St. Paul recorder., 1962-11-30
A Subversive Conspiracy

Is there a nationwide conspiracy to subvert the
law of the land and the constitution of the United
States and the authority of the Supreme Court and
the Executive?
Is there a nationwide conspiracy to destroy the
United States by subverting the national policy in
dealing with world relations exposing us to the
intrigues of our enemies?
Do these conspiracies, If they exist, get their
direction from inside the House of Representatives?
Consider few facts.
The House Un-American Activities Committee
which described by Harry s. Truman as
the most un-American thing in America" was
made a permanent committee of the House
result of slick parliamentary trick by Congress-
man John Rankin of Mississippi of the most
blatant racists ever to disgrace public life.
The doubtful, but very potent authority of the
committee has been used for years to hound liberal
religious and other leaders who have spoken out for
a decent solution of our human relations problems
Many of these people have been destroyed or
effectively silenced. Others, like Methodist Bishop
C. Bromley Oman, have been required to devote
valuable time and energy to defending themselves
against utterly ridiculous Known Nothing attacks by
the committee upon their integrity and patriotism
The committee has worked in close collaboration
with some of the most sinister hate groups in
America groups which make business of attack
ing Negroes Jews, Catholics, liberal Protestants,
the foreign-born, labor unions, almost the entire
spectrum of American life which value in terms
of good citizenship. For example, the committees
program 80 closely parallels the program of the
Ku Klux Klan that there's distinguishable diff
ference between them," according to the (1942)
Imperial Wizard James Colescott. About the same
time, Congressman Samuel Dickstein was saying on
the floor Of the House that "11O Fascist organiza-
tons in the United States have had and now have
the key to the back door of the Un-American Ac-
uvites Committee" This was when the program
by Martin Dies of Texas, but things have
scarcely improved since then The committee has
more money to spend, bigger staff, even more
arrogant approach to its duties" and a better or
ganized claque Of the hate-everybody people-a
national network Of professional haters super-patri
oteers, craclpots and bigots.
The committee has used its investigative powers
to interfere with the freedom of the press and radio
to terrorze the arts and sciences and to threaten
the integrity Of school system Within the past
couple of years it has sought and partially achieved
a wholesale purge Of public school teachers In
California, presumably persons denounced by the
aforementioned crackpots, haters and bigots. 1t
operates a blacklist of monumental proportions
without affordng any defense whatever for those
who blacklisted.
One committee chairman denounced as red
tainted, Eleanor Roosevelt Avereu Hartman
Adlai Stevenson and others and attempted to mis-
his powers to the extent of ordering appearances
before the committee by ex-President Truman and
Justice Clark. And committee member upon being
told the familiar story of victims Of committee in