Evening star., 1939-09-15
Says Press Should Curb
Propaganda Efforts
Feurs False information
Will Force America
Into War

| To the Editor of The Star:
For the last 10 days I have been a
collective internationalist, publicist and
| agitator. For many years have served
in editorial capacity Of one kind or
another . all, obviously, to make more
plausible another holy crusade into either
Europe or Asia.
For the last 10 days, therefore, while
| hysteria waxed hotter hourly, have
managed to preserve my own sanity l..
content In the conviction that the sue
cessful pursuance Of my unholy aims is
as inevitable as death itself. Since SIP
| tember 3, have perused with a sort Of
lazy interest, the pertinent writings of
your Thomas Henry, Frederic VILE,
| David Lawrence, ct al. . also the fever
ish stints forwarded to your desk by
| such well-meaning correspondents as
| Gordon Haines and the like.
Since my digestion is good and my
| aplomb assured I have arrived now, at
the fateful 18th without injury :. aside
from slowly rising temperature which
1 am trying hard to curb. In truth I
must admit that have believed hardly
third of that which read . have
believed that much only when the sifted
facts gave some indication that truth
might lurk somewhere in the offing I
think that The Star and every other
newspaper in the United States during
the last fortnight, has created and firmly
implanted in the minds of their public
the seed which will lead us either to war
or peace. I believe that the damage or
the good, is already wrought am
convinced that my own feeble attempts
to stem the tide SHOULD I make them
will avail me nothing.
These United States of America have
now been at war for 10 days. 1t has
been an insidious, unapparent war of
propaganda. 1t was well planned, and
the bulldup, over a period of years of
international chickering's and undeclared
hostilltles was little short of perfect. 1t
is war to the death with bands
of flag wavers eagerly waiting hoping
49,. praying :. that we'll folOW them
on TO where the grim god Mars waits.
And it is all so very silly. -.
Two middleaged men, acting like chill
dren, began pickering across the inter-
national fence. Names were called and
fingers burned =. bluffs were hurled and
then some one stacked the deck. Adolf
Hitler had five aces and stood pat Cham
berlain and Daladier hauled out their
hoglegs and threatened to blow up the
game. Then some kibitzer on the side
lines stuck his cigar in the powder keg
| In far off Australia, bugles blew and
| flags were waved. The people Down
Under went to war. Tommies flew across
the channel and bombarded Germans
and Firms and few Danes thrown in
for good measure with leaflets and
pamphlets and tracts. Daladier threat
ened to storm the Siegfried line and sent
his men out to where the cannons
roared -. out where they lost their arms
and legs and their lives. Roosevelt, in
the hallowed halls of Washington reiter-
ated, bitterly it seemed =. Il hate War!"
And above it all that plea, and
assent, heard on all sides now IF
VIC iiiuoI nave Wal make IL humane
-. be careful where you drop the bombs
boys and don't put all your eggs in
one basket"
But how can war be humane?
And now this latest dodge to ensnare
us to send us marching once again
across Flanders Fields where sons
may keep a rendezvous with fathers,
dead these 20 years. A puppet governor,
placed on puppet throne by puppet
king, whistles shrill and Canada goes to
war. Canadians who like ourselves.
settled across the sea to avoid Europe
and Asia and all the rest of the world,
sent unWillingly out to deal death to
and to be dealt death by men they have
never seen! This at the word of one
man, or, at the most, at direction of one
atom-ll like group of men. The excuse it
must be admitted, probably justi1es their
doom. They 60 forth to make the world
safe for democracy. Again they will
fight the war to end war.
< How then if a German sub should slim
up the st. Lawrence? One slipped up
Chesapeake Bay. How if Nazi raiders
sweep the Plains of Abraham and pillage
and burn and mob? Why then, we too
go marching to war :. and the confla-
grafton grows till the world is on fire.
All because man cheated at cards
or maybe it was an argument over Dam
Zig who knows. Not that it matters.
In another year none will know what
started it all. Because the historians
will not have had time to write and the
prime issue will have been buried in
maze of lies and propaganda.
AS an officer of the Army Reserve, one
eligible for service at that front. I have
sneaking suspicion that my life expec-
fancy is not so great as it was 10 days
ago. If the country calls, I'll 90 out and
wave flag and maybe die. Understand,
it won't be willing death :. but what
matters it how man dies, after all?
The only thing is say l. let us postpone
the inevitable indefinitely . the longer
the better With the wealth of brains
we're supposed to have basking in the
incubators of diplomacy and state =.
right here in Washington the imped-
ing OF our progress towards war (and
fms to life as a great Nation) should
not be too difficult to attain.
While the warmongers sharpen their
knives and the price of bunting scars
why not start a little war of ol,r ou,n