BALDWIN'S CRIME
BALDWIN'S CRIME The Text of a Speech Suppressed at the Paterson Trial ffffiAT Roger Baldwin, the I courageous director of the "* American Civ.l Liberties Union, has been sentence* to eix month* in...
...The applications a'e likely to be so numerous that if the Committee on Arrangements is to accommodate all who wish to attend the reservations will have to be on hand a week in advance...
...ThO Ntw Leader will try to get more data regarding this miserable byproduct of capitalism...
...It ie virtually that organisation which it before you for sentence, an organization whose aole aim i* te help maintain freedom to exercise of thote, rights guaranteed by the Coa-stiuitipn, %ni so often, flouted by tha |.t>lu e. We servo impartially all who appeal te us for help- -atrikor*, radical* of all sort* proMcated for their belief*, the victim* of mob Vie* lence and of th* Ku Klu« Klan— equally, for instance, Roman Catb> olic school-teacher* whom th* Klan h«s sought to oust from publio si lends, and th* right of the Klan itself to meet unmolested on private property against th* unlawful pro' bibit ion of a Roman Catholic mayor...
...Tho tragedy lit* In tht fact thst its working clsis victims have given their votes to enemy parties while* thty art practically disfranchised in tht State Legislatures and in Congress...
...Importance of Voting Machine* It has been demonstrated that voting machines are simple in their operation and eliminate all oppor-tunity for dishonest tampering by election officials and others with the Constitutional right of a citizen to vote as he sees fit and to have his vote properly counted...
...BALDWIN'S CRIME The Text of a Speech Suppressed at the Paterson Trial ffffiAT Roger Baldwin, the I courageous director of the "* American Civ.l Liberties Union, has been sentence* to eix month* in jail because of hit insistence on ex-ereieinf hie constitutional right of free speech, is known to Veto Leader render...
...The indictment, in the quaint language of 126 years ago, charges us "riotously and routously" with making "great and loud noises" and with using "force of arms"' and with intent to commit "assault and battery on police officers" and "to wreck th* City Hall...
...April 29 Of all the affairs planned by the Socialist Party in recent years the Debs dinner in New York on Wednesday evening, April 29, promises to be the most notable...
...Wa have been Involved many timet) in meetings forbidden by the police, in order to test out ths legal l»eu»* in th* court...
...m»t content with a wholesale flagrant violation if the Constitu-tion, the Patereon court rode roughshod over the elementary righte of the defendante in the eaee, refusing them permission to speak on their behalf before sentence was pro-tmneed...
...My knowledge of election frauds has thus been gained by personal observation, and it is not baaed upon mere hearsay...
...Ijitgland and Austria ! * , . :aad, tabor I* the oRalnl opposition) Socialist Vienna I* the ..»« c eSSliag spot ia plague-ridden Austria VA •..eves" lajop* la straggling to throw off the morass aad decay .1 Sialism, there Socialism I* inevitably the instrument of saU.tion, The rise aad fall of a Socialist Cabinet in England, a Social., "llffli - for Belgium, French Socialist participation in the Gov., neat ef France, all these are merely ineidents la'the steady m* - h of she enlightened worker* ef the Old World to the SocialUt P • >ublte of Europe...
...Any one of.the officers or member* of tha Civil Libertie* Union might *s well be before you for sentence...
...Hoover's remedy of "more efficient production" mersly aggravates the situation...
...The objection to the voting machines as expensive is, in my opinion, usually insincere...
...Hi* thumb smudged with ink, the Ta mm ijr election official 1* seen to linger bi* digit a bit caressingly over the ballot...
...The right to assemble peacefully for a '¦wets of grievances is to us clear...
...Winter wheat," continues Graham, "in Eastern Oregon and Washington was killed by drought...
...Coming on the heels of the wholesele robbery of the Western fanners under Herding, the Coolidge regime is faced with this ripe fruit of capitalism in industry...
...I venture to aay that tha police would not even have interfered with tha strike meeting* had they hem conducted by an A. F. of I...
...One thing is important regarding this dinner...
...Printers' supplies are less in demand and other industries are thus affected...
...The counting of the votes is dragged out interminably...
...Recently an electric locomotive pulled tarns in Montana, ah tnisMS forcing men set Of the railway service into competition with other labor...
...One morning an Irian-man, upwards of 60 years of age, got off a freight train...
...But became the** »triker* happen to belong to an independent union without affiliations elsewhere, and are chiefly aliens, they were easy to attack...
...Legislatures Are Indifferent Meantime the State Legislatures observe this tragedy and instead of aiding the unemployed la building roads the appropriations for this purpose in Oregon and Washington have been actually reduced...
...But the Chief of Police was not satisfied to let matter* rett there, He went to th* Grand Jury and secured this indictment on which w* have been tried before you, the first trial on this ancient charge ever to take place in this State...
...Over looked to them tb protect anyone's rights...
...that whatever lawlessness attache* to that meeting was committed by them...
...Though yon have derided against us, we believe that our position will ultimately be vindicated, end that those rights hy whieh alone Industrial conflict can be Settled peacefully win bo fully established...
...The capital levy plank will then bo pushed harder than ever, with the likely result of a new election soon...
...Bank failures have thrown bank clerks on the Labor market...
...Riot Caused By the Polire We believe that the evidenc* ihowed that whatever riot nr.ilis order took place at, the City Hall meeting was caused «o!ely by the polire In violently dispersing a peaceful meeting held to protest against their high-handed abuse of power...
...hnt the exercise of such a right should not depend upon the notions of ^*wilef of Police seems to us equally 'Se * " submission to police conceptions of constitutional liberty is °ur guide, rights will not exist when most needed...
...The American Civil Libertie* Union, which ret ponded te the *trik-ert* appeal to handle the test of their right*, assume* full retponti-bitity tot the mealing and for the litigation growing out of it...
...Soon after, an Assembly recount declared Claessens elected and he took his seat in Albany—in time !o serve two weeks of the term to which he had been elected...
...As New York State Chairman of the Socialist Party I urge you to give your approval and signature to that bill, the purpose of which is to substitute for our present unsatisfactory method of voting by meant of paper ballots, the method of voting by means of carefully constructed and tested voting machines, the use of which has met with general satisfaction in those portions of the State in which the voting machines have been in operation for a number of years...
...Sosjio of the opponents of the bill have argued that the icxpense of installing voting machines Is one thai should not be imposed upon the State or the, various municipalities...
...The tallying of votes cast hy means of paper ballots has often been wilfully falsified by die-honest election officials...
...We have not...
...My Dear Governor Smith: I regret that I 'shall be unable to attend the public bsarjpig which you shall hold on Tuesday...
...An example of this is seen in the advice scat out by the Department of Agriculture at (Continued on Paget...
...What ie really behind thi* eaea is, of course, the struggle between two rlaaaea In society—th* work* lag claas and th* employing class...
...James D. Graham of Montana, an acute observer of conditions la the Western Statu, writes The Mew Leader that unemployment In this region "has been on the increase for .four years...
...The cheaper scab coal will crowd out the union-mined coal mil thus "stimulate" unemployment at union mines and add union miners to the unemployed...
...Piatt and hi* clerk* return to the table* on which the ballot* have been pi teed...
...It has been argued, on (he other hand, that (he Coat of the machines in the long ran would he less than the cost of supplying annually millions of paper ballots throughout the State, fhieh may he used only once, wbosaas the voting machine is a permanent fixture...
...Meanwhile, all the evidence in the case had been destrojed...
...This section reads: "The public have the right freely to...
...In Belgium— In Belgium, Emile Vandervelda, SocialUt leader, ha* been a*ked by King Albert to form a Ministry to aucceed the THeuni* Cabinet, repudiated in the la*t election...
...It seems thai .the exact and honest operation of a voting machine and the correct tallying of votes cast through the use of such a machine could be prevented only by interference with the construction and adjustment of the voting machine, and such interference would be a rather difficult and laborious task to undertake...
...It must be apparent to you that the greater part of the opposition to this bill is a corrupt opposition, and emanates from those elements in the community who wish to preserve th# present paper ballot form of voting as one which fits in easily with the commission of election frauds...
...Butterworth waa attempting to read from, the Bill of Rights when the police began twinging their club...
...His- demand is supplemented by Nussbaum and by Karlin...
...Adjournments and postponements—too many to keep track of—delayed the case over a period of almost four years...
...The Colorado coal fields present another situation that adds to the general distress...
...Railroad workers are alto affeeted...
...W. now ¦Ppears that in view of the statute B^W, as construed by this Court, R*e4 no such right, rr d**ir' to <*H your Honor's atteotiori t* tb* tact that ai a prac-¦Hi not a l»gal—matur, tha right 9t ajaacaful aiaaanblag* tkomr th* atlk itrlk* waa achttv*d by that mMttng...
...Watchers at elections who lave protested against disht netl and corrupt practices havw on various occasions been, kiasauited by elect...
...War-torn Europe, brought to the brink of chao* by capitalism aad it* servile political pertie*, i* turning to the Socialist Party for the way out...
...for instructions from outside as Sure enough, shortly after Midnight an envoy from the Tammany district boss arrives from the outside...
...I can conceive of no honest basis for opposition to the Nicoll bill...
...EUROPE TURNS TO SOCIALISM "Socialists to Form Belgian Ministry" "Painleve to Form Cabinet With Socialists' Aid" "Socialists Backbone of German Republic" THESE headline* on the front page* each morning tell the • lorr of Socialism'* increasing power on the Continent...
...Furthermore, the strike issue was aggravated by the red bogey of Communism and revolution, because tha strike committee waa assisted by a. representative of tho Workers' party from New York...
...In the station house, under the surveillance of the police, the count is completed...
...The other day," reports Graham, "I counted forty men getting off a freight train from the East The unemployed are going East and coming West in droves...
...Wages art going down and shop conditions are becoming poor...
...Karlin then has the entire election board placed under arrest...
...Railroads are reducing their forces so that men who have beta conductors or engineers for many years are demoted to brakemen ana firemen and even to extra men who sre employed only occasionally...
...Some of the unsavory detail* of this irbitrary conviction ore etiU tmknoum...
...The New Leader it especially gratified to present it herewith: , By ROGER BALDWIN YOUR Honor, before you pass sentence on me I desire to make a statement of the facts and issues of this cue astI see them...
...We had sent our attor-gr* to plead with the Chief without IP*6**8- There was no recourse left H**° submit, or to protest, by a meeting in « public place...
...We understand this crime to consist of gathering together in a public place for the purpose of creating disorder and disturbing the peace...
...There is no relief in sight," he adds, "and the national administration has neither > the knowledge nor the ability to handle/ the situation...
...The testimony clearly show* that the procession from the strikers' hall arrived with the flag at Ita head, and that Mr...
...It is known that the contest for Assembly is close throughout the entire assembly district...
...But Piatt will not budge...
...we shRlf e perfecting and placing upon a dignified and respectable plane our method of conducting Elections arid assuring the citixena bf our 'State that their ( onstitutieril rights shall be safeguarded, regardless of their political opinions and political affiliations...
...From that time on during the strike there wa* no police Interference with freedom of tpeech and aiwmblagc...
...This is a warning to those who do not wish to be disappointed...
...The election of Assemblyman, for which position August Claejaens, Socialist, is a leading contender, is the main issue at stake...
...My personal views' and my imprisonment during the War ae a conscientious objector, of which tha prosecuting attorney endeavored to make an issue, have, I be)ieve, nothing to do with this case...
...There were scores of officers there, ready with drawn clubs to act...
...APrJlce Dictatorship I stated fb your Honor during this MM that the City Hall meeting, in >3,f*ce of the Chief's ban on strik-fiK- naD"c meetings, was held toj ***• out the legal rights involved...
...Aceepts Full Responsibility Accepting a* I do full responil* bility for this meeting, it ie cl«*f thai my fellow-defendante who at* tended at my request and direction are not equally responsible with me...
...This indictment would clearly neter hav* been brought unlet* this assemblage had been .held by strikers to get their right...
...We believe that in assembling on the City Hall steps on the night of October 6 after the Chief of Police had closed our private hall we were within our constitutional rights...
...In many instances a candidate who was declared defeated by corrupt election officials in charge of the ballots on electkn day was, after a legislative contest, declared elected after a legislative committee had re-examined and recounted the ballots...
...When an old Irishman offers to sell his rosary for something to eat, it Is sure hell...
...Ballot boxes have been wilfully stuffed by dishonest election officials...
...Tohn Block, Its State Chairman, addressed the following appeal to...
...Although, by hit surrender after the City Hall meeting, he admitted his error, nevertheless he sought to -vindicate po-lic* brutality by punishing our de-flnance of hi* order...
...I believed him as he certainly enjoyed his breakfast...
...We have followed In other place* precleety th* larmt tactic* which we followed in Pater-son, and in such race* our belief la what are our right* has been vindicate...
...The dinner will be held in Yorkville Casino, 210 East 86th street...
...That indictment was bated on a statute of 1798, reenact-ing the old English common-law offense of unlawful assembly...
...tiong have from time'fii time been notoriously dishonest^ If Wef can Sliminate dishonest/ if the hutajla-iiii of voting liiMs^Qli...
...Certainly...
...Reservations should be accompanied by check or money order...
...E. L. Socialist Party Appeals to Governor Smith to Sign i Voting Machine Bill...
...On Friday the trial will end...
...When this problem in simple mathematics has been solved, the tally sheets show, plain as day, that Felenstein hag 330 votes and Claessens 87...
...As attorney for certain candidates of the Socialist Party for public office, I have conducted prosecutions of election officials and I have also tried election contests before legislative committees...
...There is no stenographic record of this caie, nothing indeed but our own differing memories of the evidence submitted three and a fail/ month* uo, together with the fmmxteWr,~**fl yet tt is h ease TemaAaMe Tor the fact that it is the only on* of its kind tried in (II the 126 yean during which the statute creating the offense has been on the books...
...But we hopeif that your Honor'* decision might be la conformity with our conception of oar Constitutional liberties...
...today the modern locomotive is hauling from 3,800 to 4,000...
...The funny work will come later on when we start counting the local contests...
...So far, good...
...All during the evening at the polling place in the second election district of the 17th Assembly district, Daniel Piatt, chairman of the board, and a Tammany hanger-on, lias conducted the count in an arrogant, irregular manner...
...We, therefore, waived our right to a Jury la order to avoid thj* Uufltfm prejudice e which ar* aiwaya aroused ia a Jury trial...
...oh officials or by adherents of an opposing political party...
...A* for myself, I waa acting officially for my organisation, not from any personal motive or interest...
...Finally it came to trial last week before Judge Rosalsky...
...The call ea Socialism to assume the Government in Belgium followe on the Socialist electoral victory two week* ago, when eleven seals were gained by the Party...
...And Germany— In Germany, the hope of the Republic lies la the Repi-blicaa soalition, of which the Socialist* are the dominating group...
...In the stillness of the post-midnight hour, the police patrol goes clanging through the Harlem streets, the entire election board prisoners, and the ballots taken along as evidence...
...We tkirefore assume that your Honor effttains the legal doctrine that we intended the consequences of our act ""tamely, the breaking up of our meeting by the police with its attendant disorder...
...W* held our scheduled meeting th* following week, continuing th* City Hall moating from th* point at which the police broke it up...
...The evidence in the trial of Daniel Piatt, first of three Tammany polling place officials to be placed on trial for the stealing of Socialist votes In the 1921 election, has been completed...
...They are covered by another indictment, and hive no reference to the purpose of this meeting...
...Alfred K. gmith, Governor of the Slate of New York, Executive MarfMon, Albany, New York...
...We were, therefore, nut unprepared foe the conduct of tha police...
...Not having any use for a rosary I did not buy it...
...Notorious Fraud* It is a matter of common knowledge that voting by means of paper ballots has frequently resulted in gross frauds both at primary and at general elections...
...THE RIGHT TO VOTE BY THE GRACE OF TAMMANY IF there be any mystery attached to Governor Smith's refusal to sign the voting machine bill which would insure New York some measure of honest election, a clue may be had in Judge Rosalsky's courtroom in the CtrimiUftl QOorOI Building...
...Taking up their tally (heats, they calmly proceed to draw line* through 140 tell* mark* alongside of Clae*-•en*' name...
...Tjie Nicon bill, which provides fl>r ,he installation of voting mart 1 foes in the polling places in th*-forge cities of the State, is nov before him for his ' W°Ltt!fi$fcy, *Mek has been the grout'it sufferer from the annual outhr...
...W3ti»V * «<»*< ' Greet Debs at Dinner Wednesday...
...April 14, on the Nicoll bill to amend the Election Law in relation to the adoption and use of voting machines in cities having a population of 176,000 or more...
...It waa stated that a few man struck back at officer* in thai rindlgnatlon at thi* assault upon a peaceful meeting, the effort to tear tho American flag from the Kimball staters and to prevent the reading of the Bill of Right...
...Unemployment is by no means confined to the Western States...
...It i* for the Socialist ballot* that bo roearvoa thi* bit of affection, knowing an ink *pot make* a ballot void...
...Wwelcomed such a test to end the "•tolerable polite dictatorship over jfflNadom of speech and assemblage...
...It has been extremely difficult and often impossible successfully to prosecute persons who have violated the Election Law or the Penal Law in polling places, in connection with such prosecutions material and necessary witnesses have often been intimidated, and, in some instances, a sympathetic district attorney has allowed prosecutions to slumber for many months or for years, and at the end of their long sleep they have been quietly dropped or half-heartedly prosecuted...
...Paul and West to San Diego, California, and he predicts that It will become acute by the time of the Congressional elections in 1026...
...John Novin Sayre and othor ipaak-ari, and notified the Chief of Police, h* abandoned lnt arbitrary and law-let* position, and told the striker* that th* police would not interfere further with their meejing* In Turn Hall...
...IF HE will, Governor Smith of New York can, with one scratch of the pen, eliminate aU further possibility of crooks*, elections which have j been so iiufijenBu in recent years...
...Protests from Marcal only bring the retort: "Keep quiet...
...W* have hoped few a decision which would make it clear for tho Xttture that eitixea* of Pater-ion have the right, to tens abumd by the police whenever industrial conflict* have taken place, to take such atop* a* we took...
...Two men were brutally assaulted, ani...
...Then, Ignoring insistent plea* of the Soeiallat watchers, the tally clerks, under Piatt'a instruction*, proceed to place about 140 tally mark* in the column opposite Felea*tetu'* name...
...Those casei ar* Incidental...
...How Lag will America leg behind...
...Railroad officials no longer pay any attention to this traffic...
...W*had endeavored unsuccessfully to PJtle this issue by getting* an order wtom the Vice-Chancellor restraining g» police...
...For this reason, end for the additional reason that the daily papers have refused to print any part of Baldwin's etatement to the court...
...In view of that situation, I desire to say what it is my privilege to say before sentence is passed Mac...
...That make* hie total 87—by the Tammany numeral •y*tem...
...The followinu wae prepared by Baldwin ae hit etatement to tkt court, but the presiding judge would not hear if...
...A Socialist '• at the head of tha great Prussian province...
...Whoa wa announced Mie da/ after th* City Hall making than wa would m**t in Torn Hall the following week with Bishop Paul Jon** of th* Episcopal Church, th* Rev...
...One* Karlin observe* Piatt en-gaged in a particularly interesting- practice...
...In complete disregard of the election lsws, Piatt and hla confederates leave the ballots on the table and retire to a rear room for consultation with the messenger...
...At the moment ef gelag to pre** it appear* that the Harriet Cabinet, liberal as It was, will be replaced with a Cabinet even more to the Left, la which the Socialist* may held three portfolio...
...Price per plate is $2.00...
...The Rockefeller company "unions" in that State signed an agreement last month reducing wages twenty per cent in order to "stimulate consumption of coal...
...A tally of the votes for Member if Assembly Anally shows that Claessena has 227 votes, Felenstein 135 votes...
...Our practical purpose had been accomplished...
...The objoct of the visit i* *OOn revealed...
...the Governor: Hon...
...One officer alone could have dispersed that meeting by an orderly arrest of the chairman and speaker...
...Experienced watchers as they are, Marcal and Nussbaum realise Piatt is waiting...
...W* are disappointed that, in ydur Honor'* view, the statute of 1798 Impair* that right...
...The rfoi y prett hae tone tittle to bring them to light...
...Land and farmers may go to waste in order that Coolidge economy may be glorified...
...He offered to sell his rosary for 25 cents to bay something to eat...
...The undisputed testimony- clearly ahow* that the meeting was, held with the declared purpose to protest grievance* in orderly fashion, and that the chairman, gpeaker* and flag-bearers were Instructed, and had agreed in case of interference, to submit quietly to arrest in order to test the issue out in tho court...
...There is also an opposition which comes from those who have been making and wjsh to continue to make largs>ffroflts annually in connection with the printing of the numerous' quantities, -erf paper ballots which aie regained in ou primary and genjpSl™ elections...
...After the recount had revealed the palpable fraud, a Grand Jury indictment superseded the police court case...
...S. JOHN BLOCK, State Chairman, Socialist Party...
...A Socialist Party congres* will meet Sunday to consider the King'* requeat...
...assemble together, to consult for I he common good, to make known their opinions to the!r rep...
...Ten years ago," writes Graham, "freight locomotives handled trains of 1,200 tons...
...I say again, your Honor, that th* police and the police alona were responsible for tho disorder...
...Expense, however, lloUW be a wiat-ter of secondary consideration^ I" a political demoexjayraonest aJec-tions should iHs'fnaktors of course, but unfoi Innately hvopr State and in other parts of the opuntry ele...
...There could be no more appropriate plsce to exorcise it than at the seat °f local government, the City Hall...
...their scalps split Open...
...And Franco-la France, the Socialist demand for a capital levy on the wealth amassed by capital before and during the war baa caused the fall of the Harriot Government...
...God watches over children, the United States and fools...
...Paper ballots have been wilfully mutilated and invalidated by dishonest election officials...
...The Oregon Legislature appropriated 11,000,000 to loan to farmers for the purchase of seed for planting spring wheat...
...union with ite powerful political and industrial backing...
...NORTHWEST HARD HIT Farmers and Industrial Workers Face Bleak Prospects By JAMES ONEAl UNEMPLOYMENT, thi curse of the wage system, has gripped many sections of the nation...
...There wai no violence or disorder...
...You have found all of us eight defendants guilty of the crime of unlawful assembly as charged in the indictment...
...In this do-nothing policy the Legislatures are following the "economy" policy of President Coolidge, Republicans and Democrats alike are indifferent to the hordes of hungry and unemployed men who are tramping and riding trains in search of work...
...Jury Trial Waived We elected to try thi* caie on clear-cut Issues of law...
...Marcal demands the ballots be recanvassed in an orderly manner...
...He told me that he could not beg, that he had never done it, but that he had not eaten in over twenty-four hours...
...Ia thle Struggle the police almost everywhere aide with the proper!led employ ing interest* as against the workers...
...Surely the presefgKtion of profit-making opportbiitleV* for large printing establishbtfuta is not a consideration to which the guaranty of honest election* should be subordinated...
...t\ of vote) stealing, has, through ?i...
...W* Were Within Our Rights" AU of us have denied any such in-tttt or acts, and no evidence was •admitted contradicting us...
...MAKE YOUR APPLICATIONS NOW...
...I have also been in attendance in various polling places on election days, both during the balloting and during the counting...
...Former Assemblyman August Claessens and William Karlin, Hy man Marcal and Samuel Nussbaum, watchers, almost a score of police officers, have painted a full-length picture of Tammany's election methods...
...Yat none of these factors offers any moral or legal justification for tha action of the police, Thle trial is, of .course, merely sn Incident la the long struggle Of the working-clan* for the right* tn org* ti ire and strike...
...But the Governor of Washington vetoed a similar appropriation on the ground that it was a waste of money...
...renentati ves, and to petition for redress of grievance...
...Tb* testimony shows there was no resistance worthy of the name by the crowd, which was dispersed In a few moments...
...Reservations should be accompanied by cheek or money order and addressed to Julius Gerber, Room 60S, 7 East 15th street, New York City...
...Agricultural Outlook Dismal If we turn to agriculture the economic prospects are just as black...
...It il, general, but little is being said by the newspapers about it...
...Graham's study of this economic situation includes a region extending as far East as St...
...Small country newspapers are going out of business and printers are being discharged...
...Two daya later w* hold another meeting at which th* principal speaker was th* Wroker*' party repro*eata«iv«, Whoa* attack* on local official* -had cauaod th* Chief to close the'hall...
...The, lawyers for the prosecution, Assistant District Attorney Wallace, and for the defense, former Judge Sriit-kin and Senator Josephs, will sum up and the case will go to the jury...
...For them, I aik the utmoit leniency of thi* Court...
...Kelelist e in Is the Tammany candidate...
...D is our belief that Section 18 of th* Constl-t ut ion of New Jersey assure* as th* right which we have taken...
Vol. 2 • April 1925 • No. 16
