EDITORIAL COMMENTS

ON

JOHN COGLEY'S

~~REPORT ON BLACKLISTING."

NoTE TO EDITORS: Additional copies of the Cogley Report may be secured from

THE FuND FOR THE REPUBLic 60 East 42nd Street, New York s·osTON HERALD Circ.: m. 130,559 s. 248,071

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Congressional investigations are text and threw them at Mr. Cogley, useful when they stick to investigat- most of which Mr. Cogley fielded ·ing. It is when they attempt to ex- rather skillfully. press a point of view that they get Arens repeatedly tried to make it into trouble. . Currently Rep. Francis E. Wa1- appear that the reports minimized ter's House Committee on Un-Ameri- Communist records, associations, or can Activities has been "investigat- sympathies. But the reports do not ing" the Fund for the Rep~l:>lic's gloss over the fact that there has reports on blacklisting in-the motion been Communist infiltration of the pic.im:e. and radio-television indus- industries. "Hollywood was long di­ tries. The testimony of the first vided b?tween an indeterminate 'left' day's hearing, in which John Cogley, and 'right'," Cogley writes in Val­ author of the reports, was ques- ume I, "but the Communists on the tioned, fell into the latter category. left were generally accepted as fellow Richard Arens, director of the liberals. The secrecy of their opera­ committee staff, got things going tion came as a distinct shock when it when he tried to discredit Mr. Cog- was revealed ••." ley by, of all things, discrediting If Mr. Cogley did not, in his book, The Commonweal, which Mr. Cogley go into the full political background used to edit. of every person he was writing about Next Arens attempted to dis- it was because he was, as he said in credit Mr. Cogley's staff. "Did you his testimony, writing the history of know that Paul Jacobs had been a blacklisting, "not rewriting Red member of the Young Communist Channels." League?" he asked. It turned out The questioning of Mr. Cog'ley that Jacobs had been-22 years be- was an attempt at. intimidation of a fore. Another staff member was man for something he had written made to look bad because she came by a group of men who did not hap­ to the United States only 11 years pen to agree with what he wrote-­ ago. and who had made no very thorough Arens harassed Mr. Cog'ley on the study of the writings. definition of blacklisting. He empha- There is undoubtedly room for sized over and over again the fact disagreement about these two re­ that the l."und for the Republic was a ports. It will be a healthy thing if tax free j'o.undation, the implication they are widely read and debated. being ·that perhaps it should not be. But Congressional bullying gets us .A,rens took quotes far out of con- nowhere. The Manchester Guardian June 26, 1956

Until about a year ago the upshot was predictable. The actor was hastily told 1set up a security system of their oym A McCARTHY 1 he was "unsuitable," or the agent agreed outrageously outside the law ; wh1ch to let the sleeping watchdogs of advertisers and networks and film 1 l Americanism lie without bein~ refuted. ' studios have then from laziness or To-day. the word is likely to come ' cowardice, used as the arbiter .. LEGACY through. by equally devious but The report has "brought m no ,. reliable" t:hanneis. that the actor has indictments and has offered nu been .. clearE"d," is no longer " contro­ recommendations." It has merely listed versial," and is therefore well qualified in dreadful detail the legacy of to hit the cymbals in a televised jam­ McCarthyism: which is the acceptance Stars and Their session or to impersonate a drug-store by otherwise responsibl~ men of the clerk whipping l!'P a milk-shake. doctrine that the law 1s an untrust­ worthy punisher of subversion ; th~t Twilight Zone rumour is to be believed from any Shadows source unless it can be overwhelmingly The shower of quotation marks in the refuted ; that a man's reputation is only preceding paragraph is not accidental. spotless when it can be guaranteed by From Alistair Cooke We are in a twilight zone between the self-appointed moral guardians of the protected area of the law and the no extreme Right. . NEw YoRK, JuNE 25. man's. land of s:andeor and scurrility. The moral of these depressing volumes Who patrols this land ? Who are the The Fund for the R~public, an might well be the one James Thurber obscure anonymous policemen who so appended to one of his wonderfully independent child of the Ford Foun- sedulously sift the harmless actors, trenchant .Fables now appearing in the j dation that was born to wrestle with writers. musicians, dancers, or the "New Yorker." In the current 'issue sheepish conformists from the goats? there is the lamentable case of a mon- problems of civil liberties, published How systematic are the precautions . goose who didn't want to fight cobras to-day a 600-page report, in two taken by uniformly discreet men at or anything else. "The word went_ 1 volumes, on "blacklisting," ·a .pr_actice their desks in an advertising agency, a around that the strange new mongoose ' soap firm, .a netwo::-:.t production unit, was not only pro-cobra and anti· which the fund concludes is now or a Hollywood studio ? mongoose, but intellectually curious and taken ·for granted in every part of These are the questions the Fund for against the ideals and traditions of show business except the New York the Republic set itself to answer. To mongooism." Thereupon strangers who do so it shrewdly appointed as the had never laid eyes on him " remem· theatre. editor-in-chief of this report a journalist bered that they had seen him crawling Eve-ryone who has had only a casual so "uncontroversial " as to be a Roman on his stomach, or trying on cobra acquaintance with the routine of casting Catho:ic layman and a former editor hoods." He said he was trying to use I movies or television plays, with hawking of "The Commonweal." Mr John reason and intelligence, but he was i a programme for sponsorship, sooner or told that " reason is six-sevenths of ' later becomes aware that there is either treason" and that '' intelligence is a very efficient underground system of Cogley hh done a masterly and spine­ what the enemy uses." In the end excluding "..:ontroversial" performers, chilling job. His staff began in 1 he was tried and condemned to or that the moral climate of our time is January, 1955, to collect facts in Holly- ' banishment. 1 remarkably stable and enervating. A wood and New York, the capitals of Thurber's moral is-"Ashes to ashes . bright-eyed producer or an alert casting and clay to clay, if the enemy doesn't manager will pluck from his memory movies and television and radio. It get you your· own folks may." " just the type " to play Cyrano, a , interviewed 500 people, including baseball manager, a drunk, George I watchdogs. victims, Communists, peni· Washington, or what have you. A tele­ tent Communists. union leaders, adver­ phone call to the actor's agent estab­ tisers. producers, journalists, pub:icists lishes that the man is available and of every political Wing. It bolstered a eager He i:; a dues-paying member of reporting job with a legal study and a the proper u_nion. He has just had, or survey of •· morale in the radio and is perhaps ·still enjoying; a successful , television industry." run on Broadway. His name is pencilled Its conclusions are depressin_g. in and the &atisfied dlrector gees out to Seve·ral hundred performers of one lunch kind or an-other have been out of work for years because of the black· Devious Channels listing custom. Some are known When he comes back he finds a note to Communists, some have run close to caJl the producer-, or the sponsor, or a contempt of Congress ; and these are minor official of the network that' carries perhaps the only people whose mis­ the show, or another minor official of fortune one can · suffer without much the advertising agency that got the damage to the conscience. They are sponsor in the first place. He may find the minor Fuchses, the garrulous Red on his memo pad an unfamiliar name Deans of show business. who have had from the small sf&ff of a man who to face the ire of most Western societies i publishes a bulietirt, procurable by which have painfully discovered of late i subscription, which lists the alleged that total freedom of expression, if it I "Communist-front" affili-ations of actors leads to action, is a rash thing to allow who once were Communists, or who to men enlisted in an international appeared before Congressional com­ conspiracy, whether they are writers or mittees, or who joined one of the electricians. innumerable " people's" groups since But this seems to be by far the identified by the Attorney-General as smallest group. There are many, many Communist fronts, or who simply gave ' others who see no sin in having mildly their talent during the war for any one I radical political opinions. Many more. of hundreds of "emergency" benefits evidently had no political convictions at I for" anti-Fascist" refugees, for veterans all, but gave their services free to some of .the Spanish war, for aimless or harm­ vaguely identified worthy cause. The · less busybodies who had a protest and retribution has been devilish, and-this a" cause." report makes very clear-it has been systematic. The entertainment industry, the report conCludes, has allowed out-. siders working for their own profit to LOUISVILLE TIMES Circ.: e. 170,669 An Industry Terrorized Thus a spokesman for any group and even some spokesmen for nonexistent groups can whisper a .word that a certain Front Edit Other individual is persona non grata, and that I•;Jge Page Page individual finds himself having to prove l.t.h, ~ his innocence. And frequently he finds Date: himself not only out of a job but unable to get another one. In this way frequently anonymous indi­ viduals can terrorize an industry, as Red Is Blacklisting Channels, a publication Which purported to list individuals in radio and television having Communist connections, terrorized Respectable. radio and TV. This is nnt what we like to think of as the American way. Yet it is, according to At Present? the Fund for the Republic report, going LACKLISTING was once a dirty word in on all the time. We will have to wait to B America. Although there never was a see whether the people of the country time when it wasn't used-against union are interested enough to demand that organizers at one time, against people of something be done. certain races or religions at another-it was always done as discreetly as possible, for there was a general feeling among Americans that no man's job should hinge on his political, economic or religious be­ liefs, or on what someone thought his po­ litical, economic or religious beliefs were. The Fund for the Republic, basing its report on a study begun in 1954, says that blacklisting for political beliefs is wide­ HOLYOKE (Mass.) spread in the movie, radio and television TRANSCRIPT-TELEGRAM industries. That comes as no special sur­ prise. It has been widely known that the Circ.: e. 25,899 practice has been used for several years. Front Edit Other fund Only Giv.es Data Page Pag11 Page The Fund for the Republic, itself the target of slings and arrows, is drawing no Date: conclusions from its report. In the words Of its bOard chairman, PAUL HOFFMAN, it "has brought in :no indictments, and has Can't Be Done Both Ways .Q(fered no recommendations." If any It should help the Fund for havin.g Red ties could get a job· progress is made, HoFFMAN said, "in re­ the Republic's current~ to in those industries. Hollywood, : solving the conflicts of interest, viewpoint clear itself before a Congression- too, has a reaction to the Red i and principle involved ••• this progress . . era. 1 11'1U$t ultimately turn upon public knowl­ al committee that It made a stu?y Every branch of entertain·· edge and understanding of the actual situa­ of the ~ffect bot~ CommuniSt ment exoopt the· legitimate stage! tion and its 'Problems; This report seeks and anb-Commumst pre~sures is now going thru this hamstring- 1 only to supply the data.••• " have h~d on e~ployment I~ the i,ng, aeoording to the repo•rt. We are curious as to what, if anything, entertamn}ent mdustry. ThiS re- The report is supposed to pro­ the public will do with the data supplied. port, made by John Cogley, form· vide only information which it it defend blacklisting as a necessary er executive editor of The Com· hopes the entertainment indus­ Will monweal, shows that black-listing try will use to clean its own evil in these times? Will it become indig­ is common, and that tn some house. But Mr. Cogley can't help nant about the practice? Or will the areas hiring authority is left up some editorializing. With radio public shrug it off as a matter of little or to outside interests. and TV doing their own judging. no importance? The report shows that for aibout the patriotism and loyalty~· Blacklisting seems to us dangerous on some time- Communists had. a ?f entertain.e.rs---:-something tha~ many grounds,. ·not the least of which is real finger in the Hollywood pie, I~ usuta:lly consa(\ered the func¥. . the fact that it condemns many without ~ not putting Comm · * 1 r•ilf(an- lion of the governmen.t itself-!~ l trial. The entertainment business, with da into movies, but making sure he suggests that they have alsq ~ which the Fund's report deals, is extra­ no anti-Communist .materi~ get the .responsibility ()If proiectin¥ (t,;;rdinarily sensitive. Seeking to appeal to ip. There was a social barricade the Innocent. ; · . :~ass audiences, it wants to offend. no one. rown up ag.ainst those who dis· ~e writes, "If the America* ' pprove of the Hollwood .Reds. bu:smesses which to:gether conJ­ here was no strong liberal pnse the radio-TV mdustry are oup to come in between. to assume the burdens of govern­ The reaction to this, as it de- ment, they mus'; also assume th'e eloped in radio and television, responsibility for dis•pensing ju~­ as that no one who had ever tice. They cannot have it bo~h n mentiop,etl aD.TWhere as ~ays." .J . ..J · NEW YORK WORLD· STAMFORD (Conn) TELEGRAM and SUN ADVOCATE . Circ.: e. 570,275 Circ.: e. 23,166 Date: J UN Y - ~ 1956 Front Edit Other Page Page Page Hut.chins Does It Again. Under the guise of a factual report on what it Date: elects to call "blacklisting" of personnel in the radio· TV industry, the Fund for the Republic has come up \ ':..tkeport On Blacklists with a curious treatise- Whicn apparently sees anti· The Fund for the ReRubli~jlas done communism as a greater menace than' communism. again. This time It's_a report writ­ -Its heart bleeds for an unspecified number of peo­ n by John Cogley, an editor of left ple allegedly denied employment in radio and TV be· ng leaning, concerning pu.rported tb.acklLsting~ o! Communists and their cause of "political affiliations" or "past political asso· ciations." sitpporters 'in the entertainment fields. _For the FFR and its president, Robert M. Hutch­ st what . kind of -a report it is, is has, equating communism with "political" activity is a ntroversial. Paul G. Hoffman, chair­ familiar line. tan of the Fund, says "It is a de­ *lled picture of the situation as it We wonder when Mr. Hutchins will get it through -ists. Mr. Cogley has brought no in­ his head, if ever, that communism is not a political ctments and offered no recommen­ activity, but a conspiracy against freedom. iatlons." Mr. Cogley, on the other Admittedly, there have been mistakes in the diffi­ nd, concedes that the report in- _ cult operation of screening out subversives. And a re­ udes judgments, interpretations and port on same could have been illuminating. But that's nclusions. not what the FFR has delivered. Nowhere does its ~ It would seem that Mr. Cogley had report say how many persons have been unfairly denied ~e better knowledge. Certainly, Com- . radio and TV jobs. Instead, it makes cloudy generaliza. ~unists and their supporters every- · *'fhere will welcome the publication. ~ions which must surely delight the Reds and the pink fringe. Jhe American Legion, devoted figh­ Just as the "victims" are mostly unspecified, so ~rs of Communism, like now blind are the sources. Considering Mr. Hutchins' distaste "flctor Riesel, and the advertising for faceless informers, that's an ironic commentary. rpovie and TV industries, are all ac­ d:used of hounding poor liberals and Perhaps typical of the content are the references eprlving innocents of their liveli­ to World·Telegram and Sun reporter Frederick Wolt· ood. Unfortunately for the credibil- man. An unnamed "public relations expert" describes t. y of the report, few of these "vic­ him as one of a ring of "clearance men" who give ms" are named. Also, unfortunately, "affjsiavits" to get some suspect TV and radio artists e charges of unfairness against off the hook. ese who have fo:ught Communism That, of course, is nonsense. Mr. Woltman has 're poorly documented . bluntly told the FFR so. Ditto for another reference . The temptation is to dismiss this to an advertising" agency executive "arranging" for $just another smear by the Fund for Mr: Woltman to write. a sympathetic story about Henry e Republic on those who fight Com­ Morgan to get him out of hot water. unists. This could be done, except Those references have sinister, unsavory implica­ r one fact of growing importance in tions, particularly when leveled against a reporter who e Fund activities. Apparently there has done so much to expose and fight communism. fabsolutely no responsibility any­ here in the massive organization. If the FFR wants to argue the point, why doesn't The .. Ford family, which esta}jlished it produce its faceless "public relations expert" so e Fprd Foundation, has no control loaded with misinformation? Just who is he? ver the activities of the Foundation; . Mr. Hutchins may contend that none of this he Fundation, which gave the $15 criticism applies to him. After all, he did leave himself illiotJ. to the Fuhd for the Republic and the FFR a cute escape hatch. The FFR vouches r a study of civil rights, has no way for "the integrity of the authors and for the import· f preventing the use of the money ance of their studies"-but not for "their selection of or the defense of Communists. The facts or for the accuracy of their statements."- -und, under the control of men who V{e think that's pretty academic as far as the lrik that Communism is just an­ public is concerned. It was a fund project-paid for ther political party, now says that it by the fund, and circulated with the fun_d's hnprirrl.atur. not "responsible for the selection That, it seems to us, establishes the FFR's inescapable f facts or the accuracy of the state· ents" of those to whom It gives mor.al responsibility. oney. And we think the public should be reminded that This is a. tax free institution. As lt's.-a ta:{J..e;~pt fund. Meaning tha_J: the tax money Uch, the . American people have a it saves _ _ _ d on its fancies and foibles is, in a real ight to a responsible center. The sense·, made up by the rest of us taxpayers. resent evasion is pure nonsense. That's. the final blow. · · EDITORIAL PAGE

Columbia.. 8. C. W;EDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 1956 ,,..---J""F.:u~ne 26. l95c-6,...... -- * BLACKLISTING OF ENTERTAINERS

Last week the alleged blackljsting ·of motion picture actors and actresses fig­ Slanted Left ured in a lawsuit that came to a close in favor of the .defendants. HE thinking and activities of the 15 million Now. comes the announcement that the T dollar Fund for the Republic have been fund for the Republic has published a since its beginning preponderantly along two-volume report of 599 pages in which antr"-anti-Communist lines. The latest "Report it declared that blacklisting for political on Blacklistin'g: Radio-Television" is further beliefs was widespread in motion picture, conclusive evidence of the anti-anti-Communist radio and television, though not to prev­ illant. alent in the theatre. It said that in Holly­ wood blacklisting is almost universally ac­ Despite the protestations of Dr. Robert M. cepted as a fact of life~ Hutchi~, president of the Fund, and Paul Hoff­ However, the nature of the supposed man, its chairman, that the report is impartial blacklists is such as to make charges of and factual, it is not. It is a subtle and some­ being blacklisted an admission of suscep­ times not so subtle attack on the efforts of the tibility to communist influence or affilia­ radio, television and motion picture industries tion with either the extreme left wing or to keep Communists and Communist camp right wing-. followers out of their fields of communication. To complete the cycle the F und for the Republic, headed by Robert M. Hutchins, Henry Ford 2d, president of the Ford Motor has been under fire by congressmen Company, has in effect disavowed the Fund, on charges of leaning t oward commu­ which was mistakenly set up, with no strings nism. Therefore, while the report makes attached, by the Ford Foundation. There is no indictments or reco:mmendations it nothing in this latest report to change Mr. would. seem to tend to be a defense of Ford's opinion, nor that of many other political beliefs when they are extremes. Americans. In this event the blacklisting described would seem to be a system of internal de­ fense against organized boring from within. MONTGOMERY {Ala.) JOURNAL

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Date: Sweeping Out The Communists Although the Fund for the Republic did not In making the Fund report public, Chair­ ' tntend it to be so, its report on blacklisting in man Paul Hoffman says no indictments are the American movie i!ldustry is a compli· brought and no recommendations :.nade. ln the next breath he says that "progress" in re­ ment. That Hollywood has a fixed policy of not solving the "conflicts of interest, viewpoint employing Communists or subversives comes and principle involved" must come £rom the as good news to the American peoJ?le. We are industries affected. In other words he express­ told in the Fund of the Republic's survey es no opinion except to say that there is room just made public in the form of a 599-page re­ for "progress" in resolving such things. port that "blacklisting for political beliefs is a The Fund's investigators found that black· widespread practice in the movie, radio and listing in the movie industry began nine years television industries." ago when the "Hollywood ten" refused to tes­ The movie studios will not now hire anyone tify about past or present Communist affilia­ personally identified as Communist p a r t y tions. When the House committee made public members who has not subsequently come the names of 324 movie persons who were al­ clean with the House Un-An,erican Activities legedly Communists, "everyone c l t e d was Committee. Not will they hire. anyone who has blacklisted in the studios." telied upon the Fifth amendment in congres­ We say · ~ good for the studios." If they are sional investigations. as careful about preventing subversives from This seems to be reported somewhat sadly getting into the entertainment world as the by the Fund for the Republic which is already Fund repor.t indicates, it means increasing associated in the public m1nd with extreme respect for the movie industry in the minds of leftism, anti-segregation and various other the American people. isms and forms of civil rights agitation. The Chairman Hoffman anci President Robert Funq has financed the bi-racial organi1:ations M. Hutchins of the Fund did not intend their in the South and has done much to encourage findings to be a compliment to the Hollywood such agitators as the NAACP. It is generally studios, but if the industry is taking t h i s looked upon as "soft" or wors£ toward com­ form of leadership in ·putting Communists, munism and sympathetic with many of the semi-Communists, Reds and even pinks in vagaries 1ilf such organizations as the Amer­ their place, it is the best anti-Communist ------icans for :·'>emocratic Action. news we have heard in some time. HOT SPRINGS {Ark.) SENTINEL-RECORD Circ.: m. 9,00S s. 13,280

Front Edit Other Page Page Page JUM I 8 1!56 Date: Blacklisting For P'olitics . Th F n'i'Un ... the Republic, which itself is un- If blacklistin~ is bein¥' done on the b,asis o~ a e u ,.,.~ 1 investi ation says in a two- person's belongmg to either of . the tw.o maJor def congJ~~~;~:e report 1hat blacklisting for political parties (Democrat or Repubh~an) or vo 1~trci1 beliefs is a widespread practice in th.e even the Socialist or other minor parties, we ~oo~ie radio and teievision industries but IS would consider it an indication that freedom of much 'less prevalent in the theater. thought and expression was being curtailed un- "All the stu~ (in Hollyw~od) are now.~nar-- justly in the United States. If it is being done,. imous in their :r:etasal -.,t hire bpersonshoi he~vi; however on the basis of membership in Com:.· fied as Commumst par Y mem ers w · ' . . . ld · t subsequently testified in. full before the munist or Fascist orgamzahons, we wou con- ~0ouse Un-American Activities Committee", the sider it a good thing for the country. reporl sf!,jd. . .. . The fields of communications and entertain- "The studios are equally a~amant abou~~~~ ment are much too sensitive and their potential hiring witnesses who have rehe~ upon the 1 't for propaganda much too great for. Commu- Amendment before congress10na 1 comm1 - . tli tees;', the report continued. nist~ or Fascists to be allowed m em. HARTFORD COURANT Circ.: m. 94,124 s. 135,309

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Date: The Fund Reports On Blacklists The Fund for the Repubiic, a wholly separate YOUNGSTOWN (0.) offshoot of the ·Forcf'Foundation, has issued a major VINDICATOR report of a study of blacklisting in the entertain­ met:~t field. It is a sobering document, and it is t~ Cit·c.: e. 95,251 be hoped that those who enjoy beating the Fund s. 136,132 over the head as pro-Communist will take time otlt Front to read the report. It iinds that radio, TV and Edit Other Page Page Po"' the motion picture industry have completely ab­ dicated their control over the hiring of performers• JUL .r_. that through the use of "lists" hundreds of individ: Date: uals have been denied employment, and have faced economic r'uin. Unfair Blacklists The -physical Jaws of action and reaction have The Fund for the Republic does a valuable worked here with a vengeance. In the ):leginning service by condemning_ tne. ,unjust blacklisting there were tightly organized, well-integrated Com­ of al~ged- ..cemmunists and Red sympathizers in munist cells. These infiltrated, particularly into much of the entertainment industry. As the the motion picture business, and they made certain Fund's report shows, blacklists are completely that, nothing deleterious to the Communist cause unfair in many cases. could be· viewed on the screen. When this group Radio and TV broadcasters and sponsors are especially sensitive to any hint of Red connec­ was exposed, there was a tremendous reaction. t ions, although movies run a close second. For Hollywood producers, advertisers, and advertis­ this reason those who profess to see Commu­ mg agencies whose pocketbook antennae are nists behind every bush have found these indus­ significantly sensitive, recoiled at any name that tries a fertile field for their peculiar brand of associated with the Communist movement in any justice. Only Broadway has been exempt. wa~ Blacklisting in broadcasting began during the If this blacklisting had been confined to known Korean War with the publication of "Red Chan­ Communists, whose association had been confirmed, nels," which became a guide for overzealous it might be possible to justify this movement. But Red hunters. The House Un-American Activities; the use, by Hollywood in particular, of lists of Committee and the American Legion are among' unevaluated reports has without doubt caused in­ groups which have supplied Hollywood with: justice and economic hardship. It has been shown lists of suspect individuals and organizations.; also that advertising agencies reacted to threats of Fund researchers found that many blacklisted· J:ersons cannot get entertainment job~ eve~ boycott by minority groups the easy way, llf. (a~:; after they clear themselves of any suspicion of ing to hire any figure attached :vithout attempting disloyalty. :tflY effective or equit_able solution of the.Jll:Qblem. John Coagley, former executive editor of The This re~) ort may be considered by some as con­ Commonweal; who headed the Fund's study; firmation that. the Fund for the Republic feels reports that columnist George Sokolsky is the tenderly t<>wa rd Communists. That is a pretty "court of last appeal" for movie, radio and TV shol'tsighted point of view. The report, compiled performers. Americans not sympathetic with b~ ' a former editor of the Catholi: magazine Com­ Mr. Sokolsky's McCarthy-like attitudes will con­ ?n o> iu:ea l, points oqt to those who) wiil read, that sider that he leaves something to be desired as a judge of patriotism. . civil ri gh t~ have been jeopardized, and that in the The report notes that many radio, TV and fear te'?-ct!on. to the threat of communism many movie officials admit that blacklisting causes in q()cent p¢sons have suffe red ~ There are some them "fear and shame." Further, it has under­ who even h6li_eve "that misguided pepple who mined employes' morale. espoused communism at one phase of their qevelop­ It is to be hoped that the Fund's expose will m.ent, and then saw the light, should not therefore bring an end to blacklisting. Surely the enter­ be condern,ned to outer darkness for the ~· est 'of iaL'lment industry cannot afford to be cowed any tll.ejr liv e ~ . Some may question the wisdom of the Fund's longer by those who claim falsely to have the failure to make its deductions from the wealtH of only formula for true Americanism. _) data it secured through hundreds of interviews. ..f_ Perhaps' its officers are sensitive to the criticism that has be~n leveled at it. But in the matter of civil rights it ~s always. better to do as the Society of Friends has consistently done: espouse frankly and courageously the· cause that is just but unpopu­ lar today. Tomorrow it will be popular again, when the battle is' temporarily won once more. Hatred, fear, and the callous weighting of the sc;des with profit as against human rights are all Jl!milia.r phenomena in the "history of man .. Fund of Republic 'Blacklisting' Text

Intimate History of a Bad Dream 'Wednesday, By ROBERT J. LANDRY ======.i.! ..John Cogley, former executive editor of the Cath With their futures wholly dependent on public June 27, 1956 olic lay publication, Commonweal, and the Fund opinion, actors, writers .and directors are fools for the Republic Inc., which is the branch of thE indeed ·when allowing themsetves to be u.sed a;; Ford Foundation specializing in civil liberties mat­ political catspaws for a foreign ideology and a ters, have produced a two-volume "Report on Black­ foreign power. listing." The No. 1 book on "Movies" is reviewed herewith. The No. 2 book on "Broadcasting" is $$)0tl,idtts Jopn J:loward. Lawson reviewed in the radio-television section of the It present issue ~ was in 1947 that Life Magazine headlined; with . inspired· clarity: "Congressional Committee ·Poses: a The volume on "Movies '~ opens with the state· Question: is it un-A:merican to ask a· mali if he is rnent of the Fund's chairman Paul G. Hoffman, a Communist-or un-American to refuse to answer?'' ex-P.ead ·of Studebaker Motors: "When loyalty That was the start ·of ·it all. . · . tests are applied by private groups to people-in John Howard Lawson was to go on the witness private industries--and people are barred from stand. . Chairman J. Parnell ':i,'homas was-to pound jobs because they are 'controversiat':.....many citi· 16 times for ordel'. Lawson's prepared statement zens become aiarmed." was written, continued Life, "in Pravda-like prose." Th~re follows 312 pages of text .fin blacklisting The alleged party cheerleader for Hollywood de­ in motion pictures. ~ncluded are postscripts con­ clared that the "so-called evidence" ~t the House cerning the "Unfriendly Ten'~-the Holly_wqod kami· UnAmeric;m Activities c ·ornmittee hearings· came kaze squa{}ron J,Vhich flew head-on into. the , House from a parade of "stool pigeons, neurotics, publicity . seeking clowns, Gestapo.. agents, paid informers imd UnAmerican Activities Committee, Theil: ~edits film · a few· ignorant and frightened Hollywo~d artists:;, have been lined up by year. of release and are Howard Da Silva was if anything_more · virulently correlated with the twistings· and turnings of the defiant than Lawson. ''!' object to bein,g called to Communist Party line. test#y' agliinst myself' at t,his. hearing. I object be· cause the first and fiftb Amendm~nts and all the The digest of the strange and menacing events Bill of IUghts protect me·· from all the inquisitorial in Holly:wood from 1947 onward might well ·be procedure." · ·· characterized as an intilnate history of a prolonged . (Comments Cogley: "After that Da Silva found bad tkeam, Whether, or how much of, Cogley's text no :more :work in Hollywood.".) is fresh · 'or ·· new is less significant than his bring­ The behaviour of Lawson oil the witness starid ing. together in mountainous array of the tortured­ ..came as im enormous shock to niost of the Holly- tale's infinity of name and detail. wood visitors" who were in Washington ·. that day to throw their weight against .blacklisting 6ut who Writer-editor Cogley had 10 research aides: What found. themselves interpreted as defending an ap­ he' and his team accomplished is the sott of ex­ parent mouthpiece for the-CP. "They were not· pre­ hilUstive research which! in our generation, only . a pared for his shouted and unabashed insolence." ' great Foundation or perhaps a great publishing Disillusioned, convinced they had been. exploited for Party reasons, 'the non-Communist. delegation which nterprise like Tilne-Life-Fortune couid muster. The was led . by Humphrey- Bogart lapsed into ,anger,, : . value ~f these rep~rts .undoubtedlY lles: ~ .the col· crying · "We've been had!" lation of so much data in handy reference form. ' This sort of stuff is hea-v:!!n-sent to future scholars . California's Native Sons ., It immediatelY becomes a. glistening documentation Cogley spells out the emotion-charged atmosphere· . for social historians. which pervaded the film colony at. this ·period. Cali­ . . fornia' own native crop of patrioteering fellows Staff Help Pays Off added Uieir own aggressions giving California the longest blacklist in all America. But it was not The job of work itself. ·is certain to .make a con· just the suspected' Commies who suffered. Some of siderable reputation for Cogley who is ·now installed the enemies of Communism were trapped in the· as a regular staffer at the Fund for the Iiepublic. cross-winds of hatred. He becomes the latterday authority on blacklisting, "After the 1947 hearings the two most un­ replacing Merle Miller who authored "The Judges popular groups in Hollywood were·-the Ten, ·who had embarrassed the industry by their behaviour arid the Judge" three years ago under subsidy ft·om 'in Washington, and the friendly .. witnesses from tlie. A.merican Civil Liberties Union. Tfi·e Cogley the Motion Picture Alliance who .testified about work benefiits not only .from greater financial an,d Communist 'infiltration' and encouraged J; Par­ staff resources but ·from the absence of the consid· nell ThomaS in his belief that the films had been used to convey "Red ·Propaganda." erably-criticized tendency of the Miller' book to overwhelmingly rely upon aMnymous quotation, al­ Writer Morris _Ryskind did not have· a single .screen credit to his name after 1947 but although though there is some hiq(len~naJ;De ·St\lff here, too. frequently cited as one who.had sacrificed l:li.s career The report's nightmare aspect lies in (1) the to fighting Communism "he does not make the agonies of. soul inflicted upon the foolish virgins -of charge himself."· · · dirty international 'politics and (2) the indecencies Cogley's account ii a mass of names and incidents. · He · ·attemp' s. to balance the costs of. the. fight to (>f soul exhibited by the nasty men and org:anizations both groups of partisans. Anne Mvere·.had 40 films ·who 'have established again that the refuge . of up to 1947, Worked but eight days in· 1950. And so s~ound~els is frequently glib .opattiotisrii. on. Against that Cogley asks on the othe:r. side, "If Mimjou ·was· blacklisted by some front offices, as. ThiS · Cogley report exudes · an odpr ..of buried oft~n claimed; what about Gary Coper and Robert garbage opened anew to the nostrils; lt is not a TB;ylor, wh~ testi~ed a~ the S<~ine ~earing?" Co~le! • j sim_p1e story. Nor does it teach a simple moral"un• thmks MenJOU was, comcidental w1th. the Washmg­ _, less it is this: ton. hubbub, personally at a turning poip.t iri his career, · Wednesday, ]nne-27, 1956

22 RADIO-TELEVISION Variety (continued) 6/27 ABC's of Radio-TV Blacklisting The Art of Rebabilitat.on-- - A large section of volume one is devoted to the l<'byrinthine way out for. those who had been Com­ Bared in Fund for Republic Study munists and those who had not been but were the victims of rumors. On the whole it was easier for The Fund for the Republic re- •------,--• the true Reds to·recant. While that might necessitate leased its long-iii-preparation study : a rough day on the witness stand·, there was a re­ of blacklisting this week in the opinion-the report did not ven­ ceptive official attitude once they were ready to form of two books on the subject, ture into this area-the practice of cleanse themselves in a public bath. Those who one qealing with radio-tv, the blacklisting has apparently eased were merely stigma~"ized, who had no real sins to othe:· with motion piCtures. In somewhat over the past year~ This proclaim, were sometimes awkwardly unemployable pl'eparation since November of is due to many things, .Qe said"-' without possessing of any handy method of rehabil­ 1954 under the direction of John an easing of the political atmos­ itation. Cogley, former executive · editor of phere, some of the more outland­ There is a good deal in the book about Holly­ Commonweal and now ·a Fu.nd staff- ~ ish practices, the fact that many wood lawyer Martin Gang who found himself; rriore er, the radio-tv report is a general accused people have cleared them.. or less by happenstap.ce, set up as part of the -des-cription of the - rractjce but selves .and consequently the list is "clearance" machinery· for actors. In the course does not supply data, conclusions reduced and the fact that the new of time he advised .some 50 formiir CPers and had or recommendations for d•~ aling [ younger crop of talent has been another 25 clients .who were not Reds but had been' with the situation. extrel!lely cautious about sig)ling charged with cohabiting with Reds. Books, which were distributed anythmg or participating in po­ As the many-chaptered history unfolds, name by to the pres~. wlll be -sold .commer- · litical activities. name, phobia by phobia, its nightmarish quality is cially at $1.25 through the distri- 1 The "big remaining problem," marked by a certain monotony. Why did so many bution facilities of Meridian Press Cogley stated, is the fact , that the high-s_alaried entertainers commit themselves to a in an initial paperbac:·. edition of blacklisting practice continues to foreign power? Why were the dfctates of a Ger­ a_bout 10,000. Study of radio-tv · b~ "institutionalized," that agep­ man theorist writing out of the Londo.n· Museum, (motion picture study is covered·! c1es and networks still have "se­ ci_rca 1848, so persuasive to Hollywood talent? Cog­ in the Pictures Section) is by· ana curity officers" and still maintain ley is not concerned with this issue but the reader, large a historical report, detailing checks. He said he .couldn't predict aware. of t)J.e incomes and privileges of these in­ the origin of blacklisting, covering any outcome for the future on dividuals, prior to . theb; blacklisting, is mystified in. detail the widely publicized whether or not this institutionali­ at -their appjirent preference for the Russian system: case.s (Jean Muir, William Sweets, z~:~tion would disappear. Phillip Loeb, Elmer Rice), <;J.esc_rib- Included in the appendix of the Innocent With The Guilty- ing the methods .of . publlcatwns 1 report is a separate and independ­ ~nd the Hsecurity" ~etups _at_ ~he :: ent study, also bac~ed by the Once- the battle was joined, once the o.rdeal of networks and agencies, deta.Illng :. Fund, of the morale of people in the witness stand was imposed, once the naive vic­ the methods used .by persons ' radiG>-tv as affected b:l( the black­ tims tried to separa~e themselves from the pledged nam~do- to secur-E! "c~earance,." dis- ~ list practice. Study, undertaken by party ·members-the whole situatieri became nasty cussmo the unions role m the ,Marie Jahoda of the Research Ceo­ beyond the power to exaggerate. Producers and di" problem and pro1il.ing. ~he · <;hi-e£ ter for Human Relations at New -rectors as well as performers and .scribes were propoz:tef?-ts and practitiOners of 1 York _u.! undertakes to. ,show that· washed o~t. The innocent sometimes went down. the blackllstmg. I blackl1stmg has had a harmful ef- draili with the conspiratorial hard-core. Most of the 2{)0 ·interviews t' 'feet on morale among talent in the The dilemma of Lillian Hellman, the power of which went into the study \vere industry. (ieoi:ge So~o}sky and Roy B,rewer, the bad breajts h eld with the proviso that the iti- and the good breaks some al:tors had in their te­ ~erviewee remain annnymous. Con- lationships with Congressmen, the· industry's dread jjeqyently, other than in known ot pieket ljnes and, the threats of· punitive action cases, .the references are veiled in against unrehabilitated suspects: all this and a :anonymity and the data is unsub- grea,t deal mor e is recounted in the Cogley text. stantiated: Mucl) of the report This is unpretty stuff. The film industry squirmed comes from the- files of the organi- in the days when it lived through tHe described zations and publications in the events.. It wili squirm again ln retrospect. For ~ ~listings" business-CouQ.terattack, every trapped innocent there was undoubtedly a Bed Channels, Vince Jlc:trtnett s coolly calculating party strategist. For every em­ File 13, the American Legion Fir- barrassed studio official there was a professional ing Line, Laurtmce .Johnson's cor- patriot. Cogley makes the tie-up with studio strik.es respondence with sponso·ts· and clear. He makes the honest disputes and the war­ ~encies, ·etc. ranted suspicions ·evident. It is impossible to read No Comment from Agencies this book and not come'. a~ay convinced that one Cogley, questioned at a press Segment of Hollywood, small but disCiplined, did owe conference held last week:, said allegiance to a foreign. power. the report did not make COilclu­ In the name of 'good .causes many a persnn who ·si1lns .or recommendations because supposed himself on the side of the-- angels found "blacklisting is .an industry mat­ himself or herself instead .khee-deep-· in political ter" .and it is up to the industry muck. to lind .a solution. He said that two P review copies at the two books reached the · weeks ago, proofs of the report American press for June 25 release., Each will be : were sent to the presidents of the publicly ava,ilable at $1.25 per on July 23 via t hree n etworks~ four ad agencies Meridian Books. (Young & Rubicam, .BBD&O, .T. Walter T.bompson and McCann­ A more gruesome bit of realistic pro&e will .hardly Erickson) and to the Motion Pic­ be published during th~. pres~nt . season. There ·are ture A6,sn. of America asking for· surely passages in "Report 9n Blacklisting"· when human nature never looked lousier. · -comment .on the report to be in­ cluded in the printed version: Apart from some .acknowledge­ ments of receipt of the- proofs, no c:omm ::! nt was offered. Cogley said. that in his\,Personal HACKENSACK (N.J.) BERGEN EVENING WORCESTER (Mass.) RECORD GAZETTE Circ.: e. 61,287 Circ.: e. 101,022 Front Edit Other Page Page Page Front Edit Other ·;,; :~ ~ -- ~ ~ :; ; ~ : ~~ .!~··) P~t~ge Page ~'age Date: Date:JUN;.,-;b \956

Safe, Scared, Blacklisting in the Arts~ And Stodgy Researchers assigned to the job by the . Is Un-American Fund for the Republic have handed up a 2· THE FUN:O for the Retiublic's new volume "Report on Blacklisting" which sets --stcrcry-';'"-~tmft ·an Iacklisting," forth in exhaustive detail what has been paints a so 'bering picture -or the enter­ known for. at least 5 yeats to every one fa. t~inment world. According to .John miliar with radio, television, and the films: Cogley, author of the report, hundreds that management in these arts or trades-has of people in te~evision, radio and cinema surrendered control to a hodgepodge of ama­ have had their careers suspended or teur vigilantes. Only in the legitimate destroyed by extra-legal groups having theater, with its long and honored tra.dition no official status in the industry. of resistance to censors and chamberlains, The blacklisting technique first at­ is it ars gratia.artis these days. In the elec­ tracted popular a.ttention with the ap­ tronic-created arts the blacklist is supreme, pearance of "Red Channels." This book, and it doesn't matter whose blacklist. published by Counterattack, a - self­ The artist accused of Communist affilia­ styled - anti-Communist newsletter _es­ tion or sympathy or merely characterized as tablished by former FBI agents, listed meriting investigation before he's hired to a large number of people whom it con­ carry a spear or sob in a soap opera-he's sidered Communist sympathizers or of through. No effort is made to establish the otherwise doubtftil reliability. Practical­ fact. Agency executives, producers, directors ly all these people have since lost their consult the blacklists, and if he's on one the jobs, although the book had no official man is at liberty. This is called playing it standing. safe. Since then, many other lists com­ How safe it is may be suggested by trade piled by private groups have appeared. statistics. Nobody thinks the arts· should ba Accprding to Mr. Cogley, these groups handed over to Communists as a bureau of virtually dictate who shall and shall propaganda, but it ought to go without say­ not be hired or fired in the entertain­ ing that artists whose fundamental purpose ment industry. The industry itself, he is to be safe, inoffensive, popular with the asserts, has abdicated its responsibility as the arbiter of hiring policies. likes of m~dia buyers and retired G-men­ such artists are -not overwhelmingly likely Blacklisting, whether done by Com­ munists or anti-Communists, is not in to be exciting. Hollywood's safety, along with the American tradition; Equality 'of op­ the queer ancestor worship that suppresses portunity is still one of our cardinal young talent in favor of old names, may have· principles, and it extends to employ­ something to do with its present miseries. ment. The dangers of allowil~g extra• And if television and radio ever do decide legal, unofficial groups to determine a to seek a remedy for their reported afflic· person's right to work are obvious. tions, they might do worse than study the Unscrupulous men might easily demand stubborn, ferocious integrity of the legiti­ payment for a "clearance." It is only a mate stage-along with the highly material short step Irom blackllsting to black­ parallel which is this Broadway season's mailing. dazzling, historic brilliance and solid success. Washington Post June 29, 1956

Blacklisting For several years past, the right to work in American radio, ·television and movies has been determined in eonsiderable part by unofficial agen­ cies operating behind the scenes. These agencies exercise powerful authority, although they are wholly without responsibility; they judge indi­ There appears to be some relaxation of the black· viduals as patriotic or unpatriotic and punish them listing process in rec·ent months. It has been a by blaeklisting, although without any of t~ safe­ process that gave unconscionable power to irrespon· guards of due process. The way this blacklisting sfble backstage operators who used their power business functions has been 'recounted by John sometimes for blackmail and outright extortton. Cogley, former editor of The Commonweal, .in a Promising ·careers have been ruined-in some in· report just published by the Fund for the Republic. stances altogether unjustly, in many instances The report renders a most valuable service to the ibecause of long-repented and often innocent errors. American people. The effect of this has been feit not only by the Any writer, actor~ director or producer, accused individuals involved but also by the industry which anywhere, by anyone, at any time of having Com­ ihas lost their talents and the public which has been munist "sympathies or associations"-whether or deprived of ·the opportunity to judge those talents not there is any truth to the accusation-is likely for itself. Paul G. Hoffman, chairman of the board to find it very difficult if not impossible to find work of the Fund for the Republic, is quite right in in the movie industry or the radio-television in­ saying that blacklisting has raised "questions of dustry, uniess or until he goes through a form of freedom of thought and speech, of due process, of :purgation and succeeds in getting some sort of the protection of the individual against group clearance. There are backstage groups prepared pressures arid of the community against the dis· to provide "clearance"-on their own terms. Accu­ loya.Uy Qf •the individual." It is salutary to have sation comes pretty dose to constituting conviction. these questions brought into the open. Once a person is ealled "subversive" before a congressional investigating committee (which serves to make the accusation privileged), the black­ listing groups feel free to parrot t}le charge without any further checking. Referring t6 one of the most notorious of the blacklisting agencies, Mr. Cogley remarks drily, ''Counterattack's most star· tling 'exposures' have been :N)ports of reports. It ds as if one took journalistic pride in the accuraey with which he copied even wrong numbers from a t elephone book." Blacklisting •has ·been effective, of. course, only in so far as the responsible officials of motion pic­ tures, radio and television eoncerns ,have been willing to bow to it. As Mr. Cogley shows, they !have been very willing indeed. The virtual absence of blacklisting in the legitimate theater on Broad­ way has afforded a most wholesome contrast. The concern of businessmen in the entertainment in· dustry-and in its dose partner, the advertising trade-with the good repute of performers, writers and directors is easy to understand. But indiscrim· inate rejection of those whose reputations have been :besmirched by the blacklisters is an ignomini­ ous abdication of responsibility. 'The producers and advertisers have themselves undertaken a large measure of unofficial screening. But this involves f.iomething very close to imposing life or death judgments on the professional careers of accused pei\Sons-a kind of meting out of justice usually reserved for ..courts of law. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE Circ.: m. 174,496 s. 240,138 Front Edit Othsr tinued, radio and TV work­ Page P11go "•e~ ers live in an atmci:phere of fear, . frustration 1n-..:l sus­ Date: JUL 1 1958 picion . . Two years in prepar~tion. the study a,ttemnted to de­ scribe the situation without Who's ~n Wraich? making specific recommenda­ tions. A separate report on "In screening personnel, the film industry discovered: great care should be taken th.at nn injustice is not done • That films in which al­ to innocants and genuine leged subversives had a hand liberals." This note of cau­ were rarely suitable as ve­ tion appeared in "Red Chan­ hicles for Communist propa­ nd::;," a name-the-names report ganda. The:,r were often mys­ on Communist infiltration in­ teries, routine Westerns and t<' the entertainment in­ the like. dustry prepared by former • That even with a suit­ FBI agents in 1950. In the able vehicle, "the producer ir.dustry's s e 1 f ;., screening of the film and the studio pro12ess however, the sugges­ exercise such complete con­ tion had apparently been trol that it was impossible for ignored. the wfiter to turn ou.t. a shoot­ As one TV executive put ing script that e}!:pressed it: "We quarantine every­ Communist ideas.'' body in the book. We can't • l;h.at one film, "The take any chances." And as ~tiil Died at :Jawn," was for separating Communists a thinly veiled attack against from liberals, the same ex­ Chiang Kai · shek in hi s ecutive WC~.iled: "How can we struggle against the Chinese apply this-this theory?" Communists, but most view­ According to a report is­ ers missed this point. sued last week by the Ford In the neare-st thing re­ Foundation's Fund for the sembling a recommendation, Republic~ · , {here. were a 11 chief researcher John Cag­ kinds of blacklists, graylists, ley, a former editor with the b1uelists and whitelists in Roman Catholic publication the entertainment world. An "The Commonweal," conclud­ actor's agent told research­ ed that the entertainment ex­ ers: "The worst aspect is ecutives ought to police up that there are so many dif­ their scatter- shot security ferent lists, and you never methods. ''If they are tQ as­ know who is on which list. sume the burdens of govern­ You have to find out. by trial ment," said Cogley, "the v and error." Because of must als~ assume the r~ these lists, the repe'rt con-· ~po~sibility for dispen"sing JUStice. They can't have it both ways." ,..,.,.,.,.,_,, . · ,. ,.. LYNCHBURG (\Ia.) NEWS Circ.: m, 15,089 s. 23,374 GARDEN CITY (N.Y.) NEWSDAY Front Edit Other P•e• ,.•. ,... Circ.: e. 213,813 - "'!" • • '~

Datt;u J fiiZII u- Front Edit · Other P•s• Pegi. Pege f On IUacklisting, __ . . ,.~ ~e Funi.Jor tb• Bwuihlic has'" just: j\Jt-\ 3 0 \S~ issued a reporl, whi<:h purports to show· Date: that writer~. actors,. directors or produc­ - •.o••~e 1or a Committee ers are blacklisted in the motion picture and television fields by unofficial group:; The House Un-American Activities Committee has sub witllin . the industry. who h1tve no offi­ pe11aed John Cogley' to answer "some pertinent" questions cial reaponSilbility and' 110 authority . in about the report he has doiie for Fund for the Republic on law or jwtimt to act ' blacklisting in the eritertainmerit 'industry. Cogley, who lives -· Itls a tal~ · th-at requires ~t ·udy, and 'if true calls ior remedy, Men who· are ac- in Baldwin, is . a formet editor -of the Roman Catholic lay . -. ' cused of Communist affiliations ought not weeklv Commonw ~al and in 1954 ran unsuccessfully from his . • ' . ' . I to be blaeklisted by anybody ·until proof _distri;t for Congress against Congressman Frank Becker. Cog­ is forthcoming and it 'that · is . the prac- 1: ley's report for the Fund for the Republic plltS on paper and in tic. "backstage,'' as the report charges, ! detail what everyone in the entertainment industry has known the condition is worse. At least there · for years. As NEwsbAY TV Editor Jo Coppola pointed out yes-. should be offiCial responsibility tor what- I terday, ''Blacklisting . . . is the pitiful story of a major industry ever action is taken. "It Mmes,. very ii which kowtowed to a couple of tin gods and must now live . elose;'' ·!Is the Washington Post points .out, 1,,: ' ' ' ~ "to im;posing life and death judgJl?,ents on :; half-scared and half-free with these tnen." '!he professional career:~ of .accused · pe'r .... t . There is a blacklist-and .a -chaotic one~of performers ionl. . . F· -~ . . .. • - - • who supposedly have Communist or fellow-tra\'cling associa­ We carinot.ftelp ~~4ering, however, at tions in their past. There is no denying that the entertainment . the mdignation d some of tho~~ -Who . have. ~mmented on the report. There industry was once slicinhrough with fellow-travelers and Com­ ·are persons, newspapers ·Or agencies· munists. But the blacklist being used is often completely un­ which are loud in their opposition to discriminating.. in the degree of past involvement, the change "rig'ht to work laws," und&r... -whiCh $ of heart that may have taken place since, and the performer's blacklisting of workers ~o do. not wish. preSent political beliefs. to join a · labor ·union · is . forbidden: lt i~ · . Cogley is now probably the greatest authority in the com~­ b wrong to 'bl~cklist .a man for sus-piciori · try on the odious blacklisting practice. If the H.ouse Un-AI~1en· of being a Com~unist it is ~oni_ :t9. cmi Activities Committee wants to draw on Ius expert knowl black~ rum. an4 deny hi!jJ.. .work: i!.:he edge to clean up this un-American practice, we are all for it. does no£ join an unofficial. or-ganizqj,ol_n For that purpo~e the committee may want to question or .even lbe doesn;t wish .to join and which in;cson_le; ·challenge him about the conclusions and Jhe information in . ~is ea~es hls conscience or religio~ priri'cl~ . reports. There is nothing wrong with 'that. _ pies forbid 'liiJ:n to join. It is worse; Wllen Unfortunately, there are already small signs thaf'tl1e com­ the govern,m~nt, instead of pretec~ing mittee has something else in mind. If it warited to solicit Cog; him in !his rights, aids and -abets tho.s~ ley's help, why was he summarily subpenaed? Committee Who take those rights from ,him. _ ;, . Chairman Francis Walter, a Pennsylvania Democrat, has al­ · · By all :Jn&ans stop. the ~fe(f ' l)'t:rc ~ _ready given some indication that he intends to badger Cogley tiCes in th~ amusemen.t industry 6f ae~ · rather · than use or examine.. his materiaL We will watch the priv1ng men of the right to work~ at their profession because they have come ' fn.to 'llearings closely. The committee can do itself a service, by lo?k­ . il}g into the un ~American practice .of blacklisting. Or it can do disfavor with certain elements of 'the: irt-...... ·. -.~ ,· )_ itself, the country and ·the cause of free inquiry an immeasur- dust.ry. .But also stop :t:he practice ; Sf ' able disservice by trying to intimidate Cogley and the Fund for lforcirig by law ~n· who are-in dislavor. the Republic. If it does the latter, it can expe'ct to meet ·strong with certain amorig wo;r.k­ ~lements th~ 'opposition from us and fron1 other quarters interested in pro- · 'ers . of the country . tci join t\Pecified or­ .tecting · the righf of free inqulr y~a thoroughly Anierican lanizaBrihs with ~o legal authority. It activity. d~es- not rome ·close to but reach .e~ the ...... " ...... --=, •"'!';-.... , """"' ...... ~~lft·· •• ·- ...... -~- ' .,·.,. ···••• :,_ . ::--?-' .• ~· poirit of;"imposing life and <;ieath Senten-" c:es"-~ti wor~ers· exercising the ~ r con-' stit'ijti~~li-Iihts . -DENVER POST Circ.: e. 248,890. s. 347,768

Pront I tilt Other Page P.a,e Pa,e ~- 1n':::: Date: ~'Ur ._..,., ~ · ····<' 1 ·Controversial .as the blacklist report may Here. Tney :G.o Aga-in. be, and annoying to a lOt of self-appointed .T, HEP house. eomWtt~ ' -on · ufi-American sleuths and overeager beavers and too-cau­ ._ ·. . ~ct~vities has su~pe?~ed johh c?glE;y to tious,employers in the entertainment industry, .· ap~,ear for q\lest1bp.mg: at a clos.ed i~ it is a valuable collection of information and :s.ion prf J:uiy 10. Cogley, who served i:r;t the air •orte that somebody should have ntade long !Ot'ce ·during World War II and since :then has ago :to clarify what is going on. peen executive editor ' of .. The Commonweal, a It is doubtful .if house probes into the Fund' weekly publication of Roman Catholic laymen, for the Republic will ever be. ·equally useful is one of the :latest objects of· the congress· and enlight..ening. And probing a foundation's men's dark suspicions. ' . . ... study is a dubious congressional activity com­ · Jfe has· just :{111:1-de a .. :(eport' as· director of a parable to encroachment on academic freedom. project to study "blacldisti:ilg in. motion pic· We trust the Walters committee will 'read tures, radio and television." The Fund for the before · it r-a.lli~ :J.tepublic, a . Ford . Foun.

It 5 ·d h h d fought with a Communist That report mdicates that ·all you need do . t~ tht> Sa ; h ·Vl·l w' ar · is crawl like a miserable thing before the um m e . pams Cl • I . . . Th. . b t · · · · It · 't t characters who Issue blacklrsts. 1s 1s f'S This may strike you as ~mobr. diSnd-bnot accomplished through the services of a man I "d r man s rea an u - un ess you consi e a . . . skilled in the labyrinthine ways of these ter his home and the use of his God-giVen . ' · · blackhsters. talent as mmor. Th. " ran e" expert examines the hi 1s ceru1 c Unfortunately blacklists have beco~e o Y blacklistee's record to see if he is "clearable." writs in many modern quart~r~, particularly If the expert is co]\yinced, he advises the man with some TV and r~dio off1c1als w~o fear to tell all to the FBI, lf he has not already employing controversial people. If, m the . ded done so. field of entertainment, some poison-mm "Then 1 find out where h~ is being black- neurotic charges you with Communist re- listed-wher~ it is he can't get work, who in lationships, however untrue, you're in "for· a the industry is keeping him from working rough time. and who outside the industry has made him There wasn't any truth to the charge that controversial. If, for instance, I 11nd it is the the ac:or had :ought ~ith a Communist unit · American Legion, r call one of the top Legion in Spam. Yet lt took htm four years to prove officials and tell him this man has come to his ~nnocence to all concerne~, . so h€ could me for help and says he is innocent. regam his status of employab1~1ty . . "The official may say to rne, 'Why, this guy Imagine yourself in such a s1tuat10n. I has 47 listings, and I know people who ~ayi Suppose some character placed y our name . they don't believe him .' But I say, 'I'm gomfl· on a blacklist for a relationship you' never l to have him make a statement.' Then whe~ had. You are refused advancement, or e~en the Legion guy gets the statement and ha~ fired. You meet frustration after frustration read it I call and ask hi-m for a note saying in trying to convince your boss a~d. other .as.- I he is ~atisfied with the statement, He will sociates that you are a loyal Amencan. Thmk usually say, 'I won't put anything in writing. how it would stunt your talk and writin~, but if anyone is interested, have him call especially on controversial subjects. You'd me'." begin feeling you were trying to escape from Then a ·complicated series of other con­ the depths of psychological cobweb, and -tacts. The expert added~ "A guy who is in could never quite make it. trouble,. even if he has a good case for him- Even worse, imagine yourself blacklisted self, will stay dead unless he finds someone for something true but now meaningless. like me who can lead him through the jungle such as a relationship of 20 years ago. It of people who have to be satisfied. He has to would be laughably minor to mature persons, persuade these people one by one.l' 1 yet dreadfully serious to the characters who (The blacklists aTe issued by such sources I h ave bec?me so dominatecll;y th~ notion cf i as the America~ Legion; Aware, Inc.;. Co~n- j Commums: subversion ~bat the shg~test con-, terattack, pubhsher of_ "Red Chan~~H~ , t~e 1 n ection With commumsm, no macter how Report of the Commumst Influence m Radw I long ago, fully convicts a person in their 1 and Television," and a group in Syr&cuse j eyes. 1 headed by Lam·ence A. Johnson, a forme::- You are now a thoroughly loyal American, 1 supermarket operator.) I yet you have, been blac~listed .. Your e~- j Through this foul device, these grou ps I ployer doesn t. necessanly. thmk you re j force the unfortunates to beg and ?~ a w l to hr: ! guilty of anythmg, yet he distrusts you, and 1 allowed the freedom once consw.ered the 1 even worse, he's afraid of having the public ! birthright of an American citizen. I connect you with his firm. The fact that we meekly accept this par- What can you do? celing out of freedom by anyone who cares i The answer is given by the F~!.1.5!. -for the to set up a blacklist shows how little value I Republic in its report of its thoro\1gh mvesti- we place on our rights these days f gation of the blacklist problem. Lasi week F.P.B. BALTIMORE NEWS-POST Circ.: e. 227,379

DCl-te: JUL 5 1956 --~-~ ------~"""'- WASBJNGTON REPORT Fund~s Report is Blatant By FULTON LEWIS, JR. ------.----

HE EJ!u.i.J9L,i.~~ --- ~epublic, after a <;ion of more salient facts, it gives .a dis­ T brief period of staying in the rela­ torted and often false picture.'' tive background, has come up with one One small paragraph of the report of i.ts niost blatantly anti-anti-Commu­ deals with me. It is in a section dis­ .nist effusions yet-its report on alleged cussing "The Voice of Freedom Commit­ hlacklisting in the entertainment indus­ tee," a now-defunct organization which try. set itself up in the late 40's to defend I1ike many Fund documents, it is leftist radio personalities and to attack written in carefully selected verbiage in­ con.servatives. The report gives no indi­ tended to create a mask of objectivity cation of its ultra-leftist character, or its and impartiality. But its whole tenor is pro-Commy activities. But it does sav: that it is heinous to object to spending "The Voice of Freedom Comni.ittee our entertainment dollars, or to object to made its .special target Fulton Lewis, Jr., sponsors spending their TV or radio ad­ the Mutual network's scrappy right-wing vertising dollars, for the financial better­ commentator. Lewis replied with a bitter ment of Commuinsts or their sympa­ attack on the committee. The committee thizers. without success tried to get equal time on So bad was that tenor that it pro­ Mutual to answer him. The committee Yoked GOP Senator Karl Mundt of South claimed that it was successful in getting Dakota, normally a mild-mannered in­ one sponsor to drop Lewis. (Lewis says dividual, to take the Senate floor to de­ he has lost several sponsors as a restilt nounce the Fund as an outfit whose sole of liberal and left-wing pressure groups.)" purpose is to "discredit those who are en~ AbsOlutely True gaged in trying to fre(l .Americans from the danger of the Communist menace." Putting the last sentence in paren­ " ... I a.m disturbed no end," he theses that way I guess is supposed to added, of the blacklisting report, "when connote that they doubt Lewis' state­ I read that still another effort is being ment. Lewis hereby reaffirms its absolute made by the 1!·\md for ·the Republic to truth. give aid a:nd comfort to the Communists, Read as a whole, the report ma'k!es both in this country and abroad." clear the Fund's conviction that it is wrong £or those who oppose Communism 'Worker' Likes It to think that Communists and their sym­ The Communist Daily ·Worker, as pathizers should not receive our enter­ would have been expected, thinks the tainment dollars. .As far as I am con­ report is pretty fine business. The DW cerned, I do not want them to derive any hails it with a front-page story under the benefit whatsoever from my dollars. .Ab­ banner headline, "Uncover Trio as Black-. viously, a good many others feel the same list High Court." way. The, national security 1s indebted to The story draws that inference from persons and organizations who keep track sections of the report discussing three of. tfie front"joining, petition-signi1~g pto­ newsmen: My colleague, George Sokol­ chvlties of some characters in the enter­ sky, the syndicated columnist; Victor tainment world. Without such records, Riesel, labor columnist who recently was there would be no way for the average blinded by an acid-throwing hoodlum, .American to tell who believes in ·the and Frederick W oltmari, Scripps-Howard .American way of life, and who would anti-Communist columnist. just as soon live under a Red regime. Woltman, the only one of the trio Perhaps it also is beneficial to the na­ thus far deigning to comment on tlie re­ tional security that the Fund, which ob­ port, says it ''makes two references to viously has no sense of timing. chose this this ·}~Titer, both false. " Of the merits of moment to put out its blacklisting report. the report, he says "by the use of loaded The House Un-.American .Activities Com­ expressions throughout and the selection mittee presently is investigating it, to de­ and gl:ouping of some facts and the omis- termine whether it is working for or sgainst the defeat of the Communist con• spiracy. · This report cannot .help but be another major evidence of its anti-anti­ Communism. LOUISVILLE COURIER· JOURNAL Circ.: m. 202,911 s. 308,325 front Edit Oll!u t.-;"i.~ , Pap ,.., ~ ... ,... . .}' .. / Date: Blacklisting Also Is Un-American .SIDE by side with the wildfire spread of loyalty- political rallies has become a business arid those security programs among govern~ent em­ engaged hi it have a vested interest in its ployees there has grown up a system of quiet continuance. blacklisting in the entertainment \ndnstries of this Whatever may have been the excuses of fear country. Considerable publicity has attended the and hysteria that brought this system into being, government's program, its expansion, its methods its continuance is an unwholesome one for the and its victims. Congressional hearings and court nation and· the entertainment industry. The face­ actions have made the public aware that the pro­ less informer has been relegated to his shadowy gram has had victims as well as triumphs, and this background in government security cases by several realization is now working to mitiga:te its earlier court decisions. The anonymous blacklister has not injustices. yet been summoned to account .for his activities, But the blacklisting which has forced radio, largely because an almost total conspiracy of television and movies to drop scores of performers silence has encouraged him. Agencies and sponsors has gone virtualiY'lirinoticed. The Fund for _Ute don't want to become involved in controversy. Republic has· sponsored ·a study of its. growth and Actors and their agents are too anxi.ous to have eff~resulted last week in a two·volume their names removed from lists to protest at their survey with disquieting implications. being there in the first place. With all its faults, the government's loyalty­ But the publication of this report is a first security prog1:am is carried out by accountable crack in the wall. Another is the filing of a damage .officials who must-explain or justify their decisions suit for $500,000 against one of the blacklisting before the courts. The blacklists in the ~ntertain­ groups by a radio comedian. Thorough airing of ment industry are compiled by private individuals these practices and of the injustices they have who profit from them. These individuals have brought into being might cause the entertainment undertaken to police the beliefs and associations industries themselves to throw off the dangerous of actors, actresses and techn,icians for years past, nuisance they have fostered. The self-appointed and to compile the result in lists to which advertis­ censors of. political purity in movies, radio and ing and casting agencies subscribe. television could not profit for very long without Names appearing on these lists, no matter how the tacit partnership of advertising agencies, .remot.e the as~ociation or how innocent in fact it sponsors and casting agencies. And it there has to was, are quietly dropped from censideration by be censorship on political as well as moral grounds, agencies and sponsors. As the report points out, no let it be done in the open. A man about to be attempt is made to single out the active Communist deprived of his livelihood has a right to know what propagandist from the innocent whose · name wa~ he is charged with doing and to defend himself, used on letterheads or at rallies for wartime causes. and an industry which denies his right is- sowing 'Tha associating of . names with causes, charities, the ,eeds of its own destru.ction. 11'-· - ~- · ...,. .-~ " ,~·--#( ·~- .-: .·.· .-'~:. ·...... ·".!J;'....-'.:,-o;..'v'"'it~ ...... ANNISTON (Ala.) STAR Circ.: e. 17,335 s. 17,801

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Date: The American people paid a big price in A McCarthy I~egacy ~owered moral standards, in a lowered sense Alistair Cooke, who comments on "things of social decency l!nd political cowardice American" for England's 'Manchester Guard· for McCarthyism, but .all'of the self-appointed ian, describes a very dangerous situation guardians of our freedoms must be eliminat­ in American thinking which he calls "A Me· ed f1'0m the fellowship of right-thinking, fair­ Ca~thy Legacy." It is the appearance of tlii.nking citizens. blacklisting as a means of destroying free· dom of thought, and his ccmment is based on _a fullsized report of the Fund for the Re­ public, a child of the Ford Foundalion . ... When--this instrument of political warfare is employed-it is not limited to politics in its operation-few citizens may be aware of its insidious effect in destroying, one at least, of our fundamental freedoms-free­ dom of speech. But our freedoms are not isolated free­ doms except for the convenience of analysis -they are aspects of one freedom, freedom of the spirit. And so Alistair Cooke asks whether "the moral climate of our time is remarkably INDIANAPOLIS STAR stable and enervating." Circ.: m. "Are men of patriotism unaware," he asks, 199,160 ''that something very un·American, and mov­ s. 295,022 ing with underground efficiency, is upl;'ooting something so fundamental as freedom of Front speech?" Page Some months ago, one writer spoke of our Western world as having become afraid of Date: liberty. There have been reports of churches black­ listing preachers who did not conform to Reading The Public Mind dogmatic pronouncements of this or that Til£ Fund for the Republic has r_elea5ed a voluminous group. report of a srnay Of Blaeklisting" in the entertainment And while that is bad enough, especially industries. The gist of it is that in the motion picture, when done in the name of religion, there are radio and television industries there are systems of se­ also social blacklistings, although they're l<:ctivity on the basis of an individual's record with re­ usually self-defeating. ' spect to C.ommunist or related activities or connections. But the whole body politic is affected when In the New York theater the surveyors found that this those whose leadership must be trusted factor entered into employment selection but that there speak with the caution of suppressed con­ was no organized system for carrying it out. victions. ,The report said persons in two categories are almost Discussion of political principles, debate universally barred from- employment in movies, radio on public issues, and criticism of party poli­ and TV. One group is of "persons identified as Com­ cies and programs are at the heart of a munist party members who have not subsequently testi­ truly tlemocratic government. fied in full before the House Un-American Activities And protection against those who by other Committee." The other group is of persons who have means would suppress freedom of speech is taken refuge in the Fifth Amendment to avoid answer­ sufficiently provided for by law. ing questions before congressional committees. Can we be safe in our freedoms of speech, These three industries depend for survival on con­ of the press, of assembly ana of r~1iglon if tinuous wide p4blic acceptance. Consequently they con­ the blacklisters are to get away with their tinually adjust their policies and methods to their under­ betrayals of those freedoms? standing of public opinion. · "We are in a twilight zone," says Mr. It is a significant indication of the state of the Amer­ Cooke, "between the protected area of the ican public mind that operators in these industries find law, and the no man's land of unverified ru­ it wise to refrain from hiring unrepentant Commtm ' ~ts mor, of slandet and scurrility." or Fifth Amendment refugees from questioning. We J shouldn't wonder if thes_e people in the entertainment.;' busines11 know which side of their bread the butter's o;-' -' TOLEDO BLADE Circ.: e. 191,016 s. 172,853

front Edit/omer Page P•a• P•a• JUL /; Date: 1956 Report On Blackli/sting

}N ISSYING a report long known to be in the · makmg on the lasting effects of blacklisting Mr. Cogley's report concludes with this state­ of performing artists in the television, radio, ment: "If the · Ame-rican businesses w h 1 c h together comprise the radio-TV industry are and motion picture industries, the Fund for the to assume the burdens of government, they Republic has invited fresh cr1tidsm from those .QJ.ust also assume the responsibility for dis­ who seem to resent any attempt to point out pensing justice. They cannot 'have it both ways." where and how there have been violations of the basic rights of ·Americans. Also, it performs This does not. seem to be at all w:tat Sen. a .service in calling attention to the quiet, almost Karl Mundt has characterized as "still another effort . . . by the Fund fsr the Republic to h~den, erosion of individual freedoms which has gone on in these . industries. . give aid and comfc!'t to the Communists." It is rather a commendable attempt .to strengthen ·Tlie . report was. prepared by John Cogley, the rights of individuals, on which the ex1stence former executive editor of Commonweal, one of of free nations ulLimately rests. the most respected of American Catholic publi­ cations. SJJ temperate is its tone, so f-air its In its candor and its temperance, this ~eport assessment of responsibility for a distressing per.forms a distinct service to a freer and a situation, that it has been hard for critics to stronger United States. find a really vulnerable spot to attack. It is the protection of the individual against unfair deprivation of the right to earn a living and against assumption, without a hearing, that allegations made are true which is at stake here. Mr. Cogley's report points out that, for several reasons, the boycott has been almost complete against any actor charged with mem­ bership in or sympathy toward o-rganizations alleged to be Communist-front groups. What began as a commendable attempt to remove actual Communist influences fron.)- these indus­ tries became and continues to be,' justification for shotgun fusillades based on the skimpiest of allegations. The report cites efforts by the American Legion in connection with motion pictures, and the publication; "Red Channels," with respect to TV and radio. :It gives them credit for trying to be fair and moderate in their own lights~ In each instance, however, ,Mr. Cogley finds that the industries themselves panicked. Compimy officials -and the representatives of advertising agencies insisted on firing pe-rformers right and left · in the face of any allegations, ·contending they didn't dare run the risk of public criticism against hiring any controversial person. such wholesale dismissals of actors, and con­ til).uing employment boycotts against them, represent one of the worst a·buses of the legiti­ mate concern to prevent Communist infiltra­ tion and control of the entertainment indus­ tries. The fact that the damage done in the ·heat of an earlier time has not been redressed even since the climate of public opinion and official atti~udes has so materially improved, .emphasizes the injustice. · JUL Y ·lO; 1956 Greensboro (l'J. C.) News July 15 1956 Intimidation byJnquiry John Cogley, former editor of J!'he Commonweal On The-Black List and author of a recent i:epoft. on bl?ackUsting1Jub· Tomorrow the former editor of Com­ lished bY The Fund for tne Repti,blic, has been monweal, a Roman Catholic weekly, is due to tell the House Un-American Activities subpenaed to appear today before the HO\!Se Com­ Committee about the practice of blacklist­ mittee on Un-American Activities. The committee ing in America's entertainment industry. chairman, Rep. Francis Walter, has said _that he. When John Cogley, the former editor wants Mr. Cogl~y to discuss the report imd to who made a study on blacklisting for the divulge, in executive session, the names Of enter~ Fund f.QI the Republic, testifies before tainers blacklisted and th~ n~mes o{the .blacklisters. Committee Chairman Francis Walter, Mr. This is, we suggest, an i nquiry of d1,1bious propriety Cogley will have come back around to a on the part of a congressional committee. source of "information" upon which much blacklisting is based. The Constitution expressly forbids Congress to In his survey Mr. Cogley found that once make any law abridging the freedom of the press; a person is called "subversive" before and implicitly it forbids Congress to abridge free· Chairman Walter's committee, and .the ac­ dom of the press by calling an author to account for cusation thereby becomes privileged, black­ what he has. written. Freedom of the press would listers repeat the charge without going into be very seriously al;lridged if writers stoo d in fear it any further. of being haled before a congressional committee Blacklisting of performers in radio, tele­ whenever they expressed .opinions on controversial vision and movies, Mr. Cogley's survey issues. Statements in the report have been chal· shows, is carri-eaout by no official agency lenged by certain individu.als; whatever the merit or government bureau, but by self-ap­ of these challenges, Congress is not the place to pointed patriots who take it upon them­ resoJve them. selv.es to decide an actor's or musician's loyalty. Moreover, the Un-Am er~ can Activities Commit~ To get on a blacklist is not difficult: An tee has no business trying to make a writer I accusation made by anyone, anywhere at reveal names which he has undertaken to keep Jn any time that a performer has Communist confidence. Freedom of the. press would be seriously \ "sympathies or associations," whether true abridged if committees o~ Congress ignored the · or false, can ruin an actor's or a writer's obligation of reporters to maintain the _confiden­ chance to work. tiality of sources of information. Not only can a blackiisting agency out- If the Un-American Activities Committee wants . law a performer but it can also-on its assistance or advice from Mr. Cogley, it is, of own terms, financial or otherwise-provide course, at liberty to invite him to come and testify. "clearance." That this ndarious form of An invitaiion is very different from a subpena; conviction and judgment opens the way for blackmail goes without saying, The tactics of the committee invite ·the supposition, Except for the Broadway stage, black- however, that its intent is more retaliation than ·. listing ha!l been ·generally accepted in the information. Presumably Mr. Cogley has said all entertainment world, with advertising that he wants to say on the subject of blacklisting agencies and producers voluntarily joining in his vol uminous report. in to exclude "controversial" personalities. Even a courteous invitation may raise some 1 Mr. Cogley's appearance before Chair­ questions, depending on the circumstances. A : man Walter is part of the Un-American couple of weeks ago the House Appropriations · Activities Committee's investigation of the Committee invited a representative of the St. Louis , Fund for the Republic. Mr. Cogle y~ s find­ Post-Dispatch to come to Washington 1!-nd answer : ings should be examined seriously. For , while no one would deny sponsors and questiqns concerning an editorial entitled "Losing producers the right to hire whomever they the Peaceful Atom." The newspaper declined the please, the question is: Does an unofficial invitation, explaining its stand in these words: agency have the right to deprive perform­ If an editor were to answer official questions ers of a livelihood on the basis of un­ as to how he formed his opinions and t o describe ~ pz:oved and unanswered charges'? the sources on which they were ha.sed, his con­ duct would. encourage other committees to ·make \ This question involves rights of freedom similar demands on editors. Such a develop­ of apeech-..and. _!fl,le process. ment would place freedom of the press under fear of congressional inquiry and thus rest rict the information of the people. The. consequences could be far-reaching and ominous. . We earnestly suggest to Representative Walter that he and his committee colleagues read Mr. Cog­ ley's report-and that they leave Mr. CogleY him· self alone. DES MOINES REGISTER Circ.: rn. 221,737 s. 524,018

front Edit Other Page Pag~ Page

Date: Intimidation of a Writer

The house uri-American activities The public dearly is getti~ the pros committee again has exceeded the and cons of the Cogley wotk without bounds of propriety by subpoenaing benefit of congressional book review· Writer John Cogley and demanding that he "l'!x)Jlain" his two recent reports on in g. blacklisting in the movies and in radio· Congress, of course, has a right to television. in vestigate to see that tax exempt foun­ The hearings ostensibly are an inves· dations are not misusing the exemption tigation of the Fund for the Republic, privilege. But congress can exercise which underwr:ot"e-the-.- -project. The that right without subjecting grantees questioning or Cogley more often sug· to a grilling about why they write as gested ~ congressional attempt to tear they do. down and discredit a work congress Cogley did not provide congress with didn't happen to like. any new important information on The country does not need congress blacklisting; the names of the "clear­ to serve as book reviewer and critic. ance men" he gave are all listed in his The Cogley werk was widely distrib· two reports. The purpose of Cogley's uted to the press; It is on sale at $1.25 appearance seemed to be to force him 8. copy. It has been publicly reviewed to e~plain why he did or didn't say cer­ and hashed over, and it has received tain things the committee thought brickbats as well as praise. should or shouldn't haye been said. The New York Times reviewer, for This borders on intimidation - in­ example, declared the radio-TV section timidation of the sort that can be a ''has drawn commendation and censur~; threat to free scholarship and a free both are deserved." He ,pointed out a press. No researcher, writer or scholar number or shortcomings, including a can work freely with the threat of sub­ failure to emphasize the climate -of poena hanging over his head. In a fr~e opinion that made blacklisting possible, society, the~e men an swer to 1heir fel · a'nd the need for "more unvarnished low professional~; and to the public - fact and less editorializing." not to their government. July 13, 195() / COGLEY QUIZ h 'the House Committee on Un­ ~~t Ntw- fork ctimt' American Activities were really in­ ltSTAjlLISHED 1851 REG. U. S. PAT. OFF. terested in examining all un-Amer­ "All the Nero& That'& Fit to Print". ican acti:Vities it might long ago ADOLPH S. OCHS, Publisher 1896-1935 have used its great powers as an inve ,tigaUve arm of Congress to Published Every Day in the Year by look into the thoroughly un-Amer­ THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY ican art of blacklisting in the enter­ tainment industry. Ins'tead, it left ARTHUP. HAYS SULZBERGER that thankless job to the Fund for­ J>resid.ent and Publisher the Republic, but it has now sudden· ly raised its hackles because it 0RVIL E. DRYFOOS didn't like what the Fund's inde­ Vice President pendent inquiry produced . .AMORY H. BRADFORD Exactly three days after the Secretary Fund had made public its two-volume FRANCIS A. CoX report on Blacklisting, the House Trea,surer Committee peremptorily subpoenaed -did not invite-John Cogley, dir­ ector of the study, to appear before it in Washington. The intention, according to Chairman Francis E. Walter, was to determine among other things "what the purposes of the Fund and of Mr. Cogley truly a~;e." · Mr. Walter's strict objectiv­ ity may be considered against the background of his earlier query in announcing a forthcoming investiga­ tion of the Fund itself: "Is this foundation * * * a friend or a foe in our nation's death struggle against the Communist conspiracy?" Paul G. Hoffman, President George N. Shuster of Hunter College, ·chester Bowles, Dean Erwin N. Griswold of the Harvard Law School and other noted Americans on the Fund's Board of Directors must have deeply appreciated th~t comment by the Democratic states­ man from Pennsylvania. Be that as it may, the context and tone of questions put by the com­ mittee counsel to Mr. Cogley on the subject of his blacklisting report raise the strongest suspicions that here was an obvious effort to harass a writer for what he had written. Mr. Cogley himself is former execu­ tive editor of the highly respected liberal Roman Catholic weekly, The Commonweal, and he is capable ol. defending his own works. But we are concerned over any and every effort, no matter how it may be dis­ guised, to intimidate a man for writ­ ing what he believes; and when a committee of the House of Repre­ sentatives skates perilously clnse to doing that, we think it comes equal­ ly close to violating the First Amendment. t·IARTFORD COURANT Circ.: m. 86,944 s. 130,826 STOCKTON (Calif.) RECORD

Front E.lit Other Circ.: e. 49,770 Page Pa'Jo Page JUL 1 3 195& Date:

The Fund for the Repub!i~ Date: Is Still Sizzling Blacklisting America!1 En1·ertainers The Ford Foundation, now one of the nation's bi ; givers to charities, has a new head. Dr. Henry Testimony before the House Un-America.n Activities T. Heald, President of New York Universi.ty, will Committee so far confirms the report of the ~ for the take over 'his. ·new duties October 1, succeeding Republic that a system of blacklisting entertainers suspected H. Rowan Gaither. He in turn becomes cnq.irman of Communist inclinations 1s arbitrarily denying them of 1he board of trustees. This remarkable organiza­ employment. We agree wit~ , the general counsel of the tion one incidental fr~it of the genius of Henry Ford, has already made its impact or, hundreds of Anti-Defamation League that it is a "dreadful thing" for hospitals and other eleemosynary institutions. the. entertainment industry thus to operate. Surely this is The parent organization has not, however, cre· an appropriate subject for investigation by a committee ated nearly the public stir that has been made by interested in un-American practices. its small offspring, completely dissociated from it, the Fund for the· Republic. The Fund for the Republic is, itself, under attack, and Now the Fund finds itself again in the middle the chairman of the House committee. aims frequent verbal of a tug of war betw~en those who believe that it darts in its direction. It is difficult to see, •however, . how is an 'instrument of the Communists, and those who the committee can ignore the blacklist charge in view of see it as a bulwark for civil liberties. Its latest serv~ the fact that extreme zealousness on the part of Congress ic~ was to point out the facts and methods of in­ justices done to indiv;dual citizens, notably in the in the past has created the atmosphere favorable to entertainment field, b~' unsubstantia!ed charges of blacklisting. The theatrical business can hardly l)e blamed communism. for extreme caution in guarding against Red . infiltration, Now the authpr of that study, John Cogley, a Ro­ and perhaps for overstepping the bounds of fair play. man Catholic arid a former editor of Commonweal, A more sensible regard for national security is has been called before the Walter committee to testi­ fy. The purpose of the investigation, according to increasingly evident in Washington in contrast to the the chairman, Francis E. Walter of Penns~lvania, short-range, emergency o-ash program which made is to bring " a more precise focus" on the question headlines a few years ago . . Perhaps the Un-American of whether the Fund for the ReP.ublic "stands as Activities Committee is ready to accommodate its views to friend or foe in America's struggle agaiost com· . ,, the trerid recognizing the risk of damage to individual civil mum sm. Is th matter as simple as that? Many thought rightl'. that the Fund's latest study brought up thP. matter of simple justice for people who had been unjustly acc,used. Perhaps Chairman Walter will go -into that THE Commonweal A Weekly Review of Public Affairs, Literature, and the Arts

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OST READERS of this magazine know query by Newsday, Mr. Walter said: "The Com­ John Cogley through his writing in these mittee is not passing judgment at this time on the M pages. Last year Mr. Cogley resigned his survey's conclusions. However, we want to ask Mr. post as executive editor to head a Fund for the Cogley some pertinent questions which will help Republic inquiry into the nature and extent of us evaluate the studies he has already made." blacklisting in the movies, television and radio. In writing this editorial, the editors of this maga­ The project undertaken by Mr. Cogley was a zine tried to reach Rep. Walter for comment, with­ large one. A staff of ten reporters and researchers out success. A staff member of the Committee, under his direction spent eight months collecting however, told us that Mr. Cogley was being called facts and interviewing hundreds of persons inside "so he can be interrogated in executive session re­ and outside the industries affected. Recently, the garding the assertions made in the report of the results of the project were published in two separate Fund for the Republic on so-called blacklisting." volumes, one on Hollywood and one on the radio­ In a statement carried by the United Press, Rep. TV industry. Because of Mr. Cogley's long con­ Walter said that the committee is not now in a nection with this magazine, it was our intention position "to pass judgment on the conclusions which when his report was published merely to note this the Fund has reached in its survey or to ascertain fact for those of our readers who might be in­ what influences may have contributed to the char­ terested. Recent developments have made us change acter of its charges." (This is hardly surprising; our mind, however. Congressman Walter admitted to Newsday that he Some months ago, in a different connection, we had never read the report Mr. Cogley wrote.) mentioned our growing suspicion that right-wing Then Representative Walter went on to say: "Nor groups and columnists were able to use some Con­ can the Committee state at this point what the gressional investigating bodies to serve their own purposes of the Fund and Mr. Cogley truly are. particular interests. Developments in the case of Mr. It is to determine the answers to these matters Cogley's report on blacklisting strengthen that sus­ that the Committee is preparing to evaluate this picion. In his findings Mr. Cogley discusses the role aspect of the Fund's work." of certain of these right-wing columnists in deter­ This seems to us a strange statement, especially mining whether or not a man is employable. What coming from a man who admitted that he had not he reported seems to have been more or less of an read the report because of which, supposedly, Mr. open secret in the industries themselves, but ap­ Cogley is being subpenaed. We can tell Congress­ parently this is the first time anyone has come right man Walter what Mr. Cogley's purpose, as he puts out and said it in print. By what seems more than it, is, in this and everything else he has written: coincidence, Mr. Cogley's report had been out only to tell the truth. And we suggest that this fact three days when he received a summons from would be obvious if Mr. Walter and all others the House Un-American Activities Committee. engaged in commenting on Mr. Cogley's report The circumstances surrounding the decision to had read it instead of misleading news stories, the call Mr. Cogley in this fashion seem far from clear. foremost of them written by a reporter who is him­ Head of the Committee is Rep. Francis Walter. To a self named in the book.

JULY 13, 1956 359 ------weekbyweek------We frankly resent the summary way in which who are anti-New Deal? In Mr. Cogley's case, his Mr. Cogley has been treated. We resent the fact two volumes were published by the Fund itself that he was not given the courtesy of an invitation rather than by a university press or a commercial rather than a subpena. Nothing in Mr. Cogley's publisher. We do not see how this fact substantially record as a Catholic editor and journalist of some alters the case, for when Congressional commit­ standing justifies the cavalier treatment he has tees can freely call authors of books to answer so far received. for their work, we are starting down a dangerous We know Mr. Cogley well enough to know that path. he has nothing to fear from any inquiry, if it is For Mr. Cogley, a real complication may arise honestly conducted. But aside from the discourtesy from the very nature of the subject he was investi­ shown to him, there is involved here a serious gating. He was able to obtain much of his material question involving freedom of the press, and it is only in confidence, because some who gave him this with which we are particularly concerned here. information feared the loss of their jobs if their Apologists for the invest;gating committees justify names were used-a fact that illustrates very well high-handed procedures like this by saying that the atmosphere of fear that surrounds the entire journalists are not specially privileged persons and subject-and now he is under great pressure to must expect to be interrogated by Congress. But reveal his sources. This, of course, is a familiar this statement is certainly not the whole truth. situation in the history of journalism, but, ironically, Journalists are not specially privileged in their own in Mr. · Cogley's case much of the pressure persons as citizens, but in the exercise of their pro­ to make him reveal his sources is coming from fession they are and must be; as journalists, they journalists who certainly know the tradition of are and must be entitled to unique protection from journalism in this matter but who have themselves harassment. To the butcher, the baker and the been named for their part in the blacklisting picture. candlestick-maker, this privilege may seem unfair, Such conduct is clearly unbecoming in news­ but it is a vital part of the American system, es­ papermen, but if it turns out that they can actually sential because the health of this democracy is use a Congressional committee in an effort to dependent upon the workings of a free press. achieve this purpose, the whole thing is doubly What gives Congressman Walter the right to scandalous. After all, the libel courts are still open grill Mr. Cogley about what he says in his book? to anyone who feels he has been unjustly treated In discussing this point, many people cite the fact by this report. that the Fund for the Republic which provided the These, then, are the facts about Mr. Cogley and money for Mr. Cogley's research is a tax-exempt his two-volume report, as we see them. By the time educational foundation, as if this meant that the this editorial appears, if the present schedule is normal safeguards against the abuse of govern­ adhered to, Mr. Cogley will have appeared before mental power no longer operated in such instances. the House Committee. Although it should be un­ But America is full of tax-exempt institutions and necessary, we want to state publicly our complete organizations of all kinds, engaging in charitable, confidence in him, as a journalist and as a man religious and educational work. To say that of integrity-as would anyone who knows him. such institutions and organizations must meet cer­ We reiterate our belief that the subpenaing of Mr. tain minimum standards or rules of behavior is Cogley to answer questions about his book and reasonable enough, but this certainly should not the manner in which it was done raise the most mean that a government committee can do anything serious Constitutional questions about the freedom it wants to such a tax-exempt group or institution, of the press and the use of power by Congressional without protest or opposition. committees. We call upon members of the House There are scores of books published every of Representatives, and especially the Speaker of year which are the result of research financed by the House, the Hon. Sam Rayburn of Texas, to tax-exempt foundations or institutions. In the fu­ note our protest in this matter. We earnestly recom­ ture, may authors of such books expect to be mend consideration of the issues involved in this subpenaed by Congressional committees if their matter to the American Society of Newspaper Edi• findings of fact or opinions are unpopular? Will tors and to the American Book Publishers' Council. a writer who upholds the Supreme Court decision And wo ask other editors, Catholic and non-Cath­ on segregation, for example, be subpenaed and olic, to follow the treatment of Mr. Cogley by the grilled by Senator Eastland? Will Keynesian econo­ House Un-American Activities Committee with mists be called to account by Congressional critics serious concern.

360 THI! COMMONWEAL THE Commonweal A Weekly Review of Public Affairs, Literature, and the Arts

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WO WEEKS ago in these pages, we dis­ far as we are able to follow their reasoning, it cussed some of the issues arising from the goes something like this: there is no such thing T publication of John Cogley's Report on as blacklisting, but it is a good thing and we ought Blacklisting. When that editorial was written, Mr. to have more of it. The report calls the process Cogley, former executive editor of this magazine, whereby some people have managed to get their had received a subpena from the House Un-Amer­ names removed from these lists "clearance," but, one ican Activities Committee but had not yet testified. after another, various individuals have come for­ Since that time, he has made his appearance be­ ward to deny completely that there is any such fore the Committee, and further comment seems thing as clearance; there is only, as George Sokol­ called for. sky put it, a "rehabilitation" process, or, as an As far as Mr. Cogley's report itself is concerned, official of the American Legion expressed it, the we cannot attempt to summarize it here or to creation of a "climate of employability" by a process comment upon it in detail. The two volumes, one exactly like that Mr. Cogley described. The dif­ on Hollywood and one on the TV-radio ·industry, ference between these terms escapes us. represent months of work by a sizable staff of According to these critics, then, there are lists researchers and· journalists under Mr. Cogley's di­ of people who cannot work, but no blacklists. rection. The picture that emerges of blacklisting There is no such thing as clearance; there is only as an institutionalized practice seems factually un­ "rehabilitation" and the restoration of a "climate assailable, whether one approves or disapproves of of employability." There are no key people who the practice itself. Hollywood Variety, for example, must be satisfied if a person is to be restored to said that the report "serves only to document what work; there are only certain columnists and key is common knowledge and by such documentation officials of various organizations who frequently publicize the extent and influence of the self-ap­ consult informally with each other on such matters pointed guardians of the nation's mores." If Mr. and who must be satisfied before "the climate of Cogley has committed any offense, it seems to be employability" is restored. The conclusion is in­ that he has stated publicly what people in the en­ escapable that Mr. Cogley described the essence tertainment industries privately accept as fact. of the system exactly and truthfully. The reaction of many of those mentioned in the As far as the House Un-American Activities report struck us as downright peculiar. The volumes Committee is concerned, we said two weeks ago were hardly out when some of them began to that we resented the way Mr. Cogley was sub­ defend themselves vigorously against charges that penaed in the first place, and we still do. The very had never been made-a fact which strengthens fact that he received a subpena at all, plus the our suspicion that few of these people had actually · statements made by the Chairman of the Committee taken the trouble to read the two volumes them­ and the kind of questioning to which he was sub­ selves, but were depending on early and misleading mitted by Committee Counsel, simply invited the newspaper stories on the study. kind of smear-treatment he received at the hands Others who have taken strong exception to the of some sections of the press. report on blacklisting follow a different tack. As During the hearings, there was one healthy de-

JULY 27, 1956 407 ------week by week------velopment. Before Mr. Cogley appeared, the Com­ Cogley backward and forward through his two mittee announced that he would have to reveal all volumes, questioning his choice of a word or a his sources of information. In many cases, Mr. phrase here, arguing with his line of reasoning there, Cogley could not in conscience do this, since frequently asking why some particular point was various people in the entertainment industry had not made as the Counsel would have made it. Mr. given him information only because of his pledge Cogley was on the stand for hours, and the tran­ of secrecy; if they were identified, they faced loss script of .his testimony amounts to more than one of their jobs as reprisal for talking. When Mr. hundred pages of double-spaced typewritten ma­ Cogley appeared before the Committee, Congress­ terial. We still fin!i it hard to believe that such a men Morgan M. Moulder and Clyde Doyle stated grilling of an author about what he has written publicly that it was traditional for a journalist to could take place in America; there is about the protect his sources of information and that they whole procedure a strong note of Alice in Wonder­ did not believe that any effort should be made to land-or of Orwell. try to force Mr. Cogley to reveal his. The Com­ Blacklisting is not a simple subject to discuss, mittee then did not attempt to press Mr. Cogley and it is certainly controversial. Anyone who writes further on this particular point. about it can expect to be called upon to defend Counsel for the Committee, however, led Mr. himself from criticism. But it is hardly proper or

Editorial Comment on the Blacklisting Hearings

INTIMIDATION BY INQUIRY COGLEY QUIZ from the Washington Post from the N. Y. Times John Cogley, former editor of The Commonweal Exactly three days after the Fund .[for the and author of a recent report on blacklisting pub­ Republic] had made public its two-volume report on lished by the Fund for the Republic, has been blacklisting, the House Committee peremptorily sub­ subpoenaed to appear today before the House Com­ poenaed-did not invite-John Cogley, director of mittee on Un-American Activities. . . . This is, we the study, to appear before it in Washington. The suggest, an inquiry of dubious propriety.... intention, according to Chairman Francis E. Walter, The Constitution expressly forbids Congress to was to determine among other things "what the make any law abridging the freedom of the press, purposes of the Fund and of Mr. Cogley truly are." and implicitly it forbids Congress to abridge freedom Mr. Walter's strict objectivity may be considered of the press by calling an author to account for against the background of his earlier query in an­ what he has written. Freedom of the press would nouncing a forthcoming investigation of the Fund be very seriously abridged if writers stood in fear itself: "Is this foundation . . . a friend or a foe in of being hauled before a congressional committee our nation's death struggle against the Communist whenever they expressed opinions on controversial conspiracy?" Paul G. Hoffman, President George issues. Statements in the report have been challenged N. Shuster of Hunter College, Chester Bowles, Dean by certain individuals; whatever the merit of these Erwin N. Griswold of the Harvard Law School and challenges, Congress is not the place to receive them. other noted Americans on the Fund's Board of Di­ Moreover, the Un-American Activities Committee rectors must have deeply appreciated that comment has no business trying to make a writer reveal names by the Democratic statesman from Pennsylvania. which he has undertaken to keep in confidence. Free­ Be that as it may, the context and tone of ques­ dom of the press would be seriously abridged if tions put by the committee counsel to Mr. Cogley committees of Congress ignored the obligation of on the subject of his blacklisting report Taise the reporters to maintain the confidentiality of sources strongest suspicions that here was an obvious effort of information. to harass a writer for what he had written. Mr. If the Un-American Activities Committee wants Cogley himself is former executive editor of the assistance or advice from Mr. Cogley, it is, of course, highly respected liberal Roman Catholic weekly, at liberty to invite him to come and testify. An The Commonweal, and he is capable of defending invitation is very different from a subpoena. The his own works. But we are concerned over any and tactics of the committee invite the supposition, how­ every effort, no matter how it may be disguised, to ever, that its intent is more retaliation than infor­ intimidate a man for writing what he believes; and mation .... We earnestly suggest to Representative when a committee of the House of Representatives Walter that he and his committee colleagues read skates perilously close to doing that, we think it Mr. Cogley's report-and that they leave Mr. Cogley comes equally close to violating the First Amend­ himself alone. ment.

408 THE COMMOI\IWEAL ------week by week------just that one side of such a debate should be able the conclusions we would have reached had we to enlist an official body of the Congress of the embarked on this sort of project." (italics added) United States to harass its opposition. The In the face of this statement, we can only ask the Washington Post called its editorial on these hear­ obvious: since when has the author of a book been ings "Intimidation by Inquiry," and that title sums subject to Congressional harassment to determine them up very aptly. No writer relishes the prospect whether or not the members of the Committee or that he and his family may be embarrassed by a its staff approve of his conclusions? Since when subpena from some Congressional committee that has a writer been under any kind of obligation to does not happen to like his work. No writer likes make sure his reasoning agrees with that of the the idea that the extremist press will be en­ members or the staff of the House Un-American couraged to set upon and smear him. Yet that is Activities Committee? And if this is indeed the exactly what happened here, and the cause of free­ new rule, what ever happened to the Constitutional dom has hardly been advanced in the process. guarantees on freedom of· speech and freedom of If the line of questioning followed by the Com­ the press? mittee Counsel left any doubt that these hearings The dangers involved in the Committee's entire constituted a dangerous encroachment on freedom procedure in this matter are obvious. That our of the press, Representative Francis J. Walter, opinion is shared by others is iridicated by some the Chairman of the Committee, himself spelled of the editorials reprinted elsewhere in these pages, the matter out quite plainly. Toward the end of and by the fact that Senator Lehman of New York the questioning, Representative Doyle said he has already charged that the Committee's procedure thought Mr. Cogley was . entitled to make a state­ raised "serious Constitutional questions regarding ment or ask a question if he wished. Mr. Cogley freedom of the press." We consider it a violation of then said: "I would like to know, if I may, why the First Amendment and a flagrant abuse of power I was called." In his reply, Representative Walter for any Congressional Committee to attempt to said: "We called you for the purpose of ascer­ pressure writers into conformity with its opinion. taining what your sources were in order to de­ That such a violation took place in the case of Mr. termine whether or not your conclusions were Cogley is unmistakable.

Washington Post July 1, 1956 Walter on Blacklisting

It i ~ immensely heartening to have the voice of Rep. Francis E. Walter added to the protests against the practice of blacklisting. In a press interview on Thursday, the chairman of the House Com­ mittee on Un-American Activities vigorously con­ c;lemned the practice=-both when it affects persons who have invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than testify regarding Communist affiliations and when it affects persons who have testified freely and implicated others. "It creates all sorts of schisms in our. society," he said. It must be of ·concern to. Mr. Walter, therefore, that the reports ·and files of his committee have been so important a source of blacklists. These reports and files are filled with the names of per­ sons who have been the targets of unchecked and unverifi~d accusations;

Front Edit Other Page Page Page 1Ul 1 S t956 Date: Let's Have More Light on That 'Blacklisting' The House Committee on Un­ Quite aside from the observation George Sokolsky, a newspaper American Activities launched its that the committee might seem to writer who had been mentioned as lol1g-awaited investigation of the be wandering far afield, a number one of several persons with sufficient Fund for the Republic the other of questiQns are raised as a resu.lt influence to clear the names of black­ day. To suggest that the commit­ of these opening hearings. listed entertainers, flatly denied that tee got off to a rocky start would In the first place, Mr. Cogley was he was involved in any "clearance" be about the most charitable inter­ summoned by subpoena. A more ring. But he did admit that he had pretation one could place on the gracious approach might have been helped in what he called a "rehabili­ opening proceedings. to invite him to appear and testify. tation process." As a result of the But instead, the committee issued workings of this "process," he ex­ Rep. Francis Walter (D-Pa), E. an order and compelled him to ap­ plained, about 300 persons were now chairman of the com­ pear as though . he were already working in the motion picture in­ mittee, announced at under some cloud of criminal mis­ the outset that the d~tstry who previously "could not feasance. This raises at once a work because of the record they had committee sought to question about the committee's au­ established of Communist or determine whether thority and its possible infringe­ pseudo-Commuhist associations." the Fund for the Re­ ment on the rights of the free press. Unwittingly, perhaps, Mr. Sokol­ public " s - ~ a n d s as It is a question that needs to be friend or foe in Amer­ sky confirmed the earlier evidence raised whether the committee that certain persons had fallen from ica's struggle against thinks so or not. c-ommunism." WaIter grace, and later were restOled to Again, the only valid reason for _grace partly through. his. efforts. As its first witness, calling Mr. Cogley in the first place the committee summoned Johh Cog­ would seem to be to establish the Whether it is called a "clearance" ley, former editor of a Catholic truth or falsity of the statements process or a "rehabilitation'' process magazine. Mr. Cogley was called be­ he made in his report. But Richard doesn't change at all the doubtful cause of a report he had written Arens, the committee counsel who character of the whole program. under auspices of the Fund....for the conducted the questioning, seemed If any such clearly "un-Ameri­ Republic. The report conc~rned the much more interested in browbeat­ can" practice as this is going on, entertainment field. The pertinent ing Mr. Cogley than in an objec­ then surely it should be ·a valid substance of it charged that certain tive study of Mr. CogleY's report. subject for investigation by the entertainers had been blacklisted for Other questions are raised by this House Un- American Activities alleged Communistic leanings and opening salvo. The picture has been Committee. But the impression per­ because of the blacklisting were un­ suggested of some sort of a shadowy, sists that the present committee is able to obtain work. Mr. Cogley fur­ unofficial and self-appointed group more interested in the minnows ther reported that some of the bla,ck­ of individuals who somehow have than the whales, more interested in listed entertainers were able to ob­ the power to blacklist entertainers its conception of 100 per cent tain a full clearance if they ap­ and deprive them of their liveli­ Americanism than it js in the es­ proached th~ right people. The hood, The charge has been made sential freedoms- and possibly "right people" included a labor that if certain of these shadowy even more interested in defending leader, a supermarket ?perator, an figures are approached, the black­ that shadowy practice of blacklist­ American Legion offic1al, a- l:e~s­ listed individual may obtain Clear­ ing than it is in bringing the prac­ paper columnist and an advertlsmg ance. It's all done outside the law tice out into the light. It is a cause executive. ' and without anypublic scrutiny. for wonder and a cause for concern. PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Circ.: m. 637,561 s. 1,124,395

front Edit Other Page Page . Page{ O 'g 5 Date: JUL/ . Blacklisting-or Reckoning Day? At a time when we are spending billions sponsors of those meetings were Communist to combat the advance of Communism abroad, sympathizers. Representative Francis E. Walter, in his ad- The lower court threw out his case. He dress. here to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, appealed, and lost. This week in the New warns that a calculated campaign is under York State Court of Appeals, he lost again. way to lull the American people into toler- The court hild that the actor "performed a ating the Red conspiracy within our country. public act in appearing and reciting at the As an example of the way well-meaning meetings organized by Communist fronts." people have been deceived, Representative The court also added a point to remember: Walter cites the report on Communism is- "With frequent access to the radio and tele­ sued by the Fund f8P tlte Rq5ttblie: He says: vision audiences, actors, writers, directors "The rePol't considers membership in the and producers can and do mold the thinking Communist conspiracy as a 'political belief.' of citizens to a degree far greater than lead­ It holds that anyone who fires a Communist ers .•• who -cannot afford to or do not utilize -because he is a Communist-is engaged these media extensively.'' in 'political discrimination.' Its total effect There is no Federal law against being a is to blacken the name of every organization Communist .or a fellow-traveler, or a sup­ and every individual which has been engaged porter of Red fronts. But neither is there in trying to get rid of the Communist con- a law which compels an employer to hire spiracy in the movies, radio and television.'' such people, . As an example of the way the Fund for Representative Walter, in his talk to the the Republic report has been "loaded" in VFW, made a point we feel is important: favor of the Reds he cites the case,of Gale . that there is need to provide full opportunity Sondergaard, alrwy~.familiar to us m Pfiii-· for renunciation by anyone who regrets hav­ adelphia. He notes that the report gives Miss ing fallen for the Commie line. Many have Sondergaard as an example of an actress who cleared themselves before Representative has been blacklisted ••. without mentioning Walter's House Un-American Activities Com­ that "she has been named by half a dozen mittee, including a lot of actors. Walter says witnesses (under oath) as a member of the he now will summon Miss Sondergaard and Communist Party." give her a chance to clear herself, too. The current cry over "blacklisting" boils Certainly some official agency is essential down to the fact that a day of reckoning has for -that purpose. Regretful ex-Reds should caught up with the Reds and Red sympathiz- not have to go to individuals or private groups ers. And their cry that employers should for that purpose, as reported this week. be compelled to hire them-no matter how Meanwhile, the Moscow line has changed. Red their records-has been answered only But its agencies of subversion-its Cominu­ this week, by the courts. nist parties abroad-have not changed. One An actor sued the publ4shers of "Red Chan- by one they have swallowed even the down­ nels," a book listing the records of Commu- grading of Stalin. One by one they con­ nist-front supporters, for $150,000. He tinue to strive to destroy from within~by claimed he had trouble finding employment. "peaceful means"-what they cannot de­ However, he admitted that he had attended stroy from without: the will of the free world Red front meetings. He meded ..tha.t" the .· • ~ -r~main~ free • ., . . • . . I / "After two years of study consultation · with more thar. thousand of the country's best DECATUR (Ill.) HERALD known and .best informed citi· TOLEDO BLADE zens, the trustees cif the Ford Circ.: m. 34,539 Foundation identified· in 1950 Circ.: e. 190,612 52,582 the areas of current human.· needs s. 166,660 s. to which it prop<>sed to. devote its rdources. Among these was the. Front Edit Other need to help to. remove restrictions Front Edit .. l Hthet\_ S \956 Page Page and infrin,gements on freedom of Page P~ge ._, , , ..e 1 speech and press, freedom of reli­ DateJUL I / 1956 gion, freedom of inquiry and freedom -of thought. Assault 0~ The F)rst Controversi'al "The Fund for the Republic is a result of .· this -· judgment. Th~ . I . HAS ,TAKEN a g r o U1> of P.ennsylvanfa .Mr. Hutchins Fund ••. has sought to e{{amine Ir whether there has been an erosion· Quakers to direct attention to the fact that CONTROVERSY clir.os to 0 'of our ancient liberties, to inves­ what has been g'oing on in Washington _. under Robert HutchinS like a burr. M~ tigate and seek to alleviate racial president the Fund for the the guise of hearings by the House Un-American Th~ oE and religious disc_riminatiori, and Republic, and former president of J\;ctivities Committee in. recent days ·strikes-) to providt:' the basis· for a•-wid~r the University of ChiCago, is an close to the heart of' the ·Bjll of· Rights-the,i understanding of the role of d~r outspoken advocate who relishes a . . ' heritage of freedom and. justice in First Amendment. { good argumerit. And he is usually developing a strong and enter· . The_Pl ,:Vmouth mont):lly meeting of the, RelH on the unpopular side of an _prising Amerjca." gious Society o•f Friends has come into the pic- ~ is~ue. it The Ford Foundation .gave .· the ture. because of a $5;000 grant·offered by the lI · So it is not surprising that the fund 15 million dollar~ to catty Fund for th~~el;l]J9lic after it had refused to i Fund for the Republic, which .out these tasks. So far · the fUnd discharge a librari-an cited for contempt by the! Mr. Hutchins has humorously re­ 'has spent about a third of its Senate when she- declined to answer questions • ferred ·to as a "wholly disowned" grant. It has sponsorecf the study about possible Communist affiliation. Actually, subsidiary of the .Ford Founda· 9f blacklisting. It gave' the Asso­ the grant hasn't been accepted. But Rep. tion, is the subject of an investi· ' :dation of the Bi!r of the City. of Francis E. Walter, who contends he is trying to gation _by the House Committee :N,ew . York Fund $100~000 . to . · · estab~ish if- the Fund for the Republic is "·a · on U n-American Activities. ,~onduct a survey of the federal f.rlenq or· a foe in our nation's death struggle Committee Chairman Francis}. oya 1tyc .security programs, a report _against the Communist conspiracy/' put in a . E. Walter (D-Pa) says that the .,of which was p1Jblished this week. demand for the. minutes of the group's meetings. hearings which began this week · A _letter in reply deClares: "It has no doubt are an attemptto find out whether ; The Fund for the Republic has escaped your attention that Plymouth meeting the fund "stands as friend or foe spent. by far the·largest- amourit of is a r~ligious ·scx;:Iety and its. records protected in America'.s struggle against com· mQney · on studies of communism . ., _. in· the United S&:ates; · i11cluding by the First AJ.nendment to .the Constitution mumsm. · ·a survey of .. A merican attitu des from subpena by a &"overnment body." The committee .began by ques· toward communism (published Already Mr. Walter has started t.o baf!k up. tioning John Cogley; the former Ia:st year), a . stu'dy of·the Cof!l- He thinks "it may be that all · the informa.tion editor o£ The Commonweal,_a lay muriist . record· . a~d . surveys of we need can be · furnished without the minutes Gatholic magazine, who directeda Communist influence in the l:~Qor themselves!' But this is the first sign of respect survey, fin~nced by the fund, · of, movement, ch11rches, · govei:riment, he has shown the First Amendment. blacklisting in the motion picture education, litentture, mass media, Most of last week. was spent by hhs committee and radio ·and · · television~ indus~ the social structure a~d opi~ion­ in 11-ttempting to discredit a ·- Fund for the ;' tries .. The ten~r of. th~' congre~· making groups. Republic report on the extent of blacklisting in ! sional investigation· is indicat~forec1 People, th~ National Ux:· actors suspect ()f Communist activity, to testify ~ 'wli~t'~ rnoie, why ~ he ?in· ·lf !.>a~ League. . ' that ~hat , they are doihg isn't "blacklisting"-f Soc1ahst to help htm? It ts oh:-, _R_;.,.bert' . M Hut\ h' ·h ·· · a· ~ at all, but only an attempt to "rehabilitate," ~ · · h h f -. . -- . "" . . · c tns. as rna e _vtous . t at arassme;11t 0 1v1 r ~ · 1a lq!>Pf ~stak~ in the y~ars since· individuals. they regard as wayward. j H utcht~s . and ~ th~, F~nd for ti1e; i 19~~ when he hecamt;· the bo .· The semantic. argument asic¥; what Went on 1 Repubhc 1s :,the p~tnopal J?~r.~se ' ( JJ'r~td~i president of the Univd: in these hearings last week nad all the ear- \ of the . U _n-Amenca~ · ActtiVltle!i sitti' or Chicago at . _30· B ·t· marks :of an attempt to question ail individual's ' Co· 'h' ·· · ~' age .u , mmtttee s earmgs. I tha is bis privilege, and no cause right . to ·set down his beliefs and findings on. 0 Pau1 G. Hoffman, _~>haH.man of fo ..a ~arassin& congressional _i .n­ a ~atter 9! general importance: Lik{lthe effort ,_ t6' demand . the minutes of the 'Pleetings .of a, ' the Fund for the Repubhc, out- vestloatwn0 whtch ·borders on as lines its g(!nesis • and purposes in :rv~r. Cogley told the Un~A~eri· a just-published report of its first can· Activities Commitee Tues· three ye:trs: . d~y, "an tinprececl~nteCt invasioo oE freedm:n of thoufilt and , ex~ pression in : the _Unite~ 'StateS:~ " . In short, the blacklist hearing appears to ST. LOUIS have been a facade for retaliation against a POST -DISPATCH 'Writer whose findings displeased the House Un­ .1\merican Activities Committee. But what if Circ.: e. .387,398 Congress had the right to summon any author S~ 460,501 with whom it disagreed, or if writers generally lived in fear of being ordered before a commit­ Front Ed if Other Page Pate Page tee for expressing their opinions? Free expres­ sion could not endure in ·such a climate· of intimidation. Date: . 11~ ii .... -¥ · ~ A Copgressinan certainly should know as well _,; as any citizen that freedom of the press and Facade for Jnt!.IDI.dilt• ' · its i~plicit - companions •. freedo~ of thought an~ . ...., IOn ,onsc1ence, are the exact opposite of un-Ameri- If congressional· committees can· interrogate can activities. They are foundations of the anybody about anything he writes or believes American way of life. where does that leave freedom of press and con: Fortunately the courts now have before them science? That is the question raised by the a case which should test the right of Congress House Un-American Activities Committee's sum- to compel testimony on political opinions, and mons to John Cogley, former editor of the dis: ought to provide an answer to the House Un­ tinguished Catholic lay magazine The. Common-· American Activities Committee's performance weal. with Mr. Cogley. Such a performance should Mr. Cogley had been employed by Th~ Fund ' b,ave a very short run on the Amer~can stage. 1 for the Republic to direct two studies of 'b'mK: "'- ...... _ • . . .. ~~!_ertainment field. These studies detail what 1s common knowledge in radio, te!e­ . vision and the motion pictures. There is a nebu, lous yet effec'tive system of blacklisting enter- tainers suspected of Communist associations, past or present. There is an equally nebulous DALLAS NEWS system by which listed persons can seek "clear­ ance" for their jobs. Circ.; m. 202,715 For example, the American Legion once listed s. 208,222 300 suspected persons in motion pictures, ad- mitting this Jist was compiled :from "scattered front l!dlt Other public sources:• 'fhose on the list were ex­ Pase ,.,. Pege pected to "write a letter" explaining their past associations in order to win .clearance. 6 956 • * • Date: J\)t' I ' The newsletter Counterattack and such re­ Freedomcto Hir~. ports as "Red Channels" listed persons in radio and television, and these lists were culled from The special ·report pre~ :for the every conceivable hearing anywhere on Com­ Fund for the Republic· depicts what it munism and . no effort was made to judge terms. political l)lacklistirig' in HollyWpod. whether alleged associations were either cor­ Specifically, "all the studios are now rect or meaningful. . unanimous in refusal . to .hire . persons After MI\ Cogley appeared before the com­ identified as Communist Party members mittee, ·his testimony was subjected to violent who have. 'not subsequently testified in criticism from witnesses whom hP. hlld men­ full before the Ho.use Un-American Ac· tioned 'in his reports. Both Vincent Hartnett · 'tivities Committee.'~ ·· who wrote the introduction for "Red. Channels .; More and more 'it becomes dif. cult and James F. O'Neil, publisher of th_e Americ;n t'. •: hart the rational course of hiring and Legion magazine, denied vehemently that they firing for both the extreme left and the helped "clear" anyone. Tb,ey merely tried to extreme right. The right objects to the . · "rehabilitate" entertainers once associated with Jegitimate employment in ordinary pur­ Communism, they said. suits · of persons of Red sympathies or The difference is one .of words only. ;An actor · ~onnections. (Vide, the local uproar over who is rehabilitated in tb,is parlance is also '.five paintings by such ·persons in the cleared; unrehabilitated, he hilS difficulty find~ \,A.rt iri Sports exhibit at the Dallas Art lng a job. . . ~useum . ) But the left · obj~ts to the But if the committee hearings seem. only to ·perfectly logicai exclusion from employ­ prove Mr: Cogley's point, that certainly was. not ment of the same sort of people by others their purpose. Mr. Cogley, wa..s not invited to. Who simply do not want to hire them. appear; )1e was ordered by. : subpena. He .was · . Entertainment is a private industry. · questioned sharply, Later witnesses were pe~­ .It has a light to make its own selection mitted to impugn his motives. · He was treated .of those whom it employs. If it wants

.more as a defendant than as a·n editor with : a c to bar Reds and fellow ·travelers, surely right to publish. what he thought or saw. that is its prerogative...... r The John Cogley report for the !uni:I l.P.t:actically admits as .much when it says ~ that it is p~senting the facts, not con- 1.ducting_a crusade. In the facts, 'l'he News ;finds no cause fox: alarm:. THE PILOT BOSTON, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1956 The Fund and the Films HE FUND FOR THE REPUBLIC made use of the Fifth Amendment, T has become in many circles a bad though it shows an understandable word, and in some others at least a concern over any innocent people suspicious one. This unfortunate eli- who might conceivably have' been mate makes it difficult for large caught up in the machinery intended numbers of people to judge on the to catch the Reds. · Some reviewers merits of its various products in an have suggested that Mr. Cogley has objective manner, since they have, not "exposed" the Communist men­ almost unconsciously, prejudged the ace or any remaining traces of its whole matter. Among many projects, power in Hollywood. This is hardly the Fund is now ip. the public eye with a "Report on Blacklisting" pre- strange when we consider that he set pared by John Cogley, formerly of out to make a report on "blacklist­ Commonweal, which discusses in ing," not infiltration. He should not ~wo volumes, blacklisting in the mov- be condemned for failing to write the Ies (I) and in radio-television (II). book he never even intended to write. This week Mr. Cogley, as a result of It is also possible that Mr. Cog­ the report, was summoned before the ley's text may contain some errors. House Un-American Activities Com- ~is staff was limited and the pres­ mittee. bge of the Fund may have closed Limiting our remarks, at this some avenues of information quite as time, to the volume·on the movies, we readily as it opened some others. Un­ find it hard to understand just what doubtedly many sturdy volumes all the excitement is about. Mr. Cog- could have been filled with facts not ley, with his staff, has.assembled ma- mentioned in the present report, but terial o~ th7 Hollywood hearings, then we might have had an over-ex­ Commumsm m the film colony, labor hausting as well as an over-exhaus­ problems in the industry, outside tive stUdy. Judging what we actually pressures - with special emphasis have before us, only the captious will on the American Legion, "clearance" attempt to impugn the honesty, the techniques- and all of these in re- ability and the integrity which char­ lation to the central problem of acterizes what has been done. "blacklisting." This last word refers We do not share, then, the views to ?ertain li~ts, from many sources, (expressed elsewhere in this paper) Which contamed the names of those of Mr. William Mooring who consid­ charged with Communist member- ers the whole business "old hat," col­ ship or Com~unist affiliations ossal waste" and merely confirming through "front"· organizations. Pea- "the anti-anti-Communist stand" of pie on these lists found employment the Fund. This last surely makes the impossible in these last years, except mistake of confusing the work of the where they showed a willingness to Fund with the remarks of its contra­ make a solemn declaration of loyalty versial president, Robert Hutchins. to their country and acknowledge Mr. Cogley has been careful to sap­ former errors and indiscretions. arate the elements in the Hollywood There were other lists, apparently mixture and with considered justice smaller and never quite so formally he has striven to give each his due as kept, of anti-Communists, and they he judged it; if his judgment has dif­ too lost employment because of as- fered from Mr. Mooring's, it has not, sistance gived Congressional com- for that reason, been an unjust or mittees or the FBI. faulty emphasis. ¥r·. Cogley ~as t~ld the story in This week Mr. Cogley's former convmcmg fashiOn With a minimum paper; Commonweal, in its lead edi­ of editorial comment, but with that necessary selection of detail which torial shows itself in a rare mood of makes a pattern out of a mere mass excited, almost rumpled indignation. of facts. Surely the text betravs no It resents the discourtesy of the bias in favor of either the acknow- House Un-American Activities Com­ ledged Communists . or those who mittee which subpoenaed Mr. Cogley instead of inviting .him to testify and it then proceeds to .express anxiety over the "freedom of the press." For us the argument is unimpressive, and we feel the Committee is certain­ ly within its rights in summoning Mr. Cogley, who can have nothing to fear from such an appearance. Jour­ nalists are not a class above investi­ gation, even if certain of their confi­ dences must be respected. Mr. Cog­ ley, moreover, has nothing to hide from the Congress or even its most intemperate members. Certainly one among the many good results of the Fund is its ability to bring before the American public controversial issues which in their discussion make a clearer. focus for some of us and make the pursuit of truth easier for all" of us.

THE INDIANA CATHOLIC AND RECORD, FRIDAY, JULY 13. 1956

fascinating detail the operation of a private but power• Cogley Report ful system of judging who should and who should not We take strong exception to the treatment given to­ be per,mitted to work in the radio and television in­ day by our syndicated Hollywood columnist, William dustry. Mooring, to the Cogley report on "blacklisting" in the One does not have to be the least bit un-American entertainment industry. or anti-anti-Communist to perceive that it is daJ;J.ger­ ously wrong for a man's reputation and job to be at tht> Mr. Mooring kisses off the report as a "colossal mercy of a self-appointed "shadow court" which judges waste of Fund for the Republic's dollars" which merely his political purity and ,his loyalty on rules of its own reaffirms the Fund's anti-anti-Communism. We think devising. on the contrary, that the factual job done by John Cog,. The idea that anyone accused of Communist leanings, ley for the "Fund for the Republic" is a public an<} pat­ no matter how flimsy and unsubstantiated the charge, riotic service of no little consequence. It describes in should have to satisfy self-appointed private judges of

his innocence before he could be "cleared" for further employment is utterly foreign to American concepts of justice. It does violence to our ideals of the basic rights of an individual. The theory that a man is inno·cent until Proven guilty is an American idea. It is the contrary idea which is truly subversive. We wish Mr. Mooring and others of our friends would realize that we Catholics have every reason not to throw out in an anti-communist panic either the principles of natural justice or the special legal safeguards of justice embodied in American judi­ cial practice. WILMINGTON (Del.) JOURNAL· EVERY EVENING JUt 1 3 19se Date: What-li.a Blacklist? BOSTON TRAVELER 'U7E _WISH ., &llll'll(J ~1 more confident thllt ,'l the F'ltrtd lor tu. Republic would get a Circ.: e. 198,749 fail- hearing from All, Bilusa,.<;ommittee on lin­ American. Acti:v.it~. IJl is ·entitled to no more than that~and to lto - ~ The fund is, in a sense, an opponent of trie committee. It was set Front Edit Oth~r ~~ _up by the Ford FoundatiQ!!.JJl..sponsor activities _ Page p3t)L 1~ ~~ in support of the clVll liberties, which are a cor­ nerstone of Americanism: and it could hardly do Date: this job without asking how much substance there may be in a widespread belief that the tlshin·g fxpeditlon committee, in its hOt pursuit of subversives, has sometimes trampled roughly on individual HE Fund fo.t_ the Repub1ic·1s an indePendent, tax­ American rights. free fouridati~hat spends large sums of money One way the Walter Committee could try to T· "to promote freedom of thought, inquiry, and ex­ \disprove such suspicions is by scrupulous fair­ pression." jness in the hearings which opened this week. · t.I'he committee and the fund clash on some Despite it~ high-flown ideals, the Fund is regarded rPOints, and each is entitled to its opiniort. But with co!lsiderable suspicion by the House Committee ·the committee wields vast governmental powers. on Un-American Activities. Most suspiCious oli all is :It can, if it chooses, force ~n · individual or a . committee chairman, Rep. Francis E. Walter (D) of ;foundation to stand trial, in effect, under con­ Pennsylvania. ditions which permit ·the prosecution but not The · Fund is controversial mostly because of its the defense to present a case arid to cross-exam­ chairman, Robert M. Hutchins, who has been accused hie witnesses. This is a power that is all too easy , to abuse. But it is a power wliich, when responsi­ or being "soft" toward suspected Communists. He ; bly used, is of vital importance to America. We angered a congressional committee previously by say· · :'must try to keep abuses from occurring which ing that he WOiJld hire a forJ11er Commuriist,-or a cUr· : might provoke undue curtailment of the inves­ rent Communist, if he thought the man was qualified _ (tigaijve powers of Congress. for the job. · :.. Chairman Francis E. Walter (D-Pa) showed The result has been that Walter's committee has 'little realization of the need for scrupulous fair­ been threatening the Fund with ;ness when he !Jpened the hearings by saying a full investigation of its activities. !the committee wants t.o find out whether the The th'reats, however, Have :fund "stands as friend or foe in America's strug­ l gle against communism." Committee Counsel been mostly empty ones. T h i s ' Richard Arens went this prejudic4!l .statement week a hearing finally was held, one better by speaking, with what 'news stories but i't was limited to an inquiry calied obvious sarcasm, of "this great Fund for about the Fund's recent report on the Republic." blacklisting in the entertainment Mr. Arens proceeded to go hammer,and-tongs · business. K n o w n or suspected at John Cogley, author of a fund-financed sur- · Communists, the report conclud~ vey of blacklisting in the entertainment indus­ ed, can't get jobs in the industry. try, over the meaning of the term "blacklisting/' · Rep. Walter opened this hear­ Is it a blacklist when entertainers can't get jobs ing with a stern statement saying . because an accurate record of their past asso- that the committee wanted to find , ciations with Communist-controlled organizations out whether the Fund "stands as WALTER has been published in the book "Red Channels" or elsewhere? Mr. Walter says it's not a blacklist friend or foe in America's struggle. against Commu- on the ground that he sees no proof of a formal , nism." ;· ·· agreement not to h,ire such persons. But friend- , But after taking this firm stand Rep. Walter took J 1y witnesses called by the committee told of little interest in the hearing, and soon left to attend to f. hundreds of persons who could not get jobs in other duties. The hearing turned out to be a dull dud. i their profession until the word had been passed · out that they were, in the words of a witness, in­ Now, if Rep. Walter wants to investigate the Fund, f ~ocent, or merely stupid and repentant. he should go ahead and do it. But it is not fair to the i ~ It appears, then, that people who had been Fund, nor to the public, to keep badgering the organ· ! ~nnocent, or. stupid and then repentant, were de­ ization with threats and then not follow through. \ lJlied . jobs-not because they lacked ability or The Fund and Hutchins may not always be right, 1 ~IJlerit, not because they )lad been found guilty b~t they have a right to be heard. of disloyal or subversive · acts prior to any hear­ ing. The committee seems less shocked by this obvious injustice than by the possible inaccuracy of applying the term "blacklisting" to it. Its attitude, to say the least, hardly promises the Fund for the Republic a fair break. 2 THE GLOBE AND MAIL, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1S, 195ft Congress Keeps Digging Probers of Fund·s Probe Seeking Rich Red Vein By PATRICK O'DONOVAN j:, As an investlg~tion it '":as as London Observer Service l\ aluable as a political mamfesto. Washington JUly 17 _ 'fhe The place .was a travesty of a . : · court. At the risk of appearing secunty heanngs go on and on .Tohn Bullish, I must say· that ar.d on. They appear to be a per- such a quasi-legal chamber would manent feature of U.S. political not be tolerated for a day In a life. civilized European state. Senators and representative& Most disturbing of all to a seem 'to regard them as a sort 0 ~ tranger was the treatment oi this gold mine where any poor back-· Star Chamber procedure by the bencher may suddenly dig him- press. There wa~ no comment on self up a nugget of fame and ex- what was happemng, pose a rich vein of unexpected . 'fh:-~e were. flat reports of the communism. htghllohts, wntten in such a way that almost any reader could be­ Strangers tend to find it the ..ieve that only 10 per cent of the least attractive side of life in the working Communists had been United States.

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j'l Date: ·J dL

Editorial11

We've ~orne quite a way since the volume study of blacklisting that was days when Senator McCarthy was riding recently prepared by the Fund for the high ott Capitol Hill. But anyone who .Republic under the direction of John thinks we've come all the way back to a Cogley, former executive editor of the condition of complete sanity would do lay Catholic weekly, Commonweal. well to examine the shenanigans of Last week, having already demon­ Representative Francis E. Walter of strated his pre-hearing impartiality with Pennsylvania, Democrat!~ ~hairman of a series of speeches denouncing the Fund the House Committee on Un-American for the Republic as a shield for subver­ A~tlvities. sion, Representative Walter put Mr. Cog- Mr. Walter, whose claim to fame comes ley on the stand with the obvious aim of from bird-dogging what he once termed harassing him for what he had written "anti-anti-Communists," is currently nip- -a performance that, as the New York ping at the heels of the Ford~!iuanced Times observed, "comes dose to violat­ Fund for the Republic. His flooriow ing the First Amendment." The chair­ opene-d'" last week with several days of man further demonstrated his impar­ carefully loaded testimony on the sub• tiality by declaring early in the testi­ ject of blacklisting in the entertainment mony that the Cogley report "isn't worth industry. the paper it's printed on." He also stated Now this, one might reasonably sup- flatly that "I don't think there's any pose, is an admirable subject for an blacklist"-arid then blandly impugned anti-authoritarian bird dog to get his his own statement by saying, in effect, teeth into. Blacklisting has become an that the blacklist was a very good thing. established practice in TV and the Representative Walter's game is per­ movies; it has been used on a wholesale fectly obvious. He is embarked on an basis lo deny actors and writers a live- election-year crusade to rea·p some pub­ lihood because of alleged subversive ac- licity out of belaboring the Fund for the tivities, even though such charges have Republic, and he is perfectly willing to not been subjected to any valid proof in flail it with any stick that is handy. most cases. Clearly, such condemnation Doubtless his assault will win the usual by hearsay and without hearing is an applause from the ignorant and .the un­ un-American practice that should be in- informed. But the picture of an alleged vestigated. · patriot turning the power of his position But no; Mr. Walter is barking up a against thOse who question the un­ different sort of tree entirely. His tar- American practice of .secret blacklisting get isn't blacklisting, but rather the will offer little cause for pride to Ameri­ people who oppose blacklisting. Spe- cans with a respect for their traditions cifically, he is out to discredit a two• · · -of· fret: play ·and ·politieal-· ft{!edom. ~ .. -· ··· UNDENOMIN AT ION AL

VoLUME LXXIII CHICAGO, JULY 25, 1956 NuMBER 30

EDITORIAL

House Committee Attacks Cogley OHN COGLEY is not easily intimidated, and the J House committee on un-American activities should have known better than to attempt to frighten him. The former executive editor of Commonweal was subpoenaed by the House committee chairman, Fran·cis Walter, be­ cause he directed the study made by the Fund for the Republic of blacklisting in the entertainment industry. The report of this thorough study, carried on by a staff of ten reporters and researchers over eight months, showed that certain columnists and so-called experts on subversion arbitrarily exercise almost absolute power over employ­ ment in radio and television. Three days after the report was issued, Representative Walter subpoenaed Mr. Cogley to meet the un-American activities committee. Mr. Walters admitted he had not read the Cogley report, but insisted he wanted to learn "what the purposes of the fund and Mr. Cogley truly are." He could have got that information in other ways which would have looked less like intimida­ tion if information was the only thing he sought. Must every writer who says something not to the liking of a committee of Congress submit to grilling? In this case the impression is unavoidable that the chairman of the House committee was aroused because Mr. Cogley had exposed a very un-Ametican blacklisting practice which has grown up without opposition from the official guardians of Amer­ icanism. We have the honor to count John Cogley as a friend, whose Christian integrity and ability as a journalist we greatly respect. It Mr. Walter compels us to choose between his brand of patriotism and that of John Cogley, we will choose that of John Cogley. MINNEAPOLIS STAR Circ.: e. 281 ,384

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Date: • .r

Abuse of Investigation In all these cases-and there have been A GROUP of independent electric light others-the motive of the congressional in­ and power companies recently p~ablished a vestigators has plainly not been a search for full-page advertisement in 50-odd newspa­ information. The aim has been to harass or pers (including the Minneapolis Star, en:b~rrass ~eople or institutions voicing June 14) explaining their view of "how opmwns which congressmen dislike. America will keep its lead in atomic-electric The ultimate aim of such harassment is to p-ower." They reviewed nuclear reactor con­ intimidate those people or institutions and struction by the big nations, found that the r shut them up. United States is NOT lagging in the search This has nothing to do with the legislati ve for economic atomic power generators, anur served many times in recent The answer seems obvious: the power W. Yersion of '~ The Plymouth I years: Mrs. Knowles may have companies, feeling the nation is already mak­ Meeting Story" (June 20) it is , the right to plead the Fifth i~ .satisfactory progres&, wanted to gener­ il~ the general interest to· have Amendment, but the rest of us ate public opinion again~t an enlarged gov­ T~e Inquirer's point of view, have an equal rig!ht to draw our ernment atomic power- program. Again a j\ist as it was in the general I own conclusions (about her thoroughly legitimate activity. ipterest to have you publish the i ·guilt or innocence}. Library Committee's views on ; I think this is the crux of the Cannon's political stand on private vs. ~age 4 of the same issue. J Plymouth Meeting story. Your government power, the tone and fashion of I am moved tc 1;ubmit an- own conclusions _are expressed 1 his "invitation" to the advertising agency other version of the story. I ; in your editorial. EvidentlY involved all suggest the committee's inves­ do not know Mrs. Mary ; they are much the same as Mr. tigation had some other object than to gather Knowles but another librarian 1 Walter's. Certainly you are i-nformation which might help it legislate. tells me Mrs. Knowles is a well : entitled to them. qualified professional in library · Almost .simuJtaneously mtnority Republi­ science. I T 'HE question is: Are thoSe can members of the appropriations commit­ Nearly everyone knows that I who do not agree with you tee took issue with an editorial on atomic she was identified by an FBI or Mr. Walter entitled to draw power in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The their conclusions? This right undercover agent as a member editorial oppesed the power companies' view. I to differ, to come to another of the Communist Party and conclusion from the same in­ The newspaper's editors were "invited" to that she has invoked her legal l Washin?i:On-with a subpena looming be­ rights under the Fifth Amend- formation is as precious to The hind th-: invitation-to give an accounting ment on one or two occasions. Inquil'er and to Mr. Walter as it is to Mrs. Knowles and her for its editorial stand. The Post-Dispatch, It· is correct to say that Mr. Philbrick's identification and Library Committee. quite rightly, rejected the invitation. It is a reasonable conclusion the pleading of the Fifth Another house committee has similarly Amet}dment do not establish I think that this is why the ab •sed its power of investigation. The un­ Fund . of the Republic put up Mrs. Knowles' guilt or prove ArMrican activities committee, irked by a the a ~ard it did: 'To strengthen her a disloyal person. Fund for the Republic report on. alleged the hands of those defending a blacklisting of re -~~ pected Communists right which none of us want to in ~cr a1nme• • Jl. ·iness, called the au- lose. 1 or 0~ the report L .he carpet, not to hr~ r ROBERT C. SMITH his fads but to find out "the motives" ue­ Moorestown, N . .r., July :u. .h 'nd the Fund report.