Open forum, vol. 3, no. 22 (May, 1926)

THE OPEN FORUM

4s x

The rebels of today are the law-makers of tomorrow.

-_

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, MAY 29, 1926

No. 22

Vol. 3.

MUSSOLINI AND ITALY

By Otto H. Kahn

An Address delivered beforethe Foreign Policy Association, at the Hotel Astor, New York, on January 23, 1926

It is entirely possible for a man to cherish freedom,

to adhere to progressive political and social tenden-

cies and liberal conceptions, as I do, and to look upon

Fascismo, or anything resembling it, as utterly un-

thinkable and intolerable in the United States, as, of

course, 1 do-and yet admire Mussolini.

In formulating judgment on Fascismo, two things

should be kept in mind: First, it so happens that

Italy is inhabited by Italians and not by Americans

or Britishers, and what applies and appeals to us

need not necessarily apply and appeal to them. Sec-

ondly-in the case of every people-more essential

eyen than liberty, and therefore taking precedence

over it, is order and national self-preservation, actual

and spiritual. Indeed, true liberty is impossible un-

less there is order and an adequately functioning

government.

In the case of Italy, in the years immediately fol-

lowing the war, a situation had developed which

came close to social chaos. Organized bands of bol-

Shevists, communists and socialist extremists exer-

cised, by violence and terror, a mean, venal, destruc-

tive, anti-patriotic tyranny throughout the land. Gov-

ermment was impotent, held in contempt and openly

defied. The public services functioned intermittently

only, being scornful of discipline and frequently inter-

tupted `by strikes. Labor disturbances on a vast

scale, accompanied by constant violence, beset in-

dustry. Religion was derided as a harmful and anti-

quated superstition. The country's flag and uniform

were insulted with impunity in the streets of Italian

cities. Patriotism, duty to, and faith in, the country,

Were jeered at as outworn conventions. Class was

arayed against class in bitter animosity. Italy's

prestige abroad was at low ebb.

II

To anyone who knew Italy then, the change which

tame over the country with the advent of Mussolini

is little short of miraculous.

Mussolini did not promise, or give, advantages to

any one class. He went before the people not with

alluring phrases and flatteries, but with a stern call,

to all classes alike, for work and discipline and self-

abnegation for the sake of serving the national wel-

fare and attaining national greatness. And the peo-

Dle Tesponded as they will always respond to a great

appeal.

Wholly differing from many of those who in other

`ountries have wrongfully appropriated the label of

Fascismo," he shunned to foment class hatred or to

Utilize clags animosities or divergencies for political

o personal purposes. Indeed, his way and spirit

Were precisely the reverse of such practices.

He is heither a demagogue nor a reactionary.

He Would have turned, and would now turn, against

ean just as vigorously as he turned against

a "al destructionists, if capital were to fail in its

ae duty or attempt to exercise undue prerorga-

"'s OF seek to make the government subservient to

ls own interests.

a : heither a chauvinist nor a "bull in the china

PP of Europe. He is a patriotic realist.

aoe phrases and outworn, intrinsically in-

rightly. conventions. He is no enemy to freedom,

ness pee oes and applied. But he places duties

Dart 8 ts, He places the national destiny above

Sanship and resounding professions that misuse

: name of liberty.

of He. ho dictator in the generally understood sense

Word. He holds his position and power by the

Whelmingly expressed will of the people and with

Granny

heme of the constitutional head of the State,

ing,

Personality

`mplest hab

(R) arts,

; Nodigions

OVer

" he is a man of wide culture, of the

its, of pronounced taste for literature and

His capacity for work and his energy are

" and he is utterly unsparing of himself.

His personal integrity has never been put into ques-

tion by even his most aggressive enemies. He is

absolutely without fear, and scorns protection. I

have seen him, accompanied only by a friend, walk-

ing along in a leisurely way through a vast concourse

of people who had assembled to watch a great sport-

ing event in Milan. I have conversed with him

several times, and came away under the impression

of a fascinating, wholly sincere and immensely force-

ful personality.

III.

A man was needed urgently to clear up the hope-

less mess created in Italy by "Parliamentarism." By

that term I understand the system under which a

popularly elected Parliament is virtually omnipotent,

and executives and cabinets are made and unmade

over night according to the views and whims, or

intrigues, of fluctuating and fortuitous party com-

binations.

There is nothing sacrosanct in the system of Par-

liamentary government. It is by no means synony-

mous with liberty or with democracy. It does work,

and has worked, well in England because there it is

in accordance with the fundamental traits and deep-

rooted habits of the people, and is accompanied by

willingly accepted party discipline and party loyalty,

and tempered by traditions and conventions which

have the force of constitutional restraints.

But without these things, it is a system of ques-

tionable virtue, and experience among nations on the

European continent, thus far, has certainly not dem-

onstrated that sheer parliamentarism is an instru-

ment best calculated to promote the freedom, welfare

and happiness of the people.

It is well to recall, in this connection, that the en-

lightened and far-sighted men who drafted the Ameri-

can Constitution, would have none of parliamentar-

ism, correctly judged its inherent defects and fore-

saw its hazards, and did all they could to guard

against its becoming the system of government of

the American people.

IV.

In Italy, for many years prior to the advent of

Mussolini, the evils of parliamentary government

were rampant, and intriguing, wire-pulling, self-seek-

ing combinations of politicians were making and un-

making executives, ministries and laws. The result

was inefficiency and corruption, and among the peo-

ple contempt for, and suspicion of, government, ac-

companied inevitably by the injurious results that

spring from such a state of the popular mind.

Mussolini has substituted efficient and energetic

and progressive processes of government for parlia-

mentary wrangling and wasteful, impotent bureauc-

racy.

The finances of the government have been put

in order by vigorous taxation, strict economy and

adherence to sound methods. Indeed, the adminis-

tration and policies in fiscal affairs have been models

of courageous, wise and skillful financial statesman-

ship. Economy and efficiency have been introduced

into the governmental and other public services. In-

veterate abuses and shortcomings have been, or are

being, remedied. A program of purposeful planning,

vitalizing reforms and constructive activities is being

steadily carried forward.

Commerce and industry are active and prosperous,

and are being intelligently seconded by the Govern-

ment. Foreign trade is being aided by well-conceived

commercial treaties. Courageous enterprise has been

called forth. The rewards of labor have been im-

proved, the living conditions of employees amelior-

ated by enlightened measures, the social welfare of

the workers and their families promoted by advanced

legislation,* and unemployment and strikes reduced

to a minimum. Work and order prevail and disci-

plined effort for the national welfare. Art is being

stimulated, science encouraged. Patriotism and

proper pride of country have resumed their rightful

place.

The cultivation of religion which, for many years,

a crude and false conception of democracy had

treated with churlishness and disrespect, if not with

actual animosity, is being upheld, and due reverence

rendered to it.

The voice of Italy, long unheeded in the councils

of Europe, is heard with due consideration in the

chancelleries of the nations.

Ve

The Fascista movement was in the nature of a

patriotic revolution, an upheaval-be it remembered

-singularly little marred by bloodshed. It was a

revolution not for reaction, but against governmental

inefficiency and corruption, social disintegration and

national decay.

"Every revolution has the right to defend itself,"

as the late Italian ambassador to the United States

said in a recent speech. "Every successful revolution

naturally seeks to complete and safeguard its pro-

gram and to consolidate, and give permanence to,

the principal things which it set out to attain."

Profound organic changes in government do not

run their course in the short space of two or three

years. If in certain pronouncements or legal enact-

ments, or in sporadic actions of its adherents,

Fascimo has overleapt itself, or will do so, let it be

remembered that history shows that such is in the

very nature of every revolutionary movement. The

final verdict as to the value and justification of such

movements is to be based not upon passing incidents

or transient phases of their conduct, but upon the

general features of their actions and purposes and

upon their permanent results.

No doubt, among the men whom the Fascista move-

ment brought into positions of responsibility and in-

fluence, there were a few whom the test of time

proved unworthy, as has happened in the aftermath

of every revolutionary upheavel. No doubt, by the

side of a truly remarkable record of governmental

achievements, some errors, abuses or excesses did,

and do, occur, and some features of policy are open

to dissent. No doubt among the vast preponderance

of Italians who willingly accepted, and indeed wel-

comed, an extraordinary regime, in however stringent

a form, as long as that was necessary to set Italy's

house to rights and preserve it from dire jeopardy,

there must be many thoughtful and liberty-loving

men who strongly desire a return to normal ways of

government, as soon as compatible with the best

interests of their country.

It is, of course, manifest-and is, no doubt fully

realized by Prime Minister Mussolini and other lead-

ers of Fascismo-that, ultimately, extraordinary

measures and methods must give way to a normally

functioning system of government, including among

the provisions of its charter fair and free scope,

within legitimate bounds, for the effective expression

and the eventual consummation of opposing views,

whatever its form and substance in other respects.

Meanwhile, all indications continue to demonstrate

that the great majority of the Italian people are con-

scious of what they owe to Benito Mussolini, and de-

sire his continuance as head of the government. By

the fundamental test, whether it rests upon "the con-

sent of the governed" to a predominant extent, I

think there can be no doubt that Mussolini's govern-

ment is sustained.

VAs

Repeatedly, I have watched the legions of black-

shirted youths and men parading through cities in

Italy, their faces shining with the ardor of enthusias-

tic devotion and unquestioning faith toward what

they feel and hoid to be an exalted cause. True, the

faces of those youths and men are not lifted toward

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the radiant light of liberty, as we understand it, nor

are their processes of thought and action compatible

with our own paramount conceptions and cherished

traditions. Yet, in due fairness, must we not con-

cede, in spite of these basic divergencies, that they

are animated by sentiments and emotions which

arise from handsome aspirations and are entitled to

be respected as such?

Mussolini found a people, whose past had been

glorious, faltering and failing under the weight of the

present. Equipped with nothing but the genius of

his brain, the force of his character and the ardor of

his patriotism, he, with a handful of comrades, flung

himself against that sinister portent and set the

Italian nation once more upon the highroad to na-

tional achievement. That is a towering fact; and

being, as I freely profess myself to be, a worshipper

of greatness in all its manifestations, I render hom-

age to the man who encompassed it.

*The following is an extract from an article, writ-

ten by an evidently authoritative observer, in a re-

cent number of the London Times, a newspaper

which is by no means partial to Fascismo:

"These institutions (i. e., `dopo-lavoro,' which

means `after work' institutions) . . act in conjunction

with the local authorities to provide the men an@

women with every facility for mental and physical

training by means of general and specialized instruc-

tion, sports clubs, etc.; they are certainly instrumen-

tal in checking the ravages of tuberculosis and vene-

real disease; and by drawing the workers away from

the atmosphere of the cafe-which in southern coun-

tries does not mean so much alcoholic excess as the

inveterate habit of gambling-they divert the ener-

gies of the men into more healthy channels and _ in-

crease the value of home life.

"In short, their function is to supplement and com-

plete the system of protection and social insurance

which is guaranteed by the Italian Labor Code, a

corpus containing advanced practical provisions re-

cently published and brought up to date."

A Gospel for the Poor

As of yore, churches are announcing glad tidings

of the Son of God, Who had come to earth to redeem

mankind. Yet while the story of redemption is being

repeated, thousands of hungry, shelterless beings are

tramping the cities and towns in search of work.

They cannot but question the truth of those tidings

that have brought them naught but misery and de-

spair, and that closed all opportunities for the many,

yet lavishly bestowed upon the few. The story pro-

claimed from the church during two thousand years

has served bigots to weave a net of lies wherewith

they caught human souls, while human bodies were

allowed to perish.

But the time has come when large numbers of

people are beginning to realize that the Nazarene,

whom they are called upon to worship as the Son

of God, Himself was slain by the powers of wealth

and oppression, even as those are made to die who

dare to cry out against the thieves and Pharisees of

modern times. Christ thundered against the rich,

and took His place with the poor; it was the op-

pressed and degraded slaves to whom He carried the

gospel of hope, of justice, of liberation. No wonder

the poor heareth Him gladly.

He died the champion of a new social conception,

and many of His disciples, since canonized, had con-

tinued to wage war against wealth and oppression.

But a new gospel finds an echo in the hearts of the

oppressed of the world. The gospel of human broth-

erhood, of the joy of life, of the right of rebellion.

This gospel speaks not of a redeemer but of the re-

deemed, indeed through their own conscious strength

and power.

Respectfully yours,

J. SCHAFFHR,

929 Farris Avenue,

Fresno, California.

e e

The American Legion

NEW ORLEANS, May 5.-Brigadier-General John

R. McQuigg, national commander of the American

Legion, in an address before the business men of the

city, said that the aim of the Legion was to destroy

pacifism and demand the introduction of military

training in schools and colleges. The national com-

mander visited several points of interest in the city

and was royally entertained, particularly by those

who secured industrial exemption during the late

world war. The local press does not state whether

he visited the veterans' hospital in this city where

many are now hopeless wrecks-sans arms, limbs

and sight-who fought to make the world safe for

capitalism.

Military Unrest in China

BULLETIN No. 3

Issued by American Committee for Fair Play in China

PURPOSE-To give to America the uncolored truth

about China, with the conviction that a proper under-

standing between nations is the only requisite to just

relations and mutually helpful dealing, and that out

of this understanding good will come for China and

for the world.

Two Questions Answered

It is difficult for inhabitants of a consistently unified

country to form an adequate mental picture of the

present state of military unrest in China. Among the

medley of warring military leaders whose names

travel rather meaninglessly abroad to further confuse

the newspaper reading public, interested individuals

may well ask, "But which one is the central force,

which the rebel?"

And there is another frequently asked question,

concerning issues: "Why are the people of the vari-

ous sections of China constantly struggling against

each other?"

To

To the second, `They are not."

The answers to both these questions are short.

the first, "Neither."

To which seeming paradox this is the explanation:

(1) There is no central authority in China which

can be regarded as authentically such; there is

merely a temporary regime instituted by the force of

one military leader or another according to the for-

tunes of battle, and having only a very slightly exten-

sive power, either in point of time or area. Each

military leader consequently names his opponents

"rebels" and himself the savior and would-be unifier

of China-the "National Army" or central force.

(2) There are no real issues which concern the -

people closely in these manifold warrings. Therefore

THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES ARE NOT ENGAG-

ING IN THESE STRUGGLES. When I say "the peo-

ple,' I mean those who are not officials or would-be

officials or ex-officials-and many as there are in the

latter classes, still the people themselves number

vastly more thousands! And it is true that the people

themselves are not greatly concerned. They are not

a disunited people or a people incapable of unifica-

tion aS many observers are fond of stating. There

are no causes of quarrel, fundamentally, between the

provinces in which Wu Pei-fu is supreme and those

in which Feng Yu-hsiang has held sway; or between

either of those and the people of Canton, or the areas

farther west. The wars are leaders' wars, and are

waged for personal power and control, almost inva-

riably with little to choose between the combatants.

The leaders are supported in their warfare by a

mercenary or an impressed soldiery, and by funds

levied as tax upon the merchants of the areas they

control. A mercenary army is an understandable

thing in China, where it is drawn from those sections

of a dense population which are already facing star-

vation and which welcome even the precarious life-

of a soldier as a more certain means of subsistence.

The essential point in answer number two is, there-

fore, that there is no real division between the people

of North and South, Coast or Inland provinces. And

the problem of the unification of China is, then, the

problem (by no means a simple one) of ridding her-

self of her warring militarist leaders.

Geographical Cause for Disunity

It is not easy for people living in a country so

closely knit as America, a country of even mental

unification where every morning the people of one

state know precisely what the people of their farthest

removed sister state have been doing in the few

hours since the last news edition-it is not easy for

people of such an environment and mental habit to

comprehend China and the degree of her disunion.

But that disunion is almost wholly physical in char-

acter. Perhaps we may come nearer to an under-

standing of the situation if we think of our own thir-

teen colonies and states before the days of train and

telegraph, and the disunity that' then prevailed from

geographical conditions and social diversities.

Consider a country with an area estimated at five

million square miles, of which only the four hundred

linear miles of coast territory are in any sense well

connected or easily accessible one part to another by

rail, telegraph or water. Consider the huge interior

area which is only sparsely and imperfectly touched

by telegraph, where railroads do not exist, where the

laborious travel by small river boat, cart or camel-

train is made more uncertain and difficult by the

natural obstacles of turbulent rivers, rapids, floods,

great mountain barriers, poor roads.

Under such conditions it is scarcely reasonable to

expect the people of Kansu Province, or of distant

iin.

Slechuan, which border on the Tibetan wast

are months distant from Peking,

less comprehend and conform to, edicts from the ten,

porary authority at Peking! And without the thougy,

of unity that comes from a close news intercourge it

is a very difficult matter for a republican governmen

to function over wide areas.

$ and

to know of, Much

During the Hmpire these distant provinces enjoyed

a remarkably autonomous regime-under the Zoverp.

orship of an imported Manchu staff, it is true, ang

paying taxes to Peking, but otherwise Practically oy

off from central authority, certainly cut off from par.

ticipation in extra-provincial affairs or any constraint

thereto. The removal of even a corrupt and totter.

ing imperial power, with no strong or organizeq foree

for its immediate replacement, could not, even though

the agency be termed revolution and the form repub-

lic, bring about an instant conformity throughout a

territory of vast distances and physical barriers. It

did but increase the sense of local autonomy by re

moving the semblance of central authority and failing

to remove the local big men, their armies or their

ambitions.

Provinces But Pawns

Out of such a beginning China's fifteen years of

non-monarchial existence have been filled with an in.

tensification of inter-provincial warfare, manouvered

by varying combinations of military power-a warfare .

which has hampered and rendered well nigh impos:

sible the constructive efforts of nation and gover:

ment builders. And there again the term "inter-pro-

vincial" is misleading, for the provinces are but

pawns in the hands of the militarists-impressed sup-

pliers of men and money for the armies, not truculent

participants of themselves. While the leaders them-

selves-old military governors, or bandit generals, or

upstarts from the ranks, whatnot-are each pursuing

his own personal dream of uniting all China under

his own leadership; and to that end attempting to

"pacity" his own particular provincial stronghold and

consolidate his immediate neighbors under his com-

mand. The difficulty of each lies in the fact that

"consolidation" means absorption of other lesser pow:

ers into his own; and in an atmosphere of personal

ambitions, constrained subordination, individual jeal-

ousies, it is nonsense to look for or expect such

things as loyalty and trust among these. enforced

allies. A man is your ally or your subordinate until

he sees a chance to take steps alone in his own

direction, or an opportunity to gain further toward

his own objective in the service of your rival. That

is why it seems impossible that a decisive war 0!

even battle can be fought out in this mass of military

unrest and intrigue. :

It is, in fact, this very indecisiveness which is the

curse of the military situation today, and which, inci:

dentally, renders it so puzzling and incomprehensible

to the casual onlooker by reason of its continual

shifting of face. No general is ever honest-to-go0t

ness "licked." None is ever eliminated-unless he

chances to be a rebelling subordinate who is unlucky

enough to fall into his erstwhile superior's clutches.

Little does it count that day before yesterday Wl

and Feng drove Chang outside the Great Wall, {or

yesterday Feng turned around and let him in agall

and together they drove Wu into hiding; and today

Chang and Wu have joined forces to castigate the

too-presumptious Feng. 'Tomorrow-what?

Foreign Aid to Military Contestants

A further element, intensifying the indecisiveness,

has in the past been the ability of warring factions t0

secure the sinews of war from one or another 0! the

foreign powers-some Chinese patriots say because I

was to the interests of the powers to maintain @

weak, unstable, impotent China as the field for the!

enterprises. Some even say it has been a well-know?

policy for one power to help finance two belligerer0x2122

at the same time. It is likewise conceded by many

these same patriots that foreign subsidization alone

does not keep the militarists solvent and functionine:

The wealth of China herself is year after yeu

serunched within the mailed paws of the mite

and the merchants under their domination seem hep

less to withhold.

These same foreign powers are fon

cially-`"If China does this and that," or

nese people stop their domestic quarreling ;

there is at present any functioning unit know? c

China which can issue and enforce an a

if the Chinese people had anything to do with oth

incessant warring! The people themselves do ie

ing but suffer at the hands of the military (c)"

whose regime they exist-lose peace, prosperity

tual property, even lives in the wake of battles W set

do not otherwise concern them and which att

tle anything. `They are heartily wearied of Ce 0

less game; but so far, because there ig little (c)

d of saying of

ere the Chr

ras if

ee

munication between them, there has been little

o aiblty of concerted action in self-defense.

)

In some such concerted action, however, lies what

sooks like China's only hope of freeing herself from

that incubus, the Tuchun or military governor. And

ihe fact that the people themselves are not divided

by these struggles-that in fact they loathe all mili-

iarists With an impartial loathing-is the one element

that renders the situation hopeful.

aie Smee

It is true that amongst the present Big Three who,

first in one combination and then another, manipulate

all the many lesser generals of Central, Western and

Northern China in an incessant struggle for control,

public opinion differs in its estimate, and some people

incline to one and some to another as "the least bad."

Qn the whole, Wu Pei-fu has the odds in the popular

fayor-but chiefly as an individual, not as a leader of

armies, aS a civil administrator, or as a possible

savior of China. He holds this lead by reason of his

unimpeachable personal honesty (witness his compar-

ative poverty and simplicity of life), by his unques-

tioned (if misguided) patriotism, and not least by

reason of his strict bearing as a traditional hero, a

Confucian ethicist of the classical type.

Qn the other hand, the less conservative-minded of

- Young China are inclined to hold Feng Yu-hsiang as

more modern, more nationalistic, more plastic, less

the rigid conformist of the old fashion-in short,

more hopeful as a potential doer of constructive

things. Personally he is almost universally disliked,

despised even, because of his unstability and unac-

countability; but he has made a grand bid for popular

suffrance in disciplining an army which does not

prey upon the countryside it inhabits, and a still

stronger bid for favor among participants in the

nationalist movement by declaring boldly for a Peo-

ples Army to fight China's battles against foreign

aggression-a safe enough gesture.

It is safe to say that except among power-seekers,

Chang-Tso-lin is practically anathema. He is prob-

ably the most efficient and powerful militarist of

them all, and with seeming taste for efficient govern-

ment as well, as exemplified in Manchuria. But

strong man or not, honest man or not, he had his

beginning as.a bandit, a-common "hung-hu-tze,"' and

that the long memory of the Chinese people can

neither forget nor forgive.

This division of popular opinion can scarcely be

said to go to the lengths of voluntary support, for all

three men are considered enemies of the public peace

and of constructive development. Yet, strangely

enough, the force of public like or dislike, while it

cannot stem the tide of warfare can do much in sway-

ing its suecess. So it means much to a leader to gain

any degree of popular favor or suffrance, and he will

lake great pains to announce his plans and principles

in bopulace-curryirig terms, or even, when convenient,

to do constructive small-scale works for the same

purpose,

China's One Hope

But in the long run, despite his efforts and his

high-sounding phrases, he gains little real popular

favor. His deeds too greatly belie his words. Every-

Where as a result the populace joins in futilely curs-

ing the military. They suffer from victors and van-

quished alike. And now there is a growing move-

Ment for making this popular cursing less futile-a

movement to translate it into action and crystallize it

Into effectivity. .So far the movement seems small

`nd impotent, it is true, when compared with the vast

field over which it has to work. But there were even

`maller and more insignificant beginnings for that

other amazing movement which fifteen years ago

overthrew an empire, in a tradition-loving land where

"mpire had for thousands of years existed. And both

Movements found or are finding their beginnings in

ihe fiery-spirited, determined student class. Today

this Student class is more widespread and more em-

bracing than was its prototype of fifteen or twenty

Years ago,

If that other miracle could have happened (even

Doorly managed as it may have been) who can say

a the Seemingly hopeless muddle of present-day

Militarigm in China may not also be resolved, unex-

ee and completely. Come when it may, cer-

Y that miracle could never be branded as "pre-

Mature," as the earlier has sometimes been!

"4 China's self-conscious youth get solidly behind

ade" "Down With Militarists!" and I for one

ea In their ultimate achievement. It is China's

0x00B0pe-and a by no means hopeless one!

Report submitted by

ELIZABETH GREEN,

ee Representative in China.

Peking, China, February, 1926.

American Committee for Fair Play in China

1616 Taylor Street

San Francisco, California

BENIGNA GREEN, Chairman

L. M. BACON NATHALIA WALKER

Treasurer Secretary

Executive Board

Fanny Bixby Spencer, Charles Erskine Wood,

Chauncey S. Goodrich, Burroughs A.

Stephenson, Otto Carque

Representative in China

Elizabeth Green

National Board

Nathaniel Peffer

Anna Rochester

Chas. Edward Russell

David J. Saposs

Joseph Schlossberg

Dr. Sydney Strong

Prof. Tang Chung-Tzu

Wilbur K. Thomas

John Brisben Walker

Dr. Robert Whitaker

William Allen White

Oswald Garrison Villard

Dr. Richard C. Tolman

Roger N. Baldwin

Dr. David Starr Jordan

Francis Hill Bigelow

Dr. Arthur EH. Bostwick

Witter Bynner

Iris Calderhead

Mrs. Walter Cope

Mary Gertrude Fendall

Sara Bard Field

Elizabeth Gilman

Dr. John Haynes Holmes

Harry S. Huntington

Dr. Robt. Morss Lovett

Prof. Meng Shou-Chun

Fair Play for China

Dear Friend:

The American Committee for Fair Play in China is

not a subsidized movement. For the eleven months

of its existence only $386.09 has been volunteered for

its support. The work was carried during its first

eight months on $221.50. This covered all money ex-

pended for that time, during which Bulletin No. 1 was

issued in several printings and distributed widely

throughout this country and other parts of the world

and a selected mailing list, of several thousand inter-

ested persons, built up. This accomplishment was

possible within this financial limit only because:

1. Headquarters office, phone, etc., have been fur-

nished by the chairman.

2. There are no paid officials or workers. Elizabeth

Green, our representative in China, receives nothing

for expenses, services or reports. No money has

been paid to anyone for clerical aid, except $150 for

part-time secretarial help during the past three

months. This has been discontinued because funds

are not available.

3. All printing, including stationery, has been fur-

nished at cost by a printer interested in the cause.

Bulletin No. 2 was published in March and distrib-

uted, and by the courtesy of the publishing company

we have been able to print Bulletin No. 3, though

previous printing had not all been paid for. No. 4 is

ready for the printer. Further reports from our

China representative, based upon her own observa-

tions and experiences during recent happenings and

current shifting of governmental control in Peking,

we will have as soon as they can get through to us.

That there is a very real desire on the part of the

people for the facts we are furnishing, has been

amply demonstrated. Volunteer distributors have

been widely established over the country, and a strong

representative National Board of deeply interested

persons has been formed.

Manifestly, with all the will in the world, it will

be physically impossible to continue the work indefi-

nitely on the past basis. There must be more ade-

quate financial support, if we are to be able to meet

expanding demands and go forward to the accom-

plishment of all that is possible. It is for those

interested to say what our future shall be. The small

est contribution will be helpful; but in order that the

work may be planned intelligently and the best pos-

sible use made of funds, we urge all who can to be-

come regular sustaining members by the payment of

stated sums monthly (or quarterly if more con-

venient) from $1.00 per month upward.

Very sincerely yours,

Fanny Bixby Spencer

Charles Erskine Wood

Chauncey S. Goodrich

Burroughs A. Stephenson

Otto Carque

EXECUTIVE BOARD.

In 1923 there were 29,172 men carried home upon

stretchers or hauled in ambulances from the anthra-

cite collieries to their homes. In 1924 there were

30,241 men injured in the anthracite industry, out

of a total number of 128,000 men involved.

1870 the anthracite industry has butchered 1,201,000

of our people in order that the wheels of industry

might turn and that you and I and our fellow mem-

bers of society might be kept warm.

Since -

Peace With Honor

By KARL SPIES ROBINSON

Peace with honor was described by the national

adjutant of the American Legion here recently as

a national ideal.

All well and good-as far as it goes. We not only

stand firm with the men of the Legion on this

point; but, what is more, we are firmly convinced

that peace can never be maintained on any other

basis. But please mark this point: THE OTHER

FELLOW may have, and generally does have (pe-

culiar though it may seem), some sense of honor

also. And the point of view of `the other fellow" is

something which is too often overlooked by powdery

patriots.

We might take just one modern example: Japan.

Fifty some odd years ago the Japanese gave in to

our honorable wishes and our guns and gave up

their cherished ideal of Japan for the Japanese. So

overcome were they with our high sense of honor

that they poured over here to get some of it. But

they soon found that our sense of honor consisted

mostly of the cents in the dollar and was not gen-

erally as high or as wide as our real estate.

The next peaceful thing which we did was to plant

our honorable gold in China and our honorable mili-

tarists in the Philippines; which, by the way, are

about as close to Japan as Cuba is to Florida.

But our latest achievements in this respect cannot

be covered even with the cloak of hypocrisy, and

we stand revealed before Asia as a nation of thieves.

For one day China and Japan woke up to find that

as far as Asia is concerned, we had stolen from them

their precious national ideal: Isolation.

And not satisfied with this, we go one step further

and try to force our neighbors, the Mexicans, to be-

come isolationists also! This might be called na-

tional honor with a vengeance. Something like the

famous Mussolini "kick"; a pathetic indication of

moral ferment and rottenness.

If there was as little honor among thieves and

business men as there is between nations, all of

our crooks would be in jail and our banks would all

be bankrupt, which goes to show that our criminals

and bankers-Godless and greedy as they may be-

are further evolved than we are. politically, for in-

ternationally, honor still seems to mean what it

means to the lower animals, who eat each other.

Does history repeat itself, or were these words

written yesterday, instead of some two thousand-odd

years ago, for the benefit of legionnaires, and all of

us in general:

"In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou

hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greed-

ily gained of thy neighbor by extortion, and hast for-

gotten Me, saith the Lord God. Behold, therefore, I

have smitten Mine hand at thy dishonest gain which

thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been

in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or

can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall

deal with thee?'-Ezekiel, XXII.

The Black List

Editor Open Forum:

Am back at Seattle after a jaunt about the country.

Means of expression at my command will fail to ex-

press the cowed and dejected spirit of the workers-

the social plague, the Black List, stalks the earth.

Good and physically powerful men, the men that

pioneered in opening the Great Northwest, are

stranded, and denied a job.

One may be blacklisted by a "belly robbing" camp

steward for kicking on sour soup, or by a jealous

straw boss. And I, for one, was placed on the black

list for political action in favor of LaFollette, and

should have been shot for the blunder.

A number of logging camps have closed down re-

cently, and it is broadcast that a number more will

be closed down. Yet the market is short on lumber,

and the price is sky-high-the reason.

The black list does not work so well when there

are jobs seeking the men. Ten men for-every job

makes the weeding out process of wage slavery a

thorough success.

Washington State, with its press lined up solidly

behind the Coolidge machine, is becoming one of the

most reactionary states in the nation. The old politi-

cal convention system has been re-instated. At Se-

attle a new charter is being proposed, the object of

which is to disfranchise non-property owners. The

only consolation I get out of it is the certainty that

the ultra reactionary forces will force a line-up of

the progressives with the Communists, when there -

will be but two sides to the controversy instead of a

dozen angles as now.

JESSE T. KENNEDY,

CR GEL ee RRR AI TE a

_him worse.

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 506 Tajo Building,

First and Broadway

Los Angeles, California, by The Southern California

Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union.

Phone: TUcker 6836.

MANAGING EDITORS

Robert Whitaker Clinton J. Taft

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz J. H. Ryckman

Fanny Bixby Spencer Doremus Scudder

Leo Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills

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the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the

Act of March 3, 1879.

SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1926

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Headquarters, Room 418 Bryson Bldg., corner 2nd

and Spring Streets. R. W. Anderson, Secretary, City

Central Committee, Phone VErmont 6811. C. Cr:

meets second and fourth Mondays. Branch Central

meets every Tuesday evening at Headquarters

tH.

Speaking of enemies, don't have them.

fight.

grudges and vengeance.

Don't

Life is too short for

Let the other fel-

Nothing can punish

If a man doesn't like you, keep away

It's a large, roomy world. And, there is

Don't get even. Ignore.

Go on.

low stew. You keep sweet.

from him.

always another side of the street.

Great ideas have root in the intelligence, not in

the passions, of men, and cannot unfold in the heat

of bloodshed any more than a tree can put forth

green branches in a fiery furnace.-Fanny Bixby

Spencer.

To be possessed with a superiority complex is to

be continually tempted to do injustice to others.-

William Pickens.

FREE VIOLIN LESSONS

To Talented Children of Parents who

are unable to pay

MAX AMSTERDAM

Prominent Violin Teacher and Soloist

2406 Temple St. - - - - - - DRexel 9068

Reasonable Rates to Beginners

asinine mee ee At I OCIS SIRES

The Strike Against War

By KARL SPIES ROBINSON

The argument is sometimes advanced that the

white man is still so barbarous that it would be im-

possible for him to fight his battles without being

murderous about it; that the methods of, for in-

stance, a Gandhi might work in India and the

Orient, but that they would end in explosion among

the red hot blooded whites.

What has happened in England during the last

two weeks disproves this. White men, at least

Englishmen-or, we should say, English working

men-have considerable power of restraint at their

command, also. When ten million workers can strike

with hardly one case of violence, we believe that

even the most hard-boiled critic of the laboring

classes is bound to acknowledge with all humility

that here is an example of almost divine self-con-

trol. If only we could do that in America! If only

the employing and governing classes the world over

would take a hint and go and do likewise!

But, judging from the past, governments, like

greedy capitalists, will never heed the cry of the

masses until their bloody methods are checked by

some form of non-violent coercion such as the strike.

But the strike against industrial oppression at

home is not enough. We hear too little of the strike

against military oppression. The last refuge of

scoundrels the world over is militarism, and they

will inevitably use it as a last resort-either directly

on the masses at home as in Passaic, or by play-

ing on our pride and prejudice and our passions and

directing them against the innocent masses living in

other nations. And it is quite evident that ag long

as we allow our schools to be Prussianized and spend

millions preparing another war that this latter. will

always continue to be as easily accomplished by the

profiteers and the militarists as it is to touch a match

to a fuse.

The first step to take against this insane business

of wholesale butchery is to shift the idea of solidarity

now being used so effectively against industrial Op-

pression to include the menace of militarism which

is bound to crush the masses in the end unless the

problem is recognized and dealt with in time with

equal intelligence and vigor and frankness.

In the April 24th number of The Open Forum ap-

peared an article by Arthur Ponsonby, M. P. Ss

Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, explaining how

this problem is being dealt with in England. It is

said that some 50,000 have signed the following peace

letter:

"We, the undersigned, convinced that all disputes

between nations are capable of settlement either by

diplomatic negotiation or by some form of interna-

tional arbitration, hereby solemnly declare that we

shall refuse to support or render war service to any

Government which resorts to arms."

The same thing is being done in other nations,

and when such a notice will have been served by

a hundred thousand workers in every nation to their

respective Governments, convincing them that they

are determined not to kill each other, it can be seen

that international peace will then have arrived.

This will be the first step, and having made up

our minds that we will "do our bit" towards ending

the madness and the sin of war, we must immedi-

ately busy ourselves in seeing to it that our chil-

dren are taught that true patriotism consists:

(1) Not in learning how to march and use a gun,

but how to work and use a hoe; learning to love

and care for and build up the producing power of

the land, his land and his country, as the humble

peasant-not the real estate agent or the mortgage

merchant "loves" and exploits and boosts it into

dark oblivion. (2) In loving our neighbors as our-

Selves. And in an age of machinery our neighbor

may be the man ten thousand miles away. If we

deny this fact, then we had better get rid of our.

machinery post haste before it makes soup out of

the human race.

EXPIRATION NOTICE

Dear Friend: If you find this paragraph encircled

with a blue pencil mark it means that your sub-

scription to "The Open Forum" expires next week.

HWnclosed: find $2. for which continue my

months

7 Spbseription. to the paper for ... 2. _ year

Name prem ics Ae elena)

Address

' the official murder of these two men.

Los Angeles

OPEN FORUM

MUSIC ART HALL

233 South Broadway

May 30-`THE SACCO-VANZETTI CASE" Will be

discussed by TOM LEWIS of San Francisco yj

other able speakers. Massachusetts' SUPTeMe coy,

has just handed down a decision against them, t P

now behooves the labor and liberal forces to make a

fresh and powerful rally to their defense. This Ought

to be one of the greatest meetings the Forum has

ever held. Come and add your influence to that 9

the other hundreds who will gather to protest agains

t

t

t

t

MUSIC by

J. BELKIN, tenor, accompanied by PROF. RUDOLPR

VON LIEBICH.

Why?

Poverty is the curse of the world. I do not hesi.

tate to say it. We are told that death is our last

enemy to overcome. But death is sweet, and the lag

stepping off into the unknown-quite often painlessly,

just a quiet letting go, of the physical-while Doverty

is a long, slow, lingering, hopeless living death, to'

which masses, in fact, whole countries are doomed,

and it is all for lack of "home markets." As the home

market consists of the great body of people who w

the necessities of life, they should be able to buy

all they can possibly use of these necessities, and the

more anyone buys, the more it helps the rest, [js

not saving, that makes a market but buying. Se -

the contradiction! The banks are always crying

Save, save your money, and be thrifty; while the

merchants, advertise, "buy, buy keep money in ci

culation, and bring prosperity."

If, for instance, everyone worked a reasonable

number of hours per day, and every worker was pail

one dollar per hour for all kinds of work, and the

number of hours of work were limited to the neces:

sary amount of necessary produce; and all workers

could buy all they wanted of everything, would not

the question of home markets be solved, and with

out any wars to obtain foreign markets?

Is it so difficult, after all, to try, without prejudice,

to solve the question of a living for all instead of

each thinking only of his own. Are the streets any

less usable, because they are maintained by all those

who use them? Are the telephones, electric lights,

water systems any worse when used collectively thal

if each one owned an individual plant?

Why not carry the idea a little farther, and 50

have home markets for all, and so end forever the

terrible blight of poverty, and save ourselves the up

keep of hospitals, poor houses, orphan homes, old

peoples homes, etc. *

-Margaret B. Moore.

1028 Garvanza St.

Why? Ask those who own the press, the pulp

the school, the state, why they will not let us take

them away from them with their own weapons.-bl.

Of Interest | |

The other day I received a printed copy of the

article on MUSSOLINI AND ITALY which I am pub

lishing in this issue of the OPEN FORUM. It vw

accompanied with the following note.

"The remarks by Mr. Otto H. Kahn before f

Foreign Policy Association regarding Mussolini

Italy, are sent herewith in the belief that you W!

find them of interest."

N

COMMITTEE OF AMERICAN BUSINESS ME

15 Park Row, New York, U i

Mr. Kahn's remarks are indeed, "of interest, e

much so that it seemed to me worth while t0 my

them in full in our paper, as an utterly frank 7

hibit on the part of American Business of just a

their attitude toward government is. Here 18 @ :

tinct and definite repudiation of parliamentaly on

ernment, and an open admission that the ae

adulation of the American Constitution by se

business interests is due to the non-democratcent i

acter of that document. The italics, at the oe $8

the section marked III, are taken from the ae

itself as printed by this `Committee of eee

Business Men." Let all liberals take notice of 2

how much American constitutional support of is 0

speech is likely to mean while the Constitution '

the hands of American Business.-R. W.

pa os : t once:

Never have more than one kind of trouble 4

Vv

Some people bear three kinds-all they cane

all they have now, and all they expect to

e had,

. ail

os