Lamont, Corliss, Freedom is as freedom does

(New York :  Horizon Press,  1956.)

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12
 

THE DECLINE OF THE
CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
 

The United States is noted among the countries of the world for
the large number and general efficacy of private, charitable,
educational or pressure groups working on behalf of one cause
or another. These organizations as a rule attempt to raise funds
for their programs; and to influence public opinion and govern¬
ment policies through meetings, radio and television, newspaper
releases, letters to the press, pamphlets, books or other written
materials.

It is a telHng sign of the precarious state of civil liberties in
America since the Fhst World War that public-spirited citizens
have felt called upon to found numerous organizations for de¬
fense of the Bill of Rights; and that despite all the efforts of these
organizations, the cause of civil Hberties is today more gravely
threatened than ever before. In 1955 more than fifty national
groups active in defending civil hberties were associated with
the National Civil Liberties Clearing House, a voluntary educa¬
tional association with its office in Washington, D.C.

Many organizations concerned with civil liberties concentiate
on some special aspect of the stiuggle for freedom. Typical of
these groups are the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People, the Association on American Indian Affairs,
the American Jewish Committee, the American Committee for
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