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INVESTIGATION  OF  COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE 
SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA-Part  5 


VIL'I     .^'    •j'U'u'-'^    i!o.'  s^  ' 


/) 


HEARING 

BEFORE  THE 

COMMITTEE  ON  UN-AMEEICAN  ACTIVITIES 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

EIGHTY-THIRD  CONGRESS 

FIRST  SESSION 


DECEMBER  5,  1953 


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


INCLUDING  INDEX 


UNITED  STATES 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
4100.!  WASHINGTON  :   1954 


/ 


/ 


Boston  Public  Library 
Superintendent  of  Documents 

MAR  1  6  1954 


COMMITTEE  ON  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES 

United  States  House  of  Representatives 

HAROLD  H.  VELDE,  Illinois,  Chairman 


BERNARD  W.  KEARNEY,  New  York 
DONALD  L.  JACKSON,  California 
KIT  CLARDY,  Michigan 
GORDON  H.  SCHERER,  Ohio 

Robert  L 


FRANCIS  E.  WALTER,  Pennsylvania 
MORGAN  M.  MOULDER,  Missouri 
CLYDE  DOYLE,  California 
JAMES  B.  FRAZIER,  Je.,  Tennessee 

KuNziG,  Counsel 

Frank  S.  Tavenner,  Jr.,  Counsel 

Louis  J.  Rdssell,  Chief  Investigator 

Thomas  W.  Beale,  Sr.,  Chief  Clerk 

Raphael  I.  Nixon,  Director  of  Research 


II 


CONTENTS 


December  5,  1953,  testimony  of —  Page 

Harrison  George 342 1 

PauIChown 3432 

Bjorne  Hailing 3440 

Richard  Lynden 3442 

Herbert  Naboisek 3446 

William  J.  Bailey 3456 

James  Kendall 3460 

Index 3497 

EXHIBIT 

Kendall  Exhibit  No.  1 — National  Organization  of  Masters,  Mates,  and  Pilots  of 
America,  executive  committee  minutes,  September  4,  1946,  San  Francisco, 
Calif.,  West  Coast  Local  90,  containing  a  statement  signed  by  James  Kendall, 
dated  September  4,  1946  (see  p.  3489) 

rn 


Public  Law  601,  79th  Coxgkess 

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  ty  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rept-esentatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled  *  *  * 

PART  2— RULES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES 

RiTLE   X 
SEC.    121.    STANDING   COMMITTEES 

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

Rttle  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  subcommittee, 
is  authorized  to  malie  from  time  to  time  investigations  of  (1)  the  extent,  charac- 
ter, and  objects  of  un-American  propaganda  activities  in  the  United  States,  (11) 
the  diffusion  within  the  United  States  of  subversive  and  nn-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  Constitu- 
tion, and  (ill)  all  other  questions  in  relation  thereto  that  would  aid  Congress 
in  any  necessary  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  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  sulx-ommittee.  or  by  any 
member  designated  by  any  such  chairman,  and  may  bo  served  by  any  person 
designated  by  any  such  chairman  or  member. 


RULES  ADOPTED  BY  THE  83D  CONGRESS 

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

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. 
******* 

"  *  RtJLE  XI 

POWERS  AND  DUTIES  OF  COMMITTEES 
*  *  :!:  tj!  *  *  * 

17.  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities. 

(a)  Un-American  Activities. 

(b)  The  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  as  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  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  Constitu- 
tion, and  (3)  all  other  questions  in  relation  thereto  that  would  aid  Congress 
in  any  necessary  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  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  meetings,  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 


INVESTIGATION  OF  COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE 
SAN  FKANCISCO  AKEA— PART  5 


SATURDAY,   DECEMBER   5,    1953 

United  States  House  of  Representatives, 
Subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Un- 
American  Activities, 

San  Francisco,  Calif. 

PUBLIC  hearing 

The  subcommittee  of  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Actvities  met, 
pursuant  to  adjournment,  at  9 :  36  a.  m.,  in  the  hearing  room  of  the 
board  of  supervisors,  city  hall,  Hon.  Harold  H.  Velde  (chairman) 
presiding. 

Committee  members  present :  Representatives  Harold  H.  Velde 
(chairman) ,  Donald  L.  Jackson,  Gordon  H.  Scherer,  and  Clyde  Doyle 
(appearance  noted  in  transcript). 

Staff  members  present :  Robert  L.  Kunzig  and  Frank  S.  Ta vernier, 
Jr.,  counsel ;  William  A.  Wheeler  and  W.  Jackson  Jones,  investigators ; 
and  Juliette  P.  Joray,  acting  clerk. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  subcommittee  will  be  in  order.  For  the  purposes 
of  the  hearing  this  morning  I  will  appoint  Mr.  Scherer,  Mr.  Jackson, 
and  myself  as  chairman.  Mr.  Doyle  is  on  his  way  here.  He  has 
been  detained  on  account  of  official  business,  but  will  be  here  very 
shortly. 

I  would  like  at  this  time  to  state  to  those  present  that  you  are  here 
as  guests  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  Any  demonstration 
of  approval  or  disapproval  on  the  part  of  the  audience  will  result  in 
an  order  by  the  chairman  for  the  immediate  clearing  of  the  hearing 
room.  It  is  hoped  that  this  action  will  not  be  necessary,  but  the  Chair 
will  not  hesitate  to  take  whatever  action  is  necessary  ancl  is  required  to 
insure  that  the  business  of  the  United  States  Congress  is  conducted 
with  dignity  and  expedition. 

Mr.  Counsel,  will  you  call  your  first ^'itness? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Harrison  George. 

Mr.  Veij)E.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this 
subcommittee  do  yoti  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God  ? 

Mr.  George.  Yes,  sir. 

(At  this  point  Representative  Donald  L.  Jackson  left  the  hearing 
room.) 

TESTIMONY  OF  HARRISON  GEORGE,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS 
COUNSEL,  LAWRENCE  SPEISER 

Mr,  Tavenner.  You  are  Mr.  Harrison  George? 
Mr.  George.  Yes,  sir. 

3421 


3422       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Tavenner,  Are  you  accompanied  by  counsel  ? 

Mr.  George.  Yes,  sir ;  to  my  left. 

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

Mr.  Speiser.  Lawrence  Speiser,  staff  counsel  for  the  American  Civil 
Liberties  Union  of  Northern  California,  503  Market  Street,  San 
Francisco. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  introduced  in  evidence  Hudson 
Exhibit  No.  1  during  the  testimony  of  Roy  Hudson.  This  exhibit  is 
a  letter  from  Earl  Browder,  general  secretary  of  the  Communist 
Party,  U.S.A.,  under  date  of  November  27,  1939,  addressed  to  the 
counsel  of  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  enclosing  a  list 
of  the  national  committee  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  as  elected 
at  the  tenth  convention. 

TVniien  I  referred  to  that  document  at  the  time  of  its  introduction  in 
evidence,  I  read  into  the  record  the  names  of  those  who  were  on  this 
committee.    One  of  them  was  Harrison  George. 

Mr.  George,  I  think  I  should  first  ask  you,  however,  when  and 
where  you  were  l)orn. 

Mr.  George.  Kansas,  1888. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  is  your  present  occupation  ? 

Mr.  George.  I  am  doing  clerical  work. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  George,  I  am  not  going  to  interrogate  you  re- 
garding the  details  of  your  affiliation  with  the  Communist  Party  as 
a  high  functionary  as  shown  by  the  exhibit,  but  I  do  want  to  question 
you  about  a  matter  which  the  committee  has  had  under  investigation 
for  some  time  and  the  part  that  you  played  in  it,  if  you  played  any 
part  in  it. 

The  day  before  yesterday  the  committee  in  executive  session  took 
the  testimony  of  Mr.  Joe  Koide,  K-o-i-d-e,  a  Japanese  national,  re- 
garding certain  propaganda  activities  under  circumstances  indicating 
their  connection  with  the  Cominform,  and  in  order  to  base  questions 
upon  it  intelligently,  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  read  a  part  of  Mr. 
Koide's  testimony  to  you. 

Mr.  Koide  entered  the  United  States  as  a  student  around  1925.  He 
received  his  A.  B.  degree  at  the  University  of  Denver  in  1929.  He 
states  in  substance  in  his  testimony  that  he  was  extremely  interested 
in  aiding  the  Japanese  people  in  resisting  the  military  clique  in  Japan 
and  that  he  considered  that  it  was  through  the  Communist  Party  that 
he  could  best  accomplish  that  purpose. 

In  a  conference  with  Earl  Browder,  after  Mr.  Browder's  return 
from  China,  he  was  assigned  to  school,  after  becoming  a  member  of 
the  Communist  Party,  in  Moscow,  where  he  remained  for  more  than 
a  year. 

Beginning  at  that  point  I  will  take  up  his  testimony  by  reading 
it  into  the  record  so  that  you  may  understand  : 

Question.  What  did  you  do  upon  your  return  to  the  United  States? 

Answer.  I  contacted  Clarence  Hathaway.  He  had  nothing  to  advise  me  at 
first.  So  I  hung  around  about  3  weeks  in  New  York.  Then  tinally  Hathaway 
told  me  to  proceed  to  the  west  coast. 

Question.  Did  he  tell  you  what  your  assignment  would  be  on  the  west  coast? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  Did  he  tell  you  who  would  contact  you  on  the  west  coast? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  What  occurred?  Did  you  go  to  the  west  coast  as  you  were  advised 
by  Clarence  Hathaway? 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3423 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  happened  after  you  arrived  on  the  west  coast? 

Answer.  I  contacted  Sam  Darcy. 

Question.  Then  what  happened? 

Answer.  Sam  Darcy  wanted  me  to  work  for  him. 

Question.  What  type  of  work  did  he  want  you  to  do? 

Answer.  Well,  he  didn't  specify,  but  he  wanted  me  to  work  for  the  open  party, 
engage  in  open  activities. 

Question.  Of  the  Communist  Party? 

Answer.  That's  right. 

Question.  What  was  the  approximate  date  when  you  arrived  on  the  west 
coast? 

Answer.  About  April  1933. 

Question.  Did  you  engage  in  open  party  work? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  Why? 

Answer.  I  didn't  want  to,  that's  one  reason.  Another  was,  Hathaway  did 
tell  me  that  "When  you  go  to  the  west  coast,  get  in  touch  with  Darcy,  and  Darcy 
will  tell  you — or  Darcy  will  let  me  get  in  touch  with  someone  else.  I  am 
supposed  to  work  for  this  person. 

Question.  Well,  after  you  failed  to  go  along  with  the  assignment  of  working 
with  Sam  Darcy  what  did  you  do? 

Answer.  Sam  Darcy  took  my  address  and  promised  that  someone  was  to  get 
in  touch  with  me. 

Question.  Did  someone  get  in  touch  with  you? 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  Who  was  it? 

Answer.  Harrison  George. 

Question.  Tell  the  committee  what  occurred. 

Answer.  After  getting  in  touch  with  Harrison  George 

Question.  Just  a  moment.  Did  you  get  in  touch  with  Harrison  George,  or  did 
Harrison  George  get  in  touch  with  you? 

Answer.  He  got  in  touch  with  me.  I  started  working  with  him  in  translations 
and  writing  articles  in  Japanese  for  propaganda  purposes  directed  toward 
Japan. 

Question.  Explain  what  you  mean  by  propaganda  being  "directed  toward 
Japan." 

Answer.  All  the  articles  written  had  in  mind  the  Japanese  common  people 
of  Japan,  of  the  prospective,  shall  we  say,  target  or  readers  that  articles  written 
for  the  Japanese  people  to  read  and  then  to  digest. 

Question.  What  was  the  purpose?  Was  it  to  take  advantage  of  the  needs  of 
the  Japanese  people  in  order  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Community  Party  in 
Japan? 

Answer.  You  know,  to  answer  that  question  I  have  to  remind  one  point.  Be- 
tween 1929  or  1930,  when  I  joined  the  party  to  1933  many  historic  events  took 
place  in  Japan  and  in  the  Asiatic  Continent ;  mainly  that  the  military  clique 
which  were  trying  to  capture  power  politically  inside  the  country  by  1933  almost 
succeeded  in  capturing  the  power,  and  by  that  time  the  independent  Manchukuo 
Empire  was  already  set  up,  and  it  was  well  underway  to  further  conquer  China 
and  eventually  to  capture  the  United  States,  so  far  as  the  conquest  of  the  Pacific 
is  concerned.  So  at  that  time,  so  far  as  I  was  concerned,  when  I  wrote  it  was 
more  a  question  of  arousing  the  people  of  Japan  against  the  militarist  power 
and  militarist  expansion  policies,  economic  and  political  and  socially,  rather 
than  to  advance  the  aims  or  objectives  or  ultimate  objectives  of  the  Communist 
Party.  It's  more  as  a  struggle  against  the  existing  power,  to  bring  them  down. 
Its  initial  stage  of  the  fight,  more  or  less. 

Question.  Did  Harrison  George  explain  to  yoti  why  the  Comnmnist  Party 
was  interested  in  directing  propaganda  activities  toward  Japan? 

Answer.  He  didn't  have  to.    Because  I  had  the  idea  we  had  to  do  it. 

Question.  Did  you  have  any  understanding  with  the  Communists  in  Moscow 
as  to  what  you  would  do  in  the  future  in  the  United  States  if  they  developed  a 
plan  by  whicli  you  could  be  returned  to  the  United  States? 

I  may  interpolate  there  that  the  witness  was  faced  with  quite  a 
predicament  in  having  been  sent  to  school  in  Moscow  and  being  a 

41002^54— pt.  5 2 


3424       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Japanese  national  and  not  a  national  of  the  United  States,  so  it  was 
very  difficult  for  the  Soviets  to  get  him  returned  to  the  United  States. 
[Continuing  to  read :] 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  was  that? 

Answer.  One  of  the  difficulties  standinj?  in  the  way  of  my  coming  back  to  the 
United  States,  of  getting  out  of  Russia,  was  that  they  could  not  find  any  way 
of  sending  me  back  to  the  United  States  in  the  first  place.  And  they  didn't  see 
much  purpose  in  trying  to  work  out  plans  to  send  me  back  to  the  United  States 
Inasmuch  as  they  did  not  know  exactly  what  specific  assignment  they  could 
give  me.  Therefore,  I  more  or  less  proposed  to  those  in  charge  in  Moscow  that 
thei-e  is  a  job  that  should  be  done  and  could  be  done  in  the  United  States, 
especially  in  connection  with  propaganda  being  aimed  toward  Japan — if  they 
could  send  me  back  to  this  country. 

Question.  Therefore,  you  were  carrying  out  the  original  plan  made  in  Moscow 
when  you  started  in  this  propaganda  work  with  Harrison  George  on  the  west 
coast ;  isn't  that  true? 

Answer.  I  just  want  to  ask  a  question  about  that.  Did  you  say  "planned  orig- 
inally in  Moscow"  ? 

Question.  Yes. 

Answer.  So  far  as  I  was  concerned,  when  I  came  back  to  the  United  States  I 
proceeded  to  do  the  kind  of  thing  I  wanted  to  do. 

Question.  To  what  extent  did  Harrison  George  assist  or  function  in  connection 
with  this  propaganda  work? 

Answer.  He  wrote  articles. 

Question.  Did  you  translate  them  into  Japanese  whenever  he  did? 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  What  disposition  was  made  of  those  articles? 

Answer.  Those  articles  were  published,  printed. 

Question.  In  magazines  or  in  pamphlet  form? 

Answer.  In  magazine  form. 

Question.  Were  those  magazines  published  in  this  country  or  in  Japan? 

Answer.  In  this  country. 

Question.  Were  they  sent  to  Japan  for  circulation  there? 

Answer.  Some  I  sent  through  the  United  States  mail. 

Question.  Were  others  sent? 

Answer.  I  cannot  say. 

Question.  Did  you  try  to  .send  others? 

Answer.  I  ti'ied  to  send  throiigh  mail,  yes,  knowing  full  well  that  some  of 
them  would  be  confiscated  at  the  customs  in  Japan. 

Question.  But,  however,  didn't  you  attempt  to  send  articles  of  that  description 
by  other  means  to  Japan  besides  the  mail? 

Answer.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  no. 

Question.  Well,  even  if  you  did  not  do  it  yourself,  you  do  know  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  do  you  not,  that  they  were  sent  by  other  means? 

Answer.  This  is  very  hard  to  tell.  I  even  doubt  what  I  sent  through  mails, 
not  many  of  them  ever  reached  there. 

Question.  Yes.  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  success  of  the  Japanese  in  censoring 
them  or  intercepting  them.  I  am  talking  now  only  about  the  plan  to  try  to  get 
them  to  Japan. 

Answer.  That  part  is  not  my  work. 

Question.  Whose  work  was  that? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know.  My  part  was  to  write  the  article,  translate  arti'cle, 
that's  all.    I  see  that  it  comes  out.    But  after  that 

Question.  Well,  what  would  be  done  with  these  articles  when  they  were 
assembled? 

Answer.  Printed? 

Question.  Yes.    And  then  what  was  done  with  them? 

Answer.  I  mailed  some  of  them  to  Japan. 

Question.  How  were  the  others  disposed  of? 

Answer.  This  I  cannot  tell  you,  because  I  do  not  know. 

Question.  You  may  not  know  what  ultimately  happened  to  them,  but  what 
did  you  do  with  them?  You  had  to  get  rid  of  them.  Did  you  give  them  to  someone 
in  the  Communist  Party? 

Answer.  No.  I  had  what  I  could  handle — about  two  dozen  copies — and  the 
rest,  I  don't  even  see  them  myself.     Because  you  understand  the  situation. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3425 

If  I  printed  500,  or  maybe  200,  it  is  fairly  bulky.  And  at  that  time  the  condition 
in  which  I  was  living  was  that  I  didn't  have  a  big  house  or  anything  like  that ; 
I  just  had  a  room  in  a  place.  And  you  know  how  nosy  those  landladies  are.  I 
didn't  want  anything  hanging  around. 

Question.  Nevertheless,  in  a  matter  in  which  you  were  so  vitally  interested 

Answer.  That's  right. 

Question.  In  which  you  had  come  from  the  East  to  the  West  to  i)erform,  where 
your  whole  ob.1ect  in  joining  the  Communist  Party  was  in  order  to  be  of  some 
help,  as  you  thought,  to  the  people  of  Japan,  you  wouldn't  have  left  just  to  mere 
chance  the  accomplishment  of  the  thing  that  you  set  out  to  do :  Namely,  to  get 
these  documents  in  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  i)eople? 

Answer.  I  agree. 

Question.  Isn't  that  right? 

Answer.  That  is  true.  But  the  fundamental  question  here  is  that  there  has  to 
be  a  division  of  labor. 

Question.  I  recognize  that.  But  equally  true,  you  must  have  known  what  that 
division  of  labor  was. 

Answer.  No  ;  I  don't.  I  don't  know  exactly  what  is  the  setup  or  anything  like 
that.  My  part  was  to  see  to  it  that  the  article  conies  out.  As  to  the  disposition 
of  the  bulk  of  the  material  prepared,  it  was  not  my  business  or  domain,  and  I  did 
not  ask  questions  on  those  matters. 

Question.  Do  you  know  where  Harrison  George  lived? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know. 

Question.  At  that  time  you  were  doing  this  work  with  him? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  How  many  articles  did  Harrison  George  write  during  the  18-month 
period  you  have  spoken  of? 

Answer.  Probably  between  2  and  3  dozen. 

Question.  You.  spoke  of  these  articles  having  appeared  in  a  magazine.  What 
magazine? 

Answer.  The  name  of  the  magazine  is  Pacific  Worker. 

Question.  Who  published  the  Pacific  Worker? 

Answer.  We  did. 

Question.  What  do  you  mean  by  we? 

Answer.  Between  him  and  me.  But  it  had  a  notation,  "Organ  of  the  Pan- 
Pacific  Trade  Union  Secretariat."  That  was  the  notation  we  had  on  it.  What 
that  had  to  do  with  us,  I  don't  know,  but  we  wrote  it. 

Question.  Who  financed  the  publication  of  the  magazine? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  for  sure,  but  since  it  has  been  labeled  as  the  official 
organ  of  the  Pan-Pacific  secretariat,  I  suppose  it  came  from  that  source,  and  if 
it  is,  that  fund  should  have  come  from  RILU — Red  International  of  Labor 
Unions,  otherwise  known  as  Profintern.     But  this  is  my  assumption. 

Mr.  Chairman,  at  this  point  I  think  I  should,  to  form  a  basis  for 
my  questioning,  read  into  this  hearing  and  to  this  witness  some  of  the 
testimony  of  Maj.  Gen.  Charles  Willoughby. 

Mr.  Velde.  Without  objection  that  permission  is  granted,  and  you 
may  proceed  to  read. 

Mr.  Ta\t.nner.  General  Willoughby  brought  to  our  committee  the 
secret  Shanghai  police  files,  and  he  based  his  testimony  on  those  files 
regarding  Communist  Party  activities  in  China.  This  is  what  Gen- 
eral Willoughby  has  to  say  regarding  the  Pan-Pacific  Trade  Union 
Secretariat,  which  is  usually  referred  to  as  PPTUS. 

The  Pan-Pacific  Trade  Union  Secretariat  and  its  parent  organization,  the 
Shanghai  branch  of  the  far  eastern  bureau,  were  the  most  important  and  highly 
organized  apparatus  for  Comintern  labor  activities  in  the  Far  East  during  the 
late  1020's  and  the  early  1930's.  The  PPTUS  set  up  in  1927  a  conference  in 
Hankow  which  was  attended  by  several  prominent  Comintern  leaders,  including 
Lozovsky.  a  Comintern  agent  who  rose  fi'om  secretary  of  the  Profintern  in  1928 
to  ii  transient  position  as  leader  of  the  Soviet  labor  movement. 

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


3426       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Velde,  At  this  point  may  I  interrupt  to  say  that  Mr.  Doyle 
has  arrived,  and  I  now  reconstitute  the  subcommittee,  which  will 
consist  of  Mr.  Scherer,  Mr.  Jackson,  Mr.  Doyle,  and  myself  as  chair- 
man.    You  may  proceed. 

Mr.  Tavenner  (continuing  to  read)  : 

Another  member  of  the  Hankow  conference  who  later  became  first  head  of  the 
PPTUS  was  the  American  Communist,  Earl  Browder,  who  was  assisted  in  his 
work  in  Shanghai  by  an  American  woman,  Katherine  Harrison.  Other  Ameri- 
cans, including  a  journalist,  James  H.  Dolsen  ;  one  Albert  Edward  Stewart,  and 
Margaret  Undjus,  were  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  PPTUS,  as  was  the 
German  woman,  Irene  Weidemeyer. 

I  will  not  read  further  from  his  testimony  except  to  indicate  that 
this  testimony  related  particularly  to  the  Sorge  spy  incident  in  Japan 
and  China. 

General  Willoughby  had  this  further  to  say : 

I  pause  here  to  establish  the  link  in  this  police  investigation.  Sorge  mentioned 
the  Comintern  group  in  Shanghai. 

He  is  referring  there  to  Sorge's  confession. 

This  we  pick  up  as  the  Pan-Pacific  Trade  Union  Secretariat  since  Noulens  was 
arrested.  Obviously  this  man  Walsh  or  Eugene  Dennis,  and  his  subsequent 
connection  with  Browder  establishes  the  strongest  inference  that  he  was  asso- 
ciated with  him  then. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Counsel,  have  you  the  date  of  General  Wil- 
loughby's  testimony  before  this  committee  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir ;  he  testified  before  the  committee  on  August 
9,  22,  and  23, 1951. 

Mr.  Velde.  And  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  General  Willoughby  was  tlie 
chief  intelligence  officer  of  the  United  States  Army  operating  directly 
under  General  MacArthur,  is  that  right  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  He  was  G-2  under  General  MacArthur  during 
nearly  all  of  the  occupation  of  Japan. 

Mr.  Speiser.  Mr.  Tavenner,  I  have  a  question.  Did  General  Wil- 
loughby have  any  official  position  in  Japan  during  the  period  of  time 
that  he  was  testifying — just  a  question  with  regard  to  his  knowledge 
in  the  matter — was  it  indicated  ? 

Mr.  Velde.  I  am  sure  counsel  knows  his  right  to  confer  with  the 
witness  and  not  to  ask  any  questions,  but  I  think  counsel  could  very 
well  answer  that  question. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes.  General  Willoughby  spent  nearly  a  year  in 
investigating  Communist  activities  in  China  and  Japan,  and  he 
brought  this  committee  a  well-documented  treatise  on  the  subject  and 
testified  in  person,  and  this  is  part  of  his  testimony. 

Mr.  Velde.  But  I  think  the  question  that  was  asked  was,  did  he  have 
any  official  connection  with  the  intelligence  service  at  the  time  he 
testified  before  our  committee. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  I  didn't  understand  that. 

Mr.  Velde.  My  understanding  is  that  he  was  retired  at  that  time. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  This  committee  got  in  touch  with  General  Wil- 
loughby nearly  a  year  before  he  testified,  and  he  prepared  this  work 
for  the  committee  "to  prepare  himself  to  testify,  but  could  not  appear 
before  the  committee  until  he  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  this 
was  within  a  week  or  a  few  weeks  after  his  return  to  the  United  States, 
and  he  was  retired,  I  believe,  a  short  time  after  he  testified.  He  was 
being  processed  at  the  time  he  testified,  according  to  my  recollection. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3427 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  right ;  I  do  recall  that  now,  too.  Yes ;  you  are 
riffht.     He  did  have  the  connection  at  that  time. 

Mv.  Tavenner.  He  was  undergoing  physical  examinations  at  the 
time. 

Continuing  with  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Joe  Koide,  K-o-i-d-e,  the 
Japanese  national : 

Question.  What  was  the  general  nature  or  the  propaganda  material  which  you 
wrote  for  this  magazine? 

Answer.  This  magazine  was  mainly  concerned  about  analysis  of  the  economic 
conditions  in  Japan  under  military  rule,  and  also  articles  dealing  with  how  to 
improve  the  conditions  in  the  shops  and  factories  and  farms. 

Question.  Did  the  magazine  carry  other  pertinent  information  for  Communist 
Party  pui*poses  as,  for  instance,  was  the  custom  of  the  Daily  Worker  and  the 
People's  World? 

Answer.  No.  This  was  mainly,  basically,  labor  union  publication,  mainly, 
although  it  did  have  some  articles  dealing  with  international  developments. 

Question.  Do  you  know  whether  Hari-isou  George  was  engaged  in  this  form 
of  Communist  Party  activity  prior  to  your  being  associated  with  him  in  it? 

Answer.  No,  I  do  not  know. 

Question.  Was  Harrison  George  associated  with  you  in  this  work  during  the 
entire  18-month  period? 

Answer.  Yes.  That  is,  I  worked  longer  than  that,  but  my  association  with 
him  was  about  18  months.     But  I  worked  longer  than  that. 

Question.  Tell  us  the  circumstances  under  which  he  changed  the  field  of 
activity  in  which  he  was  engaged. 

Answer.  All  I  know  was  that  he  was  taken  out.  I  got  that  word  that  he's 
leaving,  that  I  had  to  work  with  somebody  else. 

Question.  Do  you  know  the  reason  for  his  being  taken  from  that  work? 

Answer.  No;  I  do  not  know. 

Question.  Do  you  know  what  his  new  assignment  was? 

Answer.  I  did  not  know  at  that  time,  but  shortly  afterwards  he  became  the 
editor  of  the  People's  World,  the  People's  World  established  here. 

And  if  I  may  say  so,  he  is  not  the  type  to  do  any  conspiracy  work  or  anything 
like  tliat.  He  wanted  to  mix  to  i)eople  and  he  wanted  to  do  open  and  he  didn't 
give  a  darn  who  he  talked  back  to.  He's  a  very  independent  and  stubborn  person, 
if  I  may  say  so.    I  think  that's  the  reason  he  didn't  last  long  in  the  party. 

Question.  Was  your  work  censored  or  edited  in  any  way  by  the  Communist 
Party  members  on  a  higlier  level  than  yourself? 

Answer.     No,  except  I  got  criticism  once  in  a  while  later  on. 

Question.  From  wliat  source  did  you  get  criticism? 

Answer.  Profintern  source. 

Question.  Tell  the  committee  about  it,  please. 

Answer.  Pardon  me? 

Question.  Tell  the  committee  about  it. 

Answer.  Some  examples  :  So  far  as  writing  and  editing  and  publishing  was  con- 
cerned, we  did  it  on  our  own,  no  one  to  censor,  no  one  to  edit.  We  did  it  on 
our  own  responsibility. 

Question.     To  whom  do  you  refer  when  you  say  "we"  ? 

Answer.  To  Harrison  George  and  myself. 

However,  there  were  cases  wlien  some  of  the  articles  we  wrote  or  we  published 
were  severely  criticized,  and  correction  in  print  was  demanded. 

Question.  Now,  are  you  speaking  of  corrections  in  the  sense  of  typographical 
errors,  or  actual  content  of  the  articles? 

Answer.  Actual  content.    And  if  I  may  say  so,  political  orientation. 

Question.  Describe  more  fully  what  you  mean,  giving  an  example,  if  you  can. 

Answer.  At  one  time  I  wrote  an  article  on  how  to  organize  a  shop  committee. 
A  few  months  later  we  received  the  manuscript  with  a  notation  that  this 
article  be  printed  in  toto  without  any  editing  or  abridging.  And  this  article,  the 
nature  of  this  article  was  a  bitter  denunciation  of  the  whole  line  of  argument 
we  put  forth  in  the  article,  previous  article,  on  the  organization  of  shop  com- 
mittee. 

Question.  Who  signed  the  critical  article? 

Answer.  This  article  bore  the  name  of  a  Japanese  representative  to  Profintern 
at  that  time. 

Question.  What  was  his  name? 


3428        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Answer.  Tanaka.  I  don't  know  whether  that's  his  real  name  or  not,  but  this 
one  Tanaka  was  on  the  executive  committee  of  the  Profintern  at  that  time.  I 
also  do  not  know  whether  this  article  has  actually  been  written  by  him  or  not. 
The  fact  is  that  article  was  sent  to  us  to  be  printed,  and  there  was  no  choice. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Incidentally,  that  is  not  the  Tanaka  who  is  notoriously  known 
in  Japan  as  the  author  of  the  Tanaka  Memorial. 

Question.  In  that  instance  the  Comintern  itself  directed  what  you  should 
publish;  isn't  that  so? 

Answer.  Well,  I'd  better  say  Profintern. 

Question.  The  Profintern. 

Answer.  On  this  question  I  have  to  state  that  the  magazine  itself  bore  the 
title  of  official  organ  of  the  PPTUS.  Now,  if  that  is  so,  I  think  PPTUS  has  every 
right  to  criticize  what  we  printed. 

Question.  Were  there  any  other  instances  in  which  you  received  criticism  of 
that  character  from  the  Profintern  or  any  other  international  Communist 
functionary  group? 

Answer.  Not  that  I  know.  There  might  have  been  some  minor  ones,  but  I  do 
not  remember.    It  was  sucli  small  ones.    But  this  was  a  big  one,  very  big  one. 

Question.  Who  replaced  Harrison  George  in  this  work? 

Answer.  Rude  Baker. 

Question.  Can  you  fix  the  date? 

Answer.  Well,  early  in  1935  or  some  time  in  1935 ;  early  1935. 

Question.  How  long  did  you  work  with  Rude  Baker  in  this  type  of  propaganda 
work? 

Answer.  We  parted  in  1937.    That  is  about  2  years. 

Question.  Did  you  continue  in  the  same  general  line  of  propaganda  activity 
with  Rude  Baker  as  followed  with  Harrison  George? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  What  was  the  difference? 

Answer.  Up  to  that  time  I  edited  this  official  organ  of  the  PPTUS,  which,  as  I 
stated  before,  mainly  concerned  about  economic  labor-unicm  problems.  However, 
shortly  after  Rude  Baker  came  1  propo.sed,  and  later  agreed,  that  I  start  entirely 
difTerent  type  of  propaganda  material.  And  I  started  a  publication.  Interna- 
tional Correspondence,  a  very  small,  about  16-page,  pamphlet  in  .Japanese.  This 
pamphlet  dealt  more  with  political  problems  rather  tlian  economic  and  labor- 
union  problems.  This  proposal  of  mine  coincided  with  the  holding  of  tlie  Seventh 
World  Congress  of  the  Communist  International.  This  congress  was  held  in 
1935,  I  believe. 

Question.  July  1935? 

Answer,  Was  it  July? 

Question.  In  Moscow? 

Answer.  Yes.  And  this  Congress  adopted  a  new  policy  of  people's  front,  and 
made  a  thorough  examination  of  the  past  mistakes  of  the  Communist  Party 
throughout  the  world  and  adopted  that  new  policy  of  people's  front.  And  it  was 
very  urgent,  I  believed,  that  this  new  policy  be  spread  to  Japan.  And  that  is 
one  of  the  reasons  I  suggested  to  publish  such  a  magazine.  And  also  this  fact 
made  it  possible  for  me  to  work  more  independently  from  Rude  Baker.  When  I 
worked  with  Harrison  George  it  was  more  or  less  a  joint  undertaking.  He  wrote 
son)ething;  I  wrote  something.  In  this  new  adventure  of  mine,  or  enterprise  of 
mine,  I  was  my  own  boss.  Balder  wrote  no  articles.  I  didn't  liave  to  take  any 
articles  from  him  to  publish. 

Question.  However,  you  were  subordinate  to  Rude  Baker  in  the  iierformance  of 
this  work? 

Answer.  I  found  that  out. 

Question.  How  did  you  find  that  out? 

Answer.  Since  I  was  writing  in  Japanese  and  supplying  no  translation  of  the 
articles,  most  of  the  things  I  wrote  Rude  Baker  did  not  know  about  for  a  long 
time.  But  after  several  months  he  did  find  out  what  I  was  writing  about,  and 
he  started  checking  up  on  me,  wanted  to  know  what  I  was  writing  what  I  was 
going  to  write  about  in  the  next  issue,  and  so  forth.  I  did  not  like  this  interfer- 
ence. But  it  came  to  a  point  finally  that  I  was  put  on  the  carpet  for  writing 
articles  which  has  nationalistic  tendencies  or  deviations;  that  I  placed  too  much 
upon  national  phases  rather  than  international  aspect. 

Question.  Do  you  recall  any  specific  instance  in  which  he  charged  you  with 
deviations? 

Answer.  No ;  I  do  not  recollect  any  .specific  instances.  But  this  criticism  was 
labeled  more  against  my  response  to  his  criticism  rather  than  the  article  itself. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3429 

It  started  with  his  checking  up  on  my  articles,  but  when  the  break  came  it  was 
more  or  less  the  question  of  my  attitude  toward  the  criticism. 

Question.  What  was  the  result  of  this  criticism? 

Answer.  I  was  told  to  get  lost. 

Question.  Did  you  get  lost? 

Answer.  Yes,  I  did. 

Question.  Did  that  end  your  propaganda  work  for  the  Communist  Party  on  the 
west  coast? 

Answer.  It  did  for  over  a  year.  I  got  completley  lost.  I  didn't  even  try  to 
look  at  anything  communistic.  I  was  sick  and  tired  of  the  whole  thing  at  that 
time. 

Then  as  far  as  the  rest  of  his  testimony  is  concerned,  it  doesn't  relate 
to  matters  that  I  am  interested  in  questioning  you  about,  but  in  order 
that  the  story  may  be  completed,  a  year  later  he  was  assigned  to  the 
publication  in  Japanese  language  of  the  history  of  communism  in  the 
Soviet  Union. 

You  have  heard  that  testimony,  Mr.  George,  and  we  are  interested  to 
find  facts  as  to  the  method — first  let  us  say  as  to  the  method,  or  as  the 
witness  said,  as  to  the  division  of  work  in  connection  with  the  handling 
of  this  propaganda,  how  it  was  sent  to  Japan,  by  what  method.  Will 
you  tell  us  that,  please  ? 

( At  this  point  Mr.  George  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser. ) 

Mr.  George.  Well,  it  has  been  a  very  interesting  recitation,  but  I 
don't  see  that  under  advice  of  counsel  I  can  answer  that  question  on 
the  grounds  of  the  first  and  the  fifth  amendments. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  say  on  the  advice  of  counsel  ? 

Mr.  George.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  of  course  you  should  seek  your  counsel's  ad- 
vice, but  the  important  thing  here  is  not  what  your  counsel  says,  but 
what  you  think.  Are  you  contending  in  good  faith  that  to  answer  the 
question  might  tend  to  incriminate  you  ? 

Mr,  George.  Otherwise  I  wouldn't  say  so. 

Mr.  Tam=:nner.  I  want  to  make  certain  that  is  your  idea. 

Mr.  George.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  If  it  is  your  idea,  I  cannot  question  you  further 
about  it. 

Mr.  George.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  it  ? 

Mr.  George.  It  is. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  want  to  call  to  your  attention  other  evidence  that 
the  committee  has  received.  Prior  to  locating  the  witness,  Mr.  Koide, 
testimony  was  received  in  executive  session  in  Los  Angeles — and  it 
has  now  been  released — taken  on  December  22, 1952.  The  witness  was 
Anne  Kinney,  K-i-n-n-e-y.  IMiss  Kinney  admitted  her  former  Com- 
munist Party  membership  and  told  of  her  activities  within  the  party. 
It  is  necessary  that  I  base  questions  to  you  on  her  testimony,  and  so 
it  is  also  necessary  to  read  it  to  you. 

Mr.  Velde.  May  I  confer  with  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  sir. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Velde  conferred  Avith  Mr.  Tavenner,  and  Mr. 
George  conferred  with  Mr.  Si)eiser.) 

Mr.  T.WENNER.  I  am  not  certain  just  the  date  when  this  testimony 
was  released  and  made  public,  but  I  liave  before  me  the  printed  release 
of  the  committee  which  is  entitled  "Investigation  of  Communist  Ac- 
tivities in  the  Los  Angeles  Area,  Part  5." 

Mr.  Velde.  Proceed. 


3430       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  TA^rENNER.  This  is  a  question  asked  of  Miss  Kinney  by  Mr. 
Wheeler : 

From  September  1934  to  the  fall  of  1935  you  stated  you  were  a  member  at 
large.     What  is  meant  by  the  term  "meml)er  at  large"? 

Miss  Kinney.  You  are  not  attached  to  any  branch  of  any  sort. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  For  what  reason? 

Miss  Kinney.  Because  I  was  given  a  special  assignment. 

Mr.  Wheelek.  In  your  opinion  would  you  say  that  you  were  a  member  at  large 
and  not  assigned  to  any  group  because  of  security  reasons  of  the  party? 

Miss  Kinney.  I  presume  so. 

Mr.  WHEELBat.  Were  you  assigned  to  any  particular  person? 

Miss  Kinney.  Yes,  to  Harrison  George. 

Mr.  Wheeleu.  Will  you  further  identify  Mr.  Harrison  George? 

Miss  Kinney.  Harrison  George  was  apparently  carrying  out  some  special  as- 
signment which  had  to  do  with  publishing  what  I  think  was  a  trade-union  paper 
that  was  sent  to  Japan.  I  knew  very  little  about  it  because  all  I  was  supposed 
to  do  was  to  pick  up  mail  for  him  that  was  sent  to  various  addresses  and  take 
it  to  him. 

Mr.  Wheelek.  Do  you  recall  from  whom  you  picked  up  the  mail? 

Miss  Kinney.  No,  I  don't.  I  never  made  the  arrangements  for  the  use  of  the 
addresses.     I  simply  went  and  got  the  envelopes  and  took  them  to  George. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Do  you  recall  any  of  the  addresses  where  you  picked  up  the 
envelopes? 

Miss  Kinney.  No,  I  don't. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  at  any  time  acquire  any  knowledge  as  to  what  the 
envelopes  contained? 

MLss  Kinney.  No,  I  didn't,  nor  did  I  ever  know  where  they  came  from. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  When  assigned  to  Harrison  George  did  you  at  any  time  have 
any  knowledge  of  the  branch  of  the  party  known  as  the  Philippine  committee? 

Miss  Kinney.  No. 

Now,  did  Miss  Kinney  operate  as  a  mail  courier  for  you  in  con- 
nection with  the  publication  of  this  magazine,  pamphlet,  of  which 
we  have  been  talking? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  George  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  George.  I  decline  to  answei*  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

-     Mr.  Ta\-enner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee  the  purposes  of  the 
Communist  Party  in  engaging  in  this  propaganda  activity? 

Mr.  George.  That  is  a  leading  question,  it  seems  to  me. 

IVIr,  Tavenner.  Yes,  and  I  am  leading  purposely  in  the  hopes  that 
I  may  get  an  answer. 

Mr.  George.  Well,  I  decline  to  answer  on  the  same  grounds  as 
previously  stated. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  the  publication  to  w^iich  we  have  referred 
financed  and  directed  by  the  Profintern  ? 

Mr.  George.  I  decline  to  answer  on  the  same  groimds. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  apparent  that  the  witness  will 
not  answer  questions  relating  to  this  matter,  so  we  will  continue  with 
the  investigation. 

Mr.  Velde.  Well,  Mr.  George,  if  you  were  engaged  in  an  operation 
that  was  sponsored  by  the  Soviet  Union  as  has  been  mentioned  in  the 
testimony  of  two  witnesses,  don't  you  think  it  vital  to  the  security  of 
our  country  at  the  present  time  that  you  assist  this  committee  with 
information  that  you  must  have  so  that  we  might  pass  legislation 
which  would  further  protect  the  security  of  the  American  people  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  George  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  George.  Well,  some  of  your  question  was  a  presumption.  But 
I  would  say  I  don't  think  what  I  would  say  would  have  any  bearing 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  EST  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3431 

Lil^on  tliat  thing.  That  is  my  opinion,  and  upon  that  opinion  I  base 
my  declination  to  answer  the  question  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth 
amendment  as  previously  stated. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  What  part  of  ]Mr.  Velde's  question  was  a  presumption  ? 

Mr.  George.  The  presumption  that  the  publication  of  this  thing  was 
for  the  Soviet  government. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Who  was  it  for  ? 

Mr.  GEor.GE.  That  is  not  for  me  to  say,  but  I  say  that  is  his  presump- 
tion. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Can  you  clear  it  up  for  us  ? 

Mr.  George.  No. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  believe  you  could  clear  it  up  for  us,  Mr.  George,  but 
apparently  you  are  not  going  to  assist  this  committee  in  any  way.  Do 
you  have  any  further  questions,  Mr.  Scherer? 

■Mr.  ScHEKER.  Did  you  ever  receive  any  compensation,  either  di- 
rectly or  indirectly,  from  the  Soviet  Union  ? 

^Nlr.  George.  I  think  I  better  decline  to  answer  on  the  grounds  of  the 
fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Do  you  decline  ? 

Mr.  George.  I  do  so  decline,  yes. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Did  you  ever  receive  any  compensation  directly  or 
indirectly  from  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  George.  Same  answer. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  have  no  further  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  Doyle.  When  our  chairman  asked  you  a  minute  ago  about 
whether  or  not  the  publication  was  at  the  instance  of  the  Soviet  Union, 
I  understood  your  answer  to  indicate  that  you  felt  that  was  a  presump- 
tion on  his  part.     Did  I  so  understand  ? 

Mr.  George.  That  was  my  implication. 

Mr.  DoTLE.  Well,  now 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  can't  hear  the  witness. 

Mr.  George.  That  was  my  implication. 

Mr.  Doyle.  As  long  as  you  disagreed  with  his  presumption,  you 
tell  us,  please,  in  the  interests  of  the  national  security  of  your  own 
Nation,  who  it  was  as  far  as  you  know  that  was  sponsoring  the  publi- 
cation of  this? 

Mr.  George.  I  decline  to  answer  on  the  gi"ounds  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Will  you  turn  up-^the  microphone  for  the  witness? 
His  fifth  amendments  are  weak  here. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  One  further  question :  "Wliere  do  you  reside,  Mr. 
George? 

]\Ir.  George.  Los  Angeles. 

Mr.  Tavt5xner.  What  address? 

Mr.  George.  Residence?     1923  East  Fourth  Street,  zone  33. 

Mr.  Velde.  What  is  your  occupation  at  the  present  time? 

Mr.  George.  I  am  doing  clerical  work. 

Mr.  Scherer.  For  whom  ? 

Mr.  George.  Well,  it  is  in  a  commercial  enterprise  owned  by  a  doc- 
tor in  Los  Angeles. 

]Mr.  Scherer.  You  are  not  today  employed  by  the  Communist  Party 
then  ? 

41002 — 54 — pt.  5 3 


3432       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

(At  this  point  Mr.  George  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  George.  No,  I  am  not  employed  by  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Are  you  a  member  of  the  party  today? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  George  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  George.  I  decline  to  answer  on  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  Velde,  Mr.  Counsel,  is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  should 
be  further  retained  under  subpena  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  If  not,  the  witness  is  dismissed,  and  call  your  next  wit- 
ness, please. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Paul  Chown. 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  do. 

TESTIMONY  OF  PAUL  CHOWN,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS  COUNSEL, 

GEORGE  ANDERSEN 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  your  name,  please,  sir? 

Mr.  Chown.  My  name  is  Paul  Chown. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Are  you  accompanied  by  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  Yes,  I  am. 

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

Mr.  Andersen.  My  name  is  (jeorge  Andersen,  att/orney  at  law,  240 
Montgomery  Street. 

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

Mr.  Chown.  I  was  born  in  California. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  your  occupation  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  am  field  organizer  for  the  United  Electrical,  Radio 
and  Machine  Workers  of  America. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  have  you  held  that  position? 

Mr.  Chown.  Approximately  3  years. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  was  your  employment  prior  to  that? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  would  have  to  ask  time  to  gather  together  all  the 
information  pertinent  to  that. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  let  us  see  if  you  can  recall  what  your^i- 
ployment  was  immediately  before  you  took  your  position  with  the  UE. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  I  was  employed  by  the  joint  action  committee  of  north- 
ern California  local  unions. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  were  you  so  employed  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  Oh,  I  believe  it  was  2  or  3  months. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  employment  then  was  in  1949  as  nearly  as 
you  can  recall  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  1950, 1  believe. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  were  you  employed  in  1949 — let  us  put  it  this 
way :  I  would  like  to  know  what  your  employment  has  been  since  1945. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Maybe  it  would  be  easier  to  begin  there  and  come 
up  rather  than  go  back.     But  you  may  do  it  either  way  you  like. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3433 

Mr.  Chown.  I  have  been  in  the  trade  union  movement  all  of  my 
adult  life,  and  it  would  seem  to  me  a  lot  easier  if  you  asked  me  the 
particular  organizations  and  the  time  you  are  interested  in. 

Mr,  Tavenner.  Well,  it  is  from  1945  on  up  until  the  time  I  have 
mentioned,  1950. 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  any  particular  year,  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  let  us  begin  with  1945  and  state  what  it  is. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  If  it  will  simplify  it  any 

Mr.  Andersen.  Pardon  me;  we  are  consulting,  if  you  don't  mind. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Let  me  change  the  question,  please,  and  then  you 
can  consult  further. 

Mr.  Andersen.  You  want  to  withdraw  it  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Let  me  ask  you  how  you  were  employed  in  1948. 
Maybe  that  will  simplify  it. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown,  As  best  I  can  remember  I  was  working  for  the  Ala- 
meda CIO  Council  in  1948.  As  I  said  before,  counsel,  it  would  require 
my  checking  my  records  which  I  have  at  home  as  to  the  exact  times 
of  employment,  months  and  dates  and  so  forth. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  were  you  employed  in  1947  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  In  1947  I  worked  for  the,  I  believe,  California  CIO 
Council  and  the  Alameda  County  CIO  Council. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  ^Ir.  Charles  David  Blodgett  testified  that  he  was 
employed  by  the  Daily  People's  World  for  a  period  of  about  2'^^ 
years  covering  the  years  of  1947,  1948,  and  up  into  1949,  so  probably 
I  should  ask  you  also  how  you  were  employed  in  1949  before  closing 
the  questions  that  I  have  in  mind. 

Mr.  Chown.  I  believe  I  was  still  employed  by  the  Alameda  County 
CIO  Council  in  1949. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  He  stated  that  during  that  period  of  time  he  was 
in  attendance  and  required  to  attend  under  the  directions  of  Lloyd 
Lehman,  the  county  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Alameda 
County,  the  meetings  of  the  Political  Affairs  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  and  he  described  to  some  extent  the  operations  of  that 
committee,  although  he  says  he  was  there  merely  as  an  observer.  He 
has  identified  you  in  the  testimony  as  one  of  the  persons  who  attended 
those  meetings,  and  it  was  during  substantially  the  period  that  I  have 
asked  you  about. 

The  committee  would  like  you  to  tell  them  just  what  activities  that 
group  engaged  in  and  who  took  part  in  it,  so  let  me  ask  you  first :  Did 
you  meet  with  that  group? 

(At  this  point  Mr,  Chown  conferred  with  Mr,  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  in  the  first  place,  I  was  not  present  at  the  time 
this  man  you  allege  so  testified  did  so,  and  I  would  not  be  willing  to 
take  the  opinion  of  this  committee  as  to  what  was  said  or  what  was 
not  said  by  this  Mr.  Blodgett,  and  I  would  certainly  like  to  be  able 
to  examine  the  transcript  or  have  it  read  here  in  detail. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  you  Imow  the  facts,  and  it  wouldn't  change 
the  facts,  regardless  of  what  may  be  on  the  record  as  to  what  the 
witness  said  or  my  recollection  of  his  testimony,  so  let  me  then  put 
the  question  this  way:  Did  you  at  anv  time  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
Political  Affairs  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Alameda 


3434       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

County,    which    you    may    answer    independent    of    anyone    else's 
testimony. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  C'liowN.  Well,  it  seems  obvious  to  me  this  committee  is  tryinfj 
to  link  me  in  with  the  stool  pi<;eon  and  with  an  attempt  to  smear  some 
other  people  politically,  and  I  am  going  to  decline  to  answer  that 
question  based  on  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  My  question  related  only  to  you,  Mr.  Chown. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  I  heard  what  you  said,  and  my  answer  is  still  the  same, 
that  no  one  appearing  before  this  committee  can  hope  to  beat  the 
problem  of  paid,  professional,  hopped-up  perjurers  who  come  in  here 
and  bear  false  witness. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Chown,  let  me  again  disabuse  your  mind  of  this. 
This  committee  has  never  paid  any  witness  to  appear  before  it  to  give 
testimony  and  doesn't  direct  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses. 

Mr.  CiiowN.  Mr.  Velde,  every  stool  pigeon  I  have  ever  known  of 
has  either  been  named  or  in  some  other  way  been 

Mr.  Velde.  This  committee  does  not  direct  the  testimony  of  any 
witness  that  comes  before  it.  But  as  far  as  I  am  personally  con- 
cerned, I  will  take  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Blodgett  as  the  truth  rather 
than  rely  on  anythino;  that  you  might  say  before  this  committee. 

Mr.  C'nowN.  "Mr.  Velde-^ — 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  there  anything  further  that 

Mr.  Tavexner.  I  am  not  certain  the  record  shows  what  the  reason 
for  his  refusal  to  answer  is. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  think  it  was  very  clearly  stated  it  was  the  fifth 
amendment. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  If  he  did,  I  have  no  further  questions. 

Mr.  Chown.  Wait  a  minute.     I  would  like  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Yes.  I  note  you  say  you  were  employed  by  the  Cali- 
fornia CIO  council  and  Alameda  council  of  the  CIO  in  California. 
I  am  not  sure  of  the  dates,  but  my  recollection  is  that  I  have  read 
and  heard  that  the  CIO  council  of  California,  certainly  in  the  last 
4  or  5  years,  took  active  means  to  kick  out  of  CIO  circles,  so  far  as 
they  knew  or  discovered.  Communists.  Wliat  part  did  you  play,  if 
anv,  as  a  CIO  employee  in  kicking  known  Communists  out  of  the 
CIO  councils? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Doyle.  Would  you  please  tell  us?  We  are  interested,  among 
other  things,  in  knowing  what  the  methods  were  of  these  subversive 
commies  in  any  field  of  endeavor  in  California,  which  is  my  native 
State,  and  you  apparently  have  been  employed  by  CIO  councils 
several  years.  Now,  what  part  did  you  play  if  any,  in  kicking  any 
Communists  out  of  the  CIO  councils  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  am  afraid  Mr.  Doyle,  that  you  are  not  familiar  with 
what  some  of  the  real  conflicts  in  the  CIO  have  been.  The  real  issue 
has  been  a  question  of  whether  or  not  the  iniions,  such  as  my  union 
and  many  others  that  have  for  a  long  time  had  a  clear  and  clean 
record  of  fighting  to  maintain  this  country  and  fightinjx  for  political 
freedom  rather  than  political  dictatorship — that  was  the  split  in  the 
CIO.  It  had  nothing  to  do  with  Communists  or  non-Communists; 
that  was  just  a  red  herring  that  was  dragged  into  it,  and  our  fight 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3435 

was  wlietlier  or  not  our  membership  ^Yould  be  able  to  vote  for  who  they 
w^anted  for  president  rather  than  what  a  few  people  on  top  were 
trying  to  dictate  to  them  to  vote  for. 

That  was  the  issue,  and  as  you  ssij,  I  was  opposed  to  qualify — I  was 
better  qualified  to  decide  what  those  issues  were,  Congressman. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Of  course  I  wasn't  close  to  it  at  all. 

Mr.  Chown.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  Doyle.  But  I  am  sure  I  have  read  reports  by  CIO  publications 
in  the  last  few  years  that  there  was  a  definite  program  to  kick  Com- 
nmnists  out  of  the  CIO  in  California,  and  you  don't  know  anything 
about  that  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  I  have  read  in  the  papers,  too,  about  some  honest,  good 
people,  for  15  and  18  years  have  been  fighting  for  the  working  people, 
who  have  been  dirtied  up  in  this  committee.  If  you  don't  put  any 
substance  in  that,  I  don't  think  you  should  put  any  substance  in  what 
you  have  read  about  in  relation  to  the  CIO,  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  ScHEKER.  Are  you  still  a  member  of  the  party  today? 

Mr.  Doyle.  But  I  have  read  those  articles  in  CIO  papers. 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  best  way  to  acquire  some 
real  knowledge  of  any  situation  is  first-hand  and  not  by  what  you  read 
because  these  days  it  is  pretty  hard  to  get  the  truth  out  of  what  you 
see  in  newspapers. 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  the  gentleman  yield  for  one  question? 

Mr.  Doi'LE.  Yes. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  the  United  Electrical  Workers  still  a  part  of  the 
official  body  of  the  CIO? 

Mr.  Chowx.  We  separated  ourselves  from  the  CIO  when  they  tried 
to  politically'  dictate  to  us  what  our  members  should  do  in  elections 
and  when  they  were  using  our  dues  money  to  try  to  raid  and  destroy 
our  union. 

Mr.  Velde.  As  a  matter  of  act,  you  were  kicked  out  of  the  CIO, 
isn't  that  true? 

Mr.  Chown.  As  a  matter  of  act,  we  suspended  paying  dues.  We 
walked  out  first. 

Mr.  Velde.  Walked  out  before  you  were  kicked  out? 

Mr.  Chown.  That  is  right:  we  walked  out. 

Mr.  ScHEKER.  AVell,  I  still  think  my  question  hasn't  been  answered. 
Are  you  still  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  will  be  glad  to  ask 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  ScHERER.  That  is  all,  are  you  still  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party  today  ? 

(At  tliis  jwint  Mr.  Chown  conferred  Avith  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  Would  you  mind  repeating  the  question? 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Are  you  still  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party 
today? 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  of  course  that  is  a  loaded  question  like  when  did 
I  stop  beating  my  wife.  However,  I  would  like  to  say  this  in  response 
to  that  problem :  It  seems  to  me  that  the  question  of  asking  a  j)er- 
son's  political  belief  tends  to  undermine  the  whole  jihilosophical  con- 
ce])t  u]ion  which  our  country  has  been  founded,  and  that  came  first 
from  the  people  in  the  l7th  century,  people  like  Voltaire  and  Jean 
Rousseau,  people  like  John  Locke  of  England,  and  out  of  those  writ- 


3436       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

ings  which  said  that  free  inquiry  and  freedom  of  the  human  mind  was 
going:  to  be  the  tiling  for  progress,  that  is  what  we  based  our  Con- 
stitution on,  and  that  is  why  we  have  the  high  standard  of  living 
and  the  kind  of  scientific  development  we  do  today,  and  I  am  not 
just  going  to  be  a  party  in  answering  questions  one  way  or  another  to 
draw  down  a  dark  curtain  on  free  human  inquiry,  and  that  is  what  it 
gets  to,  start  telling  people  what  they  are  for  or  against. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  I  am  just  asking  you  whether  you  happen  to  be  a 
member  of  this  consj^iracy  that  it  threatening  to  overthrow  this 
Constitution  which  3'ou  so  glibly  uphold. 

Mr.  Chown.  It  happens  I  am  not  a  member  of  any  committee  like 
this  or  similar  to  it,  which  ask  people  questions  which  in  my  opinion 
go  toward  destroying  and  undermining  the  basic  rights  that  this 
country  was  founded  on. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  You  still  haven't  given  an  answer  as  to  whether  or 
not  you  are  a  member  of  the  party  today. 

Mr.  Chown.  I  am  going  to  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the 
basis,  first  of  all,  of  the  first  amendment  which  gives  every  man  and 
woman  supposedly  freedom  of  association  and  freedom  of  speech 
and  freedom  of  religion,  and  that  is  what  I  said  before,  that  in  rela- 
tion to  how  this  country  has  operated  and  what  has  made  us  great 
hae  been  that  we  can  have  a  conflict  of  ideas,  and  when  you  wipe  out 
any  conflict  of  ideas  in  the  market  place  of  political  opinion,  then 
we  are  on  our  first  step  to  turning  the  clock  back  over  300  years,  and 
I  am  not  going  to  associate  myself  with  any  plots  or  schemes  or  plans 
which  will  head  us  in  that  direction.  Also  based  on  the  fifth  amend- 
ment I  am  going  to  decline  to  answer. 

Mr.  ScriERER.  I  thought  that  would  be  your  answer. 

Mr.  Chown.  Because  I  cannot  know  who  will  come  here  to  bear 
false  witness,  and  I  know  how  this  thing  is  set  up  where  my  attorney 
can't  cross-examine  people  that  come  here,  and  we  can't  bring  in  our 
own  witnesses  and  in  our  own  behalf 

Mr.  Doyle.  Now  Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  proceed  and  complete  my 
questions  ? 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Doyle.     I  thought  you  were  finished. 

Mr.  Doyle.  That  is  all  right.  I  was  glad  to  have  you  interrupt 
temporarily.  My  questions  will  not  be  directed  to  your  political 
beliefs,  but  I  assume  from  your  own  testimony  that  you  have  been 
pretty  closely  in  touch  with  the  trade-union  movement  quite  a  while 
in  California.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  you  said  all  your  adult  life, 
and  I  am  not  interested,  either,  in  inquiring  into  internal  trade-union 
squabbles  or  difficulties.  You  have  testified  yourself  voluntarily  as 
to  one  difficulty  apparently  in  trade  unionism.  I  am  not  interested 
in  that  difficulty.  But  I  am  interested  in  seeing  if  I  can  get  your 
cooperation  in  connection  with  your  telling  us  whether  or  not  to  your 
personal  knowledge,  we  will  say,  since  1945,  1946,  1947,  there  have 
been  any  persons  subversively  trying  to  destroy  our  form  of  consti- 
tution and  government. 

You  understand,  of  course,  the  meaning  of  "subversive."  The  rea- 
son I  use  that  lancfuage  is  that  that  is  the  language  used  in  Public 
Law  601  in  which  we  are  expresslv  assigned  to  investigate  the  extent 
and  character  of  subversive  activities. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3437 

Of  course  we  were  not  limited  in  that  assignment  because  if  there 
have  been  subversive  activities  to  your  personal  knowledge— or  don't 
you  know  ?  Let  me  ask  you  this  way,  and  that  may  make  it  shorter, 
so  I  won't  have  to  ask  so  many  questions,  and  so  you  won't  have 
to  make  a  speech.  But  can  I  ask  you  this  way :  Have  you  known 
in  the  last  5  years  of  any  subversive  activities  in  the  trade-union 
movement  here  in  California,  to  your  own  personal  knowledge? 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  Mr.  Doyle,  the  problem  on  that  is,  you  mention 
the  fact  that  subversive  activity  is  supposed  to  be  a  simple  and  clear- 
cut  thing,  but  I  don't  find  it  to  be  so. 

For  example,  you  have  a  colleague  in  Congress,  a  fellow  named 
Lane  from  Massachusetts,  who  introduced  a  bill  which 

Mr.  Doyle.  Now 

Mr.  Chown.  Wait  a  minute.  I  want  to  say  he  introduced  a  bill 
defining  subversive  activity  as  anybody  who  engages  in  a  work  stop- 
page or  slowdown  and  who  should  go  to  jail  2  to  10  years  with  a 
$10,000  fine.     Is  that  the  kind  of  subversive  activity  you  mean? 

Mr.  DoTLE.  Of  course  I  am  taking  the  commonly  accepted  defini- 
tion, to  destroy,  to  dissolve,  to  exterminate,  as  given  by  Mr.  Webster. 
That  is  my  definition.  Take  Mr.  Webster's  dictionary  definition  with 
which  you  are  very  familiar,  I  am  sure. 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  I  would  say  that  those  unions — the  advancing 
of  their  constitutional  provisions  that  would  create  second-class  citi- 
zenship for  various  people,  whether  because  of  color  or  political  be- 
liefs, that  that  is  the  type  of  subversive  activity  that  has  been  going  on 
in  the  labor  movement  in  recent  times. 

Mr.  Doyle.  No,  no ;  don't  dodge  the  question,  please. 

Mr.  Velde.  May  I  again  advise  the  physical  audience  present  that 
any  expressions  of  disapproval  or  approval  of  anything  that  is  said 
by  the  witness  or  counsel  or  a  member  of  the  committee  will  not  be 
tolerated,  and  I  would  regret  very  much  having  to  clear  the  hearing 
room,  but  in  case  there  is  further  outburst,  the  chair  will  have  to 
order  the  policemen  to  clear  the  hearing  room. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Doyle.  Let  me  state  this :  I  don't  know  as  I  ever  met  you,  but 
I  am  in  good  faith  in  asking  your  cooperation. 

Mr.  Chown.  So  am  I. 

Mr.  DoYLB.  Well,  I  assume  you  are  in  trying  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion again.  I  am  looking  for  information,  if  you  have  anv,  under  our 
assignment  as  a  congressional  committee  under  Public  Law  601,  to 
investigate  the  extent  of  subversive  activities  in  any  field. 

Mr.  Chown.  I  will  try  to  answer  that  question  again.  There  have 
been  a  lot  of  inquiries  about  sabotage  and  so  on  and  espionage.  To  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief  certainly  in  my  union  and,  as  far  as 
I  know  about  the  longshoremen,  warehousemen,  steel  workers,  and  auto 
workers,  I  have  never  heard  of  anybody  being  charged  or  indicted 
with  any  such  actions  here  on  the  west  coast,  and  that  seems  to  me  to 
speak  pretty  well  for  itself  that  the  record  of  these  people  as  loyal 
Americans  is  pretty  hard  to  question. 

Mr.  D0YI.E.  Then  you  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  any  of  it? 

Mr.  Chown.  Not  as  I  understand  and  define  the  term  "subversive," 
no. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Have  you  defined  "subversive"  according  to  your  under- 
standing? 


3438       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Chown.  As  I  understand  it.  I  have  no  knowledfje  of  subversive 
activities,  except  to  the  extent  that  tliere  are  i^eople,  of  course,  in  Cali- 
fornia that  would  like  to  undermine  tlie  Bill  of  Rights,  and  I  think 
again  any  attack  on  our  Constitution 

Mr.  Doyle.  No,  no ;  don't  dodge  the  question. 

Mr.  Chown.  That  is  what  I  define  as  subversive,  like  there  are  cer- 
tain Congressmen  who  would  like  to  do  away  with  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  DoYi.E.  Let  me  ask  you  this  theri :  Do  you  define  persons  m  the 
Communist  Party  who  favor  the  forceful  and  violent  overthrow  of  our 
form  of  government  as  subversive?  As  long  as  we  are  discussing 
definitions. 

(At  tliis  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  CiiowN.  In  my  own  acquaintance  I  know  of  no  one  who  is 
actively  engaged  in  organizing  the  forceful  overthrow  of  this  country. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Well,  will  you  answer  my  question,  please  ?  I  didn't  ask 
you  whetlier  or  not  you  knew  any.  I  "asked  you  if  that  was  included 
in  your  definition  of  "subversive."  You  have  had  quite  a  consulta- 
tion with  your  counsel  before  you  answered  that,  and  that  is  all 
right.    He  has  a  right  to  advise  you  on  your  rights. 

Mr.  CiiowN.  That  is  still  a  privilege  which  I  should  enjoy  before 
this  committee. 

Mr.  Doyle.  That  is  right,  and  I  cherish  the  continued  opi^ortunity  of 
every  witness  before  this  committee  to  have  private  counsel.  But  how 
will  you  answer  my  question,  please? 

Mr.  Chown.  AVould  you  mind  restating  it? 

Mr,  Doyle.  Would  the  reporter  please  read  it? 

(The  question  was  read  by  the  reporter  as  follows: 

Do  you  define  persons  in  the  Communist  Party  who  favor  the  forceful  and  vio- 
lent overthrow  of  our  form  of  government  as  subversive? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  is  a  political  question  of  certain 
presumptions  as  what  the  motivations  of  various  people  might  be  or  a 
member  of  a  political  organization,  and  I  am  not  going  to  get  in  a  de- 
bate as  to  what  the  people  who  may  be  members  of  the  Conununist 
Party — what  they  advocate  and  what  they  don't  advocate.  I  am  just 
not  equipped  to  do  that. 

Mr.  Doyle.  In  other  Avords,  you  don't  know,  is  that  it,  what  they 
advocate?     Or  do  you  know? 

Mr.  Chown.  I  am  saying  that  I  am  not  going  to  get  in  a  debate 
with  you  as  what  thev  advocate  or  don't  advocate. 

Mr.  D0Y1.E.  I  will  ask  you,  do  you  know  what  the  Communist  Party 
advocates  in  the  United  States? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  You  want  my  opinion,  is  that  it? 

Mr.  DoYLE.  No,  I  am  asking  if  you  know. 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  that  still  sounds  like  asking  my  opinion  to  me, 
and  I  am  not  going  to  debate  the  question  of  communism  with  you, 
Representative  Doyle. 

:Mr.  Doyle.  I  see  you  are  not  even  going  to  discuss  the  question  of 
whether  or  not  you  know  who  is  subversive  and  who  is  not. 

Mr.  Chown.  t  answered  that  as  far  as  my  understanding  of  what 
subversive  is. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3439 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  think  I  have  no  other  questions  from  this  witness. 

Mr,  Velde.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  should  be  longer 
retained  under  subpena? 

Mr.  Tavenxer.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  ask  one  or  two  more 
questions. 

Mr.  Chown,  in  my  opinion  you  made  a  very  pertinent  statement  a 
moment  ago.  You  stated  the  way  to  get  information  is  to  get  it 
directly  at  first  hand,  so  I  am  going  back  to  my  original  question.  I 
want  to  know  about  the  activities  of  the  Political  Affairs  Committee 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  Alameda  County  and  try  to  get  from  you 
first  hand  what  knowledge  you  have,  if  any,  of  its  operations. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Chown  conferred  with  ]Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  there  again  that  assumes  that  I  know  something ; 
that  is  an  "iffy"  question,  Counsel. 

INIr.  Tavexner.  No;  of  course  I  don't  want  an  answer  unless  you 
know.     Do  you  know? 

Mr.  Chowx.  You  are  asking  me  an  "iffy"  question.  Now,  my  point 
in  answer  to  that  is  that  there  again  that  goes  to  the  matter  of  who 
I  associate  with  and  who  I  don't  associate  with  under  the  first  amend- 
ment, and  with  the  way  this  setup  has  operated 

Mr.  Velde.  The  situation  is  this:  Regardless  of  whether  it  is  an 
"iffy"  question,  will  you  answer  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Chown.  Well,  the  problem  is,  you  bring  people  in  here  to 
testify  all  week,  and  there  is  no  basis  for  getting  a  crack  at  them  to 
cross-examine. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  problem  is  how  can  we  get  you  to  answer  this 
question  and  give  us  some  information.  As  Mr.  Tavenner  has  very 
well  pointed  out,  you  mentioned  yourself  that  the  best  place  to  get 
information  is  at  the  source  of  the  information.  We  have  sworn  testi- 
mony that  you  were  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  and  the  Politi- 
cal Affairs  Committee  of  it. 

Now,  will  you  either  admit,  deny,  or  refuse  to  answer  the  question? 

Mr.  Chown.  Will  you  give  my  counsel  an  opportunity  to  cross- 
examine  the  witnesses  who  have  so  alleged  ? 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  not  an  answer  or  a  denial  or  refusal  to  answer. 

Mr.  Chown.  It  is  a 

Mr.  Scherer.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  ask  that  you  direct  the  witness  to 
answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Chown.  It  is  an  aspect  of  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  Yes,  you  are  certainly  directed  to  answer  that  question. 

Mr.  Chowx.  Well,  on  the  basis  of  the  restrictions  you  place  around 
it,  I  am  going  to  decline  to  answer  that  based  on  the  first  amendment, 
and  in  fact,  all  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  and  primarily 
the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  Velde.  Anything  fui-fher,  Mr.  Counsel? 

Mr.  Ta\'enner.  I  have  no  further  questions. 

JNIr.  Velde.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  should  be  further 
retained  under  subpena? 

Mr.  TA\n:NNER.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  If  not,  the  Avitness  is  dismissed,  and  the  committee  will 
be  in  recess  for  10  minutes  at  this  time. 

(Whereujion.  at  11  a.  m.,  the  hearing  was  recessed,  to  reconvene  at 
11:10  a.m.) 

41002 — 54 — pt.  5 4 


3440       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

(The  hearing  reconvened  at  11 :  20  a.  m.) 

Mr.  Velde.  The  committee  will  be  in  order,  please.  Counsel,  call 
your  next  witness. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Bjorne  Hailing. 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  that  you  will  tell  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God? 

Mr.  Halling.  I  do. 

TESTIMONY  OF  BJOKNE  HALLING,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS 
COUNSEL,  GEORGE  ANDEESEN 

Mr.  Ktjnzig.  Would  you  state  your  full  name,  please  ? 

Mr.  Halling.  My  name  is  Bjorne  Hailing. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Would  you  spell  it? 

Mr.  Halling.  The  first  name  is  B-j-o-r-n-e,  and  the  second  name  is 
H-a-1-l-i-n-g. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  When  and  where  were  you  born,  Mr.  Hailing? 

Mr.  Halling.  I  was  born  in  Norway. 

Mr.  KuNZiG.  "V^Hien? 

Mr.  Halling.  In  1909. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Are  you  today  a  naturalized  citizen  ? 

Mr.  Halling.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  KuNZiG.  Wlien  did  you  become  naturalized.^ 

Mr.  Halling.  1937. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  What  is  your  present  address,  please? 

Mr.  Halling.  596  Page,  P-a-g-e,  Street,  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Wliere  are  you  employed? 

Mr.  Halling.  I  am  a  longshoreman. 

Mr.  Kunzig.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  in  possession  of  testimony  here 
taken  under  oath  in  executive  session  of  this  committee  of  one  Ernest, 
E-r-n-e-s-t,  Leroy,  L-e-r-o-y,  Seymour,  S-e-y-m-o-u-r.  The  original 
testimony  was  taken  November  6, 1953,  and  a  supplemental  part  which 
I  request  permission  to  read  was  taken  November  22, 1953,  this  year. 

Mr.  Velde.  Would  you  also  identify  Mr.  Seymour  a  little  better, 
please? 

Mr.  Kunzig.  Mr.  Seymour  is  an  admitted  former  member  of  the 
Communist  Party  acting  here  in  San  Francisco.  He  cooperated,  Mr. 
Chairman,  fully  with  the  committee. 

The  questions  went  as  follows : 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  an  occasion  to  meet  Pat  Tobin  as  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes,  under  the  same  circumstances  as  Neil  Crowe  and  Don 
Cameron. 

Mr.  Wkeeler.  Did  you  ever  have  the  occasion  to  meet  Al  Saxton  as  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymotjr.  Yes ;  Al  Saxton  was  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
American  Communications  Association  in  San  Francisco  group  from  1944  until 
1946. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  the  occasion  to  meet  Robert  or  Bob  Sherman 
as  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Rettmour.  Yes ;  under  the  same  circumstances  as  Al  Saxton. 

Mr.  WHEETjini.  Did  you  ever  have  occasion  to  meet  Nathan  Jacobson  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes ;  in  1942  at  one  or  more  Communist  Party  meetings  of  the 
waterfront  section  in  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  What  union  was  he  a  member  of? 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  EN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3441 

Mr.  Seymoxjb,  The  Marine  Cooks  and  Stewards  Union.  He  was  an  ofBcial  of 
that  union. 

Mr.  Wheeli:r.  Did  you  ever  have  any  occasion  to  meet  David  Jenkins  as  a 
member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymouu.  Yes;  under  the  same  circumstances  as  Nathan  Jacobson.  He 
was  in  the  same  union. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  the  occasion  to  meet  Carl  Williams  as  a 
member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes;  under  the  same  circumstances  as  Nathan  Jacobson.  H« 
was  also  a  member  of  the  same  union. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  any  occasion  to  meet  Archie  Brown  as  a 
member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes ;  he  represented  the  San  Francisco  County  committee  of  the 
Communist  Party  at  policy  meetings  with  the  bay  area  utility  workers'  caucus  of 
the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  occasion  to  meet  Joe  Lynch  as  a  member  of 
the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes ;  Joe  Lynch  was  the  control  of  the  National  Maritime  Union 
in  Portland,  Greg.,  in  October  of  1946. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  You  attended  meetings  in  Portland  with  Joe  Lynch  when  your 
ship  docked  there? 

Mr.  Seymour.  No  ;  we  had  a  personal  meeting  with  Joe  Lynch  in  the  offices  of 
the  National  Maritime  Union. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  discuss  with  others  Communist  Party  membership  at 
that  time? 

Mr.  Seymour.  AVe  discussed  Communist  Party  policy  in  relation  to  the  Na- 
tional Maritime  Union. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  occasion  to  meet  Bjorne  Hailing  as  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes.  He  attended  a  meeting  of  the  waterfront  section  of  the 
Communist  Party  in  the  fall  of  1944  and  gave  the  CIO's  unofficial  opinion  of 
some  action  which  the  waterfront  section  happened  to  be  planning  on  taking. 
I  can't  recall  definitely  what  the  point  was,  but  he  was  invited  to  speak. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  It  was  just  one  meeting? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Was  this  a  closed'  Communist  Party  meeting? 

Mr.  Seymolti.  Yes,  definitely  a  closed  meeting. 

Mr.  Wheeler.  Did  you  ever  have  occasion  to  meet  Herb  Kalman  as  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Seymour.  Yes ;  I  knew  him  as  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  in  a 
local  group  in  Berkeley.     I  met  him  at  one  or  two  meetings  in  atwut  1947. 

Before  I  ask  any  further  questions,  would  counsel  please  state  his 
name  and  address  for  the  record  ? 

Mr.  Andersen.  Yes.  My  name  is  George  Andersen.  I  am  a  lawyer. 
My  address  is  240  Montgomery  Street. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Mr.  Hailing,  I  have  just  read  to  you  this  testimony  of 
Ernest  Leroy  Seymour,  given  under  oath  before  an  executive  session 
of  this  committee  in  which  he  identifies  5^ou  as  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party.  Have  you  ever  been  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Hailing  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Halling.  I  decline  to  answer  on  the  basis  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Are  you  now  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party? 

(At  this  point  !Mr.  Halling  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Halling.  Same  answer. 

Mr,  Kunzig.  Do  you  know  or  did  you  ever  know  Ernest  Leroy 
Seymour? 

^Ir.  Halling.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  I  wouldn't  know  him 
if  I  found  him  in  my  soup. 

Mr.  Kunzig.  Have  you  ever  been  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors 
of  the  California  Labor  School,  Mr.  Halling? 


3442       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Hailing  conferred  with  Mr.  Andersen.) 

Mr.  Hai.ling.  I  decline  to  answer. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Mr.  Chairaian,  I  think  I  have  no  further  questions. 
It  is  obvious  the  witness  is  going  to  take  the  fifth  amendment  on  all 
questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Scherer. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  have  no  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  DoTLE.  No  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  then  should  be 
further  retained  ? 

Mr.  KuNziG.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  witness  is  excused,  and  you  may  call  your  next 
witness. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Mr.  Richard  Lynden. 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God? 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  do. 

TESTIMONY  OF  EICHARB  LYNDEN,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS 
COUNSEL,  GEOEGE  ANDERSEN 

Mr.  Lynden.  Counsel,  may  I  make  a  request  to  address  a  message 
to  the  chairman?  I  would  like  to  submit  a  detailed  statement  in 
respect  to  the  character  and  structure  of  our  union  which  is  noAV  in 
preparation,  and  I  would  like  to  have  it  made  part  of  the  proceeding 
here. 

Mr.  Velde.  Well,  the  committee  will  take  any  statement  that  is 
submitted  and  consider  it  for  insertion  into  the  record. 

Mr.  Lynden.  Would  it  be  made  part  of  the  proceeding? 

Mr.  Velde.  Well,  I  can't  tell  until  we  see  that  statement  of  course, 
until  the  members 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  can  tell  you  the  nature  of  the  statement.  It  deals 
with  the  structure  of  the  union. 

Mr.  Velde.  There  is  no  question  pending  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  am  makinc"  a  i-equest. 

Mr.  Velde.  You  will  abide  by  those  instructions.  Proceed,  Mr. 
Counsel. 

Mr.  Lynden.  Mr,  Chairman,  I  am  making  a  request  to  the  cliaii-man 
of  the  committee. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  committee  has  taken  the  request,  and  I  have  given 
you  the  policy  of  the  committee  on  it.  We  will  take  your  statement 
into  consideration,  as  we  do  all  statements  that  are  submitted  to  the 
committee. 

Mv.  KuNZTG.  I  think  it  should  be  very  clear  in  the  record,  too, 
Mr.  Chairman,  that  we  are  here  investigating  communism  and  indi- 
viduals who  may  have  been  active  in  communism,  and  not  the  union. 

Ml-.  Velde.  Certainly  that  should  be  definitely 

Mr.  Lynden.  You  are  not  doing  anything  of  the  kind,  and  that  is 
not  true. 

Mr.  KiTNZTG.  Mr.  Lynden,  will  you  ]:)lease  state  your  name  for 
the  record? 


COMIVIUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3443 

Mr.  Lynden.  My  name  is  Richard  Lynden,  L-y-n-d-e-n.  I  am 
secretary  treasurer  of  the  Warehouse  Union  local  6. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  "WTien  and  where  were  you  born,  sir  ? 

Mr.  Lyndex.  I  was  born  in  San  Francisco  in  1910. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Would  counsel  once  again  please  state  his  name  and 
address  for  the  record  ? 

Mr.  AxDERSEX.  Yes.  My  name  is  George  Andersen.  I  am  a  law- 
yer.    My  address  is  240  Montgomery  Street. 

Mr.  KuNZKi.  What  is  your  present  address,  Mr.  Lynden? 

Mr.  Lyndex.  255  Ninth  Street. 

Mr.  KuNzm.  Before  this  committee  previously  in  this  week  a  Mr. 
Rosser  gave  testimony  as  follows,  and  I  will  read  it  and  recall  it 
to  your  mind : 

.Mr.  RossKK.  Hedley,  H-e-rt-l-e-y ;  Posner,  P-o-s-n-e-r — his  name — Posey,* 
P-o-s-e-y — I  have  forgotten  the  first  name,  Communist  Party  member  who  was  a 
member  of  ttie  waveluiuseineu's  union  and  who  was  assigned  hy  the  political 
action — that  is  Dave  Hedley- — to  head  the  drive  in  the  Fillmore  district.  That 
is  where  at  that  time  the  majority  of  Negroes  and  Japanese  and  minorities  lived 
here  in  Frisco.     Also  we  had  a  meeting  with  Dick  Lynden. 

Que.stion.  What  is  the  name? 

Answer.  Richard  Lynden.  Richard  Lynden  is  one  of  the  officials  of  local  6 
of  the  warehousemens  union,  either  the  president  or  the  secretary  treasurer,  I 
have  forgotten. 

Question.  Now,  you  are  speaking  of  the  Communist  Party  members? 

Answer.  Yes ;  Dick  Lynden  is  a  member.  I  knew  him  when  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Young  Communist  League.  I  worked  with  Dick  Lynden  on  the  State 
committee  of  the  Young  Communist  League,  and  tlien  I  knew  him  as  a  Commu- 
nist, as  I  said,  when  he  became  an  official  of  local  6  of  the  warehousemen's  union 
here  in  the  city.  Dick  Lynden  was  very  active.  He  came  from  San  Jose  and  then 
moved  up  here  to  Frisco,  and  through  the  party's  manipulations  he  soon  became 
the  leader  of  this  big  union  here  in  San  Francisco. 

I  want  to  ask  you,  Mr.  Lynden,  have  you  ever  been  a  member  of 
tlie  Young  Communist  League? 

Mr.  Lyxdex.  I  want  to  answer  that  question  in  this  way :  I  feel 
that  I  should  not  answer  the  question  because  I  think  that  I  am  in 
danger  of  entrapment  b}^  this  committee.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
president  of  the  international  union  that  I  belong  to,  Harry  Bridges, 
had  three  trials. 

Mr.  Velde,  Do  you  mean  incrimination  ? 

Mr.  Lyxdex.  I  can  answer  the  question.  You  know,  you  can  frame 
the  question,  but  you  can't  frame  my  answers,  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  All  right.  You  meant  entrapment  and  not  incrimina- 
tion. 

Mr.  Lyxdex.  I  mean  that  this  committee  can  entrap  me,  and  tlie 
best  ])roof  1  can  offer  you  of  that  is  wliat  hajipened  in  tlie  case  of  my 
international  president,  that  he  was  brought  to  trial  three  times.  He 
was  cleared  of  any  membership  in  or  affiliation  with  the  Communist 
Party.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  these  trials  apparently  are 
going  to  continue,  the  ])rosecution  of  Mr.  Bridges  has  been  continued 
and  unremittingly. 

Now,  this  trial  cost  my  union 

Mr.  Velde.  AVitness,  there  is  no  use  going  any  furtlier.  We  have 
a  number  of  witnesses  to  be  called  yet,  and  we  have  heard  this  same 
line  many,  many  times.    Mr.  Bridges  is  not  here  as  a  witness.    You 


1  Further  idciitifiod  as  Max  Posey. 


3444       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

are  here  as  a  witness  at  the  present  time  to  answer  questions  put  to 
you  by  our  counsel  and  by  the  members. 

Mr.  Lynden.  Mr.  Velde,  if  you  don't  mind,  I  will  answer  the  ques- 
tions in  my  own  way. 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  not  an  answer  to  the  question. 

Mr.  Lynden.  It  is  a  direct  answer  to  the  question 

Mr.  Velde.  Let  me  ask  the  question  ao;ain :  Have  you  ever  been  a 
member  of  the  Younof  Communist  League  ? 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  will  proceed  to  answer  that  again  in  my  own  way. 
1  don't  know  anything  about  your  lawyer's  techniques,  but  I  know 
how  to  answer  that  question,  and  I  tell  you  I  am  not  going  to  answer  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  question  is  very  simple. 

Mr.  Lynden.  And  I  am  not  going  to  answer  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  You  are  directed  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  am  not  going  to  answer  it  because  tiie  president  of 
my  international  union  got  in  a  load  of  trouble  trying  to  answer  this 
question  forthrightly  in  the  same  circumstances.  You  people  bring 
people  up  here  and  expect  to  embarrass  them  in  the  eyes  of  the  public 
by  asking  them  questions  of  this  nature. 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  not  an  answer  to  the  question.  You  are  here 
as  a  witness,  sir.    Will  you  answer  the  question  or  refuse  to  answer  it? 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  will  decline  to  answer  the  question,  and  I  will  state 
the  reasons  why.  Mr.  Velde,  if  you  will  quit  just  for  a  minute  trying 
to  frame  my  answer,  I  will  have  the  answer  out. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  am  not  trying  to  frame  your  answer.  You  can  answer 
the  question  very  simply,  and  I  wish  you  would. 

Mr.  Lynden.  The  answer  to  the  question  is  I  am  declining  to  answer, 
and  I  am  doing  it  because  I  don't  want  to  run  these  risks.  In  the 
case  of  Mr.  Bridges  it  cost  our  union  over  a  half  a  million  dollars  to 
defend  him  in  the  three  trials. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Scherer. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  am  not  going  to  run  that  risk  when  some  paid  stool 
pigeon  comes  in  here  and  drops  my  name  before  the  committee. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  Chair  recognizes  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  Mr. 
Scherer. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  submit  the  reasons  the  witness  is  giving  are  not  a 
legitimate  reason  for  not  answering  the  question.  It  is  a  speech,  and 
I  am  going  to  ask  the  Chair  to  direct  him  to  desist  from  making  a 
speech  because  the  reasons  he  is  attempting  to  give 

Mr.  Lynden.  Mr.  Scherer,  you  make  speeches  all  the  time  in  this 
committee  and  gratuitous  remarks,  and  I  am  addressing  myself  to  the 
question. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio  is  making  an  observation  and 
request. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  am  going  to  ask  that  the  Chair  have  the  witness 
removed  from  the  room  unless  he  answers  the  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Or  declines  to  answer  them  on  a  legal  basis. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  am  declining  to  answer 

Mr.  Velde.  You  are  again  asked,  Mr.  Witness,  or  you  are  directed 
to  answer  the  question  asked  of  you. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  will  decline  to  answer  the  question  on  the  ground, 
No.  1,  of  the  first  amendment,  that  it  is  none  of  this  committee's  busi- 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3445 

ness.  I  decline  further  to  answer  on  the  ground  of  the  fifth  amend- 
ment, which  protects  me  in  my  right  not  to  bear  witness  against  myself, 
and  I  want  to  say  that  the  ILWU 

Mr.  ScHERER.  I  submit  the  witness  has  answered  the  question. 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  haven't  answered  it.  I  haven't  completed  my 
answer  to  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  You  refuse  to  answer  the  question.  Proceed,  Mr.  Coun- 
sel.    Do  you  have  anything  further  ? 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  am  declining  to  answer  the  question  on  the  further 
ground  that  my  union  does  not  want  to  be  put  to  the  expense  of  any 
more  perjury  trials.     Mr.  Rosser  came  in  here 

Mr.  Scherer.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman 

Mr.  Velde.  Do  you  have  any  further  questions,  Mr.  Counsel? 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  suggest  that  you  follow  my  suggestion. 

Mr.  Velde.  What  is  your  suggestion,  Mr.  Scherer?  That  he  be 
directed  to  answer  the  question;  is  that  your  suggestion? 

Mr.  Scherer.  My  suggestion  is,  if  he  persists  in  this  type  of  conduct, 
that  he  be  ordered  to  leave  the  room. 

Mr.  Lynden.  You  invited  me  here.  That  isn't  a  very  good  way  to 
shown  your  hospitality. 

Mr.  Scherer.  He  is  in  contempt  of  this  committee  and  in  contempt 
of  the  United  States.  His  whole  attitude  shows  it,  and  the  record 
with  recoi'd  my  remarks. 

Mr.  Velde.  First  of  all,  do  you  have  anything  further,  Mr.  Counsel  ? 

Mr.  KuNziG.  I  haven't  asked  yet  whether  he  has  ever  been  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party,  or  whether  he  is  now  a  member  of  the  party. 

Mr.  Velde.  Proceed. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Have  you  ever  been  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party,  JMr.  Lynden  ? 

IVIr.  Lynden.  I  am  going  to  decline  to  answer  that  question  on  the 
same  grounds  that  I  stated  previously. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Are  you  now  a  member 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  don't  intend 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Are  you  today  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Lynden.  And  I  don't  intend,  even  if  you  rig  the  questions  and 
hurry  them  along,  to  get  pushed  into  any  other  answers  than  the  ones 
that  I  have  given. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Well,  just  answer  this  question. 

Mr.  Lynden.  The  record  is  pretty  clear. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Are  you  today,  this  very  minute,  a  member  of  the 
Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Lynden.  I  decline  to  answer  that  question  again  on  the  ground 
of  the  fifth  amendment,  and  I  don't  wish  to  bear  witness  against  myself. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  have  no  further  questions. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  No  further  questions. 

Mr.  Doyle.  No  quastions. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  witness  is  excused.    Call  your  next  witness. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Mr.  Herb  Naboisek. 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  tinith,  so  help  you  God  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  do. 


3446       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

TESTIMONY  OP  HERBERT  NABOISEK,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS 
COUNSEL,  LAWRENCE  SPEISER 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Would  you  state  your  name,  sir,  please  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Herbert  Naboisek,  N-a-b-o-i-s-e-k. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  What  is  your  address,  Mr.  Naboisek  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  live  at  837  San  Luis  Road,  Berkeley. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Would  counsel  please  state  his  name  and  address  for 
the  record  ? 

Mr.  Speiser.  I  am  Lawrence  Speiser,  the  staff  counsel  of  the  Amer- 
ican Civil  Liberties  Union  of  north  California,  503  Market  Street,  San 
Francisco. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  When  and  where  were  you  born  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  was  born  in  New  York  in  1907. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Where  are  you  presently  employed  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  on  ^rrounds  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  can't  possibly  see  how  his  present 
employment  would  tend  to  incriminate  him,  and  I  ask  that  you  direct 
the  witness  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  Yes,  the  witness  is  directed  to  answer  that  question. 
The  direction  is  based  on  the  reason  that  I  expressed,  I  believe,  yester- 
day, that  we  have  an  obligation  imposed  upon  us  by  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  Congress  to  ascertain  the  extent 
of  the  Communist  and  other  subversive  influences  in  all  fields  of 
American  life  and  all  types  of  employment.  So  you  are  directed  to 
answer  that  question. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  refuse  on  the  same  grounds,  as  I  stated  a  moment 

'  "^Mr.  KuNziG.  Do  you  teach  in  any  way  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia at  Berkeley  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  No,  I  don't. 

I^Ir.  KuNziG.  Are  you  connected  in  any  way  with  the  University  of 
California?  . 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  state  for  the  reasons  that  I  gave  a  moment 

ago.  . 

Mr.  Scherer.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  can't  jjossibly  see  whether  he  is  or 
whether  he  is  not  connected  with  the  University  of  California  Avould 
tend  to  incriminate  him. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  certainly  don't,  either. 

Mr  Scherer.  I  ask  that  he  be  directed  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  A^ELDE.  I  don't  think  the  University  of  California  by  any  stretch 
of  the  imagination  is  engaged  in  any  illegal  enterj^rise.  Anyone 
should  be  willing  to  admit  their  association  or  connection  with  it,  so 
you  are  directed  to  answer  the  question. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  do  research  work  at  the  university  m  the  depart- 
ment of  psychology. 

Mr.  Velde.  Thank  you. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Now, 'there  is  testimony  before  this  committee,  Mr. 
Naboisek,  given  by  Mary  Elizabeth  Parrott  Bradsher,  sworn  testi- 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3447 

mony  on  the  2d  day  of  November  1953.     We  have  already  mentioned 
Mrs.  Bradsher  prior  to  these  hearings  this  week  in  San  Francisco. 

She  was  asked  the  following  question  and  gave  the  following 
answer : 

Question.  Mrs.  Bradsher,  to  the  best  of  .your  recollection  can  you  tell  me  whom 
you  met  and  worked  with  as  members  of  the  Communist  Party  since  the  reforma- 
tion of  the  Communist  Party  in  October  1945  until  you  became  inactive  in  the 
party  ? 

Answer.  There  was  a  fellow  named  Jerry ;  there  was  Jean  Frederick  and 
Van  Frederick ;  Marian  Redner,  whom  we  knew  as  Marian  Hammond,  and  Gene 
Hammond ;  Bill  Redner ;  Clara  and  Bob  Ragland,  Bimbo  Brown ;  Ella  and  Jack 
Gonzoles  ;  Bruce  Anderson  ;  and  June  and  Herb  Naboisek. 

I  would  like  to  ask  you,  have  you  ever  been  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  Mr.  Naboisek  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  When  you  read  that,  you  mentioned  before  this 
person  who  gave  this  testimony  became  inactive  and  mentioned  me. 
Would  you  specify  what  the  date  was  that  she  said  she  became 
inactive  ? 

Mr.  KuNziG  (reading). 

I  ceased  any  great  amount  of  activity  in  1947. 

So  that  would  have  been  prior  to  1947,  Mr.  Naboisek,  in  the  period 
1945-46,  that  period  of  time. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Would  you  repeat  the  question? 

Mr.  Ktjnzig.  The  question  is,  have  you  ever  been  a  member  of  the 
Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  I  would  like  to  put  my  answer  in  this  way: 
I  am  not  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party.  I  wasn't  back  to  1947, 
as  indicated  by  the  testimony  of  that  witness,  and  as  for  any  other 
period,  I  decline  to  state  on  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Let  me  ask  you,  were  you  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party  then  in  1947? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  state. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Were  you  a  member  in  1946? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  state, 

Mr.  KuNziG.  1945  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  state. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  1944? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  state;  I  decline  to  state  all  questions 
of  that  nature. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Any  year  I  ask  back  before  1944  you  will  decline  to 
answer  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.    That  is  right. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  And  you  are  not  now  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  What  occupation  did  you  have  during  the  war  years, 
Mr.  Naboisek? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  T  was  in  the  United  States  Army  in  the  armored 
command. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Then  let  me  ask  you,  were  you  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  when  you  were  in  the  United  States  Army  in  the  armored 
command  ? 

41002—54 — pt.  5 5 


3448        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  decline  to  answer  any  questions  prior  to  1947  about 
membership  in  the  Communist  Party, 

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

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Scherer. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  have  no  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  think  you  said  you  were  eno;aged  or  employed  by 
the  University  of  California  in  research  in  psychology. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  know  therefore  you  must  have  certain  college  degrees. 

]\Ir.  Naboisek.  I  do. 

Mr.  Doyle.  What  degrees  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  am  a  Ph.  D.  in  psychology. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  assumed  you  were,  and  I  asked  you  that  because  I  ex- 
pect your  cooperation  with  us  as  a  committee  of  the  United  States 
Congress,  as  long  as  you  are  not  now  a  Communist,  since  1947,  whether 
or  not  you  were  before  you  decline  to  state,  but  as  long  as  you  are  a 
Ph.  D.  in  psychology — I  am  not,  but  I  want  to  be  perfectly  frank  with 
you.  In  my  asking  these  2  or  3  questions,  psychologically  I  assume 
you  were  prior  to  1948  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party. 

Now,  as  you  know,  Doctor,  one  of  the  assignments  this  committee 
has  is  to  study  the  extent  of  subversive  activities  in  the  United  States, 
whether  it  originates  in  the  United  States  or  originates  in  foreign 
countries,  and  it  is  fair  for  me  to  say  to  you  that  preliminary  to  this 
question  I  assume  that  you,  not  being  a  member  of  the  Communist 
Party,  are  therefore  not  bound  by  any  former  relationships  when  it 
comes  to  the  matter  of  the  internal  security  of  our  own  Nation,  which 
is  your  Nation.  Is  that  a  correct  assumption,  that  assumption  on  my 
part  ? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  think  it  is. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Very  good. 

(Kepresentative  Donald  L.  Jackson  returned  to  the  hearing  room 
at  this  point.) 

Mr.  Doyle.  Therefore,  can  you  help  us  briefly  in  our  investigation 
of  subversive  activities  in  the  bay  area,  with  special  reference  to  any 
opinion  you  may  have  to  the  extent  of  subversive  activities,  say,  at  the 
University  of  California,  since  1947  first  and  last,  because  that  is  the 
period  you  say  you  were  not  a  member  of  the  party,  and  you  have 
stated  now  that  you  are  not  bound  by  any  limitations  by  reason  of  any 
former  affiliation. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  It  is  pretty  obvious,  it  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Doyle,  that 
if  I  have  said  that  I  know  nothing  particularly  since  1947  about  politi- 
cal activities,  that  I  wouldn't  be  aware  of  activities  of  the  nature  as 
you  indicate.  I  think  I  ought  to  go  a  little  further  and  say  that  so  far 
as  I  know,  I  never  have  known  an  individual  or  have  been  associated 
with  anyone  who  has  in  any  way,  so  far  as  I  coidd  tell,  performed  any 
action  that  I  regard  as  being  subversive  in  any  way. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Well,  then,  as  I  understand  your  testimony,  it  is  that 
you  have  never  known  anyone  at  the  university  in  connection  there- 
with or  attending  there  who  had  any  subversive  attitudes  toward  this 
constitutional  form  of  government? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  That  is  absolutely  correct. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3449 

Mr.  Doyle.  Are  you  aware  of  any  subversive  or  un-American  propa- 
ganda now  at  or  in  connection  with  the  University  of  California 
campus  at  Berkeley  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  No. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Since  1947? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  can't  say  that  I  have. 

Mr.  DoYiJE.  Well,  a  minute  ago  you  said  that  you  had  no  kiiowledge 
of  anything  particularly.  I  caught  that  word  "particularly."  In  my 
book  that  opens  a  question  of  whether  or  not  you  mean  100  percent 
or  90  percent. 

Mr.  Xaboisek.  No,  I  was  merely  specifying  that  I  have  been  so 
busy  in  my  profession  that  I  have  had  no  time  for  any  kind  of  outside 
activity,  political  or  even  social,  for  that  matter. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Well  without  asking  you  to  violate  your  own  conscience 
in  connection  with  claiming  the  constitutional  protections,  may  1  ask 
3'ou  this  question :  In  your  study  of  psychology  what  are  some  of  the 
reasons  why  people  join  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  don't  think  those  reasons,  Mr.  Doyle,  are  psycho- 
logical at  all.  I  think  many  of  the  witnesses  who  have  appeared  before 
this  committee  have  been  persons  who  became  nuiture  adults  at  the 
time,  for  example,  of  the  depression  in  the  19o0's.  At  a  time  like  that, 
it  seems  to  me,  any  person  who  had  an  inquiring  mind,  who  was 
idealistic,  would  have  felt  that  there  was  something  basically  wrong 
in  the  management  of,  we  will  say,  economical  and  social  aifairs  in 
this  country,  and  looked  for  a  better  way,  and  looked  for  the  answers 
in  every  possible  direction  that  they  could  have  found. 

Many  such  people  felt  that  an  approach  which  nowadays  is  so 
condemned,  at  that  time  was  the  only  answer.  Along  the  same  line 
I  think  that  people  who  look  at  the  world  as  it  is  today,  who  fear  the 
threat  of  an  atomic  war,  for  example,  and  feel  and  have  the  honest 
feeling  that  under  the  present  administration,  and  even  under  the  past 
administration,  for  that  matter,  we  were  rapidly  approaching  a  point 
where  we  would  get  into  a  position  from  which  we  could  not  back  out 
from  a  war  in  which  the  whole  world  would  be  annihilated — such  con- 
siderations would  make  people  feel  that  there  must  be  some  other  and 
a  far-reaching  difference  in  approach  to  how  such  questions  are 
handled. 

Now,  these  differences  of  opinion  and  these  feelings  that  these 
questions  are  serious  and  take  a  serious  and  sincere  approach,  even 
though  it  might  bring  on  them  risks  and  dangers,  such  people  might 
often  feel  that  they  would  take  the  risk  of  being  extremists  or  being 
called  extiemists  by  other  persons  and  yet  be  completely  honest  and 
not  subversive. 

Now  those  reasons  are  not  psychological. 

Mr.  Doyle.  "What  is  the  basis  of  those  reasons  if  they  are  not  psycho- 
logical '.  What  is  the  fundamental  basis  of  those  two  reasons  you 
have  given  \ 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Those  are  reasons  based  on  people's  experience  of 
political  attitudes,  of  economic  realities,  of  the  bearing  that  economic 
realities  have  on  political  decisions  that  the  leaders  of  our  country 
mjike  and  so  forth.  When  they  feel — lots  of  people  do  feel  that  these 
things  could  endanger  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  then  they  feel 
that  the  matter  of  risk  to  themselves,  or  reputation,  loss  of  enq)loy- 


3450       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

ment  and  so  forth — they  feel  there  is  nothing  for  them  to  do  con- 
scientiously but  take  extreme  positions. 

Mr.  Doyle.  May  I  ask  this  personal  question:  How  old  were  you 
during  the  depression  of  the  thirties? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  was  25  years  old. 

Mr.  Doyle.  You  are  familiar  with  the  Duclos  letter  which  came  to 
this  country  from  France  by  the  route  from  Moscow,  I  think  in  May 
1945,  aren't  you  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  have  heard  of  it,  although  I  have  never  read  it. 

Mr.  Doyle.  You  have  nover  read  it.  Well,  you  are  familiar  with 
the  fact  that  as  a  result  of  the  coming  of  that  letter  to  this  country 
largely,  Earl  Browder  was  kicked  out  of  the  leadership  of  the  Amer- 
ican Communist  Party  because  he  advocated  the  possibility  of  the 
Communist  system  of  government  and  our  own  American  constitu- 
tional system  of  government  living  in  the  same  world  side  by  side. 
You  are  familiar  with  that  fact,  aren't  you? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  I  have  read  statements  that  in  general  seem 
to  be  like  that,  yes. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Do  I  understand  then  that  you  feel  a  person,  since  the 
Duclos  letter,  which  delineated  the  fact  that  the  two  systems  could 
not  exist  side  by  side  in  the  same  world — do  I  understand  your  testi- 
mony that  an  American  citizen  can  be  patriotic  and  abide  within  the 
four  corners  of  the  United  States  Constitution  and  be  a  member  of 
the  Communist  Party  which  has  been  proven  to  be  an  international 
conspiracy  at  all  times  and  especially  since  April  1945  ? 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  don't  gather  that  the  witness  said  tliat.  I  have 
been  trying  to  follow  him  closely. 

;Mr.  Doyle.  Well,  perhaps  my  question— — ■ 

Mr.  Scherer.  1  think  it  has  been  very  fair.  I  may  not  agree  with 
his  conclusions,  but  I  think  he  has  been  extremely  honest. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Of  course  I  am  not  inferring  he  is  not. 

Mr.  Scherer.  No,  I  didn't  mean 

Mr.  Doyle.  Here  is  a  brilliant  ediicator.  and  we  are  searching, 
Doctor,  for  w\ays  and  means  by  which  we  might  understand  as  legis- 
lators the  problem  of  legislation  in  the  United  States  Congress.  You 
understand  the  import  of  my  question  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  I  do.  I  really  don't  see  how  I  could  answer 
that  because  I  have  not  thought  about  it,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  what 
you  are  asking  me  now  is  to  give  you  my  personal  opinion.  I  think 
that  to  give  an  opinion  on  a  question  which  seems  to  be  so  important 
would  be  a  very  w^rong  thing  for  me  to  do  until  I  had  thought  about 
it,  until  I  could  give  you  an  answer  that  I  have 

Mr.  DoYi.E.  I  don't  want  less  tlian  a  considered  opinion. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  can't  give  you  that. 

Mr.  DoY^.E.  Then  I  will  not  press  you  for  it  because  only  a  con- 
sidered opinion  will  be  helpful  to  us  as  legislators. 

One  further  question,  ^Ii-.  Chairman.  Again  in  our  search  for  the 
basis  of  possible  change  or  additional  legislation  in  Congress  on  this 
subject  of  subversive  and  un-American  propaganda  and  activities  in 
our  country,  liave  you  any  suggestion  to  give  this  committee  in  the 
field  of  possible  legislation  on  the  subject? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  I  liave  tried  to  be  fair  to  the  committee,  and 
I  will  make  a  statement  which  I  feel  again  is  fair.  I  agree  with 
many  of  the  witnesses  who  have  appeared  here  that  the  intent  of  this 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3451 

committee  is  not  what  it  claims  that  it  is.  I  am  getting  around  to 
answering  your  question  about  what  is  subversive  and  your  request 
for  information  about  what  is  subversive. 

I  think  anybody  who  is  accustomed  to  weighing  performance  against 
statements  by  people  who  tell  you  or  try  to  tell  you  what  they  are 
trying  to  do  would  easily  see  from  the  performance  of  this  committee 
that  they  do  not  do  what  they  say  they  are. 

One  such,  I  might  as  well  say,  is^  this  question  about  the  employ- 
ment of  witnesses  who  have  appeared  before  this  committee.  Now, 
it  seems  to  me  that  if  this  committee  is  looking  for  information  about 
which  to  legislate,  and  this  is  your  question,  that  it  would  not  press 
people  for  employment — for  that  kind  of  identifying  information 
because  it  has  had  sufficient  experience  certainly  in  its  15  years  of 
history  as  to  what  happens  to  witnesses  who  appear  here. 

Now,  that  to  me  is  certainly  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  stated 
purposes  of  the  committee  to  legislate. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  subversive  activities  other  witnesses  have 
questioned  the  conmiittee  with  regard  to  what  it  feels  are  subversive 
activities.  I  would  like  to  make  this  point  because  I  have  heard  you, 
Mr.  Doyle,  say  a  number  of  times,  talk  a  number  of  times,  about  the 
international  Communist  conspiracy.  Now,  the  point  that  I  want 
to  make  is  that  it  certainly  is  easy  to  make  people  appear  to  be  con- 
spirators if  all  persons  who  have  authority  in  the  community  engaged 
in  a  hunt  for  those  who  have  been  in  some  way  associated  with  such 
activities  or  who  don't  like  the  political  opinions  they  advocate,  or 
who  don't  like  people  getting  together  about  issues  which  are  impor- 
tant to  the  community  and  so  on. 

Now,  when  people  are  after  you,  you  certainly  don't — you  look 
out,  you  tend  to  try  to  protect  yourself  by  hiding  from  those  who 
em}:)loy  all  of  the  forces  of  the  law  who  are  engaged  in  a  search 
for  you. 

What  I  am  trying  to  say  is  that  it  is  very  easy  to  make  people 
to  look  like  conspirators,  even  when,  if  they  were  permitted  the  free- 
dom to  express  their  views,  they  would  probably  be  very  glad  to 
do  so  openly  because  their  views  are  not  the  kinds  of  views  so  far 
as  I  have  even  known  about  which  a  person  should  be  in  the  least 
ashamed.     Now 

ISIr.  Velde.  Will  the  gentleman  yield  just  a  minute  there  so  I  can 
make  an  observation  in  that  respect,  too?  I  appreciate  that  the  wit- 
ness has  a  right  to  express  his  vie-ws  as  we  do  here,  too,  and  that  is 
the  great  American  right.  I  believe  in  it,  and  I  know  you  do.  But 
it  is  my  opinion,  and  I  think  the  opinion  of  the  other  authorities, 
that  unless  you  actively  advocate  and  teach  the  overthrow  of  our 
form  of  government  by  force  and  violence,  you  can  still  be  a  member 
of  the  Communist  Party,  and  you  have  committed  no  crime  what- 
soever. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  You  are  not  being  very  realistic. 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  the  reason  we  are  asking  you  to  give  us  any 
information  about  any  Communist  activities  you  might  have  so  we 
can  determine  whether  or  not  a  great  percentage  of  the  Communist 
Party  members  were  engaged  in  teaching  and  advocating  the  over- 
throw of  our  form  of  government  of  the  United  States.  I  am  sure 
that  a  great  majority  of  those  we  call  friendly  witnesses  who  have 


3452        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

named  Communists  in  the  past  had  no  intention  whatsoever  of  over- 
throwino:  our  form  of  government.  There  are  some,  I  am  also  sorry 
to  say,  Avho  did  attempt  to  overthrow  our  form  of  government  by 
force  and  violence. 

I  can  think  of  no  one  before  this  committee — I  am  sure  there 
hasn't  been  anyone  before  this  committee,  and  I  don't  think  before 
any  of  the  other  committees  of  Congress,  who  has  ever  come  and 
told  the  truth  about  their  past  connections — that  have  been  incrimi- 
nated in  any  way. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  with  regard  to  that,  ISlr.  Velde,  I  might  say 
that  there  are  many  people  who  are  not  in  the  least  ashamed  of  the 
fact  that  they  have,  say,  at  certain  periods  been  members  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  but  who  know  from  the  procedures  of  this  committee 
that  to  answer  such  questions  would  be  to  involve  other  persons  in  the 
difficulties  that  seem  to  be  inevitable  from  appearing  before  it  as  a 
witness. 

Now,  this  is  the  committee's  fault  because  the  committee  does  cause 
damage  to  reputations  in  communities  in  which  people  live,  and  there- 
fore I  think  any  honest  person  would  certainly  not  answer  any  ques- 
tions of  this  committee  that  would  involve  other  persons.  For  that 
reason  I,  myself,  also  have  used  the  fifth  amendment  for  what  I 
think  is  its  proper  use,  to  protect  innocent  persons  from  damage  which 
is  inflicted  by  this  committee. 

Mr.  SciiERER.  Did  you  hear  Blodgett's  testimony,  read  his  testi- 
mony, the  witness  who  was  before  the  committee  the  other  day  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  No,  I  didn't. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  You  haven't  had  the  opportunity  to  read  that? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  No. 

(Representative  Gordon  H.  Scherer  left  the  hearing  room  at  this 
point.) 

Mr.  DoTi.E.  Well,  of  course,  doctor,  as  a  result  of  FBI  agents  such 
as  have  testified  here  and  others  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
having  been  for  long  periods  of  time  members  of  Communist  cells 
in  this  country,  we  have  uncontradicted  evidence  of  the  fact  that  cer- 
tain Communists  and  in  certain  cells  in  the  United  States  certain 
Communist  leaders  have  and  still  do  advocate  force  and  violent  over- 
throw^ of  the  United  States  Government.  That  is  one  thing,  whether 
you  know  it  or  not.     We  have  that. 

The  second  thing  is  that  we  know  for  a  fact  through  that  channel 
and  others  that  the  Communist  Party  line  today,  this  very  day,  in 
this  country  is  that  Communist  Party  members  who  are  called  before 
this  committee  shall  plead  the  first  or  fifth  amendments,  whether 
they  do  it  sincerely  or  not,  you  see.  Therefore  we  are  under  the 
burden  of  responsibility  of  making  as  sure  as  we  may  that  persons 
do  answer  in  good  faith  and  sincerely. 

One  further  statement. 

Mr.  Velde.  If  you  have  much  further,  Mr,  Doyle,  we  will  adojurn. 

(Representative  Gordon  H.  Scherer  returned  to  the  hearing  room 
at  this  point.) 

Mr.  Dovr.E.  I  want  to  call  your  attention — I  Avoiild  like  this  witness 
to  be  back  after  lunch  for  a  minute  or  two. 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  perfectly  all  right. 


COIVIMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3453 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  do  want  to  make  this  observation :  You  are  aware^ 
are  you  not,  that  every  American  jury  in  the  United  States  before 
which  alleged  Communists,  conspirators,  have  been  tried  under  the 
Smith  Act  in  the  last  2  years  in  10  or  12  different  areas  of  the  United 
States  as  I  recall  it — that  every  American  jury  has  found  every  de- 
fendant in  every  one  of  those  cases,  with  the  exception  of  one  de- 
fendant as  far  as  I  know,  guilty  of  participating  in  an  avowed  con- 
spiracy to  forcefully  overthrow  the  United  States  Government. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  j\Ir.  Doyle,  could  I  ask  you  a  fair  question? 

Mr.  Doyle.  Yes. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  In  all  of  these  trials  under  the  Smith  Act  the  acts 
under  which  these  people  were  convicted  were  such  as  having  read 
books,  having  met  in  somebody's  home,  having  expressed  an  opinion. 
My  question  to  you  is  this :  Do  you  think  that  people  in  the  United 
States,  that  any  American  citizen,  should  be  sent  to  prison  because  he 
read  a  book,  met  at  somebody's  house,  expressed  an  opinion? 

Mr.  Doyle.  No;  you  are  mistaken,  Doctor,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
have  kept  yourself  informed  since  1947.  I  had  kind  of  gotten  the 
impression  that  you  hadn't  been  very  close  to  the  Communist  problem 
since  1947.  But  I  see  you  have  kept  up  to  date  on  these  different 
problems  involving  the  Communist  conspiracy,  and  I  assumed  you 
would  as  a  distinguished  educator. 

NoAv,  that  is  not  the  basis  of  the  instructions  to  the  jury  by  the 
American  judges,  and  you  are  radically  wrong  in  your  declaration, 
and  I  submit  to  you  that  you  had  better  get  into  the  clerk's  room  of  this 
court  and  this  county  and  other  courts  and  read  the  instructions  to 
the  jury  because  your  statement  is  not  the  fundamental  reason  these 
defendants  have  been  found  guilty. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Oh,  I  know  that. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Well,  I  just  want  the  record  clear,  that  you  do  know, 
and  I  want  to  say  this  in  closing,  that  I  don't  know  of  any  member  of 
this  committee  that  thinks  a  man  ought  to  go  to  prison  because  of  any 
book  he  reads  or  because  of  the  fact  that  he  expresses  an  opinion.  In 
my  book  controversy  is  the  life  blood  of  America  and  the  freedom  to 
discuss  controversial  subjects  within  the  limits  of  the  Constitution. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  don't  understand  what  that  last  phrase  of  yours 
means. 

Mr.  DoYi.E.  That  means  they  have  to  discuss  in  a  patriotic  vein 
without  participating  in  an  avowed  conspiracy  to  overthrow  by  force 
and  violence,  and  that  means  sub-\^rsive  in  my  language. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  That  is  a  curious  stand  to  take,  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  Doyle.  There  is  nothing  curious  about  it. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Wlio  is  to  define  what  is  patriotic  and  therefore  what 
I  can  discuss  and  what  I  can't  discuss? 

ISIr.  Doyle.  The  law  of  the  land  defines  that. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  As  defined  by  whom  ? 

Mr.  Doyle.  The  Supreme  Court. 

^Ir.  KrNZTG.  There  are  1  or  2  important  questions  I  feel  should  be 
asked  at  this  time. 

Mv.  Naboisek,  you  said  under  oath  a  little  while  ago  that  you  were 
taking  the  fifth  amendment  here  today  to  protect  other  persons. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  Mr.  Speiser.) 


3454       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  think  that  what  I  said,  Mr.  Counsel,  was  that  other 
people  had  refrained  from  discussing;  their  views,  their  activities  be- 
fore this  committee  for  fear  of  involving  persons  in  the  damage  which 
occurs  to  them  when  they  appear  here.  I  don't  believe  that  I  said 
that  that  was  the  reason  why  I  was  using  the  fifth  amendment. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  It  sounded  very  much  like  that.  Let  us  make  it  clear. 
Are  you  using  the  fifth  amendment  in  the  only  way  that  it  may  be 
used,  to  protect  yourself  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Yes ;  I  am. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Because  you  fear  that  you  may  incriminate  yourself, 
is  that  correct? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  No  ;  I  am  using  it  because  as  I  understand  the  fifth 
amendment,  it  is  a  committee  like  this  cannot  compel  a  witness  to 
testify  against  himself. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  In  a  criminal  proceeding,  don't  forget  that  last  little 
phrase,  because  that  is  in  the  fifth  amendment,  too. 

One  further  question.  You  talked  at  great  length  about  the  1930's 
hunger  and  poverty  and  so  forth.  I  just  want  to  ask  you  one  further 
question.  In  1946  and  1947  after  the  letter  referred  to  by  Mr.  Doyle, 
it  was  perfectly  clear  that  the  Communist  Party  was  a  conspiracy 
to  overthrow  this  government  by  force  and  violence.  Just  once  and 
for  the  clarity  of  the  record,  were  you  a  member  of  this  Communist 
Party  in  1946  and  1947— not  the  '30s— 1946  and  1947  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  On  the  grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment  I  will  not 
answer  that  question. 

Mr.  KuNziG.  Thank  you.  I  think  you  have  made  your  position 
clear. 

Mr.  Doyle,  Mr.  Chairman,  may  the  record  show  this  to  be  a  fact — 
I  want  the  gentleman  to  tell  me  if  it  is  not  a  fact.  I  have  never  met 
jou  before,  have  I,  that  you  know  ? 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Not  that  I  know  of. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  discussion  between  the 
doctor  and  myself,  in  which  I  was  seeking  for  his  suggestion  as  to 
legislation,  is  concrete  evidence  of  the  fact  that  we  do  go  into  that 
field  of  investigation  without  knowing  in  advance  what  the  answer 
of  the  witness  may  be  in  that  particular  field,  and  I  want  to  thank 
you  for  giving  that. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Jackson. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Yes,  several  questions,  if  I  may.  I  must  apologize 
for  not  being  here  during  the  course  of  your  testimony,  but  I  was 
necessarily  absent  on  business  of  the  committee. 

Do  you  believe,  sir,  that  the  theft  of  official  documents  from  the 
files  of  the  United  States  Government,  the  photographing  of  those 
documents,  their  transmittal  to  agents  of  a  foreign  power,  is  an  ex- 
pression of  boyish  precocity,  or  is  that  a  conspiracy? 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Naboisek  conferred  with  INIr.  Speiser.) 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  think  it  is  very  plain,  Mr.  Jackson,  that  there 
are  laws  in  this  country  which  cover  crimes,  and  that  those  things, 
those  acts  which  you  have  just  indicated,  are  crimes.  It  is  not  the 
business,  as  I  see,  of  this  committee  to  be  concerned  with  what  is 
someone  else's  business,  namely,  the  Department  of  Justice,  and  that 
all  of  this  fanfare  and  so  forth  is  really  quite  irrelevant  to  the  question 
that  you  are  asking. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3455 

Mr.  Jackson.  Well,  the  answer  is  brilliantly  put,  but  it  is  not  an 
answer  to  my  question.  Do  you  consider  those  acts  to  be  the  acts 
of  a  conspiracy,  or  do  you  feel  that  they  are  just  in  the  normal 

Mr.  Naboisek.  I  feel  that  those  are  criminal  acts. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Do  you  realize,  sir,  that  it  was  this  committee  that 
disclosed  the  nature  of  that  form  of  subversion  ?  Whether  it  should 
have  been  done  by  someone  else  is  not  the  question.  The  point  is 
that  it  was  not  done;  that  had  it  not  been  for  this  committee,  the 
House  Committee  on  tin- American  Activities,  so  far  as  we  know  that 
sort  of  thing  might  have  continued  to  this  day.  I  was  very  much 
interested— and  I  will  be  very  brief,  Mr.  Chairman— in  your  very 
lucid  and  brilliant  explanation  as  to  why,  in  your  opinion,  many 
people  enter  into  the  Communist  Party.  I  think  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  truth  in  what  you  have  to  say. 

I  should  like  to  have,  sir,  your  opinion  as  to  why  people  remained 
in  the  Communist  Party  following  the  attack  by  North  Korea  and 
the  subsequent  entry  of  Red  China  against  the  forces  of  the  United 
Nations,  in  the  light  of  contemporary  history,  in  light  of  the  fact 
that  we  know  today  that  men  and  women,  human  beings,  are  strug- 
gling through  the  night  trying  to  reach  a  free  world,  carrying  with 
rhem  the  evidence  of  physical  torture. 

We  know  that  yesterday  there  developed  in  Washington,  out  of  the 
result  of  congressional  inquiry,  testimony  that  proves  that  American 
GI's  with  their  hands  bound  behind  them  were  shot  through  the  head. 

I  say,  sir,  that  that  is  part  of  the  international  Communist  con- 
spiracy, and  as  soon  as  this  committee  and  all  the  other  agencies  of 
government  find  out  about  it  our  civilization,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
will  be  much  safer  than  it  has  been  for  a  long  time. 

I  have  no  question  unless  you  want  to  explain  why,  in  your  opinion, 
people  stayed  in  the  Communist  Party  in  the  face  of  atrocities, 
brutality,  savagery  unknown  to  civilization  since  Genghis  Klian  and 
Adolf  Hitler. 

Mr.  Naboisek.  Well,  I  would  not  be  afraid  to  answer  that,  Mr. 
Jackson,  but  I  think  that  it  would  take  me  some  time,  I  have  tried 
to  be  very  fair  to  this  committee,  and  I  think  that  I  could  give  an 
answer  that,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  would  answer  your  question. 

Now,  I  don't  know  whether  you  will  give  me  sufficient  time  to  do 
that,  or  whether  you  merely  wanted  in  this  instance  to  express  the 
feelings  that  you  have.  If  you  want  to  give  me  an  opportunity — 
and  I  imagine  it  would  take  some  tjme,  I  would  be  very  glad  to  do  so. 

Mr.  Jackson.  That  matter  lies  within  the  discretion  of  the  com- 
mittee so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  and  I  would  personally  vote  to  have 
inserted  into  the  record  your  statement  as  to  why  you  people 
can  remain  in  this  conspiracy  and  still  have  any  true  feeling  for 
humanity,  for  international  law,  for  common  human  decency. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  Chair  would  concur  with  that,  and  we  do  have  a 
great  number  of  witnesses  called.  Doctor,  and  I  think  that  it  is  time 
to  adjourn,  and  we  would  like  to  dismiss  you  as  soon  as  we  possibly  can. 

Do  you  have  any  questions  ? 

Mr.  Scherer.  No.  I  think  we  should  have  his  statement  in  the 
record.    I  would  like  to  have  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle,  do  you  concur  ? 

41002—54 — pt.  5 6 


3456       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr,  Doyle.  Yes,  I  would  like  to  have  it,  and  I  would  like  to  see  the 
chairman  ask  him  to  file  it  with  the  committee  promptly. 

Mr.  Velde.  As  promptly  as  you  have  it,  we  will  be  glad  to  receive 
it,  sir.  The  witness  is  dismissed,  and  the  committee  will  stand  in 
adjournment  until  1 :  45. 

(Whereupon,  at  12 :  20  p.  m.,  the  hearing  was  recessed,  to  reconvene 
at  1 :  45  p.  m.  of  the  same  day. ) 

AFTERNOON  SESSION 

(At  the  hour  of  2 :  05  p.  m.  of  the  same  day,  the  hearing  was  resumed, 
the  following  committee  members  being  present:  Representatives 
Harold  H.  Velde  (chairman),  Donald  L.  Jackson,  Gordon  H.  Scherer, 
and  Clyde  Doyle. ) 

Mr.  Velde.  The  committee  will  be  in  order. 

Before  proceeding  with  further  witnesses,  I  would  like  to  make  a 
brief  announcement  in  order  to  correct  any  erroneous  impression 
that  may  have  resulted  from  the  testimony  of  Donald  Ames  during 
the  committee  hearings  yesterday  relating  to  a  bookstore  in  Berkeley 
at  which  he  obtained  Marxist  literature  during  his  membership  in  the 
Communist  Party  as  an  undercover  agent  for  the  FBI.  The  Chair 
wishes  to  state  that  after  discussing  this  portion  of  the  testimony 
with  Mr.  Ames  and  following  an  examination  of  the  record  that  the 
testimony  of  the  witness  related  to  a  bookstore  in  Berkeley  and  is  not 
the  Berkeley  Bookstore.  No  inferences  whatever  should  be  drawn  by 
anyone  from  the  testimony  by  Mr.  Ames  of  the  place  where  he  secured 
his  Communist  information  that  it  was  the  Berkeley  Bookstore. 

Proceed,  Mr.  Counsel. 

Mr.  TA^^NNER.  Mr.  William  Bailey,  will  you  come  forward,  please, 
sir? 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  you  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  that  you  will  tell  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  do. 

TESTIMONY  OF  WILLIAM  J.  BAILEY,  ACCOMPANIED  BY  HIS 
COUNSEL,  DORIS  BRIN  WALKER 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  is  your  name,  please,  sir? 

Mr.  Bailey.  William  J.  Bailey. 

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

Mr.  Bailey.  I  am,  sir. 

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

Mrs.  Walker.  Doris  Brin  Walker,  attorney  at  law,  345  Franklin 
Street,  San  Francisco. 

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

Mr.  Bailey.  January  23,  1910,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  state  to  the  committee,  please,  what  your 
educational  training  has  been  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  My  educational  training  consists  of  going  to  school  for 
about  4  years,  and  I  graduated — not  graduated,  but  I  left  school  at 
the  fourth  grade,  grammar  school. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  is  your  present  occupation  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  don't  think  that  concerns  this  committee. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3457 

Mr.  Tavenner.  May  I  ask  that  the  chairman  direct  the  witness  to 
answer  the  question? 

(Representative  Donald  L.  Jackson  left  the  hearing  room  at  this 
point.) 

Mr.  Velde.  Yes,  it  does  concern  the  committee  as  I  have  explained 
previously,  Mr.  Witness,  and  yon  are  directed  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  am  willing  to  answer  the  question,  Mr,  Velde,  if  you 
would  tell  me  how  it  would  pertain  to  this  committee. 

Mr.  Velde.  Well,  I  don't  want  to  bore  you  or  other  members  of 
the  committee,  but  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  that  it  does  very 
definitely  pertain  to  the  work  of  the  committee.  The  committee  is 
authorized  and  directed  by  a  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States  Congress  to  investigate  subversive  activities 
and  propaganda  and  to  recommend  remedial  legislation  which  would 
capably  handle  the  problem  of  all  subversion. 

The  information  that  we  seek  is  how  far  Communists  and  other 
subversive  activities  have  penetrated  into  all  types  of  employment,  so 
therefore  your  employment  is  a  very  pertinent  matter  to  this  com- 
mittee. 

Now,  will  you  answer  the  question,  under  direction,  where  are  you 
presently  employed? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  am  unemployed. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  were  you  employed  in  1946? 

(At  this  point  Mr,  Bailey  conferred  with  Mrs.  Walker.) 

Mr.  Bailey.  Mr.  Chairman,  not  being  quite  familiar  with  where  I 
was  employed,  I  feel  I  should  decline  to  answ^er  that  question  on 
grounds  of  the  fifth  amendment,  and  secondl}^,  on  the  grounds  I  don't 
think  it  is  any  of  your  business  where  I  was  employed, 

Mr,  Ta\tnner,  You  are  relying  on  the  fifth  amendment  as  the 
grounds  for  your  refusal  to  answer  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  can't  possibly  see  how  his  employ- 
ment in  1946 — unless  he  was  employed  in  some  way  with  the  Commu- 
nist conspiracy — could  incriminate  him,  and  I  therefore  ask  that  you 
direct  him  to  answer  the  question, 

Mr,  Velde,  The  Chair  concurs,  and  the  witness  is  directed  to  answer 
the  question  as  to  his  employment  in  19-1:6. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bailey  conferred  with  Mrs.  Walker.) 

Mr.  Bailey.  Mr.  Chairman,  Mr.  Counsel,  I  think  I  could  save  the 
committee  a  lot  of  time  if  you  would  allow  me  to  read  a  statement  off 
that  I  have  laboriously  put  down  on  paper  which  may  help  you  to 
determine  all  future  answers  about  names  of  organizations,  names  of 
people,  and  so  on  and  so  forth  right  down  the  line. 

Mr.  Velde.  Does  this  statement  show  where  you  were  emploved  in 
1946,  Mr.  Witness? 

]\Ir.  Baiij3Y.  I  don't  know  if  it  does  or  not;  if  you  allow  me  to 
read  it 

Mr.  Scherer.  Did  you  write  it,  or  did  somebody  else  write  it  for 
you  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  am  quite  capable  of  writing  my  oAvn  statements.  Mr. 
Congressman.  Why  do  you  make  that  type' of  inference?  Do  I  look 
like  an  idiot  or  a  dummy  here  that  I  have  to  have  ghost  writers  write 
statements  for  me? 


3458       COMMtWIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Did  you  write  it,  that  is  all  I  want  to  know. 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  wrote  the  statement. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  All  right. 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  said  it  was  a  statement  from  William  J.  Bailey.  I 
would  like  to  read  the  statement. 

Mr.  Velde.  May  I  see  the  statement  to  see  whether  or  not  it  relates 
to  your  employment  in  1946  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  Well,  I  will  show  you  the  statement,  Mr.  Velde. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  make  a  suggestion,  or  are  you 
reading? 

Mr.  Velde.  Just  a  minute,  please. 

The  Chair  yields  to  the  gentleman  from  Ohio. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  May  I  suggest,  will  you  caution  some  of  the  spectators 
at  least  about  demonstrations,  and  I  suggest  that  you  instruct  the 
police  to  remove  those  that  they  may  see  breaking  your  instructions 
with  reference  to  the 

Mr.  Velde.  Certainly  the  gentleman's  suggestion  is  well  taken, 
and  I  authorize  the  police  at  this  time,  should  any  individual  or  number 
of  individuals  in  the  audience  start  creating  a  demonstration  of  any 
kind,  on  the  record  to  remove  them  from  the  hearing  room. 

As  far  as  the  statement  is  concerned,  it  will  be  taken  by  the  committee 
in  line  with  its  policy  in  the  past  and  its  duties  and  considered  for  in- 
sertion into  the  record. 

However,  as  you  probably  knew  when  you  submitted  this  statement, 
there  is  nothing  in  here  relative  to  your  employment  in  1946. 

Now,  will  you  answer  the  question  from  your  own  knowledge,  where 
were  you  employed  in  1946  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  think  the  record 

Mr.  Velde.  That  is  under  direction  of  this  Chair. 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  think  the  record  will  show,  Mr.  Velde,  that  I  said, 
not  being  aware  of  where  I  worked  in  1946,  that  rather  than  to  drag 
this  thing  all  the  way  over  the  place,  I  decided  to  rely  on  the  fifth 
amendment. 

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

Mr.  Bailey.  Certainly  I  decline  to  answer  the  question  on  the  fol- 
lowing ground  that  I  gave. 

Mr.  Velde.  Proceed,  Mr.  Counsel. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  at  any  time  during  1946  acting  as  the 
west-coast  coordinator  of  the  seamen's  branches  or  waterfront  iDranches 
of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  Where  would  you  get  that  information  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  it  wrong? 

Mr.  Bailey.  Well,  where  would  you  get  the  information  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  it  wrong? 

Mr.  Bailey.  Well,  Mr.  Chairman — 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  answer  the  question  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  declined  to  answer  that  question  or  any  other  ques- 
tions dealing  with  organizations,  names,  or  anything  else. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Mr.  Chairman  I  ask  that  you  direct  this  contemptu- 
ous witness  to  answer  the  question. 

Mr.  Velde.  Certainly  the  witness  is  purely  in  contempt  of  this  com- 
mittee, and  you  are  directed  to  answer  that  question. 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  just  gave  an  answer,  Mr.  Velde. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  EST  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3459 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bailey  conferred  with  Mrs.  Walker.) 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Will  you  proceed  with  the  next  question  now  ? 

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

Mr.  ScHERER.  No  further  questions. 

Mr.  Doyle.  No  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  should  be  longer 
held  under  subpena? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  I  should  ask  the  witness 

Mr.  Velde.  Do  you  have  any  more  questions  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  think  I  should  ask  the  witness  if  he  desires  to  state 
the  grounds  upon  which  he  refuses  to  answer  that  question. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bailey  conferred  with  Mrs.  Walker.) 

Mr.  Bailey.  Mr.  Chairman  and  Mr.  Counsel,  I  refuse  to  answer  that 
question  on  grounds  that  I  refuse  to  be  a  witness  against  myself,  which 
is  imbedded  in  the  fifth  amendment  of  the  Constitution  which  is  still 
part  of  the  land — part  of  the  law. 

Mr.  Velde.  Are  you  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Bailey.  Well,  frankly,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  don't  think  that  is  any 
of  your  business. 

Mr.  Velde.  Well,  regardless  of  whether  it  is  our  business  or  not 

Mr.  Bailey.  I  would  give  you  the  same  answer  I  have  given  the  FBI, 
riot  squads,  police  department,  and  everybody  else,  that  it  just  is  none 
of  your  business. 

Mr.  Velde.  Let  the  record  show  that  the  witness  has  raised  his  voice 
in  contempt  of  the  committee  of  Congress,  and  in  the  Chair's  opinion, 
and  I  think  that  the  other  members  of  this  committee  will  agree  with 
me,  it  is  the  business  of  this  committee  to  determine  whether  or  not  you 
are  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party,  the  Communist  conspiracy,  at 
the  present  time,  I  can  assure  you. 

Mr.  Bailey.  That  is  your  conclusion. 

Mr.  Velde.  And  that  is  the  only  reason  you  have  for  not  answer- 
ing the  question. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Bailey  conferred  with  Mrs.  Walker.) 

Mr.  Velde.  We  are  giving  you  every  chance  in  the  world,  as  coun- 
sel did  in  his  last  question  to  you 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  think  we  should  dismiss  the  witness. 

Mr.  Velde.  Let  the  record  show,  too,  that  the  witness  is  now  being 
represented  by  counsel,  conferring  with  counsel. 

Mr.  Scherer.  And  has  consulted  with  counsel. 

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

Mr.  Scherer.  No  further  questions. 

Mrs.  Walker.  W7.S  there  a  direction  to  the  witness  to  answer  the 
last  question? 

Mr.  Velde.  No  ;  there  was  no  direction  on  that. 

Mr.  Ta\tenner.  I  have  no  further  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  there  any  reason  why  this  witness  should  be  further 
retained  under  subpena? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Velde.  If  not,  the  witness  is  dismissed  at  this  time. 

(Representative  Donald  L.  Jackson  returned  to  the  hearing  room 
at  this  point.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  James  Kendall,  please. 


3460       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Velde.  In  the  testimony  yon  are  about  to  give  before  this  sub- 
committee do  you  solemnly  swear  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth, 
and  nothing  but  the  truth,  so  help  you  God  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  do. 

TESTIMONY  OF  JAMES  KENDALL 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  is  your  name,  please,  sir? 

Mr.  Kendall.  James  Kendall. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  And  when  and  where  were  you  born,  ]\Ir.  Kendall? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  was  born  August  3, 1922,  in  South  Bend,  Ind. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Are  you  accompanied  by  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  It  is  the  rule  and  practice  of  the  committee  to  advise 
every  witness  of  his  right  to  counsel,  to  have  counsel  w^ith  him  at  the 
time  he  testifies  or  to  consult  witli  counsel  at  any  time  he  desires  during 
the  course  of  his  testimony. 

Now,  in  light  of  that,  do  you  desire  counsel  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir;  as  an  American  of  average  intelligence  I 
believe  I  can  answer  your  questions. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Mr.  Kendall,  will  you  tell  the  committee,  please, 
what  your  formal  educational  training  has  been? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  graduated  from  high  school,  and  I  started  to 
college,  which  I  attended  approximately  1  year. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  Wliere  did  you  attend  college. 

Mr.  Kendall.  San  Diego  State. 

Mr.  Ta\'enner.  In  what  year  did  you  complete  your  college  work  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  1939. 

Mr.  Taa^nner.  After  the  completion  of  your  college  work  how 
were  you  first  employed? 

Mr.  Kendall.  A  friend  of  mine  and  myself  decided  we  would  like 
to  go  to  sea,  and  we  set  out  and  came  to  San  Francisco  and  eventually 
ended  up  in  Seattle  where  I  got  my  ordinary  seaman  papers  in  the 
merchant  marine,  eventually  sailing  to  Alaska.  From  that  time  for 
a  while  I  was  in  the  merchant  marine  on  the  various  jobs. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  During  what  period  of  time  were  you  in  the  mer- 
chant marine? 

Mr.  Kendall.  From  the  year  1'940,  I  would  say  to  1948. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  During  that  period  of  time  did  you  become  a  mem- 
ber of  any  union  or  unions  ? 

Mr,  Kendall,  Yes;  in  approximately  February  of  1942  in  the  port 
of  Seattle,  Wash.,  I  signed  up  as  a  member  of  the  National  Maritime 
Union  affiliated  with  the  CIO  by  a  port  agent  who  at  that  time  was 
named  Eugene  Williams. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  Did  you  later  become  a  member  of  any  other 
union  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  in  1944  I  became  a  member  of  the  Masters,  Mates 
and  Pilots  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 

Mr,  Tavenner.  Now,  Mr.  Kendall,  it  is  not  my  desire  or  purpose  to 
ask  you  any  question  calling  for  a  discussion  of  any  problem  between 
labor  and  management  or  employers,  and  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  go 
into  any  question  involving  any  internal  disputes  within  any  labor 
organization  of  which  you  have  been  a  member.  It  is  ray  sole  purpose 
and  intention  to  ask  you  questions  relating  to  your  knowledge,  if  you 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3461 

have  knowledge,  of  Communist  Party  activities  within  the  unions  of 
which  you  were  a  member  and  also  any  knowledge  you  had  of  other 
Communist  Party  activities  outside  of  those  unions. 

Now,  what  has  been  your  opportunity  to  know  of  Communist  Party 
activities  in  general? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  approximately  April  of  1942  I  was  on  shore — 
on  the  beach,  as  a  seaman  likes  to  use  the  term — ^liere  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  while  in  union  hall  awaiting  assignment  to  a  ship  I  was 
recruited  into  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  by  David 
Saunders. 

Mr.  Ta\^nner.  Wliat  was  the  date? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  in  April  of  1942. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  As  a  result  of  that  were  you  assigned  to  any  special 
group  of  the  Communist  Party  or  cell  of  the  party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  By  the  mere  fact  of  being  a  seaman  I  was  auto- 
matically in  the  waterfront  section  of  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  that  in  San  Francisco? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  the  port  of  San  Francisco;  yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  did  you  remain  a  member  of  that  group 
or  branch  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Officially  I  remained  a  member  of  that  particular 
branch  or  group,  I  would  say,  about  1946 ;  probably  officially  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Communist  Party  I  remained  in  until  about  1948. 

]\Ir.  Tavenner.  Where  were  the  meetings  held  of  that  group  of  the 
Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  When  I  first  joined  there  was  a  basemeiit  on  Stockton 
Street.  I  don't  remember  the  address,  naturally,  but  it  was  held  be- 
low this  Chinese  laundry  or  some  other  facility  run  by  some  Chinese 
folks,  and  in  the  basement  we  held  meetings  there.  Eventuall}^  we 
moved  over  on  to  North  Broadway  in  which  they  had  rented  a  hall — 
that  is,  upstairs  over  a  grocery  store — and  the  remaining  time  that  I 
was  in  the  Communist  Party  their  meetings  were  held  in  that  location. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  yo'^^  ^  member  of  the  National  Maritime 
Union  at  the  time  you  became  a  member  of  the  Comjnunist  Party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  I  had  not  been  a  member,  as  you  can  tell,  very 
long.  In  the  meantime,  Eugene  Williams  became  agent  of  the  port 
of  San  Francisco.  Willie  Hernley  was  the  agent  at  Seattle,  and  it  was 
in  this  hall  that  I  was  recruited. 

Mr.  Ta\t3nner.  Were  you  at  sea  frequently  during  the  period  that 
you  were  a  member  of  this  group  of  the  party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Oh,  yes;  I  would  say  over  the  entire  period  I  went 
to  sea  I  doubt  very  much — including  the  period  I  attended  a  particular 
school — if  I  was  ever  ashore  a  total  of,  in  8  or  9  years,  more  than  10 
months  during  the  total  time. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  wish  you  would  tell  the  committee,  please,  what 
the  method  of  operation  was  of  the  group  of  the  Communist  Party  that 
you  were  a  member  of;  that  is,  what  the  membership  consisted  of,  how 
they  functioned  as  members,  and  any  other  information  that  you  can 
give  us  regarding  the  activities  of  that  group. 

Mr.  Kendall.  AYell,  they  recruit  the  various  seamen ;  each  particu- 
lar union,  of  course,  has  the  particular  fraction  within  the  union,  and 
it  is  their  method  to  recruit  new  members  out  of  the  membership  of  the 
individual  unions,  and  in  turn  the  various  fractions  of  the  individual 


3462     commuktist  activities  in  the  san  francisco  area 

unions  belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  waterfront  section  of  the 
Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  many  persons  composed  this  group  at  any  one 
time,  this  group  of  the  Communist  Party,  in  your  judgment? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  the  section  or  in  the  particular  fraction? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  let  us  begin  with  the  fraction. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  of  course  the  fraction  depended  upon  the  activ- 
ity and  the  ability  of  the  individual  members  of  the  fraction,  in  some 
cases — say  the  NMU — if  they  had  a  large  membership,  they  had  a 
larger  membership  of  the  fraction.  In  our  particular  fraction  in  the 
NMU  at  times  I  have  seen,  I  would  say,  possibly  maybe  out  of  attend- 
ing one  shoreside  meeting,  regular  union  meeting,  there  might  be  as 
many  as  15  or  20  active  members  of  the  Communist  Party  scattered 
among  the  membership.  I  cannot  speak  for  the  other  unions  because 
I  never  belonged  to  the  other  unions  involved,  which  I  think  you  know 
about.     I  know  you  could  go  into  them ;  waterfront  unions,  that  is. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  what  about  the  membership  of  the  section? 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  membership  of  the  section,  of  course,  I  would 
have  to  guess  because  I,  of  course,  never  had  complete  knowledge  of 
the  entire  membership,  but  I  have  estimated  and  friends  I  have  talked 
to  have  estimated  it  in  the  port  of  San  Francisco,  sailing  out  of  this 
particular  port  I  would  say  there  would  be  possibly  as  high  as  200. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  mean  at  any  one  time  as  many  as  200  ? 

Mr.  I^NDALL.  No,  it  is  possible  that  it  might  have  gone  up  to  300 
total  at  any  one  time,  but  possibly  maybe  out  of  a  total  of  all  water- 
front unions,  seafaring  part  of  waterfront  unions,  probably  100  ashore 
would  be  a  maximum  except  during  a  strike  there  might  be  more. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  about  visiting  members  of  the  Communist 
Party  ?  That  is,  members  of  the  Communist  Party  on  incoming  ships  ? 
Did  they  have  any  place  to  meet  or  to  engage  in  Communist  Party 
activities  of  any  character? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  the  foot  of  Market  Street,  go  down  Market  and 
turn  to  the  left,  there  is  a  little  bookstore  there  I  believe  is  called  the 
Embarcadero  Book  Store. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  spell  that,  please  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Embarcadero.  This  particular  bookstore  was  run 
by  the  waterfront  section  of  the  Communist  Party,  and  the  members 
of  the  various  fractions  within  the  union  was  always  told  that  when 
the  ship  was  ready  to  sail  to  go  there,  pick  up  the  latest  literature, 
take  it  aboard  ship,  to  pick  up  the  latest  magazines.  The  seamen, 
when  they  came  in,  the  first  thing  they  always  did  was  of  course  go 
to  the  bookstore  and  to  pick  up  the  latest  literature  and  to  receive 
the  latest  party  line,  so  they  could  go  forward  and  give  the  word. 

Mr.  Ta\^nner.  Was  that  the  practice  and  the  rule  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  veiy  definitely  for  ships  that  sail  out  of  San 
Francisco;  when  we  came  in  or  left  usually  the  last  place  we  con- 
tacted or  somebody  in  the  group  contacted  was  the  bookstore.  Seafar- 
ing ships  from  out  of  town  where  their  home  port  was  New  York  or 
Baltimore,  something  like  that,  when  they  wanted  to  contact  the 
various  party  members  in  the  local  city,  well,  the  bookstore  was  the 
meeting  place;  they  w^ould  go  in  there  and  by  mutual  acquaintances 
or  by  some  previous  word  or  token  they  would  identify  themselves, 
and  the  membership  or  caucus  on  board  that  particular  ship  would 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3463 

then  be  told  where  the  meeting  was  on  North  Broadway,  and  they 
would  show  up  at  the  meeting. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  was  the  result  of  having  this  single  phxce 
where  members  of  the  Conmimiist  Party  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  sailing  on  ships  as  members  of  the  crew  could  meet?  What 
was  the  eifect  and  the  result  of  that?  In  what  way  did  that  aid,  if 
any,  the  Communist  Party  to  carry  on  any  of  its  programs? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  actually  it  was  just  a  clearinghouse,  to  give 
my  idea  of  why  they  did  it  or  something.  I  don't  think  it  would  be 
a  factual  statement.  I  have  my  own  ideas,  and  I  Avould  be  glad  to  tell 
you,  but  I  really  think  we  should  stick  to  the  actual  facts. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes;  if  you  don't  have  actual  knowledge,  I  think 
you  are  correct. 

It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  incoming  sailors  on  the  New  York  ships 
could  impart  any  new  information  regarding  the  Communist  Party 
activities  in  other  parts  of  the  country  to  persons  on  outgoing  ships 
whom  they  would  meet  at  this  central  point? 

Mr.  IvENDALL.  That  is  quite  true,  but  it  would  be  a  very  slow  way, 
counselor,  because  a  ship  takes  quite  a  while.  They  could  airmail 
the  same  information  here.    But  it  is  quite  possible. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  said  that  this  bookvshop  w^as  operated  by  the 
Communist  branch  or  section,  the  waterfront  branch  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  TA^TNNER.  Do  you  know  the  personnel  who  operated  that  book- 
shop during  any  of  the  period  of  time  when  you  had  occasion  to  be 
there  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Most  of  the  time  that  I  had  occasion  to  go  into  the 
bookstore  it  was  handled  by  a  gentleman  named  Mr.  Rogers.  I  don't 
know  his  first  name.  I  understand  he  is  since  deceased,  and  at  other 
times  a  gentleman  known  to  me  as  Alex  Treskin  had  taken  charge  of 
the  bookstore.  Mr.  Rogers  also  had  a  son  which  I  do  not  know  liis 
name. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  All  right. 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  the  bookstore  also. 

Mr.  Tamsnner.  Wliat  part  did  Mr,  Alex  Treskin  play  in  the  Com- 
munist Party  setup? 

Mr.  Kendall.  ]VIost  of  the  period  that  I  knew  Alex  Treskin  as  a 
member  of  the  Connnunist  Party  he  was  the  waterfront  organizer  for 
the  Communist  Party  in  San  Fra;icisco,  the  port  of  San  Francisco, 
seamen's  branch. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Xow,  you  have  told  us  that  the  branch  of  the  Com- 
munst  Party,  of  which  you  were  a  member — what  was  the  next  organi- 
zation on  a  higher  level? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  of  course  the  waterfront  section  composed  of 
the  various  fractions  within  all  the  unions  along  the  waterfront,  the 
seafaring  unions 

jMr.  Tavenner.  Let  me  ask  you  first,  how  many  branches  of  the 
Conimuuist  Party  were  there  in  the  waterfront  section? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  there  was  the  National  INIaritime  Union,  CIO; 
the  MFOW,  INIarine  Firemen,  Oilers,  and  Watertenders. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Don't  go  quite  so  rapidly,  please.  What  was  the 
last  thiit  vou  named? 


3464        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  ABEA 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  MFOW;  tliat  is  Marine  Firemen,  Oilei-s,  and 
Watertenclers,  I  believe,  and  the  MC  and  S,  Marine  Cooks  and 
Stewards. 

Mr.  Tavkxnf^r.  Have  you  named  three? 

]Mr.  Kendall.  Three ;  National  Maritime  Union. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  were  the  section  oriranizers,  or  rather,  the  sec- 
tion officers  of  this  waterfront  section  or  l)ranch  of  the  party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  of  course  they  were  elected  officer  at  the  sec- 
tion meeting;  they  would  vote  on  the  major  officers  and  elect  those 
officers,  and  they  would  also  appoint  or  elect  a  waterfront  section 
oro^anizer.  and  this  is  the  position  that  Alex  Treskin  held.  It  is  quite 
possible — I  should  state  that  it  is  possible  that  he  was  a  direct  appoin- 
tee instead  of  being  elected.  At  this  time  I  don't  recall;  I  want  to 
make  it  clear  that  that  is  not  a  definite  statement. 

]Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  explain  the  organizational  setup  a  little  more 
fully,  please,  so  that  the  committee  will  understand  just  how  the  water- 
front was  organized  in  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  various  fractions  were  within  the  unions  that 
I  mentioned  before,  and  in  turn  they  were  responsible  to  what  we  call 
the  executive  committee  which  was  elected  by  the  membership  of  the 
waterfront  branches. 

The  executive  committee  in  turn  was  responsible  to  the  county  com- 
mittee, which  I  never  got  in  on. 

]Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  know  who  composed  the  executive  commit- 
tee or  who  were  on  the  executive  committee  at  any  time  during  your 
connection  with  the  Communist  Party  in  the  port  of  San  Francisco? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  the  year  1946  I  can  recall,  I  had  occasion  to  visit 
the  executive  committee  of  the  waterfront  section  of  the  Communist 
Party,  and  I  can  recall  several  of  those  members. 

Mr.  Ta\t:nner.  Will  you  give  us  the  names  of  those  that  you  can 
recall? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  this  one  particular  meeting  that  I  was  asked  to 
attend,  Hugh  Bryson  of  the  Marine  Cooks  and  Stewards  was  there ; 
Alex  Treskin  was  there;  Bill  Bailey  was  there;  there  was  a  man  from 
Marine  Cooks  and  Stewards — I  do  not  recall  his  name;  Walter  Stack. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Wliat  was  the  name  of  the  Bailey  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  William  Bailey.  That  is  the  witness  that  was  here 
a  fcAv  minutes  ago  when  he  had  lapse  of  memory  about  1946, 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  interrupted  you.  Are  there  others  that  you  can 
identify  that  were  members  of  the  executive  committee? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  am  quite  sure  there  were  several  others.  However, 
I  am  not  positive  about  the  others,  so  I  would  rather  not  say,  give 
any  names  that  I  am  not  absolutely  sure  of. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  were  the  circumstances  undei-  which  you 
visited  that  executive  meeting  at  that  time? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  it  is  quite  a  long  story.  I  was  a  member  of  the 
Master  Mates  and  Pilots  holding  a  chief  officer's  license. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Let  me  ask  you  a  question  first.  When  was  this, 
approximately  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  This  was  in  the  year  1946. 

Mr.  Tavt.nner.  Let  us  develop  a  little  more  of  your  record  in  the 
Communist  Party  before  we  come  to  that. 

Mr.  Kendall.  All  right. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3465 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee  what  ships,  if  you  can 
recall,  you  had  joined  as  a  member  of  the  crews  ? 

JNIr.  Kendall.  Is  this  from  the  time  that  I  became  a  member  of  the 
Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Tavennek.  From  the  time  you  became  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  and  while  you  were  a  member  of  the  National  Maritime 
Union. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Steamship  Arthvr  Middleton^  the  Steamship  Joseph 
Pnestley^  the  Steamship  Nira  Lnckenhach,  the  Steamship  Santa  Ana, 
and  there  are  a  couple  of  short  coastwise  trips  which  I  do  not  remem- 
bei".    I  can  find  out.    I  huxe  my  discharges  here. 

I  might  point  out,  I  would  like  to  put  it  in  the  record,  that  these 
are  not  notes;  they  are  discharges  from  various  ships,  and  if  I  look 
at  them  from  time  to  time  they  are  just  merely  reference  points  and 
dates  tliat  I  would  be  looking  at.  To  a  seaman  a  discharge  is  like  a 
marriage  license — you  know  where  you  have  been  and  why. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  begin  with  your  first  sailings  after  be- 
coming a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  and  tell  the  committee  in 
a  general  way  what  Communist  Party  activities  took  place  and  the 
extent  of  the  Communist  Party  infiltration  among  the  crews  of  these 
ships  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Tlie  first  ship  that  I  sailed  out  on  after  becoming  a 
member  of  the  Communist  Party  was  the  Steamship  Arthur  Middle- 
ton.  It  had  just  come  into  port  from  the  South  Pacific,  and  I  went  on 
board.  They  took  on  a  whole  new  crew,  and  I  went  on  as  an  ordinaiy 
seaman.    I  was  18  or  19  at  the  time,  I  might  mention. 

There  was  the  entire  crew  that  went  aboard,  and  I  would  say 
there  must  have  been  125,  135,  maybe  possibly  200,  and  out  of  this  I 
guess  there  was  approximately,  I  would  say,  25  members  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  aboard  this  ship. 

This  was  a  troop-carrying  ship  under  charter  to  the  United  States 
Navy,  and  aboard  this  ship  I  was  in  the  deck  department ;  the  entire 
deck  crew,  I  would  say  there  was  approximately  10  memJbers  of  the 
Communist  Party  in  that  crew. 

Each  particular  department,  the  deck,  engine,  and  the  stewards 
department  held  their  own  individual  fraction  meeting,  and  in  turn 
we  had  joint  meetings.  The  union,  however,  would  have  joint  meet- 
ings; the  individual  fractions  never  would  hold  joint  meetings  aboard 
the  ship.  In  that  particular  ship  there  was  a  little  rivalry  for  leader- 
ship among  the  party,  and  thes,e  particular  2  that  were  fighting 
among  themselves  was  Dave  Jenkins,  who  later  became  one  of  the 
heads  of  tlie  California  Labor  School  here  in  the  port  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  David  Saunders. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Can  you  recall  at  this  time  the  names  of  any  others 
who  were  active  in  Communist  Party  work  on  board  the  Steamship 
Arthur  Middleto7i'i. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Ernest  Fox  was  aboard  the  ship ;  however,  before  it 
sailed  he  was  taken  off.  However,  he  was  a  Communist.  At  this 
time  that  is  all  the  names  I  can  definitely  remember. 

(Representative  Donald  L.  Jackson  left  the  hearing  room  at  this 
point.) 

Mr.  Ta^t:nner.  Wliat  about  the  strength  of  the  Communist  Party 
on  the  crews  of  the  other  ships  you  mentioned  ? 


3466       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  IvENDALL.  After  the  Steamship  Arthur  Middleton^  we  made 
two  voyages  on  that,  I  went  on  the  Nira  Luckenhach^  I  believe. 
There  was  a  couple  of  members  of  the  Communist  Party  aboard  that 
ship.  It  was  not  a  well-organized  ship.  We  made  a  trip  to  South 
America,  and  at  such  a  late  day  I  cannot  remember  any  definite 
names  except  myself. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  about  the  extent  of  infiltration  on  the  other 
two  shi])s  that  you  mentioned,  the  Santa  Ana  being  one  of  them? 

Mr.  KenDxVLl,  The  Santa  A7ia  had  a  fairly  large  creAV.  There  were 
3  or  4  members  aboard  that  ship.  They  were  definitely  Comnnmist 
Party  members.  I  remember  one  very  distinctly,  Leo  Kossman.  He 
did  not  belong  to  the  seamen's  branch  of  the  Connnunist  Party,  how- 
ever ;  he  belonged  to  some  Hollywood  group. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  What  was  that  last  name  'i 

Mr.  Kendall.  Rossman,  Leo  Rossman. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  recall  the  first  name  or  the  initials? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Leo.  So  far  as  the  steward  department,  engine 
room,  I  don't  remember  anybody  in  those  2  departments  that  were 
definitely  Communist  Party  members.  There  was,  I  believe,  another 
one  in  the  deck  department,  but  I  don't  remember  his  name,  another 
Communist,  but  I  am  not  sure  of  his  name,  so  therefore  I  don't  care 
to  give  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  What  was  the  year  of  that  sailing  that  you  are  referring 
to  at  the  present  time  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  If  I  may  have  a  second.  I  am  sure  it  was  1943. 
However,  I  would  like  to  just  make  sure.  I  signed  on  the  Santa  Ana 
December  22  of  1942,  and  I  signed  off  after  2  trips  on  June  28,  1943. 

Mr.  Velde.  Did  they  hold  regular  meetings  while  you  were 
traveling  ? 

Mr.  Kend.vll.  You  mean  Communist  Party  meetings? 

Mr.  Velde.  Yes. 

Mr.  Kendall.  No.  That  particular  ship  there  was  not  enough 
aboard  to  have  a  meeting  on. 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  you  tell  the  committee  how  you  happened  to  know 
that  there  were  Communists  on  board  this  ship  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Mr.  Leo  Rossman — I  was  an  able  bodied  seaman ;  he 
was  an  ordinary  seaman,  and  he  slept  under  the  bunk  directly  below 
me.  After  living  with  the  man  for  6  months  reading  each  other's 
literature  and  books  and  so  forth  and  I  can't  remember  definitely  but 
I  am  quite  sure  that  we  never  discussed  the  party  like  I  remember 
any  particular  time  but  I  know  he  knew  that  I  was  a  Communist  and 
I  knew  that  he  was  a  Communist. 

Mr.  Velde.  Thank  you. 

Mr.  Ta\t:nner.  Were  you  elected  a  delegate  to  any  convention  of 
the  union  while  you  were  a  member  of  the  crew  of  the  Santa  Ana  or 
one  of  these  other  ships  on  which  you  had  sailed  ? 

Mr.  Kendalij.  In  the  year  1943  when  we  came  back  from  the  south 
Pacific  on  the  second  voyage  of  the  Santa  Ana.,  I  was  the  ship's  dele- 
gate representing  all  three  departments,  in  case  there  were  any  dis- 
agreements about  wages  or  overtime  or  anything  like  that  particular 
nature;  I  had  been  elected  by  the  crew.  The  National  Maritime 
Union  had  called  their  biennial  convention  in  the  port  of  New  York, 
wartime  convention,  governmental  approval  on  its  traveling,  and  each 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3467 

ship,  each  port,  was  to  send  representatives  if  they  could  afford  it. 
In  onr  particular  ship  we  had  a  fairly  large  crew,  average,  good  size. 
Through  various  means  they  had  gathered  quite  a  bit  of  money.  This 
was  strictly  on  a  union  activity  and  the  crew  nominated  me  and  gave 
me  a  fund  to  go  back  and  represent  the  steamship  Santa  Ana,  to  the 
1943  convention  of  the  National  Maritime  Union  in  the  port  of  New 
York. 

]\Ir.  Tavenner.  You  say  that  was  a  strictly  union  activity  ? 

Mr.  KIendall.  The  actual  election  of  the  delegate  at  the  meeting, 
joint  meeting,  of  the  crew  was  strictly  a  union  activity.  However,  I 
should  clarify  that,  that  I  was  told  at  our  regular  party  meeting  that 
in  all  cases  that  the  part}^  members  should  be  nominated  and  elected, 
if  possible,  to  attend  this  particular  convention,  which  was  always  the 
policy,  and  because  I  was  ship's  delegate,  I  was  the  logical  one,  and 
the  crew  felt,  to  go  back  and  represent  them,  and  of  course  the  water- 
front organizer  at  that  time  was  Mr.  Treskin,  which  I  previously 
mentioned,  and  they  were  very  happy  that  I  was  elected. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  receive  any  instructions  from  Mr.  Treskin 
before  you  attended  the  convention  ? 

]Mr.  Kendall.  Most  of  the  delegates  from  the  various  ships  went 
back  together  on  a  train.  Our  crew  had  pretty  good  fun,  so  I  went 
home  and  spent  a  few  days  and  then  I  flew  back  to  New  York. 

I  was  told  that  when  I  reached  New  York  of  course  I  was  to  present 
my  credentials  to — I  believe  the  official  title  was  the  national  secretary 
of  the  National  Maritime  Union,  Ferdinand  Smith,  at  which  time  I 
was  told  that  Mr.  Smith  would  tell  me  who  to  contact  as  far  as  the 
party  was  concerned. 

Mr.  Ta\t5Nner.  You  mean  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct. 

]\f  r.  Ta\*enner.  From  what  source  did  you  get  that  direction  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Mr.  Treskin  himself  gave  me  that  information. 

Mr.  Ta"\t.nner.  Do  you  have  any  personal  knowledge  that  the  repre- 
sentatives or  delegates  from  other  ships  received  similar  instructions? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  have  no  definite  information.  Mine  was  an  indi- 
vidual case. 

Mr.  TA^T.NNER.  Did  you  report  to  Ferdinand  Smith  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  did. 

]\Ir.  Ta^-ennek.  AVhat  activities  took  place  in  New  York  at  that 
union  in  which  the  Communist  Party  played  a  part,  if  any  ? 

!Mr.  Kendall.  You  mean  at  the  convention,  counselor? 

jNIr.  Ta^-enner.  Yes,  or  preliminary  to  the  convention. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  I  presented  my  regular  union  credentials  to 
Ferdinand  Smith,  and  I  was  told  to  contact  some  particular  individ- 
ual which,  because  of  the  time  element,  I  cannot  remember  who  it  was. 
However,  on  the  floor  of  the  actual  convention 

Mr.  Tavenner.  flust  a  moment.  How  did  Ferdinand  Smith  know 
that  you  were  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  assumed — well,  it  is  an  assumption,  naturally, 
but 

]\Ir.  TA^^ENNER.  Let  me  ask  you  this  :  Did  you  tell  him  that  you  were 
a  member  of  the  party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir,  I  did  not. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  have  that  information  at  the  time  that  you 
presented  your  credentials  to  him  ? 


3468       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Kendall.  Very  definitely.  I  presented  my  credentials,  we  got 
the  union  business  over  with  in  short  order,  and  then  he  told  me  who 
to  contact  insofar  as  the  party  activities  were  concerned. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  party  activities  were  there  at  that  conven- 
tion? 

Mr.  Kendall.  If  my  recollection  is  correct,  I  believe  we  had  one 
joint  meeting  before  the  actual  convention ;  it  w^as  a  regular  New  York 
waterfront  section  meeting  of  the  Communist  Party  in  which  Mr. 
Smith  was  at  the  door  checking  individuals;  Blackie  Meyers  was 
there,  who  also  was  an  official  in  the  maritime  union,  and  of  course  all 
the  delegates  from  the  west  coast  were  there.  It  was  strictly  a  party 
meeting  of  the  waterfront  section. 

I  might  make  it  clear  that  I  know  tliat  this  meeting  was  held — now 
whether  it  was  held  during  the  convention  or  just  before,  I  don't 
remember,  but  I  do  know  this,  that  I  made  my  contact  as  directed  by 
Mr.  Smith,  or  better  yet,  on  the  floor  I  was  contacted  by  somebodv 
that  I  trusted.  I  don't  remember  who  it  was  at  this  time,  and  he 
told  me  to  follow  the  lead  on  resolutions  and  so  forth,  several  key 
members  of  the  National  Maritime  Union,  and  very  definitely  Bhickie 
Meyers  at  that  time  was  heading  up  the  Communist  group  within  the 
convention,  and  he  took  the  leads  and  saw  to  it  that  the  Communist 
Party  members  were  placed  on  the  key  committees,  in  fact,  to  see  that 
they  were  placed  on  all  important  committees. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  there  anything  else  that  you  can  tell  us  about  the 
Communist  Party  manipulations  or  activities  at  that  convention? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  that  particular  time  we  were  having  a  very  rough 
time;  we  had  been  driven  out  of  Europe,  we  had  no  navy. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  mean  the  United  States  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  United  States.  So  it  was  at  the  time  that  the 
glorious  cry  for  the  second  front  was  heard  around  the  world,  and 
we  saw  to  it,  of  course,  that  the  appropriate  resolution  Avas  passed 
at  tliat  convention  tliat  called  for  a  second  front,  and  also  the  reso- 
lution was  passed  that  praised  the  Soviet  Union  for  their  stand  at 
Stalingrad  and  for  their  stand  on  the  eastern  front. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Are  tliere  any  other  activities  that  you  can  recall 
at  that  convention  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  I  believe  tliat  sums  it  up  entirely  except  that  I 
might  add  that  90  percent  of  your  resolutions  and  on  every  com- 
mittee there  were  active  Communists,  if  not  in  complete  control, 
dominating  that  way  by  having  men  with  lower  I.  Q.'s  and  so  forth 
among  them,  they  could  definitely  dominate  the  committee,  if  not  in 
number,  in  brains. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Let  us  go  back  to  your  ex})erience  on  the  crews  of 
these  various  ships.  Do  you  know  whether  there  were  any  Com- 
munist Party  members  who  were  radio  operators  on  these  ships  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Going  to  sea  you  find  that  the  men  are  very  clannish. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  did  not  understand  you. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Going  to  sea  you  will  find  the  men  are  very  clannish. 
The  deck  department  sticks  to  itself;  the  engine  department  sticks 
to  itself;  the  stewards  stick  to  themselves.  The  radio  oi)erators  are 
a  crossbreed,  not  accepted  by  the  crew  and  not  accei)ted  by  the  officers. 
So  I  Avould  not  know  too  much  about  them. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3469 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  any  instance  come  to  your  attention  where  you 
acquired  information  that  a  radio  man  was  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  the  back  of  my  mind  I  have  one  recollection,  but 
I  don't  have  names;  I  don't  even  remember  the  ship,  but  I  remember 
that  there  was  one  particular  ship  that  I  know  that  there  was  a  party 
man  actively  on  duty  in  the  radio  room.  Beyond  that  I  cannot  give 
any  further  information. 

Mr.  Tavennek.  When  the  ships  landed  in  foreign  ports,  what  was 
done  by  the  Communist  Party  members  with  reference  to  getting 
new  information  relating  to  the  Communist  Party  line,  if  any  ^ 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  foreign  ports? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  or  did  they  go  to  foreign  ports  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  You  mean  when  the  crews — 1  would  like  to  ask  a 
few  questions.  When  the  crews  went  to  these  foreign  ports  you 
Avant  to  know  where  w^ould  they  go  to  get  the  information? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes;  would  they  go  ashore  and  obtain  information 
in  the  same  general  manner  as  the  crews  for  the  incoming  ships  in 
San  Francisco  ? 

Mr.  Kendali..  The  party  lines  were  never  picked  up  in  a  foreign 
port  for  the  American  seamen.  We  always  received  our  party  line 
here  in  the  United  States.  However,  they  a  lot  of  times  did  make 
contacts  with  the  Comnuinist  Party  and  make  an  ai)pearance  at  some 
dance  or  meeting  which  showed  solidarity  in  the  world  and  so  forth, 
the  party  line. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  there  any  occasions  on  which  you  were  re- 
quested to  deliver  material  of  any  character  from  a  port  of  the 
United  States  to  a  foreign  port  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  w^as  requested  to  deliver  some  literature  to  New 
Caledonia  when  I  was  ship's  delegate  of  the  ss  Santa  Ana.  It  was 
not  out-and-out  Communist  literature. 

(Representative  Donald  L.  Jackson  returned  to  the  hearing  room 
at  this  point.) 

Mr.  Kendall.  However,  it  was  literature  that  was  being  passed  out 
at  the  time.  However,  San  Francisco,  as  far  as  I  know,  all  over  the 
United  States,  it  was  a  win-the-war  pamphlet,  and  I  delivered  these 
to  New  Caledonia,  and  on  the  Nira  Luekenhach  I  was  asked  to  take 
some  literature  down  to  Buena  Ventura,  Colombia,  which  I  did. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  This  was  just  the  ordinary  type  of  Communist 
Party  literature  and  information  -which  you  had  in  your  bookstore 
here  in  San  Francisco  ? 

Mr,  Kendall.  That  is  correct;  however,  it  did  not  have  the  seal 
of  the  Communist  Party  on  it  any  place,  nor  did  it  say  Connnunist 
Party  on  it.  It  was  strictly  literature,  front  organization  literature. 
I  did  not  take  the  material  ashore.  When  I  got  here  they  knew  that 
I  was  coming,  and  they  came  aboard  and  got  it  themselves. 

Mr.  Ta\ennek.  AVere  there  any  security  provisions,  protection,  af- 
forded in  getting  that  nuiterial  otf  the  ship? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  not  my  responsibility  to  get  it  oil'  the  ship. 
When  I  got  to  the  particular  places  involved,  they  knew  I  was  coming, 
and  they  came  aboard  and  contacted  me,  and  they  came  and  told 
me  they  came  to  get  the  papers  or  leaflets  or  so  forth,  and  thev  were 


3470       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

given  the  leaflets,  and  at  this  late  date,  I  don't  remember  exactly  how 
they  got  them  off.  They  threw  them  on  a  sling  or  something  and  threw 
them  over  the  side  with  a  load  of  cargo,  numerous  other  ways. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  did  you  receive  the  information  that  you  were 
to  deliver  to  those  foreign  ports  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  As  long  as  the  material  did  not  carry  anything  ad- 
verse to  what  I  believed  in,  well,  I  carried  it  down  there — and  did 
not  carry  the  official  seal  of  the  Communist  Party ;  it  was  literature  you 
could  have  picked  up  any  place  on  the  streets ;  they  were  passing  out 
on  the  streets  and  everything. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  mean,  who  gave  it  to  you  in  the  first  instance  for 
delivery  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  am  quite  sure  that  Alex  Treskin — I  picked  it  u]) 
at  the  bookstore.  How  I  was  notified  to  pick  it  up  at  the  bookstore  at 
this  time  I  don't  remember,  but  that  is  where  I  got  the  information  and 
the  leaflets. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  were  doing  it  under  directions,  were  you  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  wouldn't  say  directions.  I  was  asked  to  do  it,  and 
I  did  it. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  mean,  you  were  not  doing  it  solely  on  your  own 
initiative? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir;  no,  sir. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Mr.  Chairman. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Jackson. 

Mr.  Jackson.  It  has  been  well  established  before  this  and  other  com- 
mittees that  San  Francisco  was  an  important  stop  on  the  courier 
service  of  the  party  from  eastern  parts  of  the  United  States  to  the  Far 
East.  At  any  time  did  you  come  into  possession  of  any  information, 
or  did  you  have  any  knowledge  of  the  operation  of  such  a  courier 
service  ? 

Mr.  Kendali..  No,  sir,  I  liave  never  taken  part — never  heard  of — 
I  have  heard  of  it,  not  at  the  time  I  was  in  the  party.  I  wish  I  had — 
of  any  courier  service  or  any  information  leaving  these  United  States 
about  anything  that  would  have  endangered  our  country,  never  have 
heard  of  it. 

Mr.  Jackson.  You  have  no  personal  knoAvledge  of  it? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No  personal  knowledge,  no  sir. 

Mr.  Ta\'enner.  Can  you  give  us  the  names  of  any  other  members 
of  the  Communist  Party  who  were  members  of  the  crews  of  these 
ships  who  have  not  already  been  named  by  you  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  the  time  I  was  a  sailor  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  at  the  time  you  were  a  sailor. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Aboard  the  steam  sliip  Santa  Ana.  I  have  given  tlie 
names  there. 

Will  you  excuse  me  a  minute  ?  I  would  like  to  look  at  my  discharges 
to  refresh  my  memory  on  the  various  ships. 

I  believe  that  I  have  given  all  the  names  that  I  can  remember  at 
this  time. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  asked  me  if  I  wanted  that  information  as  to 
while  you  were  seaman.  Was  your  status  changed  in  the  marine 
service? 

Mr.  Kendall.  United  States  Merchant  Marine,  counsel. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3471 

Yes,  in  the  year  1943  I  made  application  to  the  United  States  Mari- 
time Service  officers'  training  school  at  Alameda,  Calif.,  and  I  was 
accepted  in  September  of  1943  and  became  an  officer  candidate  in 
that  school. 

Mr.  Velde.  At  this  point,  Mr.  Counsel,  we  will  have  a  recess  for 
10  minutes. 

(Whereupon,  at  3:  05  p.  m.,  the  hearing  was  recessed,  to  reconvene 
at  3  :  15  p.  m.) 

(The  hearing  reconvened  at  3  :  25  p.  m.) 

Mr.  Velde.  The  committee  will  please  be  in  order. 

Before  proceeding  further,  Mr.  Counsel,  I  would  like  to  make  this 
announcement,  that  with  the  conclusion  of  this  witness'  testimony  the 
committee  will  adjourn  until  a  time  announced  by  the  chairman  of 
the  committee.  Therefore,  all  other  witnesses  who  have  sul)penaed  to 
appear  before  the  committee  here  in  San  Francisco  are  continued  until 
further  notice  by  the  committee. 

You  may  proceed,  Mr.  Counsel. 

Mr.  TA^^ENNER.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  whether  there 
were  any  persons  known  to  you  to  be  members  of  the  Communist 
Party  in  attendance  at  the  officers'  training  school  which  you  men- 
tioned a  moment  ago? 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  were  two  members  that  I  knew  definitely  that 
were  Communist  Party  members.  One's  name  was  James  Drake,  who 
was  a  former  San  Pedro  port  agent  for  the  National  Maritime  Union 
who  M'as  attending  that  school  to  become  an  engineer. 

Mr.  TA^^3NNER.  Do  you  know  anything  about  Communist  Party 
activities  on  his  part  at  a  later  date? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No;  after  I  graduated  from  the  school  I  lost  all 
further  contact  with  him,  never  heard  of  him  again  to  the  best  of 
my  knowledge. 

Mr.  Taatenner.  Proceed,  please. 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  second  man  was  named  Duncan  Keir,  K-e-i-r, 
I  believe  that  is  how  you  spell  it.  He  fought  in  the  Abraham  Lincoln 
Brigade  in  Spain. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Just  a  moment.  Are  you  certain  of  the  spelling  of 
the  name  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  am  not  certain  of  the  last  name,  no,  but  it  is 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  information  that  the  committee  has  indicates 
that  the  name  is  K-e-i-r. 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  can  tell  you  in  a  minute.  I  have  the  graduation 
list  here,  and  he  was  a  roommate  of  mine.  K-e-i-r,  Duncan  Keir,  Jr., 
excuse  me. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Brigate  which  fought 
in  Spain.  At  a  later  date,  I  might  add,  he  was  expelled  from  the 
Communist  Party.  At  the  time  that  I  knew  him  in  my  class  in  school 
he  was  quite  disillusioned  at  that  time.  Later  on  he  was  expelled 
for — I  think  the  terminology  used  to  expel  him  was  Trotskyite. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Proceed,  please. 

INfr.  Kendall.  That  is  the  only  man  that  I  knew  attending  the 
officers  training  school  at  Alameda  that  were  members  of  the  party 
besides  myself. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  3'ou  again  go  to  sea  after  the  completion  of 
vour  training  course? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes. 


3472       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  receive  a  commission  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALLi,  I  received  an  ensign  commission  in  the  United  States 
Maritime  Service,  yes,  sir,  and  I  was  requested  to  go  on  the  steamship 
Alice  H.  Rice,  which  I  did.  I  went  aboard  as  third  officer.  It  was  a 
new  vessel  being  built  over  in  Richmond,  and  I  went  aboard  that 
particular  vessel,  the  first  trip  as  an  officer. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  Communist  Party  activities  occurred  on  board 
that  ship  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  ship  was  loaded — let  us  put  it  that  way.  The 
chief  officer  was  David  Saundei-s,  and  the  third  officer,  myself,  and  the 
deck  department  especially. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Are  you  identifying  those  pereons  as  members  of  the 
Communist  Party  that  you  are  naming? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  sir;  very  definitely.  The  purser  was  Dave 
Teitelbaum. 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  you  spell  that  name,  please? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  might  have  a  crew  list  here ;  I  will  look  and  see — 
T-e-i-t-e-1-b-a-u-m. 

Mr.  Velde.  Will  you  tell  the  committee  how  you  knew  tliat  these 
persons  were  members  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  attended  meetings  with  Mr.  Teitelbaum  and  we 
discussed  quite  frequently  aboard  ship  among  the  other  party  members 
various  phases  and  problems  within  the  party,  outside  the  party  line, 
and  so  forth.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Teitelbaum  was  a 
Communist. 

We  had  a  bosun  whose  name  was  Sam  Telford. 

Mr.  Ta%t:nner.  Spell  it,  please. 

Mr.  Kendall.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  it  is  T-e-l-f-o-r-d.  We 
had  two  McDonald  brothers  aboard  the  vessel ;  one  was  named  Hughie, 
and  the  other  one  I  don't  know  his  first  name.  They  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  Communist  Party.  However,  they  attended  Communist 
Party  meetings,  and  they  were  definitely  what  you  might  classify  as 
fellow  travelei-s,  but  to  the  best  of  my  faiowdedge  they  were  not  actual 
members  of  the  party.  I  am  afraid  that  I  would  have  to  look  at  a 
crew  list  of  that  particular  vessel,  which  I  did  not  keep  to  identify  the 
rest.    How^ever,  there  were 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  many  on  that  vessel  were  members  of  the 
Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Offliand  I  would  say  10  to  15,  maybe  not — closer  to 
10  probably  would  be  correct. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Out  of  a  total  crew  of  how  many  ? 

Mr.  I&NDALi^.  Let  me  see,  ships  of  that  size  usually  carried  about 
45  or  something  like  that ;  one-fourth  of  the  crew  or  maybe  a  little  less. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  remain  a  member  of  the  same  union  after 
you  were  commissioned  and  shipped  on  the  veasel  that  you  mentioned  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  At  the  time  of  my  graduation  I  retired  my  book  from 
the  National  Maritime  Union  as  a  seaman,  and  I  applied  for  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  Union. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  there  a  Communist  Party  cell  or  branch  within 
that  union  when  you  joined  it? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir.  However,  there  were  party  members  within 
the  union,  but  they  did  not  hold  fraction  meeting  and 

Mr.  Tavenner.  In  other  words,  there  was  no  organization,  Commu- 
nist organization,  within  that  union  ? 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3473 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Although  there  were  some  members  of  the  Com- 
munist. Party  ? 

Mr.  Bjendall.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  assigned  any  particular  job  to  do  in  that 
union;  that  is,  assigned  any  job  by  the  Communist  Party? 

Mr.  Kendali..  In  the  year  1946  I  was  getting  ready  to  sign  on  a 
vessel,  the  steamship  Robert  T.  Hill,  a  liberty  ship  bound  for  Genoa, 
and  I  was  asked  by  Alex  Treskin ■ 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  is  Alex  Treskin  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Alex  Treskin  most  of  the  time  was  the  waterfront 
organizer  for  the  seamen's  branch  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
port  of  San  Francisco,  and  for  a  long  time  they  had  been  trying  to 
get  all  the  members  of  the  Communist  Party  within  the  Masters,  Mates 
and  Pilots  into  a  particular  working  fraction.  They  had  not  suc- 
ceeded for  various  reasons,  I  don't  know  why,  and  they  had  asked 
me,  or  Alex  had  asked  me  to  please  get  off  this  ship,  stay  ashore  and 
see  if  I  couldn't  get  something  going  in  that  particular  union.  He 
asked  me  to  appear  before  the  executive  board  of  the  waterfront 
section  of  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  So  you  were  taken  off  of  the  ship  at  the  instance  of 
the  Communist  Party  to  engage  in  Communist  Party  work? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  was  not  taken  off  the  ship.  I  don't  believe  I  could 
phrase  it  that  way.  I  was  requested  to  come  ashore,  and  after  talking 
to  the  executive  board,  I  agreed  to  come  off  the  ship. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  work  that  you  were 
called  upon  to  do  ? 

Mr.  Kj:ndall.  I  was  to  try  to  organize  the  active  or  the  Communist 
Party  members  within  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  there  a  shortage  of  mates  at  that  period  of  the 
war  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No  ;  not  at  that  particular  time.  The  war  was  over 
at  that  particular  time.  Tlie  war  ended  in  August  of  1945,  and  this 
was  1946,  counsel. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Well,  tell  the  committee,  please,  the  nature  of  the 
work  that  you  engaged  in  at  the  instance  of  the  Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  purpose  of  my  work  within  the  Masters,  Mates 
and  Pilots  was,  number  one,  if  possible,  to  see  if  we  couldn't  elect 
somebody  who  was  either  sympathetic  to  the  Communist  Party  or 
that  would  be  more  lenient  towards  the  party;  number  two,  second 
resort,  and  the  most  feasible,  was  to  elect  somebody  that  would  at 
least  be  fair  within  the  union  as  the  head  of  the  union  and  not  use 
dictatorial  methods,  because  unfortunately  in  this  particular  case,  in 
my  opinion,  and  many  of  the  non-Communist  opinions,  the  union  was 
ruled  with  an  iron  hand  in  a  dictatorial  method,  even  though  it  was 
non-Communist.  I  was  called  or  asked  to  come  before  the  executive 
board.  We  sort  of  outlined  the  program  what  we  would  do,  and  in 
turn 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Is  this  the  meeting  which  you  had  started  to  de- 
scribe at  an  earlier  point  in  your  testimony  when  I  stopped  you  and 
you  went  back  to  correct  your  history  to  that  point? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct.  This  is  the  executive  board  of  the 
waterfront  section  of  the  Communist  Party  in  the  port  of  San  Fran- 
cisco.    At  this  particular  time,  which  I  mentioned  before,  I  was  told 


3474       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

where  to  come.  It  was  on  North  Broadway  and  was  upstairs,  I 
went  up  in  this  particular  room  and  the 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  tohl  you  to  appear  there ;  do  you  recall '. 

Mr.  Kendall,.  I  believe  at  that  particular  time  Alex  Treskin  was 
the  waterfront  organizer,  and  I  was  dealing  mainly  through  him,  so 
I  don't  remember  the  actual  incident  where  he  told  me  to  come,  but 
I  am  quite  sure  that  he  would  be  the  only  one  that  I  would  accept 
it  from,  but  I  don't  remember  the  actual  incident  where  he  told  me 
to  come. 

But  I  did  attend  this  meeting,  that  he  was  carrying  on  some  other 
business,  and  I  was  sitting  down  there  for  awhile,  and  they  finally 
got  to  me. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  this  a  Communist  Party  meeting? 

Mr.  Kendall.  This  was  the  executive  board  of  the  waterfront 
section. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr,  Kendall.  Communist  Party  in  the  port  of  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Tavenner,  Tell  the  connnittee  what  occurred. 

Mr.  Kendall.  W^e  went  over  very  brieily  wliat  we  had  to  accom- 
plish within  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  which  I  had  previously 
stated,  and  they  agreed  to  give  a  little  financial  lielp,  if  necessary,  and 
they  also  arranged  a  place  for  me  to  stay  while  I  was  ashore  to  keep 
my  own  expenses  down,  and  Alex  Treskin  made  arrangements  through 
other  party  personnel  to  give  me  the  necessary  technical  help  to  print 
a  2^articular  paper,  specifically  about  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots. 
The  men  pi'esent  at  that  meeting — Hugh  Bryson  of  the  Marine  Cooks 
and  Stewards  Union,  David  Jenkins  of  the  Marine  Cooks  and  Stewards 
Union,  also  working  at  the  California  Labor  School;  Alex  Treskin; 
there  were  several  other  members  present,  but  I  cannot  definitely 
recall.  I  believe  I  can,  but  unless  I  am  certain,  I  don't  care  to  give 
you  any  more  names. 

Mr.  Taa^enner.  Well,  what  did  you  do  as  a  result  of  the  instructions 
you  received  at  that  meeting  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  We  got  our  fraction  together  in  this  location  that 
they  had  located  me  to  stay,  and  from  the  county  committee  of  the 
Conmiunist  Party  they  sent  technical  aid  to  us  in  the  form  of  one  Leon 
Kaplan,  K-a-p-1-a-n,  and  a  young  lady  from  the  Young  Communist 
League  to  do  our  typing  for  us. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  recall  her  name  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir.  He  came  out  to  our  fraction  meeting  and 
gave  us  a  little  technical  advice,  and  I  believe  he  attended  1  or  2 
fraction  meetings,  and  that  was  all. 

How^ever,  he  came  to  us  directly  from  the  county  committee  spe- 
cificially  for  this  particular  project. 

Mr.  Taa^nner.  Did  you  know  at  that  time  the  names  of  other  mem- 
bers of  the  county  committee  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  I  knew  at  that  time,  yes  sir.  There  was  a  lady  named 
Yates,  but  I  had  no  personal  contact  with  the  committee  myself.  I 
mean,  I  only  knew  them  through  some  mass  meeting  we  attended  or 
something. 

Mr.  Ta\t5:nner.  What  occurred  as  a  result  of  the  technical  advice 
and  assistance  that  was  given  you  by  the  county  committee  of  the 
Communist  Party  ? 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3475 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  quite  frankly,  really  the  only  help  we  got  was 
the  young  girl.  She  typed  our  stencils  for  us  or  Avhat  they  call  cut 
them  on  the  typewriter.  She  did  our  typing.  The  greatest  help 
from — Mr.  Alex  Treskin  made  arrangements  for  me  to  secure  paper — 

Mr.  Ta\t:nner.  Just  a  minute.  What  was  it  that  you  were  attempt- 
ing to  do,  to  put  out  a  leaflet  or  pamphlet  of  some  kind  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  A  mimeographed  sheet  that  would  reach  the  members 
of  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots,  pointing  attention  to  the  overhanded 
methods  of  its  president,  which  by  any  standards,  as  I  said  before,  was 
a  dictatorial 

Mr.  Tavenner.  And  the  Connnunist  Party  was  attem])ting  to  use 
those  shortcomings  or  faults  in  the  management  of  the  union  in  order 
to  advance  its  own  Communist  Party  purposes? 

Mr.  Kendall.  They  figured  that  anytliing  was  better  than  the  presi- 
dent that  they  had  of  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  All  right ;  now,  will  you  proceed,  please?  You  were 
saying  that  arrangements  were  being  made  to  give  you  additional  help. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Mr.  Treskin  arranged  to  have  some  pa])er  given  to  us 
through  the  book  store  previously  mentioned  on  Embarcadero,  and 
then  in  turn  he  made  arrangements  for  me  to  go  u])  and  contact  Bob 
Robertson  of  the  ILWU  to  secure  some  more  paper  or  technical  help, 
if  necessary,  and  I  did  go  u[)  ;ind  see  Mr.  Bob  Robertson  of  the  ILWU, 
who  in  turn ■ 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Just  a  minute.  At  that  time  do  you  know  whether 
or  not  he  was  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Bob  Robertson  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes. 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  Avas  directed  to  go  to  him  by  Alex  Treskin,  about 
wliom  I  have  already  stated  his  position. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes. 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  never  asked ;  I  just  assumed,  and  that  is  all  I  could 
do  because  I  did  not  ask  him  whether  he  was  a  party  member.  The 
fact  that  I  had  been  directed  to  him  by  a  party  functionary  was 
enough  to  mo  tliat  lie  was  a  party  person,  or  he  wouldn't  have  sent  him 
to  me. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  go  to  his  office  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  went  to  the  office,  west-coast  office,  of  the  ILWU, 
contacted  Mr.  Robertson.  He  was  expecting  me  or  he  knew  I  would 
be  in.    He  in  turn  introduced  me  to  Mr.  Bjorne  Hailing. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  spell  that  last  name  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  You  will  have  to  get  it  some  place  else.  It  is  a  Nor- 
wegian name  of  some  sort.    I  don't  have  it. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  B-j-o-r-n-e  is  the  first  name,  and  H-a-H-i-n-g. 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tam:nner.  Is  that  correct? 

Mr.  Kendall.  He  was  about  G  foot,  blond  hair,  in  stature.  I  could 
probably  find  it  if  I  took  time  and  went  through  the  records  here, 
but  I  don't  think  I  have  his  name  in  this  particular  group  of  papers 
that  I  brought  with  me. 

Mr.  Velde.  Did  you  talk  over  Communist  Party  matters  with  these 
tAvo  gentlemen,  Mr.  Robertson,  is  it,  and  Mr.  Hailing? 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  Communist  Party  as  such  was  never  mentioned 
in  my  meeting  Avith  them.  If  I  may  continue,  Congi'essman,  I  think 
it  Avill  clear  it  up  a  little  bit. 


3476       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Velde.  All  right,  please  do.     Proceed. 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  turn  I  was  introduced  to  Mr.  Smith  who  was  also 
an  official  of  the  ILWU. 

Mr.  Tav-enner.  Do  you  recall  his  first  name  ? 

Mr.  I^NDALL.  I  believe  it  was  Harry,  but  I  am  not  sure.  I  am  very 
definitely  not  sure  of  that  because  that  was  too  long  ago. 

Bob  Robertson  then  took  me  over  to  a  young  lady  who  was  doing 
the — compiling — handling  the  publicity  or  public  relations  work  for 
the  ILWU,  newspaper  layouts  and  so  forth  and  she  told  me  she 
would  help  me  in  any  way  possible  to  get  out  this  newspaper,  this 
little  printed  leaflet. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  it  have  a  name  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  Horizon,  yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  All  right. 

Mr.  Kendall.  And  in  turn  they  also  gave  me  some  paper  to  have 
this  printed  on,  some  more  paper  which  we  would  need.  Tlien  Mr. 
Robertson  took  me  into  the  office  of  Harry  Bridges.  Mr.  Bridges — he 
talked  to  him  for  a  few  minutes  previously  before  I  went  in.  Mr. 
Bridges  told  me  that  he  was  glad  to  see  us  getting  something  going. 
He  asked  us  JHst  what  we  had  planned  on,  and  I  told  him  roughly 
in  a  general  way. 

He  told  me  that  if  we  could  get  something  going  in  there  that  we 
could  count  on — I  could  count,  rather,  on  our  group,  on  getting  all 
the  necessary  help  from  our  people  to  help  us. 

Mr.  Ta\t3Nner.  Did  Mr.  Bridges  say  who  he  meant  by  "our  people"  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  He  did  not.  There  was  only  one  assumption  that 
I  made. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  am  not  asking  you  to  make  assumptions. 

Mr.  Kendali..  All  right,  sir.  His  longshoremen  were  not  my 
people,  I  just  want  to  make  that  clear. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  "Wliat  did  you  do  ?     Was  that  the 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  was  the  extent  of  that  meeting. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  extent  of  your  conversation  with  Mr.  Bridges? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  right. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  what  occurred? 

Mr.  Kendall.  We  started  printing  the  paper,  and  we  mailed  it 
out  to  the  various  ships,  what  addresses  we  could  find  in  the  tele- 
phone books,  and  it  caused  quite  a  fracas  within  the  Masters,  Mates 
and  Pilots. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  did  you  continue  in  the  work  of  editing 
and  publishing  the  Horizon? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  don't  know  exactly  how  many  editions  we  put 
out.  However,  I  came  ashore  on  May  21,  1946,  and  I  quit  tlie  work 
prior  to  September  4,  1946.  During  that  time  I  made  a  brief  coast- 
wise visit  or  coastwise  trip  back  as  an  able-bodied  seaman  down  to 
San  Pedro — no  significance  to  the  trip;  it  was  just  to  get  away  for  a 
few  days. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  assisted  you  in  the  editing  and  publication  of 
the  Horizon  other  than  the  person  sent  to  you  from  the  Young  Com- 
munist League  to  do  typing? 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  was  a  Captain  Barry — ^I  don't  know  how  to 
spell  his  name.  There  were  2  or  3  others,  and  although  I  can  remember 
a  lot  of  names,  unfortunately  there  were  2  or  3  men  in  there  that  I 


COMMXTNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3477 

just  cannot  remember  their  names.  There  was  one  that  helped  me 
that  was  not  a  Conmiunist,  and  in  fact,  he  had  no  real  use  for  the 
Communists,  but  he  disliked  the  particular  leadership  of  the  union 
very  much,  so  he  helped  us,  and  his  name  was  Carlos  Toredo.  I 
couldn't  spell  that,  either. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  During  1946  was  there  any  particular  difficulty  on 
the  San  Francisco  waterfront  which  eventually  involved  you? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  the  SUP,  Sailors  Union  of  the  Pacific,  were— 
I  mentioned  they  went  on  strike  of  that  year,  and  also  the  National 
Unity  Committee  I  believe  it  was  called.  In  other  words,  the  NMU 
and  the  ILITO  were  coming  up  in  that  year  for  wage  negotiations 
and  contract  negotiations. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  In  what  year  was  that  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  1946. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  you  continuing  up  to  this  time  to  edit  your 
publication,  the  Horizon  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes.  Like  I  say,  I  don't  remember  exactly  how  many 
editions  we  had  put  out,  but  we  put  out  several  editions,  and  I  was 
ashore  that  entire  time  previously  mentioned.  However,  along  toward 
the  end  there,  they  brought  some  resolutions  to  me  and  asked  me  to 
submit  them  to  the  membersliip  of  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots, 
which  dumbfoimded  me.  They  were  resolutions  which  praised  the 
Soviet  Union  for  some  move  thev  had  made,  and  all  of  a  sudden  the 
liglit  started  to  glow  that  instead  of  worrying  about  cleaning  up  the 
union,  what  we  originally  started  out  for,  they  seemed  to  be  more 
interested  in  getting  some  resolutions  passed  which  obviously  couldn't 
be  passed  in  that  union  because  the  resolutions  were  out  and  out 
Communist  resolutions  praising  the  Soviet  Union,  so  that,  along  with 
the  meeting  that  I  was  called  to  attend  on  North  Broadway — I  decided 
to  give  up  the  work  and  go  back  to  sea. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Before  you  attended  the  meeting  that  you  have 
spoken  of,  what  had  become  your  position  in  the  Communist  Party 
within  vour  union  ?    You  had  a  position  of  leadership. 

Mr.  fvENDAix.  Within  the  fraction  itself  I  was  appointed  by  the — 
I  don't  know  who  exactly  appointed  me,  I  will  be  very  frank  with  you 
at  this  time ;  there  were  two  cochairmen  of  the  fractions.  One  was 
Captain  Barry  and  one  was  myself. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Can  you  give  the  full  name  of  Captain  Barry  at 
this  time  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  can't  do  it  at  tliis  time;  Captain  Barry  was  chief 
officer,  B-a-r-r-y,  but  beyond  that  I  couldn't 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  two  of  you  were  cochairmen  of  the  Communist 
Party? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Within  the  unit? 

Mr.  Kendall.  The  Communist  fraction. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  Communist  fraction  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  So  you  were  one  of  two  top-ranking  members  of 
the  Communist  Party  in  your  fraction  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.    Yes;  it  was  a  very  small  fraction,  I  might  add. 

Mr.  Ta\t:nner.  But  it  was  the  only  fraction  in  that  union,  was  it 
not? 


3478        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct;  as  far  as  I  know,  that  was  the  only 
fraction  on  the  east  coast. 

JMr.  Tavenner.  The  only  representation  that  the  Communist  Party 
had  in  that  union  was  the  representation  which  your  small  group  had  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  On  the  Pacific  coast,  that  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  state  you  were  asked  to  attend  another 
meeting  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes. 

Mr.  TiVVENNER.  Will  yon  tell  the  committee  about  that? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  this  particular  meeting  I  was  approached  by 
Alex  Treskin  and  told  to  take  a  streetcar  out  Stockton  to  come  out  to 
North  Broadway  and  to  get  off  there,  and  he  would  meet  me;  there 
was  a  very  important  meeting,  and  I  was  to  be  there  at  a  certain  time 
on  a  particular  Saturday  morning,  and  I  did,  and  he  met  me,  and 
he  took  me  down  the  street  there  into  a  JVfasonic  lodge,  and  there  were 
a  cou})le  of  men  standing  in  front — I  don't  remember  who  they  were. 
I  knew  them,  I  remember  that. 

We  went  back  into  the  rear  of  one  of  the  rooms,  and  there  were  a 
couple  of  men  at  the  door,  and  they  let  us 

Mr.  Ta^-enner.  Just  a  moment.  Had  he  told  you  what  the  nature 
of  this  meeting  was  to  be  before  you  got  into  the  building  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  When  I  met  him,  after  I  had  got  off  the  streetcar, 
on  the  way  down,  he  told  me  that  it  was  a  meeting  of  various  Com- 
munist Partv  leaders  in  the  waterfront  unions  alono;  the  Pacific  coast. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Where  was  this  meeting  held? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  held  on  North  Broadway  in  a  Masonic  hall, 
lasted  2  days. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Do  you  recall  the  place  well  enough  to  give  some 
description  of  the  hall  as  to  how  you  were  able  to  get  in  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  We  went  to  the  front  door,  and  it  was  divided  into 
two  or  three  halls,  meeting  halls.  I  wouldn't  say— I  guess  it  Avas 
the  first;  it  was  the  first  door  to  the  right,  it  was  on  an  angle,  away 
back  in  there,  set  up  for  a  regular  Masonic  meeting,  and  we  went  in. 
I  mean,  they  had  the  American  flag  there,  and  that  was  it.  As  far  as 
the  description  of  the  building,  I  could  take  you  there  in  a  minute,  but 
as  far  as  the  address  or  anything,  I  don't  know. 

Mr.  Jackson.  You  say  there  were  two  men  at  the  door  in  the  hall? 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  were  2  men  in  front,  and  there  were  '2  men  in 
the  hall  on  the  actual  door  leading  into  the  hall  itself. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Did  you  know  them,  or  did  they  request  any  identifi- 
cation from  you? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  don't  remember  who  they  were  at  the  time.  I 
mean,  we  had  to  be  identified;  the  fact  that  I  was  with  Treskin,  and 
they  knew  me,  they  just  let  us  in. 

Mr.  Jackson.  But  would  you  say  they  were  obviously  there  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  who  was  entering  the  hall?  Was  that  the 
impression  you  gathered? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Well,  I  figured  they  were  definitely  there  for  security 
measures. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Thank  you. 

Mr.  Ta\'enner.  What  time  of  the  day  did  your  meeting  begin  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  early  in  the  morning,  9  or  10  o'clock,  some- 
thing like  that. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3479 

Mr.  Ta\^nner.  How  long  did  the  meeting  last? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  lasted  maybe  not  real  late  in  the  evening,  but  it 
lasted  fairly  late,  5  or  6  o'clock,  if  I  remember,  something  like  that. 
The  first  day  was  very  tiresome,  as  I  remember. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  it  last  more  than  1  day? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  it  lasted  2  days.     It  broke  np  early  Sunday. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Tell  the  committee,  please,  what  occurred  at  that 
meeting  as  near  as  you  can  fi-om  the  very  beginning  of  your  entrance 
to  the  room. 

yiv.  Kendall.  Well,  as  I  went  in,  of  course  I  noticed  the  various 
people  that  were  there,  fi-om  as  far  away  as  Seattle,  Wash.,  Portland, 
and  as  far  south  as  San  Pedro,  the  union  officials  for  various  unions. 
Most  of  them  were  known  to  me  ;'S  Communist  Party  members.  We 
were  told  in  the  very  beginning  when  the  meeting  was  called  to  order 
that  while  the  back  door  was  o])en  we  were  never  to  mention  the 
Communist  Party. 

Mr.  Ta^t^nner.  That  while  what? 

Mr.  Kendall.  While  the  back  door  or  the  main  door  was  open 
that  we  were  never  to  mention  the  Communist  Party  because  they 
had  went  to  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  lease  the  hall  or  rent  the  hall 
for  that  pai'ticular  2  days,  and  they  had  rented  it  under  a  different 
name,  of  course,  and  we  were  not  to  cause  any  embarrassment  to 
anybody  by  mentioning  the  Connnunist  Party  as  such  when  the  door 
was  open  in  case  somebody  would  be  out  there  that  was  not  a  member. 

Mr.  TA\TiNNER.  Then  it  was  a  Communist  Party  meeting  without 
any  doubt? 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  was  never  a  doubt  in  my  mind. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  any  persons  present  at  that  meeting  from 
the  east  coast? 

Mr.  Kendali..  Yes,  Mr.  Al  Lannon — at  least  that  is  the  name  I 
knew  him  under. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Al  Lannon? 

Mr.  Jackson.  How  do  you  spell  that,  please? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Al  L-a-n-n-o-n,  I  believe. 

Mr.  Jackson.  L-a-n-n-o-n? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  believe  so.  I  might  state  that  since,  I  found  that 
is  an  alias  also. 

Mr.  Taat<:nner.  What  is  that? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  an  alias,  I  have  been  notified  of  that.  I 
have  identified  a  picture  other  than  that  name.  I  don't  remember 
the  name,  but  that  is  not  his  correct  name. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  position  did  he  hold  in  the  Communist 
Party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  He  was  a  national  coordinator  of  the  waterfront 
section  of  the  Communist  Party.  He  had  flown  out  from  the  east 
coast  especially  for  this  meeting. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Were  there  any  Communist  Party  representatives 
from  the  east  coast  that  you  can  now  recall? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Continue  with  your  description  of  what  occurred 
after  you  were  told  that  the  Communist  Party  name  should  not  be 
mentioned  at  any  time  while  the  door  was  open? 

]\Ir.  Kendaix.  We  Avere  told  that  we  were  going  to  liear  a  report 
from  Al  Lannon  from  the  east  coast.     At  that  time  the  NMU  was 


3480       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

going  through  its  struggle  with  the  forces  of  Joseph  Hearns  trying 
to  rid  the  union  of  the  Communists  and  Blackie  Meyers  was  the 
individual  who  the  Communists  had  around,  and  it  was  a  struggle 
of  power  within  the  NMU,  and  he  was  going  to  give  a  report  on  that 
particular  struggle. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  was  on  the  east  coast  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  was  on  the  east  coast,  that  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  involved  Ferdinand  Smith,  did  it  not  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Ferdinand  Smith  was  also  allied  with  Blackie  Meyers 
as  a  Communist. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  That  fight  resulted  in  Ferdinand  Smith  being  ex- 
pelled from  the  union,  did  it  not,  and  his  deportation  at  a  later  date  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Sir,  I  don't  know.  I  mean,  I  know  he  was  deported, 
but  whether  that  particular  battle  was  decisive  to  that  thing,  I  don't 
know. 

Then  we  were  to  have  a  report  from  the  various  unions  up  and  down 
the  coast  from  our  party  functionaries  within  that  union  who  held 
offices  in  that  union  on  the  problems  and  different  problems  that  had 
arisen  on  the  coast;  in  other  words,  a  complete  report  on  how  the 
Communists  were  doing  within  the  unions  and  whether  they  had 
complete  control  and  whether  there  were  factions  fighting  them  and 
just  a  general  report. 

We  also  were  to  receive  a  report — now,  I  don't  think  we  were  told 
we  were  going  to  see  the  report,  but  I  better  start  naming  off  the  people 
that  were  there. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  and  the  unions  which  these  Communist  Party 
members  represented. 

Mr.  Kendall.  All  right.  Walter  Stack  was  there,  and  he  was  from 
the  MFOW,  here  for  the  port  of  San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  The  name? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Marine  Firemen,  Oilers  and  Watertenders. 

Mr.  Velde.  How  is  the  name  spelled,  please  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Marine  Fire 

Mr.  Velde.  The  name  of  the  person. 

Mr.  Kendall.  S-t-a-c-k,  to  the  be^t  of  my  knowledge.  He  was 
here  from  the  port  of  San  Francisco.  Neil  Crowe,  San  Pedro, 
C-r-o-w-e  agent  of  the  National  Maritime  Union,  CIO. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Will  you  spell  that,  please  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  N-e-i-1.  He  was  from  San  Pedro.  Neil  Crowe  did 
not  come  alone.  There  was  somebody  from  the  San  Pedro  branch  of 
the  ILWU  for  that  particular  local.  There  were  2  or  3  men  with  him. 
I  didn't  know  those  men.  I  knew  Crowe  because  I  had  shipped  down 
there,  as  I  mentioned  previously,  for  about  a  week  on  another  ship, 
just  for  the  ride,  and  to  take  it  easy  a  little  bit  as  an  able-bodied 
seaman.  I  held  a  license,  and  I  knew  that  Crowe  was  in  that  position, 
and  I  believe  he  was  an  agent;  if  not,  he  was  what  he  called  a  patrol- 
man, and  if  not  the  actual  agent,  he  was  a  patrolman,  but  I  am  quite 
sure  he  was  an  agent  there  at  the  time. 

We  had  representatives  of  Portland  with  which  I  was  not  too  famil- 
iar because  I  didn't  know  anybody  in  Portland.  The  NMU  had  an 
office  up  there,  but  it  wasn't  much  of  an  office,  and  the  ILWU  was 
helping  out  as  much  as  they  could.  In  the  port  of  Seattle  the  NMU 
agent  was  there,  and  they  had  a  representative,  a  couple  of  representa- 
tives of  the  ILWU  which  was  there. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3481 

Now,  when  I  give  unions,  they  were  all  represented  to  me  as  Com- 
munist Party  members  in  those  individual  unions.  Harold  Oakerly — 
I  mentioned  Walter  Stack — Alex  Treskin  was  there;  Harry  Bridges 
was  there;  Bjorne  Hailing  was  there;  and  Bob  Robertson  was  there. 

Mr.  Velde.  Is  there  any  question  in  your  mind  about  any  being 
there  whom  you  have  named  so  far  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No. 

Mr.  Velde.  Are  you  certain  that  Harry  Bridges  was  there  at  that 
meeting? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Very  definitely,  yes. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Mr.  Chairman,  a  point  of  information.  Captain 
Barry  I  believe  you  had  previously  identified  as  a  member  of  the  Com- 
munist Party ;  is  that  correct  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavbnner.  Will  you  tell  the  committee,  please,  what  happened 
during  the  course  of  that  meeting?     What  was  done? 

Mr.  Kendall.  First  of  all  we  had  a  report  from  Al  Lannon  from 
the  ea^t  coast  who  told  about  the  internal  struggle  with  the  NMU 
which  was  the  major  interest  at  that  time  as  far  as  the  east  coast  was 
concerned.  After  he  spoke  we  had  various  reports  on  party  activities 
of  the  various  ports  up  and  down  the  coast  from  the  various  union 
representatives,  Communist  Party  representatives,  that  held  positions 
in  the  union.  Then  we  had  a  report  on  the  negotiations  at  that  time 
that  were  going  on  between  the  shipowners  and  the  ILWU,  where  it 
might  have  been  the  committee  on  maritime  unity  at  that  time.  I 
forget  just  what  the  official  title  was  of  the  negotiating  group. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Who  made  that  report  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Harry  Bridges.  The  reason  that  I  remember  it  so 
well,  this  particular  report,  was  two  things.  First  of  all,  Mr.  Bridges 
constantly  during  the  meeting,  on  hearing  the  other  reports,  was 
drinking  milk  and  eating  crackers.  The  reason  given  for  it  to  me 
was  that  he  had  a  very  bad  case  of  ulcers,  and  he  was  quite  ill.  How- 
ever, he  gave  the  report.  The  latter  part  of  the  second  day  he  did  not 
attend  the  meeting,  the  final  meetings,  I  mean,  part  of  the  meetings,  as 
he  was  too  ill.     But  he  gave  the  report, 

Mr.  Jackson.  He  was  there  during  the  first  day  of  the  meetings  and 
for  the  morning  session  of  the  second  day  ? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  Yes. 

Mr.  Velde.  Do  you  know  how  these  individuals  were  notified  of  the 
meetings  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  only  have  knowledge  of  my  own  notific^ition. 

Mr.  Velde.  Maybe  you  have  alreadv  stated,  but  how  were  vou  noti- 
fied? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Alex  Treskin  notified  me  to  come  to  the  corner  of 
north  Broadway  and  Stockton  where  he  would  meet  me  and  take  me  to 
the  meeting  place. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  report  that  was  made  by 
Mr.  Bridges,  can  vou  recall  that? 

Mr.  Kj^ndall.  Well,  at  the  particular  time,  as  far  as  I  could  read  in 
the  papers,  they  were  still  negotiating  with  the  city  shipowners,  I  be- 
lieve was  the  title,  and  it  was  quite  awhile,  80  days  or  so,  where  they 
had  to  go  in  the  contract  or  negotiate  in  as  far  as  I  knew.  However, 
Mr.  Bridges  told  the  group  that  the  shipowners  were  going  to  stall, 


3482        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

and  they  were  stalling,  and  that  there  woidd  be  a  strike  and  for  party 
members  within  the  union  to  go  back  and  prepare  the  membership 
for  a  strike,  wliich  came  to  me — I  was  a  little  dnmfounded  on  it 
because  there  was  still,  I  thought,  a  lot  of  negotiation  to  go  on. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Do  I  understand  that  this  directive  vo  go  back  and 
prepare  for  the  strike  was  a  directive  to  all  of  the  unions  concerned, 
ji.ot  onlv  the  union  of  which  Mr.  Bridges  was  an  official? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Anytime  on  the  waterfront.  Congressman  Jackson, 
where  you  have  a  strike  of  one  pai'ticulai'  union,  automatically  no- 
body would  cross  anotlier  union's  picket  line,  in  those  cases  at  least, 
at  that  time,  and  therefore  if  one  striked,  they  were  all  out  of  work, 
so  they  had  to  set  up  certain  facilities  so  they  could  be  giving  help  to 
the  union  members  of  their  respective  unions,  even  though  one  par- 
ticular union  might  be  the  one  doing  the  striking.  Say,  for  example, 
if  it  was  the  longshoremen's  union  that  went  out  on  strike,  auto- 
matically the  seamen  would  be  out  and  all  the  rest  of  the  unions  would 
be  out  on  the  waterfront  because  they  would  not  cross  the  picket  lines, 
so  they  prepared  for  the  strike,  and  that  was  the  reason  the  instructions 
were  given. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Did  you  make  a  report  also  at  this  meeting  of  the 
Communist  Party  activities  in  your  union  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  I  did.  I  told  of  our  activity  and  so  forth,  up 
to  that  particular  time.  However,  at  that  particular  meeting  was 
the  beginning  of  the  end  as  far  as  I  was  concerned,  I  might  add. 
That  was  one  of  the  turning  points,  when  INIr.  Bridges  instructed  the 
party  people  to  go  back  and  prepai-e  their  membership  for  a  strike 
before  negotiations  had  even  got  into  full  swing,  as  far  as  I  was 
concerned,  and  that  was  at  the  very  time  that  Chiang  Kai-shek  was 
fighting  for  existence  in  China,  and  it  was  after  the  Duclos  letter, 
and  I  began  to  realize  the  international  complications  involved. 

Mr.  Ta\^nner.  Can  you  recall  any  other  decision  or  action  that 
was  taken  at  that  meeting? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  don't  remember  whether  or  not  it  was  before  that 
particular  meeting  or  at  that  meeting  it  was  announced  that  Bill 
Bailey  was  the  west  coast  coordinator,  or  that  he  had  been  given  the 
job  of  the  west  coast  coordinator  for  the  waterfront  sections  of  the 
Communist  Party. 

I  remember  at  that  particular  meeting  he  was,  he  lield  that  posi- 
tion. Whether  or  not  he  was  elected  at  that — I  don't  think  he  was 
elected  at  that  particular  meeting,  but  at  that  particular  meeting  was 
the  first  time  that  I  had  ever  heard  of  it,  that  he  held  that  position. 
So  they  either  appointed  him  just  prior  to  that  meeting  or  they  an- 
nounced it,  but  anyway,  that  was  the  first  time  that  I  knew  of  that 
particular  position.  It  was  a  new  position,  I  might  add,  in  the  party. 
It  was  something  nobody  else  had  had. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Who  presided  as  chairman  at  the  sessions? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  have  thought  many  times  over  that,  looking  back 
on  it.  It  is  very  peculiar;  I  am  sure  it  was  1  of  2  people,  but  as  I  have 
stated  previously,  uidess  I  am  absolutely  sure  who  the  presiding 
chairman  was,  I  will  not  state. 

Mr.  Jackson.  It  was  1  of  2  people  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Jackson.  If  you  have  identified  them  as  being  present  in  the 
meeting  hall,  I  see  no  firm  connnitments.    As  long  as  you  say  you  are 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3483 

not  certain,  but  it  was  1  of  2,  if  you  will  name  the  2  persons,  I  think 
it  would  be  all  right  for  the  record  in  this  instance. 

Mr.  IvENDALL.  At  this  time  you  mean  you  want  me  to  name  them 
again  ? 

Mr.  Jackson.  Yes,  the  2  people  who  may — or  1  of  whom  did  pre- 
side as  chairman. 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  Alex  Treskin  or  Bill  Bailey  who  was  chaimian 
of  the  particular  meeting  involved.  The  most  significant  fact,  outside 
of  what  I  have  given  about  the  international  complications  of  the 
meeting  all  of  a  sudden  coming  up,  Avas  that  in  addressing  this  meet- 
ing Harry  Bridges  was  not  introduced  as  a  Communist.  I  didn't  ex- 
pect him  to  be  because  we  know  from  the  years  we  have  had,  there 
have  been  a  lot  of  problems  and  trials  and  so  forth  on  his  citizenship — 
however,  his  first  words  to  address  this  meeting  could  be  taken  many 
ways — but  the  words  were  "comrades." 

Mr.  Velde.  Are  you  positive  that  this  was  a  meeting  closed  only  to 
actual  Communist  Party  members? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Throughout  the  entire  discussion  of  this  meeting,  I 
liave  tried  to  make  it  clear,  there  was  no  doubt  in  anybody's  mind, 
there  was  nobody  there  that  was  not  a  Communist.  For  a  fact  I  will 
be — well,  I  am  not  certain,  so  I  won't  say  more.  But  I  am  positive 
that  the  meeting  was  a  closed  Communist  meeting.  There  were  some 
people  that  were  there  that  I  did  not  know.  They  might  not  have  been 
Communists,  it  is  quite  true,  but  everybody  that  I  did  know  that  was 
there,  they  were  Comnumists.  I  mean  that  I  actively  worked  with 
and  knew'  was  a  Communist.  I  knew  Bridges,  Hailing,  Robertson, 
and  Smith,  and  I  couldn't  say  they  were  Communists  because  I  never 
got  close  to  them.  However,  everybody  I  did  know  and  had  close  con- 
tact with  that  was  there  were  Communists  except  those  mentioned. 

Mr.  Tavennek.  Did  any  other  person  make  a  report  for  the  ILWU 
besides  Harry  Bridges  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  was  a  report  made  from  San  Pedro  and  also 
a  report,  from  Portland  and  also  a  very,  very 

iVIr.  Taa-enner.  I  couldn't  understand  your  last  statement. 

Mr.  Kendall.  There  was  a  report  made  from  Portland.  I  remem- 
ber they  were  having  some  particular  problem  up  there,  union  trouble, 
and  the  anti-Communist  forces  within  the  union  of  the  ILWU  were 
liaving  a  terrifRc  fight  with  the  Communist  fraction  up  there,  and  they 
reported  on  that.  All  the  reports  basically  were  in  regards  to  Com- 
munist Party  problems  within  the  various  unions.  They  mentioned 
several  times  minor  fracases  that  they  had  with  other  miions — I  mean 
the  unions  they  were  in  might  have  had  with  other  unions  that  were 
not  Connnunist  Party  business;  however,  the  basic  reports  were  defi- 
nitely (^onnnunist  reports  on  activities  in  unions  of  the  party. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Was  any  report  made  to  your  recollection  from  the 
San  Francisco  area  by  a  representative  of  the  ILWU  other  than  Mr. 
Harry  Bridges? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  can't  definitely  say  at  this  time. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  The  extreme  security  measures  for  this  meeting  which 
you  have  described  were  taken,  were  they  not,  because  this  was  a 
(""ommunist  meeting? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  the  last  part  the  microphones  Huctuated.  I  wish 
3'ou  Avould  repeat. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Would  you  read  that,  please  ? 


3484       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

(The  question  was  read  by  the  reporter  as  follows : 

The  extreme  security  measures  for  this  meeting  which  you  hare  descril)ed  were 
taken,  were  they  not,  because  this  was  a  Communist  meeting?) 

Mr.  Ej:ndall.  That  is  a  conclusion,  but  very  definitely ;  I  mean,  that 
is  the  only  reason  it  could  have  been.  If  it  had  been  a  union  meeting, 
there  would  have  been  no  other  reason.  There  wouldn't  have  been 
any  necessity  for  double  guard,  and  not  mentioning  the  Communist 
Party  if  the  door  is  open. 

Mr.  ScHERER.  Merely  the  matter  of  notification  was  evidence  of  an 
extreme  security  measure ;  your  manner  of  notification  of  this  meeting 
and  your  going  to  the  meeting  indicated  that  it  was  highly  secretive  1 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  correct,  and  that  was  the  first  time  they  had 
ever  called  upon  me  to  attend  a  meeting  of  such  a  high  echelon  cali- 
ber— especially  a  Communist  Party  meeting,  and  that  is  probably 
why  they  had  me  come  the  way  I  did. 

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

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Jackson. 

Mr.  Jaokson.  Is  it  customary  among  the  waterfront  unions  to  have 
a  strike  vote  before  a  strike  is  called,  or  is  this  determination  gen- 
erally made  by  a  board  or  a  f e-sv  men  or  an  individual  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Very  definitely  among  the  more  democratic  unions 
on  the  waterfront  section — and  I  believe  the  majority  of  the  water- 
front agents  are  probably  more  democratic  than  any  other  unions  in 
the  United  States — they  always  have  a  strike  vote. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Had  that  strike  vote  been  taken  to  the  best  of  your 
knowledge,  let  us  say,  in  your  own  group?  Had  any  mention  been 
made  of  a  possible  pending  strike  before  the  directions  were  given  to 
go  back  to  your  unions  and  tell  them  to  get  ready  to  strike  ?  Do  you 
know  of  any 

Mr.  Kendall.  Remember,  I  was  a  member  of  the  Masters,  Mates 
and  Pilots.  I  was  not  a  member  of  one  of  the  unions  that  were  going 
on  a  strike. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Was  a  strike  vote  mentioned,  to  the  best  of  your 
recollection,  in  any  of  the  unions  which  were  represented  in  this 
meeting  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  I  am  sure  the  strike  vote  wasn't  mentioned,  be- 
cause the  strike  vote  is  a  formality  that  you  always  give  to  your 
negotiators  if  nothing  more  as  a  bargaining  agent. 

%ir.  Jackson.  It  really  does  not  constitute  balloting  by  the  member- 
ship of  the  union  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  does,  but  after  all,  your  negotiating  committee, 
if  they  do  not  have  the  power  to  call  the  men  out  on  strike  if  they 
can't  reach  an  agreement,  they  are  handicapped,  and  the  shipowners 
and  so  forth,  they  know  that.  So  for  a  negotiating  committee  to  go 
in  to  a  group  of  shipowners  without  the  power  to  strike  would  cer- 
tainly not  be  intelligent  negotiating  at  all,  and  the  union  would 
always  give  power  to  strike. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Thank  you. 

Mr.  DoTLE.  Mr.  Chairman,  may  I  ask  a  couple  of  questions  at  that 
point?  You  have  said  that  when  Mr.  Bridges  first  began  to  speak 
he  said — I  am  quoting  you — "we  are  comrades." 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  I  said,  "comrades" — period,  sir. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3485 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  stand  corrected.  Then  how  did  you  Communists  who 
were  there  salute  each  other?  Did  you  use  the  term  "comrades"  as 
between  yourselves  ? 

Mr.  Kjendall.  Normally  anybody  that  would  be  speaking  on  the 
floor,  if  he  spoke  of  some  other  comrade,  you  would  say  Comrade 
Jones  or  Comrade  Smith.  That  is  normal  at  any  party  meeting. 
However,  as  far  as  the  particular  meeting  outside  of  the  actual  speaker 
or  the  chairman  involved,  I  couldn't  remember  how  they  addressed 
each  other.  It  was  the  normal  procedure  off  the  ffoor  to  call  eacli 
other  comrade. 

Mr.  Jackson.  That  is  not  the  usual  procedure,  I  assume,  in  any 
other  activity  of  the  union  or  any  open  meeting  of  any  sort? 

Mr.  Kendall.  You  mean  the  term  "comrade"  ? 

Mr.  Jackson.  The  term  "comrade." 

Mr.  Kendall.  That  is  one  of  the  large  questions  always.  The 
term  "comrade"  can  be  used  in  many  ways. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Is  it  used  in  union  meetings? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Not  lately. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Was  it  a  frequently  used  term  at  that  time? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  no;  I  don't  thiiik  at  any  normal  meeting  that 
you  would  get  up  and  call  a  man  comrade. 

Mr.  Jackson.  In  other  words,  you  call  people  comrades  in  Com- 
munist Party  meetings? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Period,  yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Very  well. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  have  a  further  question.  During  these  2  days  of 
meetings  did  any  men  who  were  not  there  the  first  day  come  into  the 
meeting  the  second  day  ?  I  mean  did  people  go  and  come  during  the 
meetings?  Was  the  number  larger  or  smaller?  Did  they  come  in 
and  out  of  the  meeting  room  freely  or  what? 

Mr.  KJENDALL.  No,  no;  everybody  was  there  the  second  day  that 
was  there  the  first  day. 

Mr.  DoYLE.  No  new  persons? 

Mr.  Kendall.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  I  can't  remember  any 
new  persons.  Like  I  say,  Mr,  Bridges  left  early  on  the  second  day 
because  of  illness. 

Mr.  DoYi^.  You  mentioned  the  two  guards  were  at  the  door  when 
you  went  in.  What  is  the  fact  with  reference  to  whether  or  not  the 
door  was  closed  during  the  meeting? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Oh,  yes,  very  definitely. 

Mr.  DoYi^.  Was  it  locked,  or  do  you  know  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  wouldn't  know.     I  never 

Mr.  Doyle.  Were  the  guards  that  were  there  when  you  went  in — 
did  they  come  inside  the  room  and  guard  the  room  inside  so  that  no 
one  came  from  outside,  or  did  they  stand  outside? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  they  did  not  stand  outside.  Tliey  were  actively 
part  of  the  meeting.  At  the  meeting  they  might  have  been  appointed 
sergeant-at-arms  or  something  like  that  to  take  care  of  the  door,  but 
that  is  all.  I  mean,  they  weren't  definitely  guards — I  mean,  they 
wouldn't  be  just  to  guard  the  door  is  what  I  am  trying  to  put  over. 
They  were  actually  a  part  of  the  meeting,  however,  they  had  been 
asked  previously  to  be  security  guards,  I  assume,  or  afterwards  very 
likely  in  addition  to  the  chairman  we  also  nominated  sergeant-at-arms 
or  some  sort  of  security  guards. 


3486        COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Doyle.  Were  you  men  in  attendance  introduced  to  one  another 
by  your  regular  legal  names  or  by  assumed  names,  or  were  you  intro- 
duced to  one  another  at  all  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  can  only  speak  for  myself  as  to  that.  But  at  no 
time  ever  when  I  was  a  member  of  the  Connnunist  Party  had  I  ever 
used  an  assumed  name,  never. 

Mr.  Doyle.  At  this  meeting  where  these  men  from  Portland  came 
that  you  said  you  did  not  know,  were  they  introduced  to  you? 

Mr.  Kendall.  We  were  all  introduced  to  each  other. 

Mr.  Doyle.  When  you  were  introduced,  were  they  introduced  by  the 
term  "comrade''  as  a  prefix? 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  nor  the  habit  in  the  party  meetings  to  call  each 
other  comrade  on  the  floor  of  the  meeting,  no,  sir. 

Mr.  Doyle.  All  right,  thank  you. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  You  had  described  the  place  of  meeting.  Will 
you  fix  the  time? 

Mr.  Kendall.  In  relation  to  days  and  so  forth  ? 

Mr.  Tavenner.  Yes,  the  day  and  the  month,  if  you  can,  and  the 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  a  previous  investigation  that  w^as  held  at  whicii 
I  was  asked  to  hel]),  we  tra<*ed 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  suggest  that  you  not  comment  upon  what  some- 
body else  did.     If  you  can  fix  the  time  yourself  of  your  own  recol- 
lection, do  it,  and  if  you  can't,  say  you  can't. 

Mr.  Kendall.  It  was  in  the  month  of  August  of  1946,  and  the 
meeting  lasted  2  days,  and  it  was  on  a  Saturday  and  a  Sunday. 

Mr.  Scherer.  You  don't  know  who  paid  the  rental  for  the  hall,  do 
you  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  Scherer.  You  wouldn't  know  w^hether  that  was  paid  by  check 
or  cash  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  I  was  pretty  low  down  the  line;  I  didn't  handle 
anything  as  far  as  the 

Mr.  Scherer.  You  wouldn't  know  under  what  name  the  hall  was 
rented  then? 

Mr.  Kendali^.  No,  sir. 

Mr.  ScHisRER.  You  knew  it  was  rented  under  some  assumed  name  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  sir,  that  is  correct. 

Mr.  Scherer.  Or  assumed  organization? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  May  I  ask  you  whether  or  not  at  the  time  you  were 
invited  to  this  meeting  you  held  any  official  position  in  j^our  union? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  So  the  only  purpose  under  whicli  you  could  have 
been  invited  to  this  meeting  was  because  of  your  superior  position  in 
the  Communist  Party;  isn't  that  correct? 

Mr.  Kendall.  Yes,  sir ;  that  is  correct. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  How  long  was  it  after  that  before  you  got  out  of  the 
Connnunist  Party? 

Mr.  Kendall.  At  that  particular  meeting  it  became  clear  to  me 
that  here  were  men  being  told  to  go  back  and  prepare  their  unions 
for  a  strike,  and  that  we  had  not  tried  every  means  of  negotiation. 
And  I  began  to  wonder — I  had  wondered  before  because  of  the  famous 


COMMUNTIST  ACTIVITIES  EST  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3487 

Diiclos  letter,  but  this  was  one  of  the  things  that  made  me  stop  and 
wonder.    I  was  getting  a  little  older,  too,  at  the  time,  and  then  also 

Mr.  Velde.  What  did  yon  wonder,  whether  or  not  the  order  to 
prepare  for  a  strike  was  in  some  way  or  other  handed  down  by  the 
Communist  Party  or  by  the  Soviet  Union  through  tlie  Communist 
Party — if  you  can  tell  the  committee  just  how  you  felt  about  that 
jjarticular  order. 

Mr.  Kendall.  For  the  first  time,  you  see — going  to  sea  I  had  not 
been  ashore  very  much,  until  this  time,  and  all  of  a  sudden  the  true 
implication  of  the  international  conspiracy,  as  I  saw  it  then,  started 
to  just  blossom  out.  In  other  words,  here  we  were  preparing,  instead 
of  trying  to  work  out  something  on  a  peaceful  settlement  with  the 
shipowners — wliich  of  course  I  mean  I  had  no  love  for  it  at  that 
particular  time  anyway,  but  Chiange  Kai-sliek  was  fighting  for  his 
life  over  in  China,  and  we  were  trying — in  other  words,  all  of  a  sudden 
it  became  clear  to  me  that  actually  the  wages  and  conditions  which — 
the  Communist  Party  had  built  themselves  up  to  be  supposed  to  be 
the  working  party  or  class — all  of  a  sudden  it  seemed  secondary,  and 
there  was  international  implications  that  came  above  working  condi- 
tions for  these  various  unions  which  they  had  control  of. 

That  is  one  of  the  reasons — I  mean,  later  on  maybe  if  I  have  time 
I  will  go  into  the  full  reason,  but  on  that  particular  issue  is  one  of  the 
things  that  I  decided  then  and  there  that  I  was  going  to  get  a  ship  out, 
along  with  these  resolutions  that  they  had  handed  me,  asking  me  to  go 
before  a  group  of  intelligent  men,  which  I  assume  they  are  intelligent — 
Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots— praising  the  Soviet  Union  for  some  deed 
that  they  had  accomplished.  The  war  was  over  and  everything  else; 
I  mean,  all  of  a  sudden  I  just  began  fitting  together,  and  I  was  ashore 
for  the  first  time  since  the  Jacques  Duclos  letter,  and  it  just  didn't 
strike  right  to  me. 

Mr.  Ta\tcnner.  As  a  result  did  you  get  out  of  the  Communist  Party  ? 

Mr.  Kendall.  No,  sir;  not  at  that  time.  I  told  them  that  I  wanted 
to  go  to  sea  again,  and  I  got  on  a.  shi|) — the  CJaymont  Victory^  which 
was  an  Army  transport  going  to  Alaska  for  Operation  AVillowaugh, 
and  we  were  all  ready  to  sail,  and  I  was  on  this  ship — I  took  a  job  I 
believe  on  there  as  second  mate,  navigating  officer — we  were  all  ready 
to  sail  when  the  SUP  went  out  on  a  strike,  the  Sailors  Union  of  the 
Pacific,  A.  F.  of  L.  They  were  on  a  strike,  and  the  ship  held  Army 
cargo,  and  we  had  Army  troops  aboard,  and  Mr.  Harry  Lundeberg, 
president  of  that  union,  had  o.  k.'d  the  clearance  of  that  particular 
ship  because  it  was  Government  c"argo,  so  everybody  got  clearance 
but  me,  and  the  Sailors  Union  of  the  l*acific  would  not  give  me  clear- 
ance because  of  the  fact  that  Charlie  May,  the  president  of  the  Masters, 
Mates  and  Pilots,  had  a  very  strong  suspicion  that  I  was  putting 
out  this  Horizon,  this  paper  that  wtis  causing  them  no  end  of 
embarrassment. 

So  I  went  over  to  see  Harry  Lundeberg,  and  Harry  told  me,  he 
says,  well,  he  told  me  that  he  had  heard  that  I  was  putting  out  this 
paper,  and  I  swore  up  and  down  that  I  wasn't,  of  course,  so  then  I  went 
over  to  see  Alex  Treskin,  and  the  executive  board  of  the  Masters, 
Mates  and  Pilots  told  me  that  if  I  came  before  them,  they  would  like  to 
ask  me  a  few  questions;  they  would  give  me  clearance,  and  in  turn 
Harry  Lundeberg  would  give  me  clearance,  and  in  turn  I  would  be 


3488       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

permitted  to  pass  through  the  picket  line  to  sign  on  the  ship.^  So  I 
appeared  before  this  portion  of  the  executive  board,  and  Alex  Treskin 
told  me  to  go  over  there  and  tell  them  anything  I  wanted  to,  that  it 
didn't  make  much  difference — in  other  words,  lie  to  them,  tell  them 
that  I  didn't  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  because  after  all,  the  ulti- 
mate goal,  I  believe,  as  the  terminology  always  used,  the  ultimate  goal 
is  what  we  are  after,  not  individual  trust  at  some  particular  time.  I 
mean,  that  was  always  the  party  line. 

Mr.  Jackson.  Phrased  a  little  differently,  any  means  to  the  end. 

Mr.  Kendall.  Correct,  sir.  So  I  appeared  before  this  committee, 
and  this  is  the  statement  which  I  signed.  It  is  brief,  and  I  would  like 
to  submit  it  in  the  record,  if  I  may. 

Mr.  Doyle.  When  is  it  dated  '^ 

Mr.  Kendall.  September  4,  1946. 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  ask  it  be  introduced  in  evidence  and  marked 
"Kendall  Exhibit  No.  1." 

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

(National  Organization  of  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  of  America, 
executive  committee  minutes,  September  4, 1946,  San  Francisco,  Calif., 
West  Coast  Local  90,  containing  a  statement  signed  by  James  Kendall, 
dated  September  4,  1946,  was  received  in  evidence  as  Kendall  Exhibit 
No.  1.) 

Mr.  Tavenner.  I  suggest  you  read  it. 

Mr.  Velde.  The  statement  is  short;  will  you  read  it,  Mr.  Witness? 

Mr.  Kendall.  All  right. 

Executive  committee  minutes,  September  4,  1946,  11:30  a.  m.,  San 
Francisco,  Calif.,  International  Organization  Masters,  Mates  and 
Pilots,  West  Coast  Local  90. 

Present:  Capt.  C.  F.  May,  Capt.  H.  Miehelson,  Capt.  K.  Hjorth,  Capt.  A.  W. 
Lawberg,  Capt.  J.  J.  Sawaska,  Mr.  M.  A.  Viera 

Meeting  called  to  order  11 :  30  a.  m.  to  hear  the  case  of  James  S.  Kendall, 
No.  4089. 

James  S.  Kendall  No.  4089  stated  he  is  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
Horizon.  And  an  information  that  he  was  the  editor  of  the  Horizon  is  er- 
roneous. He  came  before  the  executive  committee  of  his  own  free  will  to 
obtain  a  clearance  from  the  organization  and  the  SUP  for  the  steamship 
Claymont  Victory,  which  is  a  troopship  and  not  affected  by  the  strike  of  the 
SUP 

and  I  signed  my  name. 

Motion  made  by  Captain  Lawberg,  seconded  by  Captain  Miehelson,  tbat  the 
above  statement  made  by  James  S.  Kendall.  Xo.  4089,  is  accepted  as  a  true  state- 
ment, and  this  statement  be  retained  on  file,  and  the  above-named  man  to  be 
given  clearance.  Motion  carried  unanimously  and  so  recommended.  Meeting 
adjourned  at  12  noon. 

I  submitted  this  to  Mr.  Lundeberg,  and  he  wrote  on  here  "Okay  for 
clearance  through  SUP  picket  line,  Harry  Lundeberg,  secretary 
treasurer."  So  I  sailed  away  on  the  steamship  Claymont  Victory 
and  went  to  Alaska,  and  when  I  came  back  the  SUP  strike  had  been 
settled,  and  in  the  meantime  tlie  committee  for  maritime  unity,  the 
longshoremen  were  a  part  of,  had  gone  out  on  strike,  and  I  came  back 
to  the  port  of  Seattle,  so  I  thought  I  would  try  again,  so  there  was  no 
group  up  there  within  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots.  However, 
Jack  Smith,  wlio  was  the  agent  of  the  National  Maritime  Union  and 
a  Communist  Party  member,  was  there,  and  so  I  attended  several 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3489 


KENDALL  EXHIBIT  NO.  1 
NATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  of  MASTERS,  MATES  &  PILOTS  of  AMERICA 


SCATTLK    I.    WAaMlNtTTOM 

nOOM    31*    MUTUAL    LI^C   BLOO- 

«OS     1ST    AVCNUC 

Tfkl'HOHl     KLiOTT    OS«« 

TIklTtri    BC   4*4 

»0«T|_anO  4,    ORCOON 
aO>    HKNHV    •lDO. 

4TM  AHO  OAK   STRCCTS 

Tlfc«»"0«.«   AT-*If»   3»3I 

T«HTT»f   ^o   a»7 


i  AFFIUATCD  WITH  A,  F-  of  L 

WEST  COAST  LOCAL  No.  90 

Headquartffs 
SAN  FRANCISCO.  II 

C.    F.    MAY.    PnCS'OCMT 


•AN    rMAMOaCO    II.     CALir. 

209    CALiraRNIA    BTRCCT 

TfLI^HOHl    OAa'ilLO    BITT 

Tti.tfv»«    sr    ttT 

■AN  ^Koao.    BALir. 
617   S.    PALOS  VtROC 


EXECUTIVE  COUKITTEE  IGKUTES 
SEPXatBER  Ij,    19i+6,    111  30  A.M. 
SAN   FKAKCISCO,    CALIFCRNIA  OF 
THE   NATIONAL  ORGAMIZAnCH   OF 
MASTERS,    MATES   4    PILOTS   OF 
AtO-JRICA,    '.VEST  CQftST   LOCAL  ff90 


PRESENT  1 


C&pt.   C.    F.  May 
Cupt.   H,   Mlcholson 
Cupt.   K.   Hjorth 
Capt.  A.  W.    Lnwberg 
C»pt.   J.   J.    Sawaslcn 
Ur.  U.  A.   Viorm 

Meeting  e»ll«d  to   order  at   lit  JO  a.m.   to  hear  the  oaae  of  James   S< 
Kendall  #i089, 

James  S.   Kendall  ffi;089,   stated  that  he   is  not   in  any  way  connooted  with 
the   Horlron,    and  any   infomation   that  he  «»B    the   editor   of   the  Rorieon  is   erronoous. 
He  csjue  up  before   the   Exocutive   Committee- of  his   own  free  will  to  obtain  a  oloaranoe 
from  this   Orpianliation  and  the  S.U.P.  on  the  SS   CLAYMONT  VICTORY,  Vfhioh  is   a  troop 
slilp  and  not  af footed  by  the  ctrike  action  of  the  S.U.P. 

^Jaavs  3.  Kendall  f|li089 

Motion  made  by  Capt.   Lawberg,    seconded  by   Capt.   Miohelsen,   that  the  abore 
statement  made  by  Jaaos   S.    Kendall  A089,    1»   accepted  as   a  true   staternent,    and  this 
statement  to  be  retained  on  file  and  abovt-nanied  mBin  to  be  giv^n  clearance.     Motion 
c«rried  unanlmouely  and  so   reooinraend»d« 

Meeting  adjourned  at  12  noau 


h.<i<^iA. 


wXt 


4rfT    / 


•  UY  VICTOKV  aONDB 


meetings  with  liim  at  the  local  waterfront  section  of  the  Communist 
Party  in  the  port  of  Seattle,  Wash. 

I  never  took  any  active  part  in  the  Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  or- 
ganization as  a  Communist  in  the  port  of  Seattle.  Ilowever,  I  did 
come  back  to  the  Communist  Party  fraction  meetings  and  tell  them 
of  each — I  used  to  come  back  to  the  fraction  meetings  of  the  section 
meetings  that  we  had  within  the  party  up  there  of  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  waterfront  section  and  tell  them  what  the  stand  of  the 
Masters.  Mates  and  Pilots  was. 

But  it  was  nothing  contrary  to  anything;  I  mean  they  could  find 
out  by  papere  the  same  things  I  told  them,  only  they  got  it  a  little 


3490       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

faster,  that  is  all.  At  this  particular  time,  because  of  the  elements 
that  I  met  in  the  port  of  Seattle  that  belonged  to  the  party,  I  made 
up  my  mind  clearly  and  definitely  it  was  time  for  me  to  get  out, 
because  I  realized  that  this  was  not  for  me,  that  for  the  first  time 
since  I  joined  the  party  I  had  been  ashore  for  a  period  of  time  and 
worked  with  these  people,  and  I  realized  that  I  had  made  a  terrible 
mistake.  Tliis  was  in  the  year  19-1:6,  and  in  194G  in  the  month  of 
December  I  signed  on  a  vessel  as  second  mate  known  as  the  Cape 
Diamond.  The  strike  was  over  in  December,  I  believe,  if  I  remember 
right,  and  in  January  of  1947  I  actually  signed  on  the  Cape  Diamond^ 
and  I  went  to  the  east  coast  where  I  remained  on  the  Cape  Diamond 
for  a  couple  of  trips,  and  then  I  went  to  several  other  ships  for  various 
companies. 

I  did  not  contact  at  any  time  on  the  east  coast,  after  leaving  the 
west — at  no  time  did  I  attend  a  party  meeting  or  any  regular  party 
group  on  the  east  coast,  but  I  began  reading  the  papere  and  began  real- 
izing the  full  significance  of  the  party,  its  international  tie  up,  its  inter- 
national complications.  I  look  back  and  realize  how  they  have  been 
able  to  dupe  me  for  quite  a  long  time.  For  awhile  I  thought,  "Well, 
I  will  just  let  it  go,"  and  then  something  I  read  in  the  paper  one  day — 
1  will  be  very  frank,  I  can't  remember  what  it  was;  it  was  something 
on  the  international  scale  that  they  had  done.  Communists  in  the 
Soviet  Union,  that  I  realized  that  I  had  only  one  choice,  and  so  I 
notified  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Investigation,  and  in  the  meantime, 
the  very  same  day,  for  a  fact,  I  sent  a  letter  to  the  Communist  Party, 
the  New  York  official  office,  in  which  I  told  them  after  a  period  of  time 
I  realized  there  was  basic  ideological  differences  that  the  party  had 
and  that  I  as  an  American  could  not  stand,  and  so  I  was  officially 
severing  all  relationship  with  them. 

The  FBI  got  there  after  I  had  mailed  it  tinfortunately.  because 
they  were  rather  disturbed  that  I  had  sent  the  letter  off.  They  had 
hoped  that  I  hadn't  sent  it  off.  They  tried  to  stop  it,  but  they  didn't 
get  to  it  in  time. 

Since  that  time  I  have  worked  wherever  I  could  in  my  way  to  help 
any  organization  of  the  Government  expose,  try  to  help  people  tliat 
have  belonged  to  the  party,  and  there  is  one  thing  for  sure  :  If  enough 
people  will  come  forward  and  not  be  afraid  and  bring  up  the  fifth 
amendment  to  provide  the  missing  links,  I  am  sure  that  we  are  going 
to  be  able  to  tie  this  into  the  international  organization  as  it  is. 

I  traveled  all  over  this  world  as  an  officer  in  the  merchant  marine, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  Communists  directly  take 
their  orders  from  Moscow,  and  there  hasn't  been  a  major  strike  on  this 
coast,  unfortunately,  that  did  not  have  international  complications, 
and  even  though  that  the  unions  that  are  dominated  by  the  Com- 
munist Party  members  in  most  cases  have  better  working  conditions 
than  the  unions  that  are  not  dominated  by  the  Communists  Party,  the 
ultimate  goal  is  world  domination  by  the  Communist  Party,  and  if 
they  ever  attain  that  goal,  the  immediate  gains  that  are  gained  by  that 
union  dominated  by  Communist  Party  members  will  be  lost  forever, 
and  if  we  can  get  the  word  to  enough  young  people,  especially  the 
young  college  group  wliich  I  think  right  now  is  the  most  susceptible 
group,  and  actually  expose  these  people  for  what  they  are — that  it 
is  an  intermediate  conspiracy  with  world  domination  as  their  ultimate 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3491 

and  only  goal — that  the  working  man  is  not  their  friend ;  he  is  a  means 
to  the  end— the  helping  and  the  understanding  of  the  minority  prob- 
lems in  this  country  is  a  means  to  the  end  for  them  only. 

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

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Jackson. 

Mr.  Jackson.  No,  I  have  no  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  ]\Ir.  Scherer. 

Mr.  Scherer.  I  have  no  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  Mr.  Doyle. 

Mr.  Doyle.  Well,  I  think  any  question  I  might  ask  would  seem  so 
insignificant  compared  with  the  magnificent  contribution  this  gentle- 
men has  made  that  I  will  not  ask  any  questions. 

Mr.  Velde.  I  certainly  join  with  my  colleague  from  California,  and 
I  am  sure  it  is  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  my  other  two  colleagues 
here,  in  expressing  the  deep  gratitude  of  this  committee  for  the  fine 
information  which  you  have  given  to  it,  declared  in  such  a  concise 
manner.  I  am  sure  that  my  colleagues  will  agi'ee  that  we  think  you 
have  redeemed  yourself  from  any  past  mistake  which  you  might  have 
made  and  are  now  a  very  fine  American  citizen. 

We  thank  you,  and  with  that  you  are  discharged. 

So  that  you  might  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  you  will  be  retained  under  subpena  until  further 
notice. 

At  this  time  you  are  dismissed. 

At  this  time  the  Chair  desires  to  yield  to  the  gentleman  from  Cali- 
fornia, ]\Ir.  Doyle,  so  that  he  might  make  some  observations  relative 
to  these  hearings. 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  will  be  very  brief,  Mr.  Chairman,  because  of  the  late- 
ness of  the  hour.  I  made  a  memorandum  here  a  minute  ago  as  Mr. 
Kendall  was  testifying,  just  5  or  6  things  I  wanted  to  suggest,  and 
1  make  these  suggestions  with  all  the  vigor  there  is  in  me. 

First,  I  want  to  urge  every  person  who  is  now  a  member  of  the 
Communist  Party  who  claims  to  be  a  patriotic  American  citizen  to 
withdraw  from  tliat  party  forthwith  and  begin  actively  to  oppose 
the  Communist  Party  program. 

Second,  I  want  to  urge  that  every  such  person  and  that  every  per- 
son in  the  United  States  cooperate  actively  with  all  United  States 
Government  agencies  to  help  to  discover  and  dissolve  any  or  all  sub- 
versive organizations  or  programs. 

Next,  I  urge  that  every  patriotic  American  citizen  be  alert  in  all 
or  any  groups  in  which  they  are  members  at  anv  level  of  American 
experience  in  which  tliey  live  and  earn  their  living,  in  industries,  in 
education  and  labor,  or  any  other  group;  and  lastly,  I  want  to  urge 
all  patriotic  American  adults  and  all  parents  of  American  children 
and  American  youth  to  consistently  teach  and  to  consistently  ex- 
emplify before  American  youth  the  value  of  the  American  wav  of 
life. 

Mr.  Velde.  Thank  you,  Mr.  Doyle.  And  now  the  Chair  yields  to 
the  other  gentleman  from  California,  Mr.  Jackson,  for  a  statement 
of  his  summation  of  the  proceedings  here  in  San  Francisco,  Calif. 

I  want  to  say  that  Mr.  Scherer  and  I  have  both  read  the  summation 
which  Mr.  Jackson  is  about  to  read  and  clearly  concur  heartily  in 
the  statement  which  he  is  about  to  make. 


3492       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

Mr.  Jackson.  Mr.  Doyle  has  also  had  an  opportunity  to  read  this. 

Upon  conclusion  of  the  present  hearings  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
area  the  committee  wishes  to  place  in  the  record  a  few  observations 
relating  to  the  disclosures  made  during  the  week  by  witnesses,  cooper- 
ative and  otherwise,  who  have  appeared  here  under  oath  to  give  their 
testimony  or  to  refuse  their  cooperation. 

The  committee  is,  first  of  all,  indebted  to  all  of  the  security  agen- 
cies in  the  area  for  their  splendid  cooperation;  the  police  departments 
of  San  Francisco,  Berkeley,  and  Oakland,  the  Alameda  County  sher- 
iff's office,  the  United  States  marshal  and  his  deputies,  the  agents 
and  employees  of  the  Federal  security  agencies,  the  employees  of  the 
city  of  San  Francisco,  all  of  whom  have  lent  every  possible  measure  of 
cooperation  and  assistance  to  the  committee  and  to  its  staff.  For  this 
aid  and  for  the  helpful  spirit  displayed  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  tenders  its  appreciation  through  the  House  Committee  on  Un- 
American  Activities. 

Thanks  to  the  splendid  coverage  of  the  hearings  by  the  bay  area 
press  and  radio,  full  coverage  of  the  hearings  and  of  the  testimony  of 
witnesses  has  been  made  available  to  all  listeners  and  readers.  Each 
reporter  has  been  able  freely  to  record  his  individual  story  without 
interference,  threat,  intimidation,  or  coercion  of  any  form  or  type. 
This  essential  function  of  a  free  press  in  a  free  land  is  one  of  the  monu- 
ments of  a  nation's  greatness,  and  the  preservation  of  that  freedom 
is  one  of  the  greatest  charges  laid  upon  a  free  people. 

The  committee  appreciates  the  full  coverage  given  the  hearings  in 
this  area  by  the  press  and  radio. 

The  use  of  this  beautiful  room  in  which  the  committee  has  held  its 
sessions  has  facilitated  the  conduct  of  those  hearings  and  has  made  it 
possible  for  a  considerable  number  of  citizens  to  view  the  proceedings. 
The  Congress  and  the  committee  are  appreciative  of  the  courtesy  ex- 
tended by  the  San  Francisco  County  Board  of  Supervisors  in  this 
regard. 

The  nature  of  the  testimony  adduced  during  the  week  of  hearings 
can  lead  the  committee  to  one  inescapable  conclusion,  and  that  is,  the 
existence  of  a  widespread  Communist  infiltration  into  almost  eveiy 
activity  in  the  bay  area.  The  actual  extent  of  that  infiltration  cannot 
accurately  be  determined  by  the  facts  presently  in  the  record  of  the 
proceedings,  but  on  the  basis  of  similar  hearings  previously  conducted 
by  the  connnittee  in  other  great  cities  of  the  Nation  it  can  be  stated 
on  considerable  authority  that  the  total  membership  of  the  Commu- 
nist Party  in  this  area  probably  numbered  several  thousands  of 
persons. 

However — and  the  committee  wishes  to  stress  this  point — the  actual 
numerical  strength  of  the  Communist  conspiracy  is  not  the  yardstick 
by  which  its  power  to  inflict  irreparable  damage  on  our  institutions 
and  our  defenses  can  or  should  be  measured.  A  handful  of  deter-' 
mined  Communists  in  a  local  labor  union  can  and  will  destroy  democ- 
racy in  that  union  if  unretarded  by  the  vigilance  of  the  majority  of 
union  members. 

One  Communist  faculty  member  in  a  school  can  and  will  poison  the 
minds  and  wither  the  souls  of  young  students  if  his  activities  both  on 
and  off  the  campus  are  not  made  the  subject  of  constant  scrutiny. 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA       3493 

The  myth  that  the  Communist  conspiracy  constitutes  nothing  more 
than  the  activities  of  individuals  gathered  together  for  the  pursuit 
of  legal  political  activities  has  long  since  been  exploded.  Those  who 
meet  in  secret  under  assumed  names  for  the  purpose  of  fomenting 
disorder,  turmoil,  and  revolution  deserve  the  name  "conspirators." 

Arrogance,  contempt  for  and  vilification  of  constituted  authority 
are  the  unmistakable  hallmarks  of  the  conspiracy  and  of  its  agents. 
Under  the  guise  of  protecting  human  rights  this  conspiracy  in  fact 
seeks  to  destroy  them.  Against  this  organized  effort  to  destroy  consti- 
tutional government  by  unconstitutional  means  must  be  arrayed  all 
of  the  forces  and  weapons  available  to  a  free  people. 

This  committee  is  established  by  the  Congi'ess  of  the  United  States 
and  has  been  cloaked  by  that  body  with  wide  power  under  Public  Law 
601.  It  is  one  of  the  weapons  in  the  hands  of  the  American  people. 
Who  dulls  the  edge  of  that  weapon  brings  joy  to  the  hearts  of  those 
whose  dedicated  task  it  is  to  destroy  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  place  human  freedom  behind  barbed  wire. 

The  fifth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  a 
sacred  privilege,  oft  abused  as  it  has  been  during  the  course  of  these 
and  other  hearings.  In  answer  to  the  many  citizens  of  the  bay  area 
who  have  written  to  the  committee  relative  to  the  use  of  the  amend- 
ment by  uncooperative  witnesses,  the  committee  can  only  state  again 
that  there  is  presently  no  legislative  device  to  meet  that  misuse;  the 
need  for  clarifying  legislation  is  clearly  apparent.  Communist  direc- 
tives lay  a  charge  upon  Communists  and  Communist  sympathizers  to 
carry  the  class  struggle  into  courts  and  hearing  rooms,  to  remain  al- 
ways on  the  offensive,  and  to  use  whatever  devices  are  necessary  to 
prevent  disclosures  which  might  be  harmful  to  the  Communist 
conspiracy. 

The  evidences  of  this  technique  were  abundantly  made  clear  during 
the  Medina  trial  and  in  subsequent  court  action  stemming  from  vio- 
lations of  the  Smith  Act  and  other  antisubversion  legislation.  Tur- 
moil in  courts  and  hearings  replaces  decorum  in  the  Communist 
scheme,  and  dignity  becomes  an  early  casualty  to  the  premeditated 
tactics  of  the  Communist  conspiracy. 

Those  familiar  with  the  techniques  of  the  Communist  Party  have 
had  a  firsthand  opportunity  to  witness  communism  in  action  here  in 
this  room  for  the  past  5  days.  Committee  members  and  the  staff 
have  been  maligned  and  vilified  in  this  very  room  and  in  paid  adver- 
tisements inserted  in  the  press.  The  motives  and  the  purposes  of  the 
investigation  have  been  misrepresented  and  sorely  distorted. 
Charges  involving  the  integi-ity  of  the  Congi'ess  of  the  United  States 
and  the  elected  representatives  of  the  American  people  have  been 
hurled  indiscriminately  and  venomously  by  witnesses  using  every 
tactic  and  evasion  to  cover  their  alleged  activities  within  the  Com- 
munist conspiracy. 

The  committee  is  confident  that  these  efforts  to  undermine  public 
confidence  in  the  committee  and  its  work  will  be  as  unavailing  in  the 
bay  area  as  they  have  proven  to  be  in  other  cities  throughout  this 
country. 

To  those  witnesses  who  have  given  the  American  people  the  story  of 
their  own  experiences  in  the  Communist  conspiracy  the  committee  ex- 
tends its  thanks.    Those  who  have  lived  through  the  lie  of  communism 


3494       COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA 

and  have  come  forward  to  do  an  American  duty  as  they  see  that  duty 
should  have  not  only  the  thanks  of  the  Nation,  but  the  sympathetic 
understanding  of  business  associates,  employers,  and  former  friends 
and  associates  outside  of  the  Communist  Party.  Scorned  and  vilified 
as  they  are  by  former  associates  within  the  party,  these  witnesses 
should  find  understanding  among  the  vast  body  of  loyal  American 
citizens.  They  should  receive  every  assistance  toward  economic,  so- 
cial, and  political  rehabilitation  consistent  with  the  quality  of  trust- 
worthiness which  marked  their  testimony. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  without  the  testimony  of  the  hundreds 
of  former  Communists  who  have  severed  their  ties  with  the  con- 
spiracy and  who  have  testified  fully  as  to  the  extent  and  nature  of 
the  activities  of  the  party  there  would  not  today  be  an  ever  expanding 
volume  of  knowledge  and  information  in  the  hands  of  the  American 
Congress  and  available  to  the  American  people. 

Eternal  vigilance  is  indeed  the  price  of  liberty.  Vigilante  action 
is  neither  needed  nor  desirable.  The  work  of  tracking  down  sub- 
version of  every  type  and  of  insuring  the  passage  of  Federal  remedial 
legislation  designed  to  meet  the  threat  against  human  freedom  is  a 
charge  which  must  rest  upon  duly  constituted  authority  at  all  levels 
of  Government. 

Intelligent  and  loyal  citizens  armed  with  facts  of  subversion  and 
disloyalty  can  render  a  signal  service  to  the  American  people  by  con- 
tacting the  Federal  Bureau  of  Investigation  or  other  agencies  the 
duties  of  which  include  investigation  and  proper  evaluation  of 
information. 

The  question  has  been  asked  as  to  what  purpose  is  served  by  the 
disclosure  of  the  names  of  individuals  who  may  long  ago  have  left 
the  conspiracy  and  since  devoted  themselves  to  home  and  work  in  the 
manner  of  loyal  American  citizens.  This  is  a  reasonable  question 
and  one  deserving  of  a  reasonable  answer.  The  testimony  of  a  co- 
operative witness  is  not  tampered  with  in  any  way  by  this  committee 
or  by  its  staff.  That  testimony  must  stand  the  cruel  test  imposed  by 
the  subsequent  appearance  before  the  committee  of  those  who  are 
named.  It  would  be  an  act  of  intellectual  dishonesty  for  this  com- 
mittee to  add  or  detract  one  name  from  the  list  of  those  whom  the 
witness  is  prepared  to  identify  under  oath  as  having  been  within  his 
own  knowledge  a  member  of  the  conspiracy  during  the  period  of  the 
witness'  own  membership.  The  identity  of  an  individual  having  been 
made  in  public  or  executive  session,  the  committee  has  no  alternative 
but  to  place  that  individual  in  the  witness  chair  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment. 

The  decision  on  the  part  of  a  witness  as  to  the  nature  of  his  testi- 
mony, whether  he  will  cooperate  or  not  is  not  within  the  authority  of 
the  committee  to  rule  upon.  Every  member  of  the  Communist  Party, 
past  or  present  is  or  was  a  small  section  of  a  jigsaw  puzzle,  and  each 
had  his  role  to  play.  The  fact  of  having  left  the  conspiracy  in  no  way 
eradicates  or  erases  his  knowledge  of  events  that  transpired  during  his 
membership  nor  of  the  role  he  played.  The  committee  has  no  way  of 
knowing  the  status  of  his  membership  at  present  until  he  is  placed 
under  oath  and  the  information  is  sought  to  be  elicited. 

Upon  the  front  of  a  great  public  building  in  Washington,  D.  C, 
there  are  graven  on  stone  the  words  "The  past  is  prologue."     If  this 


COMMUNIST  ACTIVITIES  IN  THE   SAN  FRANCISCO  AREA      3495 

is  true,  and  if  individuals  insure  the  future  by  reference  to  the  past 
then  it  is  equally  true  that  nations  under  unremitting  attack  must  look 
to  the  past  in  the  preparation  of  its  future  defenses.  One  missing 
piece  of  the  vast  and  forbidding  puzzle  may  well  be  in  the  possession 
of  a  former  and  disillusioned  member  of  the  conspiracy.  The  risk 
attendant  on  failure  to  make  adequate  and  comprehensive  inquiiy  at 
every  available  source  is  too  great  to  justify  the  theory  that  former 
Communists  should  be  immune  to  interrogation.  The  bank  robber, 
the  embezzler,  or  the  murderer  who  leaves  the  pursuit  of  crime  to  take 
up  a  quiet  existence  in  a  rural  community  enjoys  no  immunity  for  his 
past  activity  and  the  stake  of  society  involved  in  the  transgressions 
of  those  who  steal  physical  properties  or  money  is,  while  important,  as 
nothing  when  compared  to  the  activities  of  those  who  would  enslave 
the  world. 

In  conclusion,  the  committee  wishes  to  extend  its  thanks  to  the 
hundreds  of  citizens  of  the  bay  area  who  have  communicated  to  the 
committee  their  expressions  of  support  and  of  encouragement.  The 
work  of  the  committee  is  made  easier  by  the  knowledge  that  the  vast 
majority  of  loyal  Americans  stand  behind  their  Congress  and  behind 
their  elected  officials  in  the  vital  work  so  necessary  to  the  defense  of 
the  American  Republic.  So  long  as  that  support  and  encouragement 
are  evidenced  by  those  who  freely  elect  their  representatives  to  the 
legislative  halls  of  this  Nation  it  is  inconceivable  that  there  should 
ever  come  into  being  the  Union  of  Soviet  United  States.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Velde.  I  thank  you  for  that  very  fine  statement,  Mr.  Jackson, 
and  before  adjourning  I  would  like  to  mention  that  I  forgot  to  mention 
the  fact  that  the  gentleman  from  California,  Mr.  Doyle,  also  read  the 
statement  that  Mr.  Jackson  just  read  before  he  gave  it  and  concurs 
heartilv  therein.     Is  that  true,  Mr.  Doyle  ? 

Mr.  Doyle.  I  do,  very  heartily. 

Mr.  Velde.  Now  the  committee  will  stand  in  adjournment  until 
further  call  of  the  chair. 

(Whereupon,  at  5 :05  p.  m.,  the  hearing  was  recessed  subject  to  call.) 


INDEX 


Individuals 

Page 

Ames,  Donakl 3456 

Andersen,    George 3432-3444 

Anderson,  Bruce 3447 

Bailev,   William    (Bill) 3464,3482,3483 

Bailey,  William  J 3456-3460  (testimony) 

Baker,  Rude 3428 

Barry,  Captain 3476,  8477,  3481 

Blodgett,  Charles  David 3433,3434,3452 

Bradsher.  Mary  Elizabeth  Parrott 3446,3447 

Bridges,  Harrv 3443,  3444,  3476,  3481-3485 

Browder,  Earl 3422,  3426,  3450 

Brown,  Archie 3441 

Brown,  Bimbo 3447 

Bryson,  Hugh 3464,  3474 

Cameron,  Don 3440 

Chown,  Paul 3432-3440  (testimony) 

Crowe,  Neil 3440,  3480 

Darcy,  Sam 3423 

Dennis,  Eugene 3426 

Dolsen,  James  H 3426 

Drake,  James 3471 

Duclos,  Jacques 3450,3482,  3487 

Frederick,  Jean 3447 

Frederick,  Van 3447 

Fox,  Ernest 3465 

George,  Harrison 3421-3432   (testimony) 

Gonzoles,  Ella 3447 

Gonzoles,  Jack 3447 

Hailing,  Bjorne 3440-3442  (testimony),  3475,  3481,  3483 

Hammond,  Gene 3447 

Hammond,  Marian 3447 

Harrison,  Katherine 3426 

Hathaway,  Clarence 3422 

Hearns,  Joseph 3480 

Hedlev.  Dave 3443 

Hernlev,  Willie 3461 

Hjorth,    K 3488,  3489 

Hudson,  Roy -_ 3422 

Jacobson,  Nathan 3440,3441 

Jenkins,  David  (Dave) 8441,3465,3474 

Kai-shek,    Chiang 3482, 3487 

Kalman.  Herb ^^^ 

Kaplan,  Leon 3474 

Keir,  Duncan,  Jr 3471 

Kendall,  James 3459,  3460-3491  (testimony) 

Kimiev,  Anne 3429,3430 

Koide.  Joe 3422,  3427,  3429 

Lannon,  Al 3479,  3481 

Lawherg,  A.  W 3488,  8489 

Lehman,  Lloyd 3133 

Lozovsky 3425 

Lundeberg,   Harry 3487,  8488 

Lynch,    Joe 3441 

3497 


3498  INDEX 

Page 

Lynden,  Richard 3442-3444  (testimony) 

MacArthur,  Gen 34''>6 

May,  C.  F H !_:__:  sisS,  348» 

May,    Charlie 3487 

McDonald,    Huffhie 3472 

Meyers,  Blackie 1 3468,  3480 

Michelson,    H 3488^  3489 

Naboisek,  Herbert    (Herb) 3445,  3446-3456   (testimony),     3447 

Naboisek,   June 3447 

Noulens 3426 

Oakerly,   Harold 34Si 

Posey,   Max 3443 

Ragland,   Bob 3447 

Ragland,    Clara 3447 

Redner,    Bill 3447 

Redner,   Marian 344T 

Robertson.  Bob 3475,  3476,  3481,  34;Sa 

Rogers,    Mr 346a 

Rosser,    Lou 3443,  3445 

Rossman,  Leo 3466' 

Saunders,    David 3461,  3405,  3472 

Sawaska,  J.  J 3488,  3489 

Saxton.  Al 3440 

Seymour,  Ernest  Leroy 3440,3441 

Sherman,  Robert    (Bob) 3440 

Smith,  Ferdinand 3467,  3468,  3480 

Smith,    Jack 3488 

Speiser,  Lawrence 3421-3432,  3446-3456 

Stack,  Walter 3464,  3480,  3481 

Stewart,  Albert  Edward 3426 

Tanaka 342S 

Teitelbaura.    Dave 3472 

Telford,    Sam 3472 

Tobin,  Pat 3440 

Toredo,  Carlos 3477 

Treskiu,  Alex 3463,  3464,  3467, 3470,  3473-3475, 3478, 3481,  3483, 3487,  3488 

Undjus,    Margaret 3426 

Viera,  M.  A 3488,3489 

Walker,   Doris  Brin 3456-3460 

Walsh  (see  also  Eugene  Dennis) 3426 

Weidemeyer,    Irene 3426 

Williams,  Carl 3441 

Williams,    Eugene 3460,  3461 

Willoughby,  Charles 3425,  3426 

Yates 3474 

Obganizations 

Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade 3471 

Alameda  Council  of  the  CIO 3434 

Alameda  County  CIO  Council 3433 

American  Civil  Liberties  Union  of  Northern  California 3422,  3446 

American  Communications  Association 3440 

American  Federation  of  Labor 3460 

Army 3487 

Berkelev  Bookstore 3456 

California  CIO  Council 3433,  3434 

California  Labor  School 3441,  3465,  3474 

Comintern 3425,  3426,  3428 

Communist   International 3428 

Congress  of  Industrial  Organizations 3433-3435,  3441,  3460,  3463,  3480 

Department  of  Justice 3454 

Embarcadero  Book  Store 3462 

Federal  Bureau  of  Investigation 3452,  3456,  3459,  3490,  3494 

International  Longshoremen's  and  Warehousemen's  Union 3445, 

3475-3477,  3480,  3481,  3483 


i^^DEx  3499 

Page 

Marine  Cooks  and  Stewards  Union . 3441,  3464,  3474 

Marine  Firemen,  Oilers,  and  Watertenders 3463,  3464,  3480 

Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  of  America,  West  Coast  Local  No.  90 3489 

Masters,  Mates  and  Pilots  Union 3460,  3464,  3472-3477,  3484,  3487,  3488 

National  Maritime  Union,  CIO 3441, 

34G0-3468,  3471,  3472,  3477,  3479-3481,  3488 

Pan-Pacific  Trade  Union  Secretariat 3425,  3426,  3428 

Political  Affairs  Committee  of  tlie  Communist  Party 3433 

Political  Affairs  Committee  of  tlie  Conmumist  Party  of  Alameda  County—     3439 

I'rofliitern 342.".,  3427,  3428,  3430 

Red  International  of  Labor  Unions 3425 

Sailors  Union  of  the  Pacific 3477,  3489 

Sailors  Union  of  the  Pacific,  A.  F.  of  L 3487,  3488 

SS.  Alice  n.  Rice 3472 

SS.   Arthur  Middleton 3465,3466 

SS.  Cape  Diamond 3490 

SS.  Claiiwont  Victory 3487-3489 

SS.  Joseph  Priestley 3465 

SS.  -V/ra  Luckenhach 3465,3466,3469 

SS.  Rohcrt  T.  Hill 3473 

SS.  ^anta  Ana 3465-3467,3469,3470 

San  Diefio  State  College 3460 

Seventh  World  Conirress  of  the  Communist  International 3428 

Supreme  Court 34.53 

I'nited  Electrical,  Radio  and  Machine  Workers  of  America 3432 

United  Electrical  Workers 3435 

United  States  Army 3447 

United  States  Maritime  Service 3471,  3472 

United  States  Merchant  Marine 3470 

United   States  Navy 3465 

University  of  California  at  Berkeley 3446,  3448,  3449 

University   of   Denver 3422 

Warehouse  Union  Local  6 3443 

Younff  Communist  League 3443,  3444,  3474,  3476 

Publications 

E-aily  People's  World 3427,  3433 

Daily    AVorker 3427 

The  Horizon 3476,  3477,  3487-3489 

International   Correspondence 3428 

Pacific  Worker 3425 

o 


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