The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-05-21
Stedman's Red Raid.
BY ROBERT MINOR.

were not legally eligible to that
Association because they were no
longer members of the Socialist Par
ty.
Stedman and Davidow called the
Reverend Taylor's local together and
declared them TO be the only law
full workers Educational Associa-
ton" The fact that neither any
members of this group nor anyone
else in Michigan had a record of
continuous membership for the three
years in the Socialist Par
ty, was overcome by resolution OF
the National Executive Committee.
The resolution was to the effect
that the membership of Taylor's
group should date back to the time
of the expulsion. This, according to
Stedman, made members Of Taylor's
group the only persons who could
lawfully qualify as board of direc-
tors of the Workers Educational
With difficulty Taylor
found among his adherents a suf-
ficient number of persons who had
Joined the Socialist Party as far
back as three years, so as to qualify,
under Stedman's construction, as a
"board of directors" AS the only
one amongst them who had ever
been a member of the Board. Of
Directors of the Workers Educa-
tional Association was the man who
had long before been recalled from
the Board and expelled from The
Association for taking the part of
the German Scheidemann party and
excusing Berger's picture Of the
Kaiser, they called this man "Pre-
sident of the Workers Educational
Association"
AS quickly as possible they pre-
pared to go into court, to declare
themselves to be the Workers Edu
cational Association" accuse the
Communists of criminal revolutio-
nary activities and demand the pro-
perty. Stedman took full charge of
the case with Davidow as his as
sistant. Within week after the ar
rests, and while most of the defend
ants were still in Jail, Stedman had
completed all the necessary formali-
ties.
On Friday, January 2, the man
ager of the House of the Masses
had been arrested on warrant
charging that he violated the State
Criminal Syndicalist Law by belong
ing to an organization that sub
scribed to doctrine which the Grim
inal warrant quoted as follows:
Communism does not propose to
capture the bourgeois parliamentary
state, but to conquer and destroy it.
As long as the bourgeois state pre-
walls the capitalist class can baffleE
the will Of the proletariat."
January 2 and a, 1920, most Of
The defendants had been arrested
under the immigration Act which
reads in part as follows:
g.. aliens who believe in or ad-
vocate the overthrow by force or
violence of the government of the
United States of of all forms of law;
aliens who disbelieve in or are op-
posed to all organized government;
aliens who advocate or teach the as
of public officials; aliens
who advocate or teach the unlawful
destruction of property; aliens who
are members of or affiliated with
any organization that entertains a
belief in, teaches or advocates the
overthrow by force or violence Of
the government of the United States
or of all forms of law. .... shal be
excluded from admission into the
United States.
"Sec. II. That any alien who, at
any time after entering the United
States, is found to have been at the
time of entry, or to have become
member Of any one of
the classes Of aliens enumerated in
Section / of this act, shall, upon the
warrant of the Secretary Of Labor,
be taken into custody and deported
in the manner provided in the I'M
migration Act Of hundred and seven
teen."
On Friday, January o, he was re-
eased from Jail on bond, and the
next morning he was served with
Stedman's Bill of Complaint, in which
Stedman used the following lang
nage in regard to him and his as
sociates:
a.. that they are known and
style themselves as Communists
and members Of the Communist
Party That the Communist Iarty
han nnr,nr,,ittad itrnlf 10 tha nrnnrnn,