The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-11-20
Fish Committee In Atlanta
BY HELEN MARCY

ATLANTA, Gait was very evident that Mr..
Fish and the State of Georgia were out to
prove" two very different things inthe hear
ings of the Committee on Red activities in
Atlanta.
BY far the most interesting witness was an
old Negro, brought into the courtroom guarded
by number of detectives. He delivered an
oratorical speech, taught him by the dunn dicks
of Atlanta. Very dramatically he portrayed him
self joining the Communist Party in Rome, Ga.
to find out the secrets" He comes out with
the ridiculous statement that he was elected as
District Organizer of District No. 16 before M.
H. Powers came in, and that he refused to go
to New York although everyone pleaded with
him to do so.
The Communist Party wants its members to
swear allegiance to Soviet Russia, and that's why
left them" he memorized.
Under questioning he became very confused,
and his speech did him no good
MIR. FISH-"How many Negroes are there in
the Communist Party in the South?"
MILLER-"About 100000, I should say"
poor Fish. Here he had been giving state
ments to the Press that the Negro in the South
had absolutely nothing to do with the damn
Reds" that they were good Christian folk, and
now every witness testified that rs percent of
our movement was composed of Negro workers)
FISH-"Isn't it fact that the Negroes are too
patriotic, and love their country too much to
listen to the Reds?"
MILLER-"The Communist is preaching for
better living conditions and the Negro wants to
listen to him."
FISH-'But the Negroes are religious race
and the Communists don't believe in God. Sure
ly the Negroes won't stand for that"
MILLER.-"The Negroes will do anything, no
matter what it is to get better living wage"
FISH.-"Are the Communists making any
Roadway among the Negroes now?
MILLER-"They surely is They is distributor
lots OF Southern Workers and other literature
and the message Of the Communist Party is
carried in the bosom of the Negroes of Atlanta"
FISH Very embarrassed, to newspapermen) -
From evidence received in other cities it ap-
peared the influence among the Negroes was
negligible. This is a lie, because at the hear
ings in Chattanooga and Birmingham it was
continually brought out that the largest per-
centage of our influence in the South was among
the Negroes)
The police department showed by its testimony
during the entire hearing by actually overesti-
mating our influence among the Negroes, de-
sire to give the impression that the insurrecton
| charges against the Atlanta Six was we'll found
| ed Mr. Fish, on the other hand sought to prove
| that although propaganda had been spread
| among the Negroes, the Communist Party has
| maze very little headway among that group as
they are essentially patriotic and loyal to the
| government its institutions and to the American
| Flag"
Those present at the hearing were the investi-
eating committee, few newspapermen, few
| dicks and cops, and two Communists. The Com
munists we're in very poor company. The Fish
| committee became quite informaIthey spit
tobacco lolled around, and among other things
| Representative Eslich found time to frt with
one of the Communists Mr.. Nelson the
| usual red carnaton.
Special emphasis was put on the fact that
! Powers was of Jewish origin and the fact that
| the arrested organizers came from the North.
Deportation and criminal syndicast laws
| are twins; elect DELEGATES to the National Con-