vol. 1, no. 5

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Vol. I SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST, 1936 No. 5

NAZI FLAG SALUTE” CHALLENGED IN CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS IN A.C. L. U. TEST SUIT

A petition for a writ of mandate to test the constitutionality of compulsory flag sa- luting in California schools was filed in the Sacramento Superior Court by the ACLU through Attorney Wayne M. Collins on April 28. The suit seeks the reinstatement to her classes of 9-year-old Charlotte Gabrielli, who was suspended October 25th last for refusing to give the flag salute. 2 An alternative writ of mandate issued by Superior Judge Peter J. Fhields orders the Sacramento School Board, Superintendent Charles C. Hughes and other school officials made respondents in the action, to readmit the child to her classes without requiring her to salute the flag or to show cause in the Superior Court on May 11 why they should not do so.

Affirms Child’s Loyalty

The petition, which affirms the child’s loyalty, declares that compulsory flag sa- luting violates her religious beliefs because to adherents of “‘Jehovah’s Witnesses,” a religious group of which she is a member, “flag saluting is a form of idolatry forbid- den by the divine mandates.” The issue is, therefore, gehool authorities may compel flag saluting in derogation of the child’s right to religious liberty as guaranteed under the federal and state constitutions. Attempts to secure the child’s reinstatement through school administrative authorities have proved unavailing. Appealing to the County Board of Education after the City Board had refused relief, that body, on the advice of the district attorney, made the technical ruling that since the Gabrielli girl was suspended and not expelled it was powerless to intercede.

A Form of Idolatry

The appeal to the County Board of Education by the child’s father contended that in the absence of a state law requiring the flag salute of school children, the city School Board was without power to establish the requirement. Summarizing their religious objections, it was submitted that ‘such acts constitute ...a form of idolatry forbidden by the positive mandates of the Bible, and an ascription of the power of salvation, which is vested alone in Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, to man and the ruling power of man which are under the domination and control of Satan the Devil, all as taught to her by her parents and the said JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, and in which she reposes implicit confidence,’ faith and belief.”

Symbol of Tyranny

A flag salute case in Massachusetts recently aroused nation-wide indignation. There, three children, all under nine and members of Jehovah’s Witnesses, were expelled from school and sent to reform school as delinquents for refusing to salute the flag. Sinclair Lewis thereupon charged that ‘‘The gangs behind this compulsory flag salute nonsense .. . are trying to turn that flag from the symbol of liberty into the symbol of tyranny, fascism and death.” Jehovah’s Witnesses In Germany Reform school is apparently the Massachusetts equivalent of German concentration camps. The April 10 issue of the Manchester Guardian gives a vivid picture of what happens to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Nazi Germany: squarely presented whether ‘‘A number of the prisoners in the Sachsenburg (concentration camp) belong to the sect known as the “Ernste Bibelfor- scher,’”’ who are, perhaps, the most pitiful victims of religious persecution in Ger- many. They preach and practice a kind of primitive Christianity, holding communion services and going from door to door expounding the Gospels. Many of them have been arrested; the ‘mass trial’ of ‘Bibelforscher’ at Elberfeld was reported in the ‘Manchester Guardian’ recently. A branch of the sect calls itself ‘Witnesses of Je- hovah.’ They refuse to say ‘Heil Hitler,’ alleging that to do so is sacriligious, the Deity alone being entitled to this expression of reverence.

If you have made a pledge, please accept this notice that another monthly installment is due. You can save us labor and postage if you respond without waiting for personal reminders. Send all contributions to the A. C. L. U., 434 Mills Building, San Fran- cisco, California. Urge your friends to join the Union!

Flogged

‘Several ‘Witnesses of Jehovah’ are in the Sachsenburg. One of them, whenever he was ordered to say ‘Hail Hitler!’ would reply: ‘There is only one God and He is Jehovah.’ He was flogged, but refused to submit. | ‘Another ‘Witness’ broke down under the flogging, which was so severe that several of the onlookers fainted. ‘Another ‘Witness’ was flogged in the Sachsenburg on December 12, 1935. After eighteen lashes he began to whimper. But the flogging went ow until he lost consclousness. | “Since May of last year there has been at least one flogging every week, whether of the ‘Witnesses’ or of ordinary political prisoners.” One Of Many The Sacramento flag salute case is but one of many that have arisen in California and other states. Three children have been expelled from the Lodi public schools, and at Redondo Beach “‘patrioteers” sought un- successfully to close a private school operated by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Test suits have now been filed by the A. C. L. U. inMassachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Penn- sylvania and Vermont, besides California.

DELAY IN JEWETT APPEAL

Delivery of the transcript of the record in the Jewett academic freedom case has been postponed until May 10 by virtue of a Superior Court order. Consequently, the appeal, which is being handled by Clarence E. Rust of Oakland, may not be heard until some time in the fall.

PAROLE HEARINGS SET FOR WOMEN C. S. VICTIMS

Parole hearings for Caroline Decker, Nora Conklin and Lorine Norman, Sacramento criminal syndicalism victims, will take place May 15. All friends of civil lberties are urged to write to Hon. Frank C. Sykes, Chairman, State Board of Prison Terms and Paroles, Kohl Blidg., San Francisco, asking for immediate paroles for all three women. | | While the Board showed little clemency in fixing sentences for the five men con- victed with the women, citizens should not be deterred thereby in presenting their pe- titions. Norman Mini, who received the lightest term, will be released sometime around the first of September.

ALIEN MOB LEADER SEEKS TO LEGALIZE ENTRY INTO U. S. A. Fred Cairns, alien, alleged leader of the Santa Rosa tar and feather mob, is seeking to register as a legal entrant into the United States. Some months ago his application for naturalization papers was denied because no record could be produced to prove he had entered the United States legally. Under an Act of Congress, however, persons who entered the United States prior to June 3, 1921, and for whom there are no records of admission for permanent residence, may, nevertheless, legalize their entry if they have resided in the United States continuously since such entry, and if they are persons of good moral char| acter. The A. C. L. U. has filed affidavits opposing the registration of Cairns on the ground that his leadership of the Santa Rosa tar and feather mob demonstrates his unfitness for citizenship. The Naturalization Bureau recently went into this aspect of the question with Cairns and his attorney. The entire record in the case will now be sent to the U. S. Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization in Washington, D. C., in whom the authority to grant registration is vested.

FERRERO AND SALLITTO RELEASED ON BAIL PENDING APPEAL

Vincent Ferrero and Domenick Sallitto, alleged anarchists held for deportation bys immigration authorities, have been released on $1000 bail after three months detention at Ellis Island. Petitions for writs — of habeas corpus in their behalf were dismissed by U. S. District Judge Francis G. Caffey of the Southern District of New York on March 26. Notice of appeal was filed immediately. Bail was posted by the New York Dressmakers Joint Board, I. L. G. W. U. Ferrero and Sallitto, restauranteers, were arrested in Oakland by immigration inspectors on April 11, 1934. They were charged with no crime but ordered deported to Fascist Italy because they were alleged to be anarchists. Proof of the charges consisted of testimony that Ferrero and Sallitto rented part of their restaurant in Oakland to the anarchist magazine Man, which, incidentally, is permitted to circulate in the mails, and that Sallitto acted ag chairman at a politi- cal debate involving speakers from the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, and the editor of Man.

Random Opinions

RED-BAITER

Colonel Henry Sanborn, ranting redbaiter and editor of the scurrilous bimonthly San Rafael American Citizen has withdrawn as Republican candidate for Congress from the first congressional district. The Colonel announced that he expected to be absent from the State for a large part of the pre-election period and therefore thought it best to choose not to run. Is he going to visit another expatriate in New York—our own “‘take-a-walk” William Randolph Hearst, or is it a matter of organizing vigilantes at which he proved so effective in Eureka and other places? — * * *

FORGERY

Exploiting a ‘““Red Menace’ is always a delicate, difficult and dangerous task; it generally requires the skilled hand of an adept apostate. Witness the latest blunder- ing attempt in Alameda. A circular letter endorsing the recall of the Mayor and councilmen was mimeographed on EXPENSIVE bond letterheads, WITHOUT the Union label and referred to “‘America’s (sic) Friends of the Soviet Union.” Poor radicals! Even their names are unknown! Renegades should study the revolutionary vocabulary. They write a bastard idiom. oe

TAR AND FEATHERS

The federal court refused to dismiss the Nitzberg tar and feather case for jurisdic- tional reasons, but transferred the case to Sacramento, where it will be tried. Motion to set the Green case for trial comes up May 4th and it may also go to Sacramento. The reason is that Santa Rosa, where the cases arose, is in the Sacramento federal district

GOOSE-STEPS

The reason for Legion interest in the Boy Scout movement in Berkeley is revealed. Legion Posts have been urged to ‘‘adopt” troops in order that they may inculcate Legion “ideals” of Americanism. Oh, say can you see your boy shouting ‘Heil Hearst!”’ as he gives the Nazi salute and goose-steps down | Shattuck Avenue?

‘CHEAP LABOR

It is reported that Filipino agricultural laborers are now paid 35c an hour in order to discourage them from accepting the government’s invitation to be repatriated and thereby reducing the cheap labor market. Our prediction is that there will be no vigilante action against Filipinos until the temporary repatriation law expires in De- cember. a

PRESSURE

The “border patrol’ case initiated by the Southern California Branch of the A. C. L. U. has fallen through. John Langan, who petitioned for an injunction against Chief Davis’ illegal activities, succumbed to terrific pressure and finally withdrew his suit. Chief Davis’ reward for a police lieutenant, who engineered the ‘withdrawal,” was a lucrative captaincy.

NO DECISION

Jack Warnick, whom local immigration authorities would deport, has as yet had no decision in his case. The matter rests with with Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.

MOONEY

Predictions are that the Mooney hearing will close by Memorial Day. The record of the hearing is big enough to choke a horse. Nevertheless, counsel is hopeful of presenting an abstract and brief to the California Supreme Court before summer. An unfavorable decision is a foregone conclusion, but better results are hoped for when the case reaches the U. S. Supreme Court next winter.

LOYALTY OATHS

Our hats are off to Brother Albert, president of St. Mary’s College. According to the San Francisco News he declared loyalty oaths for teachers to be “‘one of the most pernicious practices in contemporary education.”’

VIGILANTES

Persistent rumors of an impending vigilante raid on a print shop where a special I. L. A. edition of the Voice of the Federation was being printed, in the course of the recent waterfront disturbance, caused the organization and equipment of a qualified reception committee. Fortunately for the vigilantes, they forgot their engagement. Incidentally, the printer carried riot insurance.

VERBOTEN

No longer do the 23 daily and 16 Sunday Hearst newspapers mention the name of mighty Stanford—it is verboten. Instead, after a recent track meet, the Stanford team was referred to as the Indians, the Palo Altans and the mighty men of Dink Templeton. The reason—well, Prof. George S. Counts of Columbia University, whom Mr. Hearst claims is our leading academic red, is expected to turn the Stanford campus into a revolutionary battleground when he fulfills his invitation to make an address to the Graduate School of Business on his way to the N. E. A. convention in Portland. Someone else thinks that this is merely Mr. Hearst’s way of expressing a peeve with Mr. Herbert Hoover who is remotely connected with Stanford. At any rate, Stanford is now in the same class with Mae West; both are taboo as far as mention is concerned in the Hearst press. —

FATHER COUGHLIN ADVOCATES VIGILANTISM

Answering the question, “What can Youth do to stamp out the danger of dictatorship under Fascism or Communism, and ensure the survival of an intelligent, co-operative Democracy in America?” the April 10 issue of Social Justice, Father Coughlin’s weekly paper, recommends as follows:

You Students! “You Students! Form in your school, as quietly as possible, a Vigilante Committee. If professors and teachers encourage the study of Communism or Fascism, contrary to our traditions of Americanism, make the fact known to the public. Make certain of your facts, then inform your local newspaper by open letter, signed by title of your committee.

You Young Workers! | “You Young Workers! In your factory, mill or office, there are those who believe in Communism and Fascism, and who covertly or openly spread their doctrines. Form there a Vigilance Committee that will keep employers and the public in- formed of these harmful activities. Enlist the aid of your employer; he hates these doctrines as you do. But above all, make sure of your accusation, then act swiftly. Keep yourselves in the background, and pledge your members to absolute fairness.”

Throttling Dissenters.

And what, may we ask, becomes of the right of freedom of speech (which Father Coughlin prates about so piously) in the course of all this heresy hunting? Is FREEDOM OF SPEECH merely for those with whom we agree? Must the dissenters be throttled? Certainly the American and Constitutional practice demands the opposite conclusion. Constitutional guarantees are not important when we have the power of a majority behind us. Our opponents are then unable to interfere with our rights. A powerless minority, however, must have the protection of the Bill of Rights against a dominating majority if liberty and democracy are to survive in these United States.

SIGNIFICANCE OF SANTA ROSA VIGILANTISM

The Florida case, with its violence and the killing of Shoemaker by mob beating, has caused a wave of indignation to pass over the whole country. It was a mere accident that the Santa Rosa case did not produce even more horrifying results. In Florida a crowd of hoodlums with police approval and probably with police assistance beat three men so that one of them died. In Santa Rosa on August 21st, 1935, two men were beaten and tarred and feathered by a crowd of hoodlums with police connivance and the same crowd of hoodlums invaded private houses and threw bombs and poison gas into a private residence.

The Press Explains

The explanation given by the press was that the two men so beaten, Green and Nitzberg, the former a commercial artist, and the latter a well-established poultry farmer, were engaged in radical agitation. The movement of migratory agricultural labor for improved conditions was said by the press to have worked up the farming population to such a degree, that good, © honest, quiet ranchers were driven to irresponsible fury. The explanation is a lie. There were perhaps two farmers in the mob, though this is not established. The mob consisted of bank clerks, brewery employees, the sweepings of the city, drunks and bums, all the dirt of a stewing and corrupt municipality, urged and egged on by bankers, money lenders, the brewery people and such like, and led by an Irish alien. Behind this drunken, dangerous gang, there is no doubt the police department crouched in approving quiescence. Behind the police department, the county authorities were ranged determined that none of their pet hyenas should be punished for their bestiality; behind the county authorities was lined up the State law department, which has consistently refused to bring pressure to bear on the local authorities. Here we get a cross section of the forces in California society which are determined to destroy American liberty and to violate elementary humanity. Here are the forces parallel with the same forces in Germany and Italy.

An Alien

There would not have been the slightest chance of any justice being done in this case had not the leader of the mob been an alien. That fact brought us the advantage of a resort to the federal court, where slimy local politics have no weight, and where the power, even of the Attorney General, to thwart the process of justice cannot make itself felt. So, we have brought suit in the federal court. So far every step in the progress of the suits has been fiercely contested, but step by step. we have won our way until the suit of Green is at issue and ready to be set for trial and that of Nitzberg is close to that point. In the meantime, the alien and a co-partner:in crime have filed a suit, dripping with perjury, so as to bring the matter into the Sonoma County courts where they may have influence: But so crudely have they pleaded that their complaints have been riddled and shattered by motions to strike out dirty matter, so that they have needed additional time in order to try and bring them into a semblance of legal decency.

Fatal Error

So far, with the press,.for the most part, excepting the San Francisco News, dead against us, with the local politicians and. the law organization of Sonoma County determined that the guilty should not be punished, with the law department of the State passively hostile and actively cynical, we have brought things to such a pass that the truth will be heard in a federal court. But that implies no virtue, for without the mistake of the money lenders of Santa Rosa justice could have had no chance. The fatal error of the gangsters lay in choosing an alien to lead their mob.

ANTI-PICKETING ACTIVITIES

There are anti-picketing ordinances in San Francisco and Oakland though they give, as a rule, little evidence of existence. They are shadowy, ghostly apparitions, compared with the sturdy muscular antipicketing ordinance of Los Angeles, which was the father of all the California attempts at such ordinances. But, weak as they may be, mere ghosts as it were, they come out and gibber in times of industrial unrest. | |

Powerful Unions

It will be.observed, however, that they do not gibber shrilly at all when the ordi- nary, accepted and powerful unions get busy on the picket line. If there is a major strike, even of wide-spread extent, involving the clash of powerful bodies, the anti- picketing ordinances remain discreetly in the background. When the strike reaches avery dangerous point, then, they may be pulled out and begin screaming in the police courts. But this so seldom happens that it would be hard to recall instances. Even in the great waterfront strike, which stumbled into disturbance and death, the anti-picketing ordinances uttered merely a feeble squeal or two. In fact, for many weeks it was one of the most interesting sights of the waterfront to see the pickets talking quietly with the police, and stroking, occasionally, even feed with carrots, the horses of the mounted men. When ‘it came to a death grapple, no one seemed to think of the anti-picketing ordinances. In other words, organized labor is so strong and its methods are so well understood, that wise politicians leave the anti-picketing ordinances alone. Police judges who have ambitions for promotion do not like them in their courts. They loathe deciding them, and love the radicals who insist upon a jury and relieve the judges of responsibility. | All this applies of course to the great respectable unions, whose members vote in elections and are powerful in lodge and in church.

Weak Unions

But, for the weaker and less respectable, there is quite another point of view. If the union consists largely of poor foreigners, it had better be careful. A picketing cry ut- tered in the American vernacular is one thing; if it is tinged with the accent of Italy or Mexico, it is quite something else. The policeman who lets the picketing long- shoreman pet his horse, will pet the head of a striking garment worker or cannery worker, or an unskilled laborer of the Fisher Body Company with his club and drag him or her into court, on charges of picketing. If there is no one to defend, woe betide the victim. If there is some one to defend, who knows the game, the ordinance flops. In other words, the ordinances are not effective in this part of the world; because there is a strong public opinion against them, and -because even the respectable unions, whose withers are unwrung, still, do not like to see anti-picketing ordinances enforced, for, some day, decisions upholding them might prove dangerous in a pinch.

Industrial Union

The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers has been through the mill of the anti-picketing ordinances, lately, round the Bay. Here, we have a union which is not “‘kosher’’ from the point of view of the Labor Council. It was therefore quite fair game for the police to try out the anti-picketing ordinances under such conditions. They made their arrests, they made their charges, but even they were not satisfied, and coupled some additional charge, such as spitting on the sidewalk or common assault, to supplement the picketing charge. And the cases all failed. The anti-picketing ordinance gibbered and went out of business. In this matter the Northern California Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union had its share. Our attorney was also the attorney for the union and was successful in completely disposing of all cases arising under the antipicketing ordinance. No punishments for

JUDGE JACKSON H. RALSTON, member of the Executive Committee of the Northern California branch of the A. C. L. U., is a distinguished native son of California. Born in Sacramento February 6, 1857, he spent his early youth as a journeyman printer. In 1878 he was sent to France and Italy as a delegate of the International Typographical Union.

Counsel For A. F. of L.

Following in the footsteps of his father, who was a judge, he entered the practice of law in 1878 and remained active therein until 1924. During twenty-six years of that time he was counsel for the American Federation of Labor. In the famous Buck’s Stove and Range litigation, it was

Judge Jackson H. Ralston

violations of those ordinances occurred. Austin Lewis, our attorney, who was in the first fights against the ordinance in Los Angeles in 1910, and has kept at it ever since, engineered the victory of the Industrial Union men who were charged with picketing.

Catchy Things

The anti-picketing ordinances are catchy things; they are dangerous to weak unions or to people for whose opinion the courts have no consideration. Cases under them are dangerous, if one cannot get in touch with the masses of the population and if the dark forces, which the police control, can have a voice in their determination. But when the light of day can be let in on the work of these ordinances the people repudiate them. Even in Los Angeles, at the terrible time of the strike of 1910, the anti-picketing ordinances could not always be enforced. They have been enforced since, in hole and corner fashion, but not when people are roused so as to know what is happening. George Andersen In connection with the defeat of the antipicketing efforts lately made, attention is called to the work of the I. L. D. and to the excellent job done by George Anderson, its attorney, in winning a jury case of this kind in the police court, with only two defendants—a very ticklish job.

THE CHRONICLE IS HOIST BY ITS OWN PETARD

An editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle for April 28 entitled “Civil Liberties and the Union” takes the A. C. L. U. to task for not interesting itself in Colorado’s “bum barricade.” Of course it isn’t certain that the A. C. L. U. has not interested it

Page 3

International Lawyer he who defended Samuel Gompers, John | Mitchell and Frank Morrison and kept — them out of jail. An expert on international law, in 1902 he was American Agent and of. counsel in the case of the Pius Fund of the Californlans against Mexico, the first dispute submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague under The Hague Peace Convention of 1899. In 1903, he was named by the United States as umpire for the Italian claims against Venezuela before the mixed tribunal at Caracas. In 1899 he was counsel in Washington for Felipe Agoncillo, representing the Filipino Republic, before the Spanish War broke out. He is the author of four books on international law. | |

Tax Authority

But Judge Ralston’s special interest has always been problems of taxation, on which he is an authority. As early as 1892 he was President of the Board of Commissioners of Hyattsville, Md., when for the first time the Single Tax system of taxation was applied to municipal aifairs. He is the author of Maryland’s present constitutional provision concerning taxation, and was coauthor of a referendum amendment adopted in that state in 1915.

Sales Tax Repeal Today Judge Ralston is engaged in perhaps the outstanding venture of his notable career—the repeal of the California Sales Tax.. He is the author of the Ralston Amendment for Repeal of the Sales Tax, Which will be submitted to California voters at the November election. The amendment would abolish the present 3% Sales Tax in California and forbid imposition of any new Sales Tax in the future. “It has for its purpose the liberation of the conSumer and the preservation of buying power, now reduced by_ $70,000,000 annually.” Judge Ralston’s ideas in reference to taxation may be found in two books published by him, “An Unshackled Civilization” and “What’s Wrong With Taxation?’’ | His home is in Palo Alto, where ‘for a time he lectured and conducted a seminar on International Arbitrations at Leland Stanford University. self in the case, but if it has, it apologizes for its remarks, for “we have not geen it mentioned, and usually when the Union takes up the cudgels for anything the country hears about it.” :

Cause of Radicals

The article then insinuates that the Unlon is interested merely in the cause of radicals. “Can it be,’”’ says the Chronicle, “that the American Civil Liberties Union is not interested in the civil rights of poor people who are merely penniless and _ is only interested in the civil rights of poor people when they are, in addition to being penniless, radicals or agitators or connected with some radical or trouble-making movement?”’ The Chronicle grudgingly recalls that the A. C. L. U. did utter some sort of protest when the Los Angeles police began stopping indigents at the California State line. ““Yet we do not recall that the Union got overly excited about it. Surely it would not have been difficult for the Union to have made a test case out of the clearly unlawful acts of the Los Angeles police. It could have raised funds, hired lawyers and struck a great blow for civil liberty. Instead, as far as our information goes, it has been much more deeply concerned about the radical agitators convicted and sent to prison from Sacramento.” Perhaps the reason the Chronicle fails to see is because it does not bother to look. If it will but refer to the columns of its own paper, especially the issues dated February 19 and March 18, it will find a complete story of the A. C. L. U. test case on California’s border patrol. Yes, the Chronicle’s information goes far enough, but its vision is myopic. Or, is there some other reason? 3 |

Prof. Glenn Hoover

American Civil Liberties Union News Published monthly at 434 Mills Building, San Fran- cisco, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union. Phone: ExXbrook 1816 ERNEST BESIG Editor Subscription Rates—Fifty Cents a Year. Five Cents per Copy.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES COMMITTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman | Dr. Charles A. Hogan SecretaryTreasurer A. Alan Clark Director Ernest Besig Prof. Harold Chapman Brown George T. Davis Hugo Ernst Mary Hutchinson Dr. Edgar A. Lowther i Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn : Judge Jackson H. Ralston i Helen Salz Rabbi Jacob J. Weinstein Marie De L. Welch Samuel S. White ADVISORY COMMITTEE Prof. George P. Adams Wayne Collins James J. Cronin, JY. Rev. Earl N. Griggs Morris M. Grupp Dr. Robert F. Leavens Clarence E. Rust Rev. Ray N. Studt Rev. E. C. Vanderlaan

LEGION DEFENDS STAND ON TEACHER’S OATHS

We submit the following statement of National Commander Ray Murphy of the American Legion concerning teacher’s oaths: “The American Legion has never as an organization opposed academic freedom. It does not oppose dissemination of knowledge relative to Communism, Fascism, or any ism, but it believes that the study of such isms in secondary schools and colleges should be approached with care, and with certainty that information relative thereto is not the product of any school of antiAmerican porpaganda. The American system of government can well afford to stand comparison with others, and Americanism will stand any test in competition with the various other isms. such as Communism and Fascism. If the study of such isms is from an American angle, well and good. If not, why not invite the agents of such isms to chairs in our colleges instead of taking their doctrines second hand?

For Academic Freedom

“I am for academic freedom, which is more secure in America than elsewhere, generally speaking. I am not for the study of such isms under the guise of academic freedom, if in fact the direction of such study is in the hands of special advocates. Let loyal Americans give unbiased information, and American institutions will not be undermined.

Teachers Oaths

‘‘T have doubted the value of a teacher’s oath as a means of combating subversive influences. Probably the agents of such influences could take such an oath with men- tal reservations without batting an eye or without a qualm of conscience. Neverthe- less, I fail to see where an oath to support the constitution of state and nation is an abridgment of academic freedom. Public officers, from notaries public to the president of the United States, take such an oath. Men who enlist in their nation’s defense do likewise. What harm can there be in teachers taking such an oath in Amer

Finger Printing In Northern California

Governor Frank F. Merriam officially endorsed the State-wide drive of the California Chamber of Commerce for universal registration by finger-printing, by proclaiming the week of April 20, “Fingerprint Education Week,” in California. The Secretary of the San Francisco Junior Chamber of Commerce, Walter Reimers, stated that the campaign would be held in approximately 25 cities of California for the purpose of securing as many voluntary finger-prints as possible. In San Francisco a form letter was sent to 100 “Civic Improvement Organizations” on April 8 asking support of the campaign. The campaign was endorsed by the following organizations: Commonwealth Club of California, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, Camp Fire Girls, Soroptomists Club, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club, Exchange Club, 20-30 Club, Traffic Safety Commission, Junior Traffic Police, Optimist Club, American Legion, State Grange, Federation of Women’s Clubs and Knights of Columbus. In Berkeley where the campaign was carried on with an enthusiasm which led even to Finger-print Bridge Parties— 26,125 people had been registered by April 15. According to Secretary Reimer (letter dated April 9) about 6000 people have been finger-printed in Oakland, and between 8 and 9 thousand in San Francisco.

Protests At the inception of the campaign the American League against War and Fascism issued leaflets calling upon citizens to refuse to have their finger-prints taken. In Alameda the Epic forces resisted a proposal for a finger-print drive. The University of California branch of the Young Communists League distributed handbills in opposition to the finger-printing drive. The Alameda County Building Trades Council has voiced its objection to universal finger-printing in a resolution against it because it is sponsored by interests “entirely different to the cause of organized labor.’? The American Student Union at the University of California has distributed

INITIATIVE CAMPAIGN FOR REPEAL OF CRIMINAL SYNDICALISM LAW

Another effort to repeal California’s vicious criminal syndicalism law has been launched in California. Under the sponsorship of the California Conference for Repeal of the Criminal Syndicalism Law a campaign has been initiated to secure two hundred thousand signatures to a repeal petition by June 5. This is not the first effort to repeal the syndicalism law which was passed in 1919 when Californians were still the victims of war-time hysteria. In 1920 an initiative proposition failed to receive sufficient sig- natures to find a place on the ballot. Assemblyman Hornblower of San Francisco introduced a repeal bill in 1925 that received little or no attention. —

Whitney Case

Spurred on by the Whitney case, a strenuous effort was made to repeal and then ica, where academic freedom is supreme and guaranteed by the charters which, under such an oath, they would swear to support? It is my opinion that an oath of that type is an oath to support academic freedom, and all of the freedom which is prevalent in America under American institutions. |

Colleges and Schools Loyal

“What is academic freedom and what is anti-American propaganda is another thing. The freedom of America is derived from American institutions. It does not exist in like degree elsewhere. ‘Freedom’ that does not recognize the fact may well be tainted with suspicion. I am happy in the belief, however, that American secondary schools and colleges as a class are loyal, and the very cradle of true American citizenship.” handbills pointing out the abuses to which finger-print files may be put and calling upon citizens to object to the employment of Federal Government NYA workers connected with the university, in off-campus finger-printing stations, to ‘“‘this useless expenditure of money,” and to the “‘use of university facilities in sponsoring this wasteful campaign.”

ACLU Position

The ACLU while not officially opposed to voluntary finger-printing, would point out the following facts: Though the finger-print provides 4 more positive means of identification than does signatures or photograph, it can be determined only by an expert. The ordinary man cannot tell the difference—or similarity—between one print and another. Police and detective bureaus already have ample means for identification of doubtful citizens. Criminals and vagrants are finger-printed. So are ‘Agitators,” strikeleaders, and strikers. (One of the arguments against universal finger-printing is that it facilitates the black-listing of strikers. There is, however, no reason to believe that black-listing has ever been difficult). The main value of the finger - printing would come in the case of identification of bodies after some major disaster, flood or earthquake. It is hard to believe however that the possibility of such disasters justifies the vast expense and annoyance of finger-printing the entire population.

Psychological Effect

Probably the most important consideration is the psychological effect of finger- printing in a world where the freedom of the individual is already almost lost in so many nations. Although there may be no legal right to privacy, Americans enjoy, and feel a natural right to more individual freedom than do the citizens of any other nation. Voluntary finger-printing will inevitably lead to compulsory finger-printing. And compulsory finger-printing may lead to far graver encroachments upon the freedom of individuals. : to amend the syndicalism law at the 1927 session of the legislature. Introduced by Senator Fellom, a bill sought to re-define criminal syndicalism to mean unlawful ACTS of violence in industrial or political disputes. Once again, the bill failed to get out of Committee. Again, around 19382, an initiative measure failed to secure sufficient signatures. At the 1985 session of the legislature, Assemblyman Jones introduced a repeal measure. After a stirring hearing, the Judiciary Committee by two votes refused to recommend the bill. In the last days of the session, Assemblyman Jones moved to withdraw the bill from Committee, but was defeated by a close vote.

Gigantic Task

The “Conference” has undertaken a gigantic task. Friends of civil liberties should certainly seize the opportunity to express their opposition to this monstrous law. SIGN YOUR NAME TO THE PETITION.

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