vol. 24, no. 11

American

Civil Liberties

Union

Volume XXIV

Birth Control Devices

Laws Forbiddi

ung

Sale Violate

Civil Liberties

The American Civil Liberties Union recently asserted in

-a new policy statement that state laws prohibiting the sale

and use of birth control devices are a violation of civil liber-

ties.

The policy, adopted by the Union's national Board of

Directors, declared that such

laws are contrary to the due _

process guarantees of the Four-

teenth Amendment to the U. S.

Constitution and also infringe

upon the rights "reserved to the

people under. the Ninth and

Tenth Amendments to live, en-

joy liberty and pursue happiness

free of unnecessary govern-

mental restraint." The ACLU's

new policy was announced by

its executive director, Patrick

Murphy Malin. .

Dissemination of Information

The ACLU statement also re-

affirmed its position that govern-

mental bans on dissemination of

contraceptive information or ad-

vocacy of birth control methods

violatee, the First Amendment

protection of free speech. It

added tnat the First Amendment

guarantee of the free exercise of

religion also is affected by such

restrictions because the free

speech of clergymen who wish to

counsel their parishoners on the "

use of contraception is denied.

The new policy position was

_ prompted in part by a series of

- suits now in the Connecticut

state courts challenging the Con-

necticut statutes prohibiting the

use of contraceptive devices or

the counseling on the use of

such devices. These suits are

based upon the claim that the

statutes violate the Fourteenth

`Amendment to the U. S. Consti-

tution by depriving the plaintiffs

of life and liberty without due

process of law.

Contentions In Conn. Suits

In three suits, the plaintiffs

allege that their ill-health for-

bids pregnancy or that in the

past their pregnancies have in-

variably resulted in the death

of their children shortly after

birth because of congenital de-

fects. One additional suit was

filed by the physician for the

plaintiffs claiming that his liber-

ty to practice medicine to the

best of his judgment was unreas-

onably restricted by the state's

ban against prescription of con-

traceptive devices.

These cases are now before the

Supreme Court of Errors of

Connecticut, the state's highest

court, on appeal from a lower

court decision rejecting the

plaintiff's argument. In the event

that an appeal is taken to the

U. S. Supreme Court, the ACLU

and its affiliate, the Connecticut

Civil Liberties Union, would seek

to participate as a friend of the

court in the first three cases.

Malin's Comment

Commenting on the new ACLU

policy, Malin said the Fourteenth

Amendment's "life and liberty"

clause squarely puts the civil lib-

erties issue.

context of the birth control is-

sue," Malin said, "where an in-

dividual's life or health is con-

"Certainly in the

In This Issue...

Another C.0. Forced to

Withdraw at U.C........... p. 2

How the ACLU of No.

- Calif. Got Started.......... p. 2

New Members of ACLU

Board of Directors...... p. 3

Prof. Commager's Speech p. 3

Seek High Court Review

in Wendy Murphy Case p. 2

cerned, a state ban on a means

of preserving that life or health,

including medical prescription,

is an unreasonable interference

with the `life and liberty' of the

individual." Similarly, Malin

stated, the Constitution's Ninth

and Tenth Amehdments "ex-

pressly reserve to the people the

right to enjoy freedom without

the government imposing un-

necessary controls."

Text of Statement _

The full text of the ACLU pol.

icy statement follows:

"The ACLU reaffirms its posi-

tion that governmental restric-

tions on dissemination of contra-

_ ceptive information or an advo-

cacy of contraception, are viola-

tive of the First Amendment -

including the guarantee of the

free exercise of religion, in the

sense of free speech for pastoral

counseling of contraception. It as-

serts further that restrictions by

State `governments on the sale

and use of contraceptive devices

are violative of the due process

guarantees of the Fourteenth

Amendment, and infringe upon

the right reserved to the people

by the Ninth and Tenth Amend-

ments to live, enjoy liberty and

pursue happiness free of unnec-

essary governmental restraint."

Rehearing Denied

In Wolstenholme Case

On October 22, the California

District Court of Appeal denied

Oakland's petition for a rehear-

ing in the Rebecca Wolstenholme

case. :

Mrs. Wolstenholme was _ or-

dered reinstated to her former

position as librarian in the Oak-

land Free Library by a decision

of the District Court of Appeal

last September 24th (See Octo-

ber NEWS). Oakland then peti-

tioned the Court of Appeal for a

rehearing, claiming that the

Court had misconstrued the law

and that it had misread the rec-

ord in the case.

It is anticipated that Oakland

will now appeal the case to the

State Supreme Court.

Joint Editorial Protests U.C.

San Francisco, California, November, 1959

Number 11

400 Attend

Sac'mento ACLU

Sun. Breakfast

Four hundred persons attend-

ed ACLU's Sunday morning

breakfast at the Sacramento Inn

on October 18 to hear Attorney

General Stanley Mosk discuss

the "State. of Civil Liberties In

California."

The meeting was part of Sac-

ramento's delayed membership

drive and was the most success-

ful meeting ever held in that

area, Thus far, exactly 12 mem-

berships have resulted from the

meeting, thereby raising to 20

the number of new members

secured in Sacramento in the

membership drive.

"Our big problem," said Mosk

in his speech, "is that of discrim-

ination against minorities in job

opportunities and in community

acceptance .. . it is just as im-

moral to rob a man of his equal-

ity of opportunity as it is to rob

- him of his purse.'

Fred H. Smith, IV, ne ACLU's

Treasurer, spoke briefly about

the Union's work and the need

for new members.

The success of the meeting,

which was well publicized in the _

local press and on TV, is due to

Chairman Jane Cassels Record

and the hard-working members

of her steering committee. They

were scheduled to meet late last

month to plan next year's pro-

gram in what is expected to be

an annual affair, with a crowd-

drawing speaker, Some consid-

eration is also being given to an

interim program for the group.

SCLU in Berkeley

Recognized for

Another Year

Last month, the Board of Di-

rectors of the ACLU of Northern

California granted recognition to

the Student Civil Liberties Un-

ion, made up of students at the

University of California, as a co-

operating organization for the

fall and spring semesters.

The officers of the organization

are as follows: Chairman: Eugene

Savin; Vice Chairman: Miki Stie-

fel; Secretary-Treasurer: Sandie

Schwartz. Prof. Paul Seabury of

the Political Science department

has agreed to serve as Faculty ~

Advisor.

The SCLU was first established

in 1954 and since that time has

operated except for one year. It

meets twice a month at Stiles

Hall.

At its first meeting, on October

13, Prof. Christian Bay declared

that `Rule 17 is a monstrosity

on a campus dedicated to the pur-

suit of wisdom." This rule gov-

erns political activities on cam-

pus as well as the discussion of

controversial issues.

ACLU Budget Drive Begins

Seek to Rai

71

ise

Fiscal Year

Approving a record budget of $44,447.17, the Board of

Directors of the ACLU of Northern California last month

urged the Union's supporters to make their contributions

NOW towards the Union's work for the fiscal year beginning

November 1.

Contribute In November

The budget appeal was mailed

late last month to all of the Un-

ion's supporters except those

who renewed their memberships

during September and October.

The board hopes that as far as

possible all members will make

their budget contributions dur-

ing November. Thus, by concen-

trating the ACLU's fund-raising

Anniversary

Celebration

Big Success

The twenty-fifth anniversary

celebration of the ACLU of

Northern California, held at the

Sheraton-Palace Hotel in San

Francisco on October 17, was a

tremendous success. More than

650 persons attended the meet-

ing at which Prof. Henry Steele

Commager spoke on "Civil Lib-

erties in Perspective" (See page

8 of this issue of the NEWS for

the first half of the speech), and

about 450 persons attended the

four workshops in the afternoon.

While many persons contrib-

uted to the success of the meet-

ings, Mrs. Emily Skolnick, chair-

man of the Program Committee,

and Mrs. Shirley Poirier, Mem-

bership Director, deserve special

mention for their outstanding

performances.

The banquet was presided over

by Prof. John Henry Merryman,

board chairman, and Ernest

Besig, the local director, gave a

report of how the branch was

started and a summary of its

past work. (For a portion of his

report, see page 2.)

Mrs. Helen Salz, vice-chairman,

who has served on the board of

directors since the ACLU was

founded, and Ernest Besig, were

presented special gifts to mark

their long association with the

ACLU of Northern California.

There were two last-minute

changes in the personnel of the

workshops. Anthony Boucher was

unable to participate in the Cen.

sorship workshop because of ill-

ness, and Franklin H. Williams

went to Puerto Rico on an assign-

ment. The latter was replaced as

chairman of the "Law Enforce-

ment and Individual Rights"

workshop by Prof. Edward L.

Barrett of the Univ. of California

Law School, we did an outstand-

ing job.

Restrictions on Student Government

President Clark Kerr of the

University of California on. Oc-

tober 23 issued three directives

that were met with immediate

opposition by the student papers

at Berkeley, Santa Barbara and

Riverside. The directives regu-

late student government, recog-

nition of student organizations

and use of campus facilities. The

latter is an amendment of Rule

17, which has been subjected to

ACLU criticism for many years.

Joint Editorial

In a joint editorial, the news-

papers declared that the Presi-

dent's action "slapped student

government in the face." They

`pointed out that the directive re-

writes "the preamble of student

government institutions to put

each student government under

the thumb of the chief officer

of each campus.

- "Tt forbids student govern-

ments from speaking out on cru-

cial off-campus issues.

"It subjects amendments of

student government constitutions

to prior approval by campus

officials.

Legal Right Not Questioned

"We do not contest the legal

right of the president to assert

his executive authority over stu-

dent government.

"But this does not mean we

should not protest his action. It

is unjustified, ill-considered, to-

tally unnecessary.

"Precensorship of amendments |

to student government constitu-

tions by campus officials is an

infringement on your freedom of

expression. ...

wore

"To prevent student govern-

ments from expressing student

opinion on off-campus issues is

absurd. In these times what is-

sue is really off-campus? .. ."

ACLU Concerned

Last June, a Committee of the

ACLU Board of Directors met

with Chancellor Seaborg and

Vice-Chancellor Alex Sherriffs

to discuss the University's re-

fusal to allow "Slate," a student

organization, to hold a campus

meeting to discuss an `off-cam-

pus" issue. When it became clear

that revised regulations would be

released in the fall, further ac--

tion on the matter was post-

poned. The new directives will

now be referred to the ACLU's

special committee and then be

considered at the next board

meeting on November 19.

activities at the beginning of the

fiscal] year, it not only allows

proper financial planning but

results in, a minimum of inter-

ference with the job of defend-

ing civil liberties,

9% Increase In Budget

The new budget is about 9%

more than last year's or exactly

$3,667.87. A third of this increase

is for salaries, another third is

for printing of the biennial re-

port, while the remaining third

is for postage, furniture and

equipment, stationery, the

monthly NEWS and telephone

service.

The budget is again based on a

staff of 4% persons, although in

approving the budget the board

authorized appointment of a

special committee to consider

possible expansion of the Union's

work. It is hoped that some per-

sons Will wish to mark the 25th

anniversary of the branch with

$25 contributions ear-marked for

this purpose.

Estimated Income

The Board expects to raise

$38,300. of the needed $44,447.17

by membership dues and contri-

butions from 90% of.the present

membership, $3,500 in the 1950

Spring Membership Drive, $650

in interest and dividends, $500

in special gifts, $250 in memorial

funds and $300 in miscellaneous

income. It is alsu hoped to raise

an additional $1,000 by holding

a theatre benefit. The total esti-

mated operating income for the

fiscal year is $44,500,

The ACLU receives no support

from any foundation, the United

Crusade, financial angels or the

Union's national office. Money

that is sent to the ACLU in New

York is not returned here to meet

local needs.

Average Contribution $10

All of the money that is used

by the ACLU of Northern Cali-

fornia in meeting its operating

expenses is raised from its local

members and friends, On the

basis of its present membership,

the ACLU needs an average con-

tribution of almost $10 from each

of its members, Of course, some

members cannot afford to give

more than the minimum dues,

{

-so many larger gifts are neces-

sary in order to balance the

smaller contributions,

Last year, 1300 of the Union's

supporters made their `contribu-

tions in November, and every

year the November response

`grows larger. Won't you please

make your PRESENT and FU-

oa contributions in Novem-

er

The Budget

Here is the way your money

will be spent:

Salaries

Exec, Director =. $9,600.00

Staff Counsel]... 6,950.00

Membership Dir. (%

time) Ua 2,808.00

Legal Steno. .............. 4,582.50

Bookkeeper- Clerk _. 4,060.00

Extra Help _................ 200.00

Retirement _................ 741.30

ACLU NEWS ............... 2,600.00

Printing and Stationery . 3,448.00

"Rent 2020 oe 3,500.00

Postage 2,200.00

Mel and Velo. 2. 1,300.00

Taxes and Ins... 847.37,

Travel and Transp. ...... eset 710.00

Education Comm. .......... 160.00

Furn, and Equip. _............... 350.00

Publications. ................... 100.00

Miscellaneous .................. 50.00

Audit. 2 5 300.00

Total 2 ee $44,449.17

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION NEWS

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Second Class mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, Calif.

ERNEST BESIG .. . Editor

503 Market Street, San Francisco 5, California, EXbrook 2-4692

Subscription Rates-Two Dollars a Year

Twenty Cents Per Copy

Quotes from

Opinion Banning

Bible Reading

Last month, the ACLU NEWS

reported the September 16 de-

cision of a special three-judge

federal court which declared un-

constitutional a section of a Penn-

sylvania law requiring Bible

reading in the public schools. The

law requires that at least ten

verses of the Bible be read at the

opening of each school day.

The unanimous opinion of the

court, which is now available, de-

clares that the "Bible is essential-

ly a religious work. To character-

ize the Bible as a work of art, of

literary or historical significance,

and, to refuse to admit its essen-

tial character as a religious doc-

ument would seem to us to be

unrealistic.

"The verses of the Bible,

though they are of great literary

merit, are embodied in books of

worship, regardless of the ver-

sion, devoted primarily to bring-

ing man in touch with God. If

study of the Bible as an artistic

work, a treasury of moral truths,

or historical text can be sepa-

rated from the espousal of doc-

-trinal matters and religiousness,

we should find no objection. .. .

The daily reading of the Bible,

buttressed with the authority of

the State and, more importantly

to children, backed with the au-

thority of their teachers, can

hardly do less than inculcate or

promote the inculcation of vari-

ous religious doctrines in child-

ish minds. Thus the practice re-

quired by the statute amounts to

religious instruction, or a promo-

tion of religious education. : . .

In our view, inasmuch as the

Bible deals with man's relation-

ship te God and the Pennsylvania

statute may require a daily re-

minder of that relationship, that

statute aids all religions. Inas-

much as the `Holy Bible' is a

Christian document, the practice

aids and prefers the Christian

religion."

The test case, brought with the

active support of the Greater

Philadelphia) Branch of the

ACLU, concerned Mr, and Mrs.

Edward L. Schempp and their

three children all of whom are

members of the Unitarian church

and who attend that church reg-

ularly. The court ruling will be

appealed to the U.S. Supreme

Court by the Abington Township

schoo] district.

Sue Postmaster

For Seizure of

Foreign Mail

Another damage suit was filed

against the Post Office last

month to prevent its seizure of

alleged foreign propaganda, This

time the suit was brought by A.

L. Wirin, Southern California

counsel of the ACLU, who filed

a suit against Postmaster Arthur

E, Summerfield for confiscation

by the Seattle postmaster of a

copy of the "Peking Review."

The suit was filed in the U.S.

District Court in Washington,

DC,

Wirin's suit seeks damages of

ten cents, for the cost of the

newspaper, and $100 general

damages. It also seeks an injunc-

tion to halt further interference

with his mail and to prevent

postal officials from destroying

the journal.

Wirin charged that pondiiions

imposed for the delivery of the

newspaper "are unreasonable

and unwarranted" and that the

postmaster has no authority to

inquire whether the addressee

has ordered or subscribed to the

periodical.

In a similar Illinois suit, the

Chicago postmaster recently be-

ACLU NEWS

November, 1959

Page 2

@

Seek High Court

@ e

Review in Wendy

Murphy Case

The U.S. Supreme Court is be-

ing asked to review the convic-

tion of Wendy Murphy, erstwhile

barefoot girl with cheek. The

ACLU, Miss Murphy's defender

throughout, has filed a petition

for certiorari in the case, seeking

consideration of the question

whether the constitutional right

to be free from arbitrary arrest

includes also the right to be free

from criminal conviction for re-

sisting reasonably a wholly illegal

arrest,

Readers of the "News" will re-

call that Miss Murphy was walk-

ing bareboot on San Francisco's

upper Grant Avenue last year,

`when she was intercepted by

Officer W. C. Bigarani, who said

he would arrest her if she at-

tempted to enter a restaurant

known as the Bagel Shop. The

Bagel Shop was orderly, as was

Miss Murphy. She insisted on her

right to enter the restaurant, and

Bigarani, who had offered no

reason for his ukase other than

his self-asserted authority, placed

her under arrest on a vagrancy

charge and proceeded to drag

her to the paddy wagon under

compulsion of a wrist lock.

Miss Murphy, who did not look

kindly upon all this, informed

the policeman in round and cer-

tain terms that he was violating

her constitutional rights. She also

included her opinion of him. In

struggling to free herself from

the officer's grasp, they both

tumbled to the middle of Green

Street, midpoint between the

Bagel Shop and the Old Spaghetti

Factory. After her arrival at the

police station Bigarani arrived

to book her, and in response to

her screams that he be kept from

touching her, gave chase behind.

the sergeant's desk, where Miss

Murphy had sought refuge. After

triumphantly regaining Miss

Murphy's custody, he forcibly

replaced her in the chair, where

she had been peacefully sitting

when he came in,,only to be hit

on the left elbow with a paper

punch which had conveniently

come to Miss Murphy's hand.

When Miss Murphy was finally

booked, four charges were placed

against her: the original vag-

rancy charge, a malicious mis-

chief charge based on alleged

damage to a typewriter which

had been knocked to the floor in

the course of her scuffle with

Bigarani, interfering with an of-

ficer in the discharge of his duty,

and a battery charge for hitting

Bigarani on the elbow with the

paper punch.

At the trial the prosecution

dismissed the vagrancy charge,

after the judge had indicated

he would instruct the jury that

there was no evidence to support

the arrest. The judge refused to

dismiss the other charges, re-

jecting the argument that Miss

Murphy had rightfully defended

herself against -a wholly illegal

arrest. The jury acquitted Miss

Murphy on the malicious mis-

chief charge but convicted her of

`battery and resisting arrest,

The petition for certiorari was

prepared by volunteer ACLU at- .

torney Kurt Melchior and staff

counsel Albert M. Bendich.

A.M.B.

latedly delivered the seized pub-

lications and then unsuccessfully

sought dismissal of the suit,

which will now go to trial.

Wirin said he subscribed to the

"Peking Review" in connection

with his preparation of the Pow-

ell sedition case in which he is

serving as private counsel. He

charged that the post office ac-

tion violates freedom to read and'

freedom of the press under the

First Amendment, and arbitrar-

ily interferes with his occupation

as an attorney at law.

a

`many years,

25th Anniversary

How the ACLU

of No. Calif.

Got Started

Following is a portion of the talk given by Ernest Besig, Executive

Director of the ACLU of Northern California, at its twenty-fifth anni-

versary celebration on October 17, telling how the branch got started:

The ACLU had its beginnings

on July 2, 1917 as the Civil Lib-

erties Bureau of the American

League Against Militarism. When

the League disbanded, upon our

entry into the First World War,

the Bureau continued as an inde-

pendent body under the name of

the National Civil Liberties

Bureau, which, in January 1920,

was succeeded by. the American

Civil Liberties Union. So, Nation-

ally, the ACLU will celebrate its

40th birthday next January. ~

Pacific Coast

Here on the Pacific Coast, a

branch of the ACLU was estab-

lished in Southern California in

1923. In other areas of the Pacific

Coast, however, the ACLU had a

tougher time getting started. For

attorneys Austin

Lewis in San Francisco and Col.

Erskine Scott Wood in Portland

served as one-man civil liberties

organizations. Col. Wood, for ex- -

ample, defended gratis Emma

Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Ben

Reichman and innumerable oth-

ers-anarchists, I.W.W.'s, strik-

ers, picketers, etc. Today, his

wife, Sara Bard Field Wood, her-

self a staunch civil libertarian

and participant in civil liberties

activities, is an honorary mem-

ber of our board.

San Francisco

Here in San Francisco, when

the National Civil Liberties Bur-

eau was established in 1917, at-

torney Austin Lewis agreed to

be. among its legal counsel. In

1920, when the ACLU was found-

ed, he organized the Labor De-

fense League of the ACLU which

apparently died the same year.

Finally, on July 6, 1926, Roger

Baldwin, the ACLU's national di-

rector, assembled a group at a

luncheon meeting in San Fran-

cisco and induced them to consti-

tute themselves the Northern

California Committee of the

ACLU. Prof. Guido H. Marx of

Stanford became Chairman, Prof.

Elmo Robinson, who now teaches

philosophy at San Jose State

College, became Executive Direc-

tor, and, of course, Austin Lewis

became its counsel.

Financial Troubles

After only 8 months, however,

the Committee ran into financial

difficulties and found itself un-

able to pay a full-time director.

Valeska Bari then took over on

a part-time basis. Active on the

committee were such persons as

Mary Hutchinson, Robert Hook-

`er, R. L. Burgess, Dr. Robert

_legal appeals failed,

Leavens and David Starr Jordan.

Also such men as Rabbi Newman,

Bishop Parsons and Col. Charles

Erskine Scott Wood allowed their

names to be used as sponsors.

The Work in 1926-1927

While many of the names I

have mentioned will be meaning-

ful to only a small part of this

audience, the work they did as a

Civil Liberties Committee was

significant. This was a time when

the California Criminal Syndical-

ism Act, which is similar to the

present Federal Smith Act,. was

used principally to send hun-

dreds of members of the I.W.W.

to jail, not for their actions, but

for mere membership in the

I.W.W. The Committee cam-

paigned vigorously but unsuc-

cessfully for the repeal of this

iniquitous law and for the release

of seven victims who were still

in prison. Also, "In the case of

the pardon of Miss Anita Whit-

ney," a social worker who was

convicted under the Act for mem-

bership in the Communist Labor

Party but pardoned after her

"we may

justly claim that our activities

were not without effect on the

happy outcome," said Chairman

Marx in a report on the Union's

activities.

credit," said he, "for a share in

the defeat of the bill to introduce

the Bible into the public schools

(where it was to be read without

comment and studied), as well as

in the death (in committee) of

the proposed anti-evolution law

. (Also) Illegal deportations

have been fought in the courts

and cases won. Segregated

schools for Chinese children in

Oakland were successfully op-

posed. Police interference with

open-air meetings in Sacramento:

was brought to an end," and

Karl Rave was successfully de-

fended when he was prosecuted

for distributing birth control

literature.

Group Disbands

After October 5, 1927 the for-

mal organization disbanded but

the ACLU continued, as it had

from 1917 to 1926, as more or less

of a one-man organization with

attorney Austin Lewis as that

`man, supported by a few devoted

friends.

On July 16, 1934, the San Fran-

cisco Bay Area was jarred by a

general strike, which ended four

days later. It was followed by an

anti-red hysteria which resulted

in police and vigilante raids on

radical headquarters and arrests

of alleged radicals. Vigilante

committees raided union halls

and threw bricks through the

windows of homes. In San Fran-

cisco, headquarters of the Inter-

national Workers Order and the

I.W.W. were raided and the

furnishings smashed, while in

Richmond, the photographic

studio of W. H. Prater was de-

stroyed. In Berkeley, the Finnish

Comrades Association hall was

raided by so-called Berkeley Na-

tionals and much of the building

was wrecked while the police

waited nearby.

Branch Re- Organized in 1934

After these incidents occurred,

the national office sent Chester

S. Williams and Ernest Besig

from Los Angeles to organize a

protest against the vigilante ter-

rorism. On August 9, 1934, a

meeting of 30 prominent citizens

was called at the Bellevue Hotel

to plan a protest rally. Unfor-

tunately, our efforts to organize

such a meeting were disrupted by

our left-wing brethren, who came

uninvited, and had to be aban-

doned. We, therefore, proposed

to our national office that a

branch of the ACLU be re-estab-

lished in northern California.

The proposal was accepted, the

national office provided $500 to

finance the venture and Chester

Williams remained as organizing

director. On September 14, 1934

-twenty-five years ago-he sent

a letter to prospective members

urging them to support re-estab-

lishment of a Northern Cali-

fornia Committee of the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union. The

letter asserted that we were

faced with a recurrence of the

suppression and violence of post-

war days and the development of

a spirit of fascism. "In 18 coun-

ties," he said, "ordinances prevail

which make assemblage of three

or more persons illegal without

police permit. Organized groups,

claiming patriotic motives, are

urging the passage of more than

a dozen laws to aid in the sup-

pression of minority opinion -

all of which contradicts the very

foundations of constitutional de-

mocracy with its grant of free

assemblage. To combat this grow-

ing menace, the Northern Cali-

fornia Branch of the ACLU is

being re-organized." )

"

"We may also claim 0x00B0

Another C.O.

Forced to

Withdraw at U.C.

While the issue of compulsory

ROTC at the University of Cali-

fornia was dramatized last month

by the hunger strike and forced

withdrawal from school of Fred-

erick Lawrence Moore, Jr., little

public notice was taken of the

case of another Berkeley fresh-

man, Richard Casey, who sacri-

ficed a scholarship and was also

forced to withdraw from the Uni-

versity because of his refusal to

take ROTC. Casey's eloquent

statement of his case, in a letter

to the "Daily Californian, Ole

lows:

Must Retain Integrity

"I have decided after many

hours spent in wrestling with

this problem that in order to re-

tain my honesty and integrity I

must commit myself to a definite

stand concerning the ROTC pro-

gram at this University.

"I have gone along with the

program for four weeks in the

hope that I should be able to dis-

cover a way in which I could re-

_solve my beliefs with the fact

that this training is apparently

unavoidable.

Willing to Give Useful Service

"However, I can no longer con-

tinue to participate. I shall never

take a human life nor shall I will-

ingly participate in any program

which trains one to do so. I wish

no one to say that I feel no sense

of responsibility toward my coun-

try. I am willing to devote a seg-

ment of my life, energies and

talents to provide USEFUL serv-

ice for my country.

"The ROTC program does not

fall under this category. I feel

it to be a waste of time fer every-

one concerned. I feel very strong-

ly about this matter, as may be

indicated by what I have to lose

by taking this stand:

a. the possiblity of being un-

justly debarred from attending

a public institution set up to pro-

vide higher education at low

cost to qualified individuals;

b. the loss of respect of parents

and friends;

c. the possibility of having to

forfeit a $400 Regents' Scholar-

ship;

d. the lack of opportunity to

attend any other college because

`of finances;

e. having a black mark on my

record for the rest of my life.

`Wishes to Remain

"T submit this statement with

the sincere wish that I may be

allowed to remain at the Univer-

sity to continue my studies. If I

receive unjust treatment because

of this stand, I shall at least

know that I have done what I

must do to preserve my self re-

spect. I try not to feel bitter at

having to declare myself in such

a manner on this issue, but it is

indeed difficult."

On October 23, President Clark

Kerr disclosed that the Regents

had adopted a resolution Septem-

ber 18, directing him to appoint

a faculty review committee to

present "a detailed military pro-

gram and curriculum to be pro-

posed in lieu of the present

program."

May Abandon Compulsory ROTC

The resolution also directs

Kerr to present the program to

the Department of Defense and

to tell the department that the

Regents are "considering the

feasibility of abandoning the

compulsory military training re-

quirement and, in any event, be-

lieve that the present program

should be extensively revised."

_ The Regents have the author-

ity to place ROTC on a voluntary

basis. On December 3, 1934, how-

ever, in the ACLU sponsored

case of Hamilton v. University of |

California, the U. S. Supreme

Court held that compulsory

ROTC could be made a condition

of attendance at the University,

and that such requirement does

not violate the constitutional

rights of any citizen, and partic.

ularly a conscientious objector.

Nevertheless, last Spring, the

students at U.C., Berkeley, voted

in favor of voluntary ROTC and

submitted their views to the Re-

gents. The Moore and Casey

cases will. undoubtedly result in

reviving student pressures for

voluntary ROTC.

New members of ACLU Board of Directors, who took office on November 1. Reading from left to right: Robert H. Har

Steiner, Sam B. Eubanks and Rey. Harry B. Scholefield.

OMMAGER'S SPEECH

While a written text of Prof.

Commager's speech at the 25th -

anniversary meeting of the ACLU

of Northern California on Octo-

ber 17 is not available, a tran-

script of a tape recording has

been made.

The speech is too long to

be printed in full in one issue of

the NEWS. Consequently, it will .

appear in two parts. The first

part follows, while the remainder

of the speech will appear in the

December issue of the NEWS:

Mr, Besig, Professor Merryman,

and Ladies and Gentlemen:

An anniversary, as Mr. Besig

has so well made clear, is a time

for rejoicing in the `past, but

more for taking stock and for

consideration of the tasks of the

future. Prodigious events of the

past quarter century, a period

packed with drama and with deep

moments of history, are suffi-

ciently familiar to many of you,

at least, so that I need not re-

hearse them.

Great Climacterics

In this brief period we have

lived through a series of great

climacterics: An acute depres-

sion, emergence of the Welfare

State, the greatest of World Wars,

a long period of Cold War with a

nation or an ideology that relies

on subversion, the Korean War,

creation of the atomic weapon,

with potentialities of annihila-

tion. All of these developments

would normally make for statism,

would normally make for an im-

mense growth of militarism, and

for impatience with anything

that seems to get in the way of

speedy and massive action by the

state.

Other Developments

So, too, with many of the other

developments of the last quarter

century: The rapid increase in.

population, speeding up of ur-

banization and of corporate con-

centration. All of these things

make normally for impatience

with mere individualism and for

the claims of traditional liberty.

Increase In Statism

We might, therefore, reason-

ably have expected a steady in-

crease in statism, a steady dimin-

ution of freedom in this country;

we might have expected the

swift development of the psychol-

ogy and the practices of statism

and even of the police state. We

might have assumed as inevitable.

a steady narrowing of the scope

of freedom and a steady decline

of individualism, a steady re-

striction of the scope and the ap-

plication of the guaranties of the

Bill of Rights, yet I think only

one unable to view developments

in longer perspective could sup-

pose that these events have, in

fact, come to pass.

Expansion Of Liberty

In the perspective of a quarter

of a century what appears most

remarkable is not, I think, the

constriction of liberty, but its ex-

pansion, not the defeats which we

must chalk up, but the victories

in which we may rejoice. May we

not say, with Lincoln, "The

times, the signs are better?"

Review, those of you who are

old enough for the task, the con-

ditions that obtained in this coun-

try as a whole 25 or 30 years ago.

Mr. Besig has reminded you of

the situation even in your own

state. Let me remind you that

this was the generation of Sacco

and Vanzetti; it was the day

when the Ku Klux Klan still

flourished, when Negroes were

almost everywhere denied their

most elementary rights in law

and in the political arena; it was

the day when the Supreme Court

was still accepting Herbert Spen-

cer's social statics, to use Holmes'

phrase in the Lochner dissent,

when Plessy vs. Ferguson still

controlled the constitutional po-

sition of the Negroes in the

South, when Atkins vs. Chil-

dren's Hospital stood as a barrier

against effective wage legisla-

tion, when Hammer vs. Dagen-

hart and the Bailey decision

stopped in its track the attack

on child labor, when the Thyssen

vs. New York. and the Oklahoma

ice cases drew firmly the line of

state intervention, limits of state

interference with what was re-

garded as private business, when

in a great series of decisions the

Supreme Court threatened the

very basis of the New Deal leg-

islation and overthrew a great

part of that legislative program.

Task of Survival

Franklin Roosevelt, with. Mrs.

Perkins and Henry Wallace and

Harold Ickes and others of that

group, were arousing the consci-

ence of the nation, to be sure,

and restoring something of the

traditions of liberalism, but the

terrible economic crisis of the

thirties - and how remarkable

that you should have organized

in the midst of that crisis - that

crisis concentrated almost the

whole of liberal energies on the

elementary task of survival.

. Assaults Weathered

Who can doubt that notwith-

standing titanic wars, a long con-

flict with Communism, the im-

pact of atomic warfare, the mas-

sive growth of the state and the

military, who can doubt that with

all these, the situation has not

degenerated but Improved, the

rights of most persons are better

than they were 25 or 30 years

ago, and the position of the

Negro has been vastly improved,

the state functions, not only in

the economic realm, but in the

realm of freedom as well, inter-

venes not only against the exer-

cise of freedom, but to protect

the exercise of freedom. We have

weathered the most dangerous

assaults of the past decade, wea-

thered them not unscarred or un-

scathed, to be sure.

The Explanation

What, then is the explanation

for such progress as we have

made in the past quarter of a

century? That Freedom is not in

retreat, that you gather here not

to hold obsequies over her corpse,

but to celebrate her vitality and

her youthfulness, results, I think,

from several factors: First, from

the compulsions which the role

that the United States now oc-

cupies in world affairs and the

necessity of vindicating at home

those moral values which we

champion abroad, the necessity

of proving our sincerity in claim-

ing to be the champions of de-

mocracy and freedom against the

counterclaims of totalitarian sys-

tems has had some effect. In a

sense our position as a world

power and as the defender of

freedom throughout the globe

has had the same effect on our

domestic conduct as the pledge |

that all men are created equal

had over a long period of years

on the attitude towards slavery.

We couldn't live permanently

with this paradox.

Growth of Economic Security

Second, the growth of econom-

ic security has brought with it

not that complete relaxation of

racial and class hostility which so

many liberals fondly hoped for,

but certainly some relaxation,

and at the same time it has

raised generally the lower levels

_of society, given security to those

who before did not have security,

and given them, what is perhaps

more important, economic and

even social power of a sort.

Whatever the disappointment

about the slowness of improve-

ment here, whatever the shock

of discovering that McCarthyism

had support from the middle

classes rather than from the

lower economic groups, improve-

ment, I think, has been substan-

tial enough to justify faith in

continued economic improvement

as one of the surest methods of

vindicating general freedom and

- equality.

Education

Third, education, again, has

given us one shock of disappoint-

ment after another, especially if

we thought of it as a great

panacea. It has not brought that

degree of enlightenment and of

unselfish devotion to the public

weal that was so confidently ex-

pected in the past, but, again,

who could contrast the attitude

toward the race question in the

south today, of the older and the

younger generation, can doubt

that education has had and

will continue to have a leavening

effect. Ours is probably the only

society - this is one of the most

remarkable sociological factors

in history - ours is probably the

only society in history where it

can be confidently assumed that

each new generation is better

educated than the past, each new

generation will continue to be

better educated than its prede-

cessors, and when more, there-

fore, can rightly be expected and,

nay, demanded of each new gen-

eration than of past generations.

In the past new generations have

not commonly disappointed us

and, assuredly, some of the prog-

ress toward enlightenment can

be credited to ever-higher levels

of education.

Contribution of Organizations

And assuredly, too, some credit

for improvement must be as-

signed to organizations such as

this and scores of others working

in the same realm, working intel-

ligently, courageously, tenaci-

ously for the advancement of

social welfare and the security of

freedom. There is no need to

pay tribute here to the role of

the voluntary association in

America, to its long record of

contribution to reforms. It is,

I think, a sobering thought that

on the whole the official organ-

izations designed for the pur-

pose of advancing freedom have

contributed relatively little com-

pared, to the work of the unof-

ficial and voluntary organiza-

tions.

Vigilance Still Needed

Yet with civil liberties ever so

many of our current problems

the moral of Alice and the Red

Queen is always relevant: You

have to run twice as fast to get

anywhere. New problems, new

issues, new threats, gloom and

glower upon us. Eternal vigilance

is still the price not only of lib-

erty but of survival.

Unsolved Problems

Nor have we, in fact, solved

the central problems of the rela-

tions of man to government, the

reconciliation of freedom and

order, that confronted us so in-

sistently throughout the past dec-

ades. Again, as Santayana ob-

served, Americans do not really

solve problems; they gently bid

them goodby. We have not really

repudiated McCarthyism; we

have drifted away from it. David

Schine, as Mr. Pearson pointed

out this morning, welcomes Mr.

Khruschev, and only Mr. Buckley

survives to defend McCarthy or

to mourn him.

The Issues

I need not detail to you the

issues that crowd upon us. A

reading of your own report of

your activities is sufficient for

that. Great questions of censor-

ship, security, Congressional in-

vestigatory powers, the right to

travel and passports, citizenship,

denaturalization and deportation,

freedom of teaching and of learn-

ing, denial of due process, police

brutality, separation of church

and state, the exemption of the

religions from the reach of the

state, these and many others

make irresistible demands upon

your time and energy.

I have no intention of dealing

with these in any detail. I am not

competent to do so, nor is this

`the time and the place for an

analysis of that character. Let

me, rather, consider with you

the larger implications of two

current developments, implica-

tions for civil liberty, implica-

tions for the whole of our society

and of our culture. Both of these

issues are, in effect, philosophi-

cal issues; both are `rooted deep

in our history, but in both cases

their flourishing development is

a matter of recent years.

Trend Toward Statism

The first is a trend toward

what I call statism, toward the

acceptance of the doctrine that

the state has an existence by

itself; that there is a kind of

mythical entity distinct from the

entity of the people who make

it up, a past and present and a

future of its own; that it has

rights and attributes that over-

ride any considerations of the

original purposes or functions or

of the -constitutional ' restraints

placed upon it in the past, and

that it may therefore do all

sorts of things not specifically

authorized to it and even, in some

cases, specifically denied to it.

This is a very old doctrine in

European history, but it is a new

November, 1959

dgrove, Harold Winkler, Mrs. Martin

doctrine in American history. In

the light of this new doctrine of

statism, the prohibitions of the

Bill of Rights evaporate as under

the hot sun of necessity; extraor-

dinary powers of government

that were first tolerated and then

ratified and made ends in them-

selves. Who that has witnessed

the growth of the so-called secur-

ity system can doubt, for ex-

ample, the old observation that in

time we come to love the chains

that bind us.

Most Notorious Example

Perhaps the most notorious ex-

ample of the affirmation of

statism is the one already men-

tioned several times tonight and

so painfully familiar to all of us,

that of Japanese relocation dur-

ing the war, and the traditional

and even popular acquiescense in

it. But we find it true almost

everywhere we look; we find it

in the assumption, all but uni-

versal now, that of course every-

body must be investigated before

he is allowed to take a govern-

ment job, and that in the course

of investigation, of course, the

government has the right to

know everything relevant and ir-

relevant to the character of the

individual.

We find it in the growth of

such elementary things as finger-

printing and less elementary

things as dossiers of information,

always derogatory, about its cit-

izens. We find it in the curious

notion that work for government

is not a right but a privilege, as

if that ever got us anywhere. We

find it in the relatively new no-

tion that a great many activities

once thought private are really

functions of foreign policy. Thus,

travel - we travel on behalf of

the government. Thus, informa-

tion about China through the

press, and so forth. And that

these should stand, all of these

activities should be in what is

the best interests of the United

States, as if there is something

called the United States that has

an interest apart from the inter-

ests of its citizens,

Invasion of Freedom

We find it true in many of the

minor episodes of the state in-

vasion in what has long been con-

sidered the realms of freedom:

The claim of an overriding in-

terest of the state, for example,

in a guest list at a summer camp,

an interest so overriding that

even four years later it appears

to justify what will turn out to

be a life sentence of contempt

for not producing it. Or the in-

terest of the state in the names

of members of an organization

that flourished in another state

ten years earlier - I refer, of

course, to the Barenblatt decis-

ion - that has excited the inter-

est or curiosity of some commit-

tee or other. Or the interest of

the state in knowing what may

have been said in university lec-

tures some years back, or the in-

terest of the state in knowing the

religious and social and economic

-Continued on Page 4

ACLU NEWS

Page 3

Continued from Page 3-

belief of teachers in public

schools.

But you can fill out the list

for yourself. The important

thing is the new concept of the

state as a superior entity and

one that has rights over and

above those that are accorded to

it by the sovereign people them-

selves.

Loss of Citizenship

In this connection, I think the

most ominous of recent decisions

is one that has attracted rela-

tively little attention: Perhaps

among a group as learned as this

it has received more attention

than it has in the East. I refer to

the case of Perez vs. Brownell, a

decision which sustained a pro-

vision of the Naturalization Act

_ of 1940 with reference to the loss

of citizenship of an American-

born citizen. I need not remind

you of the opening lines of the

Fourteenth Amendment, that

every person born in the United

States and subject to its jurisdic-

tion is a citizen thereof.

Mr, Justice Frankfurter held

that it is a proper exercise of

Congressional control over for-

eign policy to exclude: from

citizenship a natural-born Ameri-

can citizen because it was part

of the `exercise, the conduct of

foreign policy. Justices Warren

and Douglas pointed out in mem-

orable dissents this is a radical

departure from long traditions

which held, ever since Chisholm

vs. Georgia, that in America the

people are sovereign and that the

power of government is limited.

-"The philosophy of the opinion

that sustains this statute," wrote

Mr. Justice Douglas, "is foreign

-to our constitutional system. It

`gives a supremacy to the Legis-

lature in a way that is incompat-

`ible with the scheme of our writ-

ten constitution. .. . This philos-

ophy has no place here. By pro-

claiming it we forsake much of

our constitutional heritage and

move closer to the British scheme

_ if the power to regulate for-

eign affairs can be used to de-

prive a person of his citizenship

because he voted abroad, why

may it not be used to deprive

him of his citizenship because

his views on foreign policy are

unorthodox or because he dis-

puted the position of the Secre-

tary of State or denounced a Res-

olution of The Congress or the

action of the Chief Executive in

the field of foreign affairs?" And

Mr. Douglas conjured up the no-

tion that we might shortly be

depriving people of citizenship

for pleading for recognition of

Communist China or opposing the

Eisenhower Doctrine or violating

passport restrictions or trading

with Communist countries, and so

forth.

`State Can't Take Basic Rights

' And the Chief Justice, speak-

ing on the same matter with un-

usual warmth, said that: "This

Government was born of its citi-

zens; it maintains itself in a con-

tinuing relationship with them

and, in my judgment, it is with-

out power to sever the relation-

ship that gives rise to its exist-

ence, I cannot believe that a gov-

ernment conceived in the spirit

of ours was established with

power to take from the people

their most basic rights. ... The

people who created this govern-

ment endowed it with. broad

~ powers. They created a sovereign

state with power to function as

a sovereignty. But the citizens

themselves are sovereign, and

their citizenship is not subject

to the general powers of their

government."

Change in Political Climate

But it is not alone specific leg-

islative acts or specific judicial

opinions that give us pause here;

it is, rather, a change in the polli-

tical climate of opinion, a change

in the attitude of men toward

government. We have only to

ask ourselves not only what Jef-

ferson or Madison would have

thought of many of these ges-

ACLU NEWS.

November, 1959

Page 4

tures towards statism, these

claims of the right of govern-

ment to know and to intervene,

but what the average American

~would have thought at an earlier

time.

Not long ago, reading in "Niles

Register," a very popular maga-

Zine in its day, for 1818, I ran

across an amusing letter from

a postmaster in a southern town

which was a vitriolic denuncia-

tion of the government and the

Postmaster General because he

sent out an inquiry wanting to

know the date of birth of the

postmaster. "What business," he

said, "what business has the gov-

ernment to know when I was

born or to conduct inquiries of

this kind?" And it: was interest-

ing that Hezekiah Niles backed

`him up in an editorial in his

paper.

Right To Know Everything

What business, indeed! But

now most everybody takes for

granted that the government has

a right to know everything; we

take for granted immense dos-

siers on everybody who is any-

body. Indeed, it is almost a mark

of insignificance not to have a

dossier, We take for granted the

solemn compiling of derogatory

information; we take for granted

the plea of the State Department

that one travels either in the best

interests of the nation or not for

the interests of the nation. It

makes you feel very important

when you travel abroad to know

you are really traveling in the

interests of the United States.

One takes for granted the elabor-

ate queries on passport applica-

tions: How are you going and

where are you going, and why

are you going, and how long are

you going? One takes for granted

the fingerprintings and the secur-

ity investigations and the check-

ings of private morals and pri-

vate characters among friends

and neighbors and professional

eolleagues. One takes for granted

the invasion of colleges and uni-

versities by government, the

pressure for a particular kind of

research on particular hirings

and firings. Businessmen who

fiercely resent union interfer-

ence with standards of hiring not

only welcome governmental sup-

ervision through security clear-

ance of truck drivers and sten-

ographers, but they all but in-

sist upon it. We take almost for

granted - there are still some

rumblings of dissent here - the

investigations of a hundred leg-

islative committees, the kind of

investigation of Corliss Lamont,

for example, because he wrote

a chapter in a book that the

Army later used, to know what

all of his beliefs ever had been,

of what books he had read in the

past. One takes for granted the

punishment of noncooperative

citizens by exposure, by citation

for contempt or by harrassment.

One takes almost for granted that

local agencies and even private

agencies will cooperate by firing

recalcitrant victims of these in-

vestigations, so that many private

agencies hoist themselves onto

the governmental chariot and do

its bidding.

Unprecedented Speed

What is particularly arresting

here is that this growth of

statism has come with unprece-

dented speed under an adminis-

tration which is ostentatiously

hostile to the growth of govern-

mental power and deeply com-

mitted to private enterprise. I

need not elaborate on anything

so familiar as the opposition of

President Eisenhower and his as-

sociates to the extension of the

reach of the state in the realms

of the economy or in other

realms: in education, in public

health, in hydro-electric power,

and so forth. Yet no administra-

tion in the whole of our history

has permitted, nay, encouraged

`so many invasions in the realm of

private enterprise; none has con-

tributed so much to the growth of

big government, that is, of

statism.

Not Easily Withdrawn

But governmental intervention

in such matters as slum clear-

ance or public health is, in a

sense, superficial, is something

that can easily be withdrawn if

events should prove it undesir-

able or unprofitable. But govern-

mental invasion into the realm of

thought, of the intellectual or

spiritual domain, is something

not so easily altered or with-

drawn.

The assumption of the govern-

ment of the right to know all

about the private lives of those

who have governmental jobs or

to know the reasons for foreign

travel or to know the details of

the membership of voluntary or-

ganizations, these things consti-

tute a far more serious impair-

ment of private enterprise than

anything done in the whole era

of New Deal legislation.

Stems from Confusion

All this, I should add, stems

not from wickedness, not from

some sympathy for a police state:

It stems from confusion of

thought or from absence of

thought, from failure to recog-

nize that the only important

private enterprise in the long

run is intellectual and moral en-

terprise, and failure to realize

that a government that can con-

trol] the minds. of men or can

even intimidate the minds of

men can ultimately control ev-

erything else. os

I am reminded that this is not

only the 25th anniversary of this

organization: it is the hundredth

anniversary of a great number of

things, among them of John Stu-

art Mills' marvellous essay on

liberty, and that memorable

statement there which can never

be too often conned that a state

which dwarfs its citizens and

makes them instruments of its

policies will find that with small

men no great things can be ac-

complished.

Deductive Thinking

Which brings me to the second

large issue: The growing habit

of deductive thinking, of abstract

and doctrinaire thinking; the

growing habit of taking refuge in

absolutes.

I said this was the anniver-

sary of a number of things.

Among other things we are cele- (c)

brating this year the centennial

of John Dewey and along with

it the centennial of the publica-

tion of "The Origin of Species."

I need not remind you that

Darwin and Dewey between them

established, it was thought once

and for all, the validity of the

scientific or experimental meth-

od not alone in the realm of sci-

ence but in the realm of the so-

cial thought as well, and social

conduct, From the 1890s on that

experimental method and the so-

cial sciences won victory after

victory. It gave us sociological

jurisprudence; it liberated poli-

tics from the abstract theories

that had strangled it and enabled

us to get on with the job of ad-

ministration and reform; it

dealt a death blow to most of

classical economics, the abstract

laws of supply and demand or

the ideal economic man, for ex-

ample, and permitted economic

thought to direct itself to the

real problems of how .the econ-

omy worked, not how philoso-

phers thought it ought to work.

It freed education from much of

its preoccupation with meaning-

less rules and practices and made

it a dynamic process concerned

with the place of the young in

our society. I need not expand on

anything as familiar to all of you

as the great intellectual revolu-

tion that accompanied evolution

itself and that accompanied the

rise of pragmatism or instrumen-

talism.

Attack on Pragmatism

What we are witnessing now is

a full-dress attack on pragma-

tism, on the inductive method in

the social sciences. What we are

witnessing is the return if not to

absolutes, at least to a world of

a priori thinking, of unquestioned

assumptions and unchallenged

principles.

In no realm is this more osten-

tatious than in the realm of civil

liberties, and in no realm are its

manifestations more dangerous.

If words do not wholly determine

what and how we think, they are

certainly an index to our meth-

ods of thinking, and I think no-

thing is more illuminating than

the habit of our time of substi-

ftuting words for things, and

words all but drained of mean-

ing. j

Ambiguous Language

The whole security-loyalty pro-

gram has taken refuge, as indeed

it must, in watering an ambig-

uous language, language de-

signed to hint at vague impropri-

eties rather than describe speci-

fic deeds or misdeeds. Thus the

very primary words themselves-

un-American, for example, or

loyalty, or subversive, or sympa-

thetic affiliation with, or security

risk, or linked to, or in other

fields, such as those of censor-

ship, words like decency.

Lewis Carroll anticipated the

development of this language in

Alice in Wonderland: When I

use a word said Humpty Dumpty

it means just what I choose it to

mean. And that is the way words

are used even in laws, and I

think, sometimes in judicial

Opinions today.

Intangibles

Laws, rules, regulations, inves-

tigations, private boycotts, all

have this in common, this com-

mon denominator, that they ad-

dress themselves to intangibles;

they do not deal with acts-after

all, there are enough laws on the

statute books that do deal with

acts. For example, we could have

foregone the whole body of secur-

ity-loyaity investigation, of prob-

ing and the rest of it, by the

simple method of applying the

terms of the Hatch Act of 1940,

which struck from the payroll

anybody who advocated - who

belonged to an organization ad-

voeating the overthrow of our

constitutional form of govern-

ment. All we needed to do was

enforce the law and we could

have escaped everything that

happened from the 1940s on to

the present. So again and again

in almost every battlefield where

these crusades. for true Ameri-

canism are fought they are

fought over intangibles.

After all, the tangibles are gen-

- erally provided for in law and

have been for many years. No-

tice what happens as soon as we

abandon our traditional insist-

ence on dealing with things, not

words, with deeds, not intentions.

As soon as We abandon the ex-

perimental and the

method in favor of the abstract,

the doctrinaire and the specula-

tive, as soon as we turn away

from the true and tested methods

of scientific proof, or of any kind

of proof, to the world of assump-

tions or the world of absolutes.

Examples.

Examples crowd upon us, I

cannot possibly enlarge upon

them; I can barely mention a few

of them. There is a notion that a

man is to be judged by his as-

sociations, and the exhaustive

search, therefore, for associations

and affiliations that inspires so

The first right of a citizen

Is the right

To be responsible.

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-much of our current investiga-

tions is precisely this, and

through this method a series of

links are somehow meaningful in

terms of conduct, Investigators

never look to conduct. itself;

that is much too simple er else

too frustrating; they look to as-

sociations that might presumably

affect conduct and assert that

character is determined by as-

sociations, but we know that is

not true. They assume that men

who belong to a dangerous as-

sociation must invariably share

its dangerous views, though no-

body ever assumes that all those

who belong to the Republican

Party necessarily share all the

views of that party, because they

would be involved in too much

mental confusion if they did. The

notion in this whole realm of the

search for private associations

and the investigation of private

organizations, the notion that

comes up in one dramatic case

after another - again I must be-

ware of getting involved in these

details - the idea is that we

have to know, for example, just

who attended the peace confer-

ence in New Hampshire four or

five years ago, because, theoreti-

cally those who attended might

spread subversion in the state

and therefore destroy the state,

and this in the face of the.fact

that there is no shred of evi-

dence after five years, and if it

did not happen after five it prob-

ably would not happen.

Universal Phenomenon

This is almost the. universal

phenomenon, this insistence

years after the event of grave

consequences that will inevitably

follow unless there is instantan-

eous action by government, Thus

the extreme example, and a

rather melancholy one, of the

Attorney General of the United

States insisting that the court

must apprehend a naturalized

citizen who 20 years earlier, be-

longed to a subversive organiza-

iton, instantly put him in jail and

withhold bail because if he was

at liberty he might prove danger-

ous to the safety of the nation,

though in the previous 20 years

he had not been dangerous to

anything.

(To be concluded next month)

Reception for

Trevor Thomas

On November 22

The Friends Committee on

Legislation will hold a reception

in honor of Trevor Thomas, re-

tiring Executive Secretary, on

Sunday, November 22, 3 to 6

p.m., at 1830 Sutter St., San Fran-

`cisco,

Thomas has been associated

_with the Committee for seven

years, during which time he has

made the defense of civil liber-

`ties one of the paramount legis-

lative purposes of the group,

Dr, Louis Gottlieb wil] serve

as master of ceremonies,

A donation of $2 will be asked

to help forward the work of the

committee,

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