Word: evatt
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Prime Minister Robert Menzies, a Liberal, had adroitly called for new elections at a time when the political plumage of his opponent, Labor's tousleheaded Herbert Vere Evatt, was sadly ruffled by the Petrov spy case. Because two former Evatt associates were named by Petrov as his collaborators in espionage (but later cleared) Evatt, with birdlike innocence, had written to Molotov, asking for confirmation of his own contention that the MVD documents produced by Petrov were forged (TIME, Oct. 31). Molotov obligingly answered yes, and Evatt set out to use Molotov as a character witness. This reassured...
Unreal & Defeatist. Labor leaders had cautioned Evatt against using the Petrov spy case as an issue in the election, had urged him instead to campaign along traditional Labor Party lines: more Welfare State benefits, reduction of military expenditure, withdrawal of troops from Malaya, admission of Red China to the U.N. But the Liberals pinned the Communist label to this policy as well...
...will find it significant," said Menzies, that Evatt "should now propound a defense policy which is unreal and defeatist and which will be received with enthusiasm only by the Communists and those who support them." In Melbourne, Roman Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix, a Catholic Action leader, added: "If the foreign policy of certain leaders is any indication, the Communist rot has begun to set in here...
...Smears a Day. While his Iowa-born wife campaigned in his own critical Sydney electorate, Laborite Evatt stumped the country in a sweat-stained hat and rumpled suit, screeching defiance. Said he: "The championship of smearing has passed from Senator McCarthy to the Prime Minister. His election motto is ten smears a day to keep the doctor at bay." But wherever he went, the cry of "Molotov" brought shouts of laughter from his audience. Evatt attacked the Communist Party as "totalitarian in method and antidemocratic in character." But as fast as he shed his red feathers, the Communists stuck them...
Profound Naiveté. Australians could only wonder what Evatt thought he was doing. It had been possible for Evatt to claim with some justice that the Petrov case had been unfairly used to defeat his chance of becoming Prime Minister; it was also a fact that the Petrov disclosures had led to no arrests. But to suggest that the word of Moscow should be solicited, let alone be taken seriously, displayed at the least a queer and profound naiveté on the part of a longtime high minister who aspired to govern Australia. It seemed a blunder that could wreck...