The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1948-12-16
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When the news runs from week
to two weeks ahead Of a column it
is difficult to offer comment on
spot news without taking the
chance Of being caught off base.
! But here is this Whitaker
Chambers stuff about microflm
: hidden in hollowedout pumpkin.
The film is said to be ten years old.
One is led to wonder when it was
hidden in the pumpkin shell and
why. For pumpkin shells don't last
forever. Their rate of dissolution
is fairly rapid.
The whole-un- American commit
tee business savors of horsing
;, around
There is need of keeping tabs on
communist propaganda by some
agency.
That the communists attempt
every possible form Of espionage
has to be taken for granted.
However, one wonders whether
the House committee can find out
anything not known to the FBI,
which is professional outfit high
ly skilled.
Anyway, by the time these lines
are in print you may know the
whole story of the pumpkin shell
and how long the microfilm was
stored therein.
But even the pumpkin shell isn't
the strangest part of the story.
The strangest part of the whole
story is how a supposedly intelli-
gent man, like Chambers, and like
Alger Hiss, ever fell for the COM
munist line-if they did. Chambers
admits that he did.
What strange lure is there about
the shoddy, un-democratic COM
munist bait that makes suckers out
of otherwise intelligent men and
women?
There is no appeal to reason in
communism. And even if the theory
had about it something of the ap-
peal of the altruistic (Which it
doesn't), we still have the horrible
example of communism in practice.
In practice it has abundant cor
ruption, flagrant favoritism and
only submission and insufficiency,
for the great masses who are sup
posed to benefit most.
In short, communism, as practic-
ed, is a filthy business.
\ i <
1t will be remembered that a
number of Americans have gone to
Russia, so that they might have
benefit of the communist spell in
its home precincts.
But very few have remained
there to enjoy a life of it.
On the other hand, a fair num-
Der of Russians have gone to great |
lengths to avoid going back to
Russia, once they got outside of
that supposed land of proletarian
rule.
The whole business of Russian
communism is such a phony, such
an enslavement of mind and body,
such a hideous distortion and de-
nial of every single thing that
makes life good for those who
crave freedom that for any intelli-
gent person to espouse this So
called communism is in itself just
about a complete denial of intelli-
gence.
And why any American, wheth-
er seemingly intelligent or not,
would have any dealings with stol-
EN- secret documents from our gov
ernment, is beyond anything that
sounds like reason.
\ y :.
Well, that old pumpkin shell
ought to tell some kind of story.
Where were the microfilmed doc
uments before they got into the
pumpkin shell?
Who got how much from whom
for stealing them in the first place?
There is little if any known evil
1ence that Russia profited by U. S.
secret documents before the war
and yet these alleged documents
we're stolen ten years or so ago.
One thing is pretty sure and that
IS that if there is humbug in all
ibis business a lot of people are
going to be pretty sore and they
will have a right to be sore.
The last thing we will tolerate is
4 police state. But it helps none to
lave hokum police methods used
n a democratic state.
There's an old saying about
fish or cut bait". It's not bad.
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