Imperial Valley press., 1944-10-11


new Dies committee hearings is the
effort of its investigators, Robert
E. Stripping and DR.. j. B. Matthews,
to show a link between the RooSe-
velt administration and the C1O
Political Action Committee on the
one hand, then show link between
PAC and the American Communists
on the other. '"4'
The inference is supposed to be ]
that the Communists are taking
over the Democratic party, and II
STRIPPING and Matthews can prove
that, they will have something. But
the evidence on this daisy chain is
pretty thin. ,aur
Stripping says that II different'I
officials and employees of 26 federal
government agencies have been IN
communication with Sidney Hill
mans PAC headquarters in New.
York. Stripping learned this by sub
poenaing records of long distance
telephone calls. They showed that
New York PAC headquarters had
called up presidential assistants
David x. Niles II times, Jonathan
Daniels six times, Sam Rosenman.
Lowell Mellett and Ben Cohen
once each. What was said on these
calls isn't known.
Naturally" says Stririing, ''it is
not to be assumed that all these
calls lad to do with political activ-
ity. l am quite certain that some OF
them were business calls and as
such were quite proper
Being hign man on the list, David
K. Niles was asked about his II
calls. I'm surprised the number
isn't greater he says. Il have
knc wn Hillman long time, worked
with him closely when he was on
WPB. He usually calls me up when
he wants to come down to WASH
! ington and can't get hotel room.
You can take this statement at
face value, being true as far as it
goes. but perhaps not heing g the
whole story.
Most of the calls to Jonathan
Daniels were from G. B. Baldwin,
former Farm Security administrator
and now vice chairman of PAC and
Identified by Stripping as the man
who really runs 1t. ,.,..
But you can't convict anyone for
using the telephone and lot OF
strange people have no doubt called
up the White Houie for strange pr-
| poses.
Stripping and Matthews perhaps
strike pay dirt when they get down
ON the lower levels and try to slow
how the regional and local PAC
workers, with definite recordsi of
participation in Communist front
organizations, have moved into the
d mocratic party. III.
Democratic Congressman John NJ
Costello of Los Angeles, acting chair
man of the Dies subcommittee in
vestigating PAC, says, This shows
what happened when the Commu-
nist party dissolves. It's members go
/ into other political parties" I-
HE OUGHT TO KNOW .t..
| Costello should know, for he was
victim of PAC activities in the Cali
! fornia primaries. In making this
comment he was referring specific
! ally TO the case of one Mervyn
Rathbone, once violently anti-Com-
muniet a. an organizer of the
! American Radio Telegraphists' as
sociation, then actively prot Com
munist. and now California state
secretary cf the CIO, a delegate to
! the Democratic national convention
in Chicago and a power in state
| PAc.
Others put in the same category
by Stripping are:
Rev Is Clayton of San Francisco.
( former Communist party candidate
! for state fenator, new an assistant
/ to Rathbone;
William Senter of st. Louis. for
mer Communist party leader for
Missouri and Arkansas, now a PAC
| leader in the same AREA:
: Ernest De Maio and John T. Bar
nard of Chicago, officials CT the
United Electrical Workers, both
charged with having definite Com
munist ties in the PAST, now promi-
nfnt in midwest PAC.
In all. Stripling fubmits new eyi-
dence on only a dozen of these
small fry, but here is a real threat.
If men with proved Communist
records are moving in en- local
Democratic machines and taking
over thep the Democratic party has