The Illinois standard. [volume], January 01, 1949, Page 2, Image 2

About The Illinois standard. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1948-1949

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House committee swings
red brush; smears millions
By Bob Lucas
The nation's New Year's present from the House un
Americanism Committee was a pair of red-trimmed booklets
listing organizations, publications, unions and leaders it
considers 'communist.'’
Latest editions in the long list of communiques issued
by the lame-duck congressional
group cite 562 organizations. 190
publications, 13 CIO leaders and
20 CIO unions, and 33 groups
which the committee labels
"fronts" concentrating on labor.
One of the new' pamphlets
commends CIO President Philip
Murray and Transport Workers’
President Michael Quill for their
‘‘efforts to clean Reds out of the
unions.”
The other, titled "Citations,”
lists every group or publication
DEATH for wartime Japanese
Premier Hidelci Tojo and six fel
low-war criminals swiftly fol
lows refusal of U.S. Supreme
Court to assume jurisdiction in
their appeal.
which has been called "commu
nist affected” by the Attorney
General, the un-Americanism
committee itself, or by witnesses
before any national, state or city
body, including such discredited
outfits as the Washington State
Even the Times!
NEW YORK (FP)—The
New Y'ork Times added its
conservative editorial voice
Dec. 26 to the rising attacks
on the House unAmerican ac
tivities committee, accused it
of a “grave disservice” to the
American people and warned
that the 'committee has
brought the country “danger
ously near ... to a substitu
tion of official character as
sassination for judicial pro
cess.”
and California "little Dies com
mittees.”
Millions of persons of middle
of the road or slightly leftish
beliefs belong to the organiza
tions or subscribe to the publica
tions listed.
NEGRO LABOR GROUP
NAMED
Among bodies listed as "typi
cal front or party organizations”
are the American Negro Labor
Congress, American Polish La
bor Council and International
Workers Order.
The un-Americanism commit
tee's smear documents continue
to appear despite federal indict
ment of its chairman, Rep. J.
Parnell Thomas on fake payroll
charges and defeat of two of its
Republican members in the Nov.
2 elections.
A nation-wide protest was
touched off by the committee's
latest pamphlet and the “pump
kin” incident. In addition to the
labor leaders cited, the National
Lawyers Guild and even the
Americans for Democratic Ac
tion have blasted the smear tac
tics of the probers.
REFORM WON’T HELP
Attempts to “reform” the
House group would be futile, the
National Lawyers Guild points
out. It called for the complete
abolition of the committee to
prevent its encroachments on
democratic liberties. The ADA
wired Rep. Sam Rayburn, pro
spective speaker of the House,
that the un-American Activities
Committee ought to be abolished
“on the opening day” of the 81st
Congress.
The New York Bar Associa
tion last week adopted a reso
lution calling on Congress to
take action giving witnesses and
others in congressional investi
gations greater rights to defend
themselves.
Meanwhile, progressive labor
leaders hit back at the commit
tee's charge that their unions
were “Communist-dominated” in
1944. In Chicago, Ralph Hel
stein, president of the United
Packinghouse Workers (CIO),
one of the unions listed, de
nounced the committee’s charge
as “preposterous” in New York,
The four general officers of
CIO Mine, Mill and Smelter
SUE ME
WE’RE still getting some
huge yaks out of the
current Chinese situation. I
don’t mean the large picture
is a laughing matter. By no
means and not at all. No
lotus blossom in the ancient
Middle Kingdom ever
bloomed more beautifully.
» » *
FOR instance. Chiang, (last
seen hitch-hiking some
where south of Nanking), has
said, in true Confucian-Con
fusion tradition: “We are no
longer battling to smash Com
munism; we are more inter
ested now in an honorable
peace’’ . . . What kind of
hasheesh you inhaling, bud?
* * *
MAYBE we Occidentals
don't understand. In
polite Chinese tradition, “sav
Workers, John Clark, Reid Rob
inson, Orville Larson and M. E.
Travis, commented that the
latest pamphlet is a “rehash of
stale smears and slanders.” And
they added:
‘ There is growing support for
this bill (to abolish the House
: unAmerican committee) as the
increasingly ridiculous antics of
the Committee expose the basic
dishonesty of its whole witch
hunting program.”
CIO News, official publica
tion of the National CIO, brand
ed the committee which praised
Murray, a ‘‘character assassin.”
A hard-hitting editorial said, “It
has largely ignored the privi
leges and rights that would be
extended a horse thief on trial
in criminal court.”
Referring to the Chambers
“spy plot,” the paper declared,
“Even if the pumpkin probers
dig up a hundred special’ mel
ons between now and the be
ginning of the new year. Con
gress should abolish the House
Un-American Activities Commit
tee as quickly as possible.”
U.S. helps murder Indonesian Republic
By Israel Epstein
(Allied Labor News)
The Dutch have murdered the
Indonesian republic, at least as
it existed from the end of World
War II until just the other day.
Australian delegate W. F.
Hodgson described the Dutch
surprise attack correctly to the
United Nations Security Council
as repeating “what Hitler did to
the Netherlands in 1940.”
Hodgson called the sneak
Dutch blitz “the first clearcut
deliberate violation of the UN
charter made so far by any mem
ber. He said the consequences
must “be expulsion (of Holland)
from the UN.”
It was not only the Dutch
trigger-men who killed the re
public, however. In this murder
there were accessories before the
event. Some nations shot down
Indonesians themselves. Some
armed and financed the Dutch.
Some, in the UN, blocked pre
liminary action to stop the
crime when intention to com
mit it was already plain. Some,
not fcreigners, but Indonesians,
disarmed their own people who
had fought so bravely in 1945
47 so that they could no longer
fight in 1948.
BRITISH SHARE GUILT
The nation that shot down
Indonesians is Britain. British
troops landed in the country,
whose 71 million people pro
claimed independence after Jap
an fell, in September 1945. They
used not only their own troops
but also Japanese garrisons
which had technically "surren
dered” but Still had their arms,
to seize key republican centers.
These were later handed over to
the Dutch, who had retained no
footholds in Indonesia after they
lo6t it to Japan.
The theory was that the
Dutch, who had used force to
squeeze wealth out of Indone
sia for 300 years, were still its
“rightful owners.” That the Bri
tish did not hand over more was
due to two factors: staunch In
donesian resistance and a UN
resolution, introduced by the
Soviet Ukraine, noting that Bri
tain was still using Japanese
ex-enemies against a friendly
people.
The British later withdrew.
The newly-arrived Dutch forces
who took over the job in 1946
were largely marines trained
and equipped in Camp Lejeune
and other U. S. marine bases
during the war. The arms the
Dutch used came from American
lend-lease stocks, which were
supposed to be for war against
Japan and Germany only.
When this was publicly
brought to the attention of then
Sec. of State James F. Byrnes,
he directed that U. S. insignia
be removed from such equip
ment. That, of course, did not
make those weapons any less
deadly, nor reduce U. S. respon
sibility.
DUTCH EMBARRASSED
Indonesian resistance was still
strong, however. The Dutch
were further embarrassed by re
fusal of Australian, Egyptian,
Indian and even Dutch dock
workers to load or refuel ves
sels carrying troops and arms
to the South Pacific.
The Dutch now felt they had
to be "reasonable,” at least for
a while. In the Linggadjati
agreement of March 1947, they
left the republic alone in parts
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of three islands. While fooling
the willing western world with
an outward appearance of con
ciliation, they increased their
garrisons and grew fat on hun
dreds of millions of Marshall
plan dollars.
They also found some native
puppets whom they installed to
“govern” Dutch-occupied areas
to prove that the republic did
not really represent the people.
Then they attacked again, a
move that prompted Indonesian
ex-Premier Sutan Sjahrir to
write for Allied Labor News
on Sept. 18, 1947: “The Dutch
cannot continue if the U. S.
withdraws all backing.” The
backing remained.
It was from this point that
Sjahrir, Soekarno, Hatta and
other republican chiefs began to
show weakness. Instead of build
ing the strength of their peop
les, they tried to make them
selves “acceptable” to Marshall
planners and private enterprise.
Ignoring the lesson of all Asia,
they did not introduce land re
form to give Indonesian peas
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ants real gains to defend.
Fearing “red” smears, they
knuckled under to local right
wing groups. These opened 1948
with measures against unions,
leftists and real and alleged
Communists, to show their re
spectability. By September 1948 i
the left, headed by ex-Premier
Sjarifuddin, was driven to re
volt to save both itself and the
spirit of- militant anti-Dutch
resistance. The republican lead
ers turned all their armed forces
from the Dutch front to smash
ing the left.
Only two months later the
Dutch, who could make little
headway with their full strength
in previous years, took the de
moralized Indonesian capital
with a detail of paratroopers.
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CHICAGO actress Janice Kings
low will take the lead role in the
Civil Rights Congress production
of "Trial by Fire."
They're looking for
some place to go
Every week several
thousand people turn to
"What's Doing," looking
for something to do of an
evening.
Whether it's a small
house party or a mass
meeting . . . "What's Do
ing" always adds to the
crowd.
Whether it's on the far
Northeast Side, in the
Loop, or the far Southwest
Side . . . "What's Doing"
reaches people for you.
They're the people who
are looking for someplace
to* go. They need no urg
ing. They just need a no
tice in "What's Doing" to
know where to go.
I while you wait
service
LOOP Shoe Service
Invisible Half-Soling
Our prices are higher. When we work on
your shoes you’ll see why.
All Orthopedic Work
MAIL ORDERS ACCEPTED
17 N. Wobosh, Rm. 304 CEntral 6 0716
110% of your purchase will be paid to the STANDARD I
if you ask for the “STANDARD POST CARD” Ij
ing face” is absolute neces
sity in any failing situation.
It doesn’t take a military ob
server to realize that the
Nowhere Nabob of Nanking
better think about saving his
rear.
* + *
AND as for the doll with
the jeweled body and
the jaded mind . . . Ma
dame Chiang of the Kuomin
tang sarong . . . she better
watch out, too! We hear she
claps her hands when she
wants some clean sheets or
a fresh loan. Sorry, Madame
. . . 140 million people over
here and 500 million over
there suddenly don’t hear.
Don't clap too much. Your
old man’s secret police might
think you’re applauding cer
tain military events .