INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE

NEWARK, N. J., AREA-PART I

A subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American Activities met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a. m., the United States Courthouse, Newark, N. J., Hon. Clyde Doyle, chairman, presiding.

Committee members present: Representatives Clyde Doyle (presiding) and Gordon H. Scherer.

Staff members present: Frank S. Tavenner, Jr., counsel, and Courtney E. Owens, investigator.

Mr. DOYLE. Let the subcommittee please come to order.

According to our committee rules, it is required that the chairman. make an opening statement as to what the committee intends to discuss and look into during the hearing.

Let the record show that pursuant to congressional authority, Representative Francis E. Walter, of Pennsylvania, chairman of the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, has appointed Representative Gordon H. Scherer, of Ohio, and myself, Clyde Doyle, of California, to act as a subcommittee for the purpose of conducting hearings here in Newark, N. J.

Mr. Walter as chairman of our full committee has been unavoidably detained on other congressional duties in Washington and I, Clyde Doyle, have been designated as the chairman of the subcommittee.

My distinguished colleague, Mr. Scherer, is present, thereby constituting a legal quorum of the subcommittee under the committee rules. The full committee of the House Un-American Activities Committee consists of nine members.

The House Committee on Un-American Activities is charged by the Congress under provisions of Public Law 601, 79th Congress, with responsibility of investigating the extent, character, and objects of the un-American propaganda activities in the United States and the diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-Amercan propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of domestic origin, and which attacks the principle of the form of government guaranteed by our Constitution, and all other questions in relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial legislation.

I should interpolate here for the benefit of the newspaper fraternity that you will find from here on that I have added to the original

statement.

The hearings to be conducted during the next 3 or 4 days in Newark will inqure into the matter of current leadership of the Communist Party in this area, infiltration by the Communist Party in the fields of labor and education, and certain of the professions and groups commonly known as Communist-front organizations.

Manifestly, neither the current investigation nor committee hearings can possibly be exhaustive or complete. From time to time the committee has investigated Communists and Communist activities within the field of entertainment, labor, education, and also within the professions and the Government.

In no instance has the work of the committee taken on the character of an investigation of entertainment organizations, labor unions, educational institutions, the church or religions, the professions or the Government as such. However, now as in the past, the committee intends to and will investigate Communists and Communist activities and subversive activities wherever it has substantial evidence of its existence, regardless of what area it exists in or who it may be. To do so is our bounden duty and responsibility as a standing and permarent committee of the United States Congress ever since the 79th Congress enacted Public Law 601.

When investigating Communists and Communist activities within certain labor organizations, this committee frequently has been met with the false and unfounded charge by alarmists and partisans within that field that the committee is a group of Fascists and the enemy of labor, that the real purpose of the investigation is to destroy labor unions.

Of course such charges are wholly untrue and without foundation in fact. The United States Congress would not tolerate such a purpose or procedure and this committee is a child of the United States Congress.

Pursuant to its work the committee has carefully refrained from taking part in international disputes within labor unions or controversies between management and labor. Rather, it has confined its inquiries to the ascertainment and identification of individuals in the labor field who were members of the Communist Party and who were using their influence through their labor union membership to promote the objectives of the Communist Party within the field of labor and to the character, extent and objectives of their Communist Party activities, instead of in the interest of their organized labor unions.

In consequence of this type of work in the field of labor and other fields, the committee has already called the attention of the United States Congress to 48 needs for remedial legislation. Forty-four of these 48 needs for remedial legislation have been enacted already into law by the United States Congress.

Every hearing of this committee bears on the duty of the committee to consider the subject of remedial legislation in Congress according to the requirements of Public Law 601. It is a proven fact and can not now be contradicted that members of the Communist Party in labor unions in the United States are expected to and do follow the dictates of the Communist Party ahead of and in preference to their

bounden obligation as members of loyal patriotic organized American labor unions.

Notwithstanding the red-baiting to which this committee is subjected from time to time by its Communist enemies or by some who misunderstand its real purpose, the nationwide backing and support it has received from labor organizations and civic groups have been reassuring. Congress itself supports the committee almost always by unanimous vote of House membership of over 400 American Congress

men.

For example, during the hearings in Seattle, Wash., in June 1954, 43 labor organizations cordially telegraphed the committee during the course of the hearings while in Seattle commending the committee for its work and offering full and active cooperation in the investigation and hearings.

Numerous Seattle civic groups sent similar messages. Another significant development is the considerable number of former Communists who voluntarily come forward all over the Nation to help the committee in its work.

At this point may I say very earnestly and very cordially, that if in the Newark area there is a former Communist who has come to place his Nation ahead of the Communist Party objectives, ahead of the Soviet communism, we invite that person to come forward and interview our worthy counsel, Mr. Tavenner, and our investigator, Mr. Owens, and give us help while we are here in the Newark area.

We would welcome that here as well as all over the Nation. These communications are printed in the appendix to the committee's investigation in the Pacific Northwest area, a copy of which is on my desk should anyone be interested in examining it.

During the course of the investigation by our trained and experienced staff, prior to these Newark hearings, the committee has been most fortunate in obtaining cooperation and sworn testimony in executive session of an individual who for many years served as undercover agent in the Newark area for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

During the course of this person's service with the Department of Justice he was able to ascertain the identity of a great many individuals who were active in the Communist Party in Newark and the Newark area.

At the time of his executive testimony before the committee in Washington recently, the witness who had been an FBI operative and agent in Newark for a long time, identified the following Communist Party clubs in Newark as having been active in Newark in recent years to his personal knowledge. I read the list:

West Side Club, Iron Bound Club, Third Ward Club, Professional Section, Doctors' Club, Teachers' Club, Olgin Club, Youth Club, Orange Club, and various other industrial clubs he named in executive session.

This witness alone identified approximately 75 Newark individuals who were active in these clubs of the Communist Party during the witness' period of service to our Government as an FBI agent.

The committee has been asked by the executive branch of our Government to preserve for the time being the identity of this witness. We will, therefore, not now reveal his identity.

In line with this continuing policy of cooperation, between the executive branch of our Federal Government, the FBI, the entire

transcript of this valuable testimony taken by the committee in Washington, will not be released at this time. Certain portions of this executive testimony, however, will be used during these hearings insofar as they have a bearing on the matter under inquiry in this Newark hearing.

Persons who have been subpenaed to appear before the committee during these hearings are known to us to have knowledge on the matters set forth in my opening remarks. It is the sincere desire of the committee that these individual men called will give this committee of their own United States Congress the benefit of such knowledge.

In so doing they will have fulfilled a high civic duty to their own Federal Government, as well as rendering a valuable service to their own local community and State.

As chairman I would like also to announce at this time as a continuing policy of the committee that any person whose name is mentioned during the course of these hearings is hereby extended an invitation to promptly appear and testify under oath regarding the matter or matters with which his name was mentioned by any witness before this committee.

This committee at all times endeavors to protect the good name of all persons as well as to ferret out the subversive activities of unpatriotic citizens.

This committee is in no sense a court and does not undertake to follow strict court rules of evidence or court procedure. We do insist upon proper conduct and decorum in this hearing room and will not tolerate violations thereof. We request no showing of either approval or disapproval of any testimony.

May I say right here that if any person now in this hearing room, or who comes in later has an idea he or she will cause disturbance, I will give you notice now you will go out the front door in a hurry and you will stay out. I hope that is clear.

Under our committee rules all witnesses may have legal counsel by their side throughout their appearance, but legal counsel so appearing before this committee is restricted to the counseling of the witness as to his constitutional rights. It is the information within the knowledge of the witness under oath which the committee seeks, not the testimony of the attorney for the witness by means of the attorney telling him what to say in answer to questions.

We are always glad to have worthy legal counsel appear in our hearing. In that connection may I say I was very happy this morning, and so was my distinguished colleague, Mr. Scherer, to see by the paper and be informed by our own distinguished counsel, Mr. Tavenner, that the New York Bar Association has appointed a committee to sit in these hearings and to report back to the bar what they see and what they hear, and also that the Newark and New Jersey Bar Associations have a committee.

We are very glad to welcome these committees. Mr. Scherer and I are both members of our bar associations in our respective States and our respective cities.

If there is any information we can give in cooperation with these bar association committees during these hearings, we will be glad to do so. Don't hesitate to interview us or ask us any questions.

We welcome the attendance of these bar association committees throughout these hearings. Furthermore, as all members of this

subcommittee are themselves attorneys with many years of active practice before we first went to Congress, we will welcome at all times the considered opinion of the bar association committees, and we compliment the New York Bar, Newark Bar, and New Jersey Bar in having sent them.

We thank all public officials and agencies who have so ably assisted in the necessary preliminary arrangements for these hearings in this beautiful courtroom, and at a later time I will make a further comment of appreciation, specifically naming some of the busy people who have so actively cooperated.

I might add here I am also informed that one of the bar association committees is here to act as legal counsel for witnesses. We welcome them in that particular the same as the others which I mentioned.

I might say that in Seattle, San Diego, Detroit, Flint, and other places over the country the bar association has done this fine thing, and we are very glad to have them cooperate.

This committee, subject to change, will begin at 10 o'clock, promptly, and adjourn at 12:30; begin again at 2 and adjourn at 5, or approximately 5.

As to photography in the room, the Newark Press and the New York Press, which are here, have already suggested that they realize that the committee rule is that no photography of the witness is to be taken while the witness is testifying. We appreciate that suggestion on the part of the photographers. However, this committee believes in freedom of the press and we see no reason why, this being a public hearing, the picture of any witness or any other person that wants to subject himself to it should not be taken and give the publicity that freedom of the press makes possible.

Are you ready to proceed, Mr. Tavenner?
Mr. TAVENNER. Yes, sir.

Mr. DOYLE. Mr. Tavenner is chief counsel of our committee and will lead off in the questioning.

Before you do that, Mr. Tavenner, I want to add to my remarks this information: Under rules adopted on March 23 as amendments to the rules of the House of Representatives-that is, to the House rules themselves, not the committee rules, I emphasize that for the benefit of you lawyers largely on March 23 the rules of the House of Representatives were amended among other things to provide as follows:

Each committee may fix the number of its members to constitute a quorum for taking testimony and receiving evidence, which shall not be less than two. In other words, the House has bound itself to never have an investigating committee of less than two members. We have done away with one-man investigating committees as far as any House investigation is concerned.

Witnesses at investigative hearings may be accompanied by their own counsel for the purpose of advising them concerning their constitutional rights.

In that connection, may I illustrate this. On occasions we as members of the committee have been able to hear over the loudspeaker, unfortunately, lawyers putting words in the mouths of their witnesses. We think that is unethical under the rules of the House, and