Jurisdictional disputes in the motion-picture Industry : hearings before a special subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first-session, pursuant to H. Res. 111 (1948)

1254 MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES If there is any communism here I will turn it over to the Un-American Activities Committee to deal with. They are going to the coast to go into the communistic angle of this. I am not gettnig into this at all. Mr. Levy. Mr. Chairman Mr. Oavens. Just a minute, please. I am inquiring not whether a man was a Communist, but if any of the strikes that occurred, for in- stance, during the war period, from March of 1945 until the end of the war, and thereafter, might have been Communist-inspired ? Mr. Kearns. The chairman of the full committee was there when I took over and we had that agreement. We will turn that over to the Un-American Activities. Mr. Owens. Just so I understand it, that is all. Mr. Kearns. Furthermore, Mr. Hoffman is going into the racket end of it. I am staying out of it. I have enough trouble with labor. Mr. Levy. Let me get this clear, in view of the attempted combina- tion by some persons of the issues that have been presented. I have a communication to Congressman Hartley and I have Con- gressman Hartley's response to me. I say in all seriousness and re- sponsibility "That no investigation of the jurisdictional strikes in Hollywood from 1944 to date can or will give a complete picture of the situation without a recognition and without a study of the Com- munist infiltration and tactics in the Hollywood studios." Mr. Kearns. All right, that is your opinion and that is on the record, but it is thrown out of this hearing so far as this is concerned. That will be turned over to the Un-American Activities Committee, which has already been prepared and will be turned over to Mr. Thomas when he comes out of the hospital, but I am not getting into it. Mr. Levy. Mr. Chairman, you rule as you wish and I will have to abide by your rulings, but I want the record to be made straight. If you think you can examine, you think that you can go into a con- sideration of United Nations without studying Russia's veto power you simply cannot come to a decision. Mr. Kearns All right. Now, you are an attorney. You ought to be able to take the chronological development there. I will turn it over to the Un-American Activities Committee. They can estab- lish the communistic end of it and then if they want to throw it back to my committee for the labor approach, all right, but I am not getting into the historical communistic angle of it. Mr. Levy. I am not talking now about the historical communistic angle, Mr. Chairman Mr. Kearns. You said we have to go back and make a study. Mr. Levy'. I did not say the historical communistic angle. Mr. Kearns. What is it, then? Mr. Levy. I say that the actual communistic effect upon the aggrava- tion of the normal jurisdictional difficulties that arise in the situation. If you want to ignore it, that is your responsibility. Mr. Kearns. That is my prerogative in the thing for this reason, that I am turning it over to the proper committee to handle. ]\Ir. Levy. Let me go one point further. Mr. Kearns. You will have an opportunity. Mr. Levy. I will take your ruling. I have your ruling and I understand it. Now, you mentioned something else brought out by Mr. McCann, and I want to cover it immediately.