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INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE
SEATTLE, WASH., AREA--Part 3
HEARINGS
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
EIGHTY-FOURTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JUNE 1 AND 2, 1955
Printed for the use of the Committee on Un-American Activities
INCLUDING INDEX
[Illustration]
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
62222 WASHINGTON: 1955
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FRANCIS E. WALTER, Pennsylvania, _Chairman_
MORGAN M. MOULDER, Missouri HAROLD H. VELDE, Illinois
CLYDE DOYLE, California BERNARD W. KEARNEY, New York
JAMES B. FRAZIER, JR., Tennessee DONALD L. JACKSON, California
EDWIN E. WILLIS, Louisiana GORDON H. SCHERER, Ohio
THOMAS W. BEALE, Sr., _Chief Clerk_
CONTENTS
Page
June 1, 1955, testimony of Jeremiah Joseph O’Connell 502
June 2, 1955, testimony of Jeremiah Joseph O’Connell 547
Index i
PUBLIC LAW 601, 79TH CONGRESS
The legislation under which the House Committee on Un-American
Activities operates is Public Law 601, 79th Congress [1946], chapter
753, 2d session, which provides:
_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled_, * * *
PART 2--RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
RULE X
SEC. 121. STANDING COMMITTEES
* * * * *
17. Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine Members.
RULE XI
POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
* * * * *
(q) (1) Committee on Un-American Activities.
(A) Un-American activities.
(2) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or
by subcommittee, is authorized to make from time to time
investigations of (i) the extent, character, and objects of
un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (ii) the
diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American
propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a
domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government
as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (iii) all other questions in
relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial
legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House
(or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session)
the results of any such investigation, together with such
recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on
Un-American Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized
to sit and act at such times and places within the United States,
whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has
adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such
witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents,
and to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be
issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any
subcommittee, or by any member designated by any such chairman,
and may be served by any person designated by any such chairman or
member.
RULES ADOPTED BY THE 84TH CONGRESS
House Resolution 5, January 5, 1955
* * * * *
RULE X
STANDING COMMITTEES
1. There shall be elected by the House, at the commencement of each
Congress, the following standing committees:
* * * * *
(q) Committee on Un-American Activities, to consist of nine members.
* * * * *
RULE XI
POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEES
* * * * *
17. Committee on Un-American Activities
(a) Un-American Activities.
(b) The Committee on Un-American Activities, as a whole or
by subcommittee, is authorized to make from time to time,
investigations of (i) the extent, character, and objects of
un-American propaganda activities in the United States, (ii) the
diffusion within the United States of subversive and un-American
propaganda that is instigated from foreign countries or of a
domestic origin and attacks the principle of the form of government
as guaranteed by our Constitution, and (iii) all other questions in
relation thereto that would aid Congress in any necessary remedial
legislation.
The Committee on Un-American Activities shall report to the House
(or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session)
the results of any such investigation, together with such
recommendations as it deems advisable.
For the purpose of any such investigation, the Committee on
Un-American Activities, or any subcommittee thereof, is authorized
to sit and act at such times and places within the United States,
whether or not the House is sitting, has recessed, or has
adjourned, to hold such hearings, to require the attendance of such
witnesses and the production of such books, papers, and documents,
and to take such testimony, as it deems necessary. Subpenas may be
issued under the signature of the chairman of the committee or any
subcommittee, or by any member designated by such chairman, and may
be served by any person designated by any such chairman or member.
INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES IN THE SEATTLE, WASH., AREA--Part
3
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 1955
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES,
_Washington, D. C._
PUBLIC HEARING
A subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a. m. in the caucus room,
Old House Office Building, Hon. Morgan M. Moulder (chairman) presiding.
Committee members present: Representatives Morgan M. Moulder, Clyde
Doyle, and Harold H. Velde.
Staff members present: Frank S. Tavenner, counsel.
Mr. MOULDER. The subcommittee will be in order, please.
Let the record show that the Honorable Francis E. Walter, chairman,
Committee on Un-American Activities, pursuant to the provisions of
law creating this committee, appointed Representatives Clyde Doyle,
of California, Harold H. Velde, of Illinois, and myself, Morgan M.
Moulder, of Missouri, as chairman of a subcommittee to conduct this
hearing. All the members of the subcommittee are present.
The hearing today is a continuation of the hearings initiated in
Seattle on June 14, 1954, and resumed in Seattle on March 17, 1955.
The purpose of the hearings in Seattle was to discover the activities
of the Communist Party in the Pacific Northwest area, the extent of
Communist infiltration in that area, and the methods resorted to by the
Communist Party in the accomplishment of its objectives in that area.
Two outstanding witnesses were heard: Mrs. Barbara Hartle, during
the hearings of June 14, 1954, and Mr. Eugene V. Dennett during the
hearings of March 17, 1955. It is the hope of the committee that the
witness to be heard today will throw additional light on the subject of
this inquiry.
Today’s witness was subpenaed to appear before the committee at the
March 1955 hearings in Seattle, but due to illness was not heard at
that time.
Mr. Tavenner, are you ready to proceed?
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Jeremiah Joseph O’Connell.
Mr. MOULDER. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony which
you are about to give before this subcommittee will be the truth, the
whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I do.
TESTIMONY OF JEREMIAH JOSEPH O’CONNELL
Mr. TAVENNER. What is your name, please, sir?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Jeremiah Joseph O’Connell.
Mr. TAVENNER. Are you also known by the name of Jeremiah J.
O’Connell?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I would presume that my baptismal name
in the Catholic Church was probably Jeremiah J. O’Connell, but during
grade school, high school, college, and law school, and in my political
career I have always been known as Jerry J. O’Connell.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. O’Connell, you are acquainted with the
practice of the committee to permit witnesses to be accompanied by
counsel and to confer with counsel if a witness desires?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes, I understand that, sir.
Mr. TAVENNER. It is noted that you are not accompanied by
counsel.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I had expected Senator Langer of North Dakota
to appear with me, but his office notified me today he was out of town
and wasn’t going to be able to get back until this afternoon, but I
have worried about this thing, and I have been under tension about it,
and I am anxious to get it over with.
Mr. TAVENNER. You are satisfied, then, to proceed without
having counsel with you?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes, sir.
Mr. TAVENNER. Of course, should it develop at any point in
your testimony you desire to consult counsel, you may address your
request to the committee.
When and where were you born, Mr. O’Connell?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I was born in Butte, Mont., on October 4, 1908.
Mr. TAVENNER. Where do you now reside?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I now reside at Great Falls, Mont.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee, please, briefly
what your educational training has been?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I received my grammar school education at
St. Patrick’s School in Butte, Mont., my high school education at Butte
Central Catholic High School in Butte, Mont., my liberal arts education
at Mount St. Charles College, now known as Carroll College, where I
graduated with an A. B. degree.
Mr. TAVENNER. In what year did you graduate from that college?
Mr. O’CONNELL. 1931.
Mr. TAVENNER. Where did you receive your A. B. degree?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Mount St. Charles College, now known as Carroll
College, in Helena, Mont., in 1931.
Through the late Senator Thomas J. Walsh, of Montana, I obtained
employment here in the District with the Democratic National Committee,
later in 1931, and attended law school at Columbus Law School here in
the District.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you receive a degree?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I did not. I was elected to the Legislature
of the State of Montana in 1931, when I was only 21 years of age and
while a senior at Mount St. Charles College. I came back here and went
to law school and then in 1932 during the summer vacation I went back
and sought renomination and reelection to the State legislature and was
successful.
I served in the 1933 session of the State legislature. Also in a
special session of the legislature in the latter part of 1933 and the
early part of 1934.
In between I came back and continued taking law courses in between the
legislative sessions and so on, and later studied law privately at home
and in a law office at Butte, Mont., and then in 1934 I was elected to
the State Railroad and Public Service Commission of Montana, which is a
statewide elective office in the State, and then in 1936 I was elected
to the 75th Congress of the United States from the First Western
District of the State of Montana.
I served one term, from 1937 to 1939, and was defeated in the 1938
general elections. I won the Democratic nomination.
In 1940 I again won the Democratic nomination and was defeated in the
1940 election by Jeannette Rankin.
After my defeat I edited a statewide weekly newspaper called Jerry
O’Connell’s Montana Liberal. I also was active politically and
particularly in the organization of an old-age pension group in which I
had the principal activity or principal organizational activity in the
State.
Mr. TAVENNER. Is that in the State of Montana?
Mr. O’CONNELL. That is right.
Mr. TAVENNER. What was the date of the organization of the
old-age pension group by you?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I actually think that I--it is quite
a long while ago now--it was 1939, if I remember correctly. I began
holding meetings in various parts of the State and we were advancing
a State, it was a State initiative for improvement of the pension
situation as far as senior citizens were concerned in the State. I
think that came out in 1938 campaign, I had originally been endorsed
by the Townsend organization for reelection to Congress and then
during the 1938 general elections Dr. Townsend flew from Hawaii into
my district and made 3 speeches against me, 2 or 3 speeches. I am not
sure which. And the result was a considerable division in the Townsend
organization as it existed in the State then, and out of that I am
pretty sure at that time there was a gentleman by the name of Arthur L.
Johnson, who was promoting I think what he called the general welfare
acts or general welfare plan, and on a State pattern, using that
general welfare act we promoted a pension plan in the State of Montana
on an initiative, we have an initiative law there.
Mr. VELDE. May I ask a question, Mr. Chairman.
You mentioned you studied law here at Columbus Law School and in a law
office, I believe, in Butte, Mont.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes.
Mr. VELDE. Did you pass the bar of the State of Montana?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes, I passed the bar of the State of Montana.
Mr. VELDE. I do not think you mentioned that. When did that
happen?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I actually didn’t pass the bar in Montana. I
had been active politically and I didn’t pass the State bar examination
until June 23, 1950.
Mr. VELDE. Since that time you have been a practicing lawyer?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Since then I have been practicing law at Great
Falls, Mont.
Mr. TAVENNER. Have you been admitted to practice in any State
other than Montana?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, I have not.
Mr. TAVENNER. Have you held any other organizational positions
of any character in the State of Montana or elsewhere?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, in I think about February 1944 I was
appointed by Sidney Hillman as CIO political action director for the
State of Montana, and in about August of 1944--in that year I was
elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention from the State
of Montana and attended the Chicago convention in that year.
In August of 1944 after the convention I was appointed assistant
regional director for the CIO Political Action Committee with offices
or headquarters at Seattle, Wash., under the director who was Roy W.
Atkinson, and that region included Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and
Montana.
After I went to the State of Washington, I became active particularly
with--one of the principal activities of the CIO political action
committee was to advance and encourage registration for voting in
the 1944 elections and in the State of Washington, particularly
along the West coast there was a considerable influx of war workers
during that period who, of course, were unregistered and my principal
activity preceding the actual beginning of that 1944 general campaign
was bringing about registration by getting the city councils in the
various larger cities, particularly in the State of Washington, to
hold a registration week and opening up the schools and then after the
campaign, as I was explaining, the city councils called a registration
week where there was the extended registration campaign or program
carried on, and after that I then became assistant regional director
for the CIO political action committee active with the Democratic
organization, particularly in the State of Washington and of course
also to some extent in Idaho and I don’t think during that campaign at
all that I appeared in the State of Oregon.
I was back in Montana a few times in that connection but I spent
the principal part of that time working with the Democratic Party
organization in the State of Washington.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you hold any position in the Democratic
organization in the State of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. At that time I didn’t hold any. After the
election--the Democratic Party was considerably successful in the State
of Washington--and I think the Democratic Party leaders had a feeling
that I had made a considerable contribution to the success which they
had.
Within a few weeks after the election the Democratic Party leaders
in that State discussed with me taking a full-time position with the
Democratic Party in the State of Washington as executive secretary of
the Democratic Party.
Mr. TAVENNER. That began in 1944?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I was elected by the State central committee at
Ellensburg, Wash., I think somewhere about in the middle of December
1944.
Mr. TAVENNER. How long did you continue in that position?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I continued in that position then until
December, actually I ended my term as executive secretary some time in
the beginning of the year, January 1947.
In December 1946 a new Democratic State chairman was elected and he
abolished the position of executive secretary and took the job and
worked on the job on a full-time basis himself.
Mr. TAVENNER. After that time did you hold an executive
position with the Progressive Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, let me, in order to keep it in
chronological order, I would like to say that after that election there
was of course a considerable division in the Democratic Party over the
results of the election which were quite disastrous for the Democratic
Party in 1946, and there was a considerable cleavage among what was
considered to be the conservative forces in the party and the liberal
forces in the party and at the convention at Ellensburg in December of
1946 the conservative element or conservative forces in the Democratic
Party were in control by a very slight margin.
The liberal forces in the Democratic Party then organized within the
Democratic Party a group known as Roosevelt Democrats, and I was
I think also called the executive secretary, or given the title,
elected as executive secretary of the Roosevelt Democrats and I
served in that position until April of 1948 when I resigned from the
Democratic Party and actually began to work for the organization of
the Progressive Party in the State of Washington. We had set up what
we called a provisional committee for a new party. I had supported
Henry Wallace for Vice President in the 1944 Democratic convention. I
was a considerable admirer of his, and I joined with the people who
were forming the Progressive Party, and I think then--I would say in
probably May or June of 1948--the Progressive Party of the State of
Washington was organized at a State convention in Seattle, Wash., and
I was elected executive secretary of the Progressive Party at that
convention, and I served in that capacity until October 1949, when I
left the State of Washington and went back to the State of Montana and
began studying law and preparing for the taking of the bar examinations
which I eventually took.
Mr. TAVENNER. After your return to the State of Montana in
1949 did you hold any other organizational positions?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I did not. On many occasions--in October
of 1949 I had made up my mind that I had given the best years of my
life to political activity. In July of 1949 Mrs. O’Connell and I had
a young son after having been married about 13 years. Mrs. O’Connell
had a very, very difficult time in giving birth to our son, and for 5
days her life was in danger. Her folks live at Great Falls, Mont. She
is a native of Great Falls. She wanted to go back there to be with
her folks. Up to that time I had always studied law with the idea of
being an attorney and I wanted to be one and so we went back to the
State of Montana and I have not been engaged in any partisan political
organization or affairs of any kind since my return to the State of
Montana.
Mr. TAVENNER. The committee has information that after that
time you became chairman of the National Committee to Defeat the Mundt
Bill.
Mr. O’CONNELL. No. In 1948, I would say probably in June of
1948, while I was executive secretary of the Progressive Party of
the State of Washington, I came down to the city of Washington here
to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was then
considering the Mundt bill, which had already passed the House. We
were to testify at a hearing before which I think Senator Ferguson was
presiding and Senator Langer was sitting with him and apparently the
hearings had gone on for several days and Senator Ferguson adjourned
the hearings or at least announced there would be no further hearings
at that time before many of us there had yet been heard.
Senator Langer then suggested that we go to his office, I think at that
time he was chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads
in the Senate, and we retired to his committee room. At that time we
discussed particularly with him the situation as far as the Mundt bill
was concerned and at his suggestion this committee to oppose the Mundt
Bill was set up and at that particular meeting I was elected chairman
of the group. Senator Langer, of course, had known me while I was in
Congress and suggested----
Mr. TAVENNER. What was the approximate date when you were
selected as chairman of the committee?
Mr. O’CONNELL. My best recollection, my best guess would be
some time in June of ’48.
Mr. TAVENNER. You continued to serve as chairman of the
National Committee to Defeat the Mundt Bill for how long a period?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, in 1948, if I remember correctly, the
bill was not voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee before the
adjournment of Congress at that particular time. The bills as I
remember were proposed again at the beginning of the next session of
Congress and we continued to oppose the legislation at that time and
then finally I think--if I remember correctly, in about, I would say,
about March of 1950--I came down here again to the city of Washington.
If I remember correctly, the bill had again passed the House of
Representatives at that time although I am not too sure. I think it had.
I stayed here from I would say March--I remember I defended somebody
at home in court at Great Falls and I came down here I would say in
the latter part of March 1950 and I stayed until about the 9th or 10th
day of June 1950 when I returned to Montana to bone up for the bar
examination which I was taking on the 23d of June 1950.
I passed the bar examination at that time and I came back here again.
My offhand guess would be that I came back again some time maybe in the
latter part of July or first part of August of 1950 and stayed here
until Congress adjourned sine die, I think somewhere around September,
probably September 13.
Mr. TAVENNER. During that period of time were you actively
engaged in the work of the National Committee to Defeat the Mundt Bill?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes, sir.
Mr. VELDE. Do I understand, Mr. O’Connell, that you continued
in the 82d Congress the same type of work you were doing as far as the
Mundt bill was concerned in the 81st Congress?
Mr. O’CONNELL. If those are the correct----
Mr. VELDE. You were chairman of the committee.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I was chairman of the committee from the time
I was selected in June of 1948 until the committee dissolved after the
passage of the legislation over the President’s veto in September of
1950.
Mr. VELDE. Of course, that would be the committee, I suppose,
which was set up to defeat the McCarran-Wood bill.
Mr. O’CONNELL. The Mundt-Nixon bill was combined, I think it
was combined by a proposal made by several of the Senators over there
and also the McCarran Act, I can’t remember all the things that went on
in connection with it now, but I think it became popularly called the
McCarran Act, if I remember correctly.
Mr. TAVENNER. The McCarran-Wood bill.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes. I think the language became the Internal
Security Act.
Mr. VELDE. Who composed the committee?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Actually the executive officers were myself
as chairman, Robert Silverstein of the National Lawyers Guild as
secretary, and Bruce Waybur, who was an official or an organizational
employee of the United Electrical Workers[1] who was treasurer of the
organization, and then the group was sponsored by various outstanding
prominent individuals throughout the country. I can’t remember all of
them now and all who from time to time----
Mr. VELDE. If I remember correctly, after the bill was passed
and became law there was a committee to repeal the McCarran-Wood Act,
was there not?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I think there was, but I had nothing to do with
it.
Mr. TAVENNER. You had no part in it?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I had no part in it. I went back. I think
Professor Chafee [Zechariah Chafee, Jr.] at Harvard and some others
organized a committee to repeal the act after that, but I went back to
Montana and I had nothing to do with it.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee, please, whether or
not you became regional director for the International Workers Order
during the period of time----
Mr. O’CONNELL. No. I think that language that you use comes
from an old report of the Dies committee. I was never regional director
for the IWO. The only connection that I had with the IWO is that in the
city of Butte the IWO had an affiliated local or lodge there composed
of Serbs and Croats and there was considerable division particularly
during the war period, World War II period, because if I remember
correctly there was a religious difference. I think the Serbs in the
organization were Protestants and the Croats were Catholics. There was
a division then over the politics of the situation. I think there were
some of them who were supporting Milhailovich at that time and some who
were supporting Pavlich, if I remember the names correctly.
I was asked by--I am pretty sure the man’s name was Peter Shipka, who
was the officer of the International Workers Order, who asked me if I
would advise with the lodge and if I would help them try to straighten
out the difficulties so that the lodge could go ahead.
After that I was sent down to the State of Colorado or asked by them
to go down to the State of Colorado where I think about 11 members of
the IWO had applied for their citizenship papers in a little town I
think called Steamboat Springs, Colo., and the Federal judge who was
hearing the citizenship matter at that time was in my opinion confusing
the IWO with the IWW, and I was asked and again I wouldn’t be sure who
the national officer of the IWO was, but my best recollection at the
time--and I think that was in 1940 or 1941 or 1942, it was a long
time ago--asked me to go down there and I talked with the judge and
with the examiner and also brought a Mr. Cunningham who I think was
either the State auditor or the secretary of state, but was ex officio
commissioner of insurance of the State of Colorado, to show the judge
the IWO was actually a fraternal benefit society and had no connection
with the IWW.
Then later, I can’t remember what year, the IWO was promoting what they
called a Plan for Plenty, which was in essence an improvement on the
present social security, or I mean on the social security system as it
existed at that time.
I made speeches at various IWO lodges in different parts of the country
speaking on the Plan for Plenty, explaining the legislative detail in
connection with it.
Mr. TAVENNER. Who made arrangements with you to conduct this
nationwide speaking tour that you mentioned?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, it is so long ago, it is hard for
me--there are just two names that stick out in my memory as far as the
IWO is concerned and the only two I can remember are Peter Shipka,
the treasurer, and if I remember correctly they had an attorney named
Joseph Brodsky. Those are the two names that stick out in my mind.
Mr. TAVENNER. Was Joseph Brodsky from New York?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes; he was from New York.
Mr. TAVENNER. What compensation did you receive while engaged
in that work for the IWO?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, at the time it was very minimal, I can
remember that. I would say that as far as--it would amount, in my
opinion, for the small period of time I was involved, which I would say
was a period of a few months, I would say on the average of about $200
a month. It was not very long.
Mr. TAVENNER. And your expenses?
Mr. O’CONNELL. And my expenses; yes. As I remember, they were
quite restrictive on the expenses; if I remember correctly.
Mr. TAVENNER. Do I understand that your connection with the
IWO was one of employment rather than one of an official character? Is
that correct?
Mr. O’CONNELL. That is correct. I think that would be the best
way to describe it.
Mr. TAVENNER. For how long a period were you employed by the
IWO?
Mr. O’CONNELL. My best recollection is that that employment
was over a period of maybe 5 or 6 months. It might have been 7 or 8. It
was not very long, and I don’t think I could put it in the precise year
or years that were involved.
Mr. TAVENNER. Was it resumed at a later date?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; it was not resumed at any later date.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you receive any compensation or money from
the IWO for anything other than the services you have mentioned?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I certainly don’t recollect any.
Mr. TAVENNER. Will you tell the committee, please, whether you
had any employment since 1930 other than the positions you have already
described and other than those matters related to the practice of law?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, going back in 1930, I was still a student
in St. Charles College.
Mr. TAVENNER. We can pass that up.
Mr. O’CONNELL. At Helena. Of course, during the summer months
I was employed in the Anaconda Copper Mining Co.’s mines at Butte while
I went to school. I think the summer of 1932 I was employed by the
Industrial Accident Board of the State of Montana settling compensation
cases during that period. I think I told about my employment with the
Democratic National Committee while I was back here.
I also had some employment as legal adviser to the State income-tax
division of the State board of equalization of the State of Montana
while I was running for State railroad and public service commissioner
in Montana and before my election to that post. Then I think I have
detailed all of the rest of it.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. O’Connell, you spoke of being instrumental
in organizing an old-age pension initiative, I believe you call it, in
the State of Montana in 1939.
Mr. O’CONNELL. As I remember, we were trying to put it on the
1940 ballot in Montana.
Mr. TAVENNER. You are familiar, I suppose, with the Washington
State Pension Union?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes; I am. I would like to say that at the time
I was organizing the clubs in Montana I knew nothing whatever of the
existence of the Washington Pension Union of the State of Washington,
or any of its officers, or anybody connected with it. My first
connection with the organization and the group was when I went to the
State of Washington in 1944. Those contacts were made in my position as
executive secretary of the Democratic Party.
Mr. TAVENNER. You were also familiar, of course, with the
Washington Commonwealth Federation, were you not?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I really couldn’t say that I was, Mr.
Tavenner. I think the Washington Commonwealth Federation was still in
existence when I went to the State of Washington in 1944, but if I
remember correctly, shortly after the elections in November of 1944
the Washington Commonwealth Federation was dissolved but I had no
connection with the Washington Commonwealth Federation at all.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you become acquainted with Barbara Hartle
after you became a resident of the State of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I naturally read some of the news stories
in both the Seattle Post Intelligencier and the Seattle Times. And
I heard about her. Now, I don’t recall her too well but I am pretty
sure that in the early days of the WPA in the State of Montana she,
I think she was working in the Great Falls area; if I remember her
correctly, she is rather short and squat, rather pasty complexion? I
don’t remember her too well. I can remember she--I think I saw her once
or twice at that time while I was on the Public Service Commission
and later when I was in Congress, a group of people had gone down
and raided a commodity warehouse in Great Falls and had taken food
and various things out of the commodity warehouse. If I remember her
correctly, at that time she was on a committee that came to see me to
use my influence to see that they weren’t prosecuted for what they had
done.
Then I later saw her in the State of Washington, my feeling would be
maybe 3 or 4 times. I am pretty sure; I don’t remember her too well.
Mr. VELDE. Could you place those times you did see her more
definitely as to the year?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I really couldn’t. I was in the State of
Washington from August of 1944 until October of 1949, and it is over
that period of time that I actually saw her.
Mr. TAVENNER. During the 1954 hearings of this committee in
Seattle, Barbara Hartle was asked to tell the committee from her own
personal knowledge what connection the Washington Pension Union had,
if any, with Communist activity in that area. I should state to you
that Barbara Hartle was one of the Smith Act defendants in the State of
Washington and was convicted. She testified before this committee after
her conviction and sentence. She testified very fully regarding her
knowledge of Communist Party activities in the Northwest. She described
the circumstances under which she became a member of the Communist
Party and how she rose to the No. 2 position in the Communist Party in
the State of Washington.
This is the answer that she gave to the question of the connection
between the Washington Pension Union and Communist activities:
There was quite a lot of connection with Communist activity in this
area between the Communist Party and the Washington Pension Union.
The Northwest district of the Communist Party has paid a great deal
of attention to the Washington Pension Union for a long period of
years. What to do next in the pension union has been the subject of
many discussions in district board and district committee meetings
in which I have participated between the period of 1932 to 1940
and in large district committee meetings before that in the latter
1930’s.
Important offices and many local offices of the Washington Pension
Union have been held by Communist Party members, and the activities
and policies of the pension union have always been supported by the
Communist Party. Many issues have been brought into the pension
union by the Communist Party and gained wide support by so doing.
The Communist Party in this district viewed the Washington Pension
Union as really its most important single front organization. It is
called mass organization by the Communist Party. They don’t use the
term “front organization.” They call it a mass organization. It was
the largest and most influential and second only to the Washington
Commonwealth Federation, which was a federation of organizations,
and the Washington Pension Union was an affiliate of the Washington
Commonwealth Federation, in which the Communist Party likewise had
a dominating influence.
I think I should read a little further. Mrs. Hartle also testified
that----
Mr. O’CONNELL. May I say I had no connection; I was not an
officer of the Washington Pension Union.
Mr. TAVENNER. I was going to discuss that question, whether or
not you were affiliated in any way with the Washington Pension Union.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I think as executive secretary of the
Democratic Party and as executive secretary of the Progressive Party I
made speeches to State conventions of the Washington Pension Union, as
did practically all the political leaders of the State of Washington,
regardless of the party.
I think during a period after my employment as executive secretary of
the Democratic Party at the request of a local in Everett I was sent
there to make a speech and I think I was--I am pretty sure I was paid
expenses and I may have been paid a fee for the speech I made to the
group at Everett at that time.
Mr. TAVENNER. Was that a convention of the Washington Pension
Union?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, as I remember it, the Everett meeting was
some kind of a large local meeting that they had, some kind of an event
or celebration or something of that kind that I spoke at. It is hard to
recollect. It is a long time ago and I have made a lot of speeches all
over the State of Washington in those years and to a lot of groups.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you work closely with the leadership of the
union in the political positions that you held, first, as secretary of
the State Democratic Party and later as secretary of the Progressive
Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t know if you would say I worked closely.
We were naturally anxious in both the Democratic Party and in the
Progressive Party to get the votes of the senior citizens of the State
of Washington, and the only pension organization, the only senior
citizens organization at that particular time anyway I can remember was
the Washington Pension Union.
I think later there were some dissensions and shoot-offs and smaller
groups organized but I mean I had no official connection with the
pension union. Pennock, who was the president of the Pension Union,
was also Democratic representative from the 35th Legislative District.
He was the chairman of what we called the delegates from that district
to the King County Democratic Central Committee. He was, I think, a
chairman or member of the rules committee on the Democratic side in the
State legislature.
Mr. TAVENNER. That is William Pennock?
Mr. O’CONNELL. That is William Pennock. In his activity as
a Democrat or member of the Democratic organization as executive
secretary of the Democratic Party, I naturally saw Pennock and
naturally he was involved.
Mr. TAVENNER. Was he one of the Smith Act defendants in the
State of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. As I am informed, he was.
Mr. TAVENNER. And was convicted.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t think so. He died.
Mr. TAVENNER. I believe that is true.
Mr. O’CONNELL. As I understand it, he either committed suicide
or was found dead.
Mr. TAVENNER. During the period of the trial.
Mr. O’CONNELL. While the trial was in progress, yes.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you know William Pennock to be a member of
the Communist Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, I did not. As I understand, he never
divulged his membership in the Communist Party until a few days before
the Smith Act trial and I think he made a public statement at that time.
I, by that time, was back in the State of Montana some 4 or 5 years.
Mr. TAVENNER. I would like to continue to present the
testimony of Mrs. Hartle regarding the Washington Pension Union to make
plain a few facts. Mrs. Hartle further testified:
My knowledge of the membership of the pension union is that it was
reported by William J. Pennock and others in meetings that it had
about 10,000 members.
She further testified:
The membership of the Communist Party in the organization was
small, smaller than in most so-called mass organization work.
This was considered by the district leadership of the Communist
Party and by the national leadership as well as being evidence of
very successful mass work, and it was often used as an example
of successful Communist mass work where it didn’t take so many
Communists in order to influence a large number of people.
Were you aware of the influence that was brought to bear by the
Communist Party upon this organization, the Washington Pension Union?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, sir; I certainly wasn’t aware of it.
Mr. TAVENNER. Do you know of any issues that were brought to
the Washington Pension Union by the Communist Party as testified to by
Mrs. Hartle?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, sir; I don’t.
Mr. TAVENNER. You have told us that you spoke on numerous
occasions at meetings of the pension union.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I wouldn’t want to make it numerous. I spoke
several times. I spoke at their State conventions, I know that, during
the period while I was executive secretary of the Democratic Party and
while I was executive secretary of the Progressive Party.
Mr. TAVENNER. Are you familiar with the testimony of Ernest
Paul Stith before the Canwell committee?
Mr. O’CONNELL. If I remember, he was an investigator for the
Canwell committee. I don’t know what his testimony was.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Stith analyzed a report contained in the
January 30, 1947, issue of the New World relating to a program that was
conducted at the Tri-County Snohomish, Whatcom, and Skagit Legislative
Conference. The analysis goes on to show that 21 of the 99 delegates at
that convention represented the pension union. The speakers included
William Pennock, president of the Washington Old Age Pension Union, and
Jerry O’Connell, former Democratic Party State executive secretary.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I think that is the meeting I was talking about.
Mr. TAVENNER. That is the one you were referring to. Terry
Pettus was editor of the New World. Was that a Communist paper?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t know whether the New World was a
Communist paper. There apparently was some distinction; they later
became the Northwest edition of the People’s World, and, of course, the
People’s World, as I understand it, is a Communist newspaper.
Mr. TAVENNER. And Frank Batterson, chairman of the Snohomish
County Communist Party was a speaker. You say that is the occasion to
which you refer?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I am pretty sure that is the occasion--was that
held at Everett; does it say?
Mr. TAVENNER. It doesn’t state where it was held.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t even know Batterson. He certainly
didn’t speak while I was there and of course I had no knowledge of the
fact that he was a speaker and no knowledge of the fact that he was
chairman of--what group of the Communist Party?
Mr. TAVENNER. Do you recall William Pennock speaking?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t recall him speaking, no, but I am sure
that if it were--you see, I may have spoken. Does it say how many days
it lasted?
Mr. TAVENNER. No.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t remember Pennock speaking while I was
there--at least that. But whether he spoke at the meeting or not I
don’t know.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did Terry Pettus speak at that meeting?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Same way with Terry Pettus. I wouldn’t know.
Mr. TAVENNER. The witness stated that the following is the
portion of the program adopted at this meeting regarding foreign policy:
Break diplomatic and economic relations with Franco Spain,
withdraw United States troops from China, and stop aid to Chiang
Kai-shek, dictatorship, United States participation in worldwide
disarmament, stop manufacture of atomic bombs and outlaw their
use, abolish compulsory military training, remove from private
industry development of atomic power to insure its peaceful use for
benefit of all, restoration and extension of UNRRA, promote Big
Three unity, carry through the denazification and demilitarization
programs in Germany and Japan.
Those were the policies being advocated by the Communist Party at that
time; were they not?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I wouldn’t know.
Mr. TAVENNER. You would not know?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No. I presume--if you say so, they are. I don’t
know what their particular program was at that time.
Mr. TAVENNER. Did you become acquainted with Mr. Eugene
V. Dennett, who at one time was vice president of the Washington
Commonwealth Federation--in fact held that position while you were
there?
Mr. O’CONNELL. He what?
Mr. TAVENNER. He held the position of vice president when you
moved to Seattle?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I can’t remember him at all. The only time
I remember Dennett was coming to my office as executive secretary
of the Democratic Party in the Vance Building, when he was in a
military uniform and telling me that he had been vice president of
the Washington Commonwealth Federation, but he would have been vice
president a very short period of the Commonwealth Federation because
I was there only from August of 1944 and if I remember correctly,
the Commonwealth Federation was dissolved shortly after the November
elections in 1944 and, of course, the only thing I can say about
Dennett is I can remember him coming to the office of the executive
secretary of the Democratic Party.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you aware that he was a member of the
Communist Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I certainly was not.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Dennett was called as a witness by this
committee at its June 1954 hearings. Mr. Dennett, when he appeared,
relied upon the fifth amendment and refused to answer questions but
later on during the hearing he came back and asked the committee to
permit him to testify. It was so near the end of the hearings that it
was impossible to hear him then. So the committee took his testimony in
March of 1955 and Mr. Dennett described his activity in the Communist
Party as a Communist Party functionary over a long period of time and
described how he got out of the Communist Party, in fact described his
expulsion and also the expulsion of his wife. He gave the committee
much valuable information.
In the course of his testimony he told the committee how a man by the
name of Lowell Wakefield was sent by the Communist Party from New York
to Seattle to engage in organizational work for the Communist Party and
that one of his chief assignments was to assist in the organization of
the Washington Pension Union.
Were you acquainted with Mr. Lowell Wakefield?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t remember anybody by the name of
Lowell Wakefield at all. In my time, I mean my only recollection--was
Wakefield later some kind of a representative for a fish company or
operated a fish company of his own down on the waterfront?
Mr. TAVENNER. I understood he did, but not down on the
waterfront in Washington. I think he went to Alaska.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, anyway, I think I heard about him but I
don’t think I ever met Wakefield personally, or personally knew him.
Mr. TAVENNER. Have you any knowledge of his activities?
Mr. O’CONNELL. My only recollection, if it is the same
Wakefield, is that he was a contributor to the Democratic Party, if
it is the same person. What I want to do, I don’t want to get myself
in trouble, I certainly didn’t know Wakefield as a Communist or knew
that he was a Communist or anything of the kind and I don’t want--my
recollection is if it is the same Wakefield he had some kind of a
fish company or was a representative for a fish company and did make
contributions to the Democratic Party while I was executive secretary.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you acquainted with Tom Rabbitt?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes; I was acquainted with Tom Rabbitt.
Mr. TAVENNER. He was State Senator and also an office holder
in the Washington Pension Union; is that right?
Mr. O’CONNELL. He was Washington State senator from the 35th
legislative district. He was, I think, a delegate to the King County
Democratic Central Committee from that district.
Mr. TAVENNER. Is it a fact that the State legislature refused
to seat him?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I don’t think so. I think the State
legislature, before I came to the State of Washington, refused to seat
a party by the name of Lenus Westman, elected as a State senator from
up in Snohomish County, but at least in my time nobody challenged
Rabbitt’s senator-ship.
Mr. TAVENNER. I am probably in error.
Mr. VELDE. Mr. Counsel, isn’t it true both Mrs. Hartle and
Eugene Dennett testified that both Wakefield and Rabbitt were members
of the Communist Party?
Mr. TAVENNER. Yes, sir. I think the record should show
that William J. Pennock was identified by Barbara Hartle not only
as president of the Washington Pension Union but as a member of the
district committee of the Communist Party for the State of Washington
and that Tom Rabbitt was likewise an officer of the Washington Pension
Union and a member of the district committee of the Communist Party.
Mr. VELDE. Isn’t it true, also, that Mr. Rabbitt appeared in
executive session in June 1954 and refused to answer questions relating
to his membership in the Communist Party and other activities along
that line, relying on the fifth amendment?
Mr. TAVENNER. That is correct, sir.
Mr. O’Connell, did you confer with William Pennock and Tom Rabbitt or
any of the other leaders of the Washington Pension Union regarding its
organization, its policies, or any phases of its work?
Mr. O’CONNELL. In view of the prefatory statements made by you
and by Congressman Velde, and particularly with respect to the fact
that you state that Rabbitt and Pennock were members of the district
board of the Communist Party----
Mr. VELDE. Just a minute. I didn’t state that. I said two
witnesses had testified that he was a member of the Communist Party.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I see. I want to protect myself. I don’t know
whether I can safely answer that question now.
Mr. VELDE. What was the question?
Mr. TAVENNER. Read the question, please.
(The reporter read from his notes as requested.)