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.
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'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.
The five-man majority has
already held that the freedom
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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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