New-York tribune., 1919-02-24
Police Check
Socialists at
Delrnonico's
Continued from page 1

who who up to this time had been keepirs
to let them in. oa''
;, About 200 more people surped 49,
the stairs and into the hail. bEeu beEgns up
monished at all times by their ssaau-
TO be orderly and quiet and to sai.s
thelr seats peaceably, so no furthas
trouble would result. '''ner
Whlle the audience was wa;t;,
calmly for the meeting to h..;ng ha..;'g
Frederick Baurenfeind, manarer
Delmonico's, was questioned as 70 ~.
manner in which the mixup haS sae W.
Cured. He said few days sco
young woman giving the name of Mss
Mollle Condor, called on him and sa;S
she wanted to hire the grand bsn aIu
room Tor meeting.
Mr.. Baurenfeind said the womss
showed him list of speakers. sav,ra
they were prominent New Yorkers sIss
paid deposit of SIS and the ballroore
was promised to her. 'Aooih
Eariy last night, Baurenfeind said
package of circulars arrived at n.y. n.y.
monico's, addressed to this Mis- C"n Ds
don, and reading one of the n~;oeas oVn,
papers, which were Of decidedly rad1
lcal nature. he became alarmKdd nu, end
called up the East Fifty-frst) Straat
ponce station to explain the si4ust;e,,
:, Follcemen questioned at the door said
there had been little trouble ana tha. sa,e
the people who tried to get in wa~o ans
quite orderly, only insisting on know
ing whether the meeting would toLo
place. A few of them left. and tboso
that remained were finally admitted
When the Federal stenogrsyhers ar
rived and the excitement had snhs;d".
somewhat Darwin J. Meserole RronL'
lyn lawyer, opened the meeting s~-
planning he was acting in place of
Scott Nearing, who could not be nresl
ent 'O' NC pres
On being introduced Gilbert F. Roo
pre1aced his remarks with Ladies' and
gentlemen, including the police" CON
tlnulng, 1T is quite an epoch in the
interests of democracy to pet th;s
crowd into Delmonico's.v '"'S
He then declared that the Fsn;orar,
act was unconstitutional, saving net
only was it necessary to have 4 ro'
pealcd but to make it impossible "to ~
enact SO reactionary and unconstitu-
tional a law" ''''u-
You could run monarchy or an
empire pretty WE'LL" he said. awithont
Tree speech or free press. but CAM
run democracy for wear without
these things, without being brough. to
lmme ediate ruin"
'Why is it, he asked. "that our
country is drifting along without a
lollcy for reconstruction, shy il /.
that there is no uniform sentiment ON
the question of a league OF nations
among the people, why is it necessary
TO nave these Investigations going 5n
in Washington, farces, l call them -
The reason is" he answered, "that
for more than a year the people have
been gagged They have nos been abIs
to get their representatives in Congress.
to learn their opinions, so Congress
could get the sentiment os :. maiority
OF the people on these grave problems
This is because free speech and free
press have been suppressed"
Resolutions demanding that the es-
pionage act be repealed were passed
Also that all political and labor pris-
oners indicted or convicted Under this
act and all conscientious objectors con-
victed by corEts martial or otherwis,
imprisoned be released through ger
eral amnesty
1t was also demanded that the rights
of free speech and free press and of
peaceable assemblage no longer shall
be abridged and that the illegal and
extra judicial acts of the Department
of Justice and the Federal courts shall
cease. These resolutions will be sent
TO Congress-
Algernon Lee, Socialist Alderman,
who had announced early in the even
ing tnat the meeting would be held in
spite of the police, said near the close
of the meeting. 81 am glad Ryan's bluff
was called, and by cool insistance the
Of the meeting won their
point"
GAS usual, Mr.. Lee continued, with
the police mIssioners and their
deputies, when he dared not use law
less brute force, he tried falsehood,
to lay the blame on the
manager of the house, while he told
his subordinates at the door to lie
to the public, and say the meeting was
,alled off"
"If Commissioner Enright, Mr. Lee
"and his deputies we're not
so busy suppressing free speech,
bounding strike pickets and breaking
honest inspectors, they might give
little attention to prevention of bur-
ylary hoid-ups, and murder. They
are making it actually safer to-day
% steal rob, shoot and stab, than to
speak and think the truth"
Edwin Markham, the poet, read sew
raj of his poems, and Caroline Lowe,
Who has been prominent in the recent
deportation cases, could not appear
ecause she was said to be i'll.
At the afternoon session of the
Liberties Conference" at the Rand
'chool. Charles Erwin, editor of the
New York Call" spoke on Freedom
+ the Press" He denounced Burleson
S the "meanest representative of q
'ourbon Democracy" saying he was
ne of the greatest reactionaries in