Because newspaper reports have been incomplete, inaccurate and sometimes downright malicious, set forth here is the story of my hassle with the government, which has now led to my being indicted for contempt of Congress.
P. Seeger,
Beacon, N.Y.
March 30, 1957
SOURCE Summary of Government Charges, March 30, 1957, copy held by R. Cohen.
1) In August, 1955, Representatives Walter (R. Pa.), Scherer (R. Ohio), and Willis (D. La.)—the “House Committee On Un-American Activities”—questioned me for over an hour in New York, trying to establish a connection with the left-wing movement in the United States.
My reply, if I can remember my exact words, was: “I have never done anything, supported any cause, nor sung any song either conspiratorial or conducive to conspiracy, and I resent the implication, in being called before this committee, that because some of my opinions may be different than yours, that I am any less of an American. You have a right to your opinions, and I have a right to mine.”
Rereading the statement, it sounds awfully self-righteous, but I’ll stick by it. Some will say it was foolishly pigheaded, but I said that they were asking the kind of questions that no American should be asked.
2) So at the tail end of that session of Congress, in the summer of ’56, I was formally cited by the House, for contempt of Congress, along with Arthur Miller, the playwright, Dr. Otto Nathan (Einstein’s friend and the executor of his will), and half a dozen others, all of whom had quoted the First Amendment as the basis for their refusal to answer similar questions. (P.S.—my wife felt quite complimented, in a way, to be in the same class with Marilyn Monroe.)
The difference between quoting the 5th Amendment or the First is roughly this: The fifth means “you have no right to ask me this question”—and the Supreme Court has supported this position. The 1st means “you have no right to ask anyone this question.” So far the Supreme Court has avoided making a direct ruling on the 1st. Some witnesses have thereby served from three months to a year in jail. Some have had their cases dismissed by lower courts. Though I quoted no Amendment, the First Amendment (“freedom of speech, press, assembly”) covers me.
3) This Friday, March 29, I was arraigned at Foley Square courthouse in New York, by the Federal Department of Justice, and charged with contempt of Congress. I pleaded not guilty. (I have very honestly the highest regard for Congress—it is the legislative arm of our democracy, and the instrument through which to channel our hopes for the future.)
Fortunately I was able to raise bail of $1000 and am free for the moment to continue to travel and sing. There will be a hearing May 20, and a trial probably within the next three to eight months, and possibly (some think probably) appeals which can last a couple years or more. This is what really costs dough. I’ve discovered that the average workingman is really at a disadvantage here. Before we are through, Toshi and I will have to raise between three and ten thousand dollars, whether I stay out of jail or not.
We have a really wonderful lawyer—Paul Ross—he used to be Mayor LaGuardia’s right hand man, a mature, sensible, and humane man. He’s promised to stick by us even though there is no chance of us being able to pay him a normal fee.
4) Well, that’s how the situation stands. I still feel that I committed no wrong, and that my children will not feel ashamed of me in future years. I think that it is significant that the committee did not even question my statement (see second paragraph, above). If they felt I really had been a part of some conspiracy, they should have cited me for perjury, not contempt.
If only we could transport ourselves, in the mind’s eye, to look down like the Gods upon the scene, it might even appear funny, if it were not also tragic that in our country with so many fine traditions of freedom, it is still possible to be penalized for opinions.