oiin iirch Society ievot eif I
note: The John Birch.
tlon with
noble aim: Fishiinj
Communism. Hut Its methods have
tirred controversy in many v.o.
cities. A Ul'I special reportlnn
.-m unc nttlrned to assist liar-
tiara llundschu. New York staff
correspondent, In researching and
'Investigating the organization, Its
purposes, operations ana uiiusi
tlon across the nation. Following
Is the first of three dispatches on
their findings.
By BARBARA BUNDSCHU
UPI Correspondent
Residents of Santa Barbara;
Calif., were in for a surprise
when they stepped out into
the bright and blowy' morning
of Feb. 26 to pick up their
Sunday newspapers. In that
quiet and beautiful city of
about 60,000. a respected fel
low citizen had discovered
what he felt was an outrage.
"The editor and publisher
of the News-Press is in his
85th vear," began a two-col
umn editorial on the front
page.
"His entire life has been
spent in this community . . .
he lived when conditions were
rugged. When West was West
and men were men. He uvea
i"-Hr. -.p-inris when if a mar.
or a group of men openly bj
niuutn, or the printed
work, called our President . .
. and others at the head of
our government, traitors, they
were made to answer. Such
slanders often called for a
visit from a courageous and
irate group which brought
with them a barrel of tar and
a few feathers ; . ."
Thoma3 More Storke, ranch
er and citrus grower, owner
of a newspaper since 1900,
briefly by interim appoint
ment a United States senator,
regent of the University of
California, was taking a stand
against the John Birch Society
and its founder and leader,
Robert Welch of Belmont,
Mass,
Method Bothers . .
Welch, 61, retired from a
candy firm four years ago to
devote his life to fighting
Communism. What bothered
editor Storke was the way
Welch was fighting It.
In a letter written before he
set up the society late in 1958
and still in limited circulation,
Welch told friends that Presi
dent Eisenhower; his brother,
Dr. Milton Eisenhower; the
late Secretary of State John
Foster Dulles and his brother,
Allen Dulles, then and now
head of the Central Intelli
gence Agency, were members
of the Communist under
Eround.
But the statement about
Eisenhower-wasn't all Storke
had on his mind. In Santa
Barbara itself, blessed as few
communities in the nation
with the comforts of both na
ture and material wealth, lives
a member of the society's 26
man council'. Dr. Granville
Knight, a physician. Several
active chapters of the semi
secret society were studying
Communism at private meet
ings and looking around town
for Communists to expose.
"The secret Communist
looks and acts just like any
body else, only more so,"
Welch had Instructed them In
the society's "Blue Book." He
could be anybody you know.
In fact, Welch said, one of his
prime suspects is "one of the
nicest men you ever met. Most
of them arc."
Effective Means
Exposure of such persons,
even through "mean and
dirty" techniques, Welch said,
is one of the most effoctlve
means of shocking the Ameri
can people awake In time to
save themselves from Com
munism. He also advises mem
bers to set up front groups,
to infiltrate community or
ganizations and to engage in
directed letter writing to pro
mote specific campaigns of his
ullra-conscrvative society.
It was to protest what these
tactics were doing to Santa
Barbara that editor Storke
raised his editorial voice.
"The News-Press condemns
the tactics that have brought
anonymous telephone calls of
denunciation to Santa Bar
barans In recent weeks from
members of the John Birch
Society or their sympathiz
ers," Slorkc's editorial said.
"The News-Press condemns
the pressures on wealthy rest
dents who fear and abhor
Communism, to con tribute
money to an organization
whose leader has said that
for reasons you will under
gtnnd, there can be no account'
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"The John Birch Society
already has done a grave dis-
service to Santa Barbara by
arousing suspicions and a mu
tual distrust among men of
goodwill. The organization's
adherents, since in their op
position to Communism, do
not seem to understand the
dangers of the totalitarian
dynastry with which they are
tampering.
"The News-Press challenges
them: Come up from under
ground
"And if they believe that In
being challenged they , have
grounds for suit - let them
sue. The News-Press would
welcome a suit as a means of
shedding more light on the
John Birch Society."
What is the real nature of
this relatively new group on
the American political scene?
Political scientists would clas
sify it as ultra-conservative.
It is and will remain a sub'
ject of controversy, however,
over whether its tactics are
compatible with American
democratic principles as they
are most popularly under
stood.
It Is, in Itself, an authori
tarian society. Editor Storke s
adjective was "totalitarian."
Welch does not say the United
States should have a similarly
authoritarian form of govern
ment. But he is far from com
pletely sold on the form we
now have. And as for the po
litical concept of a democracy,
he regards It frankly as a
"weapon of demagoguery, and
a perennial fraud."
Standards Not Accepted
By Welch's political stand
ards Dwlght Eisenhower is a
Communist,, and so are many
others in high government
places, past and present. These
are standards not everyone
accepts. The U.S. Senate on
March 8 heard Sen. Milton R.
Young, North Dakota Repub
lican, declare that ; Welch s
accusations against Eisenhow
er and others had gone "be
yond anything the late Joe
McCarthy ever thought of . ."
On the other hand a Senate
internal affairs subcommittee
has described Welch's John
Birch Society as a "patriotic
organization."
And because there is evi
dence to support the society's
claim that it is growing, the
controversy around it is also
bound to grow In the months
ahead.
A little over three weeks
after Storke's editorial, Chan
cellor Samuel B, Gould of the
University of California at
Santa Barbara, speaking at a
university banquet, said a
"new type" of secret student
organization had been set up
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SOCIETY'S FOUNDER Robert W. Welch, above, is founder
and leader of the John Birch Society which is a semi-secret
organization with a noble aim: Fighting Communism. But its
methods have stirred controversy In many sections of the
United States.
on the campus and "unless it
is checked, can destroy the
university." Another official
said "It was understood"
Gould referred to the Birch
Society. ' , ... '
Gould said the organization
to which he referred encour
ages students to become in
formers and "take on the
tasks of security agencies." He
said the university and its
officials "have been labeled
and vilified in whispering
campaigns, all purporting to
prove that we are not only
less than loyal to America but
are downright subversive."
Embroiled in Controversy
Santa Barbara was not the
first or the last - although it
would seem among the most
unlikely - community to have
been torn by the society's
activities nor to have seen it
assailed by its newspapers,
The organization has become
embroiled in controversy In
many states, including Wis
consin, Texas, Ohio, Kansas,
California and North Dakota.
Articles and editorial com-
W CALORE LUCmCAL
1
(UPI Telephoto)
ment on the organization have
been carried by a number of
newspapers and magazines in
cluding the Chicago Daily
News, the Milwaukee Journal,
the 'Loujsville Courier Jour
nal, the Boston Herald, the
Los Angeles Times, the Ra
cine, Wis., Journal - Times,
Time magazine and The Na
tion. The amount of secrecy sur
rounding its operations has
varied considerably from com
munity to community, and
Welch has given up his fight
to avoid publicity about the
group.
At issue between the society
and many who might other
wise share Welch's conserva
tive political and economic
views is his persistent reason
ing that everything he per
sonally considers wrong is a
Communist plot.
At Issue between the society
and those who condemn it is
the tendency of its activities
to suppress, If not the right,
at least the respectability, of
dissent. '
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o Exposing Communism
This question has split the
Supreme Court itself in de
cisions which have qualified
the First Amendment rights of
witnesses before the House
Committee on Un - American
Activities.
Inhibition of free speech
caused by such private organi
zations as the Birch Society,
have had no judicial rule. Edi
tor Storke's statement of prin
ciples said: "We believe . . .
that traitors should be dealt
with by the courts, not by
vigilante groups."
John Birch had nothing to
do with the group which bears
his name. He was a young
fundamentalist Baptist mis
sionary from Georgia who
served as an intelligence offi
cer in China during World
War II and was killed 10 days
after V-J Day by Chinese
Communists. He was 27 when
he died.
' Robert Welch never heard
of Birch until after his death,
but he' has researched and
written his life story. Welch
has memorallzed Birch as
"probably the first American
casualty in that third world
war, between Communists and
the' ever - shrinking 'free
world,' which Is still being
waged against us." And when
he came to found a Communist-fighting
organization, he
called it the John Birch So
ciety. In Birch's name, members
of the society are asked to
write letters to congressmen
and others, operate in "front"
organizations and through
established community groups
such as PTAs and Chambers
of Commerce to push cam
paigns conceived by Welch as
anti - Communist. These in
clude movements to impeach
Chief Justice Earl Warren, to
repeal the. Income tax law, to
rout the social gospel from
the. churches, to oppose the
North Atlantic Treaty Organi
zation Alliance, foreign aid,
the United Nations and cul
tural, or any other, exchanges
with Russia.
At her farm home near
Macon, Ga., Birch's mother,
Mrs. George S. Birch, said she
and her husband are "heartily
in accord" with Welch's or
ganization "and we are proud
for it to bear our son's name."
Welch also is a native south
erner, born in North Carolina
Dec. 1, 1899. He was reared in
what he now calls "the intel
lectually restricting bonds of
the unusually narrow South
ern Baptist fundamentalism."
He spent four years, at the
University of North Carolina,
two at the Naval Academy and
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two at Harvard Law School
before going into the candy
business. He was for years
vice president of the James O.
Welch Company, headed by
his brother, which has factor
ies in Massachusetts and in
Los Angeles.
Welch was interviewed by
United Press International
and documents of the society
were made available to UPI
by him.
In his own words - a bio
graphical sketch Welch wrote
in the third person for society
members - he "has one wife,
two sons, a Golden Retriever
dog, and 14 golf clubs - none
of which he understands, but
all of which he loves."
He is an affable man who
smiles easily and exhibits in
his writings a sense of humor,
love of poetry and wide
knowledge of history and lit
erature. He was a director of the
National Association of Manu
facturers for seven years, serv
ing also as a vice president of
the organization, and three
former presidents of the NAM
are or have been on the Birch
Society's council.
On Jan. 1, 1957, his biogra
phy says, he"gave up most of
his business responsibilities -and
most of his income - in
order to devote practically all
of his time and energy to the
anti-Communist cause."
The John Birch Society was
founded almost two years
later, on Dec. 9. 1958, at In
dianapolis, after Welch de
livered a two-day speech to 11
men he had invited to hear it.
That speech is today the "Blue
Book" of the society, the of
ficial statement of its aims
and methods. It is supplement
ed by monthly bulletins to
members and the magazine
"American Opinion," which
Welch founded before the so
ciety and of which he is editor
The message and aim is:
"Less government, more re
sponsibility and a better
world."
Sinister Conspiracy
Welch quite literally wants
to repeal the 20th Century.
But unlike many who share
this desire, either politically
or nostalgically, he views its
trend toward "collectivism"
not simply as a mistake but
as. a sinister conspiracy to
change the economic and po
litical .structure of the United
States so that this nation can
be merged with the Soviet
Union without a fight.
. "You have only a few more
years," he told his listeners at
Indianapolis. "We are living .
. . in such a fool's paradise as
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the people of China lived in
20 years ago."
"The danger is almost en
tirely internal," Welch said,
"from Communist influences
right in our midst and treason
right in our government."
The idea that the nation
must mobilize its resources to
combat the external danger of
Soviet military might and
sputnik supremacy is, in
Welch's view, a part of the
Communist plot.- "In other
words, under , the guise of
fighting Communism, we are
being stamped into the biggest
jump ever towards, and per
haps the final jump right into,
socialism and then the Com
munist camp."
Welch would repeal virtual
ly all of the social and eco
nomic legislation of the last
30 years.
"The greatest enemy of man
is, and always has been, gov
ernment," he said.
Slipped Over Gradually
"We are Hot beginning any
revolution, nor even a counter-revolution
in any technical
sense . ..." he said. "Yet our
determination to overthrow
an entrenched tyranny is the
very stuff of which revolu
tions are made."
He warned that Communism
is being slipped over on the
American people so gradually
and insidiously that before
long "they can no longer resist
the Communist conspiracy as
free citizens, but can resist
the communist tyranny only
by themselves becoming con
spirators against established
government."
, The Los Angeles Times, in
an editorial signed by publish
er Otis Chandler on March 12,
saw an implication of sedition
in Welch's statements. And,
like many others, it deplored
the identification of conserva.
tism with extremism.
"The Times believes im
plicitly in the conservative
philosophy," the editorial said.
"It has challenged all these
men and most of these insti
tutions (which Welch attacks)
on the soundness of one or
more issues. But the Times
does not believe that the argu
ment for conservatism can be
won - and we do believe it
can be won - by smearing as
enemies and traitors those
with whom we sometimes dis
agree. ' "Subversion, whether of the
left or the right, is still sub
version." " .
Not Disturbed by Criticism
Criticism from the press is
not likely to disturb Welch.
He has already told his fol
lowers that "the domination
APRIL
FOR DETAILS
of our press, television and ra.
dio by Communist influences
is now so great that you sim
ply are not allowed to learn
or be reminded of the real
nature of the beasts to whom
we are losing." An editorial in
"American Opinion" for Feb
ruary said the long-insolvent
Communist newspaper, The
Daily Worker, quit publication
because the 'line taken toy
the New York Times long
ago made it unnecessary, su-,
perfluous, and probably em
barrassing to the Times."
"When you hear Welch's
charges out of context . . .
their absurdity is plain
enough," said the Rev. John A.
Crane to his congregation at
Santa Barbara's Unitarian
church one February Sun
day. Absurdity Concealed
"But when you come upon
them in the publications of the
society, surrounded and sup
ported by Welch's rich, flow
ing language and ideas, their
absurdity is well concealed.
"The man is a marvelously
gifted demagogue ....
"There is another factor
apart from the magic of Rob
ert Welch that lends power
to the movement . . . both
Welch . and his people are
genuinely afraid . . . driven
by an almost wild fear of a
persistent and pervasive sort.
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Because of the peculiar nature
of their understanding of what
It means to be an American,
everywhere they look, in our
society, they see signs of an
incredibly devious subver
sion . . ."
Thursday: The society's doe
trine and membership.
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