The Sidney herald., 1960-05-04
Letters To Editor
CONTINUED FROM PAGE II

and February, 1857 I delivered
a series of lectures in the States
of Iowa and Minnesota on the sub
Ject of the Communist conspiracy
IN the United States. Some OF these
lectures were sponsored by the
American Legion, others by var
iouS schools, and still others by
the American Farm Bureau Fed
Grafton or some local subdivision
Of that organization.
l wish to state for the benefit of
those who were present at any
of these lectures and particularly
for those who were not present
and may have read or heard er-
roneouS reports concerning my
lectures, that / never stated either
In my SpeechS, my remarks during
the question periods, or my press
conferences, that the Farmers
Educational and Cooperative
Union of America, commonly
known as the National Farmers
Union, was a Communist front
organization or Communist DOM
mated, or that its president, James
O.. Patton, was a Communist or
Communist Sympathizer; nor dc
l believe that the National Farm
erS' Union was or is a CommuniSt
front organization or Communlst
dominated, or that its preSidenf
James G.. Patton, Was or is a Com
muniSt or Communist Sympath'
izer, nor do l believe that Mr.
| Patton has allowed himself Of
, his organization to be used as
: Communist tool.
So far as 1 know, the Nationa
. Farmers Union has never beer
!. listed as a Communist front or
i, ganization by any department o
agency of the Federal Govern
ment, and has never been so iden
i titled by any committee or person
authorized TO issue reports on be
: half Of the Congress of the Unite
n States with respect to such mat
tiers.
, In answer to questions from tn
audience at certain lectures l di
read excerpts of the sworn test
] mony of William H. Hinton give
- in 1854 in hearings before tt
- Subcommittee to Investigate II
administration of the Intern;
| Security Act and other Intern;
Security Laws Of the Senate JuC
iciary Committee without draw
IS ing any conclusions on what
u said or, refrained from sa,
). ing, but I did not intend to col
vey the immpreSSion to my liste
ID ners that I placed any confidenl
he in the veracity of William H. Hi
v ton, nor that 1 knew that he ev
r. worked for the National Farmer
a. Union or any lawfully constitute
or authorized component or sui
H. division thereof. This is equal
applicable to the testimony
ne Benjamin Getlow in the report
ne the House Committee on u
IN American Activities from whit
1 read.
n l have made a study of the &C
- ivitieS of the Communist Par
~ in the United States and knc
~ that they have made Attempts
infiltrate farm areas of AmeriC
These attempts have been disn
~ failures and 1 have so stated
as Virtually every lecture I ha
a. made. Membership in the Coz
ce munist Party in the farm stat
is the lowest in the entire count
1t is my belief that the Natior
Farmers Union is a bonafide far
organization with a history of S,
d. vice to the farmers of Amer
les for more than fifty years. In M
.ur of this year the organization a
It's president were commended
.ey president Eisenhower for Civ.
voice to Americas determil
ton to stand firmly against
Us menace of international COMMIT
lsm." Yours very truly,
clio Herbert A. Philbr
Due TO shortage of space OF
IL , laffo~c 30 Ar EIsx~- --~sTT "