Evening star., 1944-07-17
Political Expediency'
Seen Convention Rule
Observer Warns of Poison in
Propasanda to Hide Issues

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Observer Warns of Poison in
Propasanda to Hide Issues
BY David Laurence
Expediency, the basic germ OF every
national political convention, ruled the
Republican meeting and it will rule the
Democratic gathering at Chicago.
Expediency is the poison that eats
into the character OF men in public life
and makes them accept compromises
OF principle and conviction with respect
to their own careers and ambitions.
Expediency is the poison that also eats
into the character of governments all
over the world and makes them unwill-
Ing to face the truth of their obligations
to their fellow men in other countries
as well as their own and that's one OF
the reasons why we have wars.
Among the delegates to both ma
tional conventions, no doubt, are many
with sons in uniform. Their individual
thoughts are perhaps far away and
their outward interest in the conven-
ton does not reveal their inner fears
and anxieties. But these same delegates
and others with no personal ties TO
the war do not always connect them
selves up with the things men are
dying for on the seven seas and in the
remote areas of the globe where the
American flag flies today.
Obscuring The Issues.
The main explanation of this Is to
be found in the influence of political
propaganda which for purposes of OBJ
scuring a true issue has no equal in
smokescreening power. 1t is political
propaganda now which claims that one
party is interested in preserving peace
once the war is won and the other isn't.
1t is political propaganda which claims
that Woodrow Wilson blocked our entry
into the League OF Nations himself and
that the Republicans were not to blame.
And so 60 the charges and counter
charges and the truth is made more
perverted than ever.
Yet it's not difficult to see the con-
nection between this means of confus-
ing the public. which politicians or
manipulators of political power use to
their advantage, and the fact that We
are III the midst of a devastating war
today. Many of the young men who are
giving their lives today were not yet
born in 1919 and 1920 Many of those
who were in the world then were either
too young or too preoccupied with other
things to observe the trend of events
between 1919 and 1889. This means that
politicians can distort what happened
and suit the telling to political pur-
poses.
Fortunately, however, our history
books haven't been burned. Anybody
who wants to can go back into the
record and find the truth. 1t will show
among other things that expediency
ruled then as now, that men forsook
principles to advance themselves and
that, in the various governments OF
the world, politics and political chican-
Cly Soiiiiiine eSu tiiS oSSAoAA VA eAAo'S
governments.
In America the politicians, for In
stance in both parties insisted on pay
ment of war debts which the Allies
couldn't pay. But 1t was politically ex-
pedient to call for payment. And the
isolationist strength was developed-out
Of the political habit of condemning the
European peoples.
But what was lost sight Of was that
the European politicians were no diff
ferent from the American politicians.
and just as the late Senator Lodge. Re-
publican leader, contrived to beat the
League of Nations Covenant with '.nulli-
flying" reservati tions that mutilated the
treaty and caused its defeat on the
final roll call so were there politicians
in Europe pursuing personal and party
politics.
Aided Hitlerism's Rise.
When Hitler came to power in 1888
he played on the distress which the
chaotic economic situation had pro-
duced. and he won. He used every de-
vice known to the political game to
build himself up and then embarked
on his cruel course of fanatical fascism
Politics in England, France and the
United States prevented military pre-
paredness to combat the rise of Hit
leriSm.
paying for the indifference insincerities,
expediencies and compromises of their
forebears and particularly those who
played politics with international affairs
and armament needs. Today more than
ever international matters have become
interviewer with domestic antagonisms,
cleavages and meretricious desires for
power. Neither the Republican nor
Democratic parties can be proud OF
their respective records. 1t would, in
deed, be a stark bit of realism if both
major parties today confessed their sins
Of omission as we'll as commission from
1919 onward and posted big banner
with this slogan on it:
Politics, here and abroad has brought
us our caSualties-more than $50 900
American boys have been killed, manned,
wounded or are missing thus far. We
pledge ourselves to prevent a third
world war no matter what the cost to
the political ambition of any individual
or party"
Truth and self-examination, however.
are still far away. Maybe they will
come closer to us when the boys now
overseas come back home and demand