Mr. Tavenner. When you left the stand yesterday, Mr. Dennett, we were speaking of your experience in the Communist Party at Bellingham. Will you please describe to the committee what additional activities of the Communist Party you engaged in while at Bellingham.
Mr. Dennett. I believe, sir, that I recounted that the Communist Party was active in the unemployed movement, and our membership grew from 7 to approximately 160 in the course of a year’s time, and that we had proceeded to reorient that membership in the party from exclusive work in the unemployment councils to working in an organization known as the People’s Councils, which was organized by non-party people.
The two leaders of that organization at that time were Mr. M. M. London and Mr. George Bradley.
The Communist Party was quite disturbed that there was such an effective organization in existence which was not directly under our leadership.
Mr. Tavenner. What was the name of that organization?
Mr. Dennett. The People’s Councils. Consequently, one of our major objectives was to win that leadership to support the party position one way or another. We had had previous experience with Mr. London and we considered that it was not possible to win Mr. London back to—or to support the party. Therefore, we concentrated our attention on Mr. Bradley, and ultimately won him to support the party and the party position in opposition to Mr. London.
Mr. Tavenner. When you say you won Mr. Bradley to the support of the Communist Party position, do you mean to indicate that he became a member of the Communist Party?
Mr. Dennett. Yes; he did. He became a member of the Communist Party after my constant agitation with him had convinced him that the Communist Party program was a sounder program and a better program than the one that they were pursuing in the People’s Councils.
And Mr. Bradley was unable to convince Mr. London, and they became at some conflict in point of view on that.
Mr. Tavenner. The organization there known as the Unemployed Councils, if I understood your testimony correctly, was a Communist-organized group?