Page 15 - Report on the National Lawyers Guild, legal bulwark of the Communist Party

THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD 9
The autumn 1949 issue of The Guild Lawyer listed the followin-^ as highlights of the guild's activities:
(a) Opposition to S. 595 and H. R 4703 finternal security bill) as written, and urging drastic revisions to conform to constitutional guaranties;
(b) Opposition to S. 1694 and S 1832 giving Attorney General authority to deport aliens associated with or aiding groups which he finds (without standards or hearings) are "subversive of 'Communist' controlled";
(c) Opposition to H. R. 1002 to require labeUng, as issued by a "Communist-front
organization," of anything mailed by a group which engages in activity which it is reasonable to believe is intended to further the objective of establishing here a Communist government or economic system, or if the group is "under Communist control or influence"
The National Lawyers Guild has submitted a brief amicus curiae in an attempt to obtain a Supreme Court reversal of Maryland's Ober law which outlaws all organizations advocating the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of Maryland (The Guild La\\^er, spring, 1950, p. 7).
At its tenth national convention in New York in May 1950, the guild demanded a repeal of the "advocacy sections" of the Smith Act, under which the 11 top Communist officials in the United States were convicted (Daily Compass, May 8, 1950, p. 5).
AGAINST COMMITTEES INVESTIGATING SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
Not only has the guild opposed legislation directed against the Communist Party, but it has also fought every committee which has
been effective in exposing Communist activity.
The guild has opposed the Rapp-Coudert committee investigating subversive activities in the public school system of New York City,
forexample. IthasalsoopposedtheYorkcommitteeinvestigating subversive activities among State employees of California; the Ellis committee investigating subversive activities in the New York Civil Service; and the Special Committee on Un-American Activities, predecessor of the present House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Abolition of the present Committee on Un-American Activities is calledforbytheNationalLawyersGuild. Aresolutiontothiseffect was adopted at the guild's ninth national convention held in Detroit, Mich.,inFebruary1949. Typicaloftheguildpropagandaregarding the Committee on Un-American Activities is the following statement in January 1948 by the then Guild President Robert Kenny:
For years I have been saying that it was my opinion that the Un-American Activities Committee had no foundation in law, had no power to compel dis- closures, and that their procedures were improper.
It would appear that the guild is not so much concerned over alleged violations of "democratic processes" as it is over the possible exposure of the Communist fifth column.
In this connection, it might be recalled that in 1940 the Special Committee on Un-American Activities conducted investigations which led to the exposure of wholesale fraud and corruption in Communist PartyelectionpetitionsinmanyStates. Morethan100indictments and between 50 and 60 convictions resulted from this investigation. The National Lawyers Guild, however, addressed a communication