(no subject)
Lexis Search Terms: "union officer" and "loyalty oath"
Retrieve the following: (redacted)
TRAVIS STATEMENT ON SIGNING TAFT-HARTLEY LAW AFFIDAVIT
By Maurice Travis Int'l Secretary-Treasurer
Membership in the Communist Party has always meant to me, as a member and officer of the International Union, that I could be a better trade unionist; it has meant to me a call to greater effort in behalf of the union as a solemn pledge to my fellow members that I would fight for their interests above all other interests.
The biggest lie of all is to say that the Communist Party teaches or advocates the overthrow of the government by force and violence. If I had believed this to be so I would not have joined the Communist Party. If I had later found it to be so I would never have remained in it. All the slanders by the corrupt press, all the FBI stool pigeons, and all the persecution of Communist workers will not make me believe it is so. I believe that when the majority of the American people see clearly how rotten the foundation of the capitalist system is, they will insist on their right to change it through democratic processes, and all of the reactionary force and violence in the world will be unable to stop them.
I believe under our Bill of Rights, for which our forefathers fought, that an American has as much right to be a Communist as he has to be a Republican, a Democrat, a Jew, a Catholic, or an Elk or a Mason. Free voluntary association is the very cornerstone of the democratic way of life. I have been a Communist because I want what all decent Americans want, a higher standard of living for all the people, the ending of discrimination against Negroes, Mexican-Americans, and all other minority groups. I want a peaceful America in a peaceful world.
I want to make it absolutely clear that my opinion continues to be that only a fundamental change in the structure of our society, along the lines implied in the very words of the charter of our International, "Labor produces all wealth--wealth belongs to the producer thereof," can lead to the end of insecurity, discrimination, depressions and the danger of war. I am convinced that capitalistic greed is responsible for war and its attendant mass destruction and horror. I am convinced it is responsible for depression, unemployment and the mass misery they generate. The present deepening depression, growing unemployment, and threat of war confirm my conviction that the only answer is Socialism.
I know that sooner or later we will turn this present shameful page in American life, that the reactionary offensive will be beaten back and that the American workers will again resume their march on the road to peace, progress and prosperity. In the meantime, I am sure that every member of the International Union joins me in my pledge to fight to keep this International Union strong, to bend every effort to make it even stronger, to continue to keep it on a progressive, militant course, and to do everything in my power to make life in our country happy, secure, prosperous and peaceful.
Retrieve the following: (redacted)
TRAVIS STATEMENT ON SIGNING TAFT-HARTLEY LAW AFFIDAVIT
By Maurice Travis Int'l Secretary-Treasurer
Membership in the Communist Party has always meant to me, as a member and officer of the International Union, that I could be a better trade unionist; it has meant to me a call to greater effort in behalf of the union as a solemn pledge to my fellow members that I would fight for their interests above all other interests.
The biggest lie of all is to say that the Communist Party teaches or advocates the overthrow of the government by force and violence. If I had believed this to be so I would not have joined the Communist Party. If I had later found it to be so I would never have remained in it. All the slanders by the corrupt press, all the FBI stool pigeons, and all the persecution of Communist workers will not make me believe it is so. I believe that when the majority of the American people see clearly how rotten the foundation of the capitalist system is, they will insist on their right to change it through democratic processes, and all of the reactionary force and violence in the world will be unable to stop them.
I believe under our Bill of Rights, for which our forefathers fought, that an American has as much right to be a Communist as he has to be a Republican, a Democrat, a Jew, a Catholic, or an Elk or a Mason. Free voluntary association is the very cornerstone of the democratic way of life. I have been a Communist because I want what all decent Americans want, a higher standard of living for all the people, the ending of discrimination against Negroes, Mexican-Americans, and all other minority groups. I want a peaceful America in a peaceful world.
I want to make it absolutely clear that my opinion continues to be that only a fundamental change in the structure of our society, along the lines implied in the very words of the charter of our International, "Labor produces all wealth--wealth belongs to the producer thereof," can lead to the end of insecurity, discrimination, depressions and the danger of war. I am convinced that capitalistic greed is responsible for war and its attendant mass destruction and horror. I am convinced it is responsible for depression, unemployment and the mass misery they generate. The present deepening depression, growing unemployment, and threat of war confirm my conviction that the only answer is Socialism.
I know that sooner or later we will turn this present shameful page in American life, that the reactionary offensive will be beaten back and that the American workers will again resume their march on the road to peace, progress and prosperity. In the meantime, I am sure that every member of the International Union joins me in my pledge to fight to keep this International Union strong, to bend every effort to make it even stronger, to continue to keep it on a progressive, militant course, and to do everything in my power to make life in our country happy, secure, prosperous and peaceful.