And we ourselves can see how, at the same time, the burden of American workers grows heavier, with rising prices and merciless speed-up. This is no different. Once the principle is established, anyone can be called a Communist and sent to prison simply because he has been accused. I HAVE NOT told the whole story. There have been new mass arrests.
Every day there are new arrests, new jailings.
When lawyers come forward to defend these people, they too are sent to prison. And when Dashiell Hammett, Alphaeus Hunton, Abner Green and Frederick Field offered bail from a fund of which they are trustees, they were imprisoned without trial or warrant. And now, William L. Patterson, great leader of the Civil Rights Congress, is ordered to turn over the records and names of his organization, or face jail himself. But I have told enough of the story for you, my fellow Americans, to begin to think about these matters. I do not ask that you accept my statements without question.