The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-07-25


 Congressman Lewis D. Thill oi Wisconsin attacking the "war-pro- voking" policies of President Roose- welt, the work of war propagandistl in the United States seeking to in- yoke this country in the European have been received by Mrs Katherine Johnson, president of the local Mothers Club for the Pre- vention of War.
 Congressman Thill particularly attacks the campaign underway irl the United States to Defend Ameri- ca by Aiding the Allies. He urges in his appeal counter flood o1 letters of protest. His recent addres, in Congress, which has stirred feeling is as follows:
 MT. THILL. MT. Speaker, the next 30 days in American life, perhaps the next 10 days, are like- ly to be the most important in the history of our Republic. You and I are faced with the most trying decisions which can be made by a free people. It is about these de- cisions and the part you can and should play in shaping our na- tional destiny that I am going to talk to you tonight.
 War hysteria has gripped Amer lea. This great God-fearing land of peace and plenty today finds it. self in the shadow of the Euro pean war. Once again we hear the blood-stained slogans of the last war echo throughout the land. Appeals are being made for another "war to make the world safe for democracy" and for an- other "war to end war" by the same groups who so skillfully used these slogans 20 years ago to plunge this country into that struggle of death. The time Is almost here when these immortal words of George Washington take on added significance:
 Real patriots, who may resist the tntrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests.
 So I say to you, while men still dare to call out for peace, 1t is time that you and I seriously con- slider the path we are travelling, analyze the goal we are approach ing, and ask ourselves whether we really want to spill the blood of millions of American boys on foreign battlefields.
 If we enter this European war 1t will be total war. Wealth as well as men will be conscripted. There will be no bonds at high rates of interest; no high-salaried civilian jobs or occupations; no boom for agricultural prices; no g wheat and $40 hogs. In the industrial-mobilization plan = al. ready prepared and in the Presi- dents f1les-the Government has seen to all that. This war would be 8 total war, I repeat. Sons would be drafted, taken from home, shop, and farm, forced to give their lives in bloody battle; dictatorial powers would be given to the President, enabling him to tax and seize the lifetime savings of the family. There would be no war millionaires this time; no fantastic high wages for industry. No, the conflict would not be 8 war to end war; 1t would be a war to end democracy in America and 8 war to end our system of pri- vate ownership which has made America the greatest country in the world.
 The War Propagandists Are Busy
 Are You?
 If the war propagandists sue. ceed in pushing America into this war the result will be just as Winston Churchill said 1t would be, when he was installed as the present-day dictator of England. He said:
 I have nothing to offer you ex- cept blood, tears, toll, and sweat.
 My friends, if America goes to war, if we again sacrifice our boys on the bloody altar of the heather god of Mars, it will be because America goes to the war, for war will avoid an adequately prepared America. It is now time to think clearly of ourselves and our own future. It is now time to face the facts squarely. It is now time to point out definitely that a mil- lion dead American boys in new European war graves cannot de- fend America as well as a million well-equipped Americans at home, prepared to protect this country against any foreign enemy.
 And now, let us do some clear thinking, you and I. If we do this, I am sure we can all agree that the best defense for America lies in an impregnable, modern military establishment equipped to resist the methods and machin- cry of modern warfare, and not in sending expeditionary forces over seas. We must tighten our belts, improve our Governments finan- cial structure, and prepare our selves to the teeth, rather than take part in offensive battles overseas.
 "Your Lives" For 'Their Country"
 My friends. I am an American and my interest is in making de- mocracy safe for the world by preserving it in the United States. I detest alike the un-American doctrines of nazi-isn, fascism, communism, and imperialism. It happens that am the only Member of Congress of Luxem burger descent. The homeland of my ancestors has been overrun by the hobnailed boots and the giant tanks of the Nazi armies. My sympathies overflow for the vic-