JAY MARTIN
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destroyed my faith in the clear, bright future of mankind, but, on
the contrary, has given it an indestructible temper. This faith in rea–
son, in truth, in human solidarity, which at the age of eighteen I
took with me into the workers' quarters of the provincial Russian
town of ikolaiev-this faith I have preserved fully and com–
pletely.
It
has become more mature, but not less ardent. In the very
fact of your Commission's formation-in the fact that, at its head,
is a man of unshakable moral authority, a man who by virtue of his
age should have the right to remain outside of the skirmishes in the
political arena-in this fact I see a new and truly magnificent rein–
forcement of the revolutionary optimism which constitutes the fun–
damental element of my life. Ladies and gentlemen of the
Commission! Mr. Attorney Finerty! And you, my defender and
friend, Goldman! Allow me to express to all of you my warm grat–
itude, which in this case does not bear a personal character. And
allow me, in conclusion, to express my profound respect to the
educator, philosopher and personification of genuine American ide–
alism, the scholar who heads the work of your Commission.
At the conclusion of this long speech-in full, it lasted an hour-there
was a burst of applause, followed by a hushed silence. The spectators
waited for Dewey to speak. Finally, Dewey said softly: "Anything I can
say will be an anti-climax...the hearings of the preliminary commission
of inquiry are now ended."
Of course, they were not ended . The commissioners had to return to
New York, sift through the evidence, and make their decision. That
would be weeks away.
Following the end of the hearings, Trotsky said to Dewey that for him
they had proved that American idealism was not a myth but a reality. "I
have realized that American liberalism exists as a fact," Trotsky said to
Dewey as he gave him a final embrace in farewell. Dewey responded
quickly and graciously,
"If
all Marxists were like you, Mr. Trotsky, I
would be a Marxist." And Trotsky quipped back,
"If
all liberals were
like you, Dr. Dewey, I would be a liberal."
Never one to waste much time on leisure, Dewey boarded the train
a few days later, planning to return from Mexico by way of St. Louis .
He was fit as a fiddle despite the long, demanding hearings . In fact, he
was the only one of the commissioners who had not become sick in
Mexico . Dewey never allowed himself to think of himself as aged or
feeble. As he boarded the train in Mexico City, one of the accompany–
ing party took his arm to help him up, but he angrily pushed the hand
away and skipped up the steps.
