The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-07-12
Liberal Viewpoint
.RY DIR. HARRY ELMER BARNES

TINE American Civil Liberties Union mas pup
| L Ushed its latest quarterly assessing the
/ state of civil liberties and the rights Of man
after year of the New Deal.
AS usual it finds much to praise and much
to blame We first may consider the favorable
/ items which indicate certain gains for civil
| liberty.
In spite of rather intense feelings between
! labor and capital at the time, the numerous
and extensive MAY day demonstrations by Social
! lists and Communists throughout the United
States were met by police resistance in only two
cities birmingham and Detroit The latter city
/ seems to have suffered from the translation OF
/ Frank Murphy to his new post as Governor
| General of the Philippines.
The record Of New York City has tribute
/ to Mayor La Guardia and his new regime. Two
! of the largest parades and mass meetings ever
| held in New York CITY, involving more than
/ 100000 participants, were held without a single
/ arrest
Protest meetings and Injunction suits direct
! ed by the Civil Liberties Union led to clean-cut
! victories for freedom Of speech and assembly
! in Jersey City and Passaic.
| Governor Lehman of New York state is COM
mended heartily for his veto of the D. A. R.
bill requiring oaths of loyalty from public
! school teachers.
! A REBUFF to American Fascists is noted in
! L y the conviction of General" Art J. Smith,
! commander chief of the Khaki Shirts, who
| has been sentenced to prison to from three to
six years for perjury in the Terzani case
/ Finally, the Civil Liberties Union lists as a
favorable item and a benefit a bitter attack
made upon it by Hamilton Fish in the house
of representatives. This led to an able and in
telligent defense Of the Civil Liberties Union by
distinguished congressman and had the net
result Of producing a great deal Of favorable
publicity for the union.
On the negative side of the picture, the union
first notes the failure of the NRA and the ma
tonal labor board to protect the rights of labor
to organize, strike and bargain collectively.
Particularly deporabe is the tacit federal recog-
milton of company controlled unions. This lax
ness and timidity on the part of the government
has stimulated unrest and violence.
The continuance of industrial violence in the
Imperial valley in California is cited, and the
failure OF the federal government to enforce
fairness and justice in this area is roundly con-
demned. The union especially criticizes tie
conduct Of General GlasSford, appointed as fed
eral conCiliator in this district. The general is
reported openly to have espOused the cause of
the employers
The supreme court of Georgia upheld the
sentence of Angelo Eerndon a youthful Negro
Communist, to eighteen to twenty years impris-
onment for attempting to hold a Communist
meeting and for possessing Communist ltera-
ture Herndon was convicted under the ancient
statute passed during the reconstruction days
and designed to prevent open instruction.
TVHERE also is noted with some alarm a new
4 quirk in the battle against the rights of
labor. In Baltimore and Cleveland, conserva-
tive lawyers representing employer interests
have instituted disbarment proceedings against
lawyers who have gained a reputation for will
ingness to defend union labor defendants.
If this becomes a precedent it may restrict
seriously the ability of labor to get fair deal
before the courts.
The supreme court of the United States re-
fused to hear an appeal in the case of Charles
Smith, president of the American Association
for the Advancement of Atheism who had been
convicted for speaking without permit in New
York City
Among the important pending actions Of the
Civil Liberties Union are noted the proposed
tests of the Norris-La Guardia injunction act;
vigorous promotion of the Wagner Costigan
anti-lynching bill; staunch support of the In
dian bureau bill (now passed. to restore lands
and tribal autonomy to the American Indians,
and the appeal of the Mooney case to the fed
eral courts.
The honest devotion of the union to civil
liberties is atteSted to by the vigorous OPPOSE
ton to bills designed to curb the American Nazi
While the union has not the slightest sympathy
for the Nazi, it maintains that all groups should
be protected in their inherent right to freedom
Of speech and assembly Moreover, bills now
ostensibly passed to curb the Naz might be
| used quickly to restrain liberals and radicals