The House of Representatives today adopted the Dickstein resolution calling for a sweeping, nation-wide Congressional investigation into Nazi and other foreign-supported propaganda activities in the United States.
The resolution, introduced by Congressman Samuel Dickstein of New York, chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, was adopted by a viva voce vote. Representative Herman P. Kopplemann of Connecticut, acted as floor leader.
BLAUTON OPPOSED
Debate on the resolution had been limited to an hour and a half, after which the vote was taken. The only opposition to the measure expressed during the debate came from Representative Thomas L. Blanton, of Texas, the self-appointed “watch-dog of the. Treasury,” who declared that there was no anti-Semitism in the United States and that the expenditure necessitated by the investigation would be a waste of public funds.
A surprise of the debate was the statement in favor of the resolution by Representative Louis T. McFadden, of Pennsylvania, who has been frequently charged with being a tool of the anti-Semitic Silver Shirt organization and who has made several attacks on the Jews from the floor of Congress.
The Pennsylvanian startled many Congressmen when he told the House that he was “heartily in favor of the resolution.” He said he was willing to have an investigation to find out what was going on and “if there is any movement in the United States or one initiated from abroad to destroy the constitutional form of government of the United States.”
NOT HOSTILE TO NEIGHBORS
The resolution was presented today by Representative E. E. Cox, of Georgia, a member of the House Committee on Rules, who told the members that the committee had “proceeded cautiously in consideration of the resolution” before deciding to render a unanimous report in its favor.
He told the House that there is nothing in the resolution which seeks to bring about an unfriendly attitude toward any foreign nation. “The Committee on Rules,” he said, “was impressed with the importance of the proposal.”
Congressman Cox read into the record letters from the American Federation of Labor, the Disabled American War Veterans and other leading national organizations urging adoption of the resolution.
GERMANY A WARNING
He warned the legislators that the Nazi organization, the Friends of New Germany, is “penetrating into every section of the country,” and spreading propaganda for Hitlerism. “What is happening in Germany today ought to be sufficient warning to us,” he admonished.
Representative Dickstein, explaining the purpose of the investigation, declared that it was not directed at individuals or any group of American citizens. He reviewed the activities of Heinz Spanknoebel, one time leader of the American Nazi organization and now a fugitive from justice. He charged German boats with activities detrimental to the interests of the United States government, saying that evidence had been uncovered that these boats were smuggling ammunition and propagandists into this country.
SHIPS BRING AGENTS
“Every German ship brings in an average of 100 seamen who become engaged in spreading propaganda,” he charged. “Money to support propaganda also is sent into this country from Germany.”
Representative Blanton opposed the resolution on the grounds that it would involve a far greater expenditure than the $25,000 initial appropriation called for.
“This resolution is not going to stop the persecution of the Jews in Germany,” he asserted. He expressed the fear that its passage by the House would cause diplomatic complications between the United States and “another country.”
NO PERSECUTION
“There is no persecution of the Jews in the United States,” Blanton declared, pointing out that there are Jews who hold some of the highest offices in the government.
“The resolution is a waste of public money,” he roared.
A letter from Representative Hamilton Fish Jr., of New York, was read by Representative Charles D. Millard, New York, in which the former expressed his approval of the resolution.
“There is no more room for Hitlerism in America that there is for Communism,” Fish stated in his communication.
Representative Francis H. Shoemaker, of Minnesota, told the House he never did think that the highly educated Germany would go back to the days of the guillotine” through a Hitler.
“The people of America are not in sympathy with the persecutions in Germany,” he declared.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TOUCHED
Southern California was described as “a hotbed of Nazism” by Representative Charles Kramer of that state. Kramer was a member of the preliminary investigating committee appointed by Dickstein in his capacity of chairman of the Immigration Committee.
Action by the House today brought to realization the intensive effort by the New York Congressman for an official investigation of propaganda activities in the United States which may be subversive to the country’s form of government.
Since last spring the chairman of the Immigration Committee has conducted an unofficial investigation of Nazi propaganda activities and in a report presented at the opening of Congress revealed the results of the preliminary fact finding inquiry.
The official investigation, Congresman Dickstein said, will seek to establish the findings of the earlier inquiry so that the proper legislative and legal measures may be taken to halt the progress of the Nazi and similar movements here.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
