New-York tribune., 1918-12-12
Alibii

Abb
The Department of Justice has at last
spoken.
1t has said in effect that if the espion-
age act had gone into force the day the
United States declared war, instead Of
two months later, the government would
have been compelled to prosecute Will
lam Randolph Hearst.
A. Bruce Bielaski, chief until week
ago of the Bureau of Investigation of
the Department of Justice and the man
chosen by the Attorney General to pre-
sent to Senator Overman's committee the
history of German propaganda in Amer
ica, after testifying on Monday that
Hearst was Every active in his paper in
behalf of the German government" prior
to our declaration of war, said
after war was declared his attitude
continued to be very questionable. Many
of the publications which he printed, or
which were printed in his papers after
we went into war, if printed later on,
after the espionage act, especially as it
was amended and became law, would
have subjected him to prosecution"
1t is much the same excuse that Post
master General Burleson gave for fail
ing to bar Hearst newspapers from the
mails.
How does it square with the facts of
Hearst,s propaganda?
Hearst's propaganda falls into about
five lines Of attack, to wit:
I. General emphasis on the horrors of
the aUar, on Americas lack of en-
thusiasma to enter 1T, and on its remote
character as q "European quarrel"
II. Efforts to keep Americas men, money
and food at home.
III. Efforts to distract our attention
from the avor By emphasizing the need
of Intervention IN Menico and pictur-
ing the "threot" of Japan
w. Attacks on Our allies, England and
Japan.
V. Attempts to bring about peace, based
on campaign Of defeatisn, and pro-
posals to return to the status qato ante.
The first Of these lines of propaganda
continued long after the passage of the
espionage act on June Is, 1917 1t
need not be maintained, however, that
this would have had more than con-
tributory OF motivating share in the
case for prosecution.
The effort to keep the countrys men,
money and food at home 'for defence"
and to meet attacks over here from Ger
many, Japan and Mexico was most
frankly outspoken between April 6, 1917,
and June Is, 1917. But it continued in
N thoroughly recognizable form long after
fb the latter date.
The attack on loans to our allies was
continued even after those loans were
largely consummated.
On June 18, 1917, after the passage
of the espionage act, Hearst's Deut-
sches Journal, in a cartoon called "The
Lions SHARE showed Columbia, stand
ing at window with the signboard
War Loans To Be Had Here" and pour
ing her savings into the hat of the
Uncle of the Entire World" while the
British lion caught in the British crown
Uncle Sans hat. The hats of the other
allies were being filled also, and the
horned figure of Greed" was shown say
ing: "Now there will soon be no more
poor devils"
On June 20, 1917, after the passage
of the espionage act, cartoon in The
American, called "The Reckoning, y
showed Uncle Sam paying the bill of the
war after his stay in the "Hotel Eu-
rope" and tipping the butler, England
the chef, France; the porter, Russia; the
maid, Italy, and the belboy, Serbia
On July 2, after the passage of the es-
pionage act, cartoon in the same
paper, called "The American Beauty
pictured bee, with wings made of the
flags of England, France, Italy and Rus
sia, about to alight upon the money bags
in the centre of spangled and RED
and white striped rose.
After June Is, 1917, the effort to keer
men at home took many forms.
From May 4, 1917, to December ID
1917, Hearst attacked the "alien slack
ers," preferably British, and declared
that until they had all been placed or
the Western front no American soldiers
should be sacrificed. The editorial OF
June 16, 1917-after the passage of the
espionage acts typical:
1--WE will send our boys to fight fol
ENGLAND only when EngIsnd has rallied