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)

1342 MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES the minutes of the Cincinnati meeting- and of the Chicago meeting of the executive council of the American Federation of Labor to be inserted in the record. That is at your request, Mr. Levy. Mr. Levy. I understood the request was made of you by Mr. Zorn, but I have no objection whatsoever to having that in the record. Mr. McCann. Well, at the request of both of you, it will be received in the record, if there is no objection. Mr. Kearns. The record will show it is requested jointlv, is that all right? Mr. Levy. No; T do not join in the request. I say I have no objec- tion to tlie introduction in evidence of any of the records involved in the Hollywood dispute from any source whatsoever. Mr. Kearxs. Wg will show it then as a request from ]Mr. Zorn and Mr. Levy has no objection. That is right. So ordered. Mr. Levy. It will be copied into the record at this point ? Mr. McCann. It will be copied in the record. Mr, Levy. That is, the Cincinnati and the Chicago meetings, you say? Mr. McCann. The Cincinnati meeting and the Chicago meeting of the executive council of the American Federation of Labor. Mr. Brown. Mr, Chairman, I want to thank you for the oppor- tunity you gave me to testify. I tried to be helpful. I hope my contribution will be helpful to you and your asacciates. (Excerpts from minutes of the Cincinnati meeting are as follows:) Wednesday, Octobek 24, 1945. Meeting called to order at 10: 1.5 a. ni.. President Green in the chair. Present: Green, Hutcheson, Well, Weber, Bugniazet, Harrison, Tobin, Bates, Knight, Birthright, Doherty, Dubinsky, Meany. Absent: Mahon, Brown. President Green stated that we have with us this morning our friend and associate, Mr. Eric Johnston, representing the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, and Mr. Donald Nelson in a similar capacity, repre- senting the Society of Independent Producers; and representatives of our organ- izations whose meml)ers are involved in the controvei"sy at Hollywood. President Green stated the council set aside this morning for the purpose of giving con- sideration to this outstanding national difficulty in response to a request made upon us by Mr. Johnston. President Green invited Mr. Johnston to make a statement just as he wished and to tell his story just as he would like to tell it. Mr. Johnston expressed his appreciation to the executive council for extending to him and to Mr. Nelson the coui'tesy of presenting their viewpoint on this very seriou problem. He mentioned the fact that he once held a union card in the A. F. of L. Longshoremen's Union while working his way through college. Mr. .Johnson stated that he has authority from Hollywood to bring to the council the situation which exists out there. Mr. Johnston stated the greatest means of communication today in his opinion is the motion picture. He contended it is the only audible and visual means. He stated that 300,00t),000 people every week pay to see a motion picture, 80,OCOCKX) of these in the United States, and Mr. Jolinston stated his travels around the world have indicated to him in many lands they only know the United States by what they see in the American motion picture. Mr. .Johnston stated there are two powerful nations in the world—Russia and the United States—and all the other countries of the world that he has visited are looking to these two countries for its purposes within for leadership. Mr. Johnston expressed the opinion that Russia is going to expand because she is surrounded by a vacuum and she will expand by one means or another whether it be b.v annexation, trade agreements, or spheres of influence, but the fact remains that Russia will expand. He stated there is only one thing to stop liussia from expanding and that is force, not necessarily physical force, but the force of an ideal, because the force of an ideal is always important and in the final analysis it is the force of an ideal that prevails. Mr. Johnston stated that he