Chairman Martin Dies this afternoon threw the entire question of whether there would be an investigation of associates and supporters of William Dudley Pelley, Charles E. Coughlin and other anti-Semites into the laps of other members of the House Committee Investigating Un-American activities.
Repeatedly stressing the fact that he was speaking for himself alone, Dies said in reply to a question on an investigation of Coughlin: “It all depends on what you call an un-American activity, whether the committee is limited to activities inspired or supported from foreign sources.”
The Texan said it was his opinion that any person advocating racial, religious or class hatred was engaged in an un-American activity but added that he did not know if the majority of his committee agreed with that interpretation. He would not state specifically that he would ask for an investigation of Coughlin when the committee met next week. It was his understanding that the committee was definitely finished with Pelley, he added.
“Father Coughlin has asked for permission to appear before the committee and has publicly challenged us to investigate him,” Dies told reporters crowding his office, “but the question must be considered of whether it is desirable to afford any of these persons mentioned a nation-wide forum for the expression of their views by calling them before the committee.”
Dies vigorously defended himself against charges that he had any indirect connection with the Christian Front. “I think anyone who knows of my personal declarations in opposition to all anti-Semitic activities and the strong indictment of them contained in the committee report which I signed will take such charges seriously,” he said.
Asked if he would request an investigation of the Ku Klux Klan, Dies said he didn’t know whether the present-day Klan was within the scope of the committee. “But I’d like to point out,” he added, “that I was one of the few men in Texas to actively oppose the Klan and support Al Smith for President when both of those activities were very unpopular in that section of the country. That’s a matter of record in my district.
Dies also said he planned to investigate British and French lecturers in this country, who, he contended, were spreading pro-Allied propaganda. Never before, Dies said, has the country been so solidly behind the work of his committee. He said he has received 1,000 letters a day asking him to continue his investigations.
On his return to Washington this morning, Dies had announced that the next target of his committee would be the Hollywood motion picture producers. He said hearings would begin as soon as possible. In a recent article in Liberty Magazine, Dies pointed out that a great many of the producers were Jews.
Dies said the producers in some manner had obtained confidential copies of the reports of his investigators on the west coast. “The producers,” he said, “have one of the best organizations in existence to work against the Dies committee. They have hired the most expensive detectives in the world.” He asserted that the producers were preparing a picture which would ridicule the committee.
This afternoon Dies said headlines to the effect that he had accused movie producers of being Communist sympathizers were misleading. He added, however, that he “had been informed” that mimeographed copies of investigators reports were in the hands of “leading Hollywood producers.” He declared he did not know how these reports got into their hands but pointed out that the only copies authorized were for other committee members.
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.
