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78 COMMUNISM IN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY
Mr. Wood. I would like to quote from some portions of that speech as it appears in the Congressional Record and — by the way, in order to have it inserted, the page number is 3727 — see if you still subscribe to some of the statements you made in that address :
More precious than our lives we hold our liberty, a liberty that means free speech, free press, the rijiht to assemble and remonstrate against real or imaginary wrongs and the right to worship in any shrine, a liberty that means free enterprise and unlimited opportunity, a liberty that lights the footsteps of the jtoor boy born in a fioorless cabin in Kentucky as brightly and as happily as the boy born to wealth and social position.
Mr. INI.VYER. Mr. Congressman, that is what makes us great. That would niake an}'' country great that only knew how to appreciate it.
jMr. AVooD. You still subscribe to that ?
IVIr. Mayer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wood. You say, then, that that is a correct quotation of your speech in San Francisco on the 7th of May?
Mr. Mayer. Seventh of July, sir.
Mr. Wood. Seventh of July.
I quote again :
There is a heavy responsibility upon the producers of motion pictures. A motion picture cannot only afford entertainmenj^ but be of educational value. In this crisis, it can portray fairly and honestly the American ways of life and ran be a powerful influence in the life of millions in other countries who are either denied access to our waj' of life or who never had the opportunity of experiencing it.
Do you still feel that responsibility, as a producer of motion pictures?
INIr. Mayer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wood. You are quoted as saying further in that address that :
In common with newspajjers and radio, the screen fights the battle for freedom of speech. Jefferson said that "That that government is best which governs least." Intelligent, self-disciplined industry is our greatest assurance that the freedom guaranteed us by our Constitution will not be denied.
Do you still subscribe to that doctrine?
Mr. Mayer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wood. xVnd, in conclusion, you are quoted as having said that:
The responsibility is great. We all appreciate that responsibility. It is my deep and solemn conviction that the Maker of the Universe intended that men should be free and not slaves, that the people of the earth should enjoy the bountiful resources which nature has placed under every sky, that men and women should be happy and not oppressed, and that there should be a song of peace and good will in every heart.
Mr. Mayer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wood. You still svibscribe to that?
Mr. ]\Iayer. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wood. You were quoted somewhat in the press from that address. And I quote from one of the daily papers in New York, in which you are quoted as having said that :
The otdy interpretation and understanding of communism that is worthy of belief by the American people is that it threatens the way of life upon this entire planet. It threatens our fundamental concepts of human rights and liberties.
Is that a correct quotation of the sentiment that you then expressed? Mr. Mayer. Yes, sir.