Steuard May 1 te a MORE DETERMINED REE Re UES Reed Benson | NOTE — Life has been tur ulent for Reed Benson, son of the former secretary of agriculture, since he became a paid coordinator for the controversial John Birch Society. But a, he has his father’s blessing for the work, and he says attacks on him have only ‘made him more cekormninteh Turbulent Life | Benson says he is far from linet +5 serve all eight Fis | years. The younger Benson \self been active in ch politics. He ran uns for the Republican nomi Congress in 1962, losing 15,000 votes. By R. Greg Nokes SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—When _ EYEBROWS RAI Reed Benson, son of former SecThus, when Reed _B retary of Agriculture Ezra Taft) Benson, stands before an audience | these days, he braces himself for and direct: its activities. the inevitable questions: ‘Who do you say is the biggest many eyebrows were Fr. Cot “Communist, President Eisenhow- if his father, a life-long tive, shared in the surpri er or President Kennedy?” ; “How can you in good con- didn’t show. In a statement, he sai science call the late John Foster mire Reed’s courage and Dulles a Red?” Unfair as he thinks such ques- his decision.”” He added ‘tions are, Benson, in six months society is “‘the most effec as a paid co-ordinator for the con- church organization in | troversial John Birch Society, has against creeping social had to learn to meet them head- Godless communism.” | a member, however. on. The elder Benson has| Benson, 35, is probably one of the best-known individuals to be in the middle of an attracted to the active ranks of dispute over what pos _ the anti-Communist Birch Society. church should take on: Certainly this is the case in his This position has changed } cent months from one ol home state of Utah. He is the eldest of six ohitdven ity to outright hostilit of Ezra Taft Benson, an apostle to neutrality again. There has been. of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) and| one of only two members of: Pres- joining the society.— ident Eisenhower’s original cab- struck at his home on OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER | iety because it reflected his own the John Birch Society | in 1 the onservative, ‘‘keep-government- spring of 1961!” a > eorrors Mes ing wealthy, pointing to a $5, |campaign debt he still must- 9 M. | off. His attractive wife, ai The couple has no children. ‘The Bensons are renting a h -lfrom her parents, Mr. and Mr ‘| Rulon Hinckley, who are directin; yithin-the-Constitution” — philoso- task that involves an ave |-4\one to two speaking engager - REED BENSON j}a da Vea In. keeping with society casions; his every move is ‘suspect to persons who oppose the Birch ly after a late start, -|Society; and he has felt person- in just the six months s: ally the criticism _ within his started work. Benson, | one of about 40 church. Benson runs activities of the co-ordinators in the count hired by society found society from a cramped and bookfilled office in his home. He in- Welch only weeks after dicated he le awe to cn 000 a in the Republican primary _ Benson said he joi year. waiting for an answer, hy, and it proposed to do some- he said: “The Communists ing about communism which he planned it that way. We'd been eared was advancing practically operating for two years with very As a candidate for Congress, Benson advocated such things as .S. withdrawal from the United Nations, withdrawal of recognition rom Communist countries and utting off foreign aid to all coun-| tries, and backed the so-called liberty amendment to abolish the ederal income tax. For the John Birch society, Benson seldom does any speaking points in his somewhat standardzed speeches. These are: —That the society has been the ictim of a vicious, Moscow-directed smear campaign. —That communism is dangerously close to realizing its: goal of total world domination. -—That the U.S. government has been penetrated and influenced by Communists and their sympathizers to such an extent that it is almost completely ineffective in the battle against communism. —And that the society has an effective program of education and action that is combatting commun- j1sm in this country and elsewhere, and which is seeking to put free\dom on the offensive. TALKS IN OGDEN During a talk to 70 social studies |Students at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden. ony Benson asked: oe I bet you first heard, about ote ad SO AEA ee Et. organized in late 1958). Then the Eisetnud? “a Ses found they couldn’t ave been equally guilty of actions which have helped communism, ignore us and decided to change nson asserts, tactics to try to smear us.’ ‘or Eisenhower, he cites such He says it hasn’t worked; ‘for |. ged examples as ordering the every member ‘who quit in 1961, repatriation of refugees 52 join f mM communism following World Benson says he is asked almost r JI; his role as allied comeverywhere about why Robert| ander in permitting Russian Welch accused President EHisenses to occupy much of eastern hower and other prominent gov-| » leading to the Communernment figures, including the late Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, of being Communist controlled, if not outright Communist agents. . f specially selected, Again, he blames Communists | for the considerable publicity given to these accusations. ‘““They | had to find something to smear us with,” he says, ‘‘so they picked this from one of Welch’s private letters and used it out of context.’ It was a student at Ogden who pressed him with the question of whom he thought was the bigger Communist, President Eisenhower or President Kennedy. . Communists ENUINE LOADED QUESTIONS - Benson says he considers such questions ‘‘loaded,’’ because they |presuppose that he himself be-| lieves them to be Communists, although he hedges when asked point-blank where he does or not. “It’s. not really uu — Ra oO AR RETR >I of You'd Never Pm ey a question Sipe Reaam 7A ist takeover of those countries; ‘jand his signing of an executive unists more. We don’t know order in 1954 that gave govern- inchecked throughout the world. little recognition (the society was : outside Utah. He makes four basic leaders | of local chapters, e Without p EN, UTAH, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 19, 1963 ment departments the right to deny information to congressional. committees investigating commun ism. Kennedy comes in for attack for such things as “giving in too much’’ on the disarmament question, of ‘‘betraying’’ the Monroe Doctrine and “not doing anything. of consequence” in regard | ‘to’ Cuba, and moving in the direc- | tion of government by executive order.”’ WALN UT TABLES