The Communist Party, USA, works day and night to further the communist plot in America. Virtually invisible to the noncommunist eye, unhampered by time, distance, and legality, this bolshevik transmission is in progress. The Communist Party, USA, is bolshevizing its membership and creating communist puppets throughout the country. The American Party, in the Kremlin’s eyes, has for its objective the ultimate seizure of power in America and, to accomplish this purpose, it seeks to “educate” in the ways of communism all who will listen.

To appreciate the deadly seriousness of this process, the American citizen must see how the Communist Party, USA, by its every act, often without fanfare or newspaper headlines, is creating a corps of dedicated Party members, supported in many ways by United States citizens who have been infected or misled in one way or another.

Millions of Americans have wondered how the communists gain support. Frequently they seem to wield influence entirely out of proportion to their actual numbers.

Party influence is exerted through the communist device of thought control (controlling, in various degrees, the thinking of many Americans). The communists quickly accuse anybody who disagrees with them of being guilty of thought control; it is a favorite communist expression. Yet this same technique, applied in varying degrees to different groups of our population, is the key to communist strength in America today.

The Party’s objective is to drive a wedge, however slight, into as many minds as possible. That is why, in every conceivable way, communists try to poison our thinking about the issues of the day: social reforms, peace, politics, veterans’, women’s, and youth problems. The more people they can influence, the stronger they will be.

Top Party officials have a definite assignment: to capture positions of power. They are the Party’s front-line commanders. Communism is at war with America. The United States is a vast battlefield. A school, a labor union, a civic group, a government official, a private citizen—all are important in the never-ending struggle for power.

The whole nation, to the communists, is a gigantic checker-board. The communist high command is constantly moving, jumping, switching, and retreating to get communist members in positions of influence. They are outnumbered; they know that. That is why they must depend on skill, maneuvering, and deception.

The communist official in our country realizes that his supporters often form a motley collection, varying greatly in loyalty: some are fanatically loyal; others are half-timers or “single-nighters.” Many are “tremblers,” needing constant encouragement, whereas some are just victims unwittingly caught in the Party net.

But time after time the communists are able to weld these seemingly ill-assorted supporters into a unified instrument of power. They have succeeded in creating and dominating different areas of thought control. Each area contains supporters who, under Party guidance, can quickly and effectively be mobilized. The result of this manipulation, as applied to diverse personalities, groups, and issues, is a tribute to the communists’ deceitful skill. By this technique, using its own membership as a base, the Party is today influencing literally thousands of Americans.

There are five principal areas, or circles, of thought control that should be thoroughly understood. These are the keys to communist mobilization to achieve control of the United States.

1. “Open” Party members. The area of highest thought control, which is the core of communist strength, is the Party membership. These individuals, after indoctrination, become full-fledged revolutionaries, pledged to stick with the Party at all times.

Normally they make no effort to conceal their membership. They may be high-ranking officials, such as a state chairman, a section organizer, a club chairman, an educational director, or mere rank-and-file members. They are enrolled, pay dues, and accept Party discipline.

The Party member must be completely obedient; that is the hallmark of Party life. The constitution of the Communist Party, USA, sets forth specifically this definition of a full-fledged member:

Very clearly, he is a tool of the Party.

Party policy is built around Party membership. The trained member is one on whom the Party depends to commit espionage, derail a speeding train, and organize riots. If asked, gun in hand, to assault the Capitol of the United States, he will be expected to obey. These members are today working to promote a Soviet America: some in undercover assignments, some in communist-front organizations, others as Party officials. They are the offensive shock troops—confidently expecting that the precise moment will arrive when conditions will make feasible the revolutionary overthrow of our government.

If the Party desires to undertake a certain task, Party members, seen or unseen, will be the leaders. Suppose that a communist front is to be started; that is, an organization which is to be maneuvered by the Party. A communist sympathizer may be named president, but a Party member will probably be executive secretary, placed there to control policies. Or suppose a giant rally for “peace” is to be held. The platform will glitter with noncommunists. But a communist member on hand will control the agenda.

The strength of this inner circle, the real backbone of communist striking power, lies not in numbers but in organized deception. Following Lenin’s teachings, the Party is a small, compact, and highly mobile group that can strike quickly with great fury, often achieving objectives unwarranted by its numbers. Today’s membership is hard, well trained, and disciplined. The weak, fainthearted, and skeptical have been purged. Those who remain faithful to the Party are dedicated to the communist revolution. They are willing to sacrifice everything for it. Here is an actual case:

This is the fanaticism of the trained member.

To be obedient, however, is not enough. This select group of Party members must be made superobedient, meaning subservient beyond the hope of return. They must be constantly whipped into a state of frenzied enthusiasm and never allowed to relax. The moment a member “lets up” he is endangered; a noncommunist thought might slip in. He must be made to think exclusively in Party terms and nothing else. Some Party members are old-timers; others are new recruits. All of them grew up in capitalist society. Many still show the effects of their “enemy upbringing,” especially the younger ones. That is why they slacken once in a while. They think for themselves; they put self before Party. These instincts must be pounded out and communist thoughts instilled. Communists are not born; they are made. For example:

A Party leader in the Deep South was angry. He was talking to a member who had “slipped” a little. This individual was not giving his best effort to the Party, although he had been in the Party for twelve years and had fought in Spain with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

“Work harder for the Party,” was the leader’s theme. “You’ve got to give more time to the Party than you’re doing now.”

“And starve,” answered the other man. “I’ve got to keep my job. I can’t make a living just doing Party work.”

“Let your wife work,” retorted the official. “That’ll hold you for a while, or borrow money if need be.”

“But she can’t make enough. Besides, she wants to keep house.”

“She’s a drawback,” flashed the leader, “a definite hindrance. What are you going to do, stand up for the Party or your wife?”

The question was direct. The individual answered, “What do you want me to do? Divorce my wife?”

“If your marriage is such that you can’t work for the Party,” came the reply, “I’d seriously consider divorce. Your wife is selfish, simply self-centered. She wants all your time. She doesn’t understand the movement. She’s interested in her own happiness and security.”

The communist leader rammed home his point. “I’m working all the time, so much that I can hardly sleep nights. You can’t allow personal problems to take your mind off the Party. You’ve got to fight that kind of pressure. Your allegiance to the Party comes first. I never let my wife interfere. She knows her place.”

2. Concealed Party members. Another area dominated by communist thought control consists of the concealed communist, the individual who, though accepting Party discipline, does not wish his affiliation to be publicly known. These two areas, open and concealed members, in fact, are closely related, often interchanging and always cooperating with each other. The concealed communist, because he is not known as a communist, can often advance the Party’s cause among people and in organizations where an open member would be scorned.

The number of concealed communists is high. They vary in degree of concealment. Some are concealed from the public and are not openly identified as communists. Others are concealed even from the membership, and a few are so deeply hidden that only top leaders know their identity. Usually the more prominent the individual, the more concealed he must be.

Concealed communists are found in all fields. They may be enrolled members, although secretly and usually under an alias or assumed name; or their names may never appear on official rolls. It does not matter. They are viewed by Party leaders as members. They are equally as dangerous as the open member, if not more so. They are difficult to identify and, being concealed, can operate freely in noncommunist groups.

A physician, a lawyer, an educator, a personnel manager in a business firm, a television script writer—each may be a concealed communist of great value to the Party. Suppose that a Party member is in hiding. He becomes ill. The doctor, a concealed communist, is called. He can be trusted. Or a study group is formed on a campus. The professor “guides” the discussion and subtly engenders communist doctrine. A personnel manager hires communist sympathizers, working them into key positions. Party influence increases, almost without anybody’s knowing it. Here is an example of how the system works:

Two men huddle in conversation. One is a top Party official; the other, a high-ranking labor union leader who is a concealed communist, although his union has since ousted him from his post.

The national convention of the union is about to open in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Party official is issuing instructions. Support this, support that. He talks in great detail, laying down the over-all Party policy. Then he becomes more specific, even going so far as to dictate the wording of resolutions, suggesting the order of convention business, and advising how certain personalities should be handled. Nothing is to be left to chance.

The union, leader listens. He can go on the convention floor, since nobody knows that he is under Party discipline, and carry out the communist program. This concealed communist is essential to the Party’s thought-control technique. There are thousands like him always seeking to penetrate the healthy body of American life and to corrupt it.

In another case, a top communist leader, long before he fled into the communist underground, was confronted with the problem of being identified, for he was well known and his picture had been widely publicized in the press. He could dye his hair, shave off his mustache, and lose weight, but he still could be readily identified by a mole on the right side of his jaw. He went to a physician in a Midwest city, a reported communist, who operated on the Party leader to remove the mole from his face.

Another concealed member of the Party was the editor-in-chief of a conservative book-publishing house. This editor, having an excellent educational background, was highly regarded by his company. On one occasion, after this publishing house had been criticized by a newspaper columnist for publishing procommunist books, the president discussed the problem at a meeting of the board of directors. He reported that he had asked the editor if, in fact, he was a member of the Communist Party. The editor entered an emphatic denial. The president then advised the board that since the editor was a gentleman, the allegations that he was a communist were false.

The president of the publishing house simply did not know the facts. The editor’s usual procedure was to have the manuscript of a communist author submitted directly to him on a personal basis. He would review it, be sure it was in publishable form, then have the author submit it to the publishing house through routine channels. Receiving the manuscript later through the company, he would recommend its publication. Through this technique, the editor was eminently successful in circulating communist literature.

When noncommunist authors complained and several terminated their relations with the publisher, the editor was later quietly eased out of his job.

There are occasions when a member of the Party will drop his open Party activities, move to another section of the country, and become a secret, concealed member. Such was the case of a talented young man who became active in the Communist Party in New York City before World War II when he was employed by a motion-picture company. After work he functioned as a Communist Party organizer, later as a membership director of a Party club, and, for a while, worked on the paid staff of the American Labor Party. In the meantime he obtained a job in television and in 1953 became program director of a television station in a large Southern city.

Soon after his arrival in the Southern city, the TV program director started to meet secretly with the Party’s “white-collar” professional group. Word came through that he should sever even these connections, according to a Party functionary, who said, “We want them [him and his wife] to be secure for the Party.” He was too valuable a member to be compromised. The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, however, uncovered the white-collar professional cell, and when the TV director declined to answer Committee questions, he was promptly fired by his employer.

3. Fellow travelers. The third area in which communist thought control works is that of the fellow traveler and sympathizer. These two terms are distinct but related. The fellow traveler, while not a member, actively supports (travels with) the Party’s program for a period of time. The sympathizer is more passive, sympathizing with the Party or individual members on specific issues, and may or may not give active aid. These individuals are not Party members, but, in some degree, have come under Party control.

This control is sufficient to make them work willingly for the Party. Many consistently follow the Party line, even maintaining personal contacts with Communist Party officials. Others, the so-called “intellectuals,” may never have attended a communist meeting and may know nothing about Party organization. Yet, because of the spell of communist thought control, they knowingly do the Party’s work. Perhaps they have been influenced by Marxist writings or the professed aims of the Party on certain issues. In any case, deluded by communist propaganda, they desire to render active assistance.

Fellow travelers and sympathizers, unlike open or concealed communists, cannot be disciplined. A Party leader may request a favor. If the fellow traveler or sympathizer agrees, fine; if he doesn’t, the Party cannot do much except hope to exert more influence next time.

Moreover, these people are often undependable, donating money, for example, to one Party function but not another. Sometimes they may be “hot,” doing just about anything asked. Then suddenly they grow “cold,” lose interest, and become inactive.

The value of fellow travelers and sympathizers lies in their alleged noncommunist affiliation. That is why, in most instances, communist leaders do not attempt to recruit them into the Party. They are more valuable outside: as financial contributors, vocal mouthpieces, or contacts between Party officials and noncommunists. They constitute, in fact, fronts for, and defenders of, the Communist Party.

The role these individuals can play for the communists is clearly illustrated in front organizations, where they serve as sponsors or officials. Behind the scenes is a communist manipulator. Consider, for example, one such organization. In October, 1951, the Daily Worker announced the formation of the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee with one hundred fifty founders (from thirty-nine states), including fifty who were educators, clergymen, and professionals.

One of the Committee’s first official moves was to petition the New York State Commissioner of Education to “forbid the New York City Board of Education from enforcing its newly-enacted ban on suspected communist teachers....” Gradually, as the old Civil Rights Congress, a well-known front, became discredited, the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee took over its work. In 1956 the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, after identifying the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, stated, “When the Communist Party itself is under fire these fronts offer a bulwark of protection.”

The names of the group’s one hundred fifty founders have been exploited by the Party to fight its battles.

To make a known Party member president of a front would immediately label it as “communist.” But if a sympathizer can be installed, especially a man of prominence, such as an educator, minister, or scientist, the group can operate as an “independent” organization. This trick has worked time after time and is still working today. By allowing themselves to be used as tools, fellow travelers and sympathizers have immeasurably advanced the communist cause.

In Chapter 17 we shall discuss communist fronts in greater detail.

Of particular interest to the communists is the influence of fellow travelers and sympathizers in the “thought-molding” field: teachers, script writers, newspapermen, news analysts. If these individuals can be subjected to the slightest bit of communist thought control, the Party will have won a major victory.

One individual in New York City, for example, once occupied an important role as a news commentator and author. His views were consistently procommunist. He represented himself as an authority on international affairs. He claimed to have talked personally to many of the world’s leaders. Just as the communists would want, everywhere he went he built himself up as an individual who could give the American people guidance in their thinking.

This sympathizer was simply irreplaceable in the communist scheme. No open communist could discuss current events before lecture audiences, behind the microphone, or through the written word with his degree of “objectivity” and “independence.” He was able to fool many noncommunists and exert considerable influence. His lecture tours were often arranged by communist-front groups. A concealed communist contributed money to his expenses. Wherever this “world observer” went, he preached communist-line and pro-Soviet propaganda. When his influence began to slip, he then changed his ways and sought his livelihood elsewhere.

Men and women of this caliber can do much to bring others into the communist thought-control net. No wonder the Party works to support them.

4. Opportunists. Another group that falls, on occasion, under communist thought control consists of opportunists, individuals who, if they can benefit personally, will knowingly support the Party in return for support or favors from it. Opportunists are cynical and self-seeking, not caring that by cooperating with the communists, even though temporarily, they are injuring the nation.

In a large Midwestern city a noncommunist labor leader had aspirations to become president of a union council. A group of communists, opposed to the then president, decided that this labor leader could be controlled. They drafted him as a candidate and, of course, on the election slate placed also some Party members. The labor leader won the election, and so did the communists, because they gained a man over whom they had a hold and whom they could therefore expect to use.

The opportunist was then pushed into various front organizations: he was put on the board of a communist-sponsored school; designated as a delegate to a convention of a front group; enlisted to join a campaign to oppose the “anticommunist clause” in a state-wide labor convention. He was besieged constantly to “do this” and “help us.” His value to the Party was shown, for example, when, even though he refused on a certain occasion to cooperate with a Party front, his position was defended by the Party. The opportunist, in the Party’s eyes, was more important to it as a labor leader than as a supporter of the front.

For some time the deal paid off. The opportunist received the prestige and the communists had a champion. Then things began to change. The opportunist had his own ideas and ceased to follow the Party lead. Relations became strained. When the communists wanted the city-wide council to endorse a well-known comrade as a candidate for the board of education, they brought up the motion at a meeting when the opportunist was absent. The communist candidate was endorsed. That was too much for the opportunist, who promptly issued a public statement denying that he was backing the communist candidate. A special meeting of the council was called to reconsider its action.

The communists now moved into high gear. Word went out that the opportunist would have to be “put in his place” for publicly denouncing the communist candidate. At a special meeting the opportunist took the floor and successfully led the fight to reverse the council’s endorsement of a communist. The communists were bitter in their condemnation of their onetime protégé; he was a “traitor” and a “hypocrite.” Deciding he had had enough, the opportunist resigned the presidency.

In such a case who is the ultimate winner? The communists, for they have advanced their program. When he, the opportunist, faltered, he was dropped.

Communists watch eagerly for such opportunists; they are usually easy to influence and exploit. The self-seeker, fighting to win an election or wanting to earn some easy money, may listen to communist double talk and cooperate. Not that the Party is under any illusions; the opportunist is not going to be converted. He will denounce communist support just as quickly as he accepted it. Relations are strictly “dog eat dog,” each trying to exploit the other. But the opportunist can be used.

5. Dupes. The final area is that of the dupe, or innocent victim, the individual who unknowingly is under communist thought control and does the work of the Party. A tragedy of the past generation in the United States is that so many persons, including high-ranking statesmen, public officials, educators, ministers of the gospel, professional men, have been duped into helping communism. Communist leaders have proclaimed that communism must be partly built with noncommunist hands, and this, to a large extent, is true.

Communist propaganda is tailored to attract noncommunists. Communism offers a bogus “spiritual appeal,” a “Kingdom of God on earth.” Its tactics and strategy are covered with attractive, appealing words, such as “freedom,” “justice,” and “equality.” The communists claim they are working for a “better world,” that they have the answer to discrimination, exploitation, and economic want. To fight for communism, they say, is to become part of the most sacred crusade in the history of man.

Many well-meaning citizens, attracted by these words and not seeing behind the communist intentions, have been swept into the communist thought-control net. Most are sincerely interested in improving society, and there are many ways in which our society can and should be improved. They are willing to devote their time, talents, and energies to a “sacred cause.” That is how communist thought control works. If it can influence you on any matter, regardless of how minor, making you think favorably toward communism, it has gained. It has something to sell everyone.

“Fool the noncommunists!” That is the slogan. And, better still, make noncommunists fool each other! Encourage the support of as many dupes as possible. These individuals see only the exterior, or false face, of communism. They are never shown the inside, the real communism, the terror, injustice, and slavery. Time after time, in almost unbelievable fashion, victims, somehow or other under communist thought control, do communism’s work: signing communist election petitions, contributing time or money to communist fronts, issuing statements in support of communist-sponsored campaigns.

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party, USA, quite recently was a candidate for the New York City Council under the emblem of the People’s Rights Party. Communists canvassed to obtain at least 3000 signatures on petitions required by law to place her name on the ballot. They went over the goal with the help of noncommunists. In the November 5, 1957, election, however, Flynn received fewer than 1000 votes.

The People’s Rights Party is a sham political party created to give the Communist Party the legal right to run communist candidates. In 1946, 1952, 1954, and again in 1957 communist candidates have run for municipal, state, or national office in New York City under the banner of the People’s Rights Party. Each time signatures had to be obtained to secure the right of the PRP to place its candidates on the ballot.

Another instance of Party manipulation to gain the support of noncommunists was the campaign in the summer of 1957 to solicit signatures for petitions opposing the further testing of nuclear weapons by the United States government. Most of these signatures, of course, were those of noncommunists. On this issue the Party was slavishly following the line of international communism. Communist strategy is to provide the leadership, encouraging noncommunists to do the work.

Not that these individuals are communists. The great majority of them are loyal, but deceived, citizens. Sending five dollars to a front organization with a patriotic-sounding name; signing a communist-inspired petition urging “world disarmament” (isn’t that a worthy cause?); attending a giant Party-manipulated rally in support of the “Bill of Rights”: the noncommunist does not realize these campaigns are being operated out of downtown communist headquarters. He is fooled because he believes in the aims they profess and does not recognize the hidden motive.

But, from the communist point of view, a dollar is a dollar. A victim makes a contribution. His money is just as good as money from an open member. A noncommunist allows his name to be used on a letterhead. Suppose he was fooled? The name is still there. Thus the communists assemble support from all quarters, whether given intentionally or not, and apply it toward their objectives.

Party officials, like fishermen, are constantly watching their “nets” to see what the fishing will bring. Each day, unfortunately, communist thought-control nets, sweeping through American life, catch new supporters, maybe two or three new members, several sympathizers, an opportunist, many victims. A “big-name” sympathizer is worth a great deal and so is another fellow traveler. Each can be put to work. The strength of the Communist Party depends, at any given time, on the number of fish in the net.

How can we, as Americans, protect ourselves from becoming “innocent victims” of the communists?

First, we should not fall for “fronts.” In Chapter 17 you will find a detailed description of how communist fronts operate, together with a twelve-point list of ways to spot them so that we will not be fooled into giving them our support. (The Attorney General of the United States has issued a list of subversive organizations, and the House Committee on Un-American Activities has also issued a Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications.)

Second, we should know the answers to the Five False Claims of Communism. In the next chapter we shall learn what those claims are and how United States communists use them to disarm and confuse loyal Americans. We should learn to spot those claims, and know the answers.

Finally, we should not permit the use of our names unless we know the true identity of the soliciting group. We should use our right of petition to further the American way of life, and not allow the communists to steal it from us.