Evening star., 1949-09-17
Truman Seen Avoiding
Biq Issue Of 'Statism'
With a Wisecrack
Use of Term Scare Word
Shows Contempt of Stote
For People, Writer Holds
By Dorothy Thompson

President Truman processes not
to know the meaning of "statism," :"
by which Senator John Foster
Dulles recently defined the tend
encies of the Truman administra-
ton. The President said he had
looked the word up in two or three
dictionaries and that they were
in disagreement. Its simply a
scare word" Mr.. Truman con-
cluded.
e There are many words in COM
mon use and Of generally accepted
meaning, which have not found
their way into dictionaries. Mr..
Truman himself has often de-
nounced "totalitarianism." But
my Oxford dictionary does not
contain the word. Neither can
find the word "genocide," though
1t is the subject Of United Ma
tionS convention.
: Yet, whether "totalitarianism'
or "genocide" are dictionary terms
they are hideous realities. The
existence Of Nazi and Communist
states has required the invention
of new definitions. as the whole
sale massacre of men and women
on racial grounds forced the Gre
alton of a term to describe it.
Hence, "totalitarian" and "geno-
eide"
Trim, Ferocious Epoch
The dictionary is maintaining
. decorous civilization which has
not caught up with what Winston
Churchill described as this trim,
ferocious epoch" It's definition
of "atomization" is Ito reduce to
atoms. pulverize, spray" Future
editions will have to add "vapori-
zation of inorganic and organic
matter, including human beings,
by atom bombs"
Dictionary definitions reflect
political evolutions. The Oxford
dictionary describes as an "ob-
.solete" definition of "statism"-
"subservience to political expe-
.diency in religion" Obsolete?
Has no one been reading of the
current events in Poland, Hun
gary and Czechoslovakia, where
the political organization is
using every weapon to reduce re-
ligion to political subservience?
Thus, yesterdays obsoletes be-
come today's accuracies as the
world progresses backward.
Oxford. Century and Funk &
-. .Wagnalls all define "statism" as
political science. or the art of
government, or state craft, or be-
lief in the sovereignty of a state,
; and none helps us to understand
. what Senator Dulles meant.
But the President knew per-
fectly well what he meant, and
SO do we, all, without reference
to any dictionary. The Senator
meant by "statism" the tendency
Of the state to encroach into. all
the fields hitherto reserved to
the individual and society: to ab-
sorb more and more of the citi-
Gems earnings; exercise increas-
ing control over his life and
habits; and reduce him to be-
coming a rubber-s stamp of the
state-bureaucratic apparatus.
The approving definition of
"statism, given by Mussolini
was: Everything in the state;
nothing outside the state"
Psychological Weapon.
Statism. in its last logic, is thus
total state power, which can be
achieved gradually. as well as by
revolution. Its chief psycholog-
tcal weapon is to identify the
state with the people. as though
they were the same, which, of
course. they are not. When So
'fciety gives powers to the state it
is weakened in the same proper
ton. And that the state is becom-
ing everywhere stronger and the
people weaker is visible to the
naked eye, even if not visible In
the dictionary.
The President called "statism'
. scare word" Why. if it is
meaningless? Obviously people
must recnpnize an 1Iphopy,v tao
dency; otherwise no one would
Z be scared.
' Actually. there could be no more
fruitful debate at this juncture
than the eternal political question
Of the proper relation between the
powers of the state and society.
1T concerned our founding fathers
more than any other problem, and
lad Auay, fhava -