As The lear Closes

"\\re disaffiliate," tersely wrote John L. Lervis to Wm. Green. Not a bad Christmas present for the head of AFL, l.as it? You could hardly think of a better person to be disaffiliated from that Jo}",*"oy could you?

"\\re went in green and they beat our brains out." So said screen star Bogart in a public statement concerning the part he and his wife, Lauren Bacall, played in their now famous "March on Washington." ft was part of a coLrrag'eous statement, in rvhich they simply said that thel' had made a great mistake, that they did not knorv vhat they were doing or talking abottt, and that they rvere sorry. Since they are among our rnoct favorite screen personalities we lvere glad to retract the promise rve had made ourselves not to see any more of their pictures. Too bad they did not give the name of the Red who organized that movie march on Washington. He lvould be a good guY to watch' ,r )F x

The right-about-face done by so many public personalities concerning that Communist investigation of the movie folks by the Committee on Un-American Activities was one of the high lights of the year. While the hearings rvere in progress the Committee u,as shorvered r,vith abuse. Egged on by the undercover Commies, criticisrn of the Committee and its method reached a screamingly high pitch. Even l'ric Johnson,, former President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and nolv the movie Czar, was one of the very critical r,vitnesses. He rvasn't rough, you understand, just very, very smart-alecky, as he gave the Committee the back of his n"ld i ferv times across the kisser.

After cracking dorvn on ten high salaried movie men, and still deluged with abuse, the Committee adjourned the hearing in Washington. And suddenly, lorv and behold, there rvas a mighty change. Eric Johnson did a complete right-about-face, and proclaimed so loudly. He was not as straightfolivard as Bogart in admitting his former folly, but he switched around in a hurry. So did scores of others. Like millions, rve rvonder rvhat brought the sudden change. In Hollyn'ood it lvas the same way. Srr<ldenly criticism of the Committee *O"T-. very, very docile.

We think George Dixon, Washington columnist, explained what happened in very understandable fashion. He told this story. lfe rvas sitting in a Washington cafe one night, and near by rvas J. Edgar Hoover. splendid leader of FBL In came a writer of national note. He had come to Washington to give the Cornmittee hell, and defend his Hollywood friends who rvere being persecuted and deprived of their rights. He sarv lfoover, kneu' hirn personally, and went over to talk to him. Dixon says he rvatched the dialogue. The writer asked lfoover something. Then Hoover started to talk. As Hoover talked the writer, a huge bulk of a man, began to shrink visibly. When Hoover stopped the fellou' looked like he'd been hit by a threshing machine. *He*left.

As he rvent by Dixon's table, he stopped to tell what had happened. Sure of his ground he said he had named several of his Hollywood friends and asked Hoover if they rvere not all right. And when the FBI chief told him that he had dossiers (investigative records) a yard long on a lot of those birds, it nearly rvrecked the writer. "I have made a great mistake," he told Dixon, as he went otrt:N< *< :t

F-rorn that rve deduced what had happened to all the smarties r,vho had been thror,ving bilge-rvater at the Committee. They also had heard and read that the FBI knew all about scores of those Hollyrvood subversives, and that the Committee, far from guessing, knerv lvhat they were talking about rvhen they called the first bunch of movie birds to tell their story. They were looking right smack at the record. It rvas really fun to u,atch the big-mouths go small-mouth at such sigh speed. The Hollywood investigation hasn't even started good yet. Many of the worst, so they say, have not yet faced the Committee. And are they squirming?*

*

Have you considered the real meaning of asking a man if he is a Communist? Several times J. Edgar Hoover has declared publicly that our American Commies seek to destroy orlr American form of Government. Then, when a man is askecl lvhether or not he is a Communist, he is simply being asked-'rps you want to help destroy the Government of the United States ?" That's all. Wouldn't vou think any loyal American would be proud on any and all occasions to rise to his feet and an5qrsl-r'flell NO, I'm NOT a Communist?" And rvl-rat is there to think about the gu1' 'n'ho is asked the question and does not :rtrswer? * * :r<

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution is a sad refuge for those rvho fail to ansrver that question. Pegler says the big mistake rvas made recentlv rvhen someone told Hollyrvood i'.bout the Constitution and Bill of Rights, something they had never heard of before. "Hollyrvood's intellectr.ril rvorld is bounded only by sex and salary" says l'egler. No truer statement *was ever made.

And forgetting for the moment the Communistic matter, think rvhat a complete bust the motion picture industry makes of a marvelous opportunity right now. With mankind everyrvhere depressed, fear-ridden, gloomy, rvouldn't you think there rvould be brains enough behind the movies to deliberatcly develop a campaign to fight gloom and

(Continued on Page 6)

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As The Year Closes

(Continued from Page 4) depression by the showing of bright, hapPy, amusing, uplifting, inspirational, exhilarating pictures? Wouldn't you? You'd think they would lay down an absolute barrage of that sort of entertainment. And instead, what do you find in the great majority of pictures lreing shown? Drab, dispiriting, ciepressing, sordid themes, in which murder, violence of every sort, cruelty, lawlessness, depravity and all the other dark things of life are prominently displayed and portrayed. To no other industry did Providence lend such opportunity for doing good. And none has proven so recreant to its opportunities and its stewardship. The movies promise much, but pay little. We must judge them, not by reading their professions, but by observing their practice. Their acts are apparently commensurate with their mentality. ***

One of the much-discussed and highly publicized subjects of late is the so-called "new look" for the ladies. Tens of millions of dollars were arbitrarily extracted from unwilling American pockets by a fashion decree that made all women's clothes passe, and introduced something so different that no amount of tailoring would make old clothes up-to-date. Long ago the wise Thoreau said that "the head monkey in Paris puts on a traveler's cap, and all the monkeys in America follow suit." It was true then. It is NOT true now. Don't let that report that the "new look" came from Paris, fool you. It came from New York, and you can bet your last dollar on it. The Paris .report went out to draw enraged Americans ofi the scent. Yes sir, it came from that headquarters of all the grifters and grafters-New York.

About fifteen years ago this journal was raising its small voice to the highest pitch it could reach, condemning the proposed recognition of Soviet Russia by the American government. We opposed it on the grounds that the Russian Government was in no sense a civilized government and not fit to be welcomed into the brotherhood of civilized nations. We have often admitted in these columns that we are lousy prophets. Sometimes we think we couldn't rightly predict the date of the Fourth of July. When it comes to our predictions concerning Russia youlll have to admit we were a ball of fire, the seventh son of a seventh son, and all that sort of stuff. Surely that savage government bears no resemblance to civilization today. After all its other crimes against humanity, it now says to the United States "you shall not feed the hungry or clothe the naked or house the shelterless or heal the sick of Europe; we will fight to the death before we will permit it, because it would interferg with Russian political plans." fs that, think you neighbor, a civilized govern- ment? There is plenty in the past to lead to the samg opinion, but this final climax of savagery shuts off all debate about Russia. She is not fit to be a member of the brotherhood of nations.

At the recent annual Press Club Gridiron Dinner in Washington, one of the skits showed Stalin, Molotov, Vishinsky, and Gromyko, as hunters, peeking into the door of an igloo. One of them said "somebody's in there; I can see thelvhites of his eyes." "Don't shoot," said Vishinsky. "Wait 'til he turns h*is back."

For two years Russia sat behind the iron curtain, growling and predicting that a great depression rvas bound to come to the United States, giving Russia a free hand to distribute Communism. Instead the seething mass behind the purtain broke loose the other day and showed an astonished world, not just Russia in depression, but Russia in a panic; a panic grim and great" Up to now the average Russian has been the poorest fed, poorest dressed, poorest housed of all humans. Think what he will be from now on. The Russian government to all intents and purposes, repudiated its national currency. Orvners of money were told to bring it in and exchange it for new money, getting one-tenth of what they brought in. There was too much money in circulation, and it r,r'as causing inflation, they said. The people were making runs on the banks and stores alike. So the government just took from every money owner ninety per cent of his rubles. At the same time they terminated rationing on food and other commodities. Why ration when there was practically no money left for the poor to buy with ? What a country ! What a government ! Wouldn't it be grand if we could bundle up every Commie and every fellow traveler in this country and send them over there where they could enjoy the fruits of Communism at first hand ? The panic in Russia came at a good time for the United States. Russia was getting dangerous to the world and ourselves. For a while at least she is going to be pretty busy saving Russia from within. Woudn't it be swell if she lost the battle?

All of Europe is going short of lumber in 1948. Competent authority from England says that the minimum needs of Europe for sawn lumber the next year will be ten to eleven billion feet; and that there is little more than half that much supply in sight. The need for lumber in Europe stretches into the far future.

Receiving Congrratulcrtions

Mr. and Mrs. Paul McCusker are being congratulated on the birth of a daughter, Moira, in San Francisco, on Sunday, December 7.

Mr. McCusker is in the wholesale lumber business in San Francisco.