Evening star., 1941-09-11

bund urged its members to join?"
the Senator asked.
You have been grossly misin-
formed if you think that the bund
has anything to do with the Amer
lea First Committee" Mr.. Flynn
asserted. This brought applause
from that part of the crowd which
was in sympathy with the America
First Committee.
Mr.. Flynn admitted that a request
had been published in q bund paper
urging members to join the America
First Committee. He said he had
himself written letter denouncing
the idea that the committee had
anything to do with the bund or
would have anything to do with it.
He suggested that the bund had no
more to do with the America First
Committee than the Communists
have to do with the Fight for Free
dom Organization-an intervention
ist outfit. He said that in the early
days the newspapers had sent pho
tographers around to see if they
couldn't get pictures of Communists
attending America First meetings.
"Wen swap our bundists for your
Communists, Mr.. Flynn told SEN
ator Mcfarland.
You are little bit fond of the
bund, aren't you," Senator McFar-
land asked.
"Oh, no. Mr.. Flynn replied.
When Senator Mcfarland said he
was asking questions of Mr.. Flynn
because you see I don't know you,
Mr. Flynn suggested that he was
pretty well known and that his
name appeared in many newspapers
and perhaps was as well known as
that of Senator Mcfarland
WELL" Senator Mcfarland said,
you see. I'm not trying to get my
name in the newspapers"
How did you get elected in Ari-
zona?" Mr.. Flynn asked. Not by
hiding behind the bushes"
Cites Jackson Charges.
In his prepared statement Mr..
Flynn dwelt on the monopoly
charges made against the industry
by Former Attorney General Jack
son. He said Mr.. jackson never got
a chance to have the charges tried in
court because consent decree was
entered into last November.
1T is an extraordinary decree" 4"
the witness said, in which the
Government agrees, during period
of three years, not to ask any re-
lief from the abuses complained of
and not to seek to divorce produc-
ton from distribution or from
exhibition or aim in any way to
interfere with the actual monopoly.
There was a modification of the
block booking houses and distribu-
tors agreed to stop forcing shorts,
reissues, Westerns and newsreels
on exhibitors and to cease acquir-
ing new theaters. But actually they
are not forbidden to buy new thea
tiers, but merely to notify the De-
partment of Justice in the event
that they seek to buy new theaters. !"
He went on to argue that the ex-
istence of a monopoly results in GEN.
sorship by those who control the
industry. To support his statement,
Mr.. Flynn referred to a newspaper
clipping of 1896 which quoted Sim
clair Lewis, author of TT Can't Hap
pen Here" as declaring that, al
though a producer had bought the
novel for the films, Will Hays
banned 1t on the ground. Mr.. Flynn
said. that it was "anti-Fascist"
In 1885," Mr.. Flynn continued,
"these noble champions of democ-
racy didn't want to offend the Fas-
cist governments. Why, / do not
know
Not the Issue, He Says.
The witness argued that If a man
could be prevented from producing
an anti-Fascist picture he could be
prevented from making any other
kind of film.
Commenting on Mr.. Wilkes
frank statement that the industry