The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-08-22
The Cherry Tree
Where We Hdtchet Out
The Truth
. A KETTLE OF FISH
. COMMUNIST FLAVOR
. HAMSTRINGING DEFENSE
. HILLMAN VS.. LEWIS

Here is what l would call pretty
kettle of fish.
Government employees, protected in
their jobs by the thoroughly American
institution of civil service, are playing
bali with and supporting to the limit,
the thoroughly Communist project for
an enormous "peace" rally in Chicago,
billed to run from Aug. 81 through
Sept. 2.
The fancy name given to this COM
ing Chicago red-fest is National En-
ergency Peace Mobilization.
Before me is leafet passed out at
meeting of one of the units in the
United Federal Workers, a CIO organ
ization of government employees.
"Come to the anti-draft rally" says
the leafet. "Send a delegate to Chi
cago."
"What's your number, conscript? ?"
is the heading.
All very clever stuff-all very nice,
for employees of the government!
X x x
While Uncle Sam is trying Except
where log rolling Congressman get in
the way) to get the United States
armed for full fledged defense, these
youngsters, all hot and bothered about
everything having to do with the
"party line," as laid down in Moscow,
are doing their ten-cent best to gum
up vital part of the defense plan.
They are playing the game of the
isolationist Senators, who define isOla-
ton as anything that will hamstring
defense.
Now the Hatch Act prevents all
government workers from getting
mixed up in partisan politics.
If that is so, what about these
youngsters who are mixing into the
most important political issue Of all
time?
In the same meetings in which these
"party line" leaflets show up, petit
tions also are always on tap, the aim
of which is a similar sabotaging of de-
fense.
How much longer will this partisan
interference be tolerated?
x x X
To be sure, these CIO union men,
bers employed by Uncle Sam are
merely following the lead of their Mr..
Big, John L. Lewis.
But it happens that Mr.. Lewis is
NOT a Federal employee These men,
bers of the United Federal Workers
ARE Federal employees.
1t may be that these Federal work.
ers can follow Mr.. Lewis and Moscow
and fall afoul of no law, whether
Hatch Act or any other.
But unless everything is cock
eyed there is just as much moral,
if not technical, violation of the
Act as could we'll be imagined.
Mr.. Sidney Hillman is doing his
level best to cut the CIO away from
Mr. Lewis, in one of the hottest under
cover fights ever waged anywhere, but
if Mr. Hillman gets the machine away
from Mr.. Lewis, the enormous job of
purging and cleansing will remain to
be done
Mr.. Hillman, remember, is one of
the members of the National Defense
Advisory Commission members, whose
JOU IL 10 W prepare AlltIlCd IOI wal.
X K X
Preparation for war is moral, as
well as material.
There is moral ulcer on the pat
tern of defense preparations.
To be sure, the issue of free speech
enters into the situation. On that score
there are two things to be said
First, if the Hatch Act limits free
dom for one set Of doings to safeguard
clean democracy, then it should limit
another set having the same general
effect
Second, there is and must be linn
it to freedom of speech for agencies
avowedly aimed at the destruction of
all our freedom; there must be limit
to Moscow's freedom and Berlins
| freedom to cut our throats.
The fellow traveller has no business
being warned and nurtured under the
wing and on the pay roll of the United
States government in it's fight to pre-
serve the ideals of American freedom.
1t is not fair that government de-
partments should constitute holes in
our national defense through which
the Trojan horses Of enemy philos-
ODhieS can march-CMW