THE ATTEMPT TO FREE TROTSKY’S ASSASSIN

(See Page 2)

Voi. X V II I ■ No. 11 <^^>267

Build a Labor Party Now!

TH E MILITANTPUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

NEW YORK. N. Y.. MONDAY. MARCH 15, 1954 PRICE: 10 CENTS

Dulles Demands Latin Americans O K Intervention

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Wall Street’s hatchet-man at the Tenth Inter-American Conference at Caracas, Venezuela, has demanded a signed oath from all L a tin A m erican countries to sup- i>------------------------------------------ -------- 1—p o rt U.S. in te rven tion aga inst any one o f them whose fo rm o f governm ent U.S. im peria lism does not find sa tis fac to ry . W ash ing­ton ’s delegation lias demanded the enactm ent o f a U.S. reso lu tion which provides a fo rm u la fo r ILS . assault under the guise of

On Tour Against McCarthyism

— By Murry Weiss ------I reached D e tro it yesterday

Feb. 26, and I'm leaving fo r St. Louis in three days. Yet I feel like a na tive D e tro ite r. Th is is a beehive o f a c tiv ity to place the Socialist W orkers P a rty on the M ichigan state ba llo t.

The figures on pe tition ga the r­ing are astounding. A nd the in ­cidents reported by our pe tition crews are even more im pressive. The workers are g iv in g us a reception such as we’ve never had du ring the las t years o f w itch - hunting reaction.

'One pe tition e r got 70 s igna­tures in a single hour in a w o rk ­ing-class neighborhood. T h a t’s more than one a m inute! The average is run n ing about 25 or 30 an hour in a ll pa rts o f the ?tale.

O f course a good pa rt o f th is reflects the a ttitu d e o f ou r elec­tion w orkers. They are fig h tin g w ith such de term ination and moving at such momentum th a t they p ra c tica lly had me w orn out jus t be ing around a few hours. This is Socia lis t W orkers P a rty action in h igh gear aga inst M c­C arthyism and depression. You have to see It to believe it.

One w o rke r studied the pe tition ca re fu lly when asked to sign. Our comrade, a veteran pe tition gatherer d u rin g the tough years, braced he rse lf fo r questions about whether th is was a “ red '’ pe tition . But the w o rke r signed and ex­plained, “ I ju s t wanted to make sure it wasn’t fo r the Republican or Dem ocratic P a rty .”

Two years ago the SWP was knocked o f f the M ich igan ba llo t by a ru lin g under the infam ous Trucks Law , which was passed as 8 resu lt o f a v is it by the Velde House U n-A m erican A c tiv itie s Com m ittee ea rly in 1952. When

iC o n tin u e H on Page 21

ta k in g “ necessary measures to p ro tec t th e ir po litica l inde­pendence aga inst in te rven tion o f in te rna tiona l com m unism .”

C entra l to the lo y a lty oath th a t Dulles proposed to exact -from the countries south o f the Rio Grjm d is the p ropos ition : “ T ha t the dom ination o r contro l o f the p o lit ic a l in s titu tio n s o f any Am erican state by the in te rn a ­tional C om m unist movement, ex­tending to th is hemisphere the p o litica l system o f an extra-con­tinen ta l power would constitu te a th re a t to the sovere ignty and p o lit ic a l independence o f the A m erican states, endangering the peace o f A m erica , and would call fo r appropria te action in ac­cordance w ith e x is ting trea tie s .”

A IM OF R E S O LU TIO N Thus, any governm ent which

refused to knuckle under to W a ll Street and lay its coun try open to un lim ited exp lo ita tion by U.S. cap ita lism could be accused o f m a in ta in ing " th e p o litica l system o f an ex tra con tinenta l power,” presumably the Soviet. Union, and m ight be subject to U.S. economic rep risa l and m ilita ry assault.

A n in te r-A m erica n m il ita ry a l­liance was consummated in Aug. 1947, a t the P etropolis, B raz il, con fenencc, presum ably aimed a t Soviet m il ita ry “ aggression." Bui the Petropolis pact also provided fo r m il ita ry im plem entation even i f “ any Am erican state should be affected by an aggression which is not an armed a ttack. .

E CO NO M IC PRESSURE Sam Pope B rew er, N . Tim es

correspondent, expla ined in his M arch 6 dispatch fro m Caracas tha t con tro l o f any .A m erican governm ent by so-called “ Com­m unists.” “ could be construed as ’an aggression which is not an armed a ttack .’ ”

By th re a t o f economic, and d ip lom atic rep risa l t lje U.S. ex­pects to push th rough th is reso­lu tion . A no the r T im es correspon­dent, Sydney Gruson, on March 7 disclosed: “ .Some, delegates con­ceded th a t W ashington, by ac ting tough and exe rting economic pressure, could push through the reso lution in fo r ty -e ig h t hours. Bu| they warned tha t th is would be a p y rrh ic v ic to ry . As one delegate rem arked, ‘ I f the U.S. wanted it badly enough, i t could have a reso lu tion passed dec la r­ing (wo and two are five-’ ”

Another Good Name Is "Quietly Put to Death”

A bitter editorial denouncing Senator McCarthy for killing the good hame of Annie Lee Moss appeared in the March 6 Afro-American, influential Negro paper:

“ The good name o f Ann ie Lee Moss was qu ie tly pu t to death Tuesday. . .

“ A n a ttra c tiv e woman sat be­fore the M cC arthy com m ittee and a b a tte ry o f newsreel and T V cameras ’ and charged th a t M rs. Moss at- one tim e was a dues-paying m em ber o f the Com­munist. Party .

“ The woman who made the charge adm itted th a t she did no t know A nn ie Lee Moss. She con­fessed she would be unable to recognize her i f she saw’ her.

“ The only evidence she had was a Com m unist P a rty card which showed th a t someone named A nn ie Moss had a t one tim e paid dues to the Com m unist P a rty .

“ P u t undisturbed by such flim s y evidence Senator Mc­C arthy im m ed ia te ly b r a n d e d A nn ie Leo Moss a Com m unist.

“ In a m a tte r o f seconds the television cameras flashed, i t across .the a irwaves. The te le ­graph w ires recorded i t around the w orld . And the presses o f the nation procla im ed i t to readers on every s tree t corner.

“ A nd the good name o f Annie Lee Moss b ru ta lly was p u t to death w ith o u t Ann ie Lee Moss being allowed to u t te r one word in defense o f th a t name.

“ T ha t is M cC arthy ism .”“ .' . . I t would have been so

easy to be. fa ir and put. M rs. Moss on the w itness stand and a llow her to answer the charges as soon as they were made, so th a t the press could have had

\N N IE L E E MOSS

both sides o f the s to ry in th e ir headlines. ,

“ B u t M cC arthy ism doesn’t operate th a t way. . .

“ T h is is no a ttem p t to defend Annie Lee Moss. This is a p ro tes t aga inst the v icious bludgeoning o f tim e-honored Am erican tra d i­tion which holds a person is in ­nocent u n til the person has been proved g u ilty .

“ Annie Lee Moss, when she does take the w itness stand, is an innocent woman in the eyes of the law. No one has ye t proved her g u ilty o f any th ing . She has not evei) been given a chance, as o f now, to even plead g u ilty .

“ But her good name is a ireadv dead.”

Labor Sees Deadly ParallelBetween McCarthy and Hitler--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ® -------------------------------i - «

McCarthy Wields Blackmail Club Of Ex-Tax Official’s Secret Diary

By George Breitman <s>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Fight Fascist Menace Has Become The Decisive Question

M cC arthy ’s power, which reach­ed a new he ight in his easy v ic to ry over Stevens and which was not d isturbed by E isenhower’s perfum ed note, is sure to grow s tronger yet in the next period. For M cC arthy has recently gotten hold o f som eth ing th a t can be used to b lackm ail both Repub­licans and Democrats in high places in W ashington, and there is no doubt th a t he w ill use it to the h ilt to silence and disarm opponents in both ca p ita lis t parties in his d rive to become the firs t fascist President o f the U n ited States.

T h a t M cC arthy is n b lack­m a ile r was am p ly proved last month when he threatened to smear as helpers o f communism a ll members of" the ULS. Senate who would dare to vote against the $214,000 app rop ria tion he demanded fo r his ' w itch -h u n tin g com m ittee. That he is a success­fu l b lackm a ile r was shown by the fa c t th a t on ly one Dem ocrat in the Senate had the. nerve to vote, against the ap p ro p ria tion a l­though the en tire Senate knew th a t th is money would be used to sm ear a l l Democrats, .and libe ra ls hs “ tra ito rs .”

Now' M cC arthy has obtained a new and more d irec t blackm ail weapon th a t w i l l re in fo rce his command over both houses o f Congress and make the W hite House more re luc tan t than be­fore to challenge him in any way.

SE C R E T D IA R Y“ M cC arthy has gotten his hands

on a dynam ite-loaded document, th a t involves many members o f Congress,” reports the W ash ing­ton correspondent, Robert S. A llen (N . Y. Post, M arch 4). “T h is explosive docum ent is the 1,900-page d ia ry o f C h a r l e s O liphan t, fo rm er general counsel o f the In te rn a l Revenue. Bureau.”

O lip ha n t and his d ia ry figured p ro m ine n tly in tax scandals th a t were investigated by a House W ays and Means subcom m ittee last. year. O nly two copies o f the d ia ry were known to exist., A llen reports . One was in the files o f the House subcommittee, the o ther Ln the Justice D epartm ent where i t was supposed to be used fo r prosecuting purposes. The d ia ry was never made public. The subcom m ittee allowed on ly ca re fu lly selected ex trac ts to be read in to its records.

The reason was obvious. “ The document consists o f detailed ac­counts o f a ll (o f O lip ha n t’s) im ­p o rta n t telephone conversations and conferences w h ile in the IR B . Most o f them deal w ith tax cases, some in v o lv in g c rim ina l charges,

The A p t P up il

in w h ich Senators, Representa­tives and hundreds o f other o f­fic ia ls evinced personal in te res t o f v a ry in g degrees.

“ The lis t o f these names is b i­partisan . They include h igh Con­gressional leaders o f both p a r­ties.”

C R IM IN A L D E A LSOliphant., who was deeply im ­

plicated in crooked and c rim ina l deals th a t saved b illion s o f do lla rs fo r the b ig cap ita lis ts and co r­porations, decided to cover h im ­se lf by record ing the involvem ent and in te rven tion on th e ir beha lf by the m any leading po litic ians o f both m a jo r parties who con­sider i t p a rt o f th e ir du ties to help B ig Business defraud the govern­ment.

H is d ia ry ev iden tly has the goods lo explode dozens o f con­gressional careers and to d iscred it both ca p ita lis t parties. For tha t reasdn ne ithe r p a rty is eager to make fu l l use o f them, and both subscribe to a gentlem en's agree­

ment to keep them from the pub lic .

Now, A llen reports, the Senate GOP Policy Com m ittee has learn ­ed th a t M cC arthy has his hands on th is “ p o litica l A -bom b.” He has a photosta tic copy o f the d ia ry and “ has been po ring over i t fo r a m onth” and members o f his s ta ff, using i t as a reference, have been going th rough F B I files | “ com p iling vo lum inous/ tax dossiers fo r M cC arthy.”

How he got. hold o f i t is con­je c tu ra l, A llen says, because only the W hite House can open these files fo r sc ru tin y . B u t la te in Janua ry “ M cC arthy sent word to the W hite House th a t he wanted to investiga te certa in tax m atters ( fo r his com m ittee) and was authorized to examine Revenue Bureau records.”

T h is m ay prove to be the biggest b lunder o f the E isenhower ad m in is tra tion 's whole h is to ry .

B lackm ail and ex to rtio n always have been component pa rts o f ca p ita lis t po lities and pa rliam en­

ta ry life . Rut they are usua lly practiced w ith in a certa in fra m e ­work, and under an u n w ritte n ru le ; “ You m ustn ’t use. i t to h u rt your own p a rty in the eyes o f l he public.”

CO VER E A C H O TH E R I TThus the Eisenhower adm in is­

tra t io n probably could use the O liphan t d ia ry w ith devastating e ffect against the Democrats, and vice versa. But they don’t do it because it would mean d isc red it­ing h ig h ly placed members o f th e ir own pa rty .

B u t th is rule, generally, respect­ed by ru n -o f-th e -m ill Republicans and Dem ocrats, means less than no th ing to M cC arthy. “ P a rty re g u la r ity ” is som eth ing th a t he observes when i t su its his own purposes, and f la g ra n tly vio lates whenever i t gets in the w ay of his cam paign to take over the Republican P a rty and tu rn it in to a fasc is t o rgan iza tion . A s Max Le rne r pu t it . M cC arthy

(Continued on pa ere 2)

By Joseph KellerImportant sectors of organized labor are beginning

to see a deadly parallel between Senator McCarthy and the late Adolph Hitler. Awareness of the Wisconsin politicalgangste r’s am bition to become A m erica ’s fascist d ic ta to r is ex­pressed in several o f the most in flu e n tia l labor papers in the country . Fear o f M cC a rth y ite fas­cism now extends even in to tra d it io n a lly conservative top union circles.

Thus, the M arch 6 Labor, .na­tiona l w eek ly newspaper o f 15 leading ra ilroa d unions, e d ito r ia lly warns th a t “ M cC arthy ’s un­scrupulous am b ition stands out c lear: L ike H itle r , he is de ter­mined to ru le o r ru in . H is

SWP Candidate Gets Impressive Vote in Seattle

S E A T T L E . M ar. 10 — Daniel Rober's, .Socialist W orkers candi­date fo r th e school hoard, polled 7,301 votes it was announced to ­day. Th is was about 7% o f the to ta l.

Roberts finished n in th o u t o f 11 candidates. The top candidate nolled some 52,000 votes, the •unner up, 30,000. The bottom andidate received 4,300 votes.

In fina l statem ents over the '•adio and TV , Roberts declared that the im pressive vote be •eceived was a tr ib u te to the firm stand taken by the S oc ia lis t W orkers P a rty aga inst M eC arthy- sm, fo r a Labor P a rty and fo r

free speech in teaching.Roberts put on a fig h tin g cam-

naign in the best socia list t ra d i- ‘ :on. He appeared a t many union m eetings where he a tta ck ­ed the ris in g fasc is t movement headed by M cC arthy and called on labo r to lead the s trugg le against th is danger to A m erica by w ie ld ­in g the pow erfu l weapons o f independent p o lit ic a l action.

He expla ined the cu rre n t fas­c is t danger as a m an ifes ta tion o f the decay o f cap ita lism in Am erica and a w a rn ing tha t labor cannot delay much longer in p u ttin g a W orkers and Farm ers Governm ent in power.

One o f the main themes in Roberts’ cam paign was the need ’ o r the unions to take e ffec tive action aga inst the g ro w in g menace o f unem ploym ent.

He likew ise stressed the So­c ia lis t W orkers p la tfo rm ca lling fo r equal pay fo r women and fo r job opportun ities fo r youth.

S>-------------------------------------------------------alleged f ig h t on ‘Com m unism ’ is ju s t a mask. He is fo llo w in g the oid prescrip tion o f ‘d iv ide and conquer’ . . . . by s t ir r in g fe a r and hatred and hys te ria among ou r people — as H it le r d id in Germ any — he hopes to under­mine democracy an il put h im se lf on top ."

Justice, o ffic ia l pub lica tion o f the A F L In te rn a tion a l Ladies’ G arm ent W orkers Union, in its M arch 1 issue also finds “ a deadly pa ra lle l" between M cC arthy ’s rise today and H it le r ’s rise tw en ty years ago. H it le r “ bu llied h is w ay to power by des troy ing demo­c ra tic methods, by in tim id a tin g the na tion 's leaders, by p u rg ing the A rm y , by tea ring up the Con­s titu tio n o f the German repub lic .” Justice fu r th e r emphasizes the “ deadly pa ra lle l” by reca lling how G erm any’s President, “ Gen­eral von H indenburg, W orld W ar I hero,” helped H it le r to power.

■•■••The loudest union a la rm about the menace o f M cC arthy ite fa s ­cism has been sounded by Labo r’s D aily, A m erica ’s on ly d a ily labor newspaper, published by the A F L In te rn a tio n a l Typograph ica l Union. In a M arch 5 ed ito ria l, its ed itors ju s tif ia b ly voice pYide in the fac t “ tha t we ea rly pointed ou t the pa ra lle l between the rise o f M cC arthyism in th is cou n try and the rise o f r ig h t-w in g d ic ta ­to rsh ips in I ta ly and Germ any under Messrs. M ussolin i and H it le r . ”

La bo r’s D a ily stresses the need “ to im press upon the A m erican Labor Movement, which is an organized, key segment o f our people and the most im p o rta n t bu lw a rk o f ou r democracy . . . the re a lity and com parative im ­mediacy o f a danger to labor and to a ll who love freedom.

T h a t danger is Fascism .”T h is danger La bo r’s D a ily co r­

re c tly re la tes to "one condition, coupled w ith others hut above all others . . . T H A T C O N D IT IO N IS A DEPR E S S IO N , W IT H ITS R E S U L T A N T U N E M P L O Y ­M E N T A N D M IS E R Y ! . . . Fas­cist-m inded demagogs may ex­p lo it th is s tiua tion In o rder to rise to power. I t happened in I ta ly ; i t happened in G erm any; it can happen here." (Em phasis in o r ig in a l.)

Th is fasc is t danger, Labo r’s D a ily feels, “ has not been s u f­fic ie n tly described to Am erican w orkers, nor has the seriousness

(Continued on page 2)

What Is Steel Union’s David McDonald Up To?By A rt Preis

W hat d ir ty w ork fo r the bosses is the CIO steel un ion’s (‘ resident David .1. McDonald up to? W hile the steel moguls have been la y ing o f f some 156,000 steel workers, or more than 10%, McDonald has been on a “ good w i l l ” tou r o f U.S. Steel p lan ts w ith its pres i­dent, Benjam in Fairless. The only “ good w i l l ” Fairless " i l l ever have tow ard the w orkers is to skin them fo r every possible n ickle o f p ro fit.

A bou t the problem o f mass un­em ployment, M cDonald is sound­ing o f f like Republican N a tiona l Chairm an Leonard W. H a ll, who spoke o f “ le f t - w ingers . . . spreading doom and gloom across the land ,” o r like CIO President W a lte r R outher last Labor Day in decry ing “ dangerous and reckless ta lk o f depression” and “ false com m unist propaganda . . . being bolstered by the prophets o f doom. .

N O T "H Y S T E R IC A L "McDonald, who is considered to

head I be “ conservative” w in g o f the CIO, possib ly because he

picks up R euther’s w rong posi­tions s ix m onths late, declared in P ittsbu rgh M arch 3 th a t he was unperturbed about the present economic decline. “ I refuse to become hyste rica l about our cu rre n t economic s itu a tio n ," said McDonald, ca lm ly leading back on his $25,000 guaranteed annual salary.

And he added in the cu rre n t vein o f u ltra - r ig h t Republicanism : “ I do no t th in k th a t the cu rre n t Socia list line fo r g reat b ig federal p ro jects is the answer. . .” T ha t was a couple o f days before Rep. A ugustine B. K e lley (D ., Pa.) proposed in the House a $61^ b i l­lion federa l-loca l public works program .

S T E E L O U T P U T F A L L S'McDonald expressed his lack o f

“ h ys te ria ” about the economic s itua tion ju s t before the Am erican Iron and Steel In s t itu te reported th a t steel production fo r the week o f March 8 is scheduled a t 68.9% o f capacity, down from the previous week’s 70.7% and last m onth’s 74.4%.

i f M cDonald doesn’t th in k the “ .Socialist line fo r g rea t b ig

.McDo n a l d

federal pro jects is the answer” to the economic s itua tion , about which he. refuses “ to become hys te rica l” anyway, he never­theless feels im pelled to o ffe r some answer to the unem ploy­m ent problem a lready harassing a la rge p a rt o f his own union members. JLs answer, like

R e u tile r’s, is the guaranteed an­nual wage.

McDonald o ffe rs the guaranteed annual wage as no th ing less than "insurance against depression” end a “ basic answer to the prevention o f any depression ever g e ttin g under w ay in A m erica ,“ reports the Feb. Steel Labor., T h is same a rtic le exp la ins at length M cDonald’s guaranteed wage plan subm itted to the A lum inum C orporation o f A m e r­ica.

T H E P L A N ’S G IM M IC K SA t the s ta rt, M cDonald’s paper

exp la ins th is is a m axim um proposal and tha t “ the union has emphasized th a t the G A W is a m a tte r fo r nego tia tion . . . to be hammered in to shape a t the co l­lective ba rga in ing • tab le.” In short, McDonald is w ill in g to accept even less than his proposed plan. How much less?

F irs t, his plan now covers only c-mplovces w ith “ three o r more years o f service.” Younger w o rk ­ers could find themselves out on the street w ith no pro tection under the plan. B u t w h a t’s to stop the in d u s try fro m “ ham m ering”

the p liab le M cDonald and lim it in g the (}\Y A to fo u r o r five-year men ?

Those covered by the plan would no t get a guaranteed an­nual wage; on ly “ 63% o f the annual wage,” according to the best figures pu t fo rw a rd in the ALC O A plan. Those la id o f f under the plan would receive the equ iva lent paid fo r 30 hours w ork weekly fo r up to 52 weeks. The companies would ac tu a lly lay out on ly the d iffe rence between the 20 hours pay and re g u la r unem- n loym ent compensation paid by the governm ent. Th is means th a t more than h a lf o f the GAAV would be ra id fo r out o f governm ent funds to which the workers them ­selves con tribu te .

L IM IT S OF “ G U A R A N T E E ”The company would pay in to

a trus t fund 10 cents an hour per w o rke r and its l ia b il ity to provide a weekly la y -o ff payment to some w orkers “ would he lim ited to this cents-per-hour co n trib u tio n ." Thus, when the fund gives out. (he “ guarantee” gives out.

Now w hat is to keep the com­panies fro m f ir in g a ll the men

employed less than three, four o r five years, ns the actual plan m ight provide a fte r negotiations, and p u ttin g the rem ainder on a 30-hour week a t 30 hours’ pay — th a t is, s lashing take-hom e pay 25% ? W hat in M cDonald’s plan would keep the corpora tions from doing precisely w hat they are doing r ig h t now th roughou t the in du s try ?

In a typ ica l steel area like Youngstown, fo r instance., in ad­d ition to the m ore-than 10% laid o ff, the m a jo r ity ’ o f those s t ill w o rk in g are on fo u r and three- day schedules at corresponding ly reduced take-home pay. How w ill the G A W help those la id o f f and how w ill i t restore lake-home pay? M cDonald’s plan won’t.

H is p lan is^in re a lity a “ guar, snteed” 30-hour week at 30 hours pay". And i t can he on ly trial unless the union figh ts fo r anc wins u 30-hour week at 10 hours pay. W ithou t tha t, any GAM program lias lots o f I raps. Am any plan offered by a McDonald who th inks big public works art “ soc ia lis t." needs lo be examine« w ith a high-powered microscope

Pxill»- T MO Monday, March 1 5 ,1954T H E M I L I T A N T

Notebook of an AgitatorNotes on American Fascism

other preoccupations to send you any connected thoughts, on M cC arthy ism and the probable character and perspectives o f A m erican fascism in general. The artic les o f B re itm an are very e ffec tive argum ents against people who w ill not recognize inc ip ien t A m erican fascism un til i t obliges them by assum ing the “ classic” E uro­pean form . W hat w ill they do i f A m erican fas­cism neglects or refuses to. accommodate them in th is respect, r ig h t up to the eve o f the show­down — which i t may w e ll do?

I w ill have som ething to say about the ques­tion o f Am erican fascism a l i t t le la te r when 1 get free from some o ther com m itm ents. In fac t,] have scheduled a whole lecture on the prob­able character and perspectives o f A m erican fascism in the projected new' series o f Los A n ­geles lectures on “ Problem s o f the A m erican Labor M ovem ent.” B u t i t w i l l have to w a it. M eantim e, 1 am in basic agreement w ith the cam paign you are conducting and the argum ents fo r it , especially those given in B re itm a n ’s a r t i­cles. I believe these a rtic les would make a good fo llow -up pam phlet to the f irs t one.

aj! * 5j!Those who would judge specific A m erican

fo rm s o f fascism too fo vm a lis tica lly by the European pa tte rn , a rb it ra r ily l im it ca p ita lis t aggression against the w o rkers ’ movement to two fo rm s:

They see the dem ocratic fo rm by which the w orkers are suppressed th rough s t r ic t ly legal measures in accordance w ith the law and the constitu tion — such as the T a ft-H a r t le y Law, fo rm a l ind ic tm ents and prosecutions fo r specific v io la tio ns o f e x is tin g sta tu tes, etc. A ll th is , despite its obvious “ inconvenience” to the w o rk ­ers movement, is characterized as dem ocratic.

On the o th e r side they see the illeg a l, u n o ff i­cia l fo rm s o f violence practiced by “ storm troop ­ers” and s im ila r sh ir le d hooligans outside the fo rm s o f law , as in I ta ly and Germ any. Th is is characterized as fascist.

B u t what about violence which is techn ica lly illeg a l and unconstitu tiona l, but carried out nevertheless by du ly constitu ted o ffic ia ls clothed w ith legal a u th o r ity ? W hat about such th ings as the b reaking up o f m eetings and p icke t lines by o ff ic ia l police and special deputies; w ire tap p in g ; in qu is itio ns ; screening and b la c k -lis t­ing o f “ subversives;” and a ll the rest o f the in tim id a tio n and te rro r o f the w itch -hu n t? These procedures don’t f i t v e ry w e ll in to the “ demo­c ra tic ” fo rm u la , a lthough th e ir ch ie f in s tru ­ments are lega lly -cons titu ted o ffic ia ls , support­ed and incited by press cam paigns, rad io dema­gogues, etc.

This k ind o f illega l violence under the ou t­ward fo rm s o f law' has a d is tinc tive Am erican f la v o r ; and i t is especially favored by a section o f the ru lin g class which has very l i t t le respect fo r its own laws, and cares more fo r p ractica l action than fo r theories as to how i t is to be carried out. T h is is, in fac t, an im p o rtan t ele­ment o f the specific fo rm which A m erican fas­cism w ill take, as has already been indicated qu ite convincing ly.

The depredations o f M ayor Hague, who an­nounced th a t “ I am the law ,” were a m an ifesta­tion o f th is tendency back in the la te T h irtie s . T ro tsky , by the way, considered Hague an A m e r­ican fascist. He described bis unconstitu tiona l assaults on free speech and free assembly, th reugh the m edium o f o ff ic ia l police, as a m an ifes ta tion o f in c ip ien t Am erican fascism , 1 th in k he was r ig h t Ubout tha t, i f the work«®« stand around and w a it u n til the labo r movement is attacked d ire c tly by u n o ffic ia l sh ifte d hoo li­gans, before they recognize the approach o f Am erican fascism , they m ay f in d th e ir organ­iza tions broken up “ le g a lly ” w h ile they are w a iting -.

The tru th o f the m a tte r is th a t Am erican fascism, in its own specific fo rm , has already a considerable a rm y o f storm troopers a t its dis­posal in the persons o f lawless prosecuting at- to rn ies and o ff ic ia l policemen who don’t give a damn w'hat the constitu tion says. Inc ip ien t Am erican fascism — already, r ig h t now -— lias a press and rad io -te lev is ion potver which makes H it le r ’s “ A n g r i f f ” look like a throw-aw 'ay sheet.

I t has po litica l demagogues, like M cC arthy, who arc d iffe re n t from H it le r m a in ly in the fa c t th a t they a rc clothed w ith o ff ic ia l legal powers and), im m un ity , w h ile H it le r had to bu ild up an independent, un o ffic ia l and at tim es pe r­secuted movement w ith o u t any o ff ic ia l sanction, w ith o u t any d irec t support from the established press, etc.

“ M cC arthy is d iffe re n t,” say the fo i-m a lis tic wiseacres, as i f th a t were a he lp and a conso­la tion . He is indeed d iffe re n t in several ways. B u t the most im p o rta n t d iffe rence is th a t he s ta rts w ith a g re a t power behind h im , and op­erates w ith fo rm a l legal sanction and im m un ity . The r ig h t comparison to make is no t o f the M cC arthy o f today w ith H it le r on the verge o f ta k in g power in 1932 bu t ra th e r w ith H it le r in the m iddle Twenties. The main d iffe rence we fin d in th is com parison is th a t M cC arthy is way ahead o f H itle r . * * „

A no the r po in t: The G erm an-Am erican Bund o f the T h irt ie s was no t a cha racte ris tic m an i­fes ta tion o f Am erican fascism , b u t ra th e r a fo r ­eign agency o f H itle r 's G entian movement. N e ithe r is i t correct to look now fo r the ap­pearance o f genuine Am erican fascism in luna tic fr in g e o u tfits such as the S ilve r S h irts , Gerald Sm ith, etc. A pow erfu l section o f the A m erican bourgeoisie, w ith un lim ited means a t th e ir d is­posal, are already fasc is t-m inded; and they have a b ig fo o t in the governm ent, na tiona l and local. They fee) no need a t present o f u n o ffic ia l move­ments.

To the extent th a t such o u tfits w ill appear here o r there, w ith the development o f the so­c ia l cris is , they w ill probably be subsumed in a broader, m ore pow erfu l, adequately financed and press-supported general movement, which op­erates under more o r less legal form s, I t is fa r more correct, fa r more rea lis tic , to see the inc ip ien t stage o f Am erican fascism in the con­g lom era tion o f “ o f f ic ia l” m arauders represent­ed by M cC arthy than outside i t .

JA M E S P. C A N N O N Los Angeles, C a lif.

E d ito r :I haven’t been able to disentangle m yse lf from

...McCarthy Blackmails(Continued from page 1)

represents “ a new breed, w ith a new brand.” He is no t bound by any o f the ru les o f dem ocratic cap ita lis t po litics . l ie is prepared and eager to destroy tha t section o f the Republican P a rty th a t w ill not subm it to his dom ination.

T h a t’s why the present GOP leadership lias good reason to be w orried . They know tha t M c­C arthy is “ independent” enough and unscrupulous enough and ruth less enough to b lackm ail them and to expose them to public scandal i f they refuse to subm it p riva te ly . They also know tha t now, more than ever, the members o f Congress w il l be looking fo r th e ir orders to M c­C a rth y ra th e r than to the W hite House — the ve ry s itua tion th a t M cC arthy set ou t to create in his ba ttle w ith Stevens.

H IT L E R U S E D ITB lackm ail is a fa vo rite weapon

o f fasc is t demagogues. M cC arthy, who has studied M ein K am p f very ca re fu lly , is here tak in g his

NEW YORK Friday Night

Socialist ForumTwo Lectures on the H is to rica l

Role o f Women Lecture No. 2

When Women Ran SocietySpeaker:

Evelyn ReedF riday, M arch 19 8 PM

Militant Hall116 U n ive rs ity Place .near Union Square)

Questions, Discussion, Refreshments

C on tribu tion 25 Cents

ClevelandMilitant Readers

Forumpresents a ta lk on

“ Unemployment — the Answer to I t ”

Speaker:

Ted WilsonS aturday, M arch 20, 8 P.M.

10609 Superior Ave., 3rd flo o r

•cue d irec tly from H itle r , who was also able to make pow erfu l use o f the corrup tion th a t flou rishes among dem ocratic cap ita lis t p o li­tic ians in order to make them p lay the Nazi game in c r it ic a l s itua tions.

I t is a w e ll-know n h is to rica l fact, fo r example, th a t in January 1933, when President H indenburg was under pressure from German B ig Business to appo in t H it le r as chancellor, H it le r increased the pressure on the s t ill - hes ita ting H indenburg by th rea ten ing to make public the details o f a shady m illio n - m ark speculation com­m itted by H indenburg ’s .«on. B lackm ail alone does not exp la in H it le r ’s tr ium p h , bu t i t was a b ig help to him a ll along his road to power.

M cC arthy ’s preparations to u t i­lize th is “ classic” weapon to ga in contro l o f Congress and other de­partm ents o f the governm ent, regardless o f the effects on the fortunes o f the Republican P a rty as such, are another ind ica tion o f his fasc is t character.

They are also a w a rn ing to the Am erican people o f the fa llacy o f con tinu ing to depend on the cor­rupt dem ocratic ca p ita lis t p o li­tic ians as a means o f stopp ing the g ro w th o f M cC arthy ite fas ­cism.

W hat ‘ we need are candidates who are free o f co rrup tion and who w ill resist b lackm ail because they have no th ing to be a fra id of. W hat we need is a new p a rty , an independent Labor P a rty , free o f a ll the unsavory practices and associations tha t a M cC arthy can exp lo it — a p a rty tha t w i l l run and elect its own candidates to office, and w ill provide them w ith the courage and the support to stand up to M cC arthy ism , expose it fo r the fasc is t menace th a t it is, and drive i t fo reve r out o f Am erican life .

Newark Fri. Night Socialist Forum

presents a ta lk on

The POW Story In KoreaSpeaker:

Harry RingF rid a y , M arch 19, a t 8:30 P.M.

at 52 M arke t S treet

A One-Year Subscription to THE MILITANT

Only $3116 U n iv e rs ity P l_ N . Y . 8, N . Y.

. . . Deadly Parallel(Continued fro m page 1)

o f the th re a t been adequately stressed.” A nd i t concludes w ith an especially acute observation: “ We have been so busy chasing Reds tha t we have sometimes fa iled to look around to see who is chasing US.”

The M il ita n t is n a tu ra lly g ra t i­fied to see such views about the nature o f M cC arthyism g e ttin g wide c ircu la tio n in the labor movement. A lm ost fo u r years agq, on A p r i l 10, 1950, the M il i­ta n t sounded the very f irs t w a rn ­in g about M cC arthy ism as a po ten tia l fasc is t menace. We described the ea rlies t stages o f M cC arthy ’s Senate hearings as “ a super-w itch hunt . . . made to order fo r the rise o f a fasc is t movement. . . M cC arthy ’s ‘tech­nique’ . . . is pa tte rned a fte r that o f a ll the social demagogue? down to H it le r . ”

T lie g ro w in g recogn ition th a t M cC arthy ism is Am erican fa s ­cism on the march, w ith the prim e nim o f sm ashing organized labor, is encouraging. You can’t f ig h t a danger you don’t know exists. B u t i f you do know, then how to f ig h t the danger becomes the decisive question. Here ne ithe r Labo r’s D a ily , no r Justice, no r Labor appear to have learned the p r im a ry lesson o f the German and Ita lia n experiences — the most deadly pa ra lle l o f a ll.

H it le r and M usso lin i secured power by “ le g a l" means through o ffic ia l agents and agencies o f governm ent — those ve ry agents and agencies th a t the German and Ita lia n labo r leaders had counted on to save th e ir movements fro m fascism. The il l- fa te d German and Ita lia n unions were crushed because th e ir leaders depended on the “ dem ocra tic” cap ita lis t po litic ians, ra th e r than on the mass m ig h t in action o f the o r ­ganized w o rk in g class to curb the fascists. These A m erican labor paners we have c ited are begging E isenhower o r the Senate o r the Democrats to do the job o f smashing M cC arthy ism .

Let them pray th a t the A m er­ican w orkers don’t take th e ir ad­vice on how to figh t M cC arthyism . I t ’s a guaranteed eventual one­way t r ip to M cC arthy ’s concentra­tion camps. I f these union spokes­men rea lly believe th a t M cC arthy is the Am erican H itle r , then th e ir one hone o f e ffe c tive ly com batting M cC arthyism is to m obilize the ranks o f labor fo r a life -an d - death ba ttle . They should o r ­ganize fo r independent mass ac­tion th rough dem onstrations, s trikes and every other means o f labor s tru g g le to smash th is greatest o f evils th a t Is now on the march.

The Attempt to Turn Trotsky’s Killer LooseBy Joseph Hansen

Form er Secretary to Leon T ro tsky

(P ro m in e n tly featured on the fron t page, the fo llo w in g analysis o f the e ffo rts to free the S ta lin is t assassin o f Leon T ro tsky appear­ed in fu l l in the M arch 6 issue o f E l Un iversa l, one o f M exico’s leading da ily newspapers. El U n iversa l enjoys a reputa tion in Mexico comparable to tha t o f ihe N . Y. Times in the U n ited Stales. — Ed.)

I have before me two c lipp ings re la tin g to the e f fo r t o f “ F rank Jacson,” alias “ M ornard ,” the m urderer o f Leon T ro tsky , to secure release from prison in Mexico upon serv ing on ly tw o- ih ird s o f his sentence.

One c lipp ing is fro m the Dec. 6, 1953, Bombay Chron ic le W eekly. The opening pa ragraph o f th is long a rtic le about the assassin asks: “ I f he’s freed, w i l l avid T ro tsky ites o r the red secret police seal his doom ?”

The other c lipp ing is from the Jan. 17 New Y o rk D a ily M irro r. “M exican newspapers predicted,” i t says, th a t Jacson “ would no! live long i f he ever le f t his com­fo rta b ly fu rn ished cell. B o l­sheviks, led by T ro ts k y ’s w idow and grandson, w ant to ge t th e ir hands on him to prove T ro tsky 's dy ing charge th a t S ta lin ordered his assassination. Russian secret agents reported ly w a n t to seal his ’ ips fo reve r, despite the fa c t th a t M ornard ' kep t his secret under to rtu re by T ro ts k y ’s fo llow e rs .”

These are but two examples o f the rum or tha t has been system ­a tic a lly p lanted fo r some tim e in Mexico C ity fo r w o rld - w ide d is tr ib u tio n asserting th a t “ T ro t­sky ’s fo llow e rs ” would seek to k i l l Jacson i f he were released from prison. Thus, presum ably, the T ro tsky is ts approve t u r n i n g Jacson loose so th a t they can “ get th e ir hands on h im .” Can there be any doubt tha t the source o f these rum ors is Moscow’s secret po litica l police its e lf?

K R E M L IN A G E N TThis s in is te r o rgan iza tion has

every reason to secure the release o f th is professional k il le r . I t would prove to o ther K rem lin police agents th a t Moscow knows how to look a fte r them, no m a tte r how desperate th e ir p lig h t, so long as they rem ain fa ith fu l. Th is would complement the opposite ob ject lesson which Moscow has made fro m tim e to tim e — that death aw aits those who break ranks and reveal the secrets -of the K rem lin .

O f course, th is would not preclude another reason fo r w a n t­in g h im freed. A f te r the demon­s tra tio n o f sp ring ing h im from prison, and perhaps even u t il iz in g his peculiar ta len ts in fresh assignments, the Soviet secret police m ay k i l l h im as B eria was k illed , and before h im Yezhov and Yagoda. W ith th a t sentence o f death in m ind, i t is an obvious and typ ica l move o f the K re m lin ’s agencies to begin cha rg ing the T ro tsky is ts w e ll in advance w ith g u ilt fo r the crim e. L e t us not fo rg e t th a t in the M ay 24, 1940, m achine-gun assault on T ro ts k y ’s Coyo'acan home, which the M ex i­can police established was o r­ganized and carried out by m em ­bers o f the Com m unist P a rty , the S ta lin is ts accused T ro ts k y — o f co m m ittin g a “ se lf-assau lt” to “ em barrass M exico.”

The fa c t is th a t the T ro tsky is ts have no in te rest in k i l l in g Jacson. I w ill n o t speak o f the M a rx is t ou tlook w h ich is opposed to in ­d iv idua l assassination and abhors any act done ou t o f “ revenge.” I w i l l confine m yse lf sole ly to the po litica l d isadvantage to the T ro ts k y is t movement o f exacting the supreme pena lty fro m T ro t­sky ’s m urderer. T ha t would close the po ss ib ility o f h is fin a lly revea ling the t ru th about his connections w ith S ta lin 's secret police and the in te rna tiona l p lo t hatched in the K rem lin to m urder the g re a t re vo lu tio n a ry leader who was co-founder w ith Lenin o f the f irs t w o rke rs ’ state in h is to ry .

C O ULD H A V E SHO T H IMI personally could have shot

Jacson on A ug. 20, 4940, as he stood in the door o f T ro ts k y ’s study smeared w ith blood. J fra n k ly adm it th a t the im pulse to do so was strong . B u t having has some po litica l tra in in g , I realized a t once th a t i t would be a m istake. N o t o n ly did I spare Jacson’s life , b u t I ordered the o ther guards, who were a ll armed; no t to k i l l him .

Thus, when T ro tsky , ly in g on the flo o r, w ith me and N a ta lia bending over h im , heard Jacson c ry ou t under the v igorous ques­tio n in g • o f H a ro ld Robins, and said, “ T e ll the boys no t to k i l l h im ; he m ust ta lk ,” I could reas­sure the m o rta lly wounded foe o f S ta lin ’s police reg im e th a t th is was already taken care of.

In the un iversa l ind igna tion tha t swept M exico fo llo w in g the b ru ta l k il l in g o f the g re a t man who had generously been granted p o lit ic a l asylum by the ad­m in is tra tio n o f President C ar­denas and who was the re fo re the honored guest o f M exico, i t would perhaps no t have been too d i f ­fic u lt to “ a rra n g e '' f o r the execu­tion o f Jacson, possib ly w h ile

“ a tte m p tin g to flee ,” bu t I , along w ith a ll o ther T ro tsky is ts , op­posed th is . We wanted Jacson to live — in o rder to ta lk . W o s t i l l feel the same way.

T ha t is why, i f our opinions about Ihe case are s t i l l to be taken in to consideration, we th in k that Jacson should be kept in prison.

Besides our sentim ents in the m a tte r, which are based on solid po litica l considerations a ffe c tin g T ro tsky is ts the w orld ovSr, there are o ther reasons o f a move gen­era l character th a t seem to me to ind ica te ove rw he lm ing ly the ad­v is a b ility o f keeping Jacson in custody.

P O W E R FU L F R IE N D SI t is true th a t Jacson has

pow erfu l friends who w i l l not agree w ith th is conclusion. H is a tto rney is the b ro the r o f the Secretary o f Education in Mexico, and the Secretary o f Education h im se lf has seen fit to send Jacson a le tte r o f “ fe lic ita t io n ” on his w o rk in he lp ing to end illite ra c y among prisoners. Be­hind the scenes, o f course, stands fhe secret po litica l police o f the Soviet Union. We m ay be sure th a t M alenkov h im se lf, one of tlie p rinc ip a l a rch itects in the infam ous Moscow fram e-up tr ia ls , which were directed ch ie fly again T ro tsky and his program fo r res to ring w o rke r’s democracy in the USSR, has a d irec t in te res t in Jacson’s release.

A ll these forces p ic tu re Jacson as a “ model” prisoner, and the re ­fore one deserving “ p repa ra to ry release” fo r good conduct.

I w ill not d ispute th a t Jacson has conducted h im se lf as a “ model” p risoner. T h a t is per­fe c tly in character. H is aim is clear. He hopes to u tiliz e his model conduct to secure his release w ith o u t revea ling a s ingle one o f the im p o rta n t secrets he holds.

Jacson has a certa in s k il l in ac ting in a “ model” way. He was a model husband to S y lv ia A g e lo ff fo r two years a fte r they met in P aris — not ou t o f love fo r her, but solely th rough th is model conduct to ga in e n try in to T ro ts k y ’s household.

He was likew ise a model guest. He shared food w ith T ro tsky and was he lp fu l in sm all ways — net ou t o f regard o r adm ira tion fo r T ro tsky , o r friend liness to ­ward him , bu t sole ly in order th rough th is model conduct to gain the o p po rtu n ity o f s tanding behind his back w ith a pickaxe which he then brought down in to his host’s sku ll. ,

HAS N O T R E F O R M E DHas Jacson perhaps re form ed

since 1940? A l l the fac ts speak aga inst any such conclusion which M alenkov’s secret police would have us accept.

H is b id fo r c itizensh ip in M exico is a case in po in t. Who can believe th a t his m ain concern in li fe today is to p a rtic ip a te in the cam paign aga inst il lite ra c y and to re tire to a life o f a g r ic u l­tu ra l pu rsu its , as he tr ies to make out? L e t us reca ll th a t in the f irs t place he did no t come to Mexico to become a fa rm e r w ith an avocation in social w e lfa re w ork . He entered M exico on a fa lse passport as a professional k il le r w ith b u t one objective, to m urder Leon T ro tsky , the honored guest o f the M exican people.

Jacson’s bid fo r c itizensh ip is no com plim ent to M exico, bu t s im p ly an astu te lega l move to avoid revea ling where he was born, and the re fo re where he can be deported to. I t is an in s u lt to the M exican people, who have a r ig h t to know w ha t c itizensh ip he wishes to renounce and why.

H is pow erfu l backers p ic tu re him as a sim ple prisoner — g u ilty o f no th ing b u t o rd in a ry homicide — and the re fo re m e rit­ing sym pathy. W here has he indicated e\'en a shade o f regre t, o r remorse, o r desire to make re s titu tio n fo r one o f the fou lest crimes in h istory'?

C U N N IN G M O VEH ow unrepentant th is cold­

blooded k il le r and a d ro it actor i? can be judged by one sim ple fa c t: In seeking release, he by-passed

LE O N T R O TS K Y , co-leader w ith Lenin o f the Russian Bol­shevik revo lu tion , and his w i­dow, N A T A L IA TR O TS K Y . T ro ts k y was exiled from the Soviet Union by the S ta lin is t bureaucracy and m urdered in M exico on Aug. 20, 1940, by S ta lin ’s agent, F rank Jacson. N a ta lia is s t i l l liv in g in Mexico.

the Departam ento de Prevención Social, since lie apparen tly has reason to believe tha t its records w ill reveal th a t a t bottom he is the most hardened and dangerous type o f m urderer. He made his legal b id fo r release fro m prison d ire c tly to the Secretaria de Gobernación, where undoubtedly he counts on po w erfu l in fluences being- b rough t to bear in his be­ha lf.

A s fo r re s titu tio n fo r h is un ­speakable crim e, le t i t be noted th a t his calcula ted legal moves were accompanied — not accident­a lly we m ay be sure — by a cam­paign o f slander in the w orld press aga inst T ro ts k y ’s w idow. T h is iso la ted woman, who has he ro ica lly born the m urder o f tw o sons, a husband aud num ber­less frien ds a t S ta lin ’s hands, is p ic tu red as seeking the death o f •i m iserable pawn in the in te rn a ­tiona l p lo t engineered by the late m onster in the K re m lin !

W O U LD E N D A N G E R N A T A L IAIsn ’ t i t f a r more lik e ly th a t

such a case-hardened, pro fes­sional tr ig g e r-m a n o f Moscow’s secret police would supplement his m urder o f the husband by m urd e rin g the w idow ? A nd fo r tw o reasons — out o f revenge fo r N a ta lia T ro ts k y ’s e ffo r ts to get him to reveal his secrets and out o f the po litica l need o f the ¡S talin ist regim e to liqu ida te one o f the last su rv ivo rs o f Le n in ’s generation and the person who was most closely associated w ith T ro tsky .

I am no t in position to in- fuenec the w o rk ing s o f M exican justice. I happen to belong to che sm all, poverty-s tricken g roup ­in g th a t advocates the revo lu ­tio n a ry socia list program o f Leon T ro tsky . We have ne ithe r money nor in flu e n tia l fr ien ds no r state power. We are among the main ta rge ts o f the w itch hun t in the U n ited States th a t is now g iv in g b ir th to the M cC arthy ite fasc is t movement. I can count on ly on the concern fo r fa irness and jus tice w h ich the M exican people displayed so adm irab ly in o f fe r ­in g p o litica l asylum to Leon T ro tsky when he was pursued by S ta lin ’s secret police and no o ther country on th is p lane t would g ra n t h im en try .

L E T H IM S P E A K O UTD appears to me th a t Jacson,

before being turned loose, should g ive some genuine ind ica tion that lie is w o rth y o f tru s t. The road to earn ing th is tru s t is not a hard one. He need on ly speak ou t and make a clean breast o f h is crimes.

L e t h im , fo r example, te ll the M exican au tho ritie s his rea l iden­t ity . Is his name Ramon del Rio Mercader, as the police records o f Spain ind ica te? Yes o r no?' W as he born in Spain? Is he a c itizen o f Spain? I f no t, w hat cou n try is he fro m ? W hy has he pe rs is ten tly refused a ll these years to d ivu lge th is sim ple o rd in a ry in fo rm a tio n ? W hen did he become an agent o f S ta lin ’s secret police ? W hy did he choose th is strange profession? How did i t happen ?

Is his m other an old S ta lin is t as refugees from Franco ’s reg im e repo rt? Yes o r no? W ha t p a rt did she have in convincing him to enter the service o f S ta lin ’s secret police? W here is she now? Is she prepared to con firm his s ta te ­ments? W here is the rest o f his fa m ily ? A re they prepared to confirm his statem ents? W ha t about his old acquaintances?

W hy did he lie about his id e n tity in 1940 when he was arrested fo r m urdering T ro tsky? W hy has he persisted in th is lie to th is day? Whose in te rests is he serv ing by m a in ta in in g th is lie?

F A L S E PASSPO RTHe entered M exico on a false

passport made out to “ F rank Jacson,” bu t ac tu a lly issued to a resident o f Canada who perished in the Spanish C iv il W ar. Who doctored th is passport? W ho, fo r example, replaced the passport photograph o f the dead Tony Babich w ith Jacson’s p ic tu re? W here did Jacson have th is p ic ­tu re taken? W ho gave th is false

passport to Jacson? W h a t was the source o f the considerable sums Jacson used- in com ing to M exico? W ho pays his lawyers?

W hat was Jacson’s role in the M ay 24, 1940, machine-gun assault on Leon and N a ta lia T ro tsky? W as he the m an above David A lfa ro S iqueiros, o r was Siqueiros alone in charge o f o rg an iz in g th is a ttem pted double m urder? Be­sides the S ta lin is ts apprehended by the police in th is case, what others were involved?

W HO K IL L E D H A R T E ?Who k ille d Robert Sheldon

I la r te in the M ay 24 assault? Was i t Jacson who pu t one bulle. in the back o f the head and an­o ther in the temple o f the young A m erican guard o f T ro tsky? . Or was i t the A rena l b ro thers as \ias alleged at the tim e? I f it was the A ren a l b ro thers, w hat happened to them a fte r th assault? W ere they k illed by S ta lin ’s secret .police to keep them from ta lk in g ? D id Jacson ca rry out th is double execution?

W h a t does Jacson know about ihe m urder in P aris sometime in Ju ly 1938 o f Rudolph E lem ent. Secretary o f the F o u rth In te rn a ­tiona l and fo rm e r S ecre ta ry ' o f Leon Trot-sky? l) id Jacson per­sona lly m urder E lem ent, deca­p ita te the body and th row i t in to the Seinb r iv e r, where i t was la te r found, because K lo inent stum bled onto Jacson’s real id e n tity and connections? (Jacson was in P aris at the tim e o f th is k il l in g which has not been solved to th is day.)

■W'hat was Jaeson’s exact re la-

M alenkov? T ro tsky had in fo rm a ­tion in d ica ting tha t S ta lin set up a special departm ent w ith un ­lim ited funds charged sole ly w ith p repa ring his m urder. Who was in charge o f th is departm ent? I I om- did i t happen to select Jacson to take charge o f the long-planned m urder in M exico? And since Jacson fled fro m Mexico a fte r the fa ilu re o f the May 24 assault, w hat members o f th is special departm ent did he contact in New Y ork to make his report?

W H A T G U A R A N T E E S ?F in a lly , since Jacson h im se lf

has taken the in it ia t iv e in seeking Ids release, he m ust have received some k ind o f guarantee from the K re m lin ’s secret police tha t he w ill not be k illed . W hat is the na ture o f th is guarantee? Is i t planned to g ive Jacson a new false passport upon b is release fro m prison , so tha t lie can flee fro m M exico and resume his career as a professional k il le r?

A g re a t resp on s ib ility in th is m a tte r rests on the M exican au tho rities , i t appears to me. W hat a s ta in upon Mexico it would be i f ib is product o f S ta lin ’s gangster machine should l ig h t ly be given the o p p o rtu n ity to c lim ax his career by m urder­in g the w idow o f T ro tsky o r h is grandson o r o ther figures in the w o rk in g class wdio have opposed the S ta lin is t police reg im e! I have confidence th a t the M exican people w il l know how to prevent such an outcome to th is in te rn a ­tiona l case so deeply in vo lv ing the honor o f Mexico and the in -

tion to such figures as Beria and te g r ity o f its justice.

...On Tour Report(Continued fro m page 1)

Reuther cooperated w ith th is a n ti- la b o r com m itte , the road was cleared fo r passage o f the w itch - hunting , union - busting T rucks Law , w ith o u t a d issen ting vote in t ile state leg is la ture .

B u t the Socialist W orkers P a rty fough t fo r its right, to ru n in elections, got back on the. ba llo t and recen tly won a legal v ic to ry when the state A tto rn e y General conceded th a t there were no grounds fo r decla ring the SWP “ subversive.”

* * •+

FEB. 27 — T h is m orn ing Dodge Local 3, U A W -C IO , held a demon­s tra tio n aga inst unem ploym ent. The Dodge plant employs 33,000 workers. T w e n ty thousand o f them are on the streets.

I w ent down to the dem onstra­tion and stayed u n t il I had to leave fo r my m eeting th is a f te r ­noon.

The dem onstra tion w h ich was scheduled , at the gate- o f the Dodge p lan t was moved to the union h a ll a block away because o f ra in . A l l the seats were taken and every inch o f f lo o r space was occupied by stand ing w o rk ­ers. A ll the offices and side rooms were packed. O utside in the street additonal thousands came and le ft. <

The immense crowd o f auto workers, dressed in th e ir Sunday best, was sprink led w ith u n ifo rm ­ed groups w e aring caps bearing the ins ign ia , “ Dodge Local 3 F ly ­ing Squadron."

•Inside and outside the ha ll were hundreds o f placards. T yp ica l signs read, "S74 m illio n p ro fit fo r C h rys le r, no th ing fo r the w o rke r,” “ A P ub lic W orks P rogram N ow .” I saw one th a t read, “ 30 years sen io rity , ou t on the s tree t.”

By pa tien t squeezing and m aneuvering I worked m y way to-stand ing room in the main ha ll and listened to the speeches. I was surprised. Somehow th is in ­s p ir in g tu rn o u t had led me to expect som eth ing suited to the occasion o f the f ir s t la rge w o rk ­ers dem onstra tion against the plague o f unem ploym ent in De­tro it . B u t no. The o ffic ia ls pa rad­ed every local p o litic ia n o f the Democratic. ■ P a rty across the p la tfo rm . ,

The m ayor o f H am tram ck, the tow n com ple te ly surrounded by D e tro it where tlie Dodge p la n t is located, was speaking when I go t in to the ha ll. He procla im ed h im ­se lf a g rea t “ fr ie n d o f the Dodge Loca l” and sym pathized w ith th e ir p lig h t.

F o llow ing him the s h e r if f o f W ayne county to ld the w orkers the y w an t jobs; and they were good Am ericans.

Then Dem ocratic representa­tives to the state leg is la tu re spoke. They were caustic about the do -no th ing po licy o f the Republican m a jo r ity . They said they were f ig h tin g fo r be tte r un­em ploym ent compensation laws, o r a t least to prevent the Repub­licans from ¡weakening the ex­is tin g laws. B u t they d idn ’t th in k they would w in. They promised to take th e ir f ig h t to the people. In the m eantim e they urged the w orkers to send postcards to the s t a t e leg is la tu re pro testing Republican policies.

I t was sad and sickening. One w o rke r s tand ing near me to ld his friend , “ L e t’s go. I don’ t w ant to lis ten to th a t b u ll; I hear i t a ll the tim e on the rad io .”

But I w ou ldn ’t say a ll the w orkers fe lt th a t way. I t was a pa tien t crowd. They seemed to be down there to see w hat th e ir union was do ing about th e ir te rr ib le p lig h t. I would say they were more puzzled than angered by the perform ance on the p la t­form .

The 13,000 s t i l l w o rk ing at the p lan t are on a short tw o o r three day M'eek. A speedup is rag ing . Some w a lk o u ts have taken place.

B u t I d idn ’t hear about th is from the ca p ita lis t po litic ian s on the p la tfo rm . They were p ick ing up votes fo r the com ing elec­tions.

One representative to the sta te leg is la tu re to ld how a un ion de legation headed by R euther w ent to Lansing, the state cap ita l, to speak to the le g is la to rs on unem ploym ent. The delegation was shoved in to a “ cubbyhole.” I t was so sm all Reuther couldn’t even stand up to speak. The delegation demanded a room la rge enough to hold a hearing.. They were brusquely refused.

The whole coun try knows th a t , Reuther can’t get an audience w ith the President who meets w ith M cC arthy any tim e the fa s ­c is t senator beckons. But even in M ich igan, the s trongho ld o f the U A W , the head o f the CIO can’t get even po lite trea tm e n t fo r a union de legation to t lie s la te leg is la tu re ! T h a t’s a measure o f where labor has landed w ith Reuther’s po litica l po licy o f sup- p o rlin g cap ita lis t parties.

I le ft the ha ll o f Dodge Local 3 w ith m ixed fee lings. The w o rk ­ers are beg inn ing to move, bu t th e ir present o ffic ia l leaders are in fo r a b ig surprise. The ou t­pouring o f these w orkers in dem onstra tion stood in sharp con­tra s t to the antiquated, outmoded labo r o ffic ia ls and ca p ita lis t p o li­tica l “ fr ien d^ o f la b o r" on the p la tfo rm . A new upsurge o f labo r w i l l in e v ita b ly mean a new po licy o f independent po litica l action and a new leadership.

MiraclesThe Ohio Unem ploym ent Serv­

ice m anager says there w ill be 3,000 people on re lie f in the tow n o f L o ra in by June “ unless a m i r a c l e happens.” Associated Press News A n a lys t J. M Roberts says tha t “ the cruel fact o f today is tha t i f w a r between Soviet Russia and the W est is avoided even fo r any considerable num ber o f years it w i l l be a m ajor m irac le .”

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V o k .X V II I - No. 11 M onday, M arch 15, 1954

A "S t. George" to the RescueThe Ivberal-s have been corn-bin« the Repub­

lican and Democratic lists for someone, anyone to lead the light against McCarthyite fascism.

Some hope to stiffen Hisenhower’s backbone, a doubtful project, for it appears that not even a golfing iron could accomplish that miracle. Some have turned hopefully in Senator Fulbright’s direction as the only one among the crooks, cynics and cowards that pack the Senate who chose to vote against funds for McCarthy.

As the nation registered a wave of revulsion to both McCarthy and Eisenhower following the Stevens debacle, certain machine politicians pricked up their ears. The revulsion was a sign of polarization against McCarthyism. This, from their viewpoint requires watching — and leadership to keep it from getting out of hand.

And so Stevenson, the 1952 candidate of the Democrats took to the microphones and the TV cameras March 6. lie slated a few truths about Republican dependence on McCarthyism and said, "The end result, in short, is a malign and fatal totalitarianism.”

A great sigh of relief went up from the liberals. St. George was galloping to the rescue.

The reaction of leading Democratic Senators to Stevenson’s bid for leadership of the op-

position to McCarthyism was somewhat d if­ferent. however. They questioned his speech, although anonymously.

W illiam S. White reported one of their reasons — undoubtedly the central one — in tlie March 9 N. Y. Times: “ That the Demo­crats could not directly attack ‘McCarthyism’ without being accused of being ‘soft to com­munism’ . .

That rs proof, we submit, that the top Democrats in the Senate actually lean strongly in the direction of McCarthyism. Even if they publicly deplore the methods o f the Wisconsin fascist, at heart they are not so finicky. Thai ivas why they voted to finance his witch- hunting activities for another year.

In our opinion the liberals w ill not learn that they cannot depend on either Democrats or Republicans to save them from McCarthy.

But we are strongly convinced that the working people who really believe in defending democracy and freedom w ill learn the neces­sary lesson. And the power to stop Mc- Carthyism lies with them. They w ill surely know how to act in time as did their predeces­sors in 1776 and 1861.

The exposure o f the reaction of the Senate Democrats to Stevenson’s speech is one of the' small items that w ill help bring that about.

Lehman and Concentration CampsOn March 1 McCarthy advocated “ labor”

(read “ concentration” ) camps for “ communist” members of the armed forces, as well as those who seek the protection guaranteed by the F ifth Amendment against his “ When did you stop committing sabotage?” questions.

The fascist Senator added that the camps should be made “ disagreeable” for its inmates. 1-le may have had in mind H itle r’s concentra­tion camps where gas chambers were installed to meet the dictator’s norm fo r "disagreeable” conditions.

The ominous nature o f McCarthy’s latest proposal is underscored by the fact that a network of concentration camps has already been built in the United States. Under the terms o f the McCarran-Kilgore law, in any “ emer­gency” these camps can be filled with all those the government thinks “ m ight” commit “ sabotage” or “ espionage.”

The pattern o f McCarthy’s steadily growing power is in such deadly parallel to Hitlerism that only the blind can fa il to recognize it. The menace of McCarthyism has become so apparent that even capitalist politicians who solicit the votes o f the workers and m inority groups feel compelled to demagogically declaim against it.

An example of such anti - McCarthy

demagogy is the Feb. 27 speech of Lehman. “ The Congressional inquisitors, the anti-in­tellectuals, the fear and iiate mongers who to­day threaten the very fabric o f our free society (are) the source of our greatest danger,” declared the Democratic Senator from New York.

Charging that Eisenhower is afraid of Mc­Carthy, he accused the Republican opponents of McCarthy o f offering “ appeasement and compromise.”

We have no quarrel with these words; but to draw from them the conclusion that Lehman can be counted oh to lead a struggle against McCarthyism would be sure suicide.

Lehman’s vote in the Senate for funds for McCarthy is a far more decisive indication of his real attitude toward the Wisconsin demagogue than high-sounding words at a banquet.

And finally, while we’re talking about con­centration camps, let it be indelibly engraved in the mind o f every opponent of McCarthyism that one o f the leading Democrats who spon­sored passage of that section of the McCarran- Kilgore law under which concentration camps have already been built in America was the same Lehman who now offers his “ leadership” in fighting McCarthyism.

McCarthy Hits and RunsFaced with the possibility of cross-examin­

ation under oath, Senator McCarthy on March 5 dropped his 82,000,000 libel and slander suit against former Senator W illiam B. Ben­ton, Connecticut Democrat, who had charged on the Senate floor in 1951 that McCarthy was guilty of "perjury, fraud and calculated deceit of the American people.” McCarthy tried to withdraw the suit quietly. But when Benton made McCarthy’s retreat known, the Wisconsin demagogue claimed he had halted the action because his lawyers could not find anyone who believed Benton’s charges.

Too bad McCarthy didn’t issue one o f his numerous press releases asking anyone who believes the charges to step forward. Prob­ably he was afraid he’d be crushed in the rush. We suspect that McCarthy’s mouthpieces didn’t try very hard to find such sustaining witnesses. I f we had known about it, we could have scraped up a few thousand ourselves.

The M ilitan t published the details o f Ben­ton’s charges last spring when the Senate com­mittee report confirmed them. We didn’t use any qualifying language, like " i f is alleged,” either. We likened McCarthy to other witch- hunters, such as former Representatives An­drew J. Mays and J. Parnell Thomas, whose anti-“ communism” seems always to combine with a taste for the easy, tainted and crooked dollar.

We published the facts about McCarthy’s successful solicitation of 810-000 from the Lustron Corporation for a pamphlet on hous­ing that wasn’t even written, after McCarthy had proved of aid to Lustron in getting RFC loans, subsequently defaulted. We told of McCarthy’s deposits of §172,623.18 from Jan. 1, 1948 to Nov. 12, 1952, while ostensibly drawing down only a senator’s salary, and of the §144,501.84 of income going back to 1946 whose source the Senate investigators could not trace. Naturally, McCarthy six times re­fused to testify before this committee, hiding behind his senatorial immunity.

But when Benton made the facts public, McCarthy in March 1952 dared Benton to forego his senatorial immunity and face a

slander suit. Benton accepted the challenge. McCarthy said then he wanted to “ get people like Benton on the stand under oath and make them either tell the truth or perjure themselves.” But it was McCarthy who feared to take the stand, not Benton.

But the type of misdeeds charged against McCarthy by Benton could be charged against other members o f Congress. These in them­selves do not make McCarthy any special or unusual menace. In this respect, it would be hard to distinguish McCarthy from most other capitalist politicians, who also represent spe­cial private interests and seek to feather their own nests.

6 iir charges against McCarthy are far graver than mere “ perjury, fraud and calcu­lated deceit of the American people,” includ­ing using his office to line his own pockets. We charge McCarthy with the aim of estab­lishing a fascist dictatorship in the United States over the crushed bones of the American labor movement.

The big-money people behind McCarthy aren’( embarrassed by his lying, four-flushing and fraud. That helps make him the type they’re looking for. It takes a bold and brazen man, a conscienceless demagogue, a ruthless brute capable o f any crime, to carry out the fascist program. McCarthy’s appeal is to all the shady scum of our society, who hope to ride to power with him and share the loot. They th ink it clever of McCarthy to evade the witness stand.

As for the honest dupes who follow Mc­Carthy, they are w illing to overlook his smelly financial practices because they believe his line that “ Communism is the greatest men­ace” to this country and only McCarthyism can effectively fight “ commimism.” Conversely, the only people who can seriously and effec­tive ly fight McCarthyism are those who un­derstand that fascism is the real and hideous danger that confronts America today.

The facts about McCarthy brought to light by Benton can be used with fu ll effectiveness only as part o f labor’s arsenal in an all-out mass struggle to smash McCarthyite fascism before it smashes us.

An Instructive Case of Political GangreneBy Joseph Hansen

In a reso lu tion adopted last December, condemning the So­c ia lis t W orkers P a rty fo r its defense o f o rthodox T ro tsky ism , the Pablo ite m in o rity fac tion in (he F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l took up the question o f M cCarthyism and the cam paign which the SW P is waging against it . Here is the f u l l te x t:

“ M oreover, a fte r the expulsion o f the m in o r ity and the break w ith the In te l-nationa l, th is leadership, d isavow ing w ith a stroke o f the pen its en tire s trugg le aga inst the ‘pessimism o f the m in o r ity , ' sounded the a larm on the fasc is t danger in the U n ited States, ‘g rea te r than in 1939,’ w h ich i t has suddenly discovered in M cC arthy ism .”

I h a v e . quoted th is in f u l l in o rder t§ make Pablo’s con trib u ­tion to the analysis o f M oC arthy- ism a m a tte r o f pub lic record. Since the con tribu tion can prove con fus ing unless you are in ­tim a te ly fa m il ia r w ith the issues in the fac tion s trugg le now go ing on in the F o u rth In te rn a tion a l aga inst Pablo’s rev is ion ism , per­m it me to remove the Pabloite husk.

F irs t o f a ll, the m in o r ity (m ean­ing 18% o f the one-tim e members o f the SWP who made a c u lt oi Pablo) were no t expelled. They de libe ra te ly sabotaged p a r ty ac­t iv it ie s to provoke a sp lit.

Second, the SW P has no t called fo r any T ro ts k y is t to “ b reak” fro m the F o u rth In te rn a ­tiona l. I t has on the con tra ry called on them to defend the F ou rth In te rn a tio n a l a g a i n s t Pablo ite rev is ion ism and to re ­move Pablo fro m office as sec­re ta ry o f the o rgan iza tion .

T h ird , the SW P leadership has not disavowed its s trugg le aga inst the pessim ism o f Pablo ’s A m e r­ican fo llow ers. The hea lth and even the li fe o f the p a rty hinged on the success o f th a t s trugg le .

T h a t leaves us w ith the kernel o f Pablo’s co n trib u tio n : T h a t the SW P suddenly sounded the a larm about the fasc is t danger in the

The “ new” program o f the Am erican Com m unist P a rty , an­nounced in the M arch 7 W orker, continues the line elaborated at the end o f 1952 o f open support by the S ta lin is ts to the Demo­c ra tic P a rty .

A t tha t tim e, the S ta lin is ts declared th a t fo rm a tio n o f the Progressive P a rty in 1948 was a serious e rro r since “ there is no im m ediate outlook fo r a mass popu la r desertion o f the Demo­c ra tic P a rty .”

Dashing the hopes o f a ll those like the Am erican Pablo ites who declared th a t the 1952 CP elec­tion po licy was m ere ly a “ r ig h t osc illa tion w ith in the fram ew ork o f a le f t tu rn ,” and th a t funda­m en ta lly the S ta lin is ts “ can go on ly to the le f t ” and “ can no longer be tray ,” the new d ra ft o f the S ta lin is ts rea ffirm s the tu rn to the Dem ocrats: “ To un ite a new p o lit ic a l m a jo r ity fo r 1954 and 1956 requires a recogn ition th a t the tw o p a r ty system rem ains the force th rough w hich the ove rw helm ing m a jo r ity o f the A m erican people express themselves in p o litics .”

The OP leadership base th e ir perspectives no t on the needs o r in terests o f the Am erican w o rk ­ers, b u t so le ly on the con tinu ing e ffo rts o f the K re m lin bureau­cracy to get a deal w ith W a ll S treet. Thus they brush aside the u rgen t need o f b reaking w ith the c a p ita lis t tw o -p a rty system and launch ing an independent Labor P a rty so u rg e n tly needed to com bat M cC arthy ite fascism , the developing depression and the drive towards W o rld W ar I I I .

In face o f the ab ject ca p itu la ­tion o f both the Dem ocratic and the Republican pa rties to Mc­C a rthy ism , the m an ifesto insists th a t “ The key to the cruc ia l 1954 and 1956 elections lies in the a b ility o f the organized labor movement to come fo rw a rd as a d is tin c t p o lit ic a l fo rce w ith in the tw o -p a rty system.”

The S ta lin is ts thus renew th e ir e ffo r t to de live r the w orkers in to a treacherous a lliance w ith the cap ita lis ts . I t was precisely such perfid ious class - co llabora tion is t po litics tha t led to the v ic to ry o f fascism in Europe.

The OP leadership fa lse ly as­serts th a t “ No one group can achieve these th in g s ” (jobs, peace, etc.) W h a t is needed, the w orkers are in fo rm ed , is “ a popu lar coa lition movem ent which un ites labor, the w o rk in g fa n n e r, the N egro people, sm all and m iddle business, and those groups o f cap ita l opposed to the M c­C a rth y ite program o f fascism and w ar.” (M y emphasis.)

IN P R A C TIC EW h a t such a “ coa lition ” po licy

means in practice was previewed in la s t yea r’s N ew Y o rk m ayo ra lty

U nited Steles, th a t i t chai-- acterized it as g re a te r tha n in 1939, and th a t i t discovered i t in M cC arthy ism . We plead g u ilty to the charge, adding on ly th a t wc d idn ’t discover the fasc is t danger “ suddenly” as a by-p roduct o f the fac tiona l s trugg le as Pablo im plies.

FO U R Y E A R S AGO. W e characterized M cC arthy ’s

methods as “ fa s c is t- lik e ” fro m the tim e the W isconsin demagogue rose to na tiona l prominence. In the M il ita n t o f A p r i l 10, 1950, fo r example, Paul G. Stevens called a tten tion to the “ super w itch hu n t” set o f f by the “ obscure .Senator ' fro m W iscon­sin .” T h is “ m arks a certa in tu rn ­in g po in t in p o lit ic a l develop­ments in the U n ited States,” he observed — alm ost fo u r years ago! — no t so much fro m w hat M cC arthy has said o r done as “ fro m the response” he has evoked.

N o tin g the tone and depth o f th is popu la r response, Stevens declared th a t no m a tte r w h a t the im m ediate fa te o f M cC arthy ism “ i t is made to o rder fo r the rise o f a fasc-ist movement th a t can qu ick ly overtake tra d itio n a l cap i­ta lis t po litics in the U n ited States.” Stevens even stressed th a t M cC arthy ’s technique “ is patterned w ith s lig h t va ria tio ns a f te r th a t o f a ll the social dema­gogues down to H it le r . ”

So fa r as I am able to ascertain, th is was the f irs t a rtic le in A m e r­ica to spe ll ou t the m eaning o f M cCarthyism .

The K o re a r^w a r cu t across the rise o f M cC arthy ism . W ith in a fe w yeai-s i t f la re d up again, reaching considerable propo rtions w ith the s h if t o f the m iddle class away fro m the Democrats. H ow ­ever, w h ile con tinu ing to stress its fasc is t-like character, we qu ite co rre c tly d id no t n a il M eC arthy- ism down as actua l in c ip ien t fascism u n t il the q u a lita tive tu rn on the p o lit ic a l scene la s t Novem ­ber proved ob jective ly th a t a new fasc is t m ovem ent o f menacing

contest. The S ta lin is ts kn ife d the A m erican Labor P a rty candidate to help “ labor's candidate,” Dem ocrat Robert W agner, whose v ic to ry reestablished the reac­tio n a ry ru le o f Tam m any H a ll.

In the ranks o f the unions the S ta lin is t po licy o f “ p e ne tra ting ” the Dem ocratic P a rty w i l l lead them to a id and support the reac­tio n a ry union o ffic ia ldom in beat­in g down every move tow ard independent labo r po litics .

The “ new” p rogram is m ost c le a rly revealed in its fo re ign po licy s ta tem ent as an un ­broken con tinua tion o f the old S ta lin is t line o f be traya l. The key to w orld peace is claim ed to be, as in S ta lin ’s day, acceptance o f the “ p rinc ip le o f peaceful co­existence between the ca p ita lis t U S A and the soc ia lis t Soviet U n ion.”

T h a t’s the coun te r-revo lu tionary '.pposite o f Len in ’s course which was to f ig h t fo r the abo lition o f w a r - breeding cap ita lism . The dupes o f S ta lin ism are again to ld to accept the com ple te ly fa lse premise th a t the w a r drive o f U-S. im peria lism flow s not fro m its reactionary need to smash the Soviet Union and revo lu tiona ry China, bu t s im p ly from “ the re fusa l o f the ru l in g class to accept th is new re la tionsh ip o f forces in the w o rld .”

B A C K TO F D RT h is s itua tion can be rectified,

i t is asserted, by “ a re tu rn to President Roosevelt’s po licy o f b ig power nego tia tion and agree­m ent.” There is no reference o f course to the fa c t th a t i t was p rec ise ly the Roosevelt - S ta lin “ agreem ent” th a t led to the reactionary d iv is ion o f Germ any, and the s lashing in h a lf o f the Korean peninsula w h ich led inex­o rab ly to the c iv i l w a r fo r re ­un ifica tion . Can there be any question th a t such “ agreem ents” in the fu tu re can be reached on ly at the expense o f the colon ia l peo­ples and w orld working-class movement ?

C o n tin u in g to ho ls te r the utopian pac ifis t illu s ion th a t ex­plosive arm s races can be e lim inated fro m cap ita lism in its death agony, the authors o f the d ra ft proc la im , “ W ha t is needed is a w o rld ban on the use o f the atom bomb and an agreem ent fo r a d rastic reduction o f a ll arm a­ments.”

The d ra ft p rogram is one more proof, in w h a t is now an alm ost in fin ite series, th a t p a in tin g the Com m unist P a r ty as a revo lu ­tio n a ry organ iza tion w o rk in g fo r the abo lition o f cap ita lism does the K re m lin ’s A m erican agency a real in jus tice . The un fo rtuna te fa c t is th a t prec ise ly when the social c ris is o f cap ita lism has become so acute th a t i t can be resolved on ly by the estab lish­m ent o f a W orkers and F arm ers Governm ent, the S ta lin is ts again declaim th a t the Am erican w o rk -

p ropo rtions had coalesced around the W isconsin w itch hunter. (See the Dec. 7 M ilita n t.)

So much fo r the record. Now w hat is Pablo’s position? Does he agree th a t M cC arthy ism is fascism ? O r does he disagree? Yes o r no? Pablo stands mouth open, finge r pointed d ra m a tica lly a ty h e audience . . . and the c u r­ta in comes down.

N O T IN T E R E S T E D ?Perhaps Pablo is no t in terested

in M cC arthy ism because i t is an obscure question o f no in te res t to anyone except h a ir -s p lit t in g sec­ta rians. The fac t, however, is th a t i t is the m ost b u rn ing p o lit ic a l question in the U n ited States, i f not the w o rld , one so heated today th a t i t is im possib le to p ick up a d a ily paper th a t does no t scream about i t in the headlines.

Republicans, Dem ocrats, l ib ­era ls — a ll are seething over the issue. N o t a sing le com m entator, serious o r otherw ise, is able to avoid discussing it . I t is the m a jo r problem fa c in g the W h ite House and Congress. W a ll S tree t’s sa te llite powers are a larm ed over it . The en tire labo r movem ent is discussing it , passing reso lu tions on it , in d ica tin g in a thousand ways the ran k and file fe a r over the th rea t.

Perhaps Pablo is too fa r from the scene and doesn’t care to ven­tu re an op in ion on a problem he is no t in tim a te ly fa m il ia r w ith . B u t th is hypothesis, despite its a ttractiveness, likew ise con tra ­dicts the fac ts un fo rtuna te ly .P ab lo is not noted fo r any reluctance about w o rk in g out in elaborate de ta il even day-to -day tac tica l recipes fo r no m a tte r w h a t p a rty in no m a tte r w h a t p a r t o f the globe on no m a tte r how obscure, delicate, and com plex a problem .

I t is possible o f course th a t Pablo decided in th is ease to delegate the theore tica l appra isa l o f M cC arthy ism to his fo llow e rs in the U n ited States. T h is would be reasonable enough since th is con tingen t o f the c u lt p ride them ­selves on th e ir shrewd capacity

ers “ ar'e not prepared to accept socialism as the way ou t.”

They in s is t th a t fascism w ill not be defeated in A m erica u n til “ progressive Am ericans begin to rea lize th a t Communism is not the issue in th is cou n try today o r in the near fu tu re .”

B u t th is misses the whole cause o f fascism . A s a m an ifes ta tion o f the economic and social ro t o f cap ita lism , fascism can be de feat­ed on ly by o ffe r in g a genuine a lte rna tive . C ap ita lism is in ­capable o f o ffe r in g th is a lte r ­native. I t can come on ly through estab lish ing socialism w ith its sc ie n tifica lly planned economy. Thus socialism is the cruc ia l issue r ig h t now and in the near fu tu re .

N O T E F A S C IS T D A N G E RI t is true th a t the program

notes th a t the “ danger o f M c­C arthy ism , o f Am erican fascism , is rea l, grave and g row ing .” B ut th is makes th e ir position a ll the more c rim in a l, fo r to recognize th is carries as an inescapable c o ro lla ry : The necessity fo r so­cia lism is rea l grave and g row ­ing.

The new declaration o f S ta lin is t po licy makes a num ber o f correct observations as to the reactionary role o f W a ll S treet, and its gov­ernm ent a t home and abroad. I t speaks o f the need in general fo r a fa rm e r-la b o r p a r ty and gov­ernm ent, I t declares socialism to be the o n ly u ltim a te solution to A m erica ’s problem s. In context, however, th is cons titu te no th ing b u t le f t phraseology' aimed a t appeasing a ran k and file d is­turbed over the crass class-col­la bo ra tion is t po licy advocated by the leadership.

F o r a p o lit ic a l movem ent to co rre c tly declare th a t “ socialism alone would end the scourge o f unem ploym ent, rac ia l d isc rim in a ­tion , fascism and w a r,” and in the same breath to assert th a t i t s tead fastly refuses to make any e f fo r t to w in the A m erican peo­ple to th a t p ro g ra m which can “ alone” resolve th e ir problems, constitu tes a be traya l o f the so­c ia lis t program to which i t professes to adhere.

“ A s the Am erican people suc­ceed in e lecting a new ad m in is tra ­tion and b lock in g the im m ediate menace o f fascism and w ar, a new stage in the s trugg le w i l l begin to un fo ld . . . then the per­spective o f subsequently e lecting a fa rm e r-la b o r governm ent w i l l begin to arise.” The catch to th is line is th a t i f the Am erican w o rk ­ers take i t fo r good coin and make the tra g ic e rro r o f s tick in g to ca p ita lis t po litics , they w ill end up in concentration camps long before the “ new stage” arrives.

F o r o u r pa rt, we rem ain con­vinced tha t the Am erican w o rk ­ers, c o n tra ry to the advice o f both the S ta lin is ts and labor bureaucrats, w i l l cu t loose from the ca p ita lis t pa rties and take the road to socialism .

to keep in “ touch w ith p o lit ic a l re a lity ” in con tras t to the “ sec­ta r ia n ” SW P leadership who have “ los t touch.”

R IS E TO T H E O CCASIO NA nd sure enough, the Am erican

Pablo ites have ac tu a lly elaborated the pregnant suggestion o f the c u lt head recorded above fo r pos te rity . In the ve ry f ir s t issue o f th e ir magazine, G eller took up the theore tica l challenge in an a rtic le , “ M cC arthy ism — the T h rea t and A nsw er.”

'’‘M cC arthy ’s increas ing bo ld­ness and g-rowing power have generated a considerable discus­sion about the na ture o f the boast in labor and libe ra l c ircles,” he w rites . Good. We lean back to hear the P ablo ite w isdom about to be in jected in to the “ con­siderable discussion” on the nature o f the beast. “ There is un ­fo rtu n a te ly a lo t o f confusion about the problem and how to meet i t , ” he continues. O ur in ­te rest is w hetted a ll the keener — G elle r is about to remove the confusion. “ Is M cC arthy a r is in g Am erican H it le r? ” he asks. Is M cC arthy ism an Am erican ve r­sion o f fasc ism ?”

W e ll? L ike Pablo the speaker suddenly ha lts , m outh open. The c u rta in begins to descend as in the case o f G e llc r’s leader. U n like Pablo, however, the o ra to r man- agas to ge t ou t a fe w more w ords: “ W e in tend to re tu rn to a discussion o f th is problem . .

C L A R K E P IC K S U P H IN THe d idn ’t re tu rn to i t in the

fo llo w in g issue. Instead, theore­tic ia n C larke picked up the tho ugh t-p rovo k ing h in t o f the cu ll head. C larke ’s e laboration is th a t 3,000 m iles aw ay across the A tla n tic in Europe some people th in k Am ericans are p a rtic u la r ly susceptible to com m unism and unless constantly alarm ed by M c­C a rth y are “ liab le to s lip in to its embrace a lm ost any day. O thers believe th a t fascism has a lready trium phed here.” W h a t C larke believes about it , however, is le f t to the im agination o f the audience as the y stare at the trans fixed theo re tic ian and the s w if t ly descending cu rta in .

In the th ird issue o f the A m e r­ican Pab lo ite magazine there is not a s ing le a rtic le about M c­C arthy ism . T h a t’s r ig h t, not one.

M eanw hile , M cC arthy moved from the w itch h u n tin g o f T ru ­man to an a tta ck on Eisenhower. He scored fresh tr iu m p h s in in ­f i l t ra t in g the governm ent bureau­cracy. Congress w ith tw o lone exceptions voted funds fo r the w itc h -h u n tin g com m ittees. M c­C a rth y moved fo r con tro l o f the m il ita ry caste. A g re a t po litica l c ris is shook the Republican P a rty fro m top to bottom . The whole w o rld turned apprehensive eyes on the m ounting power o f the W isconsin fasc is t. One o f ’ the b iggest p o lit ic a l controversies in decades, th a t has fille d the papers, the rad io , T V fo r alm ost h a lf a year, reached a new paroxysm . The Pabloites, how ­ever, in the f irs t three issues o f th e ir m agazine held th e ir tongues w ith adm irab le firm ness in the face o f a ll th is provocation.

How are we to account fo r such spectacular loss o f “ touch w ith po litica l re a lity ? ”

The p o litica l gangrene evident in Pablo ite th in k in g about M c­C arthy ism is due to do c trina irism . Pablo holds to the doctrine th a t W orld W a r I I I is due in 1953 or maybe 1954 plus o r m inus. The prospective atom ic w ar, he m a in ­ta ins, does not th rea ten the ex­istence o f c iv iliz a tio n . On the c o n tra ry , i t w i l l assure the v ic ­to ry o f socialism . T h a t’s the doctrine.

F ro m th is we m ay surm ise th a t the c u lt head expects Mc­C arthy ism w i l l be ha lted short, e ith e r by the w a r o r by the v ic ­to ry o f socialism . So w hy bother to analyze such an evanescent p o lit ic a l fo rm a tio n ?

I t is sim on-pure doc trina irism . N o t even the Socia lis t Labor P a rty is g u ilty o f such to ta l loss o f touch w ith p o lit ic a l re a lity . T h is is understandable since the S LP a t least has the problem o f

ta lk in g to vo te rs w h ile the Coch- ran ites have no problem o f ac­tion . They have narrowed th e ir perspective to no th ing bu t o f fe r ­ing wise comments. The log ic o f tha t is to abstain from even com m enting i f you lose confidence in you r wisdom.

The iro ny o f i t is th a t Pablo did no t o rig in a te the theory o f the headlong rush o f A m erican im peria lism tow ard W orld W ar I I I . T ha t theory was developed by the leadership o f the SW P a t the close o f W o rld W ar I I . B r ie f ly s ta ted, the thesis is th a t a ll the economic and p o lit ic a l forces o f cap ita lism now tend tow ard p lu n g in g the w o rld in to another w a r a t incom parab ly g re a te r speed and in te n s ity than a fte r W orld W ar I.

I t was stated in headline fo rm in the famous f irs t issue o f the M il ita n t fo llo w in g V -J D ay: “ T H E R E IS NO P E A C E ! O nly W orld Socialism Can Save M an­kind fro m A tom ic D estruction in A no ther Im p e ria lis t W ar. W o rk ­ers o f A m erica ! You M ust Take Power in to Y ou r Own H ands!” (See the M il ita n t , A ug . 18, 1945.)

T h is thesis was resisted by Pablo u n t il the T h ird W orld Con­gress in 1951 when he o ff ic ia lly accepted it . In accepting it, how­ever, i t is now clear th a t he made a carica tu re o f it . The Pablo ite doctrine leaves ou t the po ss ib ility o f counterforces, aroused by the ve ry drive tow ard w a r, com ing in to p la y and s low ing down the process i f not s topp ing it , open­in g up in te rim s o f “ cold peace” in w h ich ,we m ig h t see a tem ­po ra ry deal w ith the Soviet bloc and in w h ich such phenomena as a fasc is t m ovem ent in A m erica and a s trugg le aga inst i t can come to the fo re , i t is a typ ica l e rro r o f non-d ia lectica l though t.

P A R A L Y Z IN G P E S S IM IS MBehind the P ablo ite doctrine o f

an e a rly a tom ic w a r ushering in socialism there lies another doctrine — the paradoxica l con­v ic tion th a t the A m erican w o rk ­in g class is incapable o f m oving in tim e to block another w a r o r o f seriously im ped ing i t in any way. T h is view stems fro m the pro found pessimism we long ago noted p a r tic u la r ly in the A m e r­ican fo llow e rs o f Pablo.

I f i t is true , as they feel, th a t the A m erican w o rk in g class is incapable o f m aking a soc ia lis t revb lu tion in tim e, and a fasc is t th re a t arises, then isn ’ t i t certa in tha t fascism w i l l tr iu m p h ? And i f fascism tr ium p hs in Am erica, doesn’t th a t mean the like lihood o f c iv iliza tio n go ing down in un ­speakable barbarism ? T h a t p e r­spective is so frig -h ten ing th a t the Pabloites p re fe r to shu t th e ir eyes to the rea l m eaning o f the rise o f M cC arthy.

Thus blinded to re a lity by th e ir doctrine , they are incapable o f f ig h tin g M cC arthy ism , or o f w o rk ­in g ou t ways and means o f f ig h t­in g it . T h a t is w h y i t is not an ep ithe t bu t an accurate char­ac te riza tion to label th e ir ap­proach to M cC arthy ism as p o li­t ic a l gangrene.

In the classical pa tte rn o f dyed- in -the-w ool doctrina ires , the Pa­blo ites seek to save th e ir doctrine in the face o f a p o litica l re a lity th a t c ru e lly crosses it . They hope th a t events w i l l somehow come to th e ir rescue. So they m a in ta in silence, t r y in g to fob us o f f w ith the vague prom ise o f re tu rn in g to “ a discussion o f th is problem .”

In con tras t to th is ba nkru p t course, the S ocia lis t W orkers P a rty proceeded in the orthodox T ro ts k y is t m anner to make a rounded M a rx is t analysis o f the p o litica l re a lity . And in the orthodox T ro ts k y is t m anner the analysis o f the M cC a rth y ite fa s ­c is t m ovem ent was not le f t a t the theore tica l level b u t p ro m p tly converted in to action.

The im pact o f the an ti-M c- C a rth y ite cam paign o f the SW P on the lib e ra l and labo r move­m ent in A m erica is se lf-ev ident to anyone who closely fo llow s the libe ra l and labo r press. As fo r the P ablo ite wiseacres, they stand a t the side lines, m ouths open, a pe rfect example o f secta rian impotence.

F irs t p r in t in g e n tire ly sold o u t!Second ed ition now ready

O RDER Y O U R COPY N O W

McCARTHYISM:American Fascism

On the MarchC o n t e n t s

The Grave Danger o f the Fascist Menace — S tate­ment by the P o litica l Com m ittee o f the Socia list W orkers P a rty

W hat About the “ Com m unist Menace” ?

Box Score o f the M cC a rth y ite W ilc h H un t Fascists See T h e ir B iggest Chance Since the 30’s L ife -and-D eath S tru g g le fo r Negroes and M in o r ity

Peoples

The Men Behind M cC arthy, by A r t Preis

M cC arthy ’s Use o f the H it le r B ig -L ie Technique, by M u rry Weiss

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11« U n iv e rs ity Place New Y o rk 3, N . Y.

C. P. Reaffirms Support Of Capitalist Politicians

By Harry Ring

The Negro Struggle-------------------------- By Jean Blake ~~ZZZ^^ZZIZZZi

Neither Eisenhower nor McCarthy!"The important decision before the Amer­

ican people today,” Walter White told a Long Island NAACP audience March 4, "is the choice between the leadership of President Eisenhower and that of Senator McCarthy.”

That, we submit, is a confession of bank­ruptcy by Mr. White, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and an admission that he is incapable of providing leadership for the Negro people he supposedly represents.

The first need in leading the struggle of the most oppressed group in America is the abil­ity to see what the main problems facing them are, and to tell the truth about them. By stat­ing the problem as Eisenhower vs. McCarthy, Mr. White leads only to the road of defeat that the German people took when they lis­tened to 'leaders who told them the choice was a capitalist lesser evil or Hitler.

The truth is that there is no fundamental difference between McCarthy and Eisenhow­er. Both want to perpetuate the capitalist sys­tem with its Jim Crow features, its wars, its depressions, and all its other evils — at any cost. Their only disagreements are tactical, by what means they can best preserve it.

Neither Eisenhower, nor McCarthy — nor the Democrats both are w illing to attack to­day — give a damn about the Negro people. And Mr. White knows it, unless he’s kidding himself as well as others.

As a matter of fact, the Negro question is only a political football for all capitalist poli­

ticians, to be picked up, kicked around, or dropped as expediency or momentary advan­tage suggests.

For example, Eisenhower, Taft, and the rest of the leading Republicans stated fla tly in the last presidential election campaign that they were opposed to Fair Employment Practices legislation.

McCarthy, on the other hand, voted , for measures the NAACP considered in support of FEPC!

This by no means indicates that McCarthy is interested in the advancement of the Negro people —- only that he considered it advan­tageous in his struggle for power against other segments of the capitalist class to use the FEPC issue.

Hitler, you w ill recall, also promised every­thing to the German people defeated in war, oppressed by foreign and native capitalists, by unemployment anti insecurity. He used every political football he could in his drive to

. power — only to shackle the people with fas­cist barbarism once he achieved his goal.

I f the Negro people are to advance in the struggle for fu ll equality, and take their right­ful place among the leadership that w ill save the American workers from the fate of Eu­rope, new leaders must come forth to replace the bankrupts like Walter White, who learned nothing from the tragic experience of Germany and Italy. New leaders with the understanding and courage to say: "Neither Eisenhower nor McCarthy! The decision facing the American people is socialism or fascism!”

That Servant Problem---- — By Joyce Cowley —-----------------------

Everyone’s worried these slays about rising unemployment, or that’s what 1 thought until 1 saw a letter in the N. Y. Herald Tribune from a New Hampshire housewife who is not worried at all. She has evidently waited a good many years for this day and at last has the satisfaction of seeing these unemployed work­ers get exactly what they deserve.

"N ot so long ago,” she writes, “ when World War II began, millions of housewives woke up and with our breakfast coffee received notices from innumerable Lenas, Marys and Annas. A t first we were perplexed. We could hardly believe that our worthy maids and cooks would exchange their comfortable household jobs with the rigors of a war plant or factory. But they did.”

Not only that, but — “ They visited us on occasion and told us o f ‘time-and-a-half’ and 'sick benefits’ and ’vacation with pay.’ ”

But this housewife and her friends, coming no doubt from sturdy pioneer stock, were not dismayed.

7'We 'polished silver easily and beautifully and enjoyed the fact that we could use our fine old pieces again — as during Anna'* reign we had to pack them away. Too much work for the poor dear. Miraculously our china stopped breaking and our glass remained intact. Our husband could linger for hours at the dinner table without being nudged to get up and ‘let Anna clear the table.’ Guests could come at all hours and find a warm welcome.

"W hat has this happy development in our lives to do with the mournful unemployment and depression talk? Only this. We shall never again employ the women who so grossly abused our patience, kindness and generosity. The economists had better face up to the fact that

the former maids and cooks are today's and lontor row’s u nernp loyed.”

I can’t help wondering just how Anna "grossly abused” this woman. By quitting her comfortable 8U-hour a week job for the rigors of overtime pay, sick leave and vacations? But the letter states emphatically that Anna really did her a favor by giving her the chance to polish the silver herself. Or did Anna’s abuse consist o f clearing the table too promptly so that she could spend a few hours with her own fam ily or go to a movie?

I don’t know what this vindictive housewife did with her time before she learned to cook and wash dishes, but while she’s been studying household arts, Anna, Mary and Lena have learned a few things, too.

They learned how to use tools and run machinery. They learned how to read blue­prints and make electrical installations. They watched a giant jet take o ff with a feeling of excitement and pride because they helped to build it. They learned how to struggle against the boss. 1’hey joined unions, went on strike, walked picket lines alongside the men in thei: shop.

1 don't think the lady in New Hampshire w ill find too many of them at her door, eager to take up a mop and pail again. They’re more likely to be down at the union hall, hollering for a 30-hour week with 40 hours pay. They’ll be fighting to build their own political party, fighting the whole economic system that creates depressions and unemployment.

And if any o f the housewives who took over in the kitchen get tired of cookbooks and silver polish, Anna and M ary and Lena w ill be first class mechanics, who can show a new girl the ropes.

Notes from the NewsN E G R O -K IL L IN G S H E R IF F B E A TS RAP.

S h e r iff Jenkins H ill, o f C la rk County, A la ., wh shot Moses Jones, the p rinc ip a l w itness aga inst h im in a boo tlegg ing-pro tection racket, has been acquitted o f the k il l in g on grounds o f “ se lf- defense.” He was also exonerated o f a b ribe ­ta k in g charge.

♦ iL IK E N S M cC a r t h y TO H IT L E R . The noted

educator, Robert M. H u tch ins, fo rm e r Chancellor o f the U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago, declared in a speech a t Greencastle, Ind., Feb. 26, th a t M cC arthy is " th e m ost fr ig h te n in g fig u re ” since “ the em er­gence o f Ado lph H it le r . ’’

. * * *

T H E S A N C T IT Y OF P R IV A T E PRO PERTYis not w ide ly accepted in the w o rld , the vote a t a recent session o f the U N ’s Hum an R igh ts Com­mission indicates. The U.S. representa tive on the Commission was qu ite stunned when her declara­tio n ' on the subject was rejected 12 to 2 as “ un rea lis tic .” Q ua lifica tions to th a t r ig h t, such as the r ig h t o f exp rop ria tion , would have to be added, said the A u s tra lia n delegate. S im ila r views were expressed by representatives o f Ind ia , E g yp t, Lebanon, the P h ilipp ines, U ru gu ay and the Soviet Union.

* * *L IN IN G H IS PO CKETS. Accord ing to the

Lo ra in , Ohio, Labor Leader o f M arch 6, fasc is t S enator M cC arthy is now one o f the h ighest paid lectu rers in the '■ount.ry. They re p o rt th a t fo r a speech to the Cicero M anufactu re rs Assn, in Chicago, in which “ M a in ly lie thumped his chest r ig h teo us ly about w h a t a great, job he was do ing as a Commie hun te r,” he received $1,500.

* * *“ FAIR-MINDED ANTI-COMMUNISM“ N o t

DOING WELL. The Social Dem ocratic magazine, the New Leader, has issued an urgen t appeal fo r funds, exp la in ing th a t the p r in te r, paper sup p lie r and b inder have no t been paid fo r two m onths. They urge con tribu tions from those who “ need its brand o f tough-m inded — yes, and fa ir - minded — anti-com m unism and libe ra lism .”

* * *“ SO M E K IN D O F A RE C E S S IO N “ H AS H IT

N E W Y O R K , declared R e lie f Commissioner- M c­C arthy, who reported M arch 7 th a t 1,000 people

a week have been added to the c ity ’s re lie f ro lls since Dec. 1 o f last. year. 101,000 w o rkers are o ff ic ia lly listed as unemployed as aga inst 122,000 a t the same tim e la s t year. Am ong the hardest h it. are the c ity ’s Puerto Rican w orkers. A lm o st 10% o f them have now been forced to subsist on the c ity 's m iserab ly low re lie f standards. M c­C a rth y pointed to the amendments o f two years ago to the S tate U nem ploym ent Insurance law which denied benefits to m any low -pa id and seasonal w orkers as la rg e ly responsible fo r the increase in re lie f applications.

* * *

OPPOSE K . OF C, J IM CROW’ . An in te r-ra c ia l g roup o f Catholics, who have been denied a cha rte r by the K n igh ts o f Columbus, are ap­pealing to Bishop C igognani, the Pope’s em m isary in W ashington to in tervene w ith the K. o f C. leaders to end the r ig id J im Crow setup.

* * *

B A R U C H -M cC A R T H Y C O N F A B . S enator M c­C a rth y held a 45 m inute m eeting in New Y o rk M arch 9 w ith Bernard M. Baruch, o ften described as the na tion ’s “ elder statesm an,” and as the “ advisor to Presidents” since 1917. Queried by the press as to the nature o f the m eeting, the usua lly volub le M cC arthy said, “ I ’m a fra id I ' l l have no comment on th a t.”

* * *

DREW P EAR S O N REPO RTS in h is M arch 2 colum n: “ F ifte en years ago the Am erican people were plagued w ith such breeders o f dissension as Gerald W inrod , F r itz Kuhn, W m . Dudley Policy, and others who spread hate and poison among th e ir fe llo w men. Today, the W inrods have come out. o f th e ir holes again and are spreading the same k ind o f poison. The names arc d iffe re n t now — Co!.. W illia m , Gerald L. K . S m ith , the L ib e rty Belles, the M inu te Women. Some o f them , such as the boyco tting women o f Texas who preven t any po in t o f v iew b u t th e ir own from being discussed, probably don’t rea lize how they are being used.”

* 5k *

NEG RO A R M Y T R A IN E E S stationed near W est Point, are forced in to position o f “ boot- lieke-rs, shoe-shine hoys and servants” fo r w h ite cadets, .charged Rep. Adam C layton Powell (I)., N. Y .) in an open le tte r to Defense Scc’y W ilson.

t m i MILITANTV O LU M E X V I I I M O N D A Y , M A R C H 15, 1954 , N U M B E R 11

“ Distressed? Areas

Shown on th is map are some o f the areas which the Labor Dept, has lis ted a “ d istressed" c ities. These are in G roup 4. Such a designation is given to an area i f m ore than 6% o f its labor force is jobless. Government figu res lis t more than 3,000,- 000 unemployed, but actua l to ta l is nearer to 5,000,000.

Ask Help to Save Wells From Cal. Gas Chamber

By Bill Kent.LOS A N G E LE S , M ar. 4 —

Wesley Robert W ells, v ic tim o f society’s combined in justices, is scheduled to die in San Q uentin ’s gas chamber A p r i l 9 fo r the “ crim e” o f th ro w in g a cuspidor at a prison guard.

The guard was not k illed , bu t under a heretofore unused sta le s ta tu te , the death pena lty is m andatory fo r a life - te rm prisoner who assaults a guard “ w ith malice a fo re thou gh t.”

W ells was serv ing an inde te r­m inate sentence o f fro m five years to life a t the tim e o f the incident. He has denied there was e ith e r “ m alice” o r “ fo re th o u g h t” in h is action. Two prison psy­c h ia tr is ts have substantia ted his cla im , bu t they were not pe rm itted to te s tify at his tr ia l.

O nly hope fo r the condemned 44-year-old Los Angeles Negro is the po ss ib ility th a t Gov. K n ig h t o f C a lifo rn ia may g ra n t a re ­prieve, bu t as ye t K n ig h t has given no ind ica tion th a t he plans to in te ivene.

M any ind iv idua ls , inc lud ing the judge who sentenced W ells to

prison fo r s tea ling an au to­mobile, the p s y c h ia tr is t who ex­amined him ju s t before and a fte r the cusp idor incident, m in is ters, rabbis, N egro leaders — and a few unions — have recently urged the governor to spare W ells ' life . A mass m eeting in h is defense is planned a t the V ic to ry B ap tis t church here Sunday.

'But these voices can w e ll go unheeded and the death sentence be ca rried out, unless the union movement and the Negro com­m unities th roughou t the coun try are aroused to pro test and make th e ir voices heard.

W ells ’ case is a s tr ik in g ex­ample o f the c rue lty o f c a p ita lis t society.' Born in pove rty and raised in the Negro ghetto , he d r ifte d in to p e tty th e ft to obta in food and a few o f the pleasures o f w h ich life had deprived him . T hrow n in to prison a t an early age, he experienced the b ru ta l v e n a lity o f the prison system , especially cruel where a Negro is concerned. Since his f irs t con­v ic tion , he has spent more tim e in ja i l than in the outside w orld . Now he faces death w ith in 30 days under a la w th a t has never before been enforced.

was called to the case o f W esley Robert W ells, I fe lt tha t 1 should . . . request the g ra n tin g o f ex­ecutive clemency.”

F E A R E D FOR H IS L IF EBoth D r. Howard and the San

Quentin prison doctor have sworn tha t W ells was out o f his m ind w ith fe a r fo r his life ju s t p r io r to and im m ed ia te ly a fte r the cusp idor inc ident and was in- ca,pable o f “ p rem edita ted” as­sault. Sworn a ffid av its from tw o o f the ju ro rs who convicted W ells reported ly state tha t they would have voted against Conviction had they heard the doctors' testim ony.

W ells was condemned to die in Am gust, 1944. On appeal, the U.S. D is tr ic t C ourt reversed the death sentence, and held th a t the C a li­fo rn ia A d u lt A u th o r ity , in fa i l­ing to set a defin ite sentence, had acted de libera te ly to make i t “ possible to impose the death pena lty upon h im .”

The C a lifo rn ia Supreme C ourt la te r ruled the t r ia l judge had erred in re fus ing to adm it the tes tim ony o f prison doctors, bu t i t re instated the death sentence. The U n ited States Supreme C ourt has - tw ice refused to rev iew the

BAY AREA UNIONS PRAISE KUTCHER’S BOOK, ' CASE OF LEGLESS VETERAN”

SAN F R A N C IS C O — James K u tch c r’s book, The Case o f the L e g l e s s - Veteran, p ra c tica lly ignored by the cap ita lis t press, is beginning to receive pub lic ity in the labor press here. The latest review is in the Feb. 26 issue o f O rganized Labor, o ffic ia l paper o f the ' San Francisco B u ild ing and C onstruction Trades Council. E a rlie r reviews were in the East Bay Labor Jou rna l, o ffic ia l pub­lica tion o f the A lam eda County A F L C entra l Labor and B u ild ing and Construction Trades Council, and Spark I ’ lug, o ffic ia l paper of Chevrolet Local 1030, U A W -C IO . The Organized Labor review , under the t i t le “ You M igh t Find f t In te re s ting ,” reads as fo llow s :

(N o te : The opin ions expressed here are those o f the rev iew er of th is book and do no t re fle c t the •edito ria l opinions 'o f O rganized Labor o r the San Francisco B u ild ing Trades C ouncil.)

Modesty is a ra re q u a lity among w rite rs ; so ra re th a t it is hard i.ot to warm to an au thor win begins his hook (The Case o f the Legless Veteran, S I) as does M r. James K u tch e r:

“ In m ost respects I am an o rd in a ry man. I have no special ta lents. I never showed any capacity fo r leadership. In school my m arks genera lly put. me in the m iddle sections o f the class, sometimes lower. I never rose above the ra n k o f P fc in the A rm y . O ften , when I g e t in to a discussion, 1 don’t, th in k o f the

r ig h t po in t to make u n t il hours a fte rw a rd . I was active in a p o li­tica l o rgan iza tion fo r over ten years and never made a speech in a ll th a t tim e. I am a ‘J im m y H igg ins ’ by nature, the fe llo w who collects ticke ts a t the door and sweeps up the h a ll a f te r a m eeting. People like me genera lly ge t th e ir names in to the papers tw ice, when they come in to the w o rld and when they go ou t.”

The tru th , o f course, is th a t M r. K u tcher is no t a professional w r ite r . He is a man who would most lik e ly never have taken the cover o f f a ty p e w rite r unless he had experienced tw o crush ing blows im his life .

The f irs t was th a t he lost bo th legs in the B a ttle o f San P ie tro in I ta ly in 1943; the second was th a t he was discharged fro m his job w ith the Veterans A d m in is tra ­tion in N ew ark, New Jersey in 1948 a fte r having been charged by the V A L o y a lty Board w ith being a member o f the Socialist W orkers P a rty . He made no secret o f tliip membership. The A m er­ican Legion, no sym path ize r (one would th in k ) w ith the SWP, found th is persecution o f K u tcher too much fo r i t to take, its N a ­tiona l Am erican ism Commission rem a rk ing : “ H is job in the V A was de fin ite ly non-confidentia l or sensitive. . . The K u tche r case is there fore an a lm ost pe rfect ex­ample o f bureaucratic bung ling in how not to handle a doub tfu l lo y a lty ease.”

The W ashington Post, in the course o f a long ed ito ria l on the

K utcher case, raised one o f the m ost re levan t questions concern­in g th is humble v ic tim o f the madness o f his tim e :

“ One cannot help wondering,” the Post’s ed ito ria l comments, “ w hy the U n ited States goes to so much troub le to punish James K utcher. The lo y a lty program is supposed to pro tect the national security . B u t the national secu rity reeds no p ro tection fro m a legless file c le rk w o rk in g in .th e N ew ark branch ^ o f the Veterans A d ­m in is tra tio n . The punishm ent o f M r. K u tcher serves no na tiona l in te rest. I t serves no in te res t save v indictiveness. A nd Mi'. K utcher is made a ta rge t o f th is v indictiveness solely because he en te rta ins certa in unorthodox and unpopu lar po litica l opin ions.”

Those o f us who, perhaps be­cause o f e a rly re lig iou s t ra in ­ing, tend to th in k o f m a rty rs as e x tra o rd in a ry persons loom ing up as ta ll as th e ir te rr ib le fa tes, w il l get a shock fro m K u tch e r’s book. This is the m arty rdom o f M r. Everym an; a ll he has known are depression, w ar, grievous wounds, a l i t t le com panionship in un- o rthodoxy; and now his country , in whose service he became a man dependent on a rt if ic ia l legs, w h isks away the t in y b i t o f secu rity he had to find h im a pariah.

What, m ust he th in k o f us, who p e rm it th is to happen? H is book ahswers th is question. I t is be tte r than an in te llig e n t answer; i t is a compassionate one. He fo rg ives us, God help him.

P S Y C H IA T R IS T ’S P LE AD r. B u rt F. H oward, dean o f

C a lifo rn ia prison psych ia tris ts , has w r itte n Gov. K n ig h t: “ I fWesley Robert W ells is execut­ed. . . I sha ll feel th a t I am p a rtly to blame fo r his death. . .

“ As a p sych ia tr is t o f h a lf a cen tu ry o f experience and be­cause o f m y p riva te in te rv ie w s w ith W ells ju s t before and a fte r the (cusp idor) episode, I am qualified to d ispute the statem ent ‘ th a t a com m utation o f sentence fo r W ells would mean a condem­nation to death o f some other prisoner o r guard .’ He was not a ‘w ild an im a l’ in e ith e r o f these in te rv iew s. . . I could detect no th ing b u t a real man, more sinned aga inst than s inn ing.

“ He was conditioned from an early age o f orphaned childhood to courageously resist jlm crow w h ile s tru g g lin g to make a precarious liv in g . Unspeakable plots and c rue lties practiced against him .w ou ld have k illed a weaker man. Racial hatred and le ga lis tic red tape have robbed him o f the consideration due a human being.”

JU D G E S P E A K S UPU nited States D is tr ic t Judge

Louis E. Goodman, in San F ra n ­cisco, has sta ted: “ The deathsentence imposed upon pe titio n e r . . . is in va lid under the 14th Am endm ent to the C onstitu ­tion . . . In the true and h is to ric sense the p e tit io n e r was no t ac­corded due process.”

D r. M arcel J. F ry in , c rim ino log ­ist: and member o f C a lifo rn ia A t ­to rney General B row n ’s A d ­v iso ry Com m ittee fo r Crim e Prevention, said: “ I do not usua lly respond to requests fo r in te r ­cession in cases o f im pending ex­ecution. B u t when m y a tten tion

ease.I t is la te — but not yet too

la te — fo r a united protest o f w orkers and m ino ritie s to prevent the execution o f Wesley Robert W ells. He should not be pe rm itted to die — but he w ill be put to death A p r i l 9 unless action is taken now.

Chicago Negroes Schedule March On City Hall

CH IC AG O , M ar. 5 — plans fo r a pro test march on C ity H a ll by Negroes March 19 were announced today by a group o f South Sidp civic, business and cle rgy leaders. The protest is aimed at g e ttin g action from M ayor K ennc lly to put a stop to continual acts o f rac ia l v io lence, p a rtic u la r ly a t the T ru m b u ll Park housing p ro ­jec t.

Repeated demands fo r action, said Oscar C. B row n, Sr., cha ir­man o f the Chicago Negro Chamber o f Commerce, have “ been th row n in to the waste basket.”

He added that. “ I t ought no t be necessary fo r us to track th rough spow and ice to ge t the c ity fa the rs to do w ha t the law requires them to do.'’

On Feb. 26, Janies D u rk in , in ­te rna tiona l representative o f the M ine, M ill and Sm elter W orkers Union suggested th a t police ques­tion Joseph Beauharnais, founder o f the W hite C irc le League, about the continued violence aga inst Negroes at the T ru m b u ll P ark Homes. The m ayor, however, was “ too busy” to see the delega­tion he headed.

How Can McCarthyism Be Defeated?By Fred Hart

The Stevens fiasco produced a veritab le rash of “ p lans” fo r stopping M cC arthy. M ost o f them d idn ’t even begin to grapp le w ith the problem.

M ost o f the da ily press turned to Eisenhower. The President m ust take a stand, they solem nly asserted, fo rg e ttin g the y had said the same th in g a week ea rlie r about Stevens, on ly to be plunged in to gloom when Stevens’ stand proved to be g r is t fo r M cC arthy ’s m ill.

So E isenhower called a press conference and took a stand. I t was a weasel-worded statem ent, typ ica l o f the many Eisenhower has made about M cC arthy since the 1952 cam paign, fu l l o f gen­e ra litie s and c a re fu lly avo id ing even a m ention o f M cC arthy ’s name. I t changed exa c tly nothing, and detracted exac tly no th ing fro m M cC arthy 's g ro w in g power.

James Reston o f the N . Y. T im es said E isenhower “ turned the o ther ch e e k ” and M cC arthy, “ a lw ays an ob lig ing fe llow , struck him about as hard as the position o f the President would a llow .”

A N ew ark News ed ito ria l p ro­tested th a t i t was no use fo r E isenhower to be sending “ pe r­fumed notes” to M cC arthy.

Herblock, the g ifte d cartoonist., summed up the s itua tion w ith a few strokes o f his pen. He show­ed M cC arthy, w ith a m eat cleaver i l l h is hand, s m irk in g a t Eisen­hower, who was d raw ing from a sheath a t his side no t a sword but. a b ig w h ite fea the r, and te llin g M cC arthy, “ Have a care, s ir .”

CAN SAY GOOD-BYEisenhower was more d ign ified

than Stevens, but the effect, was not. d iffe re n t. The Alsops, who have been t ry in g to egg the W hite House in to a f ig h t w ith Mc­C arthy, were forced to w r ite

■after the E isenhower s ta tem ent: “ I f the P resident pe rm its ju s t one more m a jo r appeasement o f Sen. M cC arthy , he can say good-by to his own a u th o r ity in his ad­m in is tra tio n , in h is p a r ty and in the Congress.”

O ther s top-M cC arthy proposals include the suggestion th a t a ll congressional com m ittees be re ­qu ired to adopt ru les th a t w i l l make them abide by “ f a i r p lay and dem ocratic procedure.” The Republican leadership is consider­in g the d ra ft in g o f such rules, o r ig in a lly demanded by libe ra ls like Lehman and Morse.

“ LA R G E LY M E A N IN G L E S S ”B u t in the f irs t place i t is

openly adm itted th a t these ru les w i l l be “ recommended” to the com m ittee chairm en, inc lud ing M cC arthy, and th a t the chairm en w ill have the option o f accepting o r re je c tin g them. As co lum n ist D oris Fleeson w ro te M arch 4, “ the current up roa r over re form o f Senate procedures is la rge ly meaningless. A com m ittee ch a ir­man runs his show and his powers are, in practice, alm ost lim itless .”

And in the second place, she noted, “ The fa c t is th a t M c­C a rth y ’s com m ittee has one of the finest sets o f ope ra ting ru les in Congress. I f he fo llow ed them, a ll would he w e ll.”

But. the po in t is th a t lie doesn't, fo llow them, and w on’t. The an ti-M cC arth y ites hope to be able, to persuade him 'somehow to operate w ith in the fram ew ork o f accepted dem ocratic and p a r­liam en ta ry procedure. B u t M c­C a rthy w i l l no t do th a t any more than H it le r d id. H is aim is to ove rth row a ll dem ocratic in s t i tu ­tions, not preserve them.

Then there is the h ill introduced by Rep. Jav its , the New Y ork Republican libe ra l, which would set up a 14-man jo in t Senate- House com m ittee to supp lant the

present M cC arthy, Jenner and Velde com m ittees and to c a rry on th e ir an ti-com m un is t w o rk in a more “ responsible” manner.

A m a jo r ity o f Congress m ig h t p r iv a te ly fa v o r such a b i ll, b u t they haven’t the nerve to pass it . Th is was proved beyond a ll doubt las t month by the 85-1 vote by the Senate in favo r o f the M c­C a rth y com m ittee ’s app rop ria tion and the 362-1 vote by the House in fa v o r o f the Velde com m ittee ’s app rop ria tion . In a ll o f Congress there are on ly tw o men who have the nerve to r isk being redbaited fo r opposing the present w itch hunt committees.

As Labo r’s D a ily , which is sym pathetic to the Jav its b ill, said March 2: "Passage was ex­pected around the tim e the Soviets cede S iberia to A laska .”

S IL E N C E ’ A N D ‘R ID IC U L E ’O ther suggestions are to give

M cC arthy the “ s ile n t trea tm e n t” and to “ r id icu le ’’ h im . The Luce pub lica tions and CIO P resident W a lte r R euthe r both have called fo r the fo rm er, and ex-P resident Trum an is s t i l l advocating the la tte r.

But. i t is w o rth no ting tha t Luce could no t fo llo w his own advice a fte r the Stevens a ffa ir . On the con tra ry , T im e magazine pu t M cC arthy ’s pic.turc on its cover las t week and ran a long s to ry about h im and issued special newsstand placards exh o rtin g the public to buy T im e in o rder to learn a ll about M cC arthy. T im e s t i l l tr ie s to b e litt le M cC arthy, as in its supercilious sta tem ent about “ nervous ta lk o f M cC arthy as a serious reactionary backed by Texas m illio na ires ,” b u t it knows be cannot be ignored — precisely because the threat lie represents is a lready qu ite “ serious.”

As fo r the “ r id ic u le ” approach, recently renewed by T rum an, everyone can reca ll th a t he h im ­

se lf did not. use i t la s t Novem ber when he g o t the M cC arthy ite trea tm en t on the H a rry Dex'ter W h ite smear and answered in a ve ry in d ig na n t speech over the nation w ide networks.

W ho is rea lly subject to rid icu le — a fasc is t demagogue recording one success a fte r another in his cam paign to M cC arthy ize A m e r­ican life , o r the people who try to m in im ize those successes and convince (he country that, they can he reversed by m aking fun o f I he fasc is t demagogue?

Luce, Reuther and T rum an don’t seem to rem em ber th a t such methods were also employed aga inst H it le r — w ith about as much success as Stevens had aga ins t M cC arthy.

One o f the be tte r artic les w r itte n on the sub ject was by Carey M cW illiam s in the libe ra l N a tion M arch 6. W hat the Repub­licans and Dem ocrats w ant, he notes, is “ a ‘nice’ w itc h hunt, directed by men o f decorum, sub­ject. to ‘p roper ru les ’ which make i t possible to lynch a w itness po lite ly . On th is score M cC arthy is r ig h t : i t is im possib le to con­duct a successful heresy hun t w ith o u t us ing his methods. Thus when faced w ith a c le a r -c u t choice between re jec tin g the w itch hunt., which they regard as an essential defense aga ins t com­m unism, o r c a p itu la tin g to him, they have taken the second course. . . M cC arthy ’s ha te fu l methods are s im p ly a fun c tion o l the task lie has undertaken. He would no more respect any ru les the Senate m ig h t adopt than he would abide by a gentlem en’s agreem ent.”

M cW illiam s recognizes tjli e graveness o f the M cC arthy ite menace: “ He lias an excellent understand ing, as he has demon­stra ted m any time», o f the blue­p r in t by w h ich European fasc is ts '

undertook the conquest o f power. He knows th a t he m ust ‘co­o rd ina te ’ the a rm y i f he is to w in to ta l power. . . Once the op­po rtu n is ts in the Pentagon be­come convinced th a t th e ir su­perio rs w i l l buckle under p o litica l a ttacks, the c u rre n t secret s h if t ( in the Pentagon) to M cC arthy m ig h t become a landslide.”

W H A T TO DO?W hat should be done? M c W il­

liam s answers tha t " th e neo- fasc is t movement o f which M c­C a rth y is now the recognized leader — every v illag e and tow n and every o rgan iza tion has its ■fcitc-size’ would-be leader — eaii- rcot be countered b y sm art tac tics o r clever m an ipu la tion ; i t m ust be opposed p o lit ic a lly . The forces exist, to oppose it , but they need to be organized around a p ro ­gram th a t w ill raise the rea l issues o f the tim e. . .”

T h a t’s true . M cC arthy ism can be stopped, but on ly i f its fasc is t na ture is exposed and i f the peo­ple are m obilized in independent p o litica l action to ta l ly re jec tin g the reactionary “ fin ti-co n inm n is t” prem ise th a t both ca p ita lis t pa rties share w ith M cC arthy. The labo r movem ent must, stop re ly ­in g no t on ly on “ sm art tactics o r clever m an ipu la tion ” hu t also oil the Dem ocrats (as th o ir leaders and the N ation have advised them to do) and ge t to w o rk on b u ild ­in g a Labor P a rty tha t w ill o ffe r the Am erican people a real vehicle fo r stopp ing M cC arthy ism .

Tw o w h ite sergeants at F o rt Jackson, South Carolina , who “ d isc ip lined” a N egro p riva te by fo rc in g him to stand beside a coal heater u n til he received severe burns, have been found g u ilty b.v a general co u rt-m a rtia l. T he ir sentence — one year a t bard labor and a “ bad conduct” discharge.