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| 30. AMERICAN C0HMDNISM Soviet Union.11 Perhaps the best commentary on that sentence is the biblical: Qui potest capere, capiat. In addition, as win be noted in Chapter IV, the Council has been successful in propagandizing teachers and other groups in- fluential in fields of public opinion. In the fields of lav; and legislation, the National Federation of Constitutional Liberties and the National Lawyers* Guild are both important. Technically these groups are concerned with legislation, but recently they have been the primary Communist mouthpieces for a number of issues before the public eye. Of the two organizations, the Federation is more likely to deal with purely Communist issues. The Guild is usually in the same position when it issues public statements, but, as will be noted in Appendix III, many of the programs advocated in the Lawyers* Guild Review are liberal rather than Communist. At one time, many members of the Guild were merely liberal lawyers who resented the extreme conservatism of the American Bar Association. Most of this group resigned, however, when the real nature of the organization became known. The Communists have dabbled with consumer fronts, the most prominent being Consumers Union. (See Appendices I and III) Another group was the League of Women Shoppers. In addition a dozen others were formed about 1935, but they have not been active recently. The general objective of the program was to undermine capitalism by proving1 that the profit system produces in- ferior goods at exorbitant prices. It was also hoped to make consumers labor tonscious, so that they would boycott goods produced under inferior labor conditions. On the whole, they say little that is not also said by such non- Communist -groups as the advocates of the co-operative movement. It is only rarely that straight Communist propaganda creeps into their publications. There is no evidence that the ratings of articles by Consumers1 Union is in- fluenced by other than technical' considerations. Conclusion. This study of the structure of the Communist Party might be supplemented by Appendix II, where the Constitution and governing bodies of the Party are given. Also of interest is a list by states and cities of delegates to the National Communist Convention in 1945, obtained from a con- fidential source close to the New York Police. It is reliably reported that the Police make a practice of placing informants in the Party, with instructions to work their way into positions of responsibility. From the data presented in this and the preceding chapter, the Communist Party appears as a well-disciplined although small group, which multiplies its effectiveness enormously through the use of front organizations and controlled publications. By these methods, relatively large suras of money can be obtain- ed for propaganda and agitation. Furthermore, pressure behind any given issue can be built up enormously through the enlisting of winnocentsw and the cumu- lative effect of publicity by interlocking front organizations. To parody an elder statesman: Never before in human history have so many been controlled so often by so few. The remaining «hapters of this section will outline further ramifications of Communist activity in important and influential fields. |