vol. 3, no. 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

Vol. III SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY, 1938 No. 2

TWO DEPORTATION VICTORIES

Koci and Pappas Cases Dismissed By Department of Labor

The United States Department of Labor last month dismissed the long pending de- portation proceedings against Frank Koci and John Pappas. Both aliens had been charged with former membership in the Communist Party, pursuant to a United States statute, under which an alien is deportable if after entry he becomes a member of an organize tion which merely ADVOCATES the violent overthrow of the government, or if he himself advocates such doctrines.

At the time of his arrest, Koci was a member of the Socialist Party of San Francisco. He entered the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1921 and was arrested May 15, 1936, following a voluntary statement made | to the local Immigration Service by an in- former, Carmen Joan Dodson. Miss Dodson, who at one time conducted the “Isadora Duncan Studio” in San Francisco, sought revenge because Koci would have nothing further to do with her, and because she claimed he was conspiring to have her child removed from her custody.

The ruling by the Department of Labor reverses a recommendation of deportation made by Immigrant Inspector Daniel G. Mead, following a reopening of the proceedings. Previously, however, Immigrant Inspector Patrick J. Farrelly, who represented the Government throughout most of the proceedings, had recommended cancellation of the warrant of arrest.

“Strange Case of John Pappas”’

The “Strange Case of John Pappas” dates from May 22, 1936. The alien, a Greek na- tional, admitted his membership in the Communist Party of San Francisco, but excused himself on the ground that he had not joined in good faith, but acted merely as a spy for the Industrial Association which admitted it had paid Pappas $15 per week for his services.

To substantiate his story Pappas testified that he had been expelled from the Com- munist Party as a spy. He submitted an issue of the Western Worker which carried an account of the expulsion together with his picture titled “Rat.”

The local office of the Immigration Service recommended cancellation of the warrant of arrest, but the authorities in Washington instructed them to reopen the case to hear further testimony. Following testimony by Ward Maillard, member of the San Francisco Police Commission and former President of the Chamber of Commerce, that Pappas had originally come to him with an offer to sell information about ac| tivities of Communists in San Francisco and that he had sent him to Senator Boynton, President of the Industrial Association, who hired him, the local Immigration Service once again recommended cancellation of the warrant of arrest. The Department of Labor accepted the last recommendation, ordered cancellation of the warrant of arrest and $500 bond, thereby permitting John Pappas to remain in his adopted country.

‘ “Man.’’

DOMENICK SALLITTO WINS LONG — FIGHT AGAINST DEPORTATION

The four-year fight against the deportation of Domenick Sallitto, Italian anti- Fascist, came to an end recently when the Department of Labor cancelled his deporta- tion warrant, proceedings and bond.

Sallitto, a legal resident of the U. S. for sixteen years, was arrested in April, 1934, in Oakland, Calif., charged with being an anarchist. A corner of a restaurant which he partly owned had been rented to Marcus Graham, editor of the anarchist magazine The case was fought through the courts and last November reopened by the Department of Labor on a petition claiming that nothing in the record proved that Sallitto is an anarchist.

Vincent Ferrero, arrested with Sallitto on similar charges, is now at liberty. under $1,000 bail, pending the outcome of a private bill in his behalf introduced in Congress by Rep. Emanuel Celler of New York.

ANTI-PICKETING ORDINANCES ADOPTED

While Mayor Frank Shaw of Los Angeles vetoed a stringent anti-picketing ordinance adopted by the City Council, the Nevada County Board of Supervisors on January 25 adopted an emergency anti-picketing ordinance that will be effective January 31. The so-called emergency was a strike now taking place at the Murchie Gold Mine.

The City of Riverside adopted a new, drastic anti-picketing ordinance on January 26.

OPTIONAL MILITARY TRAINING AUTHORIZED FOR SAN DIEGO > STATE COLLEGE

Pursuant to legislation passed at the 1937 session of the California Legislature, the State Board of Education on January 26 authorized the establishment of a Reserve Officers’ Training Corp unit at San Diego State College. The training, however, will be optional, because the sponsors of the legislation were defeated in their efforts to make the drill compulsory.

A.C.L.U. CONDEMNS NAZI EFFORT TO CENSOR “MARCH OF TIME” FILM

The American Civil Liberties Union on January 21 condemned unsuccessful efforts of the German Consulate to prevent the showing of the March of Time film ‘‘Inside Nazi Germany” at the Golden Gate Theatre as “an effort to Nazify the people of San Francisco.” In a letter addressed to Consul General Manfried von Killinger, the Union charged that the Nazi consulate is “seeking to establish itself as the censor of any motion pictures regarding Germany that are shown in San Francisco,”’ and is thereby. violating the freedom of speech guaranteed by our Federal and State Constitutions. The letter, signed by Ernest Be‘sig, the Union’s director, follows:

“Our attention has been called to efforts of your office to prevent the showing in this city of the March of Time film entitled “Inside Nazi Germany,” on the ground that it constitutes an insult to the German Government. The general theory of your protest seems to be that local governments in the United States should ban motion pictures that are in anywise objectionable to representatives of foreign governments. As applied to the particular case, this can mean only one thing, that your office is seeking to establish itself as the censor of any motion pictures regarding Germany that are shown in San Francisco. ' “We cannot permit your actions to go unchallenged as they constitute an attack upon the freedom of expression guaranteed by our Federal and State Constitutions. They may be consistent with the policies of your own government, but they are inconsistent with the government of a free and democratic people.

“The American people have jealously guarded their fundamental liberties of free speech and free press. We have resisted any efforts to abridge those rights at home, and we will resist just as strongly the efforts of any foreign government to infringe those rights. We condemn your actions as an effort to Nazify the people of San Francisco.”

San Francisco authorities ignored the plea to interfere with the showing of the film, while in Chicago a previous police ban was rescinded. Hisses and jeers overwhelmed scattered applause at the showing of the picture at the Golden Gate Theatre. Local Nazis centered their criticisms on the running antiFascist comment that accompanied the film.

Following publication of the foregoing A.C.L.U. press release an excited antiSemitic Nazi ’phoned the director of the Union at his home to protest issuance of the statement. He complained that a “dirty Jew” had stopped his hands when he applauded a part of the picture, and in doing so had struck his wife. He assured us, too, that Mr. von Killinger is “‘a very fine man” and offered to have us meet him. Incidentally, von Killinger has not seen fit to answer our letter.

Page 2

A.C.L.U. Attorney Charges Kynette With Intimidation |

John C. Packard, A.C.L.U. attorney in Southern California, testified before the As- sembly Interim Co-ordinating Committee on January 27 that Earle Kynette, Los Angeles police captain, had terrorized John Langan .

in order to compel him to withdraw his suit enjoining Chief of Police James E. Davis from maintaining the so-called “Border Patrol.”’ In consequence of the terrorization, Langan appeared in Federal Judge Albert Lee Stephen’s court on March 30, 1936, and asked that the suit be dropped. Thereafter, Kynette, who had been a lieutenant in the police force, was publicly thanked by Cliief : Davis and elevated to the rank of captain: of At the present time Capt. Kynette is at.

Mooney Asks Review From U. S. Supreme Court |

Tom Mooney’s attorneys, John F. Finerty of ,Washington, and George T. Davis of San -Franicisco, on January 28 petitioned the ok liberty on $15,000 bail on charges of bomb- | ing Harry Raymond, vice investigator for Clifford Clinton, crusading member of the Los Angeles Grand Jury in 1937. Kynette is also suspected of bombing the home of Clinton and the apartment of Linder Foster, publisher of a political magazine.

Packard Charged that Mrs. Langan threatened to disclose the police terrorization, whereupon she was threatened with deportation and finally deported to South Africa.

According to Packard, ‘Immediately following the filing of the civil action both the plaintiff and his wife received numerous telephone calls from various persons, urging and demanding that they drop the suit; the various business associates of the plain- tiff exerted pressure on him to impel him to dismiss the case; detectives were sent to United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari that would bring before it for re- view the decision of the California Supreme Court denying Mooney a writ of habeas corpus. The petition lists 28 asserted errors... ne Counsel has requested the court to waive its rule requiring. printing of the record and vexhibits because the cost of $35,000 is prohibitive-to the petitioner. If that is denied, Mooney’s attorneys will request the court to permit Mooney to proceed in forma pauCleator, Arizona, to see the plaintiff and to threaten the discharge from their employment of certain persons associated with Langan in a business capacity.”

Packard’s telephone line was tapped, and Capt. Kynette was charged with playing records of the conversations to Langan, who had been plied with liquor. To show how the police put the heat on “higher ups,”’ Langan was shown pictures of the former in compromising positions. When Mrs. Langan threatened to talk Kynette came to. her home and closed her mouth with adhesive tape.

Judge Stephens referred the charges of duress to former United States District At- torney Peirson Hall. The District Attorney assigned investigators to. the case, but no action was ever taken.

U .S. SUPREME COURT GETS N. J. FLAG SALUTE APPEAL

An order permitting the U. S. Supreme Court to riview the appeal of Vivian and Alma Hering of Secaucus, N. J., expelled from school for refusing to salute the flag on religious grounds, was recently granted by Justice Owen J. Roberts. Four New Jersey courts had refused to order school officials to reinstate the children, expelled in November, 1935.

Representing the Hering children was Attorney A. J. Isserman, of the Civil Liberties Union, which submitted an application . for allowance of appeal signed by Martin Conboy, former U. 8. Attorney, and F. W. H. Adams, Osmond K. Fraenkel, Carol King and O. R. Moyle of the New York Bar. The Supreme Court recently declined. to review an appeal of Dorothy Leoles from a similar expulsion by the Atlanta (Ga.) School Board, citing the Hamilton v. Univ. of California military training case of 1934. The A.C.L.U.’s application contended that the Hering case differed in that military training was closely linked with national defense and that military training was not compulsory, while school atténdance was compulsory for the Hering children.

PARDON BOARD RULES ON MODESTO FRAME-UP VICTIMS.

The State Advisory. Pardon Board on January 27 sent to Governor Merriam undisclosed recommendations on the pardon applications of the seven Modesto frame-up victims. Five of the men are at liberty on parole. peris, whereby, upon an allegation that the petitioner is without funds, the record would be printed at the expense of the gov- ernment. Decision on these applications is expected on February 7.

DENIAL OF TEACHER’S LICENSE FOR POLITICAL VIEWS APPEALED IN N. Y.

Charging the Board of Education’s board of examiners with “bias and prejudice” in denying her a teacher’s license, and characterizing Commissioner of Education Frank P. Graye’s ‘‘whitewash” of the action as.“‘arbitrary,” attorneys for Gertrude Epstein, former. Barnard honor student, have..applied to the New York State Supreme. Court. for an order to compel the New . York City Board to issue a license. Osmond K. Fraenkel counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Committee, represent-éd Miss Epstein in the suit.

“The application for the court order charges that the board of examiners had denied Miss Epstein a license on the basis of hostility to. her political and economic views. “The board of examiners,’ the brief states, ‘never made any proper inquiry into her qualifications, they were influenced by bias and prejudice against her and this very bias and prejudice guided the course of the inquiry which they made.” The board of examiners turned down Miss Epstein’s application for a license for teacher-in-training in the high schools on the grounds that she had “communistic views,” and that Barnard had denied her a recommendation.. In an application for a mandamus to compel issuance of the license, Judge Bernard Shientag in November, 19386, ruled that Miss Epstein should not be denied a license because of her views, but that before an order can be granted, she must first exhaust every possible remedy in the Board of Education: A recent rehearing before the board of examiners was unsuccessful and last November Commissioner Graves upheld the board’s ruling.

CHICAGO BAN ON “MARCH OF TIME” ; NAZI FILM LIFTED

Nation-wide protests against the “Chicago police board of censors” ban on the show- ing of March of Time’s news reel “Inside Nazi Germany,” induced the board to hastily withdraw its opposition. The ban was based on the supposition that the film was unfriendly to the German government and likely to éreate public resentment against a nation with which the United States maintains friendly relations.

. In a telegram to Commissioner of Police James P.. Allman of Chicago, the National Council on Freedom from Censorship protested the curb on a “documentary film con- taining news reels,” pointing out that courts have’ recently ruled that presentation of ‘current events in motion pictures has the same status as newspapers. this' ban a-violation of the constitutional Council.

“We consider right of freedom of the press,” wired the . Warner Bros. has excluded the film from their two hundred theatres on the ground that the film is “‘too favorable’ to Germany a disparaging manner. Nazis Jail Jehovah's Wilt. nesses As Dangerous To the State

Two more members of the International Bible Students’ Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment by a Special Court at Konigsberg, Heinz Bernecker receiving four years and his wife Elizabeth two years. The Court held that the profession of their faith was dangerous to the security of the State.

Herr Bernecker, it was stated, was a pioneer of the sect, and both he and his wife had taken an active part in its meetings, in propaganda, and in distributing its litera- ture, in spite of the prohibition of the sect and of all its activities.

According to the report of the case given prominently in the press, the sect was de- clared by the Court to ‘‘conceal Anarchist Communist, and Bolshevik aims,” because the accused Bible Student declared that he had never taken part in an election, had paid no attention to the German National Anthem, would not give the Hitler salute, and would not hold a public office or take an oath. He had also opposed air-raid precautions, to which all Germans must contribute, on the ground that a Christian should have nothing to do with air attacks. He had further stated that he would refuse military service. When he came out of prison, he is stated to have added, he would continue to propagate the teachings of the sect.

The prosecution alleged that pamphlets

‘and publications of the International Bible Students’ Society showed that Judge Ru- therford, its leader, ordered its members in Germany not to obey the Government and to disregard the prohibition of the society’s meetings. Herr Hitler was referred to in It was declared that he stood under the special protection of the devil, and that in all matters of government he allowed himself to be inspired by the devil. It was further alleged that, in an illustrated magazine in the possession of Herr Bernecker the Reich was shown as an animal of prey.

The President of the Court declared that the literature mentioned had nothing to do with religion and the Bible, but constituted common political agitation. A State which did not combat the distribution of incendiary material of this character, he said, would be guilty of surrendering itself. (Manchester Guardian, Jan. 14, 1938.)

State Supreme Court Grants Hearing In Flag Case

The California Supreme Court on January 28 granted the petition of the Sacramento School Board for a hearing of the Gabrielli flag salute case. Arguments will not be presented until sometime in May, when the Sacramento term of court is held. The court’s decision means simply that an important public question is involved that merits its consideration. basis on which it may legally take jurisdiction, unless there have been conflicting decisions throughout the state, and that is not true in this case.

LESLIE STEPHEN—“1, for one, am fully prepared to listen to any arguments for the propriety of theft or murder, or if it be possible, of immorality in the abstract. No doctrine, however well established, should be protected from discussion. The reasons have been already assigned. If, as a matter of fact, any appreciable number of persons are so inclined to advocate murder on principle, I should wish them to state their opin1ons openly and fearlessly, because I should think that the shortest way of exploding the principle and of ascertaining the true causes of such a perversion of moral sentiment. Such a state of things implies the existence of evils which cannot be really cured till their cause is known, and the shortest way to discover the cause is to give a hearing to the alleged reasons.”

That is the only’ “4

Continue Campaign Against Fingerprinting

Fingerprinting of applicants for operators’ and chauffeurs’ licenses by the Cali- fornia Motor Vehicle Department is continuing despite wide-spread protests. On the other hand, an increasing number of people are demanding the right NOT to be fingerprinted. The procedure is VOLUNTARY but, as we pointed out before, applicants are not advised of this unless: they actually refuse to be fingerprinted. ‘I have found no hesitancy upon the part of our employees in waiving the fingerprinting re- quirement,” says Ray Ingels, Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, “when ob- jection is made.” 2

While the Legislature in 1987 refused to make fingerprinting of all automobile driy- ers mandatory, Mr. Ingels has nevertheless sought to accomplish that result by indirec- tion. Following numerous protests, Mr. Ingels defended himself as follows:

“May I say that this fingerprinting, com‘prising only of the taking of the thumb print, is, in no way, used toward the apprehension of criminals, as we do not establish a classification file, nor do we have any liaison with those engaged in general criminal identification. This thumb print provides the applicant, when licensed, with a positive identification when he is moving from place to place or visiting. In addition to this, it gives us an opportunity of identifying the applications of millions of persons who are licensed to operate in this State. This identification work has caused us a great deal of grief in the past, in that many times we have been unable to place responsibility for accidents on our highways owing to the lack of identifying records.” There is an obvious inconsistency in Mr. Ingel’s defense. If they “do not establish a classification file,’ we do not see how it gives them “an opportunity of identifying the applications of millions of persons who are licensed to operate in this State.”

It strikes us, too, that if this procedure is purely optional with the applicant he should be apprized thereof by appropriate signs in the various branch offices, and should also be so advised when the thuml’ print is requested.

While the Department of Motor Vehicles may demand reasonable identification from applicants for drivers’ licenses, we do not feel that this excuses an invasion of the right of privacy. Traditionally, the people of this country have insisted upon the right of anonymity. As was’said in a wire-tapping case, “It is better that a few criminals escape than that the privacies of life of all the people be exposed to the agents of government, who will act at their own discretion, the honest and the dishonest, unauthorized and unrestrained by the courts.”’

Continuing its fight against fingerprinting, the A.C.L.U. recently requested. the As- sembly Interim Committee on Motor Vehicles to make a full investigation of the fingerprinting activities of the Motor Vehicle Department.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL CHILDREN FINGERPRINTED IN SAN LEANDRO

The McKinley Parent-Teacher Association was the sponsor of a voluntary finger- printing campaign at the McKinley grammar school in San Leandro on January 26. The police department took the fingerprints of all children who had the written consent of their parents. According to the publicity, the fingerprinting is for purposes of identification “in case of an accident or kidnapping.” Incidentally, the McKinley School last fall expelled 6-year-old Tessie Palmaymesa because she refused to salute the flag on religious grounds.

Indiscriminate fingerprinting has been at| tacked by the A.C.L.U. as a step in the di-’’ rection of universal fingerprinting which may subject the entire populace to police surveillance. It also denies the right of privacy or anonymity which is traditional with liberty loving Americans. that ‘“‘No person ..

Page 3 Faces Life Imprisonment Since 1919 the United States Government has sought to deport Marcus Graham, philosophical anarchist and editor of “Man.” Since 1919 the Government has been unable to accomplish that end because it doesn’t know what country Graham came from—and Graham won’t tell. Exasperated, the government rearrested Graham a few months ago on the basis of a warrant dated April, 1919, and resorted to the courts to compel him to give the information that will spell his defeat. Federal Judge Leon Yankwich, erstwhile liberal, ordered Graham to talk, and he did talk—-BUT not on the subject the government was interested in. Finally, on January 6, Judge Yankwich invoked the modern thumb screws by sentencing Graham to six months in the Los Angeles County jail for ‘‘contempt of court,’ because he wouldn’t tell the government what it wanted to know.

“They can’t compel Graham to give the evidence to deport himself,” you say. Well, maybe they can’t, but with Graham in jail it looks as though they were trying very hard. We know the Constitution provides shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,” but the courts have held that a deportation is a CIVIL and not a CRIMINAL proceeding.

Maybe Graham committed no crime in coming to this Land of the Free... But paradoxically enough he was arrested and deprived of his liberty by immigration inspectors. He committed no crime, and yet he’s under arrest! The legal technicality just doesn’t make sense to the uninitiated.

Moreover, upon the completion of the sentence the same questions will be put to him by the immigration authorities, and, if he persists in his refusal to talk, back to jail he goes. In other words, if Graham won’t talk he faces possible life imprisonment for “contempt of court.”’

And, Graham has promised not to talk. The A.C.L.U. has, therefore, undertaken an appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Here is Graham’s own story of his persecution by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States government:

“My first arrest occurred in April, 1919, in Paterson, N. J. I was thrown in jail for — two weeks, denied my non-meat food (as an anarchist I do not believe even in the killing of animals). I was lodged there with people suffering all sorts of diseases, and had to subsist on black coffee and bread. ‘Subsequently, I was incarcerated for two weeks at Ellis Island, and again denied non-meat foods.

“On February 21, 1921, I was arrested in the main public library of New York City and taken to the ‘Bomb Squad.’ For refusing to give my address I was given a ‘third degree’ for twenty-four hours — a ‘third degree’ that shocked even the doctors at Ellis Island when viewing my body.

“I suppose this too the United States attorney would term ‘fair treatment.’

“For six months I was detained on Ellis Island, subsequent to this arrest. Commis- sioner Howe of Ellis Island granted my request for non-meat food.

“In July, 1930, a zealous immigration inspector at Yuma, Arizona, arrested me for having in my possession two copies of An Anthology of Revolutionary Poetry—a volume representing 200 renowned poets of — twenty countries and obtainable in the leading libraries of the country. For two weeks I was incarcerated in the jails of Yuma, Arizona; El Centro, San Pedro, and Los Angeles, California, and was denied nonmeat food.

“In October of 1937 I was thrown into the county jail of Los Angeles, forced to sleep on a bare floor for eight days and denied non-meat food.

“My home was broken into on October 6, 1937, admittedly by Mr. Milton M. Henderson, an immigration inspector sitting here, and property belonging to me and to the monthly magazine I am editor of—Man— — was seized.

“Handcuffed for demanding a search warrant before four inspectors broke into my house, I was paraded through the streets. : “All these mistreatments—not to speak — of the scores of forcible fingerprint-taking and photographing—all this the represen tatives of the government—the supposed | servant of the people—consider no doubt fair treatment and ‘due process of law’ as accorded by the Constitution.

““Tt is because the anarchist knows that the administrators of government never do. act as servants of the people that he challenges that claim. The eighteen-year-old mistreatment accorded to me by the United States Government vindicates the truthful- ness of the anarchist contention.”

A.C.L.U. UNDERTAKES CIVIL LIBERTIES SURVEY IN OVER ONE THOUSAND CITIES.

In order to discover the relative standing of American cities in the practice of civil liberties, a survey of more than one thousand cities of over 10,000 population has been undertaken by the American Civil Liberties Union through questionnaires sent to public officials and others familiar with conditions. Classification and rating of American cities according to the degree of liberty represented by replies will be made by a committee of the Union headed by Richard S. Childs, president of the City Club of New York, and a member of the Union’s Board of Directors.

“The purpose of the survey,” declared Mr. Childs, in announcing the study, “‘is to in- crease the recognition of those practices of civil liberties which seem to us best to promote the public interest.’’

Ratings will be based on information received from several sources in each city in order to insure accurate appraisals. The questionnaire covers thirty-two major issues of civil liberties under the genera] headings of public assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, censorship of radio, theatre and movies, picketing, parades, the rights of labor and the unemployed, police practices, rights of Negroes and freedom in the schools.

Some of the questions asked public officlals are: ; .

“Can labor organizers enter the city freely, set up and operate headquarters, and hold meetings in streets or halls without molestation by police and with ‘protection by police against violence of opponents ?

“Can promoters of unpopular political or economic doctrines ( Communists, Nazis, la- bor organizers, etc.) obtain use of municipal auditoriums on equal terms with other people?

“Have any speakers been interfered with by the police or by private groups taking the law into their own hands?

“Do regulations, if any, governing distribution of leaflets in the streets apply, equally to commercial advertising and ' public issues ?

“Can theatre licenses be revoked without awaiting a conviction or an injunction?

“Is orderly picketing with signs protected by the police when unaccompanied by in- timidation or interference with traffic?

“Do the police customarily harry picketers, strikers, ‘Reds’ or other unpopular groups?”’ |

Announcement of the cities’ ratings on civil liberties will be made by the Union in a few weeks. It is planned to issue an emblem of recognition annually to the city re- ceiving the highest rating in each of two population groups.”

Page 4 American Civil Liberties Union News Published monthly at 216 Pine St. San Francisco, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union. Phone: EXbrook 1816 ERNEST BESIG. Editor PAULINE W. DAVIEG.......... Associate Editor Subscription Rates—Fifty Cents a Year. : Five Cents per Copy. of

Bayonne Minister Upholds Free Speech In Bayonne, N, J.

In defiance of Boss Frank Hague’s embargo on speakers for civil liberties in Hud- son County, N. J., the Rev. William C. Kernan, rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church in Bayonne, recently invited Roger N. Baldwin, director of the Civil Liberties Union, to address an audience in his Parish House ‘on the subject of ‘‘Civil Liberties.” J oining Mr. Baldwin in a vigorous denunciation of Mayor Hague was T. Hubert MacCauley of Newark, founder and Past Commander of the Essex County American Legion.

The invitation came on the heels of the cancellation, by Bayonne Town Hall directors, of a scheduled address by Mr. Baldwin and C.1.O. representatives on January 13, on the ground that Hague and Chamber of Commerce speakers had declined to participate.

Rev. Kernan, charging that the Town Hall directors had been intimidated by a group of self-styled “veterans” protesting against Mr. Baldwin’s presence in Bayonne, announced his desire ‘‘to make certain that free speech in Bayonne cannot be suppressed by any group of citizens.’’ Rev. Ker-nan’s action was approved by Bishop Benjamin M. Washburn and the Right Rev. T. R. Ludlow, Suffragen Bishop of the Newark Episcopal Diocese. |

Denying that New Jersey veterans as a group supported Mayor Hague’s repressive tactics against the A.C.L.U. and C.I.O. organizers, Mr. MacCauley attacked the Jer-gey City Boss for failing to live up to his oath of office by upholding the Constitution. .

In his address, Mr. Baldwin characterized Jersey City as “a little Nazi province with a Hitler in control,” and charged that Mayor Hague had assumed a lawless position in denying constitutional rights to C.I.O. organizers. Hague’s charges of “Communism” against the C.I.O. and the Civil Liberties Union were termed by Mr. Baldwin a means of “‘protecting the open shop manufacturers of Jersey City organized in the Chamber of Commerce. The word “‘Communist” is hurled at every progressive movement to conceal the real grounds of opposition and to confuse the public mind.”

Because he refused to interfere with Mr. Baldwin’s address and declared that labor had the right to bargain collectively and for that purpose unions had the right to as- semble peaceably, Bayonne’s Director of Public Safety, Horace K. Robertson, was re- moved from his office by the city commission and transferred to another post.

I Don't Read This—

If you are one of the 259 persons who have already made a pledge or contribution to the A.C.L.U. for 1938. This notice is intended only for the 241 members and contributors of the A.C.L.U. still unheard from.

Our message is brief and, no doubt, familiar. Here it is:

The Union has NOT raised its budget of $4000 for 1938, and it cannot hope to do so without the support of every member and contributor. Now that the holiday demands have subsided, won’t you please send in your pledge or contribution, if you can afford to do so. We are depending upon you to keep the A.C.L.U. on the firing line during 1938. May we not hear from you without further delay?

Communists No Longer Chief Victims Of Repression In U.S.

In sharp contrast to preceding years, no proceedings against Communists for political activities took place in 1937, according to a survey made public by the Ameriean Civil Liberties Union. The only. cases involving Communists which appeared in the courts in 19387, according to the record of the national office of the Civil Liberties Union, covered cases held over from previous years. Three of them involved aliens ordered deported, one was a local Communist candidate barred by injunction from making campaign speeches in Arkansas, one was arrested at Bessemer, Alabama for possessing Communist literature, and three were freed from a California prison by a decision of the Third District Court of Appeal. “If there were other Communist cases of which our national office has no record, they were trival and local,” the Union’s statement declares.

-According to the Union’s report, not a single Communist is now in jail for political activity anywhere in the United States and no case involving a Communist for political activity or belief is in the courts. The Union ascribes the cessation of prosecutions of Communists to the United States Supreme Court decisions a yéar ago sustaining the right of Communists to hold meetings and to distribute literature, and to the “changed tactics of Communists in abandoning revolutionary propaganda in favor of support of democracy.”

Nor has the incessant propaganda against Communism produced any court cases, the Union found. “That propaganda, despite its dramatic appeal has been discredited, and is no longer being taken seriously by

Wire-Tapping Decision Termed Victory For Civil Rights

The United States Supreme Court’s sevento-two ruling that evidence obtained by tap- ping telephone .wires is inadmissable was hailed by the Civil Liberties Union as up- holding the “right of privacy against investigation by governmental agencies or others.”

The decision was handed down in the first test of whether the Federal Communications Act forbids the government to use evidence secured by listening in on telephone conver- sations. The court, in effect, reversed its attitude of nine years ago when it held that a Washington State law insuring secrecy of telephone and telegraph messages did not bar convictions.

Commenting on the decision, the Union declared: “The Supreme Court has taken a position on tapping telephone wires which should satisfy every defender of civil rights. It affirms the view which the minority in the previous 5 to 4 decision sustained — the right of privacy against invasion by governmental agencies or others.

“If the law is right in prohibiting the use of telegrams by others than the sender or recipient and in forbidding the opening of first-class mail without a warrant, it is sound in protecting the privacy of the telephone. Noargument can be made for opening the telephone to government agents which cannot be made for opening letters and telegrams. “Apparently under the decision, government agents can listen in on conversations but they cannot use in court the information they secure. They may use it as tips to be verified by evidence to accomplish the pur, poses of a criminal prosecution. Even that power, desirable as it may seem in criminal cases, is open to grave abuse. No real protection can be afforded without statutes making criminal the tapping of telephones. But the decision is a great advance and will doubtless curtail a practice indefensible in principle.” prosecuting authorities, particularly since it is usually used against organizations having nothing to do with Communists, in order to confuse the public mind.”

The Union, in releasing its survey of the changes in the character of cases involv- ing civil liberties in 1937, said:

“Despite the propaganda against Communism, the civil rights of Communists are now generally exercised without interference. Although prosecutions, deportations and other proceedings against Communists: have in the past been fairly numerous, Communist cases at no time constituted more. than a small portion of those defended by the Civil Liberties Union.

“The entire front of repression has changed from an attack on the civil rights of Communists to interference with the rights of labor, particularly the C.I.O. Even in that field the record of 1937 shows that the processes of law under the national and state labor boards has largely replaced the use of force against the rights of labor.” .

An analysis of the cases handled by the Civil Liberties Union during the past year disclosed that fully 40 per cent were those involving infringements on the rights of la- bor. Both A. F. of L. and C.1.O. unions were aided by the A.C.L.U., although lawful activities of C.I.O. organizers were most frequently interfered with. An increasing number of cases involved the right to picket.

Next to labor, the greatest number of cases in which the Union participated involved religious or academic freedom, of which eleven cases were in defense of school children who refused to salute the flag because of religious scruples. :

MILITARY TRAINING BEATEN

Military training in Sequoia Union High School, Redwood City, was voted down ata meeting of the school’s board of trustees on January 22nd.

MASSACRE FILM BEING SHOWN PRIVATELY IN CHICAGO

Despite the stringent police ban on public showing of newsreels of the Memorial Day massacre of Republic Steel pickets, the Chicago Civil Liberties Committee has obtained a copy of the film and is arranging private showings in the city. Chicago police have not thus far attempted to interfere.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES COMMITTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Chairman Dr. Charles A. Hogan Director Ernest Besig Prof. Harold Chapman Brown A. Alan Clark George T. Davis Hugo Ernst Prof. Glenn Hoover Mary Hutchinson Dr. Edgar A. Lowther Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn Judge Jackson H. Ralston Helen Salz Rabbi Jacob J. Weinstein Marie De L. Welch Samuel S. White Charles Erskine Scott Wood

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

. Wayne Collins James J. Cronin, Jr. Morris Grupp Dr. Robert F. Leavens Clarence E. Rust Rev. E. C. Vanderlaan