Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., area. Hearings, Part 3 — John Shaqi
Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., area. Hearings, Part 3United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
History
Investigation of Communist activities in Seattle, Wash., area. Hearings, Part 3
United States. Congress. House. Committee on Un-American Activities
Communism -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, then, I am sure that, I feel sure we knew
it had been cited. As I said before, of course mere citations by the
Attorney General is not sufficient----
Mr. TAVENNER. It wasn’t sufficient to put you on inquiry?
Mr. O’CONNELL. It wasn’t sufficient at least in my mind to
proscribe that organization, and I think history and subsequent events
have proved that it is necessary to go a little further than just to
have the Attorney General put organizations on a list.
Mr. TAVENNER. You say a little further? You didn’t go any
further, did you?
Mr. O’CONNELL. As far as we were concerned, as I told you
when an organization came to us they came to us with the specific
application for funds for a specific purpose and we never--as a matter
of fact, we never permitted the organization to appear before the
foundation or any representative of the organization. We went into the
matter ourselves. We conducted no investigations to determine what
their political beliefs might be or anything like that.
Mr. TAVENNER. You made the awards regardless of the purpose
behind the formation of the organization; is that what it comes down to?
Mr. O’CONNELL. For instance, we never went, we never sent out
a group of investigators, never had the funds, as a matter of fact, to
do that to find out.
Mr. TAVENNER. If you had read the citation of Attorney General
Francis Biddle, for instance, which was made on September 24, 1942, you
would have learned as follows:
A. Philip Randolph, president of the congress since its inception
in 1936, refused to run again in April 1940 on the ground that it
was deliberately packed with Communists and Congress of Industrial
Organization members who were either Communists or sympathizers
with Communists.
Commencing with its formation in 1936, Communist Party
functionaries and fellow travelers have figured prominently in the
leadership and affairs of the congress. According to A. Phillip
Randolph, John P. Davis, secretary of the congress, has admitted
that the Communist Party contributed $100 a month to its support.
From the record of its activities and the composition of its
governing bodies there can be little doubt that it has served as
what James W. Ford, Communist Vice Presidential candidate elected
to the executive committee in 1937 predicted: an important sector
of the Democratic front sponsored and supported by the Communist
Party.
Those are the words of Francis Biddle, Attorney General of the
United States, in 1942. Do you say that statement was not worthy of
consideration?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I, of course, didn’t have that statement in
front of me.
Mr. TAVENNER. It would have been in front of you if you had
inquired about it. It was in the Congressional Record.
Mr. O’CONNELL. We didn’t take the Congressional Record. There
are many things in the Congressional Record, as you well know, that you
just don’t take as it’s the Bible.
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