How Stands the Party?

COMMUNISTS How Stands the Party?

In 1948, when Whittaker Chambers began to tell in public his story about Alger Hiss, he called his testimony "an act of war." Since its foundation in 1919, the American Communist Party has, in fact, been at war with America, but during most of its existence, the party was allowed to grow and do its work of conspiracy and infiltration with relative impunity; between 1933 and the end of World War II, it was, in fact, often coddled and encouraged. The Hiss case was a turning point. Since 1948, hardly a week has gone by without some bulletin about the battle—a battle which, in a democracy, must be fought slowly and patiently in the courts, in police archives, in the minds of men. What has the U.S. war against the U.S. Communists accomplished so far? The visible party is in worse shape today than it has been in 30 years. Items: ¶Virtually the entire known leadership is in trouble with the law. Eleven members of the twelve-man national committee were convicted in 1949, at the marathon trial before Judge Medina, of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. Government. Of the eleven, eight are in jail; three jumped bail and are still fugitives. The party's nominal boss, William Z. Foster, 71, is under indictment. Last year 21 members of the Communist second team were indicted, including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn; 13 of them are now on trial in New York City. Altogether, 85 key Communists have been indicted since 1948 under the Smith Act; in the last six years, 88 alien Communists have been deported.

¶Open membership is down to less than 30,000 compared with some 90,000 (including the Young Communist League) in 1938, some 54,000 in 1950.

¶Finances are strained. The Daily Worker, long in difficulties, this month pub-llished a particularly desperate-sounding appeal for money, last week announced that it got results (see PRESS). Organizations which helped finance the party (e.g., the International Workers Order, an insurance concern headed by Artist Rockwell Kent) are being put out of business.

¶Nearly 150 Communist fronts have lost most of their usefulness, having been labeled subversive by the Government.

¶A decade ago the Communists had heavily penetrated unions representing 20% of organized labor; today, Communists remain strong in unions representing only 2% of organized labor (but some of the unions are important).

¶The invisible party has also suffered some setbacks. The convictions of Alger Hiss, Harry Gold, David Greenglass, Morton Sobell, Ethel & Julius Rosenberg have hampered Red espionage operations, although it is impossible to know whether the mainspring of the Red spy apparatus has been broken.

The Party's Mood. The party has always existed in a thick conspiratorial atmosphere, but since 1948 it has become heavily defensive. Keeping of member ship records has been forbidden, and in the last four years no party cards have been issued. Party records have been destroyed or hidden, public meetings held to a mini mum; use of the telephone and the mails is sharply restricted.