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COMMUNISM EST MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY 1479 Mrs. Ashe. Not very much. I wouldn't say more than $40 or $50, maybe as much as a hundred. Mr. Doyle. What classification of an individual would pay that much as a special pledge, do you remember? Mrs. Ashe. They were people who were making quite a bit of money. I mean, they were people who were working in the studios and got good salaries. Mr. Doyle. I notice you referred to the YCL. That is the Young Communist League ? Mrs. Ashe. Yes; that is correct. Mr. Doyle. You also mentioned that there was a children's organ- ization ; is that one and the same ? Mrs. Ashe. No. The YCL was made up of young people between the ages, I would say, maybe 12 to 18, or something like that. I mean the adolescents. The Schuler was an organization of Jewish children who were brought together—I think—about once a week I think they met. And what they actually were being instructed in was the language, the Jewish language, and so forth. Whether they got party line or not, I don't know. Mr. Doyle. But under the auspices of the Communist Party ? Mrs. Ashe. I believe that was a separate organization, but the parents were Communists. Mr. Doyle. You would say then that all of the parents of those chil- dren who were being thus instructed were Communists ? Mrs. Ashe. I would say that the majority of them were. Mr. Doyle. Now, as to the YCL. How extensive an organization was that ? Mrs. Ashe. Well, it was quite extensive. As a matter of fact, I think the membership of the YCL must have closely approximated that of the party. Mr. Doyle. Did the party spend money and hire people to work in this YCL, which was the children's work ? Mrs. Ashe. No ; they didn't hire any. They assigned you. As a matter of fact, I was assigned to the YCL one time for 2 or 3 weeks until something else came up. You weren't paid, you just took what- ever assignments were handed to you. For instance, if I went into the Young Communist League I would go as a representative of the party, offering whatever advice I could to them. But they were a pretty self-sufficient group of people. I mean, these kids had their own parties, they had their own money-raising things, they did their own recruiting. Their line was formed along the party line with the help of a party member. Mr. Doyle. To what extent were they educated in and encouraged to participate in learning and accomplishing the Communist Party program ? Mrs. Ashe. They use exactly the same party line, the same litera- ture, the same everything that the older comrades used. They had in- struction every so often, I mean like once a week or so they had their regular educationals. It was formed like the adult Communist Party. Mr. Doyle. Would you say then that the adult Communist Party was placing emphasis upon the YCL ? Mrs. Ashe. There were times I thought the YCL was placing em- phasis on the party. I mean, they were much more militant in many ways than the party was. They were quite a crowd.