The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-23
STEEL STATE
POLICE CENSOR
WORKERS FILM
Charge S e dition in
sia-Germany"
BY cHAS. B. ROBERTS.
Especial to The Daily Worker)

Especial TO ] ne Ddiiy Workerl
MONESSEN, Pa, June 22-After
apparently all difficulties with the To-
cal authorities trying to stop the show
ing of Russian and Germany" in Mo-
nessen have been Strengthened out,
everything seemed to indicate sue
cessful showing. At the appointed
time the operator threw the picture
on the screen while l was attending
to the lights in the house.
In the back of the hall several po-
lice with their guns and ammunition
displayed, mixed with others who aft
forwards proved to be the whole police
force of Monessen. They tried to
overawe the people as they passed to
their seats.
Chief Heads 6uIIies.
Armed police led by the chief, a
burly bully, and other ruffians de-
manded the persons in charge. l i'm
mediately informed them that was
in charge whereupon they placed me
under arrest and began to pick out
several comrades and the operator
He commanded me to stop the show
in very rough language: "Put the
light on! Clear them out of the place.
Arrest him, that one, that woman,
you are under arrestl"
They confiscated the machine films
and locked the place. After he had
finished profane TRADE, the corpu-
lent chief of police accompanied
Comrade Morris SCHNEIDER, Oskar
Okonen and myself to the patrol
wagon. We were taken into the old
delapidated building called the po-
lice station.
Abused in Jail.
Then the questioning and search
ing began. Everything was taken
from us. The police interested them
selves. in reading letters, kilograms,
newspaper clippings, counting the
money etc. We asked what the
charges were which they intended to
prefer against us but got no other
answer but that they were very
serious. While asking our names
again, they abused comrade SCHNEIDER
for being Jewish.
! We were locked in separate cells
under the most unsanitary conditions.
On the floor in the hall were lying all
sorts of drunkards and people taken
in for various reasons. About mid
night the Dicks came in and started
to stare at u.s. At $3.50 a. m our jailers
appeared and, not sparing any ours
ing, ordered everybody to get busy
cleaning up the floors which had been
used for every imaginable purpose.
After IA hours of this solitary con-
fnement the Chief of Police came in
and let us out to walk in the hall.
The Civil Liberties lawyer was got
ten in touch with by the National Of
flee of the international Workers Aid
in Chicago and all we could do was to
wait We had nothing to eat until
our friends brought food in later.
Sedition Charge.
In the meantime l succeeded in
talking of our ideas to the inmates of
the pail, several of whom realized that
there was such a thing as a class
struggle. At last some comrades came
up to the windows of the Jail which
were very well barred. They informed
us that the censor from Harris
burgh was expected, also the Chief of
County Police from Greenburgh.
I At last the door opened and we were
called out. We were met by the law
yer and some comrades who furnished
bonds for the bail. We had to sign
the bonds and wait for the chief. The
charges preferred against us were
u Encouraging sedition against the
State of Pennsylvania and the u. S.
government. y Exhibiting motion
pictures without State censorship.
81 Exhibiting pictures without the
State seal.