Open forum, vol. 18, no. 12 (March, 1941)

THE OPEN FORUM

Free Speech Fede Press Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"-John Philpot Curran

Vol. XVIII

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 22, 1941

Advocates of Censorship Urge

Council Ordinance in Los Angeles

A.C.L.U. Opposes New Drive to Control

Showing of Pictures and Plays

Los Angeles for many years has been

the scene of violations of civil liberties of

all sorts, but in the matter of motion pic-

tures and the legitimate stage, it must be

acknowledged that city officials have re-

fused to inaugurate a censorship. Certain

pressure groups have again and again

urged that a board of censors be set up to

pass upon the plays and pictures that the

people shall be allowed to see.

Last week a new attempt in this direction

was made when it was suggested that the

City Council adopt an ordinance which

would require police regulation of theatres

and motion-picture houses. About a year

ago the Council was invoked to pass an

ordinance of this kind, but refused to carry

it beyond the first reading. President Henry

G. Bodkin, of the Police Commission, when

approached concerning his attitude toward

the proposed ordinance, stated that he

feared such a censorship as was contem-

plated and believed that questionable films

and plays should be passed upon by the

courts.

Recently the promoters of a play known

as "White Cargo," which had a run of

nearly two years here in the city, were

brought into court and found guilty of pro-

ducing an indecent play. The manager

and several of.the actors, following convic-

tion, were fined and the play was taken off

the stage.

In the judgment of the American Civil

Liberties Union this is the democratic way

to handle such matters. On the subject of

censorship, the A.C.L.U. has taken the

following stand:

eee Many censorships by administra-

tive officials over movies, the theatre, radio

and publications, should be abolished and

control left wholly to the determination

of juries in civil or criminal proceedings.

Juries reflect current standards of decency

better than officials. Any attempt by public

officials to arrogate to themselves powers of

censorship should be vigorously opposed."

elieve Ike Or not, the - "Res Angeles

Times," in an editorial of March 15 took

Practically the same attitude toward this

matter of censorship. We reproduce the

editorial because it sets forth our own view-

Point So fully:

ie a police commissions everywhere

Ere 0 want to set up as boards of censors

nunues as one of the cosmic mysteries,

and ours is at it again.

year ago the City Council killed an

nee designed to give the Police Com-

nh authority to regulate stage shows

ordina

Missio

and

ce eet performances. Several pre-

sone s empts of the same sort went the

publis io and for the same reason: the

ship, S very properly opposed to censor-

"This does

not

favors indecen mean that the public

t performances; it does not.

Motion-picture theatres so as to pre--

But it considers censorship the wrong ap-

proach to the problem-and it is right.

"If a performance is indecent, it can be

proved so in court and those responsible

punished. If it cannot be so proved, it is

entitled to the benefit of the doubt.

No. 12

UNION FINDS BILLS MENACE

CIVIL RIGHTS IN MANY STATES

Reviewing the wave of repressive bills

in state legislatures, the American Civil

Liberties Union last week pointed out that

21 states now have before them bills aimed

at barring from the ballot parties which

either advocate violence against the gov-

ernment or which have foreign political

connections. Both types of bill are aimed at

the Communist Party. The states now con-

"The Police Commission would be better + Sidering such bills include Colorado, Kan-

employed keeping the police in pursuit of

THE AMERICAN WAY

``When men have realized that time

has upset many fighting faiths they

may come to believe, even more than

they believe in the very foundations of

their own conduct, that the ultimate

good desired is better reached by free

trade in ideas, that the best test of

truth is the power of the thought to get

itself accepted in the competition of

the market; and that truth is the only

ground upon which their wishes safely

can be carried out. That, at any rate,

is the theory of our Constitution. It

is an experiment as all life is an experi-

ment. Every year, if not every day,

we have to wager our salvation upon

some prophecy based upon imperfect

knowledge. While that experiment is

part of our system I think that we

should be eternally vigilant against at-

tempts to check the expression of

opinions that we loathe and believe

to be fraught with death, unless they

so imminently threaten immediate in-

terference with the lawful and press-

ing purposes of the law that an im-

mediate check is required to save the

country." - Justice Oliver Wendell

Holmes.

robbers, burglars and thieves than in trying

to regulate the theatre, which it is ill-

equipped to do."

Various cities throughout America have

tried the censorship method of regulating

theatres and motion-picture houses, but

without notable success. Morris L. Ernst,

one of the National Counsel of the A.C.L.U.,

has this pertinent comment to make on the

subject of censorship:

"If the public is to blame for tawdry

pictures, all the censorship in the world

won't help. Morals can't be strait-jacketed

by edicts. If the producers are at fault

we can rely on sanctions of public taste.

Theater-goers can get what they want by

the simple expedient of shunning what they

don't want.

"Faith in the destiny of man means giv-

ing him the privilege of choice between

right and wrong, and trusting him to choose

the right. If he's headed for perdition,

putting blinders on him or plugs in his ears

will not stop him. Democracy is predicated

on the assumption that man is capable of

(Continued on Page 2, Col. 1)

sas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New

Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio,

Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Wyo-

ming. In Idaho the bill was unanimously

defeated in the senate after having passed

the lower house by a vote of 36 to 25. It

was also defeated in South Dakota. The

legislatures of Washington and Montana

have adjourned without passing the bills.

Through its local committees and repre-

sentatives, the Union is not only urging the

defeat of all such bills, but also the passage

of a model bill, aimed at overcoming the

unreasonable difficulties which confront

minority parties getting on the ballot.

Anti-sabotage legislation is before many

legislatures, ``aimed ostensibly to protect

defense industries against sabotage but so

framed as to constitute a dangerous weapon

which might easily be used to curb the

rights of organized labor.' The bills are

based on a "`model"' drawn up by the Fed-

eral-State Conference on Law Enforcement

Problems of National Defense. They are

opposed by organized labor and by other

agencies as a threat to labor's rights.

A number of states also have before them

bills to establish `home guards" to take the

place of the National Guard now called into

regular army service. The Union, in urging

amendment of the bills, says: "Unless the

activities of such home guards are carefully

limited by law, and unless they are made

answerable to civil authorities, there is

grave danger of their being used for strike-

breaking and for vigilante purposes against

pacifist or other minority groups."

Committees to investigate `subversive

activities" are proposed in a half dozen

states, following the pattern of the Dies

Committee, or of the Rapp-Coudert commit-

tee now investigating the New York public

schools. In California the Yorty Commit-

tee, known locally as the "Little Dies Com-

mittee," was established by the last legisla-

ture, and has obtained continuance for

another year. States considering such

legislative inquiries include Connecticut,

Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Laws aimed at punishing propaganda

stirring up race or religious hatred have

been introduced in several legislatures in-

cluding New York and Connecticut.

Criminal syndicalism bills have been in-

troduced in only a few states, probably be-

cause more than thirty states already have

such laws. Connecticut, Missouri, New

York, and Tennessee now have such bills

before them.

Page 2

THE OPEN FORUM

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at' 505 Douglas Building,

257. South Spring Street, Los Angeles, California, by

the Southern California Branch of the American

Civil Liberties Union. Phone: MUtual 2412

Clintons Valtss20 0 ee

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

Doremus Scudder A. A. Heist Carey McWilliams

Leo Gallagher Ernest Besig

John Packard

A. L. Wirin

Edwin Ryland

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year. Five Cents

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

Two Cents Each, if ordered in advance.

Editor

Advertising Rates on Request

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., MARCH 22, 1941

EP 36

FIGHT ON AT SACRAMENTO

As we go to press a battle is raging in Sac-

ramento over the enactment of two bills

that would penalize unpopular political

minorities in this state in a vicious manner.

Senate bill 1382, sponsored by George M.

Biggar, would throw out of office all state

employees engaged in so-called subversive

activities and would require an oath of al-

legiance by all public officials. On the face

of it this measure looks good to many

people, but it would be used unmercifully

in times like these to persecute those who

hold anything but standpat political

opinions.

Assembly bill 271, called the ``Little

Voorhis Act" because of its resemblance

to a bill put through Congress last year by

Jerry Voorhis, would require civilian mili-

tary groups and so-called subversive organ-

izations to register with the Department

of State if they have a membership of

more than twenty and are not labor, re-

ligious, patriotic or fraternal groups.

Our readers should do all in their power

to defeat bills of this kind, for if passed

they will surely be used by reactionary

agencies to intimidate and destroy po-

litical freedom in California.

DOROTHY THOMPSON AT FORUM

The Modern Forum announces a lecture

by Dorothy Thompson, well known jour-

nalist, at the Shrine Auditorium next Mon-

day night, March 24. Her subject will be:

`""America's Responsibility in This Crisis."

Tickets may be had by calling MU. 0048.

(Continued from Page 1)

governing himself and working out his

salvation. If this is true, and we think it is,

then we must also recognize that moral

coddling is incompatible with the notion of

free will. Man may be led upward, but he

can't be pushed.

"Let adults decide for themselves what

they are to see and hear on the screen. Let

the responsibility for safeguarding the sen-

sibilities of children be lodged where it

should be, with the parents. Let those who

would help parents discharge this duty

publish lists of recommended pictures for

those under age. The Schools Motion Pic-

ture Committee, a voluntary organization

of parents and school-teachers in New

York, has been doing just this with marked

success for some time. And if there are

religious groups that feel adults stand in

need of similar guidance, let them come

forward with similar lists.

"But let it stop there. Let there be no

threats, no boycott, no reprisal. For that

way lies dictatorship."

BIGOTRY CANNOT BE STOPPED

BY LAW, A.C.L.U. WARNS

Warning that "we cannot combat move-

ments which may menace democracy by

adopting the principle of repression which

these very groups espouse," the American

Civil Liberties Union has sent a memoran-

dum to its local committees for use in oppos-

ing bills in state legislatures penalizing

propaganda "`promoting hatred of any race

or religion." The Union opposes the bills

(1) as unconstitutional, (2) as restraints on

freedom of expression, (8) as unnecessary,

and (4) as likely to penalize groups to

which they were not intended to apply.

`Because of their vagueness none of the

proposed bills sets up any definite test of

guilt," the Union declared. `Under their

broad terms any outspoken criticism can be

construed as advocacy of hatred or hostil-

ity. Any criticism of a race, a people, a

nation or a particular religion might be so

interpreted."

Modeled closely on the New Jersey anti-

Nazi law which the A.C.L.U. is testing in

the higher courts, most of the bills now

pending make it a crime to:

"1. Write anything which incites, coun-

sels, promotes, or advocates hatred or vio-

lence or hostility against a group of per-

sons in this state by reason of their race,

color or religion; to have such provisions in

the by-laws of an organization; to produce

a picture, photograph or emblem, etc. hav-

ing such effect.

"2. To possess literature, a constitution

and by-laws above described or a pieture,

emblem, etc. having such effect.

"3. To display an emblem, picture, etc.

having such effect.

"4. To make a speech having such

effect.

"5, To permit the use of a building for

a meeting where any of the above pro-

visions are violated.

"6. To speak over the radio or to per-

mit a radio station to be used for a speech

where these provisions are violated.'

TROTSKYIST CANDIDATE SPEAKS

Dr. Grace Carlson, senatorial candidate

in Minnesota of the Socialist Workers Party

(Trotskyist), will speak Sunday, March 23,

at 8 p.m., in the South Hall of Embassy

Auditorium, 517 W. 9th St. Her meeting

last week was postponed because of legal

difficulties.

In the recent elections, with a program of

`militant Socialist opposition to imperialist

war, she polled a larger vote than all other

left-wing candidates combined. Her strong

campaign was analysed in an internal bul-

letin issued by the Communist Party warn-

ing its members to "renew the struggle

against Trotskyism."'

"BETWEEN TWO

WORLDS"

by Upton Sinclair

A New Novel about to be Published

Sequel to ``World's End,"

Carrying the story from 1919 to the

Wall Street. Panic of 1929

Clothbound, 859 pages, $3.00

Order your copy from the A.C.L.U.,

505 Douglas Bldg. Los Angeles

OO OOPS ODS

See

A.C.L.U, DELEGATION

VISITS L. A. SHERIFy

Five members of the Southern Gali

Executive Com. of the A. C. L. U. hel i

hour's conference last week with Sherif;

Eugene Biscailuz, Los Angeles County

executive, over the matter of his anti-gyp.

versive squad. Reports had reached the

A.C.L.U. office that certain members of

this squad had been attempting to invyegt.

gate one of the Protestant ministers in thi

area for alleged unpatriotic utterances,

The sheriff acknowledged that he haq

such a squad and that it was operating a}

the request of the Federal Bureau of Jp.

vestigation. He admitted that a mistake

had been made in annoying the ministe

and that the investigation had been calleq

off when the mistake was realized. Hoe

was very regretful of the occurrence, and

intimated that the squad would be called

together and instructed more fully ag to

their proper duties.

The sheriff was reminded by the delega.

tion of the atrocities committed a few years

back by the Los Angeles Police Red Squad

in the name of "law and order," and was

strongly urged to see that no repetition of

such lawlessness be allowed under county

auspices.

The visiting delegation consisted of

Chairman Ryland, Director Taft, Counsel

A. L. Wirin, Mrs. Ralph Smith and Prof,

Broadus Mitchell.

TWO A.C.L.U. RALLIES HELD

A meeting sponsored by the Santa Bar.

bara group of the Civil Liberties Union was

held at the University Club in that city last

week Wednesday evening. First there was

a.6:30 dinner, and following it a panel dis-

cussion of the question: `Should Civil Lib-

erties be Curtailed in the Present Emer-

gency?" Prof. Broadus Mitchell of Occi-

dental College, Los Angeles; Rev. Berkeley

Blake, pastor of the Unitarian Church; and

Mr. J. F. Goux, former Santa Barbara City

Attorney exchanged views on the subject.

The first speaker was strong for maintain-

ing freedom as guaranteed in the Bill of

Rights; but the other two favored adapting

ourselves to the `"`tendencies" of the times.

They asked each other pointed questions,

and the audience raised further inquiries.

Director Clinton J. Taft of the Southern

Calif. Branch of the Union who was present

spoke briefly at the close of the discussion,

urging vigorous action against any attempts

to use the current hysteria as a camouflage

under which to whittle away those precious

liberties which constitute the very soul of

democracy.

A rally of the Bakersfield Branch of the

A.C.L.U. is being held Thursday evening of

this week, with Bishop Edward L. Parsons

of San Francisco, as the speaker. He is 4

vice-chairman of the National A.C.L.U.

Cooor

"THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

OF A PERMANENT PEACE"

A Lecture by

PROF. IRVING FISHER

of Yale University

4)

Se

Friday Night, March 28-8 P. M.

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH

2936 West 8th St.

Dr. Fisher is a widely known economist

and advocate of the "stabilized dollar.

Tickets 40c. Tel. EX. 1356)

ee ee eo 10 16 e ee

cecil

eiieiGedidiaicaaamane