Evening star., 1949-02-28
Federal Government
Seen al Advantage in
Battle Of Propaganda
Party in Power Held Able
To Swoy Public Eosier
Than Opponents Con
By David Laurence g

By David Laurence
President Truman paid a mag
nif1cent compliment to the news
papers and magazines and radio
in his Jackson Day address. 1t
is a thrilling thing to find the
head of a great democracy able
. to make the following statement:
Make no mistake about it,
there has never been a time when
the people were so we'll informed
about Congress, and the Presi-
dent, and the records of their
Representatives and Senators as
they are now.
This concern on the part of
the people is a fine thing for the
growth of democracy and re-
sponsible government"
Apparently the newspapers,
which circulate 100000 copies
a day, and the leading magazines,
which present articles on national
and international problems to q
circulation totaling about 35,000,-
600, and the radio, which also
reaches tens of millions of citi-
zens. do a combined job of in
forming the people of what is
going on. Yet Mr.. Truman con-
tradictS himself by expressing
worry that in some way the peo-
pie are being "misinformed" Is
1t possible that the President
fears he may not be able to con-
troll the Democratic majoritieS in
both Houses Of Congress?
Special Interests Criticized.
Mr.. Truman said:
"The special interests are on
the job year in and year out
seven days week. and twenty
four hours q day. They work
through their lobbies and pressure
groups, through the editorial
pages and the columnists and
commentators they control. They
twist and misrepresent the mea-
sures the people vote for"
What Mr.. Truman neglected to
say was that because, in a democ-
racy. there naturally are differing
viewpoints. 1t is not surprising to
find that the Government cannot
control the thinking of the per-
sons who write. Nor can it sup
press the evidence which comes
from f1rsthand observation of
what the officials of Government
are doing with public funds and
public authority.
A House subcommittee recently
pointed to a special report of the
Budget Bureau which showed
that in 1916 approximately S75,-
100000 was spent by the aominis-
tration for propaganda" This is
spread through dozens Of agencies
and does not begin to cover the
salaries and expenses OF many
officials who are listed under titles
that have nothing to do with the
customary function Of jnforma-
ton officers.
The newspapers give promi-
nence to official Government
statements in their news columns,
and were it not for those editorial
writer's and correspondents in
Washington and elsewhere who
analyze those statements and dig
beneath the surface, the Govern
ment viewpoint would be the only
one the people would get. This,
Of course. would approximate the
Communist theory of democracy
under one-party system.
Advantage of Party i'm Power.
The party in power here always
has an enormous advantage in
that it can spend millions of dol
lars ostensibly to inform the peo-
pie" but actually can slant them
politically. Again and again
when appropriations are being cut
by Congress, persons ip Govern
ment bureaus stir up sentiment
in congressional districts and get
citizens to write letters to the
Capital. using public funds for
such lobbying.
Mr.. Truman conveniently omits
to tell the people about the
special interests" which happen
to be on his side of the debate.
The labor lobby is one of the big
gest and most powerful, and it
has more money at its disposal
for propaganda than any other
single group.
Labor leaders concede that they
want to use union dues and other
funds in union treasures for po-
litical purposes. They are fighting
now against the Taft-Hartley law,
which prohibits unions from using
their funds or assessments for
such purposes unless members
specifically authorize that use.
The unions want no such restric-
tions. SO they can build a more
powerful lobby. They use full-page
ads, too, and radio programs, so
that 1t is not correct for MIR.
Truman to say of the opposition
to his policies:
This one sided barrage of
propaganda seems overwhelming
at first. There are no full-page
ads on our side. In facial we
have on our side is the people"
Mr.. Truman forgot all about
those slave labor law" ads which
the unions inserted in the news
papers in full-page size when the
Taft-Hartley Act was under con-
sideration by Congress and sub
sequently in the political cam
paign. Accuracy is an important
requirement even in presidential
speeches lest they twist and mis-
represent" the facts of our ma
tional life.
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