Evening star., 1944-06-26
Sedition Prosecution
Moves 10 Establish
Overt Act in D. T..
Soldier Identifies
Propaganda Sent
Him by MoiI in 1941
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

The Government moved today at
the mass sedition trial in District
Court to establish an overt act" in
the District of Columbia as an es-
sential element in the alleged Nazi-
inspired conspiracy of the 20 de-
PENDANTS to incite mutiny in the
armed forces.
Pvt. Sevellon Brown, Sd, stationed
here in the Office of Strategic Serv-
ices, identified propaganda which
he said he received through the
mail in July, 1941, when he was
Washington correspondent of the
Providence (R. - Journal Mr..
Browns father is publisher of the
Journal. The documents came un-
solicited in a single folder to his
Office in the Hibbs Building, he said.
What did you do with them?"
asked Chief Prosecutor o. John
Rogge. Esf
II read the documents" said the
witness, ''and I called a friend at
the Post ONCE Department"
Post Office Sends Documents.
Pvt. Brown said he then mailed
them to the chief inspector at the
Post Office Department
The documents, offered in evi-
dence by the Government, included
copies of clip sheets called Publicity
and the X-Ray
Joseph H. Bilbrey, a defense at
torney, asked if the Providence
Journal was owned at the time by
the British governmental Mr..
Brown knew.
Il know it was not" the witness
replied.
WAS it owned by individuals who
were members of the British gov
ernment?"
TT was not" said Pvt Brown.
wasn't its foreign policy favor
able to intervention in the WARP"
the attorney asked.
Supported Aid to Britain.
at favored aid to Great Britain"
the witness said.
An anti-Semitic article in the issue
of Publicity identified by Pvt.
Brown was signed by Lit Gen. Count
V. Cherep Spiridovich, described by
! the Government as an alias used by
H. Victor Broenstrupp, defendant.
| A headline in the exhibit was:
"White-Livered Congress Bows to
Vampires"
X-Ray carried a cartoon showing
the crucifixion of America by certain
| int tN hi
country in the war.
Comments Called Infiammatory.
Asked by Defense Attorney Will
liam j. Powers why he sent the
papers to the Post Office Depart
ment, the witness cited several COM
mentS which he held of an inflam-
matory nature.
Pvt. Brown referred to the printed
charge of world conquest" in
compliance with colossal Jewish
conspiracy of which mankind is the
victim He cited another passage
urging march On Washington"
and predicting bullets rather than
ballots in the near future" He
explained:
Il don't think the mails should be
used for such a purpose"
Pressed to explain further, the
witness said: Il don't think indi-
viduals should be allowed to preach
racial hatred"
What about the Japanese?"
mot as a race"
Your paper criticized, assailed the
Germans?"
Certainly, but not because they
were Germans" said the witness.
No Personal Interest.
Pvt. Brown was asked by another
defense attorney, James J. Laugh
lin, if he had any personal interest
in the outcome of this case. Not
personally, he said. but only as a
news story.
You favored America entering
the WARP"
II felt that it was inevitable" the
witness replied, adding that he held
the view as early as 1899.
You were pro-British?'
After Britain entered the war
yes"
You hated the Germans?"
Not all Germans and not any
merely because they were Germans. "
Mission to Be Probed.
The Government was expected to
call later in the day four witnesses
from California to tell of the mis-
sion which the German American
Bund led on the West Coast.
This mission. according to the
Government, was to build up an at
mosphere of hate and distrust
of existing American institutions
land thus to foment . revolution