Open forum, vol. 14, no. 19 (May, 1937)

OPEN FORUM |

Free Speech - Free Press - Free Assemblage

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.-Milton

--

Vol. XIV.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, MAY 8, 1937

No. 19

Pomeroy May Lose Job

By Ernest Besig

The Assembly Social Service and Wel-

fare Committee on April 30 gave its ap-

proval to the Patterson resolution, as

amended, which requests the Governor to

relieve Harold E. Pomeroy of his duties as

state Relief Administrator, if he continues

19 interfere with the exercise of civil liber-

ties by S. R. A. employees. No dissenting

) vice was heard, although Morgan of Santa

} Monica and Gardiner Johnson of Berkeley

engaged in obstructionist tactics which

were unsuccessful. Committee members in

} attendance were Chairman Lore, Johnson,

} Morgan, Patterson, Tenney, Thorp and

Watson-7.

| Pomeroy failed to put in an appearance

although seasonable telegraphic notice had

been sent to his headquarters in San Fran-

cisco, While process servers sought him in

yain. Pomeroy's stooge listened to the pro-

ceedings from a rear seat.

Mrs. Esther Hutson, who dismissed

Plunkert and Mrs. Campbell, and then rein-

stated them, testified that Pomeroy had not

testified truthfully when he stated that her

action was taken on her own initiative and

because of the "incompetence'' of her sub-

ordinates. Instead, she declared that "Mr.

Pomeroy asked me to dismiss Plunkert" ; that

she regarded both as capable social work-

] ers, and that the procedure which had been

followed was not "`usual," and did not have

J her approval. "I resigned because of the

7 circumstances surrounding the dismissals,"

} said Mrs. Hutson, but the resignation was

not accepted by Pomeroy.

Following is the resolution, as amended,

which will now receive consideration by the

entire Assembly :

House Resolution No. 131, as Amended

WHEREAS, Harold Pomeroy, State Re-

lief Administrator, has issued a verbal order

prohibiting employees of the S. R. A. from

pursuing legislative activities in the Califor-

tia Legislature on their own time and in

their capacity as private citizens; and

WHEREAS, Said order specifically for-

bids any meetings with legislators for the

purpose of discussing any and all legisla-

tions and

WHEREAS, Said order further prohibits

the sending of communications or petitions

to legislators concerning pending legisla-

tion; and

WHEREAS, Said order arbitrarily limits

the exercise of fundamental political rights

and liberties; and

WHEREAS, Said order is un-American

and undemocratic in that it abridges the

fundamental liberties of free speech, free

bress and free assemblage and the right of

Petition; and

WHEREAS, Our democratic form of gov-

`mment can only survive so long as the citi-

Zens engage in free discussion on public

questions ; and ~

| .WHEREAS, Said Harold Pomeroy has

threatened to dismiss any S. R. A. employee

Who disobeys said order; and

. WHEREAS, The said Harold E. Pomeroy

inthe issue of said order has acted contrary

0 the Constitution and laws of the United

tates and of this State; and

i HEREAS, In connection with the ques-

ne of what constitutes an improper activ-

", On the part of an employee of the State

eet Commission, the Attorney General

| this State has ruled as follows:

| thy' s0 In reply, the term `Improper Activ-

478 not susceptible of a definition which

ld be applied in determining in each

particular instance whether an activity of a

political character were proper or im-

proper. The propriety of political activity

must in a large degree depend upon the

circumstances of the particular instances.

"It is generally admitted to be not only

the privilege but the duty of an American

citizen to be politically active, and it has

not been supposed that employment in State

or municipal service, either civil service or

otherwise, would prevent or prohibit an

employee from the exercise of political

right, including a reasonable and well or-

dered activity in behalf of those political

principles which he favored, or in the sup-

port of those candidates whose success he

believed would best contribute to the gen-

eral welfare. Whether an employee in a

particular instance exceeds the limits indi-

cated must be determined as above indi-

cated by a consideration of the facts and

circumstances bearing upon the particular

activity.

"The propriety of political activity in a

given instance does not depend upon the

question whether such activity of the em-

ployee accords with the views of the prin-

cipal, or even with the views of the political

party represented by all or a majority of

the office encumbents...}; and,

WHEREAS, It is inconsistent that said

Harold E. Pomeroy has himself lobbied on

State time both on the floor of this Assembly

and elsewhere; and,

WHEREAS, Lobbying or any other ac-

tivity either advocating or opposing legis-

lation by employees or officers of the State

during business hours on State time is a

practice not to be approved; and,

WHEREAS, Some employees and officers

of the S. R. A. and other departments of the

State have appeared in the Assembly cham-

ber from time to time urging the adoption

or defeat of legislation; now, therefore,

be it

RESOLVED, That the Assembly express

the sentiment of this body that any lobbying

activity by State officers or employees dur-

ing business hours and on State time is a

reprehensible practice not to be condoned

or continued; and be it further

RESOLVED, That said Harold E. Pome-

roy is hereby requested to reverse any and

all orders and directions made by him rela-

tive to the exercise of the rights of any citi-

zen, whether employed by the State or not,

and that he refrain from dismissing any

employee for petitioning the State Legis-

lature in person or otherwise; and be it

further

RESOLVED, That the Governor be and

he hereby is requested to relieve said

Harold E. Pomeroy of his duties as State Re-

lief Administrator, if the practices con-

demned by this resolution are continued."

BAN ON "MARCH OF TIME" LIFTED

The Kansas Board of Review thought

better of its order last week deleting Sena-

tor Burton K. Wheeler's criticism of Presi-

dent Roosevelt's Supreme Court proposal

from the current March of Time film. On

the heels of Governor Huxman's interven-

tion, the board rescinded its order.

Move by the National Council on Free-

dom from Censorship in requesting, through

Rev. L. M. Birkhead of Kansas City, Mo.,

a hearing before the board last Friday,

was considered a determining factor in in-

ducing the Governor to act.

ATTY. GALLAGHER SCORES STOOGES

OF PRIVILEGE FOR FASCIST ACTION

Mr. Thomas B. Flanagan,

Secretary, Los Angeles Council,

Knights of Columbus,

Los Angeles, California.

Dear Sir:

I enclose herewith a copy of the May Ist

issue of The Open Forum containing an ar-

ticle by Max Knepper, which I recommend

to your consideration.

I am astonished at the unmitigated gall

of top functionaries of organizations such

as the Knights of Columbus, the American

Legion and the Elks, which wish to tell us

what we can see and what we cannot see,

what we can hear and what we cannot hear.

You may be sure that the rank and file of

the American people are coming to recog-

nize that the top leadership of these organi-

zations are nothing but "stooges" for privi-

lege and reaction.

I call your attention to the persecution

of the Catholic Church in Germany. To-

day's papers say that one thousand priests

in Germany have been imprisoned by Hit-

ler. You and your kind remain practically

silent in the face of the barbarous attacks

of the fascist terrorists. You defend their

unheard of inhumanities in Spain. On the

other hand you hasten to condemn the sit-

down strikers who seek only to protect in a

peaceful manner their jobs where employ-

ers, violating both the legal and natural

rights of the workers, deny them the oppor-

tunity to organize and bargain collectively.

You lose no chance to malign the Commun-

ist Party, the only real force opposing reac-

tion and attempting to build up here a

united front to defend elementary human

leas and preserve our democratic tradi-

ions.

I assure you that unless the Catholic hier-

archy in the United States, and its reaction-

ary agents in the Knights of Columbus, do

something toward remedying the evils of

unemployment and insecurity in this coun-

try, the people of the United States will

eventually turn in disgust against those who

with their lips pretend to favor the estab-

lishment of a just economic system, but who

in practice consume their energy in defend-

ing and protecting inexcusable abuses.

Sincerely yours,

LEO GALLAGHER.

April 30, 1937.

CRIMINAL SYNDICALISM APPEAL _-

CASE TO BE ARGUED SOON

Attorney Leo Gallagher has just received

the brief from the Attorney General's office

in the Sacramento criminal syndicalism

case which sent eight young people to

San Quentin and Tehachapi Prisons two

years ago. It is expected that the oral argu-

ments in the case will be heard in a short

time.

One of the women prisoners, Caroline

Decker, was released on parole from Te-

hachapi Prison last month; Nora Conklin,

who is confined in the same institution, will

be out on parole the latter part of May; Pat

Chambers, Martin Wilson and Jack Crane,

the young men in San Quentin, had their

sentences fixed recently at five years by the

Board of Prison Terms and Paroles. In the

case of Chambers and Wilson it was stipu-

lated that the last six months of their sen-

tences may be served on parole, and that

Crane may be allowed to serve nine months

of his sentence on parole. These cases have

been on appeal, together with those of the

other victims involved, since April 1, 1935..

- meee

CIVIL LIBERTIES BILLS AT SACRA-

MENTO MEET OPPOSITION

Assemblyman Jack B. Tenney last week

failed in a move to withdraw two civil liber-

ties bills from Committee. The first bill was

A.B. 1028, sometimes known as the

"Mooney Case" bill. In California the

courts will not consider new evidence after

sentence has been pronounced. This bill

would change our criminal law to permit a

case to be reopened where new facts are

discovered that would have warranted a

new trial had they been ascertained prior

to judgment.

The bill was one of those endorsed by

Labor (No. 14 in its summary of proposed

legislation), but no labor representative

was on hand to support the bill when it was

turned down in Committee. The motion to

withdraw lost by a vote of 31 to 34. The

roll call was as follows.

Ayes-Boyle, Burns, Michael J., Cassidy,

Clark, Donihue, Garland, Gilbert, Glick,

Hawkins, Hornblower, Hunt, King, Lath-

am, Laughlin, Lore, Maloney, McMurray,

Miller, George P., Morgan, Patterson, Peek,

Pelletier, Reaves, Richie, Rosenthal, Sawal-

lisch, Tenney, Turner, Welsh, Yorty, and

Speaker Jones-31.

Noes-Baynham, Benne, Breed, Burns,

Hugh M., Cottrell, Cronin, Crowley, Cun-

ningham, Dannenbrink, Dawson, Desmond,

Dilworth, Field, Flint, Fulcher, Garibaldi,

Heisinger, Kepple, Kuchel, Levey, Martin,

Mayo, Miller, Eleanor; Muldoon, Peyser,

Redwine, Scudder, Sheehan, Stream, Thorp,

Walker, Watson, Weber and Williamson

-34.

On the next legislative day the Assembly,

on motion of Paul Richie, refused to recon-

sider the vote whereby the motion to with-

draw the bill had been lost.

The Assembly also refused to withdraw

Tenney's vagrancy bill (A.B. 659) from

committee. As amended the bill provided

that ``No person on strike shall be consid-

ered a vagrant." It also eliminated $1000

vags by setting maximum bail at $250.

The last of the optional drill bills was

beaten in the Assembly Constitutional

Amendments Committee. A.C.A. No. 13 by

Tenney provided that, ``No student in the

University of California shall ever be com-

pelled to take a course in military training

or tactics."' A motion to table the bill won

by a vote of 7 to 4. The roll call was as fol-

lows: "Ayes": Cunningham, Crowley, Des-

mond, Latham, Peyser and Watson-7;

"Noes"; Hunt, Kepple (a Quaker), Rosen-

thal and Tenney-4.

Paul Richie's bill affecting the use of

schoolhouses as public forums (A.B. 430)

was scheduled for a hearing before the As-

sembly Labor and Capital Committee on

April 27th, but the Committee adjourned

without doing any business when it failed

to get a quorum. The next regular meeting

is scheduled for Tuesday evening, May 4.

Richie did manage to get his bill through

the Assembly limiting punishment of con-

tempt of court. The present law provides a

fine of $500 or five days in jail or both. One

unable to pay the maximum fine would be

required to spend 500 days in jail. Richie's

bill, A.B. No. 1814, provides that in any

event the jail sentence shall not be more

than five days. The bill passed by a vote of

50 to 14.

Another contempt bill by Tenney, A.B.

1389, was refused passage by a vote of 32

to 30. It provided that a person should be

tried by a judge other than the one before

whom the contempt is alleged to have been

committed.

The roll call on the bill was as follows:

""Ayes'';-Boyle, Cassidy, Clark, Dannen-

brink, Dawson, Donihue, Donnelly, Flint,

Gannon, Garibaldi, Garland, Glick,

Hawkins, Hunt, King, Lore, Maloney, Mc-

Murray, O'Donnell, Patterson, Peek, Pelle-

tier, Reaves, Richie, Rosenthal, Sawallisch,

Sheehan, Tenney, Turner, Welsh, Yorty and

Speaker Jones-32.

""Noes"-Benne, Breed, Call, Cottrell,

Cronin, Cunningham, Desmond, Dilworth,

Field, Fulcher, Heisinger, Johnson, Kepple,

Kuchel, Latham, Levey, Lyon, Martin,

Mayo, Miller, Eleanor; Morgan, Muldoon,

Peyser, Redwine, Scudder, Stream, Thorp,

Walker, Watson, and Weber.-30. -E.B.

TWO FREED IN WASHINGTON, D. C.,

HANDBILL CASE BY APPEALS COURT

Severely reprimanding a police judge for

injecting political opinions into a case, the

U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia last week reversed the police

court conviction of John Thomas and Mar-

garet Adams for distributing handbills in

Washington last June in violation of a local

health ordinance prohibiting littering of

the streets. Attorneys Frederick A. Ballard

and Samuel Levine of the Washington Com-

mittee of the Civil Liberties Union repre-

sented the defendants.

The higher court failed to pass upon the

ordinance itself, basing its decision on the

conduct of the trial in the police court. At

that trial, the police judge said: `"`They (the

defendants) are Communists. They are try-

ing to overthrow the government." And to

the defendants: "If you do not like our

system of government you ought to get out

of the country."'

Political opinions of the defendants were

immaterial to the issue, the appeals court

decided.

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RACIAL INTOLERANCE

Plans for a study of racial intolerance in

America, with particular reference to anti-

Semitism, were announced in New York re-

cently by Dr. Stanley High, president of the

Good Neighbor League.

"That the current wave of alien-baiting

is out of all proportion to the facts is a nat-

ural conclusion from two observations read-

ily subject to verification. In the first place,

arrival of new immigrants has been at such

a remarkably low ebb during the present

decade that there can be no immediate

cause for alarm from this source. Secondly,

the present alien population of the United

States has been demonstrating increasingly

rapid and thorough assimilation into the

body of integrated and loyal American

citizens." -(From a speech by Prof. Don-

ald Young, University of Pennsylvania.)

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MEASURES CURBING MINORITy

PARTIES IN NEW YORK VETOR)

At the call of the American Ciyjj Libey

ties Union, representatives of more than

score of minority parties, labor Unions ft

liberal organizations descended Upon Al

bany, N.Y., last week to urge veto of the

Berg bills at public hearings before Cie

ernor Lehman. Bowing to the pressure the

Governor vetoed the bills early this bi

The measures would have made it mor

difficult to make independent nominations

in requiring political parties to receive 1"

of the vote cast at the last gubernatoria

election in every county in the state jn Order

to secure a place on the ballot; providin

that all political parties must name cand

dates five weeks before primaries, and ih

lowing only eighteen days before election

in which to gather petitions.

The legislative program of the New York

Civil Liberties Committee received a gg,

back last week when the State Senate killed

the Holley bill designed to eliminate third.

degree methods by the police. The bil] had

previously passed the Assembly.

On the other side of the ledger was the

defeat of the Wadsworth bill requiring ;

financial accounting by labor unions. The

measure was vigorously opposed by the

State Federation of Labor, the New York

Civil Liberties Committee and other liberal

organizations as an entering wedge in 4

movement to wreck labor unionism.

GOV. URGED TO WITHDRAW

TROOPS IN SHOE STRIKE

Immediate withdrawal of state troops

from the Auburn-Lewiston shoe strike area

in Maine was urged upon Governor Lewis

O. Barrows last week by the American Civil

Liberties Union on the ground that "their

injection into a peaceful industrial dispute

has already caused unnecessary violence

and is bound to lead to further disturbance

and bloodshed."

In a telegram to Governor Barrows the

Union charged that the troops were "ser-

ing as a strike-breaking agency to bolster

the shocking injunction by Judge Hany

Manser, distorting the Wagner Act and de-

priving labor of its legal right to strike."

The A.C. L. U. also protested against the

arrest of Powers Hapgood, New England

secretary of the C.I. O., and two other union

organizers on the charge of "riotous a%

sault'"' in connection with the stoning of a

police lieutenant at Lewiston. All three

were released on $2,000 bail each. Mr. Hap:

good is a member of the National Commit:

tee of the A. C. L. U.

A delegation representing the Maine

Committee of the Civil Liberties Union,

headed by State Chairman Elbridge Sibley

of Bowdoin College and Bishop Benjamil

Brewster of Portland, planned to visit Gov-

ernor Barrows to request that he use his

official position to compel manufacturers 10

sit down immediately for a conference with

representatives of employees.

---

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Every Sunday afternoon - 1:45

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"EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS,

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Gives the author's reactions to col

ditions in 11 countries of the old world:

Illustrated with 10 cuts.

Mrs. Gartz is contributing the Pr

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_-_ Oo

"RIGHT OF ASYLUM

IN U.S.A.

SHOULD BE RE-ESTABLISHED

For the greater part of its history the

United States has maintained a proud tra-

ition as an asylum for political and relig-

ious reLugees. The peoples of all the world

have regarded this country as a haven of

refuge from tyranny. ey

"In the past, when this tradition has been

threatened, patriots fighting to preserve lib-

erty and democracy have come forward to

defend the principle of asylum. James

Madison, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wil-

son and other great statesmen have tried to

make this country a safe refuge from Old

World tyrannies. In his Thanksgiving

Message of 1795, George Washington

prayed :

"humbly and fervently to beseech the

kind Author of these blessings ... to render

this country more and more a safe and

propitious asylum for the unfortunate of

other countries."

When the ``Alien" acts were placed on

the statute books, in 1789, they aroused

tremendous protest, which forced their

being withdrawn in 1791.

From Germany after the Revolution of

1848, from Czarist Russia after 1905, politi-

cal refugees came to America and helped

make this country great. After the abor-

tive Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Kossuth

and later, Kosta sought and found asylum

in the United States. In 1850, Guisseppi

Garibaldi was welcomed here as a political

refugee.

Today, the principle of asylum, a corner-

stone of democratic institutions, is being

violated and is in danger of being de-

stroyed. With Fascist tyranny raging in

many of the countries of Europe, with hun-

dreds of thousands of Jews and other perse-

cuted peoples seeking refuge, the United

States has closed its doors almost complete-

ly, But, not only has this country practi-

cally shut its door to refugees from other

lands, it has instituted systematic perse-

cution of even the very few who have man-

aged to escape to this country, hunting

them and holding them for deportation

Where a charge of "illegal" entry can be

made.

Johannes Wiegel, 23, fled Germany in

1936, stowing away on the S:S. "Ilenstein."

He was arrested in February, 1937, charged

with being in the country "`illegally," and

ordered deported.

Hans Goepel, 26, a Socialist, deserted the

German navy in 1985, fleeing to the United

States to escape arrest. He was arrested

April 4, 1937, charged with being in the

country "`illegally."'

The Department of Labor, in ordering

tefugees to face the axe of Hitler or Musso-

lini, has claimed that the laws for the de-

Portation of persons"`illegally" in the coun-

ly are "mandatory.'' However, after tre-

mendous protest, the offer of "voluntary de-

parture" has been made by the department.

"WALLY FOR QUEEN"

(The Private Life of Royalty)

By Upton Sinclair

This is a new booklet fresh from the

ben of the famous author. Regarding it

Upton SAVSit os

"T wrote something I thought was very

inny. The first editor wired me: `Swell,

ut Wnpublishable.' My literary agent

"red: `Desolated, but compelled to ad-

mit skit unprintable-very charming.' It

`Ppears that the British royal family is

Sacred-even in America! So I print it

weelf, as usual. A Baltimore girl fight-

my the British Empire; I'm not taking

h euros, but surely we're entitled to our

aughter 1?"

If you Want a good laugh, send 25c

Beste Open Forum, 624 American Bank

Aldg., Log Angeles, for one copy of this

oklet, or $1 for six.

Ervin Muhlmann, 27, entered the United

States in September, 1935. He was arrested

in April, 1936, in Arizona, and ordered de-

ported to Germany on the ground he was in

the country "illegally." He left `"volun-

tarily" as a seaman on a ship sailing for

Japan.

Otto Richter, 21, entered in September,

1933, jumping ship to escape arrest. He

was arrested during the San Francisco gen-

eral strike of 1934 and held for deportation

to Germany, charged with being in the

country "illegally." Richter left the United

States "voluntarily" in October, 1936, asy-

lum for him having been won in Mexico.

The offer of ``voluntary departure" is no

solution for the problem of asylum. In many

cases, "voluntary departure" means little

because of the difficulty of securing visas

and because of the expense involved.

The founders of this country, many of

whom were political or religious refugees,

understood the importance of this principle

of asylum, to prevent the influence of for-

eign tyrants from being felt in this country

and to safeguard the rights of all, without

fear of persecution by tyrants in this coun-

try or in the land from which they came.

Today, millions of Germans, Italians, and

other immigrants are not secure from the

fear of being deported to face persecution,

particularly if they participate in the strug-

gle of American workers for better condi-

tions, or otherwise attract the attention of

reactionary forces.

In fighting the ``Alien and Sedition'' acts,

Thomas Jefferson said:

"Shall we refuse the unhappy fugitive

from distress that hospitality which the sav-

ages of the wilderness extended to our fore-

fathers arriving in this country? Shall op-

pressed humanity find no asylum on this

globe?"

Charles Recht, eminent attorney, has

stated:

"If a reassertion of the political prin-

ciples of the 18th century, which led to the

framing of the Declaration of Independence

and Constitution, is to be made, the right of

political asylum should be stressed as the

cornerstone of these documents."'

-Am. Com. for Protection

of Foreign Born.

| AMERICA - EUROPE

1936

By Dr. Clinton J. Taft

The Story of a Three-Months' Tour

Through America and Nine Countries

of Europe. 48 Pages, 20 Chapters -

11 of Them Describing Conditions in

Soviet Russia.

- PRICES -

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"CO-OP: A Novel of Living Together"

a new full length book by

UPTON SINCLAIR

A story of California Selp-Help Co-

operatives. It sets forth a cause and

cure of unemployment. `

Full of humor, excitement, tragedy,

courage and wisdom.

Order it from The Open Forum,

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STRIKER ACQUITTED ON

"BANDING" CHARGE IN KY.

Freedom of workers to strike and peace-

fully picket was strengthened in Kentucky

last week with the acquittal of Roy Swan-

son, a leader of the strike at Spindletop Hall

near Lexington, Ky., on the charge of

"banding and confederating." Following

the acquittal, other charges against Swan-

son were dismissed, as well as all remain-

ing indictments against seven other defend-

ants on similar charges. Homer C. Clay, of

London, Ky., state chairman of the Ameri-

can Civil Liberties Union, was counsel for

Swanson.

Prosecution witnesses testified that Swan-

son had threatened them during the strike

last month, the chief witness declaring he

sustained injuries when attacked by strik-

ers. A number of witnesses for Swanson,

however, cleared him of the charges.

Three other strikers defended by an at-

torney representing the Carpenters' Inter-

national previously had received convic-

tions. Chester Denny and Carl Carlburg

had pleaded guilty to confederating

charges and got one-year terms, but filed

motions for suspension. Chester Hays was

found guilty by a jury. His counsel has filed

motion for a new trial.

RIGHT OF ASYLUM BILL

A bill "preventing the deportation of

political refugees" has been introduced in

the United States Congress by Representa-

tive Alfred N. Phillips, Jr., of Connecticut.

The Phillips Bill, H.R. 6183, provides:

"That... no alien or political refugee shall

be deported where satisfactory proof is

submitted that his or her life or limb would

be subjected to danger because of political

beliefs such person may have held or ex-

pressed, or political activities such alien

may have engaged in while residing in the

country of which such alien is a subject,

or any other foreign country.' The bill ex-

cludes from its provisions criminals or non-

citizens who have committed a `felony

while a resident of the United States."

The Phillips Bill is the second right-of-

asylum measure to have been proposed in

the 75th Congress, another having been

introduced by the Hon. Emanuel Celler, of

Brooklyn. The Celler Bill, H.R. 5687, pro-

vides that "no alien shall be excluded from

admission to or deported from the United

States if such alien is a refugee for political,

racial, or religious reasons from the country

of his origin."

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must find yourselves in accord with

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THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 624 American Bank Build-

ing, 129 West Second Street, Los Angeles, California,

by the Southern California Branch of The American

Civil Liberties Union. Phone: TUcker 6836.

Parris Arb soe ee er Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

Doremus Scudder A. A. Heist Carey McWilliams

Leo Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills Ernest Besig

John Packard Edwin P. Ryland

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year. Five Cents

per Copy. In bundles of ten or more to one address,

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Entered as second-class matter Dec. 13, 1924, at the

post office of Los Angeles, California, under the Act

of March 3, 1879.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF., MAY 8, 1937

36 a

HERNDON DECISION HAILED

AS FREE SPEECH VICTORY

Voiding of Georgia's insurrection statute

by the U. S. Supreme Court early last week

and freeing of Angelo Herndon, Negro

Communist, convicted for possessing Com-

munist literature, was hailed by the Na-

tional American Civil Liberties Union as an

outstanding victory for free speech.

Commenting on the decision, Roger N.

Baldwin, Union director, said:

"The Herndon decision is gratifying to

defenders of free speech not only because

the court has again gone liberal by one, but

because in effect it is a blow at one of the

half-dozen worst centers of repression in the

United States-Atlanta, Ga. The prosecu-

tor's office in Atlanta invoked this old in-

surrection statute not only to get Angelo

Herndon but over twenty others in the last

five or six years. All of them, now on bail,

will be freed, since the law is void. Citizens

of Atlanta who have fought the local inqui-

sition at last have a chance to wipe it out.

"The decision is a clean sweep of an ob-

noxious and un-American statute. The fight

against it was persistently pushed by the

International Labor Defense and sympa-

thetic agencies, and skillfully handled in

the courts by Whitney North Seymour of

New York."

BOSTON BOOKSELLERS

NOW "WATCH AND WARD"

All the book censoring which the Watch

and Ward Society feels is necessary is now

being accomplished by the Board of Trade

of Boston Book Merchants, it is revealed

by the Civil Liberties Committee of Massa-

chusetts.

Persons inquiring as to why James T.

Farrell's `A World I Never Made" was

banned in Boston, were recently referred

by Watch and Ward officials to the trade

board. Said a trade board spokesman:

"The book isn't being sold in Boston."

RELEASE OF MATERIAL

ON NAZI GROUPS URGED

Rep. Samuel Dickstein has been urged by

the American Civil Liberties Union to make

public the material he has collected on Nazi

groups in this country, both for use by the

Senate Committee on Civil Liberties and

by state authorities for prosecutions where

laws prohibit drilling with arms.

In a letter to Representative Dickstein,

Roger N. Baldwin, director of the Union,

held that while the resolution for an inves-

tigation into Nazi propaganda recently

tabled in the House was "undesirable in

the form in which it was drafted and re-

ported," the problem should be attacked

vigorously by state action.

"In many of the states,' the letter de-

clared, "there already are laws sufficient to

suppress drilling by arms and the wearing

of uniforms. We are anxious to see such

legislation enforced, and where it is lack-

ing, passed."'

Considerable portions of the information

collected by Representative Dickstein, if

available for use, should be brought before

the Senate Committee on Civil Liberties,

the Union suggested.

The Dickstein resolution, which was in-

spired by his current study of Nazi propa-

ganda, authorized a Congressional commit-

tee to investigate the "diffusing of slander-

ous or libelous un-American propaganda of

religious, racial or subversive political

prejudices which tends to incite to the use

of force or violence." In opposing it, the

Civil Liberties Union pointed out that a

similar investigation two years ago result-

ed "only in recommendations infringing

civil rights."

MOONEY RESOLUTION PASSED

BY CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY

A resolution has finally been gotten

through the California Assembly calling

upon Governor Merriam to grant Tom

Mooney a "full and complete pardon."

Paul Richie of San Diego, who has done

such valiant work in behalf of liberal

measures in the present Legislature and in

the one of two years ago, presented the

resolution. It was known as House Resolu-

tion No. 142. He was granted unanimous

consent to take it up on April 21st without

reference to committee or calendar, where-

upon the Assembly adopted it by a vote of

BZ tO Bos

Previously two joint resolutions seeking

to free Mooney had passed the Assembly

but had been turned down by the reaction-

ary Senate.

SOCIAL CHANGES IN EUROPE TOUR

Dr. Clinton J. Taft, in cooperation with the Compass Travel Bureau of New York City,

will personally conduct another tour to Europe next summer.

Nine Countries Will Be Visited

ENGLAND, DENMARK, SWEDEN, FINLAND, SOVIET UNION, HUNGARY,

AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND and FRANCE

(Conferences with Liberal Groups in London, Paris and Vienna)

27 DAYS - Sailing from New York on the Cunard Liner ``Berengaria'' July 3, 1937.

18 Days In The Soviet Union.

Only $495 in third class (as good as tourist formerly).

Make Your Reservations NOW

(Send $50 deposit TODAY to secure steamer reservation before all gone. Returned up

to 30 days of sailing if you can't take trip)

Send for circular giving detailed information about the Tour

624 American Bank Bldg., Los Angeles.

Sootences=

MR. PRESIDENT, WHY NOT SOLVE

OUR WAR AND WORRY PROBLEM)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt,

Washington, D. C.

Dear Mr. President:

The Briand-Kellogg Pact renounceq war

as an instrument of national policy, go why

is war not automatically outlawed, freeing

the people from the bondage of supporting

the international slaughtering game? The

Government promised us that the last map,

made holocaust was to be the last, that if

we would give our lives then no man woulg

ever be called upon again to sacrifice hig

life for country - countries which g

brazenly conscript our children to murdey

other children, for what? Was anything

gained by the sacrifice of these millions)

The business of war is to break up home

and families. In this twentieth century why

can't we find civilized methods of dealing

with each other? What can the man from

Mars think of our planet, looking down on

us today? He is probably gloating to see }

bristling with so many instruments of de.

struction.

If you would heed the suggestion to out

law war as a method of settling interna.

tional disputes, you would be the greatest

leader of nations in the world; and how

easy it would be since all the people of all

the world want it and were promised it-

only governments lead us into it.

Also the problem of the forgotten man is

still unsolved. .As long as we are spending

billions in a futile effort to keep our people

from starving (and also to annihilate them)

why not arrange to give every one a month-

ly allowance-enough to keep the wolf

from the door while he is looking for a job

to work for his luxuries? All humans are

entitled to that much, and it would not cost

any more than the unsatisfactory way that

prevails today. Of course the government

will always have to play its part in guaran-

teeing the welfare of its people as no indi-

vidual can. That is one thing at least the

depression has taught us. Never again shall

man's lot be left to the haphazard whims

of the charitably inclined individuals.

And money need not be so sacred that

anyone need go without the common neces

sities. Only the banking system creates this

unnecessary hardship on all of us. Let the

banks be only repositories for the peoples'

convenience, and not money-making insti-

tutions for the speculators with other

people's money. Must we have revolutions

to bring about these vital changes in our

out-worn institutions? The changes are

necessary if we are ever going to be able to

call ourselves civilized. Now we are 4 Na

tion of worriers because we have no secll-

ity. The Scandinavian countries have elimi-

nated individual worry and have assumed

the collective worry problem, and _ have

solved it somehow. Why can't we? Cal

you be the one to do it? -KX. C.-G.

"NO PASARAN!"

(They Shall Not Pass!)

By Upton Sinclair

A New Novel-Just Off the Press.

This book tells about the Spanish

civil war-how a group of American

boys in the International Brigade stop

the Fascists at the gates of Madrid.

Ordinarily the book would sell for

$2.00, but it is being issued in cheap

form for wide distribution.

Send 25c immediately for your Copy;

or $1.75 for ten copies, to The Open

Forum, 624 American Bank Bldg.

Los Angeles.

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