POLITICS OR EDUCATION?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600210010-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 10, 1999
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: September 24, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : C l 49R0.O0.60021.D010-5__
ltOria
Politics or Education?
PASADENA, CALIF. There were a few red faces recently
INDEPUNDENT when some Congressmen, poking into
5 10
m. 2
S. 59,
9t 68
Front
Pogo
the tax-exempt status of some 15,000
charitMt" ui ri ations, uncovered one
-which apparently was a conduit for
O*W secret Central Intelligence , ney dis-
The embarrassment over the unwit-
ling exposure was eventually overcome,
and the offending House subcommittee
went on to scrutinize the other 14,999
foundations.
But on its rebound from its CIA
gaffe, the committee seemed to get its
,other foot deeper into its mouth. The
committee turned to an organization
called the Life Line Foundation, term-
ing it more political than educational
or charitable, and questioning if it.
should retain its tax exemption.
Persons outside of Congress also have
characterized Life Line as a rather
right-wing outfit, and so we looked
quite closely at some of the material
which the foundation is broadcasting
or mailing reportedly to hundreds of
-thousands of citizens in 47 states.
The material which Life Line sent
us after it broke into the news might
he atypical. But judging from. the sam-
pling, it contains good thoughts. Here,
for example, is,an excerpt from a Wash-
ington broadcast by Life Line not long
ago:
Courtesy is the solution for many
ills. . . . The pages of history are
replete with evidence of the impor-
t:ance' of courtesy. Many years ago, a
nondescript couple showed up at the
office of the president of Harvard
University.
"You will have to be brief," the
president said tartly. "I'm a very busy
man and can give you only a few
moments." Not wanting to impose ...
the man and his wife quietly got up
and left. They had come to give Har-
vard millions. Instead, they gave to
start a new university in the West,
named for the donor-Leland Stan-
ford.
In this day of Khrushchevs and
Castros, some unthinking people have
begun to equate good manners-or
consideration for others-with weak-
ness. Nothing could be more errone-
ous. The strongest ... are, as a rule,
the most considerate of others.
America is now engaged in a war
of ideas with the mistaken enemies
of freedom. If we lose this war,, there
will be no need for a shooting war.
But we do not need to lose. We
can begin winning. And the place to
start is with the individual.
Let's start by convincing Ameri-
cans that concern for others is a sure
antidote . for atheistic communism.
Let's begin by practicing courtesy...
Millions of Americans, one by one,
by showing: courtesy and concern for
others, can reverse the destructive
trend in the world today.
Here ends the quoted excerpt from
the Life- Line broadcast. Courtesy and
anti-communism are combined, and the
over-all approach is laced with what
some might call ethics and others call
Christianity. It is all heady stuff, and
who should gainsay it? We don't.
And without buying the whole pack-
age of Life Line's output, because its
contents have not been fully disclosed
to us, we still can more or less go
along with the comments of the contro-
versial Texan, H. L. Hunt, who is chief
sponsor of this particular foundation.
"If pride in patriotism," Hunt de
elared, "recognition of internal and ex-
ternal Communist aggressions, and en-
dorsement of financial responsibility
are deserving of being called `extreme,'
then Life Line might be so labeled."
Hunt went on to say that if Con-
gressmen set themselves up as arbiters
of what is "educational" and what is
"political," they are going to end up by
tampering with the rights of free ex-
pression. We think he has a powerful
point there.
Approved For Release 2000/08/27 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600210010-5