ORGANIZATIONS: Elijah *from Missoula

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United World Federalists, boasting wider public support than Streit's Atlantic Union Committee and some just as well-known backers,*would work out its proposal through U.N. The Cord Meyer group argued that Streit's proposal would split the non-Communist world, create a group of unhappy and neglected "Jim Crow" democracies. Under the Federalists' plan, the U.N. itself would be transformed into a world government. If Russia stayed out, the other nations would go ahead with their organization anyhow. No one but a bemused dreamer expected Russia would stay in in good faith. Streit's seven democracies could simply make up their minds to federate, go full steam ahead and let Russia go whistle.

Streit argued that his was the only answer to the union which Russia herself had already created—a Red federation which stretched from Berlin to the Pacific and the border of India.

Reactions of European officials to Clarence Streit's arguments range from a slight interest in the idea to suspicion and outright hostility. British statesmen listened to the scheme with the look of deliberate patience reserved for small children and the harmlessly insane. Down at the heel though she was, Britain was still a world power. Was someone suggesting that she become a 49th state?

The response of official Washington was just as discouraging. Streit & friends were told that even if they were headed in the right direction, they were going too fast. Better try first to bring off a European federation. Atlantic Union would disrupt U.N. and would put an unnatural and embarrassing burden on U.S. defense forces.

There were other objections, which the men of Atlantic Union are apt to brush off with statistics (which obviously do not satisfy all their listeners) or to dismiss impatiently as emotional or irrelevant. The State Department itself had two crushing replies to Atlantic Unionists: i) to get involved in all sorts of controversial discussions with U.S. allies over money, debts, immigration, etc., at this critical point might divide the Atlantic allies instead of uniting them; 2) there was as yet no widespread demand for their plan, either in the U.S. or abroad.

Despite his lectures, despite sales of his books that reached more than 80,000 in 1941 through the Book-of-the-Month Club, despite a paperbound edition of Union Now which could be bought from Federal Union for $1, Streit's was still only a voice in the wilderness of the cities, mostly unheard, certainly unheeded. This did not faze Elijah, furiously writing away in the chaotic quiet of his study in Washington.