The Press: The New Freeman

On selected newsstands in New York City this week appeared an old journalistic name on a new magazine. The name: The Freeman. Once a radical organ of the left, the new Freeman, a fortnightly magazine of opinion, is hopefully aiming to be the voice of the “nontotalitarian right.” Founded by the late Albert Jay Nock, author and self-styled radical, the old Freeman died in 1924. It was revived as the New Freeman in the early ’30s by Suzanne LaFollette,* oldtime liberal and Freeman editor, author (Art in America), and longtime defender of Leon Trotsky in the Trotsky v. Stalin fight.

Suzanne LaFollette, now in her 50s and freelancing, was one of the three journalists who once more revived The Freeman. The others: John Chamberlain, 47, author (The American Stakes), onetime book reviewer for the New York Times and Harper’s and editorial writer for LIFE until his resignation last week, and Henry Hazlitt, 55, longtime (1934-46) editorial writer for the Times and contributing editor of Newsweek.

Out Plain Talk. Co-editors Hazlitt, LaFollette and Chamberlain, old friends, have long had the idea for the magazine, but lacked the financial backing. A year ago they teamed up with Alfred Kohlberg, a wealthy New York linen importer and stout supporter of Chiang Kaishek. At the time, Kohlberg was backing the anti-Communist monthly Plain Talk.

After hearing the LaFollette-Hazlitt-Chamberlain plan, he decided to fold up faltering Plain Talk and transfer the 5,000 unexpired subscriptions to The Freeman. He became treasurer and helped to raise $130,000 (of which Kohlberg contributed 10%). Names of other supporters were a resolutely-kept secret.

Something Positive. The Freeman’s editors plan to break away from the rigidly anti-Communist diet of Plain Talk, “go on to something more positive.” Says Chamberlain: “The fight [against Communists] has been won domestically . . . You don’t have to keep telling people that Communists have techniques of getting into organizations and are pretty good at spying . . . We want to revive the John Stuart Mill concept of liberalism. We feel we’re rescuing an old word from misuse.” Among those who did their bit to help rescue the old liberalism in the first issue were George Sokolsky, Raymond Moley and John T. Flynn.

Press run for the first issue was 37,000 copies, a deliberate overrun. The Freeman hopes the circulation will settle down to 12,000, gradually work up to the break-even point of 35,000. If it takes longer than a year to do so, more cash may be needed. But the editors think the risk of the new magazine worth taking.

* Daughter of former Washington Congressman William L. LaFollette and cousin to Wisconsin’s late great Senator Robert M. LaFollette.