Overman Committee

World War I, in which the United States and its allies fought—among other Central Powers—the German Empire, raised concern about the German threat to the United States. The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 were passed in response. In the October Revolution of 1917 the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin instituted Leninism. Many Americans were worried about the revolution's ideas infiltrating the United States, a phenomenon later named the Red Scare of 1919–20. The Overman Committee was formally an ad-hoc subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, but had no formal name. It was chaired by Senator Lee Slater Overman and also included Senators Knute Nelson of Minnesota, Thomas Sterling of South Dakota, William H. King of Utah, and Josiah O. Wolcott of Delaware. ==Initial investigation==

The committee was authorized by Senate Resolution 307 on September 19, 1918, to investigate charges against the United States Brewers Association (USBA) and allied interests. Brewing institutions had been largely founded by German immigrants in the mid-19th century, who brought with them knowledge and techniques for brewing beer. The committee interpreted this mission to mean a general probe into German propaganda and pro-German activities in the United States. Hearings were mandated after A. Mitchell Palmer, the federal government's Alien Property Custodian responsible for German-owned property in the US, testified in September 1918, that the USBA and the rest of the overwhelmingly German liquor industry harbored pro-German sentiments. He stated that "German brewers of America, in association with the United States Brewers' Association" had attempted "to buy a great newspaper" and "control the government of State and Nation", had generally been "unpatriotic", and had "pro-German sympathies". Many were agents of the Bureau of Investigations (BOI), the predecessor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The agents, controversially and usually erroneously, For example, the Bureau chief labeled some people pro-German because they had insubstantial and non-ideological acquaintance with German agents. ==Expansion of investigation==

drawn by Daniel R. Fitzpatrick published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 6, 1919, satirizing the Senate's expansion of the Overman Committee's authority two days earlier On February 4, 1919, the Senate unanimously passed Senator Thomas J. Walsh's Senate Resolution 439, expanding the committee's investigations to include "any efforts being made to propagate in this country the principles of any party exercising or claiming to exercise any authority in Russia" and "any effort to incite the overthrow of the Government of this country". This decision followed months of sensational daily press coverage of revolutionary events abroad and Bolshevik meetings and events in the United States, which increased anti-radical public opinion. Reports that some of these meetings were attended by Congressmen caused further outrage. who allegedly said, "America sooner or later is going to accept the Soviet Government." Archibald E. Stevenson, a New York attorney with ties to the Justice Department, likely a "volunteer spy", testified on January 22, 1919, during the German phase of the subcommittee's work. He said that anti-war and anti-draft activism during World War I, which he described as "pro-German" activity, had now transformed into propaganda "developing sympathy for the Bolshevik movement." The United States' wartime enemy, though defeated, had exported an ideology that ruled Russia and threatened America anew. "The Bolsheviki movement is a branch of the revolutionary socialism of Germany. It had its origin in the philosophy of Marx and its leaders were Germans." He cited the propaganda efforts of John Reed and gave many examples from the foreign press. He told the senators, "We have found money coming into this country from Russia." Stevenson has been described by historian Regin Schmidt as a "driving force" behind the growth of anti-Bolshevism in the United States. The final catalyst for the expansion of the investigation was the Seattle General Strike, which began the day before the Senate passed Resolution 439. ==Bolshevism hearings==

The Overman Committee's hearings on Bolshevism lasted from February 11 to March 10, 1919. More than two dozen witnesses were interviewed. About two-thirds were violently anti-Bolshevik and advocated for military intervention in Russia.—who left Russia because of Bolshevism. The overriding theme was the social chaos the Revolution had brought, Like lists of names provided during the German propaganda hearings, this list provoked an outcry. Stevenson declared universities to be breeding grounds of sedition, and that institutions of higher learning were "festering masses of pure atheism" and "the grossest kind of materialism". Ambassador to Russia David R. Francis stated that the Bolsheviks were killing everybody "who wears a white collar or who is educated and who is not a Bolshevik." Another recurring theme at the hearings was the relationship between Jews and communists in Russia. One Methodist preacher stated that nineteen out of twenty communists were Jews; others said the Red Army was composed mainly of former East Side New York Jews. However, after criticism from Jewish organizations, Senator Overman clarified that the committee was discussing "apostate" Jews only, defined by witness George Simons as "one who has given up the faith of his fathers or forefathers." A third frequent theme was the "free love" and "nationalization" of women allegedly occurring in Soviet Russia. Witnesses described an orgy in which there was no "respect for virtuous women"; others who testified, including those who had been in Russia during the Revolution, After one witness read a Soviet decree saying that Russian women had the "right to choose from among men", Senator Sterling threw up his hands and declared that this was a negation of "free love". The senators were particularly interested in how Bolshevism had united many disparate elements on the left, including anarchists and socialists of many types, "providing a common platform for all these radical groups to stand on." Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota responded: "Then they have really rendered a service to the various classes of progressives and reformers that we have here in this country." ==Final report==

'' on June 15, 1919 The committee's final report detailed its investigations into German propaganda, Bolshevism, and other "un-American activities" in the United States and predicted effects of communism's implementation in the United States. It was endorsed unanimously. Released in June 1919, In its analysis of what would happen if capitalism were overthrown and replaced by communism, it warned of widespread misery and hunger, the confiscation of and nationalization of all property, and the beginning of "a program of terror, fear, extermination, and destruction." Anti-Bolshevik public sentiment surged after release of the report and ensuing publicity. It concluded that instituting Marxism–Leninism in the United States would result in "the destruction of life and property", the deprivation "of the right to participate in affairs of government", and the "further suppress[ion]" of a "substantial rural portion of the population." Furthermore, there would be an "opening of the doors of all prisons and penitentiaries". Other recommendations included strict regulation of the manufacture, distribution, and possession of high explosives; control and regulation of foreign language publications, and the creation of patriotic propaganda. ==Press reaction==

The press reveled in the investigation and the final report, referring to the Russians as "assassins and madmen," "human scum," "crime mad," and "beasts." The occasional testimony by some who viewed the Russian Revolution favorably lacked the punch of its critics. One extended headline in February read: :Says Riffraff, Not the Toilers, Rule in Russia :American Manager of Great American Plant There Tells Experiences to Senators :Outsiders Seized Power :Came Back from Other Countries and are Growing Rich at People's Expense :Factories Being Ruined :60,000,000 Rubles Spent in Three Months at One Plant to Produce 400,000 Worth of Goods And one day later: :Bolshevism Bared by R. E. Simmons :Former Agent in Russia of Commerce Department Concludes his Story to Senators :Women are 'Nationalized' :Official Decrees Reveal Depths of Degradation to Which They are Subjected by Reds :Germans Profit by Chaos :Factories and Mills are Closed and the Machinery Sold to Them for a Song On the release of the final report, newspapers printed sensational articles with headlines in capital letters: "Red Peril Here", "Plan Bloody Revolution", and "Want Washington Government Overturned". ==Criticism==

Critics denounced the committee as a "propaganda apparatus" to stoke anti-German and anti-Soviet fears, feeding the Red Scare and spreading misinformation about Soviet Russia. ==Aftermath==

, chairman of the committee The Overman Committee did not achieve any lasting reforms. However, the panel's sensationalism played a decisive role in increasing America's fears during the Red Scare of 1919–20. Later investigative committees The Overman Committee was the first of many Congressional committees to investigate communism. Archibald E. Stevenson was its chief counsel and one of its witnesses. Unlike the Overman Committee, the Lusk Committee was active in raiding suspect organizations. The Overman Committee was an early forerunner of the better known House Un-American Activities Committee, which was created 20 years later. ==References==