Evening star., 1951-08-31

A14S NOA1SAuuAA1S WOANo Va VAC 0CO-
llaration are q pledge Of "our
sacred honor"
sometimes wonder what the
56 founding fathers, from their
invisible presence in our congress
sional halls, would say about the
procession Of men In responsible
position who have come before
its committees Of this day. What
would they have thought Of the
sacred honor" Of the i've per-
centers. mink coats, deep freezers
and free hotel bills? Or favorit-
ism in Government loans and
Government contracts? Or fail
ures to prosecute evil-doers who
spread cancerous rackets and
gambling rings with their train
of bribed officials?
Coquette With Traitorship.
But ! am less concerned at
stealing public money than with
the, far more destructive forms of
dishonor. What would the found
ing fathers have thought Of those
who coquette with traitorship? Or
of secret and disastrous commit
ments Of our Nation which were
denied at the time? Or high
officials under oath contradicting
each other as to facts? Or the
failure to keep promises to the
people? Our civilization moves
forward on promises that are kept,
We thus, have a cancerous
growth Of Intellectual dishonesty
in public life which is mostly be-
yond the law. One Of its chief
instruments is corrupt propa-
ganda. There has been such prop
aganda by foreign governments
and our own designed to get us
into war. Then we have the
propaganda to keep up our pep.
Then the habit continues in peace
time. And some pressure groups
have learned this trick to get
something they ought not to have.
The mildest form Of corrupt
propaganda Is process Of per-
suaSive part-truths. At times it
even rises to the high moral levels
Of selling snake oil.
But the malignant form of prop
aganda spreads deadly poisons.
It's process is to create suspicion,
hate and fear. Its purpose is
less to persuade than to conceal
truth and to crush opposition.
The machinery Of propaganda
is made of standardized gadgets
by which you can detect it.
One Of these standard gadgets
is slogans. They freeze the real
process Of thought.
Slogans Turning, Mouldy.
If you will examine the two
score loud slogans created during
this last third of q century, you
will find most of them, like the
apples Of Sodom. have turned to
bitter ashes in our national
mouth. Most Of them became
ripe in year or two. some lasted
a little longer. Some very new
ones are already turning mouldy.
One of these gadgets is to Gre
ate fear by describing the horrors
Of invasion Of the United States
by foreign armies. This one al
ways arises to its maximum deci-
bel when pressuring legislation
and elections. While aircraft can
come our way no armies on earth
can land on our shores.
Another gadget is to give new
to old, simple and well
expressions until the
integrity Of oNr language is pol
luted. The term liberalism" has
turned pink inside. The term
welfare" never before meant the
welfare state" with its red or
pink colors. The Chinese Com
munists were not "agrarian lib
erals" From that perversion Of
truth alone, we suffered a gigantic
defeat of free men in China.
You can test malignant propa-
ganda from another Of its gadgets.
That is the Smear. This gadget
has wide potency. When Mr.. x
presents an inconvenient fact or
argument. the propagandists can
matters by pointing out
that he was once a banker or was
fined for speeding. With this
gadget you can get your opponent
either way in the international
field by just suggesting he is an
or war-monger, or AM
isolationist. On the issue of
Government spending. he can be
t1attened out by calling him an
inflationist or he is against the
underdog. # he comments on
either side of theological matters.
you can defeat him going or COM
ing by calling him q Fascist, or o.
reactionary. or a fellow-traveler
Or just a Red-herring.s
How to Squelch Debates.
There is still another of these
propaganda gadgets. That is toI
;quelch debate by. cries for unity
unity! the implication is that the
citizen is disloyal to his country
4 he disagrees with the powers
hat be.
suggest that these are not op-
srations Of rugged intellectual
honesty. They are attempts to CO.
srce men into the intellectual con-
camp named fear. These
gadgets have been very handy
,ools for making America over into
Amazing new SAFE way 70