The Wilmington morning star., 1947-05-16
AS Pegler Sees 1t
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER

By WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, by King Features Syndicate. Incl
If the mysterious guru letters which have
bobhed UP vaguely in the political career OF
Henry Wallace are authentic, then all specu-
lation would seem to be idle and petty as to
whether this man Is a communist. His open
cordially to communists and MS current par
TALLY to Soviet Russia could be no more
than a momentary political convenience in
the aspiration of a messianic furnbler toward
an idealistic brotherhood of man and the pur-
i~fication Of the whole human race through
suffering, philosophy and politics.
The mysterious first appearance Of the guru
letters in the campaign Of 1910, when Wallace
was on the ticket for vice president, has
been discussed in previous dispatches. The
sheaf which came into M hands has been
examined professionally by one Of the best
American authorities on the comparison OF
doubtful documents with authentic examples
This expert gave his unqualified opinion that
the h~and-written guru letters were written by
the same man who wrote the examples. Inere
is absolutely no doubt that the examples were
written by Henry Wallace. 1t follows that, in
the opinion of this recognized authority, Wal
lace wrote these guru letters.
A guru in India is literally a teacher. The
oriental philosophy known as yoga, a heritage
from the ancient Aryans, is taught by gurus
and requires years of deep study. 1t would be
futile to try to give a capsule explanation.
Some American opponents OF yoga refrain
from discussing it because it has been asso-
ciated in the western mind with magic, fire
walking, fire-eating and other quackery. Per
sons and publishers who would not dare ridl'
cule other religions or PHILOSOPHERS almost in
variablv ridicule yoga. To affirm a belief in
yoga is to invite the persecution Of ridicule.
For this reason, an American politician who
should publicly declare even a studious inter-
est in this outlandish philosophy would as.
sumo a handicap that would be politically
fatal. By his very profession or confession Of
faith he would surely Illustrate his own mis-
sion.
The curu letters. in the opinion Of one
authority on yoga, who desires to be anony-
nous for the reasons stated above, do not
indicate a mastery Or understanding Of the
philosophy. He says they make nothing but
juvenile nonsense to him. They do contain
some terms that are familiar to students OF
yoga. Krishna, for example, who is mentioned,
was a Vedic, or Aryan, deity, with the pro-
viso, however, that a deity, in this philoso-
ply is the embodiment of a principle. The
Bhagavao Ghita, in the patient words OF my
authority on yoga. is an epic poem, an extract
from a Veda, or ancient scripture, whose les.
sons were committed to memory long before
they were written and are now preserved in
oCIoASo liz All 4Ai0lo,
The letters contain references to books by
Prof Nicholas Constantin Roerich, who is the
addressee Of some of them. Prof. Roerich's
books deal with oriental, intellectual and spir-
itual subjects. The professor, who is adj
dressed as guru, has been a student Of these
subjects for many years. He Is primarily a
painter but his devotion to a community Of
the whole world, at least in some phases Of
human interest, is suggested by his "pacts'
anl hanna of Nnoon5. ~ nfinn IN hiC
biography. In 1884, the year after Wallace
became secretary of agriculture, he appointed
Roerich to lead an expedition through China
and Mongolia sin search of drought-resisting
grasses for America" The opportunities for
politics thar would occur in the path of such
an expedition were discussed at the time.
Yoga ignores such mundane and momen-
tary barriers to the sublime, ultimate state
American politician obviously would thwart
Of being as national lines. A contemporary
himself if he were to propose the immediate
or even the eventual obliteration of nations.
Yoga also abjures or certainly denies the i'm
portance of material possession. Here again
the politician would challenge the strong sense
Of property in the American voters from the
rich man down to the owner Of a family
dwelling or an old automobile.
Wallace had no need to plump for the vi.
innate in this respect to get himself scolded
as a ~rO-cornnnunlst He had only 10 propose
tina; the American people should work some
unreckoned millions of days producing things
to be ''sold'' to Russia but with the tac!t
understanding that the Russians would never
pay us. Still, he may have had in mind not
the immediate great material benefit to the
people Of Russia and their present rulers, but
the Fastening of a day when materlallsm
would collapse into universal poverty and all
the races would assemble on a supernormal
spiritual and mental plane. In that fulf1llment,
naturally. the remaining Russians would by
present among other survivors, but their rul-
|ers and their imperial state would have van
|ished even as the u. S. A. Only the fit and
to live in a sweet land of beauty and justice.
It is unlike the yogi, as Of now. at any
rate. to thrust their ideas on others. Ihey
are ~reficent rather than p~ropagandists and
crusaders for their faith and they hold that
only the blessed and privileged elect, mean
ing themselves and a few applicants, accepted
stand.
Wallace has talked and written much but
he has always seemed to be withholding some
Of his thoughts. If these are truly his letters,
ne would seem to have had hours when he
was d1spleased with soviet Russia. So, mater
iaI communism, as seen in Russia, may be
as purely an medicinal phase of the progress
toward sublimity as the dirty half mile past
tne town dump on the way to the annual re-
vlval OF the Sons and Daughters of / Will
Arise.
We have had nobody like this strange man
IN. our country before.