Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-03-27
MISUNDERSTANDING


camps of the right and the left
She tried to differentiate between
the leadership of the nationa
UPWA and her leadership Of Loca
10. She pictured herself as ar
occupant Of the middle ground, ar
officer whose great concern was tt
hold Local 10, her own organi'
zation, together, with all its war
ring factions.
Here, in part, is how she put II
to the regional panel:
II would say that have never
been identified as left-wing leader
in Local 10 -. do not think
that most Of the members would
I know that most of them woulc
have been very surprised to heal
of the charge of my being a left
wing leader or being Communist
I think that we have evidence II
show that my administration o.
the union was extremely fair II
that all points Of view were Away
expressed and we had a local II
which there always was a full ane
free expression Of opinion. and no
opinion dominated by any group
."
And again:
"Mr. Blair Harry w. Blair
panel member: But you your
self-here is the point-you your
self never recognized yourself a!
a leader OF q left-wing?
Held Majority View.
Miss Bailey: That is true.
would consider - on the basis
of the elections over the year.
that I was In the majority, The
overwhelming majority of thu
members in the union and I be-
lieve that throughout I have rep
resented their point Of view.
The transcript Of the first hear
ing, at least, leaves some doubt
las to whether Miss Bailey and
her lawyers fully succeeded in
getting her judges to understand
what the defense was trying to
say about the union and Miss
Bailey's relationship to it. Miss
Bailey remarked. at one point
that the right-wing Build-the.
Union Committee freely used the
charge Communist and Com
munist dominated
This" she said. II would not
20 along with. In much of their
program and throughout the last
year or two I have supported
some of their specific policies and
programs. 1 have voted with, for
and against them
The transcript continues:
"Mr. Blair: Are you talking
about the Communists?
Miss Bailey: No. I am talking
about this opposition group with
in the union.
Mr.. Chairman Erred E. Mar
TIM: They accused you Of beine
Communist?
Miss Bailey: They start out
by accusing the national leader
ship Of being Communist. This
I hesitate to do unless I have
the facts. because I think that
by labelling any one a Communist
and saying that they are is 6
pretty serious charge and I dc
not do that lightly. Because OF
my failure to join with them in
those activities I have a feeling
that this contributes to their in
Guiding and labelling me Com
munist for not joining with them
AS I say, I did support on many
occasions specific actions which
they were supporting.
Questioned on Actions.
"Mr. Blair: Did you know those
actions were Communist?
Miss Bailey: The actions, they
were the ones who we're
Mr.. Blair: You. knew that the
actions were being backed by
Communists?
Miss Bailey: Just the oppo-
site. This opposition group is the
group that called the leadership
Communists.
"Mr. Examiner: Did you con-
slider this opposition group to be In
any means affiliated with the
Communist Party?
Miss Bailey: They were the
ones who were calling the other
Communists.
"Mr. Examiner: Did you con-
slider them to be Communists or
affiliated with them?
Miss Bailey: No.
Mr.. Examiner: Did the union
have any Communist opposition
group in it?
Miss Bailey: I don't know. AS
I say, I don't know what members
if any Of the union are Com
munists. -
MI. hIlucl SOll W. W. "A. 1AAAACA
son, panel member): At least
there is one group which accuses
the other group Of being Com
munist? =
Miss Bailey: That Is right.
They don't accuse another group
as such. They accuse some Of the
leaders of the national union as
being Communist.
Mr.. Anderson: You were the
leader of the group which says
that the others are Communism
And so it went. There were
times when it seemed that Miss
Bailey and the panel members
were talking the same language
in their discussion OF the right
wing left-wing union setup. But
as the hearing progressed the
misunderstanding came to light
again and again.
To whatever extent she was
able to get it across to the loyalty