SSPS 21 95¢ SECURITY AND LIBERTY THE PI{OBLEM Of NATIVE COMMUNISTS 1947-1955 HA!iOLD w. CHAS.E Princeron Unive.r.sity ·sHORT STUDIES IN POLI'fiCAL SCIENCE SECURITY AND LIBERTY SHORT STUDIES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Richard C. Snyder Consulting Editor Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University Political Community at the International Level: Law as a Political Instrument Problems of Definition and Measurement Victor G . Rosenblum, University of California, Karl W . Deutsch, Massachusetts Institute of Berkeley Technology The Political Novel The Revolution in American Foreign Policy, Joseph l. Blotner, University of Virginia 1945-1954 Modern Colonialism: Institutions and Policies William G. Carleton, University of Florida Thomas R. Adam, New York University France: Keystone of Western Defense Rural Versus Urban Political Power Edgar S. Furniss, Jr., Princeton University Gordon E. Baker, University of California, The Problem of Internal Security in Great Brit­ Santo Barbaro ain, 1948- 1953 Modern German Political Theory H. H. Wilson, Princeton Un iversity, and Har­ Otto Butz, Swarthmore College vey Glickman, Harvard University Natural Resources and the Political Struggle Germany: Dilemma for American Foreign Norman Wengert, North Dakota Agricultural Policy College Otto Butz, Swarthmore College Federal Courts in the Political Process Democratic Rights Versus Communist Activity Jock W. Peltason, Un iversity of Illinois Thomas I. Cook, The Johns Hopkins University Security · and Liberty: The Problem of Native The Role of the Military in American Foreign Communists, 1947-1955 Policy Ha rold W. Chase, Princeton University Bu rton M. Sapin, Princeton University, and Richard C. Snyder, Northwestern University Studies in Scope and Methods The Social Background of Political Decision­ The Study of Public Administration Makers Dwight Waldo, University of Cal iforn ia , Donald R. Matthews, Smith College Berkeley Readings in Game Theory and Political Be­ The Study of Political Theory havior Thomas P. Jenkin, University of California, Martin Shubik, Princeton University Los Angeles The American Vice-Presidency: New Look Problems of Analyzing and Predicting Soviet Irving G. Williams, St. John's University Behavior John S. Reshetar, Jr., Princeton University Contemporary International Law: A Balance Sheet The Study of Comparative Government Quincy Wright, University of Chicago Roy C. Macridis, Northwestern University The Political Process: Executive Bureau-Legis­ The Study of International Law lative Committee Relations Percy E. Corbett, Princeton University J. Leiper Freeman, Harvard University The Study of Political Parties The Fate of the French Non-Communist Left Neil A. McDonald, Douglass College, Rutgers E. Drexel Godfrey, Williams College University SHORT STUDIES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE SECURITY AND LIBERTY The Problem of Native Communists, 1947-1955 BY HAROLD W. CHASE Princeton University DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. Garden City, New York, 1955 COPYRIGHT @, 1955, BY DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY, INC. This book is fully protected by copyright, and no part of it, with the exception of short quotations for review, may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. All Rights Reserved LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG NUMBER 55-7022 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y. Acknowledgments To list the people who have aided me in this undertaking may invite the re­ joinder that never has so little owed so much to so many. Professors Marver Bern­ stein, William Beaney, Edward S. Corwin, Paul Strayer and Gabriel Almond, all of Princeton University, read the manuscript either in part or in whole, as did the late Bert Andrews of the New York Herald Tribune and Phil Quigg, Editor of The Princeton Alumni Weekly. Let me make it clear, however, that those who read the manuscript in whole or in part did not always agree with my conclusions. I alone must bear responsibility for them. To Professor Alpheus T. Mason, mentor and friend, I owe a great debt for encouragement, criticism, and help. I am grateful to James McKee for helping to put the story of the last two years together and to Professor Richard Snyder for his good advice in getting the manuscript in final shape. \Vhatever accomplishment this work may represent, I must share it with my wife, Bernice, who encouraged me to do it. Contents Acknowledgements v Chapter One. AssESSING THE MENACE 1 \Vhat Is the Menace? 2 The Danger of a Coup 4 The Danger of a Fifth Column 8 Chapter Two. MusT LIBERTY BE SACRIFICED? ll The Clear-and-Present-Danger-Doctrine Method ll The Doctrine, 1 919-19 3 7 ll The Doctrine as Method, 1937-1948 12 Criticisms of the Method 16 Evaluation of the Method 19 Japanese Segregation in World War II 20 Chapter Three. GENERAL CoNTROLS 24 Background 24 Enforcement of the Smith Act 24 The Internal Security Act of 19 50 27 The Communist Control Act of 1954 32 Loss of Citizenship Act of 19 54 33 Other Recent Legislation 34 Congressional Investigations 34 Immunity Legislation, 1954 35 Chapter Four. CoNTROL OF CoMMUNISTS IN GovERNMENT EMPLOY- MENT 37 The Truman Loyalty-Security Program 38 Organization 38 Mechanics 42 Sensitive Agencies 43 Results 44 The Eisenhower Security Program 44 American Employees of the United Nations 47 The Role of the FBI in the Loyalty-Security Programs 48 Vll Vlll CONTENTS Evaluation of the Loyalty-Security Programs 49 Conclusions 55 Chapter Five. CoNTROL OF CoMMUNISTS IN ORGANIZED LABOR 56 Evidence of Communist Domination of Certain Unions 57 How It Happened 59 The Democratic Approach, 1948-1952 60 Enforcement of Taft-Hartley 60 Other Controls 61 The Republican Approach, 1953-1955 62 Evaluation of the Controls 63 Ousting of Communists from Union Leadership 64 Surveillance by the FBI 66 Chapter Six. CoNTROL OF CoMMUNIST ALIENS 67 Cold War Controls 67 The Internal Security Act of 1950 68 The McCarran Act of 1952 70 The Republican Approach, 1953-1955 73 Evaluation of the Controls 74 Chapter Seven. CoNCLUSIONS 77 Failures of the Security Program 77 A Distinction That Makes a Difference 78 The Lessons Learned 79 Footnotes to the Study 81 CHAPTER ONE Assessing the Menace The story of the efforts of our national government to deal with the problem of Communists in our midst, might well be told by a political satirist like Jonathan Swift. Imagine how a modern Gulliver cast upon American shores in the 1940's would report the public denunciation of General George C. Marshall as a traitor and a "living lie" by two United States Senators at a time when the nation's President was wont to refer to the General as "the greatest living American." What would Gulliver make of the charges of disloyalty leveled by congressmen at David Lilienthal, Dr. Edward Condon, Dr. Frank Graham, and Oscar Chap­ man while the Administration retained them in high offices where they had access to the most vital security information? What of the furor over Wolf Ladejinsky, sought after by the Foreign Operations Administration for the highly sensitive work of supervising land-reform projects in politically important South Vietnam even while the Department of Agriculture was finding him a security risk and re­ moving him from his post as agricultural attache at Tokyo? And what kind of an account would Gulliver give of the activities of the obscure Wisconsin politician who soared to the heights of fame and political power on the wings of serious charges which he never substantiated? Grist for the satirist's mill was supplied by President Truman when he dis­ missed a congressional probe into Communist activities as a "red herring" at a time when it was beginning to hit pay dirt and about a year after he himself had instituted an Employee Loyalty Program because he believed that American Communists did present a danger to the security of the nation. There was a comic aspect to the spectacle of witnesses refusing to answer questions before Con­ gressional investigating committees on the grounds of self-incrimination and then proclaiming through the press that they never did anything for which their answers could have incriminated them. There was a grim kind of humor to the proceedings incident to the appoint­ ment of Anna Rosenberg to the post of Assistant Secretary of Defense. Her appointment was held up and investigated on the charge that she was a Com­ munist. She and the nation were subjected to the humiliating experience of an official investigation of the charge, in spite of the fact that she had been accused by a person who was called "unreliable" even by the people who he asserted would corroborate his accusation and in the face of "unqualified support" from such people as Dwight D. Eisenhower, W. Stuart Symington, Bernard M. Baruch, James F. Byrnes, Oveta Culp Hobby, Robert P. Patterson, and Walter B. Smith. Then there was the occasion when John Carter Vincent was badgered by the McCarran committee for supposedly aiding the Chinese Communists when he assisted Vice-President Henry Wallace in writing a report on Wallace's trip to China in 1944. Subsequently, the report was released, and it was revealed that the I 2 SECURITY AND LIBERTY former Vice-President had recommended that the government take anti-Com­ munist measures in China. Another situation for the satirist was the loyalty-oath craze which swept the nation. Although it was generally acknowledged that no Communist really en­ gaged in subversive activities would hesitate to sign, organizations of all kinds, like the New York State Medical Society, required its members to take loyalty oaths. The American Bar Association passed a resolution urging all states to pass laws making it mandatory for lawyers to sign oaths. Even the Newark (N.J.) Housing Authority for a time required its tenants to swear that they were loyal Americans. Just recently the State of Indiana forbade professional boxers and wrestlers to perform in that state without first swearing their allegiance.