The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 9      March 5, 2007

 
25, 50 and 75 years ago
 
March 5, 1982
Some 500 farmers, loggers, and unionists packed into the state capitol on February 15 to protest the increasing plight of Minnesota farmers. The rally was preceded by a parade of farm tractors, logging trucks, and buses from the state fairgrounds.

Carrying placards such as "Family Farmer: Endangered Species," "Tax Profits not People," and "Parity Price will Save Rural America," Minnesota farmers converged on the capitol to press for passage of two bills: a two-year moratorium on mortgage foreclosures and a minimum price bill that would guarantee 80 percent parity.

The two-year moratorium bill on farm foreclosures comes at a time when a quarter of Minnesota's 14,000 farmers who have loans with the Farmers Home Administration are now delinquent in making payments.  
 
March 4, 1957
The Veterans Administration has awarded James Kutcher, the legless veteran, a bronze medal for "ten years of faithful and meritorious service." The irony of it is that Kutcher is engaged in a fight to force the VA to pay him his back wages for almost eight of those ten years.

Kutcher, who lost both legs in combat in Italy, began to work for the VA in 1946. One of the first victims of the "loyalty" purge, he was fired in 1948 for open membership in the Socialist Workers Party. Then followed proceedings to evict him and his aged parents from a federal housing project and the stopping of his disability pension.

Kutcher's tireless and principled fight not only for his own rights, but against the very premise of the witch hunt, won widespread labor and liberal support.  
 
March 5, 1932
The day's news hails the acceptance by Japanese imperialism of the armistice proposals made by the League of Nations. That this "peaceful" gesture is merely a continuation of the aggressive policy of the Tokyo statesmen along new lines, cannot be mistaken. And it is especially the Wall Street spokesmen at Washington who know this fact and bring their actions in accord with it. A Japanese acceptance of the truce can only take place under conditions favorable to the invaders. Tokyo does not conceal these intentions. It is simply putting into play a diplomatic maneuver.

One thing is certain: the conclusion of the truce, if it should get as far as that, will hardly mean the end of the Far Eastern episode, but will much rather bring it more closely within the framework of a broad struggle among the world imperialists themselves.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home