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1764 COMMUNISM IN MOTION-PICTURE INDUSTRY This is a pretty broad field of opinion, you know. It also seemed to me this was not necessary. I may not agree with you, sir, or any other member of the committee, but I do agree with a great many other people, and there was a difference of opinion whether or not loyalty oaths are a good thing or a bad thing in principle, whether they are American or un-American. I felt this: I had the feeling that a loyalty oath brought to the membership of the guild, itself, might well split the guild wide open, and I wanted to keep the guild together, and it was on that basis that I acted as I did. I had no objection to signing the oath, itself, but I didn't want to be pushed into anything by anybody. I like to do things on my own. Mr. Tavenner. Now, how many members of the guild at that time were known to you to be members of the Communist Party ? Mr. Foreman. I decline to answer that, sir. Mr. Tavenner. Well, did that matter have anything to do with your holding out ? Mr. Foreman. No, sir. Mr. Tavenner. That is, did your knowledge of, or possible knowl- edge of, the identity of Communist members in the group have any- thing to do with your action requiring this amendment before you would support it? (At this point Representative Donald L. Jackson left the hearing room.) Mr. Foreman. Absolutely not, sir. I was very much concerned, be- cause what had happened out at the University of California, the big smell in the papers—I didn't want the guild to get involved in any- think like that any more, if I have made myself clear, and I hope I have. In other words, sir, you probably remember that about that time the University of California board of regents had fired a great many pro- fessors that refused to sign loyalty oaths, and it was a big newspaper story, and I certainly don't know whether it did the university any good or any harm, but I felt that the Screen Writers' Guild had prob- ably been in the papers enough and we ought to get down to guild business. Mr. Tavenner. Well, as the result of all these matters, the pro- cedure was adopted for the officers of the guild to sign the loyalty oath, that that was the loyalty oath that you referred to in the early part of your testimony as having been signed by you on September 11, 1950; is that correct ? Mr. Foreman. Yes. (The witness conferred with counsel.) Mr. Tavenner. May I ask you whether or not you were the last per- son of the group to sign the loyalty oath ? Mr. Foreman. I don't know. Now, I don't know. I don't think 1 was. Mr. Tavenner. May I ask you whether or not you were a member of the Communist Party the day before you signed that oath? Mr. Foreman. Since I am—I decline to answer that question. Mr. Tavenner. You decline to answer? Mr. Foreman. Yes, sir. Mr. Tavenner. Did you receive instructions from the Communist Party to the ('iHert that you would not be considered a member of the Communist Party as a device which would permit you to execute such an oath?