The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1943-12-13
BY WESTBRoOK PEGLER

| NEW YORK, - So our leader went in Splen-
dor with his personal retainers and there in
Teheran, surrounded by guards and guns and
mystery, great decisions were made and the
mighty men drank innumoerable toasts and
planned the doom of Adolf Hitler. For these
| commitments we receive Stains simple as
surance that he will fight on against the Nazi,
as though that were somehow favor to us,
but no word comes out of any promise that
Poland, the first victim of the agressor, will
be allowed to live again or that Tie new Europe
will be any more free than Soviet Russia.
That was stirring picture of Stain kissing
the Stalingrad sword presented by the Prime
minister of England and the good fellowship
of the personal giants come together at least
as men in warm assurance that this time
Germany will be crushed, if not reduced to
that bowling wilderness which Goebbels con-
jured as the alternative to victory The Allies
cannot lose and Hitler cannot hope to win and
so this awful thing will vanish from the
earth.
But has Stain changed? Isn't this the same
man who conducted blood purges no less hor-
rlylng than Hltlers own, who oeported and
enslaved masses of his own people and at
tackled own old friend brave little Finland,
as we called her then?
For long time, ou1 own government has
tried to make us forget the record, to make us
DelleVe UdI lneSe IntnSS are all an awful
dream and that the Russians dictatorship,
though denying all the freedoms which Ameri-
ca means, is nevertheless nice despotism.
Joseph E. Davies tempered with truth and his
tory under government auspices but the
damned spots will not out.
Is 1t lnopportune, is it descriptive or I'M
patriotic to remember things about Stain,
that 1t was his agreement with, Hitler which
touched off the war, Or that he stood by and
his communists in Brintaln and France and
here tried to help the Nazi while weak, small
nations fell? They certainly are unappetizing
truths but l hold that we cannot deceive our
selves however we may try ana that the net
results OF Ieheran, as far as We are allowed
to know, IS that there will be close fighting
cooperation, no less for Russias benefit than
for our oWn but no guarantee that the peoples
OF Europe will enjoy freedom as we know the
meaning of the sacred word. The most that
can be hoped is that they will BE- given few
generations of peace under outside protection.
| am one of those who sale long ago and
still insist that the difference between Hit
ler's dictatorship and Stains is merely SUPER
flcal and l could find corroboraton in the
old opinion of many rnen and women who now
are squlrn ing in distress Of soul as they try
to accept the new history of Stalin's rule and
the new character that has been created. I
believe that for our good we should face
the truth we know it and accept the fact
that the fortunes of war have placed us on
the side of one dictator against another who
attacked us and would have taken our very
life.
Our concepts of government of freedom and
property are utterly unlike the Russian but
we are not honestly committed to the destruc-
ton of dictatorship and the establishment of
freedom everywhere in the world and we
should admit this to ourselves il SO, we should
be at war with Portugal and some of the
South American nations whose friendship we
have been trying to buy and sor that matter
even with out ally, China, In the first World
war we were willing to fight as an ally of tho
Gar.
The Gerry pomp of the meeting in Teheran
was out of keeping with American ideals b,,4
that we can dismiss politica showmanshi,s
| intended to impress foe and friend alilxe
| But there is no need to deceive o1se1vos ~
garding Stain, his career and the kind of le-
eminent that he runs or to gun dow, @ t,
naive belief that out Of Teheran we uena lne
any assurance as TO the kind of gover nelvea
that Will run Europe henceforth --iil'elt
| --V--
Our military forces occupy nearly
Of the american acreage. Just ons.hI per cent
OF tue amount the Japs had planned i n,a