in a Communist Party meeting or what she considered to be a Communist
Party meeting where all present were Communists, I had no knowledge
that they were Communists or it was a Communist Party meeting. Since I
read the testimony yesterday, I tried to recall all the meetings out
there where there would be a possibility she was present. I just cannot
recall the occasions I saw Barbara Hartle out there--usually on the
street or something of that kind--and I cannot recall any meeting that
she sat in that I was in. I just cannot remember any single meeting
that she sat in there where at least I knew she was there. She might
have been in another room or some other place, but she was not visible
to me anywhere.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you a member of the Communist Party during
the period of time you were in the State of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I was not.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you at any time while in the State of
Washington, that is, between 1944 and 1949, affiliated in any way with
the Communist Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I was not.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you at any time a member of the Communist
Party?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I am not now and I have never been a member of
the Communist Party.
Mr. TAVENNER. You stated a desire to explain the testimony of
Mr. Louis Budenz given at the Canwell hearings.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes. At the Canwell hearings, Mr. Budenz--I
think to save time, and I want to save time, Mr. Budenz testified
that--I think the substance of his testimony was that he did not know
whether or not I was a Communist, very much like Mrs. Hartle does. I
think it is significant that she was the second top Communist in the
State of Washington; and yet if I were the leading Communist that she
says I was out there, she still is not sure whether I was or not. I
think that is quite significant.
Likewise with Budenz. He was not sure whether I was Communist, but he
had heard some discussion about me in the Communist Party headquarters
in New York. As far as he knew, in meetings that he had heard, I was
supposed to be all right and I was a person they could get along with.
He made many statements of that kind. Then he went into the statement
about the assassination of Leon Trotsky, which to the press in the
State of Washington, left the impression that particularly somehow
or other I was involved. So I sued Mr. Budenz in a civil suit in the
Superior Court of King County the very next day.
Mr. WILLIS. In New York?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; in the State of Washington--Seattle, Wash.
I sued him for libel for the statements that he made about me. I fixed
the sum of damages at $1,500,000. He was served with subpena, legally
served with a summons, rather, in that suit, and through his attorneys
defended the suit by taking advantage of his immunity as a legislative
witness before the State legislative committee. He did not defend it.
Mr. WILLIS. What do you mean, he did not defend it?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I mean instead of letting the thing come to
trial, instead of letting the issue come to trial on facts, to be
tried on the facts, and so on, he and his attorneys hid behind his
legislative immunity that he was in the State of Washington by virtue
of a subpena to appear before the legislative committee of the State of
Washington and under the laws of the State could not be legally served
with a summons and sued in the State. The case was dismissed on that
ground.
Mr. TAVENNER. Was this the testimony to which you referred:
I will ask you, Professor, Do you know a former Congressman from
Montana by the name of Jerry O’Connell?
Mr. BUDENZ. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you know whether or not Mr. O’Connell was a member of
the Communist Party?
Mr. BUDENZ. Not that specific. I know that he was one
whom the party felt it must take care of because of his agreement
constantly with the party line. This came up in the case of
Congressman John T. Bernard, of Minnesota, and Congressman
O’Connell. The discussion came up in the national headquarters
of the Communist Party in the committee headed by William Winant
about how to take care of these Congressmen because they agreed
with the party line. And it was agreed that Bernard and O’Connell
both would get jobs with the International Workers Order, this
Communist-controlled front to which I have referred.
Now, it is my impression that--well, I know that Bernard got
it, and it is my impression that Mr. O’Connell temporarily also
received that cynosure through the cooperation of the party. I
heard the discussion in the party circles first, and later on I
heard that it was to be accomplished.
That is the testimony to which you refer?
Mr. O’CONNELL. That is the testimony to which I refer.
Mr. TAVENNER. You were employed by the International Workers
Order, were you not?
Mr. O’CONNELL. In order not to prolong it--Congressman Willis
did not hear this, but yesterday I testified about my connections with
the International Workers Order. The original contact, as I remember,
was made by Peter Shipka to advise the local Serbs and Croats which
existed in the city of Butte. It was, as I remember, during a period
when I think Hitler had already invaded Yugoslavia and it was a
question of whether they were supporting Milhailovich or Pavlich. There
was a lot of dissension going on between the Serbs and Croats. I was
asked to go down and advise with them and help with them. Many of them
I knew because of my political candidacies for legislature and for the
railroad and public service commission and for Congress there.
Mr. TAVENNER. That is all in the record.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes. Then I was sent on a specific job to do
with reference to these coal miners at Steamboat Springs who were
applying for citizenship and were members of the International Workers
Order.
Mr. TAVENNER. You were employed to go on speaking tours over
the country for which you were paid $200 a month and your expenses?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I made only one speaking tour on the plan for
plenty. The plan for plenty we had was an improved social security,
called for improvement of the social security system as it existed at
that time. I made some speeches. You asked me what I got, how much
compensation I had received. I said in my opinion it would average
about $200 a month.
Mr. TAVENNER. And your expenses?
Mr. O’CONNELL. And my expenses, yes. I knew nothing about Mr.
Budenz’ discussion with the Communist Party headquarters or anything. I
got a call from Mr. Shipka. I am sure it was Mr. Shipka, the treasurer
of the organization, who asked me first to do these two specific jobs
which I did within a short time. Then later he called me to make these
speeches on a plan for plenty.
Mr. TAVENNER. Now I have before me an excerpt from the May 29,
1941, issue of Montana Labor News. The title is, “IWO Names O’Connell
Rocky Mountain Director.” It is datelined New York, May 10. I will read
it:
“Former Representative Jerry J. O’Connell, labor’s fighting
Congressman from Montana, has been appointed regional director for
the International Workers Order in the Rocky Mountain area, Herbert
Benjamin, executive secretary of that organization, announced
today. Mr. O’Connell will be able to continue his effort on behalf
of the labor movement on a much broader scale in his new post,”
Herbert Benjamin declared, “since the IWO is labor’s foremost
and largest fraternal benefit society. Our national membership
of 155,000 supports the trade-union movement and its individual
members on many fronts; providing insurance, sickness, and accident
benefits at low rates, a rounded program of club and fraternal
social life, plus a nationwide campaign for improving living
standards, and social security embodied in our plan for plenty.”
Mr. O’CONNELL. That is the first I knew--nobody told me that
I was to be regional director of the IWO. As far as I can remember, as
far as their clubs were concerned out in the Rocky Mountain area, they
had one in Butte, which was the only one they had in the whole State
of Montana. I think they had one down in this town called Steamboat
Springs, Col. Those were the only two clubs that I know of in the
Rocky Mountain area. There were certainly no--at least on my part,
there was no idea I was to be regional director, because the first 2
assignments that I got were first to go down to advise this club in
Butte and the other to go down to this Steamboat Springs, in Colorado,
and clear up the question that the judge and the examiner were raising
there. The judge at the time thought that the IWO and the IWW were one
and the same. I brought Mr. Charles Cunningham, I think his name was,
commissioner of insurance of the State of Colorado, to the judge to
point out that the IWO was a fraternal benefit organization.
Mr. TAVENNER. You have explained all that in exactly the same
detail.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes, but the concept that I was a regional
director----
Mr. WILLIS. I am not so sure I followed you on the reason for
the dismissal of the suit you filed.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I did not dismiss the suit.
Mr. WILLIS. I do not think I caught the point. Was it a
jurisdictional question? Specifically, what was it?
Mr. O’CONNELL. It was a motion to quash. Actually, it arose on
the motion to quash the service of the summons.
Mr. WILLIS. On what grounds?
Mr. O’CONNELL. On the grounds that Mr. Budenz had immunity as
a legislative witness before the State legislative committee that he
was appearing before in the State of Washington.
Mr. WILLIS. He was not from Washington--not a resident of the
State of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; he was a resident of New York.
Mr. WILLIS. You filed suit against him in Washington at a time
while he happened to be there?
Mr. O’CONNELL. While he happened to be there.
Mr. WILLIS. But he was there on State legislative business?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes.
Mr. WILLIS. And therefore was immune from service, and that
was the basis for his motion to quash?
Mr. O’CONNELL. We served the summons on him. My desire was to
get a test and a trial on the factual merits.
Mr. WILLIS. Was it filed in the State or Federal court?
Mr. O’CONNELL. In the superior court of King County.
Mr. WILLIS. His motion to quash was based on the fact he
was served with the papers while he happened to be in the State of
Washington on State legislative business and therefore was not subject
to service process?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes.
Mr. WILLIS. And his motion came up before the court and the
court dismissed the action?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Yes.
Mr. WILLIS. Did you sue him elsewhere?
Mr. O’CONNELL. And I did not pursue it elsewhere.
Mr. WILLIS. You did not file suit elsewhere against him?
Mr. O’CONNELL. By the time that was done he was gone.
Mr. WILLIS. I am not talking about that. You could have sued
him. Anybody is subject to suit somewhere, and his domicile is the real
place. I say did you not pursue him, upon dismissal of the suit in
Washington and file another suit elsewhere?
Mr. O’CONNELL. You mean go to New York and file a suit against
him?
Mr. WILLIS. Yes.
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; certainly not.
Mr. WILLIS. Or in the Federal court or in any court?
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I would have to go to New York. If he was
a resident of New York, I would have to go to New York in order to get
service; but I had him out in the State of Washington where I did get
service on him.
Mr. TAVENNER. I desire to offer the photostatic copy of the
news article from the Montana Labor News and ask that it be marked as
“O’Connell Exhibit No. 7” for identification purposes only, and to be
made a part of the committee files.
Mr. WILLIS. It is so ordered.
Mr. TAVENNER. I would like the record to show at this point
that the International Workers Order was cited as subversive and
Communist by Attorney General Tom Clark on December 4, 1947, and again
on September 21, 1948, and that it was cited by Attorney General
Francis Biddle on September 24, 1942, as one of the strongest Communist
organizations. It has also been cited by other committees, including
this committee.
Were you acquainted with its secretary, Herbert Benjamin?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I knew Herbert Benjamin. I am pretty sure he is
the same Herbert Benjamin who was an officer in the Workers Alliance
during WPA days, when I was in Congress. But I have actually had no
contact with Benjamin in the IWO. In fact, this is the first I knew
he had any connection with the IWO. But I knew him; I am sure he was
lobbying here on the Hill with a man by the name of David Lasser while
I was in Congress. I think he was with the Workers Alliance.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you acquainted with Louis Budenz prior to
the time he appeared as a witness at the Canwell hearings in the State
of Washington?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, I was not acquainted with him. Shortly
before he left the Communist Party he wrote me a letter asking me to
write a series of articles for the Daily Worker about Senator Wheeler,
which I refused, which I rejected. That is the only contact I ever had.
I never met Budenz, never saw him or anything, until he was out in the
State of Washington.
Mr. VELDE. Did he want you to write articles favorable to
Senator Wheeler?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, he wanted me to write anti-Wheeler
articles. Senator Wheeler and I became tangled politically out there.
I was going to run against Senator Wheeler for the Senate in 1940, and
Senator Wheeler of course took care of me in 1938. So I did not get to
run. I mean the fight, there were people who were anxious to defeat
Wheeler from 1940 on down until he was actually defeated in 1946.
He wrote that letter to me, I would say, just shortly before he left
the Communist Party.
Mr. WILLIS. Those articles were to appear in the Daily Worker?
Mr. O’CONNELL. In the Daily Worker; yes.
Mr. WILLIS. Would an unfavorable article appearing in the
Daily Worker be harmful to one’s political life in those days in
Montana?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, I mean----
Mr. WILLIS. You did not want to inject yourself in it?
Mr. O’CONNELL. I did not want to write the articles, that is
all.
Mr. WILLIS. I would say the best compliment to me in my
district would be for the Daily Worker to say that I was a rotter.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, I think that would be true today. You
would be surprised if you went out to the State of Montana and went
into some of the mining camps and taverns and what not. For instance,
we have a character in Butte by the name of Paddy King. Paddy sells the
Daily Worker. He has silicosis. He is a real character around there. He
goes all around the town. Everybody buys the Daily Worker from Paddy.
They do not think much of it. Some of them read it, some of them throw
it away, and so on.
Mr. VELDE. Do you still read it?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No; I do not. Of course, I do not live in Butte
any longer. I actually do not think I have seen the Daily Worker since
they used to be delivered to our doors here in Washington.
Mr. TAVENNER. Were you acquainted with Alexander Bittelman?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No. Who is he?
Mr. TAVENNER. Alexander Bittelman has been identified in
testimony as a functionary of the Communist Party in the city of New
York.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I do not know any Alexander Bittelman.
Mr. TAVENNER. Mr. Chairman, I have no further questions.
Mr. VELDE. I have no questions to ask the witness. It is
apparent from his testimony, that Mr. O’Connell has a great deal of
knowledge about Communist Party activities which he has refused to give
this committee. That does not disturb me as much as the fact that it
appears that he is still ideologically favorable to the Communist Party
of the United States. It is very regrettable, but apparently every
person, including those favorable to the Communist Party, has a right
to express his opinion in this country. I want to say this: I hope that
Mr. O’Connell will think this matter over in the future and give us the
benefit of the knowledge that he possesses about the activities of the
Communist Party in the United States.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Congressman, I have done my very best. I have
talked to you. I do not want to argue. I do say that I appreciate
all the consideration which the committee has given me, particularly
on the two instances when I asked for continuations because of my
illness. I appreciate the fairness with which the committee has treated
me throughout the hearings. I just want to say that, as far as I
am concerned--that is, the best way I can describe it honestly and
sincerely, is that from my environment, from the poverty since my birth
and the things that happened to me as a child and as a young man, and
so on, I grew up in a very, very liberal tradition where people were
certainly tolerant of all the various shades and hues of political
opinion as we saw them. I think I could best describe myself, I am just
an old-fashioned American liberal. I want to assure you that I have had
no training----
Mr. TAVENNER. I do not want to prolong the discussion. At the
beginning of the hearing you mentioned the fact that you had passed
the bar in Montana, and that you are now a practicing lawyer, and you
intended to forget about any type of political activity. I just wonder
whether you consider the Communist Party activity as being political.
Mr. O’CONNELL. I think you asked me that question before.
Mr. TAVENNER. I do not think I did.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Well, somebody asked me it before. As far as I
am concerned, I am not engaged in any Communist Party activity in the
State of Montana or any party activity, Progressive, or Democrat, or
anything. I have been asked by the Progressive Party in 1950 to run for
the United States Senate and I refused. I have been asked by the press
in Montana--I am not being braggadocio or conceited--by the various
newspapers, the Great Falls Tribune, the Lewistown Daily News, and
many others, whether I was going to come back into the political life
of the State. I have always told them, and told them constantly, that
I wanted to be a lawyer; I wanted to be, if I could, the best lawyer
that Montana ever had. That was the desire that I had. I have been
practicing law to the very best of my ability. When a man starts to
practice law, as I did, when he is about 40 years of age, he has a lot
to learn. There are many--well, I am sure, Mr. Willis, as an attorney
you know the best teacher, of course, is experience. I have been trying
to keep my nose clean and hewing to the line. I have been practicing
law. That is what I have been doing. I think in my work out there I
have earned the respect and consideration of all the people in the kind
of job I have been doing.
We do not have any integrated bar in the State of Montana. The Montana
Supreme Court regulates and supervises the bar out there. I am sure
that the members of the supreme court will tell you the things I have
said here today about my friend and all that are true.
Mr. VELDE. Do you not think you are a bit gullible or naive
when you say that you did not know there was a Soviet espionage ring
operating in this country? Tell the committee the truth.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Now listen. I think I have set forth my
position. I do not know that that is actually true. I do not know that
it is true. I do not know it. I have never met a Soviet spy that I know
of.
Mr. VELDE. It is just unbelievable to me. Of course, that is
just my opinion.
Mr. O’CONNELL. You are in a different position than I am.
Mr. VELDE. With all your connections that have been brought
out here with the various front groups, with all of your connections
with well-known Communists, not to realize that there has been an
espionage ring operating in this country is amazing to me. You are an
intelligent man.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Any of those groups or any of the individuals
that have been mentioned here can be tied down to specific programs or
purposes or things of that kind, but certainly nothing along the line
of espionage.
Mr. WILLIS. Would it surprise you if they were?
Mr. O’CONNELL. No, it would not surprise me; but what I am
saying is that I do not know.
Mr. WILLIS. The committee is adjourned and the witness is
dismissed.
Mr. O’CONNELL. Thank you.
(Whereupon, at 5:25 p. m., the hearing in the above matter was
concluded and the committee recessed to the call of the Chair.)
INDEX
INDIVIDUALS
Adair, Robin, 473
Archer, James, 436
Armstrong, Harry C., 419, 420, 586, 588
Astley, Theodore Raymond, 522
Atkinson, N. P., 423
Atkinson, Roy, 470, 504
Bader, Barney, 435
Bailey, George, 434
Baldwin, C. B., 553
Balmer, Alice, 485
Batterson, Frank, 512
Beattie, John F., 312
Belden (Mr.), 589
Benjamin, Herbert, 272, 599, 601
Bernard, John T., 572, 573, 598
Bitterman, Jacob, 441-443 (testimony)
Bitterman, Ruth, 442, 522
Bittleman, Alexander, 602
Blauvelt, Mildred, 550
Bloor, Ella Reeve, 583
Boggs, Elizabeth, 471
Bourne, James, 357, 359, 479
Bradley, George, 273, 336, 356
Bristol, Al, 471
Bristol, Frances, 471
Brockway, Harold, 356
Brockway, John, 356
Brodsky, Joseph, 508
Browder, Earl, 264, 475, 581
Brown, Roy, 262
Buchanan, Tom 559, 593
Budenz, Louis, 264, 585, 590, 591, 594, 596-598, 600, 601
Burns, Helmi (Mrs. Tom Burns; also known as Hutenen, Helmi), 437
Burns, Tom, 437
Burton, Philip L., 414
Camozzi, Robert, 469
Campbell, Ray, 311
Carlson, Edwin A., 327-329 (testimony), 365-374 (testimony)
Carlson, Frank, 545, 548
Carmichael, Edward Brook, Jr., 322-326 (testimony)
Carter, Edward C., 461
Cayton, Revels, 467
Chafee, Zechariah, Jr., 507
Clinton, Rose, 558, 593
Clott, Herman, 563
Clott, Lillian, 563, 564, 593
Cluck, Jack R., 443, 450
Coffee, John M., 573
Cohen, Abraham Arthur, 490-492 (testimony)
Cohen, Elizabeth Boggs, 521, 523
Cole, Merwin, 469
Coley, Ward, 469
Corr, Bill, 468
Costigan, Howard, 401, 402, 406, 407, 411, 421
Cour, Jim, 468
Cummings, Al, 381
Cvetic, Matthew, 564, 565
Dafoe, Doc, 473
Daggett, Charles, 468, 469
Daggett, Herbert, 469
Danielson, Jean, 522
Daschbach, John, 472, 520-522, 544, 545, 548, 549, 566, 584
Daschbach, Marjorie, 522
Davis, Jerome, 361
Davis, John, 523, 540
DeLacy, Hugh, 406, 407, 413, 434, 519, 592, 593, 596
Delaney, Paul William, 438-440 (testimony)
Dennett, Eugene Victor, 249-303 (testimony), 335-362 (testimony),
391-413 (testimony), 419-438 (testimony), 466-490 (testimony),
492-493 (testimony), 307, 308, 483, 494, 501, 513, 514, 517,
518, 521, 528, 529.
Dennett, Harriette, 482-484
Dobbins, William K., 406, 407
Dodd, William E., Jr, 541
Dokter, Ted, 470
Donaldson, Hallie, 485
Doran, Dave, 345
DuBois, W. E. B., 569
Ebey, Harold, 406, 407, 412, 434
Egroth, Fair Taylor, 523, 592
Engstrom, James, 355, 395
Espe, Conrad, 438
Field, Gladys, 432, 470
Fisher, C. H., 516, 520
Fletcher, Jess, 340, 406, 434, 469, 586
Flood, George, 434, 435
Fluent, Russell, 520, 553, 565, 567, 592
Fogg, Kathryn, 586, 588
Ford, James W., 540
Foster, William Z., 262
Fowler (Mrs.), 582
Fox, Ernest, 394, 427, 428, 470
Fox, Elsie (Mrs. Ernest Fox; also known as Gilland, Elsie), 470
Frankfeld, Philip, 472
Freyd, Bernard, 492-494 (testimony)
Furuseth, Andrew, 395
Gates, John, 566
Gemson, Richard L., 438
George, Lawrence Earl, 414-416 (testimony)
Gilland, Elsie. (_See_ Fox, Elsie)
Granich, Max, 264
Greenglass, David, 594
Gundlach, Ralph, 523, 544, 545
Gustafson, Margaret Elizabeth, 374-377 (testimony)
Haines, Victor, 258, 351, 352, 358
Halonen, Oiva R., 299-301, 302-308 (testimony)
Hall, Gus, 567
Hall, Robert, 557
Hanke, Ed, 357
Hannon, Bruce, 395
Harding, Alex, 474
Harding, Arthur, 470
Harding, Jean, 470
Harris, Calvin, 381
Harris, Lem, 530, 532, 533
Harter (Mrs.). (_See_ Noral, Mrs. Alex.)
Hartle, Barbara, 247, 278, 299, 300, 305, 311, 314, 315, 319,
327, 332, 365, 380, 381, 385, 388, 414, 415, 417, 426, 427,
437, 439-442, 474, 489, 496, 501, 509-511, 514, 516-518,
521-523, 543-545, 591-595, 597.
Hatten, C. T., 317, 362, 363, 493, 495
Hatten, Eugene R., 485
Henderson, Donald, 437
Henry, Edward E., 490
Hicks, Victor, 434
Hillman, Sidney, 504
Hoffman, Elsie, 566
Honig, Nat, 433, 586
Hosue, I., 438
Huber, L. R., 468
Hudson, Roy, 430, 431, 472
Huff, Helen, 485
Huff, Henry, 475, 477, 479, 484, 566, 571
Hunterer, L. C., 520, 565, 566
Hutcheson (William), 268
Hutchins, Hutchin R., 349, 357
Hutenen, Helmi. (_See_ Burns, Helmi.)
Jackins (Carl), Harvey, 521
Jackson, Gardner, 530-533
Jackson, Harry, 405, 406, 436, 470
Jackson, Henry, 405
Johnson, A. A., 356
Johnston, Harold, 313-316 (testimony), 331, 332, 363-364
(testimony), 365, 471
Kerr, Frank, 311, 312, 499, 500
King, Paddy, 570, 602
Kinney, Alice, 485
Kinney, Glenn, 311, 471
Kirkwood, Trudi, 485
Knudsen, C. Calvert, 330
Krahl, Robert B., 379-382 (testimony)
Kroener, Donna, 332
Kroener, Edmund D., 330-333 (testimony)
Larsen, Karley, 406, 407, 433, 592
Lasser, David, 601
Law, Dick, 470
Law, Laura, 470
Lawrence, Adrian, 434
Lawrie, John (Jack), Jr., 316, 317-322 (testimony)
Lawrie, John, Sr., 260, 359, 479
Leavitt, Edward, 260, 359
Leeds, David, 570
Legg, Charles, 472
Lesser, Sarah H., 322
Linden, Emil, 262
Lokanath, D(r.), 461
London, M. M., 273, 336, 340
Lovestone, Jay, 279
Luddington, Mel, 356
Lundeberg, Harry, 269, 394, 395, 427-429
Lundquist, Hugo, 435
MacDonald, Kenneth A., 249, 335, 374, 391, 419, 441, 466, 492