The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 9, 1933, Page 1

es \ Vol. X, No. 85 EXTRA! SCOTTSBORO SPECIAL EDITION Entered as second-class matter Dali Central Org 3 (Section of the Communist International ) orker | nist Party U.S.A. SPEC mE, EXTRA! SCOTTSBORO IAL a¢ the Post Office at QB New York, H. ¥., under the Act of March 3, 187% DAILY WORKER — NEW YORK SPECIAL EDITION Price 3 Cents LYNCH DANGER GROWING WIRE GOVERNOR MILLER OF ALA. HOLDING HIM RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFETY OF SCOTTSBORO BOYS DEFENSE PROVES BOYS = - INNOCENT BY SUMMARY _ OF COLD FACTS IN CASE Lebowitz in Powerful Speech, Answers Ward’s Provocation With Keen Analysis Robertson Too Ill to Jump Cars As State Wit- ness Said; Snuff box Refutes Price (By our Special Correspondent) DECATUR, Ala., April 8—Gasping from the great exer- tion of his two-hour speech in the summation to the,jury, Defense Attorney. Leibowitz closed in a modulated reasoning tone, coldly summed up theefacts in the case this afternoon. When he finished, tt was evident that he had not only made a deep impression upon@————. the audience in the courtroom which had attentively followed him during the two hours he spoke yesterday and the two hours this morning, but that he had also vis- tbly impressed the jury. At the opening of court this morn- ing, Leibowitz resumed the summa~- tion with an analysis of the defense evidence. He pointed out how im~ possible it. was for Robertson, one of the defendants, who was so ill he had to walk with a cane, to jump over the box cars and attack the two women, This fact, the defense attorney point- ed out, flatly contradicts the testi- mony of Victoria Price, the prosecu- tion’s “star” witness. Price is the only one claiming that # fight took place in the first gondola next to the box car, but all the other wit- nesses said it was in the fourth or fifth gondola. The conductor of the train, the attorney pointed out, found a snuff-box belonging to Vic- toria Price in the fourth or fifth car, and these facts alone brand her as a perjuror, he declared. Olen Montgomery, another of the Scottsboro boys, is almost completely plind and could neither have taken part in the fight nor attacked the ‘women. What really happened, the lawyer asserted, was that the Negro poys grew tired of being tormented py the white boys om the train and put a stop to it by throwing them off. “would the Negro boys,” Leibowitz asked the jury, “have saved the white man, Gilley, from death and Jet him watch the rape of white women?” “The prosecution never dared put Gilley on the stand in the original Scottsboro trial although he was a most important . witness, be- cause he would have exposed this contemptible frame-wp,” the de- “The trial in Scottsboro was a farce. The Negro defendants were intimidated and the trial was ruled unfair even by tHe U. S. Supreme Court and condemned in a minority decision by Chief Justice Anderson of Alabama.” | het: Reading the testimony which the present defendant, Patterson, gave at thé original frame-up trial in Scotts- boro, Leibowitz showed that the Ne- gro boy never said he saw anyone rape the girls—despite the effort of Attorney-General Knight during this ‘ial to make it appear he admitted % at the previous. trial. Letbowitz, DECATUR COURT SOUNDS of the International Labor Defense have addressing the jury, asked: “Why did the prosecution not take the overalls from the Negroes at Paint “Rock to submit’ as tell-tale proof. “The State has not produced the proof. This whole case is a foul strike; the prosecution has not even got to first base. Where are the clothes the girls wore? Why flidn’t the prosecution present this as proof? Because they wished to hide the evidence of the innocence of the defendants, because they wished a judicial lynching—to railroad the Negroes te the electric chair, “Dr. Bridges’ testimony alone is sufficient to expose the frame-up. He examined Victoria Price at) Scottsboro and found no evidences of rape. “why didn’t the Attorney-General bring ‘Calley Broache’ into court to} answer our charge that there is no | such woman—that the name was in- vented together with the whole story?” (Victoria Price had testified | that she had spent the night in the home of ‘Calley Broache’ and not.in a hobo jungle with a male companion the night before the freight train ride.—Editor's Note.) Pointing to the side of the room where Mrs. Patterson, mother of the Negro boy now on trial, was wiping tears from her eyes with a handker- chief, Leibowitz, in a touching plea, asked the jury to return her framed- up son to her. H.W.L. Dana to Speak Today for Recognition | of the Soviet Union NEW YORK.—Professor H. W. L.! Dana, formerly of Columbia and Paris universities, who recently returned from the Soviet Union after an ex- tensive tour of that country with a group headed by George Bernard Shaw, will address a mass meeting at Webster Hall, 119 E. 11th Street, on Sunday, April 16 at 2 p. m., it was announced today by the Friends of. the Soviet Union. The meeting has been called in connection with the nation wide campaign for recogni- tion of and unconditional trade re- lations with Soviet Russia’ by the United States Government. A meeting of the delegates to the conference for the Recognition of Russia will be held on Monday, April 10 at Irving Plaza, 15th Street and Irving 7 Left to right, standing, the Scotisboro boys are: Clarence Norris, Oxie Powell, Haywood Patterson, Roy Wright, Charlie Weems and Eugene Williams; sitting, Andy Wright, Olen Montgomery and Willie Kobertson. DECATUR, Ala., April 8—After permitting successive lynch-inciting | speeches to the jury by the prosecu- tion and refusing—in the face of these prejudicial speeches, to declare a mistrial, as requested by the defense —Judge Horton, in charging the jury, affected a pose of “impartiality.” In his address to the jury he gave com- plete sanction to the whole system of national oppression, In the face of the scores of lynchings in the South and the very frame-Up over which he is presiding, Judge Horton declared: “We live together here in peace and tranquility between the white and Negro races, In other parts of the world, prejudice, intolerance and hatred are aflame, but we want to protect the peace and tranquility of our section, Horton began his charge at 12:45, and spoke for a little more than an hour. He instructed the jury to’ “dis- regard all appeals to race prejudice and sectional hatred and consider the issue, namely: whether or not Hey~ wood Patterson raped Victoria Price on the freight train in Jackson coun- ty, on the basis of the evidence sub- mitted during the trial.” Admits Prejudice Admitting the pressure of public) opinion and southern prejudice, the judge declared: “I would willingly forego anything that might happen to me, and I am sure you feel the same way. I want to see the good name of my native land upheld. “You will not get off on side issues. You are not trying whether the de- Judge Who Permitted Lynch Speeches Pretends to Make “Fair” Charge to the Jury ‘Judge Uses Word| '|‘Nigger’ in the | Scottsboro Trial \] | | JJECATUR, Als., April 8, — Pro- | secuting attorney and assist- | |ants, local officials and prosecu- | | tion’ witnesses regularly apply the offensive word “nigger” to the | | Negroes, whether defendants or | | otherwise, Once Judge Horton did |the same, then obsequiously cor- | | reeted himself in a way to call at- | | tention to his “slip.” Speaking | from the bench he said to a wit- | | mess: “You mean the “n— the colored man who just testified?” not trying state boundaries, you are not trying any classification of peo- ple. We are only considering the guilt or innocence of the defendant. “There. have been vexing things, vexing to the court and you, but the only thing we desire to do is to ren- der justice. “T happen to be a descendant” of the first settlers in this section. I al- ways expect to live here. I am get- ting old and I want to see the good name of this state and this commu- | nity protected, “Remember, then, that whatever we do, it is to see that justice and veracity prevail. “We live together here in peace the world, prejudice, intolerance and hatred are aflame, but we want to fendant is white or black; you are protect the peace and tranquility of and tranquility between the white | - and Negro races. In other parts of |~ our section.” | Earlier in his charge to the jury | the judge had referred to numerous | telegrams, evidently from sympathiz- | ers on both sides. “A good deal has | been said about this case,” he said, | “but we can’t help it; Decatur didn’t ask for it, Morgan county. didn’t ask for it, I didn’t want it; but I faced it and the jury will face it like men.” Reasonable Doubt. After calling upon the jury not to| convict unless it was convinced of | the guilt of Patterson beyond a rea- sonable doubt, Judge Horton de- clared: “What I am saying may be a little unusual, but much prejudice has come into this case not only from far away, but from home.” The judge commented on the char- acter of both Ruby Bates and Vic- toria Price, instructing the jury re- garding credibility of witnesses. K.K.K. auspices. the authorities. jail every day. with disgust. Alabama is being This was Knight’s answer to defense charges of frame-up and judicial lynching. Harping on sectional prejudice, he tried to oppose a local doctor to the} defense gynicologist from Chatanoo- | ga who proved the impossibility of | the rape charges made by Victoria | Price. In view of his political posi- tion, however, he did not permit him- | self to indulge in the type of ranting | which characterized Solicitor Wade | Wright’s speech yesterday — leaving this phase of the state summation to his two associates on the principle of | division of labor. t “This is a frame-up defense,” | Knight declared, replying to the I.} L. D. charge of frame-up, | Appeals to Sectional Hatred “Was I unfair when I did not put | @ nigger on the stand .to corroborate | BULLETIN * * (By Long-Distance Telephone) ~.» DEGATUR, Ala. April 8.—It is reported that two local hardware stores have sold oué ali their ammunition—refusing to sell to Negroes. Crowds from the surrounding country are in Decatur today, many of them coming bee cause it is general trade or “fair” day, but it has been swelled by others coming on account of the Scottsboro trial. By evening the town is expected to be filled with “visitors.” If the jury remains out over tonight and into tomorrow, the crowds will continue to grow. Yesterday cresses were burned in Huntsville and Jackson county, presumably ander * * * (From our Special Correspondent) DECATUR, Ala., April 8.—Throwing Victoria Price’s alleged “s the face of the jurors, Attorney-General Knight demanded the electric chair for Haywood Patterson, The juror against whose face the step-ins brushed, spat and threw them back AMMUNITION SOLD OUT IN 2 DECATUR HARDWARE STORES; REFUSE 10 SELL TO NEGROES; KLANSMEN FLOOD CITY Judge Refuses Defense Motion for Venue Change to Birmingham in Cases of Remaining 8; Jury Still Out as We Go to Press Prosecutor in Wild Lynch Speech Enlists Race and Sectional Prejue dice to Back His Demand to Burn Negro Boys DECATUR, Ala., April 8.—Defense counsel moved late teday for a change of venue te Birmingham, in the remaining trials. “Our lives are in constant danger all the time we are here,” Joseph Brodsky, defenes attorney, told Judge Henry E. Horton. ‘ ' “My party was threatened three times leat night.” Judge Horton denied the motion. % Lynch feeling has grown intensely during the last day or two as a result of the speech by Solicitor Wade Wright, which has played no little part in plowing the ground for mob action. It has given the lie to the exterior air of “peacefulness” and pretended fairness of { Wright this morning received a large number of telegrams protesting against his speech yesterday, which was directed especially against Joseph R. Brodsky, of the LL.D, Great hostility has been engendered against Brodsky due to the veiled slurs against hime by Prosecutor Knight in his closing speech today. Sentiment of local Negroes for Scottsboro boys is very strong. During the entird time of the trial, cigarettes, cigars, candy and other comforts were sent to the boys im ep-ins” virtually tybe “We are not lynching people in Alabama—legally or illegally. But the good name of lynched.” » ) playing upon the theme of race pre- | Judice, | | Putting his main emphasis upon | | breaking the testimony of Ruby Bates, | | he repeated the previous efforts to} arouse préjudice against the North by | stating that Rev. Harry Emerson!| Fosdick, (to whom Ruby Bates had | | told her story when in New York) | Bishop McDowell and Rey. Clingman of Birmingham, Ala., had ali been} “made dupes of.” | “We didn’t dress Victoria Price like the lilly of the valley,” the prosecutor | shouted, referring to the fact that/| the girl came to the courtroom to testify in a neat, grey suit. Insults Defendants Pointing his finger at the defend- ant Patterson, he referred to him as “that thing over there.” “Stand up so that the jury can see | you,” Knight said contemptuously, | the words of a white man?” he asked, addressing Patterson. while the former | was reading the boy’s testimony gtve® at the first. trial. Defense Attorney Leibowlte sose from his seat: “Are you trying to ime press-the jury-with the fact that the defendant is a Negro?” Much of the wind had already been taken out of the previous trial testle mony by Leibowitz who had pointed out under what conditions it had been given. “T resent anyone coming down here and telling me how to administer justice,” Knight retorted hotly ep Leibowitz objected to the prosecutor® distortion of the evidence, In his summation, Proscewter Knight made a venomous, insine- ating attack upon Joseph BR. Broé> sky, of defense counsel. The rem son for Knight's centering poe Brodsky is the fact that the lattes (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO smashed the miserable frame-up case of the prosecution. It thus stands exposed before the whole world in all its rottenness and 4 3 ‘The prosecution attorneys, Knight, Wright and Bailey ralsed their foul clamor for the blood of the nine Negro boys, giving expression to every ignorant, Negro-hating sentiment of the “Southern roling class. Through their foul-mouths the Southern lynchers have spoken. And the cry of these prosecutors Is the cry of the Southern landlords: “Give us the charred bodies of these Negro boys so that we may fling them imto the faces of our black slaves who now dare begin to rise up against their slavery.” ‘ Is the position of the urbane Judge Horton in any essentials differ- ferent from those of Attorney-General Knight or the Ku Klux Klan lynch mobs? Throughout the trial he has sought to present a seeming contrast to the rabid lynch cries of the State. But he, too, is playing his in defending Southern slaveocracy, ‘Upon the fundamental question of the right of Negroes to sit on” ‘the jury, he is on the side of the lynchers. He has maintained one ot the bulwark of Negro oppression in the South—lily white juries. the trial, he has openly upheld the lynch-inciting tactics consistantly denying every motion made behavior has been calculated to give the appearance of judicial impar- tiality at the very same time that he has given free scope to every _ vicious tactic of the prosecutors, ete For example, when Knight, unable to conceal his lust for the sentence leaped up at certain testimony, clapping his hands and ing with pleasure, Judge Horton denied Liebowitz’s motion for trial at this point, thus tacitly encouraging such tactics to go on. to preserve the face of the court, he ordered that the records an account of “certain sounds,” saying that his head had been away when this happened. Again when Defense Attorney Brodsky today for a change of venue to Birmingham because of the inc! threats against the lives of the boys and the defense attorneys, Horton brazenly denied the motion, i Hb Still more Muminating of the pert played by the in which he received the vicious appeals He advised the jury not to regard them—but only AFTER made Gheir effect on the jury. While the poison spewed, he if World-Wide Pressure Stayed Hands of Executioners; Only Thunderous Protest Can Tear Boys from Clutches of Lynchers together here in want to i more nor than a repetition in judicial, polished language of the whole Judge Horton and his charge to the jury. Here we have nothing more philosophy of Prosecutor Knight and the Southern which wishes to the present system of slavery and lynching which LYNCH NOTE AGAINST NINE INNOCENT SCOTTSB and tranquility between the white Protect the peace and tranquility of oppression, What is this “peace and “protect”t Ht is precisely is by the ORO NEGRO BOYS! people must submit to the barbarous Jim-Crow oppression @@ the Southern bourbons. ‘The Ku Klux Klan mobs, whipped up to lynch tury by the speeches of Knight, are now arming and moving into Decatur. These lynch mobe are gathering to protect with terror, intimidation and murder the “p-ace and tranquility” of the slave drivers against the Negro masses, But the Negro masses, in alliance with the white toilers will not submit, and are Despite any differences in tone or language, one thing is clear, the judge and the prosecuting attorneys are at one on the fundamental issues invotved in the ease. ‘The Scottsboro case is 2 focus point of the profound struggles «@ fe merely the “legal” arm of the Southern slayeocracy, Two years world-wide protest stayed the hands of @@ Oniy"the uaed viens of the names ihe peop, tener Only the untted actions of the masses of the people, ext their powerful protest from every corner of the country, cam the boys from the clutches of the Iynehers. | : we |