Hung Jury

In Hartford, Conn, last week, justice tried to decide whether a housewife should be punished for accusing of pro-Communism two people who certainly ran with Communist fronts, if they did not actually stand with them. Said Federal Judge J. Joseph Smith to the jury in the case: "In the present climate of this country there can be no question that to charge a man with being a Communist or pro-Communist or a traitor does hold him up to ridicule and contempt."

The case before Judge Smith was a $200,000 damage suit brought by Larry Adler, the harmonica player, and Paul Draper, the dancer, against Mrs. John T. McCullough, Greenwich, Conn, housewife (TIME, Dec. 5), who had publicly objected to their performing at a local concert.

The Only Defense. Mrs. McCullough, cheered on by Society Columnist Igor Cassini ("Cholly Knickerbocker" of the New York Journal-American), Columnists George Sokolsky, Westbrook Pegler, Bill Cunningham and Radiorator Fulton Lewis Jr., and backed by some $28,000 (mostly in small bills) from thousands of sympathizers, had made the only defense she could: that her charge of pro-Communism against Adler and Draper was the truth.

Her attorneys brought in witnesses to try to prove that Adler and Draper had supported a number of Communist fronts. They had performed for some, including the Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee, which had nourished Gerhart Eisler while he was in the U.S. and helped him in his escape to Russia. Ex-Communist Louis Budenz and two former undercover FBI agents testified flatly that they had known of Adler and Draper in the party as Communist entertainers.

In their defense, Adler and Draper said they had supported Allied causes during the period of the Nazi-Soviet pact. Adler testified that he was a Democrat, a New Dealer and a loyal U.S. citizen: the fact that Government agencies had named certain organizations as Red fronts did not make them so as far as he was concerned. Draper just as vehemently maintained his loyalty. He thought, he said, that Stalin "has gone out of his mind." He said: "Never in my whole life have I ever deliberately advanced the cause of Communism ... It hurts people and it hurts nations. It has harmed me very much. It can harm the whole world and perhaps destroy all."

A Question of Duty. Under crossexamination, Hester McCullough, wife of a picture editor of TIME, stuck to her guns. Asked if she thought Adler and Draper were traitors, she answered, "Yes," and asserted that she still thought she had done a civic duty in trying to keep them out of Greenwich. "You can't sit back like a bunch of capitalistic fat cats and do nothing," she said angrily, "when these people come here for large fees."

What was her definition of "liberal"? "In the present sense of the word," she said, "someone with leftist tendencies." Did she hate "liberals"? the plaintiffs' lawyer demanded. "I certainly do," she said. Did she hate a good many of her neighbors in Greenwich? "Hate is a strong word. I feel sorry for them rather than dislike them." What did she think of Franklin Roosevelt? "I think President Roosevelt sold us out. I think he attempted to appease Stalin." Did she think Roosevelt "got some consideration" for selling out? "No doubt he did. I don't know," said Mrs. McCullough.

No Verdict. The judge gave a final warning to the jury: "You cannot give any weight to subversive listings by Government agencies no matter how much respect you have for the official or authority who made them."

But after eleven hours of deliberation over the tangled issues, the jury of eight women and four men gave up, announced that they were hopelessly divided, could not reach a verdict. Adler and Draper saw the outcome as a "vindication," which it was not: neither side won. Draper's wife wept; so did Mrs. McCullough.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.