THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
. . . THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . , Help The Sharecroppers Dear Sirs: The Southern Tenant Farmers Union, with headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., has asked for support for its campaign to win a guaranteed...
...This second evacuation is proving too much for some of these persecuted people...
...Despite all they heard, diplomats, artists, businessmen, chemists, sports champions, clergymen and many others maintained normal contacts with Nazi Germany, went visiting there and shook hands with the hangmen...
...This sounds like a large order, but it is simply a matter of central-i z i n g responsibility, by-passing "trigger-happy" national regimes (witness Pearl Harbor), and breaking up the problem into parts easily handled by recognized legislative and administrative procedures...
...J.- H. Weideman Washington, N. J. Slipped Dear Sirs: I take this means to complain as to the lowered quality recently of your weekly—it has surely slipped tremendously...
...In my first article I mentioned the fact that, among others, French Jews had "ganged up" on Petain...
...Consumer goods have gone up in price, but having had a raise, they buy...
...Its directives to camp directors are so harsh as to be shocking . . . One of the drastic measures ordered to date requires that if the head of a family in camp does not volunteer to leave at an early date, the camp police are to escort him to the project office, where he will arbitrarily be assigned a date for departure...
...A Volume Of Mayer Dear Sirs: Is it possible to condense to a single volume all the articles of Milton Mayer which have appeared in The Progressive...
...I like The Progressive as it is although I take some of it with reservations (salted...
...No Whitewash Dear Sirs: I always get a kick out of reading The Progressive, as the other papers whitewash the main events...
...Now, let's see what happens if the "save" idea is followed...
...Readers who take an undemocratic attitude and cancel theii^sub-scriptions, because of petty disagreements, misunderstandings, intolerance of other people's ideas, have my sympathy...
...Let the lawmakers at Washington wake up, or I'm afraid they are in for a crude awakening in America, as Britain found out in her recent elections...
...Only one lesson should be derived for the good of the human race and its conscience: Intolerance of any and every kind of lawlessness and tyranny...
...Away with the reviews, and give us something worthwhile...
...So, it would seem that when wage earners want more money, the members would know that more wages meant more money to spend...
...And yet for many years these horror camps were known to those who had eyes to see and ears to hear...
...New York 18, N. Y. « * * Wants Mary Sheridan Dear Sirs: What has happened to Mary Sheridan's excellent column for consumers...
...Joseph Schlossberg Genl...
...2. They pay excise taxes...
...I Salted Reservations Dear Sirs: 1 I appreciate The Progressive and the principles it stands for, also the fact that it adds the broadening influence of printing all sides to questions of immediate concern plus the many bits of important news and truths picked up by readers and passed on through the People's Forum...
...The cooperatives insist their patronage refunds are not profits...
...Perhaps, I was not too happy in speaking of "the Jews...
...3. They pay transportation taxes on the goods which are sold and manufactured...
...I have seen no evidence worthy of credence that Petain "aided" in Mandel's murder...
...Likewise, with Mandel, I would imagine that the "Marshal was annoyed with him because he had helped to push France into a war for which the Popular Front and, later, Daladier had failed to prepare their country...
...C. B. Ballard Appleton, Wis...
...It is an old and true saying, Special privilege and big business never sleep...
...Habeas corpus or habeas corpses—there is no compromise...
...Barnes Dear Sirs: I have read with deep interest the two articles on "France's New Dreyfus Case in Reverse...
...If anyone deserves a break, they do...
...Let us do »y good thing for ourselves and at the same time give the man Mayer his due while he yet lives...
...They pay stamp taxes, use taxes, and miscellaneous taxes on various commodities wherever other businesses pay them...
...E. L. Norton Boston, Mass...
...Secy.-Treas...
...Naturally, they like a condition where there is lots of purchasing power...
...Current headlines as well as centuries of history demonstrate that this is a completely unrealistic hope...
...22 states: "The War Relocation Authority seems to be exerting undue pressure to have the relocation camps closed at once...
...in depression times, under $1,000 down to $184 per annum...
...Yipping About Germany Dear Sirs: I wish The Progressive would stop yipping about the Germans so much...
...All this would require money, a world legislature to pass world laws providing stiff penalties for individuals and corporations, and power to act across national boundaries for the world agency...
...F. P. Hellin New York, N. Y. * * * Beats' Masterful Job Dear Sirs: I doubt if The Progressive has ever published an abler or more eloquent article than Carleton Beals' masterful job in your Oct...
...It's a real lo'ss and demotion for your paper—how about getting them back in there, and weekly...
...In my judgment this is the hope of America...
...Most members of chambers of commerce are in business, that is, selling something...
...A man who would be ranked as one of the three or four leading Jewish publicists in the United • States wrote me recently, in comparing Petain with Hitler, Mussolini, Goering, and Stalin: "The dignity of a Petain is «imply not in the make-up of modern dictators...
...Barnes because I found no answer to it in his two articles...
...Schlossberg has surely known me long and intimately enough so that he knows that I am not likely to be spreading anti-Semitic gospel...
...Reconverted economic warfare experts could pick out vital ingredients and processes for strict license by the world authority...
...More Facts Dear Sirs: I like your honest and fearless reporting of news usually suppressed...
...Likewise, I. B. La Follette's column—that we can do without...
...The many able and gallant fighters that have upheld and defended the principles of cooperation, which are really the bill of rights of the American people, are deserving of the highest praise and commendation of every member of the cooperative movement...
...We cannot kill all wolves at once but at least we should not consider them as pet dogs...
...A laborer on a cotton plantation averages only 125 days work a year in normal times...
...Give us something else, at least a bit meaty...
...Again, in 10 years, another depression, panic, or whatever you would call it...
...Guy E. Whitaker Burley, Idaho * * * Pass The Progressive Along The Times Refused Dear Sirs: The fact that you printed Norman Thomas' letter on foreign policy to the New York Times, encourages me to send you a letter of mine, which was refused space in the Times a few months ago and which seems to me still timely, in spite of the fact that the atomic bomb has been added in the meantime...
...Glendora, Calif...
...24 which gives an uninformed person on the subject the idea that all was running smoothly within the War Relocation Authority and in its camps...
...So he can also be sure that I am not a propagandist for the Marshal's brand of social planning...
...Back in 1911 1 was a member of the Wisconsin legislature...
...on a basis proportionate to their purchases...
...I am addressing this question to Dr...
...They are merely overpayments by their customers which are returned to ther...
...Every member (almost) is inclined to call a request for more wages an uprising of the people...
...But I would have to have better proof than any so far forthcoming before I believe him guilty of such acts...
...Let's say that the 55 or so million wage earners, in order to prosper, save 10 per cent of their wages...
...Their consistently excellent columns were ,the main reason for my subscription*-— and this holds for a great many others, no doubt...
...First of all, what about Angelo, Patri and Milton Mayer as regular weekly contributors...
...Karle F. Kauffman West Milton, Pa...
...But to loan them money to start small businesses, is, in my opinion, a disservice to them and will eventually cause a repercussion that will not be good...
...George Mandel, who was murdered by the Nazis with Petain's aid, or the thousands of Jews who were sent to extermination camps by the Nazis with Petain's aid...
...I did so solely in order to emphasize how the Petain Trial so perfectly reversed the Dreyfus Case, when the reactionaries, militarists, and nationalists ganged up on a liberal Jewish officer...
...My idea is, when we find anything wrong with a worthy project, correct the wrong, and make the project more worthy...
...Ever since the advent to power of the Nazis thousands of anti-Nazi Germans and since 1938 tens of thousands of Austrian refugees told the world, but it would not listen...
...Harry Elmer Barnes Cooperstown, N. Y. Wages And Prices Dear Sirs: I am quite unable to understand this system called "private initiative," "capitalist system," "capitalism," "profit system," or "our American way of life...
...Furthermore, he will lose the grant accorded those who leave willingly...
...Then if necessary, he will be evicted...
...They denounced it as un-American, anarchistic, and it would surely drive business from this and any other state, etc...
...Can each nation be trusted to outlaw its owr use of the bomb...
...So, what does a union do for us, or is it TO us...
...There have been suicides in some of the camps...
...Consumable goods would pile upon the shelves in the retail places and collect dust, so the merchant would buy 10 per cent less from the manufacturers or producers...
...It is more likely that he was enraged at Blum because, when the Marshal was trying to get France armed against the Nazi peril, Blum was insisting that he and the French Socialists refused to admit even the idea of any war between Nazi Germany and France...
...Their kind are always ready to create dis-sention among people and when danger threatens and their comfort is at stake, they are the first ones to leave the sinking ship and swim for safety...
...By workers I mean those whose income is called wages—ir normal times, those under $2,000...
...Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty...
...We want American, and not foreign, ideology for our people, and farmers and labor deserve a square deal...
...Mr...
...Marshal Petain...
...The American Civil Liberties Union of northern California has protested it recently in a letter to the Under Secretary of the Interior...
...poverty which furnishes fruitful soil for racial antagonisms...
...I have heard these much sinned-against people, the Arcadians of our time, are living in tents, pool rooms, and stores, and the overcrowding is unbelievable...
...It amused me to note the many and varied reactions to the Rubin-Barnes controversy on Russia, also the varied interpretations of these writings...
...Rock wood, Tenn...
...And money still talks...
...We can get those everywhere else, in all journals and papers...
...Ben F. York St...
...The men and women of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union have shown that they have the courage to challenge the system which has enslaved them...
...I hope you can spare space for the above in your esteemed journal...
...I don't want to discourage the returning service men...
...I am glad to be able to point out that not all Jews are opposed to Petain...
...Els a L. Widmayer Denver, Colo...
...Now we seldom see their writings...
...Mrs...
...Complacency as usual must lead to world wars as usual...
...This of course is not true...
...If you want to back them up, send us your gift...
...But a single world body could enforce the plain people's demand that this weapon never be used again...
...It follows that the workers' families should consume about 75 to 80 per cent of the consumable goods sold in America...
...Our family has depended on her wise counsel, so please reinstate those articles...
...Paul B. Maves Union City, N. J. Control Atomic Energy Dear Sirs: Never has such great power over so many people been given to so few as it has with the super-secret possession of the key to atomic power by a few Anglo-Saxon leaders and scientists...
...No Blessing Dear Sirs: I wholeheartedly agree with E. Waller in the Sept...
...Their literary moral ramifications, their shrewd penetrating insight into character and event, and their sharp incisive power of disclosure and delineation make them more than worthy to be thus dealt with...
...Among the many charges made were that these organizations were dodging taxes...
...I realize that perhaps I am wrong—I have been before—and leave an open mind to such questions...
...Rev...
...Keep up the good work, and don't let the bigwigs give us totalitarianism in one form or another sugar-coated for digestion...
...Frank Berry Chicago, 111...
...This would seem to handle the general points raised by Mr...
...But, what do you see...
...Co-ops Are Democracy Dear Sirs: As one who was born in Wisconsin on the farm on which I have lived since 1860, it has been suggested that I write a letter giving a few reasons why I am and always have been a cooperator...
...The sellers, having 10 per cent less income, would cut down their employes to that extent...
...Praise For Howard Dear Sirs: Harry Paxton Howard's article, "Flag Of Hope—Or Of Hate," in your Sept...
...All of us join a union and get raises, ev erything goes up in price...
...Awesome Thing' Dear Sirs: I admire the way you publish letters for and against Russia, or any other subject...
...8 issue analyzing the failure of the London Conference...
...I am not aware that Marshal Petain aided in "murdering" any Jews or in sending them to extermination camps...
...Mrs...
...Emeritus, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, New York, N. Y. * * * And Dr...
...Schlossberg...
...I should have said "many French Jews...
...Then too, intelligent peo-pie, as the majority of your readers are,- don't waste their time on such drivel...
...Eduard C. Lindeman Chairman, National Sharecroppers Fund 8 W. 40th St...
...Robert Alexander Pacific, Mo...
...What is the matter with America...
...Question For Dr...
...We need $25,000 immediately to support the new struggle of the sharecroppers for a $625 annual wage...
...The planters are seeing to it that earnings go even lower this year...
...They have been instrumental in having ceilings imposed on cotton pickers' wages in parts of Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas (under the Economic Stabilization Act), which fixes the upper limit of pay for a 10-hour day at $2 to $2.50...
...The boss fights back, but gives in—a little, but raises the price...
...As to Leon Blum, I doubt if Petain disliked him because he was a Jew...
...But, if the wage earners are saving their money, things made to sell won't sell, because the workers are taking the advice of the bankers and not spending all their money...
...Total barbarism in the midst of electronics is a far cry from television...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM . . , Help The Sharecroppers Dear Sirs: The Southern Tenant Farmers Union, with headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., has asked for support for its campaign to win a guaranteed $625 minimum annual wage for sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and wage hands in the cotton country...
...According to reports from San Francisco and Los Angeles, all is far from well...
...In the first article Dr...
...The new policy of the WRA is one of force and utter callousness...
...How astonishing it is that so many people will react one way, to articles and writers in your paper, while many others react in just the opposite way, to the same article or writer...
...We cannot have 60 million jobs for long, as to maintain a 60 million job economy we must have a balanced economy, and until we have a system of production for use and not for profit, we will continue to have depressions and panics—unless we can stir up another good (?) war and destroy a trillion dollars worth of economic goods...
...I recall how the Chamber of Commerce, merchants and manufacturers association, which was a powerful organization, fought this bill...
...Or will the world in years to come again suddenly come to realize other cruelties hidden in the conspiracy of silence and appeasement...
...The Union reports that 60 per cent of the farm families in Arkansas earned less than $400 in cash during the war boom year of 1944...
...We want no world atomic bombing force, but we do want the most effective possible prevention of any military atomic production anywhere...
...Bross Lloyd, Jr...
...Their campaign for $625 a year guaranteed by contract with the employers should demonstrate to the nation that there must be improvement in the grave economic problems of the South...
...If the wage earners put their money in savings banks, the banks have more money to lend to business people who want to make and sell things to the consumers...
...If he did, I would be shocked by such action and regard it as reprehensible...
...24 issue, was the finest thing ever written in a very fine magazine...
...They reduce to a creative unity Swift's irony, Lea-cock's humor and the fervent pro-pheticism of the Old Testament...
...Barnes says: "The Republicans, the radicals, the Popular Front boys, and the Jews are ganging up on a military figure...
...A news item from Los Angeles under the date line of Aug...
...May God save our nation from Communism and give us men and women to guide our ships of state through the present disorder...
...Now, bankers and insurance companies tell the people (wage earners) that "to save is to have...
...Louis, Mo...
...They pay social security and unemployment insurance taxes...
...Truly the human mind is an awesome thing...
...in wartime, those under $3,000...
...I believe that it may be conceded that workers make up about 90 per cent of our people...
...Economists say "save a little," merchants advertise, "buy here and save" (what a contradiction...
...The people in the cotton country are determined that they shall not be driven back to the misery of the 1930's when evicted sharecropper families were camped on the sides of public highways and "Okies" in ancient jalopies were making their way West in search of work at a few cents a day in migratory camps...
...Ada Ferguson Santa Cruz, Calif...
...We know that democracy is not safe in America so long as the agricultural population of the South lives in poverty too abject to permit minimum decency...
...If he did, it was an unpardonable act...
...we feel that no evacuee should be compelled to return to his legal residence unless adequate housing is definitely available...
...Also, all of us can do very well without those silly, space-wasting movie reviews...
...The Editor, New York Times Sir: Time and again one reads now about the Nazi horror camps and sees the pictures in the newsreels...
...I'd like to have your writers give us more documented facts in their articles rather than opinions...
...It could be given authority and money to gather together the most outstanding scientists for research in peaceful applications of atomic knowledge...
...Unlike Soviet Russia where enemies and would-be enemies of dictatorship disappear without leaving a trace, the Nazis chose the torture system to transform an entire nation into spineless slaves...
...They have made their bed, and it ill becomes a liberal publication to try to soften it for them...
...I did not think that in so doing I was giving voice to any specially novel or startling information, since I supposed that it was common knowledge that the overwhelming majority of French Jews, especially those who take any important role in public affairs or in opinion-forming, have been stalwartly opposed to Vichy and Petain, which they have surely had a right to be...
...In the course of a year (not a depression year) that would mean 10 per cent of the purchasing power would shrink...
...1. Cooperatives pay local property taxes...
...Schlossberg's letter...
...John Bock Burlington, N. D. Puzzled By Dillon Myer Dear Sirs: I was surprised and puzzled to-read Dillon Myer's article in The Progressive of Sept...
...Further, he also knows that my political, economic, and social ideology is almost identical with his own and at the opposite pole from that of Marshal Petain...
...And who of us can honestly say that under the daily and nightly threat of Bu-chenwald he would have stood up better than the German people who were led on by a deceitful propaganda about the weakness, selfishness, and complacency of the Western democracies...
...The simple expedient of making production and transportation for destructive uses illegal under heavy penalties seems not to have occurred to the newspapers and commentators...
...The National Sharecroppers Fund gives aid to organizations in the South that are democratically controlled and directed by natives of that region and which constructively tackle the evils from which the farm people of the South suffer...
...Barnes' Reply Dear Sirs: I have read Mr...
...It seems obvious that unless we want to follow the super-race theories of the Nazis we should recognize the common interest of all humanity in preventing atomic -bomb production and promoting the development of peaceful uses...
...The world authority in its turn could be required to give its activities complete publicity...
...For 34 years I have watched with great satisfaction and real inspiration the steady growth and progress of the cooperative movement in Wisconsin and many other states...
...There seem to be so many contradictions in each...
...But, say the wage earners, we've got a union and we'll strike if we don't get more wages...
...Since Dr...
...At that session the first co-op law was enacted...
...Mary Miller Waterloo, la...
...I cannot qualify as a Republican, a radical, or any old Popular Front boy, but I can qualify as a Jew...
...24 Forum, that people such as Emil Ludwig and the Thomas Mann family are no blessing to this saddened world...
...H. M. Ratliff, Jr...
...Barnes speaks not of Jews but of the Jews may I ask, who are the Jews—Leon Blum, who was imprisoned by th£ Nazis with Petain's aid...
...We understand that the WRA hoped the return of the evacuees would create a situation of 'imminent crises' requiring municipal authorities and the Army and Navy to provide some kind of housing, but to dump evacuees on Pacific coast communities in such a hit or miss fashion can only result in stirring up racial difficulties and visiting additional hardships and injustices upon the evacuees...
...The cooperative movement is founded on the principle of what helps one helps all—equal rights for all and special privileges for none— to serve the patrons at cost rather than the public at a profit—one BIG family of producers and consumers going hand in hand in a great movement to stop trusts and monopoly...
Vol. 9 • October 1945 • No. 43
