Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-06-06
BEHIND
THE News
MaIlon


nations would not accept post
war domination by the big four,
and State Secretary Hull replied
in 800 vaporous words that all
nations would be equal in their
sovereignty"
This world had been wander
ING around in words, stretching
them, redefining them, for de-
cade up to this war. Streams
of words poured from various
energetic people. We had such
things as democracy"
A man wrote a book about
how we deceive ourselves with
words. Only he wrote it from
the standpoint of how other
people could be deceived with
words. 1t was Stuart Chase,
the New Deal economist and
he dug out of obscurity a new
word for his idea. "semantics."
He warned his fellow radi-
Gals against calling such things
as the -insurance-spend-
ing scheme of the new deal by
any right name. and 1 think he
originally devised the philo-
sophically false and realistically
improbable phrase social secur-
ity," which, like most other
things, we have in name only.
7 AM not trying TO be a phi
Il losopher, only to tell you the
difficulty confronting me in at
tempting to transfer to you the
news behind the news.
Here is the Dutch minister
who says he will not take domi-
nation by greater powers. We
all know he always has.
The financial and whole eco
nomic life of his country al
ways depended on the greater
powers. and l mean always, be-
cause history will not reveal an
instance in which the Neither
lands controlled its own affairs
without outside directing in
f1uence.
Mr.. Hull replied with words
equally altitudenous, and just as
far of base. saying the Sow
ereignity" of Holland would be
kept pure.
If these same words were
piled 10000 miles higher, the
average intelligent man in the
street would still know the
Netherlands is small country,
Great Britain is an empire of
greater bulk and authority, that
the United States is a rich and
powerful nation. that Russia is
a rising influence which will
probably dominate Europe. The
words we read in the news,
therefore, merely deceive us
from the fact that we already
know, that cannot be changed.
60 ALSO with Spain. the
~ French Committee OF Lib
Grafton. the Russian situation,
or whatever else there is in the
news of either international or
domestic consequence.
A columnist makes a speech
in New York to the French
emigres demanding that De
Gaulle be recognized as the
government of France. Is he
the government of France?
He is a politician who escaped
TO London, failed at numerous
belligerent enterprises. fought
the French political elements
we freed in North Africa, made
a private alliance with Russia,
and then announces himself as
the government of France. Any
one can see that.
He is only a French politician
who has succeeded in master
ing the other French politicians,
all of them in exile and away
from their people. To recognize
him as a government would, in
justice and simple common
honesty, be an act of cheating
the people of France who can
not yet express themselves.
WITH SPAIN? Our people
w have been deluded into be-
lieving the Spanish civil war
was cause of democracy
against fascism, and that fasc-
ism won. Anyone can see II was
a war of communism against
fascism. one dictatorship against
another, neither of which we
want, all far from democracy.
In domestic politics. we also
delude ourselves with words.
"Leftist" covers everything from
revolutionary communism to
liberal idealism. which are ODD
posites. Communism means die
tatorship. ruthless direction of
the individual. while liberalism
means freedom OF the individual.
The only way we are going
TO solve any of our difficulties
is 10 get out of words into facts.
Pressure groups can deceive us,
but only temporarily. Truth is
an obstinate. inevitable leveler.
II will insist on being dominate
In the end, no matter how many
words are heeped upon it.
Thus also newspapering suf-
fers under the yoke of the
tyranny of words, enslaved to
a dictionary rather than truth.
Little men and little minds
contrive verbal articles to de-
ceive themselves and their
people. Sooner or later some-
one in this country is going TO
have TO look a fact in the face.