The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-10-07
new ATTACK IS
MADE ON NEGRO
RIGHTS AS RACE
Khan Backs Attack on
18th Amendment
tspeoIaI 70 rhe psIIy w0rksrl

N0PeCldi TO inc Daily WoTkoTl
NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 6-The lilly
hite" attitude Of Harding and Cool
idge, conveyed in public speeches and
by private communication to the
enemies of Negroes in the south is
held responsible here for the latest
attack on the citizenship rights of the
100000 Negroes in the United
States.
A suit attacking the validity of the
fourteenth amendment from new
angle was filed here today in federal
district court in the form of a petit
ton seeking to enjoin Walter A.
Cohen, Negro, controller of customs
of the port of New Orleans from ex-
ecuting the duties Of that office. The
action, if successful would dis
franchise every Negro in the United
| States.
The petition, as published by the
newspapers, charges that Cohen false
ly alleged himself to be a citizen of
the United States" when he took the
oath to Office.
"Not Citizen"
1t asserts that the defendant is not
citizen of this country but is "a per-
son of African blood and descent and
is inherently incapable Of being citi-
zen of the United States"
The suit is to be brought in the
name of H. Edwin Bolte, an attorney
of Washington, D. c. and declares
that the grounds upon which it is
based never have been the subject of
decision by the courts. The petition
sets forth that three-fourths Of the
states did not ratify the fourteenth
amendment nor was it adopted by the
required two-thirds vote of both
houses of congress.
Suit From New Angle.
Mr.. Bolte was quoted as saying
that altho he and his associates had
examined all of the more than 200
decisions Of the supreme court of the
United States which had to do do with
the amendment, in not one Of them
were the points raised in his action
passed upon nor were they made an
issue.
The petition charges conspiracy to
the authors of the amendment in con-
gress and various sections are cited
in effort to show that they put the
amendment into effect unlawfully.
| AS to Cohen, the petition charges
that when he took the oath of office
in Washington April 16, 1924, he swore
falsely to his alleged citizenship, claim
ing to be citizen under "the provi-
sion Of the alleged fourteenth amend
ment to the constitution Of the United
States"
The petition alleges that article
XIV. never was legally proposed by
two-thirds of both houses of congress-.
that 1t never was ratified by three
fourths of the states, that eleven
states of the Union at the time of the
adoption OF the resolution "culminat-
ing in the alleged article XIV" we're
unconstitutionally deprived Of their
equal suffrage in the senate, that six
states were by coercion forced to rat
ify 1t, and that congress did without
power or authority unlawfully declare
said amendment to the constitution
adopted and part of the constitu-
ton"
The petition then requests the issu-
ance Of an injunction restraining
Cohen from serving further as con-
troller and from drawing the salary
for that Office.
Twice Rejected.
Cohen, a leading republican politi-
clan Of Louisiana, has been a storm
center ever since his nomination to the
post by the late President Harding.
The senate refused confirmation on the
ground that he was personally obnox-
, ious to the Louisiana members of the
body.
! President Harding then issued a
recess nomination and he served sew
eral months without pay. President
Coolidge later sent his nomination
back to the senate and again confirma-
ton was denied on the same grounds
as before. Upon reconsideration, how
ever, the nomination finally was con-
firmed.
Opinion here is to the effect that
the suit is the first step in a legal
battle financed by the Ku Klux Khan
whose object is the repeal OF all pro-
visions OF the bill Of rights as it now
applies to Negroes.