Montana labor news., 1946-03-07
Continued from page 2
WHAT AMERICA NEEDS

of any great and inspiring purpose; its
dependence on secret diplomacy and
the politics Of appeasement of one or
both of the Russian and British i'm
perialisms, have already cost US and
the world a s%tupcndous price. But our
very blunders have made clearer the
real basis of peace.
One necessity is the establishment Of
something more worthy to be called
world government than the United Ma
tions Organizations. Meanwhile that
organization has useful functions and
it may, by amendment, be developed
into something better. But a more ade-
quite piece of governmental machinery
than is now available will 0 of itself
alone establish lasting peace. The *
IRENE advocates OF the sufficiency of
world government who are forever ap-
pcaling I the analogy of the American
Federal Union usually overlook the fact
that Federal union superimposed on
the unsolved moral and economic prob
lem OF chattel slavery did not avert the
horrors Of a civil war. World organi-
cation superimposcd on racial discrimi-
nations, fantastic economic inequality,
p%reventable poverty, rival imperialisms
and competing militarisms cannot guar
antee peace.
Uneasily the American people are
becoming aware that war, fought with
atomic explosives, will mean the end
Of our civilization if not Of the human
race. Yet if polls Of public opinion are
correct the percentage who expect a
third world war is greater than before
the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima.
Peace has its price. 1t is, first Of
all, an intelligent and effective COM
passion for the desperately hungry and
homeless peoples of Europe and Asia.
Then it is the complete liquidation of
all Imperialism, whether it is American
dollar diplomacy, the Soviet manipu-
lation of puppet states, or the white
colonial imperialism of European pow
ers. 1t is possible with the aid Of an
international organization to work out
a better pattern Of human relations than
imperialism. a pattern which combines
the right of self-governmcnt for every
people with the necessity for regional
and worldwide federation.
The price Of peace is progressive,
universal, national disarmament not
merely the remuneration Of atomic
weapons which remuneration cannot be
effective if we keep war. There must
be universal abolition of peacetime
military CONSUMPTION. 1t is a causc
for despair that instead OF working for
that President Truman, who on Christ
mas eve babe us to fulfill the prophesy
that men should learn war no more
urges on US an achaic teaching OF war
to all our able-bodied son by an army
which General Holdridge, representing
the Veterans League Of America, has
denounced as AN excellent breeding
ground for totalitarianism."
Ii is not yet too late for America to
save herself and the world. The pro-
cess will require a political realign-
ment. Our present two-party system is
largely responsible for the confusion
OF the American people and the inef-
fectiveness OF democracy. In the CAM
paigns Of 1910 and ~ Messrs. Wilkic
and Dewey vehcmently attacked the
Democratic administration without
proposing one single amendment of i'm
portance to its foreign or domestic pol
icy. Sidney Hillman and other labor
leaders hailed the results Of the last
election as a triumph for labor and its
political tool, the PAC. Ladies and
gentlemen, behold the result. The Dem
ocratic party rules and it includes men
whose policies range all the way from
the racism and undemocratic reaction
which inspired the filibuster against
the Fair Employment Practice bill to
blind acceptance of the leadership OF
Stain in all things. There are leading
Democrats who claim to believe in civil
liberty in America and yet justify its
complete denial in Russia including the
abomination OF Slave labor like Hitlsr's
own. No wonder the people are con-
fused. The President tries to appease
his left wing by words and his right
wing by appointments. The Republican
party is little more united. If the La
Toilette Progrcssives should unite with
II, it will be a marriage without love,
honor Of obedience.
The Anti-Saloon league proved once
and for all that manipulation OF the
sort now tried by the PAC may achieve
astonishing result in the passage
one law. But the Anti-Saloon league
could not enforce or keep prohibition.
Much less can PAC by similar tactics
enact or carry through a comprehen-
program Tor plenty, peace and
freedom.
With new urgency, l proclaim the
long-standing Socialist belief in the
necessity Of the formation on a ma
slonal scale Of a mass party. along lines
the Canadians successfully used in the
formation OF the party they call the Co.
operative Commonwealth Federation
Once we get together we can scarcely
fail to agree on the direction along
which planning for plenty. peace and