American policy must include demo–
cratic European Socialism in its circle
of alliances, all one can do is point to
the actual operation of this policy. W.
Averell Harriman, who is surely an
accredited spokesman of the Adminis–
tration, is reported in the
New York
Herald Tribune
to have said in a
speech on May 5th, that the "United
States can trust Socialist governments
to stand with it against reactionary
Communism
•••
our greatest potential
ally in Europe is the Social Democrats.
We must make them understand that
we have a common cause."
Of course, Mr. Clement is right that
so long as the armament race is al–
lowed to continue, the economic boons
of democratic socialism remain a re–
mote possibility. But this armament
race cannot be talked out of existence
by reverting to the anti-war propaganda
of the old Socialist Internationals. The
historical situation does not permit such
a frivolous reiteration of past slogans
and conventional political reactions.
As for Mr. Anderson's letter, I am
grateful for his friendly comment on
my piece but I must point out that he
misunderstands me when he seems to
equate the idea of a "disenchanted
socialism" with the old Marxist con–
cept of a "scientific socialism." The
effects of disenchantment are not such
as to involve us again in the illusion
that our socialist hopes and efforts are
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necessarily backed by the objective
logic and potency of science.-Philip
Rahv.
MALRAUX AND MUSEUMS
Sirs:
No word of comment could add to
the penetrating analysis of the Euro–
pean crisis which Malraux and Burn–
ham have presented in PARTISAN RE"
VIEW for April. Never vague in their ter.
minology, never evading an issue, and
never submitting to meaningless gen–
eralities, they have, in their measured
refusal even to discuss such dry rot as
democratic rights or civil liberties, given
us new proof of the profundity and
maturity of their thought. ·surely, if
Better Worlds are going to
be
built,
Malraux and Burnham are going to
build them! Let the Philistines sneer
if their blueprints seem to change with
some degree of frequency.
May I, however, elaborate briefly on
one minor point, if indeed any of the
points which Our Leaders have raised
can truly be called minor. I have in
mind Malraux's idea to remove "the
usually abominable academic paintings
of the Third Republic" from the mu–
seums and to replace them by "the most
perfect reproductions" of the world's
"hundred or so" greatest paintings.
What a stroke of sheer genius in a
world which so sorely needs increased
standardization of culture! But why,
I would ask, stop at museums? Why
not also remove the mass of contem–
porary writing-usually abominable–
which clutters up our libraries and
store it either in Washington's Nation–
al Archives or else in the back room
of Patrick
J.
Clarke's Bar on Third
Avenue and 55th Street in New York?
(For "where art is concerned, it is
never good to destroy anything," if I
may quote The Master again.) Its
place would then be taken up by the
world's hundred greatest books, in as
many copies as the shelves could hold.
