Every citizen has a duty to learn more about the menace that threatens his future, his home, his children, the peace of the world—and that is why I have written this book.
If you will take the time to inform yourself, you will find that communism holds no mysteries. Its leaders have blue-printed their objectives. The time is far too late not to recognize this “ism” for what it is: a threat to humanity and to each of us.
Moreover, there is the sobering fact that since the end of World War II we have spent billions of dollars to defend ourselves from communist aggression. This burden will continue to mount until the world is free from the communist menace.
This book is an attempt to explain communism—what it is, how it works, what its aims are, and, most important of all, what we need to know to combat it.
In writing this book I have been guided by many years of study and observation of the communist conspiracy in action in the United States.
As a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States in 1919, I was assigned to prepare a legal brief on the newly formed Communist Party and Communist Labor Party. This necessitated an extensive and penetrating study.
The amount of material was voluminous: Party statements, resolutions, platforms, news accounts, manifestoes, the very first documents of American communism. I studied also the writings of Marx, Engels, and Lenin as well as the activities of the Third International.
In this brief, which was submitted to the Attorney General, I concluded:
These doctrines threaten the happiness of the community, the safety of every individual, and the continuance of every home and fireside. They would destroy the peace of the country and thrust it into a condition of anarchy and lawlessness and immorality that passes imagination.
Today, as I write these words, my conclusions of 1919 remain the same. Communism is the major menace of our time. Today, it threatens the very existence of our Western civilization.
In November, 1917, the Bolsheviks seized control in Russia, gaining state power for the first time. That breach has today widened into a vast communist empire. The attack is still being pressed. International communism will never rest until the whole world, including the United States, is under the hammer and sickle. This is what has happened to the Russian people, now held in bondage, who would be free if they could. (I wish to distinguish here and elsewhere in this book between these unfortunate millions and the small clique of communist rulers of Soviet Russia.)
Communism is more than an economic, political, social, or philosophical doctrine. It is a way of life; a false, materialistic “religion.” It would strip man of his belief in God, his heritage of freedom, his trust in love, justice, and mercy. Under communism, all would become, as so many already have, twentieth-century slaves.
Ever since 1917, I have observed the rise of international communism with great concern, particularly communist efforts to infiltrate and infect our American way of life. The Communist Party, USA, started in 1919 as a small, disorganized group of fanatics. Today, it is a dedicated, conspiratorial group operating under modern conditions as an arm of revolution. There is no doubt that America is now the prime target of international communism.
Obviously, this book does not pretend to disclose a body of material known exclusively to the FBI. What it does express is the hope that all of us may develop a shared body of rudimentary knowledge about communism: a body of knowledge that we dare not be without. It attempts, in almost primer form, to set down certain fundamentals of the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party, USA: how a communist meeting is conducted; how a top Party official lives; what goes on in the underground; how discipline is enforced; how Party members collect money, attend indoctrination schools, hand out propaganda leaflets. Party members are shown organizing agitation campaigns, infiltrating noncommunist organizations, and manipulating communist fronts. The best way to appreciate the nature and objectives of an enemy is to observe him in action.
The Communist Party, never forget, is a state within a state. It has its own system of “courts,” legislative assemblies, schools, and press. It enforces its own laws, has its own standards of conduct, and offers its own road to Utopia. The Party member may physically reside in the United States, but he “lives” in a communist “world.”
The Party, moreover, serves as a “transmission belt” whereby the Soviet mentality is being imposed, both directly and indirectly, on thousands of Americans. The Party’s objective is to produce a “politically mature” comrade—“communist man”—who will work ceaselessly for the revolution that would make our United States part of the Soviet system.
I have deep faith in the American people and in our American way of life. But I know what communism could do to us. Not because it is stronger than we are; it is not. Not because it has something better to offer; it has not. But we may not learn until it is too late to recognize who the communists are, what they are doing, and what we ourselves, therefore, must do to defeat them.
It is my sincere hope that members of the Communist Party will take the time to read this book—to see how, right before their eyes, the Party is deceiving them. As we know, many members, once awakened to the true nature of communism, have renounced the Party. By casting aside the communist spell, these men and women can do much to aid the cause of freedom.
I have sought to avoid sensationalism, even though much of the FBI’s work in keeping abreast of day-to-day activities of American communists makes us ask in wonderment, “Can this be possible?” To recount the sensational activities of communists would defeat my objective. My purpose has been to assemble, organize, and present basic, everyday facts of communism which will be of maximum help to the people of our country in recognizing and fighting the enemy in our midst. Consequently, where illustrative incidents seemed advisable, I have selected those that have occurred most frequently and are most typical of the communism that is seeking daily to undermine our liberties. I have also deliberately avoided identifying many names and places.
I owe deep thanks to many for help in the preparation of this book. On the technical side, I am grateful to William I. Nichols, editor and publisher of This Week magazine, for much editorial guidance and advice. In a wider sense, I owe much to the courageous and self-sacrificing men and women of the FBI who have contributed so greatly to America’s fight against communism.
But most of all, I have been guided by the thought of millions of loyal Americans everywhere and in all walks of life. Never has there been a time when we have so much need for one another. And we must never forget that if our government is to remain free, it needs the help of every patriotic man, woman, and child.
Washington, D.C.
December, 1957