Concerned over the fact that the arrest of Evelyn John St. Loe Strachey, British writer and lecturer, was made in a synagogue and might be exploited by anti-Jewish elements for propaganda purposes, Daniel W. MacCormack, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, upon whose order the arrest was made, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today that the place of the arrest was “purely accidental.”
“The local authorities in Glencoe, Ill., could have arrested Mr. Strachey just as well in his hotel,” the Commissioner declared. “The warrant for his arrest was issued on Tuesday afternoon, after we had been informed that he would speak in Glencoe that night. No particular place was mentioned in the instructions to arrest Mr. Strachey.”
“All possible discretion was used in making the arrest,” Commissioner MacCormack continued. “Mr. Strachey was moving so rapidly that it was difficult to keep up with him. The local authorities of Glencoe who served Mr. Strachey with notice of his detension probably wanted not to lose sight of him. Thus they detained him in the synagogue immediately after he concluded his lecture.”
Commissioner MacCormack explained that the warrant to arrest Mr. Strachey pending deportation proceedings was issued after the immigration department received numerous complaints against him. The Commissioner refused to reveal the identity of the complainants.
Mr. Strachey is accused of entering the United States “by means of false and misleading statements” and of having “declared himself to be a Communist” since his arrival here. He is a prominent British writer and
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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.
