A Pyrrhic Victory

Propaganda and counter-propaganda are a science and not a brain storm. The successful demand which was made upon Mayor O’Brien of New York to suppress the German meeting in the State Armory was in the nature of such a panicky stampede. Only a fortuitous political constellation favored its success. Otherwise it would have turned into a dismal rout.

When the arrangement committee of the celebration offered to drop from its list of speakers the alien agitator, Spanknoebel, and to insure that the speeches would in no way be of an anti-Semitic nature, the Jewish objection to the meeting should have been withdrawn promptly and gracefully. This would have established a desirable precedent for all future meetings of similar character. It would not have thrust to the forefront the question of free speech and would not have put us in the position of opposing it when our particular interests are at stake.

The question of free speech is an exceedingly difficult and perplexing one in a democracy and we do not wish to approach it from any naive doctrinaire angle. The menace of unrestricted free speech is something with which every democratic government is confronted and for which it has not yet found a proper solution. In this regard democratic governments are everywhere disadvantaged. In order to remain true to their own fundamental philosophies of government, democracies must permit parties which are hostile to them—Fascist, Nazi, Communist—to carry on their propaganda unchecked. They must stand idly by while their bitterest enemies are forging the weapons with which they will ultimately destroy them. They must watch helplessly while the cubs grow into bears…. When the hour of crisis and decision finally arrives, democracies frequently do resort to repressive measures. But then as a rule they are too late.

The plight of the Jew in this regard is one with that of democratic government generally, and should be so understood. We must reconcile ourselves to the realities of the situation. Nazi Germany has its friends and paid agents all over the world, including our own country. These will not be silent and they cannot be silenced in any democratic society. We might succeed in freeing our country from some of the imported agitators but there are native-born agitators of Nazi-sympathies a-plenty in our midst. They will have their say. We could not stop Ford and the Ku Klux Klan from having their say. They will hold meetings, publish newspapers and spread all kinds of propaganda.

Our defense lies in a forceful, dignified and continuous counter-propaganda. Our appeal must be to the American sense of fair play and to the principles of tolerance and humanity which are at the heart of the great American tradition. Wherever the authority of our government can be properly invoked it should, of course, be done but we must not ask what a democratic government cannot grant. The forums of America are open to us. The press, pulpits and platforms of this country have been ready to give us not only a courteous but a welcome hearing. Organized labor and the organized religious forces of the nation have been splendidly cooperative. To retain this good will we should try to persuade our friends rather than conquer our enemies.

There is no occasion for panic or hysteria. Cool heads and stout hearts are what the hour calls for. We should guard ourselves against magnifying every piddling incident and every two-by-four case of “rishus” into a national issue. We should not imagine every humbug to be a bugbear. Particularly should we guard ourselves against the vicious practice which has developed of late of thrusting the Jewish issue into every political campaign. This is nothing short of a betrayal of the Jewish cause. If we are not careful, we shall soon find ourselves in the position of the man in the fable who cried “wolf! wolf” once too often. There will be time enough to muster our forces for political action when candidates appear in a campaign on an outspoken anti-Semitic platform….

Whatever is found to be truly serious and menacing should be faced, exposed and public opinion focussed upon it. If public opinion can no longer be counted on to reject such attempts, then our case is lost.

As against Nazi Germany, there is the boycott; for the world’s public opinion cannot penetrate Germany. As against Nazi propaganda in the United States there are the powerful weapons of education, information and cooperation with all the freedom-loving liberal forces among our non-Jewish fellow citizens.