Open forum, vol. 4, no. 17 (April, 1927)

x

`THE OPEN FORUM

x2

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties-Milton

Vol. 4

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 23, 1927

Noi-1%

the critical situation in the Far East is the all-

sbsorbing question of the hour. The belief is gen-

gal among the die-hards of the ruling class in every

capitalist country in the world, that Moscow is con-

_giring with Canton to bring on, sooner or later,

yorld revolution. The London Daily Chronicle has

, cartoon reproduced in the Hearst papers which

lls the story. Around a map of Asia, on the floor

wttered "Chinese Puzzle," are gathered in terror,

Jon Bull, Uncle Sam, France and Japan, all ex-

jloding with rage and excitement. In the back-

ound is the regulation bewhiskered Bolshevik,

| ancing with malignant joy as the four crouching

fgures seek to solve the puzzle. They can't solve it.

They never will solve it. They are too stupid. Young

(hina will solve it in due course. It may take

years. Rivers of blood may flow, millions of lives

my be lost, but the unexampled advance of the

ats and sciences in the last fifty years has taken

the power to solve such a problem as China out of

the hands of capitalism and placed it in the hands

| ofthe exploited masses under the leadership of such

slatesmen as those leading in Russia and now com:

ing to the front in China in the persons of Hugene

| (hen and Chiang Kai-Shek. Watch their step.

| The masterly note of Chen on the so-called Nan-

: king outrages has thrown the big-wigs at Washing-

fon, Westminster, Paris and Rome into consterna:

4 tion, Tory and Liberal reaction thereto is the. same

"itEngland. J. L. Garvin, editor of the Encyclopedia

j Britannica and of the Observer, the leading Liberal

| eekly of London, cables to the Hearst papers a

ilost pathetic plea for Uncle Sam to rush to the

rescue of J. Bull and civilization, now threatened

withannihilation by the Red Menace. He says, "The

we universal disturbing influence in the world is

Bolshevist Russia." He deeply deplores the fact

that J. Bull and your Uncle Samuel did not get to-

ther long ago and "lay that specter by perfectly

leaceful means." This passage is somewhat ob-

sure. If that dreadful "specter" could ever have

ben laid by peaceful means, in my humble opinion,

itis not too late: yet to pull its fangs, if specters

lave fangs, and bring peace to a troubled world by

tetting out of China, bag and baggage, and leave

- China for the Chinese. No occasion to fire another

stot or spill another drop of blood if the imperial-

sts, British, American, French et al. will get out

ii China or yield to the moderate Chinese demands

ly revising the unequal treaties which have caused

ill the trouble and leave China to be self-ruled as

britain Claims the right to be.

Heated Mr. Garvin says the Red "dream of revo-

ition is only kept alive by the hope that Britain

Wil be deeply injured while America stands by."

ltegret that a great scholar like Mr. Garvin should

st so excited as to mix his metaphors, but he

_``ally seems deeply perturbed by those pernicious

_Tolsheviks, He says if Uncle Sam had come to the

`cue of J. Bull in time, "the triumph of the mod-

`tate party in Moscow would have been assured."

int Mr. Garvin's memory lapsing? My recollection

Swe did hasten to the help of J. Bull at a critical

Moment and waged a savage war with money and

Men against Soviet Russia, without the formality

a declaration of war, in a vain attempt to crush

i Red Menace, not by peaceable means, but by

lotee without stint," in the favorite language of

"that saintea apostle of peace, Woodrow Wilson, by

Yhose orders' to help our beloved ally, J. Bull, the

lod of innocent American boys incarnadined on

Many a weary march the snows of Russia's plains.

| 4s Mr. Garvin proceeds he gets more excited. He

i "the fanatics'-the Reds and their sympa-

ye caricature America no less than Britain

pu tadtat and imperialist power. In their de-

a ae rhetoric they exploit the Nicaraguan and

4 - Latin-America affairs just as they do the Chi

"St. If they knew how, they would consume the

The Red Menace

By J. H. RYCKMAN

United States and the capitalist basis of its pros-

perity." In other words, if those `Bolsheviks knew

how they would eat us up alive.

Then Mr. Garvin informs Moscow that Uncle Sam

"will never lend a cent to the Soviet government

until the conspiracy for world revolution has been

abandoned in China and everywhere." He thinks if

Mr. Coolidge would make it clear to Moscow that

he will not lend a red cent to Red Russia until they

promise -to be good and quit stirring up world

revolution in China and elsewhere, "the gain to all

civilized interests would be prompt and decisive."

Moscow is not to be allowed to borrow our good

money and still raise hell in Shanghai. I hope Cal

will get to hear about this. I wonder if he reads

the Hearst papers? He ought to. They are good

to Cal. They even think well of him. Some don't.

Finally, this great Britisher says if Coolidge and

Chamberlain can adopt an identical policy as to

China, such "agreement would kill the Bolshevist

conspiracy and save China herself from the long

disorders and miseries which otherwise lie before

her.' So it is clear what is ahead of China. If

Uncle Sam joins hands with that international

scoundrel and outlaw, J. Bull, world revolution will

be averted and all will be well. If not, the "reign

of chaos and old night" will fall upon the earth

and the dome of heaven creak with agony.

But hear what another great writer, L. D. Froelick,

`the well-informed editor of the magazine, Asia, has

to say about China and the Russian influence there.

He says: `The beginning of order in China has

come through the Cantonese movement with astound-

ing suddenness, whether it takes four months, a

year or a generation to establish stability. * * *

The Cantonese movement is only the visible expres-

sion of fundamental changes. In 1916, Dr. Hu Shih,

having devoted his life to the study of both Chinese

and Western thought, began a literary revolution

in his own country. He turned his back on the

highly artificial classical language that for centuries

had made the work of scholars and other leaders

unintelligible to the masses." He reduced the spoken

language to a simplified written form. Coolies can

now learn to read in six months and mass educa-

tion is becoming general.

Then came an intellectual revolution, now in

fruition. Everything was questioned, even Taoism.

Christianity was weighed and found wanting. A

pagan nation saw Christian nations at one another's

throats. But with all this discarding of the old they

were building the new. Scholars delving into the

past of Chinese culture found the inspiration for the

new. John Dewey and Bertrand Russell lectured

in Chinese colleges. What was needed from the

West was method. Vigorous thinking, natural ideal-

ism, youthful passion had already focused on the

most obvious evil to be attacked-the foreign yoke.

The "unequal treaties' were unjust. "Changed

conditions had made these contracts inequi-

table. In western law inequity voids con-

tracts. The old treaties must go. But west-

ern diplomacy being of dulleyed and = un-

wieldy habit failed to perceive. It saw only froth.

Not so the Russians. The Chinese needed and want-

ed method. The Russians had method-very effec-

tive method. It had men available to roll up their

sleeves and get to work with the Cantonese, much

as good American engineers and executives: in in-

dustry, finance or the development of natural re-

sources would get to work. These Russians, how-

ever, were military, political and social engineers-

engineers in the realm of originating and applying

ideas. The capacity of the Chinese for radicalism

was immediately awakened. And without radical-

ism, coupled with methods for securing its aims, the

curse of China-dishonesty in public office, the self-

ish desire of officials to serve personal: and. family

interests-could never have been effectively attacked.

World Workers for

Sacco - Vanzetti

Worldwide protest has begun. Press reports tell

of a forty-eight-hour strike in Buenos Aires. No

harbor work, no taxicabs, very little bread.

Appeals from international labor. Twenty-one

members of the British parliament have rushed a

pardon appeal to the governor. The secretary for

political prisoners of the Labor and Socialist Inter-

national from Zurich cabled his protest. Right, left

and center, the international labor movement is

aroused.

New York labor is speeding plans for a one-hour

stoppage for Sacco and Vanzetti.

Conservative newspapers deplore the verdict. The

New York World urges Governor Fuller to appoint

a commission of inquiry to survey the new evidence.

The Herald-Tribune sees the need for a review of

the case and the Times calls on Fuller to look into

the matter thoroughly.

Protests from this part of the country continue to

pour into the office of Governor Fuller, urging him

to act in behalf of Sacco and Vanzetti. Announce-

ment will soon be made of a great mass meeting

in Los Angeles to deal with the cases of the two

condemned men. Upton Sinclair, the well-known

writer, sent the following letter to the governor early

last week:

Governor Alvan T. Fuller,

Boston, Mass.

Dear Sir:

The Sacco-Vanzetti case now comes to you for

final decision. Knowing that you will get thousands

of letters about this case, I will make this one brief.

Sacco I do not know, but I have talked with Van-

zetti long and intimately in his prison. I have read

his manuscripts and probed his mind. As a man

who has given his life to studying human charac-

ter and ideals, a novelist whose work is read in a

seore of different lands, I can fairly claim to some

qualification. I say that Vanzetti is a man of fine,

sensitive, gentle nature, a dreamer and an idealist,

remote from the possibility of selfish crime. He is

a man who might conceivably kill a tyrant, but he

is not one who could hold up and rob a shoe com-

pany. These two actions would lie, in his under-

standing of them, ar fas apart as the poles of human

morality.

In studying the details of this case, do not lose

(Continued on page 2)

Revolution, armies, fighting-fighting the foreign

treaties, fighting the corrupt northern militarists,

fighting graft-had to be. Without these China might

have remained the same apparently formless mass

as of old. tis

"Let us thank the Russians for this revolution. We

ourselves have understood something of revolution.

But although for twenty-five years Chinese youths

in large numbers had been educated in American

methods, here and in China, our influence had been

insufficient to stimulate a completely effective break

with the past. Why fear the Russians? The Chinese

do not. They are not overawed by Marxian form-

ulae. They know that no race has ever fitted a

formula, unchanged, upon China. They do not be-

lieve in Communism. Chinese leaders know the Chi-

nese mind, admire it and mean to preserve it. They

will take from the Russians what they need-and

it is not likely to be Communism. They are taking

from the Russians at present large doses of what

they need. The medicine is good. It is organization,

program and plan, assuming control of inchoate agi-

tation and mass protest and giving the latter point

and power. The very thing the foreigner in China

has long been clamoring for-honesty and public

spirit in public office-has appeared. The Chinese

do not worry about the motives of the Russians. Let

them be ulterior. The Chinese will know how to

deal with ulterior motives when the need arises."

Dear reader, you have here two viewpoints, take

your choice. I though it worth while to give them

to you.

2

Reign of Peace

Feasible, Says Ryan

Following are excerpts from a tract entitled,

"Christian Principles of War and Peace," by Dr.

John A. Ryan, whose books, "Declining Liberty" and

"Distributive Justice," have just been published by

the Macmillan Company. (He is professor of moral

theology and industrial ethics at Catholic Univer-

sity):

In consequence of the excessive emphasis upon

narrow patriotism in the schools, in the newspapers

and on public platforms, and owing to the absence

of specific and systematic instruction concerning the

rights and claims of foreign peoples, the majority

of persons, Catholics as well as non-Catholics, are

disposed to assume that their own country is always

in the right when it engages in war and that there

is no other effective method of defending national

welfare. The few courageous souls that now and

again undertake to point out the violations of justice

or of charity committed in the name of their coun-

try, are commonly denounced as unpatriotic. This

applies even to national wars that are so far in the

past that they ought not longer to arouse patriotic

emotions. For example, the American war against

Spain in 1898 was utterly unjust and immoral, inas-

much as the latter country had conceded everything

for which America was contending. Although in full

possession of this fact, President McKinley went be-

fore Congress and asked for a declaration of war.

The documents which prove this disgraceful trans-

action have been known to historians and certain

other persons for more than twenty years. The

story is set forth in more than one standard work

on United States history. Nevertheless, it is prob-

ably not known by one American in one thousand.

The few who are aware of the facts hesitate to men-

tion them from fear of being condemned as disloyal

to our glorious military traditions.

The individual must be taught a right attitude of

mind toward all foreigners. It is not enough to

declare that "every human being is my neighbor."

The obligations which are implicit in this phrase

must be made explicit. They must be set forth in

detail with regard to foreign races and nations. Men

must be reminded that "every human being" includes

Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen, Japa-

nese, Chinese and all other divisions of the human

family. And this doctrine should be repeated and

reiterated.

The duties of patriotism must be expounded in a

more restrained and balanced way than that which

has been followed heretofore. Men must be taught

that it is not "sweet and becoming to die for one's

country" if one's country is fighting for. that which

is unjust. Without denying or weakening the senti-

ment of national patriotism, we can set forth that

wider and higher patriotism which takes in all the

peoples of the earth. And we should bring about

a profound shifting of emphasis in explaining the

conditions which justify war. Instead of laying

stress upon the lawfulness of engaging in war, we

should clearly and continually point out that all the

conditions which are necessary to make war morally

lawful have rarely existed together in history. We

should strive to concentrate attention upon the obli-

gation of preventing war through negotiation and

conciliation, rather than upon its lawfulness.

One of the greatest obstacles to peace has always

been the lazy assumption that wars must come, that

there will always be war while men are men. So

long as this pessimism prevails, the majority of per-

sons will not assert themselves in the cause of peace.

World peace is largely, if not mainly, a matter of

human faith. If the majority of people believe that

peace can be established and secured, peace will be

established and secured.

Therefore, we must strive to make the people

think peace and talk peace. We must incessantly

declare the feasibility of a reign of peace until this

idea and this faith become a dominating and effec-

tive element in the habitual thinking of the aver-

age man and woman.

The grossly immoral doctrine that states are above

the moral law is not so frequently uttered nor de-

fended today as it was before the great war. Never-

theless, it is still implicitly or explicitly accepted

and acted upon by the statesmen in more than one

country.

Even where it is not held, there is need of out-

spoken and frequent declaration of the truth that

nations, as well as individuals, are subject to the

moral law, particularly to the precepts of justice

and charity.

Whatever we may think about the past, we can

Horrors of War

Shown to French

By WILLIAM HILLMAN

Staff Correspondent Universal Service

Special Cable Dispatch

PARIS,-One of the most daring monuments

to war dead was dedicated today in the cemetery at

La Vallois Perret, a suburb of Paris. The monument

depicts suffering and horror and a protest against

war. :

At the base is a workman breaking his sword and

rifle over his knee. Just above is a gassed soldier

in agony. At one side is a figure representing a

victim of unjust condemnation by court martial and

on the other side is a Negro victim of European im-

perialism. At the top is the figure of a woman weep-

ing over the martyrdom of her children.

The monument was sculptured by Yrondy, who was

decorated for bravery during the war. It was or-

dered erected by a previous Communist municipal

council. Patriotic organizations protested that it was

a "slander" of the war dead and several Fascists en-

deavored to mutilate the statue.

Trouble was expected today at the unveiling, but

there was hardly an incident as 1500 Communists

paraded in silence following the inaugural address

by the Prefect on behalf of the French government.-

Los Angeles Examiner.

Closing and Moving

The Congregation of the Daily Life will meet no

more at the Columbia Building after Sunday, April

24th. Rowland Hall, where we have met, is to be

turned into offices, and therefore can be had no

longer for public meetings. About the first of May

we expect to give up our home on Marathon Street,

Los Angeles, and remove to La Crescenta, twelve

miles north of First and Broadway. I am making

no speaking engagements beyond the first of May,

although I expect to be an occasional visitor in Los

Angeles. "The Cosman Club," which is practically

identical now with "The Congregation of the Daily

Life," will be kept together, and I will announce

a little later just when and where our meetings

will be held. Sunday morning, April 24th, at our

usual place of meeting, Rowland Hall, fourth floor

of the Columbia Building, 313 West Third street, I

will give a lecture, at 11 o'clock, on "The Labor

Movement as I See It," and all of our friends are

invited to attend this closing lecture.

ROBERT WHITAKER.

Magazine Suppressed

The Bison, student publication of the Oklahoma

Baptist University, has been suppressed for publish-

ing resolutions asking for the reinstatement of three .

professors discharged for teaching evolution. The

discharged professors are Sinclair D. Conley, head

of the Psychology and Education Department; Ras

Newell, head of the English Department, and J. Ver-

non Harvey of the Botany Department. A mass

meeting of students protested.

Dr. W. S. Spears, president of the Board of Re-

gents, in explaining the dismissal of the professors,

said: "The great Baptist hosts of Oklahoma are

fundamentalist to the core and desire Oklahoma

Baptist University to be maintained upon this prin-

ciple. `This board, as their servants, is set to pro-

tect the Baptists of Oklahoma in their educational

institution against any form of evolutionary teach-

ing."

see some duties fairly clear in the present. All the

leading states of the world are morally bound to

labor earnestly for the establishment of peace. The

methods which seem likely to promote the attain-

ment of this end should command the active interest

and approval of all religious authorities. We should

oppose the doctrine of indefinite preparedness as a

means of preventing war. Mindful of what competi-

tive armaments have done to provoke war, we ought

to emphasize that fact and point out its moral im-

plications. With entire propriety we can urge the

people to study deeply and faithfully all the positive

proposals that have been brought forward in recent

years for the prevention of war. These are the

League of Nations, the World Court, the outlawry

of war, compulsory international arbitration, and

universal disarmament. One or more of these meth-

ods do not appeal to all of us, but that is to be ex-

pected. All of them are deserving of study and con-

sideration and the ideals underlying them are in har-

mony with the principles of Christianity.

Arizona Police

Terrorize Mexicans

Gov. W. P. Hunt of Arizona has wired the Ameri

can Civil Liberties Union, with headquarters in a

York City, that he will investigate reported false

arrests, beatings, general brutality and suppression

of all civil liberties practiced by the police of Miami

Ariz., against Mexicans working in the copper mines,

Governor Hunt's wire is a reply to the protest

sent by Forrest Bailey, director of the Union, urg-

ing an investigation and orders checking attacks

upon peaceful Mexicans. Miami police have forbid-

den Mexican miners to be on the streets after 11:80

p. m., according to a Civil Liberties Union corre.

spondent. Those found on the streets are allegedly

arrested, blackjacked and fined $15 for "disorderly

conduct." Of 100 men arrested, ninety are reported

to have been blackjacked.

One officer is reported to have shot at a 10-year.

old Mexican boy. The mother was insulted when

she protested to the mayor, the report states. Police

have invaded Mexican homes at night without war.

rants and carted off men to jail on charges of

"drunkenness" after handling women and children

roughly. One officer, according to the report, stated

that "the law for Mexicans was at the point of his

gun."

- Negro Student Barred

Protest has been sent to President Coolidge

against the action of officers of the Citizens Military

Training Camp in barring Marsden V. Burnell of

New York City, Negro student at the Textile High

School, because of his color. The President is said

to have reported the case to the War Department

for investigation.

Burnell volunteered for the camp, passed his ex-

amination, and was then informed by Lieut. Col.

H. W. Fleet that the C. M. T. camps of the New

York area are closed to Negroes. He was advised

to apply to Atlanta, Ga. He received the same reply.

(Continued from page 1)

sight of the fundamental fact that the mass of evi-

dence depends upon identifications; and all psychol-

ogists know that no kind of evidence is more treach-

erous. With the best intentions in the world poeple

fool themselves-especially with foreigners, who all

look much alike to us, and equally dangerous. Would

it be too much to ask that in judging the proba-

bilities of this complex case, you take the human

course of going to the prison and meeting each of

these two men and talking with them?

Literally, tens of millions of people all over the .

world have their eyes fixed upon this case as 4

test of American justice. Can humble workingmen,

engaged in agitating against what they consider the

wrongs of capitalist society, expect justice from our

courts?

destroying them, innocent or guilty? That is what

this case means all over the world; and it is not

merely blind prejudice that has made this belief-

it has behind it the backing of hundreds of disin-

terested persons who have studied the details, in-

cluding legal authorities such as Felix Frankfurter.

I am stating a simple fact when I say to you that

if-you permit these two poor Italians to be executed,

you will put a blot upon the good name of the state

of Massachusetts, and of America, which all history

will not rub out. The awakening masses of the

world will clamor, "See, even in a so-called democ-

racy, there is no such thing as justice for the work-

ers." And we who are pleading with the masses ye

be patient and use democratic methods of social

change-we shall have our best weapon torn from

our hands. Surely it is the duty of a statesma?

to give heed to considerations such as these, and

not to unleash upon the community the furious Das-

sions of vengeance that the killing of Saccent? e

Vanzetti will stir!

Please understand me-I ami not making oy

threat of any sort; I am merely doing MY duty, 4

a student of social forces, in calling your attentin

to facts which exist, and which are obvious and A

escapable. More than anything else in this a a

the propertied classes of America need t0 ee

a belief in the even-handed justice of the Sue

put next July they are planning to strap that sa

in the electric chair and turn on the current ty ill

you execute these two Italian workingme", ei ad

execute also the legal system of you" state,

there will be no way to bring it back to life.

e %

Respectfully,

UPTON SINCLAIR:

Or can our courts be used as a means Ol

Bait

uy

iN

and

Amt

gry

{ag

a]

{rou

youl

the

"yor

zal,

| Ope

{rom

{rou

+ seen

dont

{hiro

stra

hecc

his.

Of a

the

worl

the

fello

who

apne

gani

chin

the

mun

Adit

Par

- `Wea

tan

and

| argu

dri]

tog

has

1Q

coul

lelsc

tOllo

) Ch

abou

Nc

had

a

"

Tray

"p

wp

tetuy

lille

the |

Sher:

to cent]

"Said

obvi

- itdg

Labor in Transition

fiitor The Open Forum: :

"tis only as a laborer that man is either capable

at education or worthy of it."

"what is Known as the conflict between Capital

and Labor has a deeper root than the relation of

smployer to Employe. The root of it lies in the

mowiDg antagonism of the laborer to his labor, the

yagic conflict of Man versus his Work."

"mdustrial civilization has brought about a disas-

{rous separation between Culture and Labor and the

union of these separated elements * * * is among

the most urgent tasks now awaiting the civilized

orld."

The above passages, quoted from the Hibbert Jour-

wl, will be the text for an article or two in the

)pen Forum. `

itis certain that the separation of hand labor

jom culture, or the intellectual life, has been disas-

ous to the worker and to society,

The breadth of the breach can only begin to be

yen when viewed in its bad effects upon the work

ime and upon the character of the worker.

Work, the very setting and animus of a full life,

iy its separation into hand and head labor, puts

nonotony and wages on the one side and over-wealth

aid exclusiveness on the other.

Says one of the workers in another magazine ar-

ticle:

`Most healthy, normal people, especially in their

youth, demand beauty, color and adventure from life,

But for the young worker these are generally shut

ot, Life takes a drab hue from the very beginning.

lis glimpses of the poetry of existence are caught

rough the drifting factory smoke; he is deafened

y noise, choked by dust and grime,tired out by

grain, No wonder that, finding life a prison, he

jecomes embittered and feels that he has bartered

tis youth for a mess of very bad pottage."

Ifthe worker is given an interest in the running

(fan industrial concern it will help to counteract

ihe narrowing tendencies of his detailed routine

work,. His mental horizon will widen as he observes

the relation between his efforts and those of his

flows and as he is brought into contact with the

yhole process of manufacture. If his judgment is

appealed to in various problems of workshop or-

snization, he will cease to regard himself as a ma-

thine for turning out the tenth part of a screw, and

ihe change will be better for himself, for the com-

wwnity and for the industry itself,"

1 FRED K. GILLETTE.

Defends Frank Norris

liitor The Open Forum: -

_ Aliberal editor should be impartial. Because Rev.

tak Norris, who shot D. E. Chipps in Texas, is a

Ieacher and a "dry," and Chipps is a "wet," Halde-

nn-Julius Monthly fills forty pages defending Chipps

td condemning the acquittal of Norris. Yet the

tguments really justify Norris. Chipps, a hard

"tinker of illegal liquor, illegally commanded Norris

_ {0 give up his legal right to free speech, but this

ls no weight with the monthly. I quote:

"Quarrelsome as Chipps was, and no doubt he

`ould not carry liquor well, he was not half so quar-

tlsome as he was made out to be."

This ig the special pleading of a partisan.

lowing is taken from the monthly's report:

Chipps to Norris: "If you say anything more

thout my friends, 'm going to kill you."

Norris said his sermon was announced and he

tad to preach it.

`I you do, I'll kill you."

`Tm gonna start me a cemetery, and put you and

tank Norris in the first grave."

Tm going to kill a damned-blank, blank."

Tl stop it or kill him," said Chipps. Meacham

timed: "Now be careful, you are liable to get

Wed" "yz can take care of myself," said Chipps.

If Meacham had been slandered his remedy was

te law, not personal threats. Chipps made himself

`herift, judge, jury and executioner. The monthly

"1 see nothing wrong or illegal in this.

Chipps telephoned his threats to Norris, then went

00 the latter's office with more threats.

`When they all got through high-hatting each

_ ther, Norris told Chipps to go-and he went."

But he returned at once to Norris' study, and

`td: "Pll kill you. Let's got to it," and Norris fired,

`byiously in self-defense. It is just possible that the

P `ge and jury knew their business.

The

The Truth Shall

Make You Free

Editor The Open Forum:

Congratulations to Mr. Richmond on his able de-

fense of the medical profession. He shows more

discrimination than is usual in medical boosters, who

these days seem to be confined to the least intelli-

gent section of the population, That birds of a

feather flock together seems proven by the startling

record made by the doctors in the mental tests im-

posed by the army psychologists during the late

European unpleasantness. According to the official

reports, the lowest average score of the professional

division was made by the medical men. That Dr.

Kritzer was refused a license to practice medicine

in California proves not his lack of ability, since he

is a registered M. D. of Tennessee, D. O. of Illinois

and D, C. of California, Rather does it point to

Machiavellianism among the great moguls of ortho-

dox medicine at Sacramento,

Argument aside, however, Mr, Richmond falls

down worst in the limitations of his knowledge. What

do they know of medicine who only medicine know?

He openly displays his ignorance of the science of

Iridiagnosis which he affects to ridicule. Never has

Dr, Kritzer claimed to be its discoverer. He, Dr.

F. W. Collins, Dr. Henry Lindlahr, dean of Nature

Cure, and Dr. H, EH. Lahn, that rugged pioneer now

gone to his rest, unite in giving the credit to Ignace

von Peczely, another rebel M. D., and an enlightened

one. All his followers have done is to prove his

principles and perfect his methods. One glance at

the iris of Mr. Richmond will convince any discern-

ing observer that he is himself a victim of allopathic

mistreatment. Could he but lay aside the censorious

superiority he shares with so many members of the

profession, and take on an open-minded attitude, he

would quickly discern the truth, which is, that the

Great Intelligence of Nature, who has so wonder-

fully fashioned the intricate human machine, knows

far better than Mr. Richmond's tinkering friends

how to repair it. Unfortunately, with their danger-

ous little knowledge, they will not leave well enough

alone and give Nature a fair chance. They persist

in throwing monkey wrenches into the machinery,

By their meddlesome interference with poisonous

drugs and mutilating knives, they convert beneficent

acute febrile processes into loathsome incurable

chronic diseases,

How do I know? By experience. I have been

through the medical mill. Emerging battered but

not beaten, I turned in dire distress to Naturopathy.

It has worked precisely as predicted. Concurrently

with the improvement in general well-being, attested

alike by inside information and by the comment of

friends, has occurred a steady clearing up of the

colored portion of the eye, as foretold by Iridiagnosis,

My experience is convincing-for me. If Mr. Rich-

mond will go and do likewise, he will help himself

and his fellows far better than by shouting ``Crucify

him.

MacGREGOR WALMSLEY.

Old Subject of Debate

Editor The Open Forum:

The recent debate between Robert Whitaker and

Mortimer Downing has seemingly created a desire

for further discussion. But to me it seems that the

question at issue is debatable no longer, as it has

passed its experimental stage by this time. Twenty-

one years ago a discussion on the same subject, last-

ing for several months, took place in the columns

of the Weekly People, with the usual results.

For those who care to investigate it would be well

to know that the same discussions are now obtain-

able in pamphlet form and the reader may be able

to judge whether the warning words spoken by

Daniel de Leon have come true. Had the pendu-

lum swung the other way in 1908, we would witness

today something different from the chaotic condi-

tion existing now. We would see a body of well-

organized, well-disciplined men, trained in revolu-

tionary school-a body of men who like the Russian

revolutionists could ignore the temporary but painful

lashes of the capitalistic whip in preparation for the

big conflict which inevitably must come.

A. SCHRAM.

It is a principle of law that anyone starting out

to do illegal acts is guilty of whatever results may

follow. On this principle, Chipps is condemned.

IT'S ALL IN THE POINT OF VIEW

e e e e

Brains in Religion

ADriL A, US 27e

EH. Mason Roberts' Enterprises, Inc.,

Member Chamber Commerce,

Licensed Broker,

General Real Estate, Investment and Business

Brokerage Anywhere in the United States,

Room 3, Watkins Block,

Cor. Orange Ave. and Pine St.,

Orlando, Fla.

Dear Sir:

I have your letter of March 13, addressed to Sin-

clair Lewis and forwarded to me. You send me the

copy of your paper, "The Exponent,' in which you

have accused me of having stood up in a church in

Kansas City and defied God to strike me dead. You

say that you are now afraid that you have made a

mistake, and that it was Sinclair Lewis who did this

action, and if so, you wish to publish a correction in

your paper. I am under the necessity of informing

you that you are correct in your fear, and that you

owe me the correction. I was never in a church in

Kansas City in my life, and I never defied God any-

where to strike me dead.

And while you are about it, won't you please cor-

rect the statement in the following sentence: "With

an author a charge of plagiarism is grave, but we

must accuse Mr. Sinclair of borrowing very freely

from Ingersoll's lecture, "The Gods." It so happened

that I never heard of this lecture by Ingersoll, and

my ideas on the subject of religion were not derived

in any way from him. [I never read anything of

Ingersoll's until I was a grown man, but the childish

nature of the ancient Hebrew mythology became ap-

parent to me at the age of fifteen or sixteen. You

accuse me of making "a play upon words concern-

ing an atheist." You think that I am obliged to call

myself an `atheist' because I don't believe in the

ancient Hebrew mythology. You say, "The accepted:

definition of atheism is the unbelief in the God of

the Bible, Jehovah."

If anybody employed in your real estate office were

to exhibit stupidity as great as that you would fire

him instantly. The only reason you commit such

stupidity in connection with religion is because as

a child you were taught the fear of using your think-

ing powers in connection with religion. But when

you challenge me in the public way which you have

done, you run grave danger of being made to think,

at least for a few seconds. :

Do you think that in China "The accepted defini-

tion of atheism is the unbelief in the God of the

Bible, Jehovah?" Do you think that such is the ac-

cepted definition in Japan or in Persia or in Turkey?

Are all these hundreds of millions of people "atheist"

because they never even heard of "the God of the

Bible, Jehovah?" Is it their duty to find out about

"the God of the Bible, Jehovah?" If so, then ap-

parently it is their duty to use their brains and

question the religion of their childhood. And if you

preach that duty to them, how can you deny that

it may be your duty also?

Does it never occur to you that the God of the

Chinese or the Japanese or the Persians or the Turks

might be the true God, and that you are an "atheist"

because you don't believe in that God? Think of all

the wise and scholarly Chinese, Hindus, Persians and

Turks, all Fundamentalists, ardent in defense of their

religion, who would prove to you beyond question

that you are a lost soul, because you do not believe

what God has revealed to them as the final and abso-

lute truth about Himself. Take the trouble to read

a book which I found very enlightening in my boy-

hood, James Freeman Clarke's "Ten Great Religions,"

and see how many wise and scholarly men there are

in the world who are absolutely convinced that you

are damned.

Is it not perfectly obvious that your reason for

believing what you consider absolute truth is that

you were born in the United States and not in China?

And if God intends to save all the people who were

born in the Jehovah religion, and not those who were

born to the Chinese religion, why in the world did

he trouble to make so many Chinese?

Of course, it doesn't do any good to write this to

you, because your mind is set like conerete. The

reason I am writing it is that you may be decent

enough to publish it, and give some of the younger

victims of the Fundamentalist superstition a chance

to use their brains before they become unusable.

Sincerely,

UPTON SINCLAIR. |

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 1022 California Building,

Second and Broadway,

Los Angeles, California, by The Southern California

Branch of The American Civil Liberties Union.

Phone: TUcker 6836

UUIUG OMe sl aber sarc e ceed cS en ore ed use eo e Auman aes Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz J. H. Ryckman

Fanny Bixby Spencer Doremus Scudder

Leo Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills Robert Whitaker

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year, Five Cents

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

Two Cents Hach.

Advertising Rates on Request.

Entered as second-class matter Dec. 138, 1924, at

the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the

Act of March 3, 1879,

PATURDAY, APRIL' 23; 1927

SEO PRIN,

This paper, like the Sunday Night Forum, is

carried on by the American Civil Liberties

Union to give a concrete illustration of the

value of free discussion. It offers a means of

expression to unpopular minorities. The or-

ganization assumes no responsibility for .opin-

ions appearing in signed articles.

War-What For?

"We went to war to end militarism, and there is

more militarism today than ever before.

"We went to war to make the world safe for

democracy, and there is less democracy today than

ever before.

"We went to war to dethrone autocracy, and spe

cial privilege, and they thrive everywhere through-

out the world today.

"We went to war to win the friendship of the

world, and they hate us today.

"We went to war to purify the soul of America,

and instead we only drugged it.

"We went to war to awaken the American people

to the idealistic concepts of liberty, justice and fra-

ternity, and instead we awakened them only to the

mad pursuit of money.

' "All this, and more, the war brought us.

our harvest from what we sowed.

Leis

"You ask me if I would vote again today as I

voted ten years ago this day. The answer is, |

would.'-From interview with Senator George W

Norris.

UNITED FRONT

May-Day Celebration

SUNDAY, MAY 1

PLUMMERS PARK

7405 SANTA MONICA BLVD.

Prominent Labor Speakers

MUSIC-DANCING-GAMES-GOOD FOOD

Arranged Jointly By

Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee

Centralia Defense Committee

International Labor Defense

Industrial Workers of the World

Workers (Communist) Party

Come in Masses to Celebrate Unitedly the

INTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY OF LABOR

Directions-Take Red Car at 4th and Hill direct to

Grounds. Gates open 10 A. M. Free Parking Space.

ADMISSION 50c

_ FREE VIOLIN LESSONS

To Exceptionally Talented Children of Parents

who are unable to pay

MAX AMSTERDAM

Prominent Violin Teacher and Soloist

415 No. Lake Street -- - - - - - DRexel 9068

Reasonable Rates to Beginners

"Professional Patriots"

"Professional Patriots," edited by Norman Hap-

good from material assembled by Sidney Howard

and John Hearley, is published by Albert and

Charles Boni. The book is called "`an exposure of

the personalities, methods and objectives involved

in the organized effort to exploit patriotic impulses

in these United States during and after the late

war."

It includes chapters on "propaganda against radi-

calism and pacifism," on professional patriotic jour-

nals, on the financial appeals of these organizations,

on inter-relations among them and government de-

partments, on the Lusk committee, and on army

officers' attacks on progressive movements. The

American Legion, the National Civic Federation, the

National Security League and the American Defense

Society are treated in detail with their connection

to business organizations, organized labor and edu-

cation. Among the endorsers of the book are Harry

Elmer Barnes, Jerome Davis, John Dewey, Felix

Frankfurter, Senator L. J. Frazier, Zona Gale, Mrs.

J. Borden Harriman, Robert Herrick, David Starr

Jordan, Francis Fisher Kane, Congressman F. H.

LaGuardia, Judge Ben B. Lindsay, Amos Pinchot,

Robert Morss Lovett, Ferdinand Schevill, John F.

Sinclair, Samuel Untermyer, Senator Thomas J.

Walsh, Senator Burton K. Wheeler, William Allen

White and William Ellery Leonard.

The book may be ordered from the American Civil

Liberties Union, 1022 California Building, Los An-

geles.

Union Appeals for Teacher

The Teachers' Union of New York City has asked

the Board of Superintendents to investigate the dis-

missal of Charles Wagner, substitute teacher in the

Berriman Junior High School, allegedly for teaching

evolution to seventh grade students. Wagner claims

that the ground of `inefficiency' given by the prin-

cipal is only a blind. He charges that Dr. William

F. Kurz, his principal, has threatened to blacklist

him in all New York City schools because he pub-

lished his version of the dismissal in local news-

papers. New York educators have objected to re-

ported rules forbidding the teaching of evolution to

students in the junior high school.

MORE LETTERS

by Kate Crane-Gartz

The letters of Mrs. Gartz have become an institu-

tion in the movement for social justice. `"`The Par-

lor Provocateur" has been translated and published

in Germany, and the second volume, "Letters of

Protest,' brings letters of praise from many parts

of the world.

From Eugene V. Debs: I am very glad to learn

that Mrs. Sinclair is to issue another series of your

letters and I only wish it could be distributed by

the hundreds of thousands of copies.

From Albert Weisbord: You have proved an ever

ready supporter of the workers in their struggles

for better conditions. And it is this and this alone

that will entitle posterity to say of you, "She has

built a monument more lasting than bronze."

From Floyd Dell: I like Kate Crane-Gartz's let-

ters. Even if I did not know her, they would pic-

ture for me a brave and clear intelligence.

From George Sterling: If there were a thousand

more such women as you in this country, there would

soon be a change for the better. Even as it is, you

are like a clear light on a high place, an example

of what a brave woman can be.

Price $1.00 Cloth, 50 cents paper

MARY CRAIG SINCLAIR

Station B Long Beach, California

Umbrellas Repaired

FRANK KESLER, 107'4 S. BROADWAY

ROOM 14

Good Work-Prices Reasonable

EXPIRATION NOTICE

Dear Friend: If you find this paragraph encircled

with a blue pencil mark it means that your sub-

scription to `The Open Forum" has expired.

Hniglosede tind: ie. 2k for which continue my

SUDSCEIMMON | tO, Chem paper Ol... .4 cs

Nanite: 23.53 janet nancnn cane ennnenntnnnecnnennconnennneeeenneneneens

NCO OS Stats SesiAna se! Nr COM Ran accra s te Vere) 4!

Los Angeles

OPEN FORUM

MUSIC ART HALL

233 South Broadway

SUNDAY NIGHTS, 7:45 O'CLOCK

je weiss

April 24-MASS MEETING FOR CENTRALIA

CLASS WAR PRISONERS. Speakers: Harry (,

Clark of Chicago, former secretary-treasurey |, W.

W.; Malcolm Bruce and Tom Connors of San Frap.

cisco, and Robert Whitaker, chairman.

May 1-"`AMERICAN IMPERIALISM," by Uniteq

States Senator Lynn J. Frazier of North Dakota anq

Walter Liggett. At this moment in history, when

imperialism is so much in evidence, these ad.

dresses will be most significant. Senator Frazier

especially has been one of the outstanding legigjg.

tors of the nation in promoting progressive meas.

ures. The music will be by Sol Cohen, the inimit.

able violinist.

There are depths in the ocean which the storms

that lash the surface never reach. People who have

learned to control themselves, who do not live on

the surface of their being, but who reach down into

the depths, where in the stillness, the voice of nature

can be heard, are not affected by the trifles of social,

financial, political and domestic disturbances which

mar so many lives that have not found within them.

selves this stabilizing power.-Marden.

Labor without art is brutality -Ruskin.

Buy These New Books

JUST OFF THE PRESS

"Oil," a novel by Upton Sinclair, $2.50 (cloth).

"More Letters,' by Kate Crane-Gartz, $1.00 (cloth),

50c (paper).

. "Professional Patriots," by Norman Hapgood, $1.00.

Sent Anywhere Postpaid. Order From

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

1022 California Bldg. Los Angeles, Calif.

Coming Events

I. B. W. A. FORUM, Brotherhood Hall, 327%

North San Pedro Street, Sunday, 2:30, Thursday,

7:30.

IL W. W. FORUM, (Emergency Program), 224

South Spring Street, Saturday, 8 P. M.

NEGRO FORUM, Masonic Temple, Twelfth and

Central Avenue, Sunday, 4:80.

SOCIALIST PARTY, headquarters Bryson Build-

`ing. R. W. Anderson, secretary (c). C. (c). VErmont

6811. C. C. C. meets first and third Mondays, branch

central, Thursday evening.

FREE WORKERS' FORUM, 118% South Spring

Street, Monday nights.

SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY, 1249 Grand Avenve,

Thursday, 8 P. M.

OPEN FORUM, INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF

THE WORLD, 118% South Spring Street, Sunday,

2 P.M.

WOMAN'S SHELLEY CLUB, second and fourth

Wednesday, 936 West Washington Street. Fifty-

cent luncheon, 12:30; MUtual 3668 for reservations.

Program 1:45 P. M. Iona G. Woodward, pres! ent.

HUmboldt 7668-W.

ROBERT WHITAKER speaks to Congregation of

the Daily Life Sunday mornings, 11, Rowland Hall,

Columbia Building, 313 West Third St. Collection.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE a

VANCEMENT OF ATHEISM, 730 South Gran

Avenue, Friday, 8 P. M.

L L. D., English branch, 730 South Grand aven'(R)

every fourth Thursday. |

International Labor Day

Celebration

SUNDAY, MAY 1ST

ALL DAY

ROSE HILL PARK

(Take red Sierra Vista car)

Program Includes a Famous Hungarian

and Socialist Singing Society:

ihe

| set

10

sp)

Uy

the

lf

th

wh

oath

Speaking, Dancing, Refreshments, eesti a

tt