The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1940-01-10
A NEW FRONTIER

enough if he were a communist as
charged, but worse if he were furtive
Shiny, and un-American. If the Min
ers Union were dominated by, or even
sympathetic toward, such persons, you
would certainly feel that it was an
untrustworthy outfit, to say the least
Wouldn't you?
But more to come: "These Butte
Communists are conspirators along
with other communists in America.
Their ultimate purpose is to tear down
our government and establish here
the red flag of hate, intolerance, and
Oppression"
Now what do you think of the Min
ers Union?
The editorial wound up with the
assertion that the honest and respec
table people of Butte should not per-
NIT such a meeting to take place
This assertion, however, was deleted
when the editorial was reprinted
along with a general review of the
controversy on January 4, 1910. The
deletion is important
1t is important because the asser-
ton gave another Butte paper, labor
journal, the chance to claim that the
first paper was trying to arouse mob
|hysteria and suppress freedom of
speech.
The communist sponsored mass
meeting did take place. in the Miners
Union hall The communist influence
i 80, Lo
December 13 editorial now was upon
Butte like a catastrophe. The COM
munist speakers, however, delivered
such a clumsy and specious brand of
propaganda and presented such flimsy
and ridiculous arguments that the pa
per which had been alarmed was able
to report the meeting in sedate and
factual manner in the knowledge that
it would discredit itself without any
help.
The agitated paper resumed its dis
cussion of the communist menace in
an answer to the labor journal, which
had described the two front-page edi-
torials as an attack on labor and an
attempt at suppression of free speech
1t numbered the bandwagon device:
"In the disgust and antipathy which |
fills every American heart over these |
horrible European development there |
can be involved no question of our |
American problems of capital and |
labor. The Qabor journaD can take
no honest exception to the universal |
voiced by practically |
oP ho ir1o I'm |
Europe"
The labor journals defense, as set |
forth in several statements of officials
Of the Miners Union, and in editorials
was that it was simply insisting on
the right of free speech for all Amer
lean citizens, whether communists or
not, and that in lending it's hall the
1orsing communism.
The argument might have ended
here had not the Miners Union, rush
ng in where students of propaganda
analysis would have declined to tread,
wrote letter to the paper that had
started the hellabaloo, in which it
bitterly resented" the papers inter-
.
ications attempt to smash free
speech in this community" The let
er closed in this manner: "The Butte
Miners Union will not tolerate an
,ther editorial of the kind which were
un in your paper on December 14th
md 18TH"
Now you will understand why there
vas omitted from the general sum- I.
nary that appeared in the same issue :
+ the paper which carried the letter
uoted above, the statement that Butte
eople should not allow this commun-
st meeting to take place.
Conveniently forgetting this alleged
tempt on it's own part at suppress :
ion of free speech, the paper rolled :
ut an editorial, that employed beauti-
lilly a number of propaganda devices:
1. differing Generality: when =
this paper) is challenged because OF
s devotion to American ideals and :
when it is threatened be-
|