TESTIMONY OF LAWRENCE EARL GEORGE, ACCOMPANIED BY HIS COUNSEL, PHILIP L. BURTON
Mr. Wheeler. Will the witness state his full name, please?
Mr. George. My name is Lawrence Earl George.
Mr. Wheeler. Where do you reside?
Mr. George. Seattle, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. Will counsel identify himself for the record, please?
Mr. Burton. My name is Philip L. Burton. I am a Seattle attorney.
Mr. Wheeler. Mr. George, what is your occupation?
Mr. George. I am a warehouseman, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. How long have you been a warehouseman?
Mr. George. Oh, for 12, 15 years; 12 years anyway.
Mr. Wheeler. Being a warehouseman, are you a member of any union?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Sir, upon advice of counsel, I will invoke my rights and privileges under the first and fifth amendments of the Constitution of the United States.
Mr. Moulder. I didn’t hear your reply. Did you say you decline to answer the question?
Mr. George. Because of certain insinuations about any union, it is necessary for me to invoke my rights under the first and fifth amendments of the Constitution and decline to answer the question.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you held any positions in the union that we are discussing?
Mr. George. Again, sir, I shall have to invoke the fifth amendment.
Mr. Wheeler. Is it not a fact that the warehousemen are members of the International Longshoreman’s and Warehousemen’s Union? I am not asking you if you are a member of the ILWU; just a blanket question.
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Yes; that is a fact.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you a member of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Again, sir, I have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you at any time during your residency in Seattle been acquainted with a lady by the name of Barbara Hartle?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Again, sir, I shall have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment.
Mr. Wheeler. Mrs. Hartle testified before this committee last June that she knew you as a member of the waterfront section of the Communist Party. Is that correct?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Again, Mr. Chairman, I have to invoke the privileges granted me under the fifth amendment of the Constitution.
Mr. Wheeler. Will you also invoke the privilege on all questions relating to the waterfront section of the Communist Party?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I shall have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment in connection with that.
Mr. Wheeler. Were you an official of the union in 1951?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Again I have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment and decline to answer the question.
Mr. Wheeler. Did you sign a Taft-Hartley affidavit?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment and decline to answer.
Mr. Wheeler. Is it not a fact that the Communist Party advised members of the Communist Party to disassociate themselves from the Communist Party and sign the Taft-Hartley affidavit?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I shall have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment to that.
Mr. Wheeler. Is it not a fact that the members of the Communist Party remained loyal and in the discipline of the Communist Party although they officially did resign?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I will have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment as to that.
Mr. Moulder. Did I understand you to say that your birthplace was here in Seattle?
Mr. George. Sir, I didn’t give my place of birth. I wasn’t asked that question.
Mr. Moulder. Where were you born?
Mr. George. I was born in Denver, Colo.
Mr. Moulder. When did you move to Seattle?
Mr. George. I came to Seattle after the First World War. I think it was in 1918 or thereabouts.
Mr. Moulder. Have you resided in Seattle ever since?
Mr. George. Yes, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. Have you ever heard of the Negro and National Groups Commission of the Communist Party of King County?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I shall have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment as to that, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. Mrs. Hartle in her testimony stated you were chairman of that group. Was she correct in this testimony?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. Again, sir, I will have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment and decline to answer.
Mr. Wheeler. Are you familiar with an organization called the Interracial Action Committee?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I will have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment.
Mr. Wheeler Are you a member of the Communist Party today, Mr. George?
(The witness confers with his counsel.)
Mr. George. I will have to invoke my privileges under the fifth amendment and decline to answer that, sir.
Mr. Wheeler. No further questions, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moulder. The witness is excused.
Mr. Wheeler. Harriet Pierce.
(At this point Representative Harold H. Velde returned to the hearing room.)
Mr. Moulder. Do you represent Mrs. Pierce? Will you step up?
Mr. Trolson. Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Moulder. I want to talk to him.
(Whereupon Mr. Trolson conferred with the chairman.)
Mr. Moulder. Call the witness again, please.
Mr. Wheeler. Harriet Pierce.
Mr. Moulder. Would you raise your right hand and be sworn. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony which you are about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
Mrs. Pierce. I do.
Mr. Trolson. May I make a statement before you begin to question the witness?
Mr. Moulder. Yes; you may.
Mr. Trolson. My name is Roy Trolson. I am a member of the Board of Trustees of the Seattle Bar Association.
Mrs. Pierce has come to the bar association and rendered a statement that she is unable to secure counsel because she has no funds for that purpose. The president of the Bar Association has asked me to represent Mrs. Pierce, and I want to make it clear that I am representing her without compensation and at the request of the Legal Aid Bureau of the Seattle Bar Association.
Mr. Moulder. We certainly appreciate your position and wish to say that you should be commended as an attorney when requested by the Bar Association to appear and represent any person who has no funds to employ counsel.
And certainly it should have no reflection, and doesn’t have any reflection, upon you whatsoever.
For a person who is unable to employ counsel, it is the duty of a lawyer under those circumstances to comply with that request, and the burden that has been placed upon you.
Mr. Trolson. Thank you.