Evening star., 1939-11-29
Youth Congress
Is Red 'front.'
Dies Unit Told
Ex-Member Claims
Party Controls
Several Other Bodies
BY JAMES E. CHM.

4sNf~NSSA
can Youth Congress is Communist
front" organization were supported
today by William g. Ryan of Mil
waukee, a witness before the House
Committee on Un-American Activi-
ties, who identified himself as a
former member of the Communist
party.
Mr.. Ryan, who had testified
earlier in the month, was recalled
to complete his story of Com
munist activities in this country.
He named several organizations as
being completely controlled or DOM
mated by Communists, and others
which he described as Communist
front" organizations.
The American Youth Congress, q
unit of the National Youth Congress
which Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt
addressed in the summer of 1888
during its convention at Vassar Col
lege, has been named by number
of previous witnesses before the Dies
Committee as Communist front"
organization. Mrs Roosevelt has
said she did not believe the organi-
zation was Communist controlled.
Other witnesses before the commit
tee have supported her statement.
Undecided on Mrs. Roosevelt.
Mrs. .Roosevelt's address at the
National Youth Congress convention
and the previous charges that it is q
Communist front" organization,
stirred up such a controversy that
Mrs. Roosevelt several days ago in
dicated willingness to testify be-
fore the committee. The commit
tee, however, has not yet decided to
invite her to appear.
Mr.. Ryan, who testified he had
been a member of the Communist
party for nearly 10 years, also told
the committee the American League
for Peace and Democracy. the
American Negro Congress, the
American Student Union. the
Friends of the Abraham Lincoln
Brigade and the National Commit
tee for Aid of Spanish Democracy
are controlled by the Communist
party
The American League for Peace
and Democracy earlier had been de-
scribed to the committee as Com.
munist front" organization. but Mr..
Ryan said: 1T is in complete con-
troll Of the Communist party"
Maj. Hampden Wilson, an investi-
gator for the Veterans Administra-
ton, testified before the committee
Monday that the American Student
Union is the agency used by the
Communist party to spread it's doc
| trines among the educational institu-
tions in the country.
Communists Claim.
Mr.. Ryan said the Friends Of the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade always
has been under control of the Com
munist party, but expressed belief
many of its members did not know
OF this situation. He pointed out
that Col. Theodore Roosevelt is a
member of the Board of Directors
OF the organization, but emphasized
that he, like many other members,
did not know that Communists DOM
| mate ana control 1t.
The witness also pointed out he
had not worked in the American
Youth Congress, but had talked with
members who had
1T is a generally accepted fact it
is a Communist front organiza-
ton he declared. "All Communists
know it."
Mr. Ryan, however, added the ma
jority of members of the congress
are not Communists.
The witness said he did not be-
lieve the International Workers
Order is controlled by the Commu-
mist party although it does have
some influence" over it. This Or
ganization, he declared. sis looked
upon as front organization.
The International Labor Defense.
he described as "a bit more than a
front organization"
"It's the defense arm of the party"
he explained.
Wife Testifies.
Mr.. Ryan had told the committee
during his appearance on the wit.
ness stand earlier in the month his
experiences in Spain during the
Civil War as. member of the
Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He said
his war service caused him to leave
the Communist party.
The attractive brunette wife Of
Mr.. Ryan, an Austrian-born woman
who came to the United States in
1921 and was naturalized eight years
later, followed her husband on the
stand and detailed some of her
experiences in Spain as a practical
nurse and cook.
Early in her testimony, she said
she, too, had been member Of the
Communist party in the United
States. and as proof exhibited
party book" or membership Gre
dentials, which was displayed to
the committee by Rhea Whitley,
counsel for the Dies group.
Mrs. Ryan, who said her first
name is Alba. outlined the arrange
ments for the trip to Spain which
she said were made by the Com
munists, first in Milwaukee and
later in New York. In New York,
she declared, Earl Browder, general
secretary of the Communist party,
told us the talk about democracy
Gin SPAIN is not So" and that it
was the Communist party that was
in power in Spain.
Mrs. Ryan said Browder admon-
iShed her and a qroup of IL other
women who were prepared to sail
for Europe to follow the party's in
structions without asking questions.
Among her first duties in Spain,
Mrs. Ryan said, were those of su-
pervisor of dining room in
Spanish Loyalist camp. She said,
however, she objected to the morale
and discipline in the camp and was
transferred.
IWoodside Club