Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-01-29
By Herbert A. PhiIbrick
CHAPTER TX.

In the spring of 1945. a lettel
written In the name Of the French
Communist leader, Jacques Duclos
exploded in the faces Of the part,
leadership in the United States
and shook the ranks almost al
violently as the infamous 1914
somersault to support the war
The Duclos affair was q full-scalt
internal revolt, although it wa,
carefully screened from the publit
gaze.
1t squelched Earl Browder'l
deviation and ended his hope o.
American exceptionalism."
It rudely purged any illusions
OF future collaboration with cap.
italism.
1t swerved the Communist Party
sharply to the left and pushed
the Nation closer to the ensuing
Communist crisis.
In my case. it moved me ir
from the perimeter toward the
epicenter of conspiracy where !
was in a better position to kees
track of events for the FBI.
Tide Of War Changes.
The Communist atmosphere il
the fell and winter of 1944-5 was
charged with advance warnings
of the Duclos storm. The tide Of
war, both in Europe and the
Pacific, had turned.
Once again it was within the
Communist youth organizations
with which /. as a party "floater,
was most intimately connected
that the signal flags first went
up. Orders from above directed
a tightening OF policies and
discipline within the ranks oil
American Youth for Democracy
of which I was the State treasurer
After reaching a peak of more
than $500 dues-paying members
in the Boston area, AYD rapidly
lost ground on its win-the-wal
A special meeting was called
at the apartment Of Dave and
Barbara Bennett to start a new
membership drive for the youth
group.
1t was also time to screen the
AYD membership for possible
recruits for the regular Com
Party. The word came
down to open leadership train
ing course" for hand-picked
who might be good
prospects. A national party
functionary, Marcella Sloane, was
sent to Boston to direct the train
ing personally.
Followed Same Pattern.
Glasses were held at the bis
AYD auditorium on Hunting.
ton avenue. They followed the
pattern of my own pre-inductior
in 1912. Marxism was
cleverly and covertly woven into 6
study fabric made up Of the most
acute postwar issues, many OF
which were to be found even irl
the Republican and Democratic
platforms. Among them were fan
employment practices legislation
Federal aid to education, support
of the Dumbarton Oaks agree
ment, measures to insure post
war jobs and any issue which
might appeal to a progressive
young person. az
There was no indoctrination in
revolution, only the installation OF
ideas which would lead up to it
the first transportation of the
seeds of class strife, the theme
that every social Ill has its roots
in capitalism.
Some of the IS carefully selected
AYD f1edg1ings dropped out
m dway in Marcella Sloane's
course, but most of them went or
later to a postgraduate course by
the Samuel Adams School for So
cial Studies, the educational cen.
ter in Boston which was sponsored
and supported by the Communist,
even while the party denied it.
Stopped Short of Uprising.
Once again, the schooling con.
sistently stopped short of revolu.
ton; but whereas in their frs
indoctrination classes the socia
evils of capitalist democracy were
infused. now the discussions lee
to the absolute necessity of max
ing sharp changes in the social
economic and governmental sys'
tenn.
Among the instructors for thu
Sam Adams course was thu
schools treasurer, Harry Winner
a Maiden (MaSs.) businessman
and executive with the Converts
Rubber Co. for many years. a mar
whose talents as a teacher were
widely appreciated by the party
even if they were overlooked by
his business associates.
I was assigned by district head.
quarters to the task of infiltratins
a liberal group known as thu
Massachusetts, Political Actor
Committee, to survey the organi'
zation and determine whether thu
Pea could be taken over and usee
as a political front by the party
/ reported that I thought the com
mittee. composed of true liberals
was ill-suited to Communist Part!
purposes, and that it might b.
better to establish a similar grouI
of our own. Many others agreed
with me. Thus Earl BroWder'
f1abby Communist Political Asso
citation, which had Stunned de-
visive politics during the wa,
years, laid the groundwork for thl
Progressive. Party and direct en-
gagement once more in the politi'
cal arena.
Planned Youth Dinner.
Working with Don Bollen, TIL
AYD State chairman; Bob Nc
Carthy, national board membel
of AYD: Barbara Bennett, VIII,
replaced Alice Gordon as distric
leader of Communist You'll