The daily worker., 1933-12-05

shss 10 zee, the whole thing looked Ii
PENDANTS and their I. L. ID. attorneys:
deep, seething hatred against ''Northt
for ''niggers" and the numerous SUBJ
Sidiary reasons. Knight did not
deny my charge that 1t looked like
q set-up. All he did was bang on
. chair with his cane and repeat:
II tell you, Spivak, those 'nigras
VIII not be lynched."
How about Leibowitz, Brodsky and
the other I. l.. D. attorneysP" l in
sisted.
He shrugged his shoulders without
committing himself.
Callahan is running for re-elec-
ton this spring. He has not been
liked In Morgan County. You are
running for Lieutenant Governor.
With sentiment aroused against the
Scottsboro boys, as it is, and they
are convicted, Callahan's reelection
and your election is foregone con-
clusion."
"Spivak," he returned, grinning,
you don't think anybody is honest,
do you2"
Threatened With Contempt of Court
The day after called upon Knight
I went to Decatur and spent about
half an hour with Callahan. The
crusty old farmer judge did not want
to talk.
Let Tom knight do the talking"
he growled Hes always shooting
bis mouth off What l have to say
I'll say from the bench"
Callahans determination not to
guard the defendants and their at
torneys was obvious, and when I
mentioned that 1t looked like set
up for a massacre he just raised his
eyebrows without saying anything.
Then I mentioned his political career
and he rose in great indignation
from his chair:
Young man." he cried furiouSly,
eff you say anything about that, you
ere insinua5ing that my judgments
from the bench will be influenced by
political aspirations. II you say any
thing like that you viii be in con-
tempt Of court and liable to serve a
jail sentenced"
Since an out of the jurisdiction
OF his court now 1 can say freely
that his whole attitude on the bench
was that of a man seeking to make
political capital out of the case. His
rulings, comments and speeches were
designed to stir up hatred against
the Negroes and then to exploit that
aroused sentiment for his own and
his Par5y's purposes in exactly the
same way that Hitler arouses, and
then exploits anti-semitism. Other
wise cannot account for the
amazing decisions he delivered from
the bench during this past farcial
trial. Both Callahan and Knight
were playing to the lynch mob; that
was evident to everyone at the trial.
Impossible for Patterson to Get
Fair Trial
That it was an imposSibility for
Patterson to get a fair and impartial
trial in Morgan County was fore
gone conclusion. Other newspaper
men and had talked to citizens sew
erai days before the trial started.
Everywhere we heard bitterness and
fury against the defense and their
defendants. In several places I per-
sonally heard repeated assertions
that Leibowitz, Brodsky and the
"Northerners" would be shot down in
Che courtroom. That there was no
massacre is one Of the miracles. On
the Saturday night and the Sunday
before the trial actually got under
a hnyISa IN
made in Decatur, telling the resi-
dents to keep away from the court
room and that "an trouble was off"
No explanation was made for this
action. Whether the pressure on
President Roosevelt and his action
IN forwarding the protests without
comment to Governor Miller had any
thing to do about it, I do not know.
There is one thing certain though:
The worldwide publicity given to the
set-up and the flood of excoriating
and denunciatory protests undoubt-
edly Left Its effect upon the Alabama
officials.
FarcicaI Decisions
Before the actual trial started and
Callahan began to make his now IA
nous farcical decisions on law which
have amazed the whole world, he
called the newspapermen into his
private office to discuss our com
p1aint about the lack OF facilities for
writing our stories. Originally he
had refused to let us have a press
table and even during this conver-
sation he refused to let us within
the enclosure where the actual trial
was going on because Of his fear
that should trouble start in the court
room the newspaper1nen would be In
the way Of flying bullets.
Gentlemen" said Callahan when
we were all seated, "this business OF
supplying seats for the press is a
ticklish one. There is 'nigra' re-
porter here from some paper or
other. For me to supply you with |
seats and not him would make 1t
seem like was prejudiced against
him. I cannot do that. If I set
aside a reserved seat for him it will |
arouse good deal of resentment |
among the townsfolk, and this is q |
situation that has to be met without |
arousing too much ire. SO 7 don't
know what to do about it,
A little later in the conversation,