THE PEPOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . . Food And The Machine. Dear Sirs: "Happy are the people -whose annals are blank in history books." —Carlyle. * * * The leading nations of the world are all highly...
...That will come later when the quarrel over the spoils and markets begins...
...If so, do we not bear the judgment...
...and we have now an abnormal supply of money, and that supply is steadily increasing and will continue to do so...
...Those 11 million returning vets will only displace other workers now being used in industry and agriculture...
...I am personally as much interested in the progressive movement now as when I organized it for Sen...
...16 issue of The Progressive, which exposed all this "60 Million Jobs" talk as so much political balderdash...
...Could you persuade Mr...
...Della Bigelow Edmonds, Wash...
...Give A Friend The Truth Send Him The Progressive Today...
...The greatness of all nations was the result of their agriculture...
...How many boys have we to sacrifice for mere revenge...
...People who are subjected to daily doses of this mental treatment usually become hopeless as they think they are informed when in fact they are misinformed...
...New York, as the major city of the United States, has been living off of the products produced by people in all the other states for a period of over 150 years...
...Such objections, realistic enough then, are still noteworthy...
...But who protests...
...The same applies to Japan...
...Before we become a member of the "United Nations,"our people should make certain that the underlying principles of the charter are consonant with our aims and principles...
...If many of our young men live for 18 years without sufficient physical exercise and eat a deficiency diet, a year in the Army will not make them over into strong fighting men...
...Our Boy Scouts and other organizations could be greatly increased...
...What I value most is the tolerance and the logic of most of your contributors...
...The world certainly needs some quickening of the spirit...
...It seems like a big step toward total Fascism...
...More of us will be working for someone else...
...The banks are not only full of money beyond precedent, but also full of Government bonds, which can be made the basis of more money in the shape of Federal Reserve bank-notes...
...Schools and other groups could devote more time to sports and physical training...
...Think of selling such a formula to Woodrow Wilson...
...La Follette, Sr...
...Apparently we are fearful that these peace feelers aim to divide the Allies...
...Bread has always shaped a man's history...
...Our ship of state, torn .from her moorings by the violence of the tumultuous waves of world upheaval, cannot of course find safe harbor easily or soon...
...Unconditional Surrender seems pitifully inadequate...
...How may our forces placed at the disposal of the new organization be used...
...An automatic increase of $5 or so every 6 months or a year for a period of about 2 years to every man in good standing among the lower grades would be desirable...
...Inasmuch as some 57 per cent of all American families have never, according to the U. S. Statistical Abstract, enjoyed as much as $1,200 per year of gross income, they would not pay a penny of the tax...
...Official and semi-official expounders of the Charter are telling us that our representatives on the security council, having the portentous power to vote such use of our armed forces, will be an agent of the executive...
...yet without food all our energies and activities would come to an abrupt end...
...Perhaps man will find greater happiness and comfort, less strife, and just as much leisure if he depended more on the cultivation of the soil, and less on industrialism with its military and political campaigns...
...We cannot live on proteins and carbohydrates alone...
...Our policy of Unconditional Surrender and massive incineration of Japanese women and children in those terrible air raids are uniting the different elements in that country instead of dividing them which we could do...
...The age of more leisure in the home, and paradoxical though it may seem, less and less food on the pantry shelf...
...Let us work for freedom in Europe by not losing it here...
...Hutchins' article in the July 2 edition alone is worth a year's subscription, so here goes...
...It also can be said that of the 7,000 people in Toole County, 95 per cent were working in an essential industry, including agriculture, stock raising and oil production, while it is a fair guess that less than 50 per cent of the people in New York are in essential industries, so naturally New York should have put in at least 2 or 3 times as many as they now claim...
...Smuts declares the charter recognizes force as the deciding factor in the destiny of peoples...
...E. B. Coolidge Great Falls, Mont...
...Have not such persons some reason to be dismayed at the way peacetime conscription is being officially tied in with the Charter Security plan...
...It has been reliably estimated that 98 per cent of the American press serve the vested interests with lies, false headings, covering up news, coloring news, slurs, insinuations, and, a dozen other clever means to prejudice the reader against labor, co-ops, Russia, or anthing to the left...
...Our approach has been too negative...
...Bush-field proposed, Sen...
...I am looking forward to other articles by him...
...Many of our modern foods are almost lacking in essential vitamins and minerals...
...Let me, in particular, congratulate you for the article by President R. M. Hutchins in the July 2 issue...
...Worth The Price Dear Sirs: Ernest L. Meyer's article in the July 25 Progressive, "Blessed Are the Blockbusters," was worth the price of a subscription...
...There is no means of avoiding inflation in the postwar years that either Congress or the people would approve, so I say that it is inevitable...
...Hutchins to write more...
...Now that the emphasis is again on food we are reminded that nations at one time depended on the cultivation of the soil for their rise, progress, happiness, and existence...
...One man thought Fascism meant compulsory military training...
...War is easier to get into than to get out of...
...It is mystifying indeed that this Government does not adopt a positive attitude and announce specific terms of surrender to Japan, and take advantage of the growing restlessness and desire for peace in that nation...
...Is this not a cynical official commentary on security plan prospects for "peaceful" settlements...
...Man has not been too happy with the colossal machines, and engines of war and destruction...
...S. Jarvis Adams, Jr...
...The Town-send proposal is to levy a tax of 3 per cent each month against the gross receipts of all individuals and businesses, exempting only the first $100 per month of individual income...
...Prolonging The War Dear Sirs: The press reports Acting Secretary Grew's statement regarding Japanese peace-feelers...
...Mary Nelles New Haven, Conn...
...Inflation will increase progressively all living costs...
...Seemingly our Government does not welcome peace overtures...
...The emphasis was no longer on food but on the machine...
...Is the charter democratic...
...La Guardia brags about putting 750,000 men and women into the armed services out of a population of seven and a half million, which is 10 per cent...
...We are a powerful nation — industrially, agriculturally, and financially...
...We are supposed to be fighting for freedom, but we seem to be losing more and more freedom as time goes by...
...Hitler found that by controlling the news and views that were given the German people he could control their loyalty, have them sanction and approve anything he wanted, and even give their lives by the millions for his wild, heartless plans...
...In France, after the first World War had brought inflation, French money was finally stabilized on the basis of about 10 per cent of its prewar value...
...Files of The Progressive for 1940-'41 are eloquent with well-put demands for sustaining proper legislative checks on executive steps pushing the nation towards war in disregard of constitutional restraints and public opinion polls...
...What kind of merchant is Uncle Sam...
...The Hutchins' Article Dear Sirs: I don't like all your contributors and their articles but Mr...
...There is increasing rebellion on the part of the people against these controls...
...Would you promise some...
...Vandenberg, who in his 1926 book, The Trail of a Tradition was maintain-mg (Page 381) "that the Constitution made Congress the exclusive war-making power in the United States and that this prerogative could not be, either 'legally' or 'morally', sub-let in any degree to an alien parliament...
...Perfection" is beyond our present grasp...
...Blanche Hammond Ives New Haven, Conn...
...New York, perhaps, contains more non-essential people for carrying out our democratic organization 'than any other city in the country...
...TTe all know that the drive is on for hatred of Russia now, and sensible people who want peace do not go about sowing hatred...
...When man tilled the soil there ¦were no economic wars...
...Secretary of the Treasury Mor-genthau has been severely criticized for suggesting or harboring the idea of making postwar Germany an agricultural state...
...Personally, I believe that 12 years is too long a time for any man to serve in public office at the head of a city, county, state, or nation because new blood usually injects a little honesty into politics except where the professional politician carries the whip hand...
...Toole County, in northern Montana, with a population of 7,000, has put 700 men into the armed forces...
...Let Japan manage her own internal affairs...
...Man once depended on the cultivation of the soil for progress...
...When agriculture was the order of the day there were no economic revolutions...
...Prices will go sky-rocketing...
...No danger of division now...
...Applauds Dr...
...Our Allies in the Pacific are mainly "token" allies...
...Is the charter a Christian formula...
...This program, once called "crackpot", provides a sane method of distributing purchasing power to some millions who might choose voluntarily to retire from competition in the labor market—those past 60, the blind, the permanently disabled, and mothers with minor children...
...New York politics have been a repetition of graft and political plunder regardless of whether they have been Republicans or Democrats, and it is undoubtedly true, as Mr...
...That is just another way of saying that money will be so plentiful that its purchasing value will sink down to a fraction of its present worth...
...If I correctly recall, war on civilians is a violation of the Hague Conventions...
...What becomes of the constitutional checks which Constitution fram-ers sought to establish when they reposed the authority to declare war solely in Congress...
...The Security Council apparently can order them into any sort of armed action, really war, which the security organization sanctions...
...We fight against heavy odds but Anally win in many cases...
...Arthur F. Mecchia Chicago, 111...
...Lewis Belmore New York, N. Y. * * * Abiding Interest Dear Sirs: 1 was much interested in Martin Crowe's article entitled "Don't Call Me a Communist Anymore" in your July 16 issue...
...More and more food for the crying needs of a half-starved Europe and Asia, and fast dwindling supplies at home...
...Is it to wre"k an economic rival...
...The leading nations of the world are all highly industrialized...
...Beyond Him Dear Sirs: Why The Progressive gives so much space in the People's Forum to totalitarians, whether of the right or the left, is beyond me...
...The age of more and better gadgets for our convenience and comfort...
...A good rate of pay, a minimum of a year should be sufficient...
...Hankins is now in Europe on a special assignment and plans to write as often as his duties there permit...
...For what are we fighting anyway 1 Do we seek revenge...
...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are born free and equal, being endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights—that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...
...Carl R. Walters Norfolk, Va...
...Our high percentage of rejects is a national disgrace...
...There are valid reasons for belief that 'Unconditional Surrender prolonged the war with Germany, resulting in needless loss of American lives, and leaving conditions less favorable for the future for all concerned...
...New York City has been in the past and still is the monetary control center of the United States due to Wall Street, chain bank systems, affiliated banks and insurance companies, and this never will be eliminated until our Federal Reserve Bank is owned entirely by the United States Government...
...A magazine interviewed a number of people on what Fascism meant to them...
...We elaim to have the best schools in the world...
...True, the blind, the halt, and the lame are currently working...
...They may be driven to violent hatred of any person or group or they will approve anything from U. S.-British plan for perpetual slavery of the colonial peoples, peacetime conscription, or even another war...
...Bread is shaping man's history today...
...Voluntary Training Dear Sirs: Congratulations on your part in the fight against compulsory peacetime military training...
...but these controls will not long be tolerated after the war ends...
...Why not a statement of terms...
...Barnes is right about women and war...
...American capitalists know of but one way to find places lor all: by munition plants, barracks, battlefields, graves, and hospitals, and it looks as if they are planning to stop the next depression the same way the past depression was stopped...
...An abnormal supply of any commodity drives down its market value...
...It is a practice that has been followed in the past by all governments hard-pressed in their finances by war...
...We maybe can salvage a little of the freedom we fought for in Europe by insisting on the ratification of treaties as outlined in our Constitution...
...While he held it impossible to predict now "the precise numbers and components of the forces" needed, he assured the Committee that to prepare the needed American forces, to do our share in shouldering our new United Nations security plan responsibilities, it would be "essential" to impose upon \is an alien policy never imposed in the century and a half of our history as a republic—peacetime conscription of our youth...
...Well, there it is—are we going to quibble about meanings of words or about the spirit of the Constitution...
...New York Politics Dear Sirs: Oswald Villard's article in youT issue of July 9 on "The New York Mayoralty Mess" was very good and helps to bring out the facts which, in my judgment, have existed for over 40 years...
...All the articles are excellent —the best one I think is the recent one by Dr...
...It is this knowledge which caused me to cheer this week, when another progressive publication, Townsend National Weekly, brought me the news that the House Ways and Means Committee has definitely scheduled July hearings on the Townsend Plan measure, HR 2229...
...In no sense could a statement of peace terms be misconstrued as a sign of weakness...
...in 1912 and introduced the successful resolution in that same year in the Republican state convention, asking the legislature to take a vote on the woman's suffrage matter if the sentiment grew, which it did — and put the matter into law...
...It can only be checked by devaluation of our money to a basis that existing gold reserves justify...
...Adolph Zech Columbia, Mo...
...Here's hoping that Mr...
...The Bible says, "The letter killeth, but the spirit quieken-eth...
...It becomes evident that to embrace the charter we repudiate Christianity and democracy...
...Morgenthau would be conferring a favor on the German people if his plan (if it is his plan) were adopted...
...La Fol-lette is "always one...
...Man depends now on the machine for a little more leisure, a few more luxuries, and bigger and more devastating global conflicts...
...And what is true of Germany might also be true of France and Italy...
...John Eddy Franklin Seattle, Wash...
...In this war, on the material side, our arms are superb, but on the psychological side we are in the broomstick preparedness there...
...Freedom At Home Dear Sirs: A rather disquieting idea has arisen...
...We only have to look at Japan and Germany to see how far military training got them...
...Who are the main supporters of peacetime conscription...
...He found out that a real Progressive like Sen...
...the age of the electrically driven machine of colossal frame, and unerring aim...
...More farmers will very likely work for landowners...
...Not so Christianity, "not by might, nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts...
...The emphasis today, and for many years to come, will be on food...
...When America, without the productive services of 11 million young men, can produce necessities and luxuries for its Allies aTound the world in addition to those consumed by its own people, it must be obvious that technological advancement has permanently buried the "jobs for all" slogan...
...Testifying as the first pro-con-ecription witness before the Wood-rum Committee, Acting Secretary of State Joseph C. Grew declared, *'I believe it is an essential part of our share in the United Nations proposals for world security...
...Isn't it the multi-million dollar corporation publishers and the professional military men...
...To the suggestion that some such checks should be retained in a Charter reservation such as Sen...
...Hankins Dear Sirs: 1 have had a subscription to your paper for several months and find it to be the best publication that I know...
...These are the times that try men's souls...
...We claim to have one of the highest, if not the highest, standards of living in the world...
...Absurd ' The charter gives all powers on earth to 4 nations, not because they are good but because they are strong and rich...
...So far Government controls have kept inflation within bounds...
...Here is a recognition of the sovereignty of God over the destiny of nations and an insistence on equality, i. e., democracy...
...If Japan will surrender her war machine, cede us Okinawa and the mandated islands, withdraw from all occupied territory and will allow her sea coasts to be patrolled, we should bring this war to an end...
...Our corporations are expanding and planning more expansion...
...It is seemingly pitched overboard...
...Why not more emphasis on plane and motor theory and practice ? Our fighting men may not be the best disciplined in the world, but our military leaders claim they are the best fighters...
...We are told that since Germany has no government, treaties can not be negotiated at this time, and therefore, peace agreements in regard to European settlements will not need to be ratified by the Senate...
...With our Senate, for the most part, out of the agreements being made, the solution of the present major problems of the world seems to be up to the Big 5, who are controlled by the Big 3, who in turn,'" are dominated by the Big One...
...Villard will help the people of New York see the light and find someone who will head the city government and inject a little honesty into politics...
...Even the Government knew enough to ask the mothers to save their cooking fat for explosives instead of for medicines...
...Trusting I will not be smeared with the new terror, "perfectionist," I humbly insist that a man or nation, having selected certain goals toward which to strive, should travel paths leading toward such goals instead of treading roads going in the opposite direction...
...Warrington, Pa, The Corrupt Press Dear Sirs: The most serious thing for Progressives to contemplate now is the shackles on the minds of the American people...
...George P. Harding Monticello, 111...
...Ellen Berry Chicago, 111...
...Vandenberg in July 10 Senate committee hearings said such a reservation would not only offend the spirit of the Charter, but would violate the U. S. Constitution ! This is surprising from Mr...
...Jack Bays Oklahoma City, Okla...
...The plain English of the idea is that man was happy with his "bread and butter," his simple food...
...Every town and city could have one or more rifle clubs where our boys of 15 or 16 and over could become expert marksmen...
...Frank H. Hankins, in your issue of June 25...
...They wijl not buy these bonds after the war ends...
...If the majority of us do not want to train voluntarily for our country's defense, then I wonder if our country is worth saving...
...F. E. Spicer Abilene, Kan...
...Webster's definition is, "an agreement made by negotiation or diplomacy...
...Grew in his testimony before the Committee, "to contribute our complement of armed forces to the United Nations pool if we should be called upon to do so...
...There can be but one legitimate reason for continuing this war and that is to put an end to Japan's military and imperialistic ambition...
...Its effects will be disastrous in the extreme to all people save a few shrewd financiers and speculators...
...Isn't it due mainly to that "spark of individualism...
...If we need men for several years for armies of occupation, why not continue the present method of conscription by yearly extension...
...Renew Your Subscription Today Opposes Frisco Charter Dear Sirs: "Where do we go from here...
...It serves to underline Commentator W. A. S. Douglas' favoring comment in the Chicago Sun, July 18, "The Charter is of itself a declaration of force...
...Mrs...
...It would hit, in large measure, that portion of corporate and individual income which seldom finds its way into the stream of consumer purchasing power...
...Applauds Hutchins Dear Sirs: I find your magazine stimulating and interesting...
...What is wrong with the volunteer method of training...
...Aside from a few added luxuries, and a little extra leisure, the masses have not gained much from the machine...
...Villard outlines, that it is not a very pleasant situation to look forward to...
...People have bought bonds during the war from patriotic motives, and not because they wanted the investment at 2'/2 per cent rate of interest...
...Moreover, after the war ends, we shall have a mighty current of legal tender notes flooding the country, for Government expenses will still go on far beyond available revenue...
...We tell the Japanese people what we won't do with them, but refuse to tell what we will do...
...L. T. Merrill Beloit, Wis...
...Do ,we mean to destroy the Japanese race...
...Clearly the charter is not Christian...
...But unless our lawmakers find some means of distributing high levels of purchasing power among the unemployed as well as keeping wages high in the postwar period, economic collapse is inevitable...
...Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain who build it...
...What curious reticence would induce a merchant to withhold the price of an article until the customer ordered it and had it delivered when he has only one price...
...EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, indeed...
...The only alternative left to the Government to pay expenses is to issue legal tender notes...
...Instead of intriguing the customer, this likely would make him hesitant...
...But surely it is seasonable to insist that if we are, as we claim to be, a nation striving to be Christian and democratic, it is sheer nonsense for us to steer our precious ship of state away from the sea lanes leading to the blessed ports, Christianity and democracy...
...F. L. Gibson Memphis, Tenn...
...Then the modern machine made its appearance and revolutionized the industrial structure of society, as well as the social relations of men...
...Women And War Dear Sirs: Of course Mr...
...A leopard seldom changes its spots...
...It would seem that, with the ¦world facing acute food shortages for years to come, Mr...
...The peacetime army could be made more attractive to our young men...
...H. Mummbravjer Decatur, Mich...
...This is the age of speed and pep...
...Send A Gift Subscription Today Devaluation Needed c Dear Sirs: Just as certain as death and taxes, we shall have inflation to beat the band...
...Pass The Progressive Along It's American, Alert, Accurate Peacetime Conscription And The Charter Dear Sirs: Many persons having high hopes for results under the San Francisco Charter also have followed The Progressive's lead in opposing the plan to engraft on this country peacetime military conscription, borrowed from Prussianism and the continental systems of top-heavy militarism that helped topple Europe into wars instead of preventing them...
...Pass The Progressive Along It's American, Alert, Accurate Terms For Japan Dear Sirs: The war against Japan has now reached the stage when there can be no doubt as to the eventual defeat of Japan...
...Townsend Plan Hope X Dear Sirs: My compliments on the Robert Moses article in your Apr...
...His article deserves reprinting in every newspaper in the country...
...True, they will be the first displaced...
...Which path, America...
...Perhaps one of The Progressive's fine group of writers could be assigned to do a "pro-and-con" article on the Townsend Plan now that it is again in the national limelight...
...We must be prepared," said Mr...
...One wonders how much longer the other war would have continued without the 14 points...
...Money is a commodity...
...It will reduce drastically the value of all bonds, mortgages, savings accounts, and insurance policies...
...Perhaps the German people would find real contentment, and again rise to new heights in the arts as they did prior to the industrialization of Central Europe...
...This was done during our Civil War...
...Then why join...
...Elizabeth Zutt Evansville, Ind...
...The Constitution says, "He [the President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators concur Now, the argument seems to resolve around the word "treaty...
...Its method of financing this addition to the consumer buying stream is much sounder than that of the present social security act which, with its payroll taxes, cuts purchasing power at the source...
...Once we were hastily involved in a Charter-sponsored war, what chance would there be of pulling out, even though such war in its origin and progress might be unrelated to American interests, or at least not related in any degree that the American people would soberly and normally decide should justify thousands or hundreds of thousands of American casualties...
Vol. 9 • August 1945 • No. 32
