Overman Committee - Press Reaction

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."