I feel I may have dwelt too much on the war danger. My excuse is
that while your children over there will have a good chance of survival,
ours will not. We are near the danger, and everyone we know here has
a similar feeling to the one we have, a terror of what may happen to
the young in atomic warfare. It may not come, but something must
come, and it is not pleasant to think that half a dozen men in the world
can decide whether our children will live or die.
What of the future? If I am to be banned from U.S.A. I am banned
from you. Letters are not enough. The idea crossed my mind that we
might meet in Canada, but of course that would be impossible, for we
can only meet in your lab and house and with your co-workers around.
We were to discuss, inter alia, the chances of our coming to work in
U. S.A., but if a visitor's visa creates so much fuss, what chance would
we have of immigrants' visas?
I spent the days painting wooden buildings, and find that occupation
as soothing as any other could be at a time like this.
Do tell me what your attitude is to my putting a letter in the New
Statesman about my visa.
Our love to you, and give my best greetings to all my friends in the
Conference.
Summerhill School
Leiston, Suffolk
My dear Reich,
- I •
Thursday, August 24, 1950I have wired you today saying that there is no news from the
Embassy. I gave up hope a few days ago.
I feel a bit hurt at your attack on my working class phrase. Granted
that they are led by gangsters who use working class power to get power
and then become dictators. The point I implied, but didn't make is
that the workers will accept the hate gang way but not the Summerhill
love way. This is clearly seen in, say, Czechoslovakia where the children
of the middle class are refused places in universities etc. It is seen out
side communism in our British socialism, where the working class as
represented by the Labour Leaders want schools that are the opposite
of S'hill, and gradually will make private enterprise in schooling im
possible. I have wired you to cut the phrase simply because I can't be
there to explain what I mean by it.