Open forum, vol. 1, no. 2 (December, 1924)

THE OPEN FORUM

As a man IS, so he thinketh.

d

I. Vol. I. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, DECEMBER 13, 1924 No: 2

7 ` ; ; Winston Churchill, hero of England's attack on Rus-

t e sia, from Parliament and public life in 1922. In the

e e 0x00B0 Tl U e House he championed with deadly oratory and un-

e flagging persistence the cause of the weaker nations

i . and subject races. In debate he had not his equal,

ey By Hu Sh Maitland Hardyman possessing an unrivalled knowledge of international

S diplomacy and of the affairs of the African peoples.

The cause of human rights has lost one of its gate the causes of the war, to lay bare the guilt In 1923 he was again elected to the House and in

ty most useful and loyal servants in the sudden death of all the belligerent powers and to publish his the election in October he headed the poll in Dundee

she in England of Edmund Dene Morel. findings in books, pamphlets and from the platform. over five other candidates. It was while in Devon

t i M f : FE : 0x00B0 : :

1 For thirty years Morel has battled with oppression After vain attempts to find a genuine cause for mare oe bahia ae Sack ake! fal oa

he and injustice with fearless courage, facing unafraid his suppression the British government in 1917 im- eae pa Fouts i ee teihgs cat be ae

a the mightiest powers of Hurope. He it was who prisoned him with thieves, forgers and other con- ie eae and `i te wes his sie ini ad ites

nd freed the Congo from the damnable yoke of Leopold, victs in Pentonville jail on a charge of intending to h (c) et oiP 3i :

ii whose merciless enslavement of an entire people send a pamphlet to Romain Rolland, greatest of liv- @0x00B0"evement IS amazing.

ay reduced the population. of the "Free State' by more ing Frenchmen. Had Rolland been in France as The monthly "Foreign Affairs,'' which. he so ably

oe than ten million in the space of twenty years. Morel had supposed even this charge would have _ edited, his numerous books on Africa and world

of been impossible, as the pamphlet was allowed circu- politics ,his pamphlets, of which one of the last,

a The story of the single-handed attack by a Peo lation in allied countries. But Rolland had moved "The Secret History of a Great Betrayal," has been

`a shipping clerk in Liverpool upon a wealthy king 1, gwitzerland, a neutral country, to which literature published by the U. S. Government as a state paper,

ig backed ey ` De ee ace tot by ey ony might not be sent without permission. So Morel and his parliamentary work, either of these would

dl Cocks nett 1: eee ie oe audits ae went to jail, to the relief of many of his friends, have sufficed to fill the days of a lesser man.

His titanic struggle during twelve years an is

le ltimate victory would alone have served to place who had feared the fury of ihe BECee wee eae It is some consolation that he lived to see himself

pau y succeed in achieving his assassination. rad RER ld of like meeiadent

Morel among the immortals. once more recognized by the wor o ibera oug

i? : But bad conditions in prison had undermined his and by the leaders of Europe: his name was sub-

y But Morel was more than the liberator of the 1 .oith and it was an older man with silver hair who mitted by the governments of Finland and Britain

De ee aa ie ae a! who eturned to the fight in 1918. Again he wrote with and by many others throughout the world to the

; dared to keep his eyes oes ae ES ne peace tireless pen, pamphlets and books streaming from Norwegian committee for the Nobel Peace Prize of

Gee: eae rig inept ae his office in Westminister and spreading from John 1924.

maAgeud oe formed the Union of ren seaiie ne O'Groats to Sydney his doctrine of open diplomacy, Of a truth his was:

a 1 arliament or senate of foregin affairs, yr i

trol shortly after the outbreak of war. As secretary contre ad Bs ; onal are pee The simply gallant blade unbought,

and treasurer of the Union he became the mark of self-determination of peoples, na ee he a : ` The soul compassionate unsought;

"the most vicious dispiay of caiumny and nate dy the ufacture of armaments and. their sphetBaLong! oes With no price but the priceless thought,

| entire press during those hysterical years. But itation. Nor one but the great design

: never did he give an inch; he continued to investi- In a sensational and outstanding victory he drove Of giving that the world may gain."

But, it is asked, what is the solution? What is to

WwW HAT GOVERNMENT be done in the premises? And for answer we ask:

What has been done and what has been the solution

BEST SECI IRES CIiVilL LIBERT ' of the crises of the past, when the people realized

that they were being robbed of their birthright-life,

i i ? The answer and the remedy

By E. A. CHILDS liberty and happiness

y of the past must be the answer and the remedy of

the present. As we celebrate the overthrow of the

The answer to what Government best secures Civil people, is prone to use the power granted him for oppressors of the past, and enforce the restrictions

Libery reads-according to Blackstone, "that con- the oppression and enslavement of his fellowmen. which were then devised to limit the despotic kings

stitution or frame of government, that system of and nobles, so will our posterity praise and protect

laws, is alone calculated to maintain civil. liberty At present, a grave peghicu confronts the people such charters as we may devise to restrain the in-

which leaves the subject entire master of his own Of the United States. It is, whether civil and political dustrial despots.of the present. When human liberty

conduct, except in those points wherein the public liberty shall end, or whether the Beinciples of monop- is in danger) WsAistanee to "Kite Mallionaite: toons

| good requires some direction or restraint.' The Oly and plutocracy shall be curbed. It is nonsense yon in order as resistance to King John at Runny-

italics are our own, and we would add, that the re- to prate of equality before the law, and uniformity ede, or to King George at Bunker Hill!

' straints, when exercised, should be equal to all, as Of rights and privileges, when a few gigantic trusts

/ well as uniform and just. can defy the courts, corrupt by bribery and intimida-

tion executive and legislative officers, and reduce our Santas

_' It is true, says Judge Caverly, that civil liberty intelligent laborers (the backbone of the nation) to

`may exist in perfection under an absolute monarch. the condition of any of the most abject races, black

`But what security can the subject have for the or brown, which can be found to compete with them GANDHI DISCUSSED

Virtues of his successors? Civil liberty can only be ag machine running automatons.

secure where the king has no power to do wrong, yet "Gandhi's idea has been described as an additional

jall the prerogatives to do good. Cooley's Bl. Com.,1, The citizen who is compelled to look pleased and imension of consciousness. A few individuals have

126n. fawn or crawl on all fours to get a chance to delve this idea. Nations have . even dreamed of it. The

: : : world is now at a critical stage.

Tee Oduien. cava; -Myery. wanton: restraint, aaa pes or are in the shop ten or more hours

fra whatever source js a degree of tyranny, and 0x00B00x00B0 ee (RE and then see the bulk of Gandhi is absolutely and entirely non-violent, in his

jan infraction of civil liberty, so we can but conclude De ree ay te eet cae oil trust, meat principles and practice. He would never, never resort

ieee protection "and" advancements' of htuhan trust, etc., which have ecranlahed themselves for to violence, even if he had all power. Resistance

rights is best secured by institutions which keep the sole BU Enee of levying tribute through the con- must be made on a higher level than the resistance

A the law-making power and the conduct of govern- De or eke a emu yente reason to be proud comes to you. Even if you should die, you, your

iment in the hands of the ee of his civil liberty. And we believe that the only enemy, and the world would all be raised by it.

"

Equality, which

is the basic principle of liberty, can only be pre-

Served by giving each an equal share in the common

@overnment.

Representative assemblies or legislatures, and elect-

"ed officers, without adequate restraints imposed upon

them by the people, may, under the corrupting in-

puences of a wealthocracy, become as inimical to

liberty as the most absolute monarchy. Hence it be-

hooves the people by the ballot, and the institution

_ of the referendum and recall, to look to their liber-

`ties. The lesson of history is, that the delegate.

whether a monarch deputed by God, an aristocrat se-

lected by nobility, or a plain citizen elected by the

persons who can praise this sort of liberty are the

idiotic and the paid tools of monopolists.

We cannot escape the fact that vested capital (the

stolen labor of yesterday), given an artificial per-

sonality by the laws of the state and nation, is usurp-

ing the civil liberty of the masses and threatens to

destroy our fabric of government. Political liberty,

or the right of the people to participate-in govern-

ment freely and edually, is being undermined by

the same forces. The `harrassed laborer. fearful of

losing-:his job, must vote for the interest of his

so-called employer; thus political freedom is fast

becoming a dream,

Satyagraha to Gandhi means all of these things;

insistence on absolute truth, fearlessness, love, the

developing of soul force, making you immune to

fear, and the consequences of fear.

Swaraj means self-rule. Gandhi takes it literally.

He says you will never have real political and

industrial self-rule until you have an inner self-rule.

Self-rule comes only when physical force responds

and gives way to soul-force."

From the remarkable address by S. G. Pandit, of

Los Angeles, before a recent meeting of the Fellow-

ship of Reconciliation in that city.

KNIGHTS `OF THE KU KLUX

KLAN. AND ITS MISSION

-A-Sermon of. Hate

`Reported by Isaac Kushner

From the time the Ku Klux Klan came into re-

existence and its mysterious, and at times, quite

unmysterious and criminal tendencies became pub-

licly noticed, and its advocacy and dissemination of

_ the gospel of hate and ill-will were reported in the

press, I was more than anxious to attend one of its

meetings in order to obtain first-hand information

for myself. Being by nature very skeptical and

always desirous to get at the truth of things with-

out any -hearsay,-- `I always doubted whether the

press reports did not magnify, exaggerate, and mis-

represent the ideas of the Klan; So when I suc-

ceeded in securing a pass to attend a secret meet-

ing of the organization, I cheerfully availed myself

of the opportunity. My only regret is that I came

twenty minutes too late, and, therefore, was unable

to hear the entire speech.

. The meeting was held on Friday night, November

14, at the Walker Auditorium, and the subject was:

"Knights of.the. Ku Klux Klan and Its Mission." It

was held under the auspices of the National Organ-

ization Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and was ar-

ranged for men only-not for Jewish men, Catholic

men, Negro men, foreign-born men-it was held

for men of the Protestant faith. The speaker of the

evening was Mr. Kemel or Camel; (I know not how he

spells his name), a Realm lecturer and Baptist

preacher* from Georgia. The hall was about two-

thirds filled.

"In the anteroom there were half a dozen Kleagles

dressed in full regalia. They tried to size me up,

but, with a pass`in my hand, I''was admitted: "Upon

entrance I took my seat in the middle 6f the hall,

but, in order not to attract attention or arouse any

suspicion, I hesitated to use' pencil and paper. How-

ever, when I heard the representative of the "Invisi-

ble Empire' make a ferocious onslaught upon the

radical movement, I resolved to use paper and pen-

` cil for notes. This I did, and. sure enough, those

that sat alongside and back of me began to eye me

up and whisper to each other. They realized that

I was not completely "kosher."

Barcel

Now, from the title of | this article you will note

that the Klan has a certain "Mission" to perform,

and I am of the belief that many of you are not

quite familiar with the real object and purpose of

the "Invisible Empire." Though it attacks and ridi-

cules the Jew, assails the Catholic, makes a ferocious

assault upon the Negro and foreigner, its main and

primary purpose is to war upon the radical move-

ment. For example, the Baptist preacher spoke for

over an` hour and a half, and three-fourths of the

time was devoted to a most violent attack upon the

radical, progressive and labor movement. `He ap-

pealed to the lowest passions of his hearers and

aroused the most uproarious applause from them.

- He told the audience that the first thing the Klan

intends to do is to close up the gates of America to

immigration completely... This done, it proposes to

eheck up all the radicals and liberals of this country

and make them conform to our. "Christian" institu-

tions. Should the radicals fail to heed the warning

of the Klan, it proposes further to deport every for-

eign-born person from whence he came and also

deport every native to some island.

In order to show how our government is in im-

minent danger of being overthrown, the speaker of

the Invisible Empire told the gathering that "there

are thirty-three million dollars ($33,000,000.00) in

gold deposited in the New York banks by the Soviet

government for propaganda purposes against the

government of the United States." `I'hen the speaker

informed his auditors that radicals are radicals, and

shades of opinion differ not at all.

He declared that all radicals are opposed to our

institutions, and the Klan intends to exterminate

them all. "The Klan," continued the speaker, `is

bitterly opposed to class legislation," and, as an

organization, it makes every possible endeavor to

prevent the enactment of such legislation. More-

over, the way to proceed with this "noble mission"

is for Anglo-Saxon Protestants of this country to

get together and perpetuate "our institutions." "For,"

said the Baptist preacher, "God in His Almighty wis-

dom, willed it that the descendants of the Protestant

Anglo-Saxon race should occupy this continent and

rule it."

Now, to maintain the purity and supremacy of

the Protestant Anglo-Saxon Nace, "it is,2 said the

speaker, "necessary to multiply, and not to prac-

Bi a

`tice birth control."

For, if birth control is practiced

by Potestant Anglo-Saxons-and this: explains the

reason why women were not admitted-the inferior

races multiplying much faster, "will eventually dom-

inate us completely." The inferior races, `according

to the speaker, are the Russians, Rumanians, Ital-

ians, Poles, etc., etc. "Rumania ships all of her

criminals to America," said the apostle of hate. And

to prove that the Anglo-Saxon race is superior to

any other race on the face of the globe, he quoted

the government `chronology of the Jonathan EHd-

wards and the Juke families. Both of these fami-

lies had twelve hundred descendants. The descend-

ants of Jonathan Edwards were all graduates of uni-

versities, and all of them occupied prominent posi-

tions in life, while the descendants of the Juke fam-

ily-and the so-called follower of Christ emphasized

the name. Juke-were all degenerates, imbeciles,

criminals and scoundrels. Then he exclaimed:

"There are between 8,000,000 and 9,000,000 such peo-

ple in the United States whose main ambition is to

destroy our government." And to bring this point

to a climax, he unfurled Old Glory and in its name

told the audience that the Klan intends to fight those

"criminals."

Of course, the Jew came in for his share. The

Invisible Empire's spokesman told the: people that

"a Jewish Wall Street banker, Bernard Baruch, came

to Wilson in 1915 and urged him to mobilize our

industries for war in order to collect the debts for

the Jewish bankers of Wall Street." He ridiculed the

Jewish merchant and showed him to be worse than

Shylock. In fact, the speaker declared that "the

Jews are strangling the American people.'

The Catholic, too,.came in for his portion. The

Christian apostle explained to the people that the

Catholic church is trying: to impose, through the

medium of its parochial schools, its faith upon

everybody in this country; that Rome comes first

and America second, etc., etc. However, in discuss-

ing the Negro, he stated that "the black man is

beginning to realize that we are his friends." All

the Klan wants, is to see that the Negro keeps his

place. (c) In so doing the Negro need not fear the Klan.

But `the. Klan is determined to use all possible

means to prevent intermarriage betwen whites and

blacks. "There are already 1,600,000 Mulattoes' in the

South, and we want no more," he shouted.

In conclusion, he got hold of Old Glory again, and

exclaimed that anyone who refuses to "kneel and

kiss this flag should be forthwith deported." He

then appealed to all the Klansmen present to carry

the message of Protestant Anglo-Saxon purity to

all who wish to embrace it-to the end "that Amer-

ica may be saved, and she, in turn, may be able to

save the World." `Is it not worth while to carry on

such a noble mission?" he shouted.

Thus was the sermon of hate closed!

ee

SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA

A New Organization That Ought to Interest Every-

One who Believes in the Open Mind, and

The ee Platform

P. D. Noel, one of. the most useful men in the

California labor field, calls attention in the following

paragraph to the organization named above. We

understand that Maynard Shipley, of 334 4th. Street,

Sausalito, California, is the originator and sponsor of

this much needed organization. Shipley has been do-

ing valiant service for real education for many years

now, and should be known to all who realize how

little of such education we have, and how greatly it

is needed,

Noel says:

"Among the waves of reaction which came with the

ending of the war was that one demanding the use

of the Bible in the public schools and the elimination

of textbooks which explain the cosmos and human

relations by the theory of evolution. A counter re-

action by students and scientists has resulted in the

formation of The Science League of America to insist

on having the truth, wherever found. A return to

mental domination by the archaic theologies of the

Middle Ages hardly will occur when men like the

following become active in the new organization:

Luther Burbank, plant ,wizard; Dr. Harold Heath,

professor of zoology, Stanford University; Dr. David

Starr Jordan, chancellor, Stanford University; form-

er Representative William Kent; Dr. H: 0x00A7. Reed,

professor of plant physiology, Datuersite of Califor-

nia; Dr. William EK. Ritter, and Captain. 2D. a; io,

See, Government astronomer at Mare Island Navy

Warden

me

THE VIOLENCE __

OF THE RESPECTABLE

|

The Cost of Conservatism |

The national election of 1924 was mainly interest,

ing as a demonstration of what everybody ought to

know, that the United States of America is as com.

pletely in the hands of the Money Oligarchy today as

it was in the hands of the Slave Oligarchy seventy

years ago. The election of Calvin Coolidge bears ,

curious resemblance, indeed, to the election of Frank.

lin Pierce in 1852. Coolidge is not much more com.

monplace than was Pierce, and the election of this

year was no greater triumph for the folks who

think they are playing safe than was the election

of the man from New Hampshire at an hour when

the reactionaries believed they had at length silence

the voice of protest and put the radicals of the

day where they belonged. Abolitionism was as dea

as Communism is now. Even Henry Ward Beecher,

half a dozen years later, as close to the outbreak of

the Civil War as 1858, is said to have remarke(

pessimistically, that he saw "no hope of the passing

of African slavery within the nineteenth century.'

Slave stocks were selling almost as well then as ar

railway stocks and Morgan bonds just now.

It was the success of the slave-holders which broke

them, and destroyed the lordship they had so long

enjoyed. And it may be well just here to touch light.

ly upon the different kind of a deal they got in

Lnceoln and the Republican Party from the deal which

the Abolitionists wanted `to give them, and for pro.

posing which they were called every vile name, and

so: contemptuously pushed aside. :

The Abolition program was Supposed to be drastic,

and drastic it was in that it insisted upon the im

mediate emancipation of the slave. But note these

facts, if you will, as to some things which the Aboli-

-

a

tionists did not ask for and yet which, actually came

to pass by way of the success of the "safe and sane"

and the "substantial" people.

The .Abolitionists did not ask for a bloody ven.

lia

geance upon either the South or the North on account -

of the guilt of slavery in which they were both in-

volved. Suppose that the Abolitionists had said that

the account against the white race here for its ty-

ranny cver the black race called for a blood-expia:

tion, and suppose they had proposed that in order

to make the account square ONE MILLION of the

choicest men of the land, from all sections, should be

called out and shot. Suppose they had added to this

the maiming and physical- -debilitating of tens of thou

sands more, and a fine against North and South of

literally billions of money. What an uproar of horror

there would have been that the awful "reds" should

make such unspeakably brutal demands.

But it may be well to remember that this was

exactly the price which the country actually paid

for the management of the matter by the consery:

atives of North and South. Only I have very much

understated the costs that were in fact assessed

against us both in human misery and in property

losses which we have not yet ceased to pay.

The Abolitionists did not ask that the South should

be invaded, and devastated by the men of the North.

But this was the thing that actually happened under

the regime of "the safe and sane."

The Abolitionists did not ask that the North should

be punished for its dilatoriness in withdrawing from

the support of slavery by having the President of the

Republic assassinated, by the looting of the govern:

ment through the big corporations, by the rise of an

oligarchy of special privilege more powerful than

the South had ever; known, and by the incomputable

burdens of the pension graft and allied robberies of

the public purse. These things the Abolitionists did

not ask for; they are merely a few items in the

charges which we actually have had to pay, and are

going to keep on paying for generations yet to come.

And while we are on this line we may remark that

the "reds" of Europe before 1914 did not ask for

TWENTY MILLIONS OF LIVES as toll for the social

injustice which the common people had been allowed

to suffer there at the hands of the ruling classes.

Neither was there any radical who wanted to hold

the nations to any such property fine as the cost of

the World War. The program of radicalism asked

for no vengeance of blood, and no apportionment of

damage. These things were not asked by the radicals,

but they were given to us by the conservatives.

Those who refuse the program of reform, or even

of revolution now, may yet be Staggered at the price

which their own program will come to before we are

done with it. What radicals have asked for has

never been more than a bagatelle to what the world

has had to give for conservative success.-R, W.

WHAT IS A FORUM?

The word Forum and the word Forest were origi-

nally the same. They are both from the Latin word,

foris, and the idea back of them both is that of an

open space, out-of-doors.

The forest at first was merely such an open space

as was reserved for hunting. Hunted animals natur-

ally take to cover. They fled to the refuge of the

trees, and so the place for hunting became identical

with the woods, and from being an open space the

place designated by the word forest came to be rather

the sheltered and secluded spaces of the underbrush

and the trees.

The forum, at first, was also an open space, re-

served for the hunting- of bargains, that is it was a

market place. And because men and women came

together there it becamethe place for trying out ju-

dicial causes before the people, and, making popular

appeal in public speeches. Justice, however, like the

animals, has taken to the woods, and public address,

both by way of press and platform, is a good deal

under cover now.

This paper is an extension, in print, of the plat-

form service which we have been carrying on in Mu-

sic Art Halls, Los Angeles, every Sunday night for

sixteen months now, and which we are continuing

there and seeking to extend to other platforms, wher-

ever an open hearing can be had for every cause. The

response, so far as our platform work is concerned,

has been most gratifying, and it is evident that the

spirit of the big, free out-of-doors can still find place

on an American. platform. We are certain that if

more communities would try out the experiment they

would be well rewarded in the results.

But the platform presents no such area of publicity

today as does the press. -And the press in general is

very far from being an open space now, except for

"the powers that prey." It is for this reason that we

are publishing this paper, that we may give a wider

clientele than can attend upon our Forum platform

a chance to get at things out in the open.. We speak

for no cause in. particular except the cause of the

open mind, the open meeting, and the open word.

Not only "both sides," but ``all sides' we would fain

present to our readers. Any honest opinion, on any

subject of public interest and importance, so that it

is. clearly, interestingly, and briefly stated, will be

welcome here, to the extent that our space will allow

us to give every phase of every cause a hearing.

Please take note of these limitations. No platform

Forum has ever succeeded that was a mere medley of

jangling voices, Whether "order is heaven's first

law" or not, it is a first. condition of carrying on,

either by voice or pen, a successful Forum. Someone

must preside. Someone must "open the discussion"

and state the body of the argument If the subject is.

"thrown open" later a few.cannot be allowed to mon-

opolize the floor, by coming forward to often nor can

they be given all the time or space

_So then, this page, which will be devoted increas-

ingly to the responses and ideas of our readers, will

follow' certain rules. Please note them carefully be-

fore you write us, as our time is limited and we must

Save labor at every point where it is possible.

All letters or articles sent to-us should be type-

written, and. must be, if they cover more than 300

words. Linotyping charges are increased for copy

that is not type-written, and we cannot assume these

charges, or the cost of type-writing articles sent to

us, except in instances of very brief communications,

where the writer has nothing but the pen at hand. In

such cases the writing must be legible and clean.

Stuff that is "just dashed off" we do not want. Slop-

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Articles must be written on one side of the paper

only. They must be sent flat. Rolled manuscripts

are unusable. Full postage must be prepaid, and suf-

ed ~ sficient postage enclosed to pay for the return of man-

"uscript if a return of the manuscript is desired in

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sumed name, may be used publicly for the protection

of the writer. Articles should not exceed 800 words

in length, and letters for this page should be much

briefer, 300 words, or less. Other things being equal,

preference will be given to the best looking and brief-

est manuscripts. Clearness, and convincingness are

important in all communications.

Finally, do not take it too seriously if you get

your manuscripts back. Our space is very limited and

, We are in better position to judge what we can use to

advantage at any given time than anyone outside of

the office. Moreover very few people can judge the

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tend that our judgment is infallible, and-a return of

your manuscript may mean nothing more than that

we have on hand already all the verse we can use, or

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timely, or has been covered before. We will be glad

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Address all communications, and make all checks

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THE OPEN FORUM

506 Tajo Building, Los Angeles, Cal.

ie ee

A DISCUSSION

Starting our policy of the Open Forum in Print,

it seems proper to put before our readers a wis-

cussion which has taken place among those who are

interested in the launching of this paper. These

ideas are summed up in a letter from an old friend

of all liberal causes,-J. H. Ryckman, who sets forth

his ideas as follows:

To launch a new paper without a "policy," as was

determined upon at the meeting the other day, dooms

the project to failure before it starts,

Just think of a paper that does not even stand

for peace and against war and preparedness and

militarism, in schools and elsewhere! A paper with-

out a policy is like a person without ideas. I want

to be a booster for the new paper, but I cannot

boost a paper that stands for nothing more than

the suggested slogan: "Those who don't want to

hear both sides discussed are dishonest." There are

many questions I have no time to hear discussed at

all, and the discussion of such questions would swamp

an Open Forum paper at once; for there are more

cranks and faddists here than anywhere else on

earth, and it wiil keep one iive editor busy shutting

them out-even if the paper is limited to worth-

while things.

Much better is the slogan suggested: "Take privi-

lege out of government and profit out of war.' Then

in addition to war and peace, the paper ought to

stand for:

1. Public ownership and control of all public util-

ities.

2. No custom house barriers to travel or com-

merce.

3. Exemption from taxation of all products of

labor.

4. All public revenues to be derived from unearned

incomes, inheritances and land values.

5. Private banking"monopoly to be superseded by

government banks and collective control of credit at

cost for the service of all equally.

.6. Superpower development by. the government

for all the people.

. 7%. No child labor and free education for all until

the age of. 21.

8. All penal institutions to be reformatory and

not punitive in principle and operation.

9. Functional instead of regional representation

in Congress and in state legislatures,

These are some of the things the paper ought to

stand for, if it is to make an appeal to forward-

looking people and not be a mere hodge-podge of

protest against the sins of society and the shortcom-

ings of government.

J. H. RYCKMAN.

-------______.

The above statements give the editors of the Open

Forum an opportunity to make certain very necessary

explanations. First, Mr. Ryckman is apparently un-

der a misconception, that the policy of the Open

Forum obligates us to discuss all questions. This is

not the case at all; we have only a limited amount

of space, and we shall confine ourselves to those

`questions which seem to us and to our readers of

most vital urgency All that the policy of the Open

Forum means is that having given anyone an oppor-

tunity to set forth his ideas on the question, we shall

give a hearing to a person who appears with some-

thing important to say upon the other side. That

may seem: a small detail, but think how different

the newspapers of Los Angeles would appear, espe-

cially on the editorial pages, if they followed this

policv! Think how much more interesting they

woul. be, and how much more useful to the com-

muni y! 0x00B0

x FROM VARIED VIEK.R UM

Los

OPEN FU

MUSIC ART .

233 South Broadv

SUNDAY NIGHTS, 7-30

PROGRAM FOR DECEMBE

No.. 3

Dec. 14.-"Prospects for the Format

ican Labor Party,' by Fred W. Javped with oil

"The Labor News" .of Long Beach. ard, and the

proach of the January conference of . ig mixed

Political Action interest in this subject isease but

growing more keen. Mr. Jackson was aut being

supporter of La Follette, and is competebut the

forth his ideas of the new party in an inteiz.im,

way. Music by Sander Shor, violinist.

Dec. 21.-"The Sacco-Vanzelti Oase'?-a`:protest meet-

ing. Robert Whitaker and F. G. Biedenkapp, rep-

resentative of the International Workers' Aid will

be the speakers: There should be a great attend-

ance at this meeting; the case_to be discussed has

elements of vast significance,;and should be un-

derstood by everybody. Music by Miss Etta Gor-

don

Dec. 28.-`Making a New World by (Co-Operative

Production," by Albert F. Coyle of Cleveland, O.,

editor of the "Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi-

neers Journal' and Executive Secretary of the All

American Co-operative Commission. A great even-

ing is assured with this wide-awake young man as

the speaker. -He was the opponent of Theodore E.

Burton in the recent Congressional race in Ohio.

His work in behalf of co-operation has been bril-

liant and effective. The musical program will be

furnished by Max Amsterdam one of the first vio-

linists of the Philharmonic Orchestra, and David

Klaiskin, pianist.

Mr. Ryckmanlists nine programs which he thinks

this paper should espouse; it is probable that most

of those responsible for this paper would endorse

most of these programs, But not all would endorse all

of them; and certainly Judge Ryckman would be

willing and even interested to hear the arguments-

of any member of the group who disagreed with him!

Surely the whole group would be willing to hear

these arguments, and would learn something from

the discussion! And that is all we want in this

paper. We hope that Mr. Ryckman will write us a

series of articles setting forth what he believes is

the truth about each one `of his nine programs, and

we hope that somebody will come forward on the

other side of each one of the nine, and out of the

whole discussion let the truth prevail.

Yes, it is quite true there are a `great number of

cranks and faddists in Southern California, and a

great many of them will: clamor for a hearing in

this paper. We shall have to disappoint most of

them; and' sometimes, perhaps, we shall make a

mistake. All that we can do is to try earnestly to

pick out the important questions, and to pick out

the letters and aricles which deal wih these ques-

tions briefly and forcefully. If any person tics

we are mistaken in our choice, let him start another

paper of his own-that also is a part of the open

forum policy!

Also, the paper will discuss "peace and war;" and

within the limits of the criminal syndicalism act,

which stands upon the statute books in spite of our

protest, we will permit anyone to say anything of

real value concerning this question. There is a city

campaign coming in the spring, and we suspect that

the newspapers of Los Angeles will follow their

usual policy of suppressing the most vital facts

about the situation. -We hope that some writer will

appear with something of real importance to say to

the public about the campaign, and we hope that

this also may bring on helpful discussions. We

hope that before this policy of the open forum has

been carried on for many weeks, Mr. Ryckman will

realize that our program does not mean indifference

to vital issues, or a mealy-mouthed attitude to our

editorial job.

Certainly we shall try to convince him that this

paper is not "like a person without ideas." We don't

know a single person connected with the American

Civil Liberties Union who is not bubbling over with

ideas, and some of this bubbling will surely be man-

ifested in our columns. What we are afraid of is

quite the opposite: there will be too many ideas,

and such floods of manuscripts that we cannot han- _

dle them. We hope our readers will understan'p,}:

we have only an amateur organization; they}, c

let us make quite a number of mistakes at ttl

set, and not be too much annoyed.

.

KNIGHTS OF THE KU KLUX

KLAN, AND ITS MISSION cing,

.A-Sermon of Hate . _alifornia

union.

Reported by Isaac yen

aNG EDITORS

od0x2122

From the time the KF Clinton J. Taft

`existence and its my

unmysterious and crfRARY EDITOR

licly noticed, and iV sther varnell

the gospel of hate

press, I was more ITRIBUTING EDITORS

meetings in orde Kate Crane Gartz J H. Ryckman

for myself. Bey spencer Doremus Scudder

always desiroy Ethelwyn Mills

out any he

press repor'

Gallagher

ption Rates-One Dollar a Year, Five Cents

represent | . In bundles of ten or more to one address,

ceeded ints Hach.

ing af..*

Advertising Rates on Request.

Saturday, December 13, 1924

A capacity audience greeted J. Covington Coleman

at Music-Art Hall Sunday night when he spoke be-

fore the Los Angeles Open Forum on `The Present

Hour in Russia." Mr. and Mrs. Elfenbein put the

audience in good humor with their delightful music.

And the good humor was needed before the evening

was over, though Coleman's address was quiet enough,

being mainly a well-ordered account of what he saw

in Russia this year. The discussion lasted long, and

was intensely interesting. Some of those who speak

from the floor of the Forum are very much in need

of some primary lessons in good Forum manners. But

Russia is a continual reminder of the little girl who

had had dollies galore, but who when she saw, and

heard her baby sister for the first time, opened her

eyes wide, and jumped up and down as she pointed

at the baby and cried, "Oh, it's alive! it's alive!" The

other governments are all manikins, automatons, but

Russia is the one government in the world that is

vital and vitalizing wherever it is named.

a

The Rev. Frank Dyer of the Wilshire Boulevard

Congregational Church, Los Angeles, impressed his

hearers on both sides of the house last Sunday after-

noon, asa kindly, well-meaning, and generous-minded

man. But the argument was all with Dr. Taft, his

opponent. Dr. Taft dealt in facts, and put his facts

together so that they could not be met. Dr. Dyer can

hardly be said to have even tried to meet them. He

"pushed" on his audience, and those who do not know

the difference between gush and argument gave him

the applause which "good-feeling stuff" usually draws.

The occasion was the debate between Dr. Taft and

Dr. Dyer on the question, `"Resolved, That free speech

is an American principle." The debate was held in the

fine auditorium of the Ambassador Hotel Theatre.

The music was excellent, exceptionally good. The at-

tendance on the part of Dr. Dyer's supporters was dis-

appointingly small. Liberals, with all their senti-

mentalizing about it, are really very little concerned

about hearing the other man's side, and are so vague

in their own reasoning they commonly do not know

Whwthe is talking about when they do hear him if

he has anything real to say.

ht

-Cleveland Hall in the Walker Auditorium, Los An-

geles, holds no great number of people, but it was

crowded Sunday morning, when Robert Whitaker

spoke for The Church of the New Social Order on

"The Bondage of Labor and the Way Out." The "Old

Book" was used under a new light, and proved inter-

esting to a lot of people who thought they were

through with it. Drop in next Sunday morning and

hear the talk on ``The Rise of A State."

--_-_-4-_____

Get ready for the Sacco-Vanzetti meeting, and ba-

zaar. Let Boston hear from Los Angeles.

FH.

William A. Haller of Beaumont, California, inquires

of us:

"What has become of all the editors who so elo-

quently denounced the `Invisible Empire' a few years

ago? Those valiant foes of the Kantankerous Katho-

lic Kastigators are kuiet as Klans now. Evidently this

subject has become too dangerous for our free press

to discuss."'

---#-__

The Federated Press reports one of "the chief `pa-

"i~~.f Montreal' as saying that "the acceptance of

_ the aay eee is "the workingman's opportunity."

Piteakel that America is not "the land of oppor-

lay veri

'

gehts ARR OR RI TI RE TERS net

on

oe bi-

BRISBUNK |

The Ear-Marks of Brisbunk

Before we proceed to illustrate what Brisbunk is

by actual examples from current periodicals and plat-

form talk let us note what its earmarks are.

In the main they are two, the emphasis of the in-

dividual, and the emphasis of the idea.

Here is one of the outstanding expressions of mod-

ern individualism, Henley's famous lines:

"Out of the night. that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods there be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud,

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this vale of blood and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul."

Now that is a real and ringing word, and the

mood of it is one which every man has need to

summon to his help in many a crisis of life. Yet

there is nothing more characteristic of Brisbunk than

the over-appeal to this spirit of self-help and self-

determination. Woodrow Wilson's famous phrase

about "self-determination for small nations" proved

utterly unreal against the pressure of world fact.

There is no such thing as self-determination for any

nation, large or small, and in the field of world

affairs the notion that such determination exists, or

ever can exist, is one of the foremost factors in world

unsettlement and disorder today. Civilization is like-

ly to be wrecked over this form of political Brisbunk.

And no nation is more in danger of doing the wreck-

ing than our own, because no nation is more pos-

sessed with the spirit of self-assertiveness and self-

reliance to the extent of utterly ignoring how very

little we have to do with our own fortunes. All our

prophets of Brisbunk are filled with this doctrine

of self-determination, though the doctrine as they

advance it and as it is commonly taught is but

"sounding brass and a clanging cymbal."

No man stands alone. The self-made man is ninety-

nine one hundredths made by factors quite outside

of himself. There is no such thing as an individual.

Every man is a composite of innumerable personali-

ties and the reflex of incalculable myriads of factors.

The Rockefellers, the Carnegies, the Morgans, and

the Fords are no more self created than were the

Alexanders and the Caesars and the Charlemagnes

and the Napoleons of other centuries and other con-

ditions. Our late world-war made no such military

heroes because the conditions of militarism have

changed, and the individual is less conspicuously at

the front. The so-called rulers have never been

rulers anyway. They have always been the instru-

ments of forces far beyond themselves. The Lincoln

myth is one of the most notable examples of the

extent to which we humbug ourselves into thinking

that the great man created the epoch when in fact

the epoch was far and away more significant than the

man. The sweltering, groaning, lash-driven mass of

black men on whom southern ascendancy was built

for seventy years had vastly more to do with American

history, even in their incompetence, than had any

American statesman, or any hundred of them, in the

period from 1820 to 1860. The slaves of Athens

wrecked Greece in spite of all the Over-emphasized

brilliance of Athenian artists and poets and philos-

ophers. The mass life of mankind has always been

of immeasurably greater consequence than the great

men of any period,

HH

All items in this paper not otherwise signed may

be taken to come from the chief examiner and make

up of manuscript, Robert Whitaker, otherwise "R.

W." Omission of name and even initials is no avoid-

ance of responsibility but merely an avoidance of

monotony. ;

St

LaFollette and his group were defeated in the No-

vember elections, and great was the shouting that

they had lost the balance of power in the Senate.

But now Borah and Norris have moved up, and

formed a second line of attack upon the old guard,

and with the LaFollette following can control' the

Senate when they will. "And where the vang ard

camps today, the rear shallecamp tomorrow."

COMING EVENTS

a

NOTE:-No charge is made for these announce-

ments of meetings, but our space limits require that

notices shall be very brief. Meetings mentioned here

must be of some interest to our constituency, and

preference will be given to those not able to advertise

in the capitalist press. Notices must be in our office

not later than Monday night.

---_-_ e-_-__-_

Los Angeles Open Forum, Music-Art Hall, 233

South Broadway, Sunday evening at 7-30 o'clock.

Speaker next Sunday evening, Fred W. Jackson,

Editor, "The Labor News" of Long Beach. Subject,

"Prospects for the Formation of an American Labor

Party." Both speaker and subject promise an excep-

tionally interesting and important program. Music

by Sander Shor, violinist.

a

The Church of The New Social Order, meets Sun-

day morning, at 10:45 o'clock, in Cleveland Hall,

Walker Auditorium, 730 South Grand Avenue. Robt.

Whitaker will speak Sunday morning on "The Story

of a State."

on

Free Workers Forum, meets at Folk Schule, 420 N.

Soto St., on Monday evening, at 8:15 o'clock. Speak-

er next Monday evening, Mr. Otto Carque, author of

"Rational Diet." Subject, "Natural Foods The Safe

Way to Health."

oe

Will the folks who tell us that they do not like the

doings of the American Civil Liberties Union in de-

fense of free speech tell us just what they are doing

themselves. Please don't all speak at once. Give the

preachers first chance. "I was in prison and ye came

unto me." Just when, gentlemen?

FREE VIOLIN LESSONS

To Talented Children of Parents who

are unable to pay

MAX AMSTERDAM

Prominent Violin Teacher and Soloist

2406 Temple St. - = -" += - = DRexel 9068

Reasonable Rates to Beginners

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