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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 31, 1961)
Welch's Feeling for lice Dates From 1952 Convention Editor'! note: Following Is the lus in a series aooui tne semi acerec John Birrh Society, an anti- Communism organization that has caused controversy oy iu metnoas. A UPI special reporting, team fcaaded by Barbara Bundschu, New Tork staff correspondent, reports today on tne society s prominent Biembers and the founder's ferl lngs toward Klsenhower, Nixon, Taft and Goldwater. By BARBARA BUNDSCHU UPI Correspondent -J Robert Welch, founder and leader of the John Birch So ciety, charges that the 1932 GOP presidential nomination was stolen from the late Sen. Robert A. Taft. , Welche's bitterness against former President Eisenhower apparently dates from the J952 convention, when Eisen hower won the GOP nomina tion over Taft. In a startling "Letter to Khrushchev," published in his magazine "American Opinion" in 1958 and now available in pamphlet form, Welch lold the Russian leader he knew that among the pro-Communist activities of recent years had been: "The snatching of the Republican nomination from Taft in 1952 by pur chase, theft, secret deals, and other tactics more foul than had ever before appeared, in American politics." - Later in the same letter, which starts out assuring Khrushchev that "We know that you are winning the cold war by leaps and bounds," Welch wrote: "The president of one of America's largest banks took suitcases full of currency to the convention, to bribe delegates away from Taft; and he was rewarded, for thus providing such spon taneity, by a major ambas sadorship." Lauds Taft, MasArthur . In an interview with Unit ed Press International, Welch named Taft and Gen. Douglas MacArthur as men he consid ered great Americans of re cent years but declined to name his current favorites. His "Blue Book," however, leaves no doubt that his cur rent choice is Arizona's Re publican Sen. Barry Gold water. "I'd love to see him presi dent of the United States, and maybe some day we shall," Welch said. Goldwater, in response to a UPI inquiry, said he wasn't aware of any Birch Society endorsement and wasn't in any case running for anything exqept the Senate. His term expires in 1964. Goldwater said he was familiar with the organization, that he had met several of its members during his travels and "they are very outstanding people. 1 Welch, in a "Blue Book' speech of December, 1958, called former Vice President Richard M. Nixon "one of the ablest, shrewdest, most disin genuous, and slipperiest poli ticians that ever showed up on the' American scene." But he said he would leave his remarks about Nixon out of the tape-recorded version of his speech because "he MAY be the best ist we have for the Republican standard bearer in 1960, who has any chance of getting the nomina tion. He would be far better than Nelson Rockefeller. . . Raps Rockefeller "I think Nixon could be come a very patriotic anti Communist if we would create circumstances in which it would be smart politics to be one; whereas I think Nelson Rockefeller ... is definitely committed to trying to make the United States a part of one-world socialist govern ment. . , " Welch's views on President Kennedy were indicated be fore his election. He did not mention Kennedy by name but his sentiments were made clear in a discussion about "amoral man." "You will usually find him in church on Sunday morn ing, maybe even a Catholic church," Welch said then. "But as a member of the United States Senate, running for the presidency, and smart enough to know the strong Communist support behind-the-scenes which he will have to get in order to have any chance of being nominated in 1960, such an amoral man can do a tremendous amount of ball-carrying on behalf of the Communist aims here in the United States; and he can do an almost equal amount of damage to anti-Communist morale in other parts of the world, by his well-publicized speeches against Chiang Kai Shek or in favor of the Al gerian rebels. . . Medford Tribune SECTION B MEDFORD, OREGON, FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 1961 PAGES 1 to 10 "And any similarity of ehai :cters in this story to any living persons is not coin cidental." Sad Commentary "I am prepared to defend their right to express their views, as I would 'leftist' opinions," said Los Angeles Attorney A. L. Wirin about the John Birch Society. "That its views, however, are acceptable to any portion of the American public is a sad commentary on the pres ent American political scene." Sen. Milton R. Young, (R N.D.), who has criticized the society on the Senate floor, said "what surprises me most is not the size but the number of prominent men who be long." Twelve of the 26 men cur rently listed as members of the society's council are listed in Who's Who in America. They include two former pres idents of the National Asso ciation of Manufacturers, Wil liam J. Grede and Cola G. Parker, both of Wisconsin, and a third former NAM president, Ernest G. Swigert of Portland, Ore., had previ ously been listed as a council member. The Racine, Wis., Journal Times, noting the association of these and other prominent businessmen with the group said: "It is a cause for crack pots, but those allegedly re sponsible persons who support it will be tarred with the same brush." . Other Members Other council members in clude Spruille Braden, former U.S. ambassador; T. Coleman Andrews, the former collector of internal revenue who ran for president on a platform calling for abolition of the in come tax; Clarence Manion, former dean of the Notre Dame law school and head of the highly conservative Man ion Forum; M. T. Phelps, for mer chief justice of the Su preme Court of Arizona; Col. NOT Bargain-Counter Coverage . . AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE with BIG safe driver SAVINGS from THE TRAVELERS, J.U- JUJ- TH TTT'XTnPTPTt uie AJiuymiy uiai uln vail xiuu auwj iiisuimiuc. vl Available now to Oregon motorists from your local indeDendent Travelers Agent: t Don Stathos, imuror OK. THE MALL-1005 E. Main PROTECTION- mJjl A ,,c0NM. INSURANT IJ, Phone SP 3-6658 'Laurence E. Bunker, former personal aide to Gen. Doug las MacArthur, and Lt. Gen Charles B. Stone III, USAF Ret., former commander of the 14th Air Force in China The late Alfred Kohlberg, New York importer ' best known for his letter writing campaign in support of the so-called "China lobby" was a charter member and is still listed as such. Adolphe Menjou, the Holly wood actor, was at one time a member of the council. His wife said early in March that both bhe and her husband were still members of the so ciety. On March 21, Mrs. Men jou said her husband was in a hospital with a minor ail ment but that he had with drawn from the society, hav ing found he disagreed with its founder and head, Robert Welch, "on certain points." She declined to elaborate. Some answers to Wirin's question on the society's ap peal were provided March 18 in two pages of letters printed by the Los Angeles Times fol lowing its editorial condem nation of the society. Justify Membership Four writers said the Times articles preceding the editorial were prompting them to join the society. Two justified their membership in these words: "It is the only organization that I know of that gives vital information on what is really going on and gives us sugges tions for positive action;" and "If our government had made a real attempt to inform us, or to direct our attention to the need for this informa tion, the John Birch Society would have been unneces sary." Letter writers who praised the newspaper for its stand included former Vice Presi dent Richard M. Nixon, the presidents of the University of California and Occidental College and the chancellor of the University of California at Los Angeles, Rep. James C. Corman (D-Calif.) and Methodist Bishop Gerald Kennedy. One letter, signed only with initials and presumably writ ten with a matrimonial "we complimented the Times for explaining "probably much better than we might the rea sons why we resigned after several months as members." The letter said writers had become disturbed by cards distributed by the society last year to protest the planned summit meeting. Designed for mailing to President Eisen hower, they read: "If you go - don't come back!" "Then we began to note that almost every public of ficial Roosevelt, Truman, Ike, Nixon, Dulles and others be came ever-widening targets of Welch. "We heard whispers, re marks prefaced by, 'would you believe it if I told you . . . ?' and we became in creasingly wary. "We became disenchanted with the John Birch Society, and withdrew. . ." Nixon Defends Rules Former Vice President Rich ard M. Nixon wrote the Times: "It mav at times seem unrealistic and naive to follow the rules of the game when our opponents are so unscrupulous and completely devoid of morality. But, in the end, refusing to resort to methods that are wrong not only is right but in the long run is the most effective way to combat an evil doctrine like Communism . . , "One of tiie most indelible lessons of human history is that those who adopt the doc trine that the end justifies the means inevitably find the means become the end." Times Publisher Otis Chan dler rejoiced on two counts at the heavy reaction to the newspaper's stand. The read ers' expenditure for "stamps, phone calls and shoe leather (and aspirin)" he took as a happy omen that the economy is on the upswing. Further, lie wrote: "To stand up and say unequivocally what you believe in your heart is the 'right thing, regardless of immediate discomforts or neighborhood reactions, is a blessed virtue. We have done this on major issues of con cern to all of us, and we re spect and thank God you, the American public, have the guts to do the same. This in itself hurts the Communist cause." The first count of replies he said, was: "Pro Times pol icy, 126 letters, 13 phone calls, one new subscription; against, 163 pieces of mail, 8 phone calls, 22 actual subscriber can cellations and 12 threats or mentions of cancellations." Readers Favor Society The readers lined up slight ly in favor of the John Birch Society in almost exactly the same proportion as the Su preme Court has lined up five to four in favor of the doc trine that freedom of speech Is not an absolute right when it becomes involved with Communism, Extending the judicial dif ference of opinion into the realm of the society s opera tions would appear to create a two-edged sword. The court minority which might look askance at the so ciety's own efforts to suppress dissent would nonetheless sup port its right to think and say what it chooses. 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Marlene Pendleton steers her seagoing auto across Central Park lake in New York City, much to the surprise of rowers taking advantage of the warm sunshine. The vehicle is the Amphlcar, a West German import. Miss Pendleton was given two summonses - one for driving on a foot path and the other for operating a vehicle in the lake - when she emerged from the water. (UPI Tclcphoto) of speech and association must be balanced against the public interest. As Justice John Mnr- shall Harlan wrote in the Bar- enblalt decision, it has upheld "federal legislation aimed at the Communist problems which in a different context would certainly have raised constitutional issues of the gravest character." In a minority decision by Justice Hugo Black, with con currence of Chief Justice War ren who has been attacked by the society: "Liberty, to be secure for any, must be secure for all, even the most miserable mer chants of hatred and unpopu lar ideas." 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