Kutcher Wins Court Decision In Housing Case

The government’s persecution of James Kutcher, the legdess veteran, received a setback in the New Jersey Supreme Court on Dec. 19. The four justices of that courtunan im ously ru led aga inst the a ttem p t to ev ic t K u tche r and his aged parents fro m a N ew ark housing p ro ject because o f the son’s adm itted membership in the Socia list W orkers P a rty .

Though the judges refused to ru le on the c o n s titu tio n a lity of the Gwinn Am endm ent, under wh ich the eviction was a tte m p t­ed, the lim ite d decision was none­theless a v ic to ry fo r K u tcher and fo r a ll residents o f federa l lo w -ren t housing pro jects.

K u tch e r’s parents, the legal tenants, never belonged to any

L. A. Ousts Anti-Negro Fire Chief

LOS A N G E LE S , Dec. 18 — Los Angeles’ N egro -ha ting fire chief, John H . A lderson, was fina lly suspended from his job Thursday fo r insubord ination, a fte r a tw o- year-long fig h t by the N A A C P against his segregation policies.

D u rin g th is en tire tim e, A ider- son ran rough-shod over the specific d irectives off the m ayor and b is d ire c t superiors, the Board o f F ire Com m issioners; wore ou t one hom'd and nearly wore od t the present one — and go t away w ith it .

W ily and determ ined, ta k in g advantage o f the t im id ity and weaknesses of the board mem­bers, the fire ch ie f g ru d g in g ly a fte r leng thy delays transfe rred a hand fu l o f Negro firem en from the tw o J im Crow stations to “ w h ite ” stations, pe rm itted them to be subjected to every type o f h u m ilia tio n and in d ig n ity , d isc i­p lined w h ite firem en who dared be fr ie n d ly to the Negroes, and fin a lly ended his scandalous career by tra n s fe rr in g hack to the Centra l avenue s ta tions the h a lf dozen or so Negroes who had been ^ in teg ra ted .”

Even th is act o f open defiance, however, was not su ffic ie n t to cause h is au tom atic suspension. He was tripp ed up by h is re fusa l to sign an o rder d irec tin g every one in the departm ent to co­operate w ith a special in ves ti­ga to r h ired by the commissioners to probe the question o f dis­c rim ina tio n in the F ire D epa rt­ment set-up.

A t th is po in t h is insubord ina­t io n was so g la r in g th a t even hds one stooge on the board, Commis­sioner Robert A . Day, had to adm it th a t the ch ie f had over- readied h im se lf. He, nevertheless, pleaded against the suspension order.

“ I t ’s like k ick in g a man when he is down,” he said. “ I agree the ch ie f was insubord inate , but J s t i l l see no reason w hy a fte r 30 year's, w ith a clean record, the ch ie f should be subjected to such an insu lt. A f te r a ll, we’ re dealing w ith a hum an being.”

Day, o f course, like Alderson, never concerned h im se lf w ith the

(Continued on page 3)

o f the proscribed p o lit ic a l o r­ganizations, bu t they could not sign the oath because i t required th a t no m ember o f the fa m ily liv in g in the apa rtm en t belonged to a b lacklisted o rgan iza tion . On Dec. 18, 1952, they were ordered to k ick out th e ir legless 3on w ith in three days o r face evic­tion .

K u tch e r’s aged parents decid­ed to f ig h t. The A m erican C iv il L ibe rties Un ion took the case as a test o f the v icious Gwinn Am endm ent. La s t October a New Jersey Superior C ourt judge ruled aga inst the would-be evie- te rs on the technica l grounds tha t the d raw ing up o f the ‘ ‘subver­sive” lis t fo rm fo r tenants had changed the categories o f the A tto rn e y General’s o r ig in a l lis t.

The governm ent appealed th is ru lin g to the S tate Supreme C ourt. T h is cou rt upheld the previous ru lin g , indeed, i t w ent a l i t t le b it beyond i t by decla r­ing th a t mere m em bership in a b lacklisted o rgan iza tion was not by its e lf su ffic ien t to ju s t i fy eviction.

M A Y T R Y N E W E V IC T IO NThe ru lin g does not foreclose

the o p p o rtu n ity o f hav ing the basic con s titu tion a l question in ­volved — w hether the govern­ment has the r ig h t to k ick peo­ple out. o f th e ir homes fo r p o lit ­ical reasons — ruled on in a la te r case. T ha t the K u tcher Housing Case m ay be the vehicle fo r th is tes t was indicated by a N ew ark H ousing A u th o r ity press release the next day.

T h is announced th a t Newark o ffic ia ls were con fe rrin g w ith h igher-ups in W ashington about an appeal o f the decision to the federa l courts. The a lte rna tive would be re d ra ft in g the oath questionnaire and a second a t­tem pt to ev ic t the K u tcher fa m ­ily on the basis o f the new form .

F u rth e r a ttem pts to deprive K u tche r o f his home are to be expected one w ay o r another. T h is is in keeping w ith the gov­e rnm ent’s v in d ic tive persecution o f the W orld WaT I f veteran, whose legs were blasted o f f in combat in I ta ly . He was fired fro m his job w ith the N ew ark Veterans A dm in is tra tion in 1948,

o f the earliest v ic tim s o f the w itch hunt.

iSince then he has constantly been f ig h tin g fo r a legal tes t o f his f ir in g . H is case ds unique in th a t i t challenges the ve ry basis o f the whole w itch hu n t against federal employees.

K u tcher has always proud ly adm itted SW’P m embership, and m ain ta ins tha t the b lack lis ting o f the SW P was illeg a l because it was given no no tifica tion , no hearing, and no op p o rtu n ity to defend itse lf.

A f te r hav ing gone up and down the adm in is tra tive -h ea ring federa l-court legal ladder, and won im p o rta n t technical v ic to r­ies en route, K u tche r’s case is a t present on the calendar o f the U.S. C irc u it C ourt o f Appeals in W ashington, D.C. A ru lin g on the basic cons titu tiona l po in ts is hoped fo r when the case is heard in a few -weeks.

Score A g a in s t W itch H unters

Hym an K utcher and his son James in the home from which they faced ev ic tion two years ago. A lthough he belonged to no organ ization on the governm ent black lis t, M r. K u tcher could not s ign the housing lo y a lty oath demanded o f h im because James is an adm itted member o f the Socialist W orkers P a rty . Now 75-years-old, the fa th e r o f the legless veteran is also an amputee. L a s t week the New Jersey Suprem e C ourt ru led in fa vo r o f the w itch -hun t v ic tim s.

t h e MILITANTPUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

Vol. XIX — No. 52 - C 2 2 ? - ' N E W YORK, N. Y., MONDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1955 PRICE: 10 CenU

Gov’t Throws Anti-Red Law At Westinghouse Strikers-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------— — (V — — -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Myra Tanner

Protest Fare Rise

M ontrea l police arrested 104 students dem onstra ting against recent increase in fares. I t was reported 40 were in ju re d , and 172 streetcars and 62 buses were v ir tu a lly demolished in the “ worst r io tin g ” in the Canadian c ity ’s h is to ry . In p ic tu re nbove, good-natured s tree tca r conductor g rins as dem onstrators p u ll down the tro lle y rope. F o llo w in g the dem onstra tion the Canadian Confederation o f Labor, C atholic Confederation o f Labo r and the Quebec Federation o f Labor decided to organize a boycott o f the c ity-ow ned tran sp o rta tio n system every F riday .

A t R ig h ts Probe

Students at G eorgia Tech dem onstrated and burned e ffig y o f Gov. M arv in G r if f in in p ro tes t aga inst h is e ffo r ts to ru le out Sugar B ow l fo o tb a ll game in New Orleans Jan. B because oppos­ing team o f the U n iv e rs ity o f P ittsbu rgh has a N egro fu llback. Students at o ther Southern schools fo llowed up w ith s im ila r protest dem onstrations. The G eorgia Tech dem onstra tion occurred Dec. 2. Three days la te r the S ta te Board o f Regents voted to p e rm it G eorgia Tech to keep its con tract ito p lay the Sugar Bow l game bu t adopted a po licy to ba r such games in the fu tu re .

India Delegate ScoresBy Shirley Clark

The head o f the new merged labor movement, George Meany, made a reactionary speech on fo re ign po licy, Dec. 13, tha t shocked his audience o f 1,200 clergym en and un ion is ts at the annual socia l-justice a w a r d luncheon o f the N a tiona l Re­lig io n and Labor Foundation and b ro ug h t a hot protest from the delegate representing labor in Ind ia.

Meany picked up the M cC ar­th y ite charge th a t libe ra ls are re a lly an ti-an ti-com m un is t. He accused them o f having “ sub­conscious and conscious regard fo r communism as a movement w ith which they have som ething in common.”

He charged th a t the deal made by the U n ited N ations to adm it new members was “ appeasement o f the w o rs t k in d .” T h is makes Meany a c r it ic o f the E isenhow­er a d m in is tra tion fro m the r ig h t.

Then as i f he were com plete ly unaware of the fa c t th a t his audience was composed o f m em ­bers o f the In te rn a tio n a l Con­federation o f Free Trade U n ­ions, inc lud ing representatives of Ind ia and o ther colonial countries th a t have been s tru g g lin g against im peria lism , Meany s truck a t Nehru and T ito as “ aides and a llies o f communism in fact and in e ffec t, i f no t in d ip lom atic verb iage.”

The head o f the Ind ian N a ­tiona l Trade Union Congress, K. T. T rip a t hi, im m edia te ly pro­tested to the executive board of the 1CFTU. He. also asked rep­resentatives o f U.S. labor to ex­press th e ir opposition to M eany’s position. And f in a lly he w ro te Meany suggesting “ th a t i f you th in k proper that, an y th ing should be done by you and your o rgan iza tion , you m ay do i t . ”

W a lte r R euther also spoke at the m eeting. B u t he is a l i t t le more skilled demagogue. He had the tact, to declare th a t the U.S. has to cam the r ig h t to lead the “ free w o rld ” by ending " i ts own ug ly and im m ora l practices in race re la tions.”

Reuther’s d ip lom atic ta len t, o f course, doesn’t change the fa c t I hat his record isn ’t much be tte r than M eany’s.

“ I am a ll fo r a f ig h t to the finish against, rac ia lism in our own m idst. Racialism is dam n­able and detestable in any fo rm .” Meany said. “ But. rac ia lism in reverse, as now propagated in Ind ia and Burm a by Khrushchev

and B u lgan in is ju s t as rep re­hensible.”

I f Meany re a lly m eant th a t he is fo r a fight, to the fin ish against “ rac ia lism in our own m idst,” he m ight, exp la in why he has to le rated J im Crow locals in the A m erican Federation o f Labor fo r so m any years. He m ig h t also exp la in w hat he has done about the te r ro r th a t ex­ists in M iss iss ipp i, o r w ha t he. proposes to do about it. He m ig h t exp la in w hy he is lined up w ith the Southern rac is ts in the Dem ocratic P a rty instead of f ig h tin g them “ to the fin ish .”

Meany m ig h t fu r th e r exp la in w hy U.S. labo r under h is g u id ­ance has no t lif te d its pow erfu l voice against, the B r it is h m as­sacre o f the people o f Kenya. O r why he hasn’t spoken ou t against U.S. assistance to France in its w a r against the people o f N o rth A fr ic a .

W hat has Meany done about defending the labor movement in Guatem ala? The tru th is th a t he backed the U.S.-sponsored ho ly w ar against communism that put a d ic ta to r in power and crushed the unions.

A t the convention o f the N a­tiona l Association o f M anufac­tu re rs ju s t a few weeks ago M eany responded to an a n ti- la ­

bor a ttack by d issocia ting h im ­se lf fro m labo r’s ranks— “ I never w ent on s tr ik e . . . never had an y th in g to do w ith a p icket line.” Now he dissociates h im ­se lf fro m the libe ra ls who do not back the w itch hu n t ener­ge tica lly enough to su it M eany.

A ll this-—in the hope o f buy ing the good w ill o f the b illiona ires.

S till, M eany is now the head o f the en tire U.S. labor move­ment. The A F L -C IO w ill bear the respons ib ility fo r these cow­ard ly , serv ile policies as long as he stays in tha t position.

CP HCADS CROSSED O ff OlD-AGf PENSION UST

Paid employes o f the Com­m unist P a rty are no longer e lig ib le fo r social secu rity b e n e f i t s , according to Bn A ug us t ru lin g o f the D epa rt­m ent o f H ealth , Education and W elfare . The decision was made public, Dec. 14, when the Departm ent instructed sta te social secu rity offices to stop paym ent.

These in s tru c tion s said, “ The office o f the general counsel of th is departm ent has ru led tha t service fo r the Com m unist P a rty is service in the employ o f a fo re ign governm ent, and as such is no t covered by the Social S ecu rity A c t.”

A lexander B itte lm an , a 66-

year-o ld Com m unist P a r t y leader, now serv ing a three- year p rison term a fte r being convicted under the S m ith “ Gag” A c t, was one o f the firs t v ic tim s. He was rece iv ing a pension o f $88.10 a month. He kep t $10 fo r h im se lf fo r item s in the prison com m is­sary. The rest went to support, his w ife .

The ru lin g ends 20 years of ad m in is te ring the Social Se­c u r ity Act on a non-partisan basis. I t destroys the s p ir it and the le tte r o f tha t act and subjects the old-age security of a ll to the w h im s o f whatever po litica l p a rty is in power.

(See ed ito ria l page 3.)

DEC. 21 — Fifty-six thousand Westinghouse strikers were presented with quite a Christmas present by the government yesterday. Herbert Brownell Jr., AttorneyGeneral, in beha lf o f Eisenhow- ti­e r’s D epartm ent o f Justice, filed a pe tition w ith the Subversive A c tiv it ie s C ontro l Board asking tha t the U n ited E le c trica l, Radio and Machine W orkers o f A m e r­ica, Independent, representing 11,000 o f these s tr ike rs , be de­clared a “ subversive” o rgan iza­tion .

The governm ent is ac tin g un­der the C om m unist Contro l Law o f 1964 aga inst a union w ith a to ta l m em bership o f around 100,- 000. T h is law , passed in A ugust 1954, created a new category o f o rgan iza tions to be persecuted by the w itch h u n t: Com m unist " in f i lt ra te d ” unions. The govern­ment chose to invoke th is in ­famous new repressive law in the n in th week o f the W esting ­house s tr ik e in vo lv in g 11,000 U E members and 45,000 mem­bers o f the In te rn a tio n a l Un ion o f E le c tr ica l W orkers, A F L -C IO .

B row ne ll’s im m ediate objective is to weaken the m ora le o f the s tr ike rs and aid W estinghouse in its back-to -w ork s tr ikeb rea k ing campaign,

A lb e rt J. F itzge ra ld , U . E. president, im m ed ia te ly replied by denouncing B row ne ll as the “ na tion ’s num ber one s tr ik e ­breaker.”

F E A R G RO W IN G U N IT YIn add ition , F itzge ra ld pointed

ou t th a t “ B row ne ll’s hyp ocritica l red -ba iting is designed to cover up the W estinghouse Corpora­t io n ’s feav o f g ro w in g u n ity be­tween U E and IU E -C IO W est­inghouse w orkers on s tr ik e from coast to coast.”

T h is charge was borne ou t by the Justice D epartm ent’s p e ti­tion to the SACB which noted tha t reports have appeared w ith ­in the las t few m onths th a t some UE locals have merged w ith the

j IU E . “ M ore rece n tly ,’’ the. p e ti­tion added, “ top-leve l conferen­ces have been negotiated look­in g toward am algam ation on a la rg e r scale w ith C IO -A F L .”

R e -un ify ing the tw o unions in ­volved in the s tr ik e would s trengthen the w o rke rs ’ s tru g ­gle im m easurably. F o r the same reason i t would cons titu te a pow erfu l blow to the un ion-bust­ing plans o f the W estinghouse C orpora tion . B row ne ll’s move is designed to w ard o f f th is blow to the company.

T h is open s trike b re a k in g ac­tion o f the federa l governm ent c lim axes W estinghouse’s care­fu l ly planned un ion-busting drive.Las t m onth the company began a ' back-to -w ork movem ent to break the s tr ike . I t spent hun­dreds o f thousands o f do lla rs on newspaper ads, rad io and T V

Asst. A rm y Sec. H ugh M . M ilto n (to p ) quizzed at Senate subcom m ittee hearings on un­fa irness o f secu rity discharges. James Shuetz (b o tto m ), U n ited A u to W orkers o ffic ia l, testified tha t his secu rity clearance was lif te d in 1950 because he was a “ good union man.”

tim e to pressure the w orkers in to scabbing.

I t o ffe red special bribes in the fo rm o f advance pay, in d iv id u a l selection o f w o rk in g hours, trans ­po rta tion to and fro m w o rk , etc. F in a lly it. o ffe red C hris tm as loans o f $100, in te res t free , in an obvious bid fo r good-w ill fo r the company.

GETS C H U R C H B A C K IN G In Sharon, Pa., the com pany

m obilized the church in its back- to -w o rk cam paign. A com m ittee

(Continued on page 2)

Civil Liberties Battle Is Yet to be W onBy Art Sharon

Has the post-w ar erosion of c iv il libe rties in A m erica neared its end? The im pression is w ide­spread that th is is the case. For instance, the group o f 46 libera ls, inc lud ing M rs. F ra n k lin J). Roose­ve lt, who pe titioned Eisenhower fo r a C hris tm as amnesty fo r v ic tim s o f the Sm ith Act, asserted that, there has been b recent “ noticeable trend to re a ff irm the basic, dem ocratic tra d itio n s o f our coun try .”

I t is tr ite that, there have been s o m e favorab le developments. O utstand ing among them is tihe p o lit ic a l eclipse o f Senator Mc­C arthy.

The courts, in fluenced ap­pa ren tly by labor and libera l opinion, have given some en­courag ing decisions as in the dism issal o f the governm ent case against H a rry Bridges, the slap a t passport denials in the Shacht- rnan case, and so on-

Tihe a d m in is tra tion has also retreated here and there — the Lundy case, Obasanow case, Ladejinsky,, etc.

M oreover, the governm ent use o f faceless accusers and im form - eirs fared badly the past year. Hiarvey M atusow ’s confession was fo llowed by several others and the whole sordid s to ry o f g o ve rn m e n t sponsored stool p igeonry became much b e tte r known.

However, a sober appra isa l of the exact s ta tus o f the assault on c iv il libe rtie s must begin w iththe fa c t th a t the adm in is tra tive and leg is la tive foundations o f the w itch hun t rem ain in ta c t.

F irs t o f a ll, there is the use o f the A tto rn e y General's “ sub­versive” lis t. T h is was in itia te d by T rum an under his in fam ous “ L o y a lty ” O rder o f 1947. W h ilethe l is t has been called in toquestion by counts on several oc­casions, i t rem ains the basic guide fo r w itch hunters both in govern­m ent and p riva te indus try .

The S m ith Act o f 1940, m aking it a crim e to “ teach” o r to “ ad­vocate,’’ etc., etc., continues to c la im its v ic tim s . F ir s t used 14 years ago aga inst the. leaders o f the Socia list W orkers P a rty on the eve o f W orld W ar I I , i t was declared const itu tio n a l by the Supreme C ourt in June 1951. Chances fo r its repeal are slim a t present.

USED A G A IN S T U N IO N SThe M cC-arran-W alter A.ct. of

1952 continues, despite its many m an ifes t absurd ities, to be an im fportant weapon in the hands o f the governm ent w itch hunters.

The H um phrey - B u tle r Com­m un is t Contro l A c t o f 1954 is the newest leg is la tion g iv in g sweep­in g power to the w itch hunters. T h is act lias ju s t been used to a rra ign the independent Mine. M ill and S m elter W orkers Union. Now B row ne ll is us ing i t in a s trikeb rea k ing action in beha lf o f Westinghouse.

The fact is th a t the screening and pu rg ing o f government, de­partm ents and o f p riva te in d u s try has been so thoroughgoing and so fa r-reach ing th a t the w itch hunt has been run n ing ou t o f v ic tim s. T h is alone would account fo r a good part, o f the lu ll.

The w itch hunt, reached such ir ra tio n a l and m onstrous ex­cesses th a t a public reaction set in. Th is caused the w itch hunters to proceed more cau tiously . They aro choosing th e ir v ic tim s now w ith g re a te r care.

In the fina l analysis, what, most d ireo tly determ ines the tem po o f the w itch h u n t is W ash ing ton ’s fo re ign po licy. This has under­gone fluc tua tions .

'A t the he ight o f the Korean w ar and sho rtly a fte rw a rd the d rive against c iv il libe rties was a t its peak. The Am erican ra iling class prepared fo r w a r aga inst the Soviet bloc w ith a though t- con tro l cam paign aga inst the Am erican people. The objective

was to in tim id a te any e x is ting o r po ten tia l opposition to its w a r course.

W ith the Soviet developm ent o f nuclear weapons and w ith revo­lu tion shaking the colon ia l w o rld , the w a r d rive had to be slowed down. The Geneva conference m arked a.n easing o f tensions abroad th a t coincided w ith the easing o f the w itc h -h u n t pressure a t home.

Now we note th a t the E isen­hower ad m in is tra tion is announc­in g resum ption o f the cold w ar. Does th is also s ig n ify ia stepping up o f the tem po o f the w itch hunt ?

Expressions o f jo y over the im proved c lim ate fo r c iv il libe r­ties are obviously prem ature . I t would be d if f ic u lt to make a g re a te r m istake than to v iew the tac tica l re tre a t o f the -witch hunters as the de fin itive v ic to ry fo r c iv il libe rties th a t Am erica needs today.

B u rn Racist G overnor in E f f ig y Workers Rally Against Blow; Score Brownell As Top Strikebreaker

Page Two — T H E M I L I T A N T Monday, December 26, 1955

Banquet Observes Bill of Rights

By John ThayerNEW YORK — The 184th Anniversary of the adop­

tion of the firs t ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution — the B ill of Rights — was celebrated by 1,000 defendersof c iv il libe rties at a banquet in® -------------------------------------------------------the C ap ito l H ote l oil Dec. 15.1 fro lr i the w itch hunt. U.S. fo r-The h ig h ly successful and S p irit­ed ga the ring was sponsored by the Em ergency C iv il L ibe rties Com m ittee, an o rgan iza tion which defends the con s titu tion a l r ig h ts o f a ll regardless o f race, creed o r po litica l be lie f.

The banquet was addressed by P ro f. Owen La ttim o re , one of M cC a rth y ’s ou tstand ing v ic tim s. Other- speakers were M rs. A n ­drew S im pkins, head of the em­ba ttled South C aro lina N a tiona l Association fo r the Advancement o f Colored People, H arvey O’Con­nor, o f the F irs t Am endm ent test case and chairm an o f the ECLC, and C la rk Forem an, D i­rec to r o f the ECLC.

In addition, numerous w itc h ­hun t v ic tim s spoke a few words fro m the flo o r. Am ong these were D r. O tto N athan, E in ­s te in ’s executor; Anne Braden o f the Lo u isv ille “ sed ition” fram e- up; Corliss Lam ent o f the F irs t Am endm ent case; several o f the F o rt D ix E ig h t — G I’s faced w ith undesirable discharges be­cause o f p re -induction associa­tions; D r. Sloehowcr o f the aca­demic freedom fig h t in New Y o rk ; Steve Nelson and o ther Commu­n is t P a rty v ic tim s o f the S m ith A c t; in d u s tr ia l and e n te rta in ­m ent w orkers v ic tim ized by the spreading “ lo y a lty ” purge; and m any others.

The to ta l e ffec t o f th is d ra ­m atic sam pling o f w itch -hun t v ic tim s was to impress the aud­ience w ith the scope o f the a t­tack on the B il l o f R igh ts as w e ll as w ith the g ro w in g num ­ber o f those w ith courage t to f ig h t back.

The banquet served to launch the E C LC ’s drive fo r $100,000, the figure i t has set fo r its 1956 budget. Large con tribu tions made fro m the f lo o r exceeded $20,000. In addition there was a collec­tion and p ro fit on the banquet fo r which the charge was $7.50 per person.

The main speaker, Owen L a t­tim ore , F a r Eastern expert, spoke on “ Fear and Fore ign P o licy.” H is prem ise was a very conservative one — th a t the U n ited .States should have the best fo re ign service possible. Th is , he said, was prevented by the atm osphere o f fe a r re su ltin g

Should the A LP Be Dissolved According to Plan of Stalinists?

eign service officers no longer dare w r ite reports w ith fac ts or predictions which m igh t be d is ­pleasing to higher-u|ps in the State D epartm ent or which, at some la te r date, m ig h t a ttra c t the a tten tion o f a “ lo y a lty ” in ­ve s tig a to r snooping th rough the flies.

Consequently, L a ttim o re said, the U.S. today has the leas t-in ­form ed fo re ign service, especially about the F a r East. l ie a t t r ib u t ­ed D u lles ’ recent d ip lom atic set­back over the Goa statem ent and the “ package deal” o f admissions to the U N to th is fear-induced ignorance.

The o ther im p o rta n t observ­ance o f B il l o f R igh ts Day was held at M anhattan Center by the Leadership Conference on C iv il R igh ts . T h is is an o rgan iza tion composed o f the leaders o f the N A A C P , the A F L -C IO and 49 o ther na tiona l o rgan iza tions — labor, re lig ious, veteran, civic and fra te rn a l.

In the past i t has sponsored C iv il R ights M ob iliza tions in W ashington, D.C. E a r ly in the com ing year i t w i l l ca ll a m ob il­iza tion in W ashington w h ich — i t is hoped — w il l force federa l action on the re ign o f te r ro r in M ississipp i.

I ts mass m eeting was disap­p o in tin g ly sm all. F ive to six hundred people attended and the h a ll was tw o -th ird s em pty. Sen­a to r Lehman was the m ain speaker. He to ld the audience th a t he was being “ re a lis tic and not pessim istic” in pred ic ting th a t l i t t le i f any c iv il- r ig h ts le g ­is la tion would he passed by the ■next session o f Congress. Repub­lican C ity Councilm an Isaacs also spoke and the son o f Repub­lican Senator l iv in g Ives read a message fro m his fa th e r sup­p o rtin g c iv il r ig h ts in general.

The m eeting passed reso lu­tions u rg in g Congress to remove M ississipp i Senator Eastland and o ther members o f Congress who seek to c ircum vent the Supreme C ourt’s ru ling s . I t also urged Gov. H a rr im a n to refuse to ex­tra d ite Rev. Joseph Delaine, f ig h te r fo r N egro r ig h ts , to South Carolina. The meeting- welcomed Delaine to New Y ork c itizensh ip “ as a refugee fro m oppression and persecution.”

By Harry Ring 5>The Communist P a rty has ta k ­

en another cautious step toward d isso lv ing the Am erican Labor P arty in New Y ork . The step is the opening o f “ discussion” on I hat proposition by M ax Cordon in the Dec. 13 D a ily W orker.

T h is fo llow s the a tta ck lev­eled by Cordon in tw o D a ily W orker a r t i c l e s last month aga inst the Progressive P a rty weekly, the N a tiona l Guardian.

The G uardian had declared th a t i f the Progressive P arty does no t run its own tic k e t in 1956 i t w i l l fa vo r abstention in the elections. Gordon -— know ing ve ry w e ll th a t the PP w ill no t run its own candidates— pressed the G uardian to sw allow the S ta lin is t line o f cam paign ing fo r the Democrats.

W o rk in g over the same theme again in h is cu rre n t a rtic le , G or­don “ th o u g h tfu lly ” poses the d iff ic u lt ie s — “ how does the L e ft pro ject and f ig h t fo r its inde­pendent po litica l p rogram in the absence o f an independent p a rty and in the lig h t o f the coa lition tactics discussed in the two a rtic le s ? ”

Note how Gordon b land ly erases “ an independent p a rty ,” nam ely the A L P and in jects his proposal to support the Demo­crats ( “ l ig h t o f the coa lition tac tics discussed,” etc. etc.)

Gordon hand ily solves the prob­lem he raises: “ F irs t, a p o litica l p a rty , w h ile im p o rtan t, is not the on ly in s tru m en t o f mass gen­era l p o litica l s trugg le . There have been o ther ins trum ents fo r such strugg le , organ izations such as the Independent C itizens Com­m ittee o f pre-Progressive P a rly days.”

T h is statem ent constitu tes pa rt o f the fun e ra l music composed by the S ta lin is ts fo r the A L P , since th a t section o f the P ro ­gressive P a rty is the on ly one o f substance s t i l l la ck ing the benefits o f bu ria l. S till , i t is not im m edia te ly apparent th a t th is is re a lly the death music o f the A LP , fo r Gordon cites the old Independent C itizens Com m ittee — not m ention ing the much fre sh ­er “ Independent Com m ittee fo r P o litica l A ction in 1956” which came fro m the dissolu tion o f the C a lifo rn ia Independent P rogres­sive P a rty last Ju ly . Did Gordon w an t to keep his tone so ft and subdued so as not to a la rm A L P members about S ta lin is t in te n ­tions in N ew Y o rk?

The S ta lin is ts are determ ined (o d rag the G uardian supporters

G rin d in g a D em ocratic Axe

At merger convention of A FL-C IO , Adlai Stevenson poses for cameramen with George Meany ( le ft) , president of the new organization, and W alter Reuther (r ig h t), head of the industrial department. One of the objectives of the labor bureaucrats in the merger is to give Democrats a helping hand and detour sentiment for building a labor ;party. Stevenson hopes to be the beneficiary of these machinations.

in to the Dem ocratic p a rty w ith them. Form ation o f an “ inde­pendent com m ittee” is the g im ­m ick w ith which they propose to do it .

The d ir ty business o f p ro v id ­ing a le f t cover fo r the Demo­cra ts is not new fo r the S ta lin ­ists. The A L P its e lf was form ed in the firs t place in 1936 — as John S w ift confessed in the M ay 1954 P o litica l A f fa irs — to snare otheywise unobtainable le ft-w in g votes fo r Roosevelt. The propos­ed “ independent com m ittee” to ­day is needed by the S ta lin is ts to dispose o f the membership demand th a t the p a rty run its own candidates in 1956 as i t did in 1948 and 1952.

G ordon’s m ain b a it in t ry in g to hook supporters o f the G uard­ian is th a t they and the S ta lin ­is ts “ see eye to eye on basic p rog ram m atic questions.” The fa c t th a t the G uardian seeks genuine independence from the m a jo r pa rties is dismissed as a “ tac tica l d iffe rence .”

On the decisive question of po litica l p rinc ip les, Gordon seeks to reassure the prospective suck­ers by a ff irm in g th a t w h ile the S ta lin is ts are he llben t on ge tting in to the Dem ocratic p a rty , th e ir

The Story Behind "16 Tons"The United Mine Workers

Journal scored one of 1956’s journalistic scoops when it printed a story by Merle Travis, composer of the song that is sweeping the country— “Sixteen Tons.” The amazing popularity of this tine song is not only in­dicative of the fact that almost all Americans feel “another day older and deeper in debt” when they finish work today, but of the widespread acceptance of unionism and union ideas.

It is high time the public im ­agination was taken with the figure of the coal miner — who has waged such heroic battles against danger, company stores and thugs— for the miner is a symbol of labor militancy in America. We print below, with but a few omissions. Merle T ra ­vis’ letter as it appeared in the Dec. 1 United Mine Workers Journal. — Ed.

* * *

In ou r home in K en tucky the m in e r’s Journa l ranked a long­side the fa m ily B ib le and the "w ishbook” (Sears-Roebuck cat­a logue). So you can im agine the honor I ’ve had in rece iv ing a personal le tte r fro m its ed itor. Here are a few th in gs tha t m ig h t answer you r request con­cern ing the b ir th o f m y song, “ S ixteen Tons.”

I was raised in the southwest­ern coal fields o f Ken tucky. M y fa th e r was a m iner in the l i t t le tow n o f Beech Creek, in M uhlen­berg County. The ow ner o f the m ine, o r mines, (the re were two openings) was a gentlem an nam ­ed Raymond K irk p a tr ic k . The two openings were known as “ N um ber F ive ” and “ Num ber N ine.” F rom the la tte r came the reason fo r the line . . .

“ I loaded sixteen tons o f N um ber N ine coal

And the strawboss hollered, W ell bless m y soul’ !”

Dad’s whole name was W illia m R obert T rav is . He was a b ig jo v ia l, red-faced fa t man most people called Uncle Rob. A c tu a l­ly , he worked “ on the outside” as a su lphur p icker. The roa r o f the shakers fin a lly a ffected his hearing and m any is the tim e he’d call m y bro ther John and m yse lf out on the porch o f the company fa rm we lived on, three m iles from the Beech Creek, and say as he pulled fro m his ove ra ll pocket a huge E lg in

watch, “ Now boys, you’ve got be tte r ears than I have, so lis ­ten fo r the w h istle . I heard a coal-drag sw itch in ’ around over there today, and they ju s ’ m ight run tom orrow .”

When the w h is tle fro m oT Num ber F ive came d r i f t in g over the h ills at five o’clock in the afternoon Dad would b righ ten up like a ch ild a n tic ip a tin g a fish ing t r ip on ly one n ig h t away. T h is d idn ’ t happen too often in the sum m er when the demand fo r coal was a t its lowest ebb. A t these tim es a gloom would shroud the b ig man like a gray sky before an a ll n ig h t drizzle. He’d re tu rn his watch to his pocket and rem ark, “ W ell boys, I reckon we’ ll h i l l them beans in the garden tom orrow .”

When the opposite occurred, and the th in sound o f the w h is tle d r ifte d to ou r a le rt ears, i t was a d iffe re n t scene. Uncle Rob T rav is was a happy man. H e ’d kiss h is watch, re tu rn i t to his b ib-pocket and say, “ W ell boys, looks like o l’ man K irk p a tr ic k has peddled some more rocks.” The T ra v is household was a b r ig h te r abode . . . B u t there was reason fo r ga ie ty . T om or­row the m ine was “ ru n n in ’ ” . . . M aybe w o rk would p ick up. B ut supper was w onderfu l w ith the cornbread, new potatoes, b u tte r­m ilk , b lackbe rry jam and the ever-present “ M iner's S traw ber­ries,” — be tte r known as soup beans.

Then there were the s trikes ! To us and al! the people we knew it m eant “ Root, hog, o l­d ie !” I became well acquainted w ith the “ a id -h a ll.” There we’d go to get whatever was to be given in the way o f food to the m iners on s tr ike . Jus t enough beans and sa lt-po rk to keep body and soul together. I t seem­ed a festive tim e to me as a boy in m y ea rly teens, fo r there were the mass-meetings. H un­dreds would ga ther and s it on slabs o f wood la id across car­bide cans and lis ten to the speeches. The prom ise o f m iners becoming un ited was music to the ears o f the m iners and th e ir w ives, bu t the en te rta inm en t the y ’d have between speeches was more m usical to m y young ears.

I ’ ll never fo rg e t fo u r Negro boys by the name o f the Dean Q uarte t (a lthough one was nam ­ed D o o lin ). W ith a sound th a t rem inded me o f an I.C. tra in

w h is tle on a w in te r ’s n igh t, the y ’d lean fo u r black heads to ­gether and sing in pe rfec t h a r ­mony.

The boys were no t a pro fes­sional g roup a t a ll, bu t m iners from nearby Drakesboro and B row der who had come to cheer the heavy hearts o f w orkers in a l i t t le tow n o f Beech Creek where Negroes were not allowed.

I have known the f ru its o f s trikes. The b itte r and the sweet. H unger and music. Jokes and threats. F is t figh ts and m urders!

Who deserves more cred it than the w ife o f a coal m iner? M other was one. She never com­plained about the hardships tha t were hers in abundance . . .

There were fo u r o f us children — three boys and one g ir l. W h ile I never worked in the mines, m y two o lde r bro thers did . . . An e lectric m oto r p u llin g coal on the “ lie -aw ay” ro lled him [T a y lo r, his oldest b ro th e r] against the “ r ib ,” the bulkhead o f the in te r io r o f the m ine, and p ra c tica lly broke every r ib in his body, changed his whole life . He is now a m ach in is t forem an in an in d u s tr ia l p lan t in Evans­v ille , Ind.

M y o ther bro ther, John, ju s t d r ifte d away from the coal fields and became a salesman in Evans­v ille . M y sister, Vada, is m arried to a man who is a happy, hard­w o rk in g union m iner in M uhlen­berg County, K en tucky . . .

* * *

M ost o f the tra d itio n a l fo lk songs had been recorded, so I set about composing songs o f the album th a t spoke o f the m ines and m iners. The album was called “ F o lk Songs o f the H ills ” by M erle T rav is . I t was a b ig success, I'm happy to say.

In the album were the fo llo w ­in g : “ M usk ra t,” “ N ine Pound H am m er,” “ D a rk as a Dungeon,” “ John H enry ,” “ Thats A ll , ” “ Over by Num ber N ine,” “ I am a P ilg r im ,” and “ S ixteen Tons.”

I was fla tte re d when the great a u th o r ity on fo lk songs, and au thor o f numerous hooks, men­tioned m y record album in his volum e “ F o lk Song U .S .A .,” as one o f the m ost au then tic and re fresh ing he’d ever heard. H e’s the g re a t A lan Lom ax.

M r. B .A. B o tk in , co llecto r o f Am erican fo lk lo re fo r the L i ­b ra ry o f Congress, p rin ted , word fo r word, in has volume “ A T reasury o f Southern F o lk lo re ,” one o f the songs fro m m y l i t t le

program “ d iffe rs fun dam e n ta lly ” from tha t o f the tw o ca p ita lis t parties.

Does i t “ d if fe r fundam enta l­ly ” ? S tripped o f le f t verbiage, the S ta lin is t program reduces its e lf to “ peaceful co-existence” and the h is to r ic a lly exploded panaceas o f pacifism and d isa rm ­ament, plus demands fo r c iv il r ig h ts and economic security. Such a p la tfo rm is no th ing more than a rehash o f the old New Deal program o f Roosevelt and Wallace.

The inevitab le evo lu tion o f the New Deal in to the W ar Deal, as w e ll as the perfidy o f W allace— both developments predicted by the T ro tsky itcs — indicate how l i t t le m erit and how much treach­e ry such a program contains.

Belonging to an “ independent” com m ittee does no t make i t pos­sible to embrace the Democrats w ith o u t los ing you r p u r ity , as the S ta lin is ts contend. The A m e r­icans fo r Dem ocratic Action are also “ independent,” yet serve as judas goats fo r the Dem ocratic P a rty . The o rgan iza tiona l au to­nomy o f the A D A fa c ilita te s th is cyn ica l business.

The S ta lin is t c la im o f per­spectives d iffe re n t fro m and in opposition to those o f the m a jo r parties is de libera te ly patterned to appeal to the wishes o f P ro­gressive P a rty members who fa vo r independent po litica l ac­tion. B u t the real S ta lin is t aim is an a lliance w ith a t least a section o f the cap ita lis ts — an a lliance o f the k ind they enjoyed d u rin g W orld W a r I I . A nd th a t’ s w hy they have set themselves up as re c ru it in g sergeants fo r the Democrats: Remember w h a t the boss says about dem onstra ting your a b ilitie s i f you w an t to ge t ahead in the business w orld?

We cite bu t one o f numerous declarations to prove the po int. D iscussing the CP’s num ber one plank o f “ peaceful co-existence,” W illia m Z. F oster w rite s in the October issue o f P o litica l A f fa irs th a t he sees a r is in g peace move­ment which “ w ill embrace not

ftjon ly w orkers and o ther demo­c ra tic elements, bu t also im ­p o rta n t sections o f the bourgeo­isie, and even of monopoly cap­ita l its e lf.”

E a rl Brow der, who was driven out o f the CP fo r saying exactly the same th in g , m ig h t derive a certa in w ry sa tis fac tion from F o s t e r ’ s pronouncement, but the re w ill be no sa tis fac tion o f any k ind w ith the pronounce­m ent among those who under­stand th a t the s trugg le against im p e ria lis t w a r iis inseparable fro m the s trugg le aga inst cap ita l­ism.

Progressive P a rty supporters o f independent po litics cannot evade the challenge put up to them by the S ta lin is ts . A nd it m ust be said th a t i f in tru th they do accept the S ta lin is t p ro ­gram — do see “ eye to eye” w ith Gordon— then they fo r fe it any re a lis tic basis fo r de feating the “ ta c tic a l” proposal o f the S ta l­in is ts , fo r the S ta lin is t tac tic flow s qu ite consistently from the program o f cuddling up to “ im ­p o rta n t sections o f the bourgeo­isie, and even o f m onopoly cap­ita l its e lf.”

The S ta lin is ts are p u llin g a typ ica l con m an’s sw indle when they t r y to palm o f f objectives (peace, jobs, etc.) as program , and the means o f re a liz in g those objectives as “ tac tics .” W ha t the S ta lin is ts p ic tu re as mere tac­tics happen to constitu te the rock foundation o f program .

Objectives, s p lit away from the means o f ach ieving them, are meaningless p la titudes, as every ca p ita lis t p o lit ic ia n dem­onstrates in every election. W ho isn ’t fo r peace and jobs and all good th ings?

W hat is c ruc ia l is precisely the means proposed to achieve these ends. T h a t’s w hat deter­mines p rogram and especially its class content. Can peace and secu rity be achieved through co llabora tion w ith the cap ita lis t class? O r m ust they be won th rough uncom prom ising s tru g ­gle against the ca p ita lis t class ? Can the w orkers w in em ancipa­tion by suppo rting the cap ita lis t pa rties ? O r m ust they bu ild th e ir own p a rty ? These are the m ost im pera tive questions o f program .

To illu s tra te the m eaning of p rogram we po in t again to the pro jected 1956 cam paign o f the Socia list W orkers P a rty . The po in t o f departu re fo r the SW P in th a t cam paign w ill be the issues th a t the w orkers are th in k in g about today. B u t th a t is on ly the po in t o f departure.

From there the task is to do eve ry th ing possible to raise the class consciousness o f the w o rk ­ers. The SW P candidates w ill te ll the w orkers unam biguously th a t the fig h t aga ins t w ar, J im Crow, the w itch hun t and eco­nomic in secu rity can be won on ly by uncom prom ising s tru g ­gle against the po litics o f the ca p ita lis t class. The SW P can­didates w il l pe rs is ten tly exp la in w hy labo r m ust tu rn to inde­pendent p o litica l action, and push tow ards creation o f a w o rk ­ers and fa rm ers governm ent.

In short, the SW P candidates w ill ch a rt the road by which labor can re a lly achieve its ob­jectives. T ha t is the on ly k ind o f program o r tac tic w ith a fu tu re .

The American W ay of Life

. . . Gov’t Throws Anti-Red Law(Continued from page 1)

o f clergym en tr ie d to organize a “ secret” ba llo t to determ ine who wanted to go back to w ork. In m any cities the company has managed to f in d p liab le judges to issue in junctions to prevent mass p icketing . On Dec. 15, in T renton, N .J., a squad o f 30. cops tr ie d to break up the picket line. Fourteen W estinghouse pickets were ja iled .

W ith a ll o f these measures and m any more, the company was s t i l l unable to break the solid ranks o f the s trike . Then the federa l governm ent in tervened— no t as a defender o f the m a­jo r i t y o f the people involved in the W eriiinpho 'jse d ispute — not as an im p a rt ia l a rb ite r — but openly and unequivocally on the side o f the corpora tion.

The Com m unist C ontro l A c t o f 1954 th a t has now been used by B row ne ll was condemned by the whole labo r movement as a “ un­io n -b us ting ” b i l l when i t was f ir s t in troduced in to Congress. Senator Lehm an (D .-N .Y .) said the b il l would “ place in the hands o f an A tto rn e y General who m ig h t be an tagon is tic to labor, a po w erfu l weapon to cripp le labor, to break s trikes .”

O f course, the libe ra l Lehman and a ll the o ther Dem ocratic senators, in fe a r o f M cC arthy, voted fo r the b ill. B u t the a r ­gum ent th a t Lehman used, and dropped under f ire , has now proved qu ite prophetic.

B row ne ll could have file d h is pe tition any tim e since August 1954. W hy did he choose p re­cise ly th is m om ent when one o f the most im p o rta n t and b it te r ly fou gh t s tr ikes in 1955 is ta k in g

place? The answer is obvious. The b low was tim ed fo r C h ris t­mas as an attem pted knock-out punch aga inst the s tr ike rs .

B row ne ll c la im s he w ants to aid the 100,000 U E members to “ clean th e ir o rgan iza tion of C om m unist d ic ta to rs .” B u t the U E members on s tr ik e against W estinghouse are dem onstra ting like th e ir fe llo w w orkers o f the IU E th a t despite a bleak and hu ng ry C hristm as they w an t to clean the W estinghouse Corpora­tion o f its ru th less speed-up ty rann y .

The ve ry fa c t th a t the s trike has rem ained solid a fte r nine weeks o f heavy pressure is p roo f that. U E members are no t dupes o f “ C om m unist conspira tors,” nor v ic tim s o f “ subversive” d ic ta tors. They are v ic tim s on ly o f a W est­inghouse p lo t to make more p ro fits out o f speed-up schemes and a un ion-busting cam paign.

The W estinghouse w orkers are f ig h tin g a ba ttle fo r the en tire labo r movement. I f th is B ig Business o u tfit can get aw ay w ith its s tr ikeb rea k ing drive , the w o rk in g conditions in o th e r in ­dustries w i l l be underm ined. Speed-up is an issue in every mass production fa c to ry . I f the W estinghouse s tr ike rs succeed in s topping the speed-up i t w i l l aid the rest o f the labo r movement.

M any unions, ou ts tand ing ly steel and auto, are now o rgan iz ­in g fin a n c ia l he lp fo r the W est­inghouse w orkers. The company has responded by b r in g in g in the federa l governm ent as its a lly . T h is m ust be answered by m o­b iliz in g the support o f the en­t ire w o rk in g class on the side o f the s trike rs .

Xmos Memo to DullesA few days before Christmas, Richard Rutter of the

N. Y. Times reported that “ America’s greatest spending spree is reaching a smashing climax.” There was so muchm o n e y “ cascading m e rr ily ” ®“ around tha t the problem became how to spend it. Or, as m er­chants pu t it , to find a C h ris t­mas g i f t “ fo r the man who has eve ry th in g .”

The problem , o f course, was solved w ith typ ica l Am erican effic iency. A s the W a ll S treet Journa l repo rts : “ Never before has there been such a pro fusion o f unusual C hris tm as g if ts in lhe na tion ’s stores.

T h is season’s w ay o f saying M erry C hristm as w ith “ the un­usual,” i t occurred to me, m ight help Secretary o f State Dulles meet the problem tha t la te ly seems to have been g iv in g him increased troub le ; nam ely, se lling the “ Am erican W ay o f L ife ” abroad.

F o r instance, Dulles could t r y overcom ing the e ffects o f the Khrushchev—Bulgan in tou r in In ­dia by po in ting out th a t A m e r­ica is in terested in Ind ian cu l­tu re and Ind ian products like no o ther country . T h is ve ry C h ris t­mas one o f A m erica ’s b iggest departm ent stores— W an a m aker’? in P h iladelph ia— fea tu red a live baby elephant, Hann iba l, as the pe rfect $7,800 g i f t “ fo r the man who has eve ry th ing .”

Dulles could seek to make real p ro-A m ericans out o f the South Ind ians, whose diet generally consists o f “ rice and pepper w a te r,” by im pressing them w ith the fac t th a t Am ericans ins is t on a much be tte r diet. So much be tte r th a t an appreciated C h ris t­mas g i f t th is year was a $100 14-karat, go ld-p la ted can opener to get the diet ou t o f cans.

And to the s ta rv in g in India whom John F rede rick Mueh! describes as “ ly in g by the road­w ay” w ith sunken eyes and swollen bellies “ too lis tless to brush the flie s from th e ir lips ,”Dulles could g ive an in s p ira tio n ­al account o f C hris tm as in

Hotel Workers Start Union Drive At Miami Beach

The A F L -C IO Hotel W orkers Union has kicked o f f what it hopes w ill be the decisive phase o f its o rgan iz ing d rive at M iam i Beach, according to the Dec. 19 W a ll S treet Journa l.

The union announced th a t agreem ent on a con tract had been reached w ith the Seville, a new ocean-front hotel. I t is on ly the f i f th ou t o f 385 M iam i Beach hotels to sign up, bu t i t is a m a jo r one w ith 300 rooms and an $8 -m illion bu ild ing .

Last summer, the F lo r id a Su­preme C ourt barred p icke ting a t the 19 beach hotels on the un­ion ’s u n fa ir lis t. U n ion tactics now center around denying ex­perienced professional help to the hotels. The un ion ’s 616 locals have been asked to w a rn th e ir members who m igh t seek w in te r w o rk in M iam i Beach th a t they can be fined o r suspended i f they w ork a t hotels where a dispute is in progress.

In te rn a tio n a l V ice - President B ert H . Ross announced th a t new p icke t lines m ay be th row n about three m a jo r hotels i f they do no t sign contracts by New Y ear’s.

Am erica where people are so prosperous they give each o ther jeweled f ly sw atte rs.

D u lles could t r y overcom ing the resentm ent o f the M exican people tow ard Yankee im p e ria l-

n by po in tin g ou t th a t D a llas, Texas, patronized M exican p ro­ducts th is Christm as, im p o rtin g live burros w ith ca rts fo r rea lly novel presents.

Perhaps Dulles could ge t the Chinese people to come to a more rea lis tic va lua tion o f the w ay o f l i fe in A m erica , arid un­derstand be tte r w hy B ig Busi­ness supports Chiang-Ka i-shek, by describ ing how m in k itr im m e d beer-can openers and m in k - tr im ­med tooth brushes made C h ris t­mas g if ts th is year fo r “ the man who- has eve ry th in g .”

He m ig h t induce the Indo­chinese to fo rg ive the fa c t th a t in th e ir s trugg le fo r independ­ence, W a ll S tree t backed the French im peria lis ts . He m ig h t do th is by p leasan tly h in t in g th a t a lthough even in prosperous Am erica people get hard fe e l­ings, the A m erican w ay is to be­lieve in peace and good w il l to ­ward men. A t C hristm as, fo r in ­stance, Am ericans th is year made peace o ffe rin g s to each o ther o f oil cans lacquered in b lack, trim m ed in sequins and labeled “ V e rm ou th ” o r “ B itte rs .” A nd fo r a rea l f r ie n d ly g low they gave a “ brandy s tic k ” — a cane w ith a ho llow b ig enough to hold a h a lft-p in t.

Maybe Dulles could make the South Sea Is landers less b itte r; about the H-Bom b tests staged in th e ir pa rt o f the w orld by the U.S. i f he to ld them th a t the hum an ita rian in te res t in o ther lands displayed by some Am ericans now stops a t no ex­pense. A s p roo f he could po in t to the “ d ip lo m atic classic globes” — identica l to one owned by President E isenhower— th a t were snapped up at P lum m er, L td . o f New Y ork fo r $800 C hris tm as g ifts .

And fo r the en tire C h ris tian w orld , Du lles could describe the dress-length n igh t-g ow n th a t came in w h ite , edged in gold, w ith “ angel w ings” stitched to the back th a t was a “ best se ller” th is year. Real p roof of. how the C h ris tian s p ir it is remembered in Am erica, especially at C h ris t­mas time.

F in a lly to prove the superio r­ity o f the A m erican w ay o f life , Dulles m ig h t end by quo ting the N .Y . T im es: “ W a ll S treet is w in d in g up its b iggest year since 1929 and the s p ir it o f C hris tm as runs h igh .” N a tu ra lly , Dulles should re fra in fro m men­tio n in g w ha t fo llow ed 1929.

— Reba A ub rey

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recorded e ffo r t. I t was “ D ark as a Dungeon” :

“ W here i t ’s dark as a dungeon and damp as the dew

W here the danger is double and pleasures are few

W here the ra in never fa lls and the sun never shines

I t ’s dark as a dungeon ’way down in the mines . . . ”

*■ *About a m onth ago he [T e n ­

nessee E rn ie ] recorded one of the songs fro m m y album t it le d “ S ixteen Tons.” I t made h is to ry . I t sold a m illio n records in sho rte r than any other record in m usical h is to ry .

A few days ago C lif f ie Stone, E rn ie and I had an in te rv iew fo r a w rite up in one o f the na­t io n ’s top news magazines. The three o f us wondered ju s t w hat i t was, o th e r than Tennessee E rn ie ’s g re a t version o f the song, th a t would make the hun­dreds o f thousands o f people in every p a rt o f the na tion s it up arid take notice o f a man who “ owes his soul to the company store . . . ”

W e tossed i t about fo r qu ite a while . C lif f ie tho ugh t th a t per­haps i t was because m ost every­body owed m ost o f tiheir money to some so rt o f “ company store,” bu t I don’t th in k we ever re a lly found an answer th a t is logica l. W e’re ju s t th a n k fu l th a t the song is so successful.

There’s one thing I ’m certain of. Things have changed. Coal mining is now an occupation to be proud of. A miner has the chance to provide his fam ily with the things that were only a dream not long ago. The com­pany store is a vendor o f gen­era l merchandise which the m ine r pays fo r in U.S. currency and not brass tokens issued by the company he w orks fo r to constantly rem ind him th a t he’s in debt.

The s in k ing sun >'o longer re ­m inds the w eary m iner tha t he’s — “ A no the r day older and deeper in debt.”

A nd when payday ro lls around he can a ffo rd to answer Saint Peter, i f he should call, and not have to exp la in — " I owe my soul to the company store . . . ”

. . . I ’m sure i f the remaining dust of the now resting Aunt E tta and Uncle Rob Travis were brought again to flesh, they’d join in a song of praise for John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers of America.

Bob»artptton IS per y e a r ; A j | f t f l t f (Signed « rtlo le« by ooa trffi-

•1.50 fo r 0 m onth*. F o re ig n : MILITANTH-50 per year: »2.&o for 6 ■ F P S r ■ » ^ ^ ^ 'W W These ^ ltamonths. Canadian: $3.50 per Published Weekly In the Interests of the W orking People editorials, year: $1.75 for 0 months. T H E M I L I T A N T P U B L IS H IN G A S S O C IA T IO N "Entered as second class Bundle Orders: 5 or more l l f i University P I., N . Y . 3. N . S . Phone: A I. 5-7461 m atter March 7. 1944 a t thecodes ftr ftAch In U S 7o Post Office at New York.

. . . . ’ ” e d ito r: M U R R Y W E IS S N .Y ., under the act of Marcheach in foreign countries. „ . „ to-tn .>Business Manager: A N N E C H ESTER »• 187H*

Vol. X I X __No. 52 Monday, December 26, 1955

T H E M I L I T A N T — Page Three

Operation PickpocketNew York Post columnist Murray

Kempton accused the government Dec. 15 of turning pickpocket when the Social Security Administration decided to w ith ­hold pension payments from retired func­tionaries of the Communist Party.

This is an accurate label, fo r the action is a plain case of theft. The social security law makes the government sole holder of the funds. I t has no legal righ t to refuse to pay what the law required it to collect out of a worker’s wages.

Social security legislation was passed in 1935. The law was framed to prevent these funds from being used fo r partisan pur­poses. I t was designed to cover all without regard to race, color or creed on the simple and basic principle that everyone has a r ig h t to live.

The introduction of a political criterion now fo r payments is an ominious step toward destruction of the principle of im ­partial administration of the law. Payment of pensions is made to hinge on conformity w ith the political opinions of government bureaucrats who can change w ith every election.

The Social Security Administration did not confine itself to picking the pockets of a few re tired ' Communist Party func­tionaries. I t also issued a threat to all dissenters. In its letter of instructions to state offices it said: “ The law does not bar payments to a Communist or to anyone convicted of a crime and sentenced to ja il i f the person otherwise qualifies for benefits. While from time to time, con­sideration has been given by the Congress to the possibility of legislation restricting payments in instances like these, such a

provision has not been included in the law.”

In other words, while it is illegal to demand political conformity before social insurance is paid, powerful figures in gov eminent have been considering making it legal. These figures are the type who think that a distinction between a liberal Demo­crat and a communist is idle hair-splitting, who th ink any m ilitant unionist is an agent of the Kremlin and any union of­ficia l a creeping socialist.

A worker deprived of the insurance he paid for w ill have the opportunity to seek justice in the courts, these reactionaries m ight argue. But under the witch hunt thousands have spent years in the up-hill battle to get the ir names cleared, their jobs back or to find new employmeht.

By the time a worker of 65 gets through the courts, i f he can afford the legal battle for his old-age pittance, he w ill be lucky to have enough for funeral expenses.

The Taft-Hartley law struck the f irs t big blow at the concessions won by the working class in its struggles in the Thirties. I t undermined the legal recogni­tion of the righ t of labor to organize and strike.

Now social security, the second big prize won by the workers two decades ago is under attack. The Big Business govern­ment is try ing to convert i t into an in­strument of political pressure.

“ Dissent and starve,” the capitalists say. “ Conform and you may get the old- age insurance, payment fo r which was taken out of your wages when you were young.”

A Case of Justified Alarm“ This,” said Lenin in the early 1920’s,

“ is the epoch of imperialist wars, prole­tarian revolutions and colonial uprisings.” The lead editorial in the Dec. 21 N. Y. Times defines the world line-ups in v ir ­tually sim ilar terms, although the Times employs euphemisms, whereas Lenin was a plain speaker.

“ The rioting in Jordan against the Baghdad Pact,” says the Times, * . is indicative of a deep-rooted malaise that has varying effects from Morocco on the A tlantic Ocean through the Sudan in A frica and the Near East w ith Egypt, Syria and Jordan to Afghanistan. All these countries are Moslem; all are a prey to the contemporary disease of nationalism. . .

“ For all its follies and weaknesses Wes­tern civiliaztion has its elements of great­ness and it is worth figh ting for. The two great primary enemies of this way of life are nationalism and communism, which work together in areas like the Middle East.

“ The two movements are unholy allies, simply because the Communists since Lenin’s time have seen the tactical ad­vantage of supporting nationalism, which is anti-white in Asia, anti-colonial in the Middle East and Africa and anti-Yankee in Latin America.

“ I t is in all cases destructive because it is xenophobic (unreasonably fearful of

foreigners) and in that respect i t defeats its own very laudable purposes.”

Imperialism — that is, the rule of Big Business in the U.S., England, France and a very few other leading capitalist coun­tries and its subjugation of the rest of the capitalist world — th is is what the N. Y. Times really clings to in “ Western civiliza­tion.”

And it is certainly true that the two primary enemies of imperialism are “ com­munism” and “ nationalism” — that is, the working class movement fo r socialism in the advanced countries and the national independence struggle in economically backward lands.

These two movements are indeed allies because they are linked in the figh t againsl the main exploitive and oppressive force in the world — the system of imperialism headed by U.S. Big Business.

The Times and the revolutionary so­cialists define the line-ups in the world in the same way.

What divides them is only the question of which side they are on. The Times upholds imperialism and calls this the defense of “ Western civilization.” The revolutionary socialists — the M ilitant among them — take the ir stand on the side of the world working class and the colonial masses, whose victory over im­perialism alone can assure the forward march of modern civilization.

An Appeal We WelcomeOn Dec. 21, forty-six noted public

figures sent a petition to Pres. Eisen­hower for a “ Christmas amnesty” for Communist Party leaders convicted under the Smith Act. The 46 include Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dean John C. Bennett of Union Theological Seminary; Lewis Mumford, noted author; Norman Thomas; Elmer Rice, p laywright; Chaplain John M. Krumm, of Columbia U n i v e r s i t y ; Stephen G. Cary, secretary of the American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia; Henry Steele Commager, Columbia University; and A. J. Muste, secretary emeritus of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

The 46 asked that the president com­mute “ the sentences of 16 men and women now in prison to time already served” and that 180 cases now awaiting tria l or out­come of appeals be postponed.

“ Those who present this petition,” the 46 stated, “ are in fundamental disagree­ment w ith the philosophy of the Com­munist party and w ith essential elements in its program and are motivated in their present action by their attachment to the democratic way of life .”

The stand taken by the 46 is a welcome development, all the more so because it

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upholds on principle the righ t of the Communist Party to freedom of speech. I t was on this basis that the M ilitant denounced all indictments or convictions of CP members and leaders, from the 11 witch-hunt victims in the 1949 trials to those now on tria l in Cleveland.

While defending the civil liberties of the Communist Party, we proclaimed our fundamental difference w ith its program. We also scored the continued refusal of the Stalinist leaders to defend the democratic rights of the Socialist Workers Party, 18 of whose leading members had been the f irs t victims of the Smith Act in 1941.

Farrell Dobbs, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. President in 1948 and 1952 — himself imprisoned under the Smith Act fo r his socialist opposition to World War I I — covered the 1949 tria l fo r the M ilitant and warned that organized labor must ra lly to the defense of the Stalinists or the precedent of the ir con­viction would ultimately be used as an instrument of union-busting policy. In the 1952 campaign, he and the SWP’s vice- presidential candidate, Myra Tanner Weiss, made defense of the civil liberties of the Communist Party a main point in their radio and TV speeches.

For many years the M ilitant and the Socialist Workers Party were virtually alone in campaigning fo r defense of al witch-hunt victims and in advocating unity of action among all c ivil liberties sup­porters. By staking out in effect a similar line of principle at the present time, the petition of the 46 marks an important step forward in the battle against the witch hunters.

Why French Stalinists Slandered M artyBy Daniel Roberts <?>

The French Com m unist P a rty is one o f the largest and most im portan t outside o f the Soviet bloc. Tens o f thousands o f w o rk ­ers adhere to i t because they want to figh t fo r socialism . M il­lions o f the most class-conscious French workers vote fo r it , W hat (hey are seeking is the road to revo lu tiona ry action.

Y e t the po licy pursued by the p a rty offic ia ldom is an y th in g bu trevo lu tiona ry . In the last 11years, F rance has been in a revo lu tiona ry cris is on tw o oc­casions — in 1944-45 a t the end o f the European phase o f W orld W ar I I and again in A ugust 1953, when fo u r m illio n French workers w ent on general s trike . The cou n try has been in con tin ­uous p o lit ic a l cris is in these 11 years, w ith colonial wars in In ­dochina an'd N o rth A fr ic a ea ting in to the French people’s liv in g standards a lready underm ined bv W orld W ar I I .

W ha t has m ainta ined French cap ita lism in power under those conditions has been above a ll the S ta lin is t leadership o f the French CP, whose counter-revo­lu tio n a ry , class - co llabo ra tion is t po licy derailed the revo lu tiona ry drive o f the French w o rk in g class.

T h is treacherous course p u r­sued under the orders o f the K re m lin and serv ing the in te r ­ests o f the cap ita lis t class was imposed upon thousands o f CP m ilita n ts by bureaucra tic edict, w ith o u t the po ss ib ility on th e ir p a rt to discuss o r a lte r the Line.

W ha t they re a lly th in k about the polic ies pursued by Thorez, Duclos, M auvais, F raction and the o ther S ta lin is t functiona ries has f in a lly been set fo r th in p r in t in I /A f fa ir e M a rty (The M a r t y C a s e ) published last S p ring in Paris.

P O P U LA R W IT H W O R KERSW ho is M a rty ? U p to 1952,

he had ranked th ird in the French Com m unist P a rty h ie r­archy, his name a lw ays appear­in g r ig h t a f te r those o f M aurice Thorez and Jacques Duclos. U n ­like these tw o consummate bu­reaucrats, however, M 'arty en joy­ed immense p o p u la r ity w ith the French w o rk in g class. To tens o f thousands o f Com m unist P a rty w o rke r m ilita n ts , he sym ­bolized re vo lu tio n a ry action.

He earned his p o p u la r ity in 1919 as a leader o f the B lack Sea m u tin y o f the French flee t. T h is g rea t s trugg le was p a rt o f the revo lt o f a ll F rench exped ition­a ry forces — land and sea — employed in an in te rna tiona l “ police action” against the new ly created Soviet state. The revo lt was successful in stopp ing the French in te rven tion .

B ut countless soldiers, sailors and workers who supported them in France endured heavy punish­m ent fo r th e ir heroic action. M a rty was singled ou t fo r espe­c ia lly harsh trea tm e n t. In 1922. when the French governm ent was forced by a mass cam paign con­ducted b y the Com m unist P a rty to g ra n t an am nesty to a ll sa il­ors im prisoned because o f th e ir p a rt in the B lack Sea revo lt, the A d m ira lty threatened to resign i f M a r ty was included. He had to s u ffe r to r tu re and hardships o f prison fo r another year, be-

Some 3,000 postal workers tie up traffic at the Place Vendome as they march in Paris. Demanding higher wages, they staged a 24-hour protest strike against wage policies of Premier Mendes-France. The strike, which occurred last year, illustrates the m ilitant tendencies of the French workers.

fo re the redoubled e ffo r ts o f the French w o rk in g class f in a lly se­cured his release.

P R O L E T A R IA N F IG H T E RHe jo ined the French CP

sho rtly before he le f t prison and the re a fte r always figu red in the th ic k o f w ork ing-c lass action. H is whole li fe was lived in the p ro le ta rian s trugg le , v ir tu a lly fro m b ir th , fo r his fa th e r had been a f ig h te r in the P aris Com­mune in 1870, and ra ised Andre M a rty in its trad ition s .

In M ay 1952 the French CP leadership began a ty p ic a l S ta l­in is t cam paign o f v ilif ic a tio n against M a rty . F rom th is they passed to a fram e-up t r ia l and expulsion in December 1952. They accused him o f “ a n ti-p a r ty ,” “ an ti-S ov ie t” fac tio na l a c tiv ity ve rg in g on “ T ro tsky ism ” w ith Charles T illo n , who also was sub ject to character assassina­tio n and to expulsion fro m the p a r ty ’s Centra l Committee.

D u rin g W orld W a r I I , T illo n headed the resistance movement in France, whose m ilita n ts in the m aquis genera lly stood un ­der the leadership o f the Com­m un is t P a rty . l ie was ch ie f o f the Paris insurrection th a t broke out on A ug us t 19, 1944 against the N azi occupation troops and th e ir F rench co llabora tors. Be­cause o f his ro le in the resis­tance movem ent, T illo n also en­joyed g re a t personal po p u la rity w ith the CP m ilita n ts .

“ I t is c lear,” w ro te M o rris Stein in the Jan. 19, 1953 M il i ­tan t, “ th a t they (M a r ty and T i l ­lon) were selected for. the purge because by th e ir record they are the tw o men in the French Com­m un ist P a rty best sym bo liz ing m ilita n t s trugg le and re vo lu tio n ­a ry zeal . . . W h a t be tte r w ay

fo r the S ta lin is ts to ou tlaw revo­lu tio n a ry though t than by c ruc i­fy in g the men who to them sym ­bolize revo lu tiona ry ac tio n ? ”

F o r tw o years a fte r his expu l­sion M a rty rem ained silen t, w h ile the S ta lin is t press p iled slander upon calum ny. In September 1952 the P o litica l Bureau o f the CP forbade h im to speak o r w r ite on any top ic. A nd fo llo w in g his expulsion, the 66-year-old M a rty was too phys ica lly i l l and too overwhelm ed by the cam paign aga inst h im to defend him self. T h is m il ita n t who had endured seven years o f p rison fo r his p a rt in the B lack Sea revo lt— inc lud ing an inhum an ly long- s tre tch in so lita ry confinem ent— reveals th a t the ordeal the S ta l­in is t leaders p u t h im th rough was the m ost severe in his life .

In The M a rty Case, he fin a lly speaks up in his defense, p lacing his expulsion in its p o litica l con­tex t. He rev iew s the course o f F rench po litics since 1944-45 and te lls about the cheated hopes of the Com m unist P a rty m ilita n ts . He voices th e ir anger in the phrase “ They are s t i l l th e re !” — they, re fe rr in g to the French c a p ita lis t exp lo iters.

R eca lling the slogan o f the S ta lin is t leadership in 1945 th a t the f irs t du ty o f the French w orkers is to “ produce, produce, produce,” M a r ty declares tha t thanks to th is course never has the lu s t fo r p ro fits and the re fo re superexp lo ita tion achieved such am p litude in France as since the libe ra tion in 1944.

“ I t is because I have no( changed, because I never wanted to change, th a t is, w a lk arm in a rm w ith the w o rs t enemies of the w o rk in g class, th a t they wanted to k i l l me p o lit ic a lly . I t is because . . . I m a in ta in th a t

■(•lit is always necessary to s ta r t® fro m the class in te res t o f the French w o rk in g class and to pose revo lu tiona ry perspectives tha t the abominable cam paign was m ounted aga inst me. . . . I t is the re fo re the o rien ta tion o f the en tire French w o rk in g class movem ent th a t is involved in my modest case.”

In o rder to suppress the revo­lu tio n a ry perspectives, the S ta l­in is t bureaucrats also found it necessary to slander the revo lu ­tio n a ry past. That is why, sho rtly a fte r M a r ty ’s expulsion, L ’Hu- m anite , newspaper o f the French CP, declared th a t he had been a police agent as fa r back as 1919 in the th ic k o f the B lack Sea rebellion. The m a ligners based themselves on the 1919 inven­tions — exposed a t the tim e by the CP — o f F rance ’s reaction­a ry g u tte r sheet, L ’A ction F ran - caise.

A s i f to underscore th e ir so l­id a r ity w ith the French ca p ita l­is t class, the S ta lin is t leaders published th e ir slander five days a fte r the governm ent tr ie d to take aw ay M a r ty ’s im m u n ity as a deputy to the N a tiona l Assem­bly on the grounds th a t in the 1949 ed ition o f h is book, The B lack Sea Revolt, he had set fo r th “ w ha t they (the rebels) did to stop the w a r aga inst the Soviets.” ( L ’H um anite , o f course, rem ained s ilen t before the cap­ita l is t governm ent’s a ttack on M a r ty ’s c iv il r ig h ts .)

The B lack iSea re vo lt and M a r ty ’s ro le in i t have ju s tly been considered among the m ost heroic d isp lays o f s o lid a rity in the h is to ry o f the in te rna tiona l w ork ing-c lass movement. M a rty is a thousand tim es r ig h t when he declares, “ How sham eful i t is fo r a w ork ing-c lass p a rty to have leaders who t r y by in ­fam ous slanders to bu ry fo re ve r not me, b u t above a ll the ex­am ple o f a g rea t w ork ing-c lass movement in France, w h ich broke up aggression by the French a rm y — a t th a t tim e the m ost pow erfu l a rm y in the w o rld — against the young Soviet repub­lic .”

(F irs t o f a series on The M a r ly Case.)

. . . L. A. Ousts(Continued fro m page 1)

insiullts, in c lu d in g the spreading o f human f ilth on th e ir bed linen, meted out to the N egro firem en who had been trans fe rre d .

A lderson, who appa ren tly was convinced the board would take no action aga inst h im regardless o f provocation, seemed som ewhat stunned when he was suspended. The next day, however, he s to u tly declared he had “ done n o th in g ” to deserve such trea tm en t, and said he would appeal the action lo a Board o f R igh ts so th a t he could be exonerated and re in ­stated fo r “ 24 hours.”

“ IN T E N D E D TO R E T IR E "P reviously he had made a

public announcement th a t lie in ­tended to_ re t ire s h o rtly a f te r January 1, bu t then had back­tracked and said he would re tire i f he was satisfied w ith the selec­tion o f the new chief.

The f ir in g o f A lderson, a l­though i t b rings w ith i t no im ­mediate change in the hard-and- fas t segregation' th a t exists in the c ity ’s F ire D epartm ent, is a resounding v ic to ry fo r t h e N A A O P and the N egro press which has k e p t up a steady d ru m ­fire aga inst A lderson and his policies. Tire suspension o f the heretofore a ll-p o w e rfu l c h i e f serves notice on h is underlings th a t they m ust ge t on w ith the task o f in te g ra tio n o r s u ffe r a s im ila r fa te .

A ld e r son’s sham eful actions were so consis ten tly and e ffec­tiv e ly publicized b y the Negro press th a t the da ilies co.uild no longer ignore the issue, and the departm ent’s segregation polic ies have been f ro n t page, banner news fo r months.

On the day o f the suspension, tw o o f the da ilies not on ly carried banner stories and fu l l coverage, b u t in add ition carried fron t-p age ed ito ria ls decla ring s to u tly tha t his rem oval was a welcome action, long overdue.

World E vents

Dowson, Stanton Get Encouraging Vote in Toronto Electoral Contest

TORONTO , Canada — On M on­day. Dec. 5, 2,374 T oron to w o rk ­ers went to th e polls and cast th e ir ba llo ts fo r Dowson; 3,863 cast th e ir ba llo ts fo r S tanton. Dowson, as m ayo ra lty candidate and Stanton, as Board o f Contro l candidate were sponsored by the new ly form ed Socia lis t Educa­tiona l League.

T h is vote was ro lled up in the face o f an alm ost to ta l cap ita lis t press b lackout and a treacherous stab in the back by the p rov inc ia l secre tary o f the O nta rio Co­operative OonumOnwofth Federa­tion (C C F) and Board o f Control candidate, Ford B rand, against the Dowson-Stanton candidatures.

The election was a v ic to ry r ig h t down the line fo r the T o ry ad­m in is tra tion . The on ly b r ig h t spot was the in sp ir in g , h a rd -h ittin g , s o c i a l i s t campaign conducted against enormous odds by the Socia list Educational League.

O n ly 29% o f the 300,000 who q u a lify fo r the franch ise despite reactionary p ro pe rty res tric tions, cast th e ir ba llo ts . Th is is 5% less than la s t year and the lowest in a lm ost a decade. The boss parties fin a lly jammed through the tw o- year te rm , on th is th e ir seventh a ttem p t in 15 years, w ith a ma­jo r i t y o f 14,336. O ver 18,000 voters did not exist a b a llo t on. the question.

Ford Brand, endorsed by the OOF and both labo r councils, whose opportunism won h im the support o f the three cap ita lis t dailies and w ide support in the m ost conservative sections o f the c ity , headed the Board o f Contro l po ll again bu t h is vote dropped alm ost 15%.

H a rry H unter, candidate o f the Labor Progressive P a rty (S ta lin ­is t ) , again in the cam paign fo r one o f the fo u r Board o f C ontro l seats, saw his vote cut by more than a th ird to 9,498 votes.

CCF P O LIC YThe b iggest s ingle fac to r in the

prec ip itous decline in the labor vote was the fa ilu re o f the leader­ship (of the CCF to present a slate o f labo r candidates o r even an y th ing rem ote ly resem bling one.

In the nine wards that, the c ity is d ivided in to fo r the election o f councillors, the CCF presented one candidate in turn o-f them and two in another. The o the r six wards, the m ost populous in the c ity ;had no CCF councillo r candi­dates. T h is year saw none o f these fo u r campaigns w ith the p a rty label.

The S ta lin is ts , run n ing a broad­er list, than the CCF, also cap itu ­lated to the boss-inspired lie tha t m un ic ipa l po litics are non-par­tisan w ith H u n te r go ing so fa r as to pro test being called an LPPer.

W ith the fa ilu re o f the OCF leadership to f i l l in the gap, the SE*L ran Dowson as labo r’s candi­date fo r m ayor and Stanton as labo r’s candidate fo r one o f the tw o open seats on the Board o f Control.

N o t a t a ll embarrassed by th e ir fa ilu re to meet th e ir po litica l responsib ilities to labor, the CCF openly attacked Dowson and S tan­ton. C raw ling, before the boss ad­m in is tra tio n , they took i t upon ‘themselves to dissociate the OCF and labor as a movem ent from the Dowson-Stanton candidatures.

On fo u r d iffe re n t occasions Brand did so, once in his capacity as acting m ayor before the assembled delegates o f the On­ta r io Federation o f Labor conven­tion. A l l cap ita lis t papers on the Saturday before the M onday elec­tion cai-ried a le tte r from the p rov inc ia l secretary o f the O ntario OOF repea ting ni'any o f the lies fram ed to expel T ro tsky is ts and o ther socialists la s t sp ring fro m the O ntario section.

E F F E C T IV E C A M P A IG NB u t the S E L pu t up an in s p ir­

ing cam paign against a ll these odds. Dowson and Stanton dealt w ith the rea l issues con fron ting the electorate and advanced the socia list Solution. T ins cam paign was much more e ffec tive than those conducted several years ago by the now dissolved Revolu­tio n a ry W orkers P a rty behind Dowson fo r m ayor, a lthough then, in 1949, fresh fro m sweeping the CCF in to office in three quarters o f the Toronto p rov inc ia l seats, the workers w ent on to ro ll up 23,645 votes fo r Dowson.

A lm o s t 40,000 copies o f the f irs t issue o f the W orkers Van guard c a rry in g the candidates’ program were d is tribu te d door to door in the w ork ing-c lass areas. L im ite d canvassing was done Both Dowson and Stanton spoke on tw o m a jo r Toronto rad io sta tions w h ile the re tu rn s Were com ing in and Dowson spoke on an im p o rtan t program over an­o ther m a jo r sta tion.

Now the S ocia lis t Educait-iotial League, armed w ith the W orkers Vanguard, is p re pa ring to capi ta lize on the excellent w o rk done in the election, cam paign.

C H IL E A N COPPER M IN E R Sand o ffice w orkers closed down three m a jo r m ines owned by Anaconda and Kennecott com­panies, both U.S. firm s. S ixteen thousand are on s tr ike demand­in g changes in a s ta tu te gov­ern ing re la tions between the companies and the w orkers. One provis ion calls fo r reduction in the num ber o f unions. T h is gov­ernm ent in terfe rence in union a ffa irs is protested by the 13 unions on s tr ike . On Dec. 15, the Chilean governm ent declared m a rtia l law in d is tr ic ts where s truck mines and p lan ts are lo ­cated and a rb it ra r i ly decreed th a t the w orkers m ust re tu rn to th e ir jobs.

* * *

IN G U A T E M A L A , leaders of 24 unions, organized in the Autonom ous Labor Federation have renewed th e ir demand on President C astillo A rm as to ab­olish the. N a tiona l Defense Com­m ittee A ga in s t Communism, a secret body which passes on union o ffic ia ls and determ ines w hether un ion bodies are to be legalized o r not. The labo r lead­ers charged th a t the com m ittee keeps the unions in a con tinua l s ta te o f a n x ie ty by labe ling some o f them “ C om m unist” on the s treng th o f the s ligh te s t un­supported denunciations.

* * *

T H E C A N A D IA N T R A D E S A N D LA B O R CONGRESS in ­form ed the governm ent th a t i t intended to w o rk fo r a s ix -hou r day and 30-hour week. I t also demanded estab lishm ent o f na­tio n a l health insurance.

# * *S P A N IS H D IC T A T O R F R A N ­

CO declared on Dec. 15 th a t he would no t p e rm it the estab lish­m ent o f a dem ocratic system o f governm ent in the Spanish zone o f Morocco. “ P recisely becaufee we know and love the Moroccan people,” he said, “ we are in bet­te r position also to rea lize how disastrous i t would be fo r th e ir fu tu re and a tta in m e n t and pres­e rva tion o f th e ir independence” i f p o litica l parties were p e rm it­ted to contest before the e lector­ate fo r governm ent power. The next day Moroccan na tiona lis ts declared th a t Spain faced troub le unless she recognized Moroccan independence and u n ity “ in the shortest possible tim e .”

* * *

T H E U.S. im ported more from the Soviet U n ion than i t exp o rt­ed to th a t coun try in the three m onths fro m J u ly 1 to Sept. 30 according to the 33rd q u a rte rly re p o rt prepared fo r Congress by Secretary o f Commerce S inc la ir Weeks. The U.S. purchased 816 m illio n o f Soviet bloc goods and sold on ly $1 m illio n w o rth . W ith a lm ost a l l o ther countries o f the

w orld , the U.S. has e ith e r a fa ­vorable balance o f trade o r o f paym ents o r both.

* * *IN D A M A S C U S , S Y R IA about

50,000 people marched behind arm ored cars bearing co ffin s w ith the v ic tim s o f a recent Is ­rae li a ttack on a S yrian fro n t ie r post. A ccord ing to the Dec. 14 N .Y . T im es, about 100,000 Sy­rians lined the streets. Demon­s tra to rs paraded s ile n tly c a rry ­in g banners emblazoned “ Re­venge.”

* $ *T H E C H IA N G K A I - S H E K

R E G IM E ’S s tand ing is a p tly described in Thomas J. H a m il­ton ’s Dec. 4 N .Y . T im es a rtic le : “ One sign o f the sho rt l i fe ex­pectancy o f N a tio n a lis t China in the U n ited N a tions is the fa c t th a t i t stands com ple te ly alone in the General Assem bly. I t has been excluded fro m the A s ia n - A rab caucus, ju s t as i t was ex­cluded fro m the B andung con­ference; and A sian delegates keep ta lk in g about the necessity o f p ro v id in g A sia w ith a seat on the S ecu rity Council as though N a tio n a lis t China were a figm en t o f the im a g in a tio n .”

* * *T H E A L G E R IA N N A T IO N A L

L IB E R A T IO N F R O N T is issu ing a newspaper in French called Resistance A lgerienne (A lg e r ia n Resistance). I ts second issue, dated Nov. 26 reports th a t the general s tr ik e call issued fo r Nov. 1 by the N a tiona l L ib e ra ­tion F ro n t was observed eve ry­where in the A rab com m unities w ith a d isc ip line th a t w o rried the French au tho rities . Resis­tance A lgerienne quotes a lead­in g French newspaper as saying th a t “ T h is is the f ir s t tim e in a ve ry long period th a t in s tru c ­tions to s tr ik e and rem a in calm have been observed w ith such u n a n im ity and d iscip line . . . I t would indica te th a t g re a t so li­d a r ity exists between the popu­la tio n and the rebels.”

* * *

IN IN D O N E S IA on Dec. 15, a g roup o f 60 para troopers fro m an honor guard prevented sw ear­in g in o f V ic e -A ir Commodore Sujono, an appointee o f P rem ier Harahap lis ted as pro-W est. The paratroopers stepped fo r th d u r­ing the ceremony w ith Sten guns a t the ready shouting “ We p ro ­te s t!” The para troopers have the backing o f a ir force commanders, who in tu rn have the backing o f President Sukarno. A ccord ing to the Nov. 12 C h ris tian Science M on ito r, the armed forces are the m ainstay o f the present re ­gim e and are p la y in g an ever more active ro le in Indonesian po litics . D iffe re n t fac tious w ith in the armed forces re fle c t con­f lic ts am ong the na tio n a lis t >’«'•- ties.

T y p ic a l F rench S trike

The Negro Struggle■ By George Lavan ---------------------------

A Victory and a Defeat in the Irvin CaseWalter Lee Irv in ’s death sentence has

been commuted to life imprisonment. This is both a victory and a defeat for the Negro struggle. I t is a victory in that protests have saved Irv in from the hands of Florida’s racist executioners. I t is a defeat in that Irv in , an innocent victim of a Jim Crow frame-up, faces a life in prison.

Irv in is a survivor of the infamous Groveland or “ L ittle Scottsboro” case. The background of this case was labor unrest in a paper m ill in Lake County, Florida, where the brutal racist, W illis V. McCall, is sheriff. Since the m ill workers involved were almost ah Negro, the anti-labor forces decided to smash the labor unrest by “ putting the Negro workers in their place.” The opportunity soon appeared, or was manufactured, in the form of a phony rape accusation by a white woman. As if by prearranged signal, white gangs in­vaded the Negro community, beating peo­ple, looting and burning.

The 400 Negro residents of Groveland were forced to flee to the woods and swamps fo r several days. The National Guard chased out those who tried to return to what remained of their homes and farms.

Deputized vigilantes killed a Negro youth and then said he was one of the guilty parties. A “ tr ia l” of Walter Lee Irv in and Samuel Shepherd was held. Though the prosecution refused to call the physician who examined the white woman immediately after the alleged rape, the

lily-white ju ry promptly passed death sentences on Irv in and Shepherd.

When the U.S. Supreme Court declared the tria l unfair and ordered a new one, Sheriff McCall undertook to overrule the high court with his pistols. On the way to the new tria l he stopped his car, ordered Irvin and Shepherd, who were handcuffed, out on the roadside and shot them in cold blood. Shepherd was killed and Irv in ap­peared dead but managed to recover. Sheriff McCall blustered that they had tried to escape. He was never punished.

A second Jim Crow tria l brought an­other death sentence for Irvin. Arrested in 1949 at the age of 21, he has spent six years in the death house. Now he faces life in Florida’s Jim Crow prison hell-holes. He, like the Ingram family, are hostages held in Southern prisons by the racists. The Negro people and labor must never forget their torment and must do every­thing possible to speed the day of their liberation.

Too cowardly to free Irvin, liberal Gov. Collins even tried to make his commuta­tion acceptable to the white supremacists by a smear attack on the NAACP. In his commutation recommendation he declared that the NAACP intervened in cases in the South not because the. parties involved were innocent but merely because they were colored.

This vicious lie is simply another form of the basic premise of the South’s Jim Crow code of j ustice: convict prisoners not on the basis of their innocence or guilt but on the basis of their color.

"No Money Down”------------------------ By Roy Gale -------------------------

“ Step righ t up, folks, for the All-Amer­ican Gadget. You can take this fine gadget home fo r no money down and just a few cents a week.”

Who is sucker enough not to take ad­vantage of this generous offer?

And after you’ve bought the All-Amer­ican Gadget there are s till other gadgets that catch your eye and ear. Gadgets the hucksters make you think you ought to have. Gadgets w ith glamour and glitter. Gadgets to take the grind out of daily living, to give you more leisure time. So you are wheedled, cajoled, and bribed w ith offers of free gifts. And so you buy.

A fte r the f irs t plunge into debt the water begins to feel fine. You try it again. The habit forms. Everything you need can be bought on that unique American plan of “ no money down and umpteen weeks to pay.”

Don’t worry about getting more than you can pay for. American free enterprise has an answer fo r every emergency. A ll you have to do is consult one of these new and energetic young men known as “ debt pro-raters.”

In this booming economy a new and booming business has sprung up. I t caters

A 71-year-old Negro woman, Miss Bertha Perry, was thrown out of a white Baptist church in Wake Forest, N. C., Dec. 4. The Carolina Times gives the following account of the incident:

“ This soft-spoken, pleasant little lad", a wisp of womanhood at 89 pounds, hr. 1 gone to the church to ask what should be done about a sign directing visitors to the church which had been removed from its place and put in her back yard.

“ But before she could explain her mission, she was grabbed by one of the members, dragged to the door and pushed down the fron t steps w ith the warning never to come back there again.

“ ‘I f you were a man, I ’d knock you down. I wish you were a man; I ’d k ill you,' the bouncer threatened as she stood in the church yeard, Miss Perry said.

“ The incident occurred after the end of the church’s service Sunday. Miss Perry . . . arrived at the church during the morn­ing services. She occupied a seat about four rows from the fron t and remained throughout the service.

“ A fte r the church’s minister, Rev. Dwight Watts, finished his sermon on ‘Cleansing the Temple,’ she was given an audience w ith him. But before she could explain the purpose of her visit, someone

especially to those who have committed themselves to more payments than they can reasonably handle. When you have missed a few payments and the creditors are snapping at your heels, and you stand to lose all your gadgets and more besides, the debt pro-rater steps into the breach to save you — fo r a small fee of course. To be exact 12%.

I f you think 12% is jus t an added burden to what you already owe just think of the service you get. The debt pro-rater takes over your income and distributes it between you and your creditors.

He tells you how many shows you can see, whether Johnny can have that new pair of shoes, how often you can have meat on the table and how often you must get along w ith “ substitute” dishes. From now until you’re in the clear, the debt pro­rater makes Old Mother Hubbard’s cup­board look like a cornucopia to you.

Everybody is happy. Your creditors know the pro-rater w ill see they get paid in full. The pro-rater gets his 12%. And you can again start thinking about getting the latest wonderful gadget fo r no money down and umpteen weeks to pay.

Isn’t i t wonderful to live in this best of all possible worlds?

of the worshippers who had lingered after the services asked, ‘Is she colored?’ ‘Yeah she’s colored, Yeah she’s colored,’ a woman shouted.

“ A t this point, a man of about 38 grab­bed her by the arm and began knocking her forward. Someone called, ‘Tell her. . .’

“ ‘Tell her nothing,’ the bouncer said, ‘she’s going to get out of here.’

“ When they reached the fron t steps, a woman cried, ‘Don’t hu rt her,’ but the bouncer pushed her into the yard, almost causing her to lose her balance, Miss Perry said.

“ In the church yard the bouncer warned, ‘You better get away from here and never come back.’

“ ‘Yeah, this isn’t government property, this is a private church,’ boomed another voice from the small crowd which had gathered outside.

“ ‘Are ybu a Christian?’ Miss Perry asked the bouncer. A t this he stepped back a pace or two, she said. She repeated the question and a man from the crowd asked i f she were a Christian. When she replied, ‘Yes,’ he said she would not have come here i f she had been.

“ ‘You’re just snooping around,’ the man said. Then the pastor came outside and told her to leave and not come back.

“ Miss Perry said that as she walked down the highway back home, the church­goers rode by in their cars, sneering at her and shouting insults until she finally turned o ff at the home of a nearby farmer who drove her home.

“ Miss Perry, a fra il litt le woman with white hair and a fa ir complexion, said she was not frightened by the attack on her person and revealed that she had received threatening calls and letters before be­cause of her m ilitant work in helping to get civic improvements fo r the. Negroes of Wake Forest.

Miss Perry, a social worker and retired school teacher, is herself very religious. She said, “ I only pitied them, fo r they acted like heathens.”

Subscribe!S ta rt you r subscrip tion now. C lip the

coupon and m ail i t in today. Send §1.50 fo r s ix m onths subscrip tion o r $3 fo r a fu l l year to Tbe M ilita n t, 116 U n iv e rs ity Place, New Y o rk 3, N . Y .

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Life Among the Heathens

tut MILITANTV O L U M E X IX M O N D A Y , D E C E M B E R 26, 1955 N U M B E R 52

Jim Crow Held Main Issue in Braden CaseF R A N K F O R T, K Y ., Dec. 9 —

Attorneys for Carl Braden today filed their brief in the Kentucky Court of Appeals challenging his conviction under the Kentucky sedition law. In pressing the attack on the law, Braden’s a t­torneys said that the main issue 'n the case was the problem of desegregation and not sedition.

“ The defendant has been in ­dicted and convicted no t because he attacked the C onstitu tion but because he tried to gave m eaning to the eq.ua li ta r ia n p rinc ip les which i t embodies,’ ’ the b r ie f declared.

PRISON TERM OF 15 YEAR SI t po in ts out th a t Braden was

given 15 years in prison a fte r he and bis w ife helped a Negro couple, M r. and M rs. Andrew Wade IV , to buy a home in a Lo u isv ille suburb where no N e­groes had lived before. The house was dynam ited in June, 1954, and a g iand ju r y ind icted Braden, his w ife , and five o ther w h ite pe r­sons who had helped the Wades.

The b r ie f was filed by Louis Lusky, designated by the A m e r­ican C iv il L ib e rtie s Union to represent Braden on appeal, and Robert W. Zo llinger, who was Braden’s ch ie f counsel a t h is t r ia l in C rim in a l C ourt a t Lou isv ille la s t December. Both atto rneys are o f Lou isv ille .

Commenting on the filing of the brief, Patrick Murphy Malin, the. A C LU ’s executive director in New York City, stated that the AC LU had “asked Lusky to serve as co-counsel on appeal because

of its strong belief that important questions of free speech and due process are raised in this test of the state sedition statute.’’

The atto rneys emphasize the absence o f any p ro o f tha t Braden personally advocated sedition, po in ting out th a t the t r ia l judge w ith d re w th is charge from the ju r y ’s consideration because there was no evidence to support it . The on ly questions subm itted to the ju ry were whether Braden had bad contact w ith seditious organ­iza tions o r had possessed sedi­tious books.

NO PROOFThe b r ie f contends th a t i t was

unconstitu tiona l to le t the ju ry find Braden g u ilty w ith o u t p roo f o f w ro n g fu l purpose on his pa rt. I t says the state and federa l con­s titu tio n s “ fo rb id the im puta tion o f g u ilt by association. A man can be punished on ly fo r his own misdeeds.”

Lusky and Zollinger object to the admission of evidence of the house purchase, which they said had nothing to do with sedition but probably accounted for the verdict. “The sentence in the present case can only have resulted from the ju ry ’s passionate disap­proval of the defendant’s law ful purchase of the Wade house."

They also ob ject to evidence about the d yn am iting o f W ade’s home, which the y say inv ited the ju r y “ to punish the defendant fo r a bom bing he d id n o t cause, s im p ly because the prosecution had been unable to ascerta in who did cause i t . ’ ’ The b r ie f contends

th a t the K en tucky sed ition sfa-1 tu te “ was no t intended as a de terren t to peaceable experim ent in con trovers ia l social fields.” I t adds:

“ Much as we may d is like those who hold up the m irro r to the com m unity and rem ind us th a t our ideals o f ju s tice and tolerance and equa lity are not ye t fu lly rea­lized in actua l practice, we m ust beware the danger of m aking the way o f the c r it ic too hazardous. I f he demands a standard o f perform ance which is presen tly beyond the legal methods, his illega l acts should be punished. B ut i f his methods arc la w fu l we m ust no t silence him because we d is like his views. And we m ust not punish h im because lawless means are used to oppose him .

“ The best, and perhaps the on ly, hope o f a sane and whole­some so lution to such problems as rac ia l in te g ra tio n is to a llow peaceable experim entation o f the sort the Wades attem pted. To help them a ttem p t it , as the defendant did, is no t a crim e.’’

FR EED O M OF PRESSLusky and Z o lling e r also see a

th re a t to freedom o f the press in the crass - exam ination of Braden about a news s to ry he had w ritte n . Braden was fo rm e rly labo r re p o rte r fo r the C incinnati E nq u ire r and the Lo u isv ille Times. A,t the tim e o f his conviction he was a copy ed ito r fo r the Lou is­v ille C ourie r - Journa l and was active in labo r and in te rrac ia l a ffa irs .

“The prosecution invited the

CARL B R A D E N

jury to convict him because of lack of optimism displayed in a factual report on unemployment in the Louisville area, which he had written as a news service correspondent in 1948,’’ the brief said. “ No evidence was ever of­fered to show that the news story (which certainly did not advocate criminal syndicalism or sedition) was false in any respect, or that the defendant believed it to be untrue. The court, by ruling that its truth or falsity was im m a­

teria l, struck a far-reaching blow at freedom of the press.”

The b r ie f also contends th a t the ind ic tm en t was so vague th a t no adequate defense could be o f­fe red ; th a t t)he co u rt’s in s tru c ­tions to the ju ry fa ile d to define the offences in any understand­able way, and th a t the term s o f the sedition sta tu te are so in ­defin ite “ th a t men o f commoji in te lligence m ust guess as to its m eaning and d if fe r as to its ap­p lica tio n .’'

The a tto rneys are also c r it ic a l o f the prosecution’s use. o f an a ff id a v it by Braden’s 15-year-old fo s te r daughter, Sonia, to ob ta in in fo rm a tio n about books in h is home. “ The blood runs cold a t the tho ugh t bhat, in Am erica, in fa n t children can be encouraged o r pe rm itte d to in fo rm aga inst th e ir parents and fos te r parents, and unlock the doors o f th e ir home to o ff ic ia l search,” the b r ie f said.

Two searches made of the Bradens’ home afte r their indict­ment are also attacked on several other grounds. The attorneys stress that books and papers seized elsewhere got mixed w ith Braden’s books and were in ­troduced in evidence against him. They ascribe this to carelessness in handling the hundreds of books and papers seized at Braden’s home and at the homes of other defendants in the case. The pro­secution charged that Braden was a member of the Communist Party. He denied i t from the witness stand.

Our Readers Take the FloorFounding Fathers' Religious ViewsEditor:

A n a rtic le to the ed ito r by a reader o f the M inneapolis S tar advocated “ s tam ping ouit a the ism ” because i t was opposed to the ph ilosophy o f our f o u n d i n g fa thers.

I t so happens tl>at m y g rand ­fa th e r on m y m other’s side was Benjam in A llen , who was a descendant o f General E than A llen , the Green M ounta in Rebel, in our W a r fo r Independence.

E than A lle n w ro te the f irs t m iliban tly de istic w o rk by an Am erican.

In a le tte r to the ed ito r I pointed -tikis ou t and, also, th a t Jefferson, Ben jam in F ra n k lin , Thomas Paine, et.c., were a ll deists and expressed themselves very c learly in th e ir w ritin g s .

I don’t know how much school­ing th is in d iv id u a l had, who surmised th a t ou r illu s tr io u s fo re fa th e rs were deeply re lig ious, bu t he c e rta in ly was no t acqua in t­ed w ith the ph ilosophy o f the greatest. leaders th is country ever had.

Linco ln, fo r example, is po r­trayed as a deeply re lig ious man and he may have been in his own cha rm ing way. Y e t he was not. a m ember o f any re lig ious group o r sect. Has observation was th a t “ when he found a church which practised the brotherhood o f man and no t m ere ly paid lip-service he would g la d ly jo in th a t church.”

I t w ou ld appear th a t ou.r schools are not teaching the tru th , o r the gentlem an who advocated stam ping ou t atheism would have been enlightened.

I t appears th a t is som ething th a t is U n-A m erican and should no t be a pa rt o f the educational process. The ed ito r did no t p rin t m y a rtic le . I t would lead one to eonclu.de th a t he d idn ’t care to publicize the t ru th e ither.

We wonder ju s t how fa r th is suppression o f the t ru th extends in our schools, newspapers, etc. I t isn ’t any wonder th a t youth is in re vo lt — doubting, sus­picious, d isbe liev ing , d is tru s tfu l and d isda in fu l o f a u th o rity .

Paul Benjamin Hurley Minneapolis, Minn.

* * ■ *

Cultural Report From BaltimoreEdilor:

F o r more than a m onth. B a l­t im o re and B a ltim ore County have been the subjects o f “ in ­vestiga tions.” The s ta r t in g place was the B a ltim ore c ity inves tiga ­tion o f b a r-s itte r g ir ls .(know n as B -g ir ls ) , women on the pa y ro ll o f bars fo r the purpose o f en tic­in g men to d r in k more and to buy them drinks. T h is s itua tion bias been in existence fo r many years, and few o ffic ia ls in the c ity shed tears fo r the v ic tim s o f th is practice. N ationw ide m aga­zines, however, probably scandal­mongers, ran stories about, the practice.

Even i f the police, hadn’t known about the racket, and opinion here is th a t they did, i t would be hard

to prove th a t the g ir ls were employed by bars and not on then- own. So, a lm ost im m edia te ly , i t was “ discovered” th a t there were big-itime gam bling rackets in town. A ga in i t is hard to see how- i t could have been a secret. The c ity police departm ent was re ­organized as a resu lt, bu t i t was emphasized th a t they were in no way im plicated.

B u t C ounty police were not spared so easily. S tate police swooped down on the head­quarters o f a num bers-racket in the county bhat obviously was protected. County police are in hot w a te r, but they have crcra- tered by c la im in g th a t sta ‘ 3 police have always been assigned to state h ighways on ly, and cry “ po litics .”

1 figured th a t despite the p u b lic ity few issues would be solved. The outcome: the B -g ir ls are go ing to be watched, and whale severe punishm ent has been promised, a hush-up is more like ly . Throw n in fo r good meas- use fo r m id -V ic to rians, the s tr ip ­tease en terta iners (who were in no w ay on t r ia l ) are to wear prescribed non - revea ling g a r­ments — probably po tato sacks and M other Hubbards.

F o rtu n a te ly fo r the audiences, the re is money in en terta inm ent, and though I agree w ith the w o rke r Who said to me, “ A ll they w a n t us to do is eat and sleep and w o rk ,” the money in ­volved w ill ease th ings a lo t, especia lly i f the w orkers are allowed to pay h ighe r prices. A l­ready the m erchants o f the block o f the burlesque theaters in town, res tau ran ts and bars have decided to ge t favorable p u b lic ity fo r the area, known as “ the B lock,” by ad ve rtis ing i t as the G reat W hite W ay. W ell, you can’t say no th ing has happened!

S. L.Baltimore, Md.

* * *

The New KKKEditor;

Da-. Theodore How ard spoke here before a ra l ly attended by 500 people, Sunday, Dee. 4, at the B ethany Baptist- Ohurdh. The ra l ly was sponsored by the N. J. Medical Society [a branch o f the N ationa l Medical Associa tion, the o rgan iza tion o f N egro physicians headed by D r. Howard. — E d.]

The two main themes o f the ta lk were the r ig h t o f the South­ern Negro to vote in state and federa l ejections and in te g ra tion o f the schools. The fa c t th a t Ne­groes arc being denied th e ir most sacred b irth rig h t., namely, the r ig h t to vote, is a tra g ic re a lity .

D r. Howard pointed ou t in his ta lk how every Negro, who has the audacity to a tte m p t to place his name upon the v o tin g ra ils , is subjected to a com bination o f physical te r ro r and economic s trangu la tion .

He traced the h is to ry o f racism in the South up to the fo rm in g o f the W hite C itizens Councils in September 1954. He attem pted to show th a t the C itizens Coun­cils are in re a lity the successors to the old K K K . The members o f the Councils are the so-called lead ing people in each com m unity

— these members in re a lity wear inv is ib le hoods.

He to ld one ra th e r humorous s to ry to il lu s tra te a p o in t: One day a re tu rn in g Korean W ar veteran w ent in to see the c irc u it cou rt c le rk fo r his vo tin g d is­t r ic t , a man fo-r whom he had p rev iously worked. The N egro veteran ’s name was George and the c le rk ’s, Sm ith. They ta lked fo r a w h ile about local condi­tions, u n t il S m ith f in a lly said, “ George, w ha t can I do fo r you ? ’’

“ W e ll,” George said, “ I w an t to reg is te r to vote, M r. S m ith .”

To p u t i t nvild ly, S m ith was te-V sd . He said “ George, why

do you want to bo’ her about such th ings as v o t in g ?’’ and “ besides the tes t is so lra id I don’t see how yo.i cr u’ d pass it . ”

Geor.ce rep lied: “ M r. S m ith, I w a n t to f r y the tes t to vote. W hat is the te s t? ”

Sm ith said the test consisted o f re c itin g the 14th Am endm ent to the federal C onstitu tion . Then he looked around the room and said, “ There are on ly the tw o o f us here, so go ahead.”

George started o f f : “ Fourscore and seven years ago our fathex-s b rough t fo r th on th is con­tinen t. . .”

W ith th a t Sm ith said: “ T h a t’s enough Geoi-ge, th a t’s the 14th Am endm ent.’’

D r, Heyward re lated how two close friends o f h is were shot down by members o f the W hite

By William BundyD E T R O IT , Dec. 20 — Detroit’s

newspaper strike, which has closed down the city’s three major papers during the lush pre- Christmas advertising season, rounds out its third week to­morrow. The only city-wide daily newspaper now on the stands is the Detroit Reporter, a full-sized eight - pager sponsored by the unions affected by the strike.

The 116 s tr ik in g members o f S te re o ty p e s Local 9 were jo ined today b y the 450 m aile rs em ­ployed by the three papers, the Tim es, the News, and the Free Press. The M a ile rs are a ffilia ted w ith the In te rn a tio n a l Typo­graph ica l Union,

The s tr ike , which has been 100% cent e ffec tive in s topping pub lica tion , began Dec. 1 when the stex-eotypers con tract te r ­m inated, and th e publishers refused to m eet the un ion ’s demands fo r wages, ove rtim e pay and c ra f t conditions. Since then the con tracts o f the o the r 20 unions in the in d u s try have also run ouit, b u t as o f th is date the m ailers and stereotypers a re the on ly newspaper w orkers tech­n ica lly on s trike .

The publishers have demanded th a t the new con tracts be w ritte n to exp ire in January' instead of December. The U nions’ ba rga in -

G itizens Councils. The tw o w»ere Rev. George W. Lee and Gus Courts, one k ille d and the o ther sevex-ely wounded.

He declared, th a t one o f the avowed objectives o f the Coun­cils is to d rive a t least h a lf a m illio n Negroes ou t o f M iss is­s ipp i. The popu la tion o f the state now is a m illio n and a qu a rte r wh ites and 986,000 Negi-oes.

As to in te g ra tio n o f schools, th a t is also be ing resisted by both the W h ite C itizens Councils and by the local and sta te govern­ments. D r. H ow ard said th a t the G overnor o f M iss iss ipp i, Paul W hite , called two special sessions o f the state leg is l!atui-e in order to c ircum vent the Supreme C ourt decision. Gov. W h ite has also tr ie d tb force the Negro people o f the state to refuse in te g ra ­tion!. He has fa ile d to accomplish an y th in g along th a t line.

D r. How ard said th a t the T il l m urder and the fa ilu re to convict the men who com m itted the crim e has s tir re d the en tire N eg to com­m u n ity o f M ississipp i to a cold anger. He closed h is ta lk on the theme o f courage fo r a ll Negroes and asked th a t Negroes in the N o rth and W est support the con­t in u in g f ig h t o f the Southern Negro. D r. How ard is the leader o f the a ll-N e gro town o f Mound Bayou, M ississipp i.

Richard DouglasNewark, iN- J.

ing position w ould be considerably weakened thereby, and they have ins is ted th a t i f the dates are to be changed they be moved to October so th a t a long s tr ik e would be discouraged by the ap­proach o f the C hris tinas ad ve rtis ­in g rush.

In sp ite o f the good position of the unions Unis year, however, the s tr ik e m ay tu rn o u t to be a long one. Accord ing to a union spokes­man, the publishers have a U>- week s tr ik e insurance po licy.

A ltho ug h m ost o f the 4,500 union members a ffec ted are “ la id -o ff” and no t “ on s tr ik e ,” s o lid a rity is be ing expressed in a unique and e ffec tive m anner. AM o f the organized newspaper w o rk ­ers th rough th e ir unions are spon­soring the D e tro it Reporter, whidh is designed to replace the reg u la r newspapers fo r the du ra ­tion o f the s tr ike .

The R eporte r is financed by the Newspaper G uild o f D e tro it and the D e tro it A llie d P r in tin g Trade Council, and by adve rtis ing . M ost o f the la rge stores and corpora­tions have refused to advertise in i t (C h rys le r is a notable ex­cep tion), b u t m any sm a lle r busi­nesses and stores ca te ring to w ork ing-c lass trade use i t regu­la r ly .

U sing a sm all p riva te p r in t in g p la n t and im provised ed ito ria l o f­fices. the w o rkers are p u ttin g ou t over 100,000 copies pe r ed ition. These are in v a r ia b ly sold ou t s h o rtly a f te r h it t in g the stands.

Help and PraiseEditor:

I am sending a package o f 40 item s fo r the New Y o rk bazaar, hoping i t w il l help you a l i t t le in the noble w o rk you do fo r so­cia lism and M arx ian education. We need education and sincere ins truc to rs , p a r tic u la r ly now-when progress is go ing a t such h igh speed — the in d u s tr ia l revo lu ­tion which resu lts in -mass p ro ­duction, specia lization and d iv i­sion o f labor, au tom ation and so fo rth .

A l l these are paving the w ay to establishm ent o f the co­opera tive com m onwealth, w h ich may b ring no t on ly economic security to a ll who w ork, b u t i t wall also b r in g eq ua lity in human w elfare , and tes tin g peace to a ll m ankind. Y ou r education in M a rx ­ism is no t on ly se ttin g the fash ion fo r a new era, b u t i t is also ad­ju s tin g the masses.

I t is p re pa ring the w o i'k ing class, enab ling them to ge t nearer to the goal and to know how to manage an ideal system o f so­cie ty . Hence you r education w ith ­ou t pre jud ice is il lu m in a tin g the course o f socialism and is also the w o rth ie s t o f a ll h is to ry .

I w ish you m ora l and financ ia l success a t the bazaar. Pleas* accept m y sm all donation. Y ours fo r peace, and good w ill.

L i l l ia n Gold New Y ork, N . Y .

The o ffic ia l price is seven cents a copy, bu t fro m tim e to tim e the black m a rke t on th is m uch-in- demand com m odity runs the price to two o r th ree tim es th a t figu re .

The R eporte r has its sho rt­comings. r t is on ly e ig h t pages. I t has no w ire services, and there fore l i t t le na tiona l o r in te r ­na tiona l news. I t has a sm all p r in t in g p la n t and lim ite d f i­nances.

In addition to these te m p o ra rily unavoidable technica l d iff ic u lt ie s the Reporter is jo u rn a lis tic a lly ■disappointing. I t .m aintains ed i­to r ia l n e u tra l ity in the s tr ike , p r in t in g on ly news stories on it , and the statem ents o f bo th sides. E tends tow ard cheap sensa­tiona lism , head lin ing crim e stories as a ru le . A p p a re n tly i t is a l i t t le hard fo r the gu ild members to fo rg e t the bad hab its they learn on th e ir re g u la r jobs.

In sp ite o f its inadequacies, the R eporte r sots a precedent in D e tro it. F o r the f ir s t tim e in the h is to ry o f th is c ity the g rea tes t medium fo r m o ld ing pub lic opin ion is n o t slanted aga inst the un ion in a s tr ik e o f a m a jo r in ­dustry .

The paper appeai'ed on ly tw o days a fte r the s tr ik e began, and in 36 issues i t has become a household item in many D e tra it homos. As the slogan under the masthead on one issue p u t i t : “ In D e tro it N e a rly Everybody R e a d s the R eporter. (W h a t E ls e ? )”

Detroit Strikers1 Paper Replaces Boss Sheets