New-York tribune., 1919-12-23
Board of Education Official
Is Accused of Allowing
Radical Meetings and
Speeches in City Building gs
Want Him Shorn of Power
Director of Community Cen
,ers Denies and Resents
All Accusations Made

Charges were made by the Bronx
Grand Jury yesterday that Eugene
c;bney. director OF social, community
md recreation centers for the Board
=, Education, had been granting the
sea of school buildings as meeting
.lsres for extreme radicals. The Jury
,sked that Dr. Gibney be shorn of his
.sthority in letting school buildings.
The jury's charges were made in a
.necisl report handed to Justice John
4 Tierney, Of the Supreme Court.
DR.. Gib1ey last night issued an en-
shstc denial of the charges He de-
cared that he had let buildings fo-
,uch organizations as the Mayors
committee Oh Profteering, the Com
Sunity Council, the Bronx County
Democratic Committee, the Aeolian
Concert Society and the Boy Scouts.
III any Of these are loose, radical or
3D. then | plead guilty. said DR..
Gbney.
Gibney Makes Denial
Il don't think it fair for the grand
icry or anybody else to criticize me
without having heard me. The records
ot my department. have not been sub
pensed by the grand jury. No wit
ness from this office was requested or
commanded to appear before the grand
Jury. have not been asked for any
explanation, yet the grand jury arbi-
trariy critlcizes a public official ex
parte. The contrary is the fact, for |
have been severely criticized for my
selfish American and conservative views
and have been complained of because
was not liberal enough in my ideas.
Every application for permit to hold
meeting is thoroughly investigated
by this Office Each application for a
hermit must be accompanied by a list
Of the speakers and their topics. These
proposed speakers arc thoroughly in
yestigated'
The grand jury in its report allege.
that much Of the radicalism in the
Bronx is due to the availa bility of pub
lie halls to radical speakers.
I'VE find says the report, that in
many instances meeting halls in the
Bronx have been used by anarchists
and extreme radicals for meetings at
which incendiary speeches have been
made, advising and urging the. use of
violence and forcible overthrow of our
government. Many proprietors and
managers Of meeting halls are in a
measure responsible for the anarchistic
propaganda that has been spread in
this part Of the country.
we recommend that such proprie-
.ors and managers should be vigor-
ouslv prosecuted when they. with out
preliminary inquiries, rent their halls
for anarchistic meetings. Proprietors
md managers should be required i'm
mediately to notify the police when
they rent their halls for meeting pur-
poses, and to furnish them with list
Of speakers, so that the, police may
make al Investigation and take such
precautionary action as may be neces-
sary.
Grand Jury's Censure
"The grand jury finds that the
public schools OF this city. especially
Morris High School. in Bronx County,
nave been used as q forum for pub
lie discussion where radical and an
afchIstic speeches have been deliv-
cred. We strongly recommend that
IN case where the public schools
Of this csty are permitted to be used
as forums for public discussion proper
means be adopted by the Board OF Ed
~~ostNH ~ pA tii D4t SpStSutS ny duNp
Gates Of revolutionary doctrines who
favor the forcible overthrow of our
existing form Of government. We fur
ther recommend to the Board of Edu-
cation that no open forums be per-
mltted in the public schools in this
county unless proper supervision is
provided to prevent agitators setting
forth their pernicious doctrines.
-. The grand jury finds that Eugene
Glbney, of the Board of Education Of
the City Of New York, has been in
charge Of renting and permitting the
use -os public and high schools of the
city for the purpose of holding meet
lAgs and open forums.
We hereby censure him for allow
ing and permitting the public schools,
and in particular Morris High School,
10 be used for meetings and open
forums where anarchistic and radical
atoctrlnes have been openly advocated
by paid agitators.
I'VE further recommend that this
privilege of permitting the use of
these halls for meetings and open
forums be taken away from the said
Eugene Gibney"