The investigation of the Christian Front growing out of the arrest of 17 of its members for a plot against the Government went forward on several fronts today.
Federal authorities said sabotage against American supply and transport of munitions, especially in the event of war, was the real motive behind the conspiracy, and United States Attorney Harold M. Kennedy in Brooklyn said he would present the case to the Federal Grand Jury next Tuesday if the evidence was ready by then.
National Guard officials began an investigation into the activities of those of the defendants who were Guard members. Col. Edward Bowditch, in charge of the inquiry, said he may recommend court martial of any Guardsmen shown to be guilty of acts against the Government.
The Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League announced it was in possession of evidence that 25 members of the New York City Police Department were enrolled as Christian Front members. Yesterday, Police Commissioner Valentine stated that Lieutenant Thomas Cavanaugh had admitted former membership in the Front, but the Commissioner denied charges that 40 policemen had been identified with the organization.
An examination of Charles E. Coughlin’s speeches and statements of his weekly paper, Social Justice, showed that despite the radio priest’s denial, he actively supported the Christian Front. One statement in Social Justice, published in the Jan. 1 issue, said: “Father Coughlin is only the spokesman for a rapidly forming and tremendously powerful element of our country–the Christian Front.”
Evidence of Coughlin’s relationship with the Christian Front included a radio address by Coughlin on July 30 when the announcer introducing him said that “he is encouraging the growth of the Christian Front” and Coughlin himself called the Front “a reality in America;” complete accounts of the Front meetings and activities in Social Justice, some of which were addressed by the priest through telephone; a two-line streamer headline in one issue reading: “Christian Front Carries Fight Into More States;” a statement in Social Justice over Coughlin’s signature in which he calls himself a “friend and counsellor” of the Front.”
Commenting on the failure of the Dies committee to investigate Coughlin and the Christian Front, Dorothy Thompson said in her New York Herald Tribune column today that “these ‘Christian’ exciters to violence, and now, it would seem, planners of violence, have enjoyed a peculiarly privileged position among the groups labeled by the Dies committee as subversive, and it would be interesting to know why,”
“The Dies committee could, I am quite sure, “Miss Thompson concluded, “uncover a lot of interesting facts by a little careful investigation into the activities, financing and interlocking relationships between the pastor of the Church of the Little Flower and political activities far beyond Detroit.”
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.
