Open forum, vol. 26, no. 12 (June, 1949)

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THE OPEN FORUM

Official Organ of THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, Southern California Branch

"When good people in any country cease their vigilance

and struggle, then evil men prevail."

-PEARL Buck

"Vol. XXVI

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, JUNE 11, 1949

No. 12

Democracies Must Promote

SPECIFIC, POSITIVE PROGRAMS!

By William O. Douglas

Associate Justice, U. S. Supreme Court

The world is on the edge of great

hange. On all continents a spirit of un-

wt stirs the people and makes rulers

ineasy. It is a protest against illiteracy,

lisease, poverty and misgovernment. It

weeps the world, proclaiming injustice

ud feeding on discontent. ...

While we have given impetus and

itive to the forces of unrest in the world,

le Soviets . . . have activated those

inces with an ideology and with propa-

nda... .

Lasting peace requires that the de-

nocracies regain the initiative. Under

lkmocratic influences the worldwide

witit of unrest can be the means of

nuilding valuable habits of peaceful

wllaboration. ...

We in the United States have work to

(0 at home in order to make these prin-

tiples vital components of our commu-

lity life. . . . The United States has a

ecial responsibility to promote these

tinciples in the international commu-

lity,

But if the democratic nations are to

tke from the Soviets control of the di-

tection of the forces of unrest, more is

weded. General principles must be fur-

ished with specific programs of POLI-

ICAL action. We must translate prin-

liples of freedom and justice into specific

ind concrete ideas-into ideas as definite

bread and land.

That problem carries back to a fair

listribution of the land's bounty; to nur-

ting and conserving the earth against

lhe forces that destroy its fertility... .

the world's problem of poverty and

linger goes back to things other than

ind-to wages, housing, exploitation of

latural resources, and all the many fac-

`ts that bear on the standard of living

ifthe people... . We can take steps to

lave the dollars or technical skills that

`We offer directed against the forces of

leverty, illiteracy, disease and misgov-

`ment. Each new industrialization or

reclamation project must be utilized for

the benefit of the multitude, not merely

for a few at the top.

ATTENTION!

City Council

County Board of Supervisors

Board of Education

All State and Federal Officials

`What do you want me to do next, Boss?'

7 | i

. aS a ) SH

` ey. yen Ag es f

wife

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-Courtesy of the Washington Post

If we neglect these things, we let the

Soviets retain the initiative in directing

the forces of unrest. . . . If we throw

(the weight of our prestige) on the side

of human rights the world over, the tide

will turn and we will salvage even the

wastelands of the world for the demo-

cratic cause. If we throw it on the side

of reaction and vested interests, the dem-

ocratic cause ill lose as steadily in all

areas as it has in China since the war.-

Excerpts from speech delivered at the

dinner-forum of the Nation Associates

and reported in the April 30 issue of the

Nation.

Loyalty Procedures

Should Be Reformed!

ACLU Insists That Most

Checks Be Discontinued ;

Heed Citizen's Rights |

Urging that future loyalty checks of

federal employees should be confined to

"sensitive departments and jobs where a

divided or questionable loyalty is a clear

disqualification," the ACLU addressed

Attorney General Tom C. Clark, May 23

suggesting a seven-point program of re-

forms in the loyalty procedure. The

Union told the Attorney General that it

"of course recognizes the right of the

government to exact unqualified loyalty

from its employees," but that the "prac-

tical question of exercising that right

fairly" has not been resolved. The At-

torney General was addressed as the

President's "legal adviser, concerned with

all phases of the executive order on loy-

alty."

The seven-point program suggested to

the Attorney General covers;

(1) The confinement of future tests of

loyalty to so-called sensitive areas of the

government. (2) Hearings and reviews

on appeal for all employees in all posi-

tions in the government and in private

firms working on government contracts,

whether the charges involve loyalty or

security. (3) Abandonment of the public

listing by the Attorney General of so-

called subversive organizations, or if that

is impracticable, to accord hearings to

all organizations claiming error. The

Union asserted that the lists are used "far

beyond their intent" to create general dis-

crimination against these agencies. (4)

Full revelation of charges and sources of

information so that employees accused

may meet them. (5) Permission for em-

ployees found unfit for "sensitive posts"

to transfer to non-sensitive. (6) Bringing

under the loyalty procedures the four

departments of the government now

exempted by law,-State, Army, Navy

and Atomic Energy, where "most of the

discharges have taken place." (7) Aban-

doning the practice of new loyalty checks

on employees once cleared, when they

transfer from one department to another.

PAGE TWO

The Union's letter was signed by the

-members of a special Committee on Loy-

alty Investigations, headed by Raymond

L. Wise, former Asst. U. S.. Attorney in

New York; James Lawrence Fly, former

chairman of the Federal Communications

Commission; Norman Thomas; John F.

Finerty, lawyer; Prof. Herbert R. North-

rup of columbia University and Frederick

Robin of the Union's Board of Directors.

Wixman Again

Denied Citizenship

On the testimony of men who admitted

under oath that as members of the Com-

munist Party they had been knowingly

disloyal to the United States for a period

of years, Judge Paul J. McCormick a

second time denied citizenship to Samuel

Wixman, a former teacher in Los Angeles

City College.

The substance of Judge McCormick's

first opinion was that one who in a time

of depression voiced doubt as to the

capitalistic order is not sufficiently at-

tached to the principles of the Constitu-

tion to entitle him to become a citizen.

The Circuit Court of Appeals sustained

McCormick's denial of citizenship, what-

ever individual judges may have thought

of his reasoning. In due process the Su-

preme Court of the United States re-

versed his decision and that of the higher

court "for the reason that there is not

sufficient evidence in the record to sup-

port it," and remanded the case to the

court for further proceedings.

The "further proceedings" consisted

largely in testimony from men whom the

Attorney General's department would be

hounding were it not supporting them

as professional witnesses. One had been

thoroughly discredited by Dean Landis,

and by implication by the Supreme Court

that accepted the Landis view in the case

of Bridges vs Wixon. Another told a fan-

tastic story of a course in the Lenin In-

stitute and of his being court marshalled

in Moscow but offered an advance posi-

tion in Communist circles on his return

to the U. S. Yet another was a self con-

fessed cheap spy on candidates for the

Los Angeles Board of Education. Not

satisfied with this the Department of Na-

turalization attempted to smear a witness

for Wixman by using the infamous report

of the House Un-American Committee on

the infiltration of Communism into the

churches of the country-some of which

members of the Committee themselves

repudiated,

(Continued on page 8, column 8)

Chicago Chancellor

Confounds Committee

Illinois Commission

Gets Effective Lecture

On Academic Freedom

Chicago University gave the whole

country an example of how to meet legis-

lative investigations by un-American

committees. Instead of quailing before an

attack the Board of Trustees took the

initiative by issuing a stirring declaration

on academic freedom.

Appearing before the Subversive Ac-

tivities Commission (Boyles Commis-

sion) Chancelor Robert M. Hutchins

gave no indication of a mere defensive

attitude. He spoke out so forthrightly for

American principles that the commission

soon decided to save the Illinois tax-

payers the $75,000 which had been ap-

propriated for an investigation of Chicago

University and Roosevelt College.

"The supoena I received summons me

to testify concerning subversive activities

in the University of Chicago," began the

Chancelor at the hearing. "This is a lead-

ing question; the answer is assumed in

the question. I cannot testify concerning

subversive activities at the University of

Chicago, because there are none."

Naming the 34 trustees to the Univer-

sity Dr. Hutchins defiantly declared, "it

will not be charged that they are engaged

in subversive activities (or) ... that they

would sanction such activities.

Referring to "one of the most distin-

guished faculties in the world" the Chan-

cellor explained, "The reason why the

University has such a distinguished fac-

ulty is that the University guarantees its

professors absolute and complete free-

dom of speech. .. . It has sometimes been

said that some members of the faculty

belong to some so-called "Conmunist-

front' organizations. The University of

Chicago does not believe in the un-Amer-

ican doctrine of guilt by association. .. .

"It is now fashionable to call anyone

with whom you disagree a Communist or

a fellow traveler. .. . One who criticizes

the foreign policy of the United States,

or the draft, or the Atlantic Pact, or who

believes that our military establishment

is too expensive can be called a fellow-

traveler, for the Russians are of the same

opinion. One who thinks that there are

too many slums and too much lynching

in America can be called a fellow-trav-

eler, because the Russians want change

in this country, too."

"The Constitution of the United States

guarantees freedom of speech and the

right of the people peaceably to assem-

THE OPEN FORUM

ACLU Will Aid

Syracuse Student

Irving Feiner, Syracuse University stu-

dent, will be aided by the ACLU in ap-

pealing a 30-day jail sentence for making

an allegedly abusive street speech, on the

ground that the veteran's right to free-

dom of speech was violated.

Feiner was announcing on a residential

corner in Syracuse, N. Y., a last-minute

change in the meeting place where 0,

John Rogge, former Assistant Attorney

General, was to speak on March 8, after

the school board revoked a permit for a

school building.

Two policemen, the only prosecuting

witnesses, claimed that the student was

inciting to riot, blocking traffic and using

abusive language. He was arrested, held

on $1000 bail and refused a jury trial by

Police Magistrate William H. Bamerick,

who sentenced him to 80 days. He is free

on bail pending the appeal.

While in jail after conviction, Feiner

received notice from Syracuse University

that he had been dismissed. He was a

third-year student, a veteran with three

years of service, attending college under

the G. I. Bill of Rights.

The Union stated that "the issue is

clear that the police exceeded their au-

thority in making an arrest under these

circumstances. Feiner and his witnesses

denied the abusive language charged. It

looks as if both the school board's action,

the arrest and the University's action all

stemmed from political prejudice against

the Progressive Party. We defend free

speech on principle, not as partisans, with

equal rights for all parties and indi-

viduals."

ble. The American way has been to en-

courage thought and discussion. We have

never been afraid of thought and discus-

sion. The whole educational system, and

not merely the University of Chicago, is

a reflection of the American faith in

thought and discussion as a path to

peaceful change and improvement.

"The danger to our institutions is not

from the tiny minority who do not be-

lieve in them. It is from those who would

mistakenly repress the spirit upon which

those institutions are built. The miasma

of thought control that is now spreading

over the country is the greatest menace

to the United States since Hiler."

(The above excerpts were culled from

Chancelor Hutchins' complete statemen!

published in the June, 1949 issue of

Tower Topics, 5733 University Avenue,

Chicago 37, Illinois. )

THE OPEN FORUM

PAGE THREE

THE OPEN FORUM

OFFICIAL ORGAN

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BRANCH

AaRrON ALLEN Heist, Director-Editor

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

J. W. MacNarr Rev. ALLAN HunTER

Chairman KATHERINE KILBOURNE

A. L. Wir, Counsel a oe

J. B. Tietz, Treasurer Oe one

Pror. Crarves R. Nixon

FRANKLIN L. ALEXANDER Frep OkRAND

Mrs. JoHN BEARDSLEY Joun C. Packarp

Dr. OriveR H. BRONSON

Dn. E. P. Rrtanp

Epmunp W. Cooks Mrs. Raupu SMITH

FLoyp CovINGTON

Dr. Curnton J. Tarr

Pror. Grorce M. Day

CLorE WARNE

Hucu HarpymMan ExizaBetH A. Woop

Dr. Wo. Linpsay Younc

Published Bi-Weekly at

Room 517, 257 South Spring Street

Los Angeles 12

Phone TUcker 8514

One Dollar the year

Five cents per copy

Entered as second-class matter April 24, 1946,

at the post office at Los Angeles, California,

under the Act of March 8, 1879.

P 60

Los Angeles, California, June 11, 1949

ANTHEM OF THE

UNIVERSAL

One Cosmic Brotherhood,

One Universal Good,

One Source, One Sway

One Law Beholding Us,

One Purpose Molding Us,

One Life Enfolding Us,

In Love Alway.

Anger, Resentment, Hate,

Long Made Us Desolate,

Their Reign Is Done.

Race, Color, Creed and Caste

Fade in the Dreamy Past;

Man Wakes to Learn at Last,

ALL LIFE IS ONE!

-Author Unknown

WueEn the rights of even the humblest

among us are denied, the democratic

security of all is threatened, said Gover-

nor Herbert H. Lehman in the day when

Socialists were being barred from office

and employment as Communists are

today.

WHEN I HEAR another express an

_ pinion which is not mine, I say to my-

self, he has a right to his opinion, as I

have to mine; why should I question itp

His error does me no injury, and shall I

become a Don Quixote, to bring all men

by force of argument to my opinion?-

Thomas Jefferson.

ALERT, CALIFORNIANS!

Keep in touch with your assemblymen

on the notorious Tenney Bills. If any

pass the Assembly write Governor War-

ren asking that he veto them.

FRONT PAGE COPY

The May 19th issue of Conscription

`News reproduced much of the OpENn

Forum analysis of the Hopley Report on

its front page. We are hoping that the

death of Secretary Forrestal will mean

the end of the Hopley program.

COMMUNIST TEACHERS

The American Association of Univer-

sity Professors has taken the following

position officially-"So long as the Com-

munist Party in the United States is a

legal political party, affiliation with that

party in and of itself should not be re-

garded as a justifiable reason for exclu-

sion from the academic profession."

SENATORS-

HONORABLE MEN

California State Senators are honorable

men. As such they take sharp exception

to being smeared by Jack Tenney. But

these very honorable men have perpetu-

ated an un-American committee which

they knew was engaged in smearing men

as honorable, or more honorable, than

they! Indeed they have generously ap-

propriated taxpayers' money to have

their fellow citizens smeared! Just how

honorable are our California Senators?

CLARK PRACTICES

COMMUNIST ETHICS

The U. S. Department of Justice seems

perfectly willing to practice. what is re-

ported to be Communist ethical teaching

-the end justifies the means. On the one

hand it hounds citizens for even casual

association with Communists, and on the

`other hand it cuddles to its bosom the

lowest kind of men-spies and informers,

keeps them on the payroll of the govern-

ment as "clerks," and what not, in order

to use them in court cases that the de-

partment wants to win. Some of them

have confessed under oath that they are

perjurers and that for a period of years

they knowingly lived in disloyalty to the

country whose government is now using

them. No harm that Communist can do

our government is as damaging as such

use of "ex-Communists" by the govern-

ment. And how does the department

know that these very men are not now

of the highest possible service to Mos-

cow?

Japanese Americans

Fear

With the United States Government

confessing its wrong doing, in evacuating

citizens of Japanese ancestry, to the de-

gree that it offers partial compensation

for damages done, the majority of the

victims of our military autocracy now

fear to file claims for fear of further mo-

lestation. Such at least is the explanation

of the relatively few claims filed that is

offered by some competent workers with

years of experience with the group.

That such fear should exist is not

strange not only because of the violations

of human rights in the evacuation itself

but as a result of much harassment while

in our concentration camps. It is reported

that some evacuees were subjected to as

many as 21 "loyalty tests," hearings and

investigations.

Property losses in farms, homes and

business ventures as a result of the short

notice evacuation are estimated at around

$100,000,000. To this must be added a

loss of $250,000,000 in income, not to

mention savings which evacuees were

compelled to use up because the govern-

ment allowed only $15, $16, or $19 per

month for monthly wages for full eight

hour days,

Congress has appropriated one million

dollars to be paid on claims up to $2500.

Even some who have lost a hundred

times that sum are afraid to file claims.

It is difficult to offer proof of exact losses

and claimants fear that a government

which has treated them unjustly in the

past may now pounce on any error as a

basis of perjury charges.

We urge our readers in sections in

which returned evacuees reside to urge

them to file claims. Competent advisors

are available who will be able to prove

their fears to be groundless.

Ams To Communists - Members of

Boards of Supervisors, of City Councils

and of Boards of Education, along with

Mayors and Superintendents of schools,

who have had any part in promoting

"loyalty tests" deserve much of the same

as Manchester Boddy has leveled at Jack

Tenney.

WIXMAN...

(Continued from page 2, col. 1)

That the Supreme Court of the United

States will once more reverse the Los

Angeles Judge is scarcely to be doubted

if enough citizens concerned with genu-

ine Americanism will make available

funds to carry up the appeal. The AMEr-

IcAN Civ, Lisertres Union has spon-

sored the case since the original appeal.

a an ~ oe -

PAGE FOUR

"Debtor Case" Is

Greatly Overplayed

ACLU Investigation Finds

Sensational Newspaper Stories

_ Ignore Facts of Law

The ACLU will not participate in the

cases of three veterans jailed in Vermont

allegedly for failing to pay court judg-

ments, because its investigation shows

that there are no violations of civil lib-

erties, Herbert M. Levy, ACLU staff

counsel, announced May 25.

The men, Ralph J. Fugatt, Springfield,

Mass.; Bernard J. Smith, Jr., Fair Haven,

Vt., and Frederick L. Lapan, Marshfield,

Vt., wer in prison on a "close jail certifi-

cate" because of failure to pay judgments

arising from automoible accidents.

Investigation by attorney Louis Lis-

man, ACLU representative in Vermont,

reveals that there is no "imprisonment for

debt" in Vermont. He said: "The men

were imprisoned because they were

found guilty of a willful and malicious

act which resulted in personal injuries

for which no compensation was made.

They were given a full hearing on the

question of whether their acts were will-

ful and malicious, and were represented

by. competent and experienced counsel."

The hearing was held because the "con-

science of the court" was shocked, he

declared.

It also was stated that there is no pos-

sibility that the men may be imprisoned

for life, as press reports indicated. Under

the Vermont law, once the court decides

that the men have been punished suff-

ciently, they may go free on bail, pro-

vided they do not leave Vermont. They

may also go free if they submit to "sup-

plementary proceedings," a legal inquiry

into their assets to find if they have

transferred their assets to defraud cred-

itors.

Imprisonment for refusal or failure to

pay court judgments is permitted in

many states, according to ACLU counsel,

who see no violation of civil rights in the

procedure.

- SS

"Non-VIOLENT RESISTANCE to taboos

which are themselves a violation of our

basic law is not only not treason; it is a

democratic duty and an essential form of

Christian witness."-The Christian Cen-

tury.

Jack B. Tenney-

"He is the most effective tool

being used today by the Commu-

nist Party of the United States,"

says

Manchester Boddy in L. A. Daily News

"It's a long road that has no turnings"

-sometimes a hairpin turn right at the

edge of the cliff]

There is increasing evidence of Cali-

fornia's turn toward sanity. Whether such

"mentally and emotionally ill-distorted

half men, whose trappings of power only

superficially conceal their deep weak-

ness'-as our professional witch hunters

can take the turn or will go over the

cliff to political oblivion is not the least

interesting question of our times.

In an editorial on Decoration Day the

able editor of the Los Angeles Daily

News compared Jack B. Tenney's pend-

ing "loyalty bills" to poison designed to

kill off liberals and progressives as a fool

would destroy lady bugs when aphis in-

fest his roses. In so many words, Tenney

is held suspect" through ignorance or by

design," of serving Moscow. The U. S.

House Committee on un-American Ac-

tivities accused him of doing so in 1988,

We quote the closing half of the editorial

which may mark an important turn in

California politics: (Subheads ours)

In Pay or Moscow?

"If Jack Tenney were hired by the high

command in Moscow to render the most

effective service possible he could do no

better than to apply a deadly spray (his

so-called "loyalty" measures) against the

liberals and progressives.

"And since that is precisely what he is

doing, it is impossible to escape the dis-

turbing thought that Jack B. Tenney him-

self, either through ignorance or by de-

sign, is serving the gigantic international

conspiracy which is communism.

Jack Once LisTeEp!

"Jack Tenney's position is all the more

disturbing because in the 1938 report of

the U. S. House of Representatives' Com-

mittee on Un-American Activities, testi-

mony was brought out that Tenney was

associated with the extreme left-wing fac-

tion of California politics and spoke for

this factions as a member of the State

Assembly.

THE OPEN FORUM ~

OUR POSITION ON

COMMUNISTS

Tue AMERICAN Crvit Liserties Union

is wholly opposed to all restrictions on

opinion or associations aimed at Com-

munists or any others. It is opposed on

principle, not because of any sympathy

with Communism. .. . It is not as special

pleaders but as defenders of the civil lib-

erties for ALL without distinction, that

we oppose restrictions on Communists

for their opinions and legal activities

From ACLU pamphlet issued by New

York office, April, 1948.

ee

$30,000 STOPS POLICE!

The too common way in which police

"question" known law abiding citizens,

"take in" others and hold them without

permitting them to communicate with

friends, attorneys or employers might be

considerably modified if citizens would

follow the example of a Chicago woman.

She was arrested on a traffic charge a

block from her home, jailed overnight,

refused the privilege of phoning her

young children or her employer. Nor was

she permitted to make bail until the next

morning. Subsequently she was acquitted.

She has now filed a claim with the City

Council for $30,000 for false arrest, ma-

licious prosecution, humiliation and loss

of wages.

Usrs COLORATION

"It is always distressing to learn that a

man in high public office is secretly serv-

ing a subversive group out to destroy

American democracy. But such revela-

tions have been made all too frequently

during the past few years. To protect

itself, the political "aphis" (particularly

the big shots) has found it necessary to

take on more and more of the color of

the plant (democracy) it seeks to de-

stroy. And it is true that since 1938 Ten-

ney has taken on the color of democracy -

which keeps him on the public payroll

in a strategic position for effective work

on behalf of communism.

Dornc Work FoR COMMUNISTS?

"But the time has come when we must

judge all public officials by their acts. In

the measures Jack Tenney is sponsoring

today, he is seeking to destroy the only

effective enemies that the Communists

fear-the liberals and progressives of the

State of California. And we cannot avol

the suspicion that he is doing this under

the direction of the "aphis" leadership

itself,

"In a word, he is the most effective tool

being used today by the Communist

Party of the United States.-M.B."

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