Imperial Valley press., 1940-09-13
KICK THE COMMUNISTS
OFF The BALLOT
{ Berkeley Gazette)

1t is high time for Americans to get
tough and stay tough. This newspaper
proposes, therefore, that we in Berkeley
start and follow through a hard, unre-
lenting drive to knock the Communists
off the ballot in California.
Their presence on the ballot gives them
protection to carry on the familiar
scheme which brought one nation after
another, and finally France, to the end
of the road. That scheme, to create an
CRY dissension, miStruSt, charges and
countercharges, among good Americans,
is working effectively in Berkeley now.
1t is folly to dismiss Communists in
this city with a wave of the hand as half
baked "intellectuals educated beyond
their own intelligence"
There can be no doubt that the Com
munists are chortling over the graceless
situation which has been brought about
here by the differing opinion among
school board members as to the legality
school buildings.
For paragraph or two let's skip the
matter of who is right and who is wrong,
and examine the factual results of this
undignified row, from the standpoint of
Berkeley, from the standpoint of other
high school boards in California and
from the standpoint of the state itself.
Fact number one: Whether by accident
or design local Communists have created
bitterness and recriminationS here among
coed Americans. This is an example, on
a small scale, of how they can create
internal dissension and divert attention
from the secret, dangerous operations of
the Nazi columnists. The fatuous Com
munists are glorying in the attention and
publicity they are receiving. This is as
good time as any to show them that
another variety of attention and publicl
ty can be two-edged sword.
Fact number two: School boards of
every city in California large enough to
have a nest of Communists are concern
ed with what happens in Berkeley.
Fact number three: Berkeley is the
home of the University of California.
Parents of some 10000 students through
out the state are not reasSured by the
situation here.
Fact number four: Berkeley is one of
focal points of statewide public inter-
est. That publicity for the city has been
bad cannot be challenged.
And that brings us directly to the case
here, which must be considered calmly.
Our school board, one of the most
progressive in the city's history is on
a spot. Boiled down, emitting all detours
and byways of contention, four members
of the board honestly believe that they
cannot legally bar the Communists from
use of the schools we do not believe that
the sound Americanism of those four
can be seriously challenged.
But we share the militant attitude of
the American Legion and patriotic or
ganizations that this mess cannot be al
lowed to drag on, that we ask no quarter,
and give none to the Communists.
AS a stop gap, for the present situa-
ton, state commission might be estab-
lished to investigate every twist and an
gle of the problem and recommend TO the
board a specific course of orderly, prop
er action that will keep the Communists
out of the schools.
That is only an immediate goal. The
long haul job is to outlaw the Commun-
lists, get them out from under protection
of the ballot, and ultimately put an end