34                                                                                         FREEDOM IS AS FREEDOM DOES

every American has the right to freedom of vacations, I did not
inform the McCarthy sleuths of my whereabouts. During July the
Subcommittee succeeded in tracking down and subpoenaing for
hearings only a few of the writers named. It did not locate me;
and so I was able to go through the summer in relative peace.

But shortly after I had returned to New York City, from my
vacation, McCarthy was on my tiail again. On the morning of
Tuesday, September 22, I was working in my study around the
comer from Columbia University, and was actually writing the
first chapter of this book when the apai-tment phone rang and an
imknown person announced that he had a subpoena for me from
the McCarthy Committee, So I went down to the front hall of the
apartment house and accepted service of the subpoena. It sum¬
moned me to appear before the Committee the very next day at
2:30 p.m. at the United States Court House in Foley Square.

It was disturbing to realize that I had only a httie more than
twenty-four hours to get ready for the ordeal. A witness should
be given at least three or four days between the serving of the
subpoena and his appearance at a Congressional hearing. It was
typical of McCarthy's unscrupulous tactics to tiy to catch his
victims off guard and allow them no adequate time to prepare.

Since the events of the summer, I had expected that the Mc¬
Carthy Committee would probably tap me eventually, and had
been thinking on and off about possible courses of action. I had
been especially impressed by a briUiant article in The Nation
some months before, entitled "How to Stop the Demagogues," by
Philip Wittenberg, a New York attorney; and had talked briefly
with him about tiie new approach he recommended. He had in¬
formally agreed to take my case if I were called before a Con¬
gressional committee.

Fortunately for me Mr. Wittenberg was in town when I re¬
ceived ray subpoena and I immediately dashed down to his of¬
fice in a taxi. I had three long conferences with him before my
Wednesday deadline. We settled the general principles on which
I would stand, and went over a number of probable questions and
the type of answer or refusal to answer I should make to them.