The Connecticut labor press., 1920-11-27

The battle for free speech i'll Con- necticut continues with varying success
 but the opponents to arbitrary repres- sion by city officials are determined that such right shall be established sooner or later. In several instances speakers who have been arrested for violation of city ordinances have been released
 but Judge Earnest C. Simpson in the
 court of common pleas i'll New Haven recently upheld Judge Dunne's decision
 in the Meriden police court in the "free
 speech test case" which was appealed
 to the higher court by three represen-
 tatives of the American Liberty Union. They had been arrested and fined for speaking without a permit on the streets
 of the Silver City.
 In the New Haven court Judge one of the three speakers and the
 "goat'' in the case, guilty on the charge of violation of the .Meriden city ordin- ance prohibiting addresses on the public highway without permit and he was fined $25 and costs. His counsel, At torney Harry L. ad1in of New Haven, field a demurrer to the charges on the
 ground that the Meriden city ordinance
 was unconstitutional and Judge Simp- son overru1ed the demurrer.
 During and since the war there has
 been much adoo over free speech and
 a free press, and both have been more
 or less suppressed in all sections of the
 country. But 1t is impossible to sup
 press an idea, theory or a cause if
 they have the merit of appealing to the mind of man. Many notable events ill history prove it. The British tried to
 suppress free speech and a free press previous and during the Revolution of
 1776 and succeeded for time. That great patriot, Thomas Paine, however, printed his infammatory pamphlets and they were circulated secretly, going from hand to hand.
 The pamphlets of Tom Paine, said
 Washington, did more for the cause of the Revolution than any other one agency. Suppression of freedom of speech and press was tried again dur ing slavery days and ignominously failed Right here, 1t seems timely to note, that whife~ soap box orators have been sque1ched in New London, Meri- den, Waterbury, and some other cities of Connecticut, such speaking has been allowed without question in New Ha- ven. And, having attended many of these meetings during the summer, l
 may add that I heard nothing very alarming or extremely radical.
 The old saw has it that one mans meat is another mans poison. So 1t Is i'll regard to radical ideas speeches and writings. What strikes me as being mild and harmless may cause the other fellow to shiver with horror or scream with rage. It's all in the point of view. A man on the hill top may see the ris- ing sun and have visions while the fel- low in the valley may glimpse nothing but glooms and goblins.
 It took, it is said, 70 years for free speech to gain headway enough in Rus sia to cause the defeat of czarsism. Meanwhile thousands were condemned to the mines of Siberia and prisons of thoughts and ideas. But, you may say, | look at Russia today, worse off perhaps i than under the iron rule of the czar.s Not so far from 1t, I think, because this matter of clearing away the wreck | age of the revolution and preparing: the l way for the dawn of new day, takes | time Stricken Russia was not made | rotten by the Bo1shevilki, it was rotten luton, made so and kept so by the aris- tocratic class. Bolshevism merely took advantage of the situation and has had the nerve and means to hold 1t.
 Yes, we must give the Russians time to work out their own salvation. It