The Daily Worker Newspaper, April 27, 1933, Page 1

j 7 MOONEY-SCOTTSBORO MEETING IN COLISEUM TONIGHT! Compel the Immediate Freedom of Mooney Not Tom Mooney, but the state of California and the whole s of capitalist frame-ups is on the defensive, as the new trial opens. Yi teray, the date set for trial of Mooney on one of the remaining indict- ments for complicity in the bombing of the preparedness parade in San Francisco in 1916, saw the whole legal machine of the state in action to try to further hide this dastardly crime against a working class fighter. Matthew A. Brady, district attorney, has said he favors freedom {or Mooney because he is convinced he didn’t get a “fair trial.” But when it comes to a show down, Brady proves in action that he is more con- cerned with defense of his political bosses and the criminal conspirators, perjurers, jury-fixers and corruptionists who mobilized the scum of the underworld to try to place Mooney on the gallows. Brady is an accom- plice of the presiding judge, Lewis H. Ward, in trying to hide the crimes | of Fickert and the corrupt associate of Fickert, John O’Gara, who was | assistant district attorney during the first Mooney trial. This O'Gara 1s | again on the job for the California electric power combine, appealing to | the Supreme Court to stop the trial. | Brady, present district attorney, says the evidence has “disappeared. He lies! There never was any real evidence to vanish. Every witness for the state in the first trial was a paid liar, This fact has been proved time and again. The attempt of the California ruling class to shield itself by legal Juggling gives added import to the Free Mooney Congress soon to con- vene in Chicago. It is not in a California court room that the fate of Mooney will be men fn their attempts to keep Mooney in prison. The sabotage of this congress by these elements must spur on the rank and file of employed and unemployed, organized and unorganized, Negro and white workers, to bring such pressure to bear that the ruling class will be compelled to open the San Quentin iron gates and free Mooney. These new developments in the case will result in rallying masses to ever greater demonstrations, The Mooney-Scottsboro meeting at the Bronx Coliseum tonight will certainly reflect this new stage of struggle. Pittsburgh Courier Defends ~ Alabama Lynch Traditions We have hardly ever read a viler editorial than the one which appears in Saturday's issue of the Pittsburgh Courier. The Courier is the semi- official organ of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Two years ago, the Pittsburgh Courier made itself notorious by an editorial in which it praised the Alabama lynchers for their patience and kindness in not immedistely burning the nine Scottsboro boys at the stake as 2 retaliation agginst the world protest aroused by the Internd- tional Labor Defense. | Now the Pittsburgh Courier comes forward as the defender of the | whole lynch system. It repeats with cowardly fajthfulness every attack | made by the Alabama lynchers against the boys’ defenders. The first thing that stares the reader in the face is the fact that | | | | } | | | the Pittsburgh Courier does not affirm its belief in the innocence of the | Cognize that there are certain fun- | boys. decide. Then the Pittsburgh Courier goes on to say: “Everybody feels that something should be done to close the Scottsboro chapter satisfactorily and definitely. In our opinion, the case has reached the stage of exaggeration. There has been too much publicity; too much sectional recrimination; too much racial ~ -emphasispand-tee.muich. personal feeling.” ‘What does the Courier mean by “exaggeration”? . Is it exaggeration to insist that the boys are innocent? Is it an exaggeration to assert that the Scottsboro lynch verdict is a typical example of the traditional op- pression of the Negro people? Is it an exaggeration to say that Negroes are systematically barred from juries? Is it an exaggeration to say that the Southern ruling class lynches Negroes because it wishes to maintain Negro people in slavery? Is it an exaggeration to say that the courts of Alabama are part and parcel of the whole lynch system? According to Courler, this is something for the lynch courts to Dail Central Org the-Comipynist Party U.S.A. (Section of the Communist International) —3 orker SPECIAL SUNDAY MAY FIRST “DITION OF THE DAILY WORKER! mee Tench ¥) sear canes se LW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1933 CITY EDITION Price 3 Cents S 20,000 IN FRISCO DEMAND MOONEY’S RELEASE ocialist Executive Rejects “JUDGE CALLS OFF MOONEY TRIAL; SAYS ) -. May Day United Front WILL DO NOTHING THAT MAY FREE HIM; Seta ont ee iy St ues RELIES ON POLICE TO SPLIT WORKERS’ RANKS BIG ‘MOQNEY CONGRESS’ OPENS APRIL 30 Socialist Workers! Join United Front May 1 Demonstration Against Roosevelt’s Hunger and War Drive! “Trial” Postponed to May 22; Judge Gives Militant Demonstration Before San Francisco Court as Excuse for Action NEW YORK.—The city executive committee of the Socialist Party tonight definitely rejected the proposals of the United Front May Day Committee for one great united demon- stration in Union Square on May Day. Despite tremendous pressure from the ranks of the workers for a genuine united front, the Socialist executive refused to concur in the plea of a committee composed of Carl Winter, Unemployed Councils of Great- ¢— = . | | | | | ganizations, we still contend that in er New York, George Siskind, | of the Communist Party, Louis } F. Budenz, of the Conference | for Progressive Labor Action, | and A. Secco, of the Industrial Work~- ers of the Worid. | The committee came to demand | that there be no police agreements | over the heads of the working class organizations and to bring further Pressure for one united May Day de~ | monstration on a fighting program. | Carl Winter, of the Unemployed | uncils, declared: “While we re- damental diffe-ciices between our or- the face of hunger and mass unem- | Ployment, Fascist attacks and war | preparations, the united front of all working class forces is imperative for struggle against the Roosevelt hun- ger program.” Appealing to the Socialist commit- tee, Louis F. Budenz, of the CPLA, stated: “We are here because we have found through experience that this is.a sincere united front. That has been true both in the Mooney united effort and in this attempt at | Workers’ unity on May Day. With | forces of Fascism and Reaction at- | tacking the working classes, the time has surely come for all of us who are ‘The Pittsburgh Courier. wholly approves of Judge Horton's statement that it is Leibowitz who is responsible for the lynch sentiment of the Ala~ in workers’ organization to stand to- ‘ing last night made it clear that they Behind the backs of the commit- that the pressure of the workers for | tee, Gerber yesterday visited Deputy | Chief Police Inspector Walsh and in- formed him that the Socialist Party was going ahead with its original May Day plans contrary to his own | agreement. Gerber again turned to |€rller in the dey for arbitration of | the police for an agreement for a separate demonstration of the So- | cialists marching across the united front route and meeting in Union Square until 4 p.m. The Socialist executive at its meet-~ relied upon the police to keep the workers divided, by clearing the/| square after the Socialist Party de- | monstration. That was the reason | given for holding off the united front | demonstration on Union Square un- til 4 o'clock, Having been driven by the insistent demand of the United Front May Day Committee embracing Communist | Party, Trade Union Unity Council, Unemployed Council, Conference for Progressive Labor Action, Amalga- mated Food Workers, I. W. W., etc. and by the growing demands of the Socialist Party membership, a Soci- alist Committee Tuesday met with representatives of the United Front Committee on May Day arrange- ments. Present for the Socialist Par- ty were: Julius Gerber, August Clas- sons, J. Tuvin. The meeting was held in the Socialist Party offices. The} | unions”. united front had already been mak- |} ing itself felt strongly. Gerber! adopted an apologetic tone and at-| tempted to shirk responsibility for | his appeal to the police department | differences between the United Front! 8nd Socialist Committee. At one, point Gerber and Tuvim declared that they were ready for a united) front on the issues of May Day but} that they had to be guided by the) attitude of the “bonafide trade Throughout the conference | attempts were made by the socialist representatives to secure a shop- keepers agreement for division of time and space in Union Square, as a (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO) Communists Elected ‘Iron River Constable. Big Gains in -Voting» IRON RIVER, Mich—Paul Kallio! was elected as second constable, the | first time a Communist official has! been elected in this section. In Con- over, Wisconsin, the Communist can- didate for supervisor polled 20 per | cent of the yote. } In the local elections, 2 big in- Choppyns |gether in a great show of unity.” | United Front Committee was tepre-| crease was shown in the Communist | To these vital needs of the masses’|sented by Marcel Sherer, Andrew! vote. In Amasa, the Communist as presented by the united front com- | Overgaard of the Trade Union Unity | candidate for Supervisor tripled the | mittee, the Socialist executive turn- | Council, Louis F, Budenz of the Con-| yote of last fall. In Iron Mountain, bama Jandiords, { Says the Courier: “The judge was more than fair, and we venture the assertion that it would be the triumph of his judicial career to see SAN FRANCISCO, April 26.—SuperiorCourt Judge Louis H. Ward today suddenly postponed the Mooney trial to May nose cases disposed of in his state, and in his court in a way satis- |¢d a deaf ear. ference for Progressive Labor Action,| the Communtst candidate for Mayor Ward gave as his reason for the postponement the holding of a militant demon- factory to the fair-minded people of America.” This action followed the violation |Carl Winter of the Unemployed | received 1,138, or 30 per cent of the stration of 20,000 held before the Civil Courts building, where the Mooney trial was tc | by the Socialist city secretary, Julius | Council of Greater New York, H. D.!| entire vote cast. In Phelps, Wiscon- : A a 5 hovses. awune' th ¢heihnocerjt “Scottsboro ‘boys.’ When’ it refers ‘to the closing of these | Ccye™, cf the sereement reached the | Sizemore of the Industrial Workers | sin the candidate for PSupervisor have been held. An army of police, many of them mounted on horses, swung th e innocent Scottsboro boys. len It refers to the closing of these | night before with the .representa- | Of the World. | polled 214 out of 546 votes, or about! in an effort to disperse the demonstrators, injuring scores. | cases in a way “satisfactory to the fair-minded people of America”, the | tives.of the united front committee.’ At this meeting it was made clear | 40 per cent of the vote. A, z his real¢— Pittsburgh Courier is in actuality expressing its desire for a lynch ver- | | The judge revealed his real “ing of th for the | ce Notice that the Pittsburgh Courier does not demand the release of eir ‘clubs “trial” a star-chamber pro- peeling vegetables for the guards’ entire time | mess. dict that will be satisfactory to the Southern landlord masters. “The Scottsboro case was lost when intimidating telegrams were sent to Ajabama”, says the Pittsburgh Courier. “The prosecution went into the courts to defend what it considered the traditions of Alabama. . . and not to prosecute nine Negroes . .. Racial prejudices were injected to the detriment of the boys on trial.” The Courier objects to the avalanche of telegrams and protests which poured down upon the Alabama executioners. The Courler “forgets” | that it was these telegrams which let the masters of Alabama know tht once and for all they could not go forward with the legal lynching of the nine Scottsboro boys in their. traditional Southern way. The Courier objects to the very thing which is responsible for the fact that | the ‘boys are still alive. When Prosecutor Knight demanded the electric chair for “that black thing”, Haywood Patterson, he was not prosecuting him, says the Courier. He was merely defending the traditions of Alabama. When Prosecutor Wright said that no white prostitute, even though She were as degraded as Victoria Price, could ever sink so low as to live With “niggers”, he was not prosecuting Haywood Patterson, he was de- ending the pride and honor of Alabama, says the Courier. When Judge Horton angrily denounced Brodsky’s plea for social equality and the fight of Negroes to sit on juries, he was not prosecuting the nine Scotts- boro boys, he was defending the traditions of Alabama. » -Xes, indeed, they were defending the traditions of Alabama. And it is these traditions of jim-crow oppression, brutal exploitation and lyneh Spvagery against the Negro people which the defenders of the Scottsboro hogs have exposed to the world. It is these traditions which the Negro and white masses will exterminate from the face of the earth, even fpough the editors of the Pittsburgh Courier deem them sufficient justi- ication for the legal murder of the nine innocent Scottsboro boys. » In short, the Pittsburgh Courier would like to see the legal lynch | machinery go forward to its ghastly execution without any further in- | terference. Support the Struggle of Chicago Teachers ‘The impressive protest demonstration of the school teachers of Chi- ago who have gone unpaid for month after month, sheds sudden light upon the extent to which all the strata of the American population are being stirred to increasing activity by the progressive spread of the crisis. The Chicago school teachers have literally starved themselves for Meatly a year, teaching overcrowded classes without having had any nourishing food for days, and often fainting in the classroom. They are now beginning to realize that the bankrupt capitalist system starts eco- nomizing with the “luxuries,” education of the masses. When one of the Chicago teachers, heckling General Dawes, shouted: “There's the man who borrowed 90 million dollars (from the Reconstruc- tion Finance Corporation) for his own bank, but won't lend any to the people,” she demonstrated the growing dissatisfaction of this group, up to now staunch defenders of the present order, with capitalist efforts to | | Ex-Senator Heflin Heads Prosecution in Trial of Tallapoosa Sharecroppers By Special Correspondent of D. W. DADEVILLE, Ala., April 26 — | Former Senator Thomas J. Heflin| of Alabama was at the state table \as special prosecutor today when | the trial of five Talapoosa Negro | sharecroppers began. The croppers are charged with “assault with in- tent to murder” following a mur- | derous attack upon them and other members of the Sharecroppers’ Union at the home of Cliff James, one of their leaders, on December | 19 of last year.” The presence of Heflin is an in- | dication of the determination of | | the Alabama landlods to crush the} Sharecroppers Union by’ railroad- ing the defendants to the state penitentiary for terms from 20 to 80 years. Fight on Jury With the Scottsboro fight fresh jin the minds of thousands of Ne- groes in the Black Belt, Irving Schwab, International Labor De- fense attorney, who is assisted by A. W. Morrison of Atlanta, at once moved to quash the jury venire and to dismiss the indictments against the croppers on the ground that Negroes have been systematic- ally excluded from jury service in Tallapoosa county for at least 30 years. Judge W.'B. Bowling, a former congressman of this district, promptly denied the motions. Schwab then protested the bar- ring of Negroes from the court- room and charged that Sheriff Kyle Young and his deputies were intimidating the croppers who swarmed into Dadeville to attend the trial. The judge directed that the sheriff have whites vacate a section and admit Negroes. Within a few moments, more than 800 Negroes, most of them sharecrop-| pers, filed silently and impress- ranging climb out of the crisis on the backs of the masses. The class-conscious workers must recognize that the teachers are j their potential allles and must make every effort to win the dissatisfied teachers, not only in Chicago, but all over the country. fo: the united front of struggle ageinst capitalism, i ‘of the state. The Negroes entered the court- bose while ively into the courtroom, which is one of the largest in this section « amining Thomas Bugg, editor and publisher of the “Dadeville Re- cord” on an editorial in his paper which declared that “the evil of our jury system would be great- ly aggravated were Negroes placed in the jury box. . . It is not at all necessary for Negroes to serve on our juries in order to secure just- ice in our courts. . . It is not the Negro who is clamoring for this right, but white people whose mo- tives are ulterior. It is best for all ‘tor our system to remain as it is. In addition to those seated, massed groups stood on each side of the room at the two entrances. Schwab put half a dozen Negro witnesses on the stand to support the defense motion to quash the venire. At least 2,100 Negroes are eligible for and able to meet jury. service requirements, in the county Schwab pointed out. Ferrets out Klansmen The I. L. D. attorney selected the jury with as much care as possible under the Alabama sys- tem. He asked each prospective juror his occupation, his attitude toward the Negro and whether or not he was a member of the Klu Klux Klan, which, incidentally, flourishes in Dadeville and sur- rounding towns under the direc- tion of the landlords and mill- owners, Schwab challenged the prosecu- tion to produce the literature of the Sharecroppers’ Union “about which the newspapers around here have said so much,” but the sheriff told the court he “thought it had all been destroyed.” (The prosecu- tion in the Mooney frame-up is now saying the same thing). | All of the prosecution’s “star’ } witnesses consisted of deputy she- riffs, Four of them were put on the stand by the state—Klder, Gantt, Alford and Ware. Under vigorous cross-examination by) | reasons postponing trial, when he declared that |“the court would not be a party to ing the threads of a legal locp- which will give the defendant we: hole to obtain charge on ¥ ted.” an opportunity dom from the s first conv they were heavily armed when they swept down upon Cliff James’ | erty overruled Ga cabin in Reeltown last December,|1. L. D. and backed before and th; they fired as long as their | Ward’s refusal to admit frameun e ammunition lasted, intending to|dence of the former trial. Walsh kill as many of the croppers as|condemned the demonstration st | jing that the wo were “not | they could. 4 Wo s Deputies Only “Star” Witnesses | itiends of Mooney = Shae The I. L. D. attorney, who pre-\my ear “Free Tom viously had taken an active part fore I will not try ti in the preparation of the Scotts-| demonstration ceas: boro defense, repeatedly objected) When the trial opened it was ex- to the use of “nigger” and other | pected thet John O'Gara, former as- | derogatory terms. | | Not only were the deputies con- fused and contradictory in their case until all |file a writ of mandate to the Supreme Court District Attorney Matthew | testimony, but were unable to pro- | Brady expected to move for dismissal | duce the court order which they| These steps were not taken but | said they hed for the arrest of the |DePuty District Attorney | William Leama ile ’ Murphy stated prosecution would not Negro croppers at the time of the | shooting. Several white character wit- nesses for the defense who agreed | to testify when approacheed a week ago came to Schwab today and submit any evidence. Walsh declared defense would present evidence to dis- prove all charges’ under indictment as allowed by court but accepted all other limitations imposed by court sociate of the frame-up gang would) the; |ceeding. During the | Judge Ward refused to order Moo-| Before the hearing, the prosec | mey’s removal from San Querfin to | had indicated that he would prompt- san Francisco, and the famous !abor | prisoner had continued on his job of | (CONTINUED ON PAGE TWO) MOONEY-SCOTTSBORO _ | COLISEUM MEETING the N s protest against ; Happened in the aitempt by Judge Louis H. Ward | Henry T. Hunt, ch of the San Court | tional Mooney-Bil to prevent the « of the Moo-| and Sam P: y frame-up by postponing the new | boro Action C trial to May 22 will be voic by tens} A band from ‘s Inter- of thousands of workers at the uni-| national Relief nian Chorus lted front Mooney-Scottsboro meet- | and a dance called ck and White will be featured as en {ing in the Bronx Coliseum tonight at | Solidarity 8 p.m, | tertainment. The meeting will be under the aus- | pices of the Free Tom Mooney Con-|| MOONEY DELEGATES gress Committee, of which Fra Palmer, of the Federated Press, is NEW YORK, April — Over chairman. 100 delegates from A. of L. The mecting will also arouse mass | | Unions, left-wing groups, cultural support for the Scottsbor: arch on | | bodies, workers clubs, and political Washington, M 8, to den id that organizations will leave for the President Roosevelt intercede for the | |Free Tem Mooney Congress on) Telease of the Scc oro boys. How| | special buses from Union Square, | fo compel by s pressure the put- | |6:30 a.m. Friday. | \ting of teeth in the Constitutional || Delegates may make last min- | the Bronx threatened and feared to take the stand. Prosecution Line-Up The fear which the Alabama landlords have of the Shareerop- pers Union and the International Labor Defense both of which are growing’ in influence throughout the South, is indicated by the heavy legal battery which the prosecu- tion’ has assembled. In addition to former senator Heflin are J. W. Strother, of Dadeville, and Circuit Solicitor Richard Powell, Jr., and County Solicitor Sam Oliver. Hef- lin said he “had received approx- imately 100 requests to enter the case.” This is an interesting tie-up: Bowling, the presiding judge in the present trial, succeeded Het- lin in Congress in 1920 when the latter went to the U. S. Senate. Bowling resigned in 1928 to ac- cept the judgship of this circuit. Heflin was dressed in his usual ‘ . . for out-of-town, witnesses, and indi- | splendorific attire—trockiai) Cal cated that he would strictly limit the frankly told him that they had been | Gallagher was not allowed to ad- | dress court. The Walsh policy is a | continuation of the same old belly- crawling kowtowing to officials which plays into their hands and keeps Tom Mooney in jail. Workers began to there were a thousand in th and approaches pac! ii jmore. A workers’ de! refuss@ permit to sp € ant Casey in absence of Chief Quinn The delegation returned and speaker announced the refusal square a de-| nouncing violation of the right to call for freedom of Mooney. Casey imme- diately ordered score of mounted men ruthlessly ride down men, women and children, clubbing and wounding many. Demonstrators showed the greatest militancy, Judge Ward's action was the latest maneuver of the court and prosecu: tion to block the trial and preven’ Mooney and a score of witnesses from exposing the whole frame-up appara- tus of the state of California. mand of the defense for 20 subpoenas Amendments guaranteeing democratic {rights for Negroes will also be on} the. program tonight. Speakers at the mass meeting are William L. Patterson, national sec-et- ery of the International Labor De- | ate arrangements at Coliseum meeting tonight. They jwill be seated on the platform. | Final plans for the departure will | be made at the meeting tonight, when delegates can deposit their | march on square at 8 o'clock. By 9:15) 5,000} * Pre- | viously the judge had refused the de- | | | 813 fare. fense; Dr. Harry F. Ward, a director of the American Civil Libertics Un- 2 od Broun, sccialis:; the Clayton Povell, Jr., of the Abys- n Baptist Church of H ; arence Hathaway, of the Commu ist Party; A. J. Muste, of the Con-| WASHINGTO? jon prow ference for Progressive Labor Action.| posed by Repros Smith of Frank Palmer will preside. | Virginia calling for invesigation by A send-off will be given 100 dele- | the House Judiciary Commitcee ine gates from trade unions, clubs, frat-|to impeachment charges against ernal and cultural bodies to the Free | Federal Judge James A, Lowell of Tom Mooney Congress in Chicago | Boston because he released George from April 30 to May 2, The dele-| Crawford, Negro worker, wanted in gates will leave Friday morning at Virginia on a framed murder charge, | 6:30 a.m. from Union Square by spe-| was adopted by the House yestere ial buses. | day. Among them is Mrs. Janie Patter-| Opposing the impeachment tnves- son, mother of Haywood Patterson, | tigation, Representative Luce of Mas- {condemned to death at Decatur, Ala. }sachusetts did not do so because Ne+ Support for the Scottsboro march | groes are excluded from serving on on Washington, May 8, will be ral-|the jury in Virginia, which waa lied at the meeting. the reason Judge Lowell gave for Honorary guests at the meeting will | releasing the Negro, but did so, he be Jermone Hopkins, New York! said, because dudze Lowell wae his author of “Bigs friend, 4 ‘& ¥