technical support for you r position.
On page 11lJ , Gilbert states : "The
encouragement of the Communist
I)arty stopped short of any direct
financial contributions
to
the new
magnine, but it aided efforts to secure
necessary funds by endorsing the new
publication. "
H owever, on page 140, Gilbert
goes on to say, "he talks of ho\,v the
demolition of the R.eed clubs proved
fata l to many of the little magazines,
for witho ut the creative and financial
contr ibuti ons of the Reed c lub
members Illost
revolutionary
periodicals folded. Subject to tile same
pressures
Pal'r;sall
gravitated toward the
League of American Writers."
Sincerely,
Steven Fraser
August I
H,
IlJlJ4
Dear Mr. Fraser:
Thanks for
~ending
nlC the infor–
mation.
The quotations are not evidence,
nor do they supp ly any evidence. They
are statelllents based on rUlll o rs, a nd
on ly a coupic of the references
melltion financial support. They arc
just assertions, that arc repeated by
Wreszin. The rest of the quotations
speak of support in a genera l way,
presumably meaning political support.
Most people w ho have not had
direct experience or who have not
done extensive research do not un–
derstand w llJt the relationship with the
Communi st Party was. Let me explain
how things worked. The Party as such
had no interest in
Pal'r;sall
nCl';CIl'.
ilut the few higher-ups who were
co n cern ed with literature did not
oppose it, mainly because a few Party
members were assoc iated with it.
Philip 1"\.3hv was a Party member, and a
few other Party Illembers worked with
us. And it must be elllphasized that the
Party in no way initiated o r instigated
the crl'3tion of the mag;1Zine. In
fact,
we were opposed to the offlci,11 Party
organ,
Til('
,",'CI/'
,\Iassc.<.
which we re–
garded as sectarian, and they in turn
were opposed
to
us.
On the financial side, very little
nlOney
W,IS
requircd
to
run the
magazine,
,IS
costs \.vere low. And the
deficit was covered by thl' income
from lectures on
liter~lry
subjects,
w hi ch we ran o n our own. The initial
sum to SLlrt up the ma gaz in e C3mc
from the proceeds of 3 lecture by John
Strachey, with which the Party had
nothing
to
do. We arranged the
lecture 3nd collccted the proceeds of
SHOO. 00.
I shou ld add tint Con lillunists and
fellow-travellers did not expcct any
money fronl the Party. As young
idealists, we were happy
to
contribute
to the general cause, despite political
differences and criticisms of the Party.
I hope this conveys to you why
Wreszin mentioning financial support
has no basis. I suppose it is better to
speak, as you suggest, of general
support, but that is, strictly spc,lking,
not accurate either. The actual relation
was that
Pal'r;sall
nCl';CIII
existed
within the orbit of the Communist
Party, alth o ugh it opposed many of
