TESTIMONY OF CHARLES J. HENDI,EY, BRONX, NEW YORK, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS ATTORNEYS, HAROLD I. CAMMER AND ROYAL W. FRANCE
 

     Mr. MORRIS. May I call a previous president of the Teachers Union, Mr. Charles Hendley?
     Senator FERGUSON. You do solemnly swear in the matter now pending before this committee, being a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee of the United States Senate, that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes.
     Senator FERGUSON. You may proceed.
     Mr. MORRIS. Will you give your full name and address to the reporter?
     Mr. HENDLEY. My name is Charles J. Hendley, 3210 Fairfield Avenue, Bronx, 63, New York.
     Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Hendley, have you been president of the New York Teachers Union?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes; I was in the past.
     Mr. MORRIS. Could you tell us when you were president of the Teachers Union ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. From 1935 until 1945.
     Mr. MORRIS. Could you tell us how many members were in the teachers union during that period of time? What was your maximum membership?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I think we were pretty close to 10,000 at one time.
     Mr. MORRIS. What was your minimum membership during that period?



     Mr. HENDLEY. We started, I think, during my period—we started with about 2,500 members and grew rapidly to about 10,000.
     Mr. MORRIS.  Mr. Hendley, while you were president of the Teachers Union, was the Teachers Union expelled from the Central Trades and Labor Council?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Now, the answer is simple, and I will give it to you, but it is not a simple story.
     Mr. MORRIS. That may be, but, we want the answer, Mr. Hendley.
     Senator FERGUSON. What is the answer?
     Mr. HENDLEY. We were put out of the Central Trades and Labor Council. So were many others.
For instance, the International Ladies Garment Workers were put out. I once told people in our national organization it was an honor to be kicked out of some places.
     Mr. MORRIS. While you were president of the union, was your union dismissed from the American Federation of Labor?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes; after a long procedure, but that is not a simple story either.
     Mr. MORRIS. That is right. Now, you are presently associated with the Teachers Union, are you not?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes.
     Mr. MORRIS. What position do you hold?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I have no position except I attend one of their committees regularly.
     Mr. MORRIS. You testified yesterday that you do have a position in the teachers union [sic].
     Mr. HENDLEY. I didn't testify I had any office. I said I attended the educational policy committee pretty regularly.
     Mr. MORRIS. You are a member of that, are you not?
     Mr. HENDLEY. A member of that particular committee; yes.
     Mr. MORRIS. Has the Teachers Union been expelled from the CIO?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Not directly. We belong to the United Public Workers, and after a great campaign they expelled the United Public Workers from the CIO, and that included us. The attack was not on the Teachers Union.
     Mr. Momus. What is your present position ? What do you do now ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am a retired teacher.
     Senator FERGUSON. Are you on pension in any way?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes; I retired for service and have a pension.
     Senator FERGUSON. What is your pension from the public schools?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Well, a little over $2,300 a year.
     Senator FERGUSON. And have you received that from the time you left the employment?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Oh, yes.
     Senator FERGUSON. What year was that?
     Mr. HENDLEY. 1946 or 1947; 1946, I believe I retired.
     Senator FERGUSON. 1946 ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I think that was the year.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you associated with the Freedom of the Press Co?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am a stockholder there.
     Mr. MORRIS. How many shares of stock do you hold in the Freedom of the Press Co.?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Well, I have forgotten. I invested about $200 in it. I have forgotten how many shares that is. I have forgotten the par value.


     Mr. MORRIS. How many shareholders are there in this corporation that we have been discussing?
     Mr. HENDLEY. That is a matter of record. I wouldn't undertake to say. There are not many of us.
     Mr. MORRIS. What does this corporation do?
     Mr. HENDLEY, We just simply are the owners of the Daily Worker and we make contracts with the printer and with the Newspaper Guild, and things of that kind.
     Senator FERGUSON. Does it actually operate and print the Daily Worker?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes; it is our paper. That is, we own it, and in that sense the stockholders don't have to do with the actual operation.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who does?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Well, the general staff of the Daily Worker.
     Senator FERGUSON: Are you on the board of directors?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes.
     Senator FERGUSON. And I assume that the board of directors controls the editorial policy of the Daily Worker?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes. Well, in a general way.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who does control it if they only do it in a general way?
     Mr. HENDLEY. In a last resort, I suppose the directors are responsible.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who outside of the directors?
     Mr. HENDLEY. We have great confidence in the staff there, and the paper runs itself pretty well.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who is the editorial manager?
     Mr. HENDLEY. You can get that information. It is a matter of record.
     Senator FERGUSON. As a member of the board, do you know?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I know the acting editorial manager.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who is it?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Well, Allen Max.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who was his predecessor?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I don't know the history of it.
     Senator FERGUSON. You have been on the board for how long?
     Mr. HENDLEY. And I don't know the relations of the acting manager, and so on.
     Senator FERGUSON. How long have you been on the board?
     Mr. HENDLEY. A little over a year, I think it was.
     Senator FERGUSON. How long have you owned stock in it?
     Mr. HENDLEY. About the same length of time.
     Senator FERGUSON.. Who has been the editorial manager?
     Mr. MORRIS.      Mr. Hendley is not a member of the board of directors, but is secretary and treasurer.
     Mr. HENDLEY. That is a member of the board of directors.
     Mr. MORRIS. But you are secretary and treasurer, which is one of the principal officers,,are you not?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I signed the incorporation papers.
     Mr. MORRIS. But you know, do you not, that you are the secretary and treasurer of the corporation?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes. Sometimes I sign checks for them.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who has been the editorial director while you have been connected with it?



     Mr. HENDLEY. I can't go into the history. One of the best editors we have ever had was in jail. This is a technique of guilt by association.
     Senator FERGUSON. Not at all.
     Mr. HENDLEY. Yes, it is.
     Senator FERGUSON. The question was who controlled the policy of this paper while you were on the board of directors or an officer, and you said--
     Mr. HENDLEY. We operate just as corporations generally do—I trust the advice of the lawyers that, are advising us all the time, and we own the-paper and are responsible to that extent.
     Senator FERGUSON. Does the Daily Worker follow the Communist Party line ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Pretty much, I think.
     Senator FERGUSON. How much?
     Mr. HENDLEY. But I want to explain to you there is no official connection between the Communist Party and the Publishers New Press, Inc.
     Senator FERGUSON. But you say it follows the party line.
     Mr. HENDLEY. And I joined the Daily Worker for that express purpose, to protect the right of the men on the Daily Worker to set forth the Communist view on the daily news. Those men who know something about communism have more right to express themselves than ignoramuses that are carrying all of this Communist propaganda.
     Senator FERGUSON. Then it is your express purpose that the Daily Worker should carry out the party line?
     Mr. HENDLEY. That is why I joined the corporation.
     Senator FERGUSON. Who lays down the party line?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I don't know anything about that.
     Senator FERGUSON. It follows it, and that is the purpose, and that is why you are on it. Who lays it down?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I don't know who lays down the party line. I suppose it's the same as in any other party, it's a matter of the activity and history of the party over the years.
     Senator FERGUSON. Where does it get the party line? You are connected with the institutions of learning.
     Mr. HENDLEY. Incidentally, communism, socialism, has been studied by the whole world for 100 years. The party line comes from that 100 years of history of propaganda, of study and teaching throughout the whole world; it is an offshoot of that.
     Senator FERGUSON. The present party line is laid down by whom?
     Mr. HENLEY. No one in particular.
     Senator FERGUSON. Well, what group ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I suppose the members of the Communist Party.
     Senator FERGUSON. In America or in Russia?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Well, I don't have any official knowledge of that. In America I would say, so far as I know.
     Senator FERGUSON. So far as you know, it is in America?
     Mr. HENDLEY. The Communist Party in America is absolutely independent of the Communist Party of Russia, just as the Republican Party is not a part of the Tories of England.
     Mr. MORRIS. What is the basis of that testimony you have just given us?



     Mr. HENDLEY. General information. I have studied this subject for 40 years or more.
     Mr. MORRIS. Are you a member of the Communist Party, Mr Hendley ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am not afraid of that question, but I strenuously object to it for several reasons. It seems to be a favorite question ever since Dies and Bilbo and Rankin.
     Mr. MORRIS. You have been talking about communism, and your experience with communism; and, by way of qualifying you as an expert, we are asking whether or not you are a member of the Communist Party?
     Mr. HENDLEY: Under normal conditions, I would answer that simply and frankly. But here is quite a different matter. This is a favorite question with you, and you put it to some of the best patriots in the school system yesterday, and you now repeat that question today and it is an unfair question. It is a means of establishing guilt by association. It is an insinuation that perhaps we are members of the party and are trying to put something across. I object to that.
     Senator FERGUSON. What is your reason for not answering that? I cannot sustain that.
     Mr. HENDLEY. You aren't authorized by the American people to go around on a fishing expedition to persecute people, and you know teachers are vulnerable.
     Senator FERGUSON. Do you refuse to answer, Or are you going to answer?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I don't have to answer that question.
     Senator FERGUSON. On what grounds?
     Mr. HENDLEY. Because your question amounts to a charge. You are accusing me. It is not a simple question. It is loaded. You are trying to embarrass not only me but to embarrass all of these teachers
     Senator. FERGUSON. You have not yet assigned a reason for not answering.
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am no lawyer, but I know enough about the law that there are many provisions in the United States Constitution to protect citizens from persecution like that? You are accusing me, really.
     Senator FERGUSON. Will you please answer the question or explail your reason for not answering.
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am not answering, and I am explaining why I am not answering. You are really making a charge against me. Now the proper procedure is to present any evidence you have that I an subversive or disloyal to a grand jury, and let me be presented with my accusers and witnesses. That is your procedure, and I challenge you to do it. In asking me that question, you are really accusing me of conspiracy to overthrow the United States Government by force and violence, and I am not guilty, and I am not answering the charge. 
     Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Chairman, the record will show no such accusation.
     What is the charge?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I know enough about law that I don't have to answer a question where I am charged with a crime. It is up to you to prove a crime.
     Senator FERGUSON. Is it on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate you?



     Mr. HENDLEY. I notice you like to use that word "incriminate.” I am not incriminating myself by refusing to answer my question. I am taking advantage of numerous clauses in the Constitution and the sixth amendment.
     Senator FERGUSON. Under the fifth amendment, I will sustain your objection.
     Mr. HENDLEY. To protect me from answering that question.
     Mr. MORRIS. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mandel has an excerpt from the Daily Worker of October 7, 1951.  Mr. Mandel, will you identify that?
     Mr. MANDEL. This is a photostat of the Worker of October 7, 1951, pages 3 and 6. There is an article entitled "Our Paper Gets New Owners.” I offer that for the record.
     Senator FERGUSON. It will be received.
     (The photostat referred to was marked "Exhibit 1" and is as follows:)
 
 
     A broad group of trade-unionists, professionals, Negro and civic leaders Monday takes over the publication of The Worker and the Daily Worker from the Freedom of the Press Company, which has been publishing these papers since August 1, 1940.
     The new ownership, in a public statement, declared they "have taken this step in order to expand and reinforce the ownership of these papers in this period of persecution and reactionary oppression.”
     The statement noted that the four present stockholders of the Freedom of the Press Company gave active support to the formation of the new publishing company, incorporated as Publishers New Press, Inc. The new company has invited the present owners to become stockholders of it as soon as the change of owner-ship is completed.
     Participants in the new corporation, which assumes control of the two papers as of October 8, are Joseph Dermer, a leading figure in the New York Furriers Joint Council; Charles J. Hendley, retired teacher, who is a former president of the New York Teachers Union; Howard Fast, writer ; Richard O. Boyer, writer; Drs. Arnold Donawa and Ulysses Campbell, prominent Negro dentists of Manhattan and South Orange, N. J., respectively; Rev. Eliot White, Episcopal clergyman; Helen Alfred, retired social worker, prominent in community work, who formerly directed the National Public Housing Conference; Vincent Provinzano, secretary-treasurer of the Machinists' Local of the New York Furriers Joint Board; and Alex Kolkin, veteran figure in the rank-and-file movement of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
     Dermer was elected by the stockholders as President of the corporation and Hendley was named Secretary-Treasurer. Third member of a three-man Board of Directors is Alex Kolkin.
     Present stockholders of the Freedom of the Press Corporation are Grace Hutchins, Ann Pennypacker, Susan Woodruff, and Ferdinanda Reed. In a separate statement issued through Miss Hutchins, the four declared:
     "We are delighted to be joined by such fine and courageous Americans in the publication of The Worker and the Daily Worker. With the transfer of publishing rights from Freedom of the Press Company to the new ownership, we will continue, of course, the responsibilities for publication of these papers which we have undertaken with great pride in the past. We feel now we are sharing this great undertaking with others. We intend immediately to become stockholders of the new corporation."
     In their statement the new owners declared they expect the readers of the two working-class papers, "who are in a true sense the real `owners,' " to continue fighting for the papers and to guarantee their continued appearance.
     “It is with a deep sense of pride and a consciousness bf the great responsibility involved that we enter upon the job of publishing these papers," the statement


said.  "We have undertaken to keep alive the great tradition of independent, progressive working-class journalism which started with the early beginnings of the labor movement in our country, which is associated with Gene Debs' powerful `Appeal to Reason,' and which has been further developed by the Daily Worker and The Worker in the twenty-seven years of their existence." Calling attention to government moves against the papers, including imprisonment of Benjamin Davis, who had headed the Freedom of the Press Corporation, and John Gates, the papers' editor, the statement expressed confidence that "the great mass of Americans" will support the fight of the papers to protect press freedom as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
     The full statement follows:
     We, the undersigned—unionists, professionals, writers—have formed a new corporation for the purpose of publishing the Daily Worker and The Worker, and have come to an agreement with the Freedom of the Press Corp. concerning the transfer of the papers' publishing rights.
     We will take over publication tomorrow, October 8, 1951.
     We have taken this step in order to expand and reinforce the ownership of these papers in this period of persecution and reactionary oppression.
     Truman's bi-partisan Administration, with the fascist-like Smith Act as its instrument, has thrown into jail Benjamin J. Davis, president of the company now publishing the papers, and John Gates, editor and one of the five stockholders. The remaining four stockholders, some of them ill and living in other parts of the. country, have therefore supported the suggestion that steps be taken to strengthen the ownership of the papers against any efforts of the government to suppress them.
     We salute the four women who have borne the burden of publishing the papers in these turbulent and perilous times—Grace Hutchins, Anne Pennypacker, Susan Woodruff, Ferdinanda Reed—and have invited them to join us in the new corporation as soon as the transfer of publishing rights have been completed.
     It is with a deep sense of pride and a consciousness of the great responsibility involved that we enter upon the job of publishing these papers. We have undertaken to keep alive the great tradition of independent, progressive, working class journalism which started with the early beginnings of the labor movement in our country, which is associated with Gene Debs' powerful "Appeal to Reason," and which has been further developed by the Daily Worker and The Worker in the 27 years of their existence.
     For many years, each of us has followed with admiration and high regard the courageous course of these papers in battling against the forces of fascism, monopoly and oppression. We have supported their consistent championship of the struggles of American labor for a better life and for political recognition, their crusades for unemployment insurance, for industrial unionism and the organization of the. unorganized, for independent political action.
     We have backed them in their heroic and successful efforts to organize great masses of Americans against lynch terror and jimcrow [sic] in its many forms, and in their fight for complete and unequivocal equality for 15,000,000 Negro Americans.
We have joined them in resisting the continuous attacks upon our civil liberties by corrupt and reactionary politicians who are the zealous agents of Big Business. These attacks include the Smith Act, the McCarran Act, the Taft-Hartley Act, the President's Loyalty Oath, etc.
     Today, these papers are fighting magnificently and almost alone among the newspapers of the land to keep our country from being plunged into a suicidal, disastrous war, and to rally the entire American people to the cause of peace and democracy.
    While some of us may differ with the editorial staff on one issue or another, we do not intend to intervene in the editing of the paper. On the contrary, we expect that the staff will continue with vigor and clarity the present policies which have distinguished these papers.
     Furthermore, unlike the owners of the Big Business press, we have not invested in these papers with the expectation of making huge profits. We know they will operate at a deficit since they do not expect to get the patronage of big advertisers and must face constant harassment and intimidation by the forces of reaction. We expect that the readers, who are in a true sense the real "owners" of these papers, will continue to help us make up the deficits and guarantee that the papers appear.
     We intend to fight any effort on the part of the government or any other forces of reaction in this country to harass or suppress the Daily Worker or The Worker. We know that we can count not alone on the readers of these papers


but on the. great mass of Americans to support us in this fight to protect the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.
     Mr. MORRIS.  Mr. Hendley, we have had testimony here that a person who was secretary to you while you were president of the Teachers Union, a Miss Wallace, was secretly a sister of Dale Zysman. Are you acquainted with that testimony ?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I read it in the press.
     Mr. MORRIS. Was Miss Wallace your secretary while you were president of the Teachers Union?
     Mr. HENDLEY. She was secretary.
     Mr. MORRIS. Do you know that she was a sister of Zysman?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I think that is a fiction of Bella Dodd's imagination.
     Mr. MORRIS. Do you testify that to your knowledge?
     Mr. HENDLEY. To my knowledge, she is not a sister of Dale Zysman. That is the best of my knowledge. I am not intimately acquainted with her family.
     Senator FERGUSON. Do you know what her maiden name was? Or was she married, or did she go under an alias?
     Mr. HENDLEY. No, she had been married, I know.
     Senator FERGUSON. Did you know what her maiden name was?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I am not certain what her maiden name was. By the way, she married again while she was a secretary.
     Senator FERGUSON. Thinking over the question, do you know whether or not she was a sister?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I would say "No." That is, to the best of my knowldge. I don't pretend to know .intimately .herfamily life.
Mr: MORRIS. Mr. Hendley, were you a member of the Communist Party while you were the president of the Teachers Union?
     Mr. HENDLEY. I have already answered that. I am refusing to answer as to whether I have had any association with the Communist Party or not. I am not establishing my guilt by association.
     Senator FERGUSON. Sustained, on the fifth. amendment.
     Mr. MORRIS.  Mr. Chairman, will you call Mr. Jackson as the next witness?