The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-25

into two elements, the Americans
and the Muscovites.
But when Britt and Gannett col
laborated in their telegram Of pro-
test Britt withheld from Gannett
the fact that he tBritt) in a private
telephone conversation with me
did, distinctly and without reser-
walton, identify the guilds internal
enemy as the communist element.
Gannett seemed surprised when I
told him that Britt had done this.
Britt then admitted that he had
identified communism as the evil
influence and had resented the
guilds adherence to the Moscow
party line in voting against con-
scription in a trick meeting. He
insisted, however, that he h a d
been unguarded and had not thor.
oughly covered the subject. But
ne admitted that I did not hurry
him in this original discussion and
that he had had an opportunity to
express any reservations which he
might have had in mind.
Twofold Purpose
My purpose in phoning Britt, in
the first place, was tWofold. First,
l wanted to make sure that he
and Gannett had signed the ap-
peal-in other words, that it was
not a fake. 1 also wanted to ask
Britt, as n of the signatories
and a man of position in New
York journalism and the guild if
he believed the communists were
responsible for the crisis men
toned in the appeal.
Britt fatty expressed this belief
with no discount. Three times he
said the communists were respon-
sible for the unrepresentative vote
against CONSUMPTION, using the
term party line" each time. l
asked these questions to ascertain
whether a prominent non-commu-
mist in the guild now agreed with
my contention that the commu-
nists WELD control. He thus con-
firmed my own conviction, but it
was agreed that he would not be
quoted, and he wasn't.
But when he demanded that l
clarity the record he wanted to
conceal that part of the record
which he had already concealed
from Gannett. To this I replied
with equal insistence that we must
deal with all of the record.
He has finally agreed to this,
and that is how it comes that I
am able now to reveal our private
discussion which fortified my own
conviction that communism was
the guilds trouble. New, by way
of reservation, he wants to say
that there are others than COM
munists who disbelieve in ~conscrip-
ton and to repudiate the distinc-
ton between Americans and Mus
covites-which never was attrib-
uted to him, anyway. That distinc.
ton is my own, and I don't want
to share it with anyone. l think
it is pretty good, and l know it
drives the Bolos crazy.
I believe this does clarity the
record except on one point:
The appeal, admitting "disaffec-
ton" in the guild, said the work.
ers on the Chicago Herald-Ameri-
can voted, 4 to !, to be represent
ed by a "company-sponsored" un-
ion. I asked both of these men
how they dared smear this legiti-
mate 4-to-1 choice as a company
sponsored" union.
The Herald American people re-
pudiated the guild in rebellion
against that which Britt identified
as communist control and adher-
ence to the Moscow party line.
The phrase '''company-sponsored''
conveys the suggestion that these
r rats, s a S and
finks, in the polite language of the
guild. It indicates the actual de-
gree of respect for the free choice
Of free men which exists in the
newspaper guild when any decision
----L ]