Tolerance, sympathy with oppressed peoples in Europe and the necessity of a vigorous fight against the fifth column in the United States were among the notes struck at the Republican National Convention.
The party’s platform, being prepared for submission to the convention, includes a statement of sympathy for all “oppressed peoples” in their fight for freedom and approval of such aid to beleaguered governments as may be extended without violation of international law or peril to American defense.
Governor Harold E. Stassen of Minnesota, in the keynote address last night, declared that “we must brush aside the brambles of prejudice, bitterness and hatred and lead through to national unity based upon understanding, tolerance and confidence.”
Listing “fifth column defense” as one of the nation’s “four major fronts,” he reviewed “the boring from within,” “treachery” and “treason” which had contributed to the destruction of European countries and asserted that “we must prepare our defense against similar actions here, carefully and vigorously but without any ill-considered witch-hunts.”
As part of the anti-fifth column drive he urged (1) barring of supporters of Communism, Nazism and Fascism from the public payrolls, (2) encouraging trade unions to oust officers sympathetic to these “isms,” (3) unmasking and exposing “those un-American organizations that are parading under false fronts,” (4) punishment of “every violation of law committed by the fifth columnists,”(5) correction of economic and social maladjustments to “take away the grounds of discontent upon which these fifth columnists seek to flourish.”
Governor Stassen stated that America cannot allow “governments in this hemisphere to be undermined by subversive elements linked to foreign aggressors. It is essential that we plan in advance and take decisive steps to establish hemisphere defense.”
The musical keynote of the convention was also one of tolerance. The meeting opened with the singing of the Robinson-Latouche “Ballad for Americans,” whose theme is the building of America by immigrants of various origins.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
