Evening star., 1939-10-24
Prosecuting the "Isms"


The long investigation by the Dies
committee of un-American activi-
ties in many fields is beginning to
bear fruit in court. Evidence ad-
duced before the committee has re-
suited in the indictment in New
York of Earl Browder, leader of the
American Communist party, on
charges of falsifying passports. Other
indictments growing out of testi-
mony that members of the Commu-
mist party have defrauded passport
officials on numerous occasions are
said to be in the offing. In the wake
of the special Federal grand jury
action in New York has come de-
mand by Chairman Dies for prosecu-
ton without further delay" of the
American Communist party and the
German-American Bund for alleged
violations of the recent act requiring
registration of foreign agents.
If the evidence shows conclusively
that Browder's Communist party
and Fritz Kuhns bund are agents
of foreign principals" within the
meaning of the Registration Act, and
have failed to register as such, there
should be no hesitancy on the part
of Federal authorities in prosecuting
them and their officers to the limit.
Both organizations, however, have
denied having direct affiliations
with foreign governments or other
principals" Mr.. Browder recently
told the Dies committee that the
American Communist party sends
delegates to the Communist Interna-
tionale in Moscow, but he would not
concede that the party was controlled
by the "Comintern." Decisions of the
Communist 1nternationale, he ex-
planned, are regarded here as "volun-
tary agreement" "-although he said
it was customary for party members
to part company" with the party If
they did not like decisions of the
Moscow Central Committee. "Fueh-
rer" Kuhn insists that his bund is
wholly American, despite his Berlin
contacts and his visit to Adolf Hitler
some time ago.
The machinery of justice often is
ponderous and it is necessarily de-
Lucrative. Consequently, delay on
the part of the Department of JUS
tice in deciding whether to prosecute
a case or to pass it up need cause no
alarm except in exceptional in
stances. Delay could mean, Of
course, that the case is being pigeon
holed for insufficient evidence or
other reasons; but the chances are
that it means the Government is
taking pains to prepare for what it
hopes will be a successful prosecu-
ton. To call upon the department
to bring charges against some one
under investigation without further
delay" is large order-and one that
may be impossible of fulfillment
under any circumstances. Chairman
Dies has not publicly revealed the
extent of the evidence his committee
presumably has presented to the De-
partment of Justice in connection
with the American Communist
party and the German-American
Bund, but almost invariably it is
necessary for the department to sup
plement congressional inquiries by
thoroughgoing Investigations of its
own. Certainly it would be unrea-
sonable to ask of District Attorney
Pine that he take matters into his
own hands prior to completion of the
departmental study.
It should be possible for the Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation to un-
cover the foreign ties in both of these
organizations If any exist. The tenn
per of the American people in these
strenuous days is likely to be short
with organizations which may seek
to hide alien subversive activities be-
hind cloaks of Americanism. Lib
erty does not include license, nor
does tolerance encompass indiffer-
ence to un-Americanism in any guise.