Open forum, vol. 9, no. 14 (April, 1932)

THE OPEN FORUM

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

Vol. 9

APRIL 2, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

No. 14

MOONEY CASE GAINS WORLD WIDE AID

EVER in the history of the Mooney case has

Ni peen, ag at present, such a volume of

protests against his imprisonment and demands

for his unconditional pardon. From all over the

jnited States, Canada and Europe, a deluge Cee

ters, telegrams, resolutions, reports of mass meetings

and press clippings is pouring into the office of ae

tom Mooney Molders' Defense Committee. Activi-

ies on behalf of Tom Mooney have been carried

1, and demands on Governor James Rolph, Jr., for

Yooney's pardon have been made by Labor organi-

nations, representing millions of workers, by Senat-

ws, Congressmen, mayors and governors, by lawyers,

professors, scientists, artists,

actors, philosophers, authors-men and women

yominent in all walks of life.

Ina report. received from the Artists and Writers'

(ommittee for Tom Mooney headed by Lucia Trent

ad Ralph Cheyney, they state that a poll, which

they have been conducting for the past half year,

wyeals that there iS a powerful demand for the

pardon of Tom Mooney among "leading novelists,

tamatists, scientists, educators, clergymen and

| formulatorg of public opinion throughout the world."

-----

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"Albert Hinstein, Bertrand Russell, Prof. John

Dewey, Stefan Zweig, President Mary E. Woolley,

Dn Ira 0x00A7. Wile, Prof. William Ellery Leonard, Rev.

join Haynes Holmes, Will Durant, Clement Wood,

layelock Ellis, Dr. Kirby Page, Rev. Eliot White,

Dr Paul Hutchinson, Count-Karolyi and Ernst Toller

ie only a few of the world-famous figures who have

jit themselves definitely on record," states Lucia

tent, chairman of the Artists and Writers' Commit-

ie for Tom Mooney, "as favoring the unconditional

jardon of Tom Mooney." :

"The many distinguished editors who have written

Apressing their advocacy of Mooney's release," re-

juris the chairman, "proves the power of the senti-

ment in his favor." Among the periodicals, editors

iiwhich urge that Mooney be freed, are The Ameri-

til Mercury, The Christian Century, The World To-

hottow, The Modern Quarterly, Unity, The Arbi-

trator, Contemporary Vision, and Poetry World, not

0 mention the Labor press. The religious, literary

ind general press are represented strongly by those

vho demand Mooney's freedom,

`Your continued confinement in prison is one of

ie most horrible examples of the depravity of Amer-

fin justice that I know," runs a letter from Vn

(averton, editor of The Modern Quarterly.

A `oclety which will resort to the deliberate fer-

Itty which has been exercised in your case is a

"clety under doom of its own spiritual disintegra-

it writes Dr. Paul Hutchinson, managing editor

Ot The Christian Century,

a ae Ellery Leonard, famous scholar and

oe Professor at the University of Wisconsin,

tb die g tee "Whether you are to die in jail or

ss ie man still fighting for human freedom,

1a Power for the Future."

q

ay Toller cabled from Berlin, "Convinced of

innocence, Hope you finally find justice.

Tho :

sands in Hurope fighting on your behalf."

Ste :

wae Zweig, famous German dramatist, writes

"ta "I wish to express the fact that we

Stand i

lem vt these men (Mooney and Billings) with

alt and soul."

These are onl

Sten received

m `cording cent

be follows :

tee lowing writers and poets have gone on

Od on be

Moon y: aa of an unconditional pardon for Tom

fethep Ru "ar Lewis, Sherwood Anderson, Edna

Dg ee Hughes, Fannie Hurst, Carl Sand-

Mencken ee Vincent Millay, Upton Sinclair, H. L,

" John Erskine, Elmer Rice, Will Irwin,

Behe One assos, Lucia Trent, Ralph Cheyney, Eu-

Theodore Dreiser, C. E. 8.

ontoy. 13 Charlotte Gilman, Edwin Markham,

"4INcoln Steffens, Dorothy Canfield Fish-

Precedent " Olden, author of the sensational drama

based on the Mooney case,

y a Sample of the hundreds of such

by the Writers and Artists' Commit-

0 Miss Trent.

Many prominent American officials have, either

by spoken or written word, taken a stand for the

unconditional pardon of Mooney. These include the

following: United States Senators Bronson Cutting,

N. Mex., Edw. P. Costigan, Colo., Thomas J, Walsh,

Mont., David I. Walsh, Mass., Burton K. Wheeler,

Mont., Gerald P. Nye, N. Dak., Robert LaFollette,

Wis., Lynn J. Frazier, N. Dak., Thomas D. Schall,

Minn., Robert F. Wagner, N. Y., John J. Blaine, Wis.,

Royal S. Copeland, N. Y.; United States Represent-

atives William I Sirovich, N. Y., Harold Knutsen,

Minn., James M. Mead, N. Y., Thomas H. Cullen, N.

Y., Henry T. Rainey, Ill, Francis B. Condon, R. Le

Leonard Schuetz, Ill, Fiorello LaGuardia, N. Nes

Charles A. Kading, Wis.; Governors Robert Burns

of Oklahoma, Wilbur lL. Cross of Connecticut,

George W. P. Hunt of Arizona, Phillip LaFollette of

Wisconsin, Floyd B. Olson of Minnesota; and Mayors

John W. Murphy of New Haven, R. E. Sherman of

El Paso, C. J. Blinn of Oklahoma City, Richard L.

Metcalf of Omaha, Wm. J. Swoboda of Racine, Joseph

L. Heffernan of Youngstown, Daniel Hoan of Mil-

waukee, James J. Walker of New York, William A.

Anderson of Minneapolis, James E. Dunne of Prov-

idence, William J. Rankin of Hartford, and Morti-

mer A. Sullivan of Newport. -

Both houses of the Legislatures of Rhode Island

and Wisconsin passed resolutions in favor of a par-

don for Mooney, and two resolutions for Mooney's

pardon were introduced in the United States Con-

gress. The Wickersham Report on the Mooney case,

after being withheld for nine months, was finally

brought to light as a result of the passing of a Sen-

ate resolution. The gist of this report was published

in newspapers all over the world, and the entire re-

port was run in serial form by the Scripps-Howard

`papers.

The entire law faculty of the University of Oregon,

fourteen college professors of the University of

California at Berkeley, and other noted educators

from colleges all over the country, have expressed

themselves in favor of Mooney's pardon.

Moving picture people who have acted on behalf

of Mooney's pardon are Charles Chaplin, Eric von

Stroheim, James Cruze, Charles Brabin, Theda Bara,

Rob Wagner, Zoe Akins, and other leaders in the

moving picture, literary and artistic circles of Holly-

wood.

Literature dealing with the Mooney case has been

reprinted in over forty languages. The Mooney case

has received publicity in the press of the entire

world. This morning's clippings, for example, re-

veal news items and editorials on the Mooney case

published in such widely distributed papers as the

following: England-`Manchester Guardian," Lon-

don, "Daily Worker," London, "The Times," London,

"Daily Herald," London, "Morning Post," London,

"Star," London, "Daily Telegraph,' London, "New

Statesman and Nation," London, "Morning Adver-

tizer," London, "The Worker," London, "Daily Mir-

ror,' London, "Bristol Evening World," Bristol; Ire-

land-"Cork Examiner," "Belfast News Letter," Bel-

fast, "Irish Independent," Dublin, "Irish Press,"

Dublin; Canada-`"Daily Star," Montreal, "The Bul-

letin,' Winnipeg, "Toronto Star," Toronto, "Canad-

ian Press," Toronto, "Canadian Homesteader," Mont-

real; Germany-"Die Neu Welt," Strassburg, "Rote

Fahne," Berlin, `Solidaritat," Berlin, "International

Press," Berlin; France-"Je Suis Partout," Paris,

"New York Herald," Paris; China-"Pekin and

Tienstin Times,' Peiping, "North China Herald,"

Shanghai; Soviet Union-`Moscow News," Soviet

Union; Holland-"Neuwe Rotterdamsche Courant,"

Rotterdam, "De Telegraaf,' Amsterdam; Denmark-

"Hkstrabladet,'' Copenhagen, "Social Demokraten,"

Copenhagen; Australia-``The Mail," Adelaide; `"Sea-

men's Journal,' Wellington, New Zealand; Mexico

City-Librado Rivera's "Paso!" Mexico City; Bel-

gium-``De Tribunn," Antwerp; Spain-"Syndicalist

Journal," Barcelona; and South Wales-"Argus."

Songs have been written and volumes of poetry

have been dedicated to Mooney, and as Max Stern,

(Continued on Page 3)

Editor Talks to Mooney,

Is Won by His Sincerity

NEW YORK-(FP)-Marlen Pew, editor of Editor

Publisher, newspaperdom's magazine, had forty

minutes in San Quentin with Tom Mooney and came

away convinced of his innocence.

"One cannot always tell what is in a man's heart

by what he says, but I got the distinct impression

that Mooney is in truth the martyr his friends have

long contended and to me it seems incredible that

California could long continue to imprison that high-

type person in the circumstances that are now well-

known as governing the Mooney case," he says,

"IT have met individuals of similar type in the

Labor movement, but none more vital or interest-

ing. It is easy to understand, after talking with Tom

Mooney, why he could be so hated by persons and

interests he opposed in the bitter struggle on the

coast between capital and Labor. He is so aggres-

Sive, positive and blunt that one is almost bowled

over by the impact of his strong character,

"You would like him if on your side; perhaps fear

or hate him as an opponent. If I were charged with

a high crime and Mooney was a member of the bar

I should want him to defend me. He would leave no

stone unturned in my behalf. If results were possible

of attainment, he'd get them. peta

"What he had to say about his sixteen-year perse-

cution was in direct terms, man-fashion. He felt

sorry for his relatives and friends, but did not pity

himself, did not regret the subject of his career,

stood firmly for the organized Labor cause, freely

expressed abhorrence of those who, he says, have

held him captive because of his mission and _princi-

ples rather than for any violation of law, and had

no notion he would gain freedom immediately, if

ever, but proposed to go on fighting while he had

breath."

Two Hoover Expose Editions ue

Barred From Mails in U. S. A.

GIRARD, Kans.--(FP)-The two issues of the

American Freeman which exposed the Labor-exploit-

ing policy of Herbert Hoover have been barred from

the second class mails by Postmaster General Walter

Brown, Hoover's campaign manager.

E. Haldeman-Julius, editor of the American Free-

man, was officially informed of this action March 19.

The order does not apply to the paper's regular cir-

culation. eae

It is Seen as a part of the desperate campaign be-

ing carried on to keep Hoover's record from the

people in the months preceding the November elec-

tion. The Organized Farmer, Red Wing, Minn.,

which carried on a larger series of Hoover expose

stories had a larger part of its circulation barred

permanently from the second class mailing privilege.

The two barred editions were called the Hoover

Racketeering Edition, published December 26 which

has had a circulation of more than 315,000, and the

Hoover Slave-Trader Edition, February 27, which has

attained a circulation of more than 105,000. Halde-

man-Julius announced that the sale of these editions

would not be stopped but that they would be shipped

by express until he can test out the right of the de-

partment to stop them. They are being sold in bund-

les of fifty or more at 2c a copy, by the American

Freeman, Girard, Kans.

The Federal Trade Commission has also asked

for copies of the American Freeman and it is sup-

posed that other departments of the: Hoover admin-

istration will attack the paper in an effort to stop

its exposure of Hoover's record,

Word has been received from the National Council

for Freedom from Censorship in New York City

offering their full support in the fight to prevent

the post office department from becoming a censor

over political matter.

Mooney To His Mother

Recently Tom Mooney wrote to his 84-year-old

mother, Mary Mooney, thanking her for risking her

life in crossing the continent on behalf of his fight

for a pardon. Mother Mooney, now touring the Unit-

ed States on behalf of her son's pardon, was recently

refused an interview by President Herbert Hoover.

The letter was addressed care of the Coliseum,

Chicago, where Mother Mooney appeared at a huge

Pardon Mooney demonstration on March 18.

The letter follows in full:

"California State Prison,

San Quentin, Calif.,

March 15, 1932.

My dear Mother:

Words fail to express my thanks to you, dear

Mother, for the great sacrifices you are making on

my behalf and on behalf of the cause of Labor,

which I symbolize. On top of the terrible strain

of the sixteen years' struggle we have gone

through together, you risked your life in crossing

the continent to inspire the militant workers, friends

and sympathizers in their fight for my unconditional

pardon. History records no greater devotion. You are

a symbol of the millions of militant self-sacrificing

and toiling mothers. You are like the beautiful old

mother in Gorky's novel, `Mother,' who, when her

son had fallen in the struggle, seized the banner

from his death-stiffened fingers, and unflinchingly

carried it aloft in the procession of the heroic work

ers struggling bravely against the Czarist despotism

in old. Russia.

It gives me the greatest pride and joy that your

motherly affections are not limited to your own flesh

and blood, but you are demanding liberation and

support for the embattled miners of Harlan, Ky.,

and the Scottsboro victims of race and class pre-

judice and all political prisoners.

The world "spotlight" has been thrown upon you.

And how you have gladdened my heart by the grace,

dignity and poise you displayed therein. You have

advanced my cause immeasurably.

My profound gratitude and deep appreciation goes

out to the millions of militant workers, friends and

sympathizers who have welcomed you so warmly,

and rallied behind you to demand that the reaction-

ary powers, who have kept me entombed for sixteen

years because of my loyalty and devotion to Labor,

relinquish their strangle-hold upon me and grant

me an unconditional pardon. It is an inspiration

to me to see how the toiling millions in this country,

even at the end of my sixteen years' imprisonment,

are not relaxing their efforts on my behalf. The

masses are Stirring and their insistent demands for

my unconditional pardon grow louder and louder

and cannot continue to go unheeded forever. Though

your body is feeble and your voice has lost its re-

sonance, yet the strength of your spirit and your

deathless determination is sufficiently eloquent to in-

spire all of those who come to see you and to hear

you.

I confess, dear Mother, that I miss your regular

visits to San Quentin. You know how you have al-

ways inspired me with your faith and devotion. How-

ever, the vision of your radiant face is impressed in-

delibly upon my memory. It is before me now and

makes me more than ever determined to continue

the struggle begun more than sixteen years ago.

In expressing my thanks and appreciation to you

for all your splendid sacrifices and struggles, I ask

you to thank in my name all of those who are

lightening your task by their militant support.

As I have become the symbol of the oppressed

and down-trodden workers, you have become the

symbol of the courageous working-class mothers who,

unheralded and unsung, give their all to the cause of

a better world for the toiling masses.

With greatest admiration for you, Iam Your loving

Son,

TOM MOONHY-31921"

Professional Foe of "Reds"

Wanted on Bad Check Charge

John W. Bryant, who used the military alias of

"Captain John R. O'Brien" when addressing Rotary

clubs on the alleged dangers of Communism, is be-

ing sought by the police of Flint, Mich., for passing

a worthless check, according to a warning just sent

out to it friends by the American Civil Liberties

Union.

Bryant failed to appear when his case came up in

court in Flint on March 11, and the court forfeited

a bond provided by a local acquaintance of the de-

fendant. The pseudo-captain donned false whiskers

and made a "down with the Government" entrance

as a prelude to a patriotic address by him before

the Flint luncheon club.

A Generous Subscription Offer

In order to increase the circulation and in-

fluence of The Open Forum we are going to

offer to send the paper six weeks on trial for

only ten cents. But in taking advantage of

this offer you must send in at least five names

and addresses, accompanied by fifty cents or

more. Now get busy, friends of civil liberties,

and help us put this little sheet into the hands

of thousands of people who should receive

the message which it carries. Send all lists

to 1022 California Bldg., Los Angeles.

A Mayor And a Judge Show

Their Gangster Tendencies

That the gangster spirit prevails among those in

control of governmental functions, as well as in the

power behind these officials, is evidenced by two re-

plies to proper requests made to a judicial and an

executive officer by an attorney last week.

Protesting the reign of terror in Pineville, Ky.,

set up as the result of the strike in that area, Leo

Gallagher, attorney for the American Civil Liberties

Union and the International Labor Defense, wired

the Mayor of that city protesting the illegal, brutal

treatment of not only those arrested for strike ac-

tivities but people bringing relief to the strikers as

well, and received this reply sent collect:

"Wire received. Contents noted. Events occurred

month ago. Sorry they awakened you. Have you

filed protest Boston Tea Party? It occurred earlier.

J. M. Brooks, Mayor of Pineville, Ky."

The other request was for return of property held

by the Superior Court of Imperial County belonging

to defendants in the Imperial Valley case, convicted

two years ago. Judge V. N. Thompson replied as

follows:

"Your letter of March 12 with reference to obtain-

ing an order of court for the release of certain

exhibits which were introduced in the trial of the

case of People v. Horiuchi, et al, received.

- "The exhibits referred to, according to the evi-

dence in the case, were being used in the business

of spreading seditious propaganda, for the purpose of

bringing about a revolution, with the ultimate re-

sult of overthrowing the United States government.

"In order that you may understand the position of

this court in the matter, I shall state to you now that

there will be no order made by this court for the

return of the exhibits, so that you or your associates

or clients can use them in further seditious activi-

ties."

Collapse of Trial Hailed

as Victory for Free Speech

Failure of the authorities to convict forty-

five workers charged with unlawful assembly

in Long Beach is hailed by the American Civil Lib-

erties Union as "notice that juries will not condone

the illegal practices of the Los Angeles Red Squad."

In this trial, which ran five weeks, the jury disagreed

hopelessly, and Judge Charles D. Wallace dismissed

all the defendants. Prosecutor Devries did not con-

test this action.

The forty-five prisoners were arrested January

15 by the Red Squad and Long Beach police, who

raided an indoor meeting at which Sam Darcy of San

Francisco, editor of the Western Worker, was to

have spoken on "The Economic Crisis." Two hund-

red persons including twenty women were jailed,

and some of them were brutally beaten, according

to a report by investigators for the Southern Cali-

fornia branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Barbarous treatment was suffered by the women

at the hands of the raiders, and the Red Squad mem-

bers used unprintable language in addressing them,

the investigators charged.

Upholding Scottsboro Verdict

Called "True to Southern Form'

"The Alabama Supreme Court runs true to South-

ern form in upholding the death verdict for eight

Negro boys in the Scottsboro rape case,' declares

Roger N. Baldwin, director of the American Civil

Liberties Union. "Considering the Southern atti-

tude toward any rape case, however disputed the

facts, it was hardly to be expected that a new trial

would be ordered-and this despite the fact that the

boys were convicted in a court surrounded by a mob

of 10,000, held back from lynching only by a regiment

of soldiers. In view of the circumstances, the case

will of course be carried to the United States Su-

preme Court, as announced by attorneys for the In-

ternational Labor Defense."

a

NEWS AND VIEWS.

By P. D. Noel

A Comparison

This bulletin from the publicity department

Community Chest speaks for itself:

Chest's 110 member agencies each week are reports

ing rapidly mounting relief loads, according to ap

nouncement of President Joseph Scott. Recent gyp.

veys reveal that during December, 1931, 81,319 men:

bers of families were aided as compared with 330x00B0

044 in December, 1929, considered a norma] rat

an increase of 146.05 percent." It's a great system,

Of the

Martyrs

Tom Bell's article last week on the death of Ri.

vera, who with the Mogan brothers pioneered ti

way for the overthrow of the tyrant Diaz in Mexico

recalls the names of others who were active at the

time. W. C. Owen, Villareal, Elizabeth Trowbridge

Sarabia, John Murray, John Kenneth Turner, Hthel

Dolsen, DeLara were active in that movement, and

even Emanuel Julius (Haldeman)

Wright were indirectly aiding the cause. Many of

these are dead, and others have taken various pathy

Everyone knows the great work which Haldeman.

Julius is doing along radical lines, while Wright js

prominent among the leaders who are keeping the

American Federation of Labor so conservative tha

it is almost reactionary.

Hard To Believe

The news from Rome of Holy Week activities

where gaping thousands view in awe alleged relics

of Jesus and his crucifixion, makes it hard for me

to realize that I once fell for that kind of thing

The absurdity of believing in the authenticity of

pieces of the original cross, the actual lance which

the centurion used in hastening his death, the veil

of one of the weeping women followers never cn:

tered our minds. And, as to doubting that such

a person as Jesus ever existed, we never had such

a thought propounded to us, and would have dls

missed it as a work of the devil. One of the cere

monies of Holy Week was for each member of the

congregation to approach the altar rail and kiss 4

crucifix held by the priest. Knowledge of germs

was unknown in those days, so that the wiping of

of the image after each buss satisfied the few who

might have had qualms regarding the cleanliness

of the operation. Judging by my own career: "The

world do move."

Dreary Prospects

Each year in this country there are gradualel

from the high schools 50,000 youngsters. It used 10

be that most of them came down with a dull thu

when they entered the great outside world, but nov

it is just a tragedy for those youthful enthusiasts.

These days are the appointed time for the Socialists

to say "I told you so," and push propaganda for 4

and Chester

"Community

planned world instead of the chaos which we have -

The beauty of the situation is that it is not necessaly

to depend on theory to put over our ideas. Buh

Russia actually doing the thing, and on a large scale

Shuler |

Whatever one may think of the mentality of oul

militant preacher, he must be given credit for coil

age. Some of us doubted that he would show UD al

the Open Forum Sunday before last, but there te

was, even though he realized that the audience

rather unruly and contains many, each of wholl

thinks he has the solution of the world's ills. 0?

smart question with a probable wet animus cent

"Why did you vote for Hoover, a millionaire? :

ready response was: "Because there was no ot

choice than another millionaire, Smith."

Oil

At the May 3 election we are

dum of the Sharkey oil conservation gtatut

the information coming out as a result of ae

and cons is valuable. The seven bie Oe

cannot control the commission which will THe

the law, except by consent of the small oe if

who number 410, as each company a) oat

regardless of size. There are 40,000 service 0x00A7 pave

in the state, where 12,000 would be ample. ply, bu!

only 18 percent of the world's petroleum an

are depleting our underground reservolrs na of ol!

68 percent of the total. We export 40 ie it fo"

production of gasoline instead of conserv

a later day. Five percent of good wells P

of the total, while the other half is from -

of the wells-economically uniit. [Me

Hat' of conservation, not @ fen bert ae

small exploiters for private profit.

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FROM VARIED VIEWPOINTS

Why Protect Corruption?

he president Herbert Hoover,

ity fashington, D. C.

| peat Mr. president:

of course we all resent paying taxes to "balance

pudget" when the greater part of it, as you said,

nto national defense, an entirely superfluous

G idient of state in a so-called civilized society.

fr are also told in our daily ee of the squander-

| ing and grafting that goeS on in all eo onene

iigits, city, State and nation. Why does this have to

je? Is there NO man powerful enough to change it?

And why are We asked to protect so much GOrrUD:

jon, even to giving our lives for it? Since all busi-

| yess is at and standstill, how can you expect to bleed

yy for more of government's useless, wasteful

squandering ? The less we have now, the more you

hel | propose to tax us. It can't be done. Blood cannot

nd | be got out of a stone. Use what you have for our

yenefit, instead of our destruction, and all could be

of | vell,

hs Out of over four billion dollars to be expended

.

ao

B

a

S

Ss

=

ihe producers, the peace veterans, stand in bread

the | lines, Are they not entitled to protection by our

hat | muchvaunted capitalist system? There are men

in this country, you know, who have amassed

hudreds of millions, yes, billions of dollars under

this system, while other men tramp the streets, with

10 place to rest their weary bones except on park

jenches. We must set our country right in the eyes

if the world if we are to continue to boast of our

ing, | World leadership.

Indifference to the welfare of the common man

ich Suould no longer be an economic dilemma or an un-

wlvable problem. If you cut down on the expendit-

ey. | les for war there will be enough and more to take

uch | "eof the unemployed, sick and helpless. There

uch | Wil be no need for a community chest when the

dis | Government does its duty and relieves every human

| being from the menace of poverty.

he | you cannot see a way to solve these problems

| for the great masses, by all means break down the

ms | Wutiers against birth control and advise the people

of | `bring no more children into the turbulent scheme

things that permits them to starve or hands them

`little charity instead of common justice. Every

ther bed in our hospitals is composed of a mental

mse, caused by the wear and tear of a mad, rushing

vold, If suicide is the only way out, surely that is

`ough of an indictment of the capitalist system to

ake all of us take warning.

The scourge of poverty should no longer be a

toblem in a great country like America. Let us

kam that fellowship pays but exploitation never.

K. C.-G.

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A Plan to Civilize Ourselves

a Uttor The Open Forum:

it os more can we say to the powers-that-be in

`shington? How can we make them realize that

Metiployment is the one question to be solved, for

Mi hinges all others. Icent men were employed they

out a Solve all their own problems. We have found

? lat it does not need to be more than a half a day,

pat | ti `mploying twice as many men, with no neces-

Be seine up. Surely we poor humang are

ee : half a day's leisure to live the short while

ly 0 Spend in this vale of tears! It could so

(ne h 5 (c) made a vale of joy, if our servants in Wash-

mas Would only Jet it come before they are forced

`4 nd kidnappers?

Ith no other

of our

rt | ay aloofnes

go | yh achie

108 A low at |

nics | a Y see

Since 45

sth | (R) time he

`e until any

A condition of things

country has; yet we continue to boast

8, our high and mighty superior meth-

vements, our efficiency, our prosperity.

At

What the revolters have pointed out

8an-that no man can be secure or

ces | at another Men are safe, no man taking advantage

oe | Lameng need. Just helping the bankers, or the

ons item 9 "mporarily, will do nothing; the whole

ae | iy is i Production and distribution 1s wrong; tax-

bul lig tj "hg, war is wrong, everything is wrong.

HS | ttom '0 recognize this, and do something about

ou | (c) ground up,

| 6,

The | i It must be- which shall we choose, peaceful

het | Tans op chaos?

Ay :

hone eons to continue to be ruled by gangsters,

Htleggers. a

|

ast the State must admit failure.

Q

tle tan Which unemployment' brings in its

at ag and must go if we are to have

mee We will all be driven to suicide as

or oe the hideousness which confronts

| ate 4 aed Russia faced this fact; and how we

Ves tit! A plan: yes, a plan to civilize

| -K. C.-G.

pall

el

"

ant

Y ey

=

c=

ihis year, half goes to the care of war veterans, while -

We welcome communications from our read-

ers for this page. But to be acceptable letters

must be pointed and brief-not over 500 words,

and if they are 400 or less they will stand a

better show of publication. Also they must be

typewritten-our printers can't take time to de

cipher hieroglyphics.

Fee For Second-Class Mail

Permit Assailed As Hardship

Strong objection to an attempt to tmpose a $100

fee upon all publications applying for second-class

mailing privileges was voiced in a letter lately sent

to the members of the Senate Committee on Post

Office and Post Roads by the American Civil Lib-

erties Union. This fee, which is characterized by

the Union as "an undue hardship on small papers,"

is embodied in House Bill No. 8817, which already

has been passed in the HouSe and sent to the Senate.

Amendment to the bill to make the fee only $10

for publications having 2,500 subscribers or less is

urged upon the Senate committee, of which Senator

Tasker L. Oddie of Nevada is chairman.

"This bill for the first time in the nation's history

fixes a substantial fee for all publications seeking

second-class privileges," the letter states. "We of-

fer. objection to this on the ground that it interferes

`with freedom of the press as it concerns small pub-

lications, many of which would be seriously crippled

by having to add this cost to their initial expenses.

"You will agree, we are sure, that the expression

of minority viewpoints is highly desirable, and you

also doubtless know that scores of little religious,

radical, and industrial publications, expressing those

viewpoints, have a hard struggle to live. They are

not numerous enough to offer any problem. They

do not cost the Government much to carry in com-

parison with the enormous circulations of the larger

second-class publications, and imposition of such

a fee would be a genuine hardship."

Plan Test in Virginia for

Speech Censorship Ordinance

Legal services in fighting a city ordinance passed

hurriedly in Lynchburg, Va., to prevent his sched-

uled lecture on "Married Love," have been offered to

Dr. M. Sayle Taylor of Roanoke by the National

Council on Freedom from Censorship. The ordin-

ance prohibits discussion of Sex or Sex relations even

in a private hall without a permit from the Lynch-

burg city council.

"So far as we know this is the only ordinance

of its sort in the United States,' Hatcher Hughes,

chairman of the National Council, wrote to Mr. Tay-

lor. "We believe it to be contrary to public policy,

and an unfair discrimination in law. We have writ-

ten to the city manager of Lynchburg in the hope

that the city council will see the wisdom of repeal-

ing it without having it taken into the courts."

Mr. Hughes, in addressing City Manager R. W. B.

Hart on the subject, said: "Our position is that if

Dr. Taylor says anything in violation of the laws of

the state, he should be arrested and prosecuted

through the forms of law, and not be prohibited in

advance from making a speech."

Taxes Without Compensation

Editor The Open Forum:

In these days when people's homes are being taken

away from them, leaving them without a roof over

their heads and no place to go, perhaps it is well

to cast a backward glance some hundred years or so

ago and remember when the people of this country

rose against a Similar proposition of `""`Taxation with-

out representation."

If a city can confiscate the homes of a people

who cannot pay taxes for lack of work to earn the

money in order to pay the taxes, is that not a par-

allel case?

If that city has the legal right to take the homes

of a people, does it not also carry the obligation to

provide them with work at a wage large enough

to enable them to pay all necessary living expenses,

taxes, assessments, etc?

Will someone please answer.

-Margaret Bailey Moore.

Money is the supreme ideal-all others take tenth

place. Money-lust has always existed, but not in

the history of the world was it ever a craze, a mad-

ness, until your time and mine.-Mark Twain.

Work or Wages, Mr. Morgan

J. P. Morgan,

New York City,

Dear Sir:

When you rested from your cross word puzzles to-

day to speak over the radio about the "terrible con-

ditions which have come upon us," we expected

words of wisdom from the greatest financier in the

country. But we heard only charity extolled-pass-

ing the hat, on every block, as the only solution in

our planless, haphazard capitalistic society, wherein

you could accumulate hundreds of millions by just

sitting down and letting money work for you, while

the working man had to labor as high as twelve

hours a day in steel, for a few dollars to support

his usually large family.

Of course you realize that this is more than just

another depression; and that these cycles of unem-

ployment have got to go, never to return. A world-

wide reorganization igs due. We are sick of the

Squandering and grafting in high places, while the

masses are neglected. These very masses that are

asked to be patriotic, to sing "My Country `Tis of

Thee," and wave the stars and stripes-for what are

they supposed to do this? For the corrupt govern-

ment in city, state and country? For the "land of the

free," which taxes them out of their houses and

homes?

No, Mr. Morgan, this temporary relief may be nec-

essary for the moment, but permanent security

against the wolves of greed is the only goal that will

Satisfy millions now unemployed. Work or wages

will solve everybody's problem. soa Ones

(Continued from Page 1)

Washington correspondent United Press, has stat-

ed: "The persecution of Tom Mooney and Warren

Billings by California has inspired sermons, speeches,

resolutions, plays and editorials by the hundreds."

It would be impossible in reviewing champions for

Mooney's pardon to omit the names of Judge Frank-

lin A. Griffin, the trial judge in the Mooney case,

and Fremont Older, editor of the Call-Bulletin of

San Francisco. These names are so well known in

connection with the fight for Mooney's pardon that

they need no mention.

The first Mooney demonstration in Denmark was

recently held in Vissinghus, Vejle, under the auspices

of the Workers Educational Society of Vejle, on

January 19th.

Demonstrations were held in other European cities

on February 24, the anniversary of Mooney's death

sentence, which has been designated as National

Mooney Day. Hundreds of meetings, attended by

hundreds of thousands of workers demanding a par-

don for Mooney, were held in the United States on

that day.

"Mother" Mary Mooney, Tom's 84 year old mother,

is now touring the United States on behalf of her

son's pardon. She appeared ata huge pardon Mooney

demonstration at the Coliseum in Chicago on March

18.

In response to Mooney's appeal for a boycott of

California products and the Olympic games, (to be

held in Los Angeles next July), the boycott move-

ment has spread widely. Thousands of persons have

signed cards pledging themselves not to purchase

California products as long as Mooney remains in

prison. Resolutions to boycott California products

have been passed throughout the country.

An International Workers Athletic Meet as a

counter-Olympic attraction will be held in Chicago

on July 29, 30, 31, and August 1. Labor sport clubs

and other amateur athletic organizations, from at

least a dozen different countries, will participate.

Tom Mooney is honorary chairman of the National

Counter-Olympic Committee, which is organizing the

International Workers Athletic Meet. The head-

quarters of this organization is at 799 Broadway, New

York City.

A brochure on the Mooney ease is being prepared

by Miss Lucia Trent, who, with Ralph Cheyney, edits

"Contemporary Vision," a magazine of poetry pub-

lished in Philadelphia. The brochure will contain a

comprehensive list of persons, famous in the art,

literary and scientific world, who have expressed

their belief in Mooney's innocence, and have taken

a stand on behalf of his unconditional pardon.

And Old Ones, Too.

On December 1 Secretary Mellon's son went to

work in a Pennsylvania bank as clerk, and in Jan-

uary he was made a director. America still offers

opportunity to a young man who has the stuff.-

Southern Lumberman,

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

Clinton J. Taft Editor

; CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

Doremus Scudder

Leo Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills Pp. D. Noel

Lew Head

John Packard John Beardsley Charlotte Dantzig

Edwin P. Ryland

Subscription Rates-One Dollar a Year, Five Cents

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

Two Cents Each, if ordered in advance.

Advertising Rates on Request.

Entered as second-class matter Dec. 13, 1924, at the

post office of Los Angeles, California, under the

Act of March 3, 1879.

APRIL 2, 1932, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

This paper, like the Sunday Night Forum, !s

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.

Attempt to Protect Evicted

Family Results in Arrests

Meyer Baylin of the Unemployed Council is free

under $100 bond after having been arrested March

23 at the scene of an eviction of a family at 2645

Folsom Street for non payment of rent. He is charg-

ed with disturbing the peace. Lillian Dinkin and

Bertha Goldstein, arrested with him, were held in

Juvenile hall for a short time, and released,

- The Unemployed Council rallied about 100 workers

to protest the eviction of the family at the scene

of the arrest and to replace the furniture in the

home, and were charged by the police who did not

succeed in dispersing them. - Baylin was arrested

after addressing the crowd. Later the J ewish chari-

ties took charge. of the family.

This is the third case in which the Unemployed

Council clashed with the police when they sought

to protect evicted families by replacing their furni-

ture. At 216 Evergreen Avenue and at 2646 Houston

their efforts were successful.

The headquarters of the Unemployed Council at

418 Main Street were raided on March 24 by members

of the Red Squad, who tore posters from the walls

and questioned those in the rooms, ordering them to

leave.

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fluence of The Open Forum we are going to

offer to send the paper six weeks on trial for

only ten cents. But in taking advantage of

this offer you must send in at least five names

and addresses, accompanied by fifty cents or

more. Now get busy, friends of civil liberties,

and help us put this little sheet Into the hands

of thousands of people who should receive

the message which it carries. Send all lists

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Get them at 1022 California Bldg., L. A.

Mrs. Gartz's Earlier Books at Half Price

While They Last

Proceeds for Benefit of American Civil Liberties

Union

Centralia Defender Dies As

Inquiry On Disbarment Begins

Death of Elmer Stuart Smith of Centralia, Wash.,

whose disbarment in 1925 has furnished ammunition

for the fight to keep Kenneth Mackintosh off the

United States appeals court bench, is characterized

by the American Civil Liberties Union as "a, tragedy

and a lamentable loss to the cause of civil liberty

and working class rights."

"Hig end comes," said Roger N. Baldwin, director

of the Union, "as a direct result of his efforts to

liberate the seven I. W. W. members who are sen-

tenced to twenty-five to forty years for defending

their hall against an attack by Armistice Day parad-

ers in 1919. He was tried with the others for con-

spiracy because he had advised them of their rights

of self-defense, but was acquitted.

"Ror several years he devoted himself to speaking

in behalf of his co-defendants, making long arduous

tours, living in cheap rooms and eating poor food

while touring so that all possible money collected

might go to the liberation fight. Thus his health was

broken."

Smith was 45. He was disbarred chiefly because

he criticized Judge John M. Wilson of Olympia, who

presided at the trial of the Centralia men, the Civil

Liberties Union explains. Kenneth Mackintosh, re-

cently nominated by President Hoover for the United

States court of appeals in San Francisco, wrote the

opinion which ousted Smith from law practice.

Mackintosh was then a judge of the Washington

Supreme Court. He, too, had been assailed by Smith,

the A. C. L. U. points out, because he wrote a letter

two days after the Centralia riots, commending the

lynchers of Wesley Everest, I. W. W. hall defender,

for their "calm control and loyalty to American

ideals."

Opposition to Mackintosh's appointment to the

Federal appeals court recently brought all this into

the open, and Smith's death occurred as a judiciary

subcommittee of the United States Senate prepared

to investigate the facts behind his disbarment in

relation to Mackintosh.

To Speak On Third Party

Dr. Howard Y. Williams, national executive sec-

retary, League for Independent Political Action, will

speak on "Prospects and Issues for a Third Party in

1932" at Polytechnic High School Auditorium, 100

West Washington St., Saturday evening, April 2,

at 7:30. This is the final address in a week's confer-

ence of the league in Southern California. The pub-

lic is invited.

SIDNEY L. JANOW

Tel. TUcker 6789

A working jeweler, a confidence-inspiring man

to whom you may entrust all yeur jewelry

needs, be it the purchase of an expensive

diamond, an insignificant repair job or en-

graving.

611 Jewelers Bidg. 747 So. Hill St.

Announcing

Upton Sinclair's Kaleidoscopic Picture of the

RUM TRAFFIC

`The Wet Parade

"His Most Daring Novel"

Order from THE OPEN FoRUM

Clothbound s $2.50

Special Offer

We will give a copy of this thrilling account

of the farcical enforcement of the 18th Amend-

ment for five new annual subscriptions to THE

Open Forum or ten new 8-months' subscrip-

tions at 50c each.

Los Angeles

OPEN FORUM

Music Art Hall

233 So. Broadway

~- Come at 7:30 if you would not miss the tremen.

dously interesting and instructive talks on current

events with which the meetings are opened ea,

week by Prof. Arthur E. Briggs.

April 3-MOONEY MASS MEETING, addresse4

by Byrd Kelso, field representative of the Tom Moon,

ey Moulders Defense Committee, on "Through Forty.

two States With the Mooney Hearse," and Mans

Graham, compiler of the "Anthology of Revolutionary

Poetry." Byrd Kelso, often called the "Mooney un

dertaker," has been on the road with the hears

bearing the banner, "Justice is Dead in California,"

for fifteen months, making a 21,000-mile trip. He has

interviewed mayors and officials of many cities ani

has visited steel, agricultural, textile anq mining

districts. He was at Pineville, Mt. Sterling and Hal

an, Ky., during the mine strike and its accompanyiny -

reign of terror; in eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania

during the height of the coal strike there lagt gun.

mer, and arrived at Paterson, N. J., in time to head _

a picket line of 6,000 with the Mooney hearse in the

great silk-workers' walkout. One of his most thrill

ing experiences was eScaping from a mob armed with

sawed-off shotguns in Imperial Valley, California,

Mr. Kelso will give a review of the Mooney caso

and tell why Governor Rolph is delaying decision 0

the Mooney pardon application.

April -10-WHAT'S HAPPENING IN INDIA T0- |

DAY ? by `M. In. Pandon, a young Hindu who recently |

came to this country from his native land. He isa |

enthusiastic follower of Gandhi and was beaten up

py the British authorities during a freedom for India |

demonstration. He will give us a vivid idea of the |

activities now going on in India despite the campaign

of suppression inaugurated by the government |

Robert Whitaker will be: present and have som |

things to say on the Indian situation.

April 17-OFFICIAL LAWLESSNESS IN BLOODY |

KENTUCKY by James P. Thompson, veteran call

paigner for the Industrial Workers of the World. It

has been several years since he last spoke in Los

Angeles, but his forcefulness as a speaker will be

- remembered and he will doubtless be greeted by

full house-especially as his subject has to do with

one of the most terrible situations anywhere 1

America.

Coming Events

LOS ANGELES BRANCH of the I. @ W: 4s)

Bryson Building, free reading room opep every pe

day; business meeting every Tuesday, 7:30 P.M

_p,, businel

MOONEY-BILLINGS BRANCH, I. L

t and thin

and educational meetings every `irs

Tuesday, at 120 Winston Street.

th

SOCIALIST PARTY, headquarters 429-30 Doub

en

Building. Telephone MUtual 7871. Offices a

day. Young Socialist League meets every

day night. NEW ERA, local Socialist papel,

per year.

0

FREE WORKERS FORUM, Liberte A

2528 Brooklyn Avenue. Lecture Mondays 0x00B0:

B car, get off at Fickett.

make

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