Consolation, October 16, 1940

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Contents

Registration 2

Does America Need Roosevelt's Gestapo? 3

Repaying His Debt to Rome 3

Pinchot's Letter to President Roosevelt 6

I. Your 1937 and '38 Bills 7

II. Foreign Relations 9

Trying to Get into the War 11

Willkie Might Be Catholic Today If— 11

British Comment

Britain Under Bombardment 12

Questioning Religion 12

Agitated Parsons 13

Hierarchy in Britain 13

Mayhem in Nebraska 15

Milwaukee's District Attorney 16

Counsel by J. F. Rutherford

Futile Prayers and Movements 17

New England 19

New Jersey 20

Theocratic Convention Echoes 21

Now About Detroit 21

A Convention Resolution 22

Flag Displayed as Witnesses Convene 23

Boston 24

Great Falls 25

Seattle 26

Spokane 27

Jehovah's witnesses at Dunkerque 28

The Press 30

Published every other Wednesday by

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Editor Clayton J. Woodworth

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Appetizers

How the Lad Knew

The psychiatrist was making some experiments with an eighth grade class.

"The United States is bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean; and how old does that make me?" he said.

"Forty-four!" replied a lad.

"That's correct," said the psychiatrist. "How did you figure it out?"

"Well, my brother is twenty-two," said the boy, "and my mother says he's half nuts."

—Mentholatum.

An Unfinished Job

"You'll excuse me," said the kilted native of Aberdeen, "but were you the gentleman who fetched my laddie out of the river yesterday?"

Replied the embarrassed rescuer: "As a matter of fact, I'm the man. But let's say nothing about it."

"Say nothing about it, indeed! Man, where's his cap?"—Labor.

Knew the Facts

Fred: If baby swallowed a tadpole, mother, would it kill him?

Mother: I think it might, dear.

Fred: But it didn't, mother.—Recorder.

The Eye Came Out

"Joe has a glass eye."

"Did he tell you about it?"

"No, it just came out in the conversation."

General Motors Outlook

Teacher: If a farmer sold 1,470 bushels of corn at $1 a bushel, what would he get?

Pupil: An automobile.—Kellygram.

Registration

◆ The government has recently enacted a law requiring all male citizens between the ages of 21 and 35 to register and from the registered number an army for military training will be selected. In answer to all inquiries about registration our advice is:

Obey the law. Go and register at the time required.

That will also afford an opportunity in due time to give a witness to the faith that is in you.

CONSOLATION

"And in His name shall the nations hope."—Matthew 12:21, A.R.V.

Volume XXII Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, October 16, 1940 Number 550

Does America Need Roosevelt's Gestapo?

JEHOVAH OF HOSTS is maneuvering all the forces of wickedness to their final doom at Armageddon. "Therefore wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."—Zephaniah 3:8, A.R.V.

All the wise schemes of politicians and religionists shall fail. Their prayers shall not avail so much as a reed in a hurricane. As with Haman, the gallows on which they hope to hang Jehovah's witnesses shall be their own place of execution. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." To Jesus, now the reigning King, He gives this command: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."—Psalm 2:4, 9.

In the prophetic dramas of the Bible, religion, politics and commerce are pictured as driving down together upon Jehovah's faithful people. (2 Chronicles 20:1) "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." (Psalm 83:2, 4) Today these combined forces of the enemy are viciously striving to destroy Jehovah's witnesses; an action foretold by the assaults on ancient Israel. Jehovah's witnesses have been killed in many places and their work stopped in all continental Europe. Canada, to the north, has, through their Catholic dictator, silenced the messengers of the Lord. In this crisis, has Roosevelt acted to safeguard the interests of freedom and protect the people of the God he says he prays to? Consider the evidence and judge for yourself as to whether America is any exception to the "nations that forget God".—Psalm 9:17.

A brief allusion is here made to the circumstances which assisted Mr. Roosevelt to the presidency. It has previously been pointed out in Consolation that Roosevelt had entered upon a plan with the Vatican as early as 1933 to establish diplomatic relations with the pope as soon as "public opinion could be brought around to the idea". Pacelli, now Pope Pius XII, Postmaster General Farley, and "Father" Coughlin were all parties to the arrangements. This design upon America was revealed by the New York Sun, March 8, 1934. This issue of the paper was later suppressed. The veracity of the report, however, was proved by the appointment of Myron C. Taylor, in 1939. No doubt 1934 was not the earliest date of interview between the pope's emissaries and those of the ambitious Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the November 1932 election Catholic leaders threw their forces heavily in favor of Roosevelt. Thus Roosevelt is deeply in the debt of Rome.

Repaying His Debt to Rome

Roosevelt's subsequent actions lead to the conclusion that he made a concordat prior to his election; and that his establishment of diplomatic relations through Taylor, his formation of an American Gestapo, his packing of the Supreme Court, and his abandonment of Jehovah's witnesses to Jesuitized police and Legionnaires, are but acts in fulfillment of this concordat or secret agreement with the Papacy.

It is said that a concordat can be made only with a dictator, as its terms must remain secret. It is hard to believe that the Congress of this nation would ever consent to such a contract, which could be drawn only for the purpose of giving the pope authority in American affairs in exchange for certain privileges extended to the ruler making the contract. The people, either Protestant or Catholic, could not possibly be benefited. Gilbert O. Nations, writing both in the New York Times and in the Masonic magazine, The New Age, makes this matter very clear. Very little prominence has been given this in the press, however, even though every Protestant council except one, representing 35,000,000 Protestants, have passed resolutions against relations with the Vatican, according to the Protestant Digest.

The tie between Roosevelt and the Papacy is like an umbilical cord. Catholic power put him in office, and unless he receives Catholic support in November he is unlikely to be elected. Judge Rutherford pointed out in his speech at Detroit that the Hierarchy has other plans for Roosevelt even if it appears that he cannot carry the vote. He warned that, if the balloting appeared doubtful, Roosevelt might declare an emergency and seize the government. In this he would be aided by Catholic Action and all other fifth columnists. Just how well prepared the president is to do this might well appear from examination of the forward movement of his Gestapo.

Roosevelt's Gestapo

The Nazi model the president has adopted as his own. He first spiked the U. S. Supreme Court so as to pull the teeth of this once defender of American liberties. Through the years of his office he has constantly wooed and petted the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars as an instrument ready-made for illegal police work. He has formed this body into the American Gestapo. It is well known that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has long dominated this organization, and consequently it was perfectly adapted for the job of attacking the common enemies of Roosevelt and the pope. In fact, they were eagerly awaiting the "Go" signal which was synchronous with the forward move of Catholic Action.

The Hour Arrives

The May and June drive against Jehovah's witnesses was significant. It was like the first small riots and pogroms perpetrated upon the birds in Germany. It was an indication that Catholic Action had begun its long-planned drive destined to destroy the four Jesuit hates: Jewry, Masonry, liberality, and democracy. Jehovah's witnesses are merely considered 'the most active of the Protestant clan'. They are also thought to be defenseless, as the Hierarchy has no faith in the Lord. Hence the fight began upon the group that was particularly hated, not because of their numbers or might, but because their exposure of the Catholic racket was especially obnoxious to Pacelli. The outrageous action of the Legionnaires, together with priests and other Nazis, who led mobs to mistreat Jehovah's witnesses, is well known to all.

What is not well known is that this was but a preliminary. The American Legion, allied with other Fascist elements, has been formed into an effective weapon to carry out unofficially what cannot be accomplished through law. This is purest Fascism. It precludes the death of all freedom. The attack on the witnesses is but one side of the advance on every front. Neither is this said to arouse others in defense of the Lord's messengers; for they cannot expect and do not wish for any protection except from Jehovah. But that this is the Jesuit pattern cannot be doubted from the following:

STRIKE AT JEWS IN MAINE

VANDALS SMEAR VARNISH ON EIGHT STORES IN BATH, SLASH TIRES

Special to The New York Times.

BATH, Me., Sept. 7—In the first demonstration of racial conflict recalled here varnish was smeared over the store fronts and windows of eight Jewish-owned establishments before dawn today. The police are checking on German sympathizers in their search for clues.

Appearances indicate that the marking was done with an ordinary paint brush, but there were no identifying marks to indicate that the perpetrators were members of some organization opposed to Jews. There is ground for belief that persons living elsewhere did the job, similar acts of vandalism having been committed in Lewiston a few weeks ago.

Sam Prawer, a wholesale dealer in fruit and produce, who keeps a truck in front of his warehouse, reported that all the tires had been slashed.

[The New York Times, Sunday, Sept. 8, 1940]

This is the same sector in Maine where depredations on Jehovah's witnesses took place. In like manner the conflagration of Jesuit hatred always begins. As yet all is unsuspected. The same paper contains a report that in Albany, N. Y., an assembly of "Catholics, Protestants, and Jews—offered united prayers today for world peace". The Catholics always pursue the course of keeping the prospective victims unsuspecting. One of the most famous artists at this was Catherine de Medici, niece of the pope and perpetrator of the bloody Massacre of St. Bartholomew (in 1572), in which the French Protestants (Huguenots) were almost annihilated. Many of these were wedding guests of her daughter's. This massacre, by the way, was celebrated by ringing of Catholic church bells throughout Italy, just as Hitler's triumphs are so acclaimed today.

None Stands in the Breach

In the past America has had many able defenders of its cherished liberties. Besides such God-fearing men as Washington and Jefferson, who were outstanding among the authors of our freedom, there was Lincoln, who died at the hands of a Catholic because of his opposition to the Hierarchy. (See Consolation No. 548, page 6.) Garfield was foully murdered by a Catholic. McKinley incurred the wrath of Rome because of the fight America made during his presidency to free Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines from the curse of Catholic Spain. In all there were three Republican presidents 'liquidated' by Catholic agents. President Roosevelt did not need to be slain. It was found that he could be bought with political support. Mr. Willkie would not say in public address (September 14) that Roosevelt telephoned Hitler and Mussolini during the notorious Munich conference to "sell Czechoslovakia down the river" if he did not have the proof of his affiliation with the Catholic totalitarians.

Perhaps a prominent Dutch historian will now realize how foolish he was in resigning from the Dutch Treat Club because a fellow author said: "I know who the head of the Fifth Column here is. It's that fellow in the White House." (New York Post, May 15, 1940)

But some may still doubt that Roosevelt backed the mob action of the American Legion. Let the skeptical note the following vote of confidence after the Legion's action had been condemned by the honest publishers of the country, including Anthony Biddle, solicitor-general:

ROOSEVELT MOVES FOR HOME GUARD. Hyde Park, Aug. 6. The mobilizing of World War Veterans into home-defense regiments as replacements for National Guard units . . . is contemplated by President Roosevelt . . . These veterans, he indicated, would be mobilized on a voluntary basis with the co-operation of the organizations to which most of them belonged . . . such as the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. When the President chose to tell about the matter today he indicated that the home-defense plan had been fairly well formulated. [New York Times, August 7, 1940]

This occurred after the Legionnaires had led mobs on Jehovah's witnesses from Maine to California and from Texas to the Canadian border. Everywhere there was outcry against such anarchistic assaults. The above statement of the president of the United States is nothing more than approval of lawbreaking, just as Hitler has honored many of the Gestapo who have murdered his enemies. The president wished it plainly to appear that the Legion was even dearer in his eyes than ever after their first putsch as a united gestapo. Others might find them overimpetuous, but as for the chief executive this action was the kind of Fascism warming to his heart. It was Fascism both Roman and Catholic. It is too curious for coincidence that the attacks began two weeks before the decision on the flag salute came down against Jehovah's witnesses. The U. S. Supreme Court is now a New Deal organ. And the New Deal unofficial police were at work before the gun was fired. "He indicated that the home-defense plan had been fairly well formulated." Only a Fascist could want the American home defended by a bunch of hoodlums taking orders from Rome!

Washington was recently made an archdiocese. Farther and farther down the road to Rome we go. But the appetite of the insatiable harlot (thus the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is described in Revelation the 17th chapter) will never be sated by such favors. Not until America is abject before her power as France now is will the pope rub his hands and say "Good President Roosevelt". The Scriptures declare that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is destined to have such power for a time. The prophecies are bound to be fulfilled. But when this event takes place her desolation is nigh. According to many prophetic pictures she will be 'burned with fire' by her former allies, the political and commercial wings, particularly the radical element.

Meanwhile Roosevelt goes merrily on dining with Archbishop Spellman, having his picture made in company with priests and generally soliciting the glad hand from the Catholic Hierarchy. When one sets out to please the Hierarchy the process never ends. When the pope praised the Nazi hireling Petain as possessing an ideal government, lauding this traitor as "good Marshal Petain", the world could well understand how much the Papacy hated democracies and rejoiced in despotism, no matter how much soaked in blood. Consequently we may judge how to get the pope's real approbation.

When this country is in the same condition as France, then, and only then, may we look for the badge of Papal approval.

Jehovah’s witnesses would not deter the forward move of these events one whit. It is not their wish to attempt to impede the Hierarchy’s march to power which is being maneuvered by the Lord. But the important thing is for the people to see that the prophecy is being fulfilled. Those who desire the Lord’s protection are warned that when these conditions occur it is time to seek the only possible protection, Jehovah’s kingdom. Religion or Fascism, whether of the European or of the American variety, will never save one single creature.—Elton Groves.

Pinchot’s Letter to President Roosevelt

May 20, 1940.

The Hon. Franklin D. Roosevelt,

The White House,

Washington, D.C.

My dear Mr. President:

In view of the fact that an effort is being made to break down, presumably with your consent, the anti-third term tradition—that is to say, the tradition that no man shall be allowed to exercise the powers of the presidency for more than eight consecutive years—I take the liberty of writing you this letter.

For, occupied as you have been, and indeed overtaxed, by the duties and responsibilities of your office, it is possible that you have not taken time to consider the probable effect of the third term drive, not primarily on yourself or your party, but on the country and the character and direction of American political thought. For, in the last analysis, it is the people’s thinking that will shape the country’s future.

Abraham Lincoln, in a little quoted passage in his first inaugural said:

“The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people . . . ” who have “wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief; and have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their hands at very short intervals.”

And perhaps he would have spoken more strongly had he known that, in the next three-quarters of a century, the President’s authority would be so enlarged—by statutes, by job and money patronage, and by an overgrown federal bureaucracy, extending its control to state and city politics in every section—that today any man who has served two terms in the White House, and wants a third, can override opposition and make himself his party’s candidate.

Mr. President, if you renominate yourself, for that is what it amounts to, your party will have to fight, in the coming campaign, on three vital and essentially related issues. They are vital and they are related, because they raise the question: What are the proper limits of the authority of the President of the United States?

These issues will be (a) the immense powers you have already gained, and the far greater powers you tried to secure in 1937 and ’38, through a series of bills which, if passed, would have given you the full authority of a dictator; (b) your attitude toward America’s involvement in the war; and (c) your desire to break down the anti-third term tradition, and become the first American to remain in the White House for twelve years in a row.

I am not a Democrat. And I am not writing this letter out of any wish to see your administration avoid errors that might insure its defeat next fall. On the contrary, I believe it has been in too long and become too strong. And, though it did many needed and beneficial things in your first term, your second term has tragically failed as an instrument of recovery, progress and re-employment. It has left unsolved every serious national problem. And it is evident that a change is required.

But what seems to stand out as clear and important in the situation is this: Any party that goes before the people in a nation-wide effort to convince them that the President should be armed with the sort of powers that were provided in the bills referred to, will be doing a major dis-service. For it will be defending a legislative program which, had it not been defeated, would have assured a puppet Congress, a puppet Court, a puppet press, and a government-controlled economic system, to be steered, allowed to go ahead, or hauled back, like a toy boat sailing in a pond at the end of a string.

Later on I will raise the question whether this country should or should not enter the European war. Obviously it is a question on which everyone is entitled to his own opinion. But, at this point, it may be said that, in your handling of foreign relations, you have gone far toward laying down the proposition that you, instead of Congress, should have authority to make the choice between war and peace. More than that, while you have frequently declared your preference for peace, in a more or less perfunctory manner, you have followed up such declarations by making almost every argument that might justify our entry into the war.

No political party in this democracy can afford to defend the doctrine that the President shall decide the issue of war and peace, any more than any party can go to the people on the proposition involved in your third term drive, namely, that your presence in the White House is indefinitely indispensable. And, Mr. President, if the Democratic party does defend these propositions—and it will have to if you are its candidate—it will be turning American thinking away from Democracy, away from peace, and away from the basic ideas of life and government that have nourished and sustained our commonwealth for a century and a half.

I. Your 1937 and '38 Bills

Space forbids a discussion of the expansion of presidential authority which you have actually accomplished from 1933 to the spring of 1937. This was the period in which a subservient Congress, in the name of emergency, gave you practically every power you asked for over agriculture, industry, business, foreign relations, taxation and the spending of the public funds.

But I would like to refer, at some length, to the powers which were embodied in the White House Bills proposed by yourself and your advisors, and defeated in 1937 and '38. For in these measures we have an authentic, unchallengeable record of your intentions on the subject of concentrating power in the President's hands. Consequently, in order to make clear, in brief form, the purpose and meaning of these measures, I have gathered together some of their more significant provisions, and have re-drafted and condensed them into a single measure, using simple and untechnical language.

And here I would like to emphasize the fact that there is no provision or even implication in this condensed measure, which, for convenience, we will call the Presidential Powers Bill, that is not found in the bills they are condensed from. And I may add that, if you will show me any provision in my bill which, in substance, is not found in your bills, I will be glad to send you my check for $1,000.00, to be donated to any charity you may select.

A Bill

To authorize the President: to enlarge the powers of the Presidency in peace and war; to control Congress; regulate industry; censor the press and radio; guide constitutional decisions of the Supreme Court; and for other purposes.

TITLE I. REORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT

Section 1. The President is hereby authorized (a) to change the name and functions of the office of President, or (b) to abolish that office and set up another in its place.

Section 2. The President is authorized (a) to change the name and functions of the Executive Departments, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, the National Labor Relations Board, and all other agencies and offices in the Executive Branch of the government, or (b) to abolish them.

Section 3. The President is authorized to nullify and prevent the enforcement of laws passed by Congress, by abolishing any or all agencies set up by Congress to enforce its laws.

TITLE II. CONTROL OF INDUSTRY

Section 1. The President, acting through a Board of five persons, appointed by and responsible to himself, is authorized to establish a standard minimum wage not to exceed $1,200 a year—except as hereinafter provided—and a work-week of whatever hours the Board may decide to be fair.

Section 2. (a) The President's Board may at any time set aside the standard wage and fair work-week established in accordance with Section 1, for any industry, class of industries, or individual concern; and fix whatever wages and hours it may see fit. (b) The President's Board may thereafter change hours and wages as often as it may see fit. (c) The President's Board may require any employer to establish, in addition to fair wages and hours, whatever other labor conditions it may see fit.

Section 3. The President's Board may cancel agreements between employers and employees arrived at through collective bargaining, if and when it decides that the facilities for collective bargaining are ineffective.

Section 4. Violation of any provision of this section shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00, or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. Each employment of a person in violation of this Title shall be considered a separate offense. (Example: A publisher or broadcaster employing 1000 persons in violation of this Act would be punishable by a fine not to exceed $500,000, or imprisonment not to exceed 500 years, or both.)

TITLE III. CONTROL OF THE PRESS AND RADIO

Section 1. The provisions in Title II, giving the President authority to change wages, hours, and other labor conditions, at discretion, shall apply to the newspaper and radio industries, to the end that the President shall be empowered to discriminate against or discipline any newspaper or broadcasting company whose policies do not coincide with those of his administration.

Section 2. Anyone who publishes and transports across state lines, or through the mails, any material known by such publisher to be false, shall, upon conviction, be barred from the use of the mails for six months, and shall be fined not less than $1000, and imprisoned for not more than two years.

Section 3. The question whether such material was false, and whether the publisher knew it to be so, shall be decided by an appropriate authority.

TITLE IV. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Section 1. The President, acting through the Secretary of Labor, is hereby authorized to blacklist, at his discretion, and render ineligible for government contracts for a period of three years, any contractor whom the National Labor Relations Board shall report (but need not prove) to have engaged in an unfair labor practice.

TITLE V. WAR POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

Section 1. Upon a declaration of war by the United States against any nation, large or small, the President is hereby authorized: (a) to fix, by proclamation, and to adjust, and readjust, at any time, upward or downward, at his discretion, the maximum price at which any article, or product, or any property, or right or interest in property may be bought, sold, leased, or contracted for, whether such articles, products, property, etc., shall relate to war or not; (b) to fix, by proclamation, and to adjust, and readjust, upward or downward, at his discretion, the maximum wage, compensation, or contract price of all labor and services, whether such labor and services shall relate to war or not.

Section 2. By virtue of the authority granted to the President in the foregoing section, to fix and change at will, and without limit, the maximum prices and compensations for articles, products, and services (which includes the price of newspapers, periodicals, print paper, et cetera, and the compensation for advertising, entertainment, and other services) the President is empowered to censor the publishing and broadcasting industries, and, if need be, to make unprofitable any newspaper or broadcasting company which refuses to follow the instructions of the White House.

TITLE VI. REORGANIZATION OF THE SUPREME COURT

Whereas certain provisions of this or other Acts of Congress, enlarging the President's powers over Congress, business, agriculture, and other phases of American life, might be held unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, the President is hereby authorized to add to that Court six new justices of his own choosing.

I repeat that, incredible as it may seem, each and every power in the foregoing bill is taken from actual bills sponsored by yourself or your advisors in the period referred to. And the fact that they did not shock the country, even more than was the case, was mainly due to two circumstances. In the first place, the bills were introduced at intervals, so that their force and meaning was never fully grasped by the people. In the second place, they were radically altered by congressional committees before they were given publicity.

For example, the power, provided in the condensed bill, to change the name and functions of the Presidency, or abolish that office and set up another in its place, is found in the typewritten, White House draft of the Reorganization Bill dated February 16, 1937, in Titles I and V, and also in the revised draft of February 22, but not in the drafts debated on the floor of Congress. Both of the original drafts were made after consultation with you by men chosen and paid by you for the purpose.

Likewise, the highly coercive power to change and rechange, without limitation, wages, hours, and other labor conditions in the publishing, broadcasting, and other industries, was given you in the original Black-Connery Bill, introduced by Senator Hugo L. Black, now Supreme Court Justice, on May 24, 1937. And the same is true of the other powers granted you in the condensed bill. Talk about Economic Royalists! These bills would have established an economic, plus a political, royalism such as was never before contemplated in a free country.

Also, it should be noted that the bulk of these bills made their appearance under misleading declarations of purpose. The court packing bill was offered to the country as a more or less routine measure designed to lighten the labors of federal justices. The Black-Connery Bill, which would have set up an executive dictatorship over capital and labor, was introduced as a mere wages and hours measure. As I remember, you referred to it as a bill "to put a few dollars in a poor devil's pay envelope at the end of the week".

The Reorganization Bill sailed under the colors of an efficiency measure, and was preceded by a message from the White House, stating categorically that it would not increase the President's power. While the war powers bill was printed under the reassuring caption, "A Bill—To prevent profiteering in time of war and to equalize the burdens of war and thus provide for the national defense, and promote peace."

Mr. President, your lost battalion of bills was a political and economic monstrosity. It was a reduction to legislative form of a dream of unrestrained executive ambition, a dream which, unfortunately, was more than a dream, and which still persists, as shown by the unceasing efforts of your administration to strip Congress of its constitutional functions, and vest in the Executive more and more power over the economic and political organization of the country. It is evident that, had these bills been enacted, they would have put this country on the path, not of creeping socialism, but of galloping collectivism and dictatorship. And it seems equally evident that they were drafted by men who, having lost interest in the American way of doing things, were going on the principle that the only good democracy is dead democracy, and that the Constitution is a fine thing to praise, but a better thing to maim or destroy.

II. Foreign Relations

So much for the issue that would be raised, should you seek a third term, by your program of 1937 and '38, and your continuing desire to acquire authority at the expense of the legislative and judicial branches of the government. Now let us turn, for a moment, to foreign relations; for here again it would seem that no party would be justified in asking the American electorate to accept certain propositions which you have laid down.

In the opinion of many experts of good standing, the worst thing that could happen to England and France would be for the United States to become physically involved in the war. For this would necessarily divert our natural and industrial resources from the Allies. Our entry would mean that our productive energy would be required to strengthen our sadly lacking and obsolete military establishment.

Unfortunately, though the New Deal has seen the European war coming since 1937, it has been as impractical and inefficient in military matters as in the matter of recovery. It has spent seven billions. It has talked a great deal about modernizing our system of defense, just as it has talked about balancing the budget, restoring employment and farm incomes, and carrying on a large housing program. But it has done exceedingly little. And now, at the end of seven years, with war sweeping the world, we have no army to speak of, a very small air force, inadequate coast defenses, practically no anti-aircraft guns, and a paralyzing public debt which will make adequate military preparations possible only at the cost of a serious sacrifice in the standard of living.

For seven years, under your leadership and that of the Brain Trust, your administration has been carrying on an economic war against depression. And the results have not been gratifying; for there has been little co-ordination or effective administration, less foresight and consistent planning, and no steady application of horse sense. And the question arises: Under the same kind of leadership could a military war be effectively waged? No, Mr. President, if we want to help the Allies—and nine Americans out of ten do—common sense demands that this country shall stay at peace; that it shall keep its shirt on and not be rushed across the ocean into ill-considered adventures in Europe or Asia, where we cannot fight effectively in any case.

And yet, you have moved steadily to a position far beyond that authorized by Congress and approved by the American people—namely, that of aiding the Allies by making our industrial output available to them. Indeed, your administration has advanced to a point where, with one foot in the war and the other in the air, it should be comparatively easy for it to throw this country irrevocably into the conflict.

A little over a year ago, your personal representative in Paris made an address, in the presence of high French officials, which, if less than a promise, was more than a hint that America would fight for France, should war occur. Less than two months later, you yourself publicly recorded your belief that, in case of war, America's "physical involvement" would become a "virtual certainty".

In the recently published American White Paper—which must be taken as authorized since you have publicly recommended it, and it was compiled with the help of at least one member of your official family, and with access to official files—it is stated that, in conversations with the Attorney General and the Secretary and Under-Secretary of State, you have taken the stand that, while you will not send an expeditionary force across the ocean, you might be willing to send our navy and air forces.

A week ago, in your speech before the eighth American Scientific Congress, you again expressed an intention to keep the country at peace. Nevertheless, almost in the same breath, you all but declared war on Germany. And dramatically, in an appeal to fear, you restated the arguments for armed intervention. Last Monday, Secretary Hull, in an address of mysterious meaning, before the American Society of International Law, seemed to say, but did not quite say, that we ought to intervene in an effort "to keep alive in the world the principle of order under law".

What do such statements mean, Mr. President? Why this mystery? Why this facility in never quite saying it? I have been convinced for a long time that you sincerely believe that this country ought to enter the war, and that, if you are re-elected, you will move rapidly in that direction. But, in any case, your statements indicate a misconception of the scope and functions of the Presidency and, one may add, an overlooking of the fact that the decision between war and peace must, under our Constitution, be made not by yourself but by Congress, in the light of future circumstances, if and when the occasion arises.

In short, your position seems prematurely taken and more prematurely spoken, and inconsistent with your expressed resolve to prevent a blackout of peace. And, what is more, it comes near to laying down the proposition that, when the people elect a President, they give, in advance, to a single individual, a mandate to commit one hundred and thirty million people to war, and all that war means.

Again, an analysis of the utterances of various administration leaders—Secretary Ickes, Senator Pittman, Under-Secretary Welles, et cetera—since the third term drive began in 1937, reveals an intemperate and inflammatory quality better suited to create international friction and hatred, and a war psychology in our country, than to keep America in such a relation to Europe that, conceivably, it might act as a mediator to bring the present unspeakable disaster to a close.

One does not question the sincerity of these and others among your advisors. In fact it is their sincerity that makes them dangerous. But it is possible that their judgment may have been influenced by the consideration that, only through an expectancy of war, or war itself, can the feeling against the third term be overcome, and they themselves be assured the opportunity to continue their usefulness to the country in an official capacity.

Nothing can exceed the horror with which public opinion in the United States regards the savage and inhuman course of Adolf Hitler and his government. Yet, what is to be gained by continually shaking one's fist at him across the Atlantic Ocean, or by the endless stream of threats and invective that flows eastward out of Washington? Certainly it has had no tendency either to help the Allies or to check or embarrass Hitler. In Germany it has probably strengthened Hitler's hold on his people. In America it has undoubtedly excited the public, clouded its judgment, and increased the likelihood of our being drawn into war.

Despite the so-called American liberals who have found pleasure and profit in running down the United States, we have a great country. On the whole, it is a generous and enlightened country, and a tolerant one. It has made mistakes, and will make others, plenty of them. But, in the long account, it has developed a higher degree of freedom and opportunity than has been found in other nations. And this should not be sacrificed in a rash and barren excursion into a war which would help no one, a war for which we are unprepared, a war that might destroy millions of our young people and, at the same time, tear down what we have built in seven generations of effort.

The American people, Mr. President, have done a good deal for themselves in a hundred and fifty years, which, after all, is but a tick of time in the world's history. Likewise, they have done a good deal for humanity. And the possibilities of the future are larger and finer than the accomplishments of the past. And of one thing they may be certain in this time of uncertainty. They should continue on the path of peace and democracy which they have followed, faithfully in the main, and kneel at their own and no other altars.

Sincerely yours,

[signed] AMOS PINCHOT Trying to Get into the War

◆ Uncle Sam is trying desperately to get into the World War, and, under the able political maneuvering of the gentleman who sent his personal representative to the Vatican, will almost surely succeed, and then, in the same degree as Hitler, and Mussolini, and Franco, he will be monarch of all he surveys, subject only to the will of Pacelli. Early in June America released 50 Navy planes to the Allies, and a few days later 10 submarine chasers and 10 motor torpedo boats. That is the way to do it, Franklin. Also, and self-evidently, when Hitler and his Fifth Column get ready to take over America there will be nothing to prevent a completely successful putsch. “Reverend Father” Coughlin’s Christian Front will see to that.

“The Hand That Held The Dagger”

◆ In President Roosevelt’s address at Charlottesville he said of Mussolini, “On this 10th day of June, 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.” It was a clever way of putting a bitter truth across so that all could know what he meant. Mussolini merits the contempt back of the remark.

Says Roosevelt to Hitler and Stalin

◆ No nation is truly at peace if it lives under the shadow of coercion or invasion. Peace reigns among us (American nations) today because we have agreed, as neighbors should, to mind our own businesses. . . . We did not stamp out nations, capture governments, or uproot innocent people from the homes they had built. We did not invent absurd doctrines of race supremacy, or claim dictatorship through universal revolution. The inter-American order was not built by hatred and terror. Old dreams of universal empire are again rampant. We hear of races which claim the right of mastery. We learn of groups which insist they have the right to impose their way of life on other nations.—From President Roosevelt’s address to the Pan American Union.

July 12, 1940 THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSE BULLETIN

Willkie Might Be Catholic Today If—

ELWOOD, Ind.—Had Herman Willkie not married outside of the Church, his son Wendell, the Republican presidential nominee, might be a Catholic today.

Herman Willkie was born of Catholic parents in Germany and baptized a Catholic before being brought to this country as a child. Although raised a practical Catholic, he left the Church at the time of his marriage to Henrietta Frich of Wabash, Ind., a Lutheran girl who also had come from Germany.

HAD PRIEST AT DEATH

However, a Catholic priest, Monsignor B. Biegel, was with the G. O. P. nominee’s father when he died.

Frank Willkie, a brother of Herman and an uncle of Wendell, is a Catholic and attends Mass daily at St. Joseph Church here.

This information is verified by the Most Rev. John F. Noll, Bishop of Fort Wayne, Ind., in his paper, Our Sunday Visitor, where he is quoted as saying that he recently had an interview “with an uncle of Wendell Willkie, the only surviving brother of Wendell’s father, who is a daily communicant at St. Joseph Church, Elwood, Ind.

RELATIVES IN CONVENT

Bishop Noll says Wendell’s father “married Henrietta Frich, a Wabash, Ind., girl before a Methodist clergyman,” and “did not bring up his children Catholic.” The Bishop adds the children of the surviving brother and sisters of Wendell’s father are Catholics.

“In fact,” he says, “one of his aunts has two daughters in the convent, one a Sister of the St. Agnes community with headquarters at Fond du Lac, Wis., and the other a Sister belonging to the Sisters of St. Francis of Joliet, Ill.”

While they lived here Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Willkie belonged to the Methodist Church. They now belong to the Episcopalian Church.

Wendell L. Willkie

Both Roosevelt and Willkie are immensely wealthy; both are of Catholic sympathies and connections; totalitarian rule by one of these men is a certainty, it would seem.

British Comment

By J. Hemery (London)

Britain Under Bombardment

● It is now nearly a year since Britain declared it was at war with Germany. Immediately after Prime Minister Chamberlain made the momentous fact known there came the wailing of a siren, warning of enemy aircraft, but it is only in the eleventh month that Germany has launched in force of numbers its attack on Britain. On some days, it is said, as many as 600 to 800 bombers and their accompanying fighters have started and have got to or approached the coast. Great battles in the air there were—it is a terrible thing to think of fighting at 20,000 to even 30,000 feet, above the clouds or in the clear blue of the sky—as the attackers were met by the defense planes. Many hundreds of the German planes were shot down: it is reported that up to the time of this writing more than 1,100 have been shot down since these attacks began; but it is impossible to keep the air "coast" of Britain as the navy has kept the sea coast, and many bombers have got inland and have wrought destruction and have killed and wounded many of the people.

After a few days of comparative quiet, bombing has been resumed, and now apparently without attempt at discrimination between military objectives and the homes of the people. Whether this air attacking is part of the announced scheme for the invasion and reduction of Britain to German rule, or whether there is another purpose in it, no one knows, but its effect is to make the people realize that there is no definite "front" fighting line in this war, and that every town and every village is in the front line of battle. Sometimes bombs are dropped before the people have been warned by the sirens, and sometimes without any warning at all, and in the case of the shelling of the Kent coast by guns on the French coast in the narrowest part of the English Channel shells arrive even before their own swishing sound is heard.

Neither the friends nor the enemies of Britain throughout the world can do other than wonder what the reaction of the people is to this complete change in the nation's situation: the friends of this land where personal liberty has been rooted in its institutions, and is now threatened, and for which both for itself and for others the nation professes to have taken up arms, watch with sympathetic interest; the enemies watch to see what advantage may be gained for themselves and their coconspirators in the evil abroad among the nations. It can be plainly stated that there is no sign of panic because of the general situation, nor even when the sounding of the sirens and of the air defense guns tells of danger which may be immediately near. To the contrary it can be said that the purpose of the people in backing up the Government’s decision in the war is stiffened. They are calm and the life and business of the country goes on as unaffectedly as is possible. And all this is of more than passing interest to those who know from the Scriptures that this war is included in those to which Jesus made reference when, in His great prophecy spoken to His disciples just before the religionists got Him murdered, He said of the days of His return to establish His kingdom in the earth, “And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars.” (Matthew 24:6) Whatever vitally affects the nation of Britain must be of serious interest to Jehovah’s witnesses, who yet have liberty to witness for God and for Christ Jesus, and to tell of the kingdom of God.

Questioning Religion

● The altogether unexpected events of the past few months which have caused Britain to become an island fortress, and to become in war the sole challenger of Nazi aggression against the freedom of men, have made great numbers do some thinking for themselves instead of trusting to their clergy and the preachers. What Judge Rutherford has said in public addresses, and in the books which Jehovah's witnesses take to the people for their chance of learning what the Bible says, is brought to mind as the puzzle of the unusual situation is forced on them by the daily happenings. Thousands are reading with eagerness to find an answer to their wonderings; for the ideas about Britain’s special place of favor with God which held in Queen Victoria’s days has still some place among religionists. And the Roman Catholics, whose Hierarchy has chosen their idol Mary as the special protectoress of England, have amongst them many who question whether they have been the dupes of their priests.

Agitated Parsons

● The establishment of the church as an integral feature of the constitution of England necessitated the building of a church in every parish in the land, and its equipment of clergy to conduct its ordained service, according to the prayer book—the parson's law, from which he may not deviate. It has been the boast of the church that this State law guaranteed that there would be at least one gentleman in each village in England. Of course, many of these parsons have been gentlemen; many have not. In the days when John Wesley began to travel through the land the clergy of England—and the religion they professed to keep up—were in a bad way. Wesley gave both them and the country a shake-up, and incidentally suffered much at the hands of mobs instigated by the parsons. So long as the church of England remains as established by the State there must be a parson in each parish. But the population has greatly increased, and churches have multiplied, and consequently the numbers of the clergy are greatly increased. In the towns and cities the influence of the clergy is much minimized by the different conditions of life; but in the villages and suburban districts the parsons watch over their preserves with a keen eye lest any of their sheep should seek other pasturage than the meager cropping the parsons provide.

Of late a number of these "clergy" have used their church magazines to speak evil of the witness to the truth of the Scriptures which Jehovah's witnesses, obeying the command of the Lord, carry to the homes of the people. They hate that the people should be informed of the truth, and they show that they have the same spirit as their prototypes, the scribes and Pharisees, who were so mad that Jesus taught the people as to take means of killing Him. But as yet the Church of England, as an organization, has not attempted to interfere with the liberties of its members, nor warned them against reading for themselves. The Roman Catholic church, alive to its weakness in this matter, of course, forbids its members and adherents to read any book or paper dealing with the Scriptures except such as has passed the censor of the Hierarchy and got its proof stamp. The Presbyterian church of Scotland is concerned about its members and its own position, and has entered on a campaign of slanderous statements about the work of Jehovah's witnesses. The Church of England is more assured of its position as part of the State, and its history shows it has a great measure of tolerance. The tendency throughout the world at the present time is towards repression, and as the days for religion darken undoubtedly all the churches will get into line in these things and try to repress freedom of thought as well as of action.

Hierarchy in Britain

● In Britain the Hierarchy is keeping the interests of the Roman Catholic church well to the front these days. It has provided a cross for every loyal church soldier to wear under his tunic, and the English cardinal Hinsley has blessed the lot. The wearing will keep the church in daily remembrance, at least probably so, but there is no reason for thinking it will have any other effect—except indeed that of misleading the wearer into belief in the efficacy of his church and his "fathers".

A more definite effort of the Hierarchy is the formation of a new organization to be called the "Sword of the Spirit", aiming at unifying all Roman Catholic action and war effort. Probably the underlying purpose is to entice other religious organizations into some form of union with them; for it is said the "movement seeks to identify not only the enemy with 'evil things' but the cause of the Allies with the Christian cause". The Hierarchy is fearful lest Britain should make any kind of alliance with Russia—"Godless Russia," as they put it. The cardinal is made president of this new organization, and in his message of agreement he brands the Nazis as "a pagan clique of upstarts". One purpose of this group of Catholics who are said to have proposed the idea of the new organization—but which may be considered as arising out of the inner councils of the Hierarchy, is to keep Catholic Action alive among the troops, that is, to have the loyal Catholics among the troops active workers for the increase of the Roman Catholic church among their fellows. The Catholic Herald, in commenting on the recent broadcast speech by Lord Halifax, said, "We know that Britain, moved by the spirit which produced Lord Halifax's speech, united in defense of Christianity, informed by Catholic support and influence—and by the grace of God—will triumph over her enemies, be they German Nazism or Russian Communism or the evil genius of both which is atheism. The Roman Catholics in the British army are now encouraged to fight as the champions of Christianity against paganism, and so to be encouraged to fight for their church and their country. In Rome the Hierarchy which governs the whole system takes the wider view, and is ready to take out of the world mess that which will suit its unfailing purpose of getting hold of the controlling power in the whole earth, to which through the centuries it has put forward its claim.

Roman Catholics in Parliament

● These are not numerous. Recently a new member was elected to succeed one who had resigned, and a Roman Catholic newspaper remarking on this says, "Catholics in the House of Commons now number 21."

Blessing Cars

● On the eve of "Saint Christopher's feast" "Father" O'Leary "blessed" a number of motorcars and motorcycles. He sprinkled them with "holy water", and prayed that "God" would bid His angels protect each blessed car. Some non-Catholic owners joined in to get what chance was going. The Roman Catholic bishop of Nottingham, "Reverend" McNulty, has a new reason why "St. Christopher" has been chosen as the patron of motorists. He said he had heard that it was because the "saint" was for many years in charge of a Ford. The bishop has a sense of fun, and very probably his own belief in the care of Christopher is not so great as in careful driving.

The Gaelic American

◆ The Gaelic American cheerfully proclaims as its motto, "Never forget that England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity." This back-stabbing policy is carried out by Sean Russell, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army, and Joseph McGarrity, Philadelphia leader of the Clan-na-Gael, who were hobnobbing with the Nazis in Hamburg when the British army was facing what looked like annihilation on the narrow strip of coast around Dunkerque.

Liberty in England and in Germany

◆ The other night there was a little private meeting of about twenty or thirty young men and women who were arguing about this question, and almost without exception saying that "liberty" and "individual freedom" were bogus, didn't exist in our society, meant nothing anyhow, and that really there was very little difference between the position of a workingman in England and the position of a workingman in Germany. The conversation went on from eight till nearly midnight, and just before midnight they turned to a German refugee who happened to be present, and said: "What do you think?" He made a very simple reply. He took off his coat, and then his waistcoat, and then his shirt, and showed them his back scarred from top to bottom with horrible wounds. "That's the difference," he said. "That happened to me in a German concentration camp because I advocated socialism at a private house at which a Gestapo spy was present. In Germany every one of you would be in a concentration camp tomorrow, and most of you would have a back like mine."—The Book Club (London magazine).

A Parliamentary Dictatorship

◆ It seems odd to speak of a Parliamentary dictatorship, but that is the nature of the dictatorship in Britain. It was a Parliament, not a group of gangsters, that voluntarily gave the British Government its authority to conscript every person, every piece of property and every penny in the realm, and it was the leader of the Labor party himself who introduced the bill. In 163 minutes Britain gave up rights which it had enjoyed for 1,000 years. Persons in any occupation may be shifted to any other occupation, or to any other locality; factories may be conscripted, closed or destroyed; banks controlled; profits abolished; furniture and automobiles requisitioned, including private stocks thereof that are held in warehouses.

Back from Flanders

◆ Back from Flanders, British soldiers told of hand-to-hand fighting with German soldiers in front of them and turning to see dozens of parachutists, dressed as women and carrying machine guns which they used on everyone in sight. They told of German troops coming in wave after wave to certain death, with their bodies piled up and used as sandbags behind which machine guns were established. A wounded German soldier was quoted as saying, "What can we do? We obey or die. We were brought up to this since we were children." Such is the totalitarian Pacelli-Hitler setup by which the Devil and his demons are determined to prolong their control of the race, or ruin them in the attempt.

Northwestern States

Mayhem in Nebraska

◆ Encouraged by reason of the open failure and refusal of public officials to give any protection to Jehovah's witnesses in Nebraska from mobs and violence, recently in a Nebraska town two wicked and demonized men went to the home of one of Jehovah's witnesses and represented themselves to be Jehovah's witnesses from another town and stated that they desired to talk to the witness. When he stepped out of the door they violently seized him, dragged him away from his home and transported him to a grove of trees and there, with a third fellow of their gang, forcibly performed an operation of cruelty upon him by taking out one of his testicles, otherwise known as castration. When through, they defiantly yelled at the agonized witness, "There, that will hold you for a while." This should be a warning to all of the Lord's people to be careful, especially at night, when approached by strangers, not to let such persons inveigle them into a place of danger on their porches or elsewhere.

This is the second warning on this subject. See the first one, "To All Kingdom Publishers," in Consolation No. 549, page 31. These warnings from God's organization should be heeded, on the human and divine grounds set forth in Proverbs 19:25, 26: "Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware; and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge. He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach." Jehovah's sons need guidance and help in this evil day, and that guidance comes through the Word of God and His own organization—father and mother of the New Government.

If necessary, in the faithful performance of your covenant vows, to be alone at night in this evil time, then rest content in the Lord. Do His will and abide by the result, regardless of what may occur, and you will be blessed and your eternal interests protected. But do not henceforth take unnecessary risks, especially at night, and when alone. The Lord's advice for witnesses to travel in pairs is good advice, especially at night, in dangerous times like these, and in sections where crime is rampant and loud-mouthed professors of patriotism are insulting and defiling everything for which America stands.

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