vol. 12, no. 9

American

Civil Liberties

Union-News

Free Press

Free Speech

Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Vol. XII.

-ae

SAN FRANCISCO, SEPTEMBER, 1947.

No. 9

California Anti-Miscegination Chinese Brides of War Veterans Held Incom-

Statute Under Attack

Sylvester D. Davis, a Negro, and Andrea D.

Perez, a Caucasian, last month petitioned the

State Supreme Court for a writ of mandate di-

recting the Los Angeles County Clerk to issue a

marriage license to them despite a 1872 statute

which declares, "All marriages of white persons

with Negroes, Mongolians, or mulattoes are il-

legal and void."

Both petitioners are Roman Catholics. They

_ claim that the Clerk's refusal to issue a license

"denies to them the right to participate fully in

`the sacramental life of the religion in which they

believe,' and, therefore, violates the first and

14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.

The suit. was filed by Attorney Daniel G. Mar-

shall, Chairman of the Social Action Committee

of the Catholic Church in Los Angeles, If the

Court agrees to hear the case, the Union will

very likely file an amicus curiae brief in support

of the petitioners.

In 27 of the 48 states a difference in color is a

legal barrier to marriage, either by statute or

judicial decision. Some states, such as Georgia,

decree that men and women of different races

legally maried in another state may not live to-

gether in a state that prohibits intermarriage.

Madera Race Bigots Resent -

"Outside Interference"

On July 9, the ACLU protested to the Madera

City Council concerning several cases of racial

discrimination at the Municipal Plunge, pointing

out the violations of the State's Civil Rights

Statute, and urging that action be taken to end

the discrimination, Under date of August 5, City

Clerk Geo. M. Shedd answered as follows:

"The City Council has asked me to answer

vour letter of July 9th, 1947, regarding the dis-

turbance at the swimming pool. The Council

wishes me to inform you that they are familiar

with the law regarding race discrimination, as

they have two attorneys to keep them posted.

"The trouble at the pool to which you refer

was qaused presumably by the Negroes being

taken to the pool to create a disturbance.

"The city has managed this pool for many

vears without any racial disturbances and _ be-

lieve they can continue to do so without any

outside interference."

Foreign Language School Issue

Goes to Hawaiian Courts

A suit in behalf of Chinese language schools

in Hawaii, challenging the constitutionality of a

1943 territorial law barring the teaching of

foreign languages to children under fifteen, is

now in a federal court in Honolulu. The case,

brought by a group of Hawaiian Chinese lan-

guage schools, will also affect Japanese language

schools closed by the military authorities in

1941 and not since reopened. A law similar to

_ the 1943 act was passed by the Hawaiian Legis-

lature in 1923 and was held by the U. S. Supreme

Court to be unconstitutional.

ANNUAL MEETING

The annual membership meeting of the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

will be held at the California Club, 1750 Clay

Street, San Francisco, Friday evening, October 17,

at 8 o'clock.

The meeting will be addressed by Col. John H.

Sherman, veteran of three wars and former Pres-

ident of Tampa University, on the question, "Are

the Civil Liberties of Minority Groups in the Bay

Area Imperiled?" Rt. Rev. Edward L. Parsons

_will be chairman of the meeting.

OCTOBER 17, 1947

municado Months on End

By S.F. immigration

.

The American Civil Liberties Union charged

last month that the Immigration Service in San

Francisco is holding Chinese wives and children

of war veterans incommunicado for months on

end, despite a public announcement by the Serv-

ice last February that immigrants would not be

held incommunicado for longer than seven or

eight days.

Last February, in response to protests by the

ACLU, Attorney General Tom Clark sent Wil-

lard Kelly, Assistant Commissioner of Immigra-

tion in charge of alien control, to San Francisco

in order to inquire into the manner Chinese

wives of American soldiers were being handled

on arrival at San Francisco, Following his visit.

the Immigration Service announced what it

called a radical change of its regulations, under

which immigrants would be held incommunicado

no longer than 7 or 8 days.

In a wire to Attorney General Tom Clark, the

Union charged the Immigration Service with

breaking faith with the public and particularly

veterans "in surreptitiously reestablishing a bar-

baric practice in handling immigrants seeking

admission to this country."

"that an immediate investigation be undertaken

to the end that a humanitarian system of ex-

amination and detention of immigrants be es-

tablished."

In support of its complaint, the Union cited

the case of Chew Ah Sum of 893 Broadway, San

Francisco, who has not been permitted to see his

wife, Wat Shee, and his son, Chu Jue Gay, since

they arrived in San Francisco on July 3rd. Chew

is an honorably discharged veteran who served

in World War II for 3!% years. He is presently

employed as a bar boy at San Francisco's Cliff

House.

An immigration inspector questioned Chew

about. his marriage for 714 hours, and his wife,

child, and two sisters have also been interro-

gated at great length and without the advice of

counsel. "After this extensive preliminary ex-

amination,' said the Union, "one would think

that the chances of framing a case, if the par-

The Union urged ~

ties were allowed to see each other, would be

extremely remote, but visits by the husband and

friends are nevertheless forbidden, and all let-

ters are censored, until after a hearing before

a Board of Special Inquiry, which has not yet

been scheduled and which the Service admitted

to us will definitely not be held in the next cou-

ple of weeks. No one can object to the Govern-

ment taking reasonable precautions against im-

migrants procuring fraudulent entry into the

country, but such precautions should have re-

gard for humanitarian procedure."

The San Francisco Immigration Service has

informed the Union that its present procedure

conforms with instructions from the Central Of-

fice, but the wire from T. B, Shoemaker, Act-

ing Commissioner, on which the local Service

bases its procedure, merely instructs the Service

not to pexmit immigrants visitors until after

"completion of primary inspection." In the fore-

going case, for example, the primary inspection

had been completed and the aliens had been or-

dered held for a hearing by a Board of Special

Inquiry.

District Director I. F. Wixon disclosed to thy

Union on August 22 that 39 cases of Chinese

war brides were awaiting hearings before Boards

of Special Inquiry, and all of the persons in-

volved in these cases were being held incom-

municado. Mr. Wixon also admitted that some

of the war brides had been held incommunicado

for three months, and, Inspector Hertogs, di-

rectly in charge of the work, stated that be-

cause of increasing arrivals and reduced help,

the situation promises to become worse rather

than better.

The Union has sent a protest to Assistant

Commissioner Willard Kelly, in Philadelphia, and

has sought assistance from Congressman Franck

R. Havenner and Senators Sheridan Downey and

William F. Knowland, who intervened in behalf

of the veterans last February. Congressman

Havenner at once placed an inquiry with the

Immigration Service.

Two Month's C. P. Membership

Basis for Disloyalty Charge

The navy is seeking the removal on grounds

of disloyalty of a Negro Civil Service employee

at the Alameda Air Station who belonged to the

Communist Party for a couple of months in 1945.

An administrative hearing has been scheduled for

September 9.

The complaint against the employee charges:

"(a) Investigation discloses that you are a

member of the Communist Party.

"(b) That you received an invitation to attend

a meeting of the Communist Party of Alameda

County, California, which stated that admission

would be by Communist Party membership card

only.

"(e) That your name appeared on the 1945

mailing list of the Communist Party."

The employee is classified as an "aircraft me-

chanic" in the assembly and repair department

at the Air Station. He has been a federal gov-

ernment employee for 18 years.

The man does not deny his brief membership

in the Communist Party in 1945, but claims he

paid dues for only two months and attended no

more than 4 or 5 meetings, never getting beyond

the position of a spectator. He denies that he is

disloyal to the United States, or that he has ever

done anything to injure the country.

Anti-Red Clause Of Labor

Act Heads For Court Test

The provision of the Taft-Hartley law that la-

bor leaders must certify that they are not Com-

munists before their organization can appear be-

fore the National Labor Relations Board moved

considerably closer to a court test last month.

Both CIO and AFL leaders indicated that they

will contest the ruling made by NLRB Counsel

Robert N. Denham, Aug. 19, that "the forms

must be signed by all AFL and CIO interna-

tional and loca! officers as well as the parent

organizations officers. The chain must be com-

plete from the top down."

The ACLU had previously condemned that

provision as one of those in the act which "di-

rectly violate labor's civil rights." When the

legislation was before Congress and the Presi-

dent, the ACLU warned that the section was

"completely unjustifiable' and would "penalize

non-Communist workers for a_ situation for

which they may not be responsible." The ACLU

also declared that the section raises "questions .

of constitutionality for it penalizes political ac-

tivity safeguarded by the First Amendment."

Although no test case of the provision has

yet been initiated, the ACLU has promised AFL

and CIO counsel that it will "participate at all

points where issues of civil rights are clearly

involved."

Page 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Congress Adjourns With

- Record of Inaction

The record of Congress on its adjournment

July 26 showed failure of the Senate particularly

to act on almost all civil liberties issues. Of bills

supported by the Union only one was passed, the

amended G. I. Brides Act, permitting entry to the

U.S. of soldiers' oriental wives ineligible to citi-

zenship if marriage was contracted prior to 30

days after enactment.

The House passed the anti-poll tax bill, for the

fourth time, the Japanese evacuation claims bill,

the bill to provide for election of their governor

by Puerto Ricans, the deportation stay bill and

a bill granting naturalization to Japanese par-

ents of "purple heart" veterans. The FEPC bill

was reported from a Senate sub-committee to

full committee, with recommendation for further

study. There was no action on legislation dealing

with anti-lynching, oriental exclusion, women's

rights, or segregation in interstate carriers. A

group of House members are scheduled to make

an on-the-spot investigation of civilian govern-

ment for U. S:-controlled Pacific Islands.

The Mundt bill, providing for congressional au-

thorization of the State Department's "Voice of

America" broadcasts after being passed by the

House and approved by the Senate Foreign Re-

lations Committee, reached a stalemate. The

program, without specific Congress approval, will

continue under regular departmental appropria-

tion.

The most flagrant use of blocking tactics in

this session was on action for displaced persons.

The Stratton bill, providing for entry to the U. S.

of 400,000 DPs over a four-year period, was

stalled despite the tremendous pressure of public

opinion in its favor. An emergency measure, per-

mitting 100,000 to enter this year, was defeated.

Instead, the Senate adopted a resolution to study

the whole immigration policy of the U. S. for re-

port to the next session.

Propose Ban On Segregation In

Schools, Militia In N. J. Constitution

Segregation in New Jersey's public schools

and state militia will be ended this year if voters

approve of an anti-discrimination clause written

into the proposed constitution Aug. 21 by the

State Constitutional Convention. The article was

approved by a vote of 50 to 18 after heated de-

bate Its acceptance by the voters when they go

to the polls in November would make New

Jersey one of the first states to have a ban

against discrimination written into the state

constitution.

"No person," the article declares, "shall be

denied the enjoyment of any civil or military

right nor be discriminated against in any civil

right or segregated in the militia or public

schools on account of religious principles, race,

color, ancestry or national origin." The amend-

ment was introduced by Oliver Randolph, only

Negro delegate to the convention.

Executive Committee

American Givil Liberties Union

of Northern California

Sara Bard Field

Honorary Member

Rt. Rev. Edw. L. Parsons

Chairman

Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn

Helen Salz

Vice-Chairman

Joseph S. Thompson

Secretary-Treasurer

Ernest Besig_

Director

Philip Adams

John H. Brill

Prof. James R. Caldwell

H, C. Carrasco

_ Wayne M. Collins

_ Rev. Oscar F. Green

Margaret C. Hayes

Prof. Ernest R. Hilgard

Ruth Kingman

Ralph N. Kleps

Dr, Edgar A. Lowther

Seaton W. Manning

Mrs. Bruce Porter

Clarence E. Rust

Rabbi Irving F. Reichert.

Prof. Laurence Sears

Dr. Howard Thurman

Kathleen Drew Tolman

Sept. 8 Deadline Set By

The government must release 319 Nisei, who

renounced their citizenship under duress, or pro-

duce them in the federal court in San Francisco

on September 8. That was the order of Federal

Judge Louis Goodman in San Francisco on Au-

gust 11.

Judge Goodman's latest order supplements one

handed down in the case on June 30 last when

he decided that the Nisei could not be held as

alien enemies. Ever since that time, the Justice

Department has been employing dilatory tactics

to gain time to make up its mind whether to

appeal the decision or to release the Nisei. If

an appeal is finally taken, Attorney Wayne M.

Collins will move to have the prisoners paroled'

to his custody.

The government has been holding the 319

Niesi as alien enemies ever since they renounced

their U. S. citizenship more than two years ago,

and they are presently detained either at Crystal

City, Texas, or Seabrook Farms, Bridgeton, New

Jersey. They have been in custody since early

1942 when they were evacuated from the Pa-

cific Coast. Since the June 30 ruling, 12 Nisei

_have been released.

In making his order, Judge Goodman denied

the government's motion `to vacate and recon-

sider" the court's order granting petitions for

writs of habeas corpus. The government had

contended that the Nisei were dual citizens, and

that by renouncing their U. S. citizenship they

automatically became Japanese citizens who

could be removed to Japan as alien enemies.

That theory was rejected as "wholly unsound"

in the following memorandum:

In the order of court granting the petitions

for writ of habeas corpus, I stated that the de-

tained applicants are not alien enemies within

the provisions of the Alien Enemy Act of 1798

and hence could not be detained for deportation.

I further stated that the reasons for decision

would be given in an opinion to be filed at the

time of decision of the equity suits brought by

3y Court For Government

To Aci In Cases Of 319 Detained

isel

petitioners. Respondents, in their motion to re-

consider and vacate the order granting the writ, -

have been handicapped in presenting the mo-

tions because of lack of knowledge of the nature

of the court's reasons for its conclusion. I will

therefore briefly indicate the basis of the deci-

sion.

Admittedly all of petitioners were, at the time

of their alleged renunciations of citizenship, na-

tive-born citizens of the United States residing

therein. The basis of their detention by respond-

ents is that prior to and at the time of the al-

leged renunciations, petitioners were also citizens

`of Japan and that therefore they automatically

became citizens of Japan when the alleged re-

nunciations were effected. The court unequivo-

cally rejects the concept of dual citizenship as-

serted by respondents. The theory that a native-

born resident American can at the selfsame

time be an alien and a citizen of a foreign state,

is, in my opinion, judicially wholly unsound. An

American citizen, as such, owes his entire al-

legiance to the United States and the United

States is. entitled to claim from him an indi-

visable loyalty. A naturalized citizen, at the time

of naturalization, renounces all allegiance to any

foreign government and swears undivided fealty

to the United States. No less is the allegiance

of a native-born citizen for the Constitution

makes no distinction between naturalized and -

native-born citizens. It is Constitutionally im-

possible for a resident citizen of the United

States to have at the same time any allegiance

to any foreign government, =

Assuming the petitioners' renunciations to be

valid, they would cease to be American citizens,

but they would not thereby acquire an alien

citizenship, which they could not lawfully there-

fore have possessed.

The motions to vacate and reconsider are de-

nied, and I will therefore sign the orders for the

issuance of the writ.

Report Finds 60% of Japanese

Back On West Coast |

About 60% of the Japanese-Americans re-

moved from the West Coast at the start of the

war have returned to their former home areas,

the U. S. Interior Department announced last

month. In a final report of the evacuation pro-

gram, Robert K. Candlin, chief of the War

Agency Liquidation Unit, WRA successor, said

that 55% of the Japanese-Americans in the

U. S. now live in Washington, Oregon and Cali-

fornia, as compared with the prewar ratio of

88.5%.

The Union meanwhile is pressing its cam-

paign in behalf. of Japanese-Americans on

both the legal and legislative fronts. When Con-

gress reconvenes, the ACLU will continue to

seek the repeal of the Oriental Exclusion Act,

and to support the pending evacuation claims

bill. It will also support bills to naturalize Japa-

nese parents of `Purple Heart" veterans and to

stay deportation of alien orientals in family

hardship cases. The latter, by recent Justice

Department action, are authorized to remain in

this country till the Senate acts on the meas-

ure. The Union-supported Oyama case, testing

the constitutionality of the California Alien

Land Law, will be reviewed by the Supreme

Court this fall, while state tests of both Cali-

fornia's and Oregon's laws prohibiting alien land

ownership are pending on the West Coast.

North Carolina "Lynching"

Charge Reopened

Seven white men face the possibility of again

being charged with attempted lynching of God- :

win Bush, 24-year-old Negro. Acting under a

52-year-old state anti-lynching law, Governor R.

Gregg Cherry had warrants drawn against the

men who had been cleared August 5 by a county

grand jury of breaking into a Jackson jail and

kidnsping the Negro with intent to injure or

kill, The governor ordered a preliminary hear-

ing Sept. 2 before a Superior Court judge. If

the charges are returned, the men will be held

for a jury trial in an adjoining county. The

Union had applauded Governor Cherry's denun-

ciation of the grand jury's failure to indict. In

its letter the ACLU called his promise of full

legal action against the men "the sort of forth-

right public action necessary if lynch law and

mob rule are not to go unchecked."

Suit Challencing State Aid

For Jesuit College Dismissed

An attempt to challenge the constitutionality

of state aid to sectarian institutions was denied

July 29 when Supreme Court Justice Isadore

Bookstein at Buffalo, N. -Y., refused an applica-

tion for injunction against a Jesuit college

granted funds by New York state on grounds

that the action was brought by "a mere citizen

and taxpayer." Henry Adsit Bull, Buffalo at-

torney, had sought to bar further expenditures -

from a $128,000 allocation to Canisius College

by the State Emergency Housing Joint Board

pending decision of a prior suit filed by him in

Erie County. The opinion held that: "It is

neither necessary nor proper to consider or

pass upon the question of the constitutionality

of the allocation of the funds complained." :

Although no action has been taken as yet,

the Erie County courts may follow Justice

Bookstein's example by dismissing the original

suit on the technical point that no individual

who is not directly affected can challenge the

constitutionality of a state action. The grant

was part of the state's program to provide ex-

panded educational facilities for veterans. Pre-

cedent for the court's decision was found in an

1858 ruling by the Court of Appeals that "No

private person ... can assume to be the cham-

pion of the community and in its behalf chal-

lenge the public officers to meet them in the

courts of. justice to defend their official acts.

The Union is exploring the case with a view

to participation in the event of an appeal.

New Mexican Indians Ruled

Ineligible to Vote

The New Mexican constitutional denial of the

right to vote to Indians on reservations because

they are not taxed was upheld July 30 by

Judge David Chavez of the District Court in

Gallup. The case, brought by three Indians

- represented by William J. Truswell, Albuquerque

attorney, in behalf of the Union, contended that

the 1924 act granted Indians full citizenship

and therefore voting rights, that Indians are

taxed by both federal and state governments and

therefore eligible to vote, and that refusal of the

franchise was racial discrimination violating the

14th Amendment. The Union plans to file a simi-

lar suit in Arizona.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Page 3

UN Bill of Rights Drafts

Criticized by ACLU

The first drafts of. an international bill of

rights prepared by the UN Commission on Hu-

man Rights were criticized by the Union as lack-

ing clarity and failing to include "the highly im-

portant issue of political freedom." The state-

ment, signed by Roger N. Baldwin, ACLU direc-

tor, and Robert M. MaclIver, chairman of the

Union's Committee on International Civil Liber-

ties, was sent to the State Department on Au-

gust 12. It described the U. S. substitute text as

generally "more carefully worked out" than the

version presented by the UN's drafting commit-

tee. :

The Union declared that an international bill

_of rights must do more than just spell out "a

standard to be universally achieved." The letter

called for "some indication of how the bill's pro-

visions may be adopted, ratified and put into ef-

fect." It pointed out the need to distinguish be-

tween rights suitable for conventions between na-

tions and rights which nations should establish

through their own domestic laws.

"The right to freedom of political beliefs and

to organize to express them should be included,"

the Union urged. "A single-party state prohibit-

ing opposition is incompatible with any concept

of fundamental human rights." To correct this

omission, the Union proposed "one or more pro-

visions . . . under which governments would be

called on not to exercise or withhold the oppor-

tunities or means for the effective exercise of the

specified rights, by censorship, by monopolizing

the organs of opinion or by other restrictive

measures."'

Other recommended changes in the draft in-

cluded the following: Adding to the obligations

of citizenship "respect for the rights of others";

removing limitations on freedom of movement;

and not asking for blind "obedience to law," since

this would ignore "the moral compunction to dis-

obey repressive and despotic law."

Georgia's Brutal Convict

Road Camps Clesed

The last two camps. of Georgia's notorious

highway convict system were abolished August

11, one month after the guards at Anguilla prison

`camp shot down eight Negro prisoners. The State

Board of Correction's action came after the

ACLU and other organizations demanded a U. S.

Justice- Department investigation of the slayings.

Hearings revealed brutal treatment of prisoners

and drunkenness among the guards. Though a

grand jury had previously exonerated the warden

and guards, the Board declared the camp a "dis-

grace" and found "no justification for the kill-

ings." A new inquiry was ordered August 12 to

supercede what the Board called "a one-sided

whitewash investigation."

The Anguilla affair occurred when a prison

labor gang refused to work in a snake-infested

ditch until they were given boots. The prisoners

were marched back to camp where the shooting

took place. A. week later, the all-white grand

jury declared the warden and guards "justified

in their action."

The Board's order closing the all-Negro An-

guilla camp and one for whites in near-by Charl-

ton County, is a belated sequel to the ending of

the famed Georgia chain gangs under the State

Penal Reform Act of 1943. The prisoners have

been shifted to county public works camps which

have been described as part of `"`the most anti-

quated penal system in the United States."

New Jersey Swimming Pool

Race Policy Challenged

Whether an amusement park may bar Negroes

from its swimming pool has been challenged by

three organizations. Eleven members of the

Committee on Racial Equality and Modern Trend

were arrested August 3 for distributing pamph-

lets urging boycott of the pool and for staging

demonstrations. The arrests marked the most re-

cent incident in a three-year struggle to break

down the park's policy. The Union has offered its

services to the defendants' counsel, James Major,

Hackensack attorney for the NAACP, and Hiram

Elfenbein, Jersey City attorney acting for CORE.

Twice in 1946, the ACLU brought action

against the management of Palisades Park for

violating the New Jersey Civil Rights Act in dis-

criminating against Negroes. A Bergen County

Grand Jury, however, refused to indict. At that

time park officials contended that the pool was a

private concession and was outside their autho-

rity, yet declared that racial discrimination would

be tolerated nowhere on the park grounds. The

Union also protested the denial of admission of

Negroes to the dance pavilion.

Fairfax City Council Will Hear `Red' Charges

Against

Writer On September 16 3

Before a packed house, a special meeting of

the City Council of Fairfax on August 6 voted

to grant the request of Miss Elsa Gidlow for a

hearing to be held on September 16 at 8:15 p. m.,

to examine into charges of "Communistic and

un-American activities,' made against her by

the City's one-man Committee on un-American

Activities, which led to her ouster from the City

Planning Commjssion until such time as she dis-

proves the charges.

The action was taken at a special meeting of

the Council that was called specially for the

purpose of providing assistance for Fairfax's

anti-red crusader, Councilman Leslie Grosbauer.

Mr. Grosbauer made a motion that Chief of Po-

lice Andrew Perry `be appointed to assist me

in my work in fighting Communism and un-

American activities in the City of Fairfax and

the county of Marin," but the motion was finally

withdrawn.

At a subsequent meeting a resolution by Mr.

Grosbauer to ask the Tenney Committee to in-

vestigate revolutionary activities in Fairfax was

adopted. Grosbauer had previously promised the -

press that an investigator for the Tenney Com-

mittee would visit Marin county "in the near

future," but thus far he has failed to put in

an appearance.

At the last meeting, as a result of the criti-

cisms of Councilman Rockwell, the Council desig-

nated the latter and the City Attorney to work

out rules of procedure to be followed in consid-

ering charges of un-American Activities against

a member of the City Government. The meeting

was also marked by Grosbauer reading a 1928

statement by ex-Congressman Hamilton Fish

attacking Roger Baldwin and the American Civil

Liberties Union.

Mr. Grosbauer never did make clear his pur-

pose in seeking the assistance of the Chief of

Police. Councilman Rockwell asked whether the

Chief would be required to tap telephone wires

and open mail, to which Mr. Grosbauer respond-

ed that "Most of his work will be by correspond-

ence." Mr. Rockwell then wanted to know, since

the Chief was a law enforcement officer, what

particular law of the city, county or state the

Chief would be enforcing, and Mr. Grosbauer ad-

mitted that he would be enforcing no law. Ob-

jection was also made that in fighting Com-

munism in Marin county, as the motion pro-

posed, the Committee would be going outside the

Council's jurisdiction.

Finally, Mr. Grosbauer boasted he had only

that day received "four different files and I

know the answers. I got the information today

that I asked for and I will withdraw my mo-

tion." He then went on to explain that since he

had gotten "the files" he really didn't need the

Chiet's assistance, but since the Council's spe-

cial meeting had been called he had gone ahead

with his request for assistance anyway. "I won't

ask Mr. Perry for any iota of help," Mr. Gros-

bauer promised. Mr. Grosbauer also promised he

would not run for re-election next April. _

Of course, what Mr. Grosbauer was really

driving at was to instill fear in the hearts of

his numerous opponents in Fairfax by lining up

the police in support of his drive against al-

leged Communistic and un-American activities

in Fairfax, The citizens readily saw through his

purpose and vigorously denounced him for it.

Outside of his two cronies on the City Council,

who gave Mr, Grosbauer very little verbal sup-

port, his only outspoken supporter in the large

audience was a woman who kept shouting,

Atta boy, Les!" whenever Grosbauer said any-

thing.

_In the course of the meeting Mr. Grosbauer

hinted that members of the City Council would

be future targets of charges of un-Americanism

and he later stated to reporters that he would

name three Communists active in Farfax city af-

fairs. If the Gidlow case is any criterion, Mr.

Grosbauer is going to make more wild charges

that he will be unable to support.

Mr. Grosbauer may be most sincere in his

red'' hunt, but he is so inept and so unsuited

to his task that his actions are ludicrous, At

the same time, the matter is serious because

his wild charges of Communism are calculated

to do immeasurable damage to the reputations

of anyone who opposes him, while making Fair-

fax the laughing stock of the community, state

and nation.

__ Mr. Grosbauer sought to extend his red-hunt-

ing activities by appearing before the City Coun-

cils of San Rafael and San Anselmo and urging

those groups to appoint Committees on un-Amer-

ican Activities, Apparently, such committees

would cooperate with his own and provide ama-

teur detectives and witch-hunters for the Tenney

Committee. In San Rafael, however, the Coun-

cil ignored, Mr, Grosbauer's proposal, while in

San Anselmo he called off his appearance be- -

fore the City Council in the face of strong pub-

lic opposition.

Before the Council vote to give Miss Gidlow

a hearing, the ACLU had denounced the Coun-

cil's action in expelling her from the Planning

Commission as "so arbitrary and high-handed,

and so lacking in what is regarded as the ele-

ments of due process of law, that the Commit-

tee and the Council's action must be condemned

as itself being un-American and typical of the

kind of procedure that is associated with Com-

munist and Fascist countries. Whether Miss

Gidlow is or is not `Communistic,'" said the

Union, "she is certainly entitled to notice of the (c)

precise nature of the charges against her and

an opportunity to answer them."

"We would suggest," said the Union, "that

the Council discontinue its venture into witch-

hunting and thought control. On the basis of

the record, Mr. Grosbauer has not shown that

he is qualified for the task. Indeed, his ac-

tions have become suspect, because the first tar-

get of his efforts is a person who opposed his

election." : 3

Metropolitan Life Housing

Bias Challenged

Renewing the attack against the racially dis-

criminatory policies of the Metropolitan Life In-

surance Company, the ACLU, NAACP and

American Jewish Congress last month urged

cancellation of the company's contract with the

City of New York. In a joint letter to James J.

Lyons, Bronx Borough President and member of -

the city's Board of Estimate, the three groups (c)

recalled Lyons' 1943 statement made when the

contract was authorized: "If I thought there was -

going to be discrimination I would not vote for

it." They asked Lyons to initiate proceedings to

rescind the contract, which grants tax exemption

and other benefits to Metropolitan's housing

projects, and requested him to insure that the

city's course is "a repudiation and not a defense

of racial discrimination."

In the meantime, Supreme Court Justice Felix

C. Benvenga refused to grant an injunction

against Metropolitan's racially discriminatory se-

lection of tenants. Holding that Stuyvesant Town ~

is private property, the court declared: "It is

well settled that the landlord of a private apart-

ment or dwelling house may, without violating

any provision of the Federal and State Consti-

tutions, select tenants of its own choice. .. ..

The court cannot usurp the function of the legis-

lature by reading into the Redevelopment Law a

provision which, on a number of occasions, the

legislature refused to enact into that statute."

The plaintiffs' brief had argued that the com-

pany's acquiring of the land through condemna-

tion by the city and the project's partial exemp-

tion from payirig taxes made it in effect a pub-

lic undertaking. Stuyvesant Town was therefore,

it said. subject to the prohibition against. dis-

criminatorv practices provided in federal and

state constitutions and in the United Nations

Charter. An appeal is being taken.

Pasadena Veterans' Housing

Abandons Race Bias

A strike against race discrimination in housing

was won in Pasadena in July when the city over-

ruled its former policy of segregation in its

municipal housing projects for needy war vet-

erans, and the first vacancy arising in one proj-

ect was assigned to a Negro family. In a suit

filed in behalf of several Negro veterans, Pasa-

dena was charged with discriminatory practices

in excluding Negroes and Mexicans from a hous-

ing project in which facilities were greatly su-

perior to those of a nearby segregated project.

Efforts by the city to have the case dismissed

were denied by Superior Court Judge Frank C.

Collier, The Southern California Branch pf the

ACLU participated in the case together with

other organizations.

Page 4

Amer can Uivii Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 461 Market St., San Francisco, 5

Calif., by the Ameriean Civil Liberties Union

- of Northern California.

Phone: EXbrook 2-3255

ERNEST BESIG ....... Editor

_ Entered as second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the

Post Office at San Francisco, California,

. under the Act of March 38, 1879.

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year.

Ten Cents per Copy.

151-

Puerto Rican Governorship

Bill Signed by Pres. Truman

Puerto Rico became the first American pos-

session or territory to have the right to elect its

own governor through a bill signed by President

Truman August 5. Passed by the Senate in the

last days before adjournment, the bill had been

killed, then revived when an amendment weak-

ened its provisions for Puerto Rican self-govern-

ment. The amendment provides for the appoint-

ment of the insular Supreme Court justices by

the President, rather than by the governor, as in

the House bill.

The Union hailed the President's signature not

only as "encouraging Puerto Rican self-determi-

nation" but as "of vast consequence to our future

relations with the people of the island and in-

deed, the whole Good Neighbor policy in South

America. Our treatment of Puerto Rico is an in-

dex of American policy in relation to all colonial

countries and thus of international import in the

development of the policies of the U. N."

_ Negroes Win Equal

Membership in Railroad Union

The 23,000 Negro members of the AFL

Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks,

Freight Handlers, Express and Station Em-

ployes have won the right of equal member-

"Ship with whites in their union. The announce-

ment, made by the N. Y. State Commission

_ Against Discrimination on August 4, followed

the Brotherhood's repeal at its convention last

May of all racial rules in local membership.

Negroes who had been restricted to local aux-

iliary lodges may now transfer to regular lo-

cals hitherto closed to them.

The ACLU had a year ago criticized the dis-

criminatory practices of AFT, uni

President William Green to foniphasie ne co

gation of all trade unions to cease practicing any

form of racial discrimination." An ACLU survey

showed that in 1946 among all unions, "approxi-

mately thirty officially practiced discrimination

S' =

Atty. Gen. Howser Limits His

Escheat Proceedings

California will not seek to escheat commerci

and residential property held by alien Teens

despite the abrogation of the Treaty of Trade

and Commerce between the United States and

Japan. That is the effect of a ruling by Attorney

et Fred N. ae handed down on August

e request o yen

a Wollenbe - ay mer Assemblyman Albert

nder the Alien Land Law, persons ineligi

to citizenship are denied the side and Hite

of all real. property except as permitted by treaty.

The treaty with Japan, abrogated in 1940

granted alien Japanese the right to use and enjoy

commercial and residential property. The Attor-

ney General ruled that the provisions of the

a were incorporated into the Alien Land

Ww.

The entire question has been pendin before

the State Supreme Court for none oon six

months in the Stockton Theatres case. A year

ago, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed

the ruling of the Superior Court in Stockton that

under the Alien Land Law alien Japanese may

not use and enjoy commercial and _ residential

property, but the Supreme Court allowed an

appeal. If the ruling of the trial court were up-

held, alien Japanese could not live in California,

because, obviously, they must use and enjoy some

kind of property while residing here.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Benecia Swimming Pool Sold To Non-Profit

Corporation In Order To Exclude Negroes

Benicia's $65,000 swimming pool, which was

built by public subscription and $10,500 of the

City's funds, on July 28 was "sold" by the City

to the Benicia Swimming Pool Club, a non-profit

corporation, although not one penny changed

hands. The Corporation was organized espe-

cially to enable the City to exclude from the

pool its 65 Negro families, numbering about 200

persons. As a "private organization," it may

establish membership regulations and take in

whomever it wishes.

To be sure, the attorney for the Corporation

claims every application will be acted upon with-

out regard to the race of the applicant, but, as a

practical matter, Negroes are the only ones ex-

cluded from the pool. Mr. Deorman T. Neal,

Negro Chairman of Benicia's Interracial Club,

who has been trying to swim in the pool ever

since it opened on July 4, was finally turned

down for membership under date of August 18.

The notice stated very briefly that, "Your ap-

plication for membership was placed before the

Board of Directors and we are sorry to inform

you that the application was acted upon un-

favorably." That was all.

Neal first applied for membership 20 minutes

after the Pool began to register applicants. At

that time, the pool was merely "leased'' at a dol-

lar a year to a Swimming Pool Committee. Neal

was informed that the pool had run out of mem-

bership application cards. A week later he pro-

cured a form and filed it, but the membership -

committee failed to act upon it for several meet-

ings because it was unable to procure a quorum.

After the "sale" of the pool to the non-profit

corporation, he was informed he would have to

make out a new application, and, finally, after

trying for six weeks, Neal's membership was

turned down. In the meantime, of course, the

pool was in general use by Caucasians.

A sixteen-year-old Negro girl who tried to join

Los Angeles Police Highway

Blockade Gets Court OK

Police blockades in which cars are stopped,

searched and their occupants questioned, were

declared constitutional by Superior Judge Henry

M. Willis of Los Angeles on August 12, Judge

Willis ruled the mass dragnets a justifiable pro-

tection of citizens when he denied an injunction

against the practice filed by A. L. Wirin, counsel

for the ACLU's Southern California Branch.

The Union argued that the blockades violated

citizens' rights of due process and that the po-

lice acted illegally in making such "unreasonable

and intolerable" searches without warrants. It

asked that L. A. police be denied further public

funds for the purpose. An appeal will be filed.

Union counsel pointed out that the Los An-

geles Bar Association in a recent pamphlet had

condemned the blockades. A protest was also

entered by the National Lawyers Guild, whose

representative said the police should go to the

legislature for further power if they intended

to continue the practice. The city's police de-

partment argued that the method had proved the

most effective curb on crime, recent raids hav-

ing brought about an 18.2 percent decrease in

crime in the areas immediately affected.

Union Takes Los Angeles

Nudist Case to High Court

A Los Angeles ordinance forbidding nudist

camps within the city limits, already upheld in

lower courts, will be challenged in the U. S. Su-

_fyeme Court, the Union's Southern California

`Branch announced August 9. Counsel A. L.

Wirin was authorized to file an appeal of a re-

cent conviction under the ordinance. The co-di-

rectors of a canyon camp described as "inside

L. A.'s far-flung boundaries in the San Fernando

country," were convicted in the Municipal Court.

They lost their appeal to the Superior Court, and

-an appeal to the State Supreme Court was de-

nied. Jail sentences of six and three months were

imposed. The ACLU provided bail.

The Los Angeles branch saw the case as a test

of whether `people who sincerely believe that so-

cial nudism is highly beneficial both physically

and morally, who studiously avoid making a pub-

lic nuisance of their belief and practice, and who

thus far have successfully met even insinuations

as to scandal have a constitutional right to prac-

tice their belief."

the Club was informed that'the membership book

had been left home that day, and the only Negro

boy who had gotten into the pool when it was

merely "leased"? was excluded after the pool was

"sold," although the Union had understood that

the exclusion policy was intended to apply only

to adult Negroes.

The Union's director interviewed Harold M.

Simon, attorney for the corporation, and James

Lemos, president of the Corporation, and both

denied that the new corporation intended to prac-

tice any racial discrimination. Mr. Lemos was

more frank, however, when he left the attorney's

office. He declared that he would in every case

vote against the admission of Negroes, and that

if he were called upon to testify, he would deny

ever having made such a statement. In fact, Mr.

Lemos was practically violent in his hatred of

Negroes. He took the position that a non-discrim-

inatory racial policy would impair the financial

success of the pool, which he had worked so

hard to build. He' mentioned with approval the

segregation of Negroes which he had observed

in the South and threatened to close up the pool

or limit its use to school children rather than

`permit adult Negroes to use it. He promised to

exhaust his means to defeat any legal action and,

admitting his temper, suggested it might not go

sisted in his efforts to secure the use of the pool

too well with the ACLU representative if he per-

by Negroes.

Under the corporation's by-laws there are

three classes of membership - regular, associate

and junior. Only the regular members have a

vote. This group is apparently made up of: the

business men who contributed most of the money

toward the building of the pool. The membership

fee has been set at 50c. The admission price to

the pool has been set at 40c for regular and

associate members, and 15c for children un

der 18. ;

GI Ousted From Military Reservation

Assigned Other Housing By University

The GI student whose membership in the

American Veterans Committee resulted in his

eviction from a veterans' housing project located

on a military reservation near the University of

New Mexico, on grounds of being "dangerous and

subversive," was finally given lodging in another

University barracks not located on the military

reservation.

Outside of giving the student other housing,

the University took no steps to protect him from

the Army's unjust charges. The matter has been

referred to the national office of the ACLU for

action.

Los Angeles Supervisors Initiate 'Red'

Hunt Among County Employees

The country's growing "red" hunt has struck

Los Angeles county where the Board of Super-

visors is requiring its 20,000 employees to execute

affidavits listing affiliations with any of some

150 alleged Communist onrganizations named in

a questionnaire. Nothing has been said about

Fascist groups. The Union has not seen the list,

but it is reported to be made up of groups named

in the Tenney "Little Dies' Committee reports.

The Board of Supervisors has not announced

what action it intends to take against any em-

_ ployees found to be members of the groups in

question.

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