The Wilmington morning star., 1942-07-26
Fair Eh2ll6h
by
VBTbRi}K Edn
Pegler And The Clio.
A Columnisfs w.,
BY PHILIP W, PORTER
Cleveland Plain Dealer Col

like to get in my two cents, u
on the subject of the Ioc,, '%a
councils condemnation Of NJ 70
brook Pegler. and its desire n "s' W,
sure the Cleveland press I'M. III
ping his column, a stupid s.,%%'
to say the least.
| We on the Plain Dealer o,.
accused in this instance Of s,sA -'A
for one of our boys, for ,.s1g p..;
column is published by or o.s sF's
tor, and is, in fact, one Of ti-.Es'' IL.
features. If Pegler should dis,s"p .~ "p
from the press, somethiny ,, spSa'
ant and real would be sors '''U'',
that would not hurt US as al, ala
peting newspaper. WILL
| So put this down as outsi5.
ment. l don't know Pegler .rs '' VI,
not in his league, but | do l. 1I
he has plenty of CUTS sor..s, ,.U'
all too rare in newspapers ,o5a ,,'s
and he has the unions right nba!
the hair is short-that is wbv ,h. ,s
are yelling that he should he sr, ,'
pressed. And l know that any sr%
move as the CIO is MAKING u ..- l.
eral cities is a direct threat +,
freedom of the press, which affac,s
rot only ourselves but all citizens
black or white, male or femaIe
union or non-union.
Will RedoubIe Efforts
Of course, You can write if dowr
now that a newspaper with any sot
respect will get its back up at tba,
sort OF pressure, and PegIer himse4
will redouble his attempts to inject
honesty into the labor movement
and it will result in more readers
for him. The guy won the Pulitzer
prize once for his work on this sub.
ject and he knows how to handle
himself. The unionists will continuA
to read him-they don't dare not ia
Id like to touch briefly on two
things: O The silly allegation that
Pegler is hampering the war effort
by fumigating the unions and j;
therefore a fifth columnist" az
| (2) what it would mean to free pres
and free speech for any special II,
terest such as a union to be able 10
suppress fair comment through
pressure.
| Let's consider this fifth column,
ist" nonsense, which sounds to me
| like an old communist tactic-tw,
ing to plaster an unpleasant phrase
on the opposition. 1t would be na.
tural, for Pegler has been sockng
the communists right and left both
before and after Russia got into the
war.
What is a fifth columnist? To me
it means guys like Ham Fish and
I indbergh and Father Coughlin and
Martin Laval Sweeney who were
so busy with their hates Of our
/ present administration that they
would help Hitler and the Japs BE-
cause it would hurt Roosevelt, 1t
means Bundists and United Mothers.
Beneath Contempt
1t would be beneath contempt for
Pegler himself to answer such
phrase, but I can do it for him, The
fact is that no American writer has
so bitterly and regularly denounced
and Scorned Hitler and MuSsOln
and the Japs and their several
forms of fascism. Pegler started Il
years before the war. He started
after he Travelled through Europe
and saw the Brown Shirts in action
and his column has been anathehld
and his name mud to the GestaNl
ever since. No American writer hd'.
been more wholeheartedly in laY"
of Roosevelt's foreign policy Pes'
ler would certainly be one OF lH
first to be sarroted should HlinllF'
and Goebbels or their America
counterparts ever get control ol u
The fact also is that Pegler has
drawn a bead exactly on the "e8N
est spot in American unionisn anu
he has already been instruhieH''
in sending three or four OF It's li91 n
notorious goons and crooks 10 !'D
willie Bioff. George scait', ~,
George Browne, among o'llels' n,, %
has pointed out without success w.
denial that the labor movement ~ ~
America today has been pfeYe0 nd -,
on by it's own business aseN's ,:nE
bosses, that it is milked out VI !"a
initiation fees and unheces1" n,
dues. that it has no control over ~
own officers; that actual democfas' 's.,
in it is a laugh, for John l. Lss''i n
appoint their own officers ana iiaorr
plenty of other places any oF"l"N,. @ d
workman who isn't mehi'e- ,.,,T
the ruling cabal gets ills t,,rr
cracked when he talks out W ,,,rins
The nerve of these guys .n-' oriti.
they can shut up a leel'Nn@'e as me
in such fashion is VIVA. 0u,n ,ar.s f
most of all. If they coulu I"'', gars
stick against Pegler' aho'n'- rrs,tet
might make it stick asainst ,,,,sor,
Lippmann, or Dorothy 1Ho,n naorson,
or Ray Clapper, or Drew .,,rr fire.
all of whom speak out OF 'u-"
quently.. r. that i
The point 1 am making oats s
any special group feels 'I' ~ eli
that it thinks it can shuL :. W. anyc
cism then it could shut u. rHh
1t could suppress my column :, ia
is merely local and linlteu rl1otut ~
That sort of thing, If the r1s
knew it, is an element
| fascism.