Open forum, vol. 11, no. 3 (January, 1934)

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

JANUARY 20, 1934, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE GRAND JURY MEETS

The American Civil Liberties Union has

wuse for much gratification over the pro-

goss made in the San Jose lynching investi-

`ation. It will be remembered that im-

nediately following the event the grand

iy met and did nothing, and District At-

jiommey Thomas of Santa Clara County an-

`jounced that the case was closed so far

his office was concerned.

Jose we were told that we could do nothing

Jecause 98% of the people approved the

itrage. This has been proved false.

Nevertheless at the time it looked like fear-

inlodds, but we decided to go right ahead

asfar as possible. Visiting the district at-

jomey, we were told that he would be will-

ing to prosecute if he could secure any re-

jable evidence, but that his own efforts in

thisregard had failed. Acting upon this

assurance, we were able in a few days to

}pesent to Mr. Thomas evidence against the

`jomg boaster, Cataldi, evidence so indis-

nitable that he had no alternative to issu-

ig a complaint and an arrest followed.

It was then freely predicted that the

gand jury would refuse to indict and that

would be the end of it. A specific reason

jor this was that the grand jury was notor-

wusly hand-picked by the local political

boss, Louis O'Neal, who in a number of

jays has shown himself friendly to the lyn-

`thers and in no way has shown himself in

`position to them. He is even credited

`teerally with being responsible for Gov-

`mor Roleh's hysterical and incendiary ut-

itances upon the subject.

However that. may be, it. was surprise

iimber two to the supposedly well-en-

tenched and impregnable powers of dark-

issin San Jose when, at the session of the

uand jury last Thursday, we were able to

ing forward an imposing array of wit-

esses against not only the tools, like Cat-

ili, but against some of the actual higher-

IDrngleaders. As a result of that the

ftand jury, who expected a simple job,

`lttnd they could not finish in one day and

`journed to Tuesday. Last Friday morn-

Igcame the first public announcement, in

`le San Jose Mercury-Herald, dominated

by Louis O'Neal that a thorough investiga-

i of the lynching would be pursued.

This gratifying result, according to wit-

ises who have already appeared before

ihe grand iury in the matter, is due in large

Neasure to the fact that a number of the

tts, tired of taking orders, decided in

"interest of decency and good govern-

ltt to kick over the traces and try to

take a real investigation of it. In this of

`tse they are supported by a large and

thential body of public sentiment which

`tapidly crystallizing. against the lynch-

"Sand the officials who permitted it.

_the most notable change jn sentiment as

mquyone directly connected with the

! tlime has to do with Sheriff Emig. For

fan his cock-and-bull story about a

` Mnute heroic stand against the lynch-

, Vent over in fine shape, fooling a

VP . .

"tat many earnest people who believed in

Mm a x 7

1. But the more it is examined the more

a nd fantastic it appears and is now

4, ,ccnerally discredited. Sheriff Emig,

Bone when he was supposed to be

Thom out was in the park, that is, after

| nond and Holmes were taken from

| et and before they were lynched.

tp an no reliable evidence of any fight

ihe ie and, if he went to the hospital,

him he not mean ambulance, but in his

TW rceiy, Yious automobile as part of an ill-

} ,. ved bit of hokum to save his face.

7 ict Attorney Thomas has assured

, -Y Ourselves, but a number of prom-

When Mr. Wirin and I arrived in San)!

By Exuis O. Jonzs

inent San Jose. citizens that he is anxious

to cooperate to the fullest possible extent,

but he cast grave doubt upon the assurance

when he appointed to conduct the exam-

ination of witnesses and the hearing before

the grand jury his most reactionary dep-

uty Herbert Bridges, who after the lynch-

ing gave an approving interview to the

press in which he congratulated San Jose

on being the favored city to stage this de-

praved exhibition of collective murder and

thus give a ``wonderful lesson" to the

world.

`It is recommended that readers of The

Open Forum examine a powerful editorial

on the lynching appearing in the January

issue of the Catholic World, available at

the public library.

Union Offers to Defend Right

of C. W. A. Workers to Organize

Civil Works Administration employees

have the clear right to form unions, Roger

N. Baldwin, director of the American Civil

Liberties Union, declared this week in com-

mending the dismissal by Magistrate Mark

Rudich in Brooklyn, N. Y., of the charges

of disorderly conduct and inciting to riot

against David Lasser, organizer for the As-

sociation of Civil Works Employees, and

Julius Bertman. The men who were ar-

rested Dec. 21 at Dyker Heights Park,

headquarters of the Brooklyn C. W. Ad,

were defended by Morris Shapiro, attorney

for the employee's organization. -

"The arrests of David Lasser and Julius

Bertman,"' Mr. Baldwin said, "had all the

earmarks of a clumsy effort to prevent C.

W. A. workers to form organizations for

their own protection. That right has been

recognized by the courts. It is an integral

part of the N. R. A. The Civil Liberties

Union will defend it to the uttermost.

"Lasser, accompanied by Bertman, was

seeking support from Brooklyn C. W. A.

employees for a plan he was trying to work

out with C. W. A. administrators for full

payment of the workers before Christmas.

The men to whom he was speaking at the

time of his arrest had worked three weeks

and were waiting for their first week's

pay. The arrests were made on the com-

plaint of Paymaster Holger Olibareus, who

was the chief witness against the men at

the magistrate's hearing."

Free Speech Fight in Il.

Denial of free speech in Macoupin

County, Ill., will be fought if necessary in

the courts, according to instructions sent

by the American Civil Liberties Union to

its local units, the Chicago and St. Louis

Civil Liberties Committees.

Violation of civil rights in the county

reached a high point, according to the Un-

ion, on the evening of December 16 when a

meeting at Staunton was broken up. The

meeting was called to test' the edict issued

by Sheriff Frank Fries that no radicals

would be permitted to meet. Speakers

representing the American Civil Liberties

Union and the International Labor Defense

were. driven `out of town or arrested and

held for two days.

"Free speech, guaranteed by state and

federal constitutions has been denied by

Macaupin County authorities," the Union

asserted. "Sheriff Fries seems determined

that those who disagree with his political

philosophy shall have no rights. We are

concerned neither with the sheriff's nor

his opponents' political views, but only with

(Continued on Page 2)

Committee of Liberals Sponsors

Emma Goldman's Return to Ue Se

The admission of Emma Goldman to the

United States is sponsored by a committee

of Miss Goldman's friends who invited her

back to the country from which she was

deported 15 years ago, in order to see her

relatives and friends and to lecture on lit-

erature and the drama. The Civil Liberties

Union transmitted to the Department of

Labor the invitation from this committee

with an inquiry as to the Department's at-

titude. Miss Goldman's friends urged that

she be admitted for a period of three

months while she is on her present Can-

adian tour.

Under the law the Department of Labor

has the right to admit alien visitors, wheth-

er previously deported from the United

States or not, for temporary vsits. This

provision applies to all aliens Whether or

not they hold views proscribed in the im-

migration act. Miss Goldman was deported

as an anarchist and still holds the same

views, though she does not propose to

speak on those subjects nor to advocate

views which render aliens deportable.

Miss Goldman's deportation to Soviet

Russia in 1921 was based on her conviction

with Alexander Berkman for conspiracy

to obstruct the draft act by advising men

of military age not to serve. The Presi-

dent's Christmas amnesty proclamation

granted a full pardon to all persons con-

victed for such an offense. While a pardon

does not admit an alien so convicted, it

wipes out the offense and permits the Sec-

retary of Labor to exercise a wider dis-

eretion.

Since Miss Goldman's visit will be made

largely for personal reasons, objections

based upon her political philosophy are

ill founded. All her family and relatives

live in the United States. All her old

friends are here. Her lectures on literature

and the drama as her sole source of income,

aside from her writings, are necessary to

pay her expenses.

Miss Goldman is now a British subject

by marriage, though her permanent resl-

dence is on the shores of the Mediterranean

near Marseilles, France, to which she plans

to return after her Canadian tour is over

this spring. `

The Committee sponsoring her return 1n-

cludes more than thirty prominent liberals

and artists. Among them are Roger N.

Baldwin, A. C. L. U.; Louis Bromfield,

author; Mary Ware Dennett, sociologist;

John Dewey, professor; Rev. John Haynes

Holmes; B. W. Huebsch, publisher; Alfred

A. Knopf, publisher; Lawrence Langnor,

producer; Sinclair Lewis, author; Leonard

Ross, attorney; Evelyn Scott, author; and

Harry Weinberger, attorney.

Socialists Are Given Suspended

Sentences in N. Y. Red Flag Case

A split among the judges of the Bronx

Special Sessions Court, N. Y., on the con-

stitutionality of the 1919 state anti-red

flag law resulted in suspended sentences

for Jack Altman and Alex Retzkin, both

Socialists, convicted January 2 of display-

ing the forbidden banner at the head of a

hiking party in Pelham Bay last autumn.

Notice of an appeal will be filed shortly

by the defense attorneys, Charles Solomon

and Samuel S. Rosh, in line with plans of

the Socialist Party to test the legality of

the statute, which was signed by Gov. Al-

fred E. Smith amid the hysterical after-

math of the war. The Civil Liberties Un-

ion has offered to assist in testing the law.

So long as the suspended sentence stands,

the defendants, if they should again violate

the law, could be sent to prison for as much

as a year or fined $500, or both.

ty SRE

cond and Broadway, _

`Se

eles, Ca:

ranch of The American Civil Liberties Union. -

os eu Phone: |) TOecker: 6888 | ha

`Clinton J. Taft... j

Editor

is CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Upton Sinclair Kate Crane Gartz

= 20x00B0 Doremus Scudder' -

co Gallagher Ethelwyn Mills P. D. Noel

John Packard John Beardsley

a A. L. Wirin

Charlotte Dantzig

Edwin P. Ryland

ubscription*'Rates-One Dollar a Year, Five Cents

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

: Office of Los Angeles, California, umder th

ij of March 8, 1879. | ie oy ses

tae

LET E SY

i

udge Philip Troup to Conduct

_ Appeals of New Haven Convictions

Appeal of the conviction of the Yale

student and the two workers arrested for

icketing during the Kirschner Foundry

strike at New Haven, Conn., will be con-

ducted by Judge Philip Troup, local at-

orney for the Civil Liberties Union. Sup-

Yale students and professors, the Interna-

tional Labor Defense, and the National

idents League. .

`Two students and two workers were

ginally convicted for their activities on

the picket line in the City Court. Protests

followed and the charges against one of the

students, Bill Gordon, were dropped. Ap-

peal of the convictions of Larry Hill of the

We nae Masler, needle trades worker,

3

of Common Pleas next

_ Interest of Yale students in the strike

has been condemned by certain of the Uni-

versity authorities and by city officials on

the grounds that students should not inter-

ere in private New Haven affairs. Profes-

sor Edwin. M. Borchard, of the Yale Law

School and member of the National Com-

mittee of the A. C. L. U., discussed this

attitude in a letter to Mayor Murphy and

_ pointed out that under the N.R.A. relations

between employee and employer are not

rivate, and that students should be en-

couraged to take an interest in such social

problems.

: (Continued from Page 1)

heir right to express those views. To de-

ny free speech to political minorities is dan-

- gerous and un-American. Such nervous

suppression of hostile views smacks of alien

dictatorships rather than democracy."

Eas

JANUARY 20, 1934, LOS ANGELES, CAL.

`|| SINCLAIR BOOKS CHEAP

For only. a dollar we will send you

postpaid fifteen copies of Upton Sin-

clair's newest book:

| "I, Governor of California "

This is the book that sets forth his EPIC

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|! the platform on which he proposes to run for

|i} the nomination of Governor in the coming

primaries.

We make the same offer regarding his form-

er book-

"THE WAY OUT"

fifteen copies for a dollar. Or you may order

part of one kind and part of the other-ibd

altogether.

"LETTERS TO JUDD"

are ten cents euroach.

Send your orders to The Open Forum, 1022

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hurry while we have a good supply on hand.

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California, by The Southern California

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rters of the united front defense include

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ec

SO

ovies and -

ey

dom from Censorship, unit of the American

`Civil Liberties Union, is concentrating on

movie and Post Office censorship, according

to Mrs. Morrie Ryskind, secretary. |

"Judge Woolsey's brilliant decision on -

`Ulysses,' '' Mrs. Ryskind said, "and the

release by the customs officials of Peter

Neagoe's "Storm" and the paintings of D.

-H. Lawrence indicate that the lag between

official and general morals is diminishing.

If George Moore's "A Story Teller's Holi-

day" is released, the Customs Bureau will

present a thoroughly civilized record.

"The sdlemn sanctified hush that sur-

rounds movie censorship and its earnest

protection of the immature seems to have

been jarred by our `What Shocked the

Censors,' the first published record of the

cuts in New York motion pictures made by

educational officials. The press showed

gratifying amusement at what the censors

cut. With the booklet as our brief, we are

preparing a bill to repeal state censorship."

The Council through Edmund Campbell

Washington attorney of the A. C. L. U.,:is

bringing suit against the Post Office to

force the granting of second-class mailing

privileges to the Nudist, banned as obscene.

The Council, the secretary pointed out, is

not defending nudism but the rights of free

press. A bill is also being prepared to re-

place the present arbitrary censorship by

the Post Office with court trial similar to

that now required in customs cases.

1

Suit Postponed

The' Polytechnic High School suit was

postponed for trial to February 6, 1934:

This was necessitated because of the plans

of Mr. Wirin to take the depositions of the

defendants in order to determine the ex-

tent of the culpability of each of them.

: THE AMERICAN GUARDIAN

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Jan. 21-FASCISM FROM RO iG

LOS ANGELES by James Latham, aa

director of the Pen and Hammer (jy)

You will recall that Mr. Latham gave ys

an illuminating address on "The Security.

Racket" not long ago. In this new lecture

he will employ special charts of hig own

design, as in the case of the former dis.

course. |

Jan. 28--LENIN'S PLACE IN HISTORY

by Charles M. O'Brien. It is ten years since

Lenin died. Now isa good time to estimate

the life and eee of this ``dreamer of

the Kremlin," as H. G. Wells calls him

Has he been overrated as the genius of the

Russian Revolution ? sey

RUDOLF ROCKER

A Refugee from Hitlerism

WILL LECTURE ON

"THE MENACE OF THE

TOTALITARIAN STATE"

Dealing Specially With Germany, Italy and Russia

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 1934

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"I, Governor of California

and How I Ended Poverty" |

A True Story of the Future |

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JUST OFF THE PRESS.

It marks the beginning of a Crusade to put into

operation the E PI-C plan to blot out poverty

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Price 20 cents. Order from the

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