Sample of the "Capital News and Feature Service"Sample of the "Capital News and Feature Service," in the establishment and distribution of which the Reverend Gerald B. Winrod had a hand.ToList
Sample of the "Capital News and Feature Service," in the establishment and distribution of which the Reverend Gerald B. Winrod had a hand.ToList
Winrod had been in constant communication with Pelley, and Pelley had conferred several times with Schwinn. The Nazis were eager to get a native American body into the organization so they would have an American "front."
Gilbert opened offices in Washington and, fearful lest theirlocation become known, rented Post Office Box No. 771, Ben Franklin Station, for use as a mailing address. After the first issue had been sent out, Winrod and his agents canvassed prominent industrialists for donations to support the "news service" on the grounds that it was furthering religious activities and fighting Communism. The money collected was actually used to carry on anti-democratic propaganda. A number of industrialists contributed. I have a list of them, but since there is no conclusive evidence that they knew the money was being spent by Nazi agents, I shall not publish the names. I mention it merely as an illustration of how wealthy men are victimized by racketeers with pleas of "patriotism" and "public service." Harry A. Jung did the same thing by getting money from rich Jews "to fight Communism" and from rich gentiles "to fight the menace of the Jew."
Letter from a small-town newspaperLetter from a small-town newspaper showing the kind of confusion caused by the "Capitol News and Feature Service."ToList
Letter from a small-town newspaper showing the kind of confusion caused by the "Capitol News and Feature Service."ToList
With the first issue of theCapitol News and Feature Service, the following announcement was mailed to the editors of rural weeklies:
"Good Morning, Mr. Editor!Capitol News and Feature Serviceherewith delivers three priceless articles, fresh from the Nation's capitol. Use them without cost. You will hear from us each week. Watch for these interesting articles."
An examination of the "priceless articles" showed that they were designed primarily to attack American democracy.
Since his return from Germany and his conferences at the Nazi Embassy, Winrod has made frequent trips into Mexico where he has met with Mexican fascists—especially with leaders of the Mexican Gold Shirts which were organized by Hermann Schwinn. Again we discover the tie-up between fascist organizations in the United States and those to the south of us.
When the Nazis reorganized their propaganda machine several years ago and established smuggling headquarters on the West Coast, propaganda taken off Nazi ships docking in San Diegoand Los Angeles included material printed in Spanish for the special use of General Nicholás Rodriguez, head of the Gold Shirts.
The Spanish as well as the English material was taken to theDeutsches Hausin Los Angeles and turned over to Schwinn, who forwarded the batches to Rodriguez. The contact man between Schwinn and the head of the fascist movement in Mexico is a native American named Henry Douglas Allen of San Diego. Allen, under the pretext of being a mining engineer and interested in prospecting in Mexico, went repeatedly into the neighboring country with the smuggled propaganda and delivered it to Rodriguez' agents.
Since native Americans, especially if they say they wish to prospect, can travel across the international boundary into Mexico as often as they please without arousing suspicion, Allen was chosen as the liaison man between Nazi agents in the United States and Rodriguez. As I said earlier, the Nazis tried from the beginning to get an American "front" and to draw as many Americans into it as possible—obviously strategic preparation for future work more serious than mere propaganda. Hence Allen was instructed to become active in the Silver Shirt movement. He organized Down Town Post No. 47-10 and established Silver Shirt recruiting headquarters in Room 693 at 730 South Grand Ave., Los Angeles.
In August, 1936, when a lot of Nazi and anti-Roosevelt money was being shelled out in efforts to defeat Roosevelt, Allen became extremely active. While Pelley was out of town, he was instructed to work with Kenneth Alexander, Pelley's right-hand man. Alexander was formerly a still-photographer at United Artists Studios. The two opened offices in the Broadway Arcade Building and on October 1, 1935, moved to the Lankersheim Building at Third Street near Spring, Los Angeles.
Rodriguez, after he was given assurances of Nazi aid, worked not only with Nazi agents in this country but also with Julio Brunet, manager of the Ford factory in Mexico City.
The earliest documentary record I have of their tie-up is a letter Rodriguez wrote to Ford's manager on September 27, 1934, on Gold Shirt stationery. The letter merely asks Brunet to give jobs to two "worthy young men" and is written in a manner that shows Rodriguez and Brunet are rather close.
By February 7, 1935, Rodriguez and the Ford executive in Mexico had become sufficiently intimate for the fascist leader to express his appreciation of Brunet's placing Gold Shirts in the plant. His letter addressed to the manager of the Ford Company follows:
We have been informed by our delegate, Senora N.M. Colunga, that she was very well treated by you and that in addition you informed her that our request for work for some of our comrades who needed it has also been heard. Not doubting but that this will be fulfilled, A.R.M. [the Gold Shirts] sends you the most expressive thanks for having seen in you the recognition of one of the greatest obligations of humanity to Mexicanism.
We have been informed by our delegate, Senora N.M. Colunga, that she was very well treated by you and that in addition you informed her that our request for work for some of our comrades who needed it has also been heard. Not doubting but that this will be fulfilled, A.R.M. [the Gold Shirts] sends you the most expressive thanks for having seen in you the recognition of one of the greatest obligations of humanity to Mexicanism.
On November 19, 1935, shortly before the Gold Shirts felt they were powerful enough to attempt the overthrow of the Mexican Government and the establishment of a fascist dictatorship, Rodriguez wrote to the manager of the Ford plant, asking for the two ambulances which had been promised the fascists by the Ford manager. Rodriguez had organized his attempted Putsch carefully, with a women's ambulance corps to care for the wounded in the expected fighting. The letter, again translated almost literally, follows:
Nov. 19, 1935.Sr. Manager of the Ford CompanyCityHighly Esteemed Señor:This will be delivered to you personally by Sr. General Juan Alvarez C., who comes with the object of ascertaining if that company would be able to supply two ambulances which they had already offered, for the transportation of the Women's Sanitary Brigade on the 20th day of this month at 8A.M.Thanking you in advance for the references, I am happy to repeat that I am at your command. Affectionately and attentively, S.S.Nicholás Rodriguez C.Supreme Commander.
Nov. 19, 1935.
Sr. Manager of the Ford CompanyCityHighly Esteemed Señor:
This will be delivered to you personally by Sr. General Juan Alvarez C., who comes with the object of ascertaining if that company would be able to supply two ambulances which they had already offered, for the transportation of the Women's Sanitary Brigade on the 20th day of this month at 8A.M.
Thanking you in advance for the references, I am happy to repeat that I am at your command. Affectionately and attentively, S.S.
Nicholás Rodriguez C.Supreme Commander.
Letter from General Nicholás RodriguezLetter from General Nicholás Rodriguez, Mexican fascist leader, to the Ford manager in Mexico City, soliciting employment for two protégés.ToList
Letter from General Nicholás Rodriguez, Mexican fascist leader, to the Ford manager in Mexico City, soliciting employment for two protégés.ToList
In the street fighting that followed the attempted fascist Putsch a number were killed and wounded. It was after this fight that Rodriguez was exiled.
I am reproducing some of these letters from carbon copies, initialed by Rodriguez, which were in his files. Why he initialscarbon copies I don't know, but I have a stack of his correspondence with Nazi agents and almost all of his carbons are initialed.
On October 4, 1936, Allen wrote to the exiled fascist leader. Ostensibly the letter invited him to address the Silver Shirts. Actually it was for a special conference about "matters of vital importance to us both." This letter was written when Schwinn was holding conferences with Pelley to merge forces in a fascist united front, and when Schneeberger was preparing to leave for Japan on a training ship ordered up from the Canal Zone by the Japanese to take him on board. The letter follows:
Dear General Rodriguez:Upon receipt of this letter will you kindly communicate with me and advise me whether it would be possible for you to come to Los Angeles in the near future to make an address to our organization here. We shall be glad to defray all expenses which will include airplane both ways if you desire it. We shall also offer you bodyguard for your protection if you deem it necessary. Your fight is our fight and it is our desire to have you come to Los Angeles especially to confer with us relative to matters of vital importance to us both. I would suggest that if you can arrange to come, you telegraph me (charges collect) upon receipt of this letter so that I may make arrangements without delay.Fraternally yours,Henry Allen.
Dear General Rodriguez:
Upon receipt of this letter will you kindly communicate with me and advise me whether it would be possible for you to come to Los Angeles in the near future to make an address to our organization here. We shall be glad to defray all expenses which will include airplane both ways if you desire it. We shall also offer you bodyguard for your protection if you deem it necessary. Your fight is our fight and it is our desire to have you come to Los Angeles especially to confer with us relative to matters of vital importance to us both. I would suggest that if you can arrange to come, you telegraph me (charges collect) upon receipt of this letter so that I may make arrangements without delay.
Fraternally yours,Henry Allen.
When I went to Mexico to look into Nazi activities, I gave a copy of this letter to the Minister of the Interior. At that time Allen was again in Mexico under the pretense of looking into his mining interests, but a check showed that he had actually gone there to confer secretly with a Mexican army man, General Iturbe. At my request the Mexican Government looked into Allen's movements and learned that he had entered Guaymas, center of Japanese activities, with Kenneth Alexander, Pelley's chief aid.
The connection between Ford's Mexican manager and General Rodriguez might be considered an unfortunate incident for which Ford could not be held responsible. This would be a reasonable assumption if the Nazi-Rodriguez-Ford tie-up in Mexico were an isolated case. The facts, however, show it is not.
Letter from General Rodriguez to the Ford manager in Mexico City.Letter from General Rodriguez to the Ford manager in Mexico City. The translation is given on page 110.ToList
Letter from General Rodriguez to the Ford manager in Mexico City. The translation is given on page 110.ToList
The national leader of the Nazi propaganda machine in this country has been on the Ford pay roll. Kuhn was supposed to work for Ford as a chemist, but while on Ford's pay roll he traveled around the United States conferring with other secret Nazi agents and actively directing Nazi work in this country.
Ford has a highly developed and exceedingly efficient espionage system of his own which, among other things, watches what his employees do—even to their home life. Kuhn's activities were known to Harry Bennett, head of the Ford secret service or "Personnel Department," as it is called, and Bennett reports to Ford. Furthermore, Kuhn's Nazi connections had been publicized in both the American and the Nazi press and were no secret. Jews and Christians alike protested to Ford about his employee's anti-democratic work while on the motor magnate's pay roll, but Kuhn was left undisturbed to travel around organizing Nazi groups. In 1938 Ford was given the highest medal of honor which Hitler can give to a foreigner. No statement was ever made as to just what Henry Ford had done for the Nazi Führer to merit the honor.
Simultaneously with Kuhn's intensified work, Ford's confidential secretary, William J. Cameron, became active again. Cameron was editor of Ford'sDearborn Independentwhen that newspaper published the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" after they had been proved to be forgeries. When a nation-wide protest arose from Jews and Christians who were shocked at seeing one of the richest and most powerful men in the country use his wealth to disseminate race hatred, and when the protest grew into a boycott of his cars, Ford apologized and discontinued the newspaper. But instead of easing his editor out or giving him some other job, he made him his confidential secretary.
Letter from Henry Allen to General RodriguezLetter from Henry Allen to General Rodriguez, showing the tie-up between American and Mexican fascist organizations.ToList
Letter from Henry Allen to General Rodriguez, showing the tie-up between American and Mexican fascist organizations.ToList
When Kuhn went to work for Ford, the national headquarters of the Nazi propaganda machine was moved to Detroit, and the anti-democratic activities increased in intensity. Employing Nazi anti-semitism as the bait to attract dissatisfied and bewildered elements in the population, a new organization made its appearance: The Anglo-Saxon Federation, headed by Ford's private secretary. Headquarters were established in the McCormick Building in Chicago, Room 834, at 332 S. Michigan Ave. and in the Fox Building in Detroit.
In July, 1936, Cameron, obviously because Ford was violently anti-Roosevelt, stepped out as head of the organization and became its Director of Publications. When Winrod was raising money from American industrialists to support theCapitol News and Feature Service, Cameron was among the contributors.
The Anglo-Saxon Federation began to distribute the "Protocols" again. I bought a copy in the Detroit offices of the organization, stamped with the name of the organization. The introduction quotes Ford as approving of them. It states:
Mr. Henry Ford, in an interview published in theNew York World. February 17, 1921, put the case for Nilus[17]tersely and convincingly thus:"The only statement I care to make about the 'Protocols' is that they fit in with what is going on. They are sixteen years old, and they have fitted the world situation up to this time. They fit it now."
Mr. Henry Ford, in an interview published in theNew York World. February 17, 1921, put the case for Nilus[17]tersely and convincingly thus:
"The only statement I care to make about the 'Protocols' is that they fit in with what is going on. They are sixteen years old, and they have fitted the world situation up to this time. They fit it now."
When Ford was on the witness stand in a libel suit some fifteen years ago and admitted his ignorance of matters with which even grammar school children are familiar, the country laughed. His ignorance, however, is his own affair, but when he takes no step to curb his personal representative from working with secret foreign agents to undermine a friendly government,it becomes a matter, it appears to me, of importance to the people of this country and the Government of the United States.
Examples of American Anti-Semetic materialLeft:American-made anti-Semitic sticker of a type appearing with increasing frequency in recent times.Right:Title-page of the German edition of "The International Jew," by Henry Ford, of which 100,000 copies have been distributed.ToList
Left:American-made anti-Semitic sticker of a type appearing with increasing frequency in recent times.Right:Title-page of the German edition of "The International Jew," by Henry Ford, of which 100,000 copies have been distributed.ToList
[17]The man who forged the "Protocols" originally and who subsequently confessed to having done so.
[17]The man who forged the "Protocols" originally and who subsequently confessed to having done so.
The universities are too important a training ground for Nazi agents to ignore. A few professors in some of our universities have joined the growing list of anti-democratic propagandists. Some of them are German subjects and do not disguise their pro-Nazi bias; others carry on their propaganda as a "scholarly analysis" of the Hitler regime—with a fervor, however, that smacks of the paid propagandist.
German exchange students, too, studying at some of our universities, are active in various efforts to draw native Americans within the sphere of Nazi influence. Some of these students came here ostensibly to study for degrees, but devote most of their time to spreading Nazi ideology and meeting with secret Nazi agents and military spies. Such was Prince von Lippe of the University of Southern California.
Von Lippe is not an American citizen as so many of the agents are. With no visible means of support, he received expenses from a total stranger—oddly enough, Count von Bülow whose home overlooked the naval base in San Diego and who was constantly in conferences with Nazi agents. It was to Count von Bülow, you recall, that Hermann Schwinn brought Schneeberger as soon as he arrived on his way to Japan, and von Bülow took him around while Schneeberger photographed areas in the military and naval zone. A number of very secret conferences were held while Schneeberger was on the West Coast, in the home of Dr. K. Burchardi, a Los Angeles physician whovisits Nazi ships with Schwinn and von Bülow (on one occasion Schneeberger summoned Burchardi to come with him to a Nazi ship which had just docked in Los Angeles—and the physician dropped his work and went).
German exchange students, when they enter this country, are under instructions to report to the German-American Bund. On July 4, 1936, three exchange students—a young lady and two young men—entered Los Angeles while on a motor tour of the country. They were students at Georgia Tech. In Los Angeles they went directly to theDeutsches Hausand presented a letter of introduction to Hermann Schwinn who assigned them quarters at the home of Max Edgan, one of Schwinn's lieutenants. The students then made a detailed report to Schwinn on the political work they were carrying out at Georgia Tech.
But the professors are the chief hope of Nazi agents attempting to spread the idea of totalitarian government and a bit of race hatred as the bait to attract some elements in the population. Some of the professors and some of their activities follow briefly:
Professor Frederick E. Auhagen, formerly of the German Department, Seth Low Junior College, Columbia University.
Dr. Auhagen came to this country in 1923 and worked as a mining engineer in Pennsylvania. From 1925 to 1927 he was with the Foreign Department of the Equitable Trust Co.; then became connected with Columbia University in 1927. He is not an American citizen and constantly refers to Germany as "my native country."
This professor is one of the leading academic apologists for Herr Hitler in the United States. Besides carrying on his pro-Nazi propaganda in the classroom, he does a great deal of lecturing, sometimes appearing before the Foreign Policy Association. On one occasion, in an address before the Men's Club of the Baptist Church at Rockville, Long Island, he stated that SethLow Junior College was opened "in order to keep Hebrew faces off the campus at Columbia University."
Auhagen never tried to hide his sympathies with Nazism. Preceding a debate on February 1, 1936, before the City Club of Cleveland, he gave press interviews as a Nazi, and in the debate upheld Hitler as the savior of Germany and world civilization. With a fervor far removed from professorial calm, he explained that American newspaper dispatches about the treatment of Jews and Catholics in Germany were exaggerated.
"As to criticism of Germany's treatment of Catholics," he said again in Denver, Colorado on July 26, 1935, "that is not true!"
Professor Frederick K. Krueger, of Wittenberg college, with whom Auhagen is rather closely identified in arranging and giving talks about Nazis and totalitarian government, at every opportunity issues press interviews along the same line. In them he explains that the anti-Nazi sentiment in the United States press does not represent the editors, but is dictated by Jews who "control the press, the motion pictures and other organs of public opinion."
Because of the high scientific standing of Professor Vladimir Karapetoff of the Cornell engineering faculty, he is listened to with more attention and respect than are the more blatant propagandists for the adoption of fascist tactics and principles. Shortly after Hitler took power, the Professor started to do his share on the campus. At first he did it subtly, but when this made little headway he began to talk of the "growing domination of Jews in American life, politically as well as economically" and emphasized that the large number of Jews in the Law School and on the campus generally was becoming a problem.
"It's the smooth-faced Jew whom we must fear," he kept repeating, "and not the long-bearded Jewish rabbi."
Not content with expressing personal opinions, he took toorganizing groups, addressing them on the subject of the Jew; and on one occasion he called a special meeting of the Officer's Club with the proviso that Jews be excluded.
Paul F. Douglas,[18]teacher of German, Economics and Political Science at Green Mountain College, wrote a book,God Among the Germans, which purports to be an introduction to the mind and method of Nazism.
I have information coming from a reputable source that Dr. Douglas was paid by the Nazi Government to write the book. This source is unwilling to let his name be used, but is ready to testify and lay his information before any governmental body which will investigate the devious methods of Nazi agents in this country.
There are at various universities throughout the country other professors and instructors quite active in spreading pro-Hitler propaganda. Some of them meet with Nazi agents closely allied to the espionage machine. I offer only these few as illustrations of Nazi efforts to get footholds in the American universities.
Along with efforts to carry on their work in the universities, Nazi agents tried to get a foothold in the political life of the country by finding a few Republicans who were willing to use anti-democratic propaganda in their efforts to defeat Roosevelt during the Presidential campaign. At no time in American history did secret agents of a foreign power so brazenly attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of the American people. Nor at any time in American history did agents of a foreign government find such willing cooperation from unscrupulous American politicians.
Among those who worked with Hitler agents was Newton Jenkins, director of the Coughlin-Lemke Third Party.[19]The Detroit Priest and the Congressman were fully aware, preceding and during the campaign, that Jenkins supported Hitler and was a Jew-baiter of the first order. They were aware of this while they were appealing for Jewish votes. The Radio Priest and the Congressman kept in constant touch with their campaign manager and knew what sort of government Jenkins wanted.
Jenkins' association with Nazis dates to the days preceding the launching of the Presidential campaign. At that time he participated in a secret conference held in Chicago with the object of uniting the scattered fascist forces in the United States to form a powerful fascist united front. Among those who attended were Walter Kappe, Fritz Gissibl and Zahn—three active Hitler agents assigned to the Mid-West area; William Dudley Pelley, leader of the Silver Shirts; Harry A. Jung, the ultra-"patriot"; George W. Christians of Chattanooga, Tenn., head of the American fascists; and several others. The conference ended with an agreement to support a Third-Party movement directed by Jenkins.
Throughout the campaign Jenkins stressed an exaggerated nationalism, advocated "party patrols" similar to Hitler's storm troops and adopted the Nazi Jew-baiting tactics. His first public appearance with the Nazis was on October 30, 1935, at a meeting held in Lincoln Turner Hall, 1005 Diversey Building, Chicago. Uniformed storm troopers with the swastika on their arm bands patrolled the room. In the course of his talk he said:
The trouble with this country now is due to the money powers and Jewish politicians who control our Government. The Federal Treasury is being controlled by a Jew, Morgenthau, and a Jew, Eugene Meyer. The State, County and our own Municipal Government is being controlled by Jewish politicians. Our own Mayor signs what the Jews want him to sign. Nearly in everydepartment of our country and local government you will find a Jew at the head of it. Not only under a Democratic administration but also under a Republican administration we will find the same conditions.... The American people must free itself from the money plunderers who have thrown this country into the World War and also a possibility of dragging them into the present war for private gain and shake off their shoulders the Jewish politicians. The Third Party promises to do both.
The trouble with this country now is due to the money powers and Jewish politicians who control our Government. The Federal Treasury is being controlled by a Jew, Morgenthau, and a Jew, Eugene Meyer. The State, County and our own Municipal Government is being controlled by Jewish politicians. Our own Mayor signs what the Jews want him to sign. Nearly in everydepartment of our country and local government you will find a Jew at the head of it. Not only under a Democratic administration but also under a Republican administration we will find the same conditions.... The American people must free itself from the money plunderers who have thrown this country into the World War and also a possibility of dragging them into the present war for private gain and shake off their shoulders the Jewish politicians. The Third Party promises to do both.
This is precisely the sort of stuff paid Nazi agents in the propaganda division are ordered to disseminate, and this is the man Father Coughlin and Congressman Lemke picked to direct their campaign.
It was a Nazi agent, Ernst Goerner of Milwaukee, who spread the story, aided by anti-Roosevelt forces, that Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, was a Jewess. The story received such wide publicity that she had to issue a public statement giving her birth and marriage records.
Goerner is one of the important Nazi agents in the Mid-West. He's a bit eccentric and the Nazis sometimes have difficulty keeping him in line, but when Schwinn made a trip East shortly before the election campaign, he stopped off specially to see Goerner who thereupon sent a flood of propaganda throughout the country about Secretary Perkins' ancestry as well as charges that Roosevelt and almost all Government officials were Jews.
It was after Schwinn's trip to the East that other disseminators of anti-democratic propaganda, like Robert Edward Edmondson and James True, came to life in a big way. One of the penniless men who suddenly blossomed into the money after Schwinn's trip East was Olov E. Tietzow, who used Post Office Box No. 491 in Chicago lest the fact that he lived at 715 Aldine Ave. be discovered.
Up until a few months before the campaign Tietzow was an unemployed electrical engineer who had difficulty paying thethree-dollar weekly rent for his hall bed-room at the Aldine Ave. address. After Schwinn's visit and meeting with him, Tietzow began to commute by air between Chicago and Buffalo where he opened a branch office.
Tietzow was tested out a little at first. He was put to work in the offices of the Friends of the New Germany on Western Ave. and Roscoe St., Chicago. In his spare time he worked out of 1454 Foster Ave., Chicago. A quotation or two from some of his letters will give an indication of his activities. On February 21, 1936, he wrote to William Stern, Fargo, N.D., a member of the Republican National Committee. He said in part:
Information about the so-called fascist movement here in the U.S.A. will be furnished by me if you so desire, together with other data you might be interested in. An opportunity to discuss our national problems and to lay before patriotic persons of means and influence and before national organizations my plans for a nationwide movement would be welcome....
Information about the so-called fascist movement here in the U.S.A. will be furnished by me if you so desire, together with other data you might be interested in. An opportunity to discuss our national problems and to lay before patriotic persons of means and influence and before national organizations my plans for a nationwide movement would be welcome....
This letter to a high Republican Party official was written after Tietzow had outlined the contents to Toni Mueller, Nazi agent in Chicago reporting directly to Fritz Kuhn.
Since most of the patrioteers were opposed to the New Deal and since some of them were already working with Nazi agents in this country, it was not long before they were going full blast in their "Save America" racket. The people of the United States, though they don't talk much about it, are thoroughly patriotic in the fullest sense of the word. To accuse anyone of not being a patriot is almost worse than telling a man that he is a son of not quite a lady. The racketeers in patriotism long ago discovered that people would contribute to a "patriotic cause" if only to escape the reputation of being unpatriotic; and the racketeers have made a nice living out of it. For some of the patrioteers it has become a thriving business, with everybody involved—except the suckers—getting his cut. Some of the big "patriotic" organizations are really influential, and the small ones are hopefully struggling along in the expectation of bigger and better and more patriotic days when the pickings will be more than attractive.
Letter by Olov E. Tietzow, showing typical methods of American fascists.Letter by Olov E. Tietzow, showing typical methods of American fascists.ToList
Letter by Olov E. Tietzow, showing typical methods of American fascists.ToList
Every time I start looking into organizations with high-sounding and impressive names, I am profoundly impressed with the accuracy of Barnum's noted observation. Raise the cry of "patriotism" and perfectly good Americans forget to try to find out just what the "patriotic" activities are, and shell out without a murmur. Industrialists particularly like the "Americanism" of the patriotic groups because almost all of them incorporate an anti-labor policy. The propaganda, of course, is rarely conducted as an open fight against labor, but is put across as a fight to save America from the Communists.
Some of the racketeering patriotic organizations with a more or less devout following include the National Republican Publishing Company, Washington, D.C., the American Vigilant Intelligence Federation, Chicago, Ill., the Paul Reveres, Chicago, Ill., the Industrial Defense Association, Boston, Mass., the American Nationalists, Inc., New York, N.Y. and the American Nationalist Party, Los Angeles, Calif. There are a number of others, but these are some of the most blatant.
The National Republican Company, 511 11th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., is one of the most influential. It publishes theNational Republic, a journal accepted by men high in public office and by leading industrialists as earnestly trying to inculcate "Americanism" into Americans.
TheNational Republichas an amazing list of endorsers—governors, mayors, senators, congressmen and nationally-known industrialists. The magazine is virtually the entire organization and is dedicated "to defending American ideals and institutions." It is headed by Walter S. Steele, who was tied up with Harry A. Jung of the American Vigilant Intelligence Federation before he went into business for himself. While Steele was working withthe ace of racketeers in patriotism, the president-editor of theNational Republicalso eked out a few pennies by distributing the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Today, however, he confines himself chiefly to fighting Communism, spreading race hatred only when it is paid for in advertisements. Books distributed by Nazi propagandists in furthering their anti-democratic campaign—such books asT.N.T.by Colonel Edwin Hadley andThe Conflict of the Agesfind space in theNational Republic'spages. Colonel Hadley headed the Paul Reveres which tried to organize fascist groups on American university campuses, andThe Conflict of the Agesdevotes a full chapter to the Nazi "proofs" of the authenticity of the "Protocols."
I mention these to show the type of stuff Steele is willing to disseminate—if he is paid for it. And by permitting the use of their names, the sponsors, consciously or unconsciously, aid him in his anti-American activities.
The detailed aims of theNational Republicare to provide a "weekly service to twenty-three hundred editors, to defend American institutions against subversive radicalism; a national information service on subversive organizations and activities; an Americanization bureau serving schools, colleges and patriotic groups; conducted for the public good from Washington, D.C., by nationally known leaders."
The procedure of conducting the organization "for the public good" includes high-pressuring the shekels from the suckers. Steele, a former newspaperman, learned from his association with that other arch-patriot, Jung. So when Steele established his own racket, he found one of his early aids in former Senator Robinson of Indiana. Robinson was closely tied up with the Ku Klux Klan. Through Robinson and through other politicians reached with the cry "Save America," he got a long list of prominent sponsors and gradually increased it until now it reads like aWho's Whoof reactionary industrialists and innocent politicians. With letters of introduction from Senator Robinson,Steele's high pressure gang set out to collect in the name of patriotism.
The procedure was simple. Salesmen presented their letters of introduction to the mayor of a city. The mayor was impressed with the high "patriotic" motives and especially with the imposing list of names sponsoring the efforts. The mayor introduced the high-pressure fellows to other people—and the milking began.
Let me illustrate a little more specifically:
On March 4, 1936, Steele sent two of his ablest dollar-pullers, Messrs. Fahr and Hamilton, into the Oklahoma oil fields where the industrialists would like to see a minimum of 200 per cent Americanism instilled in the public mind. Messrs. Fahr and Hamilton had letters of introduction to Mayor T.A. Penny of Tulsa, Okla. When the salesmen approached the Mayor, they had not only the long and imposing list of names on the letterhead but additional letters of introduction from ex-Governor Curley of Mass., ex-Senator Robinson of Indiana and Congressman Martin Dies of Texas. The drummers wanted the Mayor to introduce them to the Chairman of the Tulsa Board of Education who could help them get funds in Tulsa and elsewhere. The funds were to be used to place the "patriotic" magazine in the public school system in order "to preserve this country against subversive activities, particularly Communism."
It was a neat circulation-getting stunt, performed without Fahr and Hamilton telling what percentage of the take they got.
The Mayor gave the letters of introduction. With these letters and the excellent contacts thus established, they started down the sucker list from W.G. Skelly, head of the Skelly Oil Co., Tulsa to Waite Phillips of the Phillips Petroleum Co.
Like his former colleague Harry A. Jung, Steele works on the big industrialists by whispering confidentially that he has sources of information about which he can't talk much but which make it possible for him to keep the industrialists informed about "subversive radicals." For a reasonable price andperhaps a contribution to a worthy cause, Steele would supply the industrialist with "confidential information for members only" which would keep him up to date about the radicals threatening America. The "confidential information" must not be shown to anybody else. Extreme caution is necessary lest the radicals find out about the "information service." With all this hocum, secrecy and whispering, the industrialist becomes a member at so much per not realizing that the information thus peddled can be got for three cents a day—five cents on Sundays—by buying theDaily Worker. It's just one of the little patriotic rackets the boys have cooked up.
Working closely with Steele is James A. True of the James True Associates, another precious racketeer who stepped from patrioteering into efforts to organize in conjunction with Nazi agents a secret armed force in the United States. With True in this effort to establish a Cagoulard organization in this country, were some of the most active Nazi agents and patrioteers.
[18]Not to be confused with Prof. Paul H. Douglas of the University of Chicago, a highly reputable scholar and a stanch defender of democracy.
[18]Not to be confused with Prof. Paul H. Douglas of the University of Chicago, a highly reputable scholar and a stanch defender of democracy.
[19]Father Coughlin was finally reprimanded by the Vatican for his unpriestly attacks upon the President.
[19]Father Coughlin was finally reprimanded by the Vatican for his unpriestly attacks upon the President.
Early in 1938 native Americans, working with Nazi agents, completed plans to organize a secret army along the general lines of the Cagoulards in France. The decision was made after the liaison man between Nazi agents here and plotters for the secret army met with Fritz Kuhn and Signor Giuseppe Cosmelli, Counselor to the Italian Embassy in Washington.
The liaison man is Henry D. Allen, who moved from San Diego to 2860 Nina St., Pasadena, Calif. Allen, the reader may recollect, helped Schwinn organize the Mexican Gold Shirts which unsuccessfully attempted to seize the Mexican Government. Allen is still active in a plot to overthrow the Cárdenas Government, working at the moment with Gen. Ramon F. Iturbe, a member of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies, with Gen. Yocupicio who is smuggling arms as part of a plan to rebel, and with Pablo L. Delgado who took over the fascist Gold Shirt work under a different name after Rodriguez was exiled when his attempt to march on the Government failed.
To understand the feverish activities of foreign agents and native Americans working with foreign agents, one must remember that when the World War broke out in 1914, Germany was caught with only small espionage and sabotage organizations in the United States. It cost the German War Office large sums of money to build them under difficult and dangerous conditions. The Nazis do not intend to be caught the same way in theevent a war finds the United States on the enemy side or, if neutral, supplying arms and materials to the enemy.
The first step to prevent such a development is to build an enormous propaganda machine and to draw into it as many native Americans as possible. Because of the future potentialities of natives as spies andsaboteurs, the Nazi leaders take extraordinary precautions to safeguard their identities. Should the United States become involved in a war with fascist powers, especially Germany, the German members of the Bund can be watched and, if necessary, interned; but native Americans not known as Bund members can move about freely, hence the care to prevent their identities from becoming known. Schwinn, for instance, keeps a regular list of the German-American Bund members at theDeutsches Hausin Los Angeles. The native American members, however, are not listed. The names are kept in code and only Schwinn knows the code numbers.
Military considerations thus lead the Nazi General Staff to maintain this propaganda in the United States, despite the knowledge Nazi leaders in Germany have that its activities and distasteful propaganda here are seriously hampering German-American commercial relations.
The propaganda machine is already functioning as the German-AmericanVolksbund. The second step, as was demonstrated in France with the Cagoulards and in Spain with Franco's Fifth Column, is to organize secret armies capable of starting sporadic outbreaks tantamount to civil war—a procedure which would naturally deflect the country's energies in war time.
This second step was taken after careful study, and Henry D. Allen was chosen as the liaison man between those maneuvering the plot.
The private letters exchanged between Allen and his fellow conspirators are now in my possession. Some of the letters exchanged were signed with the writers' real names and some with code names. Allen's code name, for instance, is "Rosenthal."
On April 13, 1938, he wrote to a "G.D." (of whom more shortly) as follows:
Have just sent Delgado into Sonora incognito. This move has resulted from a four-party conference held in Yuma a few days ago. This party was composed of Urbalejo, chief of the Yaqui nation, Joe Mattus, his trusted lieutenant, Delgado and myself. Yocupicio has completely come over to our side, which you can perceive from the outcome of the little tryout in Aqua Prieta a few weeks ago. Delgado has arrived safely at Bocatete, and will get the boys in that part of the country pretty active.... Inasmuch as I am his legal and properly accredited representative in the United States, you may rest assured that there will be no doubt as to the objectives of this movement south of the Rio Grande.I have received three letters from General Iturbe in which he tells me that they are taking the Spanish copies of the Protocols which K. sent me, and making 5,000 copies of same. In each letter he begs me to set a time and date for meeting him at Guadalajara for the purpose of effecting the necessary plans for active campaigning with Delgado. I will arrange all of this as soon as you consider it expedient....Rosenthal.
Have just sent Delgado into Sonora incognito. This move has resulted from a four-party conference held in Yuma a few days ago. This party was composed of Urbalejo, chief of the Yaqui nation, Joe Mattus, his trusted lieutenant, Delgado and myself. Yocupicio has completely come over to our side, which you can perceive from the outcome of the little tryout in Aqua Prieta a few weeks ago. Delgado has arrived safely at Bocatete, and will get the boys in that part of the country pretty active.... Inasmuch as I am his legal and properly accredited representative in the United States, you may rest assured that there will be no doubt as to the objectives of this movement south of the Rio Grande.
I have received three letters from General Iturbe in which he tells me that they are taking the Spanish copies of the Protocols which K. sent me, and making 5,000 copies of same. In each letter he begs me to set a time and date for meeting him at Guadalajara for the purpose of effecting the necessary plans for active campaigning with Delgado. I will arrange all of this as soon as you consider it expedient....
Rosenthal.
Two days later (April 15, 1938) he wrote from Fresno, Calif. under his own name to F.W. Clark, 919-½ S. Yakima Ave., Tacoma, Wash. The letter reads in part: