The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-03-15

the united states.
II Effect moment upon the injustices Of
~ The Indiana Legislatures so-called Anti
red biH House Bill III. passed by the General
Assembly and this moment awaiting executive
action upon the desk Of Gov. Paul V. McNutt
The bill prohibits the placing on the bal
lot the name Of any party which advocates
governmental reform by violence" the meas
ure. n course. Is directed wholly at the cap
ralistic-baiting Communist party. and while
those who supported the bill were completely
sincere in their motives. we think they also
were as completely deluded.
The measure now on Gov. McNutts desk is
merely a law for the perpetuation OF the two
major political parties, the Democratic and Re-
publican organizations. No word does the bin
contain OF the Communist party. 1t simply
provides for the rule over the ballot by b.
PARTISAN BOARD which is to be the sole
Judge Of the parties allowed on the ballot The
board can bar from the ticket any party it de-
cides is advocating violence" in its platform.
Very little thought has been given the idea
that by barring the Communist party from the
electoral ballot Indiana is giving that party
new argument. hard driving point.
We are living under a Fascist regime" the
Communist orators viii shout. "a regime under
which no worker can have his say" And he'll
have hard cold facts to prove it Indiana's
Anti-Red Law.
But far more important for the thinking
citizen IS the power given this bipartisan,
board which shall have the right to say what
parties shall be placed on the ballot Every
threat to the continued domination Of the
Democratic and Republican parties can be
quickly Stifled by the mere ruling that the
Progressive party is barred from the ticket be-
cause it advocates governmental reform by vio-
lence." Who decides this violence" prob
lem? Why. the bipartisan board. of course
the board Of so many Democrats and so many
Republicans.
IVES, the grievance of the stifled party can
\ be taken to the courts. But before the
courts can act. the election must be held, for
to have grievance one must prove an offense
and the election is the proof of the offense SO.
Of course. the damage must be done before the
courts can rule
GaNEAtAA4s tAlt law Is Unconstitutional ana
therefore a waste Of time 1t Is all too obviously
un-American. We seem to have forgotten that
this great and powerful nation is the result of
a revolutionary movements movement of
force and that the Constitution which we pro-
claim as the symbol Of liberty and free speech
was written bv "revolutionaries'-in the full
sense Of the word.
We seem to have forgotten. sadly enough
the teachings OF our great Americans. and.
sadder still. the teachings OF the worlds great
philosophers. Take. for instance John Stuart
Mill the famed English philosopher and econ
omist. who perhaps described freedom with
more clarity than any man before him or any
man after him
Here is what John Stuart Mil wrote:
The only freedom which deserves the
name. is that OF pursuing our own good
in our own way as long as We do not at
tempt to deprive others OF theirs, or i'm
pede their efforts to obtain it,
HOUSE BILL III does away with freedom
a Of the ballot. Supplants instead a law
which might better Re termed Tyranny on the
Wabash"
Gov McNutt can do his fellow-citizens.
his state and his country great favor. He can
either veto the bill. or pocket veto" it by
refusing to sign it.
House Bill l2l, Gov. McNutt. was not
Thomas jefferson's idea OF democracy.