Evening star., 1952-02-06

mine the Smith Act and the pub
lies faith in 1t We portrayed the
law as an instrument of suppress
sion affecting every segment Of
American life ard every individ-
ual from his cradle to his grave.
: A primary objective OF the agi-
tation was the raising Of $3.50. .00C
for a freedom fund" to pay the
expenses Of the defense OF The
Twelve.
School Established.
During the winter months the
educational commission received
q directive from national head
quarters ordering the selection O1
o few comrades for a course Of
advance training in Marxism tx
offset what they called "the in
creased tendency toward faScism
throughout the United States"
The result was the establish
ment of the Boston school fol
Marxist studies. Only party men,
bers with carefully tested back
grounds were to attend. Boone
Schirmer sent the outline mate
rial for the courses in the new
school to me for preparation. ]
was to write a series Of four-pag
circulars for the four different
classes to be held.
In the raw damp Of a February
evening I picked my way over icy
sidewalks up darkened Fayston
street to the duplex apartment
building where Otis Archer Hood
lived. There were four college
students, the wife Of a successful
Boston businessman. a young
Greek photographer and two Ne
groes.
Methods Of Operations.
Indirectly through the Boston
School for Marxist Studies
learned what some Of the methods
of opposition would be, below the
theological level. One Of them
was sabotage. The Communists
recognizing that in the aftermath
of a revolution it would be neceS-
sary for them to restore a produc-
tive economy as quickly as pos
sible, wisely planned to avoid
wholesale destruction Of valuable
through sabotage. They
spelled out a policy of preserving
machinery which
was regarded, after all. as the
rightful property Of the workers
Instead, the plan was to in
capacitate temporarily entire
plants and their crucial ma
chimes by knocking out power
supplies. wrecking transmission
lines. conduits. cables, generators,
transformers-any facility which
would render productive ma
chinery useless to the governing
authorities but leave it essentially
intact to be restored Immediately
by the revolutionary forces. In
concrete terms. they would not de-
stroy rail locomotives and rolling
stock but would merely deny their
use by ripping out the track. The
saboteurs would strive for a COM
plete paralysis t(rather than
destruction) Of the critical points:
Bridges, dams. water supply lines
communications, etc.
These were some Of the sabotage
plans discussed in New England
those days!
itR Budenz Takes Stand.
The New York, trial opened In
the Foley Square courtroom In
January, but it wasn't until March
that LouisdB Budenz, the former
head Of the Daily Worker and
q reformed ex-Communist, took
the stand as the ,drst Govern
ment witness. ] made two trips
to the United States
Courthouse in New York to con-
fer with attorneys close to the
trial.
It became more and more ap-
parent that the Government was
building large part of its case
upon evidence that was in my
possession, and that they would
have to place me on the stand.
But back in Boston, Daniel Boone
Schrimer called me one day and
asked me to meet him for lunch
at the Waldorf restaurant on
Washington street. Over our cof-
fee he began plying me with
I'VE need some reliable people
for some special work. We need
couriers to operate both In and out
Of the metropolitan district. What
about your neighbors? Are they
Of you? Is there any
room in your house for-tem-
porary shelter? We need supply
depotS. Have you any storage
space?"
Government All Set.
I'm building a garage now. I
can easily tack a shed on the rear
Of it," Boone was enthusiastic.
I Immediately flashed the FBI.
I still think I had better stay in
this thing where I can see what is
going on. See II the Government
can't get some one else to testify, %
r Sa1aa lAl