◆ SpookStack

APRIL 14, 1947 are members of the same team and are neither scouting nor stooging for another. ; In 1798, this country, went through a Red scare simi- lar in some respects to the one we ate experiencing today. The’ French Revolution which had recently taken place frightened conservatives in this country quite as much as the Russian Revolution frightens them now. The Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798 were designed to have sub- stantially the same effect as the recent presidential execu- tive order, except that they affected people in private life as well as those working for the government, They pre- scribed fines and imprisonment for those who combined to oppose any measure of the government, impeded the operation of any law, intimidated any officer of the United States in the discharge of his duty, or uttered or published bring the government of the United States or its officers into disrepute, or to excite the hatred of the people for that government. - In so far as President Truman’s executive order tends to punish people for their beliefs and not for their acts, it goes even farther than the laws of 1798; but what was done under those laws remains a shameful blot on our national history. Editors of papers supporting the polit- ' ical party out of power were jailed, or ruined with heavy fines, for writing editorials critical of the Administration. _ People were sent to prison for heckling’ pro-Administra- tion ‘speakers .at public meetings. ‘Among those who’ pro- tested these laws were Marshall, Hamilton and Jefferson; _and it is probable that the existence of these statutes con- false, scandalous and malicious statements tending to_ POS Re Na ee a ne aces to 13 choose the mob that is most sympathetic to him and to abide under the shadow of that mob. _ In our present welter of feat and confusion there are _a few propositions ‘to keep before us—propositions as indisputable in the science of social behavior as those of ' Euclid in geometry, ae We must not forfeit our democracy in the effort to preserve it. Aristotle knew that the way to offset any quality is by the use of its opposite. Hunger is fought by food, cold-by heat, intolerance by tolerance, hysteria by calm, totalitarianism by democracy. One cannot abolish the ideas of terror.and secret police by the use of terror and secret police, « : “HE President's executive order seéms to me a viola: _#&..tion of the fundamental safeguards of Anglo-Saxon justice in that it provides for no- hearing in a regularly constituted court, no trial by jury, or review or appeal to the existing higher courts. On the contrary, the execution of this inquisitorial mandate is placed in the hands of ‘people who, on a basis of past record and public utter- ance, have certainly ‘not been conspicuous for theit sympathy with the ideals of freedom of thought and _ expression, oo. All past history supports the prediction that any Red hunt which receives official blessing such as is given in- the President's executive order is bound to injure many _ innocent victims, It is undesirable not only from the tributed to the overthrow, at-the national election ‘two + yeats later, of the party that had been in power. T ust after World War I, we had another - period of J hysteria which, in retrospect, seems to have been equally inexcusable. A group of Socialist members of the New York State Assembly were expelled solely on the. gtound of their party affiliation. Magazines were held up in the Post Office; others had: their mailing privileges ‘revoked entirely. Teachers and ministers were muzzled. Under federal or state laws, people got long prison terms for belonging to “seditious” organizations even though it was proved in court that the individual in question was not aware of the ‘seditious’ purpose of the group. The situation was well described by Katharine Fullerton Gerould in Harper’s in 1922: America is no longer a free country, in the old sense; and liberty is, increasingly, a mere rhetorical figure... . No think- ing citizen, I venture to say, can express in freedom more than a part of his honest convictions. . . . Everywhere, on every hand, free speech is choked off in one direction or another. The only way in which an American citizen who is really interested in all the social and political problems of his country can preserve any freedom of expression is to standpoint of fundamental American ideals of fair play, but on the narrowest grounds of self-interest. If the secu- rity of the nation is in danger, if our welfare is at stake, we need more good public servants, not fewer. How many self-respecting men of ability, however deep their love of country, will suffer the risk of being besmitched by individuals like some of those now most active in the effort to separate sheep from goats? The current witch hunt will tend to drive from public service the man who has ever read a book, Had an idea, supported the ideals of Roosevelt’ or fought fascism. If the President and his advisers are right, it will not keep out of public service the Communists, who are, we are told, so sly and devilish that they can elude detection. It will work against the non-Communist liberal; he will think twice, and more than twice, before he risks being caught in the net which is flung so widely. The new witch "hunt will inhibit the free flow of thought and interchange of ideas which are so vital to national security and prog- ress in a rapidly changing world. We have little to fear from communism if we make our democracy work, if we keep our country fully em- ployed, prosperous and at peace. This is not an easy task; perhaps that is why so many men find it more to their taste to spread hatred, fear and dissension. But easy of not, it 1s our task, Let us get to it, H. W.