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EZRA POUND 355
The Library of Congress report on Pound showed that the
government had no case that would stand up in court, as Pound
and his friends had been reiterating for more than twelve years.
T. David Horton, who had just been admitted to the bar in
Washington, was prepared to make a motion to quash the indictment
when Frost and the New Deal law firm stepped in.
Horton had been conducting an effective radio campaign for
Pound's release, supported by his sponsors, "The Defenders of
the American Constitution." "The Defenders" was composed of
authentic military heroes, men who had led American troops in
combat. Prominent members included Brigadier General Merritt
Curtis of the United States Marines; Colonel Eugene C. Pomeroy;
and Lieutenant General Pedro A. del Valle, who commanded the
First Marine Division during the battle of Okinawa. With the
support of these rugged defenders of America, Horton waged a
campaign against the "armchair generals" who insisted on keeping
Pound in prison.
Meanwhile, M. Koehl and I had publicized Pound's plight in
lectures at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, and
other schools. Most of the students were amazed to learn that he
was a political prisoner. Their professors had always told them
that the only countries that had ever imprisoned men for their
political beliefs were Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. I felt like
a missionary bringing light to a retarded group, for no one is so
completely shut off from the benefits of learning as a student in
an American university.
When I jubilantly wrote to Rex Lampman, who was then in
Hollywood, that his contact with Congressman Burdick had been
the breakthrough in obtaining Ezra's release, he modestly urged
me not to mention it, because so many other people had worked to
that end. His attitude is in marked contrast to Frost's strutting
about in the white glare of "magnanimity".
H. R. Meacham of Richmond, who also is very modest about his
efforts to aid Pound, wrote to me on May 6, 1959: "I wish I
could lay claim to having known Mr. Pound for many years, for
my life would—I'm sure—have been richer. Actually, while I've
been reading him most of my life, I first visited him at St.
Elizabeth's early in 1957. I made up my mind then that I would