Hearings regarding the communist infiltration of the motion picture industry. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (1947)

COMMUNISM IN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY 509 There are two ways for intellectuals to come into the party. One is the way of perennially skirting the fringe. The other is the way to come — weave himself right into the cloth of the banner of Leninism. Every one of us knows what the results of two such ways of coming are. For instance, I think that in certain places and in certain professions it is advisable to have special units of workers in a given profession established in WPA units, or perhaps units of a given establisliment. But, to say, as we have observed in certain cities not fartlier than a stone's throw from here, tliat everyone who wields a pen shall therefore belong to our writers unit — and there are such demands I notice, in Chicago, in Philadelphia and here — I think this means isolating themselves from the party. It means a life of inbreeding, failure to live the life of the party. There is no blanket judgment on this. In every district or section the leadership exercices its due discretion to see where in special places professional units can be and should be set up. They have their place and should function where they have their place; but where they have no reason for being, there is absolutely nothing l)ut loss in such an arrangement. I was in Los Angeles last year and came upon a unit consisting of one or two lawyers, one or two medicos, publicity agents, a couple of storekeepers and teachers. I visited that unit, and I was told that this is an industrial unit. That was not the opinion of the county leadership. Actually it seemed that it was some sort of mushroom growth ; and in investigating the basis upon which they had built themselves — -they had not a single profession, let alone an industrial profession — the common denominator upon which they existed, I found, was the desire to keep from being open party members. In other words, the negative policy of concealment was the basis for joint work. Certainly, we have to safeguard professionals. We cannot adopt the same methods of work, nor can we always nor should we always have the genei'al policy of open work, dependent upon who the professionals are. P>nt to say that there can be such a thing as a basis of work which hasn't a positive program, but rather a negative program of withdrawal, is the opposite. Well, as to that unit, tliey disbanded, and some of them became attached to factory groups and units, helped put out factory papers, and began to find themselves in the party, making themselves useful. They gave their equipment to basic party units, began to register their party attitude to things. Before leaving I spoke to some of those comrades. There was a different light in their eye in speaking of the party. Promote the. party press among our professionals. I don't like to embarrass gatherings of professionals by asking how many have really read the Daily Worker, and I don't mean page 7 only. How many read the Party Organizer? How many read the Communist? Very few, comrades. And where will this transformation come about? Where shall we equip ourselves for further education? * * * It is a very important question. Ask yourselves; probe your consciences tonight. I think if we can all answer in the afBrmative there would be a much wider circulation of the Daily Worker and of the entire press. We must begin to educate through the medium of study groups. The question of study groups is a fundamental problem, of course, not only educational work in the units, but actual study groups where groups of party comrades build around themselves nonparty people, and begin bringing in the policies of our party through a program of education related to the current topics of the houi*. I would say that if the comrades of the section could see their way to instituting such study groups around the professional units it would really be a basic achievement — it would be a preparation for the bolshevizing of the comrades — for making genuine Communists of the entire circle of party comrades and their familiars. The leading committees should actually do the building of these study gi-oups. And further, we must more than ever impress the professionals — our friends and sympathizers, that we have a positive approach also to their work. It isn't just a question — they shouldn't imagine that they are just brought into the party as tliough to be turned into instruments apart from their work, but on the contrary, that their coming into the party was their b^ing friends of the party and sympathizers as in terms of their actual work. We do not always make this clear. The party increasingly clierishes and values sp'^cific qualities that the professionals bring into our midst. Gone is the day when we just took a professional comrade and assigned him to do nondescript party work. We say, on the contrary, comrades, you have something specific to give. You have the general contril)utions to make, in your loyalty, in your dues payments, your attendance, and your various duties and tasks to perform. But you have also a 67683—47 33