Search

Presents several letters to the editor on articles previously published. Participation of the U.S. in a war between the democracies and the fascist powers; Views of a reader on the article entitled "The War of Raw Materials in Spain," by Frank C. Hanighen; Trip to study the situation of Spain.

The Americans, are the teal architects of the Philippine Commonwealth. Among the people democracy is still an ideal to be fought for. Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon has been steadily concentrating more and more power in his own hands. A very adroitly drawn constitution started him well on his course by placing the purse-strings of the nation in his hands, to the surprise of assemblymen who attempted some revisions of his budget during the last session. With every usurpation of power by the President there has come a further abrogation of the rights of the unicameral assembly and of the people.

The Republican elephant has been taken over by the Kansas crowd, not without the usual compromising and shifting, of course. But because they were the only ones who had a possible candidate to offer front the right geographical section and had successfully concealed his real opinions from everybody, and because their candidate has been too inconspicuous to make any enemies. There are questions the party now faces after the usual asinine performance which in the United States is termed a "national party convention. No one can answer them because no man knows whether the new owners realize how great an opportunity is theirs, or what use they propose to make of their sudden power.

This article presents information on Colonel Fulgencio Batista of Cuba. It is informed that Batista is the first chief of the army of Cuba and is head of the largest, best-equipped, best-paid military machine in the history of Cuba, with absolute power over every phase of Cuba's life. He is now the maker and breaker of presidents. Batista's rise to power has been meteoric. Twenty-five years ago he was a boy in school in an American Quaker missionary establishment in Oriente. A little over twenty years ago, he was an orphan of thirteen adrift in the wide world to struggle or starve. Fifteen years ago he was a day worker in the cane fields, receiving a mere pittance. He has worked at every type of menial labor on the island; port-worker, railway hand, tailor's assistant, mechanic and what not. Five years ago he was court-martial stenographer with the rank of sergeant. Until less than two years ago, he took orders in that capacity; today he gives orders to the whole country.

This article focuses on several political developments in the year 1923. While Benito Mussolini, a dictator of Italy, was landing troops at Tangier in Morocco, and delivering an ultimatum to Greece, that U.S. statesmen, Charles Evans Hughes was expressing, to the members of the American Bar Association, his very Mussolini--like philosophy of international relations. Both gentlemen proclaim the good old Machiavellian principle of sacro egoismo. It is a doctrine which is becoming increasingly open in the world and it seems to achieve a certain immediate success. It is the doctrine that individuals and nations have a right to anything they want--if they have the power to take it and keep it.

The article presents an edict, published at Chita on September 1 that states that the old government of Mongolia announces its abdication in favor of the Provisional People's Revolutionary Government which has been cooperating with the Soviet Union's government and the Far Eastern Republic in the successful campaign against the troops of leader Baron Ungern. The edict says that in view of the weakness of Mongolian forces and the lack of armament, and also in view of the possibility of an assault by Chinese reactionaries an appeal for assistance is made to foreign powers.

The party coming into power in the U.S. is drafting plans for a tariff built to put up one more obstacle for a tottering Europe. The party going out of power celebrates peace by keeping Debs in prison and propaganding violently, with all its machinery, about red hobgoblins, a course of action which sooner or later, if continued, will bring results such as people are now seeing in France. At home is reaction, in greater intensity than several decades have seen. Abroad are confusion and distrust blocking the path. Disillusion, nevertheless, and disappointment, does not excuse discouragement. However evil the circumstances, the work of rebuilding must be carried along.

As long as the leading naval power of modern times has its home in the Atlantic, Asia Minor, must inevitably remain a position of commanding and decisive importance. A hostile power in Asia Minor always threatens Suez; without Suez England cannot command the Pacific, and without English supremacy in the Pacific, the U.S. standing there is at once jeopardized. The Baghdad railway is one form of the Asia Minor problem, and to any one familiar with the history of the Near East it is simply a catchword which suggests all the fundamental problems of the first world war; for in one connection or another it involves them all.

The article focuses on the fact that the U.S. holds the view that the Japan has become the superpower in Asia. This will mean in practice that the United States and Japan will exert complementary power to carry out a joint Asian policy. At first, America will provide the military power, Japan the economic It will he a one-two punch, a continuing and mighty attempt to stop the spread of communism across more of East Asia. Gradually, Japan will take over more functions from the Americans. This joint strategy, to be increasingly shouldered by Tokyo, means that the present split in Korea, the Taipei-Peking impasse, and what may be called the "permanent flux" in Indochina, are to be regarded as static arrangements for the 1970s.

In the middle of April, there was an almost complete collapse of morale in the world of public television. Some of the events, which precipitated the crisis, were barely related; but, falling as they did within a short period of time, they combined to persuade the working producers that their interests were not being represented in public TV's corridors of power. For a couple of weeks, real life in educational broadcasting stopped along like a particularly hectic script from the film "Mission Impossible," the plot included such elements as lifted documents, midnight meetings and impassioned phone calls. Out of this turmoil has come a happy result the formation of the first producers' organization, the Association of Public Television Producers that is more interested in political than in bread-and-butter issues.

The article presents some literary updates. A popular priced edition of Price Collier's "England and the English" has been published by Scribners. Another update says that The American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia has recently announced that an award of the Henry M. Phillips prize will be made during the year 1912. The subject for the essay is The Treaty-Making Power at the United States and the Methods of Its Enforcement As Affecting the Police Powers of the States. The essay is limited to 100,000 words, exclusive of notes, which should be kept separate as an appendix. The award is $2,000.

The article discusses the issue of the U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy's rude handling of a distinguished army officer. It was a question of how Senators should behave toward witnesses whether they are brigadier generals or cafeteria workers. The real issue was simply whether McCarthy should be permitted to continue his march to power unopposed or, stated another way, whether the principle of the separation of powers still prevails. The issue on related to the army gave McCarthy a chance to have his phony demagoguery taken seriously. In reality, McCarthy had no case against the army.

The article focuses on the nominations of new regents in Republic of San Marino. The government of the republic is carried on by a council of sixty citizens elected for life from all classes in equal proportions -- 20 nobles, 20 burghers, 20 peasants. Every six months counselors nominate 12 of their members, then by ballot 2 of these are selected to fill the office of Consolt or Capitani Reggenti. The ceremony at the instalment of the new Regents, who, after their six months' term of power, cannot be reelected for three years, is performed with great solemnity, and this year the opening of the new Town Hall is an event in the annals of the republic.

The article discusses several topics related to the U.S. as secret of Thomas C. Platt's power as a Republican Party leader, income tax policy and role of bossism in the U.S. government. The secret of Platt's power as a Republican leader is the habit which the politicians of party have got into of looking him for direction because he is the only man in the party who has made it his business for years, day in and day out, to control its affairs. The article reports on the income tax policy which declares that the tax is to be collected from any citizen of the U.S. residing abroad on his part of income which is derived from any source in the U.S. And also comments on the practice of bossism which is becoming an integral part of the U.S. politics and being used as a weapon for the destruction of honest and patriotic men.

The article presents incidents related to the world politics. The French have taken deep offence at the assumption by the British of the protectorate of Zanzibar under the Anglo-German Treaty, because in 1862 a joint declaration was signed by the French and English Governments reciprocally guaranteeing the independence of the Sultan. Moreover, the final act of the Berlin Conference in 1885 obliged every European nation which meant to establish a protectorate over any portion of the African coast, to give notice to all the other Powers. Another one focuses on the incident in which General von Moltke has put on record his testimony against alcohol, which he says he never uses and thinks unnecessary, and he sets down as " one of the greatest enemies of Germany the misuse of alcohol "

It is unfortunate that at a moment when the European situation is so full of peril to peace the scandal of Serge Alexandre Stavisky has diverted public attention in France from international affairs and plunged the country into bitter internal strife. The present French internal situation is so much to the advantage of certain foreign powers that it would not be surprising if they had done something to foment the agitation. Those who are conducting the inquiry into the mysterious murder at Dijon, France, of Judge Albert Prince, an important witness in the Stavisky scandal, have probably not excluded the hypothesis of foreign agents.

The article focuses on the Unemployed Citizens League has erected a structure that promises to become an outstanding political power in the State of Washington. Its potential strength and the sincerity of its leaders in demanding economic reforms have projected it into the limelight. With their cars to the ground politicians are listening intently, prepared to board the bandwagon and support the league's program. The organization came into being in Seattle as the result of a spontaneous movement to provide work for the unemployed. While its efforts have since been forced into channels of emergency relief, its future is concerned principally with the enactment of legislation.

The article discusses about a state of war that exists in Shanghai and the lower Yangtze valley. The Japanese invasion of Shanghai has gone beyond mere protection of the lives and property of Japanese nationals; it has gone beyond that form of reprisal which international law allows stronger powers to take against weaker nations whenever the spirit moves them. The U.S. went to war with Germany on the strength of a Congressional resolution which was not a formal declaration of war, but simply a declaration that a state of war with Germany existed. The Russo-Japanese war in 1904 was also begun with a surprise attack by the Japanese without a formal declaration.

The article comments on the transfer of the U.S. financier Andrew W. Mellon, from the Treasury Department to the Embassy of the U.S. A long time ago the myth was exploded that Mellon was the greatest Secretary of the Treasury since Alexander Hamilton. Mellon typifies the successful pursuit of wealth, coupled with the acquisition of some political power in his State and a complete readiness to represent in political life the desires of the masters of U.S. His successor, Ogden L. Mills, has undoubtedly a more liberal viewpoint, comparative youth, great ability, and the faculty of presenting his views in public with remarkable clarity and force.

The article comments upon the role of the U.S. at the General Disarmament Conference. Force which have contributed to the U.S. greatness as the leading world power are the very forces which now hold her from sharing responsibilities and obligations of world leadership. The disarmament policy of the U.S. has been shaped and in large measure dictated by the Senate under its constitutional authority of giving advice and consent to agreements entered into by the Executive. The Senatorial habit of modifying and amending treaties, even of rejecting them entirely, has made the State Department a creature of the Senate.

This article describes plans of the author if he were a dictator of the U.S. The author asks for the most unworthy of men, no clanking hardware of rank and power, no sidearms, no gold braid, no ribbons, no rooster feathers. He just wants to have for a while authority over the invisible government and secret power to control and coerce those salaried ladies and gentlemen employed by the various organizations of the U.S. In such a case the author would snap his fingers at the vote-greedy statesmen of the responsible governments of the land, all of them, in cities, States, and in Washington.

The article focuses on the political conditions in the world during 1931. According to some news the second ministry headed by Ramsay McDonald In Great Britain is at end. Whether there will then be a general election, or the Tories will take hold, time will show. The recent speculation, action of the governors of Oklahoma and Texas in calling out the troops to curb the production of oil in their respective states represents simply an eleventh-hour move, under pressure of a demoralized market, to control a situation that should have been taken under governmental control years ago.

The most civilized nations are more fearful of one another than ever before, and each of the great peoples regards every other great people as more treacherous and cruel than Apache Indians. At a time when the regional tensions within nations like France, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy are weaker than ever before, when highways, railroads, schools, newspapers, and radio have made each of them one people as never before and the shadow of civil war seems to' have passed away forever, each nation goes in fear of other nations and suspects them of the most monstrous designs.

The article focuses on the political career and attitude of the U.S. President Herbert Clark Hoover. According to the author under a succession of Presidents, some of them strong men hungry for power, and some of them weaklings egged on by powerful interests with axes to grind, the executive has encroached upon the legislative branch of the government until today the House of Representatives is a mere partisan mob and the Senate wages an unpopular and perhaps a losing battle to preserve representative government. Herbert Hoover has made the fundamental error of attempting to occupy both the roles of an executive and a politician.

The article reports that Thompsonism has been swept out of power in Chicago. The Clown Mayor will no longer amuse the patient residents of Chicago and will no longer annoy bankers, big business men and newspaper publishers of the city. One of the foremost labor radicals of the U.S. William D. Haywood also known as "Big Bill" was overwhelmingly defeated for reelection after an election campaign unparalleled in the city's history. Never before had Chicago seen a campaign attended by such religious and moral fervor as that which characterized the drive to unseat Chicago mayor William Hale Thompson.

The article focuses on the effective suffrage during the time of the U.S. General Porfirio Diaz. euphemism. It is true that in the time of Diaz there was no suffrage and no pretense of it; but it is to be regretted that after the fight to obtain it and had for a moment seen it gleam, it should have again disappeared from the political horizon without leaving any hope for its reestablishment. Still, the lack of effective suffrage at present is not to be imputed exclusively to the fault of the political authorities, but in great part to the apathy and indifference of the citizens and above all to their skepticism of the good faith of those in power, consequent upon the crushing brutality of political leadership.

Austria has been making a nuisance of herself to the great powers on and off for more than two years. The new Austrian nationalism which is growing up under the wing of Heimwehrism and which is as intolerant of foreign comment as is the nationalism of any big Power, bitterly resents the attention paid to Austrian affairs in the foreign press. It complains that many worse things happen in Germany and elsewhere than in Austria but attract less notice. The chief reason why Austria is not allowed the privilege of having her revolution behind closed doors and shuttered windows lies in the threat to European peace inherent in any disturbance of her slender hold, financially, economically, politically, and militarily-on life.

The article discusses several issues related to politics from different countries of the world. What constitutes the gravity of the present Venezuelan crisis is not that the United States is issuing a commission of inquiry concerning matters of deep interest to it, but that it is issuing it as a hostile proceeding, with a threat of war behind it. What the United States is going to investigate, therefore, is not whether there is wrong on the British side, but what is the extent of the wrong. The first intimation one get of what was brewing was the announcement in U.S. President's message that Americans were opposed to "the forcible increase by any European power of its territory on this continent"; that Great Britain was actually guilty of this offence, as it was trying "to enlarge the area of British Guiana in derogation of the rights and against the will of Venezuela." This positive pronouncement on the merits of the controversy had several consequences.

The best one can say of the conference of the four Foreign Ministers of the great powers, which, ended in Paris yesterday is that it did not terminate in the undisguised debacle of the previous conference in London. But if open rupture was avoided, the spirit of disillusionment was scarcely concealed. During the past weeks the iron curtain has moved from Central Europe to the west, and the effect of holding the conference in Paris has been to admit the French — bewildered and hurt spectators of the private drama of the Big Three — into the baffled brotherhood of the non-Russian powers.

The article reports that the tragic decades through which the world has just passed constitute the blackest period of modern history. Little by little people have seen vanish almost every one of those standards of international conduct and of humane civilization, which had gradually been built up during preceding centuries. Crimes, committed by the Nazis and by their accomplices against the Jewish people are indelible stains upon the whole of the modern civilization. For common people and governments, to which power has been entrusted during these years between the Great Wars, cannot shake off the responsibility for having permitted the growth of world conditions, which made such horrors possible.

This article presents the author's views on the working of the governments of today's world. The author criticizes the governments by saying that they are busy in competition with one another and have local sovereignty which is not possible. The author says that a new League of Nations will emerge. It will have nothing in common with a global imperium or federation. Its organs will be without legislative power. Its members will seek to keep the peace through the collective coercion by all sovereignties of any sovereignty cannot take the power alone.

In the period between the two World Wars, Europe witnessed a struggle between monarchy and democracy. As intellectual Guglielmo Ferrero has said, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and of the German and Czarist empires in 1918 left three-quarters of Europe with governments incapable of ruling their countries or of keeping the peace. Against their shadowy legitimacy a democratic legitimacy pitted its strength. Fascism tried to thwart both sides by its use of totalitarian force. It did not succeed. The revolutionary process has continued, and the oppressed people, working underground and in exile, have forged a new democratic plan for the regeneration of Europe. The birth of a new Europe depends to a great extent upon the agreement of the three great powers. Should one of them oppose the revolutionary aims of a people while another encourages them, a peaceful settlement will be tragically postponed. The peoples of Europe are tired of compromises and counter-revolutions. They are determined to express their will, once and for all.

According to the author, the very foundations of fascist dictatorship In Italy are disintegrating. Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy, has had to mobilize the most criminal elements among his followers. The new national secretary of Fascist Party, Carlo Scorza, is a typical representative of that criminal fringe. In 1928 he published an article in which he likened the party to the Catholic Church. Scorza has unutilized political power for personal gain. The dream of a conservative succession to Mussolini can only be brought to realization if the victorious armies of the Allied powers are assigned the degrading task of establishing in power the renegades of Fascism.

The news of allied bombs falling on Japan, following closely on the extremely efficient raids on the Philippines, has had a tonic effect on the United Nations. For once their power has been shown to be actual and present rather than merely potential. And the mystery, so far undispelled, of where the raiders came from and where they landed seems to have created confusion in Tokyo. The contradictory Japanese broadcasts that have been coming in ever since are no doubt partly designed to elicit information, but they also indicate a surprise and consternation which are hardly consistent with the continuing Japanese statements that the damage was extremely slight and was confined, Allied deviltry being what it is, to "grammar schools, hospitals, and cultural establishments."

Pierre Laval is back in power as a result of a German ultimatum to Vichy. Nervous about the increasing pro-United Nations sentiment in France, fearing the effects of expanding British raids or even attempts to establish bridgeheads on the French coast, Adolfe Hitler has insisted on a 100 per cent pro-Nazi administration in Vichy. In this way he hopes to provide some security for his rear when he launches his spring campaign in the east. Probably also he is counting on getting the use of the French fleet, the potential menace of which has recently been multiplied by British necessities in the Indian Ocean.

The article focuses on various developments around the world during 1882. First article focuses on alienation of Russia from France. It was a fundamental principle for all the representatives of France to look everywhere for allies against Austria. They tried in turn the Dukes of Savoy, the Netherlands, England, the Swiss cantons, Venice, the Turks, the Swedes. Another article focuses on the national party and control of the Egypts. Just a year ago the troops comprising the garrison of Cairo beleaguered the Khedive in his palace, and did not return to their quarters until they had obtained what they demanded-to wit.

Presents letters to the editor related to articles previously published. Power of the U.S. Congress to abolish slavery; Errors in the article entitled "The Divorce Question"; Suggestion of names for the island of Rhode Island.

The article presents economic and social updates of the U.S., as of January 6, 1881. The rise of the population of the United States to 50,000,000, which has now been ascertained by the census, coupled with the rapid decrease of the public debt, formally and definitively places the Republic among "the great Powers" of the world, that is, amongst the Powers no one of which any other Power could assail without taxing its own resources to the uttermost. According to another update, Reuben E. Fenton, the ex-Senator from this State, is reported as having recently discussed civil-service reform in an interview with a reporter, and as having maintained resolutely the dislike of the American people to anything like permanence in office. His plan of reform would consist in putting excellent men in the offices for short, fixed terms, during which they would not be displaced except for incompetence or misconduct, and then dismissing them to make way for men of "equal merit."

The article presents incidents related to the world politics. The Democrats have raised the flag of reform under the leadership of Horace Greeley, and gave the Republican Chiefs, whose weaknesses were already sufficiently notorious, four years more of a solid hold on power. The conclusion was drawn by an overwhelming majority that they proposed to put him in the White House solely because they kit they could surround him with as many wicked partners as they pleased, and carry on any number of sinful games under the shelter of his name. Another incident focuses on the gain acquired by the Republican, William E. Chandler through its political campaign.

Americans are friendly and arrogant, generous and hard, democratic and anti-democratic, eager to hear about themselves and morbidly sensitive to unfavorable criticism, profoundly simple and extraordinarily complicated. There is a growing tendency in the federal government of the United States to create special agencies of an ad hoc character which are not directly related to the normal framework of administration and live by standards they themselves establish.

The article focuses on the forecasts related to the political prospects of the French leader Charles De Gaulle. Many scholars have predicted that De Gaulle will come to power in 1949. The recent government victory on. a vote of confidence has given me no reason to modify this judgment. De Gaulle himself has done little in the past year to make his candidacy attractive to the French people. Arrogance, aloofness, exaggerated self-esteem are not qualities which make a popular leader. Apparently De Gaulle believes a marriage of convenience with right-wing Socialists and conservative elements of the Radical Party would serve only the interests of the present bankrupt regime.

The European crisis can be expected to continue for some years to come. Early this past spring, when the Marshall Plan began to assume definite form, certain foreign-affairs experts announced confidently that we had already won the Cold War. A few months later, the same people said that we were now "entering the phase of military war." These vacillations only show how far removed informed persons can be from understanding Europe's problems. Europe is suffering perhaps the severest crisis in its history, a crisis that is, in fact, a great process of transformation. As long as this process goes on, Europe will be extremely vulnerable to pressures from outside. At the same time, the world balance of power will remain critically unstable, for coming changes in Europe will inevitably exert a profound influence on the relations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

This article focuses on the relationship between Catholic Church and democracy in the U.S. There is no doubt that the Catholic people can adapt themselves to American democracy, most of them are good American democrats already. But the adaptation of the Catholic hierarchy will be extremely difficult for three reasons, firstly the autocracy of the popes has been frozen and sanctified by the doctrine of papal infallibility, secondly the papacy is both a church and a state and its religious role in the U.S. cannot be considered apart from its power politics, and finally the internal structure of both Vatican State and Holy See is completely totalitarian.

Various proposals have been made for a solution of the Palestine problem. The Arabs demand an independent Palestine immediately; this would of course mean an Arab-controlled state since the Jews are in a minority. The British have proposed a form of federalization or cantoaization under the ultimate authority of the British crown. Various groups, Jewish and non-Jewish, favor an independent bi-national state in which power would be divided equally between Jews and Arabs. Other groups and individuals advocate partition on a basis, which would create in Palestine what has come to be called "a viable Jewish state." This last scheme, which has won some backing among moderate Zionists, involves a serious modification of the traditional Zionist aim, namely, the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in the whole area of Palestine.

This article focuses on the five-star foreign policy of the United States. The demise of the department of state as the originator of the foreign policy of the United State might well be dated from May 26 of 1947. This was the day on which the U.S. President Harry S. Truman renewed his demand on congress for power to sell arms to the Latin American republics, to nineteen at the moment and later to twenty, when a deal can be worked out with dictator Juan Perón of Argentina. The Presidential message demonstrated that foreign policy is now and in the future will be the product not of the State Department alone but of a combination of the State, War, and Navy departments, a combination in which State is not necessarily the dominant factor.

A government as powerful as that of the United States, in a world so splintered by revolutionary unrest, must necessarily clothe reality in mythology. This does not mean that the myths are taken literally by the inhabitants of the power structure; merely that they must talk as if the myth were reality and no other reality existed. On July 16, the U.S. House of Representatives once again demonstrated the precarious nature of the most important constitutional right, freedom of speech. The new assault was embodied in H.R. 4897, which extends the jurisdiction of the Wartime Sedition Act to include overseas activities of United States citizens, nationals and resident aliens.

The author in the article objects the constant projection of the personal image of the president of the U.S., and outlines threats that are inherent to this public exposure. She believes that this frequent display could led to the suppression or the obscuring of significant news; the amassing by the President of personal power; and the irrational worldwide identification of him with the country as a whole. Because of the cult of personality to the average man everywhere, the U.S. President John F. Kennedy has become synonymous with the United States. The author assessed that the danger of this equation is that should the President fail, then the country fails; should he make a mistake, the country errs.

The United States Congress, by single-minded concentration on its nay-saying power, has maimed itself. It is so marvelous an instrument for stopping action that its position in the councils of government and in the eyes of the public has been seriously diminished. The legislative branch has lost prestige and political importance, paradoxically enough, during an era of unprecedented expansion of the sphere of federal government. In its negating power, Congress has authority that other political figures must defer to, of course; but in its concentration on the power not to act, it has assured its own decline rather than made the most of its potential authority as a co-ordinate branch of government.

The article presents the author's comments on the U.S.-Soviet Union relationship. The author considers Soviet domestic complications as "surprising" because there has been a tendency to view the Soviet Union as a monolithic system in which all power lies in the hands of a dictator and his clique. The author adds that neither Americans nor Russians are born believing that the other represents a threat. This is something that must be learned. And while the learning may be relatively easy, given the universal and eternal tendency toward ethnocentrism, it still must be helped along. This role is performed to a great extent by government, even in societies where the information media are essentially independent of governmental control.

The article presents information on political developments around the world. It is not alone the fact that the ratification of Panama treaty had long been foregone which accounts for its very subdued reception. Not content with having a delegate in Congress of equal powers with representatives of New Mexico and other Territories and with having the right to enter and leave the U.S. freely, Puerto Ricans actually demand Statehood or freedom. The bill to abolish Berea College has now been repassed in an amended but still very objectionable form.