The Wilmington morning star., 1947-05-19
AS Pegler Sees 1t
BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright by King Features Syndicate, Incl

The internal revenue law permits persons
wins give money to "educatlonal organlza-
tons to deduct such contributions in comput-
ing their tax returns. This law never was in
tended to permit private espionage agencies
and personally controlled groups, which dis
tribute political propaganda and personal
smear material, to live by the exemption.
The friends of Democracy, with its main Of
flee in New York, was founded in 1897 by
L. M. Birkhead, formerly a preacher.
Birknesd denies that the Friends of Democ-
racy is "a propaganda and Investigations
group, but he sends me, in the same mail,
10 pages of propaganda and attacks on a
number of respectable Ameri IAN citizens,
principally John 7. Flynn, the New York
journalist and a~nti-conmunlst pamphleteer.
No other clean American has been attacked
as bitterly as Flynn has been abused for his
American patriotism. Birkhead says the at
tackS on Flynn began as soon as Flynn be-
gan to put out propaganda of the extreme
nationalist variety" Flynn opposed Franklin
D. Roosevelt's progress toward war and he
believed and still does believe in America
first. He is undoubtedly an extreme ma
tionalist.' So was George Washington.
Birkhead writes that extreme nationalism
is one of the major characteristics of fas-
cism.' 1t is also the very spirit of the oath
sworn by every American President and ev-
cry recruit on induction into the Army. The
communists, on the other hand, do not cherish
the nationality of the United States. To con-
clude that this makes Birkhead a communist
or MS Friends of Democracy a communist
front would be to adopt the process by which
he arrives at the decision that because Flynn
Is a nationalist and Hitler was a nationalist,
Flynn must be a Nazi.
Brkhead says his Friends of Democracy
Is IAN educational organizations which issues
pamphlets and leaflets, 'all of an educational
char acter," to inform the American people
of the propaganda to which they are subject.
When others do this, they are propagandists.
When Blckhead does it, he is an educator.
Now lei us see whether this organization,
living on tax-eXempt contributions, is engaged
in 'mvestigational'' work.
Last Dec. 10, the F.. O.. D.. sent out a
mooching letter to its list signed by Rex Stout
Stout was one of the organizers of the pro-
communist magazine, The New Masses. Birk-
heads propaganda says he got out because
the communists filtered in. l don't have to
believe that.
This panhandling letter closes with a re-
hinder that contributions are deductible
from income tax"
An attached summary of the F. O. DIS
activities in the past year said it.: made
vi OOllI hOV dix s
second book, The Plotters.'' Carlson, born
Derounian, is a professional snoop.
j. EDGAR Hoover recently wrote that he
was dismissed by the F.. B. l., which he had
served for less than three months as an Gin
formant but not as a regular F. B. 1. man,
because he was contributing little of value
This bureau has not, at anv time. SUBJ
stantlated any claims made by him." Mr..
Hoover wrote, in direct contradiction of a
statement under the letterhead of the weekly
book review of the New York Herald Tribune.
signed "Irita Van Doren, editor that the
F. B. l. cid "substantiate'' Carlson's claims
at every point"
Carlson claims to be an "investigator"- and
nothing else.
So, in contradiction of Birkhead's claim
that this organization, soliciting tax-exempt
gifts, does not make investigations we have
Rex Stout Boosting that Carlson was .asso-
ciated with the Friends of Democracy for six
years. and gathered his material for two
smear books, Under Cover and 1.-THE Plot
ters' while acting in his capacity of chief
investigator for. F. O.. D."
In both books we find Carlson thankino
blrkhead for permission to use s'the extern
slve and orderly files of the F. o. u in
.lhe ilotters," on Page 112. he saws he
1Sokeo up a victims 'background'' in the
mes OF Birkhead's office. On Page 40 he
says ne wrote to F. H.. Smith of the Wa
~. 80 VI AInerlca, whom he
was investigating, "using the stationery of the
Friends of Democracy" On Page 1862 he
writes that he was employed for six vears
by the F. o. D.
In the Birkhead propaganda the Non-sec-
tartan Anti-Nazi League, a similar snoonira
organization, is defended in its failure to fight
communism along with 'fascism' in the
United States. The excuse is that IT was nj
organized to fight communism b,1t on1,s
naziism '
The tax exemption granted by Congress- for
educational Institutions here is invoked ~, -,
organic alton which denies that it does "in.
vestigatlonal' work but has a ''chief investi-
gator and devotes Itself largely and intensa-
ly to the "educational' smearing "a n.+r;aH.
Americans OF clean reputation on the verv
ground that they are patriotic citizens Of IN.
divided loyalty. ~A