Evening star., 1940-11-12
Statement Attributed
To Kennedy Raises
Britain's Ire
Freedom of Press Cited
As Proof Democracy
Is Not Finished
BY HELEN KIRKPATRICK.

Chicaso Daily News Foreisn Correspondent
LONDON. Nov. 12-There is con-
siderable resentment here over Am
baSSador Joseph P Kennedy's re-
ported statement that democracy
is finished in Great Britain"
There is no official comment save
that correspondents are in a per-
fectly good position to determine for
| themselves whether or not the state
ment is true. and free to write what
they find. This, it is pointed out. is
usually difficult to do in non-demo-
cratic countries.
Britains only newspaper to tackle
the Kennedy interview is the Lon
don Daily Herald, which devotes its
leading editorial to the question
! The Herald is labor paper more
often in opposition to the Govern
ment than with it
Discussing what Britain is fighting
for-which the Herald claims to be
more than Ito save our skins'-it
| goes on to say that of course this
is so, but that we are fighting for
the right to make peaceful progress
along lines desired by the greatest
number
The statement that democracy
is finished in England" is described
as 'one of the remarkable state
ments attributed to Mr.. Joseph Ken
nedy"
Now these statements of Mr.. Ken
nedy. whether they be correctly or
incorrectly reported will be widely
publicized in this country says the
Herald. They may be accepted by
many Americans as an accurate in
depreciation by man who has been
observing us closely. That is most
unfortunate, for it is vitally impor-
tant that our aims should be under
stood not only in America but
throughout the world = The con-
structive and critical work of Par
lament since the war is, in itself,
guarantee sufficient to us in Britain
that Mr.. Kennedy has misread our
situation
The Herald goes on to demand
that further misinterpretations of
Britain's aims should be avoided by
a clear-cut declaration crystallizing
Britain's aims
The Herald, American observers
feel, appears to misinterpret Mr. Ken
nedy's reported statement as badly
as Mr.. Kennedy appears to have
phraSed his remarks. Mr.. Kennedy
has often expressed to Americans
here the view that democracy ends
as soon as war is declared as it is
essential for the state to take over
the entire country and give bu-
reaucracy control.
The British recognize this feature,
but it would be difficult to persuade
them that the powers so willingly
granted to the government in war
mean the negation of democracy
afterWard. The British deny such
powers will not be restored to the
nation at the end of the war.
That the British press still has full
freedom and no compulsory censor
ship is held to be the final proof of
this. In theory newspaper may
be prosecuted for printing informa-
ton of value to the enemy, and
there has only been one case to
date. 1t is interesting to note that
the government must produce evil
dence to prove that the article in
question did really give information
to the enemy.
There are many laws in wartime
Britain which seem complete
negation of democracy, but the num-
Der of times they are compulsorily |
enacted is so few that they can be
counted on the fingers of one hand,
tCopyrisht 1910, Chicaso Daily News, Inc) |