Evening star., 1950-04-20

information about freedom ant
democracy.
In recent years, there has beer
tremendous progress all over tn
world in education and the ex
change of ideas. This progress ha.
stirred men everywhere to new de
sires and new ambitions. They wan
greater knowledge, they want bette
lives, they want to be masters O.
their own affairs. We have helped
and encouraged these people, bu
the Communists have seized upor
their desires and ambitions and art
seeking to exploit them for theil
own selfish purposes.
In the Far East, for example
millions are restlessly seeking te
break away from the conditions oi
poverty and misery that have sur.
rounded them in the past. The
Communists understand this situa.
tion very well. They are trying tt
move in and take advantage oi
these aspirations. They are making
glittering promises about the bene-
fits of Communism. They reach
directly to the peasant or the vii
lager in these vast areas, and tall
to him directly in his own tongue
about the things he has learned
to desire. They say that they car
get these things for him. And toe
often he hears no voice from oul
side to dispute them.
We know how false these Com.
munist promises are. But it is not
enough for us to now this. Unless
we get the real story across tc
people in other countries, we will
lose the battle for mems minds by
default.
The Communist propaganda por-
trays the Soviet Union as the
worlds foremost advocate of peace
and the protector of defenseleSs
peoples. The contradiction between
what the Communist leaders have
promised and what they have
actually done is so startling that
we are amazed that anyone can
be deceived. In Berlin, in Czecho-
slovakia, in the Balkans, in the Far
East, they have proved, time after
time, that their talk about peace
is only a cloak for imperialism
But their intended victims will not
learn these facts from Soviet pro-
paganda. We are the ones who must
make sure that the truth about
Communism is known everywhere.
Stream Of Slander.
At the same time, we must over
come the constant stream of SANDER
and vilification that the Com
munists pour out in an effort to dis
credit the United States and other
free nations.
Soviet propaganda constantly re-
viles the United States as a Nation
OF "War-mongers" and "imperialiSts. "
You and 1 know how absurd that
is. We know that the United States
is wholly dedicated to the cause of
peace. We have no purpose of going
to war except in defense of freedom.
Our actions demonstrate that we
mean exactly what we say. But
when men throughout the world
are making their choice between
communism and democracy, the i'm
portant thing is not what we know
about our purposes and our actions
the important thing is what they
know.
Communist propaganda also seeks
to destroy our influence in the world
by saying the American economy is
weak and about to collapse. We
know this is preposterous. The in
dustrial production of the United
States is equal to that of the rest
of the world combined. Our agri.
cultural production is more thar
adequate for our needs. Our people
enjoy the highest standard of Twins
in the worlds history. Our eco.
nomic strength is the bulwark OF
the free world.
From every standpoint, our free
way OF life is vastly superior to the
system Of oppression which the
Communists seek to impose upor
mankind. In many parts of the
world, however, where men must
choose between freedom and com.
munism, the true story is going un.
told
We cannot run the risk that ma.
tions may be lost to the cause ol
freedom because their people do not
know the facts.
Must Make Truth Known.
am convinced that we should
greatly extend and strengthen oul
efforts for making the truth known
to people in all the world.
Most of us have recognized for
years, of course, how important II
is to spread the truth about free
dom and democracy. We are already
doing some very good work
through the Voice of America" and
the United States information Of
fices and libraries in many parts
of the world, through the exchange
of students, through the United
Nations and its affiliated organiza-
tions, and in other ways. But events
have shown. believe, that we need
to do much more, both ourselves
and in collaboration with the other
free nations. We must use every
means at our command, private as
we'll as governmental, to get the
truth to other peoples.
Private groups and organizations
have an important part to play. Oul
labor unions have already done fine
work in communicating with labor
in Europe, in Latin America, anc
elsewhere. The story of free Ameri.