January
28, 1941
Letter to the Editor:
Propoganda Ministry Decried
o the Editor of the New York Times:
The creation of a national
propoganda ministry urged by Dr. Harwood L. Childs, associate Professor of
Politics at
As an associate of the
United States Committee of Public Information in the last war and active in the
public opinion field since then, I consider the proposal totalitarian in
character, threatening freedom of _expression, of the press and of speech in
peacetime and altogether dangerous. That such a ministry has not been appointed
despite the efforts of ill-advised proponents of the idea would indicate that
our government itself is aware of the dangers inherent in the proposal.
Propoganda for democracy in
peacetime must come from the people themselves in a democratic way, not through
a state propoganda ministry. In peacetime, while our great national decisions
are being made, the flow of public opinion must remain completely free. In
wartime such a ministry would serve a useful purpose. It would appear that our
government is alive to that contingency.
There is a great difference
between a propoganda ministry and men in government availing themselves of the
advice and research of qualified experts in the field of morale, sociologists,
pyschologists, adult educators, communication and public opinion technicians,
so that their actions may be both efficient and democratic to strengthen
national morale. But this should be done on a scientific basis from independent
sources in the same way that the government now seeks the advice of experts in
the physical sciences and not through any government propoganda ministry in
peacetime.
That proposal is
undemocratic and dangerous and should be squelched now.
-- EDWARD L. BERNAYS