Lone Star v. Red

The way Wendell Addington heard about it in the Army, Communism sounded wonderful. He had a friend in the 32nd Infantry Division who convinced him that "to be a Communist was the highest honor in the world, for the Communists represent the future of mankind." So, in 1946, when he got back home to Lubbock, Tex., Wendell Addington joined the party. At about the same time, he also became a student at the University of Texas.

Since then, Texas and its university have been hearing quite a bit from Communist Addington. As youth director for the state party, he began to appear before committees of the legislature to protest against segregation or to support anti-lynching bills. To Texans, his favorite tactic seemed to be tactlessness. Once, when a member of the legislature asked him what he was studying at the state university, he snarled, "That is none of your concern." The angrier the legislators got, the more Addington seemed to like it.

But on his last visit, 24-year-old Communist Addington, now a senior, went a little too far. A representative asked him whether he would fight for the U.S. if it went to war with Russia. Addington was evasive, finally mumbled something to the effect that it would depend on who was the aggressor.

Last week, the house and senate unanimously passed a resolution against Addington and his kind. The resolution, which Governor Beauford Jester promised to sign, "authorized, instructed and empowered" the presidents of state colleges and universities to investigate and expel "all or any persons found to be disloyal to this nation." It was not exactly a law, explained House Speaker Durwood Manford, "but stronger than a suggestion." Cried Texas University Footballer "Peppy" Blount, a member of the house and one of the chief backers of the bill: "Academic freedom, huh? The only isms we want in Texas are Texasism and Americanism."

The university announced that it would comply with the "legislative mandate." It would not be the only state institution to take such action. A legislative investigation had already led to the firing of two admitted Communists from the faculty of the University of Washington (TIME, Jan. 31). Other state legislatures with similar investigations afoot: New Hampshire and Illinois.

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