The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-05

at Chautauqua the night before,
heard of our plight and came to
our rescue.
The speech he made will go
down, at least in my memory, as
historic. Arguing that we were
juveniles. he pointed out that ev-
cry member of the community had
an obligation to be clean, that it
was up to the town to provide
bathing facilities; that the charge
against us. obscene exposing Of
person." was so broad that 1t
might be misconstrued by any fu-
ture enemies. with psychic in
sight, he realized even then, how
many enemies i would have).
Finally, he said that If convicted
Of q criminal offense we could
never hold government office.
We were acquitted.
FIGHTS KU KLUX KHAN
The next time / saw Ben Lindsey
was in Denver in 1924. I had gone
out to write story on his battle
against the Ku Klux Khan, and to
help in his reelection. He had
already battled the Rockefellers In
the Colorado Fuel and Iron Strike,
persuading Woodrow Wilson to
send troops to check the COM
pany's paid police. He had also
battled every big interest in Col
orado. And now he took on the
Khan.
Every anti-Klan candidate I'm
Denver lost that year except
Judge Lindsey. His seat was
contested by q xxx Judge who
later shot himself while the au-
ditOrs were examining his books.
Despite the suicide, however,
that recount was kept over Lind
sy's head by the Khan and came
before the Supreme Court Of Co
dorado I'm 1927. At that time,
three years later, o court on
which sat two Klansmen, to-
gether with Chief Justice Gree
ley WhitfOrd, once Jailed by
Lindsey, disbarred him and ruled
that he had mot been elected
Juvenile judge-even though his
opponent was dead.
At his age most men would
have been broken. After q years
Of serving his city as Juvenile
Judge-27 difficult, pioneering
years, he was outlawed. But Lind
sey did not quit.
TRIUMPH IN CALIFORNIA
He moved to Los Angeles. and in
q few short years was elected to
its Superior Court by the largest
vote In history.
There are many unwritten chap
ters Of Ben LindSey's turbulent,
varied life awaiting his biograph-
err. One was his friendship with
Thomas Edison ana q CONVERSE
ton particularly significant In
view Of the current rubber short
age. Visiting Edison In 1929 at
the beginning of the Hoover Adj
ministration, the famous inventor
told Lindsey:
Look at that Government re-
port on rubber. It must have
cost the Government 100000.
But there is mot page in It
that indicates any imagination
or understanding Of this rubber
problem. The time will come
when II Is going TO be possibly
. major cause Of our defeat-f
we are ever defeated-in the war
which Is inevitable, and when
even this country may be shut
off from its Oriental rubber
market"
ON FORD rEACE SHIP
Lindsey got to know Edison on
the Henry Ford Peace Ship which
sailed to Europe In 1915. He and
his wife, together with Samuel
Mcclure, magazine publisher. were
the only members Of the party to
get inside Germany, where they
got to know Undersecretary Of
State Alfred Zimmerman. Judge
Lindsey always remembered one
prophetic conversation with ziin-
/. hermann In which he said:
Britain and America have no
right TO court the friendship Of
Japan. Dent you know that
Japan Is ambitious 10 be the
master Of Asia3 And how do we
know that when the time comes.
through fratrlcldaI strife Of the
white man whose blood Is o0z-
ing out ON the bntticfieids Of
Europe, Japan went try 70 find
. way 70 lmfIanle the yellow
races against the white races.
Then The areat Wsr q The worid