This week the deadline went by for all Communists to register under the McCarran antisubversive law, and not one U.S. Communist stepped forward to sign up. Nobody was really surprised. Hardly had the bill been passed over the President’s veto than the New York Daily Worker called for a “people’s veto,” cautioned the comrades against registering.
On the afternoon of Deadline Day, the President finally created a Subversive Activities Control Board, which, under the law, is to determine whether suspected Reds should sign on the dotted line. He named a Republican, Washington Attorney Seth W. Richardson, as its chairman. The Department of Justice was also busy. It arrested 15 aliens charged with Communist activity, said it was after 71 more, many of whom could be deported.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- How Canada Fell Out of Love With Trudeau
- Trump Is Treating the Globe Like a Monopoly Board
- Bad Bunny On Heartbreak and New Album
- See Photos of Devastating Palisades Fire in California
- 10 Boundaries Therapists Want You to Set in the New Year
- The Motivational Trick That Makes You Exercise Harder
- Nicole Kidman Is a Pure Pleasure to Watch in Babygirl
- Column: Jimmy Carter’s Global Legacy Was Moral Clarity
Contact us at letters@time.com