The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1940-06-28

/ |
| | wish everyone could read dis
patch from Paris written by William
| Philip Simms "a couple of jumps" be-
fore the Nazis arrived.
Simms, able reporter who knows
his foreign affairs like you know your
own back yard, reports an interview
with French labor leader in that
amazing period just before the in
vaders poured into the once gay cap
ital.
AS they talked, this American and
his French labor friend, the avenue
below their balcony was choked with
stream of refugees going they knew
not where.
And from three directions came the
pounding of big guns, ever nearer.
And the French labor leader, prob
ably one Of the many known we'll to
several American labor leaders, said
that democracies would have to solve
one great problem before the survival
of any of them can be assured.
The problem he cited was the prob
lem of the trojan horse.
We never heard Of trojan horse, ex-
cept in the old sense, until few short
months ago. Now they are in almost
every conversation Trojan horses
and fifth columnists, meaning the
same thing invaders in peace-time
garb, set to an invaders task.
This Frenchman said we should
have to find some way to prevent
such invaders from using the guaran-
tees of democracies, such as free
speech, to undermine the institutions
of democracy.
He pointed out that none in Ger
many, or Russia or Italy may carry
on any propaganda, even the faintest
kind of propaganda, but that in de-
mocracies trojan horsemen may use
our guarantee of free speech, free
/
for the destruction Of our democracy.
The problem posed was this: How
to check the trojan horsemen without
destroying for ourselves those guar
antees which we most prize and which
most clearly mark our democracy.
His words were: "BUT 1T MUST BE
DONE!"
The French labor leader described
a great problem. He did not offer
the answer Nor is the answer easy
to find.
But to echo the Frenchman, who
spoke in the awful presence of the
destruction, 1T MUST BE FOUND.
The American Federation of Labor
has written into its law ban on all
communists. But experience shows
the difficulty of enforcement.
The CIO made no pretense of de-
nying communists; rather 1T allowed
them easy access.
1t remains the victim of infiltra-
tion.
Any denial of free speech, free
press and free assemblage means
restriction that seemingly must fall
upon all, to some degree. And it may
well put premium upon the business
of spying and informing.
But somehow the Frenchman is
right; Democracy MUST protect itself
from the easy infiltration of the tro-
jan horsemen, the fifth columnists-
call them what you like.
A new agency of warfare has been
devised. 1t must be met and over
come.
Dictatorships don't wait until war
is declared to set their brigades of
trojan horsemen to work.
They begin long before that.
They are at work in the United
States. They HAVE BEEN AT
| WORK. Russia started hers at work
years ago. Hitler started his years
ago. The Muss started his as soon
as he rode to power.
/ We are being invaded and we may
as well recognize the fact. We must
not get hysterical about it, but we
had better coolly and definitely make
up our mind what to do about it.
And labor probably has a larger
role of responsibility for defense in
this sector than any other group in
our population. Again labor is given
the role, as so often in the past, Of
HOLDING THE FIRST LINE OF
lDEFENSE-- E--CMW.