The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-05-19
BY WEsTBROOK PEGLER

NEW YORK.-Martin Dies retirement from
Congress created an interesting problem of
disposal of his committees records, an enor-
nous accumulation of lint, fuzz and good solid
information concerning the past activities OF
countless individuals. Many of these persons
were aggressive, traitorous German bndlsts
and Muscovite communists. The conduct OF
the rest which brought them within the wide
scope of the committees Investigations, rang
es from collaboration with such treachery to
more mischief. The directory of the conmu-
mist side is the larger by far because the COM
munists have enjoyed the tolerance and, at
times such as now, the enthusiastic help OF
the government.
Actually the committee, quite long time
ago, departed from the traditional methods
of congressional committees of inquiry Hear
ngs became infrequent and the investigation
became sort of detective bureau in which
an old newspaper clipping, for example, or
handbill advertising a communist rally,
would be used as tip by which to prove
government job, and denying that he ever did
associate with enemies of this government,
actually did consort with them on certain
dates. There is a large mass of such data
which the administration and all the COM
munist and pro-communist groups and per-
sons would like to get their hands on, for
most of it never could be replaced once it
we're pulped, or burned as Wastepaper and
possibly no other committee of Congress would
have the continuity and the enthusiasm of
the Dies committee.
The Dies committee seems to have had
better information than the FBI in some
phases of anti-American activity, for the coun-
try repeatedly has been given to understand
that all persons under consideration for i'm
portant influential posts in the war ad-
ministration were thoroughly investigated and
yet the office of war information, for one has
been crawling with persons OF questionable
loyalty under the administration OF Elmer
Davis, 1eft-winger who is not communist
but should know most of them from political
association on that side.
Applying the announcement of his with
drawal Dies said that much of the hostility
to his inquiry came from alien blocs in New
York and other eastern Cities and Chicago
which resented his immigration policy. His
policy on immigration was simple. He was
against it and that attitude earned him the
loud and by no means feeble enmty OF many
rnore-or-less American citizens who have
thought it would be nice to let in all the
refugees from Spain and all such victims of
Killers persecution as could be brought across
in the available transportation.
Dies acquired evidence that the Department
of Labor under Mrs. Perkins was manipulate
ing the immigration laws so as to admit as
visitors many Europeans, who were bound to
it would be impossible to send them back;
and, moreover, to waive in their cases the
customary qualifications required of regular
immigrants. Harold Ickes even went so far
as to propose that to the limit of our ability
to ship them, we transport Spanish refugees
from the Franco regime from their temporary
asylum in France to our own Caribbean is
lands, in which communism and revolutionary
activity are bad enough anyway, and set them
down to complicate one Of the country's most
troublesome and dangerous responsibilities.
Although Dies took rough punishment from
the alien groups and some native American
bleeding hearts, his immigration policy I'M
doubtedly will get respectful hearing in the
immediate postwar period because there are
others who believe he does and the clamor
of the opposition will inevitably raise in the
minds of all Americans the question whether
the people of this country have right to
bar the doors. Other countries notably Rus
STA, are extremely inhospitable to outsiders
Australia, that model Of liberal bigotry where
political censorship of the press has been a
natural development of radical intolerance
has racial immigration qualifications; and so
has our good neighbor to the south of the Rio