10,500 at Communist Rally Greet Hicks With Protracted Applause

With cheering and applause an audience of 10,500 that packed the Boston Arena at yesterday afternoon's Communist rally answered Granville Hicks '23, Counselor in American History and Literature, when he asked, "Is it contrary to Harvard's traditions for me to speak the truth as I see it, and to serve mankind in the way that seems to me best?"

Speaking from a platform that included Otis A. Hood, Communist candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, and Earl Browder, secretary of the Communist Party, the author of "I Like America," said, "What I am saying is that I, as a teacher, have a right--a moral right if you want to put it that way--to be a Communist. You have a right to be a Communist."

Explains Red-Baiting

After he had lashed out at "this antiquated capitalistic system," Hicks went on to explain red-baiting as the product of two factors; first, capitalism's recognition of the Communists as its clearest-sighted and hardest-working opponents; second, the desire to discredit all liberal movements.

Of the attitude of James Landis, Dean of the Law School, to Communist opposition to Plan E, Hicks said, "Landis resorted to the same cheap red-baiting methods as the politicians."

This statement was omitted from the printed copies of the speech distributed after the rally.

Browder Hits Munich Pact

Browder, speaking last on the program, roused the audience to wild enthusiasm when he bitterly denounced the Munich Pact as "Not peace, but the New World War." Linking Herbert Hoover and Leverett Saltonstall with Hitler, he warned the audience of the danger of Fascist penetration into Latin America and urged all to cooperate with the Communist Party to save Democracy.