The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-02-24

The date of the trial is uncer-
tain.
A number of moves for delay on
technical grounds are anticipated
by the prosecuting officials.
Whatever the outcome may be, it
is now certain that public opin-
ion in Tampa is determined to-
clear up the revolving mess r.
vealed and dramatized in the last
few months.
Every civic organization is back
ing the efforts of the Junior
Chambers election committe,
which has done excellent work in
exposing the gambling alliance
with politics.
CHERIFF MLEOD has arrested
~ scores of gambling house keep
ers and bolita peddlers, requiring
them to enter cash bail for hear
ing before judges in the Criminal
Court. Out of 80 or 80 cases made
by the sheriff to date, not one
defendant has appeared for a
hearing and the cash bail bonds,
ranging each case from 5000 to
$500, have been forfeited, Thus
the gambling business is becoming
Improbable for the first time in
years.
During their investigation the
Junior Chamber committee said
minimum of 100000 month
was being taken out of the cham
nels of normal trade by the gam
blers. The figure is conservative.
On the day the special grand
jury was called in session and the
judges delivered their vigorous
charge, many of the protected"
houses, which had been operating
unmolested for years, put away
their roulette wheels and faro lay
outs and closed their doors on
orders from that mysterious source
referred to as "the front"
VXTHAT is the fair conclusion
w to be drawn from the facts
reviewed in these articles?
Those who have watched the
day-by-day developments are not
in doubt.
Neither the Ku Klux Khan nor
opposition to radicalism as such
was primarily responsible for the
Tampa foggings and murder, a.
though attempts have been made
in the last few weeks thus to
attribute the cause.
But this is obviously inspired to
divert attention from the local
political aspect of the case.
For example, small handbills
were scattered on the downtown
streets of Tampa on Jan. % in
viting citizens to listen to an
hours broadcast from a radio sta
ton at Clearwater during which it
was promised that "a forceful
speaker" would explain how the
two Tampa newspapers were sup
pressing important facts.
This "forceful speaker" turned
out to be A. L. Henson, who was
introduced as an important officer
in the American Legion and
Veterans Service Officer for Geor-
gia. The announcer declared that
it was "a paid political broadcast"
and announced the title as
"Americanism." Afterward it
turned out that Henson was a
political appointee of Gov. Tai
madge and connected with the
Georgia state government.
TTENSON devoted his entire
l. l. speech to an attack on Nor
man Thomas and the American
Civil Liberties Union, rehearsing
and rehashing testimony taken by
the Lusk and Fish "red" investi-
eating committees of several years
years ago. While Henson did not
mention the f1ogging case, it was
palpable that he was trying to
build up sympathy for the de-
PENDANTS in the f1ogging case by
inferring that anything Thomas
suggested should be fought by
true Americans"
Since Thomas had only few
days before addressed a mass
meeting in Tampa, denouncing
the f1oggers, and the American
Civil Liberties Union had shown
an active interest in bringing them
to justice, there could be no other
| Interpretation than tbst Henson