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‘4 NY 10025857 according to the paper, said the Council was not « Communist group as such. He had been attacked by the ROBESON faction in the Council for being a Red baitor, the paper reported. According to the "Herald Tribune® of April 7, 1948, ROBESON reply- ing to the charges of MAX YERGAN mentioned above stating "You can't fight the struggleof Africa by being non-partisan or being a Red baitor—-~Someone has to point out that things are not beautiful here in America, in Africa and cther parts of the world, If that makes me a Communist, then I'm prond to be one.* The Slew York Post-Home News on April 16, 1948, reported that RA PAA oo a a | ae 7 4 #* =~ ROBESON, who b een campaigning for HENRY WALLACE in Columbus, Ohio, was asked by GEORGp’ LAWRENCE, Managing Editor of the"Ohio State News", the Negro weekly, whet or not he was « Commnist, to which ROBESON replied "It is none of your damn business." The subject etated, according to the newspaper account, "The last person in the world I would expect to ask that question would be a Negro and a representative of the Negro press, This is no longer a matter of Communian. It's a matter of civil rights," ROBESON accused "big money men" of "Fascist activities" and asked "who could blame a Negro for being a Communist or anything?" ’ i . A Confidential Informant reported that he observed PAUL ROBESON b | marching in the 1948 May Day Parade members of the May Day Committee, The "New York Sun" on May 29, 1948, reported that as the subject left on the aforesaid date for Washington to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee against the MINDT-NLION anti-Communist bill, he stated in a press conference that he would have to "decide on the issue" before choosing sides in the event of a war between the United States and Russia. Testifying before the above mentioned committee on May 31, 1948, ROBESON, according to the New York newspaper "Pw", after telling the committee he thought members of the Communist Party had done a magnificent job in America, declined to state,in answer to a question Senator HOMER FERGUSON (Michigan) asked, whether or not he was a Communist. He said he would go to jail before he would say whether he was s Communist. He also declined to tell the committee whether he would fight for the United States in the event of a war with Russias