The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 22, 1933, Page 4

On 1916 The United States s ve erepar: he 1 investments ganized labor ec by Tom Moor Tefused to join the P: for the Pi been do’ takes charge of th office. Ten Billi are their hom arres' ert, prosecuting attor the bankers. September 23. Billi convicted with aid of r timony by Estelle Smith Confessed rjured dope JOHN MacDONALD, sick and frightened underworld tool, who confessed that prosecuting attor- meys made him identify Mooney, whom he never saw before. and prostitute, and John MacDonald syphiletic underworld character. 1917 February 9. Mooney-iried and con- victed. Since MacDonald had to change his testi and Smith’s perjury was ot trotted out a new witne F. C. man, “honest cattleman of Oregor who testified to seeing Mooney place the: bomb. February hed, he is se « April 6. Ed man’s appears in Ietters pri Prame-up begins to collapse April 28. Wor ‘under leadership strate before World-wide protest San Francisco C! publishes huge ious lows. er rtisements on all “good citizens” to stan prosecution. September 29. President Wilson. forced by mass protest, and hoping thereby to keep Russia in the trench es on the side of the Allies, appoin 8 Mediation Commission to invest gate Mooney March 1. Suprem Court refuses a ne rial. June-July. The Densmore Report of the U. S. Departme of Labor based on conversations hear dictaphone planted in Fick proves that Mooney was framed, and that Frank Drew, attorney for the Chamber of Commerce, and Fred W. Henshaw, of the California Supreme Court, help direct frame-up. September 18. U. S. Supreme Court refuses to review Mooney case. November 30. Governor Stephens, m™ request of Wilson who is alarmed by international protest, commutes sentence to life imprisonment. He denies Mooney a pardon. 1919 June 18. Top leadership of Amer- fean Federation of bor tries stem workers’ anger against Mc mey verdict. A. F. of L. leaders at Atlan- tie City refuse to endorse general Strike as pro! of I Cc ngress ago. with deleg locals. 1920 13. De ‘Hand, in Fremont Older'’s office, tells December Draper tective complete story of Fickert frame-up. in presence of Mayor James Rolph, Jr., now governor of California. Rolph turns and rushes out of office without FIGHT FOR TOM MOONEY By. J. M. years of constant defense has won an- After 17 battle, Tom Mooney other trial. This is one of the most important victories in the history of the case The trial, beginning on April 26, will be based on the only indictment re- maining against him from the frame- up in 1916. It charges “murder in the first degree” and conviction car- ries a death penalty. Why then, does Mooney want to be tried on this indictment? And why does the district attorney not want to try the case, but is instead desper- | ately attempting to prevent the trial? ‘The answer is that this trial will expose in open court the atrocious frame-up perpetrated in 1916, as a i Rolph Story of Mooney Case Proves Power of Workers December Richard. su California application for advisory par- result of this Cour ion, advised Yc announ: ision on, holding the Supreme n the Billings case Dec July-August. John MacDonald, the ution wW having been e and brought to ne confessed, a new Billings by the Supreme Court hours on his nions, wt d, and t Preparedness Day December 1. Supreme Court denies pardon recommenda- i pardon board pardon. on h report y Pardon 0. hearing , Tesulting from mass t world. Jimmy Hall grafter, makes al for Mooney to cov- in New York City. ints advisory board of cor- ion and utility trust lawyers to v” Mooney case. Workers start campaign with parades and December ration in San Francisco 1932 April 21. Mooney pardon” denied, the case is closed Nation: s, demonstrations the Mother Mooney given 0,000 workers in Coliseum, New Mooney Day Mother Mo under ILD auspict ade public a save face c Comme May 1. Mother r Day demonst in San Franciscc Following foes On ILD tour through Eur oviet Union August 14. Six young workers elec- trify 100,000 spectators at Olympic Games in Los Angeles bowl by run- ning k with Free Tom a arrested and their er, of ILD, di ty of Southern Un for defending them. tember 28. Paul Calicotte, of and. Ore., confesses he placed suitcase with bomb. Police attempt to discredit but workers hold in San Francisco Officials fail to.ap- 1933 Fifteen Auditor tho Louis Ward of Superior motions to de’ y Prosecuting Attorney A. Brady fter repeated efforts to jal, bankers and Cham- rce force court hearing, test again compells motion for dismiss to save framers by rul- mit evidence Sixty bus ns leaving this wee Free Tom Mooney Cona! and auto car- for gigantic s in Chi- cago, April 30 to May 2 to fo-ce com- plete frame-up exposure and pardon for Mooney. Mouthnie MATE BRADY, prosecuting attorney in San Francisco, who will try to prevent exposure of frame up to save bankers and Chamber of Commerce Workers Demand Mooney’s TOM MOONY i & BILLINGS = ce DAILY WORKER, NEW YURK, SATURDAY, arnin 2z, 1933 Freedom Page Four oo INTERNET ENG, LABOR DeTENe Ir IS BY SUCH DEMONSTRATIONS as this that militant workers have won a new trial for Tom Mooney and will eventually get him free, S up pressed Wickersham Report to Save Face of By ESTHER LOWELL IN a dead corporation detective, the Wickersham subcommittee which reported on the Mooney-Bill- ings cases would like to leave sponsib: for frame-up of these militant working class fight- ers. On a dead corporation detective, instead of on the San Fra O'Connell On an obscure of on the whole Once again ci with great. ballyr cation of this o} : report, individual liberals the though the frame in dail us not tant nore acute, with the ing a period of sr tion—the be} of the ca 1 evervwhore. AD OFF MASS ACTION ole manner of bh commendations the from known ‘liberals’ indicate n is designed to create illusior the minds of the workers, to, m them think that now Mooney Billings will go free, without mass mobili: heir behalf.” “Only tt mass action will free us!” Ove: Tom Moo- ne} cried this from his cell in San Quentin, during 16 years’ im- prisonment. “Only militant mass action will free u: of thousands of c ers the capitalist ” ery hundreds SS war prison- world over. nass action s of the 2 fi Ss 1e- to head off. True, t port want report deno of the prose cases, from be he als to this very day. It notes that the prosecutors did not try to find the real Preparedn: Day bombers, as even today they are ignoring the confession of Paul Callicotte. It points out flagrant violation of California law by the prosecutors, It calls attention to the false judicial, red-baiting stories given the press by the prosecutors, to the use of false witnesses, to the coach- ing of them in their perjury. But this is all old stuff to workers who have followed the cases. It is old stuff to workers who are familiar with the workings of the frame- up system in any capitalist coun- the try “YLL GET YOU Y! Even the Wick mm report dis- proves its own finding that the prosecution of Mooney and Bill- tags was due only to the dead cor- poration detective. It tells how Martin Swanson, a Pinkerton agent in 1913, became a detective for California public utilities corpora- tions in 1914. Swanson’s employers included Pacific Gas & Electric, San Joaquin Light & Power, Pacif- ic Telephone Co., Western States Gas Eleciric, Sierra & San Francisco Power Co. Swanson’s ef- Mooney for his part of these com- anizing a strike men on United Rail- panies and for orgi of streetcar Drug Addict fELLE SMITH, prostitute, who was bribed to fake evidence against Mooney by Charles M. Fick- ert, prosecuting attorney. 0 are briefly ful at- Israel Weinberg to help frame Moo- the Preparedness Billings just. before Daj are also related. Weinber as told by Swanson: “I'll get y yet!” and was in fact ji and Billings. yment by Dis- t rt, on the very t of the explosion, to have charge of the bomb prosecutions, is me ned. Indeed, the Wicker- n subcommitiee remarks that lence in time be- shi “the mere coin tween Swanson’s entry into the bomb cases and the arrests of the defenda is almost sufficient to e the inference that Swanson with the Dis- fice to cause finally conclude: ‘Swanson is dead. It can never be known what his motive was. . Mooney was a troublesome factor in the public utilities labor situation in San Francisco, and it was to the advantage of these cor- porations to get rid of him; but it is abhorrent to attribute Swanson’s conduct to orders from responsible corporation officials wishing to ‘get?’ Mooney. [Emphasis mine.— E. L.] The most convincing hy- pothesis is that Swanson saw @ chance in the bom® cases to pay off old private scores, and at the same time to enhance his pres- tige by convicting men who were obnoxious to his employers.” ONLY HALF FRAME-UP TOLD Thi scl entitely disre- ome of these on fals” r under indict- ment for bri public officials; that district attorney Charles Fick~ ert had been put in office to quash these indictments. It ignores the Banker Frame-Up Crew tion of Mooney and Billings, Mrs. Mooney end Weinberg, Fickert, was constantly consulting California Supreme Court Justice F. G. Hen- shaw, well known as the tool of the public utilities corporations and bankers. It hides the fact that this corrupt judge Henshaw was forced to resign by Mooney’s defenders. a ae WHY did Swanson want to “get” Mooney and Billings, if not because his employers paid him to do so? Why was Swanson loaned by these utility corporations to District Attorney Fickert as soon as the Preparedness Day bomb ex- ploded in 1916? (Only half of the story of the Mooney-Billings trame-up has been told, say some who know, or have strong reason to suspect, that the Preparedness | fact that throughout the prosecu- | | | Swanson and his employers to en- sure the frame-up of these work- ers.) Why, if Swanson was personally responsible for the prosecution of Mooney and Billings, is there still such terrific opposition to their re- lease? Swanson is dead. The frame-up has long been acknowl- edged an established fact. All sur- viving jurors of the Mooney trial have asked for pardon. Why are the men still imprisoned, if not because the capitalists framed them and fear to release them? Why do the Wickershammers now try to hide the gross frame- up of Mooney and Billings, if not to protect the capitalist framers? Why was the report officially suppressed in 1931 if not because | with the following inscription: “Only | Berkely leadership of the Sociali Hoover and his power trust and |® United Front of all working class | Party; the Liberty Perty and some- | banker friends feared the rising | crganizations will free 'om Mooney.” | thing that calls itself the “Knights | (5) All organizations taking part in ' of Civilization.” The only unions, four wrath of the American masses? Mooney says the framers “be- Heve that, since I am the symbol of militant labor, my pardon might arouse the workers and give them an insight into their power. . . .” Without the workers’ persistent and ever stronger protest, Mooney would have been dead long ago. Without militant mass protest, there would be no Wickersham re- port, no Wilson Mediation Com- mission report, no Densmore re- port on Mooney, and no second trial. Lenin roused the workers of Petrograd to march on the Amer- ican Embassy in 1917 and started action which saved Mooney’s life and made his frame-up world famed. Workers’ protest must grow ever greater, into such an insistent roar that the prison gates will swing open for Mooney and Billings, the Scottsboro boys, and all other class war prisoners in the United States. | — '‘“Tom Mooney Ball” | to Be Given Apr. 26 in San Francisco | SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 21. |—James Cagney, famous Hollywood | movie star and “Mother” Mary Mooney will lead the grand march at | the Tom Mooney Cabaret iy rae 26, at the San Francisco Clyic + torium, The bill is being sponsore‘ | by the United Front Mooney Uon- ference, which met at Equality Hall, 141 Albion Street, April 16. cher features at the ball are Max | Dolin, concert violinist; the K. F. W. \L. stars; the Downey sisters; George | Eldridge and Martin Friberg. Cyrus |'Trobs and an orchestra of thirty ‘ pieces will provide music. He net Which Ousted Mooney, , Sabotages Chicago Congress ' iCKS. leadership is writing another despicable chapter in its long record of treachery and in- famy by its attempts to split and dis- rupt the united front movement in behalf of the fight to free Tom Moo- aey. In the preparations for the monster “Free Tom Mooney Congress”, to be held in Chicago beginning April 30 and ending May 2 the official ma- chinery of the Socialist Party is work- ing overtime to disrupt the move- ment, The Mooney Molders Defense Com- with a plea from his prison cell to all organizations to unite behind it for mass struggle to compel his re- Tease. Naturally, as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, the Communist Party, enthusiastically rallied to the support of the proposal and mobilized all its members to strive for broadest possible support. Socialist Party Sabotage. No sooner had the announcement of the call been made to all working class organizations than the Soci- alist Party leadership went into ac- tion to try to head off or stifle the ['movement. Julius Gerber, the executive secre- tary of the Socialist Party of New York City, sent to all its branches a letter attacking the Defense Commit- tee and refering to it as the “so-cal- led Mooney Molders’ Defense Com- mittee”. He went on to lyingly state that the committee is dominated by the Communist Party and concluded with a plea not to participate in the fense Committee auspices. Disruptive Activity in San Francisco. In San Francisco, the home of Tom | Mooney, the place where he was | framed up in 1916, the Socialist Party ‘leadership and other groups support- | ing it, carried out wrecking activities that for downright scoundrellism have | no parallel in the history of planned | treachery to the working class. A management committee, inciud- ing Communists, Socialists, Proletar- ian Party members, League for In- | dustrial Democracy, Intl. Labor De- At the first meeting the Socialist leaders, supported by certain other banned. This was defeated. | tity. fact that there was a united front was turned down, they demanded that a committee be appointed to censor all banners. This was also voted down. | Finally, certain definite rules were | adopted binding all organizations tak- jing part in parades as follows: (1) | No signs attacking any of the par- | tieipating organizations or its mem- | bers; (2) No signs soliciting votes or | members for any party or organiza- | tion; (3) Only Tom Mooney Mold- | ers’ Defense Commitiee literature to | be sold at the meetings; (4) The pa- | vade to be headed by a big banner | THOUGH 84 YEARS OLD, Mother Mary Mooney toured America and Europe for the LL.D. to arouse mass support for her son. | shown with J. Lonis Engdahl, late national secretary of the LL.D. to Chicago for Mooney Congress April | 30 to May : | mittee, under the direction of Moo-) ney himself initiated the Cong:ess | conferences arranged under the De-/ for | | |fense, trade untons, etc., was set up.|Sive any publicity to the meeting. a the parade were to draw for position.,in number, that withdrew from the (6) The dominant of all b conference were those that had So- must be “Free Tom Moone! but | cialist, Proletarian Party, or expelled not exclusivel, | renegades from the Communist Par- Refuse United Front Action ty as delegates. They were: Cooks No. 44; Dishwashers No. 110; Waiters No. 30 and Bakers Union. No. 24. Carrying Out Traditional Policy After participating in all the dis- cussion up to that point, and insist- ing upon one compromise after an- other, these elements withdrew and| Such tactics on the part of these began a campaign of disruption, vili- | lements are not new. They are a fication and provecation that could | continuation of the policy of the So- have but one objective—to disrupt | cialist Party leaders since Tom Moo- the United \Front and help Governor | ney's arrest. Rolph and the frame-up gang in Cali-| At that time Tom Mooney | member of the Hungarian Branch of Early Defender the Socialist Party because: the of- | ficial leadership would not permit him |in branches they controlled. While he was in prison ‘the Cen- | tral Committee of the Socialist Fart; jin San Francisco county. as’ | Hungarian branch to transfer | membership to that committe: | they could expel him. ‘This fused. Then the Committee requcsi | the Hungarian branch to expel Moo- | ney. The Hungarian brantl also re- fused this as it was quite obvious that it was an atiempt oh’ the part of the Socialist Party leadership to help Fickert and the California Licht and Power railroad this framed-up working class fighter to the gallows. When Adolph Germer, ‘sécretary of the Socialist Party, was in’ San Fran. cisco, he “investigated” tiie Mooney | case through conversations. with the local socialist leaders and “the labor | fakers, and reported back.to the Na- one of the | tional Executive Committee that the Mooney case was something they should leave severely alone: Lillian Bishop Symes, secretary..of the So- cialist Party in San Francisco in 1916, wrote letters all over the coun- try to other socialists asking them not to fight for Tom Maoney, slan- dering his past record inthe labor movement, saying he was not a so- ROBERT MINOR, first defenders of Tom Mooney. | nia keep Tom Mooney behind pris- on bars. In the most systematic fashion this disruptive campaign was carried on. They attacked the conference where they could get a hearing. They called v upon all delegates to withdraw from | Cialist, but an anarchist. . the conference by telling them the| _ Such 4s the early record of the most atrocious lies about the Mold- | Socialist Party leadership. . The pres- rs’ Defense Committee. They tried |¢Dt leadership now has its aides in persuade organizations, particu- its nefarious work against Mooney delegates. They even asker e capi- | tem; management of the papers not to | proletarian Party gang, and the dis- ; | credited and expelled renegades who Vile Stool Pigeon Tactics |found they could not. successfully ‘They even went to such an extent | pursue their adventurous careers in- groups, proposed that all parades be | as to try to intimidate the radio sta- | side the Communist Party. Then | tion that was to broadcast the meet- Day horror itself was planned by | these same elements proposed that | ing by having several of their mem- | no signs or banners be carried in | bers. call up the management and de- the parades, and that all organiza- | mand that he stop immediately “this tions participating conceal their iden- | rotten broadcast,” or they would re- When this proposal to hide the | Uniform Policy Everywhere. The actions of Gerber in New York ; and the actions of these elements in | San Francisco are being repeated in | varying degrees verywhere they ean | get a foothold. But the actions of the ‘leaders only expose them to the contempt of the But those tactics did not succeed, |ank and file of the Socialist Party ‘There were more than 90 organiza- | ™émbership, many of whom, especi- tions represented at the San Francisco | Uy in unions and other organiza- United Front Conference. After all | “ons, are ‘honestly supporting the this infamous. work, which was di- | United Front movement in behalf of rected by. the. Socialist Party, lead- | Mooney and for other pressing issues ership, with the Proletarian Party | bed sia the toiling masses today. outfit acting as their chief aides, they | 07 SP te of all the disruption in San only succeeded in withdrawing their | P™ancisco the meeting on March 19th was an overwhelming success, packing port it to the Federal Radio Com- mission and have the broadcasting license revoked. Mice eh asd ne pesugee Ee | the San Francisco Municipal Auditor- ~ | tum. ° Socialist’ Parity organization; he e Berkely branch of the Society of | prove, Das been created in San Francisco permanent machinery em- bracing many organizations that strives to unify the struggle to free Tom Mooney. Similar: machinery is being built elsewheres «; on a national scale there is being built thorough and stable organization that is rallying the workers Inthe monster Mooney Congress soon to convene in Chicago. At that conferemce a fur- ther impetus will be given*to force the release of Tom Mooney and to fight for freedom of clasg~war pris- oners against the framesup system. In this United Front«gction the treacherous leaders, the splitters, the | aides of the hangmen @n@ the jail- |ers will be swept asidé. bythe dis- | gust and indignation? @f-‘the rank | and file of their own organizations. aI Hold Send-Oft-tor Mooney Delegates PITTSBURGH, Pa." ApYyjl 19.—A mass send-off for the delegates to the | Free Tom Mooney Congress in Chi- cago will be held here-at-¥:80 p. m., Tuesday, April 25, in the<@uditorium of the Fifth Avenue Hi ool, it | Was announced today. ong the | speakers will be Jack Johistone, who | organized the first Tom Mboney De- fense Committee at the time of Moo- | ure arrest, and Attorney Jacob Mar- golies. Friends influenced by the notorious | This meeting will foliow.a confer- ence of delegates to the Jocal united | front Sunday, April 23 at 2.p. m. in | Walton Hall, 220 Stanwix St. PAINTERS ENDORSE CONGRESS NEW YORK.—Endorsemént of the Free Tom Mooney Congyéss, and in- structions to the union delegates to | spare no effort in the furtherance of the struggle for the unconditional velease of Tom Mooney and ail class | war prisoners, was voted at the third plenum of the Alteration .Painters, Decorators, and Paperhangers Un- ion of Greater New York, foday. She is here which Mooney and Billings rved nearly 17 years it of in_ prison. Mass pressure forced the authori- | order | during the campaign for the | ties this trial, The came Free Tom Mooney Congress in Chi- cago from April 30 to May 2. Dealing With Class Justice. About 60 united front Free Tom Moon mass meetings and confer- ences a country in preparation for the Con- gress, which shall be the greatest gathering of its kind in America. The entire campaign is under the direction of Tom Mooney and his Molders draws into a united struggle all or- ganizations willing to fight for free- dom for Tom Mooney in accordance to grant » being held throughout the | Defense Committee, which | with the policy outlined by Mooncy in his United Front letter. The Communist Party and the I. D. play a most active role in this cam- paign by involving their entire membership in this work for popular- izing the Congress. It is possible that Mooney may be convicted at this trial. We must re- member we are dealing with class justice (witness the Scottsboro ver- dict, the most recent and crass ex ample). However, having undeniable proof of the perjuries and frame-up | of the State, and backed by a mil- | lion-voiced protest, we can compel | an acquittal. An acquittal would amount to offi- cial acknowledgement of Moonev's jand Billing’s innocence. Tt will not automatically free them, since the first conviction will still stand, The important point here is that the governor who denied Mooncy’s pardon applications and the Supreme Court which refused a review of the case, all hid hind the excuse that there was “no new evidence” in the court records. Proof of the perjur- ies committed in the first trial ist eutside of the court ‘ords since they have been uncovered after the first trial. The present trial would place this evidence on the court re- cords officially. Should the governor then refuse to pardon Mcon this would most clearly demonstrate the class nature of capitalist justice and its frame-up em, for Mooney would then be | possible for us to mobilize a tenfold more powerfyl mass movement for the freedom of Tom Mooney, and _ to build up on a basis of local strug- | gles connected with the fight to free | Mooney, struggles in the shops and |among the unemployed leading up to mass general strike. See Crisis Near. ‘That a crisis is rapidly approach- ing in the Mooney-Billings case is | clearly indicated among other things | by the ever-mounting protest on the | one hand and on the other hand by the attempts of the authorities to hold Mooney incommunicado from the outside world in an effort to stop “Mooney propaganda,” and to pre- yent the scheduled trial from taking court and expose the monstrous frame-up. The fight for Mooney’s freedom |must be strengthened, by broaden- ing and deepening the united front. To involve the broadest masses, we must connect this struggle with the struggles of the masses for bread, for Unemployment Insurcice and against wage cuts and especially with | the already historic Scottsboio case which is daily being raised to ever higher political levels, with the struggle for the freedom of all class- war prisoners and against imperial- ist war. This, Tom Mooney pro- he states that the Congress will “connect my struggle with every held in prison though officially pro-| place. They want to crush forever | struggle of the workers.” ven innocent, This would make it | Mooney’s chance to step into the/ { vides for in his Congress Call when | | ney Congress is Communist-led, thus }in this united front. At this critical moment, the So-' TRIAL EXPOSING FRAME-UP TIES UP WITH DAILY STRUGGLE OF WORKERS cialist Party charges that the Moo-) joined. So has the entire ‘Alamede Building Trades Council to which attempting to scare workers away | are affiliated 28 unions. by dragging a red herring qcross the} phrough such a united’‘tront, the trail. The leadership of the So-| _. clalist Party has gone to the extent | Workers can be weaned ‘away from of instructing its membership not to | Trro-mist and reactionary Teaders of rs 4 the A. F. of L. and the S. P., and elect delegates and not to have any- | for revolutionary thing to do with the Congress. | ry struggle. + United Front of Workers Despite | How will the freedom: df’ Mooney dine reas | affect Billings? The two Gases are Strike Breaking Leadership. — | inseparable. ‘There was only one ‘vhile the! leadership of the A. F. | explosion, and Mooney and Billings of L. and the Socialist Party con-| were both framed for the, one ex- cistently sabotage the unity of the | plosion. Freedom for Mopney meant workers in this struggle, the rank | freedom for Billings. and file is responding to the call. in Philadelphia, Detroit and other | _ Build the Free Tom Moorey Con- places, the local S. P. is particiuating | 37°88" In San Pran-| For the unconditional release of cisco, 37 A. F. of L. unions have | Mooney! = J ‘| I