Evening star., 1950-04-20

fFollolDing is the tert of Pres
tdent Trunan's address today
before the American Society of
Newspaper Editors:
Mr.. Chairman, distinguished
guests, members of the American
Society of Newspaper Editors:
am happy to be here today with
this group of editors. You and ]
have a great many important prob
lens in common, and one of the
most important Of these is the re-
Sponsibility We share in helping to
make the foreign policy Of the
} United States of America. That is
why am going to take this op-
portunity to discuss with you some
aspects of that policy.
i No group Of men in this country
is of greater importance to our
foreign policy than the group your
society represents.
In a democracy, foreign policy is
based on the decisions Of the people.
One vital function of free press
is to present the facts on which the
citizens of a democracy can base
their decisions. You are link be-
tween the American people and
world affairs. If you inform the
people well and completely, their
decisions will be good. II you mis-
inform them, their decisions will be
bad: our country will suffer and the
world will suffer.
You cannot make up people S
minds for them. What you can do
is to give them the facts they need
to make up their own minds. That
:, is tremendous responsibility.
Not a Partisan Matter.
Most of you are meeting that
responsibility well-but I am sorry
to say few are meeting it badly.
Foreign policy is not matter for
partisan presentation. The facts
about Europe or Asia should not be
twisted to conform to one side or
the other of a political dispute.
Twisting the facts might change
the course of an election at home,
but it would certainly damage our
country's program abroad.
In many other countries today,
the papers print about foreign
affairs only what their governments
tell them to print. They can't add
anything, or cut anything. In the
democracies, the papers have a free
hand. Only in democracy is there
such mutual trust and. confidence
among citizens that a private
group is given such an all-important
role in determining what the Nation
as a whole shall do. There is too
much nonsense about striped trous-
ers in foreign affairs. Far more
influence is exerted by the baggy
pants of the managing editor
There has never been a time in
our history when there was so great
a. need for our citizens to be in
formed and to understand what is
happening in the world.
The cause of freedom is being
challenged throughout the world
today by the forces of imperialistic
communism. This is a struggle,
above all else, for the minds of men.
Propaganda is one of the most
powerful weapons the Communists
have in this struggle. Deceit, dis
tortion, and lies are systematically
used by them as a matter of deli
berate policy.
Plain, Unvarnished Truth.
This propaganda can be overcome
by truth-plain, simple, unvarnished
truth-presented by newspapers,
radio, and other sources that the
people trust. If the people are not
told the truth, or if they do not
have confidence in the accuracy and
fairness of the press, they have no
defense against falsehoodS. But If
they are given the true facts, these
falsehoods become laughable instead
of dangerous.
We can have confidence that the
free press of the United States and
most of the other, free nations will
keep us from being deceived by
Communist propaganda. But in
other parts of the world the struggle
between falsehood and truth is far
more intense and dangerous.
Communist propaganda is so
false, SO crude, so blatant, that we
wonder how men can be swayed by
it. We forget that most of the
people to whom it is directed do
not have free access to accurate in
! formation. We forget that they. do
not hear our broadcasts or read
impartial newspapers. We forget
that they do not have chance to
learn the truth by travelling abroad
or by talking freely to travellers in
their own countries.
All too often the people who are
subject to Communist propaganda
do not know Americans, or citizens
of the other free nations, as we
really are. They do not know us as
farmers or as workers. They do not
know us as people having hopes
and problems like their own. Our
way of life is something strange
to them. They do not even know
what we mean when we say de
moCracy.'
Task Faces Free Nations.
This presents one of the greatest
tasks facing the free nations today
That task is nothing less than to
meet false propaganda with truth
all around the globe. Everywhere
; that the propaganda Of Communist
| totalitarianism is spread, we must
meet it and overcome it with honest
~ Haro md Ove