| Transcript |
MS
IEL-TV
ADM. BEN MOREELL
I
ippines
' (
IN THIS ISSUE • • •
Of Bread and
Circuses
By Admiral Ben Mortell
Art • •• For
Whose Sake?
EXPOSE ON "MODERN ART"
Reade s
eport.
Disarming Suggestion
• •
\Ir. C. \. Crooms, :309 \\ l'Ston Hldg.,
Clinton. Iowa, wrote tlu Des .\Joines Register
ancl Tribune protesting the artic:le in a
Sunda} <."thtion (This \\ 7cek .\laga:.inc), "Get
Rid of That Cun," b) \Ir. Bruce Smith, callllll(
.1ttcntion to thl' fal't that our Constitution
prosides that '"the right of the people to
k1·(·p and bt•ar arms shall not be infringed."
'"\Ir Smith forgot to mention," \Ir
(.rooms' publish··d letter continued, "that
tht· n·H>h er"i which Grl'o.lt Britain is d<.·..,troving
.trt· the 'ery mws contributed to them 1;)
p.1triotic.: Americans during \\'orld \\'ar If.
)ou S<'<'. the Englishman W<lS not allowt·d to
O\\Tl firearms and when tht' thn:at of a Gt·rllhlll
in\ ;tsion \\\lS pn•snlt, .m appe.tl w.ts
111.tdc fur good old L' nd<· Sam to suppl)
guns / .my kind \\'''re wdconw) in ordc.•r to
proktt a titiZl·nry long sint(• dis~unwd."
\Ir. Crooms has writtC'n to us about this
Idler: "I, lik<• any othl'r nwmb<·r of th<'
-\nwrican Riflt• Association, am conctrm·d
about c.mv articlt• slanted to'' ards the dis<
lrming of th(• American c:itizen. . . It is
most intNcsting to note that tht' Dl's .\Joines
Rct{istcr cldek·d my rdert'nce to communism
. • .. On(' of the first stt'ps in tlw initial
promotion of <l comm\111istic state is to dis.
inn till' citizrnn·. Somcwht•rt• 1llong thC' line
it .llsn h<'tOmt'S nect•ss.uy to change the
"trud11n· of tlw (•\isling form of gon•rnlll<'
nt."
\Ir. Crooms suggt:sls that implementation
of tlw incli,·idual clisarmanwnt r<'c:omm(·nded
ll\· \Ir Smith's arti<:lt• would st·n·t· the Comn1unist
cause in two rl'Spl'ds: first, in C'fft'dml,!
.l <.:h~1nge in the Constitution n<·c:(·ss;1r'
to diminatp the O\\ nnship of firt·arn1s. and
"c·cond, bys. t.king- to ~is;trm 011r citizeniv
May This Tribe Increase!
\Ir. Sakatore olimml', 7 Henchman St.,
Boston B, \lass., writes that only eight of
the forty-eight states rt•quirt• by 1.tw the·
1<-.1thing of our Dl'cbration of lndepl'nd•
·nt"<'. th<: Constitution and Bill of Rights,
. rnd that these 'tat<'S are: California, lllinois,
·t·w Jn<it'y, 'ew \lt•\ic-o, Pt'nnsykania, \'ir·
ginia, \\'isconsin and \linn('SOt.L
The following rt'solution w.ts dr.l\\"11 up b~
\Ir. Soliminl' and JXlSSt·cl hv his \mcril'.1t1
L<·~ion Post, '\orth End '\o .. 5·1, .rnd th<· Suffolk
County \mrrit.m Lt·~ion, .md h.ts h<'t'll
,,.ft.rn'tl to tlw \fassachusdts Deparhrn:nt of
tiw \mnic:an L<•gion for furth('r ~1ction:
\\'hnr.1'. th(· tnu· prir1ciph•\ of \mni<·.1111"11
.1r1• not 1111lwld and n·,pt·<·t('d thro11!?;hout 1111r
..:rf' ,ll ,,\fi<H1, .mcl '' hf•rf ,\<Ii ContiHninl!'. on !hi'
pri•\t•nt <·t111,..,f' ''ill lf· ul to tlH d1·,trn<'tinn of
our \\',I\· of lifl•; ,llld
\\'h1r1•1\. nnh t·ic:ht out of th(> IR 'if,1tr·oi nf
our L'Tt•.11 ,,1tinn ri•quirt• lw l.1w tlw k,H·hinl!
f nm kmcl1·n.!.trh·n tn nnl\t' .. ih nf our Dt·t·l.1Ph""
nf luclnw1u\1·m·t. th1· C:n•l'titutiun .rnd Hill
,,f Hil!hh ·'" .1 rNpiir1>d t1·.1c-h1111! c·onrw; he it
ln•lhPr
B1,oh1d, th.11 t1w (', t11T1Hlll"f"1lth nf \1.1 ....... 1-
t 1111,l'tt'I P·"' .1 l,l\\- r1·quirin1.! 1 It 1thi111{ c-our,t•
d tht· D1<I1r1tion of lncl1 p1 1ult>n<c, thC' Cnn-.t1-
tutio 11111 ll1\I nf Hi!!ht •
Fund for the Republic Questions
Mental Health of Bricke r Supporters
.. \n·ordi11g to a SJ)l'('<.:h hy s('lhttor Britl-
1·r. writ<·s \[rs. Paul Conolk" 77 n Bryn
\la\\r. Dallas. Tl"\:IS, '" f"lu• huul for tiu
lkpuhliC' has cli ... tnh11tc·d :!),000 n prints of
Of, by, and for
facts forum News readers
''" article by Profrssor Hichard 1 lof>tadtvr of
Columbia \;ni,ersit\' c•ntitl!"d 'Th<' l's<"udoCons('
f\ ath·c Re\"olt:• in whi<.:h lw ch·finps th<'
Bricker Amcndnwnt as 'on<' of q1~; pri111ary
symptoms of pseudo-c:onser\'al1s111 .
"Their political reattwns," ;t<.:<.:mdi11g to
Profossor I lofstadter, "t•\pn·ss r.1th('r a profound
if largely unconscious hatrt'd of 011r
sotiety and its ways a hatr('d "hi<:h 01H'
would hesit;ltc to impute to them if one did
not hasc sugg(·sti\"e clinical <''·icknn·. From
clinical inter,·ic:ws and tlwmatil appern·ption
tests, _\ dorno and his co-\vorkers found
that thl'ir psc11clo-const'n .tti\"<' snhj(·ds .
show ... \ iolent(', anarthic: i111p11lst'. and
t"haotic (kstrudiH·nt·ss in the 111ll'OJ1scio11s
sphere' .... The pst•uclo-cons(·f\ a tin• t<·ncls
to bC' more than ordinarily irwoll('n·nt about
politics ... and the most ardt'nt supporters
of the Brickc·r Amt'ndment. ... So111c organil'.
t·rs of psC'udo-conscn at in· and 'patriotil'
groups often find in this work a nwans of
making a J1,·inp; thus turning a tend<'nc·y
toward paranoia into a ,.ot'ation1tl asst't. ... "
Professor llofstadkr implies, ac·c:ording to
Sl'nator Bricker's speech, that the Ku Kill\
Klan is the spiritual ancestor of on!anil'.ations
supporting the Britkl'r _\nwndmC'nt and c·onducks
that in rect'nt yc'<trS ps(•11clo-conser\"a·
ti\"('S ha\"(' r.list'd stancl;trds of hatint! and
thus: " . • . haq• 111on·d on from anli-'rgroism
and anti-Sc•mitism to anti-AdH•sonian
ism, anti-intdlt·c:ltwlli"'n. <Int i-l'onfonnislll. •· •
" Politics a Specialty"
For New Book Shop
Tlw Cadmus Book Shop n·c·<·ntl~ opt·n<·d
.it 12 lO \\'isconsin \ \"t'IHtt', \.\\-., C<·org<'town,
\\-ashington, D. C. The young proprit·tors
hc_n-·<· 1.mnountl'd that thry will sp<·l'ializ<•
m politics, and will handl<• books of "'off-th<"ro.
td publishing houS<•s that ha'c found it
difficult to markc·t their books in \\'ashin~ton."
Th(·r \Jroposc to \toc:k rt'ports, pamphlets,
spt•<.•c· H'S, l'l<'., such as the Anwrican
Lc•gion fight on ll'\ESCO. sp<T<-h<·s by Di<·s ,
]<"nn('r, Eastl,rnd, <"le. Tl1<·y also plan to
sponsor t1.tlks h:- anti Co111n111nisl "JW.tk(•rs . •
Te ll Me Not In Mournful Numbe rs
"S('nator \\ 11liam l· l\nowLtncl," writ(·s
\liss \lanlrn fl llollistvr, I'. () llm I I II
Fort B<.'1111i11g, C<.:orgi,1, '"h;1s 111,1<.k
propos;.11 - that some p.11 t ol the
dt'ht be paid ))('fort· ta\t•s art' n·du~t
tor Knowland suggt'sts that onl' b1il
L1rs lw paid this y<"ar and that onl)"
posed 'tax take' which \vould rc!ll·
111ccti11g thl' nation;d huclgd and
one billion dollars on the nahonal
t·onsicl<.:r('(I 'tt\ ailahl<'' in onl<•r to put
.1 tax reduction."
\liss ll ollistcr asks if we <·sp<"d
dren to pay this ~rowing national
us? "\Vith thP shining exampll' we
tin,I.! tlwm," slw comnwnts. "it ''
doubt multiply to thl'ir childr,.n,
children's children, ad fi11il11m."
Slw suggests that a n•glilar p;i~
01ir national dt•bt he madt• an inte,;
of our national hudgd, and that no
tration lw able to claim a "balanc<•l
until this payment has hl'en made'.
lion to full paym<'nl of current 't
P<'llS('S. •
Re Congressional Committee
Meetings
\ fr. E. C. Fret•ma11, P. 0. Box t
I.as, T(•xas, asks, " I low can our coll
he pn·sent at all times necessary tu
informrcl vote for tlwir constitue111'
committee mcctinj.!s coincide with
tlw floor of both the I lous<' and th
" It is my und(•rstanding," he \\'f
1
t·ach congressman is assigned to ~rit
l'ommittecs, which should make 1~
"Id aside a certain portion of P'"
wcl'k for committc•r meetings onh·
tinw no action coulcl lw takt'n on ti
1·ilh<'r llou\<.'." •
IN
01 Bi
A1
on,
Tt
\1r r •
l
h :q
G1
\fEL7
Familiarization with Pol ice Ri
De partment \ CLt
lTnder tlw sponsorship of \[r ' ] iJ
Shal<'n, h<'<L<l of the English de) ()( 11
(
F1tzSimons Junior ll igh Schoo
Philadelphia, P<'nnsyh ani1.l, a n1oy 1.
h<'<'n i111tiat<'d to lm•ak down hos~ To S (
tlw stll<knts toward th<' police . 1. . .
<'nd<·•wor to rcduc<' j11vt'nile dch. in
om· of Philadl'lph ia's most er• Je
an'ilS. \f r. Shaten invited 111en1 . y 111 (
polic<' forcl' to thl' school to ani;'' ·
dents' questions. and arrans.';t'cl. f1 Ri
to ,.i,it poliee lwad(]11arters •1ri One; \
IJ<"adqu;trt<•rs, and to talk with p1
l1<·at. t
Hpsults to dat(' : a gn·at ~Tdur.rc lIOt J
tilt· attitudt''i. a11cl <l qtH•st1on!1·11 G
h~· which lt-<·11<1$.!t'rs can h<" sh0'\ 0 Si
ti1dt·s of polic<·nwn towards tht
nl.ms for st11clc11ts to lwc-onw L11 \\>
lo('.tl poliC'l'JlH"ll as p.trt or ci' ir~ BooK
thrc·t· sl'hools.
No. 2
<l, •·ti,l'.'. ll l illk
• p•ut ol the
1:\l'S arl' n·d u~tl
s that ont• bil
and that only
h wo\lld rc1Il·
budget and
FEBRUARY, 1956
1 the nati-Onnl
in ordl'r to put
jf WC l'\pl'c:l
wing natiomtl
1g examp~~·. ,,.~
nments, it
1cir child rl'n,
cl fini tum."
a rc•guhir .P·1 ~
madt• an 10t
•t and that n° ii;1 a "balanct.•(1
as been madt~·
l or ("\ l f f l'Jl l ,
•
Committee
,.
n, l'. 0. Bo' ~
1, .... <:an our ~o
1cs nccrsso.~ry .!it•
heir const 1ll~ t
coincide with
• l!ousi• and ti .
anding," he '\~
: assigned to 0
should makr '\,e
portion of t
. meet ings onh ·
l lw taken on t
•
1111ith Police
IN TH IS
01 Bn1 \I> ''o Cmn·s>:s
Admiral Ben .Uorec/l
oc I \Ll\\I • • . BY ·\'\Y OTllFH '\ ''lE
J'om A11dcrso11
\irr Fon \\' 11osE SAKE?
btlll'r )11/ia Pcls .
· r" \Gl.\11 ,T L1sTu.s
Grncml Roh1'1t \\'. Joh11so11
'1LLT"G Tm; Jno, Cun'" ... Part J
lladio Free E11rope's 01c11 Sten·!/
\ CLosr-:-LP \·1nv OF H \DIO Fm 1 Et nOPl
"'"hip of \f r. Jiri Brada
"' English def Ot·n Co'"IO' TASK
ll igh Scho<> 1 Edgar lloo~cr
syh-an ia, a Ol~~l
·"ak down ho. I To St nscnrn1
·cl th<' polic<' . T
c jnw nilc dch~ llE Tiu,D" T>, \CllEH Tn."""G
.hia's most c lean II. llc11r!I
in\·itt'cl n1e1!~\ Tim 0Pi:n \TIO:'\
school to an I•~ R. IF. B11rto11 .
rncl arranged. J1d
caclquarters '1 One \'\JZ \ flO'\ Tn \DE Coo PL n \ 1 JO'\
to t.1\k with Pro a11d Con . . .
·1101 LD \fonr:s Br: C.1."0111 "~
G11£>st Panelist: Arth11r /)(' Bra
o S1-:r-nt:TS A"· \!om:?
\\'arren E. B11rger
BOOK lh.\'ILWS
How TO E .\H" ' \\'onu> Curn1 T\ L \\IP
ES\TOn \VnK1'S Conni:n' h" c 1·n \CY
Lxu-R \ISl'C PLA'' .
' "'Oll\(\Tl\'E FOR\Jl'L.\
\D10 -''D T\' Sc 111.Dt 1.1'
FACTS FOHU~I is nonpro fit nnd nonpartisan,
c;upporting no political candidatC' or p a rty. 1'11cts
Fonnn 's nctivities arc clt•signNI to prt'sl·nt not just
o nt• \ i1·w of a controve r..ial i'iS ut•, hut oppmin)!
'it·ws, bdh·vins.t that it is lh<' ri ,1.!ht and tlw ohli·
)Zation of the Amc·rican peo plt• tht· m-;t·IH.'' to l<'.lnl
nil tht facts and come to t1wir O\'>' ll cond11-.iom .
SIC'\EO ARTICLES a p1warin i: in F\CTS
FOHU\I '\EWS do not nect ·ss.1ri ly rt'JlH"Sl'llt tht
opinion or the edito rs.
\f .\'\USCRIPTS suhmitted to F .\C fS FOHL"\f
'\EWS .,h ould be accompanit.'<l by st.unped , st· it
addn·"ed t'O\-·elopcs. Puhlhht·r a s\m1ws no n· .. pon~
ihilit y for rt'turn of unsolicited manu'ic ript'i.
SUBSCRIPTIO~ RATES in the U.S. and U.S.
l>Os,<:ssiom, $2 per year, $.5 for thn·t• years, All
o tht•r countrit·s, $3 per yea r. T o suhscrih<.'. ~t·t
p aJ.!t• .'J I.
CJL\'\GE OF ADDRESS: St•nd old nddn• ss
( <.· :omc:tly <l s imprinted on mailing lahel of your
c.·opy of FACTS FOHUM NEWS) nnd 11 t•w addn·"
to FACTS FC>nU~ I '\E\VS, Dt·partnwnt C,\ , Dalla ..
I. rt•:\;\ S. Pll'ase a llow thrl't' Wt·t•ks for c:h;lll ,1.!t'H\l'r.
Second Installment
2
JO
l:)
16
23
28
31
36
:39
46
49
.51
5'>
53
54
OLL Qt·Esno's -''D Pou. <)11s110' \V1>1,EHS
57,58,59,60,62,63
61
61
6·1
I OR TllE \IO"\Tll 64,65
PHOTO CHU)l'I \ l'.11.!1· 2, Homan Colos.,t·nm, \\'i<le \\'orld
J',1c:t· 2, City Sct·llt', Undcrn:ood & Underwood
ACTS Font"\I X L\\' , Fc:bruarlJ, 19.56
The first requisite of a good
citi;:;e11 i11 tliis RC'p11l1lic of 011rs
is that he shall p111/ his teeigl1t.
- T11LODOHL HoosL\'LLT
I know 110 safe dq>0sitor1J of
the ultimate poicers of soci<'ty
b11t the people thi'mselvcs; and
if we think th em not enlightened
e11011gh to rxNcise their
control tcith a u:hol£>some discr£>
tio11 , the rem('(/y is not to
take it from them lmt to inform
their discretion hy ed11catio11.
- TllO!\IAS JEFFl:HSO'\"
In all those things tcl1icl1 di'al
tcith people, bi' liberal. be 1111-
man. In all thos£> things 1cl•ich
drnl tcith the p<'oplc's mo11<'y or
thl'ir economy. or thi'ir form of
government, IJC conservative -
and don't be afraid to 11se the
trnrcl.
- Pnr.sm1:"T Dw1c11T D.
E1sE.,11o"·rn
D£>mocraq1 is lms('(l 011 tlie
concictio11 that tl11'rc are extraordinary
possibilitii's in ordinary
people.
- H .\HHY E\IEHSO' FOSDICK
Govern111('11t is fore(' and
sho11ld be 1ctitcl•<'d like fir<'.
- GEOHGE \ VASlllJ\GT0'1
That gov£>n11111'11t is be.rt that
admini.rrNs ;w;tice 1cith the least
expense and has 110 i11t1'rfere11ce
1cith the l10111'st p11rs11its of any
man.
- R1c11 \HD \loTT
P ersons submitti n .- quotation whit'h
•re used in thi !J t'olumn will receive
one-year subscriptio n 111 to Fads Forum
News. 1f a lready a sub t ribtr, the co n tributor
may dHiJtnate another penon
to whom the a" a rd sub111c-rlption will be
se nt, or he may w ish to extend hi s
present sub"lcrfption.
Be s ure to li st tht- a uthors and
sources or aJI quotations.
Page 1
THE GLORY THAT \VAS .. .
THE GLORY THAT IS ...
"The fall o( Rome affords
a pertinent illustration o( the
observation by the late Presiile1
Lowell of Harvard UniyersitY·
that ''.'io society is eve1· murderr
- it commits suicide.' "
Of Brefil
w.
is
to
I w:
lSepa
nd t(
'('C n
f our
iands
sh as
iples
>ecla
Let
The Roman poet Juvenal '\ l'l (
111
wrote of his dei,:;cncrate cot• Perl
men about 100 .D.: hich
" .•. the public has lonl! ~i11' merj
east off its cares ..• and Her
Ion "S ca"crlv for just h• o tbi opl1
'"' "' · oods
hretul anfl <·ircuses . .,' u r g·r
FAcrs Fonu\c 'i·:ws,
iatcn
rat
. na
eoplc
f th >
A mm1AL BE~ ).lonEELL's twenty-nine years of outstanding mn·al sen ice has brou~ht him
many honors, including the Distinguished Sen ice ).ledal, the Legion of ).lerit, se\ era!
honorary degrees, a decoration from the Brifoh go,·ernment, and two from the Republic of
Haiti. Of all his citations, however, he is proudest of being called "King Bee of the Seabees,"
for he was organizer during the first part of World War II of that remarkable group of
"Can-Do Boys," the Naval Construction Battalion.
· affords
1tion o[ the
late Pre;.iilr~
UniversilY·
ever murdert
ide.'"
\Veil known as a brilliant student, naval engineer, impromptu speaker, and a tireless
worker, ).loreell came up through the ranks, becoming a full admiral in 19-15. Consistent
with his belief in hard work is the remark he once made to a friend: "If you can't find
enough work to keep busy, you can always write a book," which he did early in his caree1
with marked success.
When Admiral ~Iorecll retired from active naval duty in 19-!6, his "active duty" in private
industry and in go,·cmmcnt service was just beginning. Both labor and management
have lauded his ability and objccti' ity in dealing with strike problems. Ile has sen eel as
chairman of the important Task Force an \Vatcr Resources and Power of the Iloo,·er Commission.
At present he is Chairman of the Board of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation,
one of the largest steel companies of the world.
refind Circuses By ADMIRAL BE MOREELL
WANT TO sell vou an idea. And all I ask in payment
is that you thi~k it over and if vou like it, sell it
to others! ' ·
I want to sell vou the idea that indiddunl fr('cdom, an
iseparable part ·of which is moral responsibility to God
nd to one's neighbor, is the secret of our sunival as a
"('e nation, just as it was the inspiration of the founders
f our republic. This concept of indi\idual frt'edom de-
1ands that we do someth ing about it - that we re-estabsh
as our guiding beacon those moral values and priniplcs
of governmen t which found ('Xpress ion in our
>eclaration of lndepcndenct• and our Constitution.
Lt•t us begin our discussion of freedom on the mundane
et Juvenal 1 ''Pl of material prosperitv and the reasons therefor.
generate eot1
1
' l'.erhaps the most intrig.uing question of our times, one
D.: Inch hafflt's our friends and enemies is this : what makes • ·111 . ,
c has Ion~ e1 menca so productive?
. anil Herc is a nation with barely 6 per ct'nt of the world's
.s : · ; t 0 tbi ople which produces almost 40 per C(•nt of the world's
,.. JU,~ " oods. Ilow dO('S this happen'.0 Some have attributed it to
iscs. ur great natural resources; i.e., the abundance of our raw
iaterials, the fertility of our soil, the blessings of a tcm('
rate climate, and the protection against ('11('111ies affor(kd
. natmal harrit•rs. It is gt'nPrally conceded that our
<'Opie have no more innate intcllig(•nc<• than the [J('Oples
f tlw countries "hence thev came. So our f;n·orcd posion
is attributed to gifts ~howered upon us as manna
·om heaven.
' c-rs FonuM ;\;Ews, Fcbrnary, 1956
But doubts arise when one compares our advantages
with thost' of others. For there arc some countries even
more favon•d than ours in raw materials, fertile soil, climatic
conditions, protective barriers and other geolo.gical
and geographic gifts. Furthermore, our natural advantages
lay for centuries relatively unused, supporting fewer than
a million inhabitants. Now they support 16.5 million people
of our own who, in turn, support much of the rest of the
world.
What is the answer? It is my purpose to explore that
question with you, to learn what accounts for our present
pre-eminence, and whether the things we are now doing
will serve to maintain or destroy it.
Every productive organization needs three essential
elements: men, money and machines. The greatest of these
is men! For with men of high moral character, abilit~· and
dt'\O tion to a worthy purpose, one can acquire the mon('~
and the machines. The basic essential is the right kind
of men!
\Ve have many proofs of this in our industrial corporations.
There arc many examples of outstanding success
\\hich sprouted from lowly beginnings. And always the
measure of success is the reflection of one man, or of a
small group of men, who have imbued the organization
with their character, ability and devotion!
As it is \\ith industrial corporations, so it is with our
nation. National productivity is the summation of the productivities
of the groups a"m! indi\ iduals who comprise
Page 3
the nation.
But jw,t as the vigor of <ll1 organization
or of a nation 1s dependent upon
the moral strength and stamina of its
people, so "ill its deea} ensue with
the deca) of its people. ;\lone) and
machines become sterile and unprodu<;
ti' e without the right kind of men
to use them.
Therefore, in these troubled clan of
hot and cold '"1rs, inflation, defl,ition,
depression, recession, crime, COITuption,
juvenile dclinquen<;y and other
economic and social problems, we
should attempt to appraise the effects
of our current pol ides (governmental,
social, and economic:) on the character
and spiritual health of our basic
resource. the people of this nation.
This is our chief concern. This is what
has made our country the emy of
the world.
THE LESSONS OF HISTORY
There are manv lessons to be
learned from the records of history.
\ncl. of these, l believe we can gain
most from a study of the moral decay
which preceded the disintegration of
the Homan Empire.
The characteristics of the early Roman
people. the story of the founding
of their kingdom, and later their republic,
their independence of thought,
their derntion to fre •clom, their individualit),
their industry, all point to
the fact that our own pioneers had
much in common with those sturdv
folk. .
L"'.\;DUlWOOO A t:!'\DERWOOD
(Continued) OF
But Home was only 8!2 centuries old
when the poet j11\·enal pennc·d his
famous tirade against his degenerate
countrymen. About 100 \.D. he
wrote: ":\ow that no one buvs our
votes, the public has long sinC:·e cast
off its cares; the people that once bestowed
commands, consulships, legions
and all else, now meddles no
more and longs eagerly for just two
things, bread and circuses." Forty
years later, the Roman historian, Fronto,
echoed the charge in more prosaic
language: "The Roman people is absorbt'd
by two things above all others,
its food supplies and its shows."
Herc was a once-proud pt'ople,
whose government had been their servant,
who had finally succumbed to
the blandishments of clever political
a(h cnturers. They had gradually relinquished
their sovereignty to government
administrators to "horn thev
had granted absolutl' powers, in return
for food and entertainm(•nt. And
the surprising thing about this insidious
progression is that, at the time,
few realized that thev were witnessing
the slow destruct.ion of a people
by a corruption which would evcntualh
transmute a nation of self-reliant:
courageous, sovereign individuals
into a mob, dependent upon their
government for the means of sustaining
life.
Like the rest of the world, Rome,
during those earlv centuries. was
lart?;CI) agricultural. Its people• obtained
their economic necessities in
the only way that these can be produced:
they worked in order to eat.
Economic goods are produced by the
application of human energy to nat-portt
ural resources. Once produced. t ,mc] goods may he consumed by the . tertaii
ducer or he may trade them or · lorlll
them awa) or someone may steal I lll'opli
from him. But robberv cannot Fro
duce goods. It can only depri,·e was producer of what is r ightfully h1< fh e throni
DESTRUCTION BY SOCIAL CANC f th
the l>Th~ Creator has laid do" n the cal P<
that man shall cat his bread 111 cured
sweat of his face." But, unfortun3 uttin
there arc always people who be histor
that they can improve on the instan'
ator's scheme of things. So, the) and tempt to substitute a man-made were.
which says, "If you arc smart en A or strong enough, you can cat torv
bread in the sweat· of the other of 'tiii
law's face." the u
It did not take the smart llol ,mcJ 51
long to find ways of acquiring Jf bu
peoples' property without worki11 ::lencv
it, that is, by conquest and en< hest ·t
mcnt of the conquered. At the nant time, the•\ resorted to another eXI ••• T
ent. The} kept the reins of go' t11rv 1
ment in the hands of a rulin~ ' :1n
whose members used their po'' ' fans
live on the labor of the unC11 :ance
chiscd. In order to appease those >c do
were made uncomfortable hv ti• •Vcakt
rangcmcnt, the ru lers reso(ted .. \J arc1
program of "social legislation. nou~
which we now call "welfare st,it he b1
This was the beginning of the ob h
Continual wars which returned I lusin~
der and slaves to Home, thus hri1 .he t!I
honest labor into disrepute; a s Orc•ig
dependencP on a government 1 1ous 1
had no foundation of clcar-c11t ind ti
ciplcs; a permanent dole which ht· H1
Il l( in
vorth
111ma1
PRC
Th
lt•scri
hon1
corn .
. ncJ j1
\'C ca
he p
nan 1
o taJ...
ind s
vhcln
The Roman historian, Franta, echoed the charge of the poet Juvenal about 40 years later in more prosaic lan guage:
"The Roman people is absorbed by two things above all others, its food supplies and its shows." Have the
American people learned enough from history to ovoid the pitfall that caused the ru in of dozens of civ ilizations?
Page 4 FACTS FonL''l '11· ws, F ebr11flfl
CIRCUSES
ti ported almost half the population,
produc(•d, and brutal gladiatorial combats to en-
1mcd by the · lt'rtain and distract all combined to
tdc them or [form a setting for n;oral decay of the
1C may steal t pl'oplc.
)Cry cannot From 96 A.D. to 180 A.D., there
only c\epn,·e was a period of S-! years during which
rightfully hi' fi,·e remarkable 1!1en occupied the
throne of Home in succession. The last
SOCIAL CANC· f these was ;\Jarcus Aurelius, one of
the best men who ever wielded politiaid
down the cal power. If a social cancer can be
his brcacl 10 ured from the top down merely by
lut, unfortuna uttmg good men into public office,
•oplc who br(h1story would surely record it in this
·ove on the instance. For if cYer rulers were able
ings. So, the~ and unselfishly dcYoted, these men
a man-made "ere. But thC\ failed.
are smart cnt A philosopl;cr and student of hisyou
can cat 'tory, Albc•rt Jav No.;k, has observed
of the other ol this period, ''Thcv clcarl1• foresaw
the upshot ol organized mt•ndicancy
;he smart. Fo~ .md subYention, of the growing power
)f acqwnng. 'JI bureaucracy, of the growing tcnithout
work1 ~:dency to centralization. They did the
1uest and en best thc•y could to check these maligcrcd.
At the. n.mt growths, but could do nothing.
to another r'i · · . The emperors of the second cen~
reins of. go'.tmy remind one of nothing so much
1 of a rul111g an arra1 of the world's best phvsicd
their po''' .•ians stri_:ing to reclaim a hopeless
of the unc~ cancer patient ... The thing could not
appease thoS]Ji· >' done ... The cancer ... had so far
~ortable by t •Veakened its host that at the death of
lcrs reso~·ted,, \ Jarcus Aurelius there was simply not
I Jegislat1on. ·nough producing power IC'ft to pay
I "welfare st•1t he hills. Under the exactions of the
~inning of t1;r. oh. holders, nobody could clo any
1ich rl'turncL. >11s111ess, fields went until led and even
lome, thus brl'. :he army had to be recruited among
disrepute; H
1 Ore1gners ... Eighty years of contingovernment
' mus effort by five of the world's best
1 of clcar-C~1 h md ablest rulers could not prevent
nt dole wl11C he· Homan populace from dcgenerat-ng
into the \'Cry scum of the earth,
vorth!ess, vicious, contemptible, sheer
111n1an sculch."
IC Ian ~
1ve the
at ions?
PROSPERITY - BY GOVERNMENT
SUBVENTION
There arc no precise records which
k·sc:nbe the feelings of those for
vhom the poet Juvenal felt such
Corn. But using the clues we have
•ncl judging b\' our own experience'.
ve can make a· good guess as to what
he prevailing sentiments of the Ronan
populace were. lf we were able
take a poll of public opinion of first
111d second centurv Rome the o'er,,
ielming response woulcI probablv
Ill\ t' ,,lwen - ''\\'c never had it so
ood. Tl~osc who lived on "public
sistancc and in subsidized rent-free
>r l<l\\-rent dwellings, would ccrtainlv
i:n·c .:1ss11red us that now, at last. the\
~a~. S(:curity." Those in the rapid!\,
· l ·llld1ni.: burt•aucracy - mw of the
Font·,1 XFws, Febrnary, 19.56
most efficient ci,il sen·ices the ,,·orltl
has e1-er seen - "otild tell us that now
go\ernmcnt had a "conscience" and
\\'as using its vast resources to guarantee
the ""'elfarc" of all of its citizens;
that the civil service gm c them job
sccuril\ and retirement benefits; and
that tlic best job was a government
job! Progrcssh e members of the business
communitv would haYc said that
business had ncYer been so good, that
the gon•rnment was their largest customer,
which assured them a dependable
market, and that the governnwnt
was inflating currency at about 2 per
cent a year, which instilled confickncc
and gan• everyone a sense of wellbeing
ancl prosperity.
And no doubt the farmers were well
pleased, too. They supplied the grain,
the pork and the olive oil, at or above
parity prices, for the government's
doles.
The go,·crnmcnt had a continuous
program of huge-scale public works
whic:h were said to stimulate the economy,
pro,·ide jobs and promote the
general welfare, and which appealed
to the national pride.
The high tax rates required by the
subsidies discouraged the entrepreneur
with risk capital which, in turn,
favored the well-established, complacently
prosperous businessman. It
appears that there was no serious
objection to this by any of the groups
affected. An economic historian, writing
of business conditions at this period,
says, ''The chid object of economic
activity was to assure the
indi\idual, or his family, a placid and
inactiYC life on a safe, if moderate,
income ... There were no technical
impro1·ements in industry after the
early part of the second century."
There was no incentive to venture.
!mentions began to dry up because
no one could reasonably expect to
make a profit out of them.
Home " ·as sacked bv Alaric and his
Goths in .JlO A.D. But long before the
barbarian invasions, Home was a hollow
shell of the once nobli:- republic.
l ts real grandeur "as gone and its
people "ere demoralizt'd . .\lost of the
old forms and institutions remained.
But a people" hose horizons were limited
ll\ bread and circuses had destroyed
the spirit while paying lipscn
·ice to the letter of their once
hallo,,·ed traditions.
The fall of Home affords a pertinent
illustration of the ohser\'ation by the
late President Lo\n•ll of llarrnrd l:ni\'
Crsit, ·, that "Xo socict\' is C\'er murdered.
- it commits suicide."
l do not imply that bread and circuses
arc e\·il things in thcmscJycs.
.\Jan needs material sustenance and
he needs recreation. These needs are
so basic that thc1 come within the
purview of every. religion. Jn every
religion there is a harvest fcsti\'al of
thanksgiving for good crops. And as
lor recreation, we need only recall
that our word "holiday" was originally
"holy day," a day of religious obscrl'ance.
In fact, the circuses and games
of old Home " ·ere religious in origin.
Thee' ii was not in bread and circuses,
per sc, but in the "illingness of the
people to sell their rights as free men
for full bellies and the excitement of
the games which would serve to distract
them from the other human hungers
which bread and circuses can
never appease. Th<' moral decay of
the people was not caused by the
doks and the gamt'S. These merely
providrd a measure of their degradation.
Things that were originally good
had become perverted and, as Shakespeare
reminds us, "Lilies that fester
smell worse than wrecls."
CAN WE PROFIT FROM HISTORY?
But something else was happening
far below the surface of Homan political
life during the first three centuries
of our era. Herc and there in parts
of the Homan Empire around the
l\lcditcrranean were little groups of
people who were trying, as best they
could, to follow One who had said,
"I am the \Va) , the Truth and the
Life." These groups, so insignificant
at first in numbers, later to be subjected
to persecution and slaughtered
in the games to provide entertainment,
were eventuallv to become the
force that \\'Otild sto1) the cruel combats
ol the arena and, when Rome collapsed,
would salvage from the ruin
the remnants of Hon1C''s grandeur for
a legae\' to \Vestern civilization.
The (Joles and games lasted for centuries
in spite of attempts to stop them
by political power. They continued
until a new religious faith gave the
multitude something to live bv and
to die for! \Ian docs not lh c by bread
Page 5
alone and if he tries to do it, the affront
'to his deep spiritual nature will
not be wiped out by providing him
with excitement and distractions!
Rome is not an isolated example.
There were other instances of the disintegration
of a nation resulting from
decay of the moral fiber of the people.
The eminent historian, the late
James H. Breasted, when asked
whether he had discovered any similar
cases in the ancient world, replied,
"'Yes, I have dug up at least a dozen."
How can we profit from these lessons
of history? Today, in our own
country, we see many of the old spiritual
and temporal values which once
we cherished called into question. The
Constitution is challenged both as to
letter and spirit. The original idea of
a go\'ernment with narrowly !united
powers has been discarded. Personal
liberty is being traded oil for an unstable
"security" based on politically
motivated guarantees. The faith of
our founding fathers in a government
of equal justice for all has been undermined.
\Ve are returning to the old
idea of government by special privilege
against which they revolted.
Everv planned society, welfare state
scheme comes down to this: dubious
benefits for some of us at the expense
of the rest of us. These things are being
sold to us under the guise of an
ephemeral and misnamed humanitarianism
called the "general welfare."
A LIBERTARIAN'S CREED
Yet, we are not without weapons
with which to fight this decay and to
promote healthy gro" th. The greatest
of these is a new concept of the worth
of the individual person which developed
in Europe over the centuries and
is one of the richest fruits of Christianitv.
The idea came to America
"ith the earliest settlers, who ga\'e it a
political interpretation. This stemmed
from the belief of our founding fathers
that there is a pattern laid dotcri by
God for man's comluct in society. It
forms the basis of the modern libertarian's
creed which T would summarize
as follows:
First - \Ian's rights to life, liberty and
li\'elihood come from God. They are
inalienable. It is the function of government
to makr those rights secure.
And when any form of government
fails to sen·e this end, it is the right
and duh of the people to alter or
abolish ft.
Second -The functions of go,·ernment
should be limited to doing for all,
Page 6
(Continued) OF BR E A ~
that and only that, which each one
has 'a right to do for himself. Specifically,
go,·ernment should defend
the lives, liberties and livelihoods
of the nation's citizens, invoke a
common justice and keep the records
incidental thereto. Other than
this, the people should be fre~ to
pursue their own interests pro,·1ded
such pursuit docs not lead them to
trespass on the rights of others.
Human nature being weak, the stability
of limited go\'ernmcnt can be
assured only where political power
is dispersed or fragmentized.
cal P•
takes. I have no further intcres sion ,
you." and !
One wonders what ;\!011111 only
would say today in the light of no d
increasingly rapid destruction of ment:
traditional values during the figur
twenty-five years. to the
;\(any of our people have been <leper
vertcd to the idea that libcrt) th
been tried and found wanting, ju ta~i ,
many bclicYc that Ch1·istianit)
Third - The natural roots of human
liberty are founded in God's moral
law, i.e., in religion. Cut off from
these roots, liberty, standing alone,
is too fragile a thing to survive very
long in our kind of world.
Fourth - The fruit of liberty is freedom
of indi\'idual choice. But with
this freedom there must go, hand in
"The natural roots of human liberty are found·
ed in God's moral law, i.e., in religion. Cut off
from these roots, liberty, standing alone, is
too fragile a thing to survive very long in our
kind of world."
hand, indi,·idual moral responsibilitv
for the results of that choice.
F~ccdom of choice requires a freemarket
economv where the value of
goods is dctern{incd by the satisfactions
they produce for willing traders
in terms of other goods.
There arc many disturbing signs
that we arc mo\'ing :\\\ ay from these
basic disciplines of our founding fathers.
\lore than fifty years ago, th<'
great historian of Rome, Theodore
;\lommsen, came to our country on a
, isit. At a reception in his 'honor,
someone asked him, "l\lr. l\lommscn,
what do \'Oil think of our country?"'
The grNt scholar r<'plied, "With two
thousand years of European experience
])('fore ,·our ('\'l'S, \'OU have repeated
eYCr): one 'of Europe's mis-been
tried and found wanting. p;op~
do not know that what has beefl I s ur
wanting is not the true values ol du1lp~
erty and religiou but onlv pcrveP v's 1
' h ' p 1ews
worthless counterfeits. So w e undc
urge upon them those trnc 'i" Su re
they shy away. They have been tio~ 0 before; so they want to h·y sorne and
which they think is "new." and ~
A "NEW DEAL" plot D
Tht
From such thinking sprang the centra
cept of the" 'cw Deal"' - the ;de bun
by substituting man's law of for!. upon
God's law of love, people .cJ tion, I
made to "do good" for their nc.1~h to pn
By a curious line of renson1nC· the "c
humanitarians who ath·ocntetl hon, I
measures have concluded that 1 which
ond of the two great commando downl
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor :JSbel'n
self," can be enforced by the l First_
power of the state and that, wht the
happens, the first, "Thou shalt 1°'. mer
Lord thy God," ceases to ha'' Secon
significance. 1 tion
Our current position is m~c ~ upo
precarious because, in many 111> priv
we fail to receive support £rofll~ ess
to whom we look for stre11gt Third
urge people to go back to chttr . tion
there they frequently find ~h· poli
very forces which ha\'e impn'~A izccl
traditional beliefs have also .'
1
f ,011 ,.tJ
the very source of those behC grc
church itsclfl . 111 1 The contemporary religiott5 't. c
f f 'l 11'· · !\(' is in a state o con usion. " a 'r J;'·
prominent and articulate c~1tJ 1 '1fth ·
and some of our most 1118 stat1
church bodies have favored the chm
ization of our national life ar'..
urg(•d that more power be Pt'..
the hands of government. Oth · Th
sought to make the churches 0
\ iherti
a political force to put pre'~ le-rs j
legislators. In short, those tot {n·oI
we should look to guide us 0
1
\ >t>ars
morass of materialism and 'P nal ir
posed humanism appear \ t t up
"made a d<'al" for a partner:1, lrictl'
twc~n God and C:~csar, ''tt . nc·"
playmg the role of silent par c'- n111ipi
How far have we depart · nno1
Ol'r traditional yalues? The~ ilitic•
mvstcr\' here. It is well kno\\11 t
b;;sic rioJicics of the two J11tljO 'H'rs
FAc-rs Font '>l News, Fc11r11~
B RE A _A_N_D_C_l_R_c_u_s_E_s ______________ _
cal parties with respect to the inb·uirther
intcre> sion of the state into the economic
and social lives of the people differ
1ha t i\!on111 only in degree and method. There is
the light of no discernible dillercnce in fundalestruction
°1
mental principle. Prominent political
during the figures of both parties pay lip-service
0 to the. letter of our Declaration of lnle
have. beef:\ dependence and Constitution, while
that l.ibcr :~ they violate the spirit. i\ lany impord
war~~l~·il1 tant and vocal elements among our
d
Chr s ti'. 1g · people agree among themselves that
n wan 1 th· I cell· 1 "o ur C ons t·1 tu t.1 0n 1· s ou t mo d c d." Tl my
;a as 1) cs ol support the thesis of a prominent Sweruel
va ~r\'cr> dish Socialist, Gunnar Myrdal, whose
\
0n ~ P whrll views have recrmtly been dignified,
: s. ~. c r• t~ndeservcdly, by being cited by our
1osc i ~en fi Supreme Court, that, "The Constituy
hav~ J soiue lion of the United States is impractical
it.,to ~. and unsuited to modern conditions"
I new. and that its adoption was "nearly a
, DEAL" pl?~ against the common people."
e I he proponents of an all-powerful
ng sprang th centralized government have erected
ea!'' - the iclCI· a bureaucratic colossus which imposes
l's law of for• upon our people controls, rcgimentae,
peo~Jle ,·~h tion, punitive taxation, and subsid.ies
for then· nc 1 ~ to pressure groups thus parallclmg
of rcasoninC· the ··organized me~dicancy, subvcn-
0 advoc;1tc1 hon, bureaucracy and centralization"
:ludcd that 11' •hich played so great a part in the
:at commancl1
: downfall of Rome! This result has
1y neighbor '~ bem accomplished:
recd by thj V First - By tortured interpretations of
and that, "'t, the "general welfare" and "comThou
shalt 0 mercc" clauses of the Constitution·
eases to ha'' Secmul - By an ill-ad,ised constitu~
. . . adr honal amendment which confers
1tion is rn'. ,t. upon Congress power to confiscate
1, in rnany 111~1 private property without due procsupport
fro"'~ css of law;
for s trcni,,. · fl · z B f
b k t chi1rc im - Y court decisions o ques-ac
fl d th; bonable jurisdiction motivated by
~ytly .n p·iil' political expediency and rational-l
rn'c in~; ,1f ized by new "social doctrine·"
1avc as . f' •01 ·ti B bd. . I ,
f those bcl1r 11 1 - Y a 1cation by t 1c Con-
' gr<'ss of its ind<'pcndent authority
11",1·
·ary re ,,., 0 os ra nd power in favor of the cxccu-f
. 111 ·11'1' i1·C', anc\
1 us10n. ' 'rt r''f 1 rticulate ch0
8 '1 1 1 - By bribery of the sovereign
ur rnost in 1 states into submission to federal
•e favored thr domination.
tional life arJ
power be P' THE EROSION OF LIBERTY
rnmcn t · Ot.h 0r1 . Tl icsc measures have so crockd the
1e churchc;cs> 1 l~C'rt~· of the i.ndil idual that one \\'Onto
put ~ to le .is if .tlw victory of the \nwrican
ort,. thos . 11t {c 'Olut1on has been prC'scrn·d! lt ap>
gt11de us 1° 1t Wars that \\'C hav(' rejectecl the origialism
anc ii nal intrnt of our founding fatlwrs to
n appear ,]! <'t up a gov<'rnmcnt of ~arrow], rc:>
r a partn~:itl trict<'d powers, anc\ suhstitutC'd for it
C~csar, ·irtl ' n~·\\· conc<'pt which demands that
of s1knt P· rte' 111 n1potc•11t gowrnnwnt should assume
i we dcpn er£ 'C'<~i'.om ic, social and moral rcsponsi-
1·ali1C's? Th t lllth<'s for a servile people!
s we'll kno111,1 1
the two rn3J
0 ~,<Ts Font\! '\1 :ws, Fclmwn/, 19.56
This brings to mind the warning
given us by the great English scholar
and statesman, i\Jacaulay, in 1857. He
said, "Either some Caesar or Napoleon
will seize the reins of government
with a sh·ong hand; or your republic
will be as fearfully plundered and laid
waste by bm·barians in the twentieth
century as the Roman Empire was in
the fifth; - with this dilfcrcnce, that
the Huns and Vandals who ravaged
the Roman Empire came from without,
and that your Huns and Vandals
will have been engendered within
your own counb·y by your own institutions."
The conccnb·ation of power in the
E'ccutive Department has dangerously
impaired that system of checks and
balances which our founding fathers
erected with such great care and de'
out faith to be the guardian of our
liberties.
Today, the power of the federal
gO\·ernment penetrates into ever) nook
and cranny of our lives, so that man>
of us have drifted into the easy habit
of looking to government as an instrument
of positive action to solve all of
our problems and to provide not only
so-called "security" but even case and
comfort.
\Ve accept without protest the thesis
that government shou ld have the
power to deprive certain citizens of
the fruits of their labors, in order to
benefit others who cannot, or will not,
provide for their own needs, as those
needs arc determined by vote-seeking
administrators. Every lover of liberty
bC'lievcs devoutly in voluntary gifts
and charity. But he objects to the imposition
of a "pseudo-charity" by government
on unwilling givers. For he
foresees these sure results of such
action:
First - The victim is deprived of what
he produces, which destroys his
incentice to producC' - and his conficlcnce
in the two commandments
- "Thou shalt not con•t" and "Thou
shalt not steal."
Second - The one who rcccin·s unearned
gifts is rclicl'cd of the need
to produce which, likewise', destroys
his inccntil'c and leads him to depend
for his sustenance on a patc•rnal
government which, in return,
demands his ,·otc as a prerequisite'
for aid.
Third As production inevitably declines,
th<' coercive state must rC'sort
to force. \\'ith Yoluntary production
dcstroyPd, tlw powers-that-he seek
a wa\ to '\1 hip up" production
among the c,·cr-incrcasing non-pro-duccrs
and among those who, tllC'
authorities think, arc insufficient
producers. E'en the original benC'Iiciaries
become the victims of the
thing they helped contrive. The
"carrot" of incentive is now discarded
in £.\\"or of the "stick" of coercion.
The planners who hoped that
their 0\ er-all plans for salvation
would be accepted voluntarily no\\
see that, since success depends on
acceptance of the plan, they must
eliminate opposition. They resort to
force; their very dC'votion to tllC'
noble ends they seek blinds them to
the immorality of the means the)
employ.
Fourth-Those who are endowed with
the political powC'r to make others
conform to their wills inevitably develop
a moral weakness. There are
many instances in contemporary history
of a bene1·olcnt ruler who, after
an extended period ot exercising
political power, concludes that po" -
er and wisdom are the same thing
and that, since he possesses power,
he must also possess wisdom. He
becomes converted to the seductive
thesis that election to public office
endows the official with both po\\'cr
and wisdom. At this point, he has
great difficulty distinguishing between
what is morally right and
what is politically expedient.
DIVINE RIGHT OF THE POPULAR
MAJORITY
I have mentioned the destructive
clfect on the moral fiber of the indiddual
\\'hen he is deprived of his natural
right to choose freely in economic
and social matters and of his moral
responsibility for the results of his
choice. Also, we have noted the corrosive
effect of government largess<'
on public and private morals.
During the past two years, I haYc
had an excellent opportunity to obserl'e
these effects in their practical
applications. As Chairman of the Task
Force on \\'ater lksources and Power
of the Iloo' C'r Commission, l rcccivC'd
mam "rittcn and oral statements from
elect<'d officials. public administrators.
legislators, pri,·atl' citizens and from
bencficiaril's of go,·ernnwnt "economic
and social uplift"' projects in all parts
of the countrv.
The most ·discouraging frat11rc of
th<'se communications was the apparc'nt
<'agcrnPss of a largt'. or at lC'ast a
,·ociferous, portion of our t)('opl<' to
reach out for go' l'rnment bcnC'fits.
ThC'y appcarC'd not to know, or they
Page 7
r'''•t/ 0" '-·• .., j ~.,,,_r~~~~-O_F~B_R_EA~D_A_N~D_C_l_R_C_U_S_E_S_ic_o"c1-u
~ perancc, frugalit) and virtue, and by toward collectivism. Let there b<
frequent recurrence to fundamental more special privileges for c!l1J
1
principles." crs, cmploycs, farmers, business"
were um\illing to face the fact, that
go,·ernment produces nothing; what it
gives to one citizen, it must take away
trom another. In effect, they were calling
upon government to do the job
from which they shrank; and they considered
such action to h,n·e moral
sanction because it had political sanction!
I am no prophet of inevitable doom. or any other group. This is the
On the contrary, I am sounding an icst step of all. We need onl~
alarm that disaster lies ahead unless frain from passing more soci•l
1
present danger signals are heeded. I laws.
firmly believe that the u;orld is now Second - Let us undertake at on HP
on the threshold of u;/wt could be a orderly demobilization of rnrtt ki<
great dynamic expansion of spiritual the existing powers of govcn1
1
and material prosperity tchic/1 1co11ld by the progressive repeal of U
tax the world's moral and productive socialistic laws which we a!~ ever
\\'e appear to have abandoned the
dew of our founding fathers that in
the field of morality only God's presence
makes a valid majority; instead
\\'e have substituted the doctrine of
"the divine right of the popubr majority."
powers to meet humanity's needs. The have. This will be a \'Cf}' din to beii
world looks to America for moral lead- step because every pressure 1!1'· a b
ership. But true moral leadership ex- in the nation will fight to rcl<l' ommi
ists only when there is no gap between subsidies, monopoly privilcgrl \fill
\\'hat is true in the field of water
resources and power is equally true in
other segments of our economy.
\\'e are demoralized by an indecent
competition. Each one denounces government
handouts and privileges for
the other fellow - but maintains that
his special privilege is for the "general
welfare." The slogan of many of us
seems to be, "beat the other fellow to
the draw" - i.e., "draw out of the public
treasury more than you put in, before
someone else gets it."
The result is inevitable - more and
more power is being transferred from
the individual and the states to the
centralized government, frequently at
the request of the states t11cmselves!
The go,·crnor of the state of \Vashington,
in a recent address to the 1\ ational
:\Iunicipal League, expressed grave
concern over the transfer of power
which he said results from federal
handouts, and which presages the ultimate
destruction of the states.
\Vhat has become of our vaunted
sovereign states, our states' rights, and
the fear of our founding fathers of an
all-powerful centralized government
which is neither cognizant of the local
customs of the citizens of the states
nor sympathetic with t11eir hopes and
aspirations? \Vhcn states come to
Washington with hat-in-hand as suppliants,
they become, in effect, wards
of the government. In return for a
meager portion of their own wealth,
they must relinquish a large measure ·
of their so,·crcignty.
What should we do? We have the
answer in that historic statement by
George l\lason and Thomas Jefferson,
which was included in the Virginia
Bill of Rights, and which was the
foundation of our Declaration of Independence:
" o free government, or
the blessing of liberty, can be prcsen
·ed to any people but by a firm
adherence to justice, moderation, tern-
Page 8
our stated aims and 011r specific ac- protection. But if freedom is to ing, p;
tions. T believe that moral improve- all special privileges must go! ism. E
ment must precede material improi:e- Third- Of the powers that rell1•1 Nor:
ment. Let us recall the admonition: govcrnnwnt, let us return as Pon th~
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God as possible to the states. For o 1928 h
and Ilis righteousness and all these local level, the people will ~· ot ju
things shall be added unto you." to apply more critical scnit11 ecau
the acts of their go,·ernment '1 ecau
Fourth - Above all, let us reso!l·e omi11
never again will we yield to tlJI air {
duction of the government p•1 ~ fonn.
who comes amongst us o ·on't
"bread and circuses," paid for sociali
our own money, in return fof Hav
sowrcign rights! drcn 1
These measures which I c01Jl ollcg1
RETURN DECISIONS TO PEOPLE
\Vhat specific steps should we take?
I be!ieve that neither I nor anyone
else, no matter how exalted his position,
can determine for 165 million
people their day-to-day economic and
social decisions concerning such matters
as wages, prices, production, associations
and others. So I propose
that these decisions, and the problems
connected therewith, be returned to
the people themselves. This could hr
done in four steps, as follows:
First- Let us stop this headlong rush
UNDE:RWOOD • UNDERWOOD
The abundance of raw materials, fertility of soil,
and temperate climate of the U. S., typified by
this fruit grove, are not as important as the
spirit of freedom in maintaining a position of
world leadership.
to you will require bold actioil· 1 their 1
who take up the gage of battl• an al
he the real pioneers of our n¢t. ~each~
frontiersmen of the last half 0 now1
twentieth century. \Ve arc, inH'' d~ch I
a great moral crisis which will iscar
mine the issue between freed0 bod),
the individual or slavery to thef ettfler
Let us here recall the words o ro t
idcnt Sam Houston in his rnes·~ tovcn
the First Congress of the Rcp11 ,\dee
Texas, l\lav 1, 1837: "Those ,vhr~sc
tend for li"berty must be prcP'll1~t1eri
endure privation." 'It' Io ttgeor),
At the close of the Const1
. he "~
Convention, Benjamin Fran~!111 and p
dieted that the federal union · Th
only end in despotism, as other place
have done before it, when the f ~duca
shall become so corrupt as to erty, i
despotic government, being ill · and c1
of am other." more
An~! tlw late David Starr l Thfj
former Presidt•nt of Stanford rt o
sity, reminded us of our dut)' i11 party.
words: "Docs history ever rel mu.ni.
self'? It always docs if it is tfl' pai ty to~). Hit doe.; not, ~ve are dc•1l~ sa!~c
with history but with a mere
sion of incidents. Like causes 1
11
like effects just as often as 1
11
• R "\Jr
c 11 oosc to test t Il ('m. . . IIo W 101 fro'"ll'l" "l
the republic endure? So Joli;~ b"'• 1
ideas of its founders rcmtll11
nant."
FACTS Fon ~r 'Ews, Fcbr11or1
SOCIALISM
ertake at 0~!l H:\ VE KNOW:\' admitted thien's,
1t10n of Jn•
11
kidnappers and murderers, admit-rs
of go'<T t ted embezzlers, athei-.ts, "ifc-e
_repeal o 1 beaters and dog-poisoners. But I've
•h1ch we a.& ever known a person who admitted
e a ver} th !o being a Socialist! And yet socialism
y pressure .,1 a bigger menace to America than
fight to rct,. ommunism.
Jly privil~g~~ . \lillions of Americans arc prcachfrccdom
is 1 ~ng, practicing and voting for socialges
must go. ism. But they call it something else.
ers that rcnl~ Norman Thomas ran for President
1s return as on the Socialist ticket six times. In
states. For ~ 1928. he got 267,420 votes. In 19!8, he
eople will l". ot Just a little oYer half that manv.
·ritical scruUC ecause socialism had lost its appeal?
~o,crnment '', eca.use Norman Thomas \\·as a poor
let us resoh 0 mmee? No. Because the New and
we yield to t air Deal took over most of his platvernmcnt
p•u1 fo~. And because Americans just
angst us o~ \ 01.1 t .vote for socialism - if it's called
ses," paid for. socialism.
in return fo d Have you read the books your chil-rc>
n arc studying in high school or
which I coo\ hoHegc? The socialists have wormt•d
bold actiOil· t cir way mto the schoolroom, too. In
~age of battl< ai~ alarming ~umber of. cases, the
·rs of our a~' te,ich~r is a socialist, knowingly or unte
last half ' nlwm~ly. And the textbooks contain
\V c arc, in tfl' ~c 1 tlungs as this: "Religion should
s which will discar~! supernaturalism" (belief in
tween freedO od), a socialistic economic system is
Javery to thr etter than a competitive on(>," "the
I 'the words of profit motive is evil," "a welfare-state
1 in his rne''' overnment i~ desirable." For inof
the Rep11b t.inee, a soe1ologv textbook lJC'ing
7- "Those ,,.Ji• i~sed .in high schools entitled "The
1;st be preP'Jll· tencan \Vay of Life" says our form I government "is a combination of a
tl Constiti1 1°tt~!·y and a Famine" which will not
~e F ankliC ie l true dcmocracv" until security
11nm ~· n ". anc plenty "arc givrn to the masses."
lcral unio 1
r The socialists seem to want to retism,
as ot ie 1iJllace "the faith of our fathers" with
it, when the Pclucational crusades to eliminate povcorrupt
as. t~ ~rty, Hl-hl'alth, war, racial segregation
mt, being Jfl ·Incl cnml'. To thl'm religion is nothing
ore than social work.
)avid Stnrr l Th<' Socialist partv of America is a
of Stanford . sort of prep school of the Com1~unis't
of our dut)' 111 parl)_'. Thousands of Aml'rican Comtory
ever rel' unists got their start in tlJC' Socialist
)CS if it is tfl1 p,iSty .( a!1cl vice versa).
:, we are (\e•1'1, sam· oec i·a l.its.m and communism hwe the 1 . '
'ti ,1 rnerc · mi ia goals: seizure - bv ballot
WI l ~ . )I ·
Like causes I
f Jll" 0 s o ten as R \fr A l l 1 · nc rrson is cc itor of Fann and
m .. , Ilo\\1 Joi :;:~~· \ ma!(atn<'. 1:~is editorial is .. rc~rintcd
? S )on!! "' t .)~'- '° 11mn, Straight Talk, '-'o,·cm-
11rc 0 ·0 ' ' ·">:'), ISS11C.
idcrs rcrn:iJ
FAcTs Fonn1 '\'Ews, Febrnary, 19.)6
By Any Other Name
By TOM ANDERSON*
or bullets as tlle case may be - of ke7
industries and services. As David Lilil'nthal,
TV A's former boss, said:
"Those who control energ) control
people." Electric power usually comes
first. Then steel, medicine, banks, fuel,
food, transportation. The government
can do it all "cheaper."
SOCIALISM: COMMUNISM WITHOUT
BRAINWASHING
Socialism and communism have the
following three main things in common:
1. State ownership and control of
the means of production, distribution,
and exchange.
2. State planning of production (instead
of a free supply-and-demand,
profit system). And control of prices
and wages.
3. Elimination of personal incomes
derived from rent, interest and profit.
To establish those three principles
it is necessary for bureaucrats to lake
over the running of ever) home in the
nation. Housewives arc told "hat they
can buy, and the price they can pay.
\Vhen profit-making is eliminated,
consumers-choice goes with it.
If private incomes from rent, profit
and interest are abolished, then it is
up to the state to furnish individual
incomes in the form of wages, salaries,
pensions, allowances and fees. These
are dished out of a central trough by
mastermind planners and rationed out
bv a swarm of bureaucrats.
·"Production for use instead of for
profit" means regimentation and enslavement
of workers and industrialists
alike.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY -
REPUBLICAN STYLE
Even ~Ir. Eisenhower came out
with a socialized medicine plan he
called "federal reinsurance." It would
extend some sort of health and hospitalization
insuran e to some of the
60,000,000 Americans not now covl'red.
Under till' administration's "nonsocializcd"
plan the federal governml'nt
would reinsure (guarantee for
a fee) up to three-fourths of the inSl'lrance
of prh·ate organizations
against abnormal losses. Something
for e,·cn bodd Insurance for the insurable
;md the uninsurable. Guaranteed
Annual Profits for the insuranct
companies. Debts for the grandchildren.
And votes for the administration.
SOCIAL GAINS - BOUGHT
BUT NOT PAID FOR
All the monev paid into Social Security
is spent by the gon'rnment as
fast as it's taken in. '\one of us has
any assurance that we'll ever get any
of the money we and our employers
have paid in - unless the people are
willing to tax themselves to pay us
"·hen we reach tlw retirement age.
Actually, most of our "social gains"
have been hought hut not paid for.
\Ve'rc willing to let following generations
do that - if tlwv can. Our security
is their insecurity.' For every ounce
o[ security we bu) and charge to
them, they'll lose a pound of freedom
in return.
The British Trades Union Congress
declared that, if nationalization "remains
restricted to a limited number
of industril's and scr\'ices, the full advantage
of social ownt•rship "'ill lw
lost." Once the go"ernment owns several
key industries, others must inc\'itablv
be taken over.
Throughout historv it has been the
same - the people trade the right to
handll' their own affairs to the govcrnmrnt,
for handouts. B;t hv bit the
planners take more and more control
and ta\cs. The t:r,payers do the p:wing
and the politicians do the spcncling.
Finally, police state measures
must be applied to tlw people - and
the totalitarian dictatorship takes O\'Cr
l'\'C'rything.
Socialism and communism arrive at
the same ends, though not at the saml'
time nor in the same way. Socialism is
creeping reYolution. It's communism
with a slow-burning fuse. But in till'
end, .both result in dictatorship ... in
dommat1on of the individual bv the
state ... in the destruction o[ 1:cprt'sentati\'
e go\'ernment.
\\'hcther "e call it communism.
wclfnrism or socialism, it leads to the
same thing: ruinism. EXD
Page 9
·--~~~'V. .. ..._
. ---
( (
------ - - -
(ot~J~
By ESTHER JULIA
FiH
Futup
lini,
leade1
their
claim1
ca nee
Va!
E\pre
horn
Ce rm
until
This
pain 'ision
vas. likes
spec in Ge
Kni g p E ~·s i,t. J
after
sough
Visible in many af the works of "modern art" is the hand of the masters
of communism. To appraise this type of art as Eggheadian is to lose sight
of its true intent and purpose, and to ignore its deliberate perversion.
orld
The,
and · a
Carne
Pi eto
helpc.
Russ i1
livPd .
I~ THE STORY, "The Emperor's
Clothes," by Hans Christian Anderson,
the Emperor, stark naked,
marches proudly down the street between
rows of his people. The admiring
crowds murmur their appreciation
of his beautiful new robes, their soft
coloring, and their magnificent texture.
Two thieves pretending to be
tailors had convinced the Emperor
that they could weave for him the
most beautiful robe in the whole
world, but that the cloth could only
be seen by wise and intelligent
people.
With huge sums of money obtained
from the gullible and vain Emperor,
they pretended to weave these beautiful
new textures. So skillful had they
been in convincing the palace retainers
that failure to appreciate th<'ir
handiwork would brand one as having
no taste, that not a single courtier had
dared raise his mice to protest against
what was obviously a swindle. So,
while the gullible Emperor marched
down the street naked, the perpetrators
of the hoax rolled on the palace
floor in helpless laughter at the success
of their scheme.
If the beloved Danish wea,·er of
children's fairy talcs were alive today ,
he would he astonished to see that his
delightful fable has been takpn over
literallv b\ swindlers in the field of
so-called "modern art." Herc we find
,m identical parallel-the perpetrators
of the hoax of "modern art" have generallv
convinced the gullible that failure
to appreciate their new forms of
,1rt expression brands one as hopeless!~
unintelligent and behind the times.
In fact, the situation is almost identical
in that blank canvas is actually
exhibited as art!
This may sound very funny, but the
sickening story of decadence, perversion,
and revolutionary purpose behind
the introduction of modern art
to America is far from humorous. Socalled
"modern art" had its origin in
socially sick ancl decadent European
art circles before ti.le first World \Var.
From them sprung Cubi!tm, Dadaism,
Futurism, Symbolism, Expressionism,
etc.
In the social fermen t that was to
produce communism, fascism, and
nazism, there arose artis ts who plotted
to use art as a means of power over
the masses. Since its inception, "modern
art" has been revolutionary, not in
the s-ense of bringing new beauty and
craftsmanship to the world, hut in the
deliberate turning of the human mind
from whafis true, good, and beautiful
to the contemplation and worship of
ugliness, disorden·d \is ions of madness,
"social protest," and the use of
esoteric and occult symbols for reality.
All over Europe the revolutionaries,
the dabblers in the occult, and the
demented O\·erturned the traditional
forms of beauty and art. They boldly
proclaimed thcmselvcs the new elite
of the world of art. They formed into
tight little groups, issued manifestos,
and tirelessly promoted their "new"
art forms.
In 1920 the Dadais ts beld their
most spectacular e\hibition under the
direction of \lax Ernst, the arfot. The
entrance to the exhibition, which was
hl'ld in \lunich, was through a public
urinal. A young gi rl dressed in''
as if for her first Cmnmunion, r\
obscene poems in a loud voice. . \ s
ture of this early Dacia exhibitiol' ni st,
an aquarium full of blood-red fli Ill'\\ ly
which wt•re an alarm clock, a I ment.
hair, and an arm carved in ;~?ll~('
Visitors a lso were invited to t<t K.
axe and chop a t a large block of' .tnoth
The genera l impression crcnt• ~iron
this insane exhibit was to convin' .. / 1
(' I
ordinary visitor that ht', too. h•1d toic~;e
mad. Indeed, some of th , ds1W .. ·l<
I . I [ 011t1 ·1sn1
go mac m t w sense o ·to
anger. Thp, seized the axe <ll1~ 1 r P
ccec! cc I to c- 11 op cI o wn t I1 e w IJ O Je t,1(·'n 1n
c.x hibition before the police M' ,,;~\
The Dadaists were ela tt•d - the 19.jl
proved their point that the 11 - '
world was in a state of com11Icte rnet
l() \\·~
ness. ,, K
Tlw Dadaists wen• not alone tcth·
leashing perversion and m;uln< K·
the world. fn June of 1936 th• .ar ;tr
realists held an e\ hibition in [,f int h
The noted British novelist, J. J3. '
lc-v, revic•wed it for a Londo11 Ile said in part:
Tlw Sttrn•a1ists star~d for viok11
1\
m·urotit 11nrl·a~on. ~1 lu ·y art.'. trtJ ·
cadent. ' 011 catch a g:l1111psc of
tht·111 of tlw c.lc:.·c.·[wning twilight 1 barbari~m that may .\f>Clll hlot t
sky until at Ja..,t hum1rnity fin<~
in anoth<.'f long night. ...
Prophetic words written ·
11
twenty Years ago! Part and 11j1
those helping to bring on "~ 1'
night" were the following :irll'
J. T . 13aargc•ld, founder of th•
ists, who he lped establish the(.
nist part) in the Hhineland.
JULIA
Filippo T. ;\farinetti, founder of thl'
Futurists. Ile was a friend of ;\lussolini,
and was proclaimed the cultural
leader of the Italian Fascists alter
their seizure of power. :\larinetti proclaimed:
",\Jan has no more significance
than a stone."
Vassily Kandinsky, leader of the
E\pressionists. Kandinskv who was
h,on1 in Russia, studied· ix1inting in
Ccrmany. Ile was a mediocre painter
until he discovered "expressionism."
This theory of painting was that
pai.nting in a trance would produce
'1s1ons of the unconscious on the canvas.
This was supposed to produce a
like state of trance on the part of the
~peetator. The followers of Kandinsky
•n Germany were known as the Blue
Knights. In 1914 he returned to Hus-p
EL·si,1. He was a friend of Trotsky, and
after the revolution he and his pals
sought to dominate the Hussian art
world. For a while thev suceecckd.
They created their owi1 workshops
and art organizations. Kandinskv became
the director of the ;\Juset;m of
Pictorial Culture in :\loscow. Ile
helped establish museums throughout
R11ss1a. But his triumph was shortlh
·ed.
·I dressed in 11 ARTFULNESS OF LENIN
:01nmunion. r<
l loud voice: 1 . \ sn~arter an? far greater Commuhch
exhibitIOl1 n1st, \ · I. Lenm, was watch111g the
j blood-reel Ot ue~vly developing Bolshevik art move.
1 clock a Jo me nt. ;\laster of revolutionan tc•ch:
1 ~arvecl' in 11 11 iqucs himself, Lenin saw in 'the art
m. v1. te c I to wl1(>f Kand1nsk, and his associat"s 1·i1st 1 • • ,. •
ar 'e block of 1 ln?t Wr \\'ay of ~u bverting the massc•s
Jrcgs s1. on cre•1. t• Tthh1e01 1Hg h .d 1stort1on and. neuroticis· rn ·
· .. to con''"'' . uss1an masses which Lenin had
~ti~e too. h••d '"hosC'n to conquer for socialism, had
· f th • , bittr to face cold. hard, reality - ncuroti-
0
. c [ 0 ,,n ·ism and decadent distortions were•
ds ense o or [Jc• 1 . 1 f 1, . 1 thl' ·t\l' ,1110 I . op e outs1c P o 'ussia w 10m
\Vil th~ \\'hok. )"11'.n hoped to soften up and dc•morthc
Joli er ,1r1' 1 •z.c .. For later conquest. Kandinsk~
, 1. tl 1 _ thf • .ts kicked out of H.ussia by Lenin in
- c '1I cc the .· .L~P-l · '· incl ti lP E xpress1· orn·s t Je acJ e r re-nt
~mt pictc urnc•cl to Gcrmanv. A frw years later
tc 0 com w "}ls brought to the United State's
lone >~ Katlwrinc Dreier an aging hut
ere not a tcti\'r I ft · '
I .1c111e • P -wmgpr from Brooklvn.
m, afm l 9l'3ll6• th• . K. '·.1 nt 1r· ns k·y , f ormer cultural c.o mmis-l(.
0
. • • ·in [,of'a1 111 BolsllC'vik Russia, helirvc it or
d11h1ti~>n J n. f lot. hc·camc vice r1rcsiclcnt of the Sonovehst.
·"
or a Loncl011
By Bernard
Rosenthal. To quote
from this article:
"What more subtle
way could be
devised to destroy
children's faith
in religion than to
show Christ on the
cross as a gigantic
insect? Nothing
is more despicable
in 'modern
art' than the
vulgarity and ugly
distortion in
religious themes."
ciete Anonyme in ew York two years
later. This was an international association
set up in 1920 by the same
Katherine Dreier for thP promotion of
the study of "progressh·p art" in America.
TllC're is no reason to helipvc that
Kandinskv, who had failed to establish
his rc;volutionary art form in H.ussia,
hacl ahando11C'cl his ideas or plans
when he got to this country.
In a speech entitlC'd ";\lodrrn Art
Shackled to Communism," Congressman
Dondero of 1\lichigan said:
(left I Joseph Hirsch pointing
occupied a place of honor in
the Dallas Museum of Fine
Arts. Mr. Hirsch's record of
Communist-front affiliations did
not interfere with the government
commissions he received.
The Sodcte Anonyme according to
the American Art Annual was first
organized as the \lus<"um of ~lodcrn
Art. The ~luscum of \lodcrn Art found<'
d in 1920, officNed in 192:3 and for
ymrs thereafter hy Kandinsky, Russi.111
Comrnissar of the "Isms" l)('conws cr}·s·
talizrd in 1929 as the present \luseum
of ~lodcrn Art. As an l'ncl11ring link
between th<' two, Alfred 11. Barr, Jr.,
member of tlw Board of Directors of
Socit-te Anonymc, is thP Director of the
present \luseum of \lodern Art.
The way was open for the virus of
the foreign-spawnpd "Isms" to he injPcted
into thP bloodstream of American
culture, and it was. Books written
h\' or about the INclers of "soeial
protPst" in the art "·orld "erP i~uhlislwd
or sold ll\ the ;\luseum of
\loclern Art. The ~\rt critics of lihpntl
ancl radical magazines praised to tlw
skies the daubs and monstrosities of
the "npw school" artists. They c>mplo,
eel a gibberish C\'C'll more !,ncomprehensihle
than the> alle.gecl pamtings"
the" so la\'ishh praised. E\'C'll
more faniastie "ere the prices asked
for somC' of this ahsti«1ct junk
Pa,ge 11
PORTRAITS OF "ISMS"
Abstract art offered the Communists
a quick route to fame and fortune.
It dispensed with the long training
and talent tkmanded hy traditional
painting. A few daubs of paint
on a canvas called "ahstrnc:t art" could
he boosted and pushed as great art.
.\!any of the ne\\'ly rich were eager to
emulate an older generation of millionaire
art patrons . .\lost of the great
works of art of past centuries have
been acquired h~ museums or fami-lies
of great wealth. Therefore, it became
tremendously chic to purchase
works of unknown artists and to be~
ome a patr~!1 and defender of the
new culture.
On the other hand, the average
American under no such delusions derived
no pleasure or inspiration from
the new art forms. The spectator felt
uncasv and bewildered looking at
paintings that conveyed neither
beautv nor sense. Nevertheless, like
the Emperor's courtiers they were easily
co"'ed into silence because they
feared the ridicule which the so-called
"critics" and defenders of the new
"Isms" would heap upon them.
This was not an American art movement.
At practically all of these American
exhibitions, even today, the names
of the same leaders of European modern
art appC",\r m·er and over again -
Salvador Dali, i\lax Ernst, Pablo Picasso,
\liro, Paul Klee, Tanguy, Chagall,
De Chirico, ct al., ct al.
The wedge of confusion having
been drh·en home, a new phase was
started. William Z. Foster, veteran
Communist leader, made this signicant
admission in the New Masses in
1946:
There must be a clear understanding
that art is a weapon in the class stnigglc.
'>ot only is art a weapon, but a
\·t•ry potrnt one as wC'll. \torcover, rising
revolutionary social classes instinctively
rl•alizc the importance of art as a
social \Vt.•apon and have always forged
their own ;rt and usc'C! it to challenge
that of the existing ruling class.
The Communists had started to organize
and exploit artists in the early
1930's by setting up fronts along cultural
lines. One of the most notorious
was the John Heed Club, named
in honor of an t'arlv American Communist,
John Heed,' who had died in
Hussia shortly after the Bolshevik seizure
of pO\\'Cr and had been buried
with full Hed honors in tho Kremlin
wall. Also active in 'cw York was the
Artists Union. Organized in 1933 hy
unemployed artists worRing on Fed-eral
Arts Projects, a part of the Fedcnil
Helicf Yrogram, it was super-militant.
On \lay 1st, the Communist holiday,
it called upon all artists "to come
out into the streets, to don chisel and
brush, and march shoulder to shoulder
with his fellow workers toward
the future."
SUBSIDIZED DAUBING
Rog ht:
pointed
Rincon
pood $;
this OS
citizen!
hearing
was no1
port of
33 c,,
connec1
remove
Left: "Seated Woman," the work of Pablo~ Bel .
so. There's no doubt regarding the portY,a bla
0
;·
tion of t.his artist, who once remarked:.' I.,. this" t
1
~0"!1mun1st and my pointing is Communist r world~
1ng. ments 1
Right: William Gropper was present in 1~
an international Communist conference on
Kharkov, Russia, set up to bring American ~
under Comintern control. Years later,
Gropper's Communist.front record with ~
or more affiliations, he was commissione.1
the above mural for the New Interior But ~
Washington at on admitted fee of bt
$4,000 and $5,000.
These founders and early rne ~
of the John Heed Clubs and A
Union can be found today as fa',
and prominently displayed nrt!i.1
many museums throughout the v1
States. The names of these saflle
ists appear over and over a!(J
1
sponsors or supportc1:s of litcrall~
ens of Communist fronts durio~ Ye
past 20 years. f an a
William Gropper was one o busio
founders of the John Heed Ch1
voh1
well as a founder of Artists Eq'11
Dcspi
1947. According to Congress1m~O recorc
dero, "Artists Equity Associat10° lack o
practically all the notorious Hcd' P<;r n1
in the country." Gropper was Jl1
• ifth
in 1930 at an international Con11~ 1 as :
conference on art in Kharko1', l' l,id r
set up to bring American artists 1
111d fi
Comintern control. The sabot,1!!1 ie c111
American art wa& the direct o0 n \\';
of this conference. 1 n a cable to, ~ hai
cow in 1932 Gropper reported · · th
S11viet masters the accomplish1J1~ 1
ain
American Communists in the st
for world socialism:
I ha1·c lwld exhibitions of caii' In :
drawings and paintings on the ioll~ lfty.fl
ist war and th1· defense of the . none•
Union throughout the \\'est Co: . 0 k ·
the Unitt'tl Stall's like Bcrkrlch r S
Francisco and Los Angeles in Ca 1
' ·am1
and in gallcri!'s in t\ew York Col 'line
present l am at work on a mu'·'' V ront
ing to be exhibited in the \tu>' lro
Modern Art, whicl1 thousands of~ )t fp
visit wt•ckly an<l l sh:dl rcgistl'r 1
11
a C,
test by 1•1posing the war plot " lood
the Sovi!'t Union in this painton tnd ii
\Voth Hevohotionary Crcetin~5 • ; ts
William Gropper. he w
This is another of Bernard Rosenthal's work.
These faceless pinheaded characters are supposed
to represent "The American Family." It
decorates the new Los Angeles police station and
cost the city $10,000.
These artists were primarily interested
in art as Communist and revolutionary
propaganda. Federal and
State art projects set up to alleviate
unemployment and dbtress offered
wonderful opportunities to get paid,
with taxp<lyers' money, for daubing
revolutionary propaganda on public
property walls. They violently resisted
all c~n~~ols, which they called "censorship.
Cropper's Communist-front 0 tbout
with some 60 or more affilt".1 A
second only to that of Hock111 ~ heel
with well over a hundred. )'et f \ dmi
the gall to tell the Senate nan
nent Subcommittee on 1m·c>
11
in 1953:
FACTS FOl\U\[
Page 12
Right: Anton Refregicr, the artist who
P~1nted the widely discussed murals in the
R1~con Post Office in Son Francisco, was
paid $26,000 of the taxpayers' money for
t~i~ assignment. Protests from outraged
c1t1zens finally forced o congressional
hearing on these slanted murals, but he
was not even called to testify as to what
port of this fee was diverted to any of the
33 Communist fronts with which he was
connected. The fight to have these murals
removed is still raging.
k f Pablo~ e.wor 0 rty 0 8 elaw: Certain modern "artists" e.xhibit
ding the Pd. 111 blank canvas as art. Their conception of
ce remarke ·'st this type of art is to portray on unreal
1g is Communi World b~ subtracting fragments from frog~
ments till nothing is left.
ros present in 19,
st confcrenc~ 011
-
bring American lli
. Years later,~
t record with as commissione.0
1
d
~ew Interior Bub,~
itted fee of
You sec I am an artist. 1 am primarily
f nn artist. I nm not in with this poltical
r \Vas one O business that you people arc all in~
>hn Recd C\ll vohcd in.
1f Artists Eqt11
. Despite this long Communist-front
Congressn1t~O 'r ·cord and his protests of complete
ty AssociatJO~ lack of political knowledge, \Jr. Gropotorious
Hed 'per nevertheless convenientlv took the
ro )per was pr Fifth Amendment when asked if he
ia~ional Con1f1 •as a c.ommunist. He admitted he
in Kharko,, fl had ~ece1ved between four thousand
e ·can artists 1 md fi"e thousand dollars for a mural
'. ~he sabotJi!l he did. for the New Interior Building
th direct oO~ n 'Vashmgton. When asked \•,hethcr
1 e .1 c-iblc to le had contributed any of tlus money
;:. ·re· orted : ·0 .the Communist party, Cropper
~.1 cco mpr)li·s hll'r igam took the Fifth Amendment. 1~
i1ists in the 5
n: WORKS OF WHOSE ART?
iibitions of c~~ .. In 19-17 the State Department paid
tings on the u'\ ifty-five thousand dollars of \'Our tax
efcnsc of tic<> noncy for a collection of scYc.nl\ -nine
. t/'1'. '~~5,L1rr~ · orks of art to be shown abroad as
'A~g~les in oht ':amples of American culture. At least
1 r\cw York ~· 1 111e of the conh·ibuting artists had
ork. on" . "~';~:,. r?nt records. The project was quickly
:d m the · f I" hopped when the then Sccrctarv of
1 thous·mds 0 't t C ·
sh:ill r<:gistcr 11 ) a e, .corge ;\(arshall, received a
the war plot lood of protests from congressmen
in this p.1int10 md indignant ci tizens. The \Var Asnary
Crcclln~s. ' ts i\dministration later disposed of
'" he whole collection for $5,5-11.-15, or
1munist-fro~t u tbout tl'n cents on the dollar.
· more affih•1
1 A year later an "art gallerv on
iat of Rock,''\ hee.ls'.' was set up to tour \'e.teran
hundred. )cl f\dm1111 stration hospitals. Congrcssthe
Scm1tct
1
nan Dondero exposed the front rectce
on ln,·c>
'ACTS Font''! 'E" ·s, February, 19.56
ords of seventeen artist whose works
were included in the project. The sinister
purpose behind such an otherwise
harmless idea was to give these
Communist-front artists a sort of
"patriotism by association" halo in
that their modernistic daubs had presumably
benefited recuperating veterans.
They could also later claim that
thev had at least been inferentially
"cleared of any taint of subversion"
by virtue of the fact that the United
States government had displayed their
works in veterans hospitals. You have
to get up awfully early to outsmart
Communists.
The Communists are tireless in
boosting each other's products. They
are also highly adept at infiltrating art
juries. Rccentlv the National Council
for U. S. Art announced the first competition
for art work to decorate the
United 'ations Building in New York.
The ten jurors include at least three
with Communist-front records, Leon
Kroll, Paul ~lanship, and William
Zorach. Six of the eighteen members
of the Visual Arts Panel of the U. S.
National Committee of U ESCO are
connected with Artists Equity. This is
a cozy "you scratch my back and I'll
scratch yours" arrangement.
Small wonder that so many young
and struggling artists go left. They are
smart enough to realize that with such
obvious infiltration, and in some cases
control, of art juries and panels by
notorious left-wingers, anti-Communist
painters do not stand much of a
chance. For example, Anton Refregier
was selected from eighty-six other
contestants to paint the Hincon Post
Office murals in San Francisco. There
werC' three artists on the jury; two who
'oted for Hcfregier had long front records.
Outraged protests from patriotic
groups fina lly forcC'd a congressional
hearing on these slanted murals. Hcfregier
himself was not C'Vcn cal led to
tcstifv as to what part of the twcntvsix
thousand dollars of taxpayers'
money which he received was diverted
to any of the Communist fronts
with which he was connected. Despite
the protests of large groups of patriotic
citizens, the objectionable murals
painted by a Communist sympathizer
are still on the walls of a U. S. government
building. Who benefited by the
selection of Anton Refrcgier as the
artist?
"AND A LITTLE CHILD SHALL
LEAD THEM"
In the story of the Emperor s
clothes, it was the voice of one small
child winch exposed the whole carefully
built-up hoax. "But he has nothing
on!" exclaimed the child. The Emperor,
realizing that the child spoke
the truth, rushed back to his palace
to turn out the rascals who had made
such a fool of him. The clear-sighted
vision of small children is apparent]\
not given to the blind worshipers of
"modern art." Consider the reply of
Stanlev Marcus, chairman of the Dallas
~!~1seum Board, to a resolution of
the Dallas Public Affairs Luncheon
Club. The resolution protestC'd the exhibition
of works bv Communist and
pro-Communist artists at the local
museum. "Tommyrot!" sneered Mr.
larcus.
Christianitv is todav the main target
of world. communism. \Vhat more
subtle way could be devised to destroy
children's faith in religion than
to show Christ on the cross as a gigantic
insect? Nothing is morC' despicable
in "modern art" than the vulgarity and
ugly distortion in religious themes.
The real thinking behind these sacrilegious
paintings is given away by a
cri tical reYiew in the Communist
Daily Peoples World of April 6, 1955.
Criticizing Hico Lcbrun's "Crucifixion"
series, the rC"YiC'\V says:
In attrmpting to dC'picl man~s inhurnanity
to man tll<'n' was a dec.:p and
important fallacy. The carpenter who
Page 13
This piece of sculpture was done by Jacques Lipchitz, and is featured at the Museum
of Modern Art in New York City. The character with the curious bulges is Prometheus.
ere<"tcd tht• cross, the soldiers who rent
the garnH:nts, and the crowds who
jeered and mocked were all portrayed
in unsparing horror. But tht.• fon:cs
\vhich put thcsc exctutioncrs into movement,
the instigators of nurnkind' s most
notoriou~ execution of a radical thi11kcr,
no\vhcre were these forces shown.
Can you believe it? Jesus Christ,
not the hope and Saviour of all mankind,
but merely a "radical thinker."
This is hate art. The purveyors of it
have their vile works exhibited in
museums and private galleries
throughout the country. They arc
praised. financially supported, and defended
by the very class that the~ plot
to destroy. The Daily Worker of April
In the interest of allowing space for
the presentation of any opposing vi<.·wpoints
regarding modern art, Facts
Forum Seres wrote \Ir. Jerry B) watt·rs,
Director of the Dallas ~l11scum of Fine
Arts, a letter which read in part as follows:
"If you would like to write an article
C\pressing a difft.'rcnt \'fr·wpoint rt'garding
the modem art which \liss p,.]s criticiz<
·s, '"''C would be most happy to commission
the writin~ of such an artic:lc. to
appear in either the S<lme issue or the following
~larch issue of our m.u~a1inc. If
you h;.\\"C not read the article in question,
we will be glad to send you a reprint of
it."
We quote from his reply:
10, 1955, carried an article on the Jack
Levine show exhibited in the Whitney
.\luscum of Art in New York. The following
excerpts are significant:
I le paints dead souls in living bodies
with de,ast.1ting power and insight. Ile
paints men and women who would stifle
hum~tnity, sli.trvc mankind, brutalize the
world for their own parasitic, selfish,
gre<'<ly ends. lie divests these people of
their oull'r g;.trnwnts of wealth, position,
and respectability and e'poses the sham
that CO\'ers the leering evil, the gre<•cl,
the corrosion of upp ·r-class immorality
and sclf-indulgt•nce ....
llis tl'thniqu<.• in dt.·picling d<.·ath in
life, evil in human form is close to perfection
.... The painting, "The Trial,"
has de<.·p politi<:al signifitan<:(' toda)'· as
w1t<.:hhunts and hyc;teria ha\'C made a
REBUTTALS INVITED
"It is mo'it tt:111pt111g to suggest some
alt<·rnatt:s to th(' artidc's opinions . ..
·· 11ow('vcr, thl· .trtidc is prt.'()(.'<:upicd
with various attad.s on modern art. Since
the institution which l serve as dircdor is
int('n-st<-d in all kinds of 'good' art
( whl'tlwr tmclitional or 'modern') we sec
no point m t.11..in~ sidt's against ourselves.
"The artic:le dirC'tts many accusations
at the \luse11m of \lodt'rn Art and its
director. Perhaps you should give that
institution and otlwrs devoted exclusively
to mockrn art, such as till' Cugg('nheim
\fusl•mn, an opportunity to rt•ply. I furth('
r su_ggest that you rcqtl('St the l'<litors
of tlw -~rts or th" tlrt \1·1n to r('p)y to
[\liss Pd's] .1rticlt', that is if you arc sincerdy
inten:skd in printing a rebuttal.
1110<.:kery of courtroom 1·usticc . .. ·
Throughout the cxhi lition it is u)I.
clear what jack Levine hates. Ile
himself, "Those I love I simpl) Id·
out. A painter should do what he
best."
lie has created unforgettable f
cxprcssi\'c of <·orruption that gro\~S
decays, of hn>0cntical souls w1cl
power today.
Pope Pius Xll summed up the 11
situation recently when he spoke
exhibition of the works of Fra A
ico, famed 15th Century Flore
painter of saints and angels. His
ness extolled the work of Fra Ang
who had painted an ideal worl
angel-like men, and then said:
If the artistic expression turns inst.
to a false, empty, and unclean s
which d"forms tht• designs of the
ator if instead of ele\'ating the Jllll
and
1
licart to noble sentiments it sl
incite the more vulgar passions, it 1n
find acclaim or aeccptance by Slb
even if only because of novelty, ''
is not always of merit. .
But such art would degrade it.
denying its own principal and es~~
asp<·t·t, and would be neither un1'
nor perpetual as is the spirit of ni~n
which it is addressed.
A few years ago, Colonel \\'~
R. Kintner wrote a book entitled TH Front ls Everywhere. Ile dernoo; d,
ed beyond cavil that secret C? pl
nists and their sympathizers ~ damn1
midst are waging total war ag'.1\1 cross-s
every hour of the day and n1g point.
every level and stratum of our so- accepf
- religious cultural political, xperit
nomie, soclal, moral,' and intellf' Would
This constant corrosive attack set manag
destroy our religion, our honie intere
our national unity, our histo~t oes f
traditions, our very will to res;~ newsp,
live. In this titanic struggle supern
world no sector of human thot1
: and of
activity is overlooked by the ~1 large.
of Moscow. So, remember tht1 The
in the museums, "Art is a weJl"countr
the class struggle." rs anc
-- (J timer
This article first appeared in th~ ~ the ur
J~.55, issue of The American LeP.10 legi I I
zme. s a
amiJy
pie Sp
collect
tion. T
he pay
"A comment I have regardinl( d ;1;rve~
article's .reference to this. institut1o~r e fa\
the cut !me 11ncl<·r a parntrng by I Jir. )f pra1
th.it this painting was loam·d to our'.· To n
srnm by the 1\ational Aeacl<·my of ~r usine
of "\,.w York, a most patriotic an< ·tself .
servative inslitutio_n, nftcr hnv1n1! rt ne t J
ct'ivt·d a third-prize in an impO ,1 Il t
national exhibit at the ~letropolitao lressec
seum of Art in New York, another. ef' e.sire
ncnt American institution. This vcf} 1 '.lhsh t
tinent information is no/ given tdt Iniqu
reader, and I requPst that it h<' inclu
1
~ins h
If rebuttals are fortheominl( froo 1 T
so11rees s11ggt'st"cl by \Ir. Jlywat"rs, ·~ ocl1
will he t'onsiclerecl for p11blic.1tio\! • ttncl
near future issue of Facts Fonun •
1ed up the''
:n he spoke·
ks of Fra A
1tury Flore
angels. His
; of FraAng
1 ideal worl
:hen said:
sion turns inst
d undcan s
signs of the
!vating the t1
1timcnls it shv
passions, it u1r ----c..;: ptance by , Gene 1 R b of novelty, ,,·11 ra o ert W. Johnson Chairman of the
Board, Johnson & Johnson, N'ew Brunswick, N. J.
i~I degrade ii
:ipal and csscc
neither un1't:
c spirit of nial'
Colonel \~
Jook ent:itl 0 T HERE was a time whrn Commo-
1. Ile dernc°o dore. William H. Vanderbilt's ex-it
secret .0 plosive remark "The public be
ipat:luzers ~11' damned," represc;1ted a minority
tal war ag_a\t cross-section of the business viewlay
and nig O' P0 mt. Since that time the universally
:um of our t accepted executive viewpoint has
1, pol!ticll~ :perienced a complete reversal. It
, and 1ntc eC' ould be hard to find the general
ive attack 5 e manager today who does not place the
n, our ~1on1 . interests of his customer first. This
0~1r lusto;s: oes for the tiny candy store with
will to resfol newspapers on the side to the great
: struggle ~ supermarket and depa~tmcnt store,
human th01
\ al nd of course for indusb·y small and
ed by the J11 arge. '
nember th3~ The most powrrful people in our
lrt is a we3
i country are the consumers-the work-
::is and the farmers, who are also conieared
in t/1e 00 th;:iers;_ the stockholder-consumers;
1erican J,egio~ I . lmion leader-consumers and the
J~~s ator who, believe it or not, has a
___.../ r.'le ily of c~ns~1n:iers. When these peo-p
II sp~ak 111chv1dually, in groups or
ti ectivcly, managcmrnt is all at:tenh~
n. The executive not only listens -
. pays a great price for rxploratory
·e regardin· .~ u '>hU rvfe .v, s m· t h e Ii ope that he can hear
his institut10~h e a1_ntest murmur of dissatisfaction
inting by l(ir 1 lt praise.
o•·i ned to our To mr t ti · 1 f or' b . <' 11s O\'erwhelming control cac <.•my o 11s1n · . · . . ' patriotic and 1 "tself ~ss comprtes aggrcss1\'C'l) w1 thin
after having~ 'll t 10 the hope that each managcin
an i1nr" ,1 en team may best intcr1Jret thr cx-
\letropo 11• t..i n , JIr es·. sed ' anc l cvrn the subconscious
'ork, another ~ e1.sircs of the new dictator To ·1ccom-on.
Th.i s vcrYto 1' l ts. h thi's· encl a mocl c'r n ··1 11d 'h r«C'lv not g1\'cn d 1n1qu , " ' ~ .
.at it ll<' incl" ' His hie concept of executive policy
h(·oming frofllt~ T n crrated.
Ir. Bywaters. if . oday, the first consideration of
publicat101\ line! corporate policy is the public
octs Forum '
ACTs Fonu'\1 'Ews, February, 1956
ROBERT W. JOHNSON
Management
Listens
TO
the consumer, the customer. The modern
corporation knows its products
must be good, and that it must strive
to make them better, at lower cost. As
part of this pattern, dealers and distributors
must make a fafr profit and
orders must be filled promptly and
accurately. Without distributor and
buyer good will, there can he no business.
The second responsibility of a sound
business is to its workers, the men
and women in its factories and offices.
They must have a scn~e of security in
their jobs. Wages must be fair and
adequate, management just, hours
short, and working conditions clean
and orderly. Workers should have an
organized system for suggestions and
complaints. Foremen and department
heads must he qualified and fairminded.
There must be opportunity
for advancement for tl1ose who qualify,
and each person must he treated
as an individual, standing on his own
dignity and merit.
The third responsibility is to the
prople who manage the business. :\lrn
who have risen from the ranks - the
executives of proven exprriencr and
ability - have come to spell the difference
between success and failure in
today's complex corporate sb·uchirC'.
The fourth consickration and rc'sponsihility
of the going business of
today is to the community in which it
functions. In many communitirs a
largr factory, store or insurancr company
is the principal somce of livelihood
and taxes. In addition, the families
of employre-consumC'rs for milrs
CONSUMERS
WORKERS
EXECUTIVES
COMMUNITIES
STOCKHOLDERS
around look to it for leaderslup in
civic improvement, health standards
and education. The modern corporation
has become inextricably involved
in the welfare of the communities in
which it operates. Herc is the birthplace
- or deathbed - of public good
will.
The fifeh and last responsibility is to
the many people who own the present-
day corporate rnterprise - who
risk the savings and buy its stock. In
days of yore, when one man financed
a company's start, he might have been
characterized or caricatured as a
bloated moneylender or, still worse, a
"money changer" who should be
"driven from the temples" in times of
stress or depression. But in today's
complex design of corporate finance,
more than half our population has an
interest in the stocks and bonds of our
lrading industries, whether outright,
or through the mrdium of invcsbnent
trusts, insurance policies, savings bank
deposits, etc. Among large and important
owners of corporate stocks todav
are the company's customers, the deafcrs
and distributors; the workers, forrmen,
superintendents; the managers,
and the people who live in the communities
where it functions.
T nus we ha,·c rrached a phase of
corporate de,·clopmcnt where the app111;
ation of thr Golden Rule to all of
these clements is trulv good business
practice. Here is a m;w business concept,
a nrw philosophy. It is a unique
(C'm1li1111cd on Page 35)
Page 15
A Radio Free Europe reporter (right) interviews
an escapee from C:z:echoslovokia while his story
is simultaneously recorded on tape for future
broadcast.
MISSION OF FREE EUROPE
COMMITTEE
(Excerpts from Annual Report of the Prr1ident of
Free Europe Committee. Jn~ .. to the Diredor1 and
)lember or the Committee.)
l nf:'orporated in the tale of ~ew York
in 1919. Fref' Euro1>e Committee is a
member hip n .... O<'iation of Ameriean citizen
.. ,,..ho belif''e that the people"I behind
the Iron <~urtain - in Albania, Bulgaria,
Czecho .. 10,akia. E!,lOnia, Jlungar}, l..ahin,
Lithuania, Poland, Romania - are being
held cnpti>e ngnin.i their will by the
agenl~ of So' iet Rus .. iu who, for the time
heinfit. rul(' O\f"r them. The mi"lsion oC
}'rN" Euro1>e CommillN' i'" therefore to
"'ork for lhf' freedom of the-.e peoples in
order that the,· ma, one da) be able to
creel ,remocratie in .. litution-.. of their 0\\11
choo .. ing and join \\ith the other peoples
of Europe in estab(i .. hin1e n peaceful,
fraternal and coopcrnlhe European con1-
munit,.
Thi~ mi-. ... ion is consonant "'ith lnited
tales polic' a~ repentrdl, enunciated by
Pre .. ident Ei .. enho,,..er and other members
of hi-. Admini-.tration. It io, con~i"ltent al-.o
.,,..ith thf' Bermuda declaration of Decem·
her 1953 made joint ly b, th<' heac1-. of
the Briti~h, Fren("h nncl Unitefl tate~
goH•rnmenh in tlH.'"lf' tl'rm~: H\'{·e cannot
at'rept a-.. justified or permanent the
pre~ent <lhi..,ion of Europ<'. Our hope i~
1hat. in duf' ("Our-ie. peae('ful m('an~ ~ill
bf' founrl 10 f'nnble the ('Olln t rie~ of
Ea.;itern EuroJ>t' a,:ain to play their part
a ... free nation~ in a frf'e Euro1>e."
WutT,E\ II. llEP\ROSO'I
Page 16
R\DIO Free Europe was established
by the Free Europe
Committee in December, 19-19,
to conduct a campaign of psychological
warfare against the Communist
regimes of Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Poland, H.omania and Bulgaria. It is
supported by the contributions of the
American people to the Crusade for
Freedom.
H.adio Free Europe went on the air
in Julr, 1950, "ith one mobile shortwave
transmitter broadcasting a few
hours a week to the countries. Now,
with 29 powerful short and mediumwavc
transmitters located in \Vest
German} and Portugal, H.adio Free
Europe programs are on the air more
than 3,000 hours a week.
The basic aim of H.adio Free Europe
is to help the people behind the Iron
Curtain in their struggle to regain
their national freedom and individual
liberties. The most effective weapon
in this struggle is the truth, which is
constantly uwcl to e\pose conditions
within tlH' SO\ il't orbit that the Communi;
ts prefrr to hide from the people.
The truth is also used to spread
dissent among the Communists tlwmselves,
thus disrupting party machiner}
and reducing its power over the
peO[)lC'.
To earn out its mission, H.adio FrC'C
Europe C'stablished a nC'twork of five
stations the \'oice of Free Czechoslovakia,
of Fr<'<' Hungan·, FrC'e Poland,
Free Homania ancl Free fiulgaria
- ov<'r which exiles from these
nations speak to their own countrym<'
n.
Radio Free Europe correspondents,
force
from Stockholm and Ilambur~ It
to Istanbul, continued to int static
t Russi
newly-arriYed refugees from 1 the B
Curtain countries. From all 0
I abo~
something of interest was C•' Polar
about conditions in their to''
villages, popular sentiment .t' clt:~i
the Communist rulers, radio h' tertai
attitudes on democracy and th) matt(
ican p<'ople, etc. A special dem
refugee is the "defector," th: f tutioi
nbt part} or regime offic1a , '"voi
eyes ha vc been opened to the !; spea~
lent nature of the creed and gari~
prcssivc and inefficient chnf•' the n
the system. of thi
The e\iles who write and bl" ter oJ
Radio Free Europe's progr·1 nich
chosen on the basis of prof< in it~
skill and specialized knowlcd~ 15
arc the bPst t\\'ailable editor" r It !a
ists, n<'wscastc•rs, actors, r111
' ~al v
PntC'rtain<'rs. Th<'y arc e:\pcrb Thi
fiC'ld of labor, agriculture, cc' cecde
r<'ligion, go,ernment, science', from
affairs. \lany of them '"£ menu
kno\\·n in th<'ir countries hr' gee f
" t•n• forcc•d to flee from Co radio
tyrann~ . Speaking to their co11
; speak
now as friends and patriots ~ ed, "1
able to forge a strong link Euro1
their people behind the JroO plain
and the free world. Ji even
Hadio Free• Europe is on 1 Wrote
hours a day to its major t.irg I popul
peting for list<'ncrs with ]0C•
1 it is
stations hour bv hour. There becau
tim<' to gh·e close attentio11 vak c,
various problems of all sr~~ seap1
the population: workers. ' Free I
vouth, \\'Omen, partv membe,
k<'<'P<'rs, security police, tit'
FACTS Font 'r
Last month Facts Forum News began a presentation of a
critical view of Radio Free Europe, the second install ment
of which appears on page 23 of this issue. Here is
RFE's own version of the effectiveness of the program.
ltirihe Iron Curtain
RADIO FREE EUROPE'S OWN STORY-Part 1
force~ and other special groups.
u1cl Ham b ur -t t lt. is a private, not a governmental
·ut s ahon. It docs not broadcast to Soviet
tinucd to
1
ugees from tr. Rthu ssia or East Germ,·rny, bt1t 011ly to
•. From all O· e five Iron Curtain countries named
crest was Jc• above. To three of those countries -
in their to'' Po.land, .Czechoslovakia and Hungary
sentiment t• - It delivers a full radio service inlc
·s r idio b' cludi.ng programs of culture and en-
J
1 ' ' I tllf terta1nmcnt as well as news editorhl IClA"lCY 'lll( , ' s;ccial !;. ~attcr, anti-Communist polemics, and
·fector" the emontrat1ons of the ethics and insti-
g. ' ffici·'ll ~uhons of true democracv. Its five lmC 0 ' ' . " J
pcnecI to tile 1 s1v> mcke·s arc national voices - Poles I and e~ ·mg to Poles, Hungarians to IIun-ffi~
I:~~ ch•if• ~nans, etc., in their own name, not in
e name of the U. S. government or
.t nd h~ ~f the American people. Its chief cen-wn.
e ~rogr.1 ~r hf operation is in and around :\Iu
·~p? s } Jrof• ~uc. , Germany, broadcasts prepared
J.l~tk 0 .\cdC' l~ Its New York studios covering some
fc1 1 ~d~~ors. It pe~ cc~t of the daily total airtime.
•
1 > e 11111 mamtams a relay service in Portu,
actors, rt> gal, with headquarters in Lisbon.
:Y. arc c~p~cl That !'ladio Free Europe has suc-
,ncultu:c, ceeded m becoming a "home station
1cnt, scicnccc from abroad" is borne out by the comif
th~m 1:r1 rnents of refugees and letters. A refu:
ountnes C gee from Hungary said "That's our
l e e f1 ·o m. <11' ra' di 0 an d t h ose are our' peop' le who
g to thei~· ~~ t s~e~k over it." A Bulgarian comment.
ncl patrt0 k r , The villagers listen to Radio Free
.strong ln;011 E1u~ope because the programs arc
md the I P am spokl'!n, understandable to all,
'ld. tl~ ven the peasants." A Czechoslovak
1rope 1·s. on ~ Wrote , "R acl io F rec Europe is the mo' st
:s major t•1\1 popular of stations not only because
ers w1' tl l loC• Ibt is on t h e air all 'd ay long but ' also
hour. Thr;e,, ekausc of the uniquely Czecho,sl.oose
attenll~ va character of the broadcasts." An
s of all sr. 1 scapee from Poland stated "Radio
workers.Iii' ree Europe has completely 'succcecl~
arty mcm the FA
f' police, crs Fonu:-1 1Ews, February, 1956
ed in establishing a live contact between
Poles in Poland and Poles in the
West. The programs, obviously broadcast
by and for Poles, are based on
facts."
Letters reaching Radio Free Europe
from people behind the Iron Curtain
emphasize the kinship that has grown
between the RFE stations and people
under Communist domination. They
usually begin with such salutations as
"Mv fellow countrymen," "Dear compatriots
abroad," "Our dear free brethren,"
"Beloved compatriots."
COOPERATION NECESSARY
Americans at Radio Free Europe
work closely with the exiles - advising,
guiding and lending their professional
experience to the operation.
The American-exile relationship is one
of consultation among partners allied
in the common struggle for a free
world; it has resulted in a competent,
professional broadcasting operation
that has won the loyalty of millions
of listeners.
,A basic concept of Radio Free Europe
programming is that truth is the
most effective weapon against Communist
lies. The truth is used in many
ways. It matches the lies and distortions
of the Communists with facts -
often in such a way that listeners can
check the facts with their own eyes
and cars. It reports news of the world
truthfu ll y. Disagreements among free
world nations are neither ignored nor
glossed over; they arc treated as elements
of the democratic pattern,
wherein the right to discuss dilfer-enccs
freely stands in contrast to oppresive
conditions under Communist
rule. Radio Free Europe employs the
truth to expose events and conditions
which the Communist regimes would
prefer to hide from their people. In so
doing, it often forces the regimes into
admission or false denial of the circumstances.
The captive peoples are anti-Communist
in overwhelming majority -
perhaps 80 to 85 per cent. They listen
to all the foreign broadcasts thev can.
In certain countries-Poland, Czcch?
slovakia, Hungary, particularly-RFE
IS adjudged to be the favorite station.
It sustains its listeners' belief in the
superior strength of the \V es tern pO\\ -
ers and the higher moral and material
content of democracy. It brings them
reasons to continue their persistent
opposition to the puppets of Ioscow
by whom they are governed. lt docs
not incite them to futile and dangerous
acts of rebellion hut guides their
thinking and shows them that their
spontaneous blocking of the purposes
of each regime is evidence of their
growing strength.
Radio Free Europe programs weaken
the Iron Curtain regimes by
spreading dissent among Communists,
nourishing the amieties of regime
functionaries, and creating a wholesome
fear of retribution among those
who refuse to purge themselves of
their crimes against their fellow counh-
ymen. John Ilvasta, the Czechoslovak-
American who was imprisoned in
Czechoslovakia for several vcars, observed
that Communists hC: came in
contact with "ere often influenced b)
Page 17
Radio Free Europe and man) of them
,ire trying to "save up good will" as
insurance against future liberation.
Since Radio Free Europe wages a
realistic campaign against communism,
it makes use, accordingly, of
every available weapon, including
e,·ery type of true anti-Communist
which a tight security system can
identify. At no time do Radio Free
Europe programs accept the theories
or practices of commu11ism, Marxism
or socialism. But recog11i;:;i11g the realities
of democratic developme11t in
the history of pre-Communist Eastern
Europe (u;hich was very difjere11t
f ram America) Radio Free Europe
uti/i;:;es exiles of all political faiths
(except left and right extremists) in its
all-out fig/it agai11st commu11ism.
The programs arr varied in form
and contrnt; there is somrthing for
men, women and children of all ages,
interests, needs and classes. There is
music, dntma, varictv, co1nmentarv,
portry, comedy, intcr\iews, quiz ar{d
round table shows. Religious prog;
rams and services arc broadcast to
listeners of all faiths. Stress is laid on
the native culture of the captive peoples
- on their own music, literature
and historv which the Soviet rulers
h-y to suppress in the interests of international
communism.
~ews is the staple product of Radio
Free Europe, which daily builds its
reputation for news speed, honesty
and accuracy by regularly "scooping"
the Communist stations. Listeners in
the captive countrirs often hear important
news about Soviet Russia and
their own countries over Radio Free
Europe before they hear it on Radio
\loscow, Budapest, 'Varsaw or
Pnigue. For instance, the first bulletin
on Stalin's death, Bcria's purge and
:\lalenkov's n•signation was broadcast
by Radio Free Europe many hours
before Communist stations carried the
news.
The international nature of the op-
""'e in Europe lrnH• "i<'<"ll re .. uh!'I
of it~ (Cru~afl(' for Fr<'Nlom) pro·
gram.., nnfl lH' think thC':' arc doing
a magnifit'ent job.
" •.. 1hc So,ict., ""JlCJHI more
mone} tr:' in1t to jam programs,
"'iUCh ns the Cru ... ml(' for }""'rcedom,
than the entire 1-~r<·c ,~·orld ~Jlt'nds
in the field of pro1Jaicanda. In
other word"l, the So' ieh recognize
what a potent "._.upon propaganda
j..,. Jlere \o\t' are a countr)" that sells
"'Oap in term:-, !'iO attract he 'ou can
almo:-,t ta"lte it; }Ct \o\C" ha'e trouble
in de,eloping pro1>aganda that "ill
appeal to the mind. I am :-,urc JOU
all agree "ith me that the Cru~adc
for Freedom bhould be ~upported.
It i~ an entt.·rpri..,e that j.., going to
take a long time to de,clo1• the
nece ..... ar) know-ho", but I am certain
\\C can do it. I am sol.Jeri, OJlti-
1ni~tic tlrnt "c shall make good
progre..,:t in thi~ fiC"ld."
General Alfred i'1. Cruenthcr
!:Jupreme Commt111tler,
Allied f~orcers t.'uro1>e
cration was summed up recently in a
newspaper article by an American
journalist" ho sun·cycd the :\cw York
and i\lunich headquarters: "Persons
of fiftcc•n or si,tcen di£Ierent nationalities
work together at Hadio Free
Europe in perfect harmon) for a common
end. '\'ationalist animosities and
historical boundary quarrels are forgotten
in the common endeavor of
creating a free, united Europe. Americans
han• a right to he proud of the
efficient, businesslike wav in which
Radio Free Europe is doing; its cold
war job ... a shining; example of what
free American enterprise can accomplish
in psycholog;ical warfare against
the Reds."
'\ report by a famous American
engint•cring company, which made a
survey of Haclio Free Europe's installations
in Portugal, stated: "The whole
undertaking has been accompli>l
and become a working reality in
almost unbelit•vahly short time. 1'
quality and performance of the "'
completed is first-class and the ful
expended are probably below '~
would be considered normal. I'
spirit of the organization transcr~
anything heretofore witnessed. I'
whole group thrives under prcsstil
Through "saturation broadcastit
"repeat programming" and other t<
eel techniques, Radio Free Europe
been able to keep ahead in the ~
stant battle with enemy jammers.
eral transmitters carry each F•
Free Europe program simultanC01
on different wave lengths, cnabl
listeners to seek the clearest Ioc,1V
on their dials. Furthermore, each 11'
gram is repeated up lo four tin1t:
day, so if a listener misses part .
program the first time or if he 1
home, hr can pick it up on a rrl
Impossible to jam out is Radio f
Europe's nightly "saturation scf\ ·
wherebv all transmittrrs are be•1
simultaneoush over different frc<J'
cies to ont• co.untry at a time. " Cl·
sounding" is a technical device 1.
by Radio Frre Europe's engine~
staff to trst transmission concl1V
and permit the selection of hroaclr
ing chanm•ls that will drli,•er
strongest and clearest signal to
targC't areas.
All of tlwse and many other f,ic
- signal powc•r plus multiple trnn'
tcrs plus flexible programminl( r
des plus thr application and clr1
'
mcnt of pron·d engineering; prin"-
arc Haclio Free Europe's ans"·:
the Communists' frantic dfor:
black out thr truth from the \\'C''
In April. 1954, a long-ranl(C'
paign uniting; the spoken and pr'
word was initiated bv the Free ~11
Commitltr to Czedioslovakiu.
1
planned lo help create a "~t•
Opposition" in Czechoslova~1a,
could effeelivelv win concess10P
the people, anci in doing so ,,.,
the Communists and sow the set'
eventual lihrralion.
Th<' leaflet op<'ration, sponsor<
the Fr<'<' Europe Press, was sk
1
coordinated with daily progn~n'.'
Hadio Free Europe in a masst''
to gi\ <' tlw CzC'choslovak pro11
facts, help and inspiration the\
to carry on the struggle again'
rukrs. Similar operations wcrr ~
q11c•ntly launched to 1Iung•1r)
Poland.
Th<·rc• has lw<'n ample edcJc11r1
the combined wriltcn-ancl-'l
word op<'ration has hec'n a si¢
11
,
step in th(' ckn·lopmenl of ,1 cl
1
WJT•i. woru.n PllOTO
Near the West German town of Cham, a few kilometers from the Czechoslovak border, Radio Free
Europe operates a mobile, medium wave transmitter with a 50,000 watt signal.
wc·apon in the struggle to
man's dignitv and freedom ,,·b<
curtain of Scl\ iet darkness h•1'
\\'I
broacl
ultim
progr
mind:
ta in?
It
ears c
"e!fec
ence
ing of
Badie:
for th
dom
rian '~
Pt't n
The
to th
fare i
it is ir
nomi<
Cold
the J
th<.'ref
of all
therm
)'<.'t si
tain _
mate
from
In
e.valui
hven
dir<.'ct
dicati
encin1
the c;
munis
much
correl
self, a
outsid
analv
inte"1
Thi
manif1
accomplisl
, reality in
.ort time. 'fl
·c of the "
and the fu1
v below ".
normal. 1'
ion transcc.,.
1itncssed. 1
1der pressu1
broadcasti1
and other ti
rec Europe
ad in the c
' jammers.
y each I\•
simultanro}
1gths enah
lcare~t Joc11t
nore each P'
;o ro'ur tiJlll
iisscs part i
e or if he 1
up on a rcJ~
.1t is Radio f
1ration scf\
ers a re be•11
!ferent frcQ'
a time. "SC·
cal device 1
le's enginrt~
:sion cond1 c
on of broad
viii deliver
1t signal to
mv other f11~
1ultiplc tratl'
>grammin!Z
on and de"'
cering prior
·ope's ans''t
antic effort
~m the \\'C''
long-ranize
>ken and e~
· the Free J:.11
)Slovakia. Jt
eate a "Pt
choslovakia
i eoncessio!l'
:loing so ,,.,
sow the scC
on, spons0~
•ss was sk1
iiy 'progn~n::
In a mass1' 1 1lo\'ak pcoJ'.
iration th. e,'t
gglc aiz111n-,
tions were
to Ilungii0
Effectiveness Of Radio Free Europe
\\'hen all is said and done about the
broadca~ts of Radio Free Europe, the
ultimate question remains: Arc the
pr.ogrnms reaching the hearts and
1111nds of people behind the Iron Curtain?
It is not enough to command the
~ars of a large audience; the crux of
effecti\ eness" is the ability to i11ff 11 -
~11cc the actions, as " ·ell as· tht• thinklllg
of the listeners. In other \\Ords: ls
Radio Free Europe "inning friends
for the \\·est and for the cause of frceci.
0111, and undermining the authoritarian
grip of the Kremlin and its puppet
n•gimt•s in Eastern Europe?
There is no simple, absolute answer
to this question. Psychological warf<
ne. is not an isolated phenomenon;
it is lllterwoven with the political, economic
and militarv components of the
Cold \Var bctwt•en the Free \Vest and
the Kremlin. Its ultimate success
therefore is linkt•d "ith the outcome
of all other Cold \Var activities. Furthermore,
public opinion polls are not
Yet sanctioned behind the Iron Curtain
- hence, not even the approxi~
ate findings that may be derived
•om such polls are available.
In the face of these limitations in
e.valuating Hadio Free Europe's dfech~
·eness, there is a mounting body of
direct and circumstantial evidence indic,~
ting that HFE programs are influe1nc1ng
the thinking and the actions of
tic ~aptivc peoples, and of the Commumst
regimes themselves. Although
much of this evidence is accumulated
correlated and analyzed by RFE it~
self, a good deal of it is obtained from
outside sources, such as BBC's skilled
~nalysts who evaluate the impact of
mte~ational broadcasts.
Tl~is evidence of cffectivcnes is
marufested in the following ways:
( l ) Letters from behind the Iron Curtain.
( 2) H.eports from escapees from
satellite countries. (3) Communist
measures to frighten and frustrate the
listening audience. ( 4) The contents
of official Communist reports, designed
not for propaganda purposes
but for internal party use. ( 5) Communist
propaganda attacks against
H FE. ( 6) Official protests by satellite
regimes to the U. S. government.
(7) Positive action by the regimes resulting
from pressure by RFE broadcasts.
( 8) Positive actions by the pcopl!'
themselves as a result of specific
HFE campaigns.
A brief explanation of each of these
evidences of program effectiveness
follO\\'S:
( 1) Letters from H.FE's target countries
arc received every week from
workers, peasants, teachers, students,
housewives, intellectuals, shopkeepers,
young people and even members
of the party, the police and armed
forces.
Direct mail, refugees, traveling
\Vestcrncrs and even carrier pigeons
bring word that the people are listening
to Radio Free Europe and that its
broadcasts are promoting the cause of
freedom. i\lany letters are even sent to
Radio Free Europe by listeners outside
the target areas. The Voice of
Free Hungary, for example, received
mail from Hungarian exiles in twentysi'
countries on five continents during
a recent twelve-month period.
Some letters are channeled through
the regular mails, some are smuggled
out. ~!any letters include detailed
analyses of RFE programs, proving
that Communist jamming e!forts have
not been able to drown out RFE programs,
which are repeated sc,·cral
times over multiple transmitters of
These politico!
refugees mode their
bid for freedom ofter
slave labor in Czech
uranium mines at
Joochimsthol. They
were inspired to make
their flight ofter
reading leaflets
released by RFE
ba lloons.
WJDE woru..o PHOTO
RFE Photo
Polish refugee children in a Munich studio participate
in RFE's "Polish Teo Party," a variety
program of music and sketches spiced with antiCommunist
satire.
both the short and medium wave
type. A recent letter of the man) recci\'
ed from Czechoslcl\·akia stated:
··1 want to C\prcss thanks and praise
to all C'\iles for their efforts to establish
a free Czechoslovakia again, and
for their words of encouragement
through Radio Free Europe, inspiring
millions of our citizens to continue rt'sistance
to the Communist regime
and hope for a better future. Practically
every child can tell you that
t•ntirc families listen to the programs.
This is because you arc not promising
paradise on earth, lwcausc you arc not
lying and because all your words are
truthful and such that ev<'rv honest
Czech and Slo\'ak feels thc(11 in his
heart."
(2) Escapees consistently report
that RFE programs are wide!) heard
and given extensh·c \\Ord-of-mouth
circulation. Even in the few large
cities where they arc powerfully
jammed during certain hours, they get
through. Interviews with refugees -
which are conducted as scrupulously
as possible in order to separate fact
from fiction - reveal that the satellite
people depend most of all on HFE as
their point of contact with the Free
\\1orld and their countr\'mt•n now living
in the West. The Polish Air Force
pilot, Franciszck Jarecki, ''ho flew his
jet plane to \\'est Germany, made the
following statement:
"There arc three things the Communists
cannot kill: ''hat mother said
about Cod and Poland, what one's
own heart dictates and what Hadio
Free Europe tells us."
Dr. ;\Jarck Korn\\·icz, who defected
from the Polish delegation to the
United Nations in 1953, said: "l want
to emphasize the enormous importance
of Radio Free Europe. You have
no idea with what longing we wait
U .. LABOR EXTENDS
SUPPORT TO CRU ADE
American labor plan~ to take a
more acthc part than c"·er in the
Cruw.ade for Free<lo111, necording to
"-illiant \'\. ""ei~s, "'ho ha~ just
been named Cru .. ude liai..,on repre·
sentathe for the (.;ongrC!"S of In·
dustrial Organizations.
'tr. \'\ ei~b, ~ho-.e hon1c is in
Pitt--burgh, is a member o( the
lJnited Steel'\o'ior"-erb of America. Ile
\\ill ~ork in the Cru'!ade,!oo ~·ash~
ington offiC'e "°ith John A. DeChant,
"ice pre~ident or the Cru~ade.
During the (.rusade o,erseas in·
s1>ection trip or llaclio Free Europe
and Free Europe PrelilS, the party
was joined by Irving Brown, European
rc1nesentati'e or the American
Federation of Luhor, and Victor
Reuther, director of international
affairs for the CIO.
Reprinted from ,,·tu·s I.Aller,
Crusade for Freedom, ~ov. 28, 1955
for this information." Vaclav Uhlik,
whose home-made tank crashed
across the Iron Curtain from Czechoslovakia
to West Germany, declared
that Czechoslovaks listen ··conscientiously
to Hadio Free Europe and believe
its broadcasb like the Bible."
Similar statemenb arc made by
hundreds of other incliYiduals who
cross the border. .\ former prisoner of
Recsk prison camp in Hungary stated:
"Hungarians sec in Hadio Free Europe
the embodiment of an idea which is
capable of defeating communism." A
non-Communist Swedish student
brought back the following message
from H.omanian friends at the Bucharest
Youth Festival, "Go to Hadio Free
Europe and tell them how things arc
here, that we have not lost courage
and that the hope for freedom still
burns with us. Tell them we listen
regularly to their broadcasts."
Cmsade, threatened: "The crusaders
of today run the risk of losing not only
their hats, but also thei1· heads."
(4) Official Communist reports
stress the danger of RFE to the regimes.
One report, prepared by the
Hungarian ~linistcr of Defense, stated:
"The most dangerous effect of
Radio Free Europe is that it results
not in organized resistance, which is
easily detected and suppressed, but in
atomized resistance which is more difficult
to control. For example, a Radio
Free Europe program recently compared
the situation in Hungary to a
former despotic era: the effect of
broadcasts of this kind is that they
create resistance among Hungarian
soldiers to the Army's Russification
program.''
Sometimes unofficial hut equally
authentic reports of this nature reach
RFE. For example, a high official in
the Polish Communist government, in
a personal com-crsation in the \Vest
that he never dreamed would be repeated,
said: "Hadio Free Europe is
accomplishing the work of the opposition
in Poland. It is the mortal enemy
of the regime, which wot.Id offer any
amount of money if it could persuade
them to abolish this radio station." Another
Polish official revealed HFE's
extensive "word-of-mouth" circulation
by the following statement at a Dc•partmcnt
of Propaganda and Agitation
meeting: "One radio set in each
village is quite sufficient to poison the
peasants' minds with ( \Vcstern) calumnies
and lies."
Hcgimc attacks on HFE increast>d
!n number and violence during 1954.
In Czechoslovakia especially, regime
propagandists quoted HFE broadcasts
in substance and at length in order to
assail them. It became clear that some
of these anti-HFE campaigns were being
conducted under t-loscow's direct
guidance, as indicated by the publication
of hostilr articles in official Soviet
organs and hostile broadcasts from
\loscow, sptting the tone of subsequent
rrgimr campaigns.
( 5) A cardinal rule of psychological
\\ arfare is not to dignify or ach·crtisc
hostile propaganda by replying to
it. The Communist regimes (and ~los-
(3) The regimes have devised
many ways to discourage radio listenership
- though tuning in on Western
broadcasts is not officialh a crime. In
Hungarian communities,· for example,
the Communbts ha,·c rccrnited "listening
couples" with instructions to
drop in on neighbors unexpectedly
and report if they arc listening to
\\'cstcrn broadcasts -- especially HFE.
In some communities, family dogs
were seize-cl by local authorities (on
the pretext of caninr disease epidemics)
because the dogs intrrfered with
the spying of thC' "listrning couples"
bv barking warnings of their arrival.
·\\'hen word of Crnsadc' for Freedom's
campaign to raise- funds for the
support of Radio FrC'e Europe' reached
the people of Czechoslo,·akia. Radio
Prague, in a violent attack ,1gainst the
cow as well) have consistently br
this mlc in regard to Hadio Free
rope. In doing so, they have becl
H.FE's best publicity agents. Dttl
the past year, the Czechoslovak
gimc in particular has gone bcyonl
usual frantic invective against Jl
it now q uotcs programs, in su bst•
and in depth, then tries to refute tl
in an effort to minimize their i!llP
1eanwhile, the anti-RFE vi!
poured out by Communist radio
tions, newspapers, magazines
spccchmakcrs continues. Herc a
few typical lines broadcast over Jl
Prague:
"The United States, tllC arch-Y1
behind a vast conspiracy agn
peace and socialism, has brOl
ha voe to innocent Koreans, Ind'
nesc and countless colonial 11'
who aspire to liberty. The traitO
H.adio Free Europe, steeped 1n
mud, serve that part of America''
criminals and gangsters arc pro!t
so much that nothing happens to
<'VCn when they kill another p1
\Vhat a difference when vou hsl
Hadio Moscow broadcasts to C
slovakia. From Moscow we hc•1r
the Soviet people's work. lcisttf'
education. From H.adio Free ~1
we just hl'ar the rattle of arms.
The frequency of these att•1
\
illustrated in statistics on attnc
Czechoslovak propaganda or
from April through September.,
During this period, Hadio frt~
rope was thr su hject of more th•
direct attacks (not includin(( rr,
and rebroadcasts) as against .
tacks directed a~ainst other \\
broadcasters. ~lore than 100 r•1
;
tacks alone bv Czrchoslo,ak 5
were heard in September. ~n t
cases, regime campai~ns aga_1ns,
arc spearheaded by mstruct101l·
t-loscow. I
A few of the epithets h11r
H.adio Free Europe by the !let
·· cr1·n 11· na 1 ra 1J1 >1 e, ""( 1 i· r t y ,var~.;..·.. o..~ 1
"jackals," "miserable riffraff, l,
of the ethrr," "saboteurs,"
from thr rn bhish heap," "radio J
sion," and "yakkity-yakkcrs."
The Communists utilize e\'e!)
of the printed and spokell
At R
With
and
Wee I
all c
• Re1
• Ref
• Re1
• Pre
• Eve
""'
• IN~
• Net
0 Dai
• Tra
• 55Q
• 650
• 15,I
• 10,i
• Hor
1sistently br
Radio Free
~y have be~
agents. Dttl
:zechoslov•1k
gone l_Jeyo~\
·e against 1'
ns in subst.
~s to refute t
ize their irnl
ti-RFE vit
~unist radio
magazines
1es. Herc
dcast over Jl
the arch·"
piracy ag•
n has brot
:o~eans, Ind'
colonial 11'
'· The trait(ll
steeped iO
Jf Amcric•1 11
ers arc prolt
happens to
another Jlf
hen you lislt
:leasts to C
)W WC hc<lf
1vork, kisur:
dio Free~
le of arms.
: these att<t\
ics on attoir
paganda or
September.
Hadio fret
of more th'
includin!Z rr,
as against .
1st other \\
than 100 r•1~·
choslo1·ak s
tembcr. Jn
~igns ag;1inst
instruction>
pithcts Jiiirl
: by the l\C~
lirty warm?.,
e riff raff," !,
ibotcurs,"
ap" "radio J
yakkers."
utilize cl'cr
nd spoke0
HOW RFE OPERATES
A! RFE Headquarters in Munich, Germany, 115 editor-write rs, teamed
With producers, actors, annou ncers, compose rs, musicians, researche rs,
and freelance contributors create 184 hours of orig inal prog rams
weekly. RFE-New York prepares an additional 25 hours per wee k, b ut
all are broadcast from Munich.
1. INFORMATION
• Reports from 15 RFE-News Bureaus (103 persons) flow into Munich at rote Qf 1,200 per month
• Refugee interviews
• Reports from travelers, athletes, letter...writers, etc.
• Processed by staff of 46 evaluation experts, translators, etc., who assess reliability
• Evaluation files contain 250,000 cards, with over 1,250,000 entries, thousonds of clippings,
newspopers, maps, etc.
w1m: wom.o rnoTo
2. MONITORING
• Of 35 regime radio stations on regular basis
3. NEWS
• INS, Reuters, and monitored Soviet and satellite news services
• News items and reaction from RFE Bureaus
• Daily roundup of news and comment by teletype from RFE-NY
• Translations, reprintings, clippings, etc.
• Spotcheck of 12 more
• Soviet and satellite news services
• Staff of 52 monitors over 200,000 words per day in 10 to 12 languages
• Editorial comment and lead articles from
American and West European press
• Stoff of 23 processes and distributes 250,000
words per day, 24 hours a day, seven days
a week
4. RESEARCH
• 55o newspapers and magazines from behind the Iron Curtain
• 650 Western publications
• lS,000 books from the satellite countries
• lO,OOO books from the West, with emphasis on economics and politics
• Handled by staff of 41 researchers and librarians
S. FLOW
• VOICE OF FREE
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
• VOICE OF FREE POLAND
• VOICE OF FREE HUNGARY
• VOICE OF FREE BULGARIA
• VOICE OF FREE ROMANIA
I. Straight Newscasts
11. Political Commentaries
111. Group Programs -
Labor, Agricultural, Women's,
Youth, Economic, etc.
IV. Feature Programs
Page 21
through e\·ery medium of communications
to destroy Radio Free Europe:
newspapers, magazines, pamphlets,
posters, novels, the stage, radio, movies
and mass meetings. Propaganda
against Radio Free Europe has become
so intense that in Czechoslovakia
alone, even on a dull day, Radio
Free Europe intercepts at least one
radio attack, and as many as ten have
been recorded in a single day.
( 6) Almost from its birth, Radio
Free Europe has been the target of
official protests by the satellite regimes
to the U. S. go\·ernment. Shortlv
after RFE's "Voice of Free Czechos.
lovakia" went on the air, in ~lay,
1951, the Czechoslovak regime protested
the existence of RFE to the
U. S. State Department. The demand
to extinguish RFE (which was firmlv
rejected by our government) is apparently
a measure of the regime's fear
of RFE, and an indication that RFE is
reaching the people.
( 7) There is considerable evidence
that the programs have forced the regimes
to take specific steps to protect
themselves against the anger of the
people. On several occasions RFE has
exposed sub-human li\·ing conditions
in prisons and slave labor camps; in
man} of these cases, regime officials
felt obliged to improve conditions,
and brutal guards (either through
fear or honest shame) have improved
their behavior.
\\'hen Radio Free Europe exposed
the inefficiency and corruytion rampant
in a large ek·ctrica plant in
Budapest, a worker reported the following
results: "The facton· ran wild.
Commies ran in and out. Conferences
were held all da) long. Suspicion
\HIS everywhere. \Vork practically
stopped."
Another t) pc of RFE "dcnuneiatory"
program is that which exposes
the identities of Communist secret
agents and informers. RFE has later
received first-hand information from
refugee:; to the effect that regimes
have been forced to dismiss those ex-posed
hy HFE (or transfer them to
other regions) as their activities were
rendered useless and the} became objects
of possible violence.
\Vhcn the Hungarian Communist
regime, in an effort to conse |
