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COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY 1449 Mr. Ashe. Oh, yes. The overwhelming part of them were at all times, and I believe to this day. Mr. Doyle. What front organization do you now have in mind, particularly in southern California? Mr. Ashe. Well, I have in mind specifically a united front set-up, I believe I was chairman of it, dedicated to fighting against war and fascism. There was another united front having to do with—this was immediately after the EPIC campaign of 1934—I believe there was one involving Production for Use Congress, as they called it. The Communist Party sent delegates there. There was some protest from the floor as to the presence of Communist delegates. I was one of them, and there were 10 of us from the Communist Party. We very graciously withdrew from the conference and left behind us a very large number of Communists who were not known as such but who were there as delegates representing other groups. I mean this is a, maneuver of the party. Mr. Doyle. Thank you very much. I notice now you mentioned your professional unit in the Communist Party. You mentioned at- torneys, dentists, and newspapermen. Mr. Ashe. That's right. Mr. Doyle. I am an attorney at law. I would be interested in ask- ing you this question: On what basis could you recruit members of the California bar to join an outfit that they knew was illegal? How did they explain to you their willingness to become members of the Communist Party ? Mr. Ashe. I never asked them to explain their willingness. It was no concern of mine what their problem was as members of the bar, or how they reconciled it. It was my problem to get them in, and I did help to get them in. I think Mr. Doyle. What possible inducement could you make to a member of the California bar to join an illegal outfit? What arguments did you use? Mr. Ashe. I don't recall now. I presume I made substantially the same argument that I made to newspapermen and any number of other people that I recruited. Mr. Doyle. Can you give me a sample, shortly, of the arguments that you used to these professional men? Mr. Ashe. That the Communist Party was working for the best interests of the working class, that it was against war and fascism, which at that time very many liberal people were preoccupied with and considered it a real threat. I don't recall what else. This is about 15 years ago. Mr. Doyle. I realize it. You mentioned one Jeff Kibre, and you said, as I remember it, that you thought that he either was or is with a fisherman's union of San Pedro. Mr. Ashe. To the best of my knowledge, that's correct. Mr. Doyle. A branch of the Harry Bridges union. Mr. Ashe. That's correct. Mr. Doyle. From what you know of him, would you give it as your opinion that he still would be active in the Communist program ? Mr. Ashe. I feel that that is a reasonable assumption, considering the nature of the union that he heads up. This is one of the unions that I believe was expelled by the CIO in its effort to purge itself of