Evening star., 1952-10-12
Administration Publicity
Financed by Toxpoyers
Propaganda Machines Called
Help to Stevenson
By Fronk R. Kent

Help to Stevenson
By Fronk R. Kent
A Washington lawyer-George Ball
national director of the Volunteers for
Stevenson Committee-has been below
ing all over the place about the awful
iniquity Of the Eisenhower managers in
trying to arrange a blanket television-
radio program for the last two weeks
of the campaign. The agitated Mr.. Ball
has appealed to the Federal Com
munications Commission to protect the
poor Democrats from this sort of
publicity blackout.
Concerning the Ball allegations the
Republicans say three things: % That
Mr.. Ball vastly exaggerates their plans;
Cd they would like very much to ac-
quire the air monopoly of which he
speaks but they just have not got any
thing like the 81 million which he claims
it would COST 60 quite obviously the
Democrats would like to do exactly what
Mr.. Ball now so vociferously claims Re-
publicans plan to do. In addition, there
is fourth point to which Mr.. Balls
violent protests seem to call attention
and which the Democrats do not like to
debate and Of which they consistently
avoid mention.
This is what the United States News
and World Report calls 'the multimil-
lion-dollar business of planting ideas
about everything from corn borers to
Communists" conducted by the Govern
ment in Washington, consistently used
to promote administration policies.
;%c licl,,,o
up it's mistakes. This gigantic govern
mental propaganda machine originated
some Is years ago when the Federal
Government began to develop from
small agency dealing with such things
as common defense and international
trade, ETC., into huge, amorphous, un-
wieldy organization touching the lives Of
every citizen and spending from $40
billion to $50 billion annually.
There are some $500 editorial and
information workers on the Govern
ment pay rolls. To this must be added
1900 press agents and publicity ex-
perts employed in the Economic CO.
operation Administration and the Voice
of America. Nor does this include the
thousands in the Government Printing
Office which produces l49 different
periodical publications for the various
departments of Government Nor does
it include the countless publicity agents
in the Pentagon and attached to numer-
Gus boards. bureaus and commissions.
Altogether it is an immense army, turn
ing out literally tons of speeches, radio
scripts, booklets, pamphlets. magazines
and press material
A minimum of 500 million annually
is being spent by the Government on
information" and propaganda. Corps
of speakers are sent all over the coun-
try. Motion pictures and radio ex-
perts are active and busy. Every known
medium for molding public opinion is
used. The waste, of course, Is terrific
and the cost upward of $100 million
a year. Undoubtedly some useful in
formation is distributed by this enor-
nous machine. but in the main the
chief aim is to sell to the American
people the administration policies and
keep the administration in power. AS
the United States News points out: "The
Interior Department has conducted
campaigns for irrigation and electric
projects; the Federal Security Agency
has campaigned for Federal compul-
sorry health program, otherwise known
as 'socialized medicine; the Agriculture
Department consistently attempts to sell
the Brannan farm plan. and the State
Department, among other things. has
developed an elaborate setup to con-
vince the public that Formosa is not
important to American defense"
So far as the general public is con-
cerned there are two vital things it
should understand about this extremely
costly and unprecedentedly large Gov
ernment information and propaganda
operation. First, it is completely ad-
ministration made and controlled. Its
primary purpose is to keep the admin
istration in power and thus perpetuate
itself. Second. the 500 million and
more which it costs to man and run 1t
comes directly out Of the United States
Treasury. Every dollar Of it is taxpay-
erS' money.
No part Of it is paid by any political
committee or private person. 1t all
comes out of the taxpayers pockets,
though it is largely used for partisan
purposes. Quite clearly, in the present
campaign it is of help to the Steven.
son-Sparkman ticket which must run
on the Truman record. Considering the
wicked Republicans who, he says, are
planning to "blitz" the Democratic sido
by pre-empting the radio and television
audiences in the final days of the CAM
paign becomes more than little comic.
Even if Mr.. Ball were right. at least the
Republicans would be using their own
money Compared with this stupen-
dous Democratic propaganda expendi-
ture Of the public funds. the Republi-
can funds" seem peanuts. indeed.
A scathing report was made three years
ago on the propaganda nature of this
extraordinary governmental machine by
the House Committee on Expenditures
by the Executive Departments. But
nothing was done about it except to
increase the number of publicity agents
on the pay roll. After all, as one COM
mentator said. you can't expect the
administration to prosecute ITSELF"