Evening star., 1954-04-13

lecCudl freedom In 1887. ] think
it then stood as a protest against
what had happened to intellec-
tuals and professionals in Ger
many.
I listed, in the personnel Sc
curity QUESTIONABLE that I filed
out in 1942 for employment with
the Manhattan District, the very
few political organizations Of
which / had ever been a mem
ber. I say on that QUESTIONABLE
that ] did not include sponsor
ships. have no recollection Of
the Friends Of the Chinese Peo-
pie. or of what, If any, my con-
nection with this organiza-
tion was.
Denies Attributed Statement.
The statement is attributed to
me that. while ! was not a Com
munist. I "had probably be-
longed to every Communist-front
organization on the West Coast
and had signed many petitions
in which Communists were in
terested."
I do not recall this statement.
nor to whom I might have made
it. nor the circumstances. The
quotation is not true. It seems
clear to me that If I said any,
thing along the lines quoted, it
was a half-jocular overstate-
ment.
The matter which most en-
gagged my sympathies and in
terests was the war in Spain.
This was not matter Of under
standing and informed convic-
tions. I had never been to
Spain; I knew a little of its lit
erature; I knew nothing of its
history or politics or contempo-
rary problems. But like a great
many other Americans I was
emotionally committed to the
Loyalist cause.
I contributed to various organ
izations for Spanish relief. I
went to, and helped with, many
parties. bazaars and the like.
Even when the war in Spain was
manifestly lost, these activities
continued The end of the war
and the defeat Of the Loyalists
caused me great sorrow.
1t was probably through Span
ish relief efforts that met DR..
Thomas Adds and Rudy Lam
bert. AS to the latter, our asso-
cation never became close. AS
to the former, he was a distin-
guished medical scientist who
became a friend.
Gave to Spanish Fund.
Adds asked me perhaps in the
winter of 1878, to contribute
through him to the Spanish
cause. He made it clear that this
money, unlike that which went
to the relief organizations, would
go straight to the fighting effort,
and that it would go through
Communist channels. 1 did so
contribute; usually when he
communicated with me, explain
ing the nature of the need. I
gave him sums in cash, probably
never much less than a hundred
dollars. and occasionally perhaps
somewhat more than that, sew
eral times during the winter. I
made no such contributions dur
ing the spring terms when I was
in Pasadena or during the sum-
mers in New Mexico.
Later-but I do not remember
the date-Addis introduced me
to Isaac Folkoff, who was. as
Adds indicated. in some way
connected with the Communist
Party. and told me that Folkoff
would from then on get in touch
with me when there was need
for money This he. did, in
much the same way that Adds
had done before. AS before,
these contributions were for spe-
cific purposes, principally the
Spanish war and Spanish relief.
Sometimes ! was asked for
money for other purposes, the
organization Of migratory labor
in the California valleys. fer in
stance. I doubt that it occurred
to me that the contributions
might be directed to purposes
other than those had intended,
or that such other purposes
might be evil. did not then re-
gard Communists as dangerous:
and some Of their declared OBJ
jectives seemed to me desirable.
Broke After Pearl Harbor.
In time these contributions
came to an end. I went to a big
Spanish relief party the night
before Pearl Harbor; and the
next day, as we heard the news
OF the outbreak of war, decided
that / had had about enough of
the Spanish cause, and that
there were other and more press
ing crises in the world. NV con-
tributions would not have con-
tlnued much longer.
My brother Frank married in
1886. Our relations thereafter
were inevitably less intimate
than before. He told me at the
unexpectedly in 1937-that he
and his wife Jackie had Joined
the Communist Party. Over the
years we saw one another as oc-
casions arose. We still spent
summer holidays together. In
1887 or 1910 Frank and Jackie
to Stanford; in the au-
tumn Of l941 they came to
Berkeley and Frank worked for
the Radiation Laboratory. At
that time he made it clear to
me that he was no longer a
member Of the Communist Party.
AS to the alleged activities of
Jackie and Frank in 1914, 1945
and 1916, I was not in Berkeley
in 1914 and 1915: ! was away
most Of the first half Of 1916; I
do not know whether these activ-
tiles occurred or not and if I had