The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-04-23
Political Heresy and
Workers Defense.
By EDGAR OWENS.

Fifteen months have passed since
the "red raids" - fifteen months
wherein the mask of hypocricy has
been stripped from the face of Cap
italist Society and exposed it, a
ruthless, vindictive monster of barred
/ fang and unsheated claw. Political
heresy is the crime of crimes and
he who questions the sacredness Of
the Established Order does so at his
peril.
ESPIONAGE PROSECUTIONS.
The Espionage Act was passed as
emergency wartime legislation. Its
ostensible purpose was to discourage
the activities of enemy agents. But
in its application it has teeth only
for the militant workers. A survey
of Espionage prosecutions reveals the
fact that the spokesmen of the work
ing class--men and women who re-
fused to close their eyes to the facts
Of the class struggle in war as in
"peace"-were about the only ones
against whom it's power was levied.
CRIMINAL SYNDICALISM.
The Espionage Act is emergency
wartime legislation. With the COM
ing of the "peace" it automatically
ceased to exist. But that does not
mean that government loses its op-
pressivness. The form is merely
changed; the substance remains. For,
taking advantage of the wartime
hysteria, state after state enacted
so-called Criminal Syndicalist laws.
And these laws are permanent. They
are designed to accomplish in "peace"
what the Espionage Act accomplished
in war. And under these state laws
the prosecutions continue with un-
abated vindictiveness.
In California Reed and Ragsdale
go to trial May 18th charged with
being Communists. Others have al
ready been proriout ,ed guilty there
for the same "crin ~. In Southern
Illinois Hewlett and Carr will be
tried early this spring. The big Chi
> cago Communist case in which TWEEN
, ty men were found guilty for "con'
spiring to advocate the overthrow o.
! government !. and given sentences
: ranging from one to five years vii
I 60 to the Supreme Court on appea
: in August. In New York, Larkin
Gitlow, Winitsky, Ruthenberg ant
: Ferguson, all splendid types of mill
. tant working class spokemen, are il
prison under sentence of from five
: to ten years. The cases of Jack Car
e ney and ]. O. Bentall are pending
before the Federal Appellate Court
8 Thus from coast to coast, the Shiny
n trail of monster Capitalism is
$ strewn with class war victims.
: DEPORTATION.
}, Arrest of "alien" workers goes or
e constantly. The ferocity that marked
u the discredited Palmer method is nc
: longer employed. The rounding ur
a like wild beasts of thousands of mer
e and women whose accent indicated
them to be foreigners was too crude
to get away with. The appearance Of
persecution must be avoided. Now
= the arrests are made in the less spec
tacular way of one or two at time
This does not attract so much atten-
tion and can therefore be made more
effective.
WHAT CAN BE DONE.
The class struggle has been taken
to the courts. Our comrades must be
b. furnished with an adequate defense
Cases under conviction must be ap.
pealed. Where we are able to furnish
: a proper defense more than 909o Of
| the deportation cases are dismissed
There is urgent need for relief Of
families Of class war victims. This
is the workers fight. The workers
must see it through. The workers