Evening star., 1951-08-31
Hoover Asks Return to the 'OId Virtues

these IA new varieties and gettin,
Jus into hot and cold wars.
Think about It..
It is difficult enough to debat,
against the gadgets Of propagan,
Ida. But there is. something worse
That is the concealment Of truth
and commitments. ] am not here
discussing our foreign policies, Blu
may I ask you q question?
Does anybody believe that tht
propaga anda-promoted foreign pol.
icies over the past dozen year.
have always been right? Or that
there has always been a disclosure
OF the whole truth?
For example, certain secret COM
mitments were entered into al
Teheran and Yalta which sold the
freedom Of half q billion people
down the river, They were not
disclosed to the Congress or to the
American people. Does any one be-
lieve that, had they been submit
ted TO the American people for de-
bate and to the Congress for de-
cision, that they wonld ever have
been approved? That is where we
lost the peace and wandered into
the land Of hot and cold wars
Debate Can Save Free Men.
Debate founded on the full dis.
closure of the whole truth anc
free Of these gadgets is the stuff
that can save free men.
Think about it.
I would like to explore this ole
virtue Of truth, integrity and hon.
or in public life a little further.
Congress can well widen the laws
so as to clutch the new kinds OF
bribes and benefits they have dis
covered. But Congress cannot
reach intellectual dishonors.
Part truth. concealment of pub
lie commitments, propaganda and
its gadgets and failure to enforce
the laws are but part Of them
And there are group pressures ito
get theirs" which smell from both
the decay Of integrity and the rot
ting Of patriotism. And some per-
sons arrive at their morals with
a divining rod that measures
morals in terms of votes.
The Congress, from its own in.
quiries, is confronted with the
fact that sacred honor cannot
always be tested by legality OF
enforced by law. In its Illustration,
the Congress is cropping for some
sort of code Of ethics, which with
a prefix new" might protect the
citizen from his own officials.
Might I suggest that there are
already some old and tested codes
Of ethics? There are the Ter
Commandments, the Sermon on
the Mount, and the rules Of the
game which we learned at our
mothers knee.
Can a Nation live if these are
not the guides of public life?
Think 1t over.
The American people have a
right to bitter complaint over these
disclosures of dishonor in high
places. The duty of public men
in this republic is to lead in stand
ards Of integrity-both in mind
and money.
DiShonor Has Double Poison.
Dishonor in public life has a
double poison. When people are
dishonorable in private business,
they njure only those with whom
they deal or their own chances in
the next world. But when there is
a lack of honor in Government,
the morals of the whole people are
poisoned.
The drip of such poisons may
have nothing to do with dishonor
In some college athletics or the
occasional policemen on the beat.
But the rules of the game have
been loosened somewhere.
Some folks seem to think these
are necessary evils in a free Gov
Or that it is smart
politics. Those are deadly sleep
Ing pills. No public man can be
Just a little crooked. There is no
such thing as a no-man's-land
between honesty and dishonesty.
Our strength is not in politics,
prices. or production, or price con-
trols. Our strength lies in spiritual
concepts. It lies in public sensi-
tivenesS to evil.
Much as the Congress has my
good wishes. something stronger
than a new code Of ethics is
needed by America. The issue is
decency in public life against
Indecency.
Our greatest danger is not from
INVASION by foreign armies. Our
dangers are that we may commit
suicide from within by complai-
;ance with evil. Or by public toler-
ance Of ScandalouS behavior. Or
~ cynical acceptance OF dishonor.
These evils have defeated nations
many times in human history.
The redemption Of mankind by
America will depend upon our
ability to cope with these evils
light here at home.
Think about it.
Sign That Morals Survive.
But I do not wish to leave you,
;he neighbors Of my childhood,
With any implication of pessimism.
speak to you Of some of our
weaknesses, not because of frus-
ration or despair, but to urge
remedy. The fact that we are
,igorously washing our dirty linen
,MAM