The guardian., 1949-12-31
Communists
(Contint!ed from Page One

NColttiH1ged from rage One)
operate with the Communists
The labor organizations, which
have the largest membership
and the strongest political pull
have had experience with th,
Communists. so that they ar,
being thrown out of the CLIO
and are already negligible in tht
AT Of L. In addition, many oi
the labor leaders are Catholics
whose church has been attacked
with special bitterness by the
Communists and the Commun-
lists are more anxious to try Ia
make political capital for them
selves out of the existence of
racial discrimination than to try
to end such discrimination.
This aslt statement is not Just
theory. I was the co-chairman
with Father Loughlin Of Hartford
Of the Committee for a Connec-
ticut Fair Employment Practice
Act back in 1916 and 1s47. Con-
necticut was the only state in
that year to pass a Fair En-
ployment Practice law with en-
forcement powers. We were able
to get the la wthrough the State
Legislature just because we
to keep the Commun-
lists and their fellow travellers
out of the committee working
for the law. On that account. we
got support fro-n the AT. Of Z.
and the CLIO. and from import
ant Catholic organizations, none
OF which would have given us
support if the Communists were
in the committee. Their political
power was ar greater, of course
than that which the Commun-
lists and their following can
swing, for the alleged power of
the Commies is composed more
of noise than of actual votes and
membership When it comes to
making a choice between the
two, the N.A,A.C.P. and the othe-
organizations, cooperating with
it on an equal basis in the pres
ent Civil Rights Mobilization
Campaign, are wise not to lei
the Communists in.
The Communists are not dumb.
They know that their support
for Civil Rights does more harm
than good. Yet, they persist in
trying to thorn in" on the work
for such measures, even though
they know that their work for ii
is actually work against civi,
Rights b - of the antagon-
ism toward Communism as a
wing Of Russia's foreign Office
that exists among liberal as well
reactionary Senators and Con
gressmen.
The reason is not hard to un-
derstand. The Communists first
and foremost stand for Russia,
interests. They may and thev
have changed their position or
many other measures. For ex.
ample, they opposed Roosevelt,
policy Of giving aid to the coun.
tries fighting the Nazis wher
Russia was allied with the Nazi,
in the Hitler stain Pact. ant
then they changed overnight 4
demanding even more yigorou.
measures to support the wal
when Russia was attacked. But
on one thing they never changed
which is their unvarying sup.
port of Russia, even when tn,
Russian Government is guilty 0.
aggression.
just now, Russia is opposins
American efforts to curb aggres,
sion and help way torn land,
through such measures as til,
Marshall Plan and the Atlantic
Pact. Russia uses the existenc,
Of racial discrimination in thu
United States to undermine oul
influence with foreign countries
Consequently, it is to Russia,
interests to see that such dis.
elimination continues. and Rus.
sia does not gain but loses when
our Government takes measures
to eliminate racial discrin1ina-
ton, such as the appointment
o Judge Hastie to the Circuit
Court of Appeals, or the abolish
ing Of segregation in the Navy
and the Air Co. ps. or the enact.
ment Of Fair Employment Prac-
tice Legislation in a gro lne
number Of STATES.
II seems likely that the Com