vol. 9, no. 12

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

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“Eternal is the price of liberty.”

Vol. IX SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, DECEMBER, 1944 No. 12

RACISM TODAY'S CHIEF ISSUE

Race Differences Are Essentially Economic, Says Roger Baldwin at Berkeley Meeting

Speaking before a tenth anniversary meeting of the Northern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, in Berkeley on November 29, Roger Baldwin, the union’s dynamic national director, gave the following answer to the question, “What Prospects for Race Equality?” “It is an extraordinary fact, not foreseen by the prophets before the war, that the issue of racial equality before the law has emerged as the major aspect of civil liberties, growing out of the impact of a war for democratic ends. Not only is this true of the American scene, but in varying degrees of the world scene. Peoples of the Orient, half the population of the earth, are aroused as never before to demand an effective part in world democracy, with growing political independence and freedom from economic subjection to the Western powers. The most devastating Axis propaganda among the darker peoples has been directed against the United Nations’ racial practices of white supremacy and the imperialist system which accompanies it as demolishing their claims of fighting the war for democracy and the Four Freedoms.

Racial Minoriiics Demand Rights —

“At home the Negro is conducting an unpre-. cedented and bitter campaign for his full share in our democracy with a ‘two-V’ objective—victory over the Axis and victory over white prejudice. The wholesale evacuation of the entire population of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific — coast marked a shameful exhibition of racial hysteria, indefensible on grounds of military security. The example of Hawaii, much nearer the scene of war than the West Coast, from which no persons of Japanese blood were evacuated, is sufficient proof.

“We belatedly confessed error in the policy of oriental exclusion based on a dominant race assumption when we repealed it as it affects our allies, the Chinese. We will doubtless extend exemption to the Filipinos, Koreans and East Indian allies and thus recognize at last the equality of all people to citizenship in the United States, with small quotas for admission. This is at least a partial answer to the Axis propaganda.

“The struggle for racial equality represents the last of the great democratic urges. Recognition has already been given, and only in recent years, to the democratic rights of organized labor in collective bargaining. Recognition, in principle anyhow, has been given to the equality of women before the law. Racial exclusion, discrimination and segregation remain as the only . formidable obstacles to the full participation of the entire population in our democratic life.

Economic Basis of. Discrimination

“Contrary to popular assumptions that race differences are inherent, examination of the evidence will show that they are essentially economic. They arise either from the subjection of one race by another or from the competition of one race with another. Racial divisions are main tained for the benefit of the dominant race. The whole imperialist system, out of which the struggle between the have and have-not nations arose, is based upon racial dominance.

“The cause being economic, so is the cure. In Soviet Russia, we see the example, undisputed by observers, that race prejudice rampant under the Tsars has disappeared in a quarter of a century. Abolition of the competitive system and the equality of all of the hundred nationalities in the life of the Soviet Union have ended it. Another example not based on revolution is Hawaii, where the mixture of races in all walks of economic life has created a tolerance without parallel on American territory. In American trade unions, despite historic racial discrimination still rife, the more progressive sections are successfully fighting against race discrimination, recognizing the equality in work of all men. “Laws and court decisions can aid in overcoming racial prejudice, as the extraordinary record of the Fair Employment Practice Com- mittee during the war has demonstrated. Prosecutions for violations of civil rights, penal statutes making discrimination an offense, and such decisions as that of the United States Supreme — Court abolishing the exclusive white primary in the South, go a long way to putting the power of government behind racial equality.

Segregation Grossly Unjust “But American law in relation to racial rights (Continued on Page 4, Col. 3)

Thank You!

The office is taking this means of thanking its 280 supporters (a record number) who last month sent in contributions toward our $5150 budget for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1945. We appreciate your continued support.

We hope that those who have not yet contributed will do so without delay. Also, about 50 of the 250 persons whose memberships expired last month have not yet gotten around to sending in their renewals. Please do it NOW!

HAWAIIAN MILITARY CONVICTIONS UPHELD BY APPEALS COURT

Two citizens of Hawaii, convicted by military courts under qualified martial law while the civil courts were functioning, were properly tried and sentenced, according to a unanimous opinion by the Circuit of Appeals at San Francisco on November 1. They had been freed by District Judge Metzger of Honolulu. The military authorities appealed from his decision granting a write of habeas corpus.

The case against the military convictions was argued several months ago before the Circuit Court of Appeals by Garner Anthony of Honolulu, former Attorney General of the Islands, supported by the entire Hawaiian Bar Association. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief as a friend of the court.

It is understood that an appeal will be taken to the United States Supreme Court despite the fact that martial law in Hawaii has been suspended recently by Presidential order. The suspension of martial law did not, however, free other prisoners convicted by military courts, and the legal questions remain without deter- mination by the highest court. The American Civil Liberties Union will assist on the appeal.

Jim Crow Contracts Before High Court

The right of trade unions to discriminate against Negroes in collective bargaining con- tracts with employers is challenged in a brief filed in the U. S. Supreme Court by the American Civil Liberties Union in a case argued on November 1. The brief, signed by prominent Southern lawyers as well as counsel for the Union, supports the suit of two Negro firemen, Tom Tunstall and Bester Steele, against the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and two southern railroads to invalidate Jim Crow contracts.

The ACLU brief filed as a “friend of the court” holds that the decision in this case will have “telling consequence for the right of minority workers everywhere” in collective bargaining contracts signed under both the Railway Labor Act and the National Labor Relations — Act. The brief continues:

“It is essential for the preservation of basic principles of our democracy that the deprivation of the right to work on account of race, which is at issue in this case, be declared unlawful. During the coming months this question will be come even more acute as reconversion and the consequent shrinkage of jobs may cause discrimination against Negro workers who have won a foothold in industry during the war.”

The brief reminds the high court that there have already been “bloody consequences” of attempts to drive Negro firemen out of their jobs on southern railroads, and urges the court to invalidate the agreement between the brotherhood and the railroads, order the reinstatement of the two firemen, and establish “once and for all” that collective bargaining representatives must represent minority employees fairly.

The case of Tunstall against the brotherhood and the Norfolk Southern Railway Company was certified to. the Supreme Court from the U. §. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Va., and the Steele case, involving the Louisville and Nashville Railroad as well as the brotherhood, from the Supreme Court of Alabama. The Negro firemen are represented by Charles H. Houston of Washington, D. C., a member of the National Committee of the ACLU.

CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGALLY ENTERED ALIEN SOLDIERS SUPPORTED

Prompt action on a bill to grant citizenship to alien members of the armed forces of the United States who may have entered the country illegally was urged on Sen. Richard B. Russell, chairman of the Senate Committee on Immigration, in a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union on November 15. The letter, signed by Arthur Garfield Hays, General Counsel for the ACLU, states that the bill, H.R. 1284, which passed the House earlier in the year and is now before the Senate Committee, has received wide- spread editorial support, and asks that it be favorably reported.

“We have heard of many cases of hardship”, the letter says, “where members of the armed — forces have been unable to obtain citizenship merely on account of technicalities with respect | to legal entry. We urge you to keep faith with these many hundreds who are fighting so valiantly for this country, but who have been unable to obtain the prized privilege of American citizenship’’

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Following is an account of the Port Chicago mutiny trial involving 50 Negro seaman. It was written by Pauli Murray, former newspaper woman, now a student at the California Law School. Since the article was written, Rear Admiral Carleton H. Wright, commandant of the 12th Naval District, has confirmed the following sentences: 10 men to 15 years; 24 to 12 years; 11 to 10 years; and, 5 to 8 years.

The largest mass court martial in the United States wartime Naval history involving fifty Negro seamen charged with mutiny closed October 24, 1944 at Yerba Buena Island, California, before a seven man General Court martial board headed by Rear Admiral H. W. Osterhaus. The accused are charged with refusal to load ammunition on a South Pacific bound transport on August 9th and August 11th at the naval ammunition magazine at Mare Island Naval Ammunition Depot..

The 35-day trial which began on September 14th and has amassed over a thousand pages of testimony given by seventeen witnesses for the Judge Advocate (the prosecution) and over fifty witnesses for the defense developed the following facts:

1, During the course of the trial the fifty accused seamen testified in their own behalf. They denied the charges of mutiny, conspiracy, and “concerted action with an intent to usurp, subvert, or override superior military authority.” Survivors of Explosion

2. Events leading up to the alleged mutiny date from the tragic explosion at Port Chicago, on July 17th in which 322 men were killed, the majority of whom were Negroes. The fifty seamen on trial were survivors of this explosion. Twelve of them had been hospitalized as a result of the explosion and several others given first aid treatment for shock, bruises and burns.

3. Chief Defense Counsel Lt. G. E. Voltmann in his summary told how the men were in a State of agitation and ‘genuine fear” after the explosion and unable to carry on their work with the, efficiency they had shown before the tragcoy...

4.All of the men were no doubt suffering from shock similar to shell shock. During the trial testimony came out that on two occasions veritable panic broke out in the quarters (a) when a freight train passed and cars switched suddenly, and (b) when a truck was being dragged across the barracks and a bunk accidentally fell, the men made stampedes to the exits and the armed guards couldn’t hold them. The shock of their experience, plus the failure to assign them somewhere other than the immediate scene of the explosion was probably too much for them.

5. As reported by Naval personnel, it is unually the policy of the Navy when men have been in an ammunition explosion or serious accident, to assign them to shore duty or a complete change of location and duties. Doctors testified at the trial these men should have had months of rest or certainly a change of location or scenery. None of the fifty seamen on trial were given survivors furlough or any kind of furlough after the Port Chicago tragedy.

Cleaned Up Remains of Comrades

6. About half of them were assigned to details after the Port Chicago explosion to clean up the debris. They had to pick up what was left of their comrades in baskets—an arm, a leg, a head, a torso.

‘. The Negro personnel in this area are very wrought up about this trial and the possible conviction of these fifty men, and believe civilians must do everything they can do to expose the discrimination and prejudice in the 12th Naval District which has brought about this incident. They believe the main issues of the case were not brought out at the trial.

8. It appears that the 50 accused men were divided into groups of 10, and one counsel was appointed for each group. The Chief Defense Counsel was a Lt. G. R. Veltmann, and he seemed to give a pretty fair defense, but Navy men point out the highest rank of the defense counsel was only a Lt. and the Advocate General was at Lt. Commander, that no lower rank of officer has a chance against a higher officer in a trial of this sort. He only hurts his chances of getting ahead in the Navy if he tries to buck the higher ranking officer. Thus: the boys were handicapped in the outset by their counsel’s lower rank. .

Negroes Skills Ignored

9. Despite their classifications for other kinds of skills these men had been placed on this monotonous assignment from 3 to 23 months— some of them had been there as long as 23 months. Until the time of their alleged “mutiny” their conduct records had been perfect. Yet the Advocate General, Lt. Comdr. James F. Coakley, in prosecuting them called them “insolent,” “smart alecky,” “cowardly,” ‘without character,’, and many other epithets in his summary.

10. At the Oakland Naval Supply Depot, there are about 13802 Negro personnel, and only one Negro chief petty officer. No non-commissioned Negro officers. Some months ago when the Negro divisions were first assigned there, in the mess hall the men were ordered to eat in a segregated section. Their superior officers ordered them to take their food and sit in a certain section. They obeyed the order, took their food to the section, but refused to eat it. They just stood up. Finally a higher officer was called in and the rule was broken. They now work side by side with the white sailors, but the barracks are segregated, and I understand plans for a new recreation hall, still uncompleted call for separate washrooms.

Only Negroes Loaded Ammunition

11. Some 1200 to 1500 Negro’ sailors were used at the Port Chicago Ammunition Depot be- fore the explosion. No white divisions were used. When the explosion occurred and divisions were depleted, they gathered up fragments of the old divisions and brought in new crews of inexperienced men to load with the men who had worked there for some time and were more experienced. The men were rushed in their work by their superior officers, and they felt it was unfair to mix them with inexperienced men who, knew nothing about the handling of explosives. It gave none of them even a fifty-fifty chance for life as they felt they would have if they were under fire or overseas.

12. About 258 out of 328 men originally refused to load ammunition on August 8th. The Negro seamen want to know why 50 men were picked for court martial, and why the whole 258 were not picked. Some of the men say they were all lined up and officers went along indiscriminately asked here and there “Do you want to work’? There were men who said, ‘‘no’’, but were never courtmartialed. It is believed that the white officers just got names indiscriminately.

13. The majority of the Negroes in the 12th Naval District are assigned to menial monotonous tasks, and particularly those at the Naval Supply Depot— as freight handlers and laborers, regardless of their past experience and qualifications.

Tiny Mess Boy Made To Load Shells

14. Of the 50 men courtmartialed, one fellow was a 17-year-old, 104 lb. “fly-weight’”, so small that his superior officer had assigned him to mess-duty, so “you can gain weight and get some experience.’”’ Yet when the “incident” occurred, he was asked if he wanted to load ammunition and he said he was afraid. He was court martialed. His name is John H. Dunn. Several other men were also assigned to mess duty, and were court martialed even though their general course of duties were not to load ammunition. Others of the accused’ were on the sick list and were relieved from duty at the time of the “incident”. One man was suffering from a fractured wrist at the time and during the early days of the trial had his hand in a cast.

It should not be thought these men were cowards. Everybody who knows anything about the nature of their work, and the harrowing experience of the July 17th explosion, says they reacted as any man would under the circumstances. ;

he Trial Proceedure

It is understood the procedure of the Navy is as follows: Conviction of guilty must first be approved by the Commandant of the 12th Naval District, Rear Admiral Carleton H. Wright; it then goes to Washington to the Secretary of Navy for review and approval. This procedure takes about a week to ten days or two weeks. If the death penalty is involved, it must be confirmed by the President. (Article 53). All other sentences of general court-martial may be carried into execution on confirmation of the commander of the fleet or officer ordering the court.

The Secretary of the Navy may set aside the proceedings or remit or mitigate, in whole or in part, the sentence imposed by any naval court-martial (Article 54). And, the President can pardon or commute the sentences of these men.

Negro Reaction to Incident

The following excerpt is from the S. F. REPORTER written by Zola Bryant:

“Waterfront unions had officially warned both the Navy and the Army prior to the Port Chicago disaster that if they continued to use in"experienced workers in the loading of munitions, an explosion was inevitable. This warning was disregarded.

“For months prior to the Port Chicago incident it was the common knowledge of experi- enced longshoremen and labor leaders that such a disaster was imminent. This feeling of apprehension grew out of their knowledge of the inefficiency, mismanagement, lack of safety measures in the handling of explosives and the Navy’s policy of discrimination and segregation of Negro sailors.

“These facts therefore lead us to believe that it was not cowardice, nor was there a conspiracy —insofar as the Negro sailors were concerned— as charged by the prosecutor. Rather the refusal was a result springing from the background of a group of people who have been denied not only full citizenship but even the slightest consideration for their lives as human beings; religious apprehension and superstition, so common to people forcibly kept ignorant, which gave rise to the belief that the ship they were loading was ‘jinxed’; all of this intensified by the longstanding practice of discrimination by the Navy.”

West Coast FEPC Leads Nation In Complaints Filed

549 complaints of discrimination involving thousands of minority workers in war industry were received by the West Coast offices of the President's Committee on Fair Employment Practice during the past nine months, it was announced last month by Harry L. Kingman, regional FEPC director. This was the highest number docketed in any of the agency’s twelve regions, the New York wegion being second with 041. 474 cases were closed during the same nine months period, with the New York region second with 461. FEPC’s Region XII includes five western states and has a staff of five examiners. Among the most successful adjustments obtained during recent weeks were those of several transit companies, including the Los ' Angeles Railway Company. The Key System recently reaffirmed its intention in writing to employ qualified Negro car and bus operators.

One large craft union has just permitted the first Negro to work under its jurisdiction. A San Francisco company last month employed the first Negro worker to be accepted in a highly skilled craft. A shipyard, at the request of the FEPC, has promoted a colored journeyman to a supervisory job in one of its large departments for the first time. Another large industry recently accepted its first minority employee. Because of FEPC intervention, a leading war industry increased its colored employees from 300 to 1,100 during a four months period, Kingman stated.

In a number of industries, in which minority workers had been discharged because of their race, the Committee was able to bring about their reinstatement. One company, which had not permitted racial minority workers to enter a higher paying type of work, acceded to FEPC representations and now has several hundred colored employees in this department. Excellent relationships have been developed with the Civil Service Commission and with Army and Navy establishments, which have made it possible to handle many of the government cases in short order, Kingman said.

Due to unwillingness of certain large craft unions in Richmond to permit Negroes to work in the shipyard crafts under their jurisdiction, the FEPC official stated that the Washington office is sending out a member of its legal staff immediately to investigate the possible need for open hearings in case the discrimination is not abated.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

Page 3

ult Setilies Blacklisting’ Case

Workers in essential war plants seized by the government and operated under Army and Navy supervision cannot be blacklisted for engaging in union activities under a decision of War Manpower Commissioner Paul V. McNutt in a case recently called to his attention by the American Civil Liberties Union. In a letter to the A.C.L.U.

“dated November 8 enclosing a copy of his decision in the case of Arthur B. Burke, shop committeeman discharged from the National Motor Bearing Co. plant at Redwood City, Calif., Mr. McNutt gives his “personal assurance that he would not: be party to any such action.”

Burke, a member of the Machinists Union (AF of L), was fired last September 8, on orders of the Naval Officer in charge of the plant, for protesting the payment to another union man of machinists’ wages for the more specialized tool and die work. The local office of the U. S. Employment Service later refused to issue him the referral necessary to obtain employment elsewhere. McNutt’s decision on appeal from the local authorities, orders that Burke be issued a referral as of November ist, and lays down the general principle that “the period during which a referral should be denied appellant should be that applicable to a\worker in a similar plant who quits his job without good cause, i.e., 60 days after the date of the termination of his employment.”

In calling the Burke case to the attention of Mr. McNutt, the A.C.L.U., in a letter signed by Arthur Garfield Hays, General Counsel, said: “We have entered blacklisting cases only where the charge is made that the penalties incurred were a result of a reasonable complaint about conditions in the shop.” The Union also expressed concern about reports that workers had been blacklisted for refusing to work overtime in government operated plants.

"Forced Labor" For War Objectors Before Court

The internment of conscientious objectors under forced labor without pay as a price for religious belief in wartime is a “totalitarian” measure according to a brief filed in the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City by the American Civil Liberties Union November 10. The brief supports the petition of Jack W. Zucker, a conscientious objector interned in a camp at Big Flats, New York, for a writ of habeas corpus denied him by a lower court. The decision in this case and the companion case of R. Boland Brooks, both of which the court will hear in the near future, is expected to affect directly the 6,000 conscientious objectors now interned in work camps throughout .the country, and indirectly several hundred more now in prison for refusing to go to camps.

“We wish to make it clear at the outset,’ the A.C.L.U. brief says, “that no argument is made that conscientious objectors should not serve their country in time of war or peace. Even under the present system they have volunteered to perform numerous unpleasant, difficult, and dangerous jobs, becoming attendants in mental hhospitais, parachuting from airplanes to fight forest fires, and submitting themselves as guinea pigs for medical experiments. Their mortality in volunteer ambulance units has in many cases been higher than in the armed forces.

“Most conscientious objectors would do more if not forced to do less.”

But, the brief maintains, conscientious objectors under the present forced labor system administered under Selective Service “are relegated to a status lower than prisoners of war, lower than interned enemy aliens, or even convicted criminals, all of whom are paid for their work, and this inferior status is imposed on them solely and exclusively by administrative fancy without any legislative mandate.” The court is reminded that conscientious objectors have been certified sincere only after the most exhaustive investigations by their draft boards, the F.B.I., and Presidential appeal boards.

“Of all the millions of men liable for military service and deferred for various reasons,” the A.C.L.U. concludes, “only the few thousand conscienticus objectors are subjected to forced labor without pay. It is clear that this penalty is visited on them for no other reason than that their religion disqualifies them for military service.”

The brief was signed by Edward M. Mills Jr. of Buffalo and Julien Cornell of New York.

HOME FRONT ISSUES TRANSCEND WAR ISSUES, SAYS ROGER BALDWIN

Prospects that the “home-front issues of political and civil liberties will continue to transcend civil liberties issues created by the war” was the prophecy voiced by.Roger N. Baldwin, national director of the American Civil Liberties Union, -spéaking before a tenth anniversary meeting of the -Northern California branch of the A.C.L.U.— in San Francisco on Nov. 27, on “How Goes the Bill of Rights in War?” Mr. Baldwin, who is on a national tour to the Pacific Coast and back via the Northwest to meet officials and local leaders concerned with political and civil rights, said:

“Our amazing war record of freedom of debate and minority dissent, in sharp contrast with the first World War, is due to four factors: first, the absence of any organized opposition to the war to arouse fear; second, the preoccupation of the American people with the organization of the post-war world after assured military victory; third, the restraint of the federal government in resorting to war controls of opinion; and fourth, the many recent decisions of the Supreme Court upholding and expanding political and civil rights. —

War Hysteria Is Lacking

“War hysteria is totally lacking. On the contrary, there is a lack of enthusiasm, not for victory, but for the professed objectives of the war. A cynical view not unreasonably prevails as to their realization. It creates an atmosphere, together with the vigorous opposition to the Administration’s domestic policies, favorable to our political and civil liberties. paign has demonstrated that,—despite its bitter racial and religious intolerance and savage attacks on organized labor’s independent political action.

“The casualties of minority rights on the home front have been few, but conspicuous. The most tragic and far-reaching was the wholesale evacuation of the entire population of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific coast, allegedly on grounds of military necessity, but clearly on grounds of racial prejudice. The Supreme Court has before it for decision the constitutional issues of that evacuation and the detention of over 75,000 of our fellow citizens in concentra-. tion camps. It is a fair guess that in view of the military situation, either the Court or the War Department will shortly permit their return to the Coast. But the damage to them and to our democracy will take years to repair.

Sedition Prosecutions Have Been Few

“Prosecutions for sedition have been only a handful, and yet even these are hardly justified by any consideration of aiding the prosecution of the war. The most conspicuous of them, the ‘seditious conspiracy trial now going on in Washington, is not, as commonly supposed, a war case, since it is based wholly on alleged pro-Nazi activities before the war, and brought through pressure under the indefensible peace-time sedition law of 1940. However it turns out, its merits are dubious.

“Another casualty is the imprisonment of over three thousand members of Jehovah’s Witnesses for refusing military or civilian service on the claim that they should be exempted as ministers. With a thousand others, they make over eight times as many conscientious objectors to war in prison as in World War I; a needless waste of manpower which contributes nothing to national morale.

“The press and radio operate under voluntary war-time codes, free of government censorship, contrary to all prophecies. Mob violence, which so long marked racial and labor strife, has almost entirely disappeared. Industrial conflict has been transferred from the arena of force to courts and legislatures, not only for the dura- tion, but apparently permanently. :

The Demand for Racial Equality

“Far more pressing than war issues are the demands for democratic rights to racial minorities. Negroes, bitterly resentful of discrimination and segregation in a war for democratic ends, are insisting upon rights long denied them.

In the midst of war they have achieved the creation of the Fair Employment Practice Committee, the abolition of the white primary in the South, and some gains in removing discrimination in the armed forces. Equality of sacrifice in the war, they hold, demands equality before the law—in jobs and military service. Recognition of racial equality, under war pressure, has produced the repeal of the oriental exclusion act

The political cam.

as applied to our allies, the Chinese, and doubtless will be applied to Filipinos, Koreans and East Indians, with vast and salutary effects in countering Japanese propaganda throughout the Orient. Racial rights have taken first place for the first time in years in the work of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“The rights of Communists are no longer an issue. Only one case involving an alleged Communist,Harry Bridges, the West Coast labor leader, remains in the courts. The Communist conversion to democracy, free enterprise and patriotism may not have made them many friends, but it has ‘robbed their enemies of their legal weapons. With Martin Dies removed from Congress, inspiration for much of the demagogic attack on them and alleged fellow-travellers will be gone, —

New Labor Questions

“The new position of the trade unions, assured by collective bargaining under government control has raised two new questions of civil liberty —-one, the extent of employers’ free speech against unions, and the other, public regulation of internal union affairs. The most justifiable trade union regulation is to end racial discrim- ination in admission ‘to all unions. The Civil Liberties Union is aiding to that end in the first cases ever presented on that question to the Supreme Court and the National Labor Relations Board. In addition, legislation is being prepared for Congress and the state, modelled on the successful New York law making it a crime for unions to discriminate.

“The vast expansion of the economic powers of the federal government during the war has not been destructive of our political or civil liberties. The complaints of business against regimentation do not involve our political liberties. Even if government controls are continued in post-war years to meet the vast problems of reconversion, our liberties will not thereby be imperilled. They are not dependent upon free enterprise. Though constant vigilance and effort are essential to preventing a powerful government for undermining poltical liberties, a danger equally great to them exists in the tendencies to monopoly in the press, radio and motion pictures. Only public regulation can curb them.

Home Front Tied To International Front

“The character of the coming international — order will have a profound effect upon our liberties at home, and in turn the strength of the democratic forces at home will largely determine our foreign policies and our role in the inter‘hational order. Proposals for an international bill of rights based on our own are in the air, to- gether with new charters of economic rights to extend these principles. Demands are arising to guarantee the free flow of news and opinion all over the world by cable, radio and news-reel, so that the people of the world may communicate freely without censorship by governments or control by monopolies. If we are to build:a successful democratic international order, freedom of communication must be its foundation.

“We have fought two world wars professedly to establish democracy and to create international order. If we fail to do both now, we shall inevitably fight another war, for the causes of war are inherent in autocracy, nationalism, empire and commercial rivalry. Only an international organization -based on political and econnomic democracy can overcome them.”

BOOK NOTE

Conscience And The State, by Julien Cornell. The John Day Company, New York City.

In this volume Julian Cornell outlines the legal and administrative position of conscientious objectors and reviews the many changes which have occurred since he published “The Conscientious Objector and the Law.” This is not merely a supplement to the previous book, however, but complete in itself.

The treatment of conscientious objectors presents a problems in which democratic govern-— ment which is far from fully solved, and one which is of interest to all who cherish freedom of conscience and civil liberty.

The author is Counsel to the National Committee on Conscientious Obpectors of the ACLU and has been continually occupied with the defense of conscientious objectors for the last four years.

Page 4 AMERICAN CIVIL, LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union-News Published monthly at 216 Pine Street, San Francisco, 4, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. -. Phone: EXbrook 1816 MRNEST BESIG 265060 Editor

Entered as second-class matter, July 31, 1941, at the Post Office at San Francisco, California, under the Act of March 3, 1879. ‘Subscription Rates—Seventy-five Cents a Year. Ten Cents per Copy.

TO HEAR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CASE

-The National Labor Relations Board for the first time will hear a case to determine whether a union which discriminates against members on account of race or color can be certified as a bargaining agent for the workers, ‘according to a decision rendered on November 18. The decision was made on a motion to set aside an earlier order for a hearing as to the certificates ‘of the Tobacco Workers Union (AF of L) Local 219 in the Larus Brothers plant in Richmond, Virginia.

The ACLU filed a. brief as a friend of the Board urging that the hearing be held as or- dered, and that it take up specifically the question of whether Local 219 was: a fit bargaining agent, in view of the fact that it segregated Negroes and denied them voting rights in the Union. A rival C.1.O. Union also urged that the hearing be held.

The Board’s decision of November 18 reaffirmed the order for a hearing, and added the following specific points to be determined; ‘Whether Local 219 ‘provides for equal representation of all employees irrespective of race or color;” and whether “the collective bargaining agreement or agreements made since certification confer equal rights and privileges to all employees . . . irrespective of color or race.” The decision in this case will set an important precedent in determining certification of unions Im the future.

Supreme Court To Review Alabama Anti-Labor Law

‘The U. S. Supreme Court on November 20 . agreed to hear an appeal by AF of L attorneys against a decision of the Alabama Supreme : Court last May upholding certain sections of the Alabama “Anti-Labor Law.” The provisions of the law declared constitutional by the Alabama Court would require unions to file copies of their constitutions and by-laws, prohibit them from collecting money for work permits, and forbid the. unionization of executives, managers, and supervisory employees.

Other provisions of the law, which-were declared unconstitutional by the Alabama tribunal, included penalties againct \/or’.er: who refused to handle materiais produced by non-union labor, . and a-section prohibiting tiies except when authorized by a secret ballot of the majority of the workers concerned. The court also threw out a provision mak'ng trade union political contributions illegal.

HARTFORDS HOLD GENLFIT FOR

. THE LOCAL CIVIL LI3ERTIES UNION On November 12, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hartford held a benefit at their home in San Francisco for the local branch of the A.C.L.U. The Hartfords invited their friends, most of whomwere acquainted with the work of the A. C. L. U., and served them refreshments in the form of tea and cocktails at 50c, and the proceeds were donated to the Union.

In the course of the affair, Ernest’ Besig, local director of the Union, gave a short talk about the work and the purpose of the Union. If you want to spread the news about the work the Union is doing, and at the same time raise some money for the branch, may we suggest that you try a benefit of this kind.

PERMANENT FEPC BILL UNOPPOSED IN CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS

Public hearings on a series of bills to establish a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee concluded before the House Labor Committee on November 16, without a single opposition witness having appeared. The bill may be reported out and voted on in this session.

A companion bi'l in the Cenate was favorably reported by the senate Education and Labor Committee last September, and is now on the Senate calendar. The ACLU urges members and friends to write their representatives and: senators asking an early and favorable vote on these bills, S. 2048 in the Senate; and HR 3986, HR 4004, and HR 4005 in the House.

"What Justice For C. 0.s?" Asks Roger Baidwin .

Roger Badwin, on his recent trip to the San Francisco bay area, made the following statement concerning the lot of the conscientious objector in the present war:

“Despite the lack of public agitation over the issue, conscientious objectors in this war suffer discrimination not intended by the law. Fear of criticism of leniency toward conscientious objectors has induced Selective Service and the Department of Justice to deal with war ob-jectors in the spirit of punishment. Congress gave them an equal status in civilian work with soldiers in military service. But the Administration has given them an unequal status, denying them pay, aid for dependents, compensation for injuries or significant work. They have been consigned to camps in remote places in order to hide them from public view. This administrative attitude is without justification even in terms of the criticism it fears. For the public attitude to conscientious objectors is devoid of hostility. Tolerance for all pacificsts has been notable throughout the war.

“Despite the underlying injustices in the treatment of war objectors, the system is at least an improvement over that in World War I when all objectors were inducted into the army, there segregated, and those who proved genuine were furloughed to civilian work. In this war the military have no direct control; a broader basis of conscience is provided, and special hearin officers determine sincerity. :

“But the system works out that eight times as many objectors have been sent to prison as in World War I. Three quarters of them are members of Jehovah’s Witnesses who demand exemption as ministers and who refuse either military or civilian service. A more liberal administration of the law would have found some means of using the services of these men, who put their religious loyalties above their duties to the state, without sending them to jail. Hundreds of others are in prison either because a harrow construction of religion denied them recognition or because they ,refused to accept the conditions of conscripted labor. : “Every effort has been made to secure a change in the system, including an appeal to the President, all without effect. Test. cases are pending in the courts challenging every aspect of it. So profound are the constitutional issues raised that one of the most distinguished lawyers in the United States, John W. Davis of New York, is serving as counsel in one of. them. some relief may be expected from the courts, but the main job for those who would see some justice done is to put pressure on the parole authorities in Washington to release as rapidly as possible the hundreds of men whose manOe is locked up in our prisons.”

CLOSED SHOP BAN DEFEATED IN CALIFORNIA; WINS IN 2 STATES

A California proposal to ban the closed shop under pretense of securing the “right to work”, was defeated by a considerable majority in the referendum voted upon November 7. Similar laws, however, were passed in Arkansas and Florida. The Southern California Branch of the ACLU opposed the California proposal on the ground that it would “nullify many’ of the gains which labor has won by the hardest efforts in recent years.” In general the ACLU does not oppose the closed shop, but seeks to protect the “right to work” by insuring that union membership is open to all qualified persons without dis- crimination. The AF of L has indicated that it will take the. Arkansas and Florida laws into the courts.

BOOK NOTE

Democracy Begins At Home, by Jennings Perry. J. P. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

The fighting editor of the Nashville Tennesssean, who is also chairman of the National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax, has written a stirring account of the successful campaign in Tennessee to abolish the poll tax by act of the legislature, which was later declared unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court.

The heart of the story revolves around Ten‘estee machine politics dominated by Boss Ed Crump of Memphis. The book is fascinating reading not only for those interested in abolishing the poll tax, but in any first-rate case history of corrupt politics vs. some hard-fisted reformers.

RACISM TODAY'S CHIEF iSSUE, SAYS BALDWIN

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 2)

is founded upon a gross injustice—segregation. The courts have adopted the fiction that separate accomodations satisfy the constitutional requirement if they are equal. But they are never equal, as anyone can testify who has seen a Jim Crow coach or visited a Negro school or examined the appropriations for Negro schools and the salaries for Negro teachers. Equality before the — law is impossible until the theory and practice of segregation is abolished. —

‘“Misdirected efforts to overcome race prejudice have marked recent months, particularly on. the part of Jewish agencies, aroused over increasing anti-Semitism. Attempts have been made in Congress and the states to enact laws making it a crime to arouse race prejudice or hostility. Such laws strike at the very basis of free speech on any matter affecting race or nationality. Happily they have so far been defeated, for if passed, they would be a boomerang against their promotors.

Minorities Must Save Selves

“The job of achieving racial equality is primarily one for the minorities themselves. The ferment in the Negro population during the war — represents demands which will not subside at the end of the war. Equality of sacrifice during the war has created a stake in our democracy which must not be denied them—nor will they accept this denial. The Negro asks nothing more than equality before the law. Social equality is to them not an issue. But they refuse to be “Kept in their place” in a status inferior to white men in public service, in private employment and in their political and civil rights.

“What can be said of them may also be said of the minority of three and a half million citizens of Mexican extraction in the Southwest, segregated and discriminated against in many sections. They are only now beginning to demand equality before the law. The oriental minority of Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos and Indians, though small, desire citizenship long denied them. We shall make the exception during the war, of course, of the Japanese aliens, though we must recognize that thousands of their sons are fighting with distinction in our “ armed forces. Laws prohibiting inter-marriage between Caucasians and orientals, impractical of enforcement anyhow, must go.

“The moral position of the United States in the coming international order is manifestly compromised by our own racist practices. We are in no position to help end the system of exploitation of the darker peoples by the whites, nor to substitute international for imperialist controls until we have cleared our own record of the fallacy of white supremacy. A world solution of the causes of war in large part rests upon bringing into the common business of achieving peace and security the vast popula-’ tions, indeed the ‘oppressed majority’ of the world so long dominated by the armed industrial nations of the West. In that role, the United States as the leading nation without colonies can play a significant part, but only by establishing at home full justice to racial minorities.”

FILIPINO CITIZENSHIP REPORTED FAVORABLY

The House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization last month approved a bill au-— thorizing the naturalization of Filipinos. The bill carries the provision that Filipinos who entered the United States. before May 1, 1934, do not have to furnish the usual certificates of arrival. Also, if this bill is adopted, a quota of 100 a year will have to be established for Filipinos entering this country.

The A.C.L.U. supported approval of the bill in a letter to Congressman Dickstein, Chairman of the House Committee which reported the bill.

“The position of the United States would be greatly enhanced in the Orient by removing evidences of discrimination against a people to whom we owe such obligations”, the letter said, pointing out that both the State and Justice Departments have approved the bill, as well as theAmerican Legion and representatives of national labor organizations.

“Elementary justice to the Filipino people demands that this right should now be accorded them, not only for its own sake, but in recognition of a valiant ally”, the letter concludes. It is estimated that there are about 50,000 Filipinos in the U. S., who do not have the right to become American citizens.