New-York tribune., 1920-01-27
Sweet Again
Blocks Fight
For Socialists
Continued from page l

Continued from page
sion Of rule l6, so as to bring tho
resolution before the House to-mor-
rev
Nord has gone out to speed up the
...:al Louis NJ Martin, chairman Of
he Judiciary Committee. said tonight
.hat he believed the trial would ha
ended within two weeks. The commit
tie Will hold continuous sessions until
n the evidence is in. he said
Socialists Issue Statement
Before the session started the five
Socialist AsSembiymen issued state
mer; attacking number of measures s
y,w before the Legislature and de-
claTed that. although not sitting, they
wcuid perform their duty in lighting
measures they characterize as crab
5iI!s and would work for the enact
nent o. bills which they favor. The
statement. N part follows:
Though we are not allowed 10 sit.
debate, vote or draw salaries in the
LEGISLATURE TO which the citizens of
our districts elected US. we will con-
,irue 20 act as best we can in the in
terests Of every man. woman and child
in our districts. and we will strive bv
every means TO protect the interests
Of over 250. 600 persons in these dis
tricts that the Sweet crowd seeks to
DEPRIVE OF representation
ITO this end we are carefully watch
ing the course Of proposed legislation.
Already several bills have been intro
duced ard others are being planned.
which are sinister of purpose and in
tent.
To use the phrase of the eloquent
Mr. Littleton, now retired from the
Albany case to take up the defense Of
a Western Senator charged with the
political debauchery OF whole state
by corrupt practices. these bills seem
designed to serve. not the people, but
an Invisible empire'-the mysterious
invisible empire that has held such
close control over the machinery at
Albany for the last few years
Grab" To Be Pushed Again
Last year the invisible empire be
came fairly visible for q time in con-
nection with the nasty scandal over the
marlborough grab bill, after rash
Republican Senator had spilled the
beans. The grab bill. to bring about
an eight-cent fare, already had been
railroaded through the Assembly by
Sweet, Adler and company. in spite OF
he protests of the two Socialist AS
emblymen then sitting. This year the
legislature already has asked for a
report on the lnterborough finances
rom Public Service Commissioner
Nixon. and it is anticipated that in
-0lte OF the recent revelations OF fat
Peterborough dividends, the grab will
.e pushed again in some subtle form
The Socialist Assembl lymen will
watch the matter and keep their con-
a-uents ard the New York City pub
.c generally, informed on the real
vearinc Of any innocent-looking trac-
tlon measure that may unostentatiously ly
arpear.
"Aready the attempt is being made
20 slip ever on the people OF the state
gag law fully a 5 drastic as those in
troduceG AZ the request OF Attorney
General Palmer At Washington, VIII ch
have failed because Of the great pro
TEST thai has spread over the country
r. w coast - coast.
This bill already has been intro
lrrcI in the State Senate. 1t is Vorded
vaguely, after the fashion of Amlar
treasures gromu Gated in Czarist Rus
sa and o'eer feudal deSuotisms. I'm
der . IL becomes d felony TO teach,
publish or advocate any theory, doc
irine proposition, program or phios-
onhy which tenas, purports or seeks TO
THIS state or Of the United States, by
means or in Il manner contrary to the
constitutional provisions'
"UrdPr this bill the espousing of any
reform or change, or d simple state
ns1f Of TACT b. an economist in q col
l6ga classroom on the need for a bet
tes balanced distribution OF wealth, or
the reading aloud from the Declaration
OF Independence or Lincoln's first inaug-
urai address, or certain political poems
Of Whittier or Lowell, or q demand
from labor organizations for public
milk distrbut ION at cost to save the
lives Of babies, or the publication as a
texr of The Republc,' by Plato, a we'll
known foreign communist all these
could he punished as felonies. OBJ
viously. this bill would be used to
crush every constructive political
thought in this state.
Abolition of Primaries
Another bill about to be sprung will
provide for the abolition of direct pri-
mares and the restoration of the boss
controlled convention system, so that
the invisible empire may pick its leg
islative and administrative creatures
directly. without fear OF any upset in
8 popular primary.
The ousted ssemblymen also will
do all they can to further the passage
Of the welfare bills for the protection
Of women in industry, introduced last
year with the backing Of virtually
every labor organization and woman's
civic organization in the state, but
crushed by the Sweet machine with the
same facility with which it passed the
interborough grab bill.
These welfare measures were not
even allowed 10 come to vote. In
spite Of their moderate and elemen-
tery character, Sweet characterized
tnem "a revolutionary
As he constructs them, it Is plain
that under the new proposed sedition
aw oil the state every cne Of the
representative women who plan to
speak for the welfare measures could
be sent to Jail for long period as
ielon"