INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA-PART 1 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 1953 UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, PUBLIC HEARING Los Angeles, Calif. The Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to adjournment at 10:08 a. m., in room 518, Federal Building, Hon. Harold H. Velde (chairman) presiding. Committee members present: Representatives Harold H. Velde (chairman), Donald L. Jackson, Kit Clardy, Gordon H. Scherer, Francis E. Walter, Morgan M. Moulder (appearance noted in transcript), Clyde Doyle (appearance noted in transcript), and James B. Frazier, Jr. Staff members present: Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., counsel; Louis J. Russell, chief investigator; Thomas W. Beale, Sr., chief clerk; Raphael I. Nixon, director of research; and William A. Wheeler, investigator. Mr. VELDE. The committee will come to order. Miss Reporter, show that present are Mr. Jackson, Mr. Clardy, Mr. Scherer, Mr. Walter, Mr. Frazier, and Mr. Velde (chairman), a quorum of the full committee. Mr. Counsel, do you have a witness? Mr. TAVENNER. Yes, sir. I would like to call at this time the witness who was put over until today by the direction of the chairman on Monday, Mr. Edward Huebsch. Mr. VELDE. In the testimony you are about to give before this committee, do you solemnly swear you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Mr. HUEBSCH. I do, sir. TESTIMONY OF EDWARD HUEBSCH, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS COUNSEL, WILLIAM B. ESTERMAN AND DANIEL G. MARSHALL Mr. VELDE. At the request of the witness it was decided by the committee that this hearing would not be televised. I ask now that the television cameras cease and desist, and we will proceed with the regular meeting. Mr. HUEBSCH. Sir, I did not so request.1 Mr. WALTER. Mr. Chairman, before we go any further, I am going to ask this witness if you think it is funny to wear the button you 1 See p. 318 for references to a motion filed for this witness by his counsel, and in which the witness concurred, against the use of television while he was on the stand. The committee considered the motion in executive session and excused the witness until a day of the hearing when television would not be used. have on. I assure you it is contemptuous. You are now appearing before a committee of the United States Congress, and I resent that very, very much. Mr. HUEBSCH. Si, this is in a way a resolution, in the form of a resolution before the Democratic Members of Congress. Mr. WALTER. I resent very much having anybody appear with a button like that on. Mr. HUEBSCH. There are other buttons here. Mr. VELDE. I think we can resume. Mr. HUEBSCH. Sir, I have not asked and do not ask that the television cameras be turned off during my appearance here. I have asked that my subpena be quashed for several legal grounds. And I do not know at the moment whether this committee has ruled on the motion that I made through my attorney. Mr. VELDE. The committee does not rule on motions. The committee just makes directions, and I have made the direction that the television cameras be turned off so that we might proceed with this meeting, and that is at the request of the witness himself, that he not be televised. Mr. HUEBSCH. That is not true. Mr. VELDE. And that the audio also be turned off. Mr. HUEBSCH. I did not so request, and I do not so request. Mr. WALTER. They are turned off, and you are not going to have an opportunity to put on the kind of an act you came here prepared to put on. Mr. HUEBSCH. I came here in answer to a subpena. Mr. TAVENNER. What is your name, please, sir? Mr. HUEBSCH. My name, sir, is Edward Huebsch, H-u-e-b-s-c-h. Mr. TAVENNER. When and where were you born, Mr. Huebsch? Mr. HUEBSCH. I was born in New York City, sir, on February 20 of 1914. Mr. TAVENNER. Are you accompanied by counsel? Mr. HUEBSCH. I am, sir. But, sir, I would like to point out that counsel's motion has been denied here, not even ruled upon, and it seems to me that my rights and the rights of counsel have been violated. Mr. TAVENNER. Will counsel please identify themselves for the record? Mr. ESTERMAN. I hesitate to open my mouth, but I will identify myself. Mr. WALTER. I don't think it is necessary. We all know who you are. Mr. ESTERMAN. William B. Esterman. Mr. MARSHALL. Daniel G. Marshall. Mr. JACKSON. I think the matter of this television motion should be made perfectly clear, Mr. Chairman. The other day, when the present witness was called before the committee, a motion was filed, not only that the witness not be televised, but that all television equipment in the room be removed during the course of his interrogation. (Representative Clyde Doyle entered the hearing room at this point, 10:13 a. m.) Mr. JACKSON. Acting in accordance with that motion, the committee retired, as you will recall, and took up the matter and came back and made the ruling. I think it should be made perfectly clear to all concerned that the reason there is no television here today is because of the motion that was filed by counsel on, I believe, last Monday. Mr. HUEBSCH. If you would have the reporter read the record back of my remarks there, I believe you will find I did not object to being televised. I ask you to read the record of my remarks and also of the attorney's motion which was filed with this committee. Mr. JACKSON. The committee is acting upon the motion of your counsel, who is presumed to speak for you in the matter of the television. Mr. HUEBSCH. Sir, the motion was to quash the subpena. I did agree to appear on television. Mr. VELDE. Proceed. Mr. HUEBSCH. I do agree. Mr. TAVENNER. Will you give the committee, please, a general statement of your formal education training, Mr. Huebsch? (At this point Mr. Huebsch conferred with Mr. Marshall and Mr. Esterman.) Mr. HUEBSCH. My formal education, sir, was limited to public school and high school in the city of New York. Mr. TAVENNER. What is your occupation? Mr. HUEBSCH. Well, sir, I would like an understanding with the Chair. Representative Velde is the author of bills and a couple of books. I don't believe he is qualified to conduct an impartial hearing. Mr. TAVENNER. Will you answer my question, please? Mr. VELDE. Mr. Witness, you were asked a question, and the answer can be given very simply. Mr. HUEBSCH. We are now having an unusual type of hearing, and I submit, sir, that you are the author of a book Mr. VELDE. That is in the nature of argument, and not an answer. Mr. WALTER. And not the truth. Mr. HUEBSCH. I will submit the bill. I will submit a copy of the bill as a document in this record. Mr. JACKSON. I move that the remarks of the witness having to do with this extraneous matter be stricken from the record, Mr. Chairman, as not being pertinent to this inquiry and not being responsive to the questions that are being asked. Mr. VELDE. It is so ordered. All the matter which is not responsive to the question, which is volunteered only, will be stricken from the record. Mr. HUEBSCH. With your permission, I would like to inquire from the chairman Mr. CLARDY. Mr. Chairman, a point of order. There is a question pending which he has not answered. Mr. VELDE. That voluntary remark will be stricken from the record, too. Mr. HUEBSCH. The question is what was my occupation, sir. My occupation is not an occupation that does not carry with it certain responsibilities. In the discharge of those responsibilities I am trying to answer the question. Mr. WALTER. We are not asking about your employment with the Communist Party. We are asking about what you do that you admit that you do. 31747-53-pt. 1- -8 Mr. HUEBSCH. Mr. Congressman, if you will put your question in proper terms, I will try to answer your question, too. Mr. TAVENNER. Let me ask you the question in this form: It seems to be taking so long for you to answer. Have you ever been a screen writer? Mr. HUEBSCH. I, sir, have been and am a screen writer. Mr. TAVENNER. When did you become a screen writer? Mr. HUEBSCH. I became a screen writer 10 days after my discharge from the Army in 1946. Mr. TAVENNER. Prior to 1946 you were in the Army, the United States Army? Mr. HUEBSCH. Prior to January 10, yes; I was. Mr. TAVENNER. How long had you been in the United States Army? Mr. HUEBSCH. I entered the Army late in '42. I volunteered for the Army right after Pearl Harbor. Mr. TAVENNER. When did you come from New York to Los Angeles? Mr. HUEBSCH. I came to Los Angeles directly-I spent a few days with my family in New York and then immediately flew out here to California. Mr. TAVENNER. Was that your first residence in California? Mr. TAVENNER. Were you at any time a member of the Communist Party prior to your coming to Los Angeles, at the time you have indicated? Mr. HUEBSCH. Well, sir (At this point Mr. Huebsch conferred with Mr. Marshall and Mr. Esterman.) Mr. HUEBSCH. This question goes to the issue of my right to attend meetings, and if I submit an answer-I cannot answer that because Congress cannot tell me what meetings I should go to and which I should not go to. That is the question of the first amendment. Now, sir, in these days of hysteria, Congress has passed the Smith Act, which put a man in this position: They violate his rights to go to a meeting and they say to him, If you say, "Yes, I went to a meeting," then the wagon is waiting outside. So you can't force me to make an answer to this question. Now, if a man says "No" to a question like this, you simply force him to abandon the right of going to any meeting or to any group of people where free speech is permitted. Mr. DOYLE. You don't agree with the Supreme Court of the United States, do you? Mr. WALTER. I don't think we ought to listen to all this wrangling. Let's have an answer to the question and then proceed. Mr. VELDE. It is the opinion of the Chair that we have gone into that subject far enough, that you have rambled far enough. It is in the nature of an argument, one that we have heard many times before, from witnesses just about like you. Mr. WALTER. And better qualified. Mr. VELDE. And we are not interested at all in hearing any more of that type of argument. I now direct you to answer the question put to you by counsel. Mr. HUEBSCH. Sir, I am answering this question in a rough layman's language, about what all this means to me. I ask you to bear with me. The grounds that I have spoken of so far deal with free speech and the right not to be compelled to give up this free speech in the face of hysterical laws condemned by the CIO and the A. F. of L. I finally state to you that you, my Congressmen, are my representatives, that you must listen to my views and that you must abide by them. Mr. WALTER. I think it would be better to listen to the Kremlin. It would be more logical. Mr. HUEBSCH. Sir, you are listening to the Constitution. Mr. WALTER. Well, I know something about that myself. Mr. JACKSON. We are listening to something that sounds very much like an editorial from the Daily Worker. Mr. HUEBSCH. Well, the Daily News recently ran several editorials, the like of which you don't appear to approve of. Now, sir, I have told you as clearly as I can that I assert my rights as a citizen under the first, fifth, ninth and tenth amendments, and that my answer to this question is neither yes nor is it no, and that you cannot infer or make anything other of it than that. Is that right, counsel? Mr. ESTERMAN. Yes. Mr. JACKSON. Therefore, you decline to answer the question? Mr. HUEBSCH. I have said what I have to say. My answer is neither yes or no, asserting my rights as a citizen. You can't make anything more of it than that, for all of these grounds which I have gone into, and I am prepared to go into at great length, dealing with all of the legislation, the question of what the Supreme Court has ruled and what it may rule in the future. Mr.JACKSON. Do you decline to answer the question? Mr. HUEBSCH. I am glad you asked me this, Congressman Jackson. Mr. JACKSON. I'm sorry I asked it. I will withdraw the question and I will let counsel ask it. Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Huebsch, the only recognized legal ground for refusing to answer the question which you have assigned is that of the fifth amendment. Mr. HUEBSCH. By whose recognition? Mr. TAVENNER. By what provision of the fifth amendment do you refuse to answer? Mr. HUEBSCH. By whose recognition? Mr. TAVENNER. By the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. HUEBSCH. Would you please quote that document to me wherein only the fifth amendment is recognized by the Constitution? Mr. TAVENNER. That wasn't my statement. Mr. HUEBSCH. You said it was only recognized Mr. TAVENNER. I asked you what provision of the fifth amendment is it that you rely on as the basis for your refusal to answer. Mr. HUEBSCH. Now I am going to tell you again Mr. TAVENNER. You haven't told us the first time yet as to that. Mr. HUEBSCH. I believe I have made it quite clear. If I haven't made it clear, I intend to make it clear. I am no lawyer. I am a writer. I told you that for many years I have gone to meetings. I have worked to improve the conditions of writers Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Chairman, the answer is not at all responsive to my question. May I ask that the witness be confined to answer the |