3/16-3/22/47

3/16 Sunday Visited Al & Edith today. Danny is a bright, energetic toddler, very alert and intelligent. He puts the radio on, runs to the lamp then grins to show how pleased he is. He tries to get hold of ash trays. Eugene and I played a draw with Al in chess. The kids behaved pretty well. A revolt has been going on in Dictator Morinigo's Paraguay for several days. Marshall in Moscow has defined our concept of democracy as the right of the individual to develop his mind and soul in ways of his own choice free from fear of coercion, provided he does not interfere with the like right of others. We are about to make a mockery of this concept here. Molotov asserted free speech did not mean freedom to propagate fascist doctrines. Yenan has asserted it was bombed by American planes.

3/17 Eugene got 100 in arithmetic and marked the children's papers. Sylvia went on the high sliding pond in the playground. Mrs. Roosevelt has opposed the ban on the C.P. among countless others. A Maritime Union conference passed an anti-communist resolution, C.I.O. Unions however disavowing it. Milt Murray, newspaper guild head pointed out "reds" to the "House" Labor Comm. Budenz is fingering them for the "UnAmerican Comm."

3/18 British Parliament discussed the Truman proposals on Greece and Turkey, many Laborites denouncing them. The UN Investigating Comm. in the Balkans is having a hectic time. Blocked in a Yugoslav town suspected of harboring guerillas [sic] they passed on to keep their schedule although permission came to enter the next day. When a Greek guerilla leader was delayed in keeping an appointment with the comm. all but the Soviet & Polish delegates went on. In Greece the route lay along territory where guerillas were battling soldiers & gendarmes. In Albania they were welcomed. Charges there were made that Greeks were provoking border incidents. Molotov at the Moscow conference asked a billion dollars reparations from Germany. Joe Stack of the NMU will stand trial on Curran's charges of years old misdeeds. Sylvia spends her mornings in the playground as she is not enrolled in the pre school class for indoors. Eugene wants to see The Jolson Story. Jean R. Bloch is dead at 62.

"Guerrilla" was regularly spelled with one "r", I won't note it further. 
The remainder/bottom third of this page is physically cut out of the diary, and the writing on the reverse side is crossed out in what looks like green crayon as well as ink. What I can read of it appears more "diary-like" than journal; it seems to be some political/philosophical comments, which, I guess, he later decided to eliminate. The next page continues with the next day.

3/19 Eugene drew "The Story of the Other America" by Gill and Hoke. "Three Gay Tales From Grimm" by Wanda Gag "[The] Chinese Ink Stick" written and illustrated by Kurt Weise and "The Boy Who Could Do Anything" - Mexican Folk Tales retold by Anita Brenner. Sylvia went to school this morning and had a few heartaches when a couple of nasty children tried to exclude her from the class. She went right back at one boy though who pushed her. Eugene has two school mates who like to gang up on him. He says he's going to fight them one at a time. Bread is going up again. A Negro reporter has won his fight to sit in the Senate press gallery. Murray has ordered the rump group in the NY C.I.O formed to oust the communists to disband. The State Senate approved the Wilson-Pakula Bill to prevent coalitions in elections. Also passed was the Archinal-Corey [?] Bill to require oath-bound organizations to file membership lists.It is expected to be used illegally against the C.P. Another Archinal Bill to bar members of "UnAmerican" organizations from holding office was passed by the Assembly. Lillian read "In Time of Peace" a superficial novel of pre-war times by Ben Ames Williams. I read Pierre Van Paassen's great account of his native town in Holland weaving in the Hitler rape of Europe. At night to the "Fed" Installation at the Hotel Diplomat.

There's a second name for the "Archinal" Bill, but I'm not sure of it.

3/20 Chiang has captured Yenan. The Archinal Bill barring "Unamercians" from holding office was killed due to its probable unconstitutionality. The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that M.E. Thompson is the rightful Governor and Talmadge a usurper. The latter is vacating, all his actions while Governor invalidated. The French C.P. has refused to approve the war against the Indo-Chinese colonies. Sylvia was struck by a "beautiful" hat worn by a girl in playground school and described it to Lillian. Eugene got 80% in spelling, one wrong but three erasures.

3/21 Eugene escorted some children to the principal's floor where they had to do homework in which they were behind. Sylvia is desperate for playmates even to going down to the Gallins to call for Norma. Acting Sec'y of State Dean Acheson testified in the hearings before the "House" Foreign Affairs Comm. He claimed no possibility of war hanging on one projected program of vast expenditures in European countries to stop Communism. Schwellenbach called for a constitutional amendment to circumvent the unconstitutionality of outlawing the C.P.  Milt Murray was reproved by the NY Newspaper Guild for his testimony before the House Labor Comm. Investigator Paul Porter returned from Greece with recommendations for aid to the Monarcho[?]-Fascist gov't "to stop communism".

3/22 The "Bund" is reorganizing. The Senate passed the Anti-postal pay bill which wracks the wage-hour law 64-24. We will not grant food relief to starving Yugoslavia claiming their need is not urgent. Eugene made pumpkin faces for Sylvia and himself. Played Eugene a chess game. Bobbie R. called for the kids and they went down to the yard where Eugene's bike collapsed. Socialist Minister Spaak has formed a Belgian cabinet the C.P. and Liberals staying out.