for God's sake, what kind of a socialist!
-is a man who, among the thousands of
similar beings in an army camp, can find
no one to talk to, and only ·•a few fellows
who are pleasant enough for casual asso–
ciation" and who eventually brings him–
self to a point where he " tolerates, even
is interested in, his bunk mates"?
One does not have to know much about
socialism to know that this insufferable
amalgam of self-satisfaction and self-pity
i~
its least appealing aspect.
Sincerely,
LAi lllA WOOII
WASHINCTOl\,
D.
c.
ON THE "10 PROPOSITIONS"
Sirs:
The
10 Propositions on the War
force
me to take up an always reluctant pen to
say, "What can we do about it?" Your
vigorous clarification uf the iss ues (Jught
t•> gird up the faith of many radicals who
~re
looking for leadership under such a
program 'in this scrabbled world.
The "reluctant pen" would like to sa}
many things in appreciation of your arti–
cle, but
I
shall not let it run away with
me. Only let me say
l
have not had such
a refreshment of spirit and hope fur man y
a long day as this has brought to me.
I
particularly liked your assumption
that the workingclass can be brought tu
see the issues and to act. In my years of
active participation in the labor movement
l
was impressed most of all by the fact
that the workers know that Socialism is
the only answer even though they may be
skittish about the term.
I
am speaking of
the workers outside of the big cities, those
conditioned by lower middle class en–
vironment, those being the workers with
whom l have had most experience.
Gratefully yours,
(Mrs.)
MARY
R.
ScHNEIDER
Niw Y
onK CITY
Sirs:
"Ten Propositions" could sca rcely serve
a~
a Handbook for Hevolution ; nen:rthe–
less,
1
venture a criticism which rna)' be
unjust in assuming that they could so
serve.
You point out
in
Prop. IX the lack of
organized leadership; you suggest a
"looser party," perhaps "a grouping uf
Parties.''
The problem of building this leader–
ship, in whatever manner it is to be done,
is precisely the most important practical
task discussed in the Proposi tions. And
yet you give no specifics, there is no dis–
cussion of what possible alignment of
existing parties, if any, might serve the
purpose; or, failing that, what groups
might be looked to in the building of new
power groups.
If,
as seems probable,
1
his
question was outside the scope of your
Props., give it your immediate allenti<on,
please.
_-\I.BEI\T
Pt
CCI
CI\AI\\ILLE. ILL.
BOMBS AND GRANDMOTHERS
Sirs:
Or. Williams' "Exul tation" over the
h<>llliJing of the Englisl1 populace deserl'es
mure
than one foot -not e- if it desen·ed
tu
IJe
published at all.
l-I e
is thankful
·'to a kind and just l1 eaH·n" for the human
misery that has been wrought, and he
calls this a "cleansing mystery.'' Cer–
tainly the$t' references need some funher
elucidation beside the fa ct that his grand–
mother, an Englishwoman, was mistreated
by an English famil y.
T.
S. Eliot an–
nounces the wrath of Cod in much lwtter
style, basing his spokesmanship on a
program that is more mature ---i.e., less
childish - -than an ·'inherited resentment."
There
are
many of us who would like
to see the ruling class
of
England, and
of the world, lose its hold. And we t.le–
plore Eliot's occasional •nnbbish tone and
his reactionary politics --though economi–
call y he is not so reac'tinnary
as
somt::
may think.
William~
is a liability to a
good cause. Eliot, at least, writes good
poetry.
IOWA
CITY,
TOWA
Sincerely yours,
LEONARD UNCER
REACTIONS TO LAST ISSUE
- While the subscription draws the sting
from this, I must say that your last (No.
4) issue strikes a new low. There was
one very dull and very
vt~ry
long article,
and one 1·ery inconclusive one (though
the Romains no doubt sounded very well
in French).
It
seemed to me the only
fresh pages were the army camp letters.
1
pass by the story with averted face to
make a plea: Gentlemt>n. couldn't you
