vol. 6, no. 6

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION-NEWS

FREE SPEECH FREE PRESS FREE ASSEMBLAGE

“Eternal is the price of liberty.”

Vol. VI SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, JUNE, 1941 No. 6

ANTI-REFUGEE BILL VETOED

“Hot Cargo” Bill Meets Same Fate as Two Red-Baiting Bills Fail

Governor Culbert L. Olson has vetoed A.B. 1475, intended to keep refugee doctors from the practice of medicine in California. In a lengthy message to the Legislature, the Governor declared the bill would result in “a needless waste of human knowledge and experience,”’and pointed to the “impending scarcity of physicians because of national A close vote is expected in the Assembly when the effort is made to A close vote is expected in the Assembly when the effort is made to over-ride the veto.

Governor Olson has also vetoed S.B. 877, which limits the right to strike and picket- ing by out-lawing “hot cargo” disputes and secondary boycotts. The most bitter fight of the closing days of the session, which may end about June 7, is expected to center on this issue. The Senate will undoubtedly over-ride the veto, therefore urge your as- semblyman to sustain it.

One especially vicious piece of legislation is still before the Assembly after suffering defeat. That is A.B. 2229 by Messrs. Dilworth and Garland which punishes as a felony organization of or mere membership in political groups which advocate a peace- ful change in our form of government, and which are under the control or direction, in whole or in part, of a foreign government or an agent thereof. The vote on the bill was 22 to 40, but reconsideration was granted when the authors promised to bring in amendments to satisfy criticisms.

Foreign Military Uniforms Banned Signed by the Governor was A.B. 2348 which prohibits the wearing of military or semi-military uniforms of a foreign government, or uniforms similar thereto. This legislation can be sustained on the ground that military uniforms suggest force rather than persuasion, but the new law is open to possible abuse insofar as it bans uniforms ' that are similar to military or semi-military uniforms. “Similar” is so broad a term that it might encompass almost anything that a person wore.

One red-baiting bill awaits action by the Governor. That is A.B. 155 which forbids the employment by the state of persons who advocate force and violence, sedition, etc. Originally, the bill specifically forbade the employment of Communists, but the Senate eliminated that portion of the measure. It is not unlikely that the Governor will sign the bill so supporters of civil liberties should at once send telegrams urging a veto.

Two Red-Baiting Bills Killed

The Senate Judiciary Committee, however, rejected two other red-baiting bills that had been adopted by the Assembly. The first of these, A.B. 2349, by Tenney, defined the Communist Party as a group which: advocates the violent overthrow of the government, thereby making it ineligible for the use of Civic Centers for meetings. It was tabled. A.B. 58, also by Tenney, barring Communists from the practice of law, was left stranded in committee when insufficient votes were found to pass the bill to the Senate or to table it. On the Senate’s third reading calendar as we go to press is another bill by Tenney, A.B. 56, which would require the discharge of any state employee who refuses to an(Continued on Page 4, Col. 1)

HELP WANTED

We regret to announce that Miss Pauline Davies, who has been our able, efficient and loyal office secretary for more than six years, is leaving San Francisco and it will therefore be necessary to secure someone to replace her.

The work is part-time, requiring about 25 hours a week. Any applicant must be a stenographer and typist and have general office experience. The salary is $60 a month. Naturally, we expect any person applying for the job to be devoted to the cause of civil | liberties. Applicants should write to or phone Ernest Besig, Room 612, 216 Pine St., San Francisco; EXbrook 1816.

State’s Attorney Ordered To Defend “Anti-Okie” ‘Statute

Appearance by the attorney general of California or his representative has been ordered by the U. 8. Supreme Court to defend the ‘‘anti-Okie”’ statute by which California has made it a misdemeanor to bring any indigent person into the state. The high court’s action followed argument of the appeal against the conviction of Fred F. Edwards, of Marysville, Cal., in February, 1940, for bringing his indigent brother-inlaw from Texas. Samuel Slaff of New York, representing the American Civil Liberties Union, appeared on behalf of Edwards. Rep. John H. Tolan of California, chairman of the House Committee to Investigate Interstate Migration of Destitute Citizens, also appeared in support of the Union’s brief. The State of California was represented only by a brief. The case will be reargued, with California appearing through counsel, on Monday, October 18.

Seek to Ban Meetings Of "Mankind United"

Mankind United has been branded as “obviously subversive’’ by District Attorney W. C. Tupper of Fresno, and consequently . lost its rental of the Parlor Lecture Club in © Fresno for two meetings. In Palo Alto, the © library board cancelled meetings scheduled for the social hall of the Mayfield branch because persons attending were required to promise “not to impart to any one... anything I hear or see at the meeting.” In Berkeley residents protested against the organization’s activities and police placed their meetings under surveillance. No arrests followed.

In Mountain View, the military police were stationed at the meeting hall to see that no service men attended, because the activities of the group were declared “not ‘to the best interests of national defense.”

In San Jose the management of a hotel was notified that army men would be prohibited from attending the hotel if scheduled meetings were held.

Reason for all this furor and attempted suppression is found in invitations to such ‘meetings that are being widely circulated in Northern California. The invitations in the form of a dodger entitled ““We Are Not Cattle,” promises the showing of a motion picture called “Dealers in Death.” Attendants at a second meeting are promised an opportunity to see another picture entitled “Mankind United.” The dodger inveighs against the present European war and promises to show “how 30 days of concerted action by the THINKING PEOPLE... can permanently destroy the power of the warmongers in this country as well as abroad.” It declares that “wars are naught but money-making schemes ‘mutually’ agreed upon by the real (but ‘well-hidden’) rulers of every land, around ‘one’ central conference table.’’

The name of the organization is really The International Registration Bureau, but it gets its popular name, Mankind United, from a book of that title which itis engaged — in selling. The book, if sold to two hundred million people, is offered as a panacea for wars and a way to “financial security and abundant leisure, to every man, woman and child on this planet.” Charges have been made in the past that the organization is merely a book-selling racket.

If there is anything fraudulent about this group the proper authorities may bring legal action. But until such time it would seem to go without saying that it is entitled to hold peaceful meetings, opposing war if it chooses. Of course, if it uses public prop- erty its meetings must be open to the public.

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Union Hits Proposed F. B. I. Probe of Fed. Employees’ Politics

A provision in the Department of Justice.

Appropriations Bill, which has already passed the House, granting $100,000 to the F.B.I. “exclusively to investigate the employees of every department, agency and independent establishment of the federal government who are members of subversive organizations or advocate overthrow of the government,” has been opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union in a message to Carter Glass, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Through Dr. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of the board, Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel and Roger N. Baldwin, director, the Union urged that public hearings be held. is. based on the following.

Opposition points:

1. “Such an inquiry would result in intimidation, false accusations, unfounded suspicions, and inevitable loss of morale of federal employees. No investigating agency can undertake so delicate a task as examining into the minds of federal employees without at least those effects.

2. “The mandate given to the F.B.I. in this provision is so vague as to be worthless. There is not and cannot be a precise definition of such a phrase as ‘subversive organization’. ;

3. “There is no substantial evidence whatever that any evil exists to be reached by such an inquiry. The very searching investigations by the Dies Committee have not revealed evidence of subversive activities by federal employees.

4, “The authority given the F.B.I. by this provision makes it virtually a political police, investigating matters of political opinion and belief. No department of a democratic government should exercise such a function.”

NEW JERSEY COMMITTEE APPLAUDS ACTION BY EDISON

Prompt action by Gov. Charles Edison on complaints by members of the International Ladies Garment. Workers’ Union, charging police brutality and violation of the civil rights of pickets in connection with a strike at Long Branch, N. J., was hailed by the New Jersey Civil Liberties Union last month as ‘“‘an excellent example of the proper con duct of government.” An investigation by the prosecutor of Monmouth County had been ordered within less than a week after the violence was reported. Through its chairman, Dr. Archey D. Ball, the Union said that ‘“‘such decisive action must act as a deterrent to lawless police officers and illegal interference with the rights of labor.

It is indeed gratifying that our state can afford an excellent example of this sort and we take pleasure in thanking you for your action.”’

FOUR NETWORKS ASKED TO GIVE FULL AIRING TO ISSUES IN FCC REPORT

The heads of four national radio networks have been urged by the American Civil Liberties Union to allot time for a public discussion of the issues raised by the recent report of the FCC on alleged monopolistic practices in radio control. The Union’s message, signed by Dr. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of the board of directors, declared that “the subject presented by the majority and minority reports of the Federal Communication Commission on chain broadcasting is of great public interest. We urge you to allot evening time for a nation-wide discussion by authoritative speakers who will present at least two sides of the issue.”

Offering its assistance in arranging such a program, the Union said that it favored “the greatest possible diversity in the points of view permitted to reach the public | through radio broadcasting,” but that pending further inquiry it had not reached a - conclusion as to how the recent FCC decision would affect freedom of the air.

COLLEGES URGED TO ADOPT A “STUDENT BILL OF RIGHTS”

Adoption of a student ‘‘Bill of Rights” by colleges is urged by the Committee on Aca- demic Freedom of the American Civil Liberties Union in a forty-eight page pamphlet “What Freedom for American Students,” based on a study of the practices affecting student freedom in 111 leading colleges and universities. The pamphlet, just pub- lished, attempts to set up: standards for a charter defining the rights of students. De-. claring that at present in spite of ‘‘conditions increasingly favorable to student freedom in a majority of colleges,’ very few have established definite policies, the committee makes the following recommendations: ‘

1. “The policy of every college in relation to student activities outside the class- room shculd be set forth in definite terms, and accepted by the college community.

2. “A college’s stated policy should make it clear that students are free to organize associations for political, religious, social, and other purposes.

3. ‘Students’ associations should be permitted to take the name of the college and to use their names in all activities on college property consistent with the purposes of the various organizations.

NON-SALUTING CHILDREN SAVED FROM REFORM SCHOOL

Upholding the argument of the American Civil Liberties Union that authorities of Nashua, N. H., had no right to punish as delinquents three children expelled from public school because of refusal to salute the flag, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire has voided sentences imposed on Roland, Loraine and Loretta Lefebvre, chil‘dren of Jehovah’s Witnesses, by a local court. The Union participated in the appeal with a brief amicus curiae. The children were represented by counsel for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Expressing the unanimous decision of the court, Justice Edwin L. Paige wrote that ‘in view of the sacredness in which the state has always held freedom of religious con- science, it is impossible for us to attribute to the legislature an intent to authorize the breaking up of family life for no other reason than because some of its members have conscientious religious scruples not shared by the majority of the community, at least provided those scrpules are exercised in good faith and their exercise is not tinged. with immorality or marked by damage to the rights of others. We cannot order the school authorities to revoke the suspension of the children. Still less can we order the children to salute the flag so that they may be accepted again as students in the schools.”’

The Lefebvre children were expelled from public school last October. A complaint of delinquency was issued against them in December. They were committed to the state industrial school at Manchester on sentence to expire when they reached the age of 21. The superior court refused to suspend sentence but the children were released in the custody of their parents pending outcome of the appeal. .

WHEELER CLEARED OF FRAUD BY WEST VIRGINIA HIGH COURT

Oscar Wheeler, 1940 Communist Party candidate for governor, has been freed by the supreme court of West Virginia from a prison sentence of six to ten years for “‘ob- taining signatures to election petitions by fraud.” The decision by a unanimous court ends the last of the cases in West Virginia involving alleged fraud in the 1940 election campaign. The A.C.L.U. participated in the case in the lower courts.

4, “The use of college property outside its primary use for instruction should be “made available to any registered student organization carrying out its stated pur. pose.

5. “As a general principle no control should be exercised by college authorities over the subjects or outside speakers chosen by student groups.

6. ‘‘Where they are considered advisable, faculty advisors should be chosen or approved by the students themselves.

7. “No disciplinary action should be taken against students for engaging in ac- tivities off the campus, provided such stu-dents do not claim to be representing the college.

8. “College students should be permitted to publish such newspapers or magazines as they wish, subject to provisions for registering with college authorities the name, purposes and editors.

9. “The boards or commiitees of students responsible for each publication should be free to select editors without control by the college authorities or faculty.

10. ‘The successful systems of student government should be extended to all col- ‘leges.”’

A.C.L.U. Answers Sedition Charges Against ‘Jehovah's Witnesses ©

Characterizing the indictment of 75 members of Jehovah’s Witnesses on sedition charges by authorities in Connersville, Ind., as a “perversion of criminal laws to punish | conduct not within their purview,” the American Civil Liberties Union has asked the U. S. District Court in Indianapolis to | restrain officials of Fayette County from further arrests and prosecutions of members of the religious sect on charges of se- dition, “‘incitement to violence,”’ and ‘‘deseeration of the flag’. The Union’s brief, signed by Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel, and Shad Polier, New York attorney, held that the three statutes used against the religious sect “could not be applied to, the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”’

The brief declared that ‘‘one of the tenets of the members is that they must obey what they believe to be the law of God even though it be in conflict with the legally en- acted laws. For this reason, and since they believe such an act to be idolatrous, they refuse to salute the flag. On the other hand, admittedly neither they nor their literature advocate the overthrow of the government by force or violence.”

Compulsion to salute the flag, the brief held, ‘is plainly unnecessary in view of the many means for promoting loyalty. Moreover loyalty, to Americans, is not a state of mind to be inculeated by fear of imprisonment. Such threats of repeated arrests and prosecution tend to nullify the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses until such a time as a court of final authority shall have determined the issues.”

RHODE ISLAND BILL WITHDRAWN AFTER UNION PROTEST

After hearing his bill making it an of-— fense to influence a school pupil not to salute the flag, attacked by the American — Civil Liberties Union before the assembly’s committee on education as a blow at religious freedom, Rhode Island state as- semblyman Earle M. Byrne withdrew his sponsorship of the bill. Commenting on the bill, which was aimed at Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Union said that “it was grotesque that of all the states Rhode Island, » the cradle of religious liberty, should be the first to entertain a proposal to make any religious belief a crime.”

“Deportation” of Communisis From Kansas City Fought

The American Civil Liberties Union is backing its local committee in Kansas City, ' Mo., in any legal action it takes resulting from Police Chief L. B. Reed’s recent forcible “deportation” of two Communist visitors from Oklahoma. The ‘‘deportees’’, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wood, are both defendants in the sensational series of criminal syndicalism trials still in progress in Oklahoma City. Wood is free on bail pending appeal from a ten-year sentence imposed last year. Mrs..Wood’s trial on the same charges is scheduled for June second.

They were escorted to the station in Kansas City by Reed and detectives a few hours before they were scheduled to speak at a meeting, forced to buy tickets, placed aboard a train, and accompanied over the ‘state line by a detective. Four members of the Human Rights Club, sponsors of the meeting, were arrested, tried on vagrancy charges and subsequently released. They were defended by Jerome Walsh.

Civil suits for damages may be filed by Mr. and Mrs. Wood in federal court, and arrangements may be made for a subsequent meeting to be protected by federal injunction. The Department of Justice has been urged by the Union to act on the “clear violation by local officials of civil rights protected by federal law’’.

Commenting on his own action, the chief of police declared that all Communists visiting Kansas City would receive the same treatment and that all Communist meetings would be stopped by the police.

Commenting editorially, the Kansas City Journal said that “experience has shown that senseless persecution is no solution (to the problem of radicalism). The way to combat Communism is not to chase radical organizers out of town, but to deprive them of their selling points by making the American economic system work for the greatest good of the greatest number, reinforced by freedom of the press and of assembly.”

A.C.L.U. Opposes Hobbs Alien-Detention Bill

Internment of deportable aliens who can not be returned to their countries of origin because of the war emergency was scored by the American Civil Liberties Union ina message to Rep. Hatton W. Sumners, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which voiced strong opposition to the Hobbs alien-detention bill. Through Dr. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of the board, Arthur Garfield Hays, general counsel, and Roger N. Baldwin, director, the Union declared that “no consideration of the public safety requires that law-abiding aliens be segregated. If they commit offenses they can be tried and imprisoned. Otherwise they should be free on bond, available whenever deportation becomes practicable.”

The Union approved the provision of the bill which extends the discretionary powers of the Attorney General but declared that its bad features outweighed the good. In addition to the provision for detention, the ‘Union listed among the bad features: 1. “The provision naming certain organizations, membership in which would make an alien automatically deportable. It is far sounder to lay down a general prineiple on which deportation may be based and to permit the courts to construe its application to individuals and organizations. 2. “The provision for psychiatric and medical examinations of deportable aliens. In cases of aliens charged with proscribed political beliefs, the provision could easily become a means of persecution.

3. “The provision for a veritable inquisition into the private lives of aliens. All pertinent information is already available under the alien registration act. Such ad- ditional authority can only be a means for harrassing this unfortunate section of the alien population.”

United States Judze Bans

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‘Saluting In Moscow

A victory for freedom of expression was won in Moscow, Idaho, last month when Federal Judge C. C. Cavanah declared Moscow’s handbill ordinance regulating the distribution of literature on downtown streets to be unconstitutional. oe The ordinance, which had been adopted manifestly to prevent Jehovah’s Witnesses from scattering their literature throughout the city, read as follows:

“Section 1. No person shall distribute or cause to be distributed any hand-bill, card, poster, pamphlet, dodger, or other printed or advertising matter along or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, or park; or throw, place or attach any such printed matter in, to or upon any automobile or other vehicle within the corporate limits of the City of Moscow without a permit obtained in the manner set forth hereinafter.

“Section 2. Any person may obtain such permit without charge by applying to any police officer of the City of Moscow, and in his presence saluting the flag of the United States by reciting what is known as the ‘pledge of Allegiance,’ and furnishing in— formation sufficient to identify in the future the person performing such salute.

“Section 3. Such police officer shall issue a permit in such form.as he may deem adequate, containing the name of the permit. holder, the date the salute was per- formed, and any description of the person of the permit holder that he may deem suf- ficient... 2 oe It is no wonder that in giving his decision Judge Cavanah declared that this ordihance “strikes at the very foundation of freedom of the press. .. . It has never been Yegarded as inconsistent with civil liberties to grant to a city authority to impose a regulation in order: to insure convenience, cleanliness, sanitation, preventing obstruction and safety of the people in the use of the public streets.”’

The judge pointed out that a city is not empowered to abridge the individual liber- ties offered by the constitution to those who wish to speak, write or circulate informa- ‘tion in an orderly fashion. This ordinance however, he declared, provided a “cengor- ship on one engaged in distributing pamphlets... Under this ordinance even a newsboy would have to obtain permission to sell papers.”’ :

Three members of Jehovah’s Witnesses had been jailed under the ordinance April 14. They were ordered released immediately after the decision. A fourth member of the sect had been released after serving a sentence under the ordinance.

The A.C.L.U. congratulates Judge Cavanah on his courage in restoring to the city of Moscow liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the Federal Constitution. His act reveals the fact that even in hysterical times like these through which we are passing the courts may become bulwarks of freedom if they will not lose their heads and will interpret the Constitution in a sane, fair way.

FILM CENSORSHIP FOUGHT IN LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO

. The Southern California Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union through . its counsel, A. L. Wirin, has announced its opposition to a pending Los Angeles ordinance which would suspend the license of any theatre or “movie” through the mere filing of an injunction suit or a criminal complaint. :

The Committee said: “Before any decision by any court, and although the court after a hearing may completely exonerate him, an entirely innocent producer or ex| hibitor may be put out of business, or at least have his business seriously injured by an improvident suspension of his license and business. The prosecutor’s fiat will de- termine what performances and motion pictures the citizens of Los Angeles may or may not see. The ordinance should be opposed because it is a licensing regulation, and hence is infected with all the evils attending consorship.”’

A campaign against film censorship by city authorities has been announced in Chicago, where the motion picture “‘The Fight for Life’ is still under ban. The Chicago Civil Liberties Committee is urging a court appeal from the decision of the mayor, which is final under the present ordinance.

MIAMI LIFTS BAN ON | “AMERICA FIRST” RALLY

Following protest by the American Civil | United States,” the American Civil Liber- ties Union appeared before the House Committee on Immigration in opposition to the Liberties Union against what it termed “illegal restrictions on free speech and assem- blage’’, the City Commission of Miami, Fla., by a vote of three to two withdrew its ban against an outdoor rally of the ‘‘America First Committee” scheduled for May .17 with former Governor Philip LaFollette of Wisconsin as principal speaker.

In announcing the ban, Mayor Alexander Orr, Jr., had expressed the opinion that the committee was “subversive and opposed to the foreign policy of the federal. govern. ment.” Authorities obtained a court order directing the committee to disband on the ground that “its charter was illegally drawn’.

DROP CHARGES OF “TEACHING ANARCHY” INCOMMON| WEALTH COLLEGE TRIAL —

Charges of “teaching anarchy” against Nathan Oser, former manager of the now ‘defunct Commonwealth College, were dropped by the prosecution when the case came to trial in justice of the peace court in Mena, Ark. Oser’s defense was in charge of C. A. Stanfield of Little Rock, Ark., retained by the American Civil Liberties Union. According to the Union, Oser did not teach at the school and had no authority over academic policies.

Charges were brought after a raid by ‘county authorities on the school last. Sep- tember after it had officially closed and turned over its property to another organi- zation. Commonwealth College was tried as a corporation in justice of the peace court on charges of ‘‘anarchy’’, possessing and displaying the emblem of a foreign government, and failing to display the flag of the United States while classes were in session.

The eolenc was found guilty on all three -counts and the maximum, fine of $2,500 assessed. The property, was seized and sold to-pay the fine. The fine was upheld on appeal to the Polk County Circuit Court.

UNION HEARD IN OPPOSITION TO SWEEPING ALIEN EXCLUSION BILL

' Stating that enactment of an alien exclusion bill by Rep. Allen of Lotisiana would close the gates to “almost évery alien political refugee applying for admission to the measure. The bill would bar any alien who has been imprisoned abroad from entry until after a period of five years following his release. The Union declared that such a law would be “a plain violation of every political asylum,” pointing out that almost every. political refugee “has been at some time or other imprisoned by one of the dictatorships.’”’ Under the present. law, aliens are barred on the ground of a previous conviction only if the offense involved “moral turpitude’’

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American Civil Liberties Union-News

Published monthly at 216 Pine Street, San Francisco, 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—Seventy-five Cents a Year. Ten Cents per Copy.

Union Opposes Post Office Censorship of Foreign Mail —

A new form of censorship by the Post Office Department directed to keeping out of the United States foreign propaganda literature will be contested through the American Civil Liberties Union in ‘the courts of the District of Columbia. Since January the Post Office Department, acting under the authority of an opinion by the Attorney-General, has been destroying disapproved literature, chiefly from Russia, Germany and Japan. The action is taken on the ground that the foreign agents registration act of 1938 applies outside the United States as well as in it. Thus no agency outside the United States, except commercial or cultural, can use the United States mails without registering with the Secretary of State.

The Union desires to test in the courts the Attorney-General’s interpretation ofthe act on the ground that it sets up an “‘intolerable censorship of all literature mailed to. American consumers.” The Union favors changes in the law barring anonymous literature.

In a legal opinion opposed to the Attorney-General’s interpretation, Arthur Gar- field Hays, general counsel of the Union, says that “the only argument for registra- tion of foreign agents is that the government may be able to keep track of their activities. No one has claimed that the purpose is to prevent them from spreading propaganda.” Mr. Hays said that, in regard to matter mailed by foreign agents in this country, there might be some doubt as to the responsible source, “‘but in the case of mail from abroad, the source is clear. The effect of stopping such mail is to make the Post Office the censor of what Americans may or may not read.

“This is objectionable, not because it interferes with the right of foreigners to disseminate propaganda, but because it interferes with the right of Americans to receive and read anything they please. Such a decision should not be in the hands of a single solicitor of the Post Office Department. If there is an attempt to stop mail, it should be done by the Customs Service, whose acts would be subject to appeal through re- course to the courts.”

Gov. Olson Vetoes Anti-Refugee Bill

(Continued from Page 1, Col. 2)

swer any question of a legislative committee. It is aimed at persons who refuse to divulge their political and economic beliefs.

License Foreign Language Schools

Two more repressive measures were introduced during the past month. One, A.B. 2615, by Seth Millington, is aimed at foreign language schools. Any such school or class would be required to procure a license from the State Board of Education which could withhold the license if it found that “such instruction creates or teaches dis- loyalty.” As we go to préss, the measure is still before the Assembly Education Com- mittee and Mr. Millington has a motion on file in the Assembly to withdraw the bill from committee.

The second measure recently introduced, A.B. 2611 by Dilworth, is really not new. It supplants.A.B. 102 which was vetoed by Governor Olson on technical grounds. It would make ineligible for public office persons who had taken oaths to support any foreign government, or any society or association therein. Its purpose is declared to prevent “fifth column activity.”

Shall We Deny Political Liberty To the Communist Paity?

In 1920 the Socialist Party occupied the position which the Communist Party occupies today. In that year the New York legislature sought to exclude five Socialists from the legislature on the grounds that they were pledged to the “forcible and violent overthrow of all organized government now existing’. Shortly after the threatened action of the New York Assembly, Charles Evans Hughes, formerly governor of New York and at that time an ex-justice of the United States Supreme Court wrote and made public a letter dated January 9, 1920, to the Speaker of the Assembly. A substitution of the word ‘‘Communist” for the word “Socialist”? makes his comments pertinent today. He said:

Chief Justice Hughes’ Opinion

“I understand that the action is not directed against these five elected members as individuals, but that the proceeding is virtually an attempt to indict a political party and to deny it representation in the Legislature. That is not, in my judgment, American government.

“I understand that it is said that the Socialists constitute a combination to over- throw the government. The answer is plain. If public officers or private citizens have any evidence that any individuals, or group of individuals, are plotting revolution, and seeking by violent measures to change our government, let the evidence be laid before the proper authorities and swift action be taken for the protection of the community. :

“Let every resource of inquiry, of pursuit, of prosecution, be employed to ferret out and punish the guilty according to our laws. But I count it a most serious mistake to proceed not against individuals charged with violation of law but against masses of our citizens combined for political action, by denying them the only resource of peaceful government—that is, action by the ballot box and through duly elected representatives in legislative bodies.

“The issue to my mind is very clear. I speak as one utterly opposed to Socialism -and in entire sympathy with every effort to put down violence and crime. But it is because I am sgolicitous to maintain the peaceful processes essential to democracy that I am anxious to see Socialists as well as Republicans and Democrats enjoy their political rights.

“Are Socialists, unconvicted of crime, to be denied the ballot? If Socialists are per- mitted to vote, are they not to be permitted to vote for their own candidates? ...

Representation Or Revolution

“If the Socialists were denied recourse, through their duly elected representatives, to the orderly processes of government, what resort is there left to them? Is it proposed to drive the Socialists to revolution by denying them participation in the means we have provided for orderly discussion of proposed changes in our laws?

“Nothing in my judgment, is a more serious mistake at this critical time than to deprive Socialists or radicals of their opportunities for peaceful discussion and thus to convince them that the Reds are right and that violence and revolution are the only available means at their command.

“I appreciate deeply your high sense of responsibility and your anxiety faithfully to serve the people of the state. I am constrained to write in this way because of the seriousness of the issue. I sincerely hope that the assembly will take swift action to avoid a permanent grievance on the part of those who are threatened with virtual disfranchisement. I have sufficient confidence in our institutions to believe that they will survive all the onslaughts of discussion and political controversy. But Democracy cannot be preserved if representation is denied. Apart from the matter of principle, the procedure is futile. To shut out the duly elected representatives of the Socialists is merely to multiply Socialists by the thousand.

“Instead of protecting us from revolution, it will do more to encourage the spirit of revolution and to strengthen the advocates of violence than any conceivable propaganda could accomplish.

“I remain, with high respect, “Very sincerely yours, “CHARLES E. HUGHES.”

N.Y.C. Bar Assoc. Supported Hughes Shortly after this letter was written Mr. Hughes, on behalf of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York—one of the oldest and most conservative bar associations in the country—signed a brief which was submitted to the legislature in opposition to its threatened action, and this brief was joined in by Morgan J. O’Brien, -a former judge of the New York Supreme Court; Joseph M. Proskauer, who later became a judge of the New York Supreme Court; Louis Marshall, a famous constitutional lawyer of his day, and Ogden L. Mills, who later became Secretary of the Treasury under President Hoover.

Al Smith Vetoed Anti-Radical Bills Governor Alfred E. Smith shortly after the first World war vetoed certain bills passed by the N. Y. legislature penalizing radical parties. He said:

“The clash of conflicting opinions, from which progress arisés more than from any source, would be abolished by law, tolerance and intellectual freedom destroyed, -and an intellectual autocracy imposed upon the people.

“The proponents of these bills urge that they are essential to the protection of the community against radical opinion. I might rest upon the saying of Benjamin Franklin that ‘they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ | . “But I go further—the safety of this government and its institutions rests upon the reasoned and devoted loyalty of its people. It does not need for its defense a system of intellectual tyranny which in the endeavor to choke error by force must of necessity . crush truth as well.”

Union Hits Anti-Labor Provisions In Vinson Bill

Characterizing certain of its features as “nullification of the Wagner Act without its repeal,’ the American Civil Liberties Union has urged its local committees to protest the anti-labor provisions of the Vinson Bill, now pending in the House. As written, the Union declares, the measure would not only deny the right to strike in defense industries but would, under certain circumstances, make the exercise of tha right a “criminal offense’.

“From the viewpoint of civil rights perhaps the most objectionable part of the bill is the section which makes it unlawful for defense contractors to employ or retain in- dividuals who in the belief of the contractors ‘teach, advocate, or believe in the overthrow of the government by force or threats thereof’, who at any time have been members of the Communist Party, the Young Communist League, or the German-American Bund, or who at any time have distributed any publication teaching overthrow of the government or soliciting membership in any of the prescribed organizations. This would make the mere exchange between friends of such literature cause for their dismissal.”