Open forum, vol. 5, no. 9 (March, 1928)

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THE OPEN FORUM

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

-

Vol. 5

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 38,1928

Nosd0x2122

POWER TRUST BANDITS INVADE

COAST; CAPTURE WHITE SPACE

The Pacific Coast is about to be invaded by an-

other sort of "crime wave." `This time it comes in

the guise of the "power trust bandits." One Ira C.

Copley, commonly known as "colonel" in Illinois,

about a "five termer" in Congress, from Illinois, is

leading the procession. I have not the space to

comment upon the activities of `Colonel' Copley.

Merely let me summarize them and the `"colonel's"

background. You do the commenting.

Copley was a large owner of private utilities in

northern Illinois up to about four months ago. These

included electric, gas, heating and street railway

companies. In addition, he owned a string of news-

papers in the same area, which included such cities

as Aurora, Joliet and Elgin-one chain to protect

the other. He is said to have sold these utility in-

terests to Samuel Insull, the largest private utility

owner in the United States, for $23,000,000. As a

matter of fact, it is understood that he did not sell

his utilities, but merged them with the Insull inter-

ests, accepting an executive position with the Insull

outfit.

This man Copley then purchased the Springfield,

Ill, State Journal, a staunch supporter and white-

washer of the notorious `Senator' Frank L. Smith,

who "failed to take his seat." Copley is reported to

have been a contributor, along with Insull, to the

gigantic Smith campaign corruption fund. Since his

purchase of the Tilinois State Journal, that paper has

painted Smith as pure as a lily and is actively sup-

porting him for re-election to the Senate. Copley

paid, it is said, $1,000,000 for a paper that is esti-

mated to be worth about $500,000. You can surmise

the motive. This purchase was less than two months

ago. Springfield owns its own water and power

plants and Copley's first editorial promise was that

he would "take a live interest in the city's affairs."

We can visualize that, too.

The next step by Copley was to purchase three

San Diego papers-the Tribune, Union and Independ-

ent. He is said to have paid $3,000,000 for the first

two and $35,000 for the Independent, which later he

junked. It's a long jump from Illinois to California.

Copley's appearance in this section that will be vitally

affected by the passage of the Swing-Johnson bill for

the development of the Colorado River, is also a

significant bit of evidence. The fact that he scrapped

the Independent, the only morning competitor in

San Diego that stood, in any way, for the principle

of public ownership, is more interesting. Copley,

upon taking over the San Diego papers, again prom-

ised to "take a live interest" in San Diego's affairs.

He probably will.

The next brilliant move of this partner of Samuel

Insull, purchaser of seats in the United States Sen-

ate, was to buy a long chain or group of suburban

papers in Los Angeles County, known as the `Kel-

logg group," which step carries additional evidence

of his sagacity. Each of these Kellogg papers is in

a city that will be affected by the operation of the

Metropolitan Water District measure, passed by the

This measure serves as

an enabling act to pave the way for these suburban

communities to secure their own water and power

from the Colorado River, when the Boulder Canyon

project is completed. Each of these communities

will be called upon to vote for bond issues to meet

the cost of transmission of municipal water and

power. What position, do you think, will this man

Copley take, when the campaigns for these bond

issues are launched? Comment upon that yourself.

Copley `is said to have paid $4,000,000 for about a

dozen papers, a sum believed to be far in excess of

their real value,

The emissary of Samuel Insull, "Colonel" Copley,

recently is said to have made an offer of $2,000,000

for the Los Angeles Evening Express, which was at

one time partly under the control of Fred W. Kel-

logg, later owner of the Kellogg string. This offer

is said to have been declined. Instead, I am told,

Copley was permitted to audit the books of the Ex-

press, with the purpose of securing it at a "fair

price." Nobody in Los Angeles doubts for a moment

where the Los Angeles Express stands on public

ownership, and its acquisition by Copley, if it is ac-

quired, will in all probability further entrench the

assailants of the city's publicly owned water and

light department.

Prior to dickering with the Express, Copley is re-

ported to have made an effort to purchase the Illus-

trated Daily News of Los Angeles. The price was

said to have been too high for the alleged unsatis-

factory earnings. Only a few days ago, press dis-

patches announced that the San Francisco Bulletin

had mysteriously changed hands, tentatively. By

some men close to the newspaper fraternity of Cali-

fornia, this deal is believed to have been made with

the knowledge, consent, advice or money of this

same man Copley, using a bunch of dummies to take

his place as the purchaser. I have no confirmation

of this rumor.

But what of it all? Why is Copley invading ``pub-

lic ownership" territory in California? Who is this

man anyway who has sold out to Illinois' great Sen-

ator maker, Samuel Insull, and is now investing

heavily in papers of California? And why Califor-

nia? I can provide you only with the motives that

have been attributed to Copley by men of keen in-

telligence and close contact with newspaper invest-

ments in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

First, that Copley's hope in acquiring a chain of

Pacific Coast papers is to help halt the encroach-

ment of the. public ownership idea where it has

achieved its greatest success, along the Pacific

Coast;

Second, to aid any political campaign for the sena-

torship this year that will defeat Hiram W. John-

son, co-sponsor, with Congressman Phil D. Swing,

San Diego, of the Swing-Johnson bill, soon to come

before the Congress;

Third, to assist in the development of sentiment

on the Pacific Coast that will be adverse to the con-

struction of a Government owned power plant at the

Colorado River; and,

Fourth, to use every possible influence to get pos-

session of the great water power resources of Cali-

fornia, Oregon and Washington for the hydro-electric

super power trust, now engaged in buying votes of

United States Senators in Washington, D. C.

Use your own judgment as to whether you wish

to take any part in aiding this sort of a man to pile

up more millions for Sam Insull on the Pacific Coast

by acquiring our California newspapers.

Students Object

Students and faculty of the Yale Divinity school

have entered their protest against the big navy pro-

gram now under discussion in Congress. They did

it with a decisive resolution, for which they gathered

signatures with despatch, after hearing Prof. Edwin

Borchard of the Yale Law School, an authority on

international law, explain the significance of the

measure at chapel.

A special meeting voted unanimously for the reso-

One hundred and fifty-six signa-

Faculty members are

lution of protest.

tures were affixed at once.

formulating an additional protest which they will

forward to Congress.

Union Wins Colorado

Victory in U. S. Court

A move to revoke the order of the Governor of

Colorado declaring a "state of insurrection" in two

counties where coal miners have been on strike

since last October was announced by the American

Civil Liberties Union following word from Denver

that the United States District Court had condemned

the order in releasing four prisoners held under it.

The court's decision, handed down by Judge J. Fos-

ter Symes on an application for a writ of habeas

corpus, left the way clear for the freeing under bond

of Frank Palmer, former editor of the Colorado

Labor Advocate, and three leaders of the striking

coal miners held in jail at Greeley since January

21 without charges or bail. The action was started

by the Civil Liberties Union through its Denver at-

torney, Guy D. Duncan.

Judge Symes held that the state police had no

right to arrest men without turning them over to

the civil courts for trial unless martial law was for-

mally declared and the civil courts closed. A procla-

mation by the Governor or a local military official

does not constitute martial law, according to the

court.

In overruling the motion by the State Attorney

General to quash the writ of habeas corpus, Judge

Symes held that the proclamation issued by Govy-

ernor Adams, declaring a state of insurrection in

the coal mining counties, does not preclude scrutiny

by the court and that federal courts have the right

to review actions by the Governor and the Adjutant

General. State officials contended that the federal

court had no jurisdiction and that action of the Gov-

ernor and the Adjutant General could not be ques-

tioned.

"It is a pretty serious thing,' Judge Symes said,

"for any authority to put people in jail and hold

them without charges and without admission to bail.

It is contrary to the English common law; it is sound

public policy that authorities should explain under

such circumstances.

"This does not mean that the Governor does not

have the right to call out troops under certain cir-

cumstances, and hold men. That is such an extraor-

dinary remedy, however, that it should be examined.

"I do not subscribe to the contention of the Attor-

ney General that by signing a mere piece of paper,

the Governor can do these things.

"You cannot simply say `I, the Governor, or I, the

Adjutant General, can put these people in jail and

no one can question it.' If that were the case they

could come down here and close this court."

The Civil Liberties Union has been endeavoring

since the strike started last October to get before

the courts the issue of the Colorado law under' which

the Governor or military authorities declare a state

of insurrection. Under this proclamation civil rights

have been suspended in two counties and hundreds

of strikers and sympathizers thrown into jail. The

case of Palmer was taken as a test.

Judges Symes' decision will "greatly weaken the

power of the militia as a strike-breaking agency,"

according to Rev. A. A. Heist of Denver, local rep-

resentative of the Civil Liberties Union.

(The Colorado miners resumed work February 20:

`pending the report of the Industrial Commission.

The strike forced a dollar a day increase and com-

pelled the Industrial Commission to recognize and

deal with the I. W. W.)

e

What! More Advice?

"Calvin Coolidge and Ralph Waldo Emerson have

given the students all the advice and warnings that

they need. And maybe they have given them too

much.'-Carl Sandburg to a reporter for the Ohio

State Lantern.

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

MATL OT od EAL USreec ee eh ot aie Gan SATE ae note Sena Editor

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

Fanny Bixby Spencer Doremus Scudder

Leo Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills Robert Whitaker

P. D. Noel Lew Head

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Entered as second-class matter Dee 18, 1924, at

the post office at Los Angeles, California, under the

Act of March 3, 1879.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1928

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.

San Quentin Conditions

Shock German Visitor

BERLIN.-(F.P.)-A German prison expert's opin-

ion of San Quentin prison, where Tom Mooney

and other labor men are confined in California, is

published in the Vossische Zeitung by Prof. Berthold

Freudenthal of the Frankfort-am-Main University.

Freudenthal says:

"How can so mighty and progressive a state as

California tolerate prison conditions that appear to

date from the darkest middle ages! In the old cell

block, which I had difficulty in getting to see, each

cell has an iron door with a slit in it about as large

as a letter drop. Whatever natural light entered the

cell had to come through that slit. In such cells of-

fenders serve terms of ten years and longer. Is it

any wonder that a considerable number of convicts

confined in these cells go insane?

"In the other California penitentiary at Folsom it

will be remembered that a mutiny of over 1000 con-

victs broke out recently. Anyone who has seen San

Quentin will not wonder at the outbreak. I should

rather say, one would rejoice at it."

(Pcoples }}

P'COp Bank

{ 409 So. Hill st. /

Boycotted by Los Angeles Newspapers !

oslovakia.

Queens!

Johan Bojer:

William McFee:

Clarence Darrow:

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Arthur Conan Doyle:

Price $2.50. At all book stores.

The Best-Selling Novel Throughout the World

Do you know that the most widely read novel in the whole world to-

day deals with Southern California life, and that the newspapers of

Southern California, with few exceptions, have boycotted it?

OIL!

By Upton Sinclair

0x00B0 - Author of "The Jungle', "The Brass Check', Etc.

Fifty-five thousand sold in first three months in Germany. A best-

seller in Great Britain, Russia, Sweden, Holland, Australia and Czech-

Running serially in the biggest papers in Paris and Copenhagen.

Banned from Boston and Glasgow.

All the world is reading about California Oil-Kings and Movie-

"This novel is created by a great poet, a great artist,

and a great heart. Since Emile Zola I can't remember a similar work."

"Story-telling with an edge on it.

panorama of Southern California life."

"Few novels have

"IT was amazed at the power of the book."

Or order from A. and C. Boni, 66

Fifth Avenue, New York, or from Upton Sinclair, Station B.,

Long Beach, California.

A marvelous

impressed me as much as

EXPIRATION NOTICE

Dear Friend:If you find this paragraph encircled

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Hicloseq 0nd: ol kal we for which continue my

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OPEN FORUM

Lincoln Hall

Walker Auditorium Building

730 South Grand Ave.

SUNDAY NIGHTS, 7:45 O'CLOCK

Feb. 26-WHAT HAPPENED AT HAVANA, by

Alice Park, writer and lecturer on subjects relating

to internationalism, who has just returned from the

Pan-American Conference "brimming over with in.

formation,' to quote her letter.

March 4.-A BLACK MAN SEES RUSSIA, by Wil.

liam Pickens, field organizer, National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People, former pres.

ident of a Negro college in Baltimore and a member

of the American Civil Liberties Union National Com.

mittee.

What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and

independence? It is not our frowning battlements,

our bristling sea coasts, our army and our navy,

Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has

planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit which

prized liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands

everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted

the seeds of despotism at your own doors.-Lincoln.

"So you want to join the army-fer how long?"

"Duration."

"But there ain't any war on."

"I know-I mean duration of peace. "-California

Pelican.

Ring Offered

A diamond ring, to be mounted to fit the finger

of the winner, whether man or woman, will be of:

fered by The Open Forum for the largest number

of subscriptions turned in the three weeks following

Lincoln's Birthday. The contest began three weeks

ago, but those who have not heard of it still have

time to win if they are very energetic. A year's

subscription is only one dollar.

Coming Events

FREE CLASS IN ENGLISH, Room 218, 224 South

Spring Street, Tuesday and Friday, 8 to 9 P. M,

Mortimer Downing, teacher. Administration mat:

ters conducted by class.

LOS ANGELES BRANCH of the I. W. W., 701

Bryson Building, Second and Spring Streets, free

reading room open every day; business meeting

every Tuesday, 7:30 P. M.

WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE educa:

tional lectures off peace and war: Public Library

Lecture Hall, Wednesdays, 8 P. M.; Hollywood

Library, Mondays, 4 P. M.

WOMEN'S SHELLEY CLUB, second and fourth

Wednesday, 936 West Washington Street, fifty cent

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

G. Woodard, president, HUmboldt'7668-W.

NEGRO FORUM, Masonic Temple,

Central Avenue, Sunday, 4:30.

Twelfth and

WORKERS' BOOK SHOP, Room 101, 122 West

Third Street. Obtain books-keep pace with Work-

ers' Movement progress. Same address: The Daily

Worker and Circulating Library.

ENGLISH SPEAKING BRANCH, I. L. D., business

and educational meetings every first and third

Thursday at Cleveland Hall, Walker Auditorium, 730

South Grand Avenue,

PROLETARIAN PARTY Economics Class, Thurs-

day, 8 P. M.; Saturday Night Forum, 8 P. M., at

Cooks' Union Hall, 33714 South Hill Street. Admis-

sion free.

SOCIALIST PARTY, headquarters 418 Bryson

suilding; R. W. Anderson, Secretary. VErmont 6811.

County Central Committee meets second and fourth |

Mondays.

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Parsons' Patriotism

February 23, 1928.

Warner Brothers Radio,

Hollywood, Calif.

Dear Sirs:

Last night I listened in, for the first time in many

weeks, and happened to tune in on your station, and

heard a man named Parsons from the Better-America

Federation, and while he had a good voice, what

he said against all the isms with which he did not

agree was not so good. He does not know that

"all great thinkers of the world's history were radi-

cals," quoted from a speech by Dr. Soares this week

at Cal Tech.

Mr. Parsons had a hard time defending the actions

of capitalism and graft in government, trying to

make us patriotic for the next war. He said noth-

ing about the forty-five million dollar warship, Sara-

toga, anchored in our waters this day; nor the bil-

lions more to be spent in this most wicked and

wasteful way by our Sunday school teachers; nor

about the increasing length of the bread line in New

York and other cities; nor that these abominations

in a Christian and prosperous country are the things

that drive us who think into the arms of Socialism-

a better, more human form of society than the hide-

ous competitive one we have now; or anarchism-

food, shelter and clothing for all; or Communism-

all sharing alike in a just distribution of this world's

goods and opportunities; or revolution, when the

powers that be refuse to listen to reason and can

only be awakened by a great noise. If there were

no cause for discontent there would be none. So I

say that it is no more than right that you give a

true Christian a chance to be heard, too. There

are a few left in this land of churches, but church

`is not the place to look for them. You might try

our minister, Rev. C. J. Taft, head of Los Angeles

American Civil Liberties Union. He is doing a bet-

ter work than any of them by giving the masses a

chance to be educated along lines pertaining to bet-

ter living here and now.

Sincerely,

About Russia

Aylmer Maude, Esq.,

Great Baddow,

Chelmsford, England.

Dear Mr. Maude:

I have your extremely friendly letter, and certain-

ly I appreciate your writing me exactly what you

think. What you say about Russia is what, as a

follower of Tolstoy, you would naturally think. The

subject is so vast that every person apparently sees

what his own temperament selects. I can only as-

sure you that which I have written about Russia in

"Oil!" is a collective opinion of half a dozen of my

most intimate friends, who saw the entire affair from

end to end. For example, my friend, Albert Rhys

Williams, was all through the Russian Revolution,

and has just come back after five years living among

the peasants. He justifies what I say about the

peasants. I am asking the New Republic to send

you a copy of his little book, "The Russian Land."

You might be interested to review it.

The character of Harry Seager in "Oil!" is Harry

E. Sayers ,whom I have known for twelve years. He

was in charge of all the Y. M. C. A. work along the

Siberian Railroad, and he was one of half a dozen

returned Americans. who gave me the facts of Si-

beria I have put into the book.

If I could have my way all governments would

be free governments, but in a country like Russia,

which has never yet achieved free government, and

in which I am obliged to choose between' Tsardom

and Soviet, I cast my vote for the latter on one

Single ground-they educate the people. If there is

one thing plain about the Russian situation, it is

that there has been a vast awakening among the

masses in Russia, and a vast fertilizing of their

minds with modern ideas.

Sincerely,

UPTON SINCLAIR.

V The cause of Freedom is identified with the des-

tinies of humanity, and in whatever part of the

World it gains ground by and by will be a common

gain to all those who desire it-Kossuth,

Congressional Record

Scored for Attacks

Attacking the use of the Congressional Record for

"printing slanderous attacks on those fighting for

the old rights of free speech,' the American Civil

Liberties Union on February 14 took exception to

the leave to print given to Congressman Blanton of

Texas, who recently assailed efforts for free speech

as a "part of a Bolshevik international conspiracy."

The Union's protest was sent to the Speaker of the

House and to interested members.

Blanton's attack, and a similar one by former Con-

gressman John P. Sosnowski of Michigan, were re-

printed from the Congressional Record, sent broad-

cast over the country and used as "authentic docu-

mentary evidence." Blanton's attack was distrib-

uted in large quantities by the National Clay Prod-

ucts Association, which specializes in anti-radical and

anti-union propaganda.

The Civil Liberties Union protest, signed by Prof.

Harry F. Ward, chairman of the organization, de-

nounces "inaccuracies and deliberate misstatements"

in the charges of the two Congressmen. "The use

of the Congressional Record to frank material of a

libelous character, while the authors are protected

from legal action by the nature of the publication,

should be stopped," Dr. Ward said. "To any intelli-

gent person, the extravagancies of Blanton and Sos-

nowski carry their own condemnation. But too many

people afflicted with prejudice or fear are ready to

believe any Bolshevist fairy story, no matter how

extravagant."

The statement also charges that the main source

used by Mr. Sosnowski and Mr. Blanton in their at-

tacks was the "notorious Lusk Committee Report."

This committee, appointed by the New York Legis-

lature in 1919, wound up in `almost complete dis-

credit" after many spectacular raids, illegal seizures

of property and high-handed examination of wit-

nesses to unearth conspiracies to overthrow this

Government. The two laws it sponsored for the

control of personal opinions of school teachers in

New York were repealed in 1923 under the leader-

ship of Goy.- Alfred E. Smith.

Give Them Work

Los Angeles City Council,

Los Angeles, Calif.

Dear Sirs:

Since there are eighty thousand unemployed in the

city of Los Angeles (so I have read in the papers),

are you going to feed them without work or give

them work so that they may feed themselves? Keep

the city in order by razing the disgraceful shacks

that infest many parts of it and are still used for

human habitation, since Los Angeles is so widely

advertised as model and beautiful.

Beauty cannot rest for long on a rickety founda-

tion. Slums are absolutely unnecessary. Other

smaller, poorer but more advanced countries have

eliminated them. So can we. Let us begin by

building blocks of model houses for which we have

land and appropriations; washing the tunnels; tree

planting and not destroying. These are a few of the

many things the city can do for the sake of humanity.

Sincerely,

KY Cag

Manlapit Arrested

Pablo Manlapit, Filipino labor organizer and attor-

ney, was arrested by two Los Angeles detectives

while entering Symphony Hall Thursday evening,

February 23, to attend a meeting of the All-America

Anti-Imperialist League, He was held for about four

hours and questioned and released at midnight. Al-

though Manlapit was prevented from speaking the

meeting was held as otherwise scheduled; with a

Mexican and a Filipino speaker, and Frank Spector,

local I. L. D. secretary, as chairman.

MILAN,-The podesta, or mayor, of Milan, Signor

Belloni, announced recently that heads' of large

families will be granted free unlimited passes for

all Milan trolley lines. The passes will be good for

all members of the family.

The podesta has taken this measure to increase

the birth rate.

FROM VARIED VIEWPOINTS

To Enforce Patriotism

Children of the public schools of Delaware who

refuse to salute the flag as provided by a state law

must be disciplined by the teachers, the State Board

of Education ruled last week The decision was

made after several Greenwood children of the Men-

nonite faith were alleged to have refused to salute

the flag. Their refusal to do so was based on re-

ligious convictions. The American Civil Liberties

Union plans a test case in the matter, to be insti-

tuted as soon as the first disciplinary action is taken.

(Continued from page 2)

Notwithstanding the fact that we have a great

problem to solve some day in our Negro population

of many millions, and the ever present threat of

Asiatic inundations, it would seem as if this country

would fight shy of an additional racial matter for

solution. Australia and New Zealand are firmly de-

termined to keep their lands for the white races,

and it looks as if we have about decided to follow

their example, though after much damage has been

done. The quota law against European countries

does not disprove this, as it has been invoked so

that we may catch up in assimilating the many

alien millions who came in during the last few

decades.

Organized labor is strongly back of the Box bill

for applying the quota to Mexicans, probably with

the consent of the Mexican Federation of Labor, as

the movements of the two countries are closely af-

filiated. Labor acts from a purely opportunistic

standpoint, as it did when it was menaced with

hordes of cheap white labor from Europe. Here, in

California, we have the added problem of taking

care of many thousands of backward, diseased, ig-

norant, poorly-paid and anaemic aliens who breed

like rabbits.

The Mexican population in this county is about

10 per cent of the total, but they take 25 per cent

of the expenditures for outdoor relief, $400,000 a

year, and the same out-of-proportion amount in the

County Hospital and in the Juvenile Court. About

90 per cent of those who fall back on charity have

been in this country five years or more, indicating

that they do become placed, but accept alms with-

out any feeling of degradation.

The feeling in Congress is quite strong for restric-

tion of immigration, and the quota law will be tight-

ened rather than relaxed, so the chances are good

for the Box bill to apply the quota to Mexico. It

will make it more difficult for the cheap labor advo-

cates to obtain their peons, but will not affect the in-

flow in any degree like that accomplished with Euro-

pean immigration, due to the fact that nearly all

of the Mexicans now coming in are known as "Wets,"

this is that they have waded the Rio Grande and

sneaked in here without paying for visa or head tax.

Of course, these `"Wets" include many thousands who

simply evaded the few guards in the hundreds of

miles of desert border between El Paso and the

Pacific.

Before the advent of modern scientific methods

of cure and prevention of disease, Mother Nature's

ruthless methods of eliminating the weak and unfit

kept down the population. But now we perpetuate

millions of mental and physical weaklings, who breed

thoughtlessly, through serums, vaccines, medicines,

surgery, hospitals. and other humane agencies.

From purely a financial and economic aspect we

are approaching a point where it will be impossible

to offer further assistance.

The only escape from the dilemma will be to re-

duce the birth rate. Drastic measures should be

taken to sterilize all inmates of asylums and all

habitual criminals in reformatories and prisons.

Then every facility should' be given to the masses

in birth-control methods.: Unless this is done we

can look forward to the continued production of

children by parents who cannot rear them as civil;

ized society demands. The second law of nature,

sexual attraction; will breed indiscriminately -unless

contraceptive methods are free and generally un-

derstood. 3 i `|

If I were consciously to join any party it would

be: that which is the most free to entertain thought.-

Thoreau. | are Tee

CRIME AND CRIMINALS

By GEORGE H. SHOAF

(Continued From Last Week)

Available statistics, with which I shall not bore

the reader, disclose that 75 per cent of the crimes

committed in the United States are done by young

men under the age of twenty-five, and that most

of the dastardly and unmentionable crimes are com-

mitted by youths of twenty-one and less. It is a

common occurrence to read that in the penitentiaries

of the country young men of immature age are hung

and electrocuted for murder; just a few weeks ago

two boys were executed in one day, the youngest,

in the Ohio state penitentiary, being just seventeen

years old.

These statistics further disclose that the prepon-

derating majority of the young men who commit

horrible crimes, such as murder and highway rob-

bery, are red-blooded, 100 per cent he-Americans,

with American lineage running far back in American

history. It is a rare event that a foreigner is charged

with and convicted of crimes of magnitude and im-

portance,

More interesting, according to the statistics, is the

fact that the majority of criminals are either church

members, or they are Bible-believing and God-fear-

ing young men. A Los Angeles lecturer of promi-

nence recently declared that the inmates of our

prisons were 54 per cent more religious than

_ were the people outside prison walls. Nearly every

young man executed fervently believes he is going

direct from the gallows or electric chair to God and

glory.

Here is the situation. Young American boys of

religious parentage and for the most part with re-

ligious training are in the forefront of the crime

waves that sweep the country continuously like a

besom of destruction. Why are they there? What

can be done to take them out, and above all what

steps are necessary to stop this saturnalia of crime

and make of this nation a law-abiding and law-

loving people? If in this discussion I take issue

with popular opinion, it is not, I affirm, because I

am mentally unbalanced or lack historical knowl-

edge-or wish merely to be different; but. because as

a radical, I try to think to the roots of the matter

instead of indulging in outbursts of surface emo-

tion. Crime is here; it is an effect, not a cause;

why crime, and what is the cure?

Individualism Rampant

For a hundred and fifty years Americans have

pioneered a tremendous area of undeveloped country

rich with natural. resources in which it was possible

for every man, woman and child to make a living.

In. our democracy of private enterprise and indi-

vidual initiative every boy has been taught, and he

has believed, that he was the equal of every other

boy, that if he worked and saved his money he

could develop into a millionaire like Rockefeller, or

that if he were studious and politically ambitious

he could become President of the United States like

Lincoln. In this land of private ownership and now

restricted opportunity millions today still harbor the

delusion that if every boy does not grow rich or

become President, it is:purely the fault of the indi-

vidual, who has failed.

Our whole individual and national psychology

hinges on the principle of individualism, unrestricted

and unrestrained... With Americans the criterion of

success is the wealth in private property one accumu-

lates or the political power one attains. We have

imbibed this doctrine at our mothers' breasts, had

it instilled in us at our grandmothers' knees, ac-

quired it in the kindergarten, grammar school, high

school, college and university until we are firmly

convinced that nothing succeeds like success and

that the prime object in life is to win property and

power. Our dominant religion is individualistic in

essence and application and its preachments con-

firm and sustain our: national obsession. Various

schools of psychology not in sympathy with super-

natural religion; from Hmerson to the latest bill-

board quack, stress the importance and desirability

of individual approach, individual action and indi-

vidual achievement.

Theoretically our Government,.from national to

municipal, is pledged to the protection and conserva-

tion of human rights; practically it is committed to

safeguarding and perpetuating property rights. Those

persons who concern themselves more with human

welfare and less with special privilege are scorned

as failures and unpractical dreamers. Get the

money, is our slogan, for money is power, brings

comfort and joy, and is the god of our idolatry.

Given private property as the goal and individual

initiative as the mainspring of action, with the psy-

chology that generated and keeps alive these propo-

sitions, coupled with the impossibility of realizing

the old ideals under modern industrial and political

conditions as they exist in the United States, and

the honest seeker after truth will not have far to go

to find all the causes of crime and the reasons why

young Americans turn criminal.

Old stuff, sneers the critic. Further, exclaims the

critic, young Americans are criminal because of in-

feriority or superiority complex, because of their

devilish natures, because coursing through their

veins is the blood of savage ancestors, because they

are not punished often enough and hard enough!

Disappearing Opportunities

When land was free and competition really untram-

meled there was a point to the philosophy and psy-.

chology of individualism; but with the disappear-

ance of free land and cheap and the organization

and monopoly of our industrial life, this individual-

istic doctrine no longer has place. Gone are the

conditions wherein it was possible for every young

man to become a millionaire or a president. The

tragedy lies in the fact that the idea and the ambi-

tion remain. And the greater tragedy is that in the

face of the utter impracticability of honest accom-

plishment our youth is still being taught the old ob-

solete and anarchistic psychology.

To acquire property and political power, with for-

mer opportunities gone, what is the educated and

ambitious young man with high hopes and aspira-

tions to do? If he has influence and is lucky he may (c)

be able to force his way into the crowded avenues

of trade or professional life ,and take his chances.

He might get a job and wear the collar of industrial

slavery. He can become a social rebel and join the

vadical movement, or he can turn to crime. Few

become conscious and active rebels with economic

understanding. Few succeed in the trades and pro-

fessions. The majority degenerate into wage slaves

or criminals. - -

Trained for a thousand years to respect their so-

called betters and imbued with the psychology of

obedience, European workers, individually, will

starve before they will steal, and on occasion, indi-

vidually, will lie down in the dust and permit their

masters to walk all over them. Not so, your typi-

cal American. If he consciously apprehends that a

deliberate attempt is being made to stifle his activi-

ties he will resist, he will fight, and this fighting

takes various forms of expression. This explains

why so few foreigners are in our prisons and why

they are crowded with young Americans.

I may be in error, and from the viewpoint of popu-

lar opinion I certainly am, but I hold that no man

honestly can become the owner. of a million dollars.

If a man owns great wealth it is prima facie evi-

dence of that man's dishonesty; that is, he has got-

ten possession of wealth that was created and should

be owned by other people. Legally he may be honest,

but from the standpoint of justice between man and

man he is as dishonest as hell. A suspicion is be-

ginning to creep into the minds of growing numbers

of people in this country, especially into the minds

of young men, that the owners of our great Ameri-

can fortunes morally and ethically are not entitled

to them, that our millionaires are crooked, and that

somewhere something is wrong with the methods

and processes whereby our rich men came into pos-

session of their wealth.

Slave or Criminal

All of the circumstances leading up to this situa-

tion the average American boy sees keenly and feels

deeply. A little experience reveals the error of the

theory that with energy and application he can be-

come either a Rockefeller or a Coolidge. He be-

comes disillusioned and disgusted. And yet he must

have money. He can't earn it by honest labor. Most

of the time he can't even get a job. He grows cyni-

cal and rebellious . In the presence of his necessi-

ties the religion of his mother fails, and he strikes

out blindly in his desperation and rebellion. In Eu-

rope, where the caste system prevails more or less,

and individual liberty has no standing, the young

man joins a union and releases his discontent

through organization with his class. In America the

young man, obsessed with the psychology of indi-

vidualism and thoroughly sold to the idea of the

might and desirability of private property, as an in-

The Mexican Problem

By P;, D. NOEL

So that I may not be misunderstood, I wish to

state that I had much to do with the overthrow of

the Diaz regime in Mexico and the gradual evolu.

tion of the government of that much exploited coun.

try to its present position as one of the most pro.

gressive people's commonwealths in the world. |]

am pro-Calles and Obregon, and am ashamed of my

country for its many years of bullying of a weak

and struggling backward nation.

However, California and the southwestern states

are confronted with a problem of immigration which

is of far greater importance than that of unrestricted

European immigration, and is almost as great a4

menace as that of Oriental swarmings.

The Mexicans are almost pure Indian blood, de-

scendants of the Aztecs and other ancient and povw-

erful peoples, with now and then a faint tinge of

Spanish. Biologically they are considered by many

as far behind the white races in the scheme of evo-

lution, but that is a debatable question.

Possibly their backwardness, judging by our stand-

ards, can be accounted for by superior kindliness,

altruism, communistic inclinations, and real Chris-

tianity in the way of helping others, all of which

are weaknesses when confronted with our present

cold-blooded competitive system of society. The fact

remains that they are easy-going, unambitious, suf-

fering from generations of mal-nutrition and low

standards of living and a consequent diseased condi-

tion, making them easy victims for exploiters.

There are 80,000 in Los Angeles, 200,000 in the

county, 800,000 in California and 2,000,000 in all of

the United States. There are no restrictions against

Mexican immigration, except a $10 visa requirement

and an $8 head tax. The Box bill is pending in

Congress to apply the quota law to them as applied

to European nations. This accounts for the present

agitation against applying the quota, fostered by

the railroads and the agricultural interests, which

profit by cheap and docile labor. As usual, the

Chamber of Commerce is leading in the fight for

exploitation, regardless of the racial, economic and

social dangers bound to arise and menace our coun-:

try.

(Continued on Page 3)

dividual hits out in the only way he can; that is

he enters upon a career of crime. As a criminal he

becomes a blind and unconscious rebel and when he

commits crime he is fighting the only way he knows

how to fight for his place in the sun and which he

feels he never can attain by honest toil.

Why did Hickman kidnap and kill Marion Parker?

In sport or because he was depraved or insane? No!

He committed that crime purely for the fifteen hun-

dred dollars involved. He wanted that money, and

he refused to submit his neck to an industrial yoke

that would have been fastened upon him had he se

cured a job and gone to work. In a land where mas:

ters rule he refused to be a slave!

When he was President of the United States, Chief

Justice Taft, during a public address, was interrupt-

ed from the audience by a man who asked:

"Mr. President, if a starving man out of work

could find no job, and his family was crying for

bread, and you were in that man's place, what would

you do?"

To which the former President, after some hesita-

tion and with much embarrassment, replied:

"God knows, I don't!"

For the President I will say that young America

today is answering that question with clubs and

guns, with robbery and murder!

With the doors of honest achievement virtually

closed, thrown into a society where criminal monop-

olies and still more criminal men rule, where the

premium of success is placed upon raseality instead

of upon honest effort, where to hold even a wage

slave's job the worker is forced to double eross his

class and descend to the treacherous tricks of the

politician, and inspired with the psychology that the

end justifies the means and that nothing succeeds

like success, what can the youth of our country do?

Be good? Embrace Christian Science? Submit

to the powers that be?

Preach that to the marines, but tell it not to the

grandsons: of James Otis and Patrick Henry and.

"Swamp-fox" Marion-Young America-awakening,

resentful, audacious, aware of his rights and deter:

mined to have them or know the reason why! _

(Continued `next week.)

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