of the United States from $260,000,000,000 to $300,000,-000,000 and to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to sell or exchange bonds, notes, or securities, not in excess of a million dollars to any single issuer...
...I think some people just do not understand Mr...
...Only by living according to a strict saltless diet and refraining from all excessive physical exercise can the symptoms of this dread disease be arrested...
...Permanent Prosperity Dear Sirs: In the People's Forum of Mar...
...less to the rule of gold...
...The working people have produced all wealth, and the capitalists have simply confiscated it, and are confiscating it every day...
...I read every article and enjoy them all...
...Keep up the good work...
...George Smokey Westfield, Ia...
...I liked the article in your Mar...
...Only in freedom can an individual, a community, or a nation enjoy genuine prosperity...
...The mail piled in all these weeks but only today did I begin opening up and extracting the welcome dimes, even dollars...
...Also to make a profit, goods must be priced higher than the laborers were paid for their production and distribution...
...We discuss their 1,000 years of British rule, their long fight for independence...
...E. O. Corson Berkeley, Calif...
...Pseudo Panacea' Dear Sirs: In the interest of youth, I most heartily disapprove of peacetime military training...
...Marguerite P. Cain Berkeley, Calif...
...She has what it takes: faith in the American people...
...Money of today, as issued by U. S. banking corporations, is unconstitutional...
...Opposed To Lincoln Dear Sirs: Murray D. Lincoln, in writing on "The Revolution Against Scarcity," has certainly misinformed us all when he makes this statement, "Our system of private enterprise and capitalism built western civilization...
...Said he: "Following victory, there will be a job for everybody who wants one, and when business is in full swing, after reconversion there will be 30 per cent more jobs available than there were before the war...
...Hasn't the time arrived for politicians to devote more thought to the Golden Rule and...
...1/Sgt...
...Be sure to continue that...
...Only by such methods can hoarding and usury be abolished, the rapid and constant distribution of goods be accomplished, the price-level be established, invulnerable provisions made for savings deposits, old-age securities, etc...
...I was under no threat of compulsion and I acted of my own free will...
...What's worse, the Army has inducted chronic nephritics among the 18 year-olds...
...It differs from commodities of trade, mainly in that it does not deteriorate nor depreciate with use or the passing of time, as does all else in civilization and in nature...
...In short, capitalism controls all natural resources, money, commerce, transportation lines, Congress, courts, legislatures, and executives...
...They like the American, his generosity, his ability to talk as an equal not as a superior, they admire our trucks, jeeps, planes, and fighting equipment and want them, they want education, modern farm equipment, hospitals...
...26 issue, entitled "Confessions Of A Cost-plus Loafer...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 18
