Evening star., 1940-11-22
Wants Real Political
Issues Discussed
Plan Suggested to Require All
Presidential Candidates
To Deal With Facts

| To the Editor Of The Star:
| During the recent campaign the party
orators made the American commons
ring with their fervid eulogies of our
| American democracy. But can de-
mocracy be preserved by mere allegiance,
and more pointedly, can democracy sur
vive many such elections?
Democracy is predicated upon the be-
lief that given the facts relating to any
public issue the people as whole will
reach a more intelligent decision than
will any minority group. The essence Of
democracy Is not the right to cast q
ballot. 1t Is access to the facts. Free
dom can survive only in the pure air of
knowledge. This point can be elucidated
by a brief comparison Of totalitarian
and democratic governments. In both
states the people vote. But the cam
paigns are different. Before each elec-
ton in a totalitarian state the people
are placed on diet of fear and hate.
In democratic state the people digest
| the facts. Their votes mirror intellect
rather than passion. Or put in another
way, totalitarian peoples vote emotion
ally, whereas democratic peoples rule
nationally. With this rather self-evident
premise let us consider the past election.
One party tried to sell its candidate
| to the public in precisely the same man
ner that an advertiser puts across q
new brand of tooth paste and with an
equal disregard for the facts. This same
party attempted to frighten the voters
into believing that the election of the
opposition candidate would end de-
mooracy in America and would plunge
us into an international war. This is
the modern European technique of dis
tortion and fear.
Not to be completely outdone, the
other party sought to convince the pub
lie that vote for the opposition candi-
date was a vote for Hitler. Again the
European technique.
And what of the real issues? Did
either candidate state whether he fa-
vored the repeal of the johnson Act
and the granting of loans to Great
Britain? Many of us believe that repeal
of that act would be prelude to war
In any event, declaration of intention
on that point would have been much
more enlightening than a grand prom
Use to keep us out of war. Did either
candidate present genuine plan to put
America back to work? Did either
candidate offer solution to the prob
lem Of ever-increasing debt and taxa
ton? Mr. Willkie deplored and Mr.
Roosevelt waited until after the election
to spring his proposal to raise the limit
of national debt. Did either candidate
attempt to define our interests in the
Far East, or to signify his plan for safe
guarding those interests? Millions Of
Americans realize that something out
of the ordinary is occurring in the
Pacific, but most of us didn't know
before the election and don't know yet
what our stake is.
We all recognize that these issues
and many others were seldom mentioned,
let alone intelligenGly discussed. The
President, with degree Of justification,
relied upon the record. Mr.. Willkie was
SO busy proving his devotion to de-
mocracy that he never found time to
face its problems.
If we could mark this campaign down
as one of the most disgraceful in Amer
lean history and let it go at that,
shouldn't be very much concerned. But
what assurance have We that the tech
nique of lies. distortions and fears won't
be repeated time and again until our
democracy collapses? We have none
In fact, with chaotic world conditions
certain to continue for years to come,
and with tremendous national prob
lsms remaining unsolved, it is not diff
cult to foresee the rise of the great Amer
lean demagogue who, by employing the
technique of mass hysteria on an ever
increasing scale, will ultimately frighten
us into abandoning our precious liberties.
That is, he will unless we meet him
head-on with the facts.
To meet that demagogue head-on
with the facts 1 have a simple plan
to present to the people for their con-
sideration. 1t won't guarantee the
preservation of democracy, but perhaps
it would be step in the right direc-
ton. At least it would serve to focus
the attention of the public on the real
issues and require the candidates to
meet them. My plan is incorporated
in the following proposed statute:
Be 1t enacted by the Senate and
House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress
assembled:
That for the purpose of encourag-
ing and promoting an intelligent
presentation and consideration of the
campaign issues during presidential
election years, the national COM
mittee of each political party having
a presidential candidate on the ballot
In the majority Of the States shall
file on or before August l of said
election year with the Committee
on Campaign Issues, hereinafter more
fully described, brief outlining its
concept of the campaign issues and
listing a series Of questions it desires
the opposition presidential candidates
to answer. After due deliberation of
said briefs and prior to october l of
said election year, said Committee
on Campaign Issues shall certify to
the public concise statement of the
principal issues, and, in addition, shall
b. aoaI, io1 nta