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^COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION 

(ENTERTAINMENT— PART  1) 


HEARING 

BEFORE  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

EIGHTY-THIRD  CONGRESS 

SECOND  SESSION 


JANUARY  13  AND  18,  1954 


Printed  for  the  use  of  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 


INCLUDING  INDEX 


i 


UNITED  STATES 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
42885  WASHjattOTHf-i  1954 


Boston  Public  Library 
Superintendent  of  Documents 


COMMITTEE  ON  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES 
United  States  House  of  Representatives 

HAROLD  H.  VBLDE,  Illinois,  Chairman 

BERNARD  W.  KEARNEY,  New  York  FRANCIS  E.  WALTER,  Pennsylvania 

DONALD  L.  JACKSON,  California  MORGAN  M.  MOULDER,  Missouri 

KIT  CLARDY,  Michigan  CLYDE  DOYLE,  California 

GORDON  H.  SCHERER,  Ohio  JAMES  B.  FRAZIER,  Jh.,  Tennessee 

Robert  L.  Kunzig,  Counsel 

Frank  S.  Tavenner,  Jr.,  Counsel 

Thomas  W.  Beale,  Sr.,  Chief  Clerk 

Raphael  I.  Nixon,  Director  of  Research 


CONTENTS 


Page 

January  13,  1954 :  Testimony  of  Allan  E.  Sloane 3851 

January  18,  1954 :  Testimony  of  Howard  Bay 3879 

Index 3897 


in 


Public  Law  601,  79th  Congress 

The  legislation  under  which  the  House  Committee  on  Un-American 
Activities  operates  is  Public  Law  601,  79th  Congress  [1946],  chapter 
753,  2d  session,  which  provides : 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  *  *  * 

PART  2— RULES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

Rule  X 

SEC.    121.    STANDING  COMMITTEES 

******  * 

17.  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  to  consist  of  nine  member? 

Rule  XI 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  COMMITTEES 
******* 

(q)    (1)  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities. 

(A)  Un-American  activities. 

(2)  The  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  as  a  whole  or  by  subcommit- 
tee, is  authorized  to  make  from  time  to  time  investigations  of  (i)  the  extent, 
character,  and  objects  of  un-American  propaganda  activities  in  the  United  States, 
(ii)  the  diffusion  within  the  United  States  of  subversive  and  un-American  propa- 
ganda that  is  instigated  from  foreign  countries  or  of  a  domestic  origin  and  attacks 
the  principle  of  the  form  of  government  as  guaranteed  by  our  Constitution,  and 
(iii)  all  other  questions  in  relation  thereto  that  would  aid  Congress  in  any  neces- 
sary remedial  legislation. 

The  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  shall  report  to  the  House  (or  to  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  if  the  House  is  not  in  session)  the  results  of  any  such  in- 
vestigation, together  with  such  recommendations  as  it  deems  advisable. 

For  the  purpose  of  any  such  investigation,  the  Committee  on  Un-American 
Activities,  or  any  subcommittee  thereof,  is  authorized  to  sit  and  act  at  such 
times  and  places  within  the  United  States,  whether  or  not  the  House  is  sitting, 
has  recessed,  or  has  adjourned,  to  hold  such  hearings,  to  require  the  attendance 
of  such  witnesses  and  the  production  of  such  books,  papers,  and  documents,  and 
to  take  such  testimony,  as  it  deems  necessary.  Subpenas  may  be  issued  under 
the  signature  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  or  any  subcommittee,  or  by  any 
member  designated  by  any  such  chairman,  and  may  be  served  by  any  person 
designated  by  any  such  chairman  or  member. 


RULES  ADOPTED  BY  THE  83d  CONGRESS 

House  Resolution  5,  January  3,  1953 
******* 

Rule  X 

STANDING  COMMITTEES 

1.  There  shall  be  elected  by  the  House,  at  the  commencement  of  each  Con- 
gress, the  following  standing  committees  : 

******* 
(q)   Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  to  consist  of  nine  members. 
******* 

Rule  XI 

POWERS   AND  DUTIES  OF  COMMITTEES 


17.  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities. 

(a)  Un-American  Activities. 

(b)  The  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  as  a  whole  or  by  subcommittee, 
is  authorized  to  make  from  time  to  time,  investigations  of  (1)  the  extent,  char- 
acter, and  objects  of  un-American  propaganda  activities  in  the  United  States, 
(2)  the  diffusion  within  the  United  States  of  subversive  and  un-American  prop- 
aganda that  is  instigated  from  foreign  countries  or  of  a  domestic  origin  and 
attacks  the  principle  of  the  form  of  government  as  guaranteed  by  our  Constitu- 
tion, and  (3)  all  other  questions  in  relation  thereto  that  would  aid  Congress 
in  any  necessary  l'emedial  legislation. 

The  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  shall  report  to  the  House  (or  to  the 
Clerk  of  the  House  if  the  House  is  not  in  session)  the  results  of  any  such  investi- 
gation, together  with  such  recommendations  as  it  deems  advisable. 

For  the  purpose  of  any  such  investigation,  the  Committee  on  Un-American 
Activities,  or  any  subcommittee  thereof,  is  authorized  to  sit  and  act  at  such 
times  and  places  within  the  United  States,  whether  or  not  the  House  is  sitting,  has 
recessed,  or  has  adjourned,  to  hold  such  hearings,  to  require  the  attendance  of 
such  witnesses  and  the  production  of  such  books,  papers,  and  documents,  and 
to  take  such  testimony,  as  it  deems  necessary.  Subpenas  may  be  issued  under 
the  signature  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  or  any  subcommittee,  or  by  any 
member  designated  by  such  chairman,  and  may  be  served  by  any  person  desig- 
nated by  any  such  chairman  or  member. 

VI 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTBATION 
(ENTERTAINMENT— PAKT  1) 


WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY   13,    1954 

United  States  House  of  Representatives, 

Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on 

Un-American  Activities, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

executtve  session  * 

The  subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 
met,  pursuant  to  notice,  at  2:30  p.  m.,  in  room  225,  Old  House  Office 
Building,  the  Honorable  Harold  H.  Velde  (chairman)  presiding. 

Committee  members  present:  Representative  Harold  H.  Velde 
(chairman)  and  Representative  Morgan  M.  Moulder. 

Staff  members  present:  Frank  S.  Tavenner,  Jr.,  counsel  for  this 
hearing ;  Dolores  Anderson,  reporter. 

TESTIMONY  OF  ALLAN  E.  SLOANE,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS  COUNSEL, 

SIDNEY  V.  SMITH 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  you  stand  and  raise  your  right  hand,  please  ? 

In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give,  do  you  solemnly  swear  to  tell 
the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  do,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  Let  the  record  show  that  I  have  appointed  a  subcom- 
mittee, consisting  of  Mr.  Moulder  and  myself,  Mr.  Velde,  as  chairman, 
for  the  purposes  of  this  hearing. 

Will  you  proceed,  please,  Mr.  Tavenner  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  state  your  name,  please? 

Mr.  Sloane.  My  name,  sir,  is  Allan  E.  Sloane. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Are  you  accompanied  by  counsel,  Mr.  Sloane? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  am,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  counsel  please  identify  himself  for  the  record  ? 

Mr.  Smith.  I  am  Sidney  V.  Smith,  701  Tower  Building,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Sloane,  are  you  here  today  in  response  to  a  sub- 
pena  by  this  committee? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No  ;  I  am  not,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  are  here  as  a  result  of  your  own  voluntary  desire 
to  appear  as  a  witness  before  this  committee  then  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  That  is  correct,  sir. 


1  Released  by  the  full  committee. 

3851 


3852     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTALNMENT) 

Mr.  Tavexxer.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  witness  is  appearing  as  a  result, 
I  understand,  of  the  invitations  which  have  been  given  by  the  com- 
mittee from  time  to  time  to  persons  who  have  been  in  any  way  con- 
nected or  affiliated  with  communism  to  come  before  it  and  give  the 
committee  such  facts  as  they  may  have. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  might  say  that  I  am  sure  the  members  of  this  commit- 
tee, and  I  myself,  especially,  appreciate  your  willingness  to  come  and 
give  us  this  information.  I  am  sure  the  information  will  be  very 
helpful  to  this  committee  in  doing  its  work.     Mr.  Moulder? 

Mr.  Moulder.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  just  wanted  to  refer  to  the  fact  that 
our  counsel  is  referring  to  the  public  invitations  which  have  been  ex- 
tended by  the  committee.  You  do  mean  the  public  announcements, 
do  you  not,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavexxer.  That  is  true.  No  member  of  the  staff  has  endeav- 
ored in  any  way  to  bring  about  the  appearance  of  this  witness.  It  is 
entirely  voluntary  on  his  part. 

Mr.  Sloane,  will  you  state  for  the  committee,  please,  what  your 
formal  educational  training  has  been? 

Mr.  Sloaxe.  My  formal  educational  training,  sir,  consists  of  the 
public  schools  of  Paterson,  N.  J.,  my  hometown ;  East  Side  High 
School,  also  in  Paterson,  N.  J. ;  a  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  from  the 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  class  of  1935 ;  a  degree  of  master  of 
science  from  Columbia  University  School  of  Journalism,  1936.  Might 
I  presume  upon  you,  sir,  to  add  to  this  the  reasons  I  am  here  ? 

Mr.  Tavexner.  Surely. 

Mr.  Sloane.  If  you  don't  mind.  I  think  perhaps  you  gentlemen 
will  be  very,  very  interested  in  the  fact  that  I  could  not  any  longer 
wait  for  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  my  own  conscience  to  drive  me  here, 
and  it  was  for  that  reason  I  asked  to  appear. 

I  found  out  that  knowing  I  had  been  a  Communist  and  having  to  go 
around  in  my  professional  life,  which  is  that  of  a  writer  for  radio  and 
television,  and  deliberately  delude  decent  people  who  wanted  to  hire 
me,  by  lying  to  them  about  that — I  simply  found  out  that  I  could  not 
continue  that  any  longer  and  live  with  myself,  so  I  was  literally  forced 
into  this  decision  by  my  own  conscience.  I  knew  that  I  was  a  Com- 
munist once,  and  I  was  going  around  and  saying  I  was  not  and  never 
had  been.     I  could  not  do  that  any  more. 

The  second  reason  is  because  of  your  appeals  and  the  offer  to  all 
those  who  wanted  to  come  forward  and  help.  I  felt  if  I  could  con- 
tribute in  any  way  to  national  security  by  coming  down  here,  I  should. 

The  third  thing  is  my  family.  I  have  2  very,  very  young  boys — 1  is 
2^2  years  of  age  and  1  is  4 — and  a  wonderful  wife.  I  wanted  to  be  a 
decent  person  and  bring  them  up  properly,  and  a  father  who  goes 
around  lying  about  himself  is  not  a  very  decent  person.  I  wanted  to 
get  my  story  on  the  record.  Thanks  to  you,  it  seems  I  will  be  able  to 
do  this. 

I  feel  there  may  be  a  lot  of  people  like  myself  who  have  been  some 
time  in  the  past  involved  in  this  rotten  thing  and  who  may  be  waiting 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3853 

and  not  knowing  what  to  do  about  it,  and  it  may  be  somebody  will  be 
helped  by  my  actions  here.  I  know  I  have  been  helped  by  the  privi- 
lege of  coming  here  and  telling  my  story. 

I  understand  that  Budd  Schulberg  appeared  before  you  and  I  felt  if 
Schulberg  could  do  it,  Sloane  can  also.  I  feel  everyone  is  obligated 
to  others.  I  feel  if  a  person  has  been  used  by  communism,  and  if  he 
can  help  another  person  to  come  forward  and  tell  his  story  by  doing 
so  himself,  he  should  do  so. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  want  to  say  to  you  now  that  the  Communist  Party  has 
been  most  vicious  in  trying  to  prevent  people  such  as  you  from  testi- 
fying before  our  committee  and  other  committees  of  Congress.  A 
great  deal  of  the  good  that  has  been  done  in  fighting  communism  has 
been  done  by  people  such  as  you  who  have  undergone  the  trials  and 
tribulations  as  you  have  and  who  have  finally  come  to  realize  that  it 
just  isn't  in  accordance  with  the  American  way  of  life  and  the  way  that 
you  have  been  brought  up.  So  again  I  want  to  say  that  the  committee 
certainly  does  appreciate  your  coming  before  it  and  giving  the  very 
valuable  testimony  which  I  know  you  will  give. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  When  and  where  were  you  born,  Mr.  Sloane  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  was  born  in  New  York  City,  June  24, 1914. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Where  do  you  now  reside  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  now  reside  at  243  Belltown  Koad,  Stamford,  Conn. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  have  stated  that  your  profession  is  that  of 
radio  and  screen  writing? 

Mr.  Sloane.  And  some  television;  yes. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  And  television? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  what  the  nature 
of  your  employment  has  been  and  what  experience  you  have  had  in 
your  profession,  briefly  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  In  brief — let  me  see.  The  period  from  1936  to  1941 
I  was  a  newspaperman,  reporter,  photographer,  editor,  copy  writer 
and  reader.  For  the  year  1941  I  was  a  soldier — a  volunteer.  From 
1942  to  1943  I  was  a  newspaperman  again  and  since  1943  I  have  been 
in  radio.  My  work  has  ranged  from  soap  opera  to  very  large  and 
important  solid  documentary  programs.  I  have  written  several  films 
and  most  recently  have  been  the  author  of  the  picture  Martin  Luther, 
the  documentary  picture  for  the  Lutheran  Church,  about  their  found- 
er's life,  Martin  Luther.  I  have  worked  for  types  of  organizations, 
such  as  the  United  Nations,  the  Cerebral  Palsy  Foundation,  American 
Legion,  United  States  Army,  and  such  organizations.  I  say  proudly 
that  I  am  the  creator  of  the  very  famous  slogan  "Sound  off".  Any- 
body who  has  ever  heard  the  kids  walking  down  the  streets  saying 
"Sound  off"  knows  my  work. 

This  should  cover  the  period  generally  from  1943  to  1947.  Since 
that  time  I  have  worked  as  a  free-lance  writer.  I  would  be  called 
by  the  radio  station  and  asked  to  do  this  project  or  that  project. 
They  might  ask  me  to  do  a  survey  on  the  conditions  of  children  on 
the  farm,  or  on  the  DP  camps,  or  the  international  refugee  organiza- 
tions, and  such  things  for  the  radio.  The  following  is  a  record  of  my 
work  in  radio,  television,  and  films  from  1943  to  1953. 


42885— 54^-pt.  1- 


3854    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

RADIO 

1943: 

Green  Valley,  U.S.A CBS 

The  Man  Behind  the  Gun CBS 

1944: 

Calling  America CBS 

Transatlantic  Call CBS 

Report  to  the  Nation CBS 

School  of  the  Air CBS 

1945: 

Prudential  Family  Hour CBS 

Time  to  Rememher CBS 

Radio  Readers'  Digest CBS 

1946-4S : 

Sound  Off All  networks 

Warriors  of  Peace ABC 

The  Big  Story NBC 

1948:  Top  Secret NBC 

1949-52 : 

Heroes  of  Peace U.  N. 

Citizens  of  the  World U.  N. 

Note. — The  above  programs  refer  to  series,  i.  e.,  consecutive  programs  in 
sequence.  The  following  one-time  shows  during  this  period  are  also  worthy  of 
mention : 

1.  1946 — We  Went  Back  (CBS)  :  The  first  all-tape-recorded  documentary  pro- 
gram in  radio,  1  hour  long,  celebrating  first  anniversary  of  V-J  Day. 

2.  1946 — Fifty  Years  on  Wheels  (CBS)  :  A  special  documentary  salute  to  the 
American  auto  industry. 

3.  1945-48 — A  series  of  individual  one-time  programs  for  the  United  Jewish 
Appeal,  for  DP  and  Israel  fund  raising,  all  networks. 

4.  1948— Between  the  Dark  and  the  Daylight  (CBS)  :  A  half-hour  docu- 
mentary about  the  suffering  of  children  of  Europe,  featuring  tape  recordings 
made  by  me  in  seven  countries,  for  the  U.  N. 

5.  1948 — The  Time  Is  Now  (CBS)  :  A  half -hour  documentary  celebrating  the 
second  General  Assembly  of  the  U.  N.,  translated  into  seven  languages  and 
broadcast  all  over  the  world. 

6.  1949 — The  Hard  Core  (NBC)  :  A  half-hour  tape-recorded  documentary 
about  displaced  persons,  result  of  6  months'  duty  as  radio  officer  of  International 
Refugee  Organization. 

7.  1950 — The  Lady  in  the  Harbor  (NBC)  :  A  half -hour  American  Legion  pro- 
gram setting  forth  the  keynote  of  the  year. 

8.  1950 — 11  Memory  Street  (Mutual)  :  An  hour-long  tape-recorded  docu- 
mentary describing  U.  N.  work  in  tracing  lost  children. 

Worthy  of  mention  also  are  innumerable  single  programs  for  such  organiza- 
tions and  causes  as :  Cavalcade ;  CBS  Is  There ;  The  Land  Is  Bright ;  Labor  for 
Victory  ;  Cafe  Istanbul ;  Great  Scenes  From  Great  Plays  ;  cancer,  heart,  diabetes, 
cerebral  palsy,  infantile  paralysis  funds — American  Medical  Association;  Treas- 
ury war  bond  drives,  YMCA,  YWCA,  Visiting  Nurse  Association. 

television 

1946 :  Tales  To  Remember CBS  experimental  program 

1950 :  NBC 

Treasury  Men  in  Action NBC 

The  Big  Story NBC 

1951-52 : 

Lamp  Unto  My  Feet CBS  religious  program 

American  Inventory NBC,  Sloan  Foundation  show 

FILM 

Answer  for  Anne :  A  documentary  about  DP's,  for  Lutheran  World  Federation. 
The    Two   Kingdoms :    A    documentary    about    Germany   for    Lutheran    World 

Federation. 
Turn  in  the  Road :  A  documentary  on  worldwide  charity  for  Lutheran  churches. 
Faith  That  Works :  A  religious  film  for  United  States  Navy. 
Martin  Luther :  Feature  biography  for  combined  Lutheran  churches. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3855 

OTHER 

1951 — Seeds  iu  the  Wind :  A  live  documentary  presentation  for  the  Jewish  Board 

of  Guardians. 
1953 — Winning  Men's  Minds :  A  live  dramatization  for  the  annual  meeting  of 

the  American  Jewish  Committee. 
1953— Tomorrow  for  the  Taking:  A  live  dramatization  on  Christian  education 

for  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  May  1953. 

Note. — Awards  and  commendations  include  "Best  Religious  Film  of  1948" 
for  Answer  for  Anne,  New  York  Times  listing  "10  Best  Films  of  1953"  for  Martin 
Luther,  4  Peabody  awards  and  5  Ohio  State  award  citations  for  various  radio 
programs. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Were  you  in  the  armed  services  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  I  was,  sir.  I  volunteered  as  of  January  20,  1941. 
I  was  discharged  December  25,  1941,  the  same  year. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  was  the  period  of  time  in  which  you  worked 
with  the  United  Nations  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  was  first  hired  by  the  U.  N. — perhaps  the  specificity 
of  some  of  the  dates  will  surprise  you,  but  I  have  tried  to  remember 
the  facts  as  closely  as  I  could.  I  was  first  hired  December  13,  1947. 
The  reason  I  remember  that  date  is  because  I  went  to  Europe  for 
them.  I  worked  for  the  U.  N.  consistently  between  December  of  1947 
until,  let  us  say,  May  of  1952,  and  then  I  didn't  work  for  them  any 
more,  the  reason  for  this  being,  in  all  frankness,  that  the  effort  to 
keep  Communists  out  of  the  U.  N.  was  successful  in  my  case  because  I 
could  not  honestly  fill  out  the  form  and  say  I  had  not  been  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Communist  Party,  so  I  couldn't  work  for  the  U.  N.  any 
more. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  are  some  of  the  other  professional  contribu- 
tions you  have  made  in  your  field  in  the  way  of  writing  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  This  is  slightly  embarrassing — for  instance,  during 
the  war  I  wrote  The  Man  Behind  the  Gun,  which  was  a  dramatiza- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  our  battle  and  why  our  men  were  fighting. 
That  was  a  prize  program.  My  next  was  Transatlantic  Call.  This 
was  broadcast  from  the  United  States  1  week  and  Britain  the  next, 
and  its  purpose  was  to  let  both  nations  understand  what  each  of  the 
other  was  doing  and  why,  and  bring  about  a  better  understanding  of 
each  nation  and  its  problems.  I  also  did  some  work  on  a  program 
called  This  Is  the  Navy,  which  had  to  do  with  stories  of  Navy  heroism. 
I  worked,  too,  on  a  program  called  Green  Valley  USA,  which  was  based 
on  directives  from  the  Office  of  War  Information.  I  would  go  from 
State  to  State,  and  city  to  city,  from  Portland,  Oreg.,  to  Portland, 
Maine,  to  St.  Louis,  and  so  on,  telling  the  stories  through  this  pro- 
gram of  the  various  war  needs — for  instance,  the  need  for  blood  donors, 
and  so  forth.  I  also  worked  on  many  programs  for  various  appeals 
like  the  United  Jewish  Appeal,  various  patriotic  funds,  Catholic 
charities,  the  cerebral  palsy  people,  cancer  programs,  and  so  forth.  I 
wrote  the  program  for  a  while  for  The  Big  Story,  about  newspaper 
work.  I  worked  on  the  program  called  Treasury  Men  in  Action,  but 
I  was  dropped  from  the  program.  I  was  called  upon  by  an  advertis- 
ing agency  in  1946  to  plan  a  program  designed  to  bring  enlistments 
up  because,  you  remember,  the  draft  stopped  and  we  had  to  take  our 
men  by  enlistment  through  recruitment.  So  it  was  then  that  I  in- 
vented the  so-called  gimmick  Sound  Off,  which  became  very  popular. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  when  you  first 


3856     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

came  under  the  influence  of  the  Communist  Party?     What  might 
be  said  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  Communist  influence  upon  your  life? 

Mr.  Sloane.  It  was  just  after  my  discharge  from  the  Army.  I 
should  explain  in  all  fairness  to  you,  and  also  to  thank  you  for  not 
going  into  what  must  have  seemed  an  obvious  fact — that  I  stayed  in 
the  armed  services  for  such  a  short  time.  I  got  a  medical  discharge. 
It  was  honorable,  but  a  medical  discharge.  I  returned  to  my  home 
in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  and  I  was  somewhat  uncomfortable  there,  so  I 
came  to  New  York  to  visit  a  young  friend  of  mine,  Millard  Lampell. 
He  had  been  a  friend  of  mine  since  1936,  so  since  I  had  known  him 
for  5  years  I  felt  free  to  drop  in  at  40  Horatio  Street  to  see  him. 
I  explained  to  him  that  life  was  uncomfortable  in  Paterson  and  that 
I  wanted  to  work  in  New  York  City.  I  lived  there  as  his  roommate 
and  obtained  work  with  the  Parade  magazine,  a  Marshall  Field 
publication. 

In  the  months  of  January  and  February  1942,  and  through  late 
August  of  that  year  that  was  my  home — 10  Horatio  Street.  I  worked 
in  the  same  room  that  he  did ;  I  would  be  writing,  and  he  was  also 
free  lancing — doing  writing — and  from  time  to  time  we  would  be 
talking  and  he  would  discuss  the  fact  that  I  should,  as  he  said, 
solidify  my  political  tendencies  and  join  outright  with  the  Com- 
munist Party,  of  which  he  was  a  member  at  that  time.  I  am  afraid 
that  I  did  not  demur  strenuously.  I  just  said,  "Oh,  yes,"  and  "Sure."' 
1  didn't  say  "Yes,"  definitely,  or  "No"  courageously.  Finally,  after 
several  months'  prodding,  I  went  with  him  to  a  meeting  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  at  the  Dome.  It  was  a  dancehall  on  6th  Avenue, 
between  9th  and  10th  Streets,  and  I  joined.  He  was  my  sponsor  at 
the  meeting.  I  took  out  a  party  book  and  signed  my  name  and  paid 
my  dues.  I  believe  I  signed  the  book  "Comrade  Allan"  or  "Comrade 
Allan  Sloane,"  I  am  not  sure  which.  And  so  I  became  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party.  As  for  becoming  subject  to  the  Com- 
munist Party  influence,  which  is  a  little  different  from  joining  the 
party,  I  don't  think  I  could  directly  say  as  to  that.  For  instance, 
I  went  to  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  which  is  alleged  to 
be  a  hotbed  of  communism,  but  I  honestly  never  found  it  so.  There 
were  meetings  on  the  campus  and  hubbubs — all  sorts  of  exciting  things 
happening — but  this  would  cover  my  15  to  19  years  of  age  and 
during  that  time  I  just  didn't,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  join 
anything  which  I  would  consider  to  be  of  a  political  nature.  1  do 
remember  one  time  when  Mayor  LaGuardia,  not  then  mayor,  was 
running  for  the  office  in  New  York  on  the  Fusion  ticket,  and  I  became 
excited  about  that.  I  worked  on  newspaper  after  newspaper  through 
the  years,  but  I  don't  remember  them  as  being  either  rightist  or  leftist 
or  anything  of  that  sort — I  just  worked  and  did  my  business  as  a 
writer. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Then  you  would  attribute  your  relationship  par- 
ticularly with  Millard  Lampell  as  being  the  controlling  factor  in 
bringing  you  into  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  would  by  all  means  consider  it  the  controlling  factor, 
yes.  He  was  the  trigger  to  my  perhaps  emotional  or  humanitarian 
outlook  or  attitude.  I  should  like  to  say,  perhaps,  a  fuzzy-minded 
attitude,  but  liberal  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  A  liberal  bent 
or  tendency  in  myself  which  would  spring,  I  would  say  very  honestly, 
from  the  period  of  time  in  which  I  found  myself. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3857 

I  was  a  graduate  of  City  College  in  New  York,  which  was  called 
the  poor  man's  college,  in  the  year  1935,  and  1  was  able  to  go  on  with 
my  education  only  through  a  scholarship,  and  then  I  had  to  go  out 
and  get  a  job  at  $15  per  week  as  an  editor.  So  my  contacts  were 
mainly  sort  of  between  the  capitalist  and  labor  type  of  persons,  and 
in  my  mind,  I  considered  myself  as  labor  or  as  a  workingman. 

Mr.  Moulder.  That  was  a  difficult  period. 

Mr.  Sloane.  That  was  very  well  understated,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  Communist  Party  activities  did  you  observe 
during  the  period  you  were  associated  with  Millard  Lampell?  I 
mean  as  to  his  activities. 

Mr.  Sloane.  My  observation  of  his  actual  strict  Communist  Party 
activities  was  confined  to  a  very  small  area.  There  was  the  introduc- 
tion and  sponsorship  of  me  at  the  meeting  in  this  particular  section, 
which  was  called  the  Village  Club.  I  must  say  I  never  saw  him  at  a 
meeting  again.  I  went  to  only  several  meetings  after  that,  I  can't 
actually  say  how  many,  but  they  were  very  few.  I  know  at  the  time 
of  our  roommateship  he  was  writing  book  reviews  for  the  New  Repub- 
lic and  New  Masses  under  the  name  of  Mike  Landon.  I  don't  know 
if  this  was  a  Communist  Party  activity.  At  that  time  he  belonged 
to  a  great  many  fronts,  but  I  didn't  know  about  them  at  the  time.  Nor 
did  he  suggest  or  request  that  I  join  in  work  with,  or  for,  these  fronts. 
I  know  of  my  own  knowledge  in  later  years  his  residence  on  Grove 
Street  in  Greenwich  Village  was  the  place  of  group  meetings,  called 
a  study  group,  where  you  would  come  and  have  explained  to  you 
the  "true"  or  party  meaning  of  the  latest  historical  event.  They 
would  be  given  assignments  from  a  pamphlet  and  books  to  read,  and 
were  to  study  them. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  those  group  meetings  held  for  members  of 
the  Communist  Party  only  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  They  were  held  for  those  who  were  on  one  hand  inter- 
ested in  joining  the  Communist  Party  or  who  might  want  to  know 
what  it  was  all  about,  and  for  those  who  were  already  members  of 
the  Communist  Party.  This  was  a  form  of  party  discipline  to  keep 
up  with  publications,  i.  e.,  the  Daily  Worker,  and  so  on,  and  to 
constantly  refresh  oneself  as  a  party  worker.  You  see  a  great  many 
people  joined  the  party  on  an  emotional  basis,  but  I  don't  think  the 
Communist  Party  likes  people  like  that.  They  consider  them  to  be 
irresponsible  romantics  and  want  them  to  know  a  lot  more  of  what 
the  party  was  doing  and  why.  They  considered  these  assignments 
to  be  a  sort  of  discipline. 

I  might,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  introduce  an  anecdote  at  this  point. 
At  this  period  I  was  associated  with  Millard  Lampell  and  with  the 
Almanac  Singers.  They  were  to  have  been  a  kind  of  belt-line  mecha- 
nism— a  kind  of  cultural  arm  of  the  party,  where  the  total  party 
function  is  to  associate  with  labor  and  protest  various  things  and 
such  functions  as — you  remember  when  the  AAA  was  supposed  to 
have  killed  a  million  hogs,  so  the  Almanac  Singers  worked  out  a  song 
called  Plow  the  Fourth  Man  Under.  That  was  deliberately  con- 
structed by  the  Almanac  Singers  to  play  upon  the  public  opinion. 
This  was  during  the  period  of  the  so-called  imperialist  war,  when 
the  party  line  was  to  oppose  United  States  participation  on  the  side 
of  the  Allies.  This  song,  and  others,  were  deliberately  composed  to 
influence  public  opinion  in  favor  of  the  then  party  line. 


3858    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Velde.  You  attended  these  study  meetings  after  you  joined  the 
Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No.     I  just  say  of  my  own  knowledge  that  I  know  of 
study  meetings  at  Mr.  Lampell's  house. 

Mr.  Velde.  You  didn't  attend  these  study  meetings? 
Mr.  Sloane.  No  ;  I  didn't. 

Mr.  Velde.  Did  you  have  any  instruction  in  communism? 
Mr.  Sloane.  No.  I  did  go  with  Mr.  Lampell  to  a  study  meeting 
at  another  man's  house  whose  name  I  don't  recollect.  I  told  you, 
I  believe,  how  in  these  meetings  everything  was  dull  and  we  were 
told  to  read  this  and  that,  and  they  would  give  us  assignments  and 
we  were  to  go  home  and  read  chapters  1,  3,  and  7  of  the  history  of 
the  Communist  Party  and  the  Soviet  Union.  We  were  told  we  could 
buy  the  books  at  the  Jefferson  Bookshop  on  16th  Street,  and  it  was 
all  very  boring. 

Mr.  Moulder.  What  was  that  year  ? 
Mr.  Sloane.  It  was  the  year  1943. 

Mr.  Moulder.  And  then  you  joined  the  Communist  Party?     What 
year? 

Mr.  Sloane.  In  the  same  year.  I  fix  the  date  to  be  around  March 
of  1943  that  I  joined  the  Communist  Party,  and  I  figure  I  left  it 
voluntarily,  completely  severed  relations  with  it,  in  the  summer  of 
1944.  I  would  say  closer  to  July  than  to  August. 
Mr.  Moulder.  During  that  period  of  time,  did  you  pay  dues? 
Mr.  Sloane.  I  paid  dues,  and  think  the  Communist  Party  book  had 
some  kind  of  stamps,  one  with  a  little  blue  dues  stamp — 25  cents 
per  meeting — and  the  other  was  an  assessment  of  a  dime,  I  believe, 
for  the  literature  fund.  I  believe  I  paid  dues  from  between  3  to  6 
times. 

Mr.  Moulder.  After  severing  your  membership,  were  you  in  any 
way  connected  with  Communist  activities? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes ;  I  was.     With  front  activities  through  the  years. 
Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  now  return  to  your  description  of  the 
Almanac  Singers? 

Mr.  Sloane.  In  connection  with  the  technique  of  developing  a  song 
to  fit  situations,  I  would  like  to  explain  that  the  Almanac  Singers, 
after  breaking  up  their  housekeeping  group  at  Tenth  Street  moved — 
and  it  was  probably  no  coincidence  that  they  moved  to  the  Dome 
where  the  Communist  Party  meetings  were  held.  They  cooked  and 
slept  in  the  back  of  the  meeting  place.  They  would  all  work  together 
on  the  creation  of  pseudofolksongs.  They  once  received  a  request  for 
a  group  of  singers  to  sing  at  a  union  meeting  during  the  Sun  Oil 
strike.  These  young  people  went  out  there  with  their  guitars  and 
would  sing  all  the  songs  they  had  worked  up  and  written.  They 
would,  for  instance,  take  old  melodies  like  Red  Wing  and  write  new 
words  to  fit  it  like  "There  once  was  a  union  maid,  and  she  was  not 
afraid." 

This  may  all  sound  very  funny  or  silly  to  you  gentlemen,  but  when 
you  stop  to  see  what  happened,  it  makes  you  realize  it  wasn't  so  funny. 
For  instance,  I  considered  myself  a  writer,  and  would  sit  on  the 
outside  of  a  group  and  say,  "Why  don't  you  write  such  and  such  a 
line?"  Once  I  quoted  a  line  and  somebody  turned  to  me  and  said 
that  it  was  over-intellectualism  and  croceeded  riidit  then  and  thera 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3859 

to  deliver  me  a  lecture  on  how  such  things  had  to  be  done  in  a  certain 
way — and  I  should  use  my  talent  for  writing  in  a  party  functional 
sort  of  way  instead  of  trying  to  write  like  Beethoven.  It  was  why  I 
began  to  back  out.  All  this  fell  under  what  they  considered  party 
discipline.  There  is  even  a  discipline  to  the  framing  of  a  folksong. 
The  whole  thing  sounds  petty,  but  there  it  is. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  know  of  any  Communist  Party  member 
who  collaborated  with  the  Almanac  Singers  in  the  composition  of 
their  material  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  must  say,  since  I  have  sworn  to  tell  the  truth  as  I 
know  it,  that  I  do  not  of  my  own  knowledge  know  that  these  people 
who  were  Almanac  Singers  were  actually  Communist  Party  members, 
save  myself  and  young  Lampell,  and  we  both  used  to  sing  here  and 
there  with  them.  I  have  in  my  statement  several  names  of  the  people 
in  the  group  that  I  remember,  but  if  asked  to  definitely  state  yes  or 
no  if  asked  if  I  knew  they  were  Communist  Party  members,  I  could 
not  do  so. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  would  prefer  that  you  not  mention  the  names  of 
those  of  whom  you  are  not  certain. 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  Millard  Lampell  assist  you  in  the  composition 
of  material  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes. 

Mr.  Moulder.  In  order  to  clarify  the  record,  I  believe  I  asked  you 
about  any  Communist  activities  you  had  while  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party.  Unless  the  interrogation  will  clarify  that,  maybe 
you  would  like  to  state  it  now. 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  I  would  like  very  much  to  get  that  on  the  record. 
For  instance,  when  I  was  strictly  a  member  of  the  party,  i.  e.,  carry- 
ing a  card,  my  work  consisted  of  the  following : 

I  was  given  an  assignment  to  sell  the  Daily  "Worker  on  street 
corners.  I  rebelled  at  this  because  I  felt  frankly  it  was  beneath  me, 
but  it  was  explained  to  me  that  it  was  all  part  of  the  party  discipline. 
It  was  a  comedown  for  a  newspaperman,  I  thought,  but  I  still  had  to 
sell  these  papers  on  the  street  corner. 

Then  I  had  to  accompany  a  speaker  to  a  street  corner  at  Eighth 
Street  and  McDougall  Street,  where  attempts  were  made  to  sell  party 
literature  there. 

I  believe  I  told  you  before  of  attending  a  party  lecture  or  meeting, 
where  we  discussed  several  things,  such  as  the  war  situation,  Com- 
munist theories,  and  so  on.  We  were  given  assignments  to  study  and 
read,  like  told  to  read  such  and  such  pages  and  told  to  purchase  books 
from  the  Jefferson  Bookshop.  All  this  was  very  boring  to  me  and  I 
didn't  do  this,  just  listened  to  what  they  had  to  say  and  forgot  the 
rest. 

I  was  once  elected,  or  appointed — I  don't  remember  how — as  the 
committeeman,  Communist  Party  committeeman  at  the  October  1943 
meeting  of  the  New  York  City  Communist  Party.  I  was  a  repre- 
sentative of  my  party  area.  I  think — I  am  not  sure — but  I  think  it 
was  the  10th  E.  D. — election  district.  To  the  best  of  my  recollection 
this  was  how  it  happened.  I  received  a  postcard  in  the  mail,  which 
said  generally — "Dear  Comrade  Sloane:  You  have  been  appointed 
as  representative  of  this  election  district  to  the  central  Manhattan 


3860     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

committee  meeting  to  be  held  the  coming  Sunday  at  10  o'clock  at  such 
and  such  a  place.  I  went,  and  there  were  quite  a  few  people  there, 
a  few  cut  and  dried  resolutions  were  passed,  and  a  small  collection 
was  taken  for  party  literature  and  coffee  and  doughnuts  served. 
I  walked  out  in  the  course  of  the  meeting  and  went  home.  I  don't 
even  remember  all  the  procedures  that  took  place. 

Once  I  was  involved  also  in  an  invitation,  by  whom  I  don't  recollect, 
for  a  meeting  which  I  now  recognize  was  a  meeting  of  the  cultural 
committee  of  the  Communist  Party.  This  meeting  was  held  in  the 
office  of  a  dentist  in  Steinway  Hall  in  the  year  1944.  Early  in  the  year. 
Once  again  it  was  a  meeting  at  which  the  responsibilities  of  an  artist 
in  the  Soviet  Union  were  discussed,  that  is,  the  necessity  of  his  using 
his  skills  in  social  ways,  and  so  forth. 

Mr.  Moulder.  You  are  referring  now  to  a  period  of  time  in  which 
you  were  an  actual  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes. 

Mr.  Moulder.  What  was  the  position  you  held  at  this  time  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  It  was  as  picture  director  with  Parade  magazine,  on 
which  I  was  a  picture  editor,  so-called.  The  previous  activities  might 
be  called  Communist  membership  activities.  The  next  ones  I  take  up 
will  be  fellow-traveler  activities.  I  don't  remember  anybody  who  was 
at  this  cultural  meeting,  but  I  do  remember  being  very  bored  and  by 
this  time,  more  than  a  litle  ashamed  of  myself  to  realize  that  here  I,  a 
writer,  an  independent  kind  of  person,  was  involved  in  the  kind  of 
thing  where  I  had  to  be  told  my  function  as  a  writer  and  an  artist. 
I  was  still  a  newspaperman  and  nobody  tries  to  tell  a  newspaperman 
what  to  write  and  that  his  job  is  a  political  one,  and  I  was  told  that  as 
a  writer  I  was  of  political  importance  and  had  to  use  my  skills  in 
that  way.  By  then  I  was  beginning  to  be  ashamed  of  myself  and  had 
gotten  to  a  funny  stage — to  explain  it,  it  was  like  there  were  two  of  me, 
and  one  was  sitting  outside  and  looking  in  and  saying,  "What  are  you 
doing  here?  You  know  you  shouldn't  be  here."  Further  activities 
within  the  framework  of  the  party  I  can't  recall.  There  may  have 
been  others,  but  if  so,  they  were  very,  very  few. 

Oh  yes,  I  beg  your  pardon — there  is  another  thing  I  think  of  now. 
I  was  assigned  an  area  in  my  own  neighborhood,  23  Barrow  Street 
where  I  lived,  to  sell  war  bonds.  We  were  told  we  had  to  sell  them 
from  door  to  door  to  help  the  war  effort,  and  had  to  ring  each  door- 
bell. It  was  the  period  of  time  in  which  the  party  was  more  or  less 
open  and  you  were  allowed  to  say  you  were  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party — in  fact,  were  instructed  to  do  that.  I  didn't  sell  any 
bonds  that  I  recall,  but  bought  one  myself. 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1944,  as  I  say,  I  was  thoroughly  disgusted 
with  my  membership  in  the  Communist  Party.  The  thing  that  really 
disgusted  me  at  that  time  was  that  the  party  had  done  a  complete 
flip-flop.  There  had  been  a  meeting  in  May  or  June  of  1944  in  which 
the  Communist  Party  had  decided  that  it  should  be  called  the  Com- 
munist Political  Association,  and  that  it  should  not  work  within  the 
realm  of  politics  and  nominate  candidates,  and  so  forth,  but  should 
work  within  the  ASP.  This  was  the  Committee  of  the  Arts,  Sciences, 
and  Professions,  a  front  group.  They  should  work  for  the  Democratic 
Party  through  this  ASP  group.  The  Communist  Party  was  feeling 
its  way,  I  believe,  endeavoring  to  become  an  infiltrating  organization 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3861 

rather  than  a  nominating  organization.  That,  I  believe,  was  when  the 
war  was  nearing  its  end  and  it  looked  as  though  capitalism  and  social- 
ism were  abont  to  dissolve  their  partnership  and  now  each  should  go 
its  own  way.  Earl  Browder  was  very,  very  proud  of  the  fact  that 
what  he  was  leading  was  the  American  Communist  Party,  not  one  from 
outside  America. 

This,  of  course,  is  my  own  interpretation.  I  don't  recall  if  history 
will  bear  me  out,  but  I  believe  it  will.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  this 
morning's  newspaper  Browder  has  a  piece  in  which  he  says  about 
the  same  thing.  Communism  had  been  respectable,  and  all  of  a  sudden 
here  it  became  this  insidious,  hidden  sort  of  thing.  This  was  suf- 
ficient for  me  to  say  to  my  wife,  "I  have  had  it — I  cannot  stand  any 
more  of  the  flip-flops." 

Shortly  after  this  I  was  visited  by  William  Browder,  who  at  first 
upbraided  me  for  not  being  faithful  in  my  membership  with  the  Com- 
munist Party.  I  had  not  showed  up  for  months  at  the  meetings,  be- 
cause I  had  a  job  by  then,  the  Transatlantic  Call  job  which  carried  me 
to  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  when  I  was  home  I  didn't  want  to  be 
going  to  meetings. 

Mr.  Velde.  This  was  late  in  1944? 

Mr.  Sloane.  In  1944. 

Mr.  Velde.  Can  you  place  the  month  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Around  July  of  1944,  and  perhaps  closer  to  August. 
Anyhow,  Mr.  Browder  upbraided  me  and  suggested  that  I  resume  reg- 
ularity of  attendance  at  the  party  meetings.  Ho  told  me  of  the  usual 
concept  of  communism  and  said  the  Communist  had  to  be  much  better 
than  the  average  person — he  has  to  be  faithful,  and  so^  forth,  and  by 
this  time  I  think  my  anger  had  been  aroused  and  I  told  him  I  wished 
he  would  leave  and  that  I  would  not  be  at  any  more  meetings.  I 
didn't  feel  that  I  was  in  a  conspiracy  because  at  that  time  it  just 
didn't  appear  to  be  that  but  it  just  wasn't  on  logical  grounds.  I  didn't 
want  any  part  of  this  kind  of  thing.  I  was  feeling  my  oats,  so  to 
speak,  and  established  as  a  radio  writer  and  I  think  I  was  then  begin- 
ning to  grow  up.  Mr.  Browder  initially  accepted  my  resignation,  then 
changed  his  story  and  said,  "Well,  you  are  a  very  important  person — 
yon  writers  are  very  important  people — we  need  those  who  are  as 
well  known  and  can  interpret  things  like  you  writers  can,  so  you 
would  not  have  to  be  a  member  of  the  party — you  don't  have  to  attend 
the  meetings  or  have  any  formal  alinement  because  your  importance 
to  the  general  cause  transcends  your  specific  membership."  This,  I 
must  say,  is  not  exactly  the  direct  conversation,  but  in  a  general  way 
what  he  said,  the  essence  of  his  speech  to  me.  At  any  rate,  it  was  the 
sum  and  substance. 

In  other  words,  what  was  being  offered  to  me  was  that  I  should  be 
a  crypto-Communist — someone  who  has  no  formal  alinement  with  the 
party  but  is  just  as  good  where  he  is  for  the  party's  work. 

I  turned  that  down,  too.  I  recollected  the  supreme  insult  of  having 
to  sell  the  Daily  Worker  on  the  street  corners,  and  I  told  him  to  go 
peddle  his  papers  somewhere  else.  That  was  my  last  connection  with 
the  Communist  Party. 

During  the  period  of  my  first  marriage  I  had  very  little  contact 
with  young  Lampell  because  his  wife  and  my  wife  couldn't  get  alonj?. 
Every  so  often  we  would  meet  and  then  I  saw  him  less  and  less. 

42885— 54— pt.  1 3 


*to" 


3862    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

That  covers  the  area  of  my  activities  during  the  period  of  my  mem- 
bership in  the  Communist  Party. 

If  you  would  like,  I  will  now  run  down  the  activities  outside  the 
party  as  a  fellow  traveler.  The  following-  are  activities  of  mine  and 
associations  which,  in  the  light  of  a  very  long  and  somewhat  difficult 
self-introspection,  I  have  discovered  to  be  within  the  realm  of  the 
fellow-traveling  person. 

They  are  as  follows :  During  the  middle  period  of  the  war,  I  would 
say  in*1944,  there  was  organized  an  outfit  called  the  Music  War  Com- 
mittee— and  I  bring  this  up  to  show  how  it  ties  in  with  the  cultural 
aspects  of  communism.  Once  again  I  am  afraid  the  same  names  crop 
up.  The  Music  War  Committee  was  a  group  of  very  responsible  and 
very  well-known  musicians — a  group  consisting  of  many  very  well- 
known  and  some  unknown  musicians.  One,  for  instance,  was  Oscar 
Hammerstein,  who  was  chairman  of  the  MWC.  Millard  Lampell  was 
also  very  active  in  this  outfit.  The  way  it  would  work  was  this :  The 
MWC  would  be  called  by  the  WAC's  and  they  would  say  something 
like,  "We  need  a  good  marching  song  for  the  WAC's  and  would  you 
boys  write  one?"  So  they  would  take  it  up  and  assign  1  or  2  musi- 
cians there  to  the  job — good  writing  men — to  the  duty  of  writing  a 
song  for  the  WAC's.  To  be  an  artist  you  had  to  support  the  war 
effort,  so  I  was  brought  down  there  by  Millard  Lampell  and  by  this 
means  activated  into  this  kind  of  work,  by  means  of  suggestion.  He 
would  stand  up  and  say  he  thought  we  should  do  this  and  do  a  radio 
program.  That  was  why  I  was  brought  down  because  we  were  sup- 
posed to  invent  a  program  that  would  have  the  backing  of  such  people 
as  Hammerstein  and  Rodgers.  They  would  get  a  good  producer  to 
back  it,  the  networks  would  like  it,  and  it  would  be  a  well-written 
thing  and  in  line  with  the  war  effort.  One  thing  we  tried  was  where 
the  subject  was  to  be  a  couple  of  old  vaudevillians  who  wanted  to  get 
behind  the  war  effort,  so  they  would  sing  songs  and  tell  stories  of  the 
old  days.    Projects  like  that  were  constantly  before  it. 

Incidentally,  I  do  not  believe  that  Mr.  Hammerstein  could  possibly 
have  been  aware  that  the  activities  of  this  little  organization,  which  I 
think  is  a  comparatively  unknown  front  group,  were  being  mostly 
carried  on  by  members  of  the  Communist  Party,  such  as  Millard  Lam- 
pell, with  me  at  his  elbow  as  a  second  member. 

Mr.  Velde.  And  the  same  would  be  true  of  Mr.  Rodgers? 

Mr.  Sloane.  The  same  would  be  true  of  Mr.  Rodgers. 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  understood  that  at  that  time  you  were  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Sloane.  This  was  during  the  war.  It  was  a  very  good  catch 
vou  made  there,  because  to  remember  all  these  things  I  have  had  to 
think  and  think.  The  fact  remains  that  I  wras  still  friends  with 
Lampell  and  we  were  working  together. 

Mr.  Moulder.  You  were  still  working  together  nnd  were  friends 
but  was  that  association  as  a  Communist  or  becau  ;e  of  jour  former 
association? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Well,  my  association  with  young  Lampell  was  for  a 
long  time  a  personal  association  and  was  also  political.  We  were 
friendly  and  we  were  comrades.     I  say  that  advisedly. 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  understood  you  to  say  that  after  William  Browder 
visited  you  and  you  referred  to  it  as  a  formal  separation  and  you  made 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3863 

the  statement  you  were  washing  your  hands  of  any  connection  with 
the  Communist  Party,  as  such,  and  even  in  spite  of  this  he  asked  you  to 
be  associated  with  it — not  being  a  member  but  by  still  associating  your- 
self with  its  cause.  I  understood  your  position  was  you  had  nothing 
to  do  with  that  idea  and  in  no  form,  or  phase,  or  whatever. 

Mr.  Sloane.  You  have  caught  me,  sir,  in  a  contradiction,  which  I 
will  admit.  By  way  of  explanation,  however,  I  should  like  to  state 
that  my  severance  of  actual  party  membership  did  not  end  my  associa- 
tion with  Lampell.  It  seemed  natural  and  proper  at  the  time  to  be 
working  with  him  in  the  MWC  outside  the  framework  of  the  actual 
party.  I  did  not  regard  such  activity  at  that  time  as  front  work, 
though  I  am,  of  course,  only  too  aware  now  of  the  true  nature  of  such 
activities,  to  say  nothing  of  my  having  been  used  in  connection  with 
them. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Now,  you  make  reference  to  sitting  at  his  elbow. 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  was  there  as  a  fellow  traveler  or  a  co-sympathizer. 
Whether  I  was  actually  a  member  at  that  time,  I  don't  know.     I  can't* 
pinpoint  the  date,  but  I  do  know  I  felt  this  was  a  good  thing  for  the 
war  effort  and  young  Lampell  was  doing  the  right  thing. 

Mr.  Moulder.  That  was  the  way  all  people  felt  at  that  time  as  far 
as  winning  the  war  was  concerned. 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  accept,  sir,  a  contradiction  inherent  in  my  own  testi- 
mony. Now,  looking  back,  how  could  I  have?  In  truth,  retrospect 
is  much  wiser  than  foresight.  It  was  at  another  of  those  meetings 
that  I  met  another  young  fellow  and  I  would  like  to  explain  to  you, 
sir,  a  slightly  humorous  aspect  of  comradeship  is  involved.  It  in- 
volves the  use  of  Aesopian  language.  When,  for  instance,  in  this  par- 
ticular meeting  of  the  MWC,  Lampell  introduced  me  to  the  lyric 
writer,  he  described  him  as  a  terrific  guy.  When  a  Communist  intro- 
duces somebody  to  you  as  a  terrific  guy  it  means  you  are  being  intro- 
duced to  somebody  who  is  a  fellow  Communist.  When  he  is  called  a 
Hood  guy  it  means  you  are  being  introduced  to  somebody  who  is  known 
to  be  a  fellow  traveler,  or  not  unsympathetic  to  your  being  a  Commu- 
nist. When  you  refer  to  somebody  or  ask  about  him  and  are  told  he  is 
a  bastard  that  does  not  mean  he  is  of  illegitimate  parentage  but  an 
active  anti-Communist  and  to  watch  your  step.  Therefore,  I  say  I 
was  introduced  at  one  of  these  meetings  to  this  lyric  waiter  who  was 
described  to  me  as  a  terrific  guy,  which  meant  a  green  light  for  an  all- 
out  discussion  of  things  of  a  dialectic  materialism  viewpoint.  In 
other  words,  this  is  a  brother  Communist. 

Mr.  Velde.  Was  this  usage  of  words  you  have  just  referred  to  com- 
mon in  your  own  group  or  in  all  groups  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  This  was  common  in  the  circles  we  people  moved  in — 
the  writers  of  radio  and  TV  material.  Any  fellow  writer  was  also 
in  our  social  circle.  If  you  would  go  to  a  party,  you  would  meet 
somebody.  You  would  tell  somebody  you  met  that  person  and  he 
would  say  "He  is  a  terrific  guy."  He  meant,  specifically,  a  Com- 
munist, and  it  was  a  sort  of  signal.  When  you  hear  somebody  in 
a  conversation  use  the  word  "terrific"  you  can  sense  that  that  person 
is  almost  sending  out  signals.  You  have  heard  when  a  male  butterfly 
sends  out  vibrations  the  females  hear  them.  The  same  way  if  you 
heard  the  words  "terrific  guy"  come  out  and  if  the  conversation  was 


3864     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

political,  you  would  bet  your  last  dollar  that  person  referred  to  was 
a  Communist. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Did  you  learn  that  by  observation  ? 

Mr.  Sloaxe.  Observation  and  absorption.  Until  finally  you  would 
yourself  describe  people  as  being  ''terrific"  or  "good"  or  as  a  "bastard." 
Another  little  phrase  which  was  used  was,  "He  has  got  the  correct 
slant."  That  meant  that  1  and  1  equaled  2  and  that  it  coincided 
correctly,  specifically  or  closely  to  the  party  line.  This  sort  of  phrase 
is  still  used  today.  For  instance,  Mr.  Beria  had  an  "incorrect 
attitude." 

At  any  rate,  I  was  introduced  to  this  young  man  and  he  was  a  song- 
writer. I  should  like  to  furnish  his  name  off  the  record.  He  wrote  a 
good  many  songs,  popular  ones,  and  collaborated  with  Duke  Ellington 
on  very,  very  popular  songs.  He,  if  not  a  Communist,  followed 
closer  to  it  than  anybody  could  by  outright  joining  the  party.  It  was 
with  him  I  went  into  my  next  area,  which  was  called  the  Divide  and 
Conquer  thing.  I  wrote,  with  another  person,  a  little  pamphlet 
called  Divide  and  Conquer.  This  is  where  the  ASP  begins  to  come 
in,  or  the  Committee  for  the  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Professions.  This 
committee  was  organized  during  the  war  to  channel  the  efforts  of 
artists  and  writers  and  actors  and  public  figures  of  the  arts  and 
sciences.  They  got  behind  the  third  election,  the  campaign  for  the 
third  term,  and  it  also  became  a  war-effort  thing.  For  instance,  I 
received  a  call  from  the  ASP.  They  had  heard  of  my  work,  and  that 
I  was  in  town,  and  someone  wanted  them  to  furnish  a  speech,  on  giving 
blood,  for  Olivia  de  Haviland  to  use  while  she  was  there  to  help  the  war 
effort.  They  asked  would  I  write  the  speech,  so  I  wrote  it  and  Olivia 
de  Haviland  made  the  speech.  That  is  the  way  she  gave  her  services 
for  the  war  effort  and  the  way  I  made  mine.  I  also  gave  blood.  Then 
another  time  they  called,  and  this  time  they  said  "We  would  like  a 
little  playlet  suitable  for  presentation  by  the  school  children,"  so 
another  person  and  I  sat  down  and  figured  out  this  Divide  and  Con- 
quer thing.  It  told  how  a  lot  of  children  were  to  be  on  a  stage 
playing  marbles,  and  along  came  a  big  bulty  who  said  "Let  me  play," 
and  the  children  said  "No."  So  he  called  one  of  the  children  aside 
and  said  "You  can't  play  with  them  because  you  are  a  Negro."  So 
they  chased  the  Negro  away.  Then  he  said  "You  can't  play  with  him 
because  he  is  a  Jew."  So  they  chased  the  Jew  away.  Then  before 
long  there  was  no  one  there  left  to  play.  He  divided  them  all.  Then 
they  all  came  out  and  chased  him  away.  He  was  supposed  to  be 
Hitler,  and  so  the  person  I  am  speaking  of  and  I  combined  our  talents 
and  figured  out  the  playlet  in  this  manner. 

This  almost  perfectly  shows  the  cultural  aspects  of  the  Communist 
Party.  Here  was  this  person,  a  lyric  writer  who  had  been  made 
known  to  me  as  a  "terrific  guy."  He  was  a  lyric  writer  of  great  im- 
portance in  flic  commercial  world,  and  here  am  I,  a  radio  writer  of 
some  skill  and  some  experience,  and  there  was  joined  to  ns  by  this 
time  one  Lan  Adomian. 

Mr.  Vii.dk.  Will  you  repeat  more  specifically  about  what  date  all 
this  took  place '. 

Mr.  SiiOANE.  This  would  be  the  wartime  period — in  1041 — because 
I  was  still  living  with  my  first  wife.  Adomian  had  introduced  him- 
self to  me  at  a  rehearsal  and  he  said  he  had  heard  of  me  and  wanted 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3865 

to  meet  me.  I  believe  this  is  an  instance  in  which  he  said,  "I  have 
heard  you  are  a  terrific  guy."  This,  of  course,  was  to  me  a  signal  that 
here  was  a  Communist  talking  to  me.  Sure  enough,  he  revealed  him- 
self to  me  with  some  pride  with  a  great  deal  of  astonishment  on  my 
part  as  a  veteran  of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade.  He  wanted  to 
meet  me  because  he  felt  I  could  help  him  get  work.  I  tried  to  help 
him  but  was  unsuccessful,  except  in  a  later  instance  when  I  got  a  little 
more  important  and  could  choose  my  own  composers.  He  wanted  us 
to  do  something  together  and  I  thought  we  should,  too. 

Here,  you  see,  was  a  composer  who  wanted  to  use  his  music  as  a 
political  weapon,  and  here  was  a  writer  who  had  been  partly  indoc- 
trinated and  who  felt  he  should  use  his  words  as  a  medium  of  propa- 
ganda, and  here  was  a  lyric  writer  who  felt  he  could  write  words  to 
the  composer's  music.  So  we  met,  sometimes  in  my  home,  sometimes 
in  Adomiaivs.  "We  would  get  ideas  and  work  on  them  and  toss  them 
back  and  forth. 

"We  got  an  idea  for  an  opera  for  children  and  wanted  to  call  it. 
The  Enchanted  Village.  To  this  enchanted  village  would  come  chil- 
dren from  all  nations — a  little  Russian  boy  named  Ivan,  a  little  Amer- 
ican boy  named  John,  a  French  boy  named  Jacques,  and  a  little  Polish 
boy  named  Jan,  and  many  others,  and  they  would  find  as  children 
that  all  children  everywhere  want  the  same  things.  There  was  to  be 
a  mayor  who  would  show  them  the  good  things  of  life  in  this  enchanted 
village,  and  the  mayor  was  to  be  Paul  Robeson,  because  he  had  this 
marvelous  singing  voice  and  also  was  a  Soviet  artistic  hero. 

"We  worked  on  this  opera  and  had  some  very  lovely  ideas.  An  idea, 
for  instance,  of  an  airplane  which  would  take  the  children  where  the 
geography  was  instead  of  teaching  them  in  a  classroom.  None  would 
hurt  each  other.  And  at  the  end  they  would  all  get  on  this  merry-go- 
round  and  reach  for  the  ring,  and  it  would  be  the  "freedom"  ring. 

You  see,  these  are  all  concepts  which  are  lovely  and  fine  but  which 
should  not  be  allowed  to  become  the  exclusive  property  of  Communists 
because  people  should  learn  you  can  work  for  international  harmony 
or  amities  through  your  church  and  can  do  things  within  organized 
and  decent  boundaries  of  our  American  life,  such  as  the  charities.  You 
don't  have  to  join  the  Communist  Party  to  do  it. 

This  is  a  discourse  I  meant  to  stay  off. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Did  you  have  the  feeling  at  that  time  that  you  were 
doing  this  work  for  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No;  we  were  not  doing  it  for  the  Communist  Party 
with  headquarters  as  such,  but  we  were  doing  it  as  Communists. 

Mr.  Moulder.  You  mean  a  philosophy  you  were  following? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes;  the  fact  that  I  as  a  responsible  citizen  in  the 
world,  whose  work  was  in  the  arts,  and  who  was  contributing  what 
skill  and  imagination  and  talent  I  had  toward  the  furtherance  of  ideas, 
rather  than  in  merely  earning  a  living.  As  we  discussed  it  before, 
perhaps  you  would  like  to  ask  me  some  questions  in  order  to  bring 
this  out  more  clearly. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  it  your  opinion  that  Adomian  was  also  acting  for  the 
Communist  cause  at  that  time  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes ;  I  know  he  was  and  he  knew  that  I  was. 

Mr.  Velde.  But  you  didn't  definitely  know  he  was  an  actual  mem- 
ber of  the  Communist  Party  ? 


3866    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  have  known  through  the  years,  those  of  friendship 
with  him,  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  and  at  one 
time  or  another  he  said  in  letters  to  me,  "You  know  I  don't  even  know 
if  I  am  a  member  or  not  any  more."  That  Lan  Adomian,  whom  I 
considered  a  friend  of  mine — he  is  a  fine  composer  and  very — this  is 
very  difficult. 

After  being  a  Communist  and  fellow  traveler  and  member  of  the 
Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade — Russian  born,  but  a  Communist  for  over 
25  years — he,  too,  had  his  stomach  turned,  and  gave  up,  after  25  years 
of  being  a  real  Communist. 

Mr.  Velde.  We  will  now  call  a  5-minute  recess  in  this  hearing. 

( Whereupon,  at  4  p.  m.,  the  executive  hearing  recessed  for  5  minutes, 
and  Mr.  Velde  and  Mr.  Moulder  left  the  hearing  room.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Would  you  resume  your  testimony,  please  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  We  three — each  one  knew  the  other  to  be  a  Commu- 
nist— were  working  heart  and  soul  on  the  project  because  we  felt  it 
was  something  very  important  and  we  believed  in  it.  We  knew  it  was 
not  commercial — that  it  wouldn't  go  over — wouldn't  make  money,  but 
it  was  something  we  felt  we  should  be  doing. 

This  was  why.  The  person  I  spoke  of  was  earning  his  living  writ- 
ing lyrics  for  popular  songs,  such  as  Praise  the  Lord  and  Pass  the 
Ammunition.  Mr.  Adomian  was  earning  his  living  by  writing  theme 
music  in  radio — those  little  bridges  of  10  seconds  of  music,  when  he 
really  wanted  to  write  symphonies  and  patriotic  marches.  Shosta- 
kovich was  commissioned  by  the  Soviet  Union  to  write  seven  sym- 
phonies. What  he  couldn't  see  was  why  Shostakovich  could  do  this 
ahd  he  couldn't.  He  felt  he  had  to  contribute  something  to  the  cul- 
tural development  of  the  country.  I  was  earning  my  living  in  radio 
and  doing  public-service  programs,  i.  e.,  Transatlantic  Call.  But 
it  wasn't  like  being  on  the  firing  line.  I  wasn't  really  reporting  the 
war.  We  were  all  under  what  might  be  called  a  kind  of  superimposed 
guilt  complex — not  by  orders  from  above  but  by  a  universal  atmos- 
phere in  which  you  could  not  think  otherwise.  You  had  been  made  to 
feel  that  as  an  artist  you  belonged  in  the  ranks  of  the  workers  and 
your  art  should  not  be  devoted  to  so-called  art  for  art's  sake,  but  to 
the  causes. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  In  other  words,  you  didn't  have  to  have  V.  J. 
Jerome,  the  cultural  head  of  the  Communist  Party,  to  direct  you  as 
to  what  to  do  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No,  and  that,  I  feel,  is  one  of  the  tragedies  of  my  sit- 
uation. The  situation  of  people  like  me  because  we  don't  need  the 
taskmaster  with  the  whip,  or  the  subtle  influence  of  the  adviser.  You 
already  feel  you  have  to  do  it  and  so  you  do  it. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  didn't  feel  you  had  to  do  it  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No.  Why?  Well,  there  was  the  "you  have  it  good" 
philosophy.  "You  are  not  on  the  firing  line  with  the  enemy  in  front 
of  you."  "You  are  not  out  in  the  shipyards,  breaking  your  back  on  the 
swing  shift."  "You  are  just  a  writer  or  an  artist."  But  with  that 
comes  the  upbuilding  when  you  are  told  you  are  just  as  important  as 
the  soldier.  Your  words  are  weapons — your  brushes  are  bullets — 
what  you  create  is  important  provided  you  use  it  properly.  You  are 
taught  in  the  Soviet  Union  that  what  you  create  not  only  serves  the 
state,  but  is  approved  by  the  state.     The  strange  part  of  it  was — and 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3867 


this  is  the  downright  truth — an  Adomian  or  a  Sloane  could  not  have 
lasted  10  minutes  as  an  artist  in  the  Soviet  Union.  Each  of  us  would 
have  earnest  artistic  arguments  with  the  other,  which  we  knew  in  our 
hearts,  or  should  have  known,  we  could  not  have  done  and  existed  in 
the  Soviet  Union.  That  is  a  contradiction  which  I  have  not  been  able 
to  solve  yet. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  I  understand  that  you  take  the  position  that  the 
indoctrination  which  you  received  in  your  experience  in  the  party  over 
a  period  of  years  finally  developed  you  to  the  psychological  point 
that  you  felt  that  unless  you  did  the  things  you  have  spoken  of,  you 
were  not  measuring  up  to  your  share  of  the  responsibilities  as  the 
person  on  the  tiring  line  and  as  the  man  in  the  steel  factories,  etc.? 

Mr.  Sloane.  That  is  perfectly  put.  You  are  made  to  feel  happier 
when  you  are  considered  of  social  value  than  if  you  were  merely  creat- 
ing for  creation's  sake  alone.  I  think  in  the  Communist  theory  the 
propagandist  is  rated  higher  than  the  artist  because  art  should  be 
propaganda  or  else  it  is  not  valuable. 

For  the  record  I  would  like  to  explain  that  this  is  not  so  much  a 
production  of  indoctrination  as  it  is  a  kind  of  prostitution  of  good 
and  decent  artistic  impulses  because  I  don't  think  there  is  an  artist 
worth  his  salt,  whether  he  works  in  a  garret  or  a  studio,  who  does  not 
feel  what  he  is  doing  is  just  a  little  more  than  earning  a  living.  This 
is  a  natural  characteristic  of  an  artist,  but  that  this  natural  character- 
istic should  be  so  distorted  and  used  to  make  him  feel  guilty  if  he 
or  his  work  doesn't  serve  the  state — if  it  doesn't  comport  with  "social 
realism"  wherein  you  only  treat  of  things  as  they  are — and  not  in- 
dulge in  flights  of  fancy — that  lies  beyond  my  realm  and  I  am  lost. 

This  is  the  vicious  thing  about  communism,  capturing  an  artist. 
I  would  also  say  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Communist  artist,  be- 
cause communism  involves  slavery  and  art  involves  freedom  and 
you  can't  have  an  enslaved  free  man. 

You  can't  have  both.  It  is  like  a  cow  with  wings.  Where  there 
is  a  vacuum — nature  abhors  a  vacuum — where  there  is  a  social  vacuum, 
that  is,  where  somebody  doesn't  do  something  about  something  that 
should  be  done,  the  Communist  will  rush  into  that  vacuum  and 
exploit  it. 

I  was  stupid  back  in  those  days.  I  didn't  realize  I  could  have  found 
a  church  that  wanted  to  do  something  about  these  various  things. 
I  could  have  found  a  responsible  organization  that  wanted  to  do 
something  about  international  brotherhood.  I  could  have  found  a 
foundation  that  wanted  to  help  with  this  sort  of  thing.  But  Com- 
munists were  there  saying  "We  are  the  ones  who  care  about  Negroes, 
civil  rights,  and  the  war  effort."  But  I  think  that  where  a  church, 
and  I  say  this  very  honestly — where  a  church  concerns  itself  with 
that  aspect  of  man's  inhumanity  to  man,  and  it  can  be  cured  by  man, 
there  is  no  place  for  a  Communist.  I  believe  that  very  strongly,  sir, 
and  that  is  one  of  the  reasons  I  am  down  here. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  It  might  be  well  at  this  time  to  bring  in  a  point 
you  mentioned  this  morning  about  the  importance  of  the  feeling  of 
being  ridden  by  guilt — I  believe  that  is  the  way  you  put  it.  In  that 
connection  did  you  say  that? 

Mr.  Sloane.  The  true  artist  who  is  under  the  Communist  influence 
is  merely  a  sick  man,  because  ridden  on  the  one  hand  by  this  guilt 


3868     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT 

complex,  feeling  that  he  is  of  no  -worth  in  the  world  unless  he  works 
within  the  boundaries  set  by  the  party  discipline,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  if  he  is  a  true  artist  he  knows  truthfully  what  he  is — that  he 
is  a  prostitute  and  a  schizophrenic  and  cannot  possibly  be  well  or 
happy  under  these  circumstances.  If  he  is  ridden  by  the  carefully 
fostered  guilt  of  the  Communist  discipline,  or  his  own  personal  guilt, 
but  does  not  have  the  guts  to  say,  "I  want  no  part  of  this,"  he  cannot 
be  a  happy  man. 

I  should  have  come  down  to  you,  sir,  long  ago.  I  should  have  come 
•'5  years  ago,  should  I  not?  I  was  afraid.  There  is  a  fear,  as  well  as 
guilt.  A  Communist  artist  in  the  Soviet  Union  fears  for  his  actual 
artistic  life  if  he  rebels.  He  knows  if  he  doesn't  write  what  com- 
ports with  the  party  discipline  he  is  not  allowed  to  be  an  artist. 

Nobody  in  my  experience  as  a  writer  has  ever  told  me  what  to 
write — never — so  how  could  I  have  sold  myself  as  a  responsible 
artist  to  a  discipline  which  automatically  expects  certain  things  of 
you.  I  have  been  hired  by  newspapers  and  covered  strikes  and  acci- 
dents and  political  events  and  my  writing  has  always  been  accepted 
by  the  city  desk.  I  have  worked  for  all  kinds  of  newspapers,  little 
ones  and  big  ones.  In  connection  with  this — this  is  a  story  which 
I  feel  should  go  on  record  because  it  is  part  of  my  record — I  should 
like  to  tell  you  about  something  which  happened. 

I  referred  before  to  my  having  been  hired  by  Parade  magazine  as 
picture  editor.  My  function  was  to  go  to  a  location  and  line  up  a 
series  of  pictures  which  would  make  a  story.  During  the  month  of 
July  1044,  I  was  assigned  by  Parade  to  go  to  Harlan,  Ky.,  to  do  the 
story  of  a  coal  miner.  I  had  alwaj^s  heard  it  referred  to  as  "bloody" 
Harlan  and  this  time  we  did  a  very  good  story  on  the  life  of  a  coal 
miner.  From  morn  till  dusk  Mr.  Pat  Coffey,  the  photographer,  and  I 
worked  on  this  project.  At  the  end  of  our  10  days'  stay  I  was  in  my 
hotel  room  and  there  was  a  maid  in  the  room  washing  a  window  blind. 
Suddenly  there  was  a  terrible  crash  and  I  said  "What  was  that?"  and 
grabbed  my  camera.  She  told  me  it  was  a  big  fire.  There  was  a  pillar 
of  smoke  in  the  sky.  I  ran  to  the  bank  of  the  Closplint  River  and  saw 
it  was  a  huge  oil  tank  which  had  caught  fire  and  caused  the  explosion. 
There  was  a  woman  standing  outside  her  house  and  the  house  was  on 
fire,  and  she  was  standing  there  screaming.  I  pulled  her  away  and 
jumped  into  the  water  with  her.  We  looked  for  her  husband  but  could 
not  find  him.  I  went  around  to  the  other  side  and  was  standing  there 
1  nking  pictures  and  said,  "It  is  a  beautiful  fire."  It  appears  like  that  on 
my  record  and  I  want  to  set  the  record  clear  on  it.  Within  5  minutes 
after  having  said  that,  I  felt  someone  at  my  back  and  I  heard  a  voice 
say,  "You  had  better  come  wit  h  me,  boy."  I  said,  "What's  going  on?" 
It  was  a  man  with  a  45  pistol  at  my  back.  I  said  again,  "What  is  the 
trouble?"  He  took  me  to  the  jail  and  I  was  locked  up.  I  was  visited 
by  an  officer  and  accused  of  sabotage  and  having  set  that  fire.  At  first 
I  laughed  and  protested  and  told  him  T  was  there  as  a  photographer 
and  had  no  reason  to  dp  such  a  thing.  He  said  to  me,  "Did  you  or  did 
you  not  say  'that  is  a  beautiful  fire'  ?"  I  said  yes,  of  course  I  said  it,  but 
I  made  the  remark  as  a  reporter,  meaning  it  in  a  news  sense.  I  kept 
yelling  for  the  FP>I  and  they  brought  the  State  police  and  I  kept  telling 
the  same  story  fo  him.  Finally  the  FBI  man  came  and  brought  me  a 
cup  of  coffee.     I  told  him  the  story.     I  told  him  to  call  Parade  maga- 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3869 

zine  and  they  could  tell  him  I  was  a  responsible  person.  It  was  the 
Fourth  of  July,  however,  and  the  office  was  closed.  So  I  thought  of 
Miss  Lois  Burney  of  the  White  House  staff  and  told  him  to  call  her  and 
she  would  vouch  for  me.  He  said,  "You'd  better  not  be  kidding."  He 
came  back  and  said  she  had  vouched  for  me.  That  night  a  party  was 
given  by  the  local  country  club,  as  if  in  apology  for  this  horrible  mis- 
take. The  next  day  it  appeared  in  the  newspaper,  a  long  story,  how 
a  New  York  photographer  had  rescued  a  woman  from  the  blaze,  etc. 
However,  the  arrest  for  sabotage  appears  on  my  record  and  from  time 
to  time  I  have  been  queried  about  it,  and  I  always  laugh  and  say  how 
the  story  got  started. 

I  told  you  this  because  you  probably  have  this  story  in  your  records 
and  you  might  wonder  what  I  was  doing  setting  fire  to  a  place. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  there  any  other  statement  or  information  that 
you  desire  to  give  the  committee  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  there  is,  sir.  There  exists  some  difficulty  in  regard 
to  my  original  name,  which  was  Allan  Silverman.  The  name  Sloane 
I  adopted  as  a  pen  name  for  newspaper  work  and  used  it  interchange- 
ably with  Silverman.  Practically  everyone  at  home  knew  I  was  Allan 
Silverman  and  I  had  used  the  name  Sloane  when  I  got  my  first  job, 
gotten  my  social  security  card  under  Allan  Sloane  and  in  1949  I 
changed  it  legally  to  Sloane.  It  has  been  brought  to  my  attention 
through  official  sources  that  there  is  an  Allan  Silverman  who  has  been 
connected  with  News  Scope  as  art  editor.  This  magazine  is  of  suspi- 
cious nature.  I  want  to  get  it  on  record  that  this  Allan  Silverman  is 
not  myself.    I  never  was  an  art  editor  with  News  Scope. 

There  is  another  thing  I  should  like  to  introduce  to  show  just  how 
far  the  Communist  conspiracy  can  go.  I  should  say  bluntly  and  flatly 
in  the  beginning  that  I,  in  collaboration  with  Millard  Lampell,  wrote 
the  acceptance  speech  for  Mr.  Henry  Wallace  of  the  Progressive 
Party.  I  doubt  if  he  knew  that  himself,  but  the  circumstances  are  as 
follows : 

In  1948  I  was  called  again  by  ASP  and  asked  to  write  this  speech. 
Before  I  go  on  I  wish  to  say  there  were  two  aspects  of  my  involvement 
in  the  Wallace  campaign.  One  was  the  fact  that  I  was  invited  by 
ASP  to  a  cocktail  party  at  the  home  of  Jo  Davidson,  the  sculptor. 
I  was  told  a  great  many  important  people  were  to  be  there — Mr.  Wal- 
lace, Mrs.  Eleanor  Roosevelt  and  various  other  people.  I  was,  of 
course,  very  flattered  and  said  I  would  attend.  So  I  went  to  the  party 
and  at  that  party  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Wallace  was  going  to  run 
for  the  presidency  and  a  party  would  be  organized  and  it  would  be 
made  up  of  those  who  believed  in  the  New  Deal  thinking,  and  so  forth, 
and  who  supported  it.  There  was  a  Mr.  Strauss  there,  who  I  was  told 
was  the  Mr.  Strauss  of  Macy's.  I  remember  I  contributed  $500  to  the 
preliminary  war  chest  of  the  Progressive  Party. 

Several  weeks  later,  as  the  party  progressed  and  the  campaign  got 
under  way,  I  was  called  again  by  the  ASP  and  told  that  Mr.  Wallace 
had  written  a  speech — an  acceptance  speech  for  the  convention — that 
he  knew  he  was  going  to  be  nominated — and  the  speech  was  terrible — 
that  it  spoke  of  a  dedicated  man  of  Gideon,  and  that  sort  of  thing. 
They  asked  if  I  would  hop  on  down  to  headquarters  and  help  them 
write  another  speech,  and  I  said  "Yes,  I  would."  I  was  honored  to 
think  that  a  man  could  start  out  as  a  $15-a-week  newspaperman  and 

42885— 54— pt.  1 4 


3870    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

end  up  writing  speeches  for  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  I 
thought  this  was  the  essence  of  the  American  system.  So  I  went  down 
to  the  headquarters  of  the  Progressive  Party  at  39th  Street.  There 
1  found  Millard  Lampell  when  I  went  upstairs.  He  said  to  me, 
"Have  you  read  the  speech?"  and  I  said,  "Not  yet."  He  said  it  was 
a  "dog."  So,  once  again,  without  there  being  a  word  spoken  about 
"let  us  see  that  this  adheres  properly  and  correctly  to  a  preconceived 
party  line"  there  was  an  understanding  existing  in  that  room.  This 
was  in  1948,  after  I  left  the  party.  Here  was  Mr.  Lampell,  who  from 
time  to  time  had  involved  me  in  things  which  had  become  distasteful 
to  me,  but  we  were  working  together  again.  We  wrote  a  really  very 
beautiful  and  moving  acceptance  speech,  which  I  remember  was  a 
very  fine  speech.  About  halfway  through  the  evening,  Mr.  Lampell 
excused  himself  and  had  to  go  home,  so  I  wrote  the  speech.  It  was  a 
speech  in  which  Mr.  Wallace  pledged  himself  to  ameliorate  the  inter- 
national tensions  which  had  already  begun  the  cold  war.  I  believe 
in  19-18  the  Berlin  blockade  had  started.  There  was  a  line  there  which 
said — I  have  a  recording  of  the  speech,  sir,  if  you  would  like  it — "the 
lives  of  our  children  and  our  children's  children  are  far  too  precious 
to  be  entrusted  to  the  hot  tempers  of  junior  lieutenants  where  border 
meets  border."  That  such  a  line  sticks  in  my  memory  is  not  the  point 
of  the  story,  but  the  point  is,  through  the  ASP,  a  front  organization, 
so  cited  and  listed,  and  surely  the  reasons  are  known  to  you,  I,  known 
to  them  as  a  fellow  traveler  if  not  an  outright  Communist,  was  enlisted 
with  another  fellow  traveler,  because  I  cannot  vouch  for  him  at  that 
particular  time  as  being  a  Communist,  to  channel  the  convention's 
speeches,  their  major  speeches.  That  same  night  I  also  wrote  the 
nominating  address,  as  well  as  the  acceptance  speech.  Or  rather,  I 
should  say,  I  wrote  both  the  acceptance  speech  of  the  nominee  and  the 
keynote  speech  for  the  convention.  I  might  add  also,  the  Almanac 
Singers  sang  there.  A  Mr.  Charles  P.  Howard,  of  Iowa,  a  Negro,  gave 
the  keynote  speech.  The  first  sentence  had  the  words  "The  very  fact 
that  I  am  the  party's  nominee  defines  the  kind  of  party  that  would 
nominate  a  Negro." 

This,  I  think,  if  there  is  a  tragedy  about  my  story,  shows  that  some- 
where along  the  line  I  got  off  the  mainstream  of  American  life  and 
aided  the  alien  life  with  what  was  not  American  to  achieve  what  I 
felt  to  be  American. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  committee  has  heard  a  great  deal  of  evidence 
regarding  the  activities  of  Communist-front  organizations,  and  espe- 
cially the  ASP. 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  there  any  other  phase  of  those  activities  other 
than  the  ones  you  have  described  which  you  feel  had  any  effect  upon 
your  particular  experience  in  the  Communist  Party,  or  in  your  associ- 
;il  ion  with  its  members  after  leaving  the  party? 

Mr.  Seoane.  Yes,  there  is,  sir.  There  is  one  anecdote  or  incident  I 
should  like  to  relate  for  what  it  is  worth — not  only  how  these  seem- 
ingly innocent  organizations  had  very  powerful  people  drawn  into 
t  heir  acl  Lvil  ies.  Here  you  have  an  organization  which  calls  a  writer  to 
contribute  something  of  his  talent  and  services  to  legitimate  war  ef- 
forts and  objectives,  such  as  arousing  public  opinion  to  the  importance 
of  issues,  like  giving  blood,  and  so  forth. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3871 

Here  is  something  which  happened,  of  my  own  knowledge,  which  I 
think  bears  out  the  fact  that  the  ASP  was  used  for  this  purpose. 
One  day  my  phone  rang  and  it  was  the  ASP  calling  and  saying,  "Hello, 
Allan,  something  has  come  up  and  we  thought  you  would  like  to  be  in 
on  this."  This  is,  in  effect,  what  was  said,  not  a  direct  report  of  the 
conversation.  "A  very  important  Government  official  is  passing 
through  New  York  and  has  graciously  consented  to  meet  with  some 
people  and  brief  them  on  something  which  is  coming  up,  and  I  think 
you  would  like  to  be  one  of  the  group."  They  said  I  should  come 
down  to  the  Astor  Hotel  at  8  o'clock  to  a  place  on  the  eighth  floor,  so  I 
went  down  there.  This  was  4  days  before  the  opening  of  the  Bretton 
Woods  conference.  There  I  was  introduced  to  a  short,  moustached  man 
and  his  name  was  Harry  Dexter  White,  and  everything  was  perfectly 
open  and  above  board,  it  seemed.  He  said,  generally,  "Some  of  you 
perhaps  know  that  a  great  international  meeting  is  coming  up  in 
Bretton  Woods  and  I  would  like  to  brief  you  people  on  its  significance, 
because  I  understand  some  of  you  from  time  to  time  are  called  to  work 
upon  documentary  material  for  the  radio  and  you  may  need  to  inter- 
pret it  to  the  American  people."  He  further  said  that  we  all  knew 
about  the  international  balance  of  trade  and  we  hoped  to  eradicate 
the  evils  inherent  in  this  bv  establishing  an  international  bank.  At 
this  point  it  lost  its  intrigue  to  me  and  became  complicated  because  I 
don't  understand  international  trade  and  the  balance  of  trade,  and  so 
forth.  I  sat  there  wishing  it  would  be  over  soon  because  it  was  very 
dull.  I  went  home  and  I  never  had  to  use  the  inside  information  I 
got  because  there  was  no  way  in  which  it  could  be  used  in  the  way  of 
program  material  for  the  type  of  work  I  was  doing,  but  it  was  a  briefing 
of  people  who  were  considered  by  the  ASP  to  be  responsible  and  trust- 
worthy molders  of  public  opinion.  This  story  I  related  to  you  for 
whatever  it  was  worth — whatever  conclusion  you  perhaps  can  draw. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Can  you  recall  where  that  meeting  was  held  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes ;  the  meeting  at  Bretton  Woods  was  to  open  on  a 
Monday.  We  can  check  the  newspapers  to  find  the  date.  It  was 
before  the  end  of  the  war  in  1945.  Bretton  Woods  was  about  1945, 
I  think.     The  meeting  was  on  a  Friday  before.     He  was  on  his  way  up. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Where  was  the  meeting  held  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  At  the  Astor  Hotel,  on  the  eighth  floor,  in  the  ASP 
offices.  They  had  their  offices  there  at  that  time.  A  name  source  you 
can  check  for  this  information — more  specific  information  on  this — 
is  Miss  Hannah  Dorn,  who  was  the  girl  who  used  to  call  me.  I  do  not 
mean  to  imply  this  person  was  known  to  me  to  be  subversive,  but  she 
was  the  one  who  always  called  me.  Sometimes  she  would  call  and  say, 
"Allan,  something  has  come  up  and  would  you  like  to  do  a  piece  for  the 
Teachers'  Union?"  I  would  say  "No"  always  to  that  particular 
request. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  officials,  if  any,  of  the  ASP,  were  present  at  the 
meeting  at  which  White  appeared  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  The  person  who  had  called  me  on  the  phone  and  intro- 
duced Mr.  White  to  the  group  was  Miss  Hannah  Dorn,  or  perhaps  the 
name  was  Dorner,  I  am  not  certain  which  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  learn  from  Hannah  Dorn  how  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  Harry  Dexter  White  to  appear  at  this  meeting? 


3872    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Sloane.  No,  I  didn't,  sir.  The  phrase,  as  I  remember  it,  was 
"an  important  Government  official." 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  other  Government  officials  accompany  Mr. 
White  or  appear  at  that  meeting? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No  ;  I  do  not  know  of  any  sir.  Just  Mr.  White  in  a 
gray  suit. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  spoke  of  other  occasions  when  you  were  re- 
quested by  a  representative  of  the  ASP  to  make  contributions  of  your 
talent  in  one  form  or  another. 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  was  that  person? 

Mr.  Sloane.  That  person  was  always  Hannah  Dorn.  I  believe  she 
was  the  person  who,  in  that  particular  organization,  as  in  many 
organizations,  knew  various  people.  She  knew,  for  instance,  that 
Allan  Sloane  was  a  radio  writer  who  could  be  had  and  she  knew  that 
So-and-So  was  an  actor  who  would  cooperate,  and  So-and-So  a  di- 
rector. She  knew  people  all  over.  You  find  girls  like  that  in  many 
organizations  who  always  seem  to  know  whom  to  call  and  where  they 
can  be  found  and  things  like  that. 

Air.  Tavenner.  How  many  persons  attended  the  meeting  addressed 
by  Mr.  White? 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  would  say  two  dozen.  It  was  a  small  room,  about 
the  size  of  this  one,  and  the  chairs  around  the  room  were  pretty  full. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Can  you  recall  the  names  of  any  other  persons  pres- 
ent? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  sir ;  I  can.  Mr.  Peter  Lyon,  a  radio  writer — who 
has  recently  taken  refuge  in  the  fifth  amendment.  There  was  a  young 
poetess,  Miss  Eve  Merriam.  Also  another  radio  writer.  I  don't  know 
any  of  the  others,  or  don't  remember  any  of  the  others.  I  remember 
greeting  them. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  any  of  those  present  personally  known  to 
you  to  be  members  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  No,  sir.  But  of  my  own  knowledge  I  do  know  the 
following:  That  during  my  roommateship  with  Millard  Lampell, 
he  would  visit  Mr.  Peter  Lyon  with  frequency,  if  not  regularity,  to 
discuss  with  him  the  work  he  was  doing.  The  work  at  the  time  con- 
sisted of  a  cantata  based  on  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  know  whether  the  Peter  Lyon  to  whom  you 
are  referring  is  the  same  Peter  Lyon  who,  as  a  witness  before  the 
Internal  Security  Committee,  refused  to  answer  material  questions  on 
the  ground  that  to  do  so  might  tend  to  incriminate  himself? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  I  do,  sir.  I  do  know  him  to  be  the  same  Peter 
Lyon  through  years  of  professional  association. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  Millard  Lampell  a  visitor  in  your  home  from 
time  to  time? 

Mr.  Sloane.  In  my  home,  during  my  first  marriage,  only  from  time 
to  time.    In  my  home,  during  my  second  marriage,  only  once. 

Mr.  Tavknner.  What  was  the  occasion  for  that  visit  during  your 
second  marriage? 

Mr.  Sloane.  The  occasion  was,  I  believe,  in  connection  with  the  fact 
that  my  name  had  turned  up  in  Red  Channels,  a  compilation  of  people 
who  are  listed  in  connection  with  various  front  activities.  I  had,  sub- 
sequent to  its  publication,  been  discharged  from  a  job  I  held  in  radio 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3873 

and  television.  I  had  consulted  with  Lampell  of  my  own  accord  to 
see  if  he  had  been  similarly  affected  by  the  book,  because  he  too  was 
in  Red  Channels.  He  was  the  person  who  was  described  in  my  citation 
as  my  coauthor  of  the  drama  "Horror  Bomb  vs.  Humanity."  The 
coauthor  was  Lampell.  So  I  wanted  to  know  if  there  had  been  any 
effect  on  his  employment  from  this  particular  publication,  so  he 
dropped  up  to  the  house  so  we  could  talk  about  it.  He  said  he  was 
in  the  neighborhood  and  thought  it  would  be  a  good  time  to  stop  by. 
That  was  the  only  time  he  ever  visited  our  house. 

I  should  like  to  add  this.  While  in  Europe  working  for  the  UN, 
my  wife  and  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  young  Estonian  anti- 
Soviet,  whose  father,  mother,  brother,  and  younger  sister  had  been 
deported  to  Russia  from  Estonia,  and  had  escaped  by  walking  220 
kilometers  and  made  his  way  back  to  Estonia,  his  native  country,  and 
hid  underground  so  he  could  later  get  out.  We  met  him  in  a  DP 
camp  and  liked  him  very  much  and  knowing  we  could  bring  DP  per- 
sons into  the  United  States  by  assuring  the  proper  authorities  they 
would  not  become  public  charges  and  being  responsible  for  their  keep, 
we  gave  him  and  his  family  such  assurance.  So,  at  the  time  Mr. 
Lampell  visited  at  our  home  at  17  East  97th  Street,  Reinnarma,  his 
wife  Kiisu  and  his  baby  were  sharing  our  small  apartment.  I  intro- 
duced him  to  Lampell,  knowing  perhaps  that  Lampell  would  not  react 
pleasantly,  but  feeling  that  he  might  see  some  humanity  here.  I  told 
him  Reinnarma's  story,  and  when  Reinnarma  left  the  room  Lampell 
turned  to  me  and  said,  "How  can  you  bring  people  like  this  into  your 
country  ?  What  kind  of  thing  is  this  for  you  to  do?  A  man  like  this 
will  take  up  arms  against  the  Soviet  Union !"  So  I  asked  him  to  leave 
my  house  and  not  to  come  back  again. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  When  did  this  occur? 

Mr.  Sloane.  This  occurred — I  can  place  the  time  when  Reinnarma 
arrived  from  Europe  with  his  wife  as  the  day  before  Christmas  in  1949, 
and  it  was  just  about — I  think  in — wait  a  minute — this  was  in  the  fall 
of  1 950.    And  that  was  that. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  If  there  is  anvthing  else  vou  desire  to  state  for  the 
record,  we  will  be  glad  to  hear  it. 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes.  I  should  like  to  state  the  following :  I  am  grateful 
for  the  opportunity,  sir,  of  stating — one  is  in  reference  to  my  own 
professional  work.  I  have  written  literally  millions  of  words,  literally 
thousands  of  individual  programs  and  pieces,  and  only  once,  to  my 
knowledge,  have  I  ever  used  my  work  to  do  anything  but  tell  the  story 
I  was  assigned  to  tell.  This  was  rather  a  humorous  incident.  It 
involves  once  again  the  basic  ideology  that  you  must  continually  try 
to  use  what  you  do  to  do  something.  You  must  make  the  story  bear 
a  little  burden  of  propaganda.  As  my  roommate  used  to  say — trying 
to  get  across  some  point  or  another — "maybe  here  is  a  little  place  to 
give  them  a  little  freedom." 

I  was  assigned  by  the  program  Cavalcade  of  America,  sponsored 
by  Du  Pont,  to  write  about  the  merchant  marine.  Here  was  an  op- 
portunity to  show  the  type  of  men  who  manned  our  ships  were  made 
up  of  all  kinds  and  classes.  Some  had  American,  some  had  foreign, 
and  some  had  Jewish  names.  Some  were  old,  and  some  were  young. 
So  I  tried  to  make  this  program  a  simple  report  and  bring  out  that 
the  men  were  not  only  young  mgn,.  but  there  were  older  men  on  the 

PUBLIC 


3874    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

job.  So  T  named  one  of  the  characters  on  the  ship  Pop  Silverman, 
partly  because  1  thought  it  would  please  my  father  to  hear  his  name 
on  a  program  like  that,  and  partly  because  I  wanted  to  show  it  took 
all  kinds  of  men  to  man  the  merchant  marine.  Surprisingly  enough, 
as  small  a  thing  as  this  was  caught,  and  the  director,  in  pointing  out 
several  changes  to  be  made,  said  of  this  "that  old  Communist  line" 
and  "everybody  lias  to  have  a  Jewish  name  in  the  script,  or  an  Italian 
name — why  do  you  have  to  do  that  ? — fix  that.'"    So  I  did. 

That  was  the  only  time  I  have  ever  tried  to  do  anything  like  that. 
All  other  times  I  have  always  written  what  I  believed  myself — not 
what  anybody  ever  told  me  to  say. 

I  should  also  like  to  relate  for  the  record  the  simple  historical  fact. 
that  in  1943, 1,  although  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party,  registered 
with  the  American  Labor  Party.  I  do  not  remember  whether  this  was 
partly  because  of  an  understanding  that  the  Communist  should  dis- 
guise himself  as  the  American  Labor  Party  or  whether  there  was  a 
particular  issue  involved  where  an  American  Labor  Party  candidate 
was  running  that  I  wanted  to  support.  This  is  just  a  fact  I  wanted  to 
set  forth  for  the  record. 

Mr.  Tavenxer.  Mr.  Sloane 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavexxer.  Have  you  received  propaganda  material  from  front 
organizations  or  from  Communist  sources  in  recent  years? 

Mr.  Sloaxe.  Yes,  I  have,  sir.  At  my  home  in  Connecticut  where 
I  have  lived  for  the  last — or  almost  the  last  3  years — I  have  received 
propaganda  material  of  foreign  origin,  both  domestic  and  foreign. 
One  is  a  little  pamphlet  which  comes  from  the  Connecticut  Peace 
Center  of  Hartford,  which  plugged  the  Rosenberg  affair  when  that 
was  going  on.  I  am  not  connected  with  the  Connecticut  Peace  Center. 
I  know  how  they  got  my  name,  however. 

Mr.  Tavexxer.  How  was  that  ? 

Mr.  Sloaxe.  I  was  once  a  subscriber  to  the  newspaper  the  National 
Guardian.  The  circumstances  of  my  having  subscribed  are  very 
interesting.  I  was  at  Mr.  Lampell's  house  where  Mr.  Lampell  and 
Mr.  Rosten.  Norman  Rosten,  and  I  met  to  discuss  the  Horror-Bomb 
playlet.  Mr.  Rosten  was  trying  to  get  his  qtiota  of  subscribers  and  I 
said,  "O.  K.,  I  will  take  one,"  and  he  paid  the  $2  for  the  subscription 
himself.  About  a  year  and  a  half  ago  I  asked  them  to  take  my  name 
off  the  list.  However,  I  noticed  the  same  addressograph  plate  had  been 
used  that  appealed  on  the  Guardian  each  week.  The  same  code  num- 
ber, code  28432,  or  whatever  it  was,  appeared  on  the  Connecticut 
Peace  Foundation  material,  so  I  know  that  is  where  they  got  my  name. 

Mr.  Tavexxer.  Very  interesting. 

Mi-.  Sloaxe.  Regarding  the  foreign  propaganda  from  front  or- 
ganizations, I  have  received  over  a  period  of  some  10  to  12  months  the 
following:  One  from  Prague,  Czechoslovakia,  which  is  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled "Snail  Brothers  Be  *  *  *."  It  purports  to  be  an  account  writ- 
ten by  the  American  and  British  prisoners  of  war  regarding  their 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  People's  Volunteers  and  Ko- 
rean  People's  Army  in  POW  camps  in  Korea — published  by  the  Chi- 
nese People's  Committee  for  World  Peace  and  Against  American 
Aggression,  Peking,  L952.  This  arrived  in  the  United  States  mails 
from  Prague,  Czechoslovakia. 

Mr.  T.w  en  nkr.  Do  you  know  where  they  got  your  name? 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3875 

Mr.  Sloane.  No,  that  I  do  not  know.  However,  it  is  fair  to  point 
out  that  the  newspaper  the  National  Guardian,  during  the  period 
when  no  other  press  association  had  any  information  as  to  who  were 
prisoners  or  who  were  not,  did  receive  the  weekly  list  of  prisoners 
from  China. 

The  second  item  which  arrived  early  last  year,  around  February,  I 
believe,  is  a  sample  copy  of  a  magazine  entitled  People's  China  which 
came  to  me  from  Hong  Kong.  It  also  included,  as  a  supplemental  re- 
port, one  entitled  "Report  of  the  International  Scientific  Commission 
for  the  Investigation  of  the  Facts  Concerning  Bacterial  Warfare  in' 
Korea  and  China." 

The  latest  arrival,  I  believe  3  months  ago,  was  a  copy  of  a  maga- 
zine called  Inter  Camp  Olympics,  1952,  Pyuktong,  D.  P.  R.  K.  Inside 
it  says,  "A  souvenir  of  the  Inter  Camp  Olympics  1952,  held  at  Pyuk- 
tong, D.  P.  R.  K." 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  describe  for  the  record  some  more  facts 
regarding  the  report  of  the  International  Scientific  Commission  for 
the  investigation  of  the  facts  concerning  bacterial  warfare  in  Korea 
and  China  ? 

Mr.  Sloane,  Referring  to  the  report  of  the  International  Scientific 
Commission  for  the  investigation  of  the  facts  concerning  bacterial 
warfare  in  Korea  and  China,  it  was  sent  as  a  supplement  to  the  maga- 
zine People's  China  and  so  arrived  at  my  home,  but  I  have  also  in  my 
possession  a  copy  of  the  same  report,  word  for  word,  exactly  the  same 
and  with  the  same  illustrations  and  charts,  issued  by  the  UN  Public 
Information  Department. 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  from  newspaper  information,  the  so- 
called  report  of  the  International  Scientific  Commission  was  put  out 
by  a  group  of  scientists,  later  exposed  to  have  been  fellow  travelers 
as  well  as  scientists. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  the  nature  of  the  document  referred  to  by 
you  as  having  been  received  by  you  and  entitled  "Inter  Camp  Olym- 
ics"? 

Mr.  Sloane.  This  is,  I  confess,  the  thing  that  got  me  the  maddest 
about  these  arrivals  in  the  mail.  It  says  on  an  inside  page  "Souvenir 
of  Memories" — and  it  shows  GI  prisoners  of  war  of  all  the  nations  par- 
ticipating on  our  side  in  the  Korean  war  racing  and  playing  football 
and  high  jumping.  It  is  very  well  put  together— lots  of  pictures, 
cheer  leaders,  referees,  and  everything.  The  reason  I  brought  this 
along  with  me  was  that  it  arrived  in  the  mail  just  about  the  same  time 
as  we  were  getting  the  stories  of  what  really  went  on  in  the  prisoner 
of  war  camps.  This  was  obviously  an  attempt  to  influence  what  might 
be  called  the  molders  of  public  opinion. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  it  give  you  the  impression  that  it  was  sent  to 
you  to  counteract  stories  of  Korean  brutalities  to  American  prisoners 
and  atrocities  committed  against  the  prisoners  ? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Most  definitely.  And  it  also  gave  me  the  impression, 
which  I  must  confess  is  somewhat  frightening,  and  can  only  describe 
as  follows :  As  an  American  Communist,  you  never  do  really  see  your- 
self as  one  aspect  of  an  international  conspiracy,  but  when  your  home 
in  Stamford,  Conn.,  is  invaded  by  something  from  Hong  Kong,  China, 
and  something  from  Prague,  Czechoslovakia,    and  something  from 


3876    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

England — something  you  didn't  send  for — forgive  me,  sir,  your  heart 
begins  to  pound.     You  begin  to  realize  more  what  it  is  all  about. 

I  don't  want  this  stuff,  and  I  went  to  the  postmaster  and  asked  him 
if  he  could  stop  it,  and  he  said  no,  that  it  entered  through  customs  and 
he  had  no  way  of  stopping  it. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  document  entitled  "Inter  Camp 
Olympics"  is  identical  with  a  document  introduced  by  a  former  pris- 
oner of  war  who  testified  in  executive  session  before  this  committee. 
In  describing  this  document  the  witness  said  :  "This  document  gives  a 
very  accurate  picture  of  the  tactics  of  Communists,  in  that  it  shows 
the  extreme  that  they  would  turn  to  to  create  an  artificial  setup  so 
different  from  the  actual  daily  life  in  the  prison  camps."  It  is  a 
propaganda  stunt  and  completely  divorced  from  the  normal  routine  of 
daily  life  in  the  camp.  This  was  the  first  and  only  such  intercamp 
organization,  and  it  was  the  only  time  the  officers  had  ever  been  al- 
lowed to  get  together  with  enlisted  men  at  all.  So  to  say  this  presents 
an  actual  picture  of  the  prisoners'  life — it  merely  presents  a  picture 
of  one  exhibit  created  by  the  Chinese  propagandists.  It  presents  no 
picture  of  the  prisoners'  life  as  it  really  existed. 

Another  prisoner  of  war  testified  regarding  this  document  in  the 
following  language :  "This  was  a  lot  of  malarky,  because  they  can  rig 
up  those  pictures  the  way  they  want  to  rig  them  up." 

Mr.  Sloane,  would  you  care  to  leave  these  documents  with  us? 

Mr.  Sloane.  Yes,  I  brought  them  down  for  that  purpose. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  offer  these  documents  in  evidence  and  ask  that  they 
be  marked  "Sloane  Exhibits  1,  2,  and  3,"  respectively. 

Mr.  Velde.  Without  objection,  they  will  be  so  admitted  into  evidence 
as  marked. 

Mr.  Sloane.  There  is  one  thing  more  I  would  like  to  tell  you  for 
the  record.  At  one  time,  conferring  with  Lampell  about  my  involve- 
ment in  the  Red  Channels,  I  was  assured  by  him  that  perhaps  opinion 
might  be  enlisted  on  my  side  through  the  efforts  of  a  little  group  of 

Eeople  he  was  meeting  with  at  that  time — people  like  Dick  Lauter- 
ach,  George  Tabori,  Cliff  Odets,  and  Joseph  Barnes. 

May  I  make  a  further  statement  for  the  record,  sir  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  may. 

Mr.  Sloane.  I  would  like  to  express  formally,  for  the  record,  my 
personal  gratitude  for  this  opportunity  and  my  general  good  feeling 
that  such  an  opportunity  exists  for  a  human  being  to  talk  about  his 
mistakes  and  have  such  mistakes  listened  to  and,  I  believe,  understood. 
I  am  thankful  to  you,  sir,  and  to  the  committee  for  allowing  me  to  come 
down  and  do  this. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Thank  you,  Mr.  Sloane.  I  have  no  further  ques- 
tions, Mr.  Velde. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Moulder? 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  would  like  to  say  this.  Mr.  Sloane,  I  have  been 
greatly  impressed  by  your  forthrightness  in  explaining  to  the  com- 
mittee your  former  membership  and  activities  in  the  Communist 
Party.  I  commend  you  for  the  decision  you  have  made  to  sever  all 
ties  with  the  Communist  Party.  Having  corrected  your  mistake,  I 
sincerely  hope  that  society  will  afford  you  every  reasonable  oppor- 
tunity in  the  future  to  use  your  great  talents  in  the  field  of  your  choice. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3877 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Sloane,  it  is  encouraging  to  note  that  intelligent  per- 
sons such  as  yourself  are  availing  themselves  of  the  invitation  extended 
by  this  committee  to  appear  before  it  and  furnish  facts  relating  to  the 
Communist  activities  within  the  United  States.  You  did  not  appear 
here  today  under  any  compulsion,  directly  or  indirectly  initiated  or 
executed  by  the  committee,  but  on  the  contrary,  as  you  stated,  you  have 
appeared  before  the  committee  under  the  compulsion  of  your  own  con- 
science. You  have  made  a  substantial  contribution  to  the  sum  total 
of  knowledge  of  the  committee  on  the  character  of  activities  in  which 
the  Communist  Party  is  engaged.  It  is  noted  from  your  statement 
that  you  are  no  longer  affiliated  in  any  manner  with  the  Communist 
Party  and  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  repetition  of  this  mistake 
by  you. 

Thank  you  for  your  appearance. 

(Whereupon  the  executive  session  adjourned,  5:30  p.  m.,  January 
13, 1954,  subject  to  call  of  the  Chair.) 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTKATION 
(Entertainment— Part  1) 


MONDAY.   JANUARY    18,    1954 

United  States  House  of  Representatives, 

Subcommittee  of  the  Committee 

on  Un-American  Activities, 

Washington,  D.  G. 

PUBLIC  HEARING 

The  subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 
met,  pursuant  to  notice,  at  10 :  40  a.  m.,  in  the  caucus  room,  362  Old 
House  Office  Building,  Hon.  Harold  H.  Velde  (chairman)  presiding. 

Committee  members  present:  Representatives  Harold  H.  Velde, 
chairman  (appearance  noted  in  transcript),  Kit  Clardy,  Morgan  M. 
Moulder  (appearance  noted  in  transcript),  and  Clyde  Doyle. 

Staff  members  present:  Frank  S.  Tavenner,  Jr.,  counsel,  and  W. 
Jackson  Jones,  investigator. 

Mr.  Clardy.  The  committee  will  be  in  session. 

Are  you  ready,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Call  your  first  witness. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Howard  Bay,  will  you  come  forward,  please? 

Mr.  Clardy.  May  the  record  show  that  the  chairman  has  appointed 
a  subcommittee  to  conduct  the  hearing,  consisting  of  Mr.  Doyle,  of 
California,  and  Mr.  Clardy,  of  Michigan,  and  I  should  add  the  name 
of  Mr.  Moulder. 

Will  you  stand  and  be  sworn  ? 

Do  you  solemnly  swear  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  will 
be  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  vou 
God? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  do. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  may  be  seated. 

TESTIMONY  OF  HOWARD  BAY,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS  COUNSEL, 

EPHRAIM  LONDON 

Mr.  Bay.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  not  to  have- 


Mr.  Clardy.  You  can  be  seated  when  you  address  us. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  would  like  not  to  have  television,  or  movie  or  press 
cameras  during  the  proceedings. 

Mr.  Clardy.  We  have  made  no  rules  with  respect  to  the  taking  of 
press  pictures,  and  I  guess  they  can  be  taken  now. 


3879 


3880     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

As  to  television,  I  will  direct  the  cameras  not  to  pick  you  up  at 
any  time  during  the  progress  of  this  hearing.  The  cameramen,  I 
trust,  understand  that. 

Are  you  represented  by  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Will  Counsel  identify  himself  for  the  record? 

AIi\  London.  Ephraim  London. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  take  it,  Counsel,  you  are  familiar  with  the  rules  of 
the  committee? 

Mr.  London.  I  am. 

Mi'.  Clardy.  You  have  a  printed  copy  of  the  document  we  put  out 
covering  that  ? 

Mr.  London.  I  am  afraid  not,  Mr.  Chairman,  but  I  think  I  am 
familiar  with  them. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Has  the  witness  been  given  a  copy  of  the  printed  rules? 
Does  counsel  have  a  copy  we  may  hand  him  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Will  one  of  the  staff  obtain  a  copy  of  the  rules  so  that 
we  may  give  it  to  counsel  during  the  progress  of  the  hearing. 

They  state  in  substance  what  I  am  sure  you  already  know  with  re- 
spect to  the  right  of  counsel  to  advise  a  witness  at  all  times  on  his 
constitutional  rights. 

Are  you  ready,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Proceed. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  When  and  where  were  you  born,  Mr.  Bay  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  was  born  in  Centralia,  in  the  State  of  Washington,  May 
3,  1912. 

(Representative  Morgan  M.  Moulder  entered  the  hearing  room  at 
this  point. ) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  what  your  for- 
mal educational  training  has  been  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  had  elementary  schools  in  the  States  of  Washington, 
Colorado,  Nebraska,  and  California.  I  attended  college,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Washington  and  the  University  of  Colorado,  Westminster 
College,  Marshall  College,  and  Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  When  did  you  complete  your  formal  educational 
training? 

Mr.  Bay.  In  the  year  1932. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  your  profession  or  occupation? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am  a  designer  of  scenery  for  stage,  film,  and  television  ; 
and  a  certain  amount  of  commercial  designing. 

(Representative  Clyde  Doyle  left  the  hearing  room  at  this  point.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  have  you  been  engaged  in  that  work? 

Mr.  Bay.  Approximately  22  to  23  years. 

(Representative  Harold  H.  Velde  entered  the  hearing  room  at  this 
point.) 

Mi-.  Tavenner.  Where  do  you  reside? 

Mr.  Bay.  In  New  York  City. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee  briefly,  please,  where 
and  how  you  have  been  employed  in  your  occupation  since  1935  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  As  a  stage  designer  the  normal  procedure  is  employment 
as  a  free-lance  artist  for  the  design  and  the  supervision  and  the  exe- 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3881 

cution  of  scenery  properties  and  lighting.  I  have  designed  some  75 
Broadway  productions,  several  motion  pictures  for  which  I  was  hired 
directly  by  the  studio,  and  designed  several  television  programs. 

Mr.  Velde.  At  this  point  we  will  let  the  record  show  that  I  am  act- 
ing as  chairman  of  the  committee  and  have  reconstituted  the  subcom- 
mittee for  the  purposes  of  this  hearing  consisting  of  Messrs.  Clardy, 
Moulder,  and  myself,  as  chairman  of  the  subcommittee. 

Proceed. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  state  where  you  performed  the  work  that 
you  have  described,  beginning  with  1935  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  Mainly  in  the  city  of  New  York;  2  years  in  the  picture 
studios  in  Hollywood,  plus  short  stints  at  summer  stock  theaters,  etc. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  are  some  of  the  principal  pictures  or  pro- 
ductions in  Hollywood  in  which  you  took  part  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  designed  only  two  complete  released  motion  pictures 
in  Hollywood — Up  in  Central  Park,  and  Doug  Fairbanks,  Jr.'s,  The 
Exile. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  When  did  vou  go  to  Hollywood  from  New  York? 

Mr.  Bay.  The  spring  of  1946. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  did  you  remain  there? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  had  a  straight  2-year  contract  which  was  terminated 
early  in  1948,  and  I  returned  to  New  York  at  that  time. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Has  your  work  required  you  to  return  to  Hollywood 
since  the  spring  of  1948  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  was  hired  by  the  Los  Angeles  Civic  Light  Opera  Asso- 
ciation for  a  production  that  they  did  the  summer  before  last  called 
Jolly  Anna,  and  I  went  out  and  supervised  that  production.  I  be- 
lieve that  is  the  only  time  I  have  been  back. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  would  be  in  the  year  1952  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  were  you  in  Hollywood  on  that  occasion? 

Mr.  Bay.  Approximately  3  months. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  as  you  probably  know,  this  committee  has 
been  engaged  for  a  considerable  period  of  time  in  the  investigation  of 
the  character,  extent,  and  objects  of  Communist  activities  in  the  enter- 
tainment field  in  general  and  the  moving-picture  industry  in  Holly- 
wood in  particular.  The  committee  has  information  indicating  that 
you  are  in  a  position  to  give  it  the  benefit  of  some  knowledge  that 
you  may  have  on  the  subject  of  the  inquiry.  For  that  reason  you 
have  been  subpenaed  here  as  a  witness  to  tell  the  committee  what  you 
know,  if  anything,  regarding  Communist  activities  in  Hollywood 
during  the  period  that  you  were  there,  which  appears  to  be  from  the 
spring  of  1946  to  early  in  1948. 

Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  whether  or  not  you  were  aware 
during  that  period  of  time  of  the  existence  of  organized  groups  of 
the  Communist  Party  within  the  entertainment  field  in  Hollywood? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment,  that  it  might  tend  to  incriminate  me,  although  no 
inference  should  be  drawn  as  to  any  guilt. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  am  sorry.    I  didn't  hear  the  last  part  of  that  answer. 

Mr.  Bay.  No  inference  need  be  drawn  as  to  any  guilt. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Of  course,  we  cannot  prevent  the  drawing  of  infer- 
ences by  many  people,  and  it  is  drawn  in  many  cases,  and  in  many 
cases  quite  properly. 


3882    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

I  didn't  hear  that  question  clearly.  Will  you  repeat  it  again  for 
me,  because  I  think  it  is  one  the  witness  should  be  directed  to  answer. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  My  question  was  this:  As  to  whether  or  not  the  wit- 
ness was  aware  during  the  period  that  he  was  in  Hollywood,  between 
the  spring  of  194G  and  early  in  1948,  of  the  existence  of  any  organized 
groups  of  the  Communist  Party  within  the  field  of  entertainment? 

Mr.  Clardy.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  don't  think  the  application  of  the 
fifth  amendment  is  proper.  I  ask  that  he  be  directed  in  that  instance 
to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  Certainly  if  you  are  a  patriotic,  loyal  citizen  and  want 
no  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  your  failure  to  answer,  you  will  give 
this  committee  the  information  at  least  as  to  whether  you  had  any 
knowledge  of  the  existence  of  Communist  Party  activities  out  in  Holly- 
wood. So  therefore  I  concur  with  the  gentleman  from  Michigan  and 
direct  you  to  answer  the  question. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  I  don't  consider  it  a  question  that  I  want  to  answer  on  any 
other  basis  than  that  I  refuse  to  answer  the  question  on  the  basis  of 
the  fifth  amendment,  in  that  it  might  tend  to  incriminate  me,  although 
no  inferences  should  be  drawn  necessarily  of  guilt. 

Mr.  Clardy.  If  I  understand  the  question  correctly,  and  I  think  I 
do,  it  carries  no  implication  that  you  have  any  criminal  knowledge. 
It  is  merely  as  to  whether  you  have  knowledge.  It  has  no  implication 
as  to  whether  you  participated  in  any  criminal  conspiracy,  or  anything 
of  the  sort.  That's  why  I  asked  the  chairman,  and  he  has  directed  you 
to  answer  it.  I  think  you  should  reconsider  and  tell  us  whether  you 
had  any  knowledge  whatever  about  it.    That  is  all  the  question  covers. 

Am  I  correct,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  Certainly  you  can't  say  that  the  fifth  amendment  covers 
crimes  committed  by  others  than  yourself. 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  don't  recall  the  question  being  proposed  along  the 
line  as  to  whether  or  not  he  had  knowledge,  Could  you  read  the  ques- 
tion as  originally  given?  I  understood  counsel  to  make  a  statement 
concerning  the  period  of  time  he  was  there  and  pleading  with  him  to 
give  the  benefit  of  any  information  he  had  concerning  such  Commu- 
nist activities  in  the  entertainment  field,  and  it  was  not  a  direct  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  or  not  he  had  knowledge  of  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  Perhaps  we  should  have  the  reporter  read  the  original 
question  back  and  not  as  repeated  by  the  counsel. 

(Whereupon  the  question  referred  to  as  phrased  by  Mr.  Tavenner 
was  read  by  the  reporter.) 

Mr.  Clardy.  It  isn't  the  exact  meaning.  It  used  the  word  "knowl- 
edge," but  it  meant,  Mr.  Moulder,  what  we  have  said. 

Mr.  Moulder.  That's  right. 

Mr.  Velde.  In  other  words,  if  the  witness  has  knowledge  of  the 
( lommunist  Party  cells  operating  in  Hollywood  during  that  time,  even 
though  he  considers  I  hat  belonging  to  the  Communist  Party  is  a  crime, 
it  isn't  his  own  crime,  and  the  fifth  amendment  certainly  was  not  meant 
to  protect  anybody  else  than  the  individual  himself  against  self- 
incriminal  ion.  So.  t  herefore,  it  seems  to  me  t hat  it  is  incumbent  upon 
i lie  wit ncss  to  answer. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3883 

However,  since  he  has  been  directed  to  answer  the  question,  and  he 
has  again  refused  and  pleaded  the  fifth  amendment,  I  think  we  should 
proceed,  Mr.  Counsel,  with  further  questions. 

Mr.  Clardy.  May  I  ask  a  further  question  at  that  point? 

Mr.  Velde.  Yes,  Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Witness,  so  that  there  will  be  no  misunderstanding  on 
the  record  or  in  your  mind,  while  you  were  in  Hollywood,  did  any 
information  come  to  your  attention  in  any  way  concerning  the  exist- 
ence of  a  Communist  Party  cell,  or  a  Communist  movement  in  Holly- 
wood? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Did  you  understand  my  question  to  carry  no  implica- 
tion of  any  criminal  activity  whatsoever  on  your  part  ?  You  so  under- 
stood it,  I  am  sure,  didn't  you  ? 

(At  this  point.Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  In  my  replies  I  have  to  be  the  judge  of  possible  self- 
incrimination,  and  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  again. 

Mr.  Clardy.  We  play  a  small  part  in  that,  too. 

Mr.  Bay.  Yes. 

Mr.  Clardy.  But,  at  any  rate,  you  refuse  to  answer  any  questions, 
I  take  it,  regarding  whether  or  not  there  was  any  Communist  activity 
brought  to  your  attention  ?  No  matter  how  I  phrase  it,  you  refuse 
to  answer  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Clardy.  That  is  all. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  while  in  Hollywood,  did  you  become 
acquainted  with  a  person  by  the  name  of  Leo  Townsend  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  know  a  writer  by  the  name  of  Leo  Townsend  in  Holly- 
wood ;  yes. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  at  any  time  visit  in  his  home? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  don't  see  how  visiting  in  somebody's 
home  can  incriminate  somebody.  I  ask  that  you  direct  him  to  answer 
the  question. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  It  was  a  Communist  Party  meeting. 

Mr.  Clardy.  If  it  was  a  Communist  Party  meeting,  that  is  a  dif- 
ferent story. 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  you  withdraw  your  request? 

Mr.  Clardy.  Obviously,  if  he  attended  a  Communist  Party  meet- 
ing and  he  admits  it,  it  wouldn't  be  incriminating,  but  he  is  entitled 
to  raise  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  disagree  with  the  gentleman.  It  might  be  incriminat- 
ing if  he  conspired  at  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Clardy.  That's  right.     But  I  said  mere  attendance  wouldn't. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Mr.  Tavenner,  pardon  me  for  interrupting  your  line 
of  questions ;  but  in  the  course  of  the  questions  asked  in  the  beginning 
about  your  knowledge  of  any  Communist  activities  in  the  Hollywood 
area  or  in  the  entertainment  field,  would  you  give  the  committee  or 
testify  as  to  any  information  of  Communist  activities  in  the  entertain- 
ment field  which  in  your  opinion  would  not  tend  to  incriminate  you, 
if  you  have  such  knowledge? 


3884     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  It  is  a  highly  hypothetical  question. 

Mr.  Moulder.  My  question  is,  Do  you  have  any  information  or 
knowledge  concerning  Communist  activities  in  the  entertainment  field 
in  the  Hollywood  area  during  that  period  of  time  which  would  not 
tend  to  incriminate  you  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  It  is  such  a  general  and  hypothetical  question  that  I 
wouldn't  know  properly  how  to  answer  it. 

Mr.  Clardy.  There  is  nothing  hypothetical  about  it.  He  is  merely 
asking  you  if  you  have  any  information. 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  am  asking  him  if  he  has  any  knowledge  concerning 
Communist  activities  which  in  his  judgment  and  opinion  wouldn't 
tend  to  incriminate  him  under  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  That  is  what  I  understood.  It  is  a  plain  and  simple 
question  that  he  can  answer  "yes"  or  "no." 

Mr.  Velde.  And  you  still  decline  to  answer  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  On  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment.     Yes. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Do  I  gather,  Witness,  you  will  decline  to  answer  any 
question  that  has  the  word  "Communist"  in  it  anywhere? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  are  not  allowed  to  address  the  committee. 

Witness,  will  you  answer  my  question  ? 

Mr.  Velde.  Come  to  the  rostrum. 

(Mr.  London  approaches  the  rostrum  and  there  is  a  discussion  off 
the  record.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  the  person  to  whom  I  referred,  Leo  Town- 
send,  testified  before  this  committee  in  Los  Angeles  on  September  18, 
1951.  He  told  the  committee  that  he  was  a  radio  writer  from  1938 
until  1941,  when  he  entered  the  motion-picture  field,  and  that  he  joined 
the  Communist.  Party  in  1943,  and  severed  all  connection  with  the 
Communist  Party  in  1948. 

He  told  the  committee  that  after  his  return  from  service  in  the 
Army  in  1945  he  was  a  member  of  three  different  branches  or  groups 
of  the  Communist  Party.  That  is,  from  1945  until  1948,  when  he 
severed  his  connections  with  the  Communist  Party. 

In  an  executive  statement  he  advised  the  committee  during  that 
period  of  time  between  1945  and  1948  he  was  unable  to  determine  just 
which  branch  or  group  of  the  Communist  Party  various  persons  were 
members  of.  But  he  identified  a  number  of  persons  who  were  known 
to  him  to  be  members  of  the  Communist  Party,  and  that  from  time 
1<>  time  they  attended  Communist  Party  meetings  with  him,  though  he 
was  unable  to  identify  the  specific  branch  as  to  the  specific  individual. 

He  stated : 

Ruth  Bay  and  her  husband  Howard  Bay  came  into  my  branch  I  would  say 
in  1945  or  1946.  I  was  told  they  had  been  transferred  from  a  Communist  Party 
branch  in  New  York.  They  were  in  Hollywood,  it  seems  to  me,  rather  a  short 
time.  I  recall  seeing  them  only  possibly  at  3  or  4  meetings.  Howard  Bay  was 
a  New  York  stage  set  designer.  I  recall  at  least  one  of  those  meetings  having 
taken  place  at  my  own  home  on  Wonderland  Avenue  in  Hollywood. 

Is  there  any  detail  of  that  statement  made  by  Mr.  Townsend  un- 

( 1110? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3885 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  unite  with  or  become  affiliated  with  any 
branch  of  the  Communist  Party  while  you  were  in  Hollywood  between 
the  spring  of  1946  and  early  1948  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Mr.  Chairman,  some  people  have  complained  of 
claiming  certain  charges  have  been  made  against  people  who  do  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  appear  before  the  committee  and  deny  it. 
As  I  understand  it,  you  are  neither  denying  nor  affirming  any  part 
of  the  testimony  you  have  heard  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct.  I  am  appealing  to  the  fifth  amendment 
for  possible  self-incrimination,  although  the  inference  should  not  be 
drawn  of  guilt. 

Mr.  Ceardy.  That  is  your  wish  and  hope,  but  the  Congressman  is 
right.  You  have  no  desire  here  to  explain  away  or  to  give  any  other 
version  than  that  already  on  the  record,  as  I  understand  it? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Clardy.  The  reason  he  said  it  and  the  reason  why  I  amplify  it 
is  that  we  have  extended  this  invitation  to  a  great  many  people  to 
come  in — people  who  have  been  named  before  this  committee — and 
thus  far  I  have  been  unable  to  find  a  single  one  who  would  avail 
himself  of  the  opportunity  to  clear  his  name,  as  they  call  it. 

I  am  getting  a  little  tired  of  Communists  saying  we  are  smearing 
good  people,  when  those  whose  names  are  mentioned  refuse  to  come 
forward. 

You  have  an  opportunity — a  golden  opportunity — to  contradict  here 
what  has  been  said.  I  don't  think  you  should  be  at  all  surprised  if  I 
drew  the  conclusion  that  your  refusal  does  exactly  what  you  say  you 
don't  want  us  to  do. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  ever  in  the  home  of  Mr.  Leo  Townsend  on 
Wonderland  Avenue  in  Hollywood? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  prior 
to  your  going  to  Hollywood  in  the  spring  of  1946  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  the  committee  has  received  evidence  from 
time  to  time  that  members  of  the  Communist  Party  were  urged  by 
the  functionaries  of  the  party  to  assist  in  Communist  Party  work  by 
joining  certain  mass  organizations  which  are  commonly  referred  to 
as  Communist  Party  front  organizations. 

Our  investigation  discloses  that  you  were  affiliated  with  or  engaged 
in  the  work  of  a  number  of  such  mass  organizations.  I  would  like  to 
ask  you  regarding  some  of  them  for  the  purpose  of  determining  to 
what  extent  the  Communist  Party  may  have  played  any  part  in  your 
joining  in  that  work,  if  it  did. 

I  have  before  me  a  photostatic  copy  of  the  September  3,  1940,  issue 
of  the  Daily  Worker,  which  carries  a  listing  of  the  officers  of  the 
American  Peace  Mobilization.     This  article  carries  the  statement: 

The  following  were  elected  to  the  national  council  of  the  American  Peace 
Mobilization. 

Your  name  is  the  second  name  on  the  list,  "Howard  Bay." 


3886    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Clardy.  In  what  capacity  is  he  named,  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  As  a  member  of  the  national  council. 

Xow,  will  you  examine  the  document,  please,  and  state  whether 
or  not  you  were  a  member  of  the  national  council  of  the  American 
Peace  Mobilization  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of  that  list? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  what  knowledge 
you  have,  if  any,  of  Communist  efforts  to  infiltrate,  or  to  organize  and 
control  that  organization  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  American  Peace  Mobilization 
was  cited  by  Attorney  General  Tom  Clark  on  December  4,  1947,  and 
again  on  September  21,  1948.  It  was  also  cited  by  Attorne}'  General 
Francis  Biddle  on  September  24,  1942. 

In  the  citation  by  Attorney  General  Francis  Biddle  it  is  stated : 

Formed  in  the  summer  of  1940  under  the  auspices  of  the  Communist  Party 
and  the  Young  Communist  League  as  a  "front"  organization  designed  to  mold 
American  opinion  against  participation  in  the  war  against  Germany.  *  *  * 
The  most  conspicuous  activity  of  American  Peace  Mobilization  was  the  picketing 
of  the  White  House,  which  began  in  April  1941,  in  protest  against  lend-lease 
and  the  entire  national  defense  program  *  *  *  on  the  afternoon  of  June  21, 
1941,  he  [Frederick  V.  Field,  national  secretary]  suddenly  called  off  the  picket 
line  around  the  AVhite  House. 

Mr.  Velde.  Am  I  correct,  Mr.  Counsel,  in  my  belief  that  the  Amer- 
ican Peace  Mobilization  was  abandoned  shortly  after  June  21,  1941, 
and  another  name  given  to  the  organization,  "The  People's  Mobiliza- 
tion"? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir.     That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Velde.  Were  you  a  member  of  the  American  People's  Mobiliza- 
tion? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  might  state,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  among  the  new 
Communist  fronts  that  sprang  up  when  the  Soviet  Union  and  the 
United  States  were  allies  in  the  war  against  fascism,  was  the  Artists' 
Front  To  Win  the  War,  which  began  October  16,  1942,  and  has  been 
cited  by  the  Attorney  General  and  by  this  committee. 

Examination  of  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Artists'  Front  To  Win  the 
War"  shows  the  listing  of  certain  sponsors,  and  Mr.  Bay,  your  name, 
the  name  of  Howard  Bay,  appears  as  one  of  those  sponsors. 

Is  it  correct  that  you  were  a  sponsor  of  the  Artists'  Front  To  Win 
the  War? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde.  Did  you  want  to  win  the  war? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  will  answer  that  question  :  Yes,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  There  were  a  lot  of  American  citizens,  and  in  fact  every 
loyal  American  citizen  certainly  wanted  to  win  the  war.  Is  there 
anything  wrong  with  your  participation  in  this  particular  group  ?  In 
oilier  words,  did  they  have  a  title  that  they  wanted  or  which  would 
indicate  the  organization  wanted  to  win  the  war,  and  actually  they 
did  not  want  to  win  the  war? 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3887 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde  (addressing  counsel  to  the  witness.)  You  may  confer 
with  your  witness  at  any  time,  if  you  so  desire. 

Mr.  Bay.  Mr.  Chairman,  when  Mr.  Clardy  was  chairman  before 
your  entrance,  I  requested  there  be  no  television  or  movie  cameras. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Yes;  I  told  you  you  would  not  be  televised,  but 
members  of  the  committee  do  not  object  to  being  recorded. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Bay,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  have  been  asked  some 
questions  that  you  could  have  answered  without  being  incriminated 
in  any  way :  For  instance,  this.  American  Peace  Mobilization,  which 
has  been  cited,  of  course,  as  a  Communist-front  group  by  the  Attorney 
General  and  this  committee  and  others.  The  American  People's 
Mobilization,  which  was  an  organization  created  to  replace  the  Amer- 
ican Peace  Mobilization.  You  have  been  asked  about  your  mem- 
bership in  those  groups  particularly. 

It  seems  to  me  that  if  you  have  any  desire  whatsoever  to  cooperate 
with  your  Congress  in  our  efforts  to  rid  this  country  of  Communist 
influences  and  Communist  conspiracy,  you  would  think  your  conscience 
would  dictate  to  you  to  assist  this  committee  by  answering  the  ques- 
tions that  have  been  propounded  to  you. 

So  again  I  ask  you  whether  any  of  the  questions  that  have  been 
asked  of  you  concerning  your  connections  with  Communist  Party 
activities  and  Communist- front  group  activities  are  questions  that  you 
care  now  to  answer  and  give  the  committee  the  benefit  of  your 
information  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Chairman. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.)     . 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Chairman.  I  have  recourse  to  the  fifth 
amendment  in  answer  to  that. 

Mr.  Velde.  And  you  do  decline  to  answer  that  question  ?  Will  you 
proceed,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  Clardy.  May  I  ask  a  question  at  that  juncture? 

Mr.  Velde.  All  right,  Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Clardy.  As  I  recall  it,  you  were  subpenaed  to  appear  at  another 
place  sometime  ago,  and  this  is  a  postponed  date,  isn't  it?  In  the 
interval  since  you  were  first  subpenaed,  have  you  issued  any  public 
statements  denying  membership  in  the  Communist  Party  or  saying 
anything  at  all  about  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  made  no  statements  at  all  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Moulder. 

Mr.  Moulder.  I  don't  believe  a  direct  question  has  been  asked  him 
as  to  whether  or  not  he  is  now  or  whether  or  not  you  are  now  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party,  and  I  will  ask  you  that  question.  Are  you 
now  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am  not  now  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  ever  been  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  would  like  to  say  this • 

Mr.  Clardy.  No.  Just  answer  "Yes"  or  "No,"  and  then  give  your 
explanation  if  you  have  one. 


3888    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   ( ENTERTAINMENT ) 

Mr.  Bay.  I  do  not  intend  to  answer  any  questions  prior  to  1952. 
1  would  like  to  state  that  I  am  not  and  haven't  been  a  member  of  the 
Communist  Party  in  1952,  in  1953,  and  in  the  current  year. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Of  course,  that  leaves  the  direct  implication  that  you 
were  prior  to  1952,  meaning  December  31,  1951,  you  were  a  member 
of  the  party.    Is  that  what  you  want  us  to  think? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  inference  should  not  be  drawn. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Why? 

Mr.  Bay.  Because  I  am  using  the  fifth  amendment  in  refusing  to 
answer  any  questions  prior  to  1952. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  will  ask  you  were  you  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Tarty  on  December  31,  1951? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  leave  me  no  alternative  then  than  to  conclude  you 
were,  when  you  say  that,  because  you  have  been  free  to  talk  about  it 
since  then.  Why  won't  you  cooperate  with  the  committee  and  tell  us? 
Is  there  something  that  you  really  genuinely  fear  of  a  criminal  nature 
and  that  you  will  be  involved  in  a  prosecution? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  don't  think  I  am  called  upon  to  answer  the  questions. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  wouldn't  have  asked  the  question  if  you  weren't. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am  not  called  upon  to  answer  why  I  use  the  self-incrim- 
ination clause  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  think  you  are,  but  you  are  declining  to  answer,  as  I 
understand  it.    Is  that  correct  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Moulder.  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Moulder. 

Mr.  Moulder.  You  have  stated  that  you  are  not  now  a  member  of 
the  Communist  Party.  Have  you  changed  your  beliefs  or  philosophy 
concerning  the  purposes  and  objectives  of  the  Communist,  Party,  or  of 
communism,  to  be  more  direct?  Or  is  it  the  same  now  as  it  always 
was  prior  to  the  date — what  was  the  date? 

Mr.  Clardy.  The  1st  of  January  1952. 

Mr.  Moulder.  The  1st  of  January  1952. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment,  Mr.  Moulder. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Bay,  can  you  name  anj'one  who  has  ever  been  in- 
criminated before  by  this  committee,  or  through  this  committee  hear- 
ings, when  they  have  come  before  this  committee  and  answered  the 
questions  propounded  to  them  truthfully?  We  have  had  a  great 
many  witnesses  who  have  come  before  this  committee  and  admitted 
that  they  had  been  members  of  the  Communist  Party  up  until  very 
recently.     None  of  those  have  ever  been  incriminated. 

Do  you  think  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  you  will  be  in  some 
way  incriminated  if  you  answer  questions  before  this  committee? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  the  assumption  that  I  am  proceeding  on,  Mr. 
Chairman. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Of  course,  you  make  me  think  you  have  something  to 
hide  when  you  take  that  position,  and  I  think  any  reasonable  person 
will  reach  that  conclusion. 

Mr.  Moulder.  The  point  that  I  want  to  clarify  and  understand  from 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)     3889 

you  is  whether  or  not  your  opinions  of  the  philosophy  and  the  objec- 
tives of  communism  are  the  same  now  as  they  were  prior  to  the  1st 
day  of  January  1952?  You  have  stated  that  you  are  not  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Communist  Party,  but  is  your  philosophy  and  opinion  con- 
cerning communism  the  same  now  as  it  was  then,  prior  to  January  1, 
1952? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  don't  think  I  am  called  upon  to  give  answers  to  questions 
of  opinions,  but  generally  I  will  have  to  answer  that  question  that  I 
refuse  to  answer  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  what? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  the  question  as  far  as  the  record  goes 
on  the  basis  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Do  you  have  any  knowledge  of  what  the  Communist 
Party  stands  for  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  Obviously  I  have  a  certain  knowledge  of  the  Communist 
Party,  as  all  citizens,  through  the  press,  and  so  forth. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  approve  of  the  things  then  that  you  know  of  it  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  a  question  of  opinion.  I  don't  feel  called  upon 
to  answer  that. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  was  not  quite  sure,  to  start  with.  Are  you  both  a 
writer  and  a  producer,  or  just  one  of  them? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  am  neither  a  writer  nor  a  producer,  Mr.  Clardy.  I  just 
design  scenery. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  design  scenery  ?  The  answers  and  the  questions 
were  both  a  little  bit  low  pitched  when  we  started  off  and  I  didn't 
catch  it. 

You  are  a  designer  solely  of  scenery  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  witnessed  any  plays,  or  motion-picture  pro- 
ductions, in  which  you  recognized  Communist  propaganda? 

Mr.  Bay.  It  is  such  a  general  question  of  opinion  I  wouldn't  know 
how  to  answer  that  question  seriously,  Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  are  refusing  to  answer? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  guess'  so.     Yes. 

Mr.  Clardy.  That  is  all. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  were  you  aware  of  the  change  of  the 
Communist  Party  line  from  the  time  of  the  American  Peace  Mobiliza- 
tion in  June  of  1941  and  the  adoption  of  the  effort  to  win  the  war 
as  shown  by  the  Artists'  Front  activity  in  the  spring  of  1942  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  committee  has  from  time  to  time  heard  evidence 
of  benefit  parties,  or  benefit  exhibits  which  were  given  for  the  sup- 
port of  Communist  organs  such  as  the  Daily  Worker  and  New  Masses. 

I  have  before  me  a  photostatic  copy  of  the  April  15,  1941,  issue 
of  New  Masses,  which  carries  a  large  advertisement  stating,  "New 
Masses,  Second  Annual  Art  Auction."  Among  the  artists  repre- 
sented is  the  name  of  Howard  Bay.  Will  you  examine  the  document, 
please,  and  tell  the  committee  what  the  nature  of  that  auction  was? 
That  is,  what  its  purpose  was  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 


3890    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  records  of  the  committee  reflect  that  you  were 
a  member  of  the  Citizens  Committee  To  Free  Earl  Browder  in  1942. 

Mr.  Bay.  Excuse  me. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  Could  we  retract  to  this  a  second  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes. 

Mr.  Bay.  Is  there  anything  beyond  what  is  right  here  in  the  photo- 
stat ?  Does  the  question  go  to  anything  beyond  what  is  the  mere  facts 
presented  here  of  an  art  auction  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  may  have  other  questions  to  ask  you  regarding  it, 
depending  on  the  nature  of  your  answer. 

Mr.  Bay.  All  right.  My  answer  stands  then  on  the  basis  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  mean  if  I  would  not  ask  you  any  more  ques- 
tions that  you  would  answer  the  question? 

Mr.  Velde.  Just  a  minute,  Mr.  Counsel.    You  have  a  right  to  confer. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  No.     I  am  sorry.     I  am  sorry. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  have  anything  to  add  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  your  answer? 

Mr.  Bay.  On  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment  I  refuse  to  answer. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  asked  you  if  you  were  a  member  of  the  Citizens 
Committee  To  Free  Earl  Browder,  as  indicated  by  the  appearance 
of  your  name  on  a  list  published  by  that  organization,  as  being  one 
of  a  number  of  persons  who  had  addressed  an  appeal  to  the  President 
for  justice  in  the  Browder  case. 

I  am  asking  you  if  you  were  a  member  of  the  Citizens  Committee 
To  Free  Earl  Browder. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  a  member  of  the  Citizens  Committee  For 
Harry  Bridges,  between  1941  and  1944? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Counsel,  may  I  ask  you  a  question  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Clardy.  In  regard  to  those  last  two  questions,  has  his  name 
appeared  on  some  printed  documents  as  a  member  of  the  groups  you 
were  referring  to  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Then,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  he  should  be  directed 
to  answer  it,  if  it  is  a  matter  of  public  record. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  may  add,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  with  regard  to  the 
Citizens  Committee  For  Harry  Bridges,  the  name  of  Howard  Bay 
appears  as  one  of  a  committee  of  members  and  sponsors  for  the  Citi- 
zens Committee  For  Harry  Bridges,  as  shown  by  a  publication  issued 
under  the  letterhead  of  that  group  on  September  11,  1941. 

The  same  is  true  as  to  June  8,  1943,  and  January  10,  1944. 

Mr.  Velde.  Did  the  witness  refuse  to  answer  as  to  whether  or  not 
that  statement  was  true  and  correct,  or  did  you  ask  him  whether 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir.  His  answer  was  he  refused  to  answer  on 
the  ground  that  to  do  so  might  tend  to  incriminate  him  or  others. 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3891 

Mr.  Clardy.  He  was  asked  whether  he  was  a  member  of  the  group, 
and  since  it  is  a  matter  of  public  record  I  think  he  should  be  directed 
to  answer  counsel's  question. 

Counsel,  will  you  again  exhibit  the  document  to  him  and  ask  him 
if  that  is  a  correct  listing  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  I  hand  you  the  three  documents  which 
I  read  from,  constituting  the  letters  on  the  letterhead  of  the  Citizens 
Committee  For  Harry  Bridges,  dated  September  11,  1941,  June  8, 
1943,  and  January  10,  1944,  on  the  back  of  each  of  which  appears 
your  name;  that  is,  the  name  "Howard  Bay,  Scenic  Designer,  New 
York  City,"  as  a  committee  member  and  sponsor,  which  documents 
I  offer  in  evidence  and  ask  that  they  be  marked  "Bay  Exhibits  1,  2, 
and  3,"  respectively. 

Mr.  Velde.  Without  objection,  they  will  be  so  admitted. 

(Letters  on  the  letterhead  of  the  Citizens  Committee  for  Harry 
Bridges  dated  September  11,  1941,  June  8, 1943  and  January  10, 1944, 
were  so  marked  "Bay  Exhibits  Nos.  1,  2,  and  3,"  respectively,  and  re- 
ceived in  evidence.)1 

Mr.  Tavenner.  And  I  ask  you  whether  or  not  your  name  appears 
on  each  of  those  documents. 

Mr.  Bay.  It  seems  to  be  a  fact  that  my  name  appears  on  these  two 
documents. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  On  the  three  documents  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  On  the  three  documents.  You  asked  me  whether  I  was  a 
member  of  these  three  committees,  and  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question 
on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde.  If  you  are  incorrectly  listed  on  those  documents, 
wouldn't  you  like  to  have  that  error  removed  from  the  record,  or  are 
you  correctly  listed  on  those  documents  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth 
amendment,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Clardy.  In  other  words,  you  won't  avail  yourself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  clear  your  name,  if  your  name  is  beclouded  by  that.  That 
is  your  attitude? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Let  us  hear  no  more  then  from  anybody  that  they  are 
not  given  an  opportunity. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  concur  with  you  on  that. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  am  sick  and  tired  of  having  it  appear  to  the  contrary. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  hand  you  a  photostatic  copy  of  a  page  from  the 
December  22,  1943,  issue  of  the  New  York  Times,  in  which  there  is  a 
picture  and  a  list  of  signers  of  a  declaration,  the  title  of  which  is,  "The 
Fire  That  Has  Been  Burning  for  10  Years,"  and  put  out  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Reichstag  Fire  Trial  Anniversary  Committee,  Paul 
Robeson,  chairman.  Among  the  signers  of  this  declaration  appears 
the  name  Howard  Bay. 

Will  you  examine  it  and  state  whether  or  not  it  shows  that  you  were 
one  of  the  signers  and  whether  your  name  appears  there  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  Might  I  ask  a  question? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes. 


1  Retained  in  committee  files. 


3892     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Bay.  Is  this  committee  on  the  Attorney  General's  list  and  on 
your  list  of  subversive  organizations? 

Mr.  Ta  vex  nek.  This  organization  was  cited  as  a  Communist  front 
formed  in  December  1943  by  prominent  Communists  and  Communist 
sympathizers  to  honor  Georgi  Dimitrov,  former  head  of  the  Commu- 
nist International. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  In  that  case 

Mr.  Tavenner.  By  the  Special  Committee  on  Un-American  Activi- 
ties, report  of  March  29, 1944. 

Mr.  Bay.  On  that  basis  then  I  would  decline  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth 
amendment  to  answer  that  question. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  can't  hear  that  answer. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  the  question  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth 
amendment,  Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  desire  to  offer  the  document  in  evidence  and  ask 
it  be  marked  "Bay  Exhibit  4." 

(Photostatic  copy  of  a  page  from  the  December  22,  1943,  issue  of 
the  New  York  Times  was  marked  "Bay  Exhibit  No.  4"'  for  identifica- 
tion and  received  in  evidence.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  a  member  of  the  National  Federation  for 
Constitutional  Liberties  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  May  I  ask  a  question,  Mr.  Chairman? 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Since  January  1,  1952,  have  you  resigned  from  any  of 
these  organizations  that  have  been  named  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Are  you  a  member  of  any  of  those  organizations  today  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Why  won't  you  tell  me  then  when  you  resigned  or 
whether  you  resigned  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  The  inference  of  the  question  is  something  that  requires 
me  to  answer  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  No.  It  does  not  require  you  at  all.  That  is  your  own 
choosing. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  choose  to,  then. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  hand  you  a  document  entitled,  "Urgent  Summons 
to  a  Congress  on  Civil  Eights  To  Be  Held  in  Detroit  April  27  and  28, 
1946,"  on  the  back  of  which  appears  a  partial  list  of  sponsors.  Will 
you  examine  the  document,  please,  and  refer  to  the  printed  list  on  the 
back  where  your  name  appears — the  name  Howard  Bay.  Do  you 
see  it  there? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  will  answer  that  as  I  answered  before.  It  is  obviously 
a  fact  my  name  appears  on  this,  but 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  read  your  title  that  appears  after  your 
name  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  President  of  the  United  Scenic  Artists,  Local  829. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Where  was  that  local?  Was  that  in  Hollywood  or 
was  it  in  New  York? 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT)     3893 

Mr.  Bay.  It  is  in  New  York.  It  is  a  union  of  the  designers  and 
scenic  artists  in  the  theater  and  motion  picture  on  the  east  coast,  and 
the  theater  generally.  It  is  affiliated  with  the  Brotherhood  of  Painters 
and  Paperhangers  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.,  probably  one  of  the  most  conserv- 
ative unions  in  America. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  During  the  time  you  were  president  of  the  United 
Scenic  Artists  Local,  were  you  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  president  of  the  east  coast  local  at  the 
time  you  were  in  Hollywood  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  maintained  my  membership,  if  that  is  the  question. 

( At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  Was  I  president?     No.     Of  course  not. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Without  any  reference  to  yourself,  will  you  tell  the 
committee  whether  or  not  there  were  any  persons  known  to  you  to  be 
members  of  the  Communist  Party  who  were  officials  of  that  local  in 
1946? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wouldn't  it  be  very  unfair  for  that  local  for  you 
to  take  that  position  unless  you  had  knowledge  that  there  were  no 
persons  in  the  official  family  of  that  local  who  were  members  of  the 
Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  Actually  that  question  does  not  disturb  me  because  it 
happens  to  be  before,  during,  and  after  my  tenure  of  presidency  to  be 
one  of  the  most  conservative  apolitical  organizations  in  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
So  that  I  am  not  afraid  of  any  repercussions  of  my  answer  to  that 
question. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Then  why  don't  you  answer  it  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  to  answer  the  question  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth 
amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Of  course,  that  isn't  answering  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  Was  the  local  of  this  particular  union  ever  cited  by 
anyone  as  ever  being  subversive? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir.  I  don't  want  the  record  of  this  hearing  to 
indicate  that  the  committee  has  any  such  information. 

Mr.  Velde.  Certainly,  the  Chair  concurs  with  the  gentleman  from 
Michigan  in  that  respect,  and  you  are  directed  to  answer  the  question. 

I  think  maybe  we  had  better  repeat  that  question  again.  Will  the 
reporter  read  the  original  question  back  relative  to  the  membership 
in  the  local  union  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  ? 

Mr.  Clardy.  And  also  read  back  that  part  in  which  he  said  he  had 
no  fear  of  answering  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  Read  the  original  question. 

(Whereupon  the  question  referred  to  was  read  by  the  reporter.) 

Mr.  Bay.  Insofar  as  the  question  assumes  I  would  have  such  knowl- 
edge, I  decline  to  answer  the  question  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  Velde.  Then,  Mr.  Witness,  you  are  directed  to  answer  the 
question. 

Mr.  Bay.  I  decline  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth  amendment,  Mr.  Chair- 
man. 


3894    COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT, 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  I  have  before  me  a  statement  signed  by 
certain  individuals.  It  is  a  pamphlet  entitled  "A  Statement  Calling 
for  the  Peaceful  Settlement  of  U.  S.-U.  S.  S.  R.  Differences,"  which 
was  published  by  the  National  Council  of  American-Soviet  Friend- 
ship.    Your  name  is  listed  as  one  of  those  signing  the  document. 

Do  you  see  vour  name  appearing  there  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  Yes. 

Mr.  Tavexner.  Did  you  authorize  the  use  of  your  name? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde.  Counsel,  I  think  you  have  two  questions  there  in  one. 
Will  you  ask  them  separately  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  asked  him  if  he  recognized  his  name  there,  and  I 
believe  your  answer  was  you  did. 

Mr.  Bat.  Yes.  I  recognize  it.  It  is  obviously  a  fact  my  name 
appears  here. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  authorize  the  use  of  your  name  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  That  question  I  refuse  to  answer  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardt.  Was  your  name  used  without  your  authorization? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  because  it  is  the  same  ques- 
tion, on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardt.  Did  you  ever  notice  it  having  been  published  after 
it  was  done  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  the  grounds  of  the  fifth 
amendment. 

Mr.  Clardt.  Did  you  ever  make  any  complaint  or  register  any  objec- 
tion to  your  name  appearing  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardt.  Did  a  copy  of  it  ever  come  to  your  attention  before 
today  ? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth 
amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  desire  to  offer  this  document  in  evidence  and  ask 
that  it  be  marked  "Bay  Exhibit  No.  5." 

(Pamphlet  entitled  "A  Statement  Calling  for  the  Peaceful  Settle- 
ment of  U.  S.-U.  S.  S.  R.  Differences"  was  so  marked  "Bay  Exhibit 
No.  5"  for  identification  and  received  in  evidence.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  organization  the  National  Council  of  Ameri- 
can-Soviet Friendship  has  been  cited,  of  course,  by  the  Attorney  Gen- 
eral and  this  committee.  Were  you  a  member  of  the  National  Council 
of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Professions? 

Mr.  Bat.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  organization  has  been  cited,  as  the  committee 
well  knows. 

Mr.  Clardt.  That  is  an  organization  that  Albert  Einstein  belongs 
to ;  isn't  it?     He  is  a  member  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  wouldn't  undertake  to  say. 

Mr.  Clardt.  He  belongs  to  something  like  it. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  In  1945,  Mr.  Bay,  Benjamin  Davis  was  a  candidate 
for  political  office  on  the  Communist  Party  ticket  in  New  York  as 
councilman.    There  was  formed  a  group  known  as  the  Artists,  Writ- 


COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION   (ENTERTAINMENT)    3895 

ers,  and  Professional  Groups  for  the  Reelection  of  Benjamin  J.  Davis. 
The  announcement  of  the  formation  of  this  group  was  made  by  Paul 
Robeson,  chairman  of  the  group.  I  refer  to  the  September  25,  1945, 
issue  of  the  Daily  Worker,  where  those  facts  are  set  forth. 

In  the  article  you  are  listed — that  is,  the  name  Howard  Bay  is 
listed  as  one  of  the  sponsors.  Will  you  examine  it,  please,  and  state 
the  circumstances  under  which  you  lent  your  support  to  the  election 
of  Benjamin  Davis  on  the  Communist  Party  ticket  to  the  position 
of  councilman  of  New  York  city,  if  you  did  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Do  you  know  Mr.  Davis  ?     Your  answer  is  "No"  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Clardy.  You  never  met  him  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  ever  attended  any  meetings  at  which  he 
was  present  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Bay,  in  the  course  of  the  testimony  of  Leo  Town- 
send  in  Hollj'wood  he  described  an  emergency  fund  drive  for  $60,000 
to  be  used  for  some  purpose  of  the  Communist  Party  in  New  York 
City.  He  testified  that  the  information  was  abroad  that  some  Com- 
munist Party  members  were  mortgaging  their  homes  to  make  contri- 
butions to  that  fund  drive.  Were  you  aware  while  you  were  in  Holly- 
wood of  the  making  of  such  a  campaign,  or  the  conducting  of  such  a 
campaign  for  funds  for  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  solicited  to  contribute  to  that  fund  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Did  you  ever  contribute  in  any  way  to  the  coffers  of 
the  Communist  Party  anywhere? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Were  you  ever  assessed,  as  a  great  many  professional 
people  have  told  us  they  were  assessed,  a  percentage  of  their  earnings  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  committee  is  unaware  of  the  exact  purpose 
for  which  that  fund  of  $60,000  was  to  be  spent  in  New  York  City. 
Do  you  have  any  knowledge  of  the  use  to  which  the  fund  was  to  be  put  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  have  no  further  questions,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  Do  you  have  any  questions,  Mr.  Clardy  ? 

Mr.  Clardy.  Just  a  few. 

Did  you  ever  read  the  Daily  Worker? 


3896     COMMUNIST  METHODS  OF  INFILTRATION    (ENTERTAINMENT) 

Mr.  Bay.  1  think  I  have  read  the  Daily  Worker.  I  have  read  most 
every  publication  at  one  time  or  another. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  read  the  Daily  Worker  as  a  steady  diet,  more 
or  less? 

Mr.  Bay.  Xo. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  read  it  since  January  1,  1052? 

Mr.  Bay.  Possibly  1  or  2  stray  copies.    I  wouldn't  know. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Have  you  since  January  1,  1952,  attended  any  meet- 
ings at  which  persons  you  knew  to  be  Communists  also  attended? 

(At  this  point  Mi-.  Bay  conferred  with  Mr.  London.) 

Mr.  Bay.  No. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Did  you  do  so  prior  to  January  1,  1052  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  I  refuse  to  answer  that  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment, Mr.  Clardy. 

Mr.  Clardy.  Since  January  1,  1952,  have  you  at  any  time  had  con- 
versations with  any  person  that  you  knew  to  be  a  Communist? 

Mr.  Bay.  The  question  assumes  I  would  have  such  knowledge,  so 
I  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth 
amendment. 

Mr.  Clardy.  I  assume  you  will  also  decline  if  I  ask  you  the  same 
question  with  regard  to  the  period  prior  to  1952  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct, 

Mr.  Clardy.  And  I  understand  you  also  decline  to  answer  any 
questions  with  respect  to  any  contributions  or  payment  of  dues,  or 
money  of  any  sort,  to  the  Communist  cause  ? 

Mr.  Bay.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Clardy.  That  is  all  I  have. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Moulder. 

Mr.  Moulder.  No  questions,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  have  no  further  questions,  Mr.  Counsel.  Do  we  have 
any  further  witnesses  to  appear  today  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  witness  is  excused  and  the  meeting  is  adjourned 
till  further  call  of  the  Chair. 

(Whereupon,  at  11:55  a.  m.  the  hearing  was  adjourned  subject 
to  the  call  of  the  Chair.) 


INDEX 


Individuals 

Page 

Adomian,   Lan 3864-3807 

Barnes,  Joseph 3876 

Buy,   Howard 3879-3896  (testimony) 

Bay,    Ruth 3884 

Beria 3834 

Biddle,    Francis 3886 

Bridges,   Harry 3890,  3891 

Browder,    Earl 3861,  8890 

Browder,    William__ 3861,  3862 

Burney,  Lois 3869 

Clark,    Tom 3886 

Coffey.    Pat 3868 

Davidson,  Jo 3869 

Davis,  Benjamin  J 3894,3895 

de  Haviland,  Olivia 3864 

Dimitrov,   Georgi 3802 

Dorn,  Hannah  (Dorner) 3S71,  3872 

Einstein,  Albert 3894 

Ellington.    Duke 3864 

Field,  Frederick  V 3886 

Field,  Marshall 3856 

Hammerstein,  Oscar 3862 

Howard,  Charles  P 3870 

Jerome,  V.  J _ 3866 

LaGuardia,  Mayor 3856 

Lampell,  Millard  (alias  Mike  Landon) 3856- 

3859,  3861-3863,  3869,  3870,  3872-3874 

Lauterbach,  Dick 3876 

London.  Ephraim - 3879-3896 

Lyon.  Peter 3872 

Merriam.    Eve 3872 

Odets,   Clifford 3876 

Reinnarma 3873 

Reinnarma,    Kiisu 3873 

Robeson,   Paul _—  3865,  3895 

Rodgers 3862 

Roosevelt,  Eleanor 3869 

Rosenberg,   Ethel 3874 

Rosenberg,  Julius 3874 

Rosten,  Norman 3874 

Shostakovich. 3806 

Schulberg,  Budd 3853 

Silverman,  Allan.      (See  Sloane,  Allan  E.) 

Silverman,   "Pop" 3874 

Sloane,  Allan  E.      (Allan  Silverman) 3851-3877  (testimony) 

Smith,    Sidney    V 3851-3877 

Strauss,  Mr 3869 

Tabori,    George —     3876 

Townsend,  Leo 38S3-3885,  3895 

Wallace,    Henry 3869,  3870 

White,  Harry  Dexter 3871,  3S72 

3897 


BOSTON  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

III  III]  INDEX 

3  9999 05445  4960 

O      ^^^i*      V^-r-rw  ORGANIZATIONS 

Page 

Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade 3865,  3866 

Agricultural  Adjustment  Administration 3857 

Almanac  Singers 3857-3859,  3870 

American  Federation  of  Labor 3893 

American  Jewish  Committee 3854 

American  Labor  Party 3874 

American  Legion 3853,  3854 

American  Medical  Association 3854 

American  Peace  Mobilization 3885-3887,  3880 

American  People's  Mobilization 3886,  3887 

Artist's  Front  To  Win  the  War 3886,  3889 

Artists  Writers,  and  Professional  Groups  for  the  Reelection  of  Benjamin 

J.  Davis 3894,  3895 

Bretton  Woods  Conference 3871 

Brotherhood  of  Painters  and  Paperhangers,  AFL 3893 

Carnegie  Institute  of  Technology 3880 

Cerebral  Palsy  Foundation 3853 

Chinese  People's  Committee  for  World  Peace  and  Against  American  Ag- 
gression       3874 

Chinese  People's  Volunteers 3874 

Citizens  Committee  for  Harry  Bridges 3890,  3891 

Citizens  Committee  to  Free  Earl  Browder 3890 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 3852,  3856,3857 

Columbia  Broadcasting  System 3854 

Columbia  University,  School  of  Journalism 3852 

Committee  of  the  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Professions  (ASP)—  3860,3864,3869-3872 
Communist  Party  ___  3853,  3855-3862, 3864-3866,  3870,  3872,  3883-3889,  3894,  3895 

Communist    Party,    New   York    City -     3859 

Communist  Political  Association 3860 

Connecticut  Peace  Center 3874 

Connecticut  Peace  Foundation 3874 

FBI 3868 

International  Commission  for  Investigation  of  Facts  Concerning  Bacterial 

Warfare  in  Korea  and  China 3875 

Jefferson  Bookshop 3858,  3859 

Jewish  Board  of  Guardians 3854 

Korean  People's  Army 3874 

Los  Angeles  Civic  Light  Opera  Association 3881 

Lutheran  World  Federation 3854 

Marshall   College ."880 

Music   War    Committee 3862,  3868 

Mutual  Broadcasting  System 3854 

National  Broadcasting  Company 3854 

National  Council  of  American-Soviet  Friendship 3S94 

National  Council  of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Professions 8894 

National   Federation  for  Constitutional   Liberties 3892 

Office  of  War  Information 3855 

Progressive  Party 3869,  3870 

Reichstag  Fire  Trial  Anniversary  Committee 3891 

Sun  Oil  Co 385S 

Teachers  Union , 3871 

United    Jewish    Appeal 3854,  8855 

United  Nations 3853-3855,  887:; 

UN  Public  Information  Department ,._  3875 

United  Scenic  Artists,  Local  829,  New  York 3892,  3893 

United  States  Army 385:; 

United  States  Navy 3854 

University  of  Colorado 3880 

University  of  Washington 3880 

Village  Club,  Communist  Party 3857 

Visiting  Nurse  Association 3854 

West  minster    College.. 3060 

Women's  Auxiliary  Corps 3862 


index  3899 

Page 

Young  Communist  League 3886 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association 3854 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association 3854 

Publications 

Daily  Worker 3857,  3859,  3861,  3885,  3889,  3895,  3896 

Inter  Camp  Olympics   (magazine) 3875,3876 

National   Guardian 3874,  3875 

New  Masses 3857,  3889 

New  Republic 3857 

News  Scope  (magazine) 3869 

New  York  Times 3855,3891 

Parade    Magazine 3856,  3860,  3868 

People's  China  (magazine) 3875 

Red  Channels 3872,  3873,  3876 

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