WHERE THE NEWS ENDS
CHAMBERLIN, WILLIAM HENRY
Where the News Ends By William Henry Chamberlin U. S. S.R.: Government vs. People HOW FAR CAN WE DISSOCIATE the Russians and the other Soviet peoples from the hostile, aggressive policy of...
...Those elements of gradual assertion, of individual rights, of check and balance, of - liberalism and skepticism which helped to shape western civilization, are notably weak in Russia...
...m THE SOVIET REGIME, is not altogether...
...Faced with the grim choice between the brutality of Soviet rule and the brutality, . the' Nazi invaders, the majority of the Sovietj peoples preferred the former It is a profound' tragedy, for the sake bbt...
...ADA might well begin to calculate its future from this fundamental premise...
...Had a larger minority, or a majority of the Russian people been able to unite on a' positive alternative to communism, the Soviet Government would not have survived the civil war...
...tain, and try to develop additional ones...
...We should by...
...But this' third choice, practiadly,spe«ldng^ did not exisf in the clash of-the Neiiand Cbnimaidst total& tartan giants*- although some.Ukrainiannation^ alists made a gallant effort/, to appeal to theuD countrymen and to other non-Russian peoples...
...Taft-Hartley promises to give way, not to a regenerated Wagner Act, but to a slightly less vicious TaftHartley...
...Its acceptance might lead to disastrous strategic mistakes and serious disillusoinment, unless two reservations are cbnstantlv borne in mind...
...Paramount now is the unification of all noh-communist liberals, of whatever party, for a twofold purpose.'-One, to counterpose to the formidable*RepubJocrat coalition an equally strong, or stronger, liberal-labor alliance...
...But we cannot hope to match more than a small bucketful of the torrent of propaganda with which the Soviet Government deluges its population...
...worked out in practice...
...This is partly' because of the passing of years, partly because^ a disproportionately large part of this groupr emigrated, and finally because those Wh<| remained in Russia furnished more than th<| average number of casualties in Soviet persecutions and purges...
...V'4' ¦ Responsibility for the strange transformation of a liberal electoral victory into a reactionary Congressional one rests on many shoulders...
...To say that the Soviet regime is a minority rule imposed by terror is true...
...No people in the world is so systematically and hermetically sealed off against foreign contacts...
...Out of the whole splendid platform advanced by Mr...
...This gathering, should co-ordinate strategy for the remainder of the 8lst Congress', and should projects long-term perspectives...
...tyrannical men oppressing a good, freedomloving people is an oversimplification of a much more complicated situation...
...The number whoj have "chosen freedom" when they had the) chance, proves that...
...ADA SHOULD INITIATE, after Chicago, an even broader meeting, to include all nonT Communist labor, farmer, radical, and Negro groups not now connected with,ADA...
...Second, should united pressure fail \o move Congress In a more liberal * direction, the alliance will stand ready to embark upon further independent actions...
...It is argued that in-, discriminate attacks on Russians are bad in their political and psychological effect, that' we should seek to drive a wedge between the supposedly freedom-loving Russian people and their dictatorial government...
...A MI^CANS^pIi DEMOCRATIC ACTION •XJL^hok^\3f»;:lejCohd annual convention in 7^^,TCl$bagO this week-end coincidental with the^terniinatlph of!the hundred days during #hicnv(it^pnoped, the, &lst Congress would legislate^liberal prpgram...
...The most civilized element in pre...
...As 'the modern Russian philosopher, the late j Nicholas Berdyaev* wrote: , 3 "It Is moat important to not* that the...
...v. ^jf The very nature of a communist or fascist totalitarian state forces the great majority^ of the people under its rule to associate them-* selves with it — apart from ah inevitably small minority of heroes and martyrs...
...revolutionary Russia, the westernized intelli...
...4. liberal Democrats...
...economic and social perfectionism was being...
...this may ultimately compel trie reformation, of the Democratic party, or prove it to be absolutely impossible...
...Several articles by Russian political refugees in this country have championed the thesis of the bad Soviet government versus 1 the good Russian people...
...But no such unity was possible, for reasons too complex to describe here...
...Resolutions will not determine the issue of liberalizing the Democratic party or forming a new one...
...2. Republicans...
...Can a political re-alignment be achieved before it grows too late...
...As 1948 showed, the people are casting about for new ideas and new leadership...
...Can ADA Lead...
...keep open our few pipelines to the Soviet people and other peoples behind the iron cuf...
...In cold war or in .hot war, it is good strategy to discriminate as much as possible between the people and the ruling regime, especially when this regime is an irresponsible dictatorship...
...America should take advantage of the limited opportunities which exist...
...gentsia, has almost disappeared...
...t. * * » THE FIRST IS that our means of reaching the Riis-sian people are extremely limited...
...The 81st Congress has only made palpable what has been apparent for nearly a decade, namely, that the two parties have actually given way to three, and sometimes four: 1. Dixiecrats...
...3. regular Democrats...
...But the atmosphere in Chicago will be grim, for Congress has so far...
...The Russian people have not been altogether I corrupted by Soviet tyranny...
...Truman last November, EC A may emerge as the only important fulfilled pledge...
...we cannot safely neglect measures of military preparedness, or'assume, On the basis of.-MM over-simplified contrast of "good" people andj "bad" government, that psychological warfare * will be enough...
...j liberal tradition has always bean weak In ¦ ¦\ Russia and that we have never had a lib' eralism with moral authority, or which gave A any inspiration...
...But it is not the whole truth...
...Ciyil T'ghts have been relegated to the limbo...
...Rent control has just received its coup de grace...
...The Soviet dictatorship is not just Stalin or the Politbureau...
...THIRTY YEARS OF SOVIET RULE have made profound changes in the character and psychology of the people who have been subjected to it...
...The conflicts in Washington a re, expressions of profound, countrywide discontent...
...But the "bad government versus good people" . thesis can be pushed too far...
...Anti-irtflation, proposals have been scrapped Neither health insurance nor federal aid to education stand rrkich chance of pflssage...
...People HOW FAR CAN WE DISSOCIATE the Russians and the other Soviet peoples from the hostile, aggressive policy of the Soviet Government...
...Up to this point one can fully agree with the views expressed recently by Kerensky, Barmine/and others...
...of course), while a doctrinaire blueprint of...
...But three decades of gov...
...There is a large ruling class that hat) a vested interest in its continuance...
...It would have been .impossible for the Soviet regime to have survived such ordeals as the civil war of 1917-1920 and the recent world war, if it had not commanded a fair amount of active support and a larger measure of passive acquiesence...
...of'the Soviet- Unio«J and the world, *M there was not a third choice;| a free democratic Russian government...
...Whatever silent discontent there may be in the Sovlejj Union, there is no 'reason to hope that th(| ..Russian people would rebel if they received marching orders for some new venture in,' Soviet imperialism...
...It is no accident thatj Communist party members with cosmopolitan' backgrounds and western ties suffered most during the purge of the later 1930's...
...uJ Lenin was far from unique among Russian] rebels in his conception of the necessity for a| revolutionary dictatorship that would rule...
...Tho second reservation is perhaps more important...
...IF ADA ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING ELSE, it is hoped that it will absorb today's number one political fact: the traditional two-party system does not exist...
...The idea of a small group of bad...
...ernment by a combination of propaganda and terror have left a deep imprint...
...Immediate establishment of a cohesive work- ' ing federation of non-communist liberals is imperative, if pur ideals are not to become objects i of sterile Contemplation under the shadow of someone's iron heel...
...Very, few Soviet radio sets are equipped for receiving American shortwave broadcasts...
...all mean...
...and if the periodically unique stands of liberal Republicans' indicate a trend, perhaps they form yet a fifth political division)^ Lacking only official labels, these forces expose a state of political fragmentation not unlike that obtaining in Western Europe...
...And where do we go from here...
...This issue becomes more important as tension between Washington and Moscow grows...
...But what matters now is: What have liberals learned...
...to fight against both Stalin and'Hitler...
...noi^ manifested a Fair Dealish mood...
...the people absolutely (for their own goodT...
...Liberals must continue plugging at the dayto-day tasks, but the present crisis is more than , a legislative one...
...Practically no Soviet citizeijSr except high officials, ever see a foreign newspaper or a ^foreign magazine...
...It js stupid and uncivilized to draw up a blanket indictment against any people or any race...
...alien to the course of Russian historical dei velopment...
Vol. 32 • April 1949 • No. 15
