Evening star., 1939-02-05

Bridges In Action.
with his wife and daughter in five-
room house IN San Francisco.
AS to his deportapility, Bridges, either
by shrewdness or good luck has compiled
q legal background which creates rea-
sonable doubt as to the justification or
legality of taking action against him
therefore the issue which has been
created and which he personifies.
There are several statutory grounds on
which an alien may be deported. Illegal
entry, which might involve the use of
fictitious name; conviction Of crime
involving moral turpitude within five
years of entry, or two such crimes at any
time after entry. or proof OF such crime
before entering; leaving the country and
illegally re-entering; being an anarchist,
advising, advocating or teaching over
throw Of the Government; the unlawful
damage, injury or destruction of property
or sabotage.
AS far as entry into the country, lack
Of conviction of crime involving moral
turpitude, ETC., Bridges apparently has
clean record. 1t is on the other grounds,
involving his political and economic be-
liefs and his actions in accordance with
such beliefs, that advocates of deporta-
ton base their demand for such action.
And it is true that while on three diff
ferent occasions Bridges started to be-
come citizen of the United States, he
has for no apparent reason, allowed the
effort to lapse. He remains an alien, al
though a recognized and powerful labor
leader.
The Case Against Bridges.
The grounds on which rest demands
for the deportation of Bridges are sum-
married in the Dies report under the
section dealing with ALIENS Engaged in
Un-American Activities"
The committee, says the report, re-
ceived considerable evidence of the
activities of Communist, Nazi and Fascist
aliens in the United States. "A large
part of un- n-American activities is inspired
and carried on by these aliens All OF
them are engaging in fomenting dis
cord, stirring up trouble and spreading
foreign ideologies." And declaring that
there is no excuse for the Labor Depart
ment's failure to deport them, the case
of Harry Bridges is taken as typical
example"
1.-The committee secured from the Labor
Department the file in the Bridges case,"
says the report. After careful examina-
ton of this file, the committee con-
cluded that there was no justification
for the failure of the Labor Department
to vigorously and promptly prosecute
deportation proceedings against Harry
Bridges.
There will be found in the record of
the hearings letter from the chairman
of the committee to Robert Jackson,
solicitor general of the United States,
which sets forth in detail the facts in
the Bridges case as shown by the file
of the Department of Labor. Suffice it
to say, that this file shows that many
witnesses testified under oath that Harry
Bridges was a Communist alien, that he
belonged to an organization which
breaches the overthrow of the United
States Government by force and violence;
that he himself advocated the overthrow
of the Government by force and violence
and that he had likewise advocated
sabotage. Therefore, upon several
statutory grounds Harry, Bridges is
mandatorily deportable.
"The Secretary of Labor gave as a
reason for postponement Of deportation
proceedings against Harry Bridges the
decision In the Strecker case. This was
the decision of the. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals for the New Orleans district, which
merely held that membership in the
Communist party alone is not sufficient
to warrant deportation of an alien. How
ever, in this case, the Labor Department
failed to introduce the usual stock proof
which it introduced in similar cases to
the effect that Communists advocate the
overthrow of the Government by force
and violence. In the file of the Labor
Department on the Bridges case there
is ample proof that the Communist
party advocates the overthrow of the
Government by force and violence. This
file shows other grounds for deportation,
which the Department of Labor has
ignored.
I'm the opinion Of the committee, the
Strecker case does not have any impor-