Union Calendar No. 1078Slst Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - House Report No. 3 123

REPORT ONTHENATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDLegal Bulwark of the Communist PartySEPTEMBER 17. 1950(Original release date)September 21, 1950.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole Houseon the State of the Union and ordered to be printedPrepared and Released by theCOMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES, U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESWASHINGTON, D. C.COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES U. S. HOUSE OFREPRESENTATIVESEIGHTY-FIRSTCONGRESS,SECOND SESSION*JOHN S. WOOD, Georgia, aairmanFRANCIS E. WALTER, PennsylvaniaBURR P. HARRISON, VirginiaJOHNMCSWEENEY, OhioMORGAN M. MOULDER, MissouriRICHARD M. NIXON, CaliforniaFRANCIS CASE, South DakotaHAROLD H. VELDE, IllinoisBERNARD W. EEARNEY,N~~ York*FRANKS. TAVENNER, Jr., CounselLOUIS J. RUSSELL,&L~O~ InvestigatorJOHN W. CARRINGTON, Clerk of CommitteeBENJAMIN MANDEL, Director of ResearchII

UnionC alendNaro 1. 078818~ Co~a~~sstHOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES REPORT%f Session No. 3123REPORT ON THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD-LEGALBULWARK OF THE COMMUNIST PARTYSEPTEMBER 21, 1950.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on theState of the Union and ordered to be printedMr. WOOD, from the Committee on Un-American Activities, submittedthe following

REPORT[Pursuant to H. Res. 5, 79th Cong., 1st sess.]The National Lawyers Guild is the foremost legal bulwark of theCommunist Party, its front organizations, and controlled unions.Since its inception it has never failed to rally to the legal defense of theCommunist Party and individual members thereof, including knownespionage agents. It has consistently fought against national, State,and local legislation aimed at curbing the Communist conspiracy.

It has been most articulate in its attacks upon all agencies of theGovernment seeking to expose or prosecute the subversive activitiesof the Communist network, including national, State, and localinvestigative committees, the Department of Justice, the FBI, andlaw enforcement agencies generally. Through its affiliation with theInternational Association of Democratic Lawyers, an internationalCommunist-front organization, the National Lawyers Guild hasconstituted itself an agent of a foreign principal hostile to the interestsof the United States. It has one far afield to oppose the foreignpolicies of the United States, in Pin e with the current line of the SovietUnion.These aims-the real aims of the National Lawyers Guild, asdemonstrated conclusively b its activities for the past 13 years ofits existence-are not speci f? ed in its constitution or statement ofavowed purpose. In order to attract non-Communists to serve as acover for its actual purpose as an appendage to the Communist Party,the National Lawyers Guild poses benevolently as “a professionalorganization which shall function as an effective social force in theservice of the people to the end that human rights shall be regardedas more sacred than property rights.” In the entire history of theguild there is no record of its ever having condemned such instances12 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDof the violation of human rights as found in Soviet slave labor campsand in the series of Moscow trials, which shocked the civilized world.The National Lawyers Guild was formally organized at a conventionheld in the Washington Hotel in Washington, D. C., on February19-22, 1937. National headquarters were established in the Nation’sCapital, where they remain today.Communists publicly hailed the founding of the National LawyersGuild. New Masses, a weekly publication of the Communist Party,featured an article entitled “Defense for the Counsel-The Need forthe National Lawyers Guild” in its issue of June 14, 1938 (pp. 19-21).This article, written by Charles Recht, an attorney for the SovietGovernment and a member of the guild, observed that-With the growth of the American Labor Party in New York, and kindredprogressive movements throughout the United States, the lawyers, who in manyof the smaller communities are the nerve centers of political activities, will be aninvaluable aid in galvanizing the latent liberal elements of the country into apolitical force. The National Lawyers Guild can and will form one of the mostimportant adjuncts to a progressive movement representing the interests of theworkers and farmers.The International Labor Defense, which was cited by formerAttorney General Francis Biddle as “the legal arm of the CommunistParty,” also enthusiastically welcomed the new front, the NationalLawyers Guild. The ILD stated in its 1936-37 yearbook that-The emergence of the National Lawyers Guild is regarded by the InternationalLabor Defense as a heartening expression of the devotion of thousands of Americanattorneys to the American principle of democracy, and a concrete step on theirpart in the struggle to maintain and enlarge democratic rights (p. 64).Earl Browder, testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities on September 6, 1939, in his capacity as generalsecretary of the Communist Party, admitted that the NationalLawyers Guild was a Communist transmission belt.This has been corroborated by Louis F. Budenz, former member ofthe National Committee of the Communist Party and one-timemanaging editor of its official newspaper, the Daily Worker. Testifying

before the House Committee on Un-American Activities onApril 3? 1946, Mr. Budenz described the National Lawyers Guild asa working ally of the Communist Party and stated that members ofthe guild would be under the influence of the party while “officerswould be Communists or fellow travelers.” Testifying again beforethe committee on July 20, 1948, Mr. Budenz said:In the National Lawyers Guild there is a complete duplicate of the CommunistParty’s hopes and aspirations in that field, although there are a number of non-Communists in the National Lawyers Guild. In fact! some of their lawyerslocally are not Communists, but they play the Commumat game either wittinglyor unwittingly.INTERCEDES FOR INDIVIDUAL COMMUNISTSThe National Lawyers Guild, as. an organization, has intervened inthe major court cases which have involved individual Communistleaders or officials of Communist-front organizations or unions. Inevery instance, the guild has interceded on the Communist side.The guild submitted a brief amicus curiae in the case of RobertWood, an Oklahoma Communist official who was convicted of criminals ndicalism in that State in 1940.&When, in the same year, avowedmmunist Ben Gold and other leaders of the Communist-controlledTHE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 3Fur and Leather Workers Union were convicted in court of usingterrorism in the labor field, the National Lawyers Guild again appearedas a friend of the court in behalf of the defendants.A resolution opposing deportation proceedings against CommunistHarry Bridges was adopted by the fifth convention of the NationalLawyers Guild in 1941. The guild also submitted a brief amicuscuriae in the case.In recent years, the National Lawyers Guild has intervened asamicus curiae on behalf of the following leading Communists:Gerhart Eisler, Communist international agent convicted inUnibed States courts of passport fraud and contempt of Congress;Leon Josephson, Communist att,orney exposed as an officialprocurer of false passports for Communist agents such as GerhartEisler; Josephson was convicted of contempt of Congress;Carl Aldo Marzani, convicted of concealing Communist affiliationswhile employed by the United States Government.;John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo, Communist screenwriters from Hollywood convicted of contempt of Congress;Eugene Dennis, secretary of the Communist Party, U. S. A.,convicted of contempt of Congress.The National Lawyers Guild also intervened in behalf of-Richard Morford, who as head of the subversive National Councilof American-Soviet Friendship was convicted of contempt ofCongress;George Marshall, head of the now-defunct Communist front,the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, alsoconvicted of contempt of Congress;Edward K. Barsky and other officers of the subversive JointAnti-Fascist Refugee Committee, convicted of contempt ofCongress;Eleven top officials of the Communist Pa,rty, U. S. A.! convictedof conspiracy to advocate the overtbrow of the United StatesGovernment by force and violence.

The committee is reproducing below a list of Eational LawyersGuild members who have represented witnesses before the Committeeon Un-American Activities. In each case, the witnesses have refusedto answer questions regarding Communist affiliations propounded bythe committee. In a number of cases espionage activities wereinvolved. It should be noted in this connection that it is standardCommunist practice to accept as attorneys only those who agree toabide by the party’s propaganda and conspirative directives. Casesare known where attorneys who have volunteered their services havebeen summarily rejected because they would not become partners tothe party’s ulterior purposes.4 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDAttorneysEMANUEL H. BLOCA, 270 Broadway, New York, N. ’M&y BRAVERMAN, 15 South Gay St., BaltimonHABOLD CAMDIER, 9 East 40th St., New York, N. YALBERT L. COLLO~IS, 170 Broadway, New York, N..BARTLEY CRUM, 598 Madison Ave., New York, N. ’MITCHELL A. DUBOW, 705 Knickerbocker Bldg., Baitmore, Md.CLF;PD J. Dnm, 1625 K St, NW., WashingtorJOSEPH FORER, 1105 K St. NW., Washington, D. ClrtaOOLLOBIN, 1441 Broadway, New York, N. Y _...H;o;%f,“^~” 6: OREENBERO, 1105 K St. NW., WashinlBEB&& JAFFE, 52 Broadway, New York, N. Y __..R~c~I$‘I W. KENNY, 250 North Hope St., Los AngelaCAROL KINK, 220 Broadway, New York, N. Y. __-.EDWARD KUNTZ, 207 4th Ave. New York, N. Y--..HARRY C. LAMBERTON, 1645 ~omecticut Ave. NWWashington, D. C.DANIEL La~mus, 100 5th Ave., New York, N. Y-..LEO PRAEOEB, 401 Broadway, New York, N. Y..-DAVID REIN, 1105 K St. NW., Washington, D. C--DAVID SCBIBNER, 11 East 51st St., New York, N. YWitnessesMarionBschrach...~ .............SteveNelson.. ........ .._ .........____ do.. ...... _ ...................._ ... do.. ...........................Marcel Scherer ._..._ ..............Addie Rosen.. ....................William Rosen .___. ................-.-do __ ...........................John J. Abt .......................-.-do _... -.--...-..--.Charles ~amer.~.......~.........LeePressman.....--.----.-.--.-..Elizabeth Sasuly....--.-..- ._._...Nathan Witt ____ -.-.--_-_-_.-----._.__ do ..__.__ --.--.-.-..-_-_.-__--.ClarenceF. Hiskey . . . . --.-..-.-...._. do .._.. -..-..-.--.-- -_-_._-Marcia Sand (Hiskey). . . .._.._._.Lester Cole _........ -..- .._. ~._--.Edward Dmytryk.. .._... ..__._.Ring Lardner, Jr . . . . _. _.. ..-..John Howard Lawson.. . . . . .Samuel Omitz.. . ..__.. ._....._..AdrianScott- ..;_..... -.- -..-.DaltonTrumbo...~...... -.-..Maurice Braverman. ---...-.-John Anderson-... .._........Rose Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --.David Joseoh Bohm --.-.-.-..-.--do.-mm.: -.-_~ _...........Irving David Fox .__._ -_----.-.-..Mary Jam Keeney... -.-..._.. doem _......._____ -_.-- . ..______Philip 0. Keeney. _.__._. ..___.__Ken Max Manfred.....:, . . .._. -._-Frank F. Oppenheimer-. . ..______Jacquenette Oppenheimer...~.....Bells Rodman.. _.- . . . . . . . ..___ --.Samuel J. Rodman _._. -.- ._._____.Toma Babin.. . . .._____ __.. ..-___

P. L. James Brancs.~.....~.~.....Louise Berman (Bran&en) ______ -.____ do .___.....__. -.-- ..__I ______..Maurice Braverman--- __.__. -__-.Hams Eisler ..__. .- _____._. ..___.Margaret 0. Hinckley ____ _..____William W. Hinckley~.~...... _.__Alexander Koral..._ -.-..--.-.-.__Elsa K. Miller _.__ ---- _____ ------.Tilla Minowitz _.___ --- . . . .._ .._.HelenTravis __._____ -_-..- ._._. -..Charles Kramer.- __.___.____.__..Victor Perlo.-.-.-.-..-......-.--..Hanm Eisler.-._----..-..---.-..-.Abraham Qeorge Silverman........ .._ do ____.....__. -_..- _________ -..Herbert Biberman ________________.Lester Cole _____.._.______________Edward Dmytryk .____________._.Ring Lardner, Jr _________________.John Howard Lawson ___________ -.Samuel Omit2 ________.__________.Adrian Scott ______._____________-.Dalton Trumbo ___________________Gerhart. Eisler- _ _-. ..-~. . ..- ._____Alexander Stevens (J. Peters)---.Samuel Liptzen.---.. .-.Henry H. Collins. .._...._._.Eugene Dennis ..__... -..AlexanderKoral--.--..-.-.-.-.--.Frank Hashmall~.......~~. ._____.Charlotte Oram.. -__- _._____.Nathan Gregory Silvermaster-.--.William Ludwig Ullmam.. _____Julius Emspak ______________....__James Matles .____________________Esther M. Tic&---- _____ ________Robert 0. Whisner _________ ______Dates ofDec. 14,1948Sept. 14,1948Apr. 26.1949June 8,1949June 21,195OSept. 8.1948Aug. 26.1948Sept. 9,194SAug. 20.1948Septtiol, 1950Aug. 20.1948July 12,1949Aug. 20,194SSept. 1,195OSept. 9,194SMay 24,194QSept. 9,1948act. 30,1!?47Oct. 29,1947act. 30,1947Oct. 27,1947octD? 1947Oct. 28.1947Sept. 9,1948June 29,1949June 28,1949May 25,194QJune lo,1949Sept. 27,194QMay 24,1949June 9,1949DO.Sept. 14,1949June 14.1949DO.’June 28,1949July 28.1949May 27,1949June 29,1Q49Sept. 20,194sNov. 7,1949

Sept. 9.1948Sept. Z&l947June 8,1950DO.Aug. 9,194SJulYDo”, 1949Aug. 3i),l950Aug. 12,194sAug. 91948Sept. 24,1947Aug. 12,1948Aug. 31,195Ooet. 29,1947g;; yg;g$ 3p;oet: $1947oet.“% 1947Feb. 6: 1947Aug. 30,194sMar. 5,1947Aug. 11,194sApr. 9.1947Aug. 9,194SJuly 14,195oJune zS,lSaQ2: liEiDecbo58 194QJuly l&1950Aug. lo,1949

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 5The committee does not dispute the right of witnesses appearingbefore it to have the benefit of counsel. However, the committeebelieves that the attorneys mentioned above knowingly or unknowinglyfunction under a directive issued by the Central Control Commissionof the Communist Party which prohibits its members fromcooperating with the committee when subpenaed before it. Cases areknown where persons subpenaed before the committee indicated awillingness to cooperate with the committee, but when these personsconsulted certain of the attorneys listed above they refused to answerquestions put to them by the committee.CONTEMPT FOR AMERICAN COURTSThe real nature of the guild’s philosophy comes into sharp focusduring court procedures. Almost without exception, its leadingmembers, despite their oath as lawyers to uphold the dignity of thecourt and respect the constitutional mores of jurisprudence, seek tobring the courts and its procedures into disrepute. They substituteinsult for argument, resort to intimidation of judges by picket lines,parades, and personal abuse. In other words, these leaders of theNational Lawyers Guild have followed standard Cummunist practicewhich provides that-A Communist must utilize a political trial to help on the revolutionary struggle.Our tactics in the public proceedings of the law courts are not tactics of defensebut of attack. Without clinging to legal formalities, the Communist must usethe trial as a means of bringing his indictments against the dominant capitalistregime and of courageously voicing the views of his party (Johannes Buchner,The Agent Provocateur in the Labour hlovement, Workers Library Publishers,New York, pp. 51-52).Federal Judge Harold Medina, in citing for contempt the attorneyswho defended the 11 Communists convicted in New York of advocatingthe overthrow of the United States Government by force and violence,noted the frequent, and deliberate efforts on the part of the guildattorneys to inject Communist propaganda into the trial. Medinahanded down sentences of contempt of court to the following attorneysfor the Communists, all of whom are members of the National LawyersGuild: Richard Gladstein, 6 months; George Crockett, 4 months;

Maurice Sugar, 30 days; Louis McCabe, 4 months; Abraham Isserman,4 months; Harry Sacher, 6 months.Abraham L. Pomerantz, a member of the guild, appeared as defenseattorney for Valentin Gubitchev, a Russian charged with spyingagainst the United States. Pomerantz based most of his questions onnotes passed to him by a representative of the Soviet Embassy, seatedat his side during the trial. The Russian official, an agent of theNKVD (Soviet secret police) named Novikoff, literally stage-managedthe Gubitchev defense, a procedure without precedent in UnitedStates court history.Not only has the behavior of guild attorneys been noted officially byseveral Federal judges, but the American Bar Association in 1949received from its board of governors a recommendation that theAmerican Bar Association bar from membership any person holdingmembership in the National Lawyers Guild. The action was basedon the grounds that guild lawyers held beliefs “incompatible withmembership in the American Bar Association.”6 THE NATIONAL LAWYEYRS GUILDATTACKS ON THE FBIAny action on le ‘slative or executive levels of the Governmentwhich tends to inter Fe re with the Communist fifth-column operationsin this country isPuaranteed to evoke a vicious campaign of oppositionfrom the Nationa Lawyers Guild.A striking example is the present attack by the guild on the FederalBureau of Investigatio?, echoing the current line of the Daily Workerand Moscow. The gmld today is crying for an investigation of theFBI, the vigilant guardian of our national security, on the ridiculousgrounds that it is a “gestapo” or “political police” whosepracticesand policies * * * violate our laws, infringe our liberties, andthreaten our democracy.This attack was timed simultaneously with the tactics employed bythe defense in the espionage case involving Judith Coplon.This campaign is simply an intensification of a long-standing guildeffort to discredit and vitiate the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Atits fifth annual convention in 1941, the guild also took action opposing“the gestapo activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” Atthat time, the guild called for removal of FBI Director J. EdgarHoover, demanded that Congress reduce the FBI appropriation, andregistered opposition to apendingappropriation bill to allot that Bureau $100,000 for the investigation ofso-called subversive activities of Government employees (Lawyers Guild Review,June 1941, p. 66).J. Edgar Hoover, testifying on February 7, 1950 before a SenateSubcommittee on Appropriations, noted that the National LawyersGuild has vociferously denounced the FBI since 1940. Mr. Hooverquoted a guild member as having stated the following at a meet,ing ofthis front organization in 1940:If we keep up the constant criticism of the FBI and of Hoover, and if thiscriticism is systematically kept up and followed all the time, particularly byorganizations, it can and it will weaken the power of the FBI and hamper themvery effectively.There is no doubt in the opinion of the committee that the NationalLawyers Guild attacks on the Federal Bureau of Investigation arepart of an over-all Communist strategy aimed at weakening ourNation’s defenses against the international Communist conspiracy.

The propaganda disseminated b the guild regarding the FBI is aduplicate of the line put out by YM oscow, as demonstrated by thefollowing broadcast by the Soviet Home Service short-wave network,dated February 7, 1950:.FBI CENTER OF ACTIVITIESThe center of the police terror organization of the United States is the notoriousFBI. This institution was founded in 1908. From the day of ifs foundationthe FBI became the jailer of the population. The head of this organization isresponsible to the United States President and keeps him informed of future plansand results of past activity. The true bosses of the FBI, however, are the 60families of American millionaires. All of the activities of the FBI as well as therest of the United States Government are directed toward the defense of theinterests of these actual rulers of modern America.The FBI has been t.urned into an organization for intimidating the UnitedStates man in the street by means of all forms of violence, blackmail, terror, andother police measures. The monopoly press knows no limit to its praise of theFBI, which was some time ago pronounced by the UP to be “the greatest nationalTHE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 7institution of the United States.” The FBI budget grows yearly. In 1949 itwas almost * * * dollars. To this must be added the so-called special fundsallocated by the President and the Government and the generous and certainlynot insignificant presents from the monopolies who wish to develop still furtherthe regime of police terror with a view to the final subjugation of the Americanpeople.SUPPRESSION OF PROGRESSIVE8At a time when the United States is the mainstay of the greatest imperialistoffensive, the FBI has openly become the tool of hysterical, imperialist reactiondetermined to suppress all progressive thought in the country. The kings ofWall Street, the FBT, and the United States Department of Just.ice act in closecontact with the ultrareactionary Committee for the Investigation of Un-AmericanActivities.The attitude of the National Lawyers Guild and the Moscowbroadcasts bears a striking resemblance to the following editorial ofthe Daily Worker of June 13, 1950, page 7:ALIBI FOR STOOL PIQEONSAmerica’s No. 1 lawbreaker, J. Edgar Hoover, wants more stool pigeons.His private police machine gets bigger and bigger every year. This governmentwithin the government taps phones illegally, opens private mail illegally,and infests American life with criminal perjurors. As it grows, it devours what isleft of the United States Constitution. No secret political police can ever bejustified on the basis of the American Constitution. This police makes its ownlaws and its own rules and operates with its own definitions of “disloyalty” and“subversion.”* * * * * * *The boss of this imitation-Gestapo now wants more money from Congress formore secret stoolies. Naturally, he can only get his dough if he drums up apicture of the terrible menace we face from the “Communists.” The FBI’s“thought control” boss hints that there are 540,000 Americans he would like toput in jail. He says they are “operative* ” who are just crawling all over J.Edgar Hoover looking for our “secrets.”**AGAINST LOYALTY PROGRAMThe National Lawyers Guild has also conducted a malicious campaignagainst the loyalty program, which was inaugurated underExecutive Order 9835, on March 21, 1947, in the executive branch ofthe Government, to rid the Government of subversive and disloyalemployees.Resolutions attacking the loyalty program as illegal and demandingthat the courts declare it unconstitutional were adopted at the national

convention of the guild held in New York City in May 1950.At a public forum held under guild auspices on February 11, 1948, theloyalty program was attacked as a thought-control measure.The guild’s opposition to the lo23-page report entitledalty program was compiled into a“The d onstitutional Right to AdvocatePolitical, Social, and Economic Changes-An Essential of Democracy!” which was sent t.o Government officials, Members of Congress,the ludiciary, the bar, labor and civic organizations. The conclusionof this report charged that “our citizens are denied the right to advocatefundamental social, economic, and political change.”The guild has denounced the Attorney General’s listing of subversiveorganizations to be used in the Federal loyalty program as amenace to the liberty of the American people. The Guild’s committeeon constitutional rights and liberties has issued a report on the legalityof the action of the Attorney General of the United States in issuingH.Rept. 3123,81-L-2

8 THE NATIONAL LAWPE’RS GUILDa listing of organizations as subversive pursuant to the President’sloyalty order, in which it urged revocation and cancellation of the list.OPPOSES LEGISLATIVE ACTION ON COMMUNISMAny legislation which would curb t.he activities of Communists,regardless of the importance of such legislation to our national security,is faced with bitter opposition from the National Lawyers Guild.At its fist convention, the guild opposed statutes providing thatteachers take a loyalty oath or those “making criminal advocacy of ormembership in any political party” (Daily Worker, February 23, 1937,p. 5). The latter was directed against pending legislation againstcriminal syndicalism, affecting the legal status of the CommunistParty in various States.It has opposed legislation directed against the Communist Party,Voorhls registration bill, H. R. 1054; the Tenney law in Californiabarring the Communist Party from the ballot (Lawyers Guild Review,June 1941, p. 66; Daily Worker, May 18, 1942, p. 5).The National Lawyers Guild denounced the anti-Communist provisionsof the Taft-Hartle law on the ground that it was unconstitutional.Leonard B. Bou CiTn , chairman of the labor law committee ofthe National Lawyers Guild, testified before a labor subcommittee ofthe House of Representatives concerning the non-Communist affidavitof the Taft-Hartley bill. At that time, Mr. Boudin stated that thenon-Communist affidavit was an insult to the American workerbecause Congress thereby told the workers they were nof‘wise enoughto manage their own affairs.On May 7,1948, the National Lawyers Guild denounced the Mundt-Nixon bill to control subversive activities. In commenting on theMundt-Nixon bill, the Lawyers Guild Review, bimonthly publicationof the National Lawyers Guild, made the following statement:It would be a costly error to treat this measure as merely another unwise legislativeproposal to be analyzed and then routinely disapproved. We believe it isfar more than that. Its concepts are so hostile to our democratic wav of life thatits enactment into law would amount to nothing less than a coup d’6tat in constitutionalguise.The parallel between the above opinion and that of Simon W. Gerson,who represented the Communist Party, U. S. A., before the Committeeon Un-American Activities on May 2, 1950, is striking. We

quote his comment in part:Any bill which seeks such objectives will necessarily do force and violence to theAmerican Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Let us therefore understand theissue clearly: The United States can have the Constitution or it can have theMundt-Nixon bill. It can’t have both.On May 2, 1950, Harry C. Lamberton, representing the NationalLawyers Guild, testified before the Committee on Un-AmericanActivities against the Nixon bill (H. R. 7595).In the July- 14, !1949, fissue] of rthe jDaily IWorker, “the ‘NationalLawyers Guild was reported a$ urging the defeat of the Government’sbill to fix heavierypenaltles4for unlawful ‘possession of secretdocuments, as referred to in the Foreign Agents Registration Act,and to lengthen the statute of limitations on prosecution of peacetimespies.TRE NATIONAL LAWPERS GUILD 9The autumn 1949 issue of The Guild Lawyer listed the following ashighlights of the guild’s activities:(a) Opposition to S. 595 and H. R. 4703 (internal security bill) as written, andurging drastic revisions to conform to constitutional guaranties;(b) Opposition to S. 1694 and S. 1832, giving Attorney General authority todeport aliens associated with or aiding groups which he finds (without standards orhearings) are “subversive of ‘Communist’ controlled”;(c) Opposition to H. R. 1002 to require labeling, as issued by a “Communist-frontorganization,” of anything mailed by a group which engages in activity which it isreasonable to believe is intended to further the objective of establishing here aCommunist government or economic system, or if the group is “under Communistcontrol or influence”.The National Lawyers Guild has submitted a brief amicus curiaein an attempt to obtain a Supreme Court reversal of Maryland’s Oberlaw which outlaws all organizations advocating the overthrow of theGovernment of the United States or of the State of Maryland (TheGuild Lawyer, spring, 1950, p. 7).At its tenth national convention in New York in May 1950, theguild demanded a repeal of the “advocacy sections” of the SmithAct, under which the 11 top Communist officials in the United Stateswere convicted (Daily Compass, May 8, 1950, p. 5).AGAINST COMMITTEES INVESTIGATING SUBVERSIVEACTIVITIESNot only has the guild opposed legislation directed against theCommunist Party, but it has also fought every committee which hasbeen effective in exposing Communist activity.The guild has opposed the Rapp-Coudert committee investigatingsubversive activities in the public school system of New York City,for example. It has also opposed the York committee investigatingsubversive activities among State employees of California; the Elhscommittee investigating subversive activities in the New York CivilService; and the Special Committee on Un-American Activities,predecessor of the present House Committee on Un-AmericanActivities.Abolition of the present Committee on Un-American Activities iscalled for by the National Lawyers Guild. A resolution to this effectwas adopted at the guild’s ninth national convention held in Detroit,Mich., in February 1949. Typical of the guild propaganda regardingthe Committee on Un-American Activities is the following statementin January 1948 by the then Guild President Robert Kenny:For vears I have been saying t.hat it was my opinion that the Un-AmericanActivities Committee had no foundation in law, had no power to compel disclosures,and that their procedures were improper.

It would appear that the guild is not so much concerned overalleged violations of “democratic processes” as it is over the possibleexposure of the Communist fifth column.In this connection, it might be recalled that in 1940 the SpecialCommittee on Un-American Activities conducted investigations whichled to the exposure of wholesale fraud and corruption in CommunistParty election petitions in many States. More than 100 indictmentsand between 50 and 60 convictions resulted from this investigation.The National Lawyers Guild, however, addressed a communication10 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDto the Attorney General of the United States suggesting an injunctionagainst the committee to restrain it from investigating the petitionfrauds.Such obst’ructionist tactics are a regular part of guild procedurewhenever an investigation of communism is concerned.FOLLOWING THE COMMUNIST PARTY LINEThe National Lawyers Guild has faithfully followed the CommunistParty line throughout its existence.In the mid-1930’s when the Communist line called for collectivesecurity against the Fascist aggressors, the National Lawyers Guilddutifully called for the repeal of the existing Neutrality Act (LawyersGuild Quarterly, June 1938, p. 255) and opposed shipments of ammunitionto Germany (ibid., September 1938, p. 304).A crisis arose in this Communist front in February 1939 when non-Communist liberals who had been ensnared into the guild demandedthat guild resolutions include condemnation of communism as well asnazism and fascism. To avoid a mass exodus of these liberals, theCommunist behind-the-scenes leaders in the guild temporized andpermitted a resolut.ion to pass which opposed communism. Shortlythereafter, the Hitler-Stalin pact was signed and the conflict betweenthe Communists and the non-Communists in the guild increased.The conflict was resolved in favor of the Communists when the June1940 guild convention resulted in the election of the fellow-traveler,Robert W. Kenny, as guild president, and numerous other officers of thesame ilk. During this controversy it was announced for the first time,on June S, 1940, that the executive board had adopted in December 1939a resolution against the Soviet attack on Finland. But the guild didnot again buck the party line during the Stalin-Hitler pact. In fact,until the end of the pact in June 1941, the guild actually aided theNazi-Communist alliance with thinly veiled attacks on United Stateslegislation dealing with conscription and antisabotage measures.Y When the crisis in the National Lawyers Guild was resolved duringthe St.alin-Hitler pact in favor of the Communists in the guild, non-Communists resigned en masse. In many instances, these non-Communists publicly repudiated the guild as being a Communistorganization. Typical of t*heir comments are the following:I* From a letter of resignation of Nathan B. Margold, Solicitor forthe Department of the Interior, dated May 29, 1940:In recent elections for delegates from the District of Columbia to the 1940convention of the National Lawyers Guild, a group of candidates stood on a platformof unequivocal opposition to nazism, communism, fascism, and other movementswhich similarly reject the principles of free press, free speech, freedom ofassembly, right of religious worship, and fair trials. These candidates understood,if elected as delegates, to cast their votes at the 1940 convent.ion for national officersof the guild who share their views. Of the 20 candidates who stood on thisplatform, 14 were defeated.A. A. Berle, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State, resigned with thefollowing statement:

The Kational Lawyers Guild was formed in the hope that expression might begiven to the liberal sentiment in the American bar.It is now obvious that the present management of the guild is not prepared totake any stand which conflicts with the Communist Party line. Under thesecircumstances, and in company., I think, with the most progressive lawyers, I haveno further interest in it (Washmgton Times-Herald, June 5, 1940).

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 11Attorney General Robert H. Jackson had resigned the previousweek. Charles Poletti, Lieutenant Governor of New York State,resigned because he understood some members of the guild were “moreinterested in communism than anything else” (New York Times,June 26, 1940, p. 14).Paul R. Hays, a prominent New York attorney, summarized thesituation as follows in his letter of May 21, 1940, to Prof. Herman A.Gray, which was circularized among members of the New Yorkchapter:My experience, and the experience of many others (including the presentnational and New York chapter presidents), who have been similarly active inthe guild and other liberal organizations, has led us to the conclusion that thepresence of Communists in policy-making positions in such organizations inevitablyresults in deflection of the organizations froin the liberal ends which theywere set, up to achieve. This is true because Communists are devoted t,o achievingthe ends of another organization! whose purposes are illiberal and at variancewith the purposes of such organizations as the guild.With Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, theCommunist Party line changed immediately. The war ceased beingimperialistic in the eyes of the Communists, and the National LawyersGuild suddenly took a similar view of the situation. On October 4,1941, the guild adopted the following resolution:The National Lawyers Guild accordingly gives its unlimited support. t,o allmeasures necessary to the defeat of Hitlerism and to the present Rooseveltpolicy of “all out aid” to and full collaboration with Great Britain, the PoveitUnion, China, and other nations resisting Fascist aggression and to all furthersteps necessary for the military defeat of Hitlerism (Lawyers Guild Review,October 1941).This meeting also urged the repeal of the Neutrality Act.The end of World War II introduced a new Communist Party linewhich is one of extreme hostility to the United States Governmentand all of its defense efforts against the postwar aggressions of theSoviet Union. The present policy of the National Lawyers Guildcoincides with this new line almost completely. The guild opposesour military training programs and other internal security measures,and it condemns the entire European recovery program and NorthAtlantic Pact which are Stalin’s chief anathema on theEuropeanfront. The guild views as “democracies” the new Communist -satellite governments in eastern Europe, and encourages the Communistrevolutionary movements in Korea, Indonesia, and China.The guild is demanding United States Government recognition of theRed regime in China. All of these viewpoints are also found in theDaily Worker, official organ of the Communist Party in this country.There is some evidence to indicate, however, that in recent monthsa split may be again developing in the membership of the NationalLawyers Guild. This time, in contrast to the crisis of 1940, the splitis rather between those pro-Communists who support Stalin only,and those on the other hand who want to support Stalin and Titoand call for a united front between the two dictators.At the tenth national convention of the guild held in New YorkCity in May 1950, a resolution was adopted reversing the action of twoguild delegates who voted at Rome to expel the Yugoslav delegate8from the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. The

latter organization is an international Communist-front for lawyers,12 THE NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILDof which the National Lawyers Guild is an affiliate. The internationalgroup will be dealt with in a later section of this report.Apparently the guild conflict between Titoites and Stalinists is nottoo serious at the present time, for the Daily Worker, official organ ofthe Communist Party, continues to promote and publicize the NationalLawyers Guild. The Daily Worker attributed the guild’s pro-Tit0resolution to “0. John Rogge, who is admittedly on the payroll of theTito regime” and gave this warning to the guild:If the progressive attorneys who courageously challenged the cold-war blackoutof civil liberty here will get the facts on the Tito conspiracy, they will have nodifficulty seeing that in falling for the Tito bait they fell for bait planted by thereactionary forces they are opposing (Daily Worker, May 11, 1950, p. 7).Included in the appendix to this report will be found an exhaustiveanalysis of propaganda issued by the National Lawyers Guild andthat issued on the same subject by the Communist Party. Thisanalysis shows that the guild and the Communist Party have takenthe same and sometimes simultaneous stand on a host of importantissues and should resolve any doubts regarding the fealty of the guildfor the line of the party.Another early front for lawyers was the International JuridicalAssociation. This was formed in 1931 and its members were closelyinterlocked with the International Labor Defense as well as theNational Lawyers Guild. Among its prominent members was AlgerHiss.INTERNATIONAL JURIDICAL ASSOCIAT,lONIn 1922, the Communist International established the InternationalRed Aid with the idea that it would have sections in various countriesof the world. The purpose of such organizations in the language ofthe Communist International wastorender material and moral aid to the imprisoned victims of capitalism * * *(Resolutions and Theses of the Fourth Congress of the Communist International,published for the Communist International by the Communist Party of GreatBritain, p. 87).In plain language, this meant that the Communists wanted to providean agency which would protect their subversive agents whenever theyran into difhculties with the law of the various countries in whichthey were operating.An American section of the International Red Aid was establishedin 1925 and it was known here as the International Labor Defense.The International Labor Defense continued to function until 1946,when it merged into a new subversive organization known as the CivilRights Congress. The International Juridical Association cooperatedclosely with the International Labor Defense.The following leaders of the National Lawyers Guild have beenactively associated with both the International Labor Defense andthe International Juridical Association: Joseph R. Brodsky (deceased),a charter member of the Communist Party; David J. Bentall, OsmondK. Fraenkel, Walter Gellhorn, Herman A. Gray, Abraham J. Isserman,Paul J. Kern, Carol Weiss King, Edward Lamb, Louis F. McCabe,and Maurice Sugar.The International Juridical Association actively defended Communistsand consistently followed the Communist Party line. TheSpecial Committee on Un-American Activities cited the organizationasa front in a report dated March 29, 1944.

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 13At the time of its inception, Isadore Polier was executive director,Carol King was secretary, and Joseph Kover editor of the InternationalJuridical Association’s monthly bulletin. An examination of thebulletin reveals consistent support of Communist legal cases during itsentire career.In fact, the New York City Council Committee Investigating theMunicipal Civil Service Committee in 1940 and 1941 declared:The bulletins of the International Juridical Association from its very inceptionshow that it is devoted to the defense of the Communist Party, Communists, andradical agitators and that it is not limit,ed merely to legal research but to sharpcriticism of existing governmental agencies and defense of subversive groups.The International Juridical Association quietly disappeared,fromthe American scene in the early 1940’s.In 1942, the IJA Monthly Bulletin, a publication of the InternationalJuridical Association, was combined with the Lawyers GuildReview, an official organ of the National Lawyers Guild. The December1942 issue of the IJA Monthly Bulletin, in announcing the merger,indicated that the opportunity for joining forces with the NationalLawyers Guild would “greatly widen the area of our influence.”It was also announced that writers for the IJA Monthly Bulletinwho remained available would go to the board of editors of the LawyersGuild Review and take primary responsibility for the material in theIJA section of the Review.INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC LAWYERSThe current international Communist front for attorneys is knownas the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. Thisorganization is sometimes referred to as the International Associationof Democratic Jurists.The idea for the International Association of Democratic Lawyerswas conceived during the Nuremberg trials as a threat to all thoseconsidered as “war criminals” by Soviet militarists. The first congressmet in October 1946 with some 15 countries represented.The National Lawyers Guild immediately affiliated with the newinternational front and sent representatives to the first congress in1946.Communist leaders in the United States, recently convicted onconspiracy to advocate overthrow of the Government by force andviolence, are being vigorously defended by the International Associationof Democratic Lawyers.At the close of its third congress., held in Prague, Czechoslovakift,in September 1948, the International Association of DemocraticLawyers voted to send 25 attorneys to observe the trial of the aforementionedCommunist leaders in New York. This proposal wasmade by Martin Popper, American representative. A resolutionwas also unanimously adopted expressing “grave concern over theindictment of the American Communist leaders in New York.”The fourth congress of the International Association of DemocraticLawyers met in Rome in October-November 1949, with 30 affiliatenational sections. According to the autumn 1949 issue of The GuildLawyer, quarterly publication of the National Lawyers Guild,Executive Secretary Robert J. Silberstein, and William L. Standard,a member of the guild’s national executive board, were sent as guildrepresentatives to the fourth congress.14 THE NATIONAL LAWYFJtS GUILDThe following national sections were represented in the congress

by their delegations : Albania, Argentina, Austria, French BlackAfrica, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Germany,Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Luxemburg,Poland, Rumania, Republican Spain, Soviet Union, Switzerland,Syria, Tunisia, and the U. S. A. The theme of the fourth congresswas “law in the service of peace,” in line with the current “peaceoffensive” of the international Communist apparatus.The following were among the resolutions which were adopted:(1) The Resolution on the Necessity of Respect for InternationalAgreements expressed the view that lawyers have the duty to condemnactions which violate international engagements and especially whentheir own governments are involved. The resolution offered nocriticism of Soviet policy but insisted that the North Atlantic Pact,which is supported by the United States, is irreconcilable with theCharter of the United Nations.(2) Resolution asserting that the prosecution of the leaders of theCommunist Party in the U. S. A. is in violation of articles 19 and 20of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.An appeal along this line was then made to UN Secretary GeneralTrygve Lie.(3) Resolution protesting strongly the prison sentences for contemptmeted out to the attorneys for the Communist leaders in the UnitedStates.(4) Clearly intended as a measure of support for Communist insurrectionsin colonial areas, the Resolution on Dependent Countriesdeclared that the actual independence of these countries can onlachieved by national liberation struggle in alliance with the peop i e ofbethe exploiting country and the progressives of all countries. In Communistjargon all efforts to subvert democratic countries are referred ’to as “liberation struggles.” Russia is always the liberator while theU. S. A. is considered the exploiter. The resolution intended to encouragerebellion in the home country is support of Communist uprisings.The meeting also created a permanent Commission on theColonial, Semicolonial, and Dependent Countries.Commenting on the afore-mentioned convention, The Guild Lawyerof Autumn 1949 stated that the convention “marked a significantthan e in the strength and influence of the progressive lawyers of theworl cf. ”Reflectin the current line of Moscow and the Cominform in itsdispute wit % Marshal Tito, the Association of Democratic Lawyersvoted to expel the Yuported by Robert J. Siloslavian delegates.%This proposal was superstein,American delegate.The proceedings of the Association of Democratic Lawyers wereconsidered of sufficient importance to warrant a report by SovietDelegate EirRelations witin in May 1949 before the Soviet Society for Cultural% Foreign Countries, the Soviet equivalent of the NazisLeague for Germandom in Foreign Countries. This was made thesubject of a Moscow broadcast on May 11, 1949. In conformancewith the current Soviet “peace offensive,” Kirgin urged democratic

lawyers to intensify their fight against war propaganda. He statedthat upon the Soviet delegate’s initiative, a resolution was passed bythe AODL to identify war criminals and publish their names. Theorganization has not as yet published the names of those responsiblefor the assault upon the peaceful South Eorean Republic.THE NATIONAL LAWYE’RS GUILD 15It was well known that t,he drive of the World Peace Congress forendorsement of the so-called Stockholm Appeal and for interferencewith shipments of material sent by the United States in support of theAtlantic Defense Pact is the main present objective of int’ernationalcommunism. The following excerpt from the Moscow Home ServiceBroadcast of May 21, 19.50, therefore demonstrates how the InternationalAssociation for Democratic Lawyers functions on an internationalscale to protect the Communist sabotage and espionage apparatus,just as the National Lawyers Guild functions on a national scale:Among the organizations who have sided with the Stockholm declaration duringthe last week are the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and others.The International Association of Democratic Lawyers has also addressed dockersand railwaymen refusing to transport war material in a declaration in which theystate that they consider their actions are well-founded from a legal and juridicalpoint of view because their actions are aimed at the prevention of war crimes.It should be remembered that the National Lawyers Guild, as asubordinate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers,is in duty bound to comply with this directive in our own country.At the previous Prague Congress in 1948, the International Associationof Democratic Lawyers officially solidarized itself with the WroclawCongress of Intellectuals, attended by a number of leading AmericanCommunists, which devoted itself primarily to assailing the foreignpolicies of the United States and extolling the “peace policies” of theSoviet Union.According to the Daily Q70rker of October 19, 1949, page 10, theFourth Congress of Democratic Lawyers held in Prague went evenfurther in its service to international communism. Welcomed byKlement Gottwald, Communist President of Czechoslovakia, it workedout a “people’s law code,”ships.intended as a guide for Communist dictator-In concluding the session! Dr. Nordman compared the administrationof justice in Communist Czechoslovakia with that of thewestern democracies.“The American Constitution,” remarked Nordman, “particularly the firstamendment, guarantees freedom of thought, but we can see in the trial of the12 Communists in New York that they are being prosecuted only for theirthoughts, only because they are Marxists and the jury is selected not democratically* * *.”Incidentally, Czechoslovakia has been the scene of a number ofrecent Communist purge trials in which the right to trial by jury andaccepted juridical practices were ruthlessly violated, without protestfrom the Association of Democratic Lawyers for the National LawyersGuild.The headquarters of the International Association of Democrat,icLawyers is at 19 Quai d’orleans in Paris, France. The president of theorganization at the time of its 1949 convention was D. N. Pritt, K. C.,a British lawyer prominent in the defense of Communist causes. Itsgeneral secretary is Joe Nordman, who recently defended the Frenchpro-Communist publication, Les Lettres Frangaise.GUILD COMMUNISTS AND FELLOW TRAVELERS

The files of the Committee on Un-American Activities show that thedominant forces in the National Lawyers Guild have been composedof known Communists and fellow travelers.H. Rept. 3123,81-2-3

16 TB NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDThe committee notes, for example, that John Abt, Lee Pressman,and Nathan Witt were associated with the National Lawyers Guildfrom its inception, and have held positions on the guild’s executiveboard or on its various committees. Abt, Pressman, and Witt havebeen identified as Communist members of an underground groupestablished by t.he Communist Party for the purpose of infiltratingFederal Government agencies. This identification was made byWhittaker Chambers, confessed former courier for Communist espionageagents. The three indviduals so accused subsequently refusedto submit to congressional inquiry regarding their Communist activitieson grounds of self-incrimination.On August 28, 1950, Lee Pressman again appeared before the committee.This time, he answered questions propounded to him by thecommittee. In the course of the questioning, Pressman admitted hismembership in a Communist group in Washington, D. C., during theyears 1934 and 1935. He also identified Nathan Witt and John Abtas members of this Communist group. On September 1, 1950, NathanWitt and John Abt again appeared before the committee and refusedto answer all inquiries regarding their Communist activities on theground of self-incrimination.Another initial mem]Jer of the National Lawyers Guild was CharlesRecht, who at the same time was attorney for the Soviet Embassyin the United States. Still another charter member was Joseph R.Brodsky, general counsel and charter member of the, CommunistParty, now deceased. The National Lawyers Guild, at its 1948national convention, unanimously adopted a special resolution regardingthe death of Mr. Brodsky which stated:His death is an inestimable loss to the profession and to the National LawyersGuild of which he was a charter member.Martin Popper, one of the 1949 vice presidents of the guild whomthe Daily Worker of June 27, 1943., credits with being a “founder” ofthe guild, is a faithful Commumst Party liner. His many otherCommunist-front connections include Civil Rights Congress., AmericanCommittee for Protection of Foreign Born, Joint Anti-Fascist RefugeeCommittee, Committee for a Democratic Far Eastern Policy, .AmericanCommittee for Spanish Freedom, Emergency Peace Mobilization,National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, National Councilof the Arts, Sciences, and Professions, National Negro Congress,Southern Conference for Human Welfare. Popper recently representedthe Chinese Communist government.Thomas J. Emerson, a law professor at Yale University, was electedpresident of the National Lawyers Guild at its national convention inNew York City in May 1950. Mr. Emerson has been associated withthe guild from its very begmning, and served on the guild’s executiveboard during its first year, 1937. The records of the Committee onUn-American Activities show that Mr. Emerson has an unusual affinityfor Communist-front organizations and t’hat in addition to the NationalLawyers Guild he has associated himself with such groups as CivilRights Congress, Jefferson School of Social Science, Southern Conferencefor Human Welfare, National Council of the Arts, Sciences,and Professions. He has further associated himself with the Communist-

blessed Progressive Citizens of America and with the Communist-dominated United Public Workers of America.The present executive secretary of the National Lawyers Guild isRobert J. Silberstein, who has held that same position for many years.THE NATIONAL LAWYE’FtS GUILD 17Mr. Silberstein’s connections with the guild date from its earliest days.The files of the committee disclose that Mr. Silberstein is the signerof a public statement defending the Communist Party and that he hasassociated with such subversive organizations as the InternationalWorkers Order, Committee for Citizenship Rights, Lawyers Committeeon ,4merican Relations with Spain, and Progressive Committeeto Rebuild the American Labor Party.Clifford J. Durr, 1949 hcnd of the guild, who hns a’ppeared beforethe Committee on Un-American Activities representing clients whodeclined to answer questions as to Communist affiliations on thegrounds of self-incrimination, in August of 1948 attended the WorldCongress of Jntellectuals for Peace behind the iron curtain, at Wroclaw,Poland. In May of 1948, Durr, in a speech before the Federationof American Scientists, charged that United States scientists areforced to “work in an atmosphere of corrosive fear.”to the disclosure regardinThis was priorFuchs.g the spying of the British atom spy, KlausDurr sponsored n, committee to defeat the Mundt-Ferguson Communistcontrol bill.the Constitution.”He charges that the “loyalty program is aboveDurr presently serves as a vice president of the guild.The 1950 vice presidents of the National Lawyers Guild includethe following other individuals with significant records of associationswith Communist enterprises:Osmond Fraenkel: Associated with Consumers National Federation,American Labor Party, National Committee for the Defense ofPolitical Prisoners, American Student Union, Consumers Union,American League Against War and Fascism, New York Tom MooneyCommittee, National Emergency Conference for Democrittic Rights,International Juridical Association, National Committee for People’sRights, Medical Bureau and North American Committee To AidSpanish Democracy, Greater New York Emergency Conference onInalienable Rights, Film dudiences for Democracy, Films for Democracy,Coordinating Committee To Lift t,he Embargo, Citizens CommitteeTo Free Earl Browder, School for Democracy.Louis F. McCabe: Associated with Philadelphia School of SocialScience and Art, National Federation for Constitutional Liberties,Civil Rights Congress, American League for Peace and Democracy,Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, North American CommitteeTo Aid Spanish Democracy, National Council of the Arts, Sciencesand Professions, American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born,International Labor Defense, National Emergency Conference forDemocratic Rights, International Juridical Association, AmericanStudent Union.Bartley C. Crum: Associated with California Labor School, Nat,ionalCommittee To Win the Peace, National Federation for ConstitutionalLiberties, Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, American-Russian Institute, American

Slav Congress, American Youth for Democracy, American Committeefor Spanish Freedom.Richard Gladstein: Associated with the Civil Rights Congress. Mr.Gladstein sent Labor Day greetiugs to the People’s Daily World,west coast organ of the Communist Party, in 1947, and sent May Daygreetings to the same subversive newspaper in the present year.Mr. Gladstein was one of the attorneys who were sentenced to jail18 THE NATIONAL LAVYERS GUILD

for contempt of court as a result of their abusive attitudes whiledefending the 11 Communist leaders recently convicted in New York.OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD(As of December 1949)President Executive board members-ContinuedClifford J. Durr, Washington, D. C.Ezecutive secretaryRobert J. Silberstein, Washington, D. C.TreasurerNathan B. Kogan, New York CityVice presidentsBartley C. Crum, San FranciscoPr;:ho:romas I. Emerson, Yale LawOsmond K. Fraenke!, New York CityMitchell Franklin, New OrleansElmer Gertz ChicagoCharles H. Houston, Washington, D. C.[deceased]0. John Rogge, New York CityHon. Ira W. Jayne, Detroit, presidingt.‘udge, Circuit Court, Wayne County,rchDaniel G. Marshall, Los AngelesLouis F. McCabe. PhiladelphiaMartin Popper, New York CityExecutive board membersBaltimore:I. Duke AvnctDonald MurrayCedar Rapids, Iowa: Allan HealdChicago:Paul G. AnnesEarl B. DickersonIrving H. FlammSolomon JesmerSidney A. Jones, Jr.John LigtenbergDavid B. RothsteinGeorge L. SiegelEuclid L. TaylorRichard F. WattEugene CottonNelson WilliaHarry L. DiehlCleveland:Hon. Lewis DruckerElsie TarcaiHerschel G. HollandCharles M. GoodwinAllen MadorskiDenver: Samuel D. MeninDetroit:

Alan N. BrownAlvin DavenportJames MontanteDetroit-ContinuedWalter M. NelsonPatrick S. NertneyHon. Patrick H. O’BrienNedwin L. SmoklerMaurice SugarHon. Henry S. SweeneyG. Leslie FieldLos Angeles-Hollywood:Robert W. KennyClore WarneJohn T. McTernanGeorge SlaffHope, Ark.: George Patrick CaseyHouston, Tex.: Herman WrightLima, Ohio: Elmer McClainNew York City:Benjamin .4lgaseLeonard B. BoudinLouis BoudinJoseph H. CrownHon. Hubert T. DelaneyBernard D. FischmanAlbert C. GilbertCarol KingLeo J. LinderThuraood MarshallPaul ‘G’DwverMilton PaulsonMarian Wynn PerryLee PressmanPaul L. RossHarry SacherHon. Nathan R. SobelWilliam L. StandardAbraham UngerBenedict WolfArthur G. SilvermanPhiladelphia: Saul C. WaldbaumPittsburgh: Hyman SchlesingerSt. Louis: Victor B. HarrisSan Francisco:J. Bruce FratisGeorge G. OlshausenSeattle: John CaughlanWashington, D. C.:George M. JohnsonDonald M. MurthaDavid ReinHerbert S. ThatcherBelford V. Lawson, Jr.Boston: Arthur L. BrownYoungstown, Ohio: John F. KicakMiami: Harold TannenStudent division:Martin Tucker, CambridgeRobert Silverstein, ChicagoSamuel Rosenberg, New York Ci ItYTHE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

OFFICERS OF THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD(As of May 1950)19President Executive board-ContinuedThomas I. Emerson, Yale UniversityExecutive secretaryRobert J. Silberstein, Washington, D. C.TreasurerNathan B. Kogan, New YorkT ice presidentsClifford J. Durr, Washington, D. C.Osmond Fraenkel, New York CityBartley Crum, San FranciscoLouis McCabe, PhiladelphiaRichard Gladstein, San FranciscoEarl B. Dickerson, ChicagoVictor B. Harris, St. LouisGeorge Slaff, Los AngelesHenry Weihofen, New MexicoMartin Popper, New York CityHon. Ira W. Jayne, DetroitElmer Gertz, ChicagoMitchell Franklin New Orleans0. John Rogge, New York CityExecutive boardBenjamin Algase, New York CityPaul G. Annes, ChicagoI. Duke Avnet, BaltimoreLeonard B. Boudin, New York CityAlan Brown! DetroitGeorge Patrick Casey, ArkansasJohn Caughlin, SeattleEugene Cotton, ChicagoJoseph H. Crown, New York CityElvin A. Davenport, DetroitHon. Hubert D. Delany, New York CityEarl B. Dickerson, ChicagoHarry Diehl, Gibson City, Ill.hon. Lewis Druckner,. ClevelandG. Leslie Field, DetroitBernard D. Fischman! New York CityIrving H. Flamm, ChmagoJ. Bruce Fratis, San FranciscoAlbert C. Gilbert, New York CityCharles M. Goodwin, ClevelandVictor B. Harris! St. LouisAllen Heald, ChicagoCharles H. Houston, Washington, D. C.Solomon Jesmer, ChicagoSidney A. Jones, Jr., ChicagoRobert W. Kenny, Los AngelesJohn F. Kicak, Youngstown, OhioCarol King, New York CityBelford V. Lawson, Washington, D. C.John Lightenberg, ChicagoLeo J. Linder, New York CityElmer M&lain, Lima, OhioJohn T. McTernan, Los AngelesAllan M.adorski,. ClevelandSamuel D. Menm, DetroitJames Montante, DetroitDonald Murray, Baltimore

Donald h/I. Murtha, Washington, D. C.Walter hl. Nelson, DetroitPatrick S. Nerthney, DetroitPatrick H. O’Brien, DetroitPaul O’Dwyer, New York CityGeo. H. Olshausen, San FranciscoMilton Paulson, New York CityMarion Wynn Perry, New York CityLee Pressman, New York CityDavid Rein, Washington, D. C.Samuel Rosenberg, New York CityPaul L. Ross, New York CityDavid B. Rothstein, ChicagoHarry Sacher, New York CityHyman Schlesinger, Pittsburgh, Pa.George L. Siegel, Chica oArthur G. Silverman, r4 ew York CityRobert Silverstein, iMadison, Wis.George Slaff, Los AngelesHon. Nathan R. Sobel, New York CityWilliam L. Standard, New York CityNedwin L. Smokler, DetroitMaurice Sugar, DetroitHon. Henry S. Sweeney, DetroitHarold Tannen, MiamiElsie Tarcai, ClevelandEuclid L. Taylor, ChicagoHerbert S. Thatcher, Washington, D. C.Abraham Unger, New York CityMorris Wainger, New York CitySaul C. Waldblum, PhiladelphiaClore Warne, Los AngelesRichard F. Watt, ChicagoNelson Willis, ChicagoBenedict Wolf, New York CityHerman Wright, Houston, Tex.(deceased]20 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDOFFICERS, WASHINGTON CHAPTER, NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD(as of July 1950)President, Harry LambertonVice president, Belford V. Lawson, Jr.Executive secretary, David ReinRecording secretary, Sehna SalmonsTreasurer, Charlotte A. HankinBoard of directors: Jack BlumeJames A. CobbArthur Christopher, Jr.’Milton FreemanSamuel Jaff eHoward JenkinsSamuel LevineHarry N. Rosenfeld 2Herbert 8. Thatcher 3

Ruth WeyandDonald M. Murtha 4ORGANIZATIONAL DATAHeadquarters of the National Lawyers Guild are located at 902Twentieth Street NW., Washingto!, D. C.The National Lawyers Guild clalmed a membership of 3,891 individualsas of June 1, 1950. Its chapters number 14 and are locatedin the following cities: Baltimore, Boston, Albany, Troy, Schenectady,Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit! Washington, D. C., Hollywood, LosAngeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. For the

purpose of comparison, the Journal of the American Bar Associationin 1948 estimated the total number of attorneys in the United Statesat lS?,OOO. To carry the comparison still further, the American BarAssociation reported its own membership to be 28,400 in 1937 and42,000 in 1949, according to the World Almanac.Since 1946, the National Lawyers Guild has maintained a studentdivision to permit law students to become members of the guild.The 3,891 total guild membership figure as of June 1, 1950, includes702 individuals who are listed as members of the guild’s studentdivision. The guild lists the locations of its student divisions asfollows: University of Michigan, University of California at SanFrancisco, University of Southern California (Boalt Hall), Universityof Chicago, Harvard University, New York University, ColumbiaUniversity, Brooklyn Law School! Yale University, University ofWashington at Seattle, Wayne University, Washingt.on, D. C. (sic).Dues paid by its members provides the National Lawyers Guildwith some of its funds. Another source is contributions from interestedindividuals and organizations.The House Commit,tee on Un-American Activities, in a report datedJune 7, 1946, referred to its investigation of organizations whichfinanced communistic and subversive causes in the United States.The committee named the Sound View Foundation, Inc., of NewYork as a typical example. The National Lawyers Guild received* Dropped membyship through nonpayment of dues, April 1949, and refused nomination to board ofdirectors.2 Dropped membership through nonpayment of dues, April 1949, and refused nomination to board ofdirectors.3 Dropped membership through nonpayment of dues, April 1949, and has not attended a guild meetlngfor over three years.4 Resigned.

THE NATIONAL LAWYJCRS GUILD 21$700 from the now-defunct Sound View Foundation, according to t,hereport.In 1949, the Communist-dominated International Fur and LeatherWorkers Union contributed $3,000 to the National Lawyers Guild.In 1947 and again in 1948, the Communist-dominated United Electrical,Radio and Machine Workers Union contributed $750 to theNational Lawyers Guild.Another contributor to the National Lawyers Guild was the RobertMarshall Foundat,ion of New York City, which in 1947 contributed$2,000. This foundat,ion was described in the March 29, 1944, reportof the Special Committee on Un-American Activities as “one of theprincipal sources for the money with which to finance the CommunistPa.rty’s fronts generally in recent years.”Frederick Vanderbilt Field, whose adherence to Communist causesis well known, has also contributed money to the National LawyersGuild.Over 40 employees of the Federal Government who are currentlycarried on the rolls of the National Lawyers Guild as members werecontacted by the staff of the committee. The majority of thosecontacted have, in their opinions, ceased their membership throughthe nonpayment of dues, although only three had submitted formalletters of resignation. However, the National Lawyers Guild stillconsiders these persons to be members. Two individuaIs carried asmembers of the board of directors of the Washington chapter of t,heNational Lawyers Guild are still carried. as such even though theyrefused the nomination to the board of directors and had stoppedpaying dues. One person carried as a member of the board had

neither paid dues since April of .1949 nor attended a meeting in over3 years.Many persons interviewed, and these interviews were limited t’opresent Government employees, stated t,hat as a result of their membershipsin t,he National Lawyers Guild t.hey had been receivingliterature from Communist-front organizations.CONCLUSIONThe Committ,ee on Un-American Activities recommends that theNational Lawyers Guild be placed on the Department of Justicesubversive list and that it be required to register as an agent of aforeign principal.It recommends further that members of the National LawyersGuild be barred from Federal employment and that the AmericanBar Association consider the question of whether or not membershipin the National Lawyers Guild, a subversive organization, is compatiblewith admissibilit,y to the American bar. It calls on decentlawyers and those sincerely interested in the liberal principles ofAmerican justice to warn t,he younger members of the bar of the realnature of the guild, as an arm of the int,ernational Communistconspiracy.

APPENDIXCOMPARISON OF GUILD PROGRAM WITH COMMUNIST PARTY LINEThrough resolutions of its conventions, declarations of its nationalexecutive board, and statements of its officials, the National LawyersGuild has expressed its position with regard to many foreign anddomes tic issues. Some high lights of these pronouncements are comparedin the following pages with statements on the same issues asfound in the Daily Worker, Daily Peoples World, New Masses, TheCommunist, and Political Affairs. The first four publications mentionedwere identified as Communist in the Special Committee onUn-American Activities, United States House of Representatives,report dated March 29, 1944, while the last was similarly describedin the same committee’s Report No. 1920 dated May 11, 1948, pages5 and 6.The only striking example of conf%ct with the Communist Partyline occurred when the guild’s executive board denounced the Russianinvasion of Finland in Decemberl939, when it still included a sizablenumber of non-Communists who have since resigned. This resolutionwas, however, not widely publicized.A. DOMESTIC ISSUES1. ALIENS(EXPLANATORY NOTE.--hhy members of the Communist Party, U. S. A.,are aliens subject to deportation proceedings. In some cases Russia has refusedto accept Communist deportees from the United States. The Hobbs bill (H. R.10) therefore provided for the internment of such aliens, just as was done withNazi deportees during World War II.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. S. A.Defeat the Bill for ConcentrationCamps * * * We are referring tothe fact bhat the “Concentration Camp”Bill introduced bv Congressman Hobbs,of Alabama, has jbst been reported out ofCommittee.* * * The reactionaries behind ithope to sneak it through before thepeople have a chance to act. The Billprovides that all foreign-born noncitizehs

shall be imprisoned for life inconcentration camps if they have noiassports to the countries of their birth.uch persons will be seized withouttrial, and without any possibilit,y ofapp*e al * to *h igher courts. We urge that you wire yourCongressman now, and urge him bo vote“No” to the Hobbs Bill (Daily Worker,April 27, 1939, p. 1).NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD* * * The National LawyersGuild in convention assembled opposespassage of the Hobbs ConcentrationCamp Bill, or any similar legislationwhich would establish concent,rationcamps in America (Lawyers Guild Review,vol. 1, No. 4, June 1941, p. 64).23H. K,?I)t. 3143, 81-2--d

24 THE NATIONAL LAWPERS GUILD(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-The Smith bill was adopted just prior to World WarII as a necessary defense precaution and provided for the registration and fingerprintingof aliens.)COMMUNIBT PABTY, U. 8. A.The Smith Bill-one of the most repressiveof a long list of “antialien”measures now hanging fire in Congress-may come up any day. * * *This is an omnibus bill, combining allthe vicious features of a number ofmeasures and a few of its own. It requiresregistration and fingerprinting ofall aliens, a domestic passport systemwhich, unquestionably would involvethe whole -population. At the sametime, it makes it more difficult for thefore@-born to become citizens * * *(D,“zly, Wzrker, May 29, 1939, p. 6).The tory members of theSenate Committee on Immigration approveda bill that violates the veryfundamentals of the Declaration of Independenceand of American democrao*y* * * . In nrovidimr for the renistrationof all aliens, the “measure strikesa direct blow at the Bill of Rights. Letno one try pretend that such a measureis aimed at aliens alone. Its real purposeis to intimidate aliens and foreignborncitizens in order to weaken theunions and other democratic organizationsto which they belong. This is notan “antialien” bill. It is a seditionbill to undermine democracy. Themeasure is an opening wedge- againstthe rights and liberties of all Americans(Sund%y Worker, July 2,.1939, p. 6).Fifth column hysteria swept bothhouses of Congress today and includedin its destructive sweep the civil libertiesof the American people and the rightsof organized labor as well as the welfare

of the foreign born.Direct consequences of the President’snational defense program included:(1) Passage of the LaFollztt%op*pressiveLabor Practices Act.(2) Unanimous approval by the SenateJudiciarv Committee of the SmithOmnibus A&i-Alien Bill. * * *(3) Approval by the House of thePresident’s reorganization plan transferringthe Bureau of Immigration fromthe Department of Labor to the Departmentof Justice, thus subjecting theforeign born to per:ecution by J. EdgarHoover’s FBI * * (Daaly Worker,May 28, 1940, p. 1).NATIONAL LAWYEBB GUILDAt its 1940 convention the Guild opposedall proposals to fingerprint orrequire identification cards of aliensinasmuch as such proposals were deemeddiscriminatory and necessarily “lead tothe registration and fin erprinting ofthe entire population.” (thtional LawyersGuild Quarterly, vol. 3, No. 2, p.119, July 1940.)Guild opposed H. R. 5138, the AlienRegistration Act, pointing out that theact not only provided for the registrationof aliens but contained a FederalSedition law and a military disaffectionlaw which it criticized as a violation ofthe First Amendment to the FederalConstitution (Lawyers Guild Rm’ew.October 1940, p. 591).The National Lawyers Guild * * *disapproves all proposals, whether federal,state, or local, to register fingerprintor require identification cards ofall aliens, as such proposals are discriminatingand must of necessity alsolead to the registration and fingerprintingof the entire population; * * *The impending transfer of the Immigrationand Naturalization Service fromthe Labor Departm:nt ,t” the Departmentof Justice; * (NatzonalLawyers Guild Quarterly, VO!. 3, NO. 2,July 1940, p. 119).THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 252. BRIDGES CASE(EXPLANATORY NoTs.-Harry Bridges, an alien member of the CommunistParty, USA, has been the subject of deportation proceedings for a number ofyears. He has recently been convicted of perjury for denying his party membershipin such proceedings.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 5. A.Bridges, as it is well known by informedpeople, is not a Communist noris it against the law to be a Communist.But if the shipowners can get away withthe kind of frame-u they are perpetratingagainst Brl 3 ges, what tradeunion

or liberal leader is safe? For itis progressive unionism and the NewDeal which the shipowners are tryingto destroy in this frame-up farce againstBridges (Daily Worker, July 28, 1939,P. 6).The victory which has been won bythe unions and*th$ pezple m the HarryBridges case is a bitter disappointmentto the reactionaries (DailyWorker, January 2, 1940, p. 6).And so, after years of persecutionand a man hunt of such proportions asthis country has never witnessed, withmonths of coaching and preparation bythe FBI, the Department of Justice ofthis great Nation could produce nothingmore against Harry Bridges than the,at best, questionable words of twowitnesses * * * (New Masses, June9, 1942, p. 12).NATIONAL LAWYE3.S QUILDH. R. 9766 ordering the deportationof Harry Bridges after he has beenfound not guilty of any conduct whichwould justify his deportation underlaws applicable to all aliens would be adangerous prec:de;t f,“’ an objectionablepractice The NationalLawvers Guild disanoroves H. R. 9766as a’ contravention I of the historicalAmerican opposition to anything in thenature of a Bill of Attainder expresslyprohibited by the Federal Constitution(National Lawyers Guild Ouarterly, VOL3, No. 2, July 1949, p. 119).By letter dated June 28, 19401 to theSenate Committee on Immigration andNaturalization the Guild opposed H. R.9766, “a bill directing the AttorneyGeneral to deport Harry Renton Bridgesforthwith to Australia.” Described itas an “un-American proposal.”Guild cited the action against Bridgesas an attempt by “opponents of thelabor movement * * * to thwartthe development thereof by prosecutingits leaders.” (Washington Evening Star,February 25, 1941).According to the New York Times,March 19, 1945, the Guild sent a legalmemorandum and petition to the Presidenturging cancellation of deportationproceedings against Bridges. Stated:“If Harry Bridges, a well-loved leaderof a strong American trade-union werepermitted to suffer the punishment ofexile from a land in which he had livedfor almost 25 years * * * wouldnot fair-minded men everywhere tendto suspect the good faith of our commitmentsand the sincerity of our program

for a lasting peace”? (New York Times,March 19, 1945).26 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD3. COMMITTEES INVESTIGATING COMMUNISMHOUSE COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIESCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDIt is with real Hitler brazenness thatDies asks Congress for more funds-tobe exact, for $150,000-in order that hisgang can help the Nazi bunds and theWall Street Tories tear down Americandemocracy. Every American shouldanswer this insolence with an increasingstream of protests to his Congressmanurging an end to the Dies outfit. LetCongress establish a committee toferret out the un-American forces whichDies witch-hunters are hiding. (Editorial,Daily Worker, January 23, 1939,p. 6).Attention, All Readers!Write your Congress today *on *dissolvingthe Dies Committee *(National Issues, January 1939, p. 18,Published monthly by National Committee,Communist Party).The November 18, 1939, issue of theDaily Worker5 page 6, editorializedfavorably on the Guild pamphlet andconcluded:“Not another cent for Dies: Thisshould be the thunderous demand of theAmerican people upon the JanuaryCongress.”Abolish the Un-American Dies andSmith Committees (Resolution Adootedby the National Committee of the dommunistParty! U. 8. A., February 1940,The Communzst, March 1940, page 216).An end must be put to such instrumentsof fascism as the Dies CommitteeGozmi*ttee(Manifesto of the NationalCommunist Party USAadopted at’ its Plenary Meeting, Jung28-29, 1941, The Communist, August1941, p. 681).But why does the Congress of theUnited States continue to vote confidenceh Mr. Dies, and provide himIn January 1939, the New York CityChapter of the National Lawyers Guildsent a resolution to the New York StateAssembly and the U. S. House of Representativesstating:“1. That we urge the resolution tocontinue the Dies Committee be disapprovedand that no further funds beappropriated to it, and“2. That we urge Congress to requestthe Department of Justice to carry on aninvestigation of un-American and subversiveactivities * * *“3. That we urge the legislature ofthe State of New York to memorializethe Congress of the United States todischarge the Dies Committee for thereasons hereinabove set forth” (DailyWorker, January 23, 1939, pp. 1 and 4).In November 1939, the San FranciscoChapter of the National Lawyers Guildreleased a pamphlet entitled “In theCourt of Public Opinion, Indictment,

People of the United States of Americavs. the Dies Committee.” This pamphletcontained the statement: “Propagandagroups such as the Dies Committeemust be condemned by the Americanpeople, if American democracyand the Bill of Rights are to be maintained”(Daily Worker, November 15.1939, p. 1).Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved: Thatthe House of Reoresentatives be urgedto deny the reqdest of Chairman Diesfor an additional one hundred thousanddollars as a su8plemental appropriationfor the Dies ommittee to investigateun-American activities.That the House of Representatives beurged to discontinue and disband theDies Committee except for the submissionof a report on its activities andthat the Dies Committee be directedforthwith to turn over to the Departmentof Justice or other appropriategovernmental agencies any informationwhich might be of aid to such governmentalagencies in the performance oftheir duties (Fourth Annual Convention,National Lawyers Guild, May 29-June2, 1940, National Lawyers Guild Charteriy,‘;“1.*3, I$ 2, Ju&llCl, p. 121).Lawyersf$riid in convention assembled urges* the abolition of the DiesCommittee * * * (Resolution,Fifth National Convention, NationalLawyers Guild, May-June 1941,Lawyers Guild Review, vol. I NO. 4,June 1941, p. 67).By letter of February 7, 1942, theNew York City Chapter of the Guild

THE NATIONAL LAWYER8 GUILD 27COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

with unlimited public funds with which sent to each member of the U. S.to carry on his work which “helps House of Representatives a report ofHitler’s cause, not. ours”? (Victory and the record of the Dies Committee inA./&r., Earl Browder, p. 69, International the four years of its life. The letterPub&hers, Inc., 1942). concluded:“Wherefore, we respectfully submitthat the resolution to continue the DiesCommittee and to appropriate additionalfunds thereto be disapproved”(Daily ?orker, February 10, 1942, p. 4).By letter of February 15, 1942, overthe signature of Martin Popper, executivesecretary, the Guild criticizedRepresentative Dies to President Rooseveltand said:“We nledez to continue our efforts toconvinck C&gress that the Dies Committeemust be discontinued since itrepresents an impediment and obstacleto American victory” (Daily worker,February 16, 1942, p. 4).In a letter to U. S. RenresentativeFrank Hook, Michigan, -ihe DetroitChapt,er of the Guild urged him tovote down any further appropriation

for the Dies Committee. declaring itstands exposed “as a ho&e-made batternof Hitler’s international anti-Comintern technique” (Daily Worker,February 28, 1942, p. 3).Event,ual readers of the history of At every stage of its career, and espethiswar will be amazed at t,he extent ciallv now in wartime, the Dies Comandwicith what insolence this protectionof the enemies within our gates had beencarried on by members of Congress.The worst thing done in this respect byCongress (so far at least) has been therecommissioning of the Dies Committeeand voting it $75,000 with which tocontinue its subversive work (TheReactionary Offensive and the War,William Z. Foster, The Communist,April 1943, p. 306).The American people must thereforeconclude that while the United Statescan easilv disnense with the Housemittke has been a hindrance to thehonest aspirations of the Americanpeople. In the past,, he has repeatedlycome before Congress and promised toredeem his errors. He has never oncefulfilled Qhose promises. There is noreason for risking the public money bytrusting a broken promise again repeated(The Dies Committee, LawyersGuild Review, vol. III, No, 1, January-February 1943, p. 28).The Guild was listed as one of twentygroups which had joined together anduledeed a “fight to the finish camnaignCommittee on -Un-American Activities, ‘to abvolish the-Un-American House ‘co&it cannot afford to do without the Am- mittee” (Daily Worker, October 24,erican Communist Party (America 1945).Needs the Communist Party, Speech The Guild was one of several organofEugene Dennis at Madison Square izations announcing a nation-wide cam-Garden, New York, September 18, 1945, paign to abolish the Rankin Un-Amerl-PoZiticaE Afairs, October 1945, p. 875). can Activities Committee. The groups’first objective was the completion ofsignature drives for a petition to abolishthe Committee (Daily Worker, December9, 1945).Civil Rights: This Committee, for nine long years* * * End the witch hunts, lay- has distinguished itself by its utter disaltyorders and phony spy scares. regarc! .of the constit$ion?l rjghts ofAbolish the Un-American Committee minyties with whose ideas it disagrees.(Political Afuirs, September 1948, p. * The Guild urges the House of941 article: “1948 Election Platform of Representatives to abolish the Housethe E ommunist Party”). Committee forthwith (Guild Resolution,February 23, 1948, Lawyers Guild Review,vol. VIII, No. 1, January-February1948, p. 319).28 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDCOMhfUNI6T PABTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

The drive against witch hunting musttake the form of outright abolition ofthe Un-American Activities Committee.* * * (Popular Mandate vs. Monopoly

Policy in the New Congress, MaxGordon, Political Affairs, January 1949,p. 82).On December 13,1948, the Guild senta statement to all House Members demandingabolition of the House Committeeon Un-American Activities. Thestatement alleged that the “existenceand activities of such a committee areinherentlv inimical to the most fundamentalsghts guaranteed by the Constitution”(Daily lVorker, December 13,:z4yg;i)2, Washington Star, DecemberRAPP-COUDERT COMMITTEE

‘The Hbuse Committee on Un-AmericanActivities * * * should beabolished (Resolution of the NationalGuild Convention, February 23, 1949,Lawyers Guild Review, vol. IX, No. 1,Winter 1949, p. 51).(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-The Rapp-Coudert Committee was active in 1940 ininvestigating Communist activity in the public school system of New York City.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWPERS GUILD

Contempt proceedings by the Rapp-Coudert Committee against five membersof the Brooklyn College facultyare a striking exposure of the fascistcharacter of the committee.The charge is that the teachersrefused to testifv before the Committee.But actually, they justifiably refusedto attend a secret one-man hearing inwhich they would be denied benefit ofcounsel * * * (Daily Worker, December23, 1940, p. 6, editorial).The Rapp-Coudrrt Committee, whichis taking the lead in t,he fight to destroypublic education in New York State, isthis week conducting “little Dies” hearingsin New York City against theTeachers Union and its membership.The Rapp-Coudert Commit.tee andthe State Legislature have been carryingthe banners of the Middle Agespa;d;tcuuly high during the past fewThe Committee was createdto “investigate, study and review Stateaid administration, conduct, methods,sudject matter and subversive activitiesin the Dublic schools * * * and&ery other matter deemed relevant.”What the Committee deemed relevantwas to instigate an attack of unprecedentedproportions against progressiveeducation and against the TeachersUnion, ‘2’ 0rganizaQlon of progressivemindedmen and women in the NewYork’s school system (Sunday Worker,December 1, 1940, p. 5, article by BethMcHenry entitled “Coudert WavesMiddle Age Banner in School Attack”).* * * The National LawyersGuild in convention assembled condemns

all attacks on academic freedomand particularly condemns the actionsof the Rapp-Coudert Committee, theNew York Board of “Education, theBoard of Higher Education, the refusalof the College of the City of New Yorkto review the appointment of Dr. MaxYergan and the termination by SwarthmoreCollege of the appointment ofJosephine Truslow Adams (LawyersGuild Review, vol. 1, No. 1, No. 4,June 1941, p. 63).Lawvers Guild Raps Coudert Witch-Hunt. -Charges Body Failed to UncoverActivity of pro-Fascists.Although the Rapp-Coudert Committeehas spent more than a quarterof a million dollars in public funds. ithas failed to unearth a-single exan&leof fascist or pro-Nazi actiiity in ourpublic school system, the New YorkChapter of the National Lawyers Guildcharged yesterday.The Lawyers Guild called upon thestate legislature to at least give opponentsof the Rapp-Coudert Committeean opportunity to be heard before actingupon its extension.The statement pointed out that theRapp-Coudert Committee was createdto investigate the cost of education inthe State and thnt up t.o now nothinghas been heard of this phase of theinquiry (Daily Worker, March 25, 1942,P. 5).THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 29TENNEY COMMITTEE(EXPLANATORY Nor%-The Tenney Committee was the California JointFact Finding Committee on Un-American Activities.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.State Senator Jack B. Tenney todayinitiated his version of a book-burningcrusade against The Daily People’sWorld.Enraged at the paper’s forthrightopposition to his activities, the senatorconcluded his Un-American committeehearings late yesterday by receivingrubber&amp approval of a resolutionurging a boycott of the Daily People’sWorld. (Daily People’s World. February21, 1948, p. 1).NATIONAL LAWYEFS GUILDThe California Tenney Committeeon Un-American Activities is thecounterpart on a state scale of. theCommittee on Un-American Actiptlzs 0:the House of Representativesthe National Lawyers Guild reiteratesits position that the rights of an individualagainst interference or inquiryinto his political, social and economicviews .and beliefs are inviolate and maynot be the subject of inquisition byany agency of -government * * *(National Lawvers Guild Convention

Resolution, February 1948. LawyersGuild Revzew, January-February 1948,pp. 329, 330).4. TRIAL OF COMMUNIST LEADERSThe destruction of the rights of theCommunist is the classical first stepdown the road to fascism. (1948Election Platform of the CommunistParty, Political Affairs, September1948, p. 940).Martin Popper, an executive of theNational Lawyers Guild, addressed theWorld Congress of International DemocraticLawyers at Prague, September 7,1948, and proposed that it send aEuropean lawyer to observe the trialof the 12 American Communist leaders.Popper warned that “the indictment ofCommunist leaders presages the beginningof the end of the ConstitutionalEnd the wi’tch hunts, loyalty ordersand phony spy scares.Abolish the Un-American Committee.Withdraw the indictments against thetwelve Communist leaders and the contemptcitations against the anti-fascistvictims of Congressional inquisitions(1948 Election Platform of the CommunistParty, Political Affairs, September1948, p. 941).form of government in America.”Dailu Worker. Sentember 9. 1948. D. 2).An amicus’cu~iae brief, ‘filed by theNational Lawyers Guild, October 7,1948, before U. S. District JudgeMurray Hulbert regarding the indictmentof the twelve leaders of the CommunistParty, cont,ained the followingstatements:“These indictments are part of theominous pattern that has come tothreaten the entire Bill of Rights.“Thev are a direct outcome of theanti-Co”mmunist hysteria, spy hunts,etc., that daily fill the press and everyother channel of public informatinn* * *I _ - ̂_ .

“We respectfully urge this court toassert the judicial integrity of ourConstitut.ional system by dismissingthese indictments as the clearest violationof the First Amendment.” (DailyWorker, October 8, 1948, p. 1).As construed and applied to theseindictments, therefore., the Smith Actinfringes the basic rights of the defendantsto speech, press and assembly,destroys their right to organize andassemble with others as a political party,sunmesses their rieht to exnound. andadvocate a soci;ll science-and istherefore unconstitutional. * * *30 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDCOMMUNIST PABTY, U. 8. A.The indictments should be dismissed(From the Briefs on the Unconstitutionalityof the Smith Act, PoliticalA$uirs, November 1948, pp. 1026-1032).It is thus made abundantly clearthat a government is attempting by theuse of the law and courts to eliminatepolitical opposition. This strikes at thevitals of our whole democratic process

(Ibid., p. 1015).What is needed here in an all-outmass campaign that will * * * securethe dismissal of the Grand Juryindictments against our Party, repeal‘A”,“t “$oy*alt; order” and. the Smith(The Fascist Dangerand How To Combat. It-Eugene Dennis,Political Aflairs, September, 1948,pp. 795, 796).Our attack is upon the grand jury,the petit jury panels, all panels, all ofthe lists from which bot.h grand andpet,it juries are drawn, and indeed, theentire system of jury selection here(The Federal Jury is stacked AgainstYou, Marion Bachrach, CommunistParty Defense Committee, New York,January 1949).Immediat,ely after the infamous verdictwas rendered the judge “turned tosome unfinished business” and, in amanner bristling with hate and sadisticsatisfaction, found all the defense lawyersguilty of criminal contempt andsentenced them to severe prison sen-NATIONAL LAWYERS QUILDThe persecution of the CommunistPartv and its members has for some timenow” been an avowed governmentalobjective. A campaign of calumny andslander emanating from governmentalsources has accompanied every legaldevice used by officialdom to limit theactivities and silence the voice of thisParty and its members * * * Wewitness every day * * * the label of“Communist” and “subversive” placedupon persons whose only crime appearsto be hostility towards present daygovernmental policy, domestic or foreign.There can be no talk of freedom if theideas of the Communist Party aresuppressed. * * * We call for a repealof the Smith Act and the end of allprosecutions thereunder (Resolutionsof February 1949, National Convention,National Lawyers Guild, Lawyers GuildReview, vol. IX, No. 1, Winter 1949,p. 52)..* * * The duty of a Court is tosee that juries are fair and impartial,and fairly represent a cross section ofthe community; and to halt a prosecutionwhere such fair and impartial jurydoes not exist. It is time for Courts,and legislatures to overhaul the entiremethod of selecting juries to the endthat justice shall be fairly adminisistered(Ibid., p. 53).On March 2, 1949, the New YorkChapter of the Guild filed an amicuscuriae brief in the case of the CommunistParty leaders supporting a defensemotion to quash the indictmenton the ground that the jury lists,which were the source of the Grandand Petit Jury, were illegally selectedand constituted (Guild Lawyer, Spring1949, pp. 12 and 13).A committee of prominent attorneyswill shortly begin a study to determinewhether the freedom of Counsel effectively

to represent the Foley Squaredefendant.s has been preserved, it wasannounced yesterday bv the NewYork City chapter of the NationalTHE NATIONALCOMMUNIST PABTY, U. 8. A.tences. This unprecedented procedurein an American court is not only anattack upon the right,s and duty of thelegal profession faithfully to defendtheir clients, but it deprives the defendants,who were rushed to jail withoutbail, of the indispensable services of thelawyers -most familiar with the case tocarry forward their appeals (ElizabethGurley Flynn in Introduction to InDefense of Your Freedom, by Eu eneDennis, New Century Publishers, -5 ewYork, October 1949).LAWYERS GUILD 3-lNATIONAL LAWYEBS OUILDLawyers Guild (Daily Worker, September12, 1949, p. 3).5. FEDERAL BURE.~U OF hfVESTIG.4TIONInvestigate the Federal Bureau of Investigationbecause of “vicious assaultsupon civil liberties” Editorial, DailyWorker, March 13, 1940, p. 6).An article in the Daily Worker indicatedthat the FBI had gone beyond thescope of its authority in conductinggeneral intelligence investigations. Referencewas made to the increase in theFBI’s annronriation over a neriod ofyears, and it was alleged that becauseof its Director’s “absorbing interest ininvestigating alleged subversive activities”the FBI was falling behind in itsregular job of dealing with other typesof specific Federal violations (DailyWorker, March 25, 1940).The Nazi Gestapo is Hoover’s Modelof Conduct for FBI (Daily Worker,December 19, 1940, p. 5, columns 5, 6,and 7).Federal Bureau of Investigation DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover was referredto aspolice‘kCh$f *Of f,he national thought(Editorial, PoliticalAfairs, January 1948, p. 10,).It seems that the FBI * * isworried that the American people mayget wise to its real function- which isthought control on the Gestapo andJapanese police model (Editorial, TheWorker, June 6, 1948, p. 6).The FBI and the Department of Justicehave developed into a secret politicalpolice which exists outside the law andbeyond the U. S. Constitution. * * *An aroused nation must stop the FBIeffort to replace the American Constitutionby the reign of the political spy(Editorial, Daily Worker, June 13, 1949,p. 7).Continuation of * * * protests canturn the rumors about J. Edgar Hoover’sresignation into actual and hearteningfact (Editorial, Daily People’s World,June 16, 1949, p. 6).The FBI’s “undercover network” is amenace to the internal security of thenation * * * The American people

* * * the National Lawyers Guildin convention assembled opposes theGestapo activities of the Federal Bureauof Investigation, calls for the removal ofits Director, and urged Congress to reduceits appropriations so as to restrictits jurisdiction to the field of federalcrime and to deprive it of authority toact in matters which affect labor orcivil rights (National Lawyers GuildConvention Resolution, May-June1941; Lawyers Guild Revaew, vol. 1, No.4, June 1941, p. 66).* * * the FBI has taken uponitself the role of a political police on theContinental model * * * The Guildbelieves it is not the province or functionof the FBI or other police agencies tomaintain dossiers of individuals’ lawfulpolitical activities. The Guild requeststhe Congress to conduct an investigationinto the activities of the FBI * * *(National Lawyers Guild ConventionResolution, February 1948; LawyersGuild Reuzew! February 1948, p. 320).The American people are entitled tofull information on the extent to whichthe FBI has de;eloped*into a dangeroussecret police. * The NationalLawyers Guild recommends “a comprehensiveinvestigation into the operationsand methods of the FBI” (National LawyersGuild release, Daily Worker, June20, 1949, p. 4, c3).

32 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDCOMMUNIST PART-i-, U. 8. A.must rid the nation of this “undercovernetwork,” which serves not, the nationbut, a class, the minority of the financialindustrialcliques. The Bill of Rightsand the FBI’s “undercover network”are incompatible. One or the othermust go. We have no doubt which theTVeople will choose (Editorial, Dailyorker, June 21, 1949, p. 8).Surely the Artierican -people must seethe -FBI with new eves todav. Thetime has come to investigate it% methods,its scandal-mongering lists, itsblackmailing data, its misuse of publicfunds, its usurpation of power, its tentaclesgripping all parts of our countryand its people (Daily Worker, p. 10,June 29, 1949, written by ElizabethGurley Flynn).NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILD6. HOLLYWOOD TEN(EXPLANATORY NOTE.--In 1947 the Committee on Un-American Activitiesheld a hearing in which ten Hollywood writers refused to answer questions regardingtheir Communist, affiliations.authority.They held that the Committee had no suchThe authority of the Committee on this matter has since been upheldby the U. S. Supreme Court,.)COMMUNIST PABTY, U. 5. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDNo Hollywood grade B stinkcrooever was as hammy in acting, as cornyin plot, or as phony in general as t,heprobe now being staged by the headlinehunters of the House Un-AmericanCommittee.* * * The men running this show

are not the little puppets of t,he Un-American Commit,tee. These ambitiouslittle ward-heelers are merely the dollara-day extras in the business. It is BigBusiness--the Kational Association ofManufacturers and t,he Wall Street,labor-hating industrialists - which iswriting t.he script and giving the com-The New York .Jou?nal Americanof October 17, 1947, stated that 18screen writers, producers, and actorshad released an open letter sponsoredby the Nat.ional Lawyers Guild on theissue of “Freedom of the Screen fromPolit~ical Intimidation and Censorship.”The Washington Post of October 19,1947, st.ated that t,he Guild was tosponsor a meet.ing October 20, 1947, at,the National Press Building. Washinccton,D. C., to afford the-‘Hollvwo&personalities summoned by the -HouseCommittee on Un-Anierican Activitiesan opportunity to stat.e their case.* * * Appeasement by this nrthat Hollywood nroducer and actorwill not sat,isfy these un-Americantotalitarians. Only American courageand bold defiance of their book-burningwitch-hunt benefit any American worthyof the name * * * (Editorial, DailyWorker, October 22, 1947, p. 9).7. LOYALTY PROGRAM (UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 9835.)The implications of President, Truman’sexecutive order for “1oyalt.v”On #June 7, 1947, in testimony beforea U. S. House of Renresent,atives Committeeconcerning - proposed loyaltylegislation a Guild official objected tothe legislation as well as to ExecutiveOrder 9835 on the grounds that t.heFBI would be the investigator, thejudge, and the jury. He stated further,“When it is considered that both theHouse Committee on Un-AmericanActivities and t:he FBI are sources ofinformation specifically included in thetests among federal employees reach farbeyond the 2,200,OOO federal workersand their families. The order flashesthe signal for inquisitions and intimidationof all who disagree with the government’sforeign and domestic policy.* * * Executive decrees bypassinglegally elected bodies were the pathtaken in many European nations toinstall police states and fascist, rule, To

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 33COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.bow before these steps would be theheight of disloyalty to every principleupon which our nation was founded.Not only the Communists, but alllabor, the Negro people, professionals,small business men, farmers and all whovalue their right to oppose Wall Streetdictation of our foreign and domesticpolicy-all should call for the repeal ofPresident Truman’s executive order.The President and Congressmen shouldhear from the people back home inletters, telegrams and resolutions (Editorial,Daily Worker, March 25, 1947,P. 3).Nearly two million Americans are

aoinn to have their heads examined.Not xhat they are crazy or anything likethat. They are the 1,900,OOO Governmentemployees who will all face a“loyalty purge” for which Congress hasvoted.There is no greater natriotic dutvtoday than for progressive Americansto stand up to the witch-hunters and todefy them to forbid the “dangerousthoughts” of the American democracy(Editorial. Dailu Worker. Julv 29.i947, p. 7j. ”I j” ITwo items in yesterday’s news bringhome to us the fact that the police stateis rapidly taking shape in our land.The process of checking the “loyalty”of the 2,000,OOO government workerswas initiated, a check ordered by PresidentTruman and endorsed by theGOP-dominated Congress with an appropriationof $11,000,000.Loyalty to what? One tip-off is thefact that t.he “loyalty check” questionnairegoes back to organizational ties of10 years ago. It was then that millionsof Americans, including many govcrnmentworkers, were actively aiding thepeople of Spam in their heroic battle toprevent Hitler and Mussolini from takingover their land as a fascist satellite.Such support of democracy is “disloyal”in Washington today, as is allegianceto the ideals of peace and thedestruction of world fascism advancedby FDR * * * (Editorial, DailyW$rke,, *August 19, 1947, p. 7).End the witch hunt,s. lovaltyorders, and phony spy scares.’ -Abolish the Un-American Committee.Withdraw the indictments against t,hetwelve Communist leaders and the contemptcitations against the anti-fascistvictims of congressional inquisitions* * * (PoZiticaE Afairs, September1948, p. 941, Article: “1948 ElectionPlatform of the Communist Party”).NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILDBill * * * the dangers of the Billare emphasized.” He submitted to theCommittee a copy of a pamphlet entitledlLThe Constitutional Right to AdvocatePolitical, Social, and EconomicChange-An Essential of AmericanDemocracy,” and subtitled, “An Analysisof Proposed Federal Legislation andExecutive Order 9835.” Pamphlet,prepared by the Guild, stated:“The publication by the AttorneyGeneral, pursuant to the ‘LoyaltyOrder.’ of a list of organizations whichhe characterizes as disloyal, is a directattack on the rights of freedom of associationand expression protected by theFirst Amendment. There is no ascertainablesource of powTer for this action.It is clear that constitutionallv no sanc-E;l;;fsmaz b,” $posed upon politicalThe Guild urges that the Presidentrescind Executive Order 9835 (LawyersGuild Review, vol. VIII, No. 1, Js.nuary-February 1948, p. 319).More than a year has elapsed sincethe promulgation of the Loyally Order

by the Fxyutjvement.arm of the. Govern-Already, pohtmal parties,civic organizations, fraternal organizations,organizations of the mostdiverse character, have been stigmatizedas disloyal and subversive. Taxexemptions have been canceled. Licensesto collect funds for relief havebeen denied. Each day men andwomen, good public servants, findthemselves facing an inquisition intotheir lives, both past, and present, byloyalty boards, F. B. I. agents, supervisors%ndnd*a pst of other petty officials.* * * men’s ideas, opinions andbeliefs are beyond the pale of governmentinterdiction. * * * We urge therevocation of the President’s loyaltyand all similar test oaths (Laloyers GuildReview, vol. IX, NO. 1, Winter 1949,pp. 51, 52).

34 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD8. PEEKSK~LL INCIDENT(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-A New York State Grand Jury has found that certainincidents which occurred in Peekskill, New York, on August 27 and September 4,1949, indicated that they were “used by the Communist Party as proving groundto test its machinery for mobilizing it.s forces, manipulating public opinion, and,more important, for rehearsing its strong-arm forces.“)COMMUNIST PARTP, U. 8. A.The would-be lynching of PaulRobeson bv the Peekskill. N. Y.. mobcan mean io America what the burningof the books in Berlin, 1933, meant toGermany and the world.Let no American delude himself intothinking that this was a local affairwith local significance only.The National Lawyers Guild yesterdaycalled on Attorney General Mc-Grath to investigate the Peekskillattack of August 27 and “to takevigorous action against those responsible”for any violation of federal law.This would-be lynching, this burning “So widespread were the rumors andof books and music to the accompani- so well-grounded the apprehension thatment of savage yells against Jews and a riot would take place, that we cannotN- rs impose police state terrorism believe the authorities were not fullyin the U. 6. A. against the entire Negro aware of the situation,” says the Guildpeople and the nation as a whole. letter to McGrath (Daily Worker, * * * (Dailu Worker. Aunust 29. September 5, 1949, p. 9).1949, ,p. 7,‘: ” ’ - ’Peekskill demonstrated toprogressive forces throughout the nationthat Fascist forces can be successfullychallenged by the people once thepeople are sufficiently aroused to theFascist peril. * * * (Daily Worker,September 7, 1949, p. 2).NATIONAL LAWYERS QUILDLawyers Guild asks McGrath act onPeekskill.9. PROSECUTIONOF GEREARTEISLER(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-Gerhart Eisler, an agent of the Communist International,was exposed as such by witnesses before the Committee on Un-American Activities

and later the subject of proceedings by the Department of Justice on charges ofpassport violation.)COMMUNIST PABTY, U. S. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS OUILDThe treatment handed out to Gerhart The National Lawyers Guild, amongEisler, noted German Communist and others, filed a statement with theantifascist, by the U. S. Department of United States Supreme Court in behalfJustice is an international disgrace. of Gerhart Eisler urging reversal of hisconviction for Contempt of Congress(Daily Worker, March 28, 1949, p. 3c. 2-3).* * * the sole “crime” which theauthorities could frame him for is ameasly alleged technical violation on apassport application to quit the country,and the “crime” of contempt of theHouse Un-American Committee - acontempt which every decent Americanwill heartilv share * * *. (Editorial,Daily Worker, May 16, 1949, p. 7).Eisler who fled from the UnitedStates i’n May 1949, was during thatsame month “unanimously elected tothe government of East Germany”(Soviet Sector) (Daily Worker, May 31,1949, p. 2).THE NATIONAL LAWYERS QUILD 3510. NON-COMMUNISTAFFIDAVITIN THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACTCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD* * * it must be made clear thatthe anti-Communist clause in the Taft-We call for the immediate repeal ofHartley Act is clearly intended to bethe Taft-Hartley Law with its infamousused aeainst everv trade-union leadertest oath (National Lawyers Guild Conwhois Frogressive and militant,.whethervention Resolution, February 1949;he be a Communist or not. It IS clearlyLawyers Guild Remew, vol. IX, No. 1,Winter 1949, p. 52).unconstitutional and must also be challengedon that basis, although the mainfight must be made by the woken andthe union (Portion of a report deliveredby John Williamson at the June 27-30,1947, meeting of the National CommitteeCP USA. Political Affairs,August 1947, p. 709).11. UNIVERSAL MILITARY TRAININGThe Communist Party is opposed toboth universal military training and thepeazetipe draft. These proposalsare not required to defendour nation from any foreign threat* * * The proposal to militarize ouryouth goes hand in hand with stepstoward the militarization of the nationas a whole, and the sacrifice of thepeople’s living standards to the pqiirementsof a war economv *Those who today make our” bipartisanforeign policy seek to * * * unloose-

a war of aggression against theSoviet Union and the East-Europeandemocracies. (Testimony submitted onApril 2, 1948, to the Senate ArmedServices Committee, in behalf of theCommunist Party; Political Aflairs,May 1948, pp. 412 and 415).The proposed military mobilization,if approved by Congress, will greatlyaccelerate our steady drift toward war* * * The President’s message callingfor the draft and universal militarytrainine has uresented no facts to SUDEndthe “cold war.” the draft, and thehuge military budget * * * (1948Election Platform of the CP USA:Political Affairs, September 1948, p:938).port h& charge that American securiiyis threatened * * * no facts haveyet been adduced to support the chargesof aggression or intervention levelled atthe Soviet Union (Statement on Conscriptionand Universal Military Trainingby the National Lawyers Guild,April 16, 1948).The United States Congress should“repudiate the concept of compulsorypeacetime military training and repealthe Selective Service Act of 1948 andthen reduce appropriations for militaryexpenditures, applying the saving therebyproduced to programs needed for theimprovement of housing, health, education,social security, and the conservationof national resources” (NationalLawyers Guild Convention Resolution,February 1949; Lawyers Guild Review,vol. IX, No. 1, Winter 1949, p. 56).12. VOORHIS ACT(EXPLANATORY Nor&-The Voorhis Act provides for the registration of certainorganizations within the United States which are under foreign control. It wasfollowed by the formal disaffiliation of the Communist Party, U. S. A., from theCommunist International for the specific purpose of evading the act.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.The Voorhis bill - “is such a diabolicalattack on all trade-unions peaceand progressive organizations that theydare not give the people any notice* * * no time can be lost, if anotherblitzkrieg against civil rights is to beprevented.” Demand “that the VoorhisAct be killed” (Editorial, DailyWorker, July 3, 1940, p. 6, c. 1).NATIONAL LAWYEBS QUILD* * * the bill is an invasion onthe civil liberties and political freedomof American citizens and should be defeated(Statement of the Committee onCivil Rights and Liberties of the NationalLawyers Guild, Daily Worker,August 2, 1940, p. 2, c. 3-4).

36 THE NATIONAL LAWYFZS GUILD

B. FOREIGN AFFAIRS1. CHINA(EXPLANATORY Nor%-The line of the Soviet Union and the CommunistParty, U. S. A., in 1945 veered against the Chiang Kai-shek Nationalists regime,for open support of the Chinese Communists and against American support of theNationalists.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 6. A.Workers in the factories, farmers,church groups, all the great democraticorganizations of the American peoplemust protest the use of American armsand American personnel in the effortof the Chungking dictatorship to uprootand destroy Chinese democracy (AvertCivil War in China, Frederick V. Field,Political Afluirs, September 1945, p.850).An aroused American people cancheck the aggressive,. interventionalistdrive of U. S. imperiahsm along a coursethat can only* le;d to a new worldslaughterStop the reactionary intervention ofthe U. S. A. in Chinese internal affairs.Repudiate and recall Hurley andWedemeyer.Withdraw American Troops fromChina.Speed demobilization and bring theboys home. (Stop American Interventionin China, Rob Fowler Hall,Political Afluirs, December 1945, pp.1067-1068).Let us end U. S. bribing of Kuomintangreaction and clear our armedforces out of China. (U. S. ImperialistIntervention in China, B. T. Lo,Political A$airs, July 1946, p. 613).A democratic American policy forChina must include immediate withdrawalof all U. S. military forces,advisors, equipment, and installationsfrom Chinese soil and Chinese waters.It must cease all financial, industrial,and polit.ical aid to the react,ionaryNankine government. Ail forms of reliefto Chila-must be stopped because theydirectly aid Chiang’s civil war. Thepromises of support to a democraticcoalition government should be made,but it should not be given effect. untilsuch a government has replaced the typeof regime which now seeks to control thecountry (The New China Program of t)heAmerican Interventionists, Frederick V.Field, Political Afairs, January 1948,P. $3). * * we must now help organizethe widest. support and* naiion;widedemonstrative activity torender the most complete political,moral, and economic aid to the people’s

democratic movement in China, LatinNATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILDThe National Lawyers Guild was oneof 15 organizations represented at ameeting November 28, 1945, in theoffice of U. S. Representative HughDe Lacy to discuss the fight for an“anti-Chinese intervention resolution”offered in Congress the previous Mondayby Representative De Lacy and fiveother West Coast representatives (DailyWorker, November 29, 1945, p. 2).Withdraw all American armed forcesfrom China (Resolution on AmericanForeign Policy, Seventh National Convention,National Lawyers Guild, July4-7, 1946; Lawyers Guzld Review, vol.VI, No. 2, May-June 1946, p. 518).A resolution adopted at the February1948 convention of the National LawyersGuild urged that-‘(1. Aid be given to the Chinesepeople without regard to their geographicallocation or political beliefs.“2. Such aid should be given onlythrough an agency created by the UnitedNations in accordance with the princi-ETle sNwh$hR,goyd the operation of and“3.‘Tde United St,ates should immediatelywithdraw all military andnaval personnel from China, and ceaseoperation of air bases and naval installa-~zI;: tllt country” (Lawyers GuildVIII, No. 1, January-February 1948, p. 317).THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 37COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 9. A.

America, and Greece ‘(The role of theCommunist Party in the Present Situation,Eugene Dennis, Political Afairs,March 1948. D. 211).The following major issues confrontthe people in the present electionstruggles:* * * for withdrawal of all Americanmilitary aid and personnel fromGreece, China, and Turkey * * *(Draft Resolut.ion for the NationalConvention, C. P. U. S. A., PoliticalAflairs, June 1948, p. 501).Stop military aid and intervention inChina, Korea, and Greece (1943 ElectionPlatform of the< Communist Party,~‘ootacul Affazrs, September 1948, p.Be assured dear comrades, we shallplay our part in the united mass strugglefor effectuating the Cairo and Potsdamagreements, for stopping Wall Street’simin 8erialist interventionhina * * * (Political Affairs,

December 1948, p. 1140. From a telegramsent by the Communist Party,U. S. A., to the “Glorious CommunistParty of China.“)This month, a new Congress convenesin Washington. It is incumbent on theAmerican people, in the first place t.heAmerican labor and progressive movements,not to overlook this opportunityto demand an end to all political, militarvand financial intervention in China.The Chinese people must be allowed tofind their own way to freedom, independence,and democracy withoutAmerican interference in any guise (Themeaning of the Chinese RevolutionaryVictories, Frederick V. Field, PoliticalAfairs, January 1949, p. 73).The American people have the dutyto raise the demand for the withdrawalof all American armed forces and shipsfrom Chinese territory and waters; foran end to all other support of the corrunt.decadent and counter-revolutionaryelements; for an end to all imperialistintervention; for the defeat of allcurrent proposals for new aid to theenemies of the Chinese people; for theestablishment of a real “Hands off”policy toward China.The common interest of the Americanand Chinese peoples, and of world peace,demands the complete recognition of thenew Chinese Democracy by the UnitedStates Government and the establishmentof normal trade relations on thebasis of equality (National Committee,C. P., U. S. A., Salute to the ChinesePeople’s Victories, Political Afairs,May 1949, pp. 1, 2).NATIONAL LAWYEBS QUILD

Resolution on China* * * We urge an immediate economicend to the continuing military,economic, and other aid to the Koumintangregime. A great nation in Asia isbeing reborn and unlimited opportunityexists for restoring the immense reservoirof good will between the Americanand Chinese people which was once andshould be again the keystone of ourrelations.We urge that immediate economicassistance be given to the impoverishedChinese people without regard to theirgeographical location or their politicalbeliefs, such assistance to be giventhrough an agency of., or in cooper&ionwith. the United Nations (Resolution ofFebruary 1949, National Convention ofNational Lawyers Guild, Lawyers GuildReview, vol. IX, No. 1, Winter 1949,

p. 56).38 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD2. EUROPEAN RECOVERY PROGRAMCOMMUNIST PARTY, Il. 8. A.* * * Giving Greece aid throughthe United Nations-only civilian, notmilitary aid-is the heart of the Pepper-Taylor idea. It reflects the popularfear for the fate of the United Nations,and it should get support from the widestcircles, even those who may not agreewith Pepper or Taylor on other matters.And the resolution should providethat the United Nations give aid withoutstrings attached and no help to themonarchist-fascist regime. Failure tomention these points Weakens the resolutbizzd;;dbelieve these provisions shouldBut the first thing is to stop the rushon the Truman-Vandenberg monstrosity,and get full public hea;ings for thealternative-the Pepper-Taylor resolu-$on (Daily Worker, March 28, 1947, p.-I.

* * * Stop military aid and interventionin China, Korea, and Greece* * * (Political Affairs, September1948, pp. 938-939, Article: “1948 ElectionPlatform of the CommunistPacy;).* Scrap the Marshall Planand the Truman Doctrine. Furnishlarge-scale economic assistance to thewar-ravaged victims of fascist at,tack.Give this aid through the Uni$d ,Na;tions without political strings(Political Aflairs, September 1948, pp.933-939, Article: “1948 Elect inn Platformof the Communist Party”).NATIONAL 'LAWYEBS GUILDThe violation of the Charter and thebypassing of the United Nations arefraught with grave consequences to worldThe legislation to implement$?&esident’s proposals is violative ofthe UN Charter, a-ould tend to underminethe United Nations, and destroythe only hope for world peace. Congressshou:d ;elect the Greco-Turkishaid bills * (Committee on InternationalLaw, National LawyersGuild, Lawyers Guild Review, vol. VII,No. 2, March-April 1947, p. 86).The hearings on the bill indicatethat the European Recovery programwould retard rather than promote tradeand economic relations between thecountries of Eastern Europe and WesternEurope and foster diiision amongthe nations of the world.ERP fails to fulfill the objectives of asound plan for genuine aid for Europeanreconstruction.

The unilateral approach of ERP is contrarvto the sound nolicv of utilizing theUnited Nations organization * 5 *The direction of ERP may be gaugedin the light of American ForeignPolicy of which it is a part. The TrumanDoctrine, which remains in operationtoday, sanctions military intefventionin Greece. Turkev. and China whichserves to maintain inpower corrupt andantidemocratic regimes (Lawyers GuildReview, vol. VIII, No. 1, January-February 1948, pp. 316, 317).3. GERMANYBoycott all goods to or from Germany,Japan? and Italy. Refuse to load goodson ships going to or coming from Germany,Italy, or Japan.Not a ton of coal, not a barrel ofpetroleum, not a bar of steel, nothingfor the troops of invasion and the traitorFranc0 (Daily worker, January 27, 1939,P. 1).Our government must be held to itsobligations under the Potsdam agreementfor a Big Four settlement that willassure a democratically unified Germany,able and willing to pay just reparations.and readv to reioin the familvof democratic Eu”ropean-nations. Anyother course, such as the present maneuveringfor control of the Ruhr andfor a West European bloc under Americancartel domination, would lead awayfrom oeace and would strendhen theforcesbf reaction here at homer (JamesS. Allen, The Marshall Offensive forImperiahzing the Ruhr, Political &fairs,vol. XXVI, No. 8 (August 1947), p.760).The National Lawyers Guild * * *urges the National Munitions ControlBoard to terminate the practice of approvingmunitions exports to Germanyand further urges the National MunitionsControl Board to modify its practiceof denying the public access to approvedlicensee for munitions exports(Resolution adopted at 3d Annual Conventionof the National Lawyers Guild,February 19-13, 1939; National LawyersGuild Quarterly, vol. 2, No. 1, April1939, p. 86).Resolved that the Ruhr be placedunder four-power control as part of ageneral settlement looking toward theunification of Germany and the rebuildingof Europe for world peace (Resolutionof National Lawyers Guild NationalConvent,ion,. February 1938;Lawyers Guild Revaew, vol. 8, NO. 1,January-February 1948, p. 318).

THE NATIONAL LAmRS GUILD 394. INDONESIACOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.Britain and America * * * areacting to stifle all freedom movementsin India, Egypt, Indonesia, etc.Support the national liberation strugglesof the colonial and dependentpeoples (Statement issued on March 5,1946, by the National Secretariat of theCommunist Party, USA. political Afp;p2;;;. XXV, No. 4 (April 1946), pp., *NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILDThe report of the Committee on InternationalLaw and Relations, adoptedby the National Executive Board of theGuild in February 1946 stated:“7. We have given support to British-Dutch imperialism in Java and Indonesia.by supplying arm8 for the suppressionof national movement8 in thesecountries.” (Lawyers Guild Review, vol.VI, No. 1 (January-February 1946), p.414). ida5. IRANThe Myth of the Iranian “Dispute”The so-called Iranian issue before theSecurity Council was a fraud. ByMarch 26,. when the Council begandiscussing it, no dispute existed. Themyth of a “dispute” was systematicallyfabricated by the American and Britishgovernments in a deliberate at,tempt toembarrass the Soviet. Union * * * Inperpetrating this fraud the imperialistshad several interconnected motives.* * *The myth of the Iranian dispute wasinvented partly in order to direct worldattention from these imperialist policies.It was concocted as part of the entirepolicy of US-British imperialism toleave unfulfilled the agreements reachedat Moscow, Yalta, and Potsdam * * *(Exploding the Iranian Myth, byFrederick V. Field, Political Affairs,May 1946, pp. 397, 398). - --The Guild’8 special committee on theUnited Nation8 recommended April 13,1946, that the Iranian question bedropped from the agenda of the SecurityCouncil in view of the declaration byPremier Ahmad Ghavam of Iran, andPremier Stalin that the controversy betweenIran and the Soviet Union hadbeen settled to the satisfaction of bothnations.The Committee also expressed theoninion that the annlication of theSoviet delegate to theSecurity Councilfor an adjournment to April 10, should

have been granted without question,thus eliminating “the friction and theappearance of crisis which was propagatedin the press” (New York, Times,April 14, 1946, p. 46).6. KOREAWhat we are faced with in the policyof intervention against Chinese democracyis not a mere aberration in Americanforeign policy * * * It is partof a general pattern of American imperialism’sforeign policy which, whileadopting different tactical approachesto different parts of the world, shows areactionary consistency throughout.This explains * * * the impositionof a coalition of the “Right” upon theKoreans, the obliteration of a “Lidice”in North China and the undermining ofBig Three unity and the authority oft$;tiS;yity Coupcll of the Umted(Frederick V. Field, TheRecord of American Imperialism inChina, Political Affairs, vol. XXV, No. 1(January 1946), p. 31).Referring to U. S. foreign policy, theNational Lawyers Guild’8 Committee onInternational Law and relations stated:“We (the U. S. A.) have opposed thenational aspiration8 of the Koreanpeople” (Lawyers Guild Review, vol. VI,No. 1, p. 414 (January-February 1946)).40 THE NATIONAL LAWYEaS GUILD7. ARGENTINACO1IMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.Certainly there can be no thoughtof inviting Argentina to attend the SanFrancisco parley. And the Americanpeople through all their organizationsmust make this very clear in Washington(Daily worker, April 11, 1945,(editorial), p. 6).Molotov Fights Argentine Bid ButConference Approves Entry (Dailyworker (headline) May 1,. 1945).Break diplomatic relations with fascistSpain and Argentina * * *.Remove from the State Departmentall pro-fascist and reactionary officials(Resolution of the National Conventionof the C. P., U. S. A., adopted *July 28,1945; Political Affairs, vol. XXIV, No.9 (September 1945), p. 823).Even under the liberal Rooseveltregime, when the Latin-American republicswere accorded more democratictreatment by the United States Governmentthan ever before, the agentsof the great American trusts, most ofwhich were in violent opposition toRoosevelt, busily cultivated fascistmindedreaction throughout LatinAmerica. Their most recent blowsagainst democracy (struck by two bigbusinessmen holding office in the StateDepartment, Rockefeller and Stettinus)were to maneuver fascist Argentina intothe Pan-American Union and also into

the United Nations * * * (WilliamZ. Foster, Letter to Luis CarlosPrestes, General Secretary, CommunistParty of Brazil, September 19, 1945;Political Afluirs, vol. XXIV, No. 10(October 1945), p. 916).NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDNational Lawyeriayd Urges StateDepartment Argentme atFriscoWashington, April 22.-Secretary ofState Stettinius was urged by the NationalLawyers Guild this week to opposemembership of Argentina in theUnited Nations and to bar its participationin the San Francisco Conference(Daily Worker, April 23, 1945, p. 9).Lawyers Ask U. S. Lead in BreakingWith ArgentinaSecretary of State Byrnes was urgedyesterday by the National LawyersGuild to institute joint consultationamong the American Republics forbreaking diplomatic relations with Argentina.The Guild also called for theremoval of the State Department officials“responsible for the recognition ofthe Farrell-Peron dictatoFhip,“* a;:urged that “their places *taken by those who will steadfastlyadhere to a policy of fighting fascistand pro-fascist forces and of advancingdemocrat;, in the hemisphere and in;f45w;lt) (Dazly Worker, August 9,Wk urge the following immediatecourse of conduct by our government.Sever diplomatic relations with fascistArgentina and move to expel her fromUN0 (Committee on InternationalLaw and Relations, National LawyersGuild, Lawyers Buald Review, vol. VI,No. 1 (January-February 1946) p. 415)8. MEXICOFull support for the Cardenas governmentof Mexico in its defense of democracyand its struggle against the financiersof fascism, the oil monopolies andthe Tory Chamberlain Government(William Z. Foster, Win the WesternHemisphere for Democracy and Peace,The Communist. vol. XVII, No. 7 (July1938), p. 614 (based on speech deliveredat the Tenth Convention of the C. P.,U. S. A., New York, May 28, 1938)).The American imperialists dread thegrowth of a great mass democratic,peace, national 1iberati;n movement mLatin America * * They seek tomake the Good Neighbor policv an instrumentof American imperialism, asthey did the old Monroe Doctrine, andthey a;e tppging the greatest pressureupon Roosevelt toMexican Oil ExpropriationWhereas:(1) The Mexican Government hasrecently expropriated the oil propertiesof American 2nd other foreign corporations* *Now, therefore, be it resolved:We request that the Government ofthe United States shall not engage inany acts of intervention on behalf ofsaid oil companies, because the action

of the Mexican Government in thismatter affords with respect to the oilcompanies which have violated the lawsand defied the courts of Mexico noground for protest by the United States(Resolution adopted at Third AnnualConvention of the National LawyersGuild at Chicago, February 19-13,1939;

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 41COJfMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILDmake the American government aggres- National Lawyers Guild Quarterly, vol. 2,sively support their capitalist interests No. 1 (April 1939), p. 86).by violent measures against their im- (Word-order of last lines in originalperialist rivals and against the Latin text was garbled.)American peoples. This imperialistpressure must be offset by democraticpressure upon Roosevelt by the massesin the United States and Latin America(ibid., p. 612).9. BRAZILThe Fight for Prestes’ Freedom Has JustBegunThe brutal sentence of 30 years imposedupon Luis Carlos Prestes by theVargas regime in Brazil is a challenge,not only to the oppressed people of thisSouth American country, but to laborand the public here as well.This is the second out-and-out frameupagainst the Brazilian people’s“Knight of Hone.” He has been languishingin jail &der a 16-year sentencefor the political ‘%rime” of uniting thepeople in the progressive National LiberationAlliance. The last conviction ofPrestes and six of his coworkers wasbased on the fantastic slander that hewas the “intellectual author” of themurder of a 17-year-old girl.This outrage heralds a fresh wave ofattacks against labor and the Brazilianpeople as the Vargas dictatorship sellsout to the war plans of the RooseveltAdministration and Wall Street.Notwithstanding this long torturoussentence against Prestes, the Vargasdictatorship had intended to murderhim instantly with a “legal” death decree.This was prevented by the wave ofprotests which came from the Brazilianpeople and from labor and liberals inthe United States, Mexico, Cuba andother American countries.Once these protests are raised togreater volume, they can remove Prestesentirely from the fascist dungeons.Demands for his freedom and that ofhis co-workers, should deluge theBrazilian embassy in Washington andVargas (Daily Worker, December 2,1940, p. 6 (editorial)).Continental Activity in Defense ofPrestes, Brazil’s “Knight of Hope”(By Dionisio Encina, General Secretaryof the Communist Party of Mexico)* * * * *Lawyers Guild Sends Member to AidPrestes-Will Act as Observer at Trialof Brazil Popular LeaderThe Council for Pan American Democracyannounced today that theNational Lawyers Guild has decided tosend an observer to Brazil to extend legal

aid to the defense of Luis Carlos Prestes,Chairman of the National LiberationAlliance and leader of the democraticmovement of Brazil.The Council for Pan American Democracyhas learned that the retrial ofPrestes has been ordered by PresidentVargas of Brazil because of the desire ofthe Vargas dictatorship to secure, viahis Special Tribunal, a death sentencefor Prestes.The National Lawyers Guild is nowin communication with the BrazilianEmbassy in Washington to secureofficial recognition for its observer, andto guarantee contact with Prestes andattendance at his trial * * * (DailyB’orlier, December 20, 1940, p. 2).[The Council for Pan AmericanDemocracy was cited by the U. S.Attorney General as a Communistorganization.]According to The Communist, vol.XV, No. 11 (November 1936), p. 1076,the Communist Partv of Brazil issuedthe call for the formation of the abovementionedNational Liberation Alliance.The ferocious persecution organizedagainst him by Public Enemy No. 1of the Brazilian people, Getulio Vargas,

is directed toward physically liquidat42THE NATIONAL LAWYF,RS GUILDCOMMUNrST PARTY, U. 8. A.ing the best-loved leader of the Brazilianmasses. * * *NATIONAL LAWYEEB GUILUBy means of this trial it is hoped toterrorize the revolutionary movementin Brazil. * * *The struggle for the liberation ofPrestes and his companions is a taskfor the whole co$tinznt$ anti-imperialistmovement.We can talk, write, agitate, organizemeetings and demonstrations. We canbring up problems in trade-unionmeetings, in political, women’ssport or cultural reunions. id%!!demand the intervention of our governmentsagainst dictator Var as.dWecan raise the matter, as in exico, inour Parliaments. We can mobilize thelawyers so that they will expose themonstrous legal procedure of the Tribunalof National Safety and the intellectualsin order that they may raisetheir voices in indignation. * * *Among us, throughout the continent,there should be a revolutionary movementfor Luis Carlos Prestes and hiscomrades (Daily B’orker, December 26,1940, p. 6).(By way of identification of Prestes, .it may be noted that on September 19,1945, William Z. Foster, Chairman of

the Communist Party, U. S. A., wroteto “Luis Carlos Prestes, General Secretary,Communist Party of Brazil”(October 1945) Political Aflairs, vol.XXIV, No. 10, p. 913)).10. NEW DEMOCRACIESEXPLANATORY NOTE.-The international Communist press refers toCommunist governments of Eastern Europe and Asia as “new democracies.”theCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYEa GUILDThe facts are that in Eastern Europe---in Poland, Czechoslovakia,Roumania, Hungary, Bulgaria andYugoslavia-now anti-fascist democraciesare arising. In these countriesthe U. S. S. R. has great prestige andmass influence. It enjoys this becausethe Soviet Union respects the nationalsovereignty of these nations, encouragesand abides by the democratic processesof the peoples and their anti-fascistdecisions. * * *The United States continues to usediplomatic and economic weapons todiscourage the development of newforms of democratic government inPoland! Yugoslavia, Roumania, andBulgaria. A recent example of thisinterventionist policy is the threat ofAmbassador Arthur Bliss Lane to thePolish Government that we would withholdeconomic assistance if Poland continuedto carry out a domestic programof appropriation of certain large industries.Another example is the impliedthreat of withdrawal of diplomaticrecognition of Yugoslavia unless internalpolicy wa8 made to conform withour concepts. In both these instancesour activities have been directed againstthe democratic groups which mostactively participated in the resistanceto Nazi occuoation. and we nrovidedencouragement to the forces df collaborationin their efforts to reconstitutea cordon sanitaire around the SovietUnion (Report of the Committee onIt is the Soviet Union, with its pactsof collective securitv with her EastEuropean neighbors,” as with France,China and Britain, which * * *obstructs the way to reactionary Blocformations, including that of the projectedWest,ern Boc-an ill-disguisedcover for a renewed cordon sanitaira. * * *The Anglo-American bloc postponesor refuses to recognize, and hence toreach diplomatic agreements with, mostof the democratic anti-fascist governmentsthat have come to power in theseTHE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 43COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

countries. The United States and International Law and Relations;Britain intervene in a reactionary way adopted by the National Executivein the popular elections and democratic Board of the Guild at its meeting inprocesses in these countries. Alter- Washington,. D. C., February, 1946;nately, they withhold or withdraw Lawyers Guald Review, vol. VI, No. Idiplomatic recognition or necessary (January-February 1946), p. 414).UNRRA aid, and refuse to grant adequatecredits or loans on a democraticbasis (Eugene Dennis, The London -Conference, Political Afairs, vol. XXIV,No. 11 (November 1945), pp. 967, 968).11. PHILIPPINE REPUBLICThe people need a stop put to mili- To help maintain the sovereign intaryinterference in China, repeal of the dependence of the Philippine RepublicBall Act hamstringing real Philippine and the development of good neighborlyindependence, freedom for Puerto Rico, relations, we recommend:long-term loans to non-fascist countries 1. Repeal of the Philippine Tradethat need them without regard to polit- Act of 1946.ical maneuvering, ratification of peace 2. Repeal of Section 601 of the Retreatiesjointly arrived at with other habilitation Act of 1946 which mademembers of the Big Three (The worker, payment of war damages conditional onJanuary 5, 1947, p. 3). Philippine acceptance of the Trade Act.3. Execution of a trade agreementwith long-time credits providing for theexchange of Philippine products forAmerican industrial equipment (LawyersGuild Review, vol. VII, No. 1,January-February 1948, pp. 317,318).12. PUERTO RICOGrant immediate national independenceto Puerto Rico (Draft Resolutionof the National Board, CPA, as amendedand approved by the National Committeeon June 20, 1945; Political Ajfairs,July 1945, p. 584).To begin with, the United States mustconcede the full right of self-determinationto Puerto Rico, without any “ifs,”“ands,” or “buts.” In doing this, theUnited States must also grant the necessaryfunds to the Puerto Rican peopleas indemnification for their long colonialstatus, as well as make trade agreementsof such a character that PuertoRico may prosper economically (U. S.Relations with Latin America, WilliamZ. Foster; Political Affairs, hilarch 1946,p. 209).Enact legislation acknowledging thecomplete rights of independence ofPuerto Rico with economic assistance(Lawyers Guild Review, vol. VI, No. 2,May-June 1946, p. 518).13. AMERICAN NEUTRALITY(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-Prior to World War II, when the Soviet Union fearedNazi aggression, the line of the Communists was prowar, against neutrality andfor a united front of the democracies against Fascism.)COMMUNIET PARTY, U. 6. A.The camp of peace faces the problemof organizing a serious mass movementagainst war and fascism. * * *This nroblem will be solved in the firstinstance by breaking down the conceptionof isolation and neutrality as theroad to peace and by preparing themasses for active collaborationwith theNATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDThe June 1938 issue of the NationalLawyers Guild Quarterly (p. 255) urgedthe repeal of the existing NeutralityAct, while the September 1938 issue(p. 304) opposed ammunition shipmentsto Germany. The third national conventionof the guild held in Chicago,

February 10-13, 1939, urged “the

44 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDCOMMUNIST PABTY, U. 8. A.peace forces of the world upon the basisof a real international policy of peace(Excerpts reprinted from the DailylVorker of July 3, 1937, from the CentralCommittee Resolution on the Report ofEarl Browder, National Secretary of theCommunist Party of the United States).NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDNational Munitions Control Board toterminate the practice of approvingmunitions exports to Germany” (NutionalLawyers Guild &u.artedy April1939, p. 86); warned against “Fascisteconomic and ideological penetration inMexico”; and condemned “Germanmilitary aggression in Spain.”September 1937 issue of the GuildNews, official organ of its New Yorkchapter (p. 4) : “The Executive Committeehas decided that our present neutralitylegislation must be condemned for itsmarked deficiences and has passed aresolution urging Congress to amendthe embargo provisions .of the Act soas to make* th~m*apphcable only toaggressors The Committeehas also decided to call upon the Presidentto apply the existing provisions ofthe Neutrality Act to Italy and Germanyon the ground that they are engagedin a state of war with the legitimateGovernment of Spain.”14. WORLD WAR II As IMPERIALIST(EXPLbNATORY NOTE.-The Communist Party, USA, denounced the war asimperialist as soon as the Stalin-Hitler Pact was signed on August 23, 1939.)COMMUNIST PABTY, U. S. A.The Communist Party has issued asthe slogan of the day: “Keep AmericaOut of the Imperialist War!” In thisslogan are implicit what we consider theonly correct answers to all those pressingquestions about this war.The course of event,s since the signingof the Soviet-German Non-AggressionPact has confirmed a himdred times overthe correctness of that action from everypoint of view except that which incorrigiblyagainst mountrains of evidence,considers Chamberlain and theBritish Empire the full and sufficientfoundation for international order andworld peace (Speech of Earl Browder,General Secretary, Communist Party,USA, delivered at Town Hall, Philadelphia,September 29, 1939).For the flower of the American youththe right to life itself is challenged bythose who claim the privilege to conscriptthem and to throw them intoreactionary war for the* be:efii ;‘,t,,;propertied classes. * /.11,000,000 Americans unemploy:d theDemocratic Party AdministratioL issacrificing all social legislation, unemploymentand old-age insurance andeducational guarantees for the youth,in order to pour all resources of thenation as well as the blood of our peopleinto tXe scramble of monopoly capitalfor domination of the world (ElectionNATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDThe following active leaders of the

National Lawyers Guild, members ofthe lawyers committee .to keep theUnited States out of war, attended theEmergency Peace Mobilization. Fromthere they sent the President a telegramof protest to condemn the Burke-Wadsworthconscription bill as “unconstitutionaland ai representing a violentunheaval in the social, political andeionomic life of our c&try” and as“a direct step toward American involvementin war”: Samuel M. Blinken, LeoLinder, Edward Lamb, Pearl M. Hart,Abraham J. Isserman, Maurice Sugar,

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 45COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 6. A.Platform of the Communist Party,1940 (p. 3)).As events have shown, the joint“national unity” drive of the warmongeringsocial reformists and thebourgeoisie has not been crowned withtoo much success. * * * The antiimperialiststand of the AmericanYouth Congress, the National NegroCongress, and the nation-wide EmergencyPeace Mobilization at Chicago,ztc.$ b$ar eloquent testimony to thisThis explams, m part, thediscrepancy between the mass oppositionwhich has developed against theinterventionist moves and unneutralacts of the government and Congress inforeign affairs, and, above all, to themilitary conscription bill, and thelimited opposition registered against thecolossal armaments program and thedictatorial “national emergency” powersgranted to and exercised by the President(Eugene Dennis in The Communist,September 1940, pp. 822, 823).Keep America Out of the ImperialistWar! Oppose all war loans and creditsto the imperialist warmakers and theirlackeys. Repudiate the militarizationand armaments program (Resolution ofthe National Committee of the CommunistParty, USA, from The Communist,March 1940, p. 215).Following the Stalin-Hitler pact, theCommunist Party denounced the waras “imperialist”; urged a policy of isolation:opposed the national defenseNATIONAL LAWYERS GlJILDand Martin Popper, Secretary of theguild (Daily Worker, September 4, 1940,P. 3).The fourth annual convention of theguild, held May 29, 30, and June 1, 1940,denounced alleged attempm to use theEuropean war as a “shield to coverrepression and as an excuse for reaction”(Daily Worker, June 2, 1940).In line with the euild’s nolicv of nrotectingthose engaged in ‘retaFding.the

national defense effort were the resolutionsadopted at the meeting of itsnational executive board on February22,24, 1941, against the Model SabotagePrevention Act, compulsory arbitrationin labor disputes, cooling-off periodsbefore resorting to the strike, and antistrikelegislation (Lawyers Guild Review,March 1941, pp. 26 to 29).The position I have taken excludes, ofcourse, the notion that labor disputesshall be settled by compulsory arbitrationor that they shall be restrained by“Work or Fight Orders.” These methodsare unnecessary as they are undesirable(Harry Sacher in the LawyersGuild Quarterly, December 1940, p. 28).program,-conscription, and aid to theAllied Nations. It nlaved the leadingrole in building up the American PeacueMobilization which picketed the WhiteHouse and in strikes in defense industriessuch as Allis-Chalmers, InternationalHarvester, North AmericanAviation, and Vultee Aircraft.15. SECOND FRONT(EXPLANATORY NOTE.-Immediately after Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union,Communist forces throughout the world demanded the immediate opening of aSecond Front, although these forces had opposed the war as imperialistic priorto that time.)COMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDWhile Hitler flings everything into “Robert W. Kenny, President of thethe Eastern Front, labor should urge Guild, sent a letter to President Roose-Washington and London to smash velt recently declaring that the Na-Hitler in the West (Daily Worker, tional Executive Board of the Guild byOctober 9, 1941, p. 1). an overwhelming majority had adopted46 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.It is our war and it must be won. Itmust be won in the battle of production,in the battle of delivery, and inthe battle of arys for the annihilationof the enemy * It means anall-out participation in the Battle of theAtlantic, for its eastern shores, for thefreedom of the seas. It means allmeasures necessary to bring about theopening of a new front in WesternEurope (The Communist, vol. XX, No.11 (November 1941), pp. 956, 957).For a Second Front in Europe! (TheCommunist, April 1942, p. 199).Open A Western Front in Europe!(T? $om*munast, May 1942, p. 296).fight for and demand theopening of a Second Front againstHitler in Europe immediately (TheCommunist, June 1942, p. 401).The demand for the Second Front forthe all-out offensive to smash Hitler in1942, embraces ever wider circles of thepopulation and becomes more insistent(The Communist, July 1942, p. 488).No Delay in Opening the WesternFront! (The Communist, August 1942,p. 579).It is time to Open the Western Front

Against Hitler Without Further Delay(The Communist, September 1942, p.675).NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILDa statement urging the opening of asecond front in Europe without delay.”(The latter is quoted-no date givenanda copy of the statement is set forth;it is quoted in part:)“It seems clear to us that if thepresent advance of the Axis forces inthe Soviet Union is not stopped, victoryfor the United Nations will at least bedelayed for many years with theenormous cost in human life andsacrifice that will entail. Indeed webelieve that the security and independenceof our nation is critically atstake. It seems evident to us that onlythe immediate opening of a secondfront will make it possible to assurethe victory of the United Nations* * *” (Lawyers Guild Review, Vol.IAIiticyeo. V (September 1942) p. 45.: “The Guild and the SecondFront”).16. SPAIN* * * Break diplomatic acd cco- The National Lawyers Guild callednomic ties with France-Spain * for “severance of all economic and(1948 Election Platform, CP-USA, diplomatic relations with Franc0 Spain”Political Affuirs, September 1948, pp. (National Lawyers Guild, Convention938-939). Resolutions, February 1949. LawyersGuild Review, Winter 1949, p. 56).(Vigorous opposition to Franc0 byboth the Communist Party and theNational Lawyers Guild, throughoutthe period of instant survey, is a matterof public record.) Daily Worker; TheCommunist; Political Affairs; NationalLawyers Guild Quarterly; LawyersGuild Review.17. SOVIET UNIONRed Army hurls back invading Fin- Osmond K. Fraenkel, Guild Vicenish troops, crosses frontier (Daily President, was quoted as saying that theWorker (headline), December 1, 1939, National Executive Board in DecemberP. 1). 1939 denounced the Soviet invasion ofFinland (New York Times, June 6,Wall Street Uses Finland for War 1940, p. 27).The newspapers of the country aregiving the American people a heavy doseof war propaganda on the latest developmentsin Finland.The press has obviously determinedto drug the intelligence of the Americanpeople, to paralyze all common-sense

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 47COXMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.

questioning in a wave of war hysteriaaimed at the Soviet Union.The remembered lies of the press onthe Munich “peace” are being surpassed.The plain truths are twisted orignored.The Finnish bourgeois-landlord rulers,incited and supported by world imperialism,continued their violations of theSoviet borders-they attacked at twopoints yesterday morning. They wererepulsed by the Soviet Union which tookthe necessary steps in defense of itsnational interest.

It is the sheerest hypocrisy for thepress to pretend moral indignation at“a little country” engaged with a “bigcountry like the Soviet Union.” Theyknow that behind the Finnish rulingcliques stand the mighty forces of Britishand American imperialism, goading,encouraging, supporting the hostile actsof Finland.The Finnish bourgeois-landlord cliqueswere willing to play this role of provocateur.They stood at the Soviet bordersholding open the doors of war. TheSoviet Union yesterday closed the doors.No war dogs of world imperialism willpass through (Daily Worker, December1, 1939 (editorial), p. 1).Forge the friendship and peaceful cooperationof the American-Soviet-Britishcoalition and all the freedom-lovingpeoples * * * (Statement issuedMarch 5, 1946, by National Secretariatof the Communist Party, PoliticalAfluirs, April 1946, p. 291).End the “cold war ” * * * RestoreAmerican-Sovie; friendship, thekey to world peace and the fulfillmentof the people’s hope in the United Nations* * * (Political Affairs, September1948, pp. 938-939, Article, 1948Election Platform of the CommunistParty).NATIONAL LAWYERS QUILD

Take steps to restore Anglo-American-Soviet unity as the cornerstone of cooperationamong the United Nations(Lawyers Guild Review vol.;I,*Nb 2, May-June 1946, p. 518j.* * * The revitalization of cooperativerelations among the great powersand especially between the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union, points thepath to peace. To aid in the revitalizationof the cooperative relations amongthe great powers it is imperative thatthe United States and the Soviet Unioncompose their differences in the briefestpossible time and lay the groundworkfor the composing of differences amongother nations and thus advance thecause of peace and the prjnciples andpu;po;es zf the United Nations.Adherence to the principleof concurrence and cooperation willeliminate the need to consider measuresinconsistent with the spirit of the UnitedNations, such as the contemplatedNorth Atlantic Pact or any other militaryarrangement b$ any powers whjch?a% $eed hostlhty . and suspicion(Lawyers Guald Renew, vol.IX, No. 1, Winter 1949, pp. 55-56).

48 THX NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD18. ATLANTIC PACTCOIvfMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A. NATIONAL LAWYEBS GUILD

Despite all threats and persecutionswe will continue resolutely to work forpeace.AtlanticInstead of an aggressive NorthPact-a resurrected anti-cornmunistAxis-we shall continue, incompany with millions of other Americans,to urge that our nation shall sign aPact of Friendship and Peace with our7reat wartime ally, the Soviet UnionPolitical &airs, April 1949, p. 4;article : “Is the Advocacy of PeaceTreason?” by William Z. Foster andEugene Dennis).American trade-unionists,. workers,all progressives and peace-lovmg Americansmust make their voices heard.End the cold war1 Scrap the AtlanticAlliance for aggression! Defend thehard-won democratic rights of thepeople! Stop the war preparations!Jobs and homes-not guns! For anAmerican-Soviet Peace Pact! (PoliticalAfluirs April 1949, p. 17; article:“The Struggle for Peace” by MarvinReiss) .The Guild adopted a “Resolution onthe Cold War in the Light of the NewConcept of International Law” whichcalled for an end to the “cold war” andthe “revitalization of cooperative relationsamong the great powers and especiallybetween the United States andthe Soviet Union.” “Adherence to theprinciples of concurrence and cooperationwill eliminate the need to considermeasures inconsistent with the spiritof the United Nations, such as the contemplatedNorth ‘Atlantic Pact or a”,s:other militarv arrangement * *(Lawyers G&l Rev&w, Vol. 9, No. 1,Winter 1949).19. ATOMIC ENERGYCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 9. A.

Put an end to atom bomb diolomacv;t;:lis paving the way to WorldThe Churchill-Byrnes-Truman * * *“outlook is to impose their will on theworld, including the Soviet Union, byoverwhelming military power based onthe atom bomb (Statement issued onMarch 5, 1946 by the National Secretaryof the Communist Party, USA;Political Affairs, vol. XXV, No. 4(Abril 1946), pp. 292-293).hat a country does on a specific

issue at home is a pretty good index tohow it treats the same issue in its foreignpolicy. This is particularly true of ourgovernment’s policy on the internationalcontrol of atomic energy.The Baruch Plan was designed by thesame men who have established monop-$m~tr$ o*ver * atomic. energy atTherr objectiveplainly discernible in the domestic andinternational control policy, is to retainthe monopoly of atomic energy athome and abroad, for war or for peace.Here is to be found the real obstacle toatomic disarmament and the effectiveoutlawing of the atomic bomb (Daityworker, Nov. 4, 1946, ,p.“T‘;) Trustlfied Atom6; article:by JamesNATIONAL LAWYER; GUILD

The National Lawyers Guild reportedly(1) criticized American secrecyconcerning atomic bomb, (2) urged thatcontrol of atomic energy be placed withthe UN Security Council, (3) statedU. S. Atomic bomb policy “has antagonizedthe Soviet Government, alarmedthe French Government and createddisquiet among the English” (DailyWorker, December 27, 1945).Our insistence upon maintaining amonopoly of the “secret” atomic bombmanufacture has caused widespreaddoubt, throughout the world, regardingour peaceful intentions (Lawyers GuildReview, vol. VI, No. 1, p. 415, January-February I 946).THE NATIONALCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.* * * The main forces in theworld today are: * * * the camp. of the monopolists who are plottingstomic war and the world-wide oples’camp of peace in which the r. ocmlistSoviet Union plays the leading role(Political Aflairs, April 1949, pp. 64-66; article: “The Atom Bomb; Mythand Truth” by Joseph Clark).LAWYERS GUILD 49NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD* * * We proposed: That ourgovernment announce its immediatereadiness to enter into an internationalagreement providing for the promptdestruction of all atomic weanons andall other weapons adaptable-to massdestruction and the complete cessationof all further production thereof. Theinternational agreement should providefor establishing effective compliancewith its provisions and prescribe sanctionsfor violation thereof. The abolition

of the veto power should not berequired as a condition to reaching anagreement on atomic energy (LauyersGuild Review, May-June 1946, p. 521).20. BRETTON WOODSThe labor movement must speak upfor the Bretton Woods nlan as a whole.and demand that it be-reported out ofcommittee intact. The rest of the worldis watching the United States on thisissue. Our allies will not believe thatwe have abandoned political isolationif we still permit the narrow, privateinterests of a handful of bankers to$eep* u$ bound to economic nationalism.The passage of the BrettonWoods Plan before April 25, certainlyduring the San Francisco conference,is the best way of guaranteeing thepWarolerkye’sr A;;;e,e9;g4,‘E$iigW DailyThe ‘failure ‘to ra&fy the BrettonWoods agreement, without cripplingamendments, would speed up the tendenciesregaled by the aviation conference.* * (From Teheran toCrimes, by Joseph Starobin, PoliticalAffuirs, March 1945, p. 219).During April 1945, the NationalLawyers Guild in San Francisco sponsoreda series of talks, under the directionof Benjamin Dreyfus of the SanFrancisco Chapter. The talks werereported to have followed the Russianviews that the Dumbarton Oaks agreementshould not be amended and thatthe Bretton Woods proposals shouldbe adopted as they were.21. DUMBARTON OAKS AGREEMENTThe Dumbarton Oaks draft provides (Please see material set forth immediforthe settlement of disputes on a re- ately above under the caption, “Brettongional basis, where possible. But only Woods.“)with the prior authorization of theSecurity Council itself. We oppose anychanges in this respect (Editorial, DiscussingDumbarton Oaks, Daily Worker,March 19, 1945, p. 6).The trade-unions must be particularlyalert to back up the Dumbarton Oaksand Bretton Woods proposals, withoutemasculating amendments. These arethe very heart of the Crimean postwarprogram, and it would be a disaster ifthe reactionary opposition were allowedto devitalize them as it is now trying todo (Article: “The Danger of AmericanImperialism in the Postwar Period,”William Z. Foster, Political Affairs,June 1945, p. 499).50 THE NATIONAL LAWYFZS GUILD22. YALTA-POTSDAMCOMMUNIST PARTY, U. 8. A.The immediate basic cause for the

deterioration of relations between theSoviet Union and the British-Americanimperialists lies in the fact that Britainand America have refused to carry outthe Yalta and Potsdam pledges.Britain and America have refused todenazify Germany and crush feudal militaristreaction in Japan. They haverefused to let the small countries ofEurope decide their own fate. Theyare acting to stifle all freedom movementsin India, Egypt, Indonesia, etc.Carrying out the Yalta-Potsdamagreements would restore Big Threepeaceful working relationships (Statementof the Secretariat, CP-USA, PoliicalAflairs, April 1946, p. 292).NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD

* * * at Yalta a new enoch ininternational law was unfolded-throughthe establishment of the principle of theconcurrence or unanimity of the GreatPowers * * *.But it was at San Francisco soon afterthe present administration took officethat the country first witnessed a wholeseries of official actions constituting adeparture from the policies to which theUnited States had subscribed in theAtlantic Charter and at Moscow, Teheran,Yalta, and Dumbarton Oaks * * *.The National Lawyers Guild vigorouslyopposed the whole policy of theUnited States delegation as a flagrantviolation of the spirit and content ofUnited Nations unity (Resolution of theCommittee on International Law andRegulations, National Lawyers Guild,Lawyers Guild Review, January-February1?6,pp..412-413).* since February, the patternof our foreign policy has not beenaltered. The present pnd can andmust be halted * * we urge thefollowing immediate”course of conductby our government: ”Take steps t:rep* Anglo-American-Soviet unityFuhill the Potsdam agreement tocomplete the destruction of Nazism andmilitarism. Bring to trial Ge\rnaE industrialistsas war criminals *Establish an international war crimestribunal for the prosecution and punishmentof Japanese war criminals, includingJapanese industrialists and theEmperor.Extend financial credits to nations inneed without interference in their internalaffairs (National Lawyers GuildConvention Resolutions, July 1946,Lawyers Guild Review, May-June 1946,

pp. 517-518).

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