Evening star., 1936-07-04

60 in even the most personal form Of
attacks.
There is, indeed, no instrument
capable of censoring the political talk
on the air. The law says that equal
time must be given to all parties and
the great radio companies cannot shut
off Mr.. Thomas or Mr.. Lemke, Father
Coughlin or Earl Browder or any par
ticular speaker for either of the two
great parties. They can only. with
whatever impartiality is possible. ap-
portion the free time They cannot
decide whether this statement or that
Is Misrepresentation Of fact or a
distortion of truth. Nor can any other
agency. Certainly the Government,
being parti pris, cannot. On the pub
lie platform this would not be so i'm
portant, because any man can rise In
a public meeting and challenge the
speaker. He can insist on discussion.
This right Of the addressee to chal-
lenee the addressor Is, indeed, a very
basis of free speech Thus was the
town meeting and thus is the open
forum, which is an institution peculiar
in its size and power to America. But
the radio abolishes debate. And to
that extent, It abolishes responsible
free speech.
Passing Of Debate Serious.
Indeed, the passing of debate as a
form of political expression Is a Sc
rious thing in democratic life. 1t was
-
Both parties accept the thesis that
1895 is one of the great critical years
in our history. The Republican plat
form begins with the words, America
is In peril" and the Democratic plat
form begins with the assertion,
Twelve years of surrender to the die
tatorship of the privileged few have
been supplanted by Democratic lead
ership which has returned the people
themselves to authority"
But in neither convention were the
platforms debated even by the dele
gates. Presumably. they are TO be de-
bated in the coming months. But If
the usual radio procedure is allowed,
they will not be.
Took Stump Together.
In the period Immediately preced-
ing the Civil War, when a momentous
question was pending, two bitter op-
ponents took to the stump together
and fought out the issue before the
forum Of the American people. in each
others presence, under conditions
where each could be challenged; under
conditions, that is TO say, of the most
solemn and inescapable responsibility.
The two men were Lincoln and Doug
las. and those debates are great Ameri-
can documents. Douglas was by far
the more brilliant speaker; Lincoln
was awkward In his platform manners,
often hesitant. But in those discus
sions the course of American history
was laid. and out OF them Lincoln
emerged as the greatest leader OF his
time and one of the great leaders Of
all time And those debates, laid down,
1t seems to me, the proper procedure
for the serious discussion Of real issues
in a nation which is democracy.
Must Defend Utterances.
A voluntary organization in this
country, the League for Political Edu-
cation. has been demonstrating for
many months that the Open Forum.
that most characteristic and tradi-
tional of American institutions, can
be transferred most effectively to the
air. The Town Meetings on the Air
are public debates Each speaker has
one or two or even more opponents.
Conflicting viewpoints are presented.
Questions can be asked, and are an
swered. The speakers are therefore
put in position of complete response
bility They dare not say what they
are not prepared to defend against
well informed opponents on the spot.
and at the moment.
Why cannot the pending campaign
be thus fought out? Why cannot
America use a remarkable invention
to perpetuate its most characteristic
democratic institution? Why cannot
We. for instance. hear the President
and Gov. LandOn together? Moth
ing, it seems to me. would so elevate
the tone of this campaign. And moth
ing would more handsomely demon
strate to the rest of the world that
there is one great nation which still
adheres to the fundamentals, and not
merely the forms, Of responsible free
speech.
tCopyrisht 1880