vol. 4, no. 5

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal is the price of liberty.”

Vol. IV SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY, 1939 No. 5

CAPITOL MERRY GO ROUND

Flag Wavers Still Threaten In Final Month of Legislature

With about one month remaining in the present State legislative session, most of the suppressive proposals have met defeat; two have survived preliminary skirmishes; one has become relatively respectable; and several still await committee action. It is quite possible, however, that one or more of the measures still pending will ultimately reach the Governor’s desk for his consideration.

Furthest advanced is the bill of Senator Swing, S. B. 470, limiting relief to aliens, the only alien-baiting bill to survive. In its original form it prohibited relief to aliens who were (1) illegal entrants; (2) ineligible for citizenship (such as Japanese, Hindoos, ete.); and, (8) who, although eligible, had failed tc apply for citizenship. In this form the bill was opposed by the A.C.L.U. :

No Relief for Certain Aliens

As amended and adopted by the Senate on April 7, the bill now excludes the following aliens from relief; 1, illegal entrants; 2, those ineligible for citizenship, unless they “have resided in California for five years immediately preceding the application for or being granted relief;” 3, persons who being eligible for citizenship have resided in California for five years without declaring their intention of becoming citi- zens, or who having declared their intention of becoming citizens have neglected for five years or more thereafter to take out naturalization certificates.

The Relief Administrator is nevertheless empowered to give temporary relief to in- eligible aliens “to prevent suffering” and to aid in returning indigent aliens to their native lands. As amended, the bill now meets most of the objections directed against it.

Alien-Baiting Checkmated

The other alien-baiting bills have been defeated or were abandoned. A bill requiring registration and finger-printing of aliens, A. B. 2682, was defeated in committee; an Alien Labor Permit Law, A. B. 848, was declared unconstitutional by the At’ torney General and abandoned; while S. B. 445, requiring officers and representatives of labor unions to be citizens (obviously directed at Harry Bridges) was refused passage by the Senate on April 19. Of two other bills, one, A. B. 826, compelling a rebroadcast in English of all foreign language radio broadcasts, was abandoned, while the other, A. B. 827, requiring foreign language newspapers to carry full English translations, was killed in committee.

Nazi Flag Salute Bills Advance

The patrioteers were successful in having two compulsory flag salute bills reported out of committee after intensive struggles. On the morning of April 13 the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 7 to 2, reported A. B. 343, without recommendation, while that evening the Senate Education Committee gave a favorable recommendation to S. B. 310 by a vote of 5 to 2.

In the Assembly committee a ‘‘do pass” recommendation on the flag salute bill failed by a vote of 5 to 4—-seven votes being “necessary. Finally, twoortive oppusing As-— semblymen agreed to support a motion to send the bill out without recommendation an order that it might be debated on the loor.

On the “‘do pass” motion the vote was as follows: “Aye:’? Mrs. Daley, Evans, Gar- (Continued on Page 4, Col. 1)

Gabrielli Flag Salute Case Ends

The Gabrielli flag salute case is at an end. Pending since October 25, 1935, when Charlotte Gabrielli (then 9 years old) was suspended from school for refusing to sa- lute the flag because of religious objections, the United States Supreme Court on April 17 dismissed the appeal. The court wrote no opinion. Its per curiam or memorandum decision merely stated that “the appeal is dismissed for want of juris- diction.”’

At the same time, the court rejected another flag salute appeal arising-in a Massa- chusetts case, also without an opinion. In fact, in the four appeals that the Supreme Court has now dismissed, no opinion has ever been written.

Under the circumstances, we can only guess at the reason why the court lacks jurisdiction. Apparently, it does not regard the flag salute issues as raising a question of religious liberty under the Con-. stitution.

Attorney. Wayne M. Collins of San Francisco represented the Gabrielli child throughout the proceedings.

Uphold Ouster of Aliens from W.P.A. Federal Judge Leon R. Yankwich on April 17 rejected an A.C.L.U. contention that exclusion of aliens from the W.P.A., effective since March 4th, constitutes a violation of constitutional guarantees against deprivation of liberty and property without due process of law. At the same time, the court raised a question whether such exclusion is a sound government policy.

Assembly Rejects C. S. Repeal 19-52

The Assembly on April 24 overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to repeal the Cali- fornia Criminal Syndicalism Act. The final vote was 19 to 52.

It was the first time in the history of the many attempts to repeal the law that a repeal measure has been reported out of a legislative committee. Following a threehour hearing before the Assembly Committee on Judiciary General, Paul Richie’s A. B. 375 was sent to the floor of the Assembly by a vote of 8 to 6. The committee vote on the motion to send the bill out without recommendation was as follows:

“Aye”: EF. Ray Bennett, Los Angeles; George D. Collins, Jr.. San Francisco: Ralph C. Dills, Los Angeles; Jack Massion, — Los Angeles; Edward F. O’Day, San Francisco; Paul Richie, San Diego; Ben Rosen| thal, Los Angeles, and Jack B. Tenney, Inglewood, (8).

“No”: Melvin I. Cronin, San Francisco; Frederick F. Houser, Alhambra; Gardiner Johnson, Berkeley; Charles W. Lyon, Los Angeles; Byrl R. Salsman, Palo Alto, and Frank J. Waters, Jr., Los Angeles, (6).

Appearing in support of repeal were Paul Richie, author of the bill, Ernest Besig, of the A.C.L.U.; Herman Stuyvelaar of the C.1.0.; Attorney George Anderson and Herbert Nugent of the I.L.D.; Dr. Clinton J. Taft of the Southern California Branch of the A.C.L.U.; J. Vernon Burke of Labor’s Non-Partisan League, and J. Stitt Wilson, former Mayor of Berkeley, who made a stirring rebuttal speech.

Speaking against repeal were Philip Ban| croft, representing the Associated Farm- ers; F. B. Mellman, past president California Elks; Attorney D. E. Peckinpah of the San Joaquin Chamber of Commerce; L. K. Marshall, a grape grower of Lodi; W. P. Wing, secretary of the Wool Growers Association of California, and T. J. Riordan, former State Commander of the American Legion.

HIGH COURT TO REVIEW CALIFORNIA LEAFLET CASE

The U. S. Supreme Court has consented to review the conviction of Kim Young for violating the Los Angeles Ordinance by handing out leaflets announcing a meet— ing sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Brigade. Attorney Osmond K. Fraenkel will argue the case in behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union and the International Labor Defense.

It is expected that two similar cases, involving anti-leaflet ordinances in Massa- chusetts and Wisconsin, will also be placed on the court’s docket shortly. All three or- dinances are based on prevention of street littering.

Let Freedom Ring

Whom Do You Know?

Enclosed with every May A.C.L.U.-NEWS sent to our supporters is a form requesting the names and addresses of prospects for membership. This month our membership has again increased to the highest point in our history, but it is still relatively small. So, please send in the names of persons you think might be interested in joining. Return envelopes accompany the forms.

Here is our record of active paid-up members for the past six months:

December 1 2..::......-2-2.24.--:. 494 January | 220 Ad Gen 508 February 1) 2.565. 506 March 13.22 ee: 519 April Vo 32 544 May 1.22 23 558

Freedom of the Press

Arguments on the appeal in the case of John Thurber and Jack Cope, who were convicted of violating a San Francisco ordithe result of a demonstration before the French consulate some months ago, have been set down for May 12. A brief submitted by Attorney Wayne M. Collins contends that, “the action of the police in arresting the defendants . . . constituted an unreasonable, arbitrary and oppressive interference with the freedom of the press.”

Witch Hunter Speaks

Congressman Martin Dies will deliver the main address at a Stand By America rally at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, on Thursday evening, May 4. The meeting is sponsored by the American Legion and will be presided over by Matthew J. Dooley, chairman of the Legion’s: Americanism Committee. Dies is scheduled to appear before a similar meeting at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, on May 1.

-Communist Party

The Superior Court of San Francisco County on April 14 upheld Joseph Philips, Custodian of Property, in his refusal to rent the Civic Auditorium to the Communist Party, because he does not like Communists. The case was not decided on the merits, but on an extraneous issue.

It seems the suit was brought by one Oleta O’Connor as chairman of the county committee of the Communist Party, when, in fact, such a committee has not been regularly constituted. Attorney George Anderson will shortly file another suit, his third, in an effort to determine the issue.

“Our Heritage of Freedom”

Under the title ‘(Our Heritage of Freedom,” Helen Marston Beardsley has writ‘ten an excellent pamphlet on civil liberties. Mrs. Beardsley, the wife of Superior Court Judge John Beardsley of Los Angeles County, is a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern California branch ‘of the A.C.L.U. The forty-page pamphlet, carrying several illustrations, may ibe se‘cured from The Council for Social Action, 289 Fourth Ave., New York City. Price: 2 to 9 copies, 12c each; 10 to 24 copies, 10c each; 25 to 100 copies, 8c each.

GOOD

Wace prohibiting the carrying of signs as

COMMITTEE QUESTIONED BY UNION

Employment by the Dies Committee of J. B. Matthews, as a ‘technical expert” on radical organizations and failure to retain an expert on fascist-inclined and antisemitic groups are assailed by the American Civil Liberties Union in a letter to Rep. Martin Dies, chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

The Union’s letter points out that when the resolution for continuance of the com- mittee was before Congress, Mr. Dies pledged the committee to a “scrupulously fair examination of the forces in American life which threaten our form of government and our liberties.”

‘““We are now advised,” writes the Union, “that although the Committee has employ-. ed counsel and investigators who apparent‘ly have no interest to serve except to un- cover the evidence, you have employed as a technical expert a man who testified before your Committee with such prejudice that his interpretations of fact were sharply challenged in affidavits later filed with you. We refer to J. B. Matthews, whose testimony together with the accusations of prejudice and misrepresentation are fully set forth in your hearings.”

FAITH OF DIES

Court Holds Former Communist Is Not Deportable

Aliens who are no longer members of the Communist Party at the time of arrest may not be deported, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6 to 2 decision releasing Joseph G. Strecker, Austrian-born restaurant keeper of Hot Springs, Ark. The court failed to pass on the question whether establishment of present membership in the Communist Party would have been sufficient grounds for deportation under the 1918 law referring to organizations advocating overthrow of this government by force or violence.

Strecker, who entered the United States in 1912, was held for deportation in 1933 when he sought naturalization. Strecker ‘showed that he had joined the Communist Party in 1932 but stopped paying dues four months later. In April, 1938, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the deportation order and the Department of Labor appealed to the highest tribunal.

In the Supreme Court’s majority opinion, Justice Roberts specifically said that it was “unnecessary to pass” on the aims and purposes of the Communist Party. The Court’s decision was as to the immediacy of the membership. Analyzing the 1918 statute, Charging that the good faith of the com—Justice Roberts declared: mittee is compromised by the employment of any technical expert ‘‘as biased as Mr. Matthews obviously is,’’ the Union attacks the committee for retaining an expert “in regard to only one set of agencies and forces.”

“So far as we can learn, no technical expert has been employed to deal with the whole field of activities so neglected by the Committee in its earlier investigations— namely, the native organizations of antidemocratic character such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Silver Shirts, the Black Legion and the host of anti-Semitic organizations. Nor has the Committee investigated with” vigor the ramifications of the foreign Fascist influences in the United States. Plainly the services of a technical expert are even more needed in those fields than in the field already so thoroughly explored by the Committee—the radical and united front organizations.”

The Union urges Mr. Dies to ‘“‘adhere to the principle of fair inquiry which you have professed” in order to insure serious consideration by the American people of the committee’s findings.

A.C.L.U. ENDORSES STATE PROPOSAL -BANNING PRIVATE ARMIES

The A.C.L.U. has endorsed A. B. 1436 by Chester Gannon which provides that “... no person, group or organization of persons, except chartered groups as described herein, school cadets, the State and Naval Militia, shall participate in any military drill, formation, maneuver or parade while armed. Any violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor.” .

PLAY CONTEST CLOSING DATE IS EXTENDED TO MAY 31

The final date for submission of manuscripts in the American Civil Liberties Union play contest has been put ahead from April 30th to May 31st, it was announced this week.

The contest, conducted in cooperation with the One-Act Play Magazine, offers two prizes of $75 and $25 plus royalties for plays dealing with as| pects of civil rights in America and suitable for radio presentation. The judges will be Brooks Atkinson, drama critic of the New York Times; Sidney Howard and Elmer Rice, playwrights; Archibald MacLeish, poet and radio dramatist; and William Kozlenko, editor of the One-Act Play Magazine.

Manuscripts should be sent to the A.C.L.U., 31 Union Square, W., New York City.

‘In the absence of a clear and definite expression, we are not at liberty to conclude that Congress intended that any alien, no matter how long a resident of this country or however well disposed toward our government, must be deported, if at any time in the past, no matter when, or under what circumstances, or for what time, he was a member of the described organization.”

The decision left up in the air the case of Harry Bridges and other aliens facing de- portation as Communists.

“LIFE” COMES TO STAY YE EDITOR

Last month we reported Ye Editor’s delight at receiving a year’s gift subscription to Life magazine from an unheard of benefactor, one C. D. Jackson. We suspected a “plot” because a similar subscription at Xmas time, credited to Harry Bridges, was cancelled when Mr. Bridges declined to pay ths bill which someone had incurred for him.

But there is a Santa Claus after all, for we now discover that our latest benefactor

FOR

is none other than the General Manager of Life itself, who is really serious in giving away some of the profits. Says he, I happened to see the editorial which appeared in your monthly paper telling about the — H. R. Bridges joke subscription. Feeling that Editor Besig should not thus be victimized I ordered the subscription re-entered and wrote you a letter, an amusing letter. When I read the letter it didn’t seem at all amusing and it was torn up but the subscription went through.

“And that, Mr. Besig, is all I know about And that, Mr. Jackson, is all we need to know. Ye Editor is now reassured and highly grateful. No longer does he go about with his fingers crossed, because Life comes to him unfailingly every Friday. .

NEW BOOKS ON CIVIL LIBERTIES

“Democracy Works,” by Arthur Garfield Hays (Random House, 334 pages, $3.00.) The general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union has tackled the whole field of current economic conflict to prove that only by political and economic democracy can we advance gradually to greater freedoms. Mr. Hays’ dismisses the schools of socialism and rugged individualism and steers a middle course to a controlled democratic economy.

The book is packed with argumentative and illustrative material dealing with many issues of civil liberties. It is lively and provocative reading.

A.C.L.U. Opposes | Ban On Aliens

Advocating Change

Characterizing as “unnecessary, unwise and unjust’”’ a bill recently passed by the House making deportable aliens advocating “any changes in the American form of government,’ the Civil Liberties Union has outlined six major objections to the meas- ure in a letter to Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr., chairman of the Senate Committee on Immigration.

The bill (H.R. 4860) was introduced by Rep. Dempsey of -New Mexico and passed the House without roll-call on a unanimous recommendation of the House Immigration Committee.

In its letter to Senator Russell, signed by Harry F. Ward, Union chairman, and sent to other members of the Senate Immigration Committee, the A.C.L.U. held that existing laws are “entirely adequate’ to deport aliens advocating force or violence and that no other expression of political opinion need be penalized in order to protect our form of government.

Language Open to Varied Interpretations

Pointing out that an alien expressing support of the President’s Supreme Court bill might be deportable, the Union charged that the phrase “the American form of gov- ernment” is open to varied interpretations.

“The bill if enacted would open the door wide to all sorts of charges against aliens who expressed any views whatever in regard to American politics, either in public or in private conversation. This would apply equally to aliens becoming citizens and to alien visitors. Distinguished refugees now becoming American citizens would feel constrained not to comment on American institutions.

“The reasons given by the House Committee for support of the bill are so vague as to constitute no argument whatever. They refer to the ‘growth of alien propaganda.’ Such propaganda comes into the country freely through the newspapers, periodicals and by shortwave radio. It is impossible to affect it by any such enactment.”

Might Bar Distinguished Statesmen

According to the Union, the law in practice would operate to bar from the United States distinguished foreign statesmen and writers who had expressed an opinion abroad regarding changes in our form of government.

“All laws aimed at opinions and utterances are notoriously difficult of fair en- forcement. To add any such vague phrase as ‘any changes in the American form of government’ would make the immigration law an instrument of injustice and oppression.”

OPPOSE BILL BARRING ALIENS FROM CITIZENSHIP FOR VIEWS

On the ground that the bill is “fraught with many dangers,” the American Civil Liberties Union has expressed objections to a proposal by Representative Dickstein which would deny citizenship ‘‘to persons who believe in any form of government for the United States contrary to that now existing in the United States.”’

“In the hands of naturalization examiners and judges,” the Union wrote Mr. Dickstein, chairman of the House Immigration Committee, “the law would be subject to varying interpretations according to personal prejudice. What is, for instance, the ‘form of government of the United States?’ Does it include the assumed powers of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional? Membership in organizations would be made a test of citizenship or the cancellation of citizenship once acquired. In the minds of some judges, minority political parties and even C.1.0. unions might be regarded as organi‘gations advocating a change in the ‘form of government.’ We-submit that the present law is wholly sufficient.”

Why We Defend Free Speech or Nazis, Fascists and Communists

Page 3 Growing criticism of the defense of Nazis’ rights and widespread pressure for a declaration against ‘“‘the alleged enemies of democracy” have prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to issue a statement entitled, “Why We Defend Free Speech for Nazis, Fascists and Communists.”

The statement, adopted by the Union’s Board of Directors, holds that defenders of civil liberty are obligated to guard ‘‘without favoritism the rights of all-comers” and that it is beyond the Union’s function to “characterize movements as democratic or anti-democratic.”

In reply to those who advocate suppression of meetings that may incite riot or vio- lence, the Union holds that ‘‘nobody can tell in advance what meetings may do so.” Po- lice can ordinarily prevent disorder without suppressing the meeting when there is rea- sonable ground for apprehension, the Union contends.

Race and Religious Prejudice

“To those who would suppress meetings where race or religious prejudice is likely to be stirred up, the answer is that there is no general agreement on what constitutes race or religious prejudice. Once the bars are let down, the field is open for allcomers to charge such prejudice against any group — Catholics, atheists, even against Jews attacking the Nazis.”

No consistent line can be drawn, according to the Union, if propaganda is to be suppressed. The only clear distinction is between words on the one hand and acts, attempted acts or incitement to specific unlawful acts on the other. Libel laws are adequate remedies for scurrilous statements against individuals or organizations - which do not amount to incitement.

“An organization to defend civil liberties naturally stands in direct opposition to any movement which rejects the principles contained in the Bill of Rights. But this opposition is expressed at the point of action contrary to the Bill of Rights, not in relation to theories. It is the task of other organizations to engage in political controversy in defense of democracy. It is our task to preserve democracy by opposing all violations of the Bill of Rights from any source whatever.

Defending Opponents of Civil Liberty

“It is in this spirit that we defend even the rights of those who might, if they came to power, suppress civil liberty. We certainly cannot abandon the principles of the Bill of Rights, which requires defense of everybody’s rights without distinction, just because of the fear that thus some antidemocratic force will triumph. Such a fear implies distrust of democracy.”

Declaring that the defenders of civil liberty cannot tolerate the suppression of any propaganda, the Union takes a stand in support of “only the suppression of acts in violation of civil liberty, or actual preparation for the use of force. Beyond that we cannot go and remain faithful to our purposes.”

Nazi-Propaganda

No laws can be written to outlaw Nazi propaganda without striking at freedom © of speech in general, according to the Union. The best way to combat propaganda directed against principles of the Bill of Rights is in the open “‘where it can be fought by counter propaganda and all the devices of attack which do not involve denying the right to meet and speak.” Defenders of civil liberty “cannot yield to government the right to discriminate between those who may enjoy the protection of the Bill of Rights and those who may not.

Interference by one group with the rights of any other group, however, will be fought by the Union ,the statement declares. Enactment of the Fish bill now before Congress and other laws to prohibit military | drill or arms in the hands of private organi- zations are being vigorously supported by the Union. :

The Union points out that it does not engage in political controversy; takes no position on any political or economic issue or system; defends without favoritism the rights of all-comers; and is unconcerned with movements abroad or with foreign governments.

MARCUS GRAHAM WON'T TELL; FACES JAIL

Marcus Graham, the well-known anarchist, would be deported for his beliefs, if the Immigration authorities knew where to send him. But they don’t know, and Graham won’t tell where he was born.

Hounded by federal agents for 20 years, Graham makes another court appearance on May 8 before Federal Judge Leon R. Yankwich in Los Angeles. Unless Graham answers the Immigration Department’s questions, the court will, no doubt, adjudge him to be in contempt.

That happened once before, and Graham was sentenced to six months in jail, only to be rescued by the Circuit Court of Appeals which ruled, last October, that some of the questions asked him were bad because they might tend to incriminate him under federal law. On the other hand, questions that might incriminate Graham under State law have been ruled valid because the protection of the Fifth Amend. ment is merely against federal action. Incidentally, a 20-page pamphlet covering the lengthy history of the case may be secured gratis by writing to the Marcus Graham Freedom of the Press Committee, P. O. Box 971, Los Angeles.

Mrs. Bruce Porter

We are glad to announce that Mrs. Bruce Porter of San Francisco, daughter of William James, has accepted an invitation to membership on the Executive Committee of the A.C.L.U.

Another Echo of the 1934 Vigilantism In Salinas

On September 21, 1934, during the course | of a lettuce workers’ strike, armed vigi- lantes destroyed a Filipino labor camp near Salinas. Surrounding the buildings at night, they fired their guns for about 10 minutes and then finally threw improvised torches —glass bottles stuffed with flaming combustibles, that spread the fire as they struck —on the roofs of four bunk houses and the camp kitchen. The buildings were burned to the ground and the boys who lived there lost most of their personal property.

Subsequently, Rufo C. Canete, owner of the camp and acting-President of the Filipino Labor Union, Inc., brought suit against the County of Monterey for failing to pro-. tect his property against mob vandalism. He recovered a judgment of almost ten thousand dollars. Then, rather than bring 583 separate suits, the Filipino boys who lost their personal possessions, assigned their claims totaling $7,765 to one Louis Agudo who brought an action for damages in that amount against the County.

Last month the State Supreme Court held that such claims are assignable, and the case will finally go to trial. Because of the judgment in the Canete case, another judgment against Monterey County seems inevitable.

Unfortunately, the cost of this vigilante terrorism is met by the taxpayers, not the vigilantes involved. But if the taxpayers wanted to escape this unnecessary burden | they would demand that the responsibility, for the acts be placed where it belongs.

Published monthly at 216 Pine St. San Fran cisco, Calif., by the Northern California Branch of: The American Civil Liberties: Union.

Phone: EXbrook 1816 | ERNEST BESIG ... Editor PAULINE W. DAVIES.........................Associate Editor Subscription Rates—Fifty Cents a Year. Five Cents per Copy.

Capitol Flag-Wavers Still Threaten (Continued from Page 1, Col. 2)

land, Miss Miller and Sawallisch, Richmond; “No:” Dills, Green, San Francisco; Johnson, Berkeley, and Weber, Stockton. Green and Weber changed their votes on the following motion.

Both bills are sponsored by the Sacramento Americanization Assembly, and were supported by the Legion and its auxiliaries and other flag-waving groups: Superior Judge Martin I. Welsh of Sacramento was among those who insisted on the need for compulsory patriotism.

Action On Biggar Bill Postponed

Still pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee is S.B. 1228 by Senator Biggar which, among other things, would prohibit the association of two or more persons ‘‘in prac- tices détrimental to the existing form of government.” Scheduled hearings on the bill have-t wice been postponed. The A.C.L.U. is officially on record against it as is the San Francisco Chapter of the National Lawyers’ Guild.

‘As noted in our April issue, the spurious anti-Nazi bill, A. B. 150, was tabled in committee, while another bill, A. B. 261, limiting freedom of discussion concerning any ‘“‘organization, association or race”’ also met committee defeat.

‘Still awaiting committee action are four bills—1, A. B. 750, prohibiting boycotts; 2, A. B. 820, compulsory finger-printing of applicants for operators’ and chauffeurs’ licenses; 3, A. B. 1356, establishing a bor‘der patrol to exclude “paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from justice;” and, 4, A. B. 2706, requiring Washington’s Birthday ex- ercises in schools to emphasize his warning against entangling alliances.

The so-called Public Order Bill by Assemblyman Cecil King, A. B. 1553, came up for a hearing before the Assembly Committee on. Judiciary General on April 26, but Mr. King asked that it be put over indefinitely to allow him to bring in amendments to meet objections raised by the A.C.L.U. While the measure seeks to regulate armed and uniformed political groups, it licenses private meetings, fails to define the terms uniform or armed organizations, and contains what is in effect a criminal syndicalism act.

Funds Withdrawn From Pennsylvania's Civil Liberties Bureau

With the $17,500 appropriation for the state Civil Liberties Bureau cut from the budget by Governor Arthur H. James, Pennsylvania’s department of investigation into civil rights violations has ceased to function, the American Civil Liberties Union has learned.

A new plan for continuing the work of the Bureau, however, is being worked out with the state Department of Labor and Industry by Dr. Philip D. Bookstaber, state chairman of the A.C.L.U.

Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Civil Liberties, ereated two years ago by Governor Earle, was the first of its kind in the country. Its most outstanding investigation was of con- “ditions in Elktown, a dictator-ridden shoe company town.

Bills proposing creation of similar bureaus in New York and Illinois have thus far failed to make headway.

OFFICE CENSORSHIP

A bill to do away with the present Post Office censorship in the hands of the De- partment’s Solicitor and to place control of the mails in the hands of the courts has been introduced by Lee E. Geyer of California. It is House bill No. 4923, referred to the Committee on Judiciary of which Hatton W. Sumners of Texas is Chairman.

The bill would make the control of the mail by the Post Office Department the same as the system so successfully in operation for the last seven years in regard to the exclusion by the customs service of material imported from abroad. Admission or exclusion is now accomplished only through the federal courts, not by bureaucratic cen- sors. The Post Office bill follows precisely the same lines. It does not change the character of material excluded.

How Your Assemblyman Voted On Repeal of The C. S. Law

The roll call vote whereby the Assembly on April 24, rejected Paul Richie’s bill to repeal the California Criminal Syndicalism, A. B. 375, was as follows:

Ayes—Atkinson, Bennett, Burns, Michael (Eureka), Collins (San Francisco), Doyle, Evans, Hawkins, Kilpatrick, King, Lore, Maloney (San Francisco), Massion, Miller, Geo. P. (Alameda), Pelletier, Reaves, Richie, Rosenthal, Voigt and Speaker Peek —19;

Noes—Allen, Andraes, Bashore, Burns, Hugh M. (Fresno), Burson, Call (Redwood City), Carlson (Piedmont), Clarke, Corwin, Cronin (San Francisco), Crowley (Suisun), Daley, Del Mutolo (San Jose), Desmond (Sacramento), Donnelly, Field, Fulcher, Gallagher (San Francisco), Gannon (Sacramento), Garland (Woodlake), Gilmore (San Francisco), Green (San Francisco), Heisinger (Fresno), Houser, Johnson (Berkeley), Kellems, Kepple, Knight, Kuchel, Leonard (Hollister), Lyon, Miller, Eleanor; Millington (Gridley), O’Day (San Francisco), O’Donnell (Woodland), Poulson, Redwine, Robertson, Salsman (Palo Alto), Scudder (Santa Rosa), Sheridan (Oakland), Stream, Thorp, Thurman, Turner (Delano), Walker, Waters, Watson, Weber (Stockton), Weybret, Williamson (San Francisco), Wollenberg (San Francisco)—52.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CIVIL LIBERTIES COMMITTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE —

Chairman Dr. Charles A. Hogan. Director Ernest Besig. Prof. Harold Chapman Brown. Wayne M. Collins. James J. Cronin, Jr. Hugo Ernst. Morris M. Grupp. Dr. Glenn Hoover. Dr. Alexander Meiklejohn. : Prof. J. R. Oppenheimer. Mrs. Bruce Porter. Judge Jackson H. Ralston. Clarence E. Rust. Helen Salz. Kathleen D. Tolman. Rabbi Jacob J. Weinstein. Marie de L. Welch. Col. Charles Erskine Scott Wood.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Philip Adams. Gladys Brown. Dr. Robert F. Leavens. Dr. Edgar A. Lowther. M. C. Symonds. Dr. E. C. Vanderlaan.

Omnibus Gag Bill “Hostile To Liberty,” Says Union

Asserting that “it would be unwise for Congress to engage upon a new adventure in the repression of ideas,’ Osmond K. Fraenkel, appearing for the American Civil Liberties Union, vigorously assailed a sweeping anti-civil rights bill by Rep. Howard W. Smith, of Virginia, at hearings before the House Judiciary Committee.

The measure (H. R. 5138) is a catch-all including old and new gag bills which the Union has opposed for years. The first of five titles is a criminal syndicalism law pro- hibiting advocacy of the overthrow of the government by force or violence. The second provision bans private armies but includes a dangerous definition of military organizations and contains a section punishing incitement to disaffection in the Army or Navy.

The remaining three titles of the bill deal with aliens, containing portions of last years’ Dies bill providing for deportation of aliens for “moral turpitude” and ‘“‘possessing firearms”; of aliens who are members of any group advocating change in the form of government “or engaging in any way in domestic political agitation’’; and of aliens who fail to “Suse due diligence” to become citizens. The bill also calls for registration and fingerprinting of all aliens every six months. Incorporated in the measure is the Hobbs bill setting up a concentration camp for deportees who cannot secure admission to their native country.

Attacking the anti-free speech provisions, Mr. Fraenkel said:

“Attempts to punish people for advocating a doctrine almost always lead to shocking persecution of personal liberties. Laws can not stop the dissemination of ideas nor can you kill off dissatisfaction by putting in jail those who preach subversive doctrines.

Legislation of this sort would encourage hysteria. Now is the time for us to keep our heads cool.”

Montana Supreme Court Hears Academic Freedom Case

The Montana Supreme Court on April 24 heard arguments on the appeal of the State Board of Education from a lower court decision ordering the reinstatement of Professor Philip O. Keeney, ousted University of Montana librarian. Prof. Keeney has charged that he was dismissed on April 12, 1937, because of his efforts in organizing a local of the American Federation of Teachers.

The National Academic Freedom Committee of the American Federation of Teachers, after a sweeping investigation, reached the conclusion that the following factors caused Prof. Keeney’s ouster:

“1. Professor Keeney’s opposition to the election of Dr. Simmons to the presi- dency;

Professor Keeney’s activity in opposing censorship of publications, dramatics and the library;

Professor Keeney’s initiative in bringing about the organization of a local of the American Federation of Teachers at Montana State University; fourth factor, basic to the others, is the undue influence exercised by certain corporations and political interests over the affairs of the University. Professor Keeney’s ouster is a flagrant breach of academic freedom (1) because he was penalized for exercising his right to participate in university affairs and to interest faculty members in forming an organization to advance their professional and economic needs; and (2) because he was dismissed after more than six years of service as a full professor without a hearing.”

The American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus curiae brief in the Montana Su- preme Court last December.