The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1935-11-29

The most malignant enemies Of
freedom, political, social or aca-
denic, are the hirelings of preda-
tory wealth who hang up the word
liberty" as a smoke screen to
camoufage the sinister interests
of their masters. One of the COM
monest of their subtle strategies
is to hurl the word red indiscrim-
inately at every one who raises a
question against our present order
or who is trying to replace it with
a christian order. Every semblance
of change is propagandized by
them as the DOGGY, big, bad wolf
who will bluff and huff and blow
the house of our civilization into
a million pieces. Doubtless there
are some ultra-conservatives who
conscientiously believe that all
change in our civilization is
fraught with grave danger, be-
cause they have a static philoso-
ply. But most of this "red bait
ing" propaganda emanates from
the two per cent who control eigh-
ty per cent of our wealth, and are
fearful lest a new order should
disturb their special pgrivileges.
Under the assumed cloak of de-
Tending the constitution, their one
hope is to block our constitutional
rights of free speech, free schools
and a free and unfettered press.
If these thot inquisitors, who
would shackle freedom of speech,
advocate the shipping of all COM
munists to Russia, why should
they not be compelled to take the
next out going vessel to Italy or
Germany where a savage fascism
would instantly crack down on
their thinking if it did not happen
to coincide with the thinking of
Mussolini or Hitler? Those who
insist upon freedom of speech for
themselves and deny the same
right to others are primitive fas-
cists and are far from their boast
of 100 per cent Aemrican-
ism. Even old Tom Paine said to
one of his opponents: 81 don't be-
lieve word you say but l would
lay down my life to defend your
privilege to say it." That is Am
ericanism and constitutionalism.
No college, seminary or techno-
loical graduate is educated until
he knows the good and the bad fea
lures of capitalism, socialism, com
munism, sovietism, the new deal
and every grade and graduation of
collectivism that ever travelled
down the highways of time. Far
removed as am from communism
my sense of justice would compel
me to say that an American citi-
zen has as good a right to be a
communist as | have to be Me-
thodist. / might deny to him the
privilege of overthrowing the pre-
sent order by military force, but
even then justice would compel me
to add that he has as much right
to establish a dictatorship of the
proletariat by the bayonet, as
Mussolini has to make himself die
tator over central Africa by armed
authority or as our own nation had
when we grabbed Mexican terri
tory In 1848 by virtue of our bet
ter fighting machine.
This psuedo patriotic pack of
academic heresy hunters, who in
sist that nothing but pure bred
Americanism be taught in our
schools, seem to be defeating the
very purpose for which they are
organized. Forbidden books, like
the forbidden apple of our first
parents, always did have strong
appeal. Advise a bunch of sky
pilots not to read a certain book
and every last one will be bitten
by the bug Of curiosity to discover
what there is in that book that he
ought not to read. There is no
surer method Of stimulating the
curiosity Of your young people to
study the black arts Of communism
than to forbid It's teaching In the
curriculum of our schools. The
one factor that has been constant