Americanism, Inc.: III

This is the last in a series of three articles dealing with the House Committee on un-American Activities, from 1938 to 1947--before J. Parnell Thomas became Chairman.

From that day of creation in May, 1938, the house Committee on un-American activities has been violently raked by critics of its methods. Opponents have charged, among other things, that witnesses have been handled with disrespect, and that various individuals have used the fair name of the committee for personal benefit. Chairman Dies, of course, always denied these allegations with heat. In 1938, he himself denounced "the old kind of investigation that would go after somebody only for cheap publicity." As for cashing-in on the fame of his group, Dies said that he always gave the money he received for his numerous articles and lectures to "honest" American organizations.

Attacks have not been entirely from the outside, Jerry Voorhis, who stuck doggedly to his membership until 1943 continually banged away at excesses in the committee. When chief investigator J.B. Matthews charged that Communists were using consumers' organizations in an effort to destroy the venerable American institution of advertising, Voorhis promptly tagged the report as sheer opinion. It turned out that Matthews was carrying a personal grudge against certain consumers' groups, and was strangely short on facts to support his statements.

The committee's annual report to the House for 1943 was termed by Voorhis as only the personal report of the Chairman. There was no meeting held to discuss it Voorhis said. "It was presented to members on a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis." And every time Dies tried to grab credit for something another agency had accomplished, Voorhis protested strongly.

But assaults from within and without the un-American fortress failed to curb the spirits of Dies or J. Parnell Thomas. While Dies took on the brunt of the opposition, Thomas counter-attacked vigorously. His main target was the Administration. In 1939, he urged Wall Street brokers to lobby for their own interests in Washington, against the "radical" and "subversive" groups in the country. For Thomas, those two adjectives were firmly welded together. Later, he said the New Deal was in a "hand-in-glove" conspiracy with he Communist Party, and that "the fifth column in the United States has flourished under New Deal rule. In some respects it is synonymous with the New Deal."

One of the Chairman Dies' continual peeves was the fact that this same suspect New Deal was hostile to his committee. His relations with the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Biddle were particularly strained. Just before Pearl Harbor, Dies sent Biddle a list of 1,124 federal employees alleged to be Communists or members of subversive organizations. A year later, after an exhaustive FBI investigation, Biddle announced that of Dies' 1,124, only two--were discharged. Dies quickly called the report a "white-wash." But his batting average never was very high.

It was his contention that the forces of New Dealism were gathering ominously to prevent him from being re-elected--thereby undermining the whole system of parliamentary government. When the CIO Political Action Committee was formed in early 1944, he sought in vain to connect it with the Administration. The PAC was not only legal, but it made things so hot for Dies down in Texas that he decided not to try for another term. Glumly muttering imprecations, he "retired," and his fellow-southerner, John Rankin, took over.

Rankin was also at odds with the government. Not content with mere New Dealers, he jumped on Secretary of War Stimson, crying that Communists had been allowed to obtain commissions in the Army. He demanded Stimson's resignation, and put up the name of General George Patton for the job. The government, however, found it wise to disregard not only this piece of advice, but a staggeringly high percentage of the other suggestions Rankin offered in his brief tenure as de facto chairman of Dies' committee. In 1946, the Republican scoop displaced the Mississippian in favor of J. Parnell Thomas, whose opinions on Democratic administration and kindred subjects had been pretty well aired by this time.

Thomas inherited a standing committee that had clung to the House like the Old Man of the Sea and wouldn't be shaken off. It had spent around $700,000, and had over 200 file cabinets jammed with information on scores of organizations. And according to public opinion polls, it had overwhelming support of the voters. This fact, coupled with the flamboyant leadership of Thomas, seemed to indicate that the group which flourished even in the days of Roosevelt, would be a feature of American politics for some time to come.