Ralph Townsend (November 27, 1900 – January 25, 1976) was an American writer, consul and political activist noted for his opposition to the entry of the United States into World War II. He served in the foreign service as a consul stationed in Canada and China from 1931 to 1933. Shortly after returning to the United States he came to prominence through his book Ways That Are Dark: The Truth About China, a harsh critique of Chinese culture which became a widely controversial bestseller. Townsend became a prominent advocate of non-interventionism, and in the 1930s and 1940s was well known for his vocal opposition to the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy from a pro-Japanese and pro-neutrality point of view.
Following the US entry into World War II, Townsend was arrested for acting as a Japanese agent without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He pleaded guilty, admitting that he had accepted payments before the war from a propaganda organization funded by the Japanese government, but denying that he was a Japanese agent. He was sentenced to 8 months to two years in prison. While serving his sentence, Townsend was a defendant in the Great Sedition Trial. After the war, he moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where he died on January 25, 1976. His writings continue to be influential in far-right circles.
Early life, 1900–33 Ralph Townsend was born on November 27, 1900, in Raynham, North Carolina to "one of Robeson county's oldest and most prominent families."The Department of State, Register of the Department of State Biographic Register 1932 (Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1932), 255."Townsend Faces Serious Charges," The Robesonian, 2 February 1942, 6. Retrieved March 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com He was the son of Richard Walter Townsend (1859–1937) and Mara Aurora McDuffie Townsend (1866–1906). He had four sisters and brothers, including Dallas Townsend, Sr. After graduating from Mount Hermon Preparatory School in Massachusetts,Martell et al., 1411."Aged Schoolmaster Travels Over World Visiting Old 'Boys'," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 16 January 1934, 3. he attended Columbia University in New York City and in 1924 received his degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism."Son of Robeson Man Named Vice Consul at Montreal," The Robesonian, 29 January 1931, 4. Retrieved March 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com He worked as a journalist in San Francisco for several years before returning to New York where he taught English at Columbia University from 1927 to 1930. On November 11, 1930, he passed the foreign service test and was posted to Montreal, Canada, as vice-consul on December 20, 1930."Pass Foreign Service Test," The New York Times, 12 November 1930, 48.The Department of State, Foreign Service List 1931 (Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1931), 62.
His second assignment was to Shanghai, where he officially served as vice-consul between December 10, 1931, and January 9, 1932,The Department of State, Foreign Service List 1932 (Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1932), 62, 79."Seven Promoted In Foreign Service," The New York Times, 17 January 1932, N2. though a two-month temporary detail kept him in the city long enough to witness the Shanghai Incident firsthand."Native of Robeson Well Known Author, lecturer," The Robesonian, 1 February 1934, 4. Retrieved March 30, 2016 – via Newspapers.com "Six Indicted For Distributing Pro-Jap 'News'," Racine Journal Times, 28 January 1942, 1.The American Foreign Service Journal 9 (Washington DC: American Foreign Service Association, 1932), 401. After that he was stationed in Fuzhou up to his resignation from the service on March 1, 1933."Consulates Will Close," The New York Times, 5 February 1933, N1.
Writing on Asian affairs, 1933–37 Townsend's experiences in China formed the basis of his first book Ways That Are Dark: The Truth About China, the release of which on November 10, 1933, put Townsend in the spotlight both nationally and internationally. Billed as doing "for China what Katherine Mayo did for Mother India",New York Times, 10 November 1933, 19. Townsend's book included a controversial critique of Chinese society and culture. At a time when China was in the grip of civil strife, Townsend believed that the source of its problems lay in fundamental defects in the ethics of its people,Townsend (1933), 26. including above all their propensity for dishonesty, lack of fixed loyalties outside of their family group, and inability to cooperate effectively with one another, as well as their greed, physical cowardice, and lack of critical thinking skills.Townsend (1933), 48–117. He concludes that the "outstanding characteristics" of the Chinese people "neither enable other peoples to deal satisfactorily with them, nor enable the Chinese to deal satisfactorily with themselves"Townsend (1933), 82. and predicts no end to chaotic conditions within the country.Townsend (1933), 244. He also favorably contrasts what he considers Japan's sensible policies toward China with the naively "sentimentalist" ones adopted by the United States.Townsend (1933), 173–174, 287, 297–298, 307–315.
Ways That Are Dark became a bestseller and attracted vociferous reactions from both critics and supporters. Writing for Current History, E. Francis Brown praised the book as "a welcome antidote to much that has been written in recent years and some of its conclusions might be well pondered by those who shape America's Far Eastern Policy,"E. Francis Brown, "Books of the Month: National and International Problems – The Truth About China," Current History, January 1934, 8. but by contrast the prominent sinologist Owen Lattimore denounced the work as "a general indictment of a whole race" which lacked insight, relied on second-hand accounts, and would "only convince people who are convinced already."Owen Lattimore, "A Long Way From The Whole Truth About China," The New York Times, 10 December 1933, BR9. The book itself was entangled in the political turmoil it discussed, being banned by the government of China but distributed free of charge by the government of Japan."Townsend and the Ways That Are Dark," The China Weekly Review, 2 June 1934, 1–2."American's Book Banned in China," Berkeley Daily Gazette, 26 January 1935, 5.
The Robesonian, a newspaper of Townsend's native county, reported in February 1934 that he had "aroused more glowing praise and bitter abuse for his lectures and written comments on China than any other recent speaker and writer on Far East affairs." Townsend moved from New York back to San Francisco in 1934 where he continued to write and give lectures on Asian issues as well as teaching classes at Stanford University and advertising for the San Joaquin Light and Power Corporation."College Avenue," Berkeley Daily Gazette, 14 October 1935, 9.To Promote the Defense of the United States: Hearings Before The Committee On Foreign Relations United States Senate Part 1 (Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1941), 802. Until 1941, he resided in a number of Californian cities near San Francisco.1940 United States Federal Census (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940), 9A."Behind the Scenes," Scribner's Commentator, March 1936, 191.Townsend (1936), xiii.Columbia Alumni News, 21 January 1938, 15."US Indicts 6 Bay Men As Japan Agents," Oakland Tribune, 28 January 1942, 1.
In 1936, Townsend published his second book, Asia Answers, in which he heaps praise on what he deems to be Japan's thriving political, economic, and cultural model and its growing and positive influence in Asia.Townsend (1936), 174–186, 239–241, 265–272. He attributes anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States to pro-communist "liberals", above all the sensationalist newspaper editors and journalists who, he believes, despise Japan due to its status as the leading capitalist nation in Asia.Townsend (1936), 50–65, 87–91, 136. He condemns liberals for having already wrecked the US economy,Townsend (1936), 175–176, 256. warns of a possible communist takeover of the United States,Townsend (1936), 97, 254. and ends by advocating that America resist anti-Japanese warmongering and adopt a foreign policy of neutrality towards Asia.Townsend (1936), 255, 263.
Townsend predicted that Asia Answers might have a frosty reception from reviewers because of what he alleged to be the pro-Soviet biases of the media,Townsend (1936), 77–78. and indeed, the book received negative coverage in The China Weekly Review,"Mr. Townsend 'Answers' His 'Ways That Are Dark'," The China Weekly Review, 13 March 1937, 43. The Times Literary Supplement,"Other New Books," The Times Literary Supplement, 6 March 1937, 172. The Times of India,"Studies of Japan," The Times of India, 23 April 1937, 8. and The Living Age, the last of which deemed Asia Answers a work "suspiciously similar to press releases by the Tokyo Foreign Office" which would appeal to "none except avowed Fascists".Leo Gurko, "Other New Books," The Living Age, February 1937, 548. Among the book's detractors was also Pearl S. Buck who described it as "so fraught with the prejudices and personality of the writer that it is impossible to criticize any of it without involving the author's whole scheme."Pearl S. Buck, "Asia Book-Shelf," Asia: Journal of the American Asiatic Association, January 1937, 65. On the other hand, the book was received more positively in Japan and in Manchukuo, where Sadatomo Koyama, a leader in the Manchuria Youth League, declared that "[Townsend's] understanding of China is impeccable" and strongly promoted the work.Tanaka, 308–309. In 1937 Townsend made a trip to Japan coinciding with the release of the book's Japanese translation.
Advocate of non-interventionism, 1937–41 After returning from Japan, Townsend, who described himself as a "conservative",Mintz, 13–14. was highly active in writing articles, delivering lectures, and making radio broadcasts in support of the movement to keep the United States out of the conflicts in Asia and Europe."Japanese Initiate New Propaganda Drive to Re-Establish US-Nippon Friendship," China Weekly Review, 30 July 1938, 274–277.Dillard Stokes, "Former Jap Consulate Secretary Tells District Court of Propaganda Scheme," The Washington Post, 20 May 1942, 5. In explaining the reason for his participation in the pro-neutrality movement, Townsend stated that while serving as a consul abroad he had "learned enough of the rottenness of international politics ... to wish to do my part of peace for this country."To Promote the Defense of the United States: Hearings Before The Committee On Foreign Relations United States Senate Part 1 (Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1941), 795.
Claiming that publishers would no longer accept anti-interventionist books, Townsend began self-publishing pamphlets.Ralph Townsend, "Sedition ... Then and Now," American Mercury, Summer 1968, 35. Between 1938 and 1940 he wrote a series of pamphlets which were extremely popular and widely circulated among anti-interventionists.Carlson, 136, 148, 185, 195, 200. Two of them, The High Cost of Hate and America Has No Enemies In Asia, had a circulation of at least 60,000 copies, while another, There Is No Halfway Neutrality printed 30,000 copies.Carlson, 413. The last pamphlet in the series, Seeking Foreign Trouble, attracted the attention of the German embassy in Washington, D.C. which bought and distributed more than 500 copies of it.Rogge, 317.