The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty; P. Poirot

THEFREEMAN IDEASON UBERTY The Freeman:Ideas on Liberty by Paul L. Poirot H enry Hazlitt (1894-1993), on the hun dredth anniversary of his birth, most deservedly was designated "journalist of the century. " He also was the last survivor of the founding trustees of the Foundation for Economic Education. The fortnightly magazine, The Freeman, began publication in 1950 with Hazlitt and John Chamberlain (1903-1995)as co-editors. Hazlitt continued writing for the magazine after it became the Foundation's monthly journal of ideas on liberty in January 1956. John Chamber lain, until shortly before his death in 1995, . contributed a lead book review each month. So it is fitting and proper that· these two giants of liberty, along with Leonard Read, be commemorated in this story of The Free man, published continuously since 1950, and by FEE since 1956. As a biweekly "subscription" magazine in the early 1950s, The Freeman was oper ating at a loss of about $100,000annually.

In order to save it, several of the trustees, also serving on the Board of FEE-Henry Hazlitt, Leo Wolman, Claude Robinson, and Lawrence Fertig-brought Leonard Read into the picture. With enthusiasm and self-assurance and the support of his board, he offered to purchase the magazine. For a year and a half The Freeman ap peared monthly in an 8" x 11" format under the editorship of Frank Chodorov. The cir culation rose from 14,000 to 24,000 in that Dr. Poirot served as managing editor of The Freeman from its acquisition by FEE in 1956 until his retirement in 1987. He also served as secretary of FEE's board. first year in Irvington, but there continued to be heavy ~()sses for the "subscription" magazine. At a' special meeting of the trustees in ·November 1955, The Freeman was merged with FEE's Ideas on Liberty journal. The mailinglists were combined, and in January 1956, in a new digest size with 64 pages, the first issue of The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty appeared. It has been published ~egularly since that time, offered to all FEE donors and others who want it in the expectation that most of them will want to help cover expenses with donations to FEE.

The Freeman is the oldest and most widely circulating periodical devoted to the study of free societies. One of the principles of freedom Leonard Read brought into the Foundation was a primary emphasis on ideas rather than personalities.. No name calling or blanket condemnation of per sons and organizations but a clear, non technical, attractive explanation of the ideas underlyingthe free market and limited government. Among students of liberty, the teaching would be by example and without coercion, all learning and accep tance strictly voluntary. So The Freeman at FEE became primarily an attractive pre sentation of the ideas and principles of freedom more than a news report of U.S. and international economic and political affairs. Leonard Read's ideal role for gov ernment was to police the market to keep it open, and to protect private property, leav ingindividualsotherwise free to do anything that's peaceful.

371 372 THE FREEMAN • MAY 1996 Paul L. Poirot For the economics of freedom, Read, FEE, and The Freeman relied heavily upon the Austrian School writings and teachings of Dr. Ludwig von Mises. In 1938, Hazlitt introduced Mises to American audiences in a New York Times review of the book Socialism-' 'the most devastating analysis of the system ever written." When Mises moved from Europe to New York City in 1940,he became a close friend of Hazlitt, of Leonard Read, and of the Foundation. Among the followers of Mises are outstanding professors such as Hans Sennholz and Israel Kirzner and a host of their students whose works also have graced The Freeman. Leonard Read was the author most fre quently seen in The Freeman, though his name appeared on the masthead not as editor but as President of FEE. The man aging editor, of course was free to accept -or reject-the President's offerings. Roughly half of the articles and reviews in a typical issue would have been written by the staff of FEE, a few on some special topic by commission, and others chosen from the many freelance submissions. Now and then an entire monthly issue might be de voted to a single topic, various authors each offering his or her special expertise, but never invited or encouraged by the editor to present opposing views. Now and then, and sometimes without alerting the editor, an astute Henry Hazlitt ·or Hans Sennholz or Clarence Carson would start a topic that simply had to be continued in the following issue and eventually might run to a dozen or more chapters of a book.

Many of The Freeman authors over the years have been distinguished academicians in their respective fields of economics, law, philosophy, political science, banking, medicine, and other disciplines. But their common mark of distinction has been the capacity to express their ideas and expla nations not in the jargons of their trades but in the clear language of the layman. These exp~rts from the academy have shared the pages of the journal with other experts from any and every walk of life, perhaps a house wife, a lawyer, a merchant, and yes, prob ably a thief, since there have been articles by prisoners. The editor's guide for acceptance was the clear evidence of the author's understanding and capacity to shed special light on one or another facet of liberty. Not that editors made no mistakes. But never was there an editorial view that one "good turn," or explanation, deserves equal space or time for the contrary opinion. Financial support of the Foundation is not for the purpose of airing opinions counter to freedom.

The Freeman in the 1960s.

373 Over the last fifteen years, editorial and opinion pages have played an increasingly important role in the discourse of the national political culture. Therefore, FEE has sought to influence public opinion through the placement of shortened Freeman articles as opinion pieces in newspapers in the United Statesand throughout the world. The articles are chosen to make a principled case for a free society. FEE's newspaper outreach began in April of 1986 under the direction of Brian Summers, at the time Senior Editor of The Freeman. Mr. Summers developed and expanded the program during his tenure at the Foundation. Since January 1995, the op-ed program has been managed by Greg Pavlik, who is currently Associate Editor of The Freeman. The successof the program is testament to the appeal of FEE's message. Opinion pieces based on Freeman articles have appeared in many of the nation's leading newspapers, from the Washington Post to the Wall Street Journal. Local and suburban papers have featured Freeman articles. Grassroots newsletters and magazines of various political creeds have utilized Foundation material. Freeman articles have even appeared in the religious press. Through this program, the Foundation has reached a vast spectrum of audiences across the country. Every month, millions of readers across the country are exposed to the Foundation's message. And the number of papers that use material from FEE continues to grow.

The latest area of expansion for FEE's newspaper program has been in its international efforts. Many articles from The Freeman have been adapted to highlight the benefits of a free market economy to readers around the world. Translations of Freeman articles-prepared at FEE-have appeared in Spanish-language newspa pers throughout Central and SouthAmerica. The demand for essaysfrom The Freeman has been explosive. From Argentina to Guatemala, the message of freedom is spreading. Perhaps the most impressive sign of the effectiveness of FEE's newspaper outreach effort is the feedback from individuals who contact the Foundation as a result of a Freeman essay they have read in their paper. Many readers request information about FEE and subscriptions to The Freeman. Some just write to thank FEE for having the courage to stand on principle. I had joined the staff of FEE in 1949 and served as managing editor from 1956 until my retirement in 1987. Other members of the Foundation staff, in addition to contrib uting articles, were often consulted about manuscripts under consideration.

The scholarly Reverend Edmund Opitz served as book review editor and stood always at hand to lend moral and spiritual guidance. He also had a firm understanding of economic issues. Mrs. Bettina Bien Greaves was well schooled in "the gospel aceording to Mises," helping to look for "leaks" in any article. She also was the expert expected, and willing, to research any questionable fact or opinion. w. M. Curtiss saw to business and finan cial affairs to cover authors' fees, printing bills, and other cos,ts of The Freeman. He also had the time and wisdom to help decide which articles seemed best. Robert Anderson gave up college teach ing to rejoin the staff as business manager when Curtiss retired. Like Curtiss, Bob found time now and then to draft an article, always excellent. After Leonard Read's death in 1983,Bob was there to help hold the standard during a succession of presidents until Dr. Sennholz agreed to assume that position. But perhaps the outstanding con tribution Bob Anderson made to The Free man was to bring Beth (Herbener) Hoffman aboard as production editor. Eventually she became managing editor, with guest editors now helping to compile each issue.

Brian Summers worked with Beth as co-editor for a time, developing a rapport with newspapers and other publications in the United States and abroad that were 374 THE FREEMAN • MAY 1996 interested in reprinting Freeman articles. Oneofhiscontacts'was withReader' s Digest, which eventually offered him more as an associate editor than FEE could afford. Aside from the memory banks of·a Beth or a Bettina, there has been no cumulative index of topics covered in the pages of The Freeman. But the value of those back issues as a reference shelf is not to be denied. This is why numerous readers over the years have spoken with pride 'of their monthly files, or annual bound volumes, or both. The reader fortunate enough to have accumu lated a complete set since 1956 now pos sesses a total of 485 issues, or more than 30,000 pages or over 14 million words of text skillfully crafted into essays by more than 1,400 different authors explaining the many aspects of freedom.

Dr. Clarence Carson is one·of those who has written articles in a series in The Free man. Early on, he offered The· American Traditiorz with chapters on constitutional ism, republican government, federalism, individualism, equality, rights· and respon sibilities, voluntarism, free trade, interna tionalIsm, virtue and morality, and so on. In a sense, his list covered the subjects most often tackled in The Freeman. In a later series, he described The Flight from Reality, the departure from tradition, beginning in the mind of the reformer-the intellectual turn-then emerging as the domestication of socialism, capturing and remaking the hearts of men, and finally manifesting as a political flight. In more recent years, especially at the nudging of Dr. Sennholz, FEE has pub lished a regular series of Freeman "classic" books. Each volume is devoted to a given subject and draws from the wealth of know1 edge contained in some forty years of The Freeman. Having started with The Freedom Philosophy, the series contains books cov ering a wide range of ideas, including: the Brian Summers and Beth Hoffman, senior editors ofThe Freeman during the 1980s.

moral foundations of capitalism, political interventionism, individual spirit, free trade and world peace, the formation and function of market pricing, money, inflation, bank ing, private property rights, taxation, con servation of resources, education, medical care,agriculture, unionism,crime, and more. The Freeman since 1950 consistently and continuously has stood against the fallacies and cliches of politics, not by bitter de nunciation, but by reasoned and attractive explanations of the better way of limited government, private ownership, voluntary exchange, moral· behavior, and self-im provement. The golden rule of the market place is that the person who gains most is one who best serves others. D An Honor Roll ofall Freeman authors published since 1956 appears on pages 412 to 416. We salute these writers for their commitment to sound economic education and the principles of a free society.