The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1946-07-05
News "a
BEHIND
THENE'I|M&l$iS'IEE!1
By PAUL MALLoN =

Released by Western Newspaper Union.
WESTERN EUROPEANS REJECT
COMMUNISTS IN ELECTIONS
WASHINGTON. - The European
elections have projected a new
POLITICAL course for the western half
of the continent. The surprise in
France was the growth of the popu-
lar Republican movement, which is
best described as Christian democ-
racy (parliamentarianism, freedom
for all parties, individual liberty.
Thus it represents the same trend
as the unexpected size of the vote
for the monarchy in Italy and the
successes of the Catholic Centrists
and Christian Democrats in Hol-
land few weeks earlier. In each
instance, a similar new political
force came rising up out of the cleo
torate to challenge the grasp of the
Communists for controls. Earlier
the Socialists had been the most
important challengers of Commu-
niSm.
Now the Communists are try
ing to arouse anti-C Catholic senti-
ment by calling this new chal-
lenge religious movement, and
attributing it largely to the Cath
Ole church, but it is not re-
igiOus in nature. The issues it
raises are not religious in char.
acter and of no religious sig.
nificance except in common re-
sistance to stateism as reli-
gi0n, which has been atheistic in
character. There are no avail
able forces of Christian democ-
racy in France, Italy and much
OF western Europe, outside the
Catholic church, to which the
bulk of the Christian population
adheres. But this bulk includes
many Socialists, and indeed is
unified politically only in its re-
Sistance to Communism.
The only change in truth then, is
the growth of the power of Chris
tan democracy in this bulk. The
Socialists had heretofore demon
strated the greatest political power
against the Communists, but they
compromised their position by col
laboration in France and elsewhere.
RELIGION SMALL FACTOR.
It would be serious mistake for
us to fall for the Communist propa-
ganda and misinterpret the precise
nature of results which are going
our way at long last by calling them
religious in character, as the Com
munists and their propagandists
wish us to do. The Communists are
simply centering their attack upon
the Catholics, in order to have their
own resistance joined by other reli-
gious denominations such as Prot
estants' and Jews, not only in Eu-
rope but throughout the world.
Behind the simultaneous report of
the United Nations committees in
vestigation on Spain lie the same
discernible strings. The report pecu-
iarly held that Spain's Franco was
not a menace to world peace now,
but would be when the U. N. as
sembly meets in September (for
reasons not stated, and he should
be kicked out then. Now there are
few believers in Christian principles
in Spain who also are not Catholics,
but Gibralter is more important to
the world than Spain in the matter
of peace. AS Gibralter will still be
there presumably in September, the
report drawn by the Craftsmanship
of British possession, Australia,
created much perplexity. Indeed, in
spired stories Immediately came to
the press from responsible Ameri-
can diplomats that the committee
had exceeded it's authority in rec
ommending action because it was
appointed to find the facts about how
much of a threat to world peace
Franco really was.
Few authorities think Britain will
join the UNO to rout Franco by the
provided means (bombers, etc. or
others so soon and thus open an
other nation to Russia, which, if it
came to power in Spain, would sit
upon the biggest link in the British
lifeline. A growth of a Christian
democratic movement in Spain,
which would assure some future
moderation, is unquestionably what
is needed first.
Whether this development had
anything to do with the resig-
nation of the immediate father
of UNO, Edward Stettinius, as
our man in its leadership, is
subject to legitimate specula-
ton because it developed imme.
diately after the report. My per-
s0nal opinion is that there are
American and British Diplomats