rF
^
Stat. Hall.
&{.j-7
FROM THE
FRANK CLEMENT FUND
^
FN 9 7 8: 4.23,40 : 300
INVESTIGATION OF UN-AMERICAN
PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES IN THE
UNITED STATES
SPECIAL
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEVENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS #02 <l
THIRD SESSION
ON
H. Res. 282 ^
TO INVESTIGATE (1) THE EXTENT, CHARACTER, AND OBJECTS
OF UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED
STATES, (2) THE DIFFUSION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF
SUBVERSIVE AND UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA THAT IS INSTI-
GATED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES OR OF A DOMESTIC ORIGIN
AND ATTACKS THE PRINCIPLE OF THE FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT AS GUARANTEED BY OUR CONSTITUTION, AND (3) ALL
OTHER QUESTIONS IN RELATION THERETO THAT WOULD AID
CONGRESS IN ANY NECESSARY REMEDIAL
LEGISLATION
*/uh+
APPENDIX— PART III
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TOTALITARIAN PROPAGANDA
IN THE UNITED STATES
Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities
INVESTIGATION OF UN-AMERICAN
PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES IN THE
UNITED STATES
SPECIAL
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEVENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS
THIRD SESSION
ON
H. Res. 282
TO INVESTIGATE (1) THE EXTENT, CHARACTER, AND OBJECTS
OF UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED
STATES, (2) THE DIFFUSION WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF
SUBVERSIVE AND UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA THAT IS INSTI-
GATED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES OR OF A DOMESTIC ORIGIN
AND ATTACKS THE PRINCIPLE OF THE FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT AS GUARANTEED BY OUR CONSTITUTION, AND (3) ALL
OTHER QUESTIONS IN RELATION THERETO THAT WOULD AID
CONGRESS IN ANY NECESSARY REMEDIAL
LEGISLATION
APPENDIX— PART III
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TOTALITARIAN PROPAGANDA
IN THE UNITED STATES
Printed for the use of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
279895 WASHINGTON : 1941
fcA. «j
Hp
Tat
MAR 2 7 1944
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MARTIN DIES, Texas, Chairman
JOHN J. DEMPSEY, New Mexico NOAH M. MASON, Illinois
JOE STARNES, Alabama J. PARNELL THOMAS, New Jersey
JERRY VOORHIS, California
JOSEPH E. CASEY, Massachusetts
Robert E. Stripling, Secretary
J. B. Matthews, Director of Research
II
• • • w •
PRELIMINARY REPORT ON TOTALITARIAN
PROPAGANDA IN THE UNITED STATES
I. Tons of Propaganda
Totalitarian propaganda by the ton is pouring into the United
States. The printing presses of Germany, Russia, Italy, and Japan
are making a steady assault upon public opinion in this country.
A high official in the United States Customs Service has made
the following observation within the past 10 days :
All of the propaganda comes from Germany via Russia and Japan, and
has been increasing in quantity steadily since the war began. A Japanese
boat which arrived yesterday discharged nearly 400 sacks of this propaganda
literature, weighing nearly five tons. * * * Even greater quantities are
being received at Seattle and San Francisco.
The foregoing paragraph referred only to the propaganda which
is emanating from Germany, and, as the context clearly shows, did
not mean to imply that large quantities of propaganda are not being
mailed to the United States from the other totalitarian countries.
Five tons of propaganda arriving on a single boat is typical of
what has been happening during the past year.
According to the same official of the United States Custcms
Service, this propaganda is "addressed to thousands of individuals,
schools, colleges, institutions, business houses, etc. * * *"
It is not possible to state exactly how many tons of such propa-
ganda are pouring into the United States annually. Up to the
present time, at least, the Post Office has not kept statistics on
such entries of mail from the totalitarian countries. In a letter
to the committee the Postmaster General says:
"However, definite figures are not available inasmuch as statistics of this
kind have never been assembled by the Department, there being no indication
at the time that they would ever serve a useful purpose or justify the expense
that would have been involved."
However, here are some figures available, and these have been
transmitted by the Postmaster General to the committee. They are
admittedly not complete. The committee itself is in possession of
samples of Nazi propaganda which are not covered by the figures
submitted by the Postmaster General.
1383
1384
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
The following tabulation shows at least a part of the propaganda
mail which has arrived in this country from a single source, namely,
from H. R. Hoffman :
Date of
arrival
Steamship
Mailed by—
Weight,
pounds
Publication
1940
Sept. 5
5
Tokai Maru.
do.
H. R. Hoffman (Munich)...
do
1,120
53
2,578
1500
525
1,415
490
844
62
2,847
3,518
1,496
522
98
875
977
924
News from Germany.
Do.
15
Azuma Maru
do
do
Foreign News.
15
do
Periodicals.
19
Kyusyu Maru
Brazil Maru
do
News from Germany.
27
do
News from Germany and Ameri-
can views.
Periodicals.
Oct. 2
Tosan Maru
Sakura Maru
.... do
18
do
News from Germany.
19
Asama Maru
do..
Periodicals.
21
Heijo Maru
...do
Do.
29
Nankai Maru
Nitta Maru
...do
News from Germany.
Periodicals.
Nov. 1
..do
6
Sanuki Maru
...do...
Do.
6
Kinai Maru
Tatuta Maru
do.
Do.
13
do
Do.
21
Seia Maru .
...do .
News from Germany and Ameri-
can Views.
News From Germany and Eco-
27
Hokkai Maru
do
nomics.
i Estimated.
The foregoing tabulation shows that approximately 9y2 tons of
Mr. Hoffman's propaganda have been coming into the United States
during a period of 12 weeks. Even at this rate, a total of 40 tons of
propaganda have arrived from this single source during the past
year. But, it must be repeated, the foregoing tabulation does not
include all of Mr. Hoffman's shipments during the September-
November period.
Exhibit No. 1 is a photograph of some of the envelopes containing
Hoffman's propaganda, which have been forwarded to the com-
mittee by the addressees.
Exhibit No. 2 is a photograph of some of the enclosures which
have arrived from various sources in Germany, including some of
those which are sent from Munich by H. R. Hoffman. In the
photograph, those which emanate from the propaganda office of Mr.
Hoffman are American views, British news and views, news from
Germany, and economics.
On the basis of the partial statistics which are available, as well as
the propaganda samples which are in the committee's possession but
which are not covered by any statistics, it is possible to state that
thousands of tons of totalitarian propaganda reach the United States
by mail annually. The largest shipments are those from Germany.
Next in order of volume come those which are sent from the Soviet
Union. (This is not, however, a measure of the comparative extent
of German and Russian propaganda in the United States, inasmuch
as the overwhelming bulk of Stalin's American-aimed propaganda
literature is printed in the United States and mailed here.) After
the Soviet Union come Japan and Italy in the order of their quantity
shipments of propaganda matter to this country.
APPENDIX PART in 1385
II. Propaganda : The First Phase of a Totalitarian Attack
In the case of every country, in Europe and elsewhere, which has
been attacked by the armies of the totalitarian powers, a vast propa-
ganda barrage has preceded the military assault. While it cannot be
said that the totalitarian powers invented propaganda, it can be said
that they have become specialists in its use. The dictators have worked
out the closest integration between the use of their printing presses
and the movement of their armies. The totalitarian government's
propaganda office works in the closest harmony with its war office.
Down to the present time at least, it has been true that every
totalitarian war move has had as its first phase a propaganda attack.
III. The Aims of Totalitarian Propaganda in the United States
The major objectives of the totalitarian propaganda which reaches
the United States may be described, as follows :
(1) Much if not most of this printed propaganda material is devoted
to extolling the advantages of life under totalitarian rule. A wholly
false picture is drawn of the material and cultural benefits bestowed
by the dictators upon their own peoples.
(2) Millions of printed pages are filled with justification of totali-
tarian- conquests. The conquering dictators are pictured as unselfish
benefactors of the countries which they have overrun with their
military machines.
(3) Nontotalitarian countries which have already been subjugated
under the rule of the dictators or which have incurred the special
wrath of the totalitarian regimes are painted as uncivilized villains
guilty of extreme cultural backwardness in their domestic life and
criminal misconduct in their international relations.
(4) The whole of this totalitarian propaganda is calculated to arouse
our hatred toward certain nontotalitarian governments and peoples
with whom we are on friendly terms.
(5) One of the gravest aspects of this totalitarian propaganda is the
inculcation of religious, racial, and class hatred between groups of
citizens in the United States. Such hatred has been the keystone in
the arch of totalitarian power in the dictators' own countries, and
their propaganda naturally aims to accomplish in the United States
results similar to their own, and to accomplish them by the same
methods.
(6) This totalitarian propaganda drive is calculated to create na-
tional disunity in the United States on all of the most important
questions of our international relations. This includes an attempt to
fashion American foreign policy on the basis of the interests of the
Axis-Soviet foreign offices. The main item in this propaganda effort
is to oppose American preparedness for national defense.
(7) Throughout the dictators' propaganda in the United States is
a direct and indirect attack upon the American form of government
and the American way of life.
Such propaganda is bad enough in itself. But on no principle of
freedom or constitutional right whatever may it be argued that the
American people should be required to aid in the dissemination of
such propaganda by providing any portion of the financial costs of
distribution. A government subsidy, derived ultimately from the
1386 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
taxpayers of America, is not a constitutional right which even the
friends of American democracy may claim. It is certainly not a
constitutional right which the totalitarian enemies of our democracy
may demand.
This brings us to the very heart of the question, which is the cost
of distribution of these thousands of tons of totalitarian propaganda
whose aims are wholly un-American.
IV. American Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Totalitarian
Propaganda
From the time a sack of propaganda matter is discharged from a
Japanese boat until its contents are distributed throughout the United
States to individuals, schools, colleges, institutions, business houses,
etc., it must be handled again and again by American citizens who are
in the employ of the United States Government. The means of trans-
portation which are utilized in the distribution of mail must be sup-
plied or paid for by the United States Government. It is impossible
to make any kind of an estimate of the costs of all these services. But
two things are obvious: (1) The cost of distribution from the time
such propaganda is taken off the boat until it reaches the addressee
is borne by the taxpayers of the United States; and (2) such cost,
however large or small, is a wholly unjustifiable item in the American
taxpayers' bill.
V. The Universal Postal Union
All of the postage which goes on the propaganda mail which comes
into the United States is paid in the country of origin. Countries
which are members of the Universal Postal Union retain all the
postage which they collect, and, in turn, distribute at their own ex-
pense all mail which comes from other countries.
Germany and the United States are both members of the Universal
Postal Union, as are Russia, Italy, and Japan. Unlike the four total-
itarian governments, the United States has no "Department of Propa-
ganda" which aims to influence the internal policies of Germany,
Russia, Italy, and Japan. The United States Government does not,
therefore, use the mails for directing propaganda against these four
governments. Consequently, the United States receives no reciprocal
benefits under the workings of the Universal Postal Union. Neither
do the citizens of the United States receive any such benefits in their
private capacity, for even if American citizens wished to use the
mails for sending propaganda into Germany, Russia, Italy, and
Japan, there is not the slightest probability that such propaganda
would ever be permitted by the totalitarian governments to reach
their subjects.
Inasmuch as the United States Customs Service and the United
States Post Office Department are now permitting the influx of totali-
tarian propaganda under the arrangements of the Universal Postal
Union, it may be proper at this point to introduce a brief history
of that institution for the purpose of making clear that it was never
intended to fit a world in which totalitarian powers make the use of
mails the first phase of their wars upon free peoples.
APPENDIX PART III 1387
Prior to the founding of the Universal Postal Union, the international mail
service was in a state of veritable chaos. There was no uniformity in the postal
relations among the different countries of the world ; the regulations governing
such international intercourse were fixed by special conventions. The result of
that multiplicity of laws and regulations was intolerable confusion in the execution
of the foreign postal service. The postage rates and weight units varied, not only
between one country and another, but also in each individual country, according to
the route employed and the zones in which the dispatching and receiving post
offices were situated, so that it was an exceedingly difficult task for senders to
determine the most advantageous way to dispatch their mail. The proceeds of the
postage collections were shared by the postal administrations concerned, in propor-
tion to the value of the services supposed to have been rendered in each country.
The need for dividing the postage on every mail article into unequal parts gave
rise to a very elaborate system of accounting as part of the daily routine at post
offices. Transit rates were very high, and were as variable as the initial or terminal
rates.
Beginning with the second half of the nineteenth century, there was a marked
tendency to simplify the postal relations among the different nations. In most
countries, a uniform and (for letters) lower rate was substituted for the old
schedules of rates in proportion to the distances. A new principle began to gain
ground — that of allowing each country to retain the whole of the postage which
it collects.
The first truly international postal conference, composed of the representatives
of fifteen nations, met at Paris in 1863, at the suggestion of Mr. Montgomery Blair,
then Postmaster General of the United States of America. Its object was not yet to
discuss the clauses of a general convention, but to exchange ideas, to examine facts,
and to infer from them certain principles to serve as the basis for future interna-
tional postal agreements. The idea of a Postal Union was in the air, and Paris was
its cradle.
In fact, the idea was not long in materializing. In 1874, the first Postal
Congress convened at Berne, pursuant to the suggestion of Mr. Stephan, then
Director General of Posts of the North German Confederation. The United
States of America, Egypt, and all the countries of Europe were represented.
Twenty-four days of deliberation sufficed to reach an agreement on all points
and to draw up the constitutive treaty of the General Postal Union. That
treaty brought about a happy revolution in international postal relations. Uni-
formity took the place of multiplicity and confusion of rates and regulations,
postage was considerably reduced, and barriers were broken down by the stipu-
lation that the contracting countries should form a single postal territory.
Subsequently, Universal Postal Congresses have been held at Paris in 18*78, at
Lisbon in 1885, at Vienna in 1891, at Washington in 1897, at Rome in 1906, at
Madrid in 1920, at Stockholm in 1924, at London in 1929, at Cairo in 1934, and at
Buenos Aires in 1939. The next Congress is scheduled to take place at Paris
in 1944. In the intervals between certain of the Congresses, special adminis-
trative Postal Conferences have convened at Berne in 1876, at Paris in 1880,
at Brussels in 1890, and at The Hague in 1927. Special Postal Committees as-
sembled at Zermatt (Switzerland) in 1921, at Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) in
1925, at Paris (France) in 1928, and at Ottawa (Canada) in 1933. Two
jubilees have been held at Berne— the first in 1900, to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of the Universal Postal Union ; and the second in 1909, to unveil
a monument commemorating the Union. A jubilee was also held at Stock-
holm in 1924, coincident with the Stockholm Congress, to celebrate the Union's
50th birthday.
The salient features of the work accomplished by the various postal re-
unions are as follows :
The Conference of Paris (1863) provided for the classification of mail
articles as letters, commercial papers, samples, and prints; for the optional
prepayment of letters (with a surcharge in the event of shortpayment) and
the obligatory prepayment of other articles; for a uniform weight unit for all
relations, based on the metric system; for the registry and insurance sys-
tems, fixing the responsibility of the contracting parties in the event of loss
or rifling; for uniform postage rates wherever possible; for the limitation of
transit charges to half the domestic postage of the transit country; for the
simplification of postal accounts; for the forwarding and return of unde-
liverable correspondence; for the franking privilege for official mail matter;
and for the special-delivery service.
1388 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
The Congress of Berne (1874) made provisions for the right of transit
of mails thruout the Union at certain rates within maximum limits; estab-
lished a uniform classification of articles transmissible in the international
mails, and fixed uniform postage rates and conditions within maximum limits
therefor. It greatly simplified the detailed and complicated postage accounts
by providing that each country should keep all the postage which it collected,
and should settle with other countries for their intermediary services within
the Union on the basis of weights, instead of on the basis of rates. It made
obligatory the forwarding of unprepaid letters and of shortpaid articles of
other classes, and granted the franking privilege to official correspondence
exchanged between postal administrations. It provided that undeliverable
mail articles should be forwarded thruout the Union without additional charge
for such forwarding. It recognized the principle of responsibility for the
safety of registered articles, and recommended a limited indemnity (50 francs
or $9.65) for loss or damage suffered by them in transit. It provided for
a Congress to convene once every three years to revise the Treaty, in which
every country should have one vote; and it established an international
Bureau at Berne, under the supervision of the Swiss Administration, charged
with collecting and distributing postal statistics and information, giving its
opinion on disputed questions, and in general serving as an organ of liaison
between postal administrations, and considering questions of interest to the
Postal Union ; the expenses of the Bureau to be borne jointly by the con-
tracting countries in proportion to the importance of their postal business.
It also provided for arbitration in case of disagreement between two or more
Administrations as to the interpretation to be made of any of the provisions
of the Treaty. Moreover, arrangements were made for the publication of a
magazine entitled "L'Union Postale" in English, French, and German, the
first number of which appeared on October 1, 1875. The Treaty of Berne
went into operation on July 1, 1875, over a territory comprising 375,000,000
inhabitants.
The Conference of Berne (1876) admitted British India and the French
Colonies to the Union, and fixed uniform transit charges for these countries
in accordance with the Treaty of Berne.
The Congress of Paris (1878) made certain changes in the former Treaty which
were deemed necessary, and changed its name to "Universal Postal Convention."
The General Postal Union has since that time been known as the "Universal
Postal Union." This Congress also drew up additional Agreements for the
exchange of insured letters and money orders, to which the United States did
not adhere because this country had no letter insurance service in the first case,
and because the Post Office Department could not see its way clear to sanction
the use of card money orders in the second case.
The Conference of Paris (1880) met to examine proposals for an Agreement
concerning the introduction of a parcel-post service in the Universal Postal Union,
and its deliberations resulted in the conclusion of the Universal Parcel Post Con-
vention, which was not signed by the United States because there was no domestic
parcel-post service in this country at the time. It has not been adhered to
subsequently on account of the difficulties in accounting and other inconveniences
which it would cause for this service.
The Congress of Lisbon (1885) amended the Paris Convention and concluded
additional Agreements concerning postal identification booklets and the collection
of bills and drafts thru the post office. The United States did not participate in
those two Supplementary Agreements, due to the nonexistence of the services in
question in its internal regime.
The Conference of Brussels (1890) prepared the draft of an additional Agree-
ment concerning subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals thru the medium of
the post office, to be submitted to the Vienna Congress.
The Congress of Vienna (1891) introduced the collect-on-delivery service (in
which the United States did not take part because no domestic c. o. d. service
existed in this country at that time) ; and constituted the International Bureau
as a central accounting office for those Administrations which desired to make
use of its services for that purpose. (For many years the United States has not
seen fit to avail itself of that option.) The Vienna Congress also charged the
Interational Bureau with publishing an alphabetical list of all post offices in the
world, and approved the additional Agreement concerning subscriptions, to which
the United States did not become a party because it had no domestic subscription-
by-mail service. All the provisions which today govern international postal
relations were from that time on codified.
APPENDIX PATtT III 1389
The Congress of Washington (1897), being the first which did not have to take
up the question of inaugurating any new services under additional Agreements,
devoted most of its time to the discussion of transit charges. It was at this Con-
gress that the question of gratuitous land and sea transit was seriously discussed for
the first time, following propositions tending to establish such gratuity submitted
by the countries of South America. The proposed innovation was bitterly con-
tested by certain European nations and finally rejected, but the question has subse-
quently gathered momentum and has been given more and more careful considera-
tion at every succeeding Congress. It is of interest to note that our 1$ and 50 stamps
have their present-day colors because of the decision of the Washington Congress
that the stamp representing the postage on a single-rate print should be green ; and,
on a single-rate letter, dark blue.
The Congress of Rome (1906) made several modifications in the Washington
Convention, perhaps the most important of which was the creation of the interna-
tional reply coupon, by means of which the sender can furnish the addressee postage
to prepay his reply. Likewise, transit charges were readjusted, postage rates were
reduced on letters (in the United States, from 50 per half -ounce to 50 for the first
ounce and 30 for each additional ounce), provision was made for the mailing of
picture post cards under the same conditions as ordinary post cards, and the
franking privilege was extended to prisoners of war.
The Congress of Madrid was to have convened in 1913, but was postponed by the
Spanish Government, for domestic reasons, until 1914, in which year the European
War (which afterwards became world-wide) broke out, seriously interfering with
postal communications thruout the world, hampering the operation of the Universal
Postal Union, and causing the Congress to be postponed until 1920. Due to the long
interval which had elapsed since the Rome Congress, an enormous number of propo-
sitions confronted the Madrid Congress, so that its deliberations lasted 61 days.
Its work was largely one of reconstruction. In view of the great financial instability
following the war, the gold franc was adopted as the monetary standard of the
Union and a flexible scale of postage rates with maximum and minimum limits was
fixed. Provision was made for the first time for air-mail service. It was decided
that the magazine "L'Union Postale" should from that time on be published in
Spanish, in addition to English, French, and German. The identity-booklet Agree-
ment was dropped, and provision was made in the Principal Convention for the
optional issuance of identity cards (which the United States did not undertake,
for the same reason that it did not adhere to the identity-booklet Agreement in the
first place) ; and a new Agreement for postal checks was drawn up, but not signed
by the United States because this country had no domestic postal-check service.
Early during the sessions of the Madrid Congress, the interests of the United
States, Spain, and the Latin-American countries began to be cemented together
to form a Hispano-American bloc in the heart of the Congress, which led to the
conclusion of the Spanish-American Postal Convention among the countries
mentioned. The main provisions of that Convention were for free and gratuitous
transit and for the application of domestic postage rates in the international
service. Other Pan-American ideals were the adoption of English and Spanish as
official languages of the Universal Postal Union and the elimination of the votes
of Colonies, Protectorates, and Dependencies in the Universal Postal Congresses.
While none of these aims could be completely realized, postage and transit rates
were to a certain extent held down, Spanish was adopted as one of the languages
of the journal "L'Union Postale," and the voice of the western world had begun
to make itself heard in the Universal Postal Congress.
A special committee, known as the Research Committee, constituted by the
Madrid Congress, met at Zermatt, Switzerland, in 1921, to recodify the Conven-
tions and Agreements of the Union in accordance with the logical sequence of
their subject-matter, and to recommend to the Stockholm Congress any changes
deemed necessary. Among other things, the Committee suggested that the name
of the Parcel Post Convention be changed to "Parcel Post Agreement," reserving
the term "Convention" exclusively for the Principal Convention. The recom-
mendations of the Committee were all approved by the ensuing Congress.
The Congress of Stockholm (1924) reduced the maximum and minimum post-
age rates, lowered the transit rates, and made provision for the transmission of
dutiable articles in the letter mails to those countries which would agree to
accept such shipments. This Congress was the scene of further hated debates
on the subject of free transit and the suppression of the votes of the Colonies,
between the Pan-American countries on one hand and the European nations
on the other, which, however, did not result in settling the questions. The
Stockholm Congress was in session for 55 days.
279895 — 41 — app. pt. ni 2
1390 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
The Research Committee met again at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, in 1925, to
devise ways and means for simplifying and speeding up the work of future
Congresses, and also to reorganize the magazine "L'Union Postale." It was
decided that a preparatory committee should meet at least six months prior
to the opening of each Congress, examine the propositions submitted by the
various Administrations, and make the necessary recommendations to the Con-
gress. Provision was also made for enlarging the scope of the Postal Union
Magazine.
The Conference of The Hague (1927) met to discuss the ever increasing air-
mail service, and drew up two sets of regulations to govern it — one for regular
mails and one for parcel post. The United is a party only to the farmer, as there
was no provision for the transportation of parcels by air in its domestic service
at that time.
The Preparatory Committee for the London Congress met at Paris in 192S,
pursuant to the recommendation of the Research Committee of Courtina
d'Ampezzo which had been approved by the Administrations of the Union.
The Congress of London (1929) decided that checks or drafts for payments
made by one country to another shall be in the money of a country in which the
central of other official bank of issue buys and sells gold or its equivalent in
exchange for national coinage at rates fixed by law or under an agreement with
the Government. A new model of reply coupon with minimum sale price of 37^
centimes was adopted. The basic postage rates were unchanged. The weight
limit for raised prints for the blind was increased to 5 kilograms. Provision
was made for a new class of correspondence known as "small packets" with the
same dimensions and other conditions as for samples. The name of the sender
must be written on the outside. The Administrations were authorized to charge
a special fee for the delivery of such packets, which may contain dutiable articles
and be subjected to customs examination ; and were required to accept complaints
and inquiries regarding articles mailed in other countries. Methods for taking
statistics and settling transit charges were simplified. The sliding scale of
maximum and minimum postage rates was made less flexible. Only the name
and address of the recipient shall be visible thru the panel of window envelopes
and the contents must be so folded that the address cannot be obscured. The
address must be legibly written in ink, by hand or typewritten, and not in ordinary
or indelible pencil. A serial or register number relating exclusively to printed
packets was added to the notices that may be written on them. The manner of
payment, names of author and publisher, catalog number, and the words
"stitched," "stiff boards," or "bound" may be inscribed on order or subscription
blanks for books, etc. A very short explanatory note may be added to photo-
graphs. Senders may print a questionnaire on the back of reply post cards, to
be filled in by the addressees.
As for the air-mail service, it was decided that the Provisions of The Hague
concerning the transportation of regular mails by air should be appended to the
Universal Postal Convention and considered as forming an integral part of that
Convention and its Regulations. As an exception to the general provisions of the
Convention, however, a modification of those provisions may be undertaken by
a Conference composed of the representatives of the Administrations directly
interested in the matter. Samples and small packets were added to the articles
that can be included in air mails. Air-mail matter sent to persons who have
meanwhile changed their addresses will be redispatched to the new address by
the ordinary means, unless the addressee has expressly asked to have it forwarded
by air and has prepaid the air surcharge for the new transportation at the
redispatching office. Freedom of transit is guaranteed to air-mail correspondence
thruout the Union territory, whether the intermediate Administrations take
part in the onward dispatch of the correspondence or not.
The Preparatory Committtee for the Cairo Congress met at Ottawa (Canada)
in 1933.
The Congress of Cairo (1934) provided as follows: Uniform dimensions for
letters, commercial papers, printed matter, samples of merchandise, and small
packets. Articles, the faces of which are divided for the inscription of successive
addresses are prohibited. Copies of old letters and post cards as well as the
originals thereof, even though bearing the original canceled postage stamps,
may be classified as commercial papers. Unsealed envelopes containing prints
must, if necessary, be provided with fasteners, or tied with string, which can
be easily removed. Postage stamps or postage-paid impressions must appear
only on the front of single post cards or prints sent in the form of cards,
APPENDIX PART IH 1391
preferably on the right-hand side or as far as possible on the right half, respec-
tively, of such cards. All impressions or reproductions on material assimilable
to paper as well as on paper, are considered as prints, but motion-picture films
or phonograph records are not. Photographs may bear summary information
as well as explanatory legends. A card, envelope or wrapper with address of
the sender and prepaid for reply by postage stamps of the country of destination
may be enclosed with printed matter. Except such cards, envelopes, or wrappers,
and canceled postage stamps on old letters or post cards, no postage stamps or
forms of prepayment or paper representing a mine may be included in commer-
cial papers, prints, samples, or small packets. Vaccines may be sent as samples
of merchandise. Small packets are subject to the preparation and packing
requirements for samples. After delivery has been unsuccessfully attempted,
the special-delivery indication on special-delivery articles must be stricken out.
Registered articles and unregistered letters and post cards with prepayment
indicated by impressions of stamping machines need not be postmarked if the
impressions show place and date of mailing. Nor need unregistered printed
matter, samples, commercial papers, and small packets be postmarked if the
place of origin is indicated on such articles. Only the deficiency in case of
short-paid registered articles will be collected from the addresses. Articles
addressed to persons who have submitted change of address will be forwarded,
unless the wrapper bears instructions to the contrary in the language of the
country of destination. Administrations are not responsible for articles seized
by the customs for false declaration of contents. Notations requesting return
receipts must appear on the front of the registered articles. The transmission
of books as prints is no longer restricted to stitched or bound books. When
impressions to indicate prepayment are made by printing press or other methods
on packages of printed matter, the indication that the postage has been paid
may be shown in abbreviated form. Transparent panels need no longer form
an integral part of the envelopes of registered letters. Requests for withdrawal
or change of address of a number of articles mailed simultaneously by the
same sender to the same addressee are subject to the charge applicable only
to a single-rate registered letter to the country concerned. It is recommended
that envelopes containing Postal Union articles should be not less than 4 inches
in length and 2% inches in width and that all articles sent at reduced rates
be endorsed to indicate the classification, i. e., "commercial papers," "printed
matter," etc. "Cut-out patterns" are added to the articles admissible as "prints."
The number of the copies of works offered or ordered and the price thereof may
be shown on printed matter. Transit charges on closed-mail correspondence
were reduced 20%, and those on open-mail correspondence were abolished.
The Congress of Buenos Aires (1939) extended the special concessions as
to reduced rates and increased maximum limits, hitherto applicable only to
"raised print for the blind," to include plates for printing such raised char-
acters, Braille letters, and sound-reproduction records sent by recognized in-
stitutions for the blind or addressed to such institutions. Due to a deprecia-
tion in the currencies of many signatory countries in their relation to the gold
franc, a 20% reduction was made in the basic postage rates and certain
other charges. This reduction does not apply to transit charges, which are
scheduled to be considered separately by a special commission. Optional
provision was made for the admission, on a reciprocal basis, of articles
known as "phonopost" articles, which consist of phonographic disks com-
posed of light material of sufficient strength to withstand transportation
and handling, on the surface of which the sender may record the text of
actual and personal correspondence, a discourse, a song, etc., which when
received by the addressee can be reproduced on an ordinary phonograph.
These articles are in general subject to the rates and conditions applicable
to letters. However, this system has not yet been made effective in this
service. A specific provision was inserted in the Convention authorizing the
transmission in the international mails of parasites and predators of injurious
insects intended for the control of such insects, when exchanged between
officially recognized agencies. Provision was also made for the exchange
of correspondence at the reduced rate between students in schools, if sent
thru the intermediary of the heads of the schools concerned. Another new
provision relates to forms used in connection with loans from libraries, winch
are admitted at the rate for prints. It was formerly provided that missent
mail should be struck with the impression of the postmark of the office where
it is received thru error, but this no longer applies to unregistered articles
sent at the reduced rate. It is also stated that such impressions shall be
1392 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
placed on the back of letters and on the front of post cards. Also in the
case of reforwarded articles the Convention provides that the date stamp
of the redispatching office shall be applied to the back of all articles except
those in the form of a card. In regard to air-mail articles, specific provision
was made that, if no practical difficulties result therefrom, the sender may
request that his correspondence be dispatched by air over only a part of the
route. Moreover, it was provided that while the weight of the return receipt
form is not to be considered in calculating the postage on an article intended
for surface transportation, the weight of such receipt form is included in the
calculation of the aerial surcharge.
The effective date of the Buenos Aires Convention was fixed at July 1, 1940.
It will be seen that the Universal Postal Union has been a true "league of na-
tions." It has brought the peoples closer together by facilitating their intercourse.
It was the first to organize arbitration as a means of settling international dis-
putes. The founders of the Union were, therefore, the pioneers in the great work
being done to make and maintain international peace and good will.
Like everything human, the Universal Postal Union is capable of endless im-
provement, but as it now stands, it is, in comparison with the previous state of
affairs, an immense progress. Little by little it has introduced facilities of all sorts
into international communications.
The creation of a uniform basis and the lowering of the postage rates are in the
first ranks of the progress obtained. But there is another. The Universal Postal
Union was, we may well say, the first to lay down the principle of the solidarity of
nations. This principle now dominates all international postal relations. It is this
which has made harmony succeed dissension, and financial unselfishness supplant
fiscal greed ; it is this which has broken down ancient barriers, and thrown open to
the free circulation of ideas those frontiers formerly half closed by well-nigh pro-
hibitive postage rates. By virtue of the principle of liberty of transit proclaimed
by all postal congresses, every country is obliged to let foreign mail matter circu-
late within its territory as freely as its own, and, for a just and reasonable com-
pensation, to forward it to destination by the most rapid means available. What
progress this is, as compared to the ancient antagonism;
The Postal Union has also provided a peaceful means for the settlement of dis-
putes and conflicts arising between its members. In case of disagreement, the
Administrations concerned can ask the International Bureau for its opinion on the
disputed questions. They can also have recourse to arbitration, each party choos-
ing as arbiter a Union member not interested in the matter. The decision of the
board of arbiters is made on an absolute majority of votes, and is binding on all
parties concerned. In the event of a tie vote, the arbitrators choose another Admin-
istration which likewise has no interest in the dispute to case the deciding vote.
Each country is represented at the Congresses (which now meet once every
five years ) by one or more plenipotentiary delegates, provided with the necessary
credentials by their Governments. It may, if necessary, be represented by the
delegation of another country. However, it is understood that a delegation may
not be charged with representing more than two countries, including the one by
which it was first accredited. The delegates from the United States are appointed
by the Postmaster General, and are authorized to sign the Convention drawn up
by the Congress, subject to subsequent approval by the Postmaster General and
ratification by the President.
Each Congress decides where the following Congress is to be held.
In the deliberations, each country has but one vote. At the Buenos Aires
Congress 72 votes were cast. Sixteen countries either did not sign or were
not represented at this Congress, but the Final Protocol was left open for their
subsequent adhesion. The following colonies or possessions are considered as
separate countries for postal purposes : The Belgian Congo ; the whole of the
Possessions of the United States of America other than the Commonwealth of
the Philippines (including Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands) ;
the Commonwealth of the Philippines; the whole of the Spanish Colonies;
Algeria ; French Indochina ; the whole of the other French Colonies ; the whole
of the Italian Colonies ; Chosen ; the whole of the other Japanese Dependencies :
the Netherlands Indies ; Curacao and Surinam ; the Portuguese Colonies in West
Africa ; the Portuguese Colonies in East Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Needless to
say, the French Regency of Tunis, the autonomous British Dominions of the
Union of South Africa, the Commonwealth of Australia, Canada, British India,
Ireland (Eire), and New Zealand are counted as separate countries as far as the
Universal Postal Union is concerned.
APPENDIX FART III 1393
The Universal Postal Union now comprises practically all the countries of the
world, with approximately 265,000 post offices. The following countries are not
at present members of the Union : The Loccadive and the Maldive Islands. These
countries will, however, be permitted to enter the Union at any time. Notice of
their adherence must be given, thru diplomatic channels, to the Government of
Switzerland, and by the latter to the Governments of all the other countries
in the Union.
As has been previously mentioned, the United States does not execute the
international parcel-post, money-order, c. o. d. and insurance services on the basis
of the Union Agreements ; but prefers, for various reasons of a domestic nature,
to make individual arrangements with each country concerned. If, however, the
said Agreements are modified in the future in such a way as to become acceptable
to this country from a domestic standpoint, it will no doubt immediately adhere
thereto, in the interests of uniformity and international solidarity.
One paragraph of the foregoing sketch of the Universal Postal
Union stands out particularly as a reminder that the Union was
conceived as an agency to serve the needs of a wholly different kind
of world from that which has developed since the rise of the totalitarian
dictators. That particular paragraph reads, in part, as follows:
"It will be seen that the Universal Postal Union has been a true
'league of nations.' It has brought the peoples closer together by
facilitating their intercourse." As a matter of cold realism, the
Universal Postal Union is today facilitating the totalitarian propa-
ganda attack upon the United States in particular and upon all the
free peoples in general.
VI. The Polish Atrocity Book Mailed From Germany
Several months ago, all addresses on the master mailing list of
German-Americans received through the mails a 316-page book
entitled: "Die Polnischen Greueltaten an den Volksdeutschen in
Polen." The volume contains hundreds of gruesome pictures which
are alleged to show the atrocities committed against Germans in
Poland prior to the Nazi occupation of a part of that country.
Exhibit No. 3 is a reproduction of one of the milder photographic
double-page spreads from this atrocity book.
The volume weighed 2 pounds and 4 ounces. It was mailed from
Germany, and franked with a stamping machine by the German
government. The total shipment of these books weighed about 50
tons.
For the distribution of this book in the United States, the entire
costs were borne by American taxpayers.
VII. Other Mail Shipments From Germany
Exhibit No. 4 is a photographic reproduction of an envelope carrying
Nazi propaganda to the United States from Munich. The cancelation
reads: "Munchen Hauptstadt der Bewegung." The English transla-
tion is, "Munich the Capital of National Socialism." This envelope is
marked, "U. S. Customs FKEE, Baltimore, Md."
Exhibit No. 5 is a photographic reproduction of an envelope franked
in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The envelope contained printed
propaganda material, and is marked "via Sibiria."
Exhibit No. 6 is another photographic reproduction of a wrapper
which brought Nazi propaganda to the United States. The word
"Eilt," stamped on the wrapper means "Rush." This material was
mailed from Berlin.
1394 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 7 is a photographic reproduction of an envelope which
contained several cards for remailing after delivery to an addressee in
the United States. Special attention is called to the stamp, "via
Sibirien- Japan."
Exhibit No. 8 is a photographic reproduction of one of the cards
enclosed in the envelope which is marked "Exhibit No. 7." This card
is one illustration of Hitler's recent poses as the enemy of "the ruling
class" and the friend of the "proletariat."
Exhibit No. 9 is a photographic reproduction of one of the many
propaganda pamphlets which are sent through the mails from Germany
to this country.
IX. German Library or Information
The German Library of Information has been the principal propa-
ganda medium of Nazi Germany located in the United States.
The library has built up a mailing list of 70,000 names. ( See Exhibit
No. 10.)
The library publishes a weekly bulletin known as Facts in Review.
This bulletin contains nothing but Nazi propaganda. It goes to clergy-
men, editors, school teachers, and other persons of influence.
Facts in Review is mailed out under a third-class permit. This is a
class of mail on which the Post Office Department (meaning the tax-
payers of the United States) incurs an annual deficit.
Exhibit No. 11 is a photographic reproduction of a number of copies
of Facts in Review.
In addition to the publication and distribution of Facts in Review,
the German Library of Information brings out large editions of ex-
pensively printed books and booklets. (See Exhibit No. 12.)
The library is financed entirely from Germany.
X. German Railroads Information Office
On the surface, it might appear that the German Railroads In-
formation is strictly a travel agency. The organization does, in
fact, distribute elaborately printed folders and booklets depicting
the scenic beauties of Germany. But, for the present, at least, there
is no tourist travel to Germany; and despite this fact the German
Railroads Information Office still operates with an annual budget
of more than $100,000. All of the expenses of the office are derived
from Germany.
The German Railroads Information Office puts out a weekly news
letter called News Flashes from Germany. This periodical is
nothing more nor less than Nazi propaganda.
Exhibit No. 13 is a photographic reproduction of some of the
travel folders (all of which are printed in Germany) and copies
of News Flashes from Germany which are put out by the German
Railroads Information Office.
Exhibit No. 14 is a photographic reproduction of the mailing list
of the German Railroads Information Office.
Ernst Schmitz, the manager of the German Railroads Informa-
tion Office, wrote a letter to Manfred Zepp inviting him to a meet-
ing of the Intelligence Service of the Rome-Berlin axis.
APPENDIX PART III 1395
XI. Other Exhibits
Exhibit No. 15 is a photographic reproduction of a slip which
has been enclosed with some of the propaganda literature mailed
from Germany. The slip invites the recipient of the Nazi propa-
ganda to supply the League for Cultivating Personal Friendships
Abroad (Berlin) with name and addresses to be added to the
master mailing list in Germany. The principal technique employed
by the Nazis in all of their propaganda work discussed in this
report up to this point is known as direct mailing. Direct mail-
ing is one of the most effective forms of modern advertising. The
evidence before the committee shows that the various propaganda
agencies in Germany are utilizing this technique to the limit.
Exhibit No. 16 is a photographic reproduction of a number of
copies of the Deutscher Weckruf, the official publication of the
German-American Bund. This, too, enjoys the privileges of second-
class mail, which is a form of Government subsidy. The Deutscher
Weckruf is strictly a propaganda organ for National Socialism.
Exhibit No. 17 is a photographic reproduction of Japanese pam-
phlets and publications, all of which are sent through the mails
of the United States, and all of which are printed in Japan.
Exhibit No. 18 is a photographic reproduction of books and
pamphlets which are printed in Italy and which are sent through the
mails to residents of the United States.
Exhibit No. 19 is a photographic reproduction of more books and
booklets printed in Italy, and also of the publications of the Italian
Library of Information which corresponds to the German Library of
Information in its propaganda activities on behalf of Mussolini's
regime in Italy.
XII. The Daily Worker
The committee is in possession of a copy of a cablegram in which
Clarence Hathaway, editor of the Daily Worker, asked Moscow for
the correct "line" on the Soviet invasion of Finland. For 17 years
the Daily Worker has been Moscow's chief journalistic mouthpiece in
the United States. The paper is registered with the Department of
State as an agent of a foreign principal.
Exhibit No. 20 is a photograph of the bound volumes of the Daily
Worker from its inception 17 years ago. The photograph was taken
in the offices of the committee.
Thousands of citations from the Daily Worker could be given to
show its complete subservience to Moscow and its disloyalty to the
United States. A single citation must suffice for the present report :
In an article by Earl Browder, which appeared in the Daily Worker
of January 14, i933, the defeat of the United States is advocated in
the event of this country's involvement in war. "In the midst of im-
perialist war," writes Browder, "the revolutionary working class must
put forward the slogan, 'Defeat of our own imperialism.' " More than
6 years later, Browder declared his continuing adherence to that same
principle, in his testimony before the committee.
The Communist Party employs a special technique in the promotion
of the Daily Worker's circulation. That technique is the use of shop
and neighborhood papers.
1396 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
The major objectives of the shop and neighborhood papers of the
Communist Party are (1) to propagandize directly for the Soviet
Union, and (2) to promote the circulation of the Daily Worker.
The shop nucleus or the local neighborhood unit of the party is
charged with the responsibility of issuing the shop or neighbor-
hood paper. The Central Committee of the Communist Party has
issued a pamphlet entitled "Shop Paper Manual," which was written
by Gertrude Haessler.
In this Shop Paper Manual Miss Haessler has set forth in de-
tail the mechanics of publishing a shop paper and the political ob-
jectives which it is expected to attain. One of the ways in which
the shop paper is expected to propagandize for the totalitarian regime
in Russia is described by Miss Haessler in the following words :
Comparisons between local conditions and Russian conditions, given tersely
and without flourishes, are very effective sprinkled through columns of this
sort.
The shop and neighborhood papers are expected to acquaint their
readers with other papers and organizations of the Communist
Party. "Every appeal to read the Daily Worker," writes Miss Haess-
ler, "should have the D. W. address." In further comment on this
point, the author of the Shop Paper Manual says, "It is un-
necessary to explain the importance of pushing the Daily Worker,
and practically no shop papers have sinned in this respect."
In Exhibits Nos. 21 and 22, the mastheads of the following shop
and neighborhood papers appear:
Red Chart: Issued Monthly by the Communist Party Unit in Mount Sinai
Hospital
Postal Worker: Published by Postal Telegraph Branch of the Communist
Party
We the People : Published by the Communist Party— Branches of Sunnyside and
Thompson Hill
Columbia Spark: Issued by the Columbia (University) Nucleus of the Com-
munist Party and Young Communist League
Close-up: Issued by Communist Party Branches in Film Industry
Red Pen : Issued by the Communist Party Unit of the W. P. A. Federal Writers'
Project
City College Teacher Worker: Issued Monthly by the Communist Party Unit
of City College (New York)
Bergen Beacon: Published by the Communist Party of Bergen County (New
Jersey)
The Class Mark : Published by the Communist Party Branch of the New York
Public Library
Medical Center Worker : Issued by Communist Party Branch in Medical Center
(New York)
The Good Neighbor: Issued by the Bob Minor Branch, Communist Party
The Yard Voice: Issued by Communist Party Navy Yard Unit (Brooklyn, New
York)
The Vanguard Scholar: Published by the Graduate Schools and T. C. Student
Branches, Communist Party (Columbia University, New York)
Columbia Graduate Scholar: Issued by Graduate School Unit, Communist
Party (Columbia University)
East Side Power Worker : Issued by the Communists of the East River Station,
New York, N. Y.
Counsel : Issued by Communist Party Members of the Adult Guidance Service
Active File : Issued by the Communist Party Members in the Division of Place-
ment and Unemployment Insurance, N. Y. C.
The Probe : Issued by the Communist Party Unit in Morrisania Hospital (New
York, N. Y.)
Red Tape: Issued by the Communist Party Branch of 902 Broadway (New
York, N. Y.)
APPENDIX PAET IH 1397
The 74th Street Power Worker: Issued by Communist Party Members in the
Power House
Red Paint : Issued by the Communist Party Unit of the Federal Art Project
G. P. O. Worker : Issued by the Government Printing Office Branch of the Com-
munist Party (Washington, D. C.)
The Red Write-up: Issued by the General Post Office Nucleus of the Commu-
nist Party (New York, N. Y.)
Harlem Lesson Plan: Issued Monthly by the Communist Teachers of Harlem
(New York. N. Y.)
The Germantown Progressive: Published Monthly by the 22nd Ward Branch
of the Communist Party (Philadelphia).
The Staff: Issued Monthly by the Brooklyn College Unit of the Communist
Party of America.
Peoples News: Issued by the Thirty-Second District, Communist Party (Seattle,
Washington).
The Write-Up : Issued by the Communist Party Nucleus of Grand Central Post
Office (New York).
Boro Hall News : Issued by Boro Hall Branch Communist Party, 1st A. D.,
Kings County, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Vanguard: Published by the 49th Ward Branch of the Communist Party (Phila-
delphia).
Port-Light: Official Organ Communist Party, U. S. A., New York Seamen and
Harbor Workers Branch.
The Streamliner : Issued by the South Side Railroad Workers Branch of the
Communist Party, Chicago, Illinois.
Tube City News : Published by the Communist Party of McKeesport, Pa.
The Independent Vermonter: Published Monthly by the Communist Party of
Vermont.
Valley Voice: Issued by the Communist Party of Turtle Creek Valley, Turtle
Creek, Pa.
As We See It: Issued by the Executive Committee, Summit County Communist
Party (Akron, Ohio).
Stamford Worker: Issued by the Industrial Unit of the Communist Party, Stam-
ford, Connecticut.
The 33rd Ward Beaoon : Published by the 33rd Ward Branch, Communist Party
(Philadelphia).
Armory News : Issued by Groups of Guardsmen, 33rd Division, Illinois National
Guard.
It will be seen from the foregoing list of shop and neighborhood
papers that the Communist Party is conducting its pro-Soviet propa-
ganda in hospitals, colleges and universities, power plants, telegraph
companies, the film industry, Government bureaus and agencies, trans-
portation and shipping industries, and the armed forces.
In order to make clear the whole technique of the Communist Party
in its work of publishing shop and neighborhood papers, the party's
Shop Paper Manual is reprinted at this point. The cover of the
pamphlet is an exact photographic reproduction.
279895 — 11 — app. pt. in-
1398 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Shop Paper ▲Waiiiial
A Handbook for Comrades
Active in Shop Paper Work
10c
Issued by
Central Committee Communist Party, U.S.A.
P. O. Box Station D, N. Y.
APPENDIX PART III 1399
SHOP PAPER MANUAL
A Handbook for Comrades Active in Shop Paper Work
Introduction
The Role of the Shop Paper in the Class Struggle
In view of the strenuous efforts being made to orientate the Party work
to the shop and to root the Party firmly in the shop, the development of
activity in the field of shop papers becomes more and more essential in Party
work. The shop paper is the sharpest weapon in mass agitation in the arsenal
of the active Communist. The shop paper is the Communist organ in the
shop, reaching the proletariat as no other organ of the Party can.
Shop paper work is extremely exacting work, demanding a patience and
accuracy which few other fields of Communist activity require. At the same
time it is a field of work in which our comrades have the least experience,
due almost entirely to an under-estimation and lack of appreciation of the
importance of this effective weapon for capturing the "fortresses of the working
class," as Lenin calls the factories.
In getting out a shop paper, its fundamental function — that of being the
Communist organ in the shop — must never be lost sight of. The shop paper
naturally treats of shop problems and the every day life of the worker of the
shop, but it must also interpret to the shop worker all events which affect his
life, even in the most indirect way. This requires a political orientation
which every Communist organ naturally has. To awaken the class-conscious-
ness of the worker, to defend his interests in all spheres, to widen his horizon
of outlook to include the entire working class and all current events, to draw
political and organizational conclusions from his problems and from the prob-
lems of the entire working class, to develop his feelings of class solidarity,
to intensify his fighting spirit, to draw him closer to the Party — these are the by
no means insignificant tasks of the shop paper.
And as the time draws nearer for the illegality which will face our Party,
the shop paper must do its share first in fighting stubbornly for the Party's
right to legality, and should the Party be driven underground or the general
Party organs suppressed it becomes of enormous importance in replacing to
some extent the general Party organs which are prohibited. In its very nature
and from its very inception, the shop paper has a semi-illegal character. It is
the best weapon, therefore, to take up and carry on our agitational and propa-
ganda work when the "Daily Worker" and other general Party organs face
all the tremendous difficulties of illegality. It is then that the shop papers
become the basis for our entire mass agitation.
In our German Party, not only every shop nucleus, but every street nucleus
issues a small Party paper. The policy of the German Party, which is being
put into effect, is that every Party unit owns its own duplicating machine and
puts out its own paper. In Hamburg this was realized to the extent of creating
almost 500 shop and neighborhood papers in the various units of the Party.
Early in 1930 the Party organ, the Hamburger Volkszeitung, with a circula-
tion of about 30,000, was suppressed for a period of ten days. During this
period our shop papers and neighborhood papers came out daily with an average
circulation of 1,000, which meant that the 30,000 copies of the Hamburger
Volkszeitung were replaced by 500,000 copies of shop papers and neighborhood
papers during the period of this suppression.
Our American Party has not yet reached this stage of development, but we
must foresee such situations and prepare ourselves for them. We must de-
velop our shop papers and train ourselves in this work.
Thus a handbook to guide the comrades who participate in this sphere of
Communist activity, a handbook which treats of all the aspects of the work
exhaustively, is absolutely essential at this time, especially in view of the
backwardness of our Party in this work.
The following is the first pamphlet on the subject of shop papers to be printed
in this country. It necessarily has all the defects and omissions which arise
from the Party's inexperience in this field of activity. The section dealing with
1400 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
the difficulties of distribution especially is inadequate. This is one of the most
important and most difficult problems in connection with getting out a shop
paper. But in view of our lack of experience it was necessary merely to
throw up the various problems which have to be met in various places, without
in many cases suggesting concrete solutions.
It would be wise to issue a special small pamphlet in the near future devoted
purely to the subject of distribution, compiled from the experiences gained by
our comrades, the difficulties met, and the methods used to overcome them.
Until that is issued, the present section on distribution will have to suffice.
Gertrude Haessler.
December, 1930.
Part I. The Political Aspects of Shop Paper Work
If we keep in mind our definition of the shop paper, that it is the Communist
organ in the shop, we realize that this implies two things — one, that the paper
must express the political interpretations of the Party, and not become merely
a shop newspaper with a purely trade union orientation organizationally,
and on the other hand, must guard against becoming too abstract politically,
divorced from shop conditions.
Politically the paper must treat of working-class problems as a whole,
linking up the material with shop conditions on the one hand and with the
Party campaigns on the other. It must interpret working-class problems
locally (for instance, the lapse of the rent acts in New York City), nationally
(the "Hoover-Green-no-strike" agreement), and internationally (unemploy-
ment, war danger, Soviet Union, etc.). It must deepen the political under-
standing of the workers in the shop — it must explain clearly and simply
how, for instance, the machinist at the automatic lathe is affected by the
disarmament conference — a think which seems so remote to the average
worker.
If the paper deals too exclusively with political questions it becomes simply
a bad substitute for a political leaflet, and if it deals too exclusively with
shop problems it fails to raise the political level of the workers in the shop.
The greatest difficulty and also our greatest task in dealing with political
problems is to link them up with shop conditions, to show the workers how1
every current event in the world affects his working and living conditions,
and those of his whole class. On the basis of shop conditions, the paper must
make it clear to the masses how the maneuvres of trust capital, the intrigues
of the fascist A. F. of L. and its social-fascist "left wing," the concentration
of capital and rationalization, the nature of the bourgeois state, class collabora-
tion, imperialist armament races, the preparations for war against the Soviet
Union — how all these affect the every-day life and working conditions of
the masses, resulting in more intensive exploitation, growing misery, increas-
ing political oppression, and in more brutal methods to stifle all efforts of
the workers to change these conditions.
How to make such things as these clear to an unclass-conscious needle trades
worker in a New York sweatshop, or to a mountaineer textile mill hand
in North Carolina, or to a Negro farmer from the South who has just taken
a job in the Ford factory in Detroit, or to a Mexican agricultural laborer
in the Imperial Valley — that is the task of the shop paper — a difficult task,
but one which must be dealt with if the shop paper is to be a genuine
Communist organ.
Stereotyped editorials must therefore be avoided. We can no longer hand
out the monthly political editorial to the various shop nuclei from the District
Center, printing the self-same article in every paper in the District. The
same subject, of course, and the same fundamental line for all — but linked
up with the special shop conditions and made intelligible and interesting to
the workers of that particular shop and industry.
On the opposite page are examples of what is meant by linking up a political
article with actual immediate shop conditions. These were articles which
actually appeared in two different shop papers during the Party's election
campaign. The one on the left shows a splendid approach to the subject on
the basis of shop conditions, developing from that premise the analysis of
what the various parties stand for, and ending with good slogans well placed.
The one on the right is an example of how1 not to approach the workers
on a political issue. Politically undeveloped workers don't give a hang what
APPENDIX PART III
1401
the Communists in Germany happen to be doing. They are interested in
fighting their own wretched conditions right here in the shop, and don't get
the same thrill out of the successes of our German comrades that our Party
members do. This must be kept carefully in mind in approaching these unde-
veloped workers. In this article shop conditions seem to be dragged in bv
the tail, in the middle of the article, without any connection with the German
elections, and the analysis of what the other three parties are doing doesn't
make it clear to the shop worker that these Parties not only do not help
them, but are actually their enemies. And the analysis of the Party position
is simply one of struggling to get a bill passed through Congress, with the
slogans at the end crowded, and again too remote from the shop conditions.
THE "VOTE COMMUNIST" ARTICLES CONTRASTED
LINKING UP WITH SHOP CONDITIONS
Five hundred men laid off — the rest work-
ing three days a week — and more thrown out
every day. That is the way things are in
Ford's now. Five hundred men locked out
of the shop, thrown into the streets, in-
creasing the number of the millions of un-
employed.
The rest of us making wages for three
days a week. With the army of pushers on
our backs, taking advantage of the situa-
tion to abuse us more than humans can
stand. Anything is considered a good
enough excuse to throw a worker out of a
job.
Winter coming, with no relief in sight.
The A. F. of L. says unemployment insur-
ance is not necessary because prosperity is
"just around the corner."
The Democrats say the Republicans are
to blame, but they don't tell us how they
will change it. Talk a lot about unem-
ployment, but don't do anything.
The Republicans say it is too bad, but
they can't help it, and anyway it is good
for the country, as now business can get
back on a "sound" basis — more speed-up,
more lay-offs.
The Socialists say unemployment is ter-
rible— we must "study" it. In the mean-
time, the A. F. of L. is "wise" not to call
any strikes in a period of depression. Let
the bosses cut wages, increase speed-up
but the workers must "cooperate" in help-
ing to bring the country back to normal —
if they don't starve first.
Only the Communist Party tells the work-
ers to do something — to fight for unem-
ployment insurance, to fight against evic-
tions of workers from their homes, to de-
mand work or wages, to refuse to starve.
Workers ! Vote against starvation, speed-
up and lay-offs.
Vote communist !
A REMOTE INTRODUCTION
The Communist Party of Germany in the
recent election campaign has just demon-
strated in a striking manner that it is a
mass party with a following of more than
4% millions of workers and poor farmers.
The Communist Party is the leading
party in Berlin. It has received three-
quarters of a million votes in Berlin thus
making it the foremost party. The Ger-
man workers showed the way to the Ameri-
can workers what must be done in the
coming elections.
Our conditions are becoming worse every
day. We are forced to work 9^ hours a
day at the rate of 60 units per hour. If
the company catches a worker talking or
smiling he is fired immediately. The speed-
up is great and as a result hundreds of
workers are laid off and many accidents
occur.
The capitalist parties — Democrats, Re-
publicans, and Socialists do not present any
program for the abolition of the speed-up
or shortening of the working day and re-
lief for the unemployed. Their main plank
is wet or dry. Is this the main issue today?
Isn't unemployment a much more important
issue for every worker?
The Communist Party, however, proposes
the Workers Social Insurance Bill, and pledges
itself to carry on a determined struggle
for its passage. The only way this can be
accomplished is by the workers, both em-
ployed and unemployed to organize together
under the leadership of the Communist
Party.
Workers! Fight for the Workers' Social
Insurance Bill — Vote Communist.
The above are articles which appeared in shop papers, the one on the left showing a
splendid approach to the subject, on the basis of shop conditions, the one on the right
giving an approach without interest to politically undeveloped workers, with the shop
approach hidden in the body of the article and not properly linked up with the subject.
Part II. Shop Conditions and Trade-Union Work
Again keeping in mind that the shop paper is the organ of the Communist Party
in the shop, we must, in dealing with shop abuses, champion the worker in his
day-to-day struggle in the shop and propose immediate solutions where they exist.
Pushing trade-union organization becomes, therefore, one of the paramount tasks
of the shop paper. We must, at the same time, guard against allowing the paper
to become simply a trade-union organizer, and must never allow our political
work and our ultimate goal— the overthrow of the capitalist system — to be pushed
into the background by these immediate aims and solutions.
In handling the shop conditions, the tendency must be guarded against of
simply pointing out abuses and allowing the workers to draw their own conclu-
sions as to the proper remedy. Our Party work is orientated toward reaching
the great masses of unorganized, and in getting out our shop paper, which is the
best avenue we have to reach these unorganized workers, we must be very specific
1402 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
in our organizational recommendations. It is not enough, either, to say that
joining :t union will remedy certain abuses. Tell which union, tell something
about it, give its address, explain its form of organization on the basis of shop
committees, warn against the fakery of A. F. of L. officials and Muste-ite reform-
ists— all in simple language. For do not forget that it is precisely the unorgan-
ized worker who has no tradition of organization, who has no knowledge of the
benefits to be derived from a union, who does not realize the role of union
organization in the class struggle — in fact, who must be taught from the very
beginning the simplest fundamentals of worker solidarity.
Our aim has always been the establishment of real functioning shop commit-
tees as a basis for a strong union organization. In many cases a transitional
organization leading ultimately to the formation of the shop committee will be
necessary, which can take the form of a grievance committee for organizing
the workers for struggle on the basis of grievances in the shop and for the
partial demands arising from them. The grievance committees will rally the
workers to fight against rationalization and oppression in the factories, and
should be used as a means of establishing the unions openly in the shop, strug-
gling at the same time for the freedom of the workers to assemble, speak and
agitate in the factories, which demand must be raised in all strike struggles.
One of the principal tasks of a shop paper must be to initiate actions on the
part of the workers in the shop even if it is on a small scale, for we cannot expect
to have an immediate movement for strike action, without some preparation in
struggle. One small instance, which is not of much importance in itself, but
which illustrates how the shop paper can gain prestige among the workers for
the Party, is the case where the paper roused the workers to give expression ro
their resentment against the cutting off of the Christmas bonus which they were
accustomed to getting. When the notice of the boss was posted, the shop paper
initiated a movement demanding that the bonus be paid to the workers, asking
them through the shop paper to chalk up the entire shop with the word "bonus"
and indicate their demands for the payment of this bonus. This was done
throughout the entire shop. The effect was splendid not only on the workers, but
upon the Party. The workers had an outlet for expressing their discontent, and
in following the suggestion in the shop paper, they recognized the leadership of
the shop paper in their struggles, even though these struggles weren't sharp.
Such small matters, as they gradually accumulate, build up a strike movement
when a big issue conies, and the shop paper becomes the accepted spokesman of
the workers in their larger struggles.
In starting the shop paper, have the trade-union policy of the Party which
applies to that shop clearly in mind. Then follow a conscious, definite policy of
unfolding an organizational plan in the shop, developing it with each new num-
ber of the paper in accordance with developing conditions in the shop and the
response of the workers. Only a consistently carried out policy will bring the
organizational results.
At the same time the District Industrial Department and the union must be
ready to do concrete organizational work in the shop. We can hammer away at
the necessity of organizing for months and months, stir up a great deal of interest
in union organization among the workers, and if we are not organizationally
ready to receive them, all that work is lost.
Everything that happens in the shop — whether insignificant or important,
must be taken advantage of to draw the proper organizational conclusions —
hammering away at the necessity of the union, but also drawing the ultimate
conclusions of the necessity of abolishing the capitalist system. If there is an
accident in the shop, if there is a wage reduction, if a worker is arbitrarily
fired, if a foreman is unusually hard-boiled — any of these can be used as a basis
of pointing out the necessity of mass solidarity and the futility and danger of
individual protest.
Stress solidarity with other unions and foster the feeling of working class
solidarity not only on a national scale but on an international scale as well. This
can be done by carrying news of workers' struggle outside the shops, appeals
for strikers in other places in the same industry, or in other industries. In this
respect, conditions in Soviet Russia must always be featured, with the proper
conclusion of how to get them for ourselves.
A conscious policy must also be followed in popularizing Labor Unity among
the shop workers. It is very necessary that this be conscientiously done not
only for the development of the workers themselves, but also to give Labor
Unity the mass base it needs.
APPENDIX PART IH 1403
Fight the company unions, whatever their guise — industrial conference, ath-
letic clubs, mutual aid organizations, etc. — either capture them and make them
serve the workers, which is difficult — but it has been done — or smash them by
exposing them.
But don't create illusions as to what the union can give the workers. Never
fail to stress that it is only the overthrow of the capitalist system that can do
away with the abuses from which the working class is suffering today.
Part III. Special Subjects
"Divide and rule" is the slogan of the boss when he takes advantage of the
special problems created by certain divisions of the working class. To
meet this well known device of the bosses, the shop paper must make every
effort to deal with the special interests of those workers who, in addition to
the general exploitation from which all workers suffer, are the constant target
of special discrimination and exploitation.
As far as the women are concerned, not only must the shop workers be
given special attention, but also the wives of the men workers, for a clear
understanding of the class struggle on their part will do much to raise the
morale of their husbands. Every effort must be made to involve these
housewives in any class struggle activity within the shops.
The increasing role which the young workers are playing in industry and
their strategic position in the class struggle when war breaks out, makes
careful attention to their problems absolutely imperative.
The clannishness of the various foreign-born and their prejudices against
each other, which are deliberately fostered by the bourgeoisie, are very strong
and require constant combatting. This is particularly true of the colored
foreign-born, such as the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Hindus, Mexicans, etc.
But there is one section of the working class in America which occupies a
unique position, and that is the Negro. His problem, in addition to that of
being a doubly exploited member of the working class, and of suffering from
race discrimination, is that of being a member of an oppressed national
minority within the country, struggling for national expression and national
self-determination. This must be taken carefully into account in any dealing
with the problems of the Negro, creating a special situation even compared
to the other doubly exploited sections of the American working class.
Where any such section of workers comprises a large part of the employees,
special pages or special columns should be devoted in the shop paper to their
problems. If the situation warrants it, a special youth paper should be issued,
or perhaps the Party and League can issue a joint paper. Where large sec-
tions of workers speak a foreign language, a page devoted to material of
special interest to them, and written in their language should be set aside.
This invites the confidence of those workers, who, due to language handicaps,
have great difficulty in taking their place in the general class struggle in this
country. These workers should be encouraged to contribute so that they
feel that these special sections belong to them.
The main object in running these special sections is to increase the feeling
of solidarity of the workers of the entire plant, irrespective of the lines drawn
by sex, color, age, and nationality, and thus to create more solid fighting
ranks when the inevitable clashes against the employer occur. To foster this
feeling of solidarity in a systematic and tactful manner is one of the chief
duties of the shop paper in any factory where these divisions in the ranks of
the workers exist.
Not only to win over these doubly exploited sections, not only to explain t<>
them the role which the employers force them to play, but also to make ii
clear to the other workers (who are in a relatively better position), how the
employer is keeping them divided, is the duty of every shop paper.
In a clear and sympathetic handling of such situations we can win over
this doubly exploited type of worker and also do away with the prejudices
against him on the part of other workers which the employer so consciously
fosters.
Pabt IV. Organizational Aspects of Shop Paper Work
In the practical matter of getting out a shop paper, two things must be kept in
mind — the aim must be to have the paper issued regularly, and the greatest care
must be taken that everything written is absolutely accurate.
1404 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Regularity instills confidence in the paper and in the Party on the part of the
workers, and allows a more consistent organizational policy to be carried out.
Accuracy is absolutely essential, for if we print news which is false, based merely
on rumor, then instead of becoming the leaders of the workers, we simply become
the laughing stock of the shop.
HOW THE NUCLEUS WOKKS
All this requires that the members of the nucleus itself assume the main respon-
sibility for gathering and getting the material ready for issuing. The habit which
some of the districts have, of merely inquiring from the workers what the condi-
tions are in the shop, and writing the paper from above, is absolutely a wrong basis
for issuing a shop paper. It is easy to make mistakes that way, and it is impera-
tive that the nucleus members see every word of the paper when it is ready to be
printed.
The main reason, however, for making the nuclei members do their own gathering
and getting out of material, is to make it really a paper for the shop, an organ of
the Communist nucleus with the complete responsibility in the hands of the nu-
cleus. This does not mean that the workers must not get all necessary help from
the District — political guidance, technical apparatus, etc. Also, if no member of
the nucleus has a sufficient command of English, the District must attach one or
two comrades who can write — but always in close cooperation with the workers
themselves. Thus we train our own comrades to watch their shop events and to in-
terpret them for their fellow workers. Thus we give the paper a real base in the
shop and avoid the sad experiences where five or six shop papers would collapse at
one time when the District Organizer, who has personally written all the papers
himself, would be transferred elsewhere.
The best method yet found in getting out a well-rounded, politically correct and
accurate shop paper, especially in nuclei where it is necessary to attach outside
comrades to do the actual writing, is to have a meeting of the shop paper commit-
tee of the nucleus, or where the nucleus is small, and all members are responsible
for the shop paper, of the entire nucleus (including the attached members) about a
week before the paper is due to be issued. Here the events in the shop are dis-
cussed, the proper conclusions drawn, the method agreed upon of linking the cur-
rent political article (dependent on the current Party campaigns) with the shop
conditions, and the material apportioned out among those who will write it.
The interpretations and conclusions must, however, be suggested by the members
working in the shop, which does not always mean that they will be correct. But
every member must be encouraged to help in the interpretive tasks of the work and
even to write the articles, no matter how bad the English, leaving for the attached
comrades merely the task of improving style and clarity. Only thus will we train
our members and push the work forward. The spirit of the workers in the shop,
their own instinctive feelings about events in the shop, can be caught only by our
own comrades who share in the daily work and the daily exploitation in that shop,
and to catch this atmosphere is infinitely more important that correct style and
pleasing language.
Five days should be enough for the comrades to write up their material.
Then another meeting is held to go over the finished material. Here the mem-
bers in the shop again play the main role, for whether they have written the
material themselves or merely given the information for others to write — it is
absolutely necessary for them to see every word before it is printed to make
sure that the material they gave was not misunderstood or misinterpreted by those
not working in the shop. This requires a great deal of patience, but it must be done.
When everything has been verified, the material should be ready for distribution to
the workers within two days. Somewhere in the process the District or Section
must see the material to insure its political correctness. That is a detail which can
be determined best by local conditions.
There is no excuse for taking longer than a week to get out the paper complete,
and there is every reason for rushing it as fast as circumstances permit. It has
frequently happened that the getting out of the paper has taken so long that the
news was old by the time it got into the hands of the workers. Sometimes the
paper contained announcements of events that had taken place in the meantime.
This is inexcusable and creates a bad impression among the workers.
In the technical work of the paper it is again best if the members in the shop
do as much of the work as the technical knowledge required permits. This
again with the object of fostering in the members the spirit that the work of
the shop paper is their work, it is their organ, to bring their Communist views
before their fellow workers.
APPENDIX PART IH 1405
But the nucleus must never forget, even where it is small, and where the entire
nucleus is drawn into activity in connection with the shop paper, that this is not
their only function in the shop. Responsibility and concentrated activity in get-
ting out a shop paper does not absolve the nucleus members from the general
activity within the shop.
DISTRIBUTION
When it comes to distribution, no set rule can be followed, since local condi-
tions will determine the most feasible plan. Every effort should be made to
distribute the paper inside the mill. This is extremely difficult, for every precau-
tion must be taken not to expose the comrades working within the factory, not
only to protect them against losing their jobs, but mainly to keep our base in
that factory. Careful plans must be made beforehand each month to determine
the strategy of distribution within the factory, in order to accomplish the dis-
tribution without interference and to insure that each worker gets his copy.
Those workers who are not attached to a certain place within the factory, but
who have freedom of movement within the building — such as carpenters, elec-
trical workers, painters, repairmen, cleaning women, messenger boys, etc. —
should be used as much as possible if they can do this work without detection.
Advantage must be taken of any connections with any sympathetic worker
within the factory who might facilitate this work. Sympathetic foremen, who
are willing to close their eyes to these proceedings (at least till it gets hot for
them personally), can sometimes be found. A successful scheme was carried
out in New York where a comrade not working in the shop after careful instruc-
tions from the nucleus, boldly walked into the shop during the noon hour (the
workers ate their lunch in the shop), and brazenly distributed the paper with
a hostile foreman looking on. Such schemes work once or twice and should be
used, but of course they cannot be depended upon.
But there are hundreds of other ways of distributing within the shop. The
papers can be distributed on the various raw materials which the workers are
handling, on the conveyors, on the benches, in the clothes closets, in the toilets,
elevators, stairs. Small supplies can be left here and there and word passed
around that they are available. These supplies should be replenished as soon as
they are exhausted, but large amounts simply invite confiscation.
Inside secret distribution must take place one or two days before outside
distribution. Inside distribution never reaches every worker, and those who
didn't receive a copy will be on the look-out to get one at the gates a day or
two later. If, however, outside distribution takes place first, the boss and stool
pigeons will be on the lookout and inside distribution becomes very dangerous.
Where it is found to be absolutely impossible to distribute the paper within
the factory, then comrades who do not belong to the nucleus must undertake
the distribution outside the factory gates. This involves the same caution and
the same risks as any leaflet distribution except that the employer is much
more apt to be more aggressive in combating this distribution, since it hits him
more directly than a general political leaflet or call to a general mass meeting.
In some towns this is extremely difficult — company towns, for instance, or small
towns with one large factory where all inhabitants know one another. These
difficulties peculiar to local conditions must be solved according to the situation
which exists. For instance, where the workers get into the streetcars or busses
within the factory gates, ingenuity is necessary to get the paper to them. It has
even been found necessary to make a general distribution at streetcar transfer cor-
ners as the workers get off the cars, or in the districts where many of them live.
As a last resort, if a list can be obtained, the papers can be sent by mail to the
workers in their homes, but this is not only an arduous task but is undesirable
in other ways. It has sometimes been found feasible to leave a small supply
with some friendly shopkeeper near the factory, and word passed around the
factory that the paper is available there. The supply must be replenished as
quickly as it is exhausted to insure that workers who want them can get them,
but large amounts should not be left for fear of confiscation.
With the Party concentrating more on detailed work, and the building up of
contacts through patient personal work, it is imperative that the shop paper also
be used in such activity. For instance, the comrades inside the factory may
notice that a certain worker is sympathetic, or perhaps the worker at the next
machine looks like a good subject for propaganda. By taking the number of the
worker's badge, and finding out from his time card (which bears the same
number) what his name and address is, the shop paper can either be sent to him
1406 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
direct by mail, or delivered to him by some comrade not working near him. A
gradual building up of such a mailing list or such personal contacts is invaluable
for the other activities of the nucleus within the shop.
In connection with the building up of a mailing list, the experience of the Ford
Worker in Detroit might be taken as an example. Three or four hundred work-
ers in the factory subscribed to the paper, and this mailing list constantly grew,
extending beyond Detroit. Workers in Ford shops throughout the country and
even some in Europe put themselves on the mailing list, paying the subscription
price. Such a mailing list must be strictly adhered to.*
FINANCING THE PAPER
The question of whether to sell the paper or hand it out is not only a prob-
lem of distribution, but also one of the general problems of financing the paper.
The ideal to be aimed at is to make the paper self-sustaining. If the paper gains
the prestige it should have as a live Communist organ, it will gradually come
to be financed by the workers in the factory, but a financial start must be given
to it, just as to any new paper launched by the Party. One of the biggest mis-
takes in the past has been to have the District finance the entire paper, without
the nuclei making any effort whatever to raise the funds in some way. The claims
of the nuclei numbers, that it is impossible to raise any money, have been proven
false. There are various ways of raising the money. The paper has been sold
successfully in many instances. The draw-backs here are first of all the difficul-
ties already pointed out in distribution, but also that the workers are afraid
to be seen buying the paper, whereas they are perfectly willing to accept it when
it is thrust into their hands. Also the hurry of distribution makes making
change, etc., difficult. The German Party has found it feasible to pass out small
handbills some days before distribution, telling something about the paper,
appealing for funds, giving the price, the date when it will be distributed, and
asking the workers to have the correct change ready. This is not always advis-
able, since it will bring down the watchfulness of the employer upon the
distributors.
The objective situation at present, however, makes it more and more possible
to sell the paper. Perhaps the first time the paper is issued, and even the
second issue, can be distributed free, after which we must insist, however, that
the paper be sold. The first few times that it is sold, it may happen that hun-
dreds of copies are left on our hands, and hundreds of workers go without the
paper, but this should not discourage the comrades, for as the paper gains in
popularity, more and more papers will be sold each time. Especially if the
paper has had an effective distribution within the factory before selling it at
the gate, the fact that all the workers were not reached, should not be used
as an excuse to return to free distribution.
In Detroit, where many shop papers are issued in large factories, a comrade
was put on full time to sell them, and the papers were so issued that he was
kept busy throughout the month, actually making his living out of the sales,
besides paying for the printing of the papers.
But money must be raised among the workers in other ways. If the paper
cannot begin to build itself up on the spirit of cooperation and self-sacrifice of
the workers during this period of revolutionary upsurge, then there is something
wrong with the paper in not being able to awaken this spirit among the workers.
The paper must be based on the workers. If it is not, then we stand in danger
of being isolated from the broad masses in all our activity because of the financial
weakness of the Party in general. It is possible to circulate collection lists if
this is carefully done. It is also possible to sell special shop paper stamps to
workers who have shown interest in the paper. Workers sympathetic to the
movement but not members of the Party can easily be used for this work, if they
are made to understand its financial necessity and agitational value. Above all,
*This section is necessarily inadequate, due to lack of experience in meeting the various
difficulties that arise in various places. It would be abvisable to issue a small pamphlet
dealing exclusively with this subject in all its details, written by a group of comrades who
have had varied experiences in this connection. Until this is done, this secton, whch
merely raises the problems without atempting to solve them in all cases, must suffice, and
the comrades must use all their initiative and originality in overcoming whatever difficul-
ties are placed in their way.
APPENDIX PATtT IH 1407
the workers in the factory must not get the idea that the C. P. has untold funds
at its disposal — they must be made to understand that the nucleus members are
struggling to get the paper out and that it is imperative for them to help if they
wish it to continue.
Appeals for support must also be made through the columns of the paper. It
lias happened in some instances that workers in the factory, in response to such
appeals, took it upon themselves to make collections among their friends, and
personally brought the sum to the Party office. It may also be possible to gei
a friendly shop-keeper in the neighborhood to allow a collection box for the
paper to be put on his counter, and collections made by lists on his premises.
In very large factories, it is possible to solicit advertising from neighboring shops.
All this, just as in determining the method of distribution, is so dependent on
local conditions, that the nucleus members must themselves exercise the greatest
ingenuity to bring abrut the desired result.
WHERE TO START A SHOP PAPER
How large must a factory be before it is worth while launching a shop paper?
In deciding this, keep in mind that to get out an issue of a shop paper requires
a great deal of time, patience, energy, and care. The prospects for good results
must justify the investment of the efforts required. This means that more
factors should enter into consideration than mere numbers of workers in the
factory. Is it a small shop in a decisive war industry or a large shop manu-
facturing, let us say, buttons? If it comes to a choice, then the former by all
means should be chosen. A big factor is our sources of information from within
the factory. Is our nucleus small or large? Have we a following of sympa-
thizers from whom we can get information? Will they be dependable when the
terror against the suspected workers begins? Can we keep up the paper month
after month? Are our workers inside spread over various departments or all
concentrated in one department, which would make our material one-sided, and
focus attention of the spies upon that department? Judgment must be used,
with all these factors in mind, but a shop with less than 100 workers under any
circumstances, is most likely not worth the investment of Party energy that
goes into a good shop paper. There is one other consideration. If the only
opportunity for starting a shop paper in a District is one in which all the above
considerations are adverse, it might still be worth while making the effort for
the sake of the training the Party itself gets in this important work, the very
fact that experience is being gained and a start made. Then, when better
opportunities come later, we will be experienced and ready for them.
CAPITALIZING ORGANIZATIONALLY ON OUR EFFORTS
The point on which we have so far been weakest in our shop paper work is
reaping the harvest of the intense work that goes into issuing a regular shop
paper. The reason for this is that the entire Party is backward in shop paper
work, which is only in its beginning stages, and while still trying to put the work
itself on its feet, we haven't yet learned to capitalize the effects organizationally.
If the nucleus doesn't grow, if the union doesn't develop, if the Daily Worker and
Labor Unity don't get a foothold among the workers— then we are neglecting
the concrete organizational work for which the basis should have been laid by
the agitation and propaganda of the shop paper. If we have not gained the
confidence of the workers sufficiently to encourage them to get into contact with
us, either by correspondence or otherwise, if we have not succeeded in enlisting
their support financially, then something is wrong with the appeal the paper is
trying to make.
Sometimes the cause is the fact that our nucleus is too small to be effective
In the effort to keep our base in the shop, in order to maintain our sources of
information, the comrades are over-cautious in their shop activity, to the detri-
ment of the organizational activities. This is the great drawback in starting a
paper where we have too few forces.
Organizational work has to be done carefully and cautiously, but it can be
done under even the most difficult circumstances. It is part of shop paper work
and must not be neglected.
1408 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Part V. Miscellaneous Details
There are quite a number of details in connection with getting out a shop paper,
some of which are extremely important.
CHOOSING A NAME
The name of the paper must mean something. It should be one which the
workers take to easily. It must express our program, our fighting spirit, or the
relation of the paper to the shop in question. Wherever the workers themselves
have developed a nickname for the factory, it can be incorporated into the name
of the paper. It should express a driving force of some kind. In the Johnson
and Johnson "Red Cross" factory the paper is named the "Red Star." The
White Motor Company's paper is the "Red Motor." In the American Safety
Razor Company the paper is called the "Workers' Blade." "Spark Plug" for auto,
"Headlight" for railroad yards, "Blast" for a mine — all these express something.
If it is impossible to find a good name, then the ordinary name of "So-and-so
Worker" will do. The name must never limit the scope of the paper, such as
"The So-and-so Organizer" or "The So-and-so Shop News."
FACE OF THE PARTY
In our shop papers the face of the Party must never be hidden. Some comrades
hesitate to issue the paper in the name of the nucleus for fear the workers will
be prejudiced against the paper, due to the prejudices which have been instilled
into the workers against anything savoring of Communism. But is it conceiv-
able that a paper can be issued without revealing the fact that Communists are
publishing it, when it puts forth Communist views and gives Communist inter-
pretations to all events? Then why the objections to issuing the paper in the
name of the Party? The Party is trying to get its roots in the shop. Any prestige
that comes from the paper, from rallying the workers to struggle, from any suc-
cesses, small or large, which were gained under the leadership of the paper,
should go to the Party.
Some comrades who favor the issuing of the shop paper in the name of the
shop committee or of the union think only of the immediate gains to be made
thereby, fearing the name of the Party will interfere with successful union
organization within the shop. These comrades must not forget that the Party
must have its roots in the shop, and that it is the Party which is the political
spokesman of the working class. The union can issue leaflets, can hold factory
gate meetings, but the regular monthly periodical in the shop — the spokesman for
all the workers interpreting their problems in the light of the class struggle — is a
Party publication.
Therefore we can say in general that the shop papers should be published by
the Party nucleus as the spokesman for all the workers in the shop. If, in
special circumstances, it seems advisable to issue the paper under other auspices,
this should only be done after decision by a responsible Party committee.
No opportunity must be lost to urge the workers to join the Party. This is
too often neglected. In political articles, in slogans, in articles on shop condi-
tions— always encouragement to join and the assurance of protection and cavition.
COMRADELY TONE OF PAPER
Some papers have developed a patronizing tone which is absolutely impermissi-
ble, for the workers must be made to feel that the shop paper is their paper,
their champion, expressing their feelings and solving their problems. The Com-
munist Party is not issuing the paper from the outside "for the workers" ; the
members of the Communist Party within the shop are issuing the paper, and do
so with the cooperation of the workers in the shop, so that the paper becomes
the spokesman of all the workers within the shop.
Thus the term "you workers" must be avoided. The friendly and comradely
tone must be struck which one would expect from any Communist trying to
explain to workers and to lead them. The style of writing must be the vigorous,
clear, and rugged language which workers speak, and not the finished style of
the college graduate. It must be orientated toward the simple and direct way
in which proletarians think, and as much as possible foreign words and involved
terms must be avoided. However, certain phrases which have come to be
internationally used by the working class in all languages — such as "prole-
tariat," for instance, should be popularized.
APPENDIX — part in 1409
SLOGANS
Slogans play an important part in shop papers, not only politically and in pop-
ularizing our Party campaigns and slogans, but also technically, in breaking
up the paper, giving it an attractive appearance. Care should be taken, however,
that the slogans are connected up with the contents of the paper and not stuck
in just to fill up space, entirely divorced from anything the paper contains.
DEMANDS
Each paper should have a set of demands which it prints in each issue. They
should be simple, concrete demands, understandable to and capable of rallying
the widest masses, linking up the fight for partial demands with the fight for
the general class demands of the proletariat and final demands of the Party.
In the preparation of these demands as wide a mass of workers in the factories
should be consulted as is possible.
The workers become familiar with these demands, know what the paper and
what the Party stands for, and in case of a strike, the most natural thing will be
for them to try to adopt these demands and possibly even fight for them in face
of A. F. of L. official resistance.
workers' correspondence
Workers' Correspondence has become sufficiently a feature of our Party press
to make any explanation of its value unnecessary here. It should be fostered in
every way possible. Hostile letters should be printed and answered in an edi-
tor's note in a tactful manner. The papers should encourage the workers to
write, assuring caution and protection, pointing out that grammar and style are
not essential, encouraging letters in foreign languages. If the workers are shy
or afraid to write, it is advisable to print a few letters for a time written by
outside comrades, but here care must be taken that they sound like real workers'
letters and reveal actual conditions in the shop.
The appeal to the workers to write articles on their experiences and grievances
should be very prominently displayed. This is so important that a boxed space
on the front page should be devoted to it. Especially in towns where the spy
system and terror is very great we must state definitely that the workers need
not sign their names or addresses if they do not wish to.
The correspondence which comes in from workers must serve as the basis or
the entire shop news of the paper. For this reason it is advisable not to print
the letters in a special correspondence column, but to print them as articles, part
and parcel of the general contents of the paper. Any conclusions which must be
drawn from these articles, either politically or organizationally can either be
done in a separate article, referring to the worker's article as a basis, or the
editor can add a short Editor's Note to the article itself.
Letters written by workers should not be tampered with before being printed.
In case they are extremely long, they can be cut here and there and an editorial
note added, telling the worker the letter had to be cut and asking him, when he
writes again, to be a little briefer. But the method of expression should not be
improved, formulations should not be changed, for the workers resent having
their work tampered with.
AHDRESS
The address of the paper should be conspicuously printed, and as often in each
issue as necessary. When an appeal is made to join the Party, the address should
be printed with it. And it is advisable that each issue contain a little box in one
corner of the paper giving address, price, editor (Communist nucleus), etc., just
as any newspaper does. The address should be easily found by the worker for
sometimes we can catch him "to obey that impulse" if we make it easy for him.
Printing the address in the middle or end of a long article is inadvisable, for
every worker does not read every article in the paper.
Every appeal to read the "Daily Worker" should have the D. W. address.
Every appeal to send funds for some purpose or other must not fail to have the
address, no matter how often it appears pJsewhere in the paper.
1410 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
DATE AND NUMBER
Putting the date on the paper and the number of the issue seems like an unim-
portant matter, but why not try to be as much like a newspaper as possible? How
much easier is it to refer to previous issues, or to certain issues of brother shop
papers elsewhere when occasion arises, to say nothing of making easier the task
of the Party reviewer at the Center?
CLEVER DEVICES
To make the subject matter as interesting as possible, especially in treating
of subjects usually considered "dry" by the workers, is of paramount importance.
Marxian economics can be easily and simply explained by means of imaginary
conversations between workers in the shop, one of them class-conscious and the
other who doesn't understand much but is eager to learn and asks questions. In
this way also the imperceptible wage-cutting tricks of the boss can be explained,
also how races are played against one another, etc.
A "tour" through a department in the factory each month written in a lively
sarcastic style has been used with great success, rousing interest and amusement,
and showing up various abuses in a style free from all monotony.
DAILY WORKER
It is unnecessary to explain the importance of pushing the Daily Worker and
practically no shop papers have sinned in this respect. Our language press must
also be pushed in those factories where large sections of one nationality are
employed.
"there are no issues"
Some comrades working in shops resist the launching of a shop paper there by
claiming that conditions there are so much better than in other shops that there
are no issues to write about. This is nonsense. There is no shop under capitalism
where exploitation does not take place and where consequent abuses do not
Inevitably follow.
Sometimes the comrades, along with all the other workers in the shop, don't
even realize the number of abuses in the shop, because they are so accustomed to
them. So when any worker says "there are no issues," a little questioning on
very simple matters will bring out hundreds of little abuses which the workers
don't look upon as issues — for instance, the matter of strictness of discipline
which the workers instinctively resent, where a worker is docked a half-hour
for being a minute late. An item on such an issue is appreciated by the workers
and they quickly react to it. Where the factory doesn't furnish waste or other
materials for the workers to wipe the grease and dirt from their hands, dirty
toilets, bullying foremen, wage cuts, speed-up, various forms of discrimination,
stool pigeons, accidents, all these things are real issues around which workers
can be mobilized for struggle.
SPECIAL EDITIONS
Special editions of the bulletin, besides the regular monthly edition, should
be issued whenever an event of more than ordinary interest happens in the
factory, and these special editions, even though they may have to be limited
just to one page, must be ready promptly, immediately after the event, when
the interest of the workers is at its highest. Such occasions would be the
posting of a wage cut, a bad accident, the firing of a worker for union or shop
paper activity, etc., etc. Any such event must be taken advantage of not only
to call for the proper action, but also to make the proper Communist analysis
organizationally and politically. These special editions must not be confused
with the special numbers devoted to Party campaigns such as Unemployment
Day, Anti-War Day, etc.
LIGHT FEATURES
A paper without humor and other light touches will be a monotonous affair,
.loke columns called by some appropriate name and run in each issue, containing
humorous happenings from the shop as well as jokes, should be featured in all
papers. Striking observations on the class struggle and current events should
APPENDIX PATtT IH 1411
be included. But the jokes should not be silly futile things, divorced from the
class struggle. It is a good idea to make collections of jokes which can be
used in future, and to get those from other shop papers and adapt them if neces-
sary. Comparisons between local conditions and Russian conditions, given
tersely and without flourishes, are very effective sprinkled through columns of
this sort.
QUOTATIONS
Quotations from Communist writers can be sprinkled throughout the paper,
as the Daily Worker does it, but they should not be disconnected from the
rest of the contents of the paper, and should not be involved. We must again
keep in mind that we are directing our paper to the broad masses of workers, and
putting an involved quotation from Marx into the paper just to fill up a small
space, is incomprehensible to them. If it follows an article with which there
is some connection, that is a different story. Such quotations can also be
collected and kept for use at appropriate times.
VERSE
Poems, if not too long, add to the attraction of a paper, but too much space
must not be allotted to them. If sent in by workers in the factory, they should
be printed if at all suitable.
MASS ORGANIZATIONS
There are two evils which have developed in connection with the non-Party
mass organizations under Party guidance. One is that enough space is not
given to them, to explanations of what they are doing, and to recruiting for
them. Sometimes appeals for funds are published for one or the other, without
explanation of their value to the working class struggle. The other evil is the
opposite extreme. Sometimes one can find appeals to workers to join five or
six different organizations all in one issue. This only confuses the worker
unfamiliar with any of them Choose the proper occasion — if there is an article
on the Atlanta Cases, for instance, then run an International Labor Defense
appeal somewhere near it, but separately from it, with a brief explanation of
the activities of the organization. If the article is on some large strike, push
the role of the Workers International Relief. If it is the anti-Soviet campaign
and the conspiracy, play up the Friends of the Soviet Union — and so on.
ABBREVIATIONS
If the habit of the Party to call organizations by their initials has become
confusing to even the Party members, how much more confusing it must be to
the average workers reading in the shop papers about such mysterious things
as I. L. D., F. S. U., W. I. R., I. W. O., T. U. U. L., L. S. N. R., Comintern,
Profitern, Krestintern, Ecci, Polcom, etc. Abbreviations should be avoided.
ADVERTISING MEETINGS
In advertising meetings to which we want the workers to come, it is advisable, in
addition to giving a brief description of the purpose of the meeting, to print a form
like a ticket which will entitle bearer to free admission into the meeting. This
not only draws the workers to the meetings, but gives us a means of checking up
to some extent how the influence of the shop paper is growing among the workers.
COMPANY ORGANS
As a general rule, the papers the boss puts out are feeble and weak affairs, but
sometimes they are very clever and vicious. In either case they must not be over-
looked or ignored. The first kind must be ridiculed and the second seriously
combatted ideologically, with all its tricks exposed.
Part VI. Technical Make-up
There are three main methods of technically getting out a shop paper — printing,
mimeographing, and multigraphing. Mauy comrades take for granted that printing
is the best method. It has its advantages, but also great disadvantages.
1412 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
PRINTED SHOP PAPERS
Neatness in appearance is one of the great advantages of printing. The shop
papers look more like the miniature newspaper they are supposed to be. But two
great drawbacks counterbalance these considerations — the expense and the
superior advantage the mimeographed paper has for profuse illustrations and
original work.
It may be found that it is easier to sell a printed paper than a mimeographed one,
which deserves great consideration, especially if the amounts realized from the sales
will practically cover the difference in price between mimeographed and printed
papers.
MULTIGRAPHED SHOP PAPERS
Multigraphing has the same disadvantages as printing in the matter of expense
and even more restriction in the use of illustrations, so that unless the nucleus
happens to be in a position to operate a multigraph without cost, there is no
advantage.
MIMEOGRAPHED SHOP PAPERS
There are two arguments against mimeographed papers — one is that the worker
is used to high-grade paper and printing in the company organs and will look with
contempt on the "home-made" variety. This argument will not stand examination.
In any case we can't compete with the very expensive company organs and capitalist
periodicals, and the amateurishness of the mimeographed paper, if well executed,
will make the worker feel more that it is his own because every bit of it is done
by his fellow workers in the shop.
The other argument is that for very large shops, with thousands of workers,
mimeographing is out of the question, not only because the stencil does not
produce good results after a thousand copies, but also because the entire work
involved of assembling and clipping, etc., is so tremendous. This is perfectly
true. Taking all arguments pro and con, the mimeographed paper, except in
the case of a factory of more than a thousand workers, is far superior.
But that means that the technical work on the mimeographed bulletin must
be done with exactly the same care and skill as the writing. Very attractive
results can be obtained, even more attractive than in the printed papers. This
is no easy task and requires the work of a typist who is not only skillful in
general, but one who is experienced in this particular kind of work, and who
can use judgment in the arrangement of the material as the stencil is being
cut.
To get the best results it is advisable to assign a typist to each paper, which
means intensive work for her once a month to get out her particular paper. She
becomes familiar with the paper, with the conditions in the shop, with the man-
ner in which the nucleus works, and can use not only technical but also political
judgment in arranging the material which is given to her — insertion of slogans
or announcements at strategic places, splitting up articles too long for one
page without interfering with others, etc.
The great advantage in mimeographing, besides the low expense, is the ease
with which cartoons and illustrations can be inserted. Any kind of picture can
be traced onto the stencil by the most inexperienced hand. It is wise to make
collections of pictures from newspapers, "Daily Worker" cartoons, etc., to be
used at appropriate times. In the case of printing, cuts always have to be made
of every picture, which increases the expense and consequently decreases the
number of illustrations.
Another advantage of mimeographing is the fact that the nucleus can do the
work and thus does away with the ever-present evil in shop-paper work — that
of the District or Section taking all the burden of the work of getting out the
paper and absolving the nucleus from all responsibility.
COMMON TECHNICAL FAULTS
The first consideration in the technical work is that the material must be
readable. The prejudice against the mimeographed papers arises largely from
the fact that they are executed badly and the result is an unreadable mess. A
well executed mimeographed paper is more attractive than a printed paper.
The commonest fault is the attempt to crowd too much material on each page,
at the expense of the appearance of the paper. This is carried to such an
extreme that sometimes the two columns run together in an indistinguishable
manner, and the margins on the stencils are so narrow that the paper won't take
APPENDIX — PART III 1413
the print properly and the material is absolutely unreadable. Sufficient care is
not taken in running them off the mimeograph, resulting in the smearing of pages
against each other. This is sometimes due to using the wrong quality of paper.
In some cases the paper is too thin to take both sides, resulting in a blurred
effect, from the print on each side showing through on the other.
Some papers don't separate their articles clearly enough, subheads being run
exactly as titles of fresh articles. This creates confusion. When an article
breaks off at the foot of the column, quite frequently there is no indication where
it is continued. A really skillful typist will arrange her material so that as
few articles as possible need to run over onto other pages. In some cases articles
have been "continued on three or four different additional pages, just wherever
there happened to be space for a few lines. This can easily be avoided by a
little forethought in planning the arrangement of the paper.
Where the material is run in a solid mass, instead of in two columns, it is
not tempting to the average worker to read. Dividing lines between columns
improve the appearance.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Too few mimeographed papers take advantage of the ease with which illus-
trations can be inserted (either by original drawing or tracings from elsewhere)
to liven up the page. Perhaps the comrades begrudge the space, for when there
is important material on hand and a cartoon takes up half a page of already
limited space, one hesitates. But a cartoon can say as much and more than a
half-page article in many cases. Many papers have also found attractive effects
by putting in a very small but pointed illustration with the titles of articles.
They need not have any particular political significance — a humorous or satirical
illustration is sometimes even better, leaving the political ideas to the larger
cartoons.
BEEAKING THE SOLID APPEARANCE
In mimeographing, the page can easily be broken up by the insertion of
slogans, short announcements, etc. This breaks the heavy solid appearance and
avoids monotony.
THE MASTHEAD
The name of the paper should never be printed in ordinary type and should
always be accompanied by some suitable illustration or design. This should be
the same month after month in order that the workers become familiar with it
and recognize it instantly as their shop paper. It should have some connection
with the shop. The German Party has found it feasible to have cuts made of
the mastheads of some of their papers and a large supply printed, to be used
each month as the first page of the mimeographed paper.
In general, technique is a matter of experience, and it is impossible to write
of every small detail. The basic considerations are that the paper is easily
readable and attractive in appearance.
Conclusion
Much of the material treated in this pamphlet is A B C to the comrades ex-
perienced in shop paper work, and they may wonder why so many simple details
are given space here. When one realizes the inexperience and ignorance in
general of how to get out a shop paper among many comrades, we will realize
how necessary so elementary a treatment of the problem is. It still occurs that
Agitprop Directors who have never had anything to do with shop paper work,
haven't the least conception of how complicated a job it is. Not only Unit
Agitprop Directors, but also Section and even Districts Agitprop Directors still
think it sufficient to hand out to some comrade who knows how to write, a few
facts about a shop and ask him to have a finished shop paper the next day ready
for distribution. A perusal of this pamphlet will make them realize what enor-
mous and painstaking care is involved in getting out a real Communist shop
paper.
This document has treated only of shop papers in the strict sense of the word.
Those organs of the Party closely related to the shop paper, such as neighborhood
papers, tenement papers, papers for a factory building containing many shops,
papers for unemployed districts, etc., have not been taken up since this is only the
first step in getting out instructions for this work and cannot possibly treat of
all its ramifications.
279895 — 41 — app. pt. ill 4
1414 UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
There has been so little exchange of experiences in the field of shop paper work,
that it becomes of great importance for comrades who have had to face problems
in this work to write in to the National Agitprop Department, describing the
difficulties met with, and how they were overcome, thus giving other comrades
the benefits of their experiences.
As we turn our attention more to the industries and try to build up our influence
among the industrial proletariat, we will learn to appreciate this weapon more
and more. The Resolution on Factory Newspapers endorsed by the Org Bureau
of the ECCI says :
"This importance (the organizational as well as agitational significance of the
factory papers) increases considerably in times of economic crisis and unemploy-
ment because the factory papers are one of the best means of most 'intensively
influencing the broad non-Communist masses, without thereby (given proper pub-
lication and distribution) subjecting the nuclei to the employers' terror."
The Conference of the Agitprop Departments of seven European Communist
Parties held in 1930, passed a resolution "On the Immediate Tasks of the Agit-
prop Work of the Mid-European Sections of the Comintern," which includes the
following :
"Factory newspapers are an important means of strengthening Party work in
(he factories and are of exceptional importance for winning over the decisive
sections of the working class, for mobilizing them around our slogans and our
economic and political activities, and for recruiting new supporters to the revo-
lutionary trade union movement and new members of the Party and Y. C. L."
And Lenin said : "Throughout the year the workers, first in one place and then
in another, continuously present a variety of partial demands to their employers
and fight for these demands. In assisting the workers in this fight Communists
must always explain the connection it has with the proletarian struggle for
emancipation in all countries."
How better can we reach the factory worker to accomplish this task than
through the Communist shop paper?
XIV. Other Communist Exhibits
Exhibits Nos. 23-31, inclusive, are self-explanatory.
The Communist Party, which the committee has found to be a for-
eign conspiracy masked as a political party, puts out hundreds of tons
of printed propaganda in the United States annually. The exhibits
presented in this report represent only a small fraction of this printed
propaganda.
All of the front organizations of the Nazis and the Communists put
out their own bulletins, pamphlets, books, circulars, etc. It is impos-
sible to make an estimate of the grand aggregate of this printed
propaganda. Suffice it to say that it is a tremendous quantity. All of
it enjoys freedom to circulate in the United States today. The chief
problem which this report presents is that of the use of the mails for
the distribution of this totalitarian propaganda when it is done at the
expense of the American taxpayers.
XV. Conclusion
The committee is of the opinion that added legislation is necessary
at this time to place restrictions on the distribution of totalitarian
propaganda when that distribution involves any cost to the American
taxpayers, and when such propaganda emanates from a foreign
source.
It is therefore respectfully recommended to the standing Com-
mittees of both Houses of Congress on "Post Office and Post Koads,"
that the evidence contained in this report be carefully examined
with a view to proposing legislation that will exclude from the
benefits of the Universal Postal Union Agreement, propaganda that
is directed against the United States.
APPENDIX PART III
1415
Exhibit No. 1
Envelopes containing Nazi propaganda mailed to addressees in the United States.
1416
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 2
Samples of Nazi propaganda mailed to the United States from Germany.
APPENDIX PART in
1417
Exhibit No. 3
A double-page reproduction from The Polish Atrocities Against Germans in Poland.
1418
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 4
An envelope mailed from Germany.
Exhibit No. 5
Via Star!
ISenn <H*e»fcSb*r, «b
Afesemter fflwitk:
MrIMkKW
SI it detttateSr* «*!
fesosw*, jsrtter d* ft-
tosreer i Ptarp&Btetr:
in ewe of atw-detimy :
piewt rsJaro to tender
P.O.B»*M»
ff?fini&tc Stasten
Chi IT
USA
An envelope mailed from Germany.
APPENDIX PART in
1419
Exhibit No. 6
fcera&tct
til
*y
A wrapper from a piece of Nazi propaganda.
Exhibit No. 7
ft~<^<£^#sCf-, W ■ , -
4t.y.
via Sibmen -Japan
An envelope which contained Nazi propaganda cards for re-mailing in the United States.
1420
TIN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 8
HOUSE OF COMMONS
Chamberioin i "Ho odmftttmai I All *»ot$ re«»rvecS for >h#
ruling dost end their friends"
One of the anti-British propaganda cards contained in the envelope marked "Exhibit No. 7.'
APPENDIX — PART III 1421
Exhibit No. 9
DEUTSCHE AKADEMIE • MONCHEN • GOETHE-INSTITUT
Heutfdi-
unteccitfit
im
ffluslonO
VERLAG VON R.OLDENBOURG • MONCHEN UND BERUN
Dt$<h.-Ur»terr.i.Ausl K4 S. 69-92 MOnchcn, Jull/August 1940
1422
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
KxmruT No. 1(1
The mailing lists of the German Library of Information.
APPENDIX PART III
1423
Exhibit No. 11
J-adtA. in. &Rvi&w \ J-airlA, in tHMohm J-aciA, in, <jRm>isuv
i
.J^adA. in. dlfwi&iv jf-aciA. in. Hswi&w ^aciA.. bt. $£visw
J-acU.. in.. Mmkui JozIa, in,. M&pmw JudA, i/t Mmkm
Jt-aclA- in. Mjzvism} JaciA. in, iRwi&w 3ojcI&, in, tikwisuv
JadtA, in, Mm.kw ■J&cfa f^- &£&<&*# 3m±A, in, M&vima
3'm±t„ *& jf^^ew ^^, £& $&Dwm Joc&l in, ikjoisw
3**^Mkti*ri*i* 3wd&, in, dhmkm JadU. m. Jboiaw
JactL bv fiwhw Jacta in. fkvkw
JmM.'-itt Mwhw
The weekly bulletin of the German Library of Information.
1424
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 12
Propaganda books and booklets of the German Library of Information.
APPENDIX PART in
1425
Exhibit No. 13
Printed matter of the German Railroads Information Office.
1426
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 14
The mailing list of the German Railroads Information Office.
APPENDIX PART III
1427
Exhibit No. 15
IL/tln K^omphmenis and besi ^fL/tshe
hoping ia he favored wtln more i/~iddre.>
from (tJr tends of oZfi
uses
fours
SSffl
ot»a$t«» jar K^uliivalmQ C/«r»onal
C/nenasmps iHioroaa
C/OevUn 'ft/ IS' c/a*an«nslra*>* $0
An enclosure received with Nazi propaganda mailed in Germany.
Exhibit No. 16
i)«*fefi& ~tysdk
j0»d>£»» ttNuul.
WHAT
%m
Ztii Bfc I
J^i4fiWe4i
;«i
mi
m
™£&**VJt
^T&ssmmgmzm
* Un^mii" ft W
T8I
&ar
t$ii $;
i€&
i*E::X
Garden!
[Records I
Copies of the official publication of the German-American Bund.
1428
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 17
Printed propaganda matter received from Japan.
APPENDIX PART III
1429
Exhibit No. 18
Books and pamphlets printed in Italy and mailed to the United States.
1430
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 19
More Italian propaganda, including the publications of the Italian Library of Information.
APPENDIX PART III
Exhibit No. 20
1431
.#*%
ml
Bound volumes of the Daily Worker in the committee's offices.
1432
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 21
Wgr§ THE PEOPLE
+* ffff*tw«/<
rjwT^rr3«ir-wi« * •^ '
RED PEN
cor
cot
)l t> ? t a m r t 0 >
GOOD NEIGHBOR
** r { e fi't&l
THE
i
M c M
•%, VANG-UARD-SCHOtAfl
SAVE CZECHOSLOVAKiA!
-^ftfe--
\j& POWER l
SRSP
^r ^^■•-■'•••-"•^t;,\",^S^rs::^v'V'"':-""
»*ih*«t
s dm
lisps
Samples of shop and neighborhood papers published by the Communist Party.
APPENDIX PART in
1433
Exhibit No. 22
Lesson plaN
THE PEOPLE
•"jre^a?^
<*»>»»
czac-trrr.— .ri--^. ~ssasB«> .. ■„-.:„„, ,«me;3K^.:
TAFF
jgiaaiygii^
*AC? NAMES "BRDWDEK
(OCM «*«« G*< fHt MOW
!**s*JCo
'om«n©« Sense IS
teapaa **»■*> f? *k tp— ijmv .*«?> <*>.* *•>**(*
WBKRCSSE HfTS CIVIL !,BUi"
P£#L£3 (XWSH^i
r*LIBHT
THE WRITE-UP |
S&HTrf
heartier Worker
*• 3wo U4fte
Samples of shop and neighborhood papers published by the Communist Party.
1434
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 23
Books and pamphlets of the Communist Tarty showing the Party's aim to create a Soviet
America.
APPENDIX PART in
1435
Exhibit No. 24
Propaganda material printed in the Soviet Union and mailed to the United States.
•
1436
UN-AMEHICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 25
Copies of the Communist International circulated in the United States.
APPENDIX PART IH
1437
Exhibit No. 26
Copies of The Communist, official publication of the Communist Party.
1438
UN-AMETtlCAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 27
Copies of Soviet Russia Today, one of the principal propaganda media of the Communist
Tarty.
APPENDIX PART in
1439
Exhibit No. 28
Hooks and pamphlets printed in the Soviet Union and sent through the United States
mails.
1440
TIN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 29
Copies of the Young Communist Review, official organ of the Young Communist League
in the United States.
APPENDIX PART in
1441
Exhibit No. 30
A part of the committee's library of subversive literature.
1442
UN-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA ACTIVITIES
Exhibit No. 31
.-*#***
A part of the committee's files containing many thousands of pieces of propaganda
literature of the Communists and Nazis in the United States.
X
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 9999 05445 2469
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