Evening star., 1938-06-10
With No Thanks to Hague.

caesar Ierar0, late lJdlldn-pOrn
resident of Newark, where Norman
Thomas was rotten-egged and ripe
tomatoed when that distinguished Social
ist tried to deliver a public address, has
left his entire life's savings Of $4,000 to
"the United States of America" Mr..
Gerards will, entered for probate this
good to me- made my money here, and
! want to leave it to the country in
which I made it." Although the testator
is survived by a brother, nephew and
niece, who have filed objections to the
probate, 1t was Mr.. Gerards obvious
intent to record, to the extent of his
powers, his undying gratitude for the
manifold blessings of American citizen
ship.
Apparently the beneficiary OF political
conditions which prevailed before Boss
Hague turned the State of New Jersey
into a Fascist satrapy, it may be won-
dered whether Caesar Gerard would
have been filled with so much thank
fulness to Americanism if its funda-
mental safeguards had been abrogated
in his time, as they are now being set
aside in Jersey City and Newark. OF
the Garden States 1000 oO0-odd inhabi-
tants, according to the 1890 census, 190,-
S58 were born in Italy, and 1883 in
that other abode of totalitarianism,
Germany. Barring the average per-
centage of this segment of Jerseys pop
ulation of alien origin, which, like other
people, may temporarily feel the blight
of depression, the inference is that, in
common with Caesar Gerard these
italian and German immigrants have
done we'll on our hospitable soil because
they lived under guarantees of free
religion, free speech, free press, the
unrestricted right of peaceable assembly
and the right of petition to the Govern
nent for redress of grievances. They
enjoyed the benefits of all the other
inaliensble privileges vouchsafed by the
Bill of Rights.
Mayor Hague has essayed to destroy
those rights. If he contrives to do so,
in the face Of pusillanimous public
opinion within his own State and beyond
tts bossed borders, the Italian Gerards
Of the future will have no country to
reward for having been good to them.
They will be living under conditions like
those prevalent in the "old country"
which now lives beneath the Fascist
bootheel. If Socialist or a C. I. o.
organizer, or any other citizen engaged
in lawful utterance, is debarred from
airing his views in New Jersey, the plain
truth is that constitutional law has been
abolished there, and dictatorship en-
throned in its place. Such state Of
affairs ceases to be local issue. 1t be-
comes national scandal.
The Federal courts, presumably at the
instigation of, and in cooperation with,
the Department Of Justice, are supposed
to be looking into Boss Hague's totali-
tartan tactics, with view to eliciting
whether or not he has exceeded his con-
stitutional prerogatives. incidentally, it
would be interesting to know by what
right New Jersey National Guard troops,
wearing Federally -owned uniforms and
equipped with Federally- arms,
participated in Jersey Citys American
ism" parade this week. Also, it would
add at least to the gayety of the nations
to know Cordell Hulls reaction to recent
events in Hagueland, in light of his
Nashville speech of June 8, Offering the
United States leadership in crusade
to restore the world to "a reign of order
under law"