Voice of action. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1933-1936, 1934-05-15
By MARY JORDAN

read this article.
BY MARY JORDAN
Seattle has real Hitler Disciple
in the person of DR.. Howard Mer-
rill, former head of the Silver Shirts
in Seattle and now local leader of
the Anti-Communist League of the
| World.
| DIR. Merrill is indeed a versatile
man. He combines red hating, Jew
hating. and local politics, and as a
side line he sells mining stock TO
| susceptible widows. DIR. Merrill Is
typical of the class OF men who are
preying on the peoples discomfort
| during the crisis by awakening race
prejudice and spreading red scare
and thus for a time diverting at
tention from the crumbling capital
| list system.
The aim Of such men in addition
to the immediate financial return
they get from squeezing every cent
they can from the suckers" by
dues, literature. and special appeals
for funds to protect your country"
is that the capitalists will realize
the usefulness of their methods and
finance their activities as they did
Hitler in Germany.
According to DIR. Merrill the Anti
Communist League has 10000 men,
bers in Seattle. The organization is
entirely secret and all members are
| carefully investigated before being
admitted. However, we are led to
believe from our impression of DIR.
Merrill that this figure is somewhat
of an exaggeration, and that the
number is more in the neighbor-
hood Of 200.
Admits Racket
When DIR. Merrill was asked the
reason for the secrecy of his or
ganization as long as it advocated
nothing more sensational tn n
| change by the ballot and prevention
of the use of force, he said that 1t
was more effective to have a secret
| organization-it was more thrilling
for the members to feel that they
belong to a secret order. The men,
bership fee is $1,000 for men and
$500 for women. When one joins
one becomes an "organizer" to bring
in new members. The organizer re-
ceives $3.50 for each member and
| the balance of the fee goes to the
noble cause of saving the world
| from Communists maintaining Dr.
Merrill and others of his type).
The Anti Communist League is
described on the organizations let
terhead as "anti-atheism, anti-Ju-
| daism, anti semetic, anti Sovietism,
anti slaveism and pro- Christian"
DR.. Merrill, as is usual, says that he
is not opposed to the Jewish race
he is only opposed to any race that
is the cause of present conditions.
Thus he follows the best line of
Hitler propaganda.
DIR. Merrill is listed as a member
| of the universal council of the Anti
Communist League. The national
head and chairman of the universal
council is Major Luther I. Powell,
formerly in the Ku KluX Khan. Ma
jor Powell also recently withdrew
from leadership in the Silver Shirts
to devote his entire ingenuity to
hating reds and Jews although he Is
still loyal to the cause and remain
ing in good standing" with the Sill
yer Shirts according to a letter to
| DR.. Merrill.
Believes Hitler Doing Wonderful
Things
When DIR. Merrill was asked what
he thought of Hitler he said he
thought Hitler. was. doing. some
great things.
For instance, his sterilization pro-
gram" DR.. Merrill said. THAT real
ly is a splendid thing. We don't
want Communists making out laws.
Every Communist should be steril-
lied and disfranchised."
Smith Pays, but Not Much Good
| Another of DR.. Merrilps means
Of raising funds is through local
politics by selling the vote of his
organization. The organization Is
entirely secret so the price is de-
pendent only on the craftsmanship of
DIR. Merrill. He claims the credit for
electing Smith in the recent Seattle
mayor election.
|
had some difficulty in convincing
Smith that his organizations vote
was worth the price. We quote from
a letter from DIR. Merrill to one of
his aides lowing to some misun-
derstanding we are expecting to
line up with Smith forces at an ear
ly date. The misunderstanding is
the present argument over funds.
have been repeatedly assured from
reliable sources that the Smith
headquarters will put up the fund
we so badly need for our propagan-
da among the CWA workers not
less than fifty emissaries should be
employed for the next ten days be-
fore the general election provided
we get Smith into the finals"
Smith evidently came through
with the proper sum because DIR.
Merrill proudly exhibited letter
from Smith thanking DIR. Merrill for
the cooperation rendered in the ell
ection by his organization.
DR.. Merrill said, however, that
Smith was not much good-that the
Anti-Communists supported him
because he was the lesser of two
evils and IL is not to be thought
that Smith embodies the ideals of
| the League.
| DI1H.