Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1950-09-29
Dixiegop Cynicism Revealed In
Debate On Citing Rumely

dom of the Press issue and rallied to Rune
ly's defense. Chief o spokesman was
Charlie HaIleck of Indiana backed by rotund
Clarence Brown of Ohio, both members of the
Committee on Lobbying who knew If anybody
did what Rumely was up to and why. Hal
leck implied that every publisher in the land
would lose his Constitutional freedom to
speak out If Rumely were cited. absurd" re-
piled Lanham. Dixiecrat Gene Cox of Georgia
got the floor to suggest the whole lobby In
vestigati0n was a Communist plot. Republican
floor leader Joe Martin of Massachusetts, join
ed the battle so vigorously that Democratic
floor leader John Mccormack of the same
state observed that Rumely had pretty pow
erful friends in this House." Clearance Brown
clustered, as he generally does.
In the end, the contempt citation was GER
titled by a tight 1873 to ITS. It's up to the De-
partment of Justice to prosecute the case.
Rumely who after two trials beat a similar
rap a while ago may be able to fool a jury
since he has the glibness and gall of a con-
fidence man. But he wasn't fooling anybody
In Congress no matter what Brown and Char
lie Halleck said. The Republicans and Dixie
Gratis who voted against the citation knew
exactly what they were doing. They knew
they were blessing the thinnest kind of a legal
dodge by which Rumely was shielding the
rich corporations and individuals behind him.
They knew that Freedom of the Press was a
fake issue. They knew that Rumely was not a
publisher in any legitimate sense, nor an edu-
Gator. They knew he'd Dragged before the
Lobby Committee that his organizations lit
erature was instrumental in defeating liberal
Senators Frank Graham ID. CO, and Claude
Pepper I'd. Fla.), in this years primaries.
They knew Rumely admitted to using the
postage franks" of Republican Senators and
Congressman to send out millions of pieces
of literature attacking rent control, public
housing and health insurance and favoring
the Taft-Hartley act.
They knew Rumely told the probers he
intended to "caturate" whole cities such as
Dallas, Buffalo and Toledo with the Flynn
book and other hate literature. They knew
that bundles of material from the mmitt
for Constitutional Government were always
arriving in their mail to salt their speeches
and influence their votes.
Nevertheless, they didn't think it proper
that Congressman and the public know who
puts up the money. Perhaps it was because
Rumely disseminates their brand of thinking.
Certainly, the Republicans - and Dixie
Gratis - knew what kind of man they were
dealing with. That is they did if they were in
their seats Aug. 20 or if they read the Con-
gressional Record for that day.
That was the day Rep. Wright Patman
D. Tex.), who has battled Rumely before,
gave his colleagues a complete picture of
Rumely, past and present. Patman even listed
In detail the facts of Rumely's conviction for
operating a newspaper in New York during
World War l with German money. Mincing
no words, he called Rumely a Fascist, term
ed the Committee for Constitutional Govern
ment a Committee for a Fascist Govern
ment." He said Rumely was an ''evil man"
and that his organization was "eviI' to.
Runely, in Patman's opinion, CONSTITUTES as
grave a threat to the well-being and security
of the United States as any Communist within
our borders"
"Rumely is a plain fraud, an ex-convict, a
poisoner of the American brain" Patman de-
clared. "He is an illegitimate defender of the
Constitution. He is a dissemination of the big
lie. He is completely anti-democratic and anti
social. He would destroy Americas freedom.
He would make the rich richer; the poor
poorer. He is the willing and paid agent of the
most selfish and shortsighted wealthy indi-
viduals in America. He is a spreader of con-
fusion and dissention among our people but
he is no publisher or editor"
But the GOP-Dixiecrat coalition wasn't
listening - or didn't care