Open forum, vol. 22, no. 22 (June, 1945)

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THE OPEN FORUM

Free Speech-Free Press- Free Assemblage

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty

*__John Philpot Curran

VOL. XXII.

LET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

MOVE IN ON THEM!

Attacks on evacuees of Japanese ances-

try returning from the WRA centers to this

state have been increased to 24, it is re-

ported by the War Relocation Authority.

The matter has gone beyond the point of

triviality; it has become a case of serious

breakdown of law and order in California.

Although no one has been killed or serious-

ly hurt in these attacks, the offenses which

have been committed should hardly be

classified as mere "hoodlumism"', as the

press has been wont to characterize them.

Secretary of the Interior Ickes evidently

views the situation with anxious eyes. He

says.

re is a matter of Watioual concern be-

cause this lawless minority, whose actions

are condoned by the decent citizens who

make up an overwhelming majority of

West Coast residents, seems determined to

employ its Nazi storm trooper tactics a-

gainst loyal Japanese Americans and law-

abiding Japanese aliens in spite of the state

laws and Constitutional safeguards design-

ed to protect the lives and property of all of

the people of this country.

"The shameful spectacle of these inci-

dents of terrorism taking place at the back

door of the San Francisco conference, now

in session to develop means by which men

of all races can live together in peace, must

be ended once and for all. I believe that

an aroused national opinion, rooted in the

indignation of fair - minded Americans

throughout the country, will be a powerful

aid to West Coast state and local officials

charged with bringing the vigilante crim-

inals to justice."

The blame, in our opinion, rests largely

on the sheriffs of the various counties where

the offenses have occurred. Well did the

San Francisco Chronicle say the other day:

"A sheriff would have to be unconscious

not to know the back-room resorts where

this element gathers."'

Of course, our law enforcement officers:

can detect and arrest these hoodlums if

they care to; they can also uncover the

"higher-ups'' who are `"`egging'' them on.

Federal agencies should move in on this

deplorable situation if the state officials

dilly-dally any longer.

In- the judgment..of Carey McWilliams.

20% of West Coast people are opposed to

_ the evacuees return, 20% outspokenly in

favor of it, and the other 60% indifferent.

The first contingent must be drastically cut

down by.vigorous law enforcement. To this

end let the 20% who are favorable speak

out more emphatically, so that the author-

ities - both state and federal-will hear

what they say and know that they mean

to be heeded.

Oo

APPEAL OF PACIFIST TEACHER'S

CASE IS DROPPED

An appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court

against the decision of the Florida Supreme

Court upholding the dismissal of Edward

Schweitzer, Dade:: County," Fla.' `school

(Continued (c)" page 2, Col. 8)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, June 2, 1945

Nos 22

WORLD PROGRESS DEMANDS

RACIAL UNITY AND JUSTICE

"Valiant Voices Hold Aloft the Ideals of the

New Day Toward Which Our Planet Should

Move

One of the biggest issues of our day is

that of racial equality. It constantly calls (c)

for recognition. Recently at the San Fran-

cisco World Security Conference, a group

representing the National Association for

the Advancement of Colored People urged

upon the American delegation a serious

consideration of the truth of the following

statement and action in accordance with it:

`"`The main groups of mankind, commonly

called races, are essentially equal in capa-

bility of progress and deserve equality of

treatment, opportunity and respect in the

eyes of both science and religion. All men

are brothers with rights to freedom of

thought, belief and expression; freedom of

domicile, movement and communication;

justice before the courts and equal civil,

political and social rights.

"The first duty of civilization is to see to

it that no human being is deprived of these

rights because of poverty, disease or ignor-

ance. The colonial system of government,

however deeply rooted in history and cus-

tom, is today undemocratic, socially danger-

ous and a main cause of wars. The United

Nations, recognizing democracy as the only

just way of life for all peoples, make it

a first statute of international law that at

the earliest practical moment no nation or

group shall be deprived of effective voice

in its own government.

"An international colonial commission

on which colonial peoples shall have no

representation should have power to in-

vestigate the facts and implement this de-

claration under the security council."

All people of understanding and good

will can endorse such a statement, we be-

lieve. The essential unity of the human

race is no longer a mere speculative theory

but a scientifically demonstrated fact. In

the final analysis, there is only one race-

the human race. Geographical differences

between men are incidental. The big, basal

truth on which everything rests is that there

is "one world,'"' as Wendell Willkie put it.

In the light of this mighty, over-all truth,

efforts to divide us into antagonistic groups

seem senseless and despicable. That is espe-

cially true here in America. U.S. Supreme

Court Justice Frank Murphy trenchantly

says:

`"`The true greatness of our country is to

be found in an idea-an unshakable belief

in the essential goodness of man, in the

basic God-given equality of all men, in

man's right to personal liberty and to the

respect of his neighbors. Our ancestors-

those who came here 300 years ago and

those who came 380 years ago-all saw in

this belief the hope of a new, better life.

They came here to escape the hatreds and

animosities of the Old World, to live in a

land: where men could be truly free.. -

"The Founding Fathers of `the United

States drew up a Declaration of Independ-

ence proclaiming that all men are created

equal and endowed. by their Creator with

certain inalienable. rights.

happiness. 3

won, the framers of the Constitution se-

cured these rights in law by incorporating

them into. a Bill of Rights guaranteeing free-0x00B0

dom of speech, freedom. of religion, free-

dom of press, and equality before the law.

"This, the mainspring of American life,

is what our enemies would have us destroy

. They would. have us forget our belief

in the equality of man and adopt their own

false standards of race supremacy. They

would see us divided against ourselves, our

national strength consumed in racial and

religious hatreds...

"Bigotry is like a landslide: it gathers

momentum as it spreads, finding one vic-

tim after another until everyone has suf-

fered ... Each one of us in America is a

member of a minority in some way or

other. Thus we would see our country torn

into a multitude of warring groups... .

Hatred cannot remove any of our difficul-

ties-economic, social or political. It can

only add new and more dangerous ones."

Never were truer words than those spok-

en by anyone. Justice Murphy goes fur-

ther and declares how racial and religious

(Continued on P. 2, col. 2)

Oo

POLICE BRUTALITY SUIT SLATED

FOR TRIAL THIS WEEK

How much police brutality and. official

lawlessness accompanied the beating given

John D. Van Horn, Los Angeles cafe own-

er, by Los Angeles police officers, J. L. Selle

and R. L. Zimmerman, will be aired on

May 31st in the Los Angeles Superior Court,

when Van Horn's suit for damages against

the police officers comes on for trial. Ina

complaint filed by Van Horn in.the Los

Angeles Superior Court, in cooperation with

the Southern California Branch of the A.C.

L.U., Van Horn recites that he was beaten

and kicked by the two police officers, re-

sulting in severe head injuries and two

broken ribs. The assault upon Van Horn

took place in a parking lot near Van Horn's

cafe last September. |

Originally the police officers filed a crim-

inal complaint against Van Horn, charging

Van Horn with assault with a deadly weap-

on. Municipal Court Judge Ben Rosenthal

dismissed the charges against Van Horn

declaring that "the police officers were not

telling the truth and that their stories bore

such discrepancies that they were unworthy

of belief." -

Thereafter the police officers, charged

with misconduct by the Police Department

were given a hearing by the Police Board

of Inquiry, which ruled that they be dis-

charged because of the use of "excessive

force'? against Van Horn.

Among these

rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of

Once independence had been.

THE OPEN FORUM

Published every Saturday at 501 Douglas Building,

257 South Spring Street, Los Angeles 12, California

by the Southern California Branch of the American

Ss Civil Liberties Union. Phone: Michigan 9708

Editor

Clinton J. Taft

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

A. A. Heist A. L. Wirin

John Packard Edwin Ryland

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Entered as second-class matter Dec. 18,

1924, at the post office of Los Angeles

Calif., under the Act of March 8, 1879.

LS

.LOS ANGELES, CALIF., JUNE 2, 1945

RACIAL SEGREGATION OF SCHOOL

CHILDREN UP FOR DECISION

Last week the Southern California

Branch of the American Civil Liberties

Union, having secured permission from

_ Federal Judge Paul J. McCormick, filed its

appearance, as a "friend of the court," in

the case pending in the Los Angeles federal

court involving the constitutionality of

"segregated" schools in Santa Ana County

for children of Mexican descent.

The case in which this appearance was

made is that of Gonzales Mendez and other

parents of Mexican descent, in behalf of

_ their children, against the Santa Ana city

schools, the Westminster School District of

Orange County and the Garden Grove ele-

mentary school of Orange County, filed by

Attorney David C. Marcus. The suit charges

that "all children of Mexican or Latin de-

scent, who are citizens of the United States,

are excluded from attending Orange County

classes in certain schools open to all other

children; that Mexican children are segre-

gated and required to attend only certain

schools reserved for and attended solely

and exclusively by children of Mexican or

Latin descent, while such other schools are

: - maintained and used exclusively for chil-

dren purportedly known as white or Anglo-

Saxon children''.

In addition it is claimed in the complaint

on file in the federal court that the segre-

gation and exclusion is solely because of

race, and violates both the Fifth and Four-

teenth Amendments to the United States

Constitution; as well as the federal Civil

Rights Act which prohibits discrimination

because of race.

Judge McCormick has already overruled

a motion to dismiss filed in behalf of the

school districts by the Orange County Coun-

sel, Jack E. Ogle, reserving the point, how-

ever, for final decision when the case comes

on for trial.

While California has a law, adopted in

1943, permitting segregation, this law un-

dertakes to legalize segregation for school

children only as applied to Indian children

and children of Chinese, Japanese or Mon-

golian parentage; the law does not include

children of Mexican or Latin descent.

At the present time Assembly Bill 1257,

introduced by Democratic Assemblyman

William Rosenthal of Los Angeles under-

taking to repeal the 1943 segregation law,

is pending in the California legislature.

Last week the Rosenthal bill was given a

"do pass" recommendation by the Assembly

Education Committee. According to A.C.L.

U. attorneys, the 1943 segregation law is

unconstitutional. In the event the law is

_ not repealed by the pending legislature, the

_A.C.L.U., if requested, will take an ap-

propriate test case to the courts seeking to

have the law declared unconstitutional.

WORLD FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND

PRESS

Francis C. DeWolf, chief of the Com-

munications Division of the U.S. State De-

partment, was the chief speaker at a lunch-

eon meeting on "World Freedom of Speech

and Press', under the auspices of the AC

LU at the Town Hall Club in New York

May 16. The meeting was presided over

by Rev. John Haynes Holmes, chairman of

the ACLU Board, and heard addresses by

James Lawrence Fly, former chairman of

the Federal Communications Commission ;

Arthur DeBra of the Motion Picture Pro-

ducers and Distributors of America; Cran-

ston Williams, general manager of the A-

merican Newspaper Publishers Ass'n; and

Morris L. Ernst, ACLU counsel. -

The meeting was called to discuss pro-

posals for freedom of communications be-

tween the nations of the world in relation to

the United Nations Conference in San Fran-

cisco, with special stress on the right of

American audiences to read, see, and hear

all news and opinion from abroad by cable,

radio, mail, and films. Discussion followed

the speeches. The proceedings were broad-

cast over station WNYC in New York.

HIGH COURT MAY BE ASKED TO

DECIDE CITIZENSHIP FOR ALIEN

PACIFISTS

Whether a pacifist who refuses to bear

arms in defense of the country can be ad-

mitted to citizenship is the question at issue

on an appeal scheduled for hearing in the

U.S. Circuit Court in Boston in the near fu-

ture. The government is appealing from

the decision of the Federal District Court at

Boston on August 1, last year, admitting to

citizenship James Girouard, a Seventh Day

Adventist, who refused to take an oath im-

plying willingness to bear arms. The Amer-

ican Civil Liberties Union is supporting

Girouard in the Circuit Court, and will aid

in carrying the case to the Supreme Court,

in the hope of reversing the high court's de-

cision in the Macintosh and Schwimmer

cases during the 1920's, in which the court

held 5 to 4 that aliens refusing to bear arms

could not be admitted to citizenship.

(Continued from page 1, Col. 3)

prejudice in this country can be overcome.

He says:

"One hundred million volunteers are

needed to circulate sober, hate-quanching

facts in every American home, farm, fac-

tory, union, church, and school, in the press

and on the air. But, first, each volunteer

should search his own conscience. Our first

victory must be won within ourselves.

"If we are true to ourselves and our tra-

ditions, this nation cannot but fulfill its

rightful destiny. There is in us all a capac-

ity for human kindness. The brotherhood

of man is a living, growing reality. The

future lies with those who will tear asunder

the shackles of bigotry and reassure their

faith in the dignity and independence of

BAN, 2 ee

Excellent advice, you will agree. Then

make yourself a committee of one to carry

it out. Do whatever you can to neutralize

prejudice in your community, state and na-

tion-yes, and throughout the world.

For one thing, help get the Fair Employ-

ment Practice measures, now before Con-

gress and the California State Legislature,

made into law. They aim to give men and

women a square deal in seeking jobs, ir-

respective of racial origin, creed or color.

Passage of these bills and the establishment

of commissions to enforce them would be a

big step forward toward the justice and

unity which America professes to stand

for. Tell your legislators so.

FORESEES FREE COMMUNICATION ~

GUARANTEES BY UNITED NATIONS

Replying to a letter signed by over sey-

enty prominent Americans, made public

through the American Civil Liberties Union,

Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr.,

on May 17 said that the general principles

of freedom of communication between the

nations of the world are already agreed

to in the draft United Nations charter,

that further amendments proposed by the

American delegation will probably be

adopted, and that he was "hopeful'' that

the conference would create a commission

on human rights to carry the principles

into effect.

Secretary Stettinius' statement was made

in reply to a letter urging him to examine

"means of promoting freedom of communi-

cations, freedom to travel, and freedom of

access to sources of knowledge and infor-

mation. By that we mean not only un-

hampered, undiscriminatory use of -all.

available transmission facilities but also

the right to travel and reasonable access

to sources of information by press, radio,

and motion picture representatives and

qualified research students.

Secretary Stettinius said: "The United

States Delegation has been largely instru-

mental in proposing to the conference cer-

tain amendments, to which the agreement

of the four sponsoring powers has already

been obtained, which would require the

new organization to promote human rights

and fundamental freedoms for all. These

amendments constitute an important ad-

ee over the Dumbarton Oaks propo-

sals.

"We are hopeful that the conference will

not only adopt these amendments on the

fundamental freedoms, but will also pro-

vide in the charter for the creation of a _

commission on human rights as proposed

by the United States delegation. Such a

commission would be able to develop the

objectives of the organization in this field

in detail.

"You may rest assured that when such

a commission is established I would earn-

estly urge... that it should examine means

of promoting freedom of communications,

freedom to travel, and freedom of access

to sources of knowledge and information."

Among the signers were: Gardner Cow-

les, editor of the Des Moines Register and

Tribune; Milton Murray, president of the

American Newspaper Guild; Leland Stowe,

Chicago News foreign correspondent; Msgr.

John A. Ryan; Rabbi David de Sola Pool;

publishers, Donald C. Brace and W. W.

Norton; Harry W. Chase, Chancellor of

New York University and Constance War-

ren, president of Sarah Lawrence College;

writers Stuart Chase and John Dos Passos;

Chester La Roche of the American Broad-

casting Co.; Paul W. White of Columbia,

and James L. Fly, former chairman of the

ECC:

(Continued from page 1, col. 1)

teacher after his draft board classified him

as a conscientious objector, has been drop-

ped by the National Committee of Conscien-

tious Objectors for technical reasons. A pe-

tition for a Supreme Court hearing was

scheduled for filing early this year, when

a review of the record of the case in the

lower courts revealed that the constitutional

issues had not been properly raised.

The appeal to the high court of Clyde

Summers, Illinois lawyer refused admit-

tance to the bar because he was a pacifist,

heard on April 26, may settle the issue

raised by the Schweitzer case.