The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-12-22
itrOng Unity
Dn ScOttsbOrO
ase Is Urged
|all for United Front
Is Sent to American
Committee

Il forces ready to work for the
Iteration Of the Scottsboro boys,
mother call for united action was
addressed to the American Scots
orc Committee, by the National
scottsboro- Herndon Action Com
hittee.
b The full statement follows
american Scottsboro Committee,
1879 Fourth Avenue,
Jew York City.
Gentlemen:
On November gath, we addressed
h letter to your Committee, pro-
posing that conference be ar
ranged during the week of Novem-
bier 26th at which representatives
Of the American Scottsboro Com
mittee will meet with representa-
tives of the National Scottsboro-
.Herndon Action Committee to dis
fcuss how steps can be taken to pre-
tsef1t a solid front in the fight for
the unconditional freedom Of the
IScottsboro boys"
| In reply we received your letter
of December 3rd which stated, "Our
Committee does not see the way
clear for conference at this time"
Most seriously, we must state,
that if ever there was a time when
united action is imperative on the
! part of all true friends of the
I Scottsboro boys, of all who sincerely
wish to win their freedom and to
achieve justice in this momentous
case which involves the rights, lives
and liberties of the thirteen million
bitterly oppressed Negro people and
of all the masses of the people,
white as we'll as black-that time is
nOwl
Crucial Stage
Again we point to the crucial
stage of the case, with the appeals
once more pending before the U. S.
Supreme Court-the lives of these
nine innocent boys and all that they
symbolic hanging desperately in
the balance. Surely at such crucial
moment, it is clear that any divi-
sion of the defense forces seriously
imperils the lives Of these boys and
the vital issues involved, and OBJ
jectively aids the forces of fascist
lynch reaction which drive ruthless
ly to the murder of these innocent
boys.
Yet such division exists. And We
are compelled by the very urgency
of the situation which now r1enaces
the lives of these boys, to call upon
every member Of your Committee
seriously to consider the grave re-
sponSibility which you have assumed
in this crucial and fateful situation.
Whatever thoughts may have been
entertained of providing "a better
defense" it is now clear that the &C
Invites, unsupported charges, and
Widespread propaganda of attorney
Leibowitz, Dr. George E. Haynes,
Mr.. William H. Davis and certain
Others of your Committee, have had
the result of creating the confusion
and division which now exists to
the injury of the defense, the peril
OF the boys, and the endangering
of the vital Issues involved.
Moreover, when your Committee
refuses to meet with us to consider
the means of achieving united ac-
ton, you block the way towards
overcoming this deadly division and
establishing the united front of de-
tense action which alone can save
and free these innocent, tortured
boys.
We must again request you to
consider these important facts. The
defense conducted by the Interna-
tional Labor Defense has kept these
boys alive for over three and a half
years, winning most important par
tial victories in the face of the
most ruthless efforts to lynch these
boys both legally and by open mob
violence.
LID. Saved Them
Haywood Patterson ard Clarence
Norris we're saved from electrocu-
ton on December It'll by the LID.
which secured the stay of execution,
through attorney Fraenkel, from
the Alabama Supreme Court. The
petitions and briefs in the appeals
for these boys are now before the
U. S. Supreme Court-filed by the
outstanding constitutional lawyers,
Osmond X. Fraenkel and Walter H.
Pollak Mr.. Pollak successfully made
the first appeal to the U. S. SUI
preme Court.
These are concrete achievements
In the vital defense of the Scots
boro boys which prove that the
LID. is in full charge of the de-
Tense and is carrying it forward
successfully. The decision of the
conference of many important or
CARNATIONS, recently held in WASH
ington under the auspices of the
Civil Liberties Union, to endorse
and support the legal and mass de-
tense of the LID. in the Scottsboro
case" along with other similar &C
tiors particularly in the South, show
the growing realization of the i'm
perative need for immediate united
action.
We are, therefore, bound to urge
again that your Committee will i'm
mediately remove the one serious
hindrance in the way of This es-
sential unity This Committee CNa-
tionsl Scottsboro- Herndon Action
Committee, elected by numerous
organizations, works solely for the
broadcast united action of all organi-
cations and individuals, regardless
of religious, political or any other
differences, on the basis Of uncom-
promising struggle for the uncon-
ditionaI and safe release of the