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To THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
REPORT
ILLEGAL PRACTICES
| UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
R. G. Brown,
Memphis, Tenn.
ZECHARIAH CHAFEE, JR.,
Cambridge, Mass.
FELIX FRANKFURTER,
Cambridge, Mass.
ERNST FREUND, .
SWINBURNE HALE,
New York City.
FRANCIS FISHER KANE, .
Philadelphia, Pa.
Chicago, Ill.
ALFRED S. NILES,
IROSCOE POUND,
Cambridge, Mass.
Jackson H. RALSTON,
Washington, D. C.
DAVID WALLERSTEIN,
Philadelphia, Pa.
FRANK. P. WALSH,
New York City.
TYRRELL WILLIAMS,
St. Louis, Mo.
Baltimore, Md.
NATIONAL POPULAR GOVERNMENT LEAGUE
WASHINGTON, D. C.
f
MAY, 1920





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Q?. a 5 F1 r.s 7, 1932 . . . - . . .
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..TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE: ,
For more than six months we, the undersigned lawyers,
whose sworn duty it is to uphold the Constitution and
Laws of the United States, have seen with growing appre-
hension the continued violation of that Constitution and
breaking of those Laws by the Department of Justice o
the United States government. - -
Under the guise of a campaign for the suppression of -
radical activities, the office of the Attorney General, act-
ing by its local agents throughout the country, and giving
express instructions from Washington, has committed
continual illegal acts. Wholesale arrests both of aliens
and citizens have been made without warrant or any
process of law; men and women have been jailed and held
incomunicado without access of friends or counsel; homes
have been entered without search-warrant and property
seized and removed; other property has been wantonly
destroyed; workingmen and workingwomen suspected of
radical views have been shamefully abused and mal-
treated. Agents of the Department of Justice have been
introduced into radical organizations for the purpose of
informing upon their members or inciting them to activi-
ties; these agents have even been instructed from Wash-
ington to arrange meetings upon certain dates for the
express object of facilitating wholesale raids and arrests.
In support of these illegal acts, and to create sentiment in
its favor, the Department of Justice has also constituted
itself a propaganda bureau, and has sent to newspapers
and magazines of this country quantities of material de-
signed to excite public opinion against radicals, all at the
expense of the government and outside the scope of the
Attorney General’s duties. . *
We make no argument in favor of any radical doctrine
as such, whether Socialist, Communist or Anarchist. No


4
one of us belongs to any of these schools of thought. Nor
do we now raise any question as to the Constitutional
protection of free speech and a free press. We are con-
cerned solely with bringing to the attention of the Ameri-
can people the utterly illegal acts which have been com-
mitted by those charged with the highest duty of en-
forcing the laws—acts which have caused widespread
suffering and unrest, have struck at the foundation of
American free institutions, and have brought the name
of our country into disrepute. . . . . t
These acts may be grouped under the following heads:
(1) Cruel and Unusual Punishments:
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitu-
tion provides: -
“Excessive bail shall not be required nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and un-
usual punishments inflicted.” - -
Punishments of the utmost cruelty, and heretofore un-
thinkable in America, have become usual. Great num-
bers of persons arrested, both aliens and citizens, have
been threatened, beaten with blackjacks, struck with fists,
jailed under abominable conditions, or actually tortured.
Annexed hereto as Exhibits 1-1c, 2-2f, 5a, 5b, and 9 are
affidavits and evidence of these practices. '' -
(2) Arrests without Warrant: -
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution provides:
“The right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects,
against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by * . .
Oath or affirmation, and particularly de-
scribing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.” . .
Many hundreds of citizens and aliens alike have been
arrested in wholesale raids, without warrants or pretense
of warrants. They have then either been released, or
5
have been detained in police stations or jails for in-
definite lengths of time while warrants were being ap-
plied for. This practice of making mass raids and mass
arrests without warrant has resulted directly from the
instructions, both written and oral, issued by the Depart-
ment of Justice at Washington. The cases are far too
numerous to catalogue, but typical instances may be
found in Exhibits 1-1b, 2-2f, 5 and 13. The secret in-
structions of the Department also appear as Exhibits 11
and 12. - - ... " '
(3) Unreasonable Searches and Seizures:
The Fourth Amendment has been quoted above.
In countless cases agents of the Department of Justice
have entered the homes, offices, or gathering places of
persons suspected of radical affiliations, and, without pre-
tense of any search warrant, have seized and removed
property belonging to them for use by the Department of
Justice. In many of these raids property which could
not be removed or was not useful to the Department, was
intentionally smashed and destroyed. Exhibit 2a is a
photograph of the interior of a house raided by the De-
partment of Justice. Exhibit 14 gives a recent opinion
of the U. S. Supreme Court in a non-radical case, con- -
demning seizure without warrant by the Department of
Justice, and Exhibit 15 the opinion of the U. S. District
Court in Montana in a more flagrant radical case. Other
Exhibits bearing on this point are 2, 2a, 3 and 13.
(4) Provocative Agents: -
We do not question the right of the Department of
Justice to use its agents in the Bureau of Investigation
to ascertain when the law is being violated. But the
American people has never tolerated the use of under-
cover provocative agents or “agents provocateurs,” such
as have been familiar in old Russia or Spain. Such
agents have been introduced by the Department of Jus-
tice into the radical movements, have reached positions
of influence therein, have occupied themselves with in-
forming upon or instigating acts which might be declared
criminal, and at the express direction of Washington have
brought about meetings of radicals in order to make pos-
sible wholesale arrests at such meetings. Attention is
specially called to Exhibits 10 and 11, which are the secret
instructions issued from Washington, Exhibit 13 contain-
ing an abstract of the testimony in the Colyer case in this
regard, and to Exhibits 6, 7 and 8. . -
(5) Compelling Persons to be Witnesses against Them-
selves: . • . -
The Fifth Amendment provides as follows:
“No person. “ ” * shall be gompelled
in any criminal case to be a witness against
himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law.”
It has been the practice of the Department of Justice
and its agents, after making illegal arrests without war-
rant, to question the accused person and to force admis-
sions from him by terrorism, which admissions were sub-
sequently to be used against him in deportation proceed-
ings. Instances of this sort appear in various Exhibits
numbers 1, 1b, and 2b-2f. Attention is also called to
the Cannone case, Exhibit 9, in which Department agents
committed assault, forgery and perjury.
(6) Propaganda by the Department of Justice:
The legal functions of the Attorney General are: to
advise the Government on questions of law, and to prose-
cute persons who have violated federal statutes. For the
Attorney General to go into the field of propaganda
against radicals is a deliberate misuse of his office and a
deliberate squandering of funds entrusted to him by Con-
gress. Annexed as Exhibit 17 is a copy of a form letter
sent out by the Attorney General under date of January *:
27, 1920, to many magazines and editors throughout the
7 * .
country, deliberately intended to prejudice them in favor
of his actions. Exhibit 18 is a description of an illus-
trated page offered 'free to country newspapers at the
expense of the Department of Justice, patently designed
to affect public opinion in advance of court decision and
prepared in the manner of an advertising campaign in
favor of repression. These documents speak for them-
selves. - - f
The Exhibits attached are only a small part of the evi-
dence which may be presented of the continued violation
of law by the Attorney General's Department. These
Exhibits are, to the best of our knowledge and belief
(based upon careful investigation) truthful both in sub-
stance and detail. Drawn mainly from the four centers
of New York City, Boston, Mass., Detroit, Mich., and
Hartford, Conn., we know them to be typical of condi-
tions which have prevailed in many parts of the country.
Since these illegal acts have been committed by the
highest legal powers in the United States, there is no
final appeal from them except to the conscience and con-
demnation of the American people. American institu-
tions have not in fact been protected by the Attorney
General’s ruthless suppression. On the contrary those
institutions have been seriously undermined, and revolu-
tionary unrest has been vastly intensified. No organiza-
tions of radicals acting through propaganda over the last
six months could have created as much revolutionary sen-
timent in America as has been created by the acts of the
Department of Justice itself. . .
Even were one to admit that there existed any serious
“Red menace” before the Attorney General started his
“unflinching war” against it, his campaign has been sin-
gularly fruitless. Out of thé many thousands suspected
by the Attorney General (he had already listed 60,000
by name and history on Nov. 14, 1919, aliens and citizens)
what do the figures show of net results? Prior to Janu-
ary 1, 1920, there were actually deported 263 persons.
8
Since January 1 there have been actually deported 18
persons. . Since January 1 there have been ordered de-
ported an additional 529 persons, and warrants for 1,547
have been cancelled (after full hearings and considera-
tion of the evidence) by Assistant Secretary of Labor
Louis F. Post, to whose courageous reëstablishment of
American Constitutional Law in deportation proceedings
(see Exhibit 16) are due the attacks that have been made
upon him. The Attorney General has consequently got
rid of 810 alien suspects, which, on his own showing,
leaves him at least 59,160 persons (aliens and citizens).
still to cope with. • ‘
It has always been the proud boast of America that
this is a government of laws and not of men. Our Con-
stitution and laws have been based on the simple elements
of human nature. Free men cannot be driven and re-
pressed; they must be led. Free men respect justice and
follow truth, but arbitrary power they will oppose until
the end of time. There is no danger of revolution so
great as that created by suppression, by ruthlessness, and
by deliberate violation of the simple rules of American
law and American decency.
It is a fallacy to suppose that, any more than in the
past, any servant of the people can safely arrogate to
himself unlimited authority. To proceed upon such a
supposition is to deny the fundamental American theory
of the consent of the governed. Here is no question of a
vague and threatened menace, but a present assault upon
the most sacred principles of our Constitutional liberty.
9
The foregoing report has been prepared May, 1920,
under the auspices of the National Popular Government
League. - - -
R. G. BROWN, .
- Memphis, Tenn.
ZECHARIAH CHAFEE, JR.,
Cambridge, Mass.
FELIX FRANKFURTER, x
Cambridge, Mass.
ERNST FREUND,
. Chicago, Ill.
Sw1NBURNE HALE, -
• ‘ New York City.
FRANCIS FISHER KANE,
- IPhiladelphia, Pa.
ALFRED S. NILES,
- Baltimore, Md.
ROSCOE Pound,
Cambridge, Mass.
JACKSON H. RALSTON,
Washington, D. C.
DAVID WALLERSTEIN,
Philadelphia, Pa.
FRANK. P. WALSH,
- New York City.
TYRRELL WILLIAMS, *
St. Louis, Mo.
10
LIST of ExHIBITs.
1. Hartford Jail Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1a. Nakhwat Affidavit (Hartford Abuses) . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . 12
1b. Musek Affidavit (Ibid.) ..... * * * s • e s s e e s - s > * * * * * * * * 13
1c. Dimitroff Affidavit (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Statement as to Raid, Russian People's House, New York. 16
2a. Photograph, Russian People's House after Raid. . . . . . . 17
2b. Affidavit of Lavrowsky (Beatings, etc., N. Y.). . . . . . . . 18
2c. Affidavit of Melikoff (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2d. Affidavit of Ischenko (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . .… 19
2e. Affidavit of Kravchuck (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2f. Affidavit of Karas (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. DeSilver Affidavit (Destruction of Property, Novy Mir,
• -º- s h ’ s e s = < e < e < . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4. Salsedo and Elia Cases (Secret Confinement, Suicide, etc.) 21
5. Jailing Radicals in Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘. . . . . . . . 22
5a. Affidavit, Alexander Bukowetsky (Detroit Abuses) . . . . 23
5b. Ibid. Violet Bukowetsky (Ibid.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5c. Statement as to Bukowetsky Affidavits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6. Case of Julia Pratt (Provocative Agents) . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
7. Petzold Case (Provocative Agents) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
8. Under-Cover Private Informants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
9. Affidavit Cannone Case (Beating, Perjury, Forgery)... 31
10. Department of Justice Instructions, August 12, 1919. . . 37
11. Department of Justice Confidential Letter, December 27,
1919 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e º tº & tº e º e º e . . . . . . . . . 37
12. Department of Justice Local Instructions to Boston
Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
13. The Colyer Case (Illegal Raids, Provocative Agents, etc.) 42
14. Opinion, Silverthorne Case (U. S. Supreme Court). . . . . 56
15. Opinion, Jackson Case (U. S. District Court). . . . . . . . . 57
16. Opinion, Truss Case (Asst. Sec'y of Labor). . . . . . . . . . . 58
17. Propaganda Letter from Attorney General to Magazines. 64
18. Propaganda Page, Department of Justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
19. “Lest We Forget". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
(Italics in these Elahibits are ours.)
11
EXHIBIT 1.
HARTFORD JAIL SITUATION.
In Bridgeport, Conn., on November 8, 1919, various workingmen
had come together to discuss ways and means for buying an auto-
mobile to be employed for instruction purposes. The meeting was
raided and 63 men arrested without warrants by agents of the De-
partment of Justice and taken to the police station. A day or two
later, 16 of these were released. The remaining 47, after being held
three days in the police station, where they slept on iron bunks
without cover or mattress, and where they were fed little or nothing,
were transferred by the Department of Justice to the Hartford jail.
Other persons who were arrested in this way or who had applied'
at the Hartford jail for permission to see their friends, were also
taken up and confined in the jail. There were finally 97 men held
for deportation. Most of them were questioned by Department of
Justice agents; some were beaten or threatened with hanging or
suffocation in order to obtain answers from them. Warrants of
arrest for these men were requested and obtained from the Depart-
ment of Labor by the Department of Justice. Most of the 97 pris-
oners remained in practically solitary confinement until the end of
April—five months. When the facts finally came to the attention
of Mr. Louis F. Post, Assistant Secretary of Labor, he ordered the
#. all transferred to the Immigrant Station at Deer Island,
Oston. - . - - -
During these five months the prisoners were allowed no reading
matter; were kept alone in their cells except for occasional visits
from Department of Justice agents or hearings before Department
of Labor Inspectors; were refused, in some cases, knowledge of the
charges against them; were refused, in some cases, knowledge of
the amount of bail under which they were held; were allowed only
2 to 5 minutes a day to wash their face and hands at a sink outside
their cells, and 5 minutes once a month to wash their bodies in a tub,
were given practically no exercise, and were fed with foul and in-
sufficient food. - - -
In the Hartford jail there exist four punishment rooms, all alike,
unventilated and utterly dark, size 4 feet 3 inches by 8 feet 10 inches,
with solid concrete floors, no furniture of any kind, and placed over
the pump room of the boiler so that the temperature in them be-
comes unbearably high. A number of the supposed anarchist or Com-
munist prisoners, probably ten to fifteen, were confined in these
rooms for periods of 36 to 60 hours. During their imprisonment
in the Suffocating heat without air; they were given one glass of
water and one slice of bread every 12 hours. Some of them on
being released had to be revived before they could be carried to their
cells; one man who was in only 36 hours was able to get to his cell
unaided. - - …
These Hartford prisoners were practically buried alive for five
months, being even denied the privilege of seeing their relatives or
friends, who made constant attempts to communicate with them.
12
Only after a lawyer had finally succeeded in gaining access to the
jail, were the conditions at all ameliorated and the men, ultimately
moved to Deer Island. That there were no substantial charges
against at least ten of them is shown by the fact that after being
held in $10,000 bail for two months and a half, those ten were re-
leased without bail on January 24th. It seems probable that at least
a majority had no political views of any special nature, but were
simply workingmen of Russian nationality speaking little or no
English. -
The foregoing statement, with many details, is evidenced by the
statements of Isaac Shorr of the New York bar, who represented
these men, of an impartial expert investigator who was sent to the
jail, and personal interviews with some of the men. Affidavits by
some of them follow: - - -
ExHIBIT 1a.
STATE of ConnecTICUT,
City of Bridgeport, 88:
SEMEON NAKHWAT, being duly sworn; deposes and says: "
I was born in Grodno, Russia, and am thirty-three years old and unmar-
ºried. - - . sº
In the autumn of 1919 I was a member of the Union of Russian Workers.
I am not an anarchist, Socialist or Bolshevik and do not take much interest
in political theories. I joined the Russian Workers because I was a workman
speaking Russian and wanted to associate with other Russians and have the
benefit of the social intercourse and instruction in mechanics which the society
gave. By trade I am a machinist. .
On flyovember 8, 1919, I was at a meeting of Russians in Bridgeport, who
had come together to discuss ways and means for buying an automobile to be
used for instruction purposes. At that time I was employed by the American
Brass Co. in Ansonia as a machinist, working a ten hour day at 46% cents an
hour. At the meeting I speak of, I was arrested with all the other men at the
meeting, 63 in number. The arrest was made by Edward J. Hickey, a special
agent of the Department of Justice, who had helping him about fourteen
Bridgeport policemen in uniform and about nine Department of Justice agents
in plain clothes. No warrant of arrest was shown me then or at any other
time, nor did I see any warrant shown to anyone else who was arrested. -
I was taken with the other men to the police station on Fairfield Avenue
and held there three days, being in a cell with two other men. During these
three days no one gave me any hearing or asked me any questions. I was
then taken to Hartford, Conn., with about forty-eight of the men, being in-
formed that the rest of those arrested had been released.
I was held in the Hartford Jail for six weeks without any hearing. In
the seventh week I had one hearing before the Labor Department, which
hearing was held in the Post Office Building and was then returned to jail.
In the thirteenth, week of my confinement Edward J. Hickey came into my
*ell and asked me to give him the address of a man called Boyko in Green-
xoint, Brooklyn. I did not know this man and told Hickey that I did not.
5ickey thereupon struck me twice with his fist, once in the forehead and once
in the jaw, whereupon I fell. He then kicked me and I became unconscious.
Hickey is a big man, weighing two hundred pounds. For three weeks after
this I suffered severe pain where I was kicked in the back. -
In the last part of January or early in February, my finger was severely in-
fected. I asked the guards to let me have a doctor to treat my finger. They
refused, and I asked again, whereupon they said to come with them. They
took me to a room in the basement of the jail with a cement floor, cement
walls and an iron door. The room was pitch dark, and the only means for
lighting or ventilating it that I could sée was a small hole in the door. The
floor of this room was hot and the walls were very warm to the touch. I.
stayed in this room for thirty-six hours, from 8.30 one morning to 8.30 the
13
following evening. At times the room was so hot that I was forced to remove
all my clothing except my underwear; at other times I found it necessary to
resume my clothing. The evening of the first day I was given one glass of
water and one slice of bread, and the morning of the second day I was given
the same. I received no other food or water during the thirty-six hours.
There was no furniture in the room, and no sanitary facilities except an iron
pail. On my release from this room I was barely able to move. No medical
attention was provided for my infected finger which did not heal entirely until
some time after my release from jail in April. - *
I was released from the Hartford Jail on April 7th, having been in confine-
ment five months, my release coming about through an attorney who came to
the jail to see other prisoners and who, after seeing me, obtained a reduction
of my bail from ten thousand dollars to one thousand dollars, and secured the
putting up of $1,000 bail. During the five months of my confinement I was
continually in my cell the whole time, except that twice during the five
months the guards took me out of the cell and tried to force me to run, which
I was physically unable to do. During the whole period I had only one inter-
view with a friend, although after my release I learned that seven attempts to
see me had been made. The only other times I was out of my cell were for
two or three minutes each day when I was allowed to go to wash my face at a
sink, and five minutes once a month when I was allowed to take a bath in a
tub. Only five minutes were allowed for undressing and taking the bath for
each man, and I was forced to go back to my cell without time to get the soap
out of my hair. I was not allowed to bathe my body more than once a month
in this manner. * } - -
... The food in the jail was very bad; some of it so foul that it could not be
eaten at all and not sufficient in quantity to maintain a person in health. -
. No books or newspapers were allowed me during the five months, although
I asked for them. - .
During the five months' confinement I was kept alone in a small cell with no
One to talk to. • .
At the time of my arrest I was earning an average of $31.00 per week, in-
cluding bonus and overtime. Since my release on the 7th day of April I have
been unable to secure employment, being informed wherever I apply and state
my record that persons under suspicion of being bolsheviks are not desired. I
have made diligent effort to obtain employment but have been unable to do so.
- - - SEMEON NAKHWAT.
Witness : f .
A. MANKO.
STATE of ConnecTICUT, , , ,
. County of Fairfield,
City of Bridgeport:
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of May, 1920.
[NOTARIAL SEAL.] - - JOSEPH L. KOCHISS,
Notary Public.
ExHIBIT 1b.
STATE of ConnECTICUT,
City of Bridgeport, ss:
PETER MUSEK, being duly sworn, says: . .
I reside at No. 437 Helen Street, Bridgeport, Conn. I am 33 years of age
and am working as a tailor in Bridgeport. On the 24th day of December, 1919,
I left Bridgeport for Hartford and applied for a pass to see a friend, Mike
Lozuk, who was arrested on the 8th day of November, 1919, at a meeting
place of Russians in Bridgeport. I heard that Lozuk was confined in the
Hartford Jail and wanted to see me. As soon as I appeared in the U. S.
Post Office Building at Hartford, Conn., where I asked for a pass to see
Lozuk, I was searched and immediately put under arrest and questioned by
an agent of the Department of Justice. Six men, I presume agents of the De-
partment of Justice, questioned me and threatened to hang me if I do not tell
them the truth. . In one instance, an agent of the Department of Justice,
whose name I do not know, brought a rope and tied it around my neck, stat-
'ing that he will hang me immediately if I do not tell him who conducts the
&
14
meetings and who are the main workers in an organization called the Union
of Russian Workers. This inquisition lasted fully three hours, after which I
was again threatened to be put into a gas-room and suffocated unless I gave
more particulars about other men in the Union of Russian Workers. This
was all done in the U. S. Post Office Building in the presence of six agents
of the Department of Justice. - . .
From the Post Office Building I was taken to a police station in Hartford,
where I was placed in a cell and released about eleven o’clock A. M. on the
26th day of December and taken to the U. S. Post Office Building, where I was
again questioned by about five agents of the Department of Justice up to five
o'clock in the afternoon. A statement was prepared by these agents in
English, which I was ordered to sign. After this I was taken to jail, where I
was kept for fully two weeks without any hearings. No visitors were allowed
to see me. I was not permitted to write any letters. At the end of about two
weeks I was chained to another man and led through the streets of Hartford
from the jail to the Department of Justice, where I was questioned by an im-
migration inspector. At the end of the hearing I was informed that if I wish
to be released I will have to put up $10,000 bail. Then I was taken back to
the jail, where I remained continually up to and including the 18th day of
March, 1920, when I was released on bail.
During my confinement I was given an opportunity to write two letters,
was not permitted to have any reading matter and was not given any writing
paper, so that I remained in the cell all this time without an opportunity to .
even see a newspaper or see a friend, with the exception of three visits
granted to my sister, who made numerous attempts to see me. My cell was
always locked with the exception of two or three minutes a day, when I was
permitted to run to a sink and Wash my face. I was not even permitted to
speak to my neighbor in the next cell, even though I could not see him because
of an intervening wall. I was hungry during all the time of my confinement,
for it was impossible to eat the food that was supplied by the jail, and I was
not permitted to buy anything with my own money. On four or five occasions
my sister brought some food, which was delivered to the office and then de-
livered to me by the jailer. This food assisted materially, and if not for that
I would probably have starved. . -
On the 6th day of February, 1920, a few minutes after Anton Dimitroff was
taken to the cellar, I was taken out from my cell and also brought to the base-
ment of the jail and put into a cell high enough for me to stand up in and
long enough for me to make about two and a half paces. When I was put in
the cell, I heard the jailer say to somebody “Give this man heat.” When I -
came into the cell it was quite warm. Soon thereafter the floor became hot
and I nearly roasted. I took my clothes off and remained absolutely naked
but the heat was unbearable. About five o'clock a man brought a glass of cold
water and one piece of bread. The cold water revived me a little and I heard
the man say again, “Give him some more heat.” After this the cell became
even hotter. I could not stand on my feet any longer and I remained on the
floor up to 8 o'clock in the morning, when the door opened and a man handed
me a glass of water and threw a piece of bread into the cell. I asked him to
bring a doctor for I felt that I was going to die. But he laughed at me, stat-
ing that I was strong enough to hold out, and locked the door again. I could
not eat the bread that was thrown into my cell that morning, for I felt ter-
rible pain in my chest and half of my body was almost roasted from contact
with the hot floor. I remained in the cell up to about 8 o'clock of the night
of February 8, 1920. The cell was so dark I could not even see my own
hands. - - . - - -
At about eight P. M. on the 8th day of February I heard a voice ordering
me to get out, but I was unable to get up. Two men stepped into the cell,
lifted me, carried me out of the cell, put my clothes on me, gave me a little
cold water, washed my face with cold water, took me out in the hall and a
fresh breeze revived me. After which I was taken back to my cell, where I re-
mained to the 18th day of March, 1920, when a number of my friends, among
them also a priest, decided that in order to save my life it is necessary to
make a collection for bail in the sum of $2,500, which was deposited in Lib-
erty Bonds, and I was released. - -
When I was arrested, the agents of the Department of Justice took a watch,
a pencil, a memorandum book, a belt and several other things from my
15
pocket. They also took, an arithmetic, a book on electricity and several other
text-books. When I was released I asked for my property, but was told that
nobody knows what became of it. - -
PETER MUZEK.
Witness : -
A. KO.
Sworn to before me this 18th day of May, 1920.
STATE of CóNNECTICUT,
County of Fairfield,
- City of Bridgeport:
Personally appeared Peter Muzek who signed this foregoing instrument to
be truth before me this 18th day of May, 1920. -
- JOSEPH KALAFUS,
[NOTARIAL SEAL.] .
- - Notary Public.,
ExHIBIT 10.
STATE OF Connecticut, - - . . -
2. City of Bridgeport, ss: -
ANTON DIMITROFF being duly sworn, says: - -
I am 27 years of age and reside at 732 Hallet Street, Bridgeport, Conn.
Prior to November 7, 1919, I owned a barber shop at the same address. On
the 7th day of November while in the process of shaving a customer, a few .
plain-clothes men came in and ordered me to follow them. I was compelled to
leave my customer half shaved and despite my request was forced to go with
the plain-clothes men without being afforded an opportunity to obtain an over-
coat or extra clothes and without being permitted to leave the premises in
secure condition. I landed in the police station on Fairfield Avenue, where
I was locked in a cell without any food. - y
I was confined in the police station for 5 days during which time I was not
allowed to wash even my hands and face. My assistant who desired to obtain
instructions. as to the care of my barber shop was refused permission to see
Iſle. -
On the twelfth day of November, about 10 in the morning I was chained
and taken to the Hartford jail. I remained in a cell in that jail from No-
vember 12, 1919, to April 7, 1920, a period of almost five months. During the
greater part of that time my bail was set at ten thousand dollars, a sum which
I was entirely unable to raise. Shortly before my release the bail was re-
duced to one thousand dollars, the amount in which I was then released.
During the five months. Of my imprisonment I remained in the cell con-
tinually with nothing to read, with no recreation of any kind. I was per-
mitted to Wash myself every day but was never given more than five minutes
to do so. I never had time to wipe my face or hands and was hurried back,
sometimes with the soap still on my head and face. One time I protested and
asked for an additional minute or two to wipe my face, but received an 'an-
swer “Stop barking.” In the month of February they permitted me to walk
for about ten or fifteen minutes a day. During the time of my confinement I
was permitted to see one visitor, although I know that a woman whom I knew.
came to see me twice and a man came to see me once but was not permitted to
do so. I was permitted to write four letters. . .
About the 6th day of February, 1920, an employee in the jail came and or-
dered me to carry out the pails from cells. I refused to do that, stating that
I was a barber and was ready to work at my trade and that I was ready to
carry out my own pail but that I did not intend to carry out pails for other
prisoners. I was immediately taken down to the basement and brought into a
dark room with no windows and no means of ventilation. As far as I could
judge, the size of the room was approximately 8 feet by 4 feet. The floor was
of cement and was very hot; even the walls and the door were hot. I was
placed in that room at nine o'clock in the morning of February 6, and re-
mained there until two o'clock in the afternoon of February 8, a total of
fifty-three hours. The only food that I received while in the cell was one
glass of water and a small piece of bread twice a day. I suffered intensely
throughout the period of my confinement in that cell, being forced soon after
16.
I was placed therein to remove all my clothing and to remain naked on ag-
count of the intense heat. Beginning with the second morning of my confine-
ment, namely the morning of February 7, I was too weak to stand up and re-
mained in a reclining position until I was removed from the cell. -My com-
plaints were disregarded until the afternoon of February 8, when my condi-
tion was such that I was unable to walk as much as ten feet without stop-
ping several times on account of weakness, dizziness, etc. My left arm and
left leg felt paralyzed so that I had difficulty in using them, and the pain
in my right leg was intense. -
I received medical treatment in the jail immediately after my release from
the cell and soon - after my release from jail was forced to obtain medical
treatment again. For the last three weeks I have been in the hospital, with
what I am informed is a 'form of rheumatism of the nerves, an ailment from
which I have never suffered in my life before. I am confined to my bed at
frequent intervals and still suffer great pain as a result of my treatment in
the jail, . . -
I was forced to sell my barber shop with its entire equipment at a great loss,
and am now without a place of business, without tools or the means of pur-
chasing them and in such bad health that I do not know when I shall be able
to resume my work in any capacity at all. -
witness :
ALEX. YARSHOFF,
ANTON DIMITROFF.
148 Bond street, Bridgeport, Conn.
Stars of CoNNECTICUT, r
County of Fairfield, -
City of Bridgeport:
Subscribed and sworn to before me this' 18th day of May, 1920.
[NOTARIAL SEAL.]. JAMES T. ROURKE,
- - # Notary Public.
NoTE.-The hot cells in which these men and others were punished became
known as the “Steam Room.” A belief grew up among the prisoners that in
some way steam could be turned on and off at will. We have found no appa-
ratus for such a purpose, and ascribe the belief (1) to excessive unventilated
heat which might produce the effect of steam from perspiration, (2) to delirium
and alternate fever and chills of men so confined for many hours, see Nakh-
wat, top p. 13, (3) to the apparent desire of the guards to stimulate the mental
torture of such a belief, see Musek, third par., p. 14. -
ExHIBIT 2. ' -
RAID ON RUSSIAN PEOPLE's HOUSE,
On November 7, 1919, the most violent of six raids, by agents of
the Department of Justice and the New York Bomb Squad, was.
made upon the Russian People's House, 133 East 15th Street, New
York City, in search of supposed anarchists and anarchistic liter-
ature. - . . . . -
The executive committee of the Federated Unions of Russian
Workers' occupied an office in the building, which was confined to
one room. The other rooms were used principally as educational
classrooms, except a small restaurant or cafeteria. -
At the time of the raid the Department agents had a few war-
rants for the arrest of supposed offenders. They went through the
building, and broke up and destroyed most of the furniture in the
place, including desks and typewriting machines. They “beaf up”
the persons in the place, amounting to several hundred, with black-
jacks and stair rails; broke up all the classes then in session and
*
^
|-
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‘OZ, LIHIHXGI

18
herded the students to the stairways, beating them as they went,
showing them from the landing on to the stairway so that many
fell and rolled down the stairs and were trampled upon by those wh
were shoved after them. . . .
After this raid several hundred prisoners were taken to the office
of the Department of Justice at 13 Park Row and there put through
the third degree of inquisition. Less than one-fifth of them were
held for deportation charges and all the remainder were released to
go about their business as being innocent of any wrongdoing.
Many of the persons assaulted suffered serious wounds, and one
man who was taken to Ellis Island was in a terrible condition. The
manner in which these acts were committed caused a mass meeting
of protest to be held the following evening (November 8) at Madi-
son Square Garden, presided over by Dudley Field Malone.
All these facts were immediately put before the Attorney General
in detail, in a respectful letter written to him by Isaac Shorr, of
the New York bar, on behalf of the persons so arrested. Mr. Shorr
asked to be informed whether the acts of the Department's agents
had been committed by the authority of the Department, and, if not,
; the Department institute an investigation to fix the responsi-
ility. -
No answer was ever made to this letter, nor was its receipt ac-
knowledged. . . . -
EXHIBIT2b.
CITY OF NEW YORK, ~ * -
- County of New York,
State of New York, 8s: : -
MITCHEL LAVROWSKY, being duly sworn deposes and says: I am fifty
years old; am married and have two children; I reside at #999 Southern
Boulevard, Borough of Bronx, City of New York; I am a professional teacher
and was Principal and teacher in a Russian High School known as Iglitsky
High School for fifteen years in the City of Odessa, Russia; I declared my in-
tention to become a citizen of the United States.
On the 7th day of November, 1919; I conducted a class in Russian at 133
East 15th Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York. At about
8:00 o'clock in the evening, while I was teaching algebra and Russian, an
agent of the Department of Justice opened the door of the school, walked in
with a revolver in his hands and ordered everybody in the school to step
aside; then ordered me to step towards him. I wear eye-glasses and the agent
of the Department of Justice-ordered me to take them off. Then without any
provocation, struck me on the head and simultaneously two others struck and
... beat me brutally. After I was beaten and without strength to stand on my
feet, I was thrown down stairs and while I rolled down, other men, I pre-
sume also agents of the Department of Justice, beat me with pieces of wood
which I later found out were obtained by breaking the banisters. I sustained
a fracture of my head, left shoulder, left foot, and right side. Then I was
ordered to wash myself and was taken, as I now understand, to 13 Park
Row,” Borough of Manhattan, City:6f New York, where I was examined by
various people and released about 12:00 midnight.
(Signed) M. LAVROWSKY.
Sworn to before me this 21st day of November, 1919. -
[SEAL.] (Signed) MARKUs ROSENBERG,
- - - Notary Public.
" N.Y., Co., No. 66, N. Y. Reg. No. 10066. *
*Offices of the Department of Justice.
L9
ExHIBIT 20.
CITY OF NEW YORK, t . .
County of New York,
State of New York, ss:
NICAOf I MELIKOFF being duly sworn, says: I reside at 342 East 13th
Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York; I was one of the
students in a class-room at 133 East 15th Street, on the second floor. While
the class was in session, a few detectives came in and ordered everybody' to
get up and keep quiet, which everybody obeyed. They then searched everyone
in the class-room including me. I had Twenty ($20) Dollars in my pocket,
in addition to other papers. These $20 including the other papers were taken
from me and I never received the money back. We were then ordered to go
out of the room. Outside of the class-room there were two detectives standing
and everyone that passed out of the room was beaten. I was struck on my
head, and being the last one to go out, was attacked by one detective, who
knocked me down again, sat on my back, pressing me down to the floor with
his knee and bending my body back until blood flowed out of my mouth and
nose. I was then taken to a sink where I was ordered to drink’some water
and was also ordered to wash my face. After this, I was thrown down stairs
where I fell with my head down to the ground floor, after which I was ar-
rested and taken to 13 Park Row, where I was questioned and released.
(Signed) NICAOLI MELIECOFF.
Sworn to before me this 21st day of November, 1919.
[SEAL.] (Signéd) MARKUS ROSENBERG,
- . Notary Public.
N. Y. Co. No. 66, N. Y. Reg. No. 10003.
EXHIBIT 2d.
. Copy. .
CITY OF NEW YORK, - -
County of New York, -
State of New York, 8s:
VARFOLMEY ISCHENKO, being duly sworn, says: I reside at 94 East 7th
Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York; I am 28 years of age.
On the 7th day of November, 1919, I was in a class where Russian was
taught; about 8:00 o'clock in the evening, while the class was in session, the
door opened and a few detectives came in, searched everybody, including me,
after which I was struck on the head with a blackjack, and thrown down-
stairs, from where I was taken to Park Row, where I was questioned and re-
leased. - -
- (Signed) - WARFOLMEY ISCHENKO.
Sworn to before me this 19th day of November, 1919.
[SEAL.] .. (Signed) MARKUS ROSENBERG,
• * - . - * Notary Public.
N. Y. Co. No. 66, N. Y. Reg. No. 10003.
&
CITY of NEw YoFK, +
i County of New York,
State of New York, 88:
SEMEON E. KRAWCHUCK, being duly sworn, says, I live at 94 East 7th
Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York. I am 31 years old,
and am married. On the 7th day of November, 1919, I was on my way to
school at 133 East 15th Street; that for no reason, I was stopped by some
unknown person and ordered to go into the building, where I was immediately
EXHIBIT 26.
20
attacked and brutally beaten, as a result of which I received one blow on the
head, one tooth was knocked out, and was bruised all over my body, after
which I was taken to the Department of Justice where I was questioned and
released.
(Signed) - SEMEON E. KRAWCHUCK.
Sworn to before me this 19th day of November, 1919.
[SEAL.] (Signed) MARKUS ROSENBERG,
Notary Public. .
N. Y. Co. No. 66, N. Y. Reg. No. 10003.
EXHIBIT 2.f.
CETY of NEw York,
County of New York, -
State of New York, 88: *
PETER KARAS, being duly sworn, says: I reside at #624 East 11th Street,
in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York; on the 7th day of Novem-
ber, 1919, about 8:00 P. M., I was on 15th Street, between 3rd Avenue and
Irving Place; without any notice to me, two men which I afterward found
out, were agents of the Department of Justice, attacked me, struck me on
the face, and beat me up otherwise, brutally, after which I was taken to 13
Park Row, New York City, where I was examined by men whom I do not
know, and then released. . 4.
(Signed) - PETER KARAs.
Sworn to before me this 19th Day of November, .1919.
[SEAL.] (Signed) . . MARKUS ROSENBERG,
- Notary Public.
N. Y. Co. No. 66, N. Y. Reg. No. 10003. • -
Note: To the same general effect is the testimony of man after man ex-
amined in the deportation proceedings that grew out of the various raids on
the Russian People's House. . . z
ExHIBIT 3.
STATE of NEw York,
- County of New York, ss:
ALBERT DE SILVER, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
That on the 6th day of January, 1920, I was informed that a
raid was in progress at the office of “Novy Mir,” a Russian news-
paper, then published at No. 113 East 10th Street, New York City.
Upon receiving this information, I at once went to said premises oc-
cupied by the Novy Mir, and when I arrived found a police patrol
drawn up outside, into which a number of police officers and a num-
ber of men in plain clothes were carrying boxes, filled with books
and papers. I recognized and spoke to Mr. Mortimer R. Davis,
Special agent of the Bureau of Investigations of the United States De-
partment of Justice, who seemed to be in charge. I inquired of Mr.
Davis, with whom I was acquainted, whether I might go inside, and
he said that he didn't care but that I might get hit over the head if I
did. When the patrol wagon had left I went in and knocked on the
door of the front room, first floor. The premises were in charge of
one uniformed policeman who admitted me to the first floor which
i
. . 21
had formerly been occupied as the editorial offices of the paper.
The two rooms on that floor were in great confusion, the floors being
entirely covered with torn books and papers, some of them in Rus-
sian and some of them in English. Many books had been destroyed
by being ripped down the back. I saw among them a number of
recent books on Russian conditions such as are sold in all book
stores and including “The Red Heart of Russia” by Bessie Beattie,
“Ten Days That Shook the World” by John. Reed and others.
Pieces of broken typewriters were mixed up in the wreckage; two
desks had been drawn across the front windows so as to block the
view from the outside; other desks and tables were upset and the con-
tents removed and torn, the drawers lying about the room, and in
Some cases their panels and drawers smashed.
(Sgd.) ALBERT DE SILVER.
Sworn to before me this 28th day of April, 1920.
J. W. MIDDLEBROOK,
Notary Public, New York County.
N. Y. Co. Clk's No. 142, N.Y. Reg No. 2202.
My commission expires March 30, 1922.
ExHIBIT 4. .
SALSEDO AND ELIA CASES.
At about 4 A. M. on the morning of Monday, May 3rd, Andrea
Salsedo jumped or fell from the 14th story window of the Depart-
ment of Justice in the Park Row building, New York City, where he
had been secretly confined for about eight weeks.
His death makes it impossible to ascertain all the facts in the
cases of himself and Roberto Elia, who was confined with him.
The main facts so far known are as follows:
At the request of the Department of Justice, a deportation warrant
was issued by the Department of Labor against Elia on February
26, and a similar warrant against Salsedo on March 10, 1920. These
warrants were in the usual form, commanding that the men be taken
into the custody of the Department of Labor. Some time before
March 10, both men were arrested by the Department of Justice,
and were thenceforth secretly confined together, without hearing
of any kind and without the knowledge of the Department of Labor,
by the Department of Justice, in its offices on the 14th floor of the
Park Row Building. Two days after Salsedo fell to his death on
May 3rd, Elia was given up by the Department of Justice to the De-
partment of Labor and transferred to Ellis Island.
The history of all that may have happened to the men during the
eight weeks of their secret confinement will never be known. It
is claimed by the Department of Justice that they had turned State's
evidence and were confined at their own desire for their own protec-
tion. - - *
22
The foregoing statement rests upon information given by Walter
Nelles of the New York Bar, now retained as counsel for Elia in his
deportation proceedings, upon the main facts agreed upon in the
Various newspaper accounts, and upon evidence given by Assistant
Secretary Louis F. Post before the Rules Committee of the House .
of Representatives.
r EXHIBIT 5.
JAILING RADICALS IN DETROIT.
By Frederick R. Barkley.
. (The Nation, N. Y., Jan 31, 1920, and April 10, 1920.)
On January 2 Arthur L. Barkey, chief agent of the Department
of Justice in Detroit, received an order from Attorney General Pal-
mer instructing Mr. Barkey, according to his own statement, to
raid the headquarters of a group of interdicted organizations, prin-
cipally the Communist party, “as long as they continue to meet,”
in a “supreme effort to break the back of radicalism” in Detroit.
As a result, eight hundred men were imprisoned for from three to
six days in a dark, windowless, narrow corridor running around the
big central areaway of the city’s antiquated Federal Building; they
slept on the bare stone floor at night. * * * They were com-
pelled to stand in long lines for access to the solitary drinking foun-
tain and the one toilet; they were denied all food for twenty hours,
and after that were fed on what their families brought in; and they
were refused all communication with relatives or with attorneys.
These eight hundred men, so closely packed that they had to step
over one another's bodies to move about at all, included in their
number citizens and aliens, college graduates and laborers, skilled
mechanics making $15 a day and boys not yet out of short trousers. *
They were seized without warrant while attending dances and classes
in physical geography and similar subjects; * *
The raiders held altogether, it would appear from tabulations of
releases made from time to time, more than 350 American citizens,
or aliens who could prove conclusively, in the Department's secret ex-
aminations, that they had not even a “cursory interest in radicalism.”
For from three to six days they held these men and boys in this
temporary prison, and then began to transfer them to precinct police
stations and to the “bull pen” in the Municipal Building. >k >k
s

From 130 to 140 men were herded into the police “bull pen,” a
room built to hold petty offenders for not-more than three or four
hours, a one-window cellar room, twenty-four by thirty feet in size,
with no place to rest but wooden benches and a stone floor. For
seven days these men were held here, sleeping on the floor, fed
largely by the contributions from relatives handed. through the
single grated door. * * * * - - -
Today, January 19, the 300 men left of the 800 seized are housed
in an old army fort here. In addition, about 140 are out on bond.
Warrants for holding these 440 arrived from Washington on Jan- .
uary 12, ten days after the raids.
23
- Detroit, March 23.
Three months after their arrest in mass raids conducted by the
Department of Justice, 150 Detroit aliens are still held in an old
army fort in this city, with no information available from Immigra-
tion Bureau officials, who are in charge of them, concerning when
or whether they will be deported or freed.
Four hundred and fifty aliens have been confined in this old fort
since they were removed there on January 13 from temporary
prisons. * * * Of these 450, in round numbers—the Immi-
gration Bureau seems to have no exact figures available—66 have
been released for lack, of evidence, 120 have been ordered deported,
and decisions on the rest are still awaited from Washington. Of
the 384 whose cases have not yet been passed on or who have been
ordered deported, approximately 240 are out on bail. The rest are
|held at the fort. * * * . . *
Three weeks ago the 220 men then held sent out an open letter
in which they pleaded to be deported immediately with their wives
and children. * * * . - . - .
“The food we get is foul,” this letter continues, “and we are
kept in cold cells, almost without light. * * * The prison guards
treat us brutally, inhumanely. * * * Our helplessness is being
exploited by these guards. We are permitted to be taken under
guard to stores to make some purchases in preparation for our de-
portation, and for these privilegese they expect from us bribes.”
In the méantime the dependents of many are in a state of appre-
hension and uncertainty, cared for by a charitable agency, which
came to their aid only when a committee of prominent Detroit club-
women had brought their plight to public attention, six weeks after
their supporters had been arrested. * * * - • .
- **. EXHIBIT 5a.
STATE of MICHIGAN,
County of Wayne, ss: ". - .
ALEXANDER BUKowRTSKY, being duly sworn according to law, de-
poses and says: -
On November 8, 1919, I was arrested while attending a concert
given by the Union of Russian Workers at the Social Turner Hall, .
and with thirteen other men was taken to Hunt Street Station.
We were put in cells for ten days, the only food we had being
two slices of bread a day, and water. We slept two on a bench,
made of wood and about 15” wide, without blankets, mattresses or
pillows. During our confinement we were not allowed to get into
communication with any of our relatives, or friends,--they knew
nothing of our whereabouts. -
At the end of ten days we were taken to the Department of Jus-
tice, where we were roughly handled and beaten. Then we were
sent to the Wayne County Jail. This was about November 17 or
18, 1919. We remained here until about January 21, 1920. Here
we were allowed to receive our relatives and were given fairly good
treatment. When we were brought before Jailer Brooks for the
first time, he refused to take us in because he stated there was no
room. Inspector Dowig suggested our sleeping on the floor but there
24
hardly seemed room enough for this. After this suggestion he told
Jailer Brooks that we could stand. We were finally accepted. Then
we were compelled to sleep on the floor for over two months. A
ward was able to hold 23 people, however, at times there were over
one hundred. -
At the Wayne County Jail our friends and relatives were also
allowed to bring us food. - . - -
On January 11, 1920, 33 men were sent to Ellis Island to await
deportation. Five of us were sent to Fort Wayne where there were
250 Communists. Treatment here was very bad, especially by
Sgts. Taylor and Ross, and other guards. The food was very poor
and at times insufficient to care for from ten to forty men. When-
€Ver . made complaints to the guards we were insulted and brutally
treated. l , ,
During our stay at Fort Wayne some of us were given permission
to go downtown to buy things for our deportation to Russia, we of
course were accompanied by guards and were informed that we
were not to pay these guards for taking us. However, it is gen-
erally known that the guards compelled the men to pay them under
threat of punishment when they returned to the Barracks. They
accepted money and presents. Many things were purchased for Sgt.
Taylor under threat by him, for instance one man by the name
of Morovitz and one other, whose name I can not remember, were
made to buy Sgt. Taylor a gold ring costing $7.50, and some other
men were compelled to buy him a suit of clothes, and many other
things. In the instance of one Mr. Zaitscf he was told by Sgt. Ross
that he would have to give $4.00 before he could go home, although
the guard who was to take Zaitsch home stated that he did not want
the money and that he knew these men needed all they had, but
ROSS insisted that the money be paid the guard and so it was.
Another man gave Ross $8.00 in order that he could go down town.
Ross was also given many presents. - -
After some time elapsed I requested the privilege of interviewing
Dr. Prentis, Inspector of Immigration. Sgt. Ross told me that if
we stayed there fifteen years and he was there that length of time
he would never allow me to see Dr. Prentis. However, Dr. Prentis
came to Fort Wayne and I got to talk with him. I explained every-
thing as above relating to him the terrible treatment we had been
receiving, the poor food they had been giving us, which was at times
insufficient to care for all of us and the bribery that was taking place,
and he promised to see that things were better.
Conditions changed for about one week and we were relieved. .
However, ve *ś the old trouble started again. Visiting
periods were limited to ten minutes and at times our relatives and
friends were made to stand outside of the gate for half an hour and
sometimes an hour at a time in the cold before they were allowed to
enter; sometimes, frequently, I should say, they were turned away
after waiting nearly an hour, with the remark that they could not
See any one. - -
After Dr. Prentis’ visit I was threatened with solitary confine-
ment; was roughly handled and insulted by guards and those in
charge. Conditions continued to grow worse until we could stand
it no longer and we requested some relief, only to be further
threatened with punishment of one form or another. I sent a letter
25
to Dr. Prentis, finally, and this was forwarded to Inspector Bron-
dick, who was instructed by Dr. Prentis, to investigate conditions
as represented in my letter. He arrived at Fort Wayne. The first
time he visited us he succeeded in showing us that he was helping
us. Then for another week conditions were good until he gained
our confidence. Right after this the oppression started again and
it was as bad if not worse than before. We begged to be deported
when we thought we could not stand it any longer, but our demands
were only laughed at. At this time we again wrote a note to Insp.
Brondick asking him to come in. When #. came around he picked
up the note, read it, dismissed us (we went away very quietly), then
tore the note in many pieces and instead of giving us an answer in-
Sulted us by unspeakable words; then went on into the barracks where
another plea was waiting for him. He did the same thing with this
note,_tore it to pieces. He also instructed his guard to point a pistol
at the head of August Harriman, for no reason at all. e had sim-
ply asked not to be insulted and to be treated as though we were
human. . • -
The next day we were not allowed to see any one and our com-
plaints were not acknowledged. We then went on a hunger strike
to enforce our pleas. This lasted for two days. After that time
nine men were taken to Pontiac jail. We remained there for a
period of nine days. The Sheriff at this institution repeatedly
came into the jail with his gun, calling us names, particularly call-
ing me a “Red” and a #; and stating that he would kill
us. For two days were not allowed to see our relatives and when
they were admitted they were only allowed three minutes. The
came with a permit from Dr. Prentis. When these people were al-
lowed to come in they were grabbed by the arms and roughl
handled and pushed about. One woman was pushed and she fell
to the floor, after which it was necessary to call a Doctor. .
We were then taken back to Detroit by Sgt. Ross and Insp. Bron-
dick. -> -
When we were sent to Pontiac they rifled our pockets and took all
our personal property including money, refusing at the time to give
us a receipt. When we were taken back to Detroit some of our
things were returned, however, one Mr. Kosakoff was short $16.50;
Mr. Anotski Š7.40, Mr. Miller $1.25, and among other things two
fountain pens were missing. When this was reported no attention
or record was made of it. Our bags were sent to the Detroit Immi-
gration Service Station, and we were taken back to Fort Wayne.
When we were taken back we decided not to talk to any of the guards
or officials so that they could have no cause for complaint and that
we might at least be left alone. -
The following day my wife came with my two children, Violet,
age 12, and Robert, age 4, with a permit from Dr. Prentis to see me.
They allowed them to come into the office. The guard was sent
after me to see my family. As soon as I came to the doors of the
office, Sgt. Ross who had been standing there with his hands in his
pocket and his arms stretched across the front of the door, pushed
me back out of the door. With surprise I asked him “What is the
matter, I was called by Guardman and when I come you push me
out.” At the same time my wife and children were pulled out of
26
the room by their arms. I did not have a chance to say one word
to them. They were pulled into the hall by Sgt. Mitchell and then
he brought my wife close to me and hit her with his fist both on her
back and over her breast. My wife and children began to cry, and
I asked Sgt. Mitchell what he was trying to do, if he was trying to
provoke me so that, I would start to fight. Instead, of answering me
he struck her several times more and made her fall to the floor.
With that he grabbed a shot gun and at the same time Ross took a
club and then one other guardman, Clark, came in and he too with
the butt of his pistol struck me over the head. I fell to the floor
with three holes in my head, I fell with blood streaming all over
my body. - -
My little girl Violet, saw this and ran over to the guardman and
with her hand smoothed his face crying “Please don’t hurt my
father and mother,” but with all this, seeing the blood on the floor
from my head and my wife and children crying they paid no atten-
tion to us. \ 4.
I thought they would kill me so I called “Comrades, help me,”
they were upstairs but no one came to help as they could not come
down, but at the same time by order of Insp. Brondick they started
to shoot at the crowd upstairs without cause and shot one man by
the name of Zuba, in the leg, and he is at present in the Receiving
Hospital. - -
I finally got up and ran, breaking through the guards and run-
ning into the Barracks. They tried to send me to the hospital but
I did not want to go as I thought Dr. Prentis would come in at a
time like this. Finally he did come and I asked to have him come
to see me, refusing to take medical aid until he came. However,
right after this Dr. Prentis called me to the office at the Barracks.
He sent a guardman after me, but as I did not know what he wanted
I refused to go, thinking they were going to beat me again. I again
asked that Dr. Prentis come to the Barracks as he did at other times,
to see me, but he did not come. One man then cut off my hair and
bandaged my wounds. . .
At five o'clock they called a patrol and took me with another man
by the name of Harriman to the Wayne County Jail. -
All of the above trouble started because I told Dr. Prentis the
truth, of the briberies going on at Fort Wayne, and the poor treat-
ment we had received. - •.
All suit cases and hand bags were sent here, but most of the things
were missing from the bags. From my hand bag I missed a safety
razor, shoes valued at $12.00, handkerchiefs, and many other things.
Mr. Harriman's bag had been broken into, the lock removed and
things stolen from it. When he reported this to Dr. Prentis some
of the things were returned, but not all of his things. . .
The following day the papers had it that we tried to escape, which
was untrue. No one wanted to escape, all we asked was fair treat-
mºnt and to be deported as soon as possible. But this request was
not granted and we had to stand all of the brutality they wished
to bestow upon us. - .
... They said too that Mr. Harriman had helped me, but this was
not true as he was in another barracks, and he did not even know
27.
that we were having trouble in our barracks, until they came and
took him with me to the Wayne County Jail. --
I am satisfied with the treatment I am receiving here as they are
good to me. The food I do not eat as my friends bring whatever
they can. I have a good place to sleep and can have my friends
and relatives come to see me. - -
At the time my wife was notified to get ready to be deported to
Russia she had two days in which time to dispose of all our things,
among which was a new sewing machine. If she could only have
had this she could have made things to sell and would not have had
to go to friends and ask them to help her and keep her from the
cold and from starving to death with my children. But this was
also sold and there was nothing to do but wait. She is now staying
with kind friends who have given her a bed and are keeping her and
my children warm. For two months however, she was compelled
to sleep on the floor on a mattress, because the friends with whom
she could stay had no other room. t --
When I came to America I came with the thought that I was
coming to a free country, a place of freedom and happiness, and
I was anxious to come, -to get away from the Czaristic form of
Government. As much as I was anxious to come here to America
I am a hundred times more anxious to run away from Americanism
to return to Soviet Russia, where I will at least be able to live.
For six months I have been confined in jail, the Government re-
fusing to either deport or release me together with my wife and chil-
dren. They have been Heft, during this time, without means of Sup-
port. Had it not been for the kindness of the poor, who are our
friends, our women and ehildren would have perished.
The Government has decided that we are to be deported. We ask
only that this sentence be carried out that we with our families be
deported to Soviet Russia, and that this cruel and inhuman policy
of keeping men for six months in jail under sentence of deporta-
tion, refusing to either deport or release us, and leaving our fam-
ilies to starve, be ended. We ask only of you that you carry out the
sentence which you yourself have decreed, that we be deported im-
mediately with our families to Soviet, Russia. -
I ask this in the name of Justice. .
And further deponent says not.
(signed) " `AiRXANDER BUKOWETSKY.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this third day of April, A. D.
1920. - - - - - **
(Signed) . S. E. GRAMER,
Notary Public.
My commission expires in the County of Wayne, State of Michi-
gan, August 4, 1923. . -
ExHIBIT Bb.
My name is Violet Bukowetsky. I am twelve years old, and live
at 73 Greeley St., Detroit, Mich. .
Thursday afternoon, March 18th, my mother, my brother and I
went down to Fort Wayne to see my father. We went to the office
28.
-
and sat down on the bench. Brondyke too took the pass and said
“Did you come here to make trouble again?” My mother said,
“Why no I just came to see my husband.” Brondyke said, “If you
talk back like that here is your pass, get out, “My mother said, “I -
won’t get out until I see my husband.” Then Brondyke started to
push my mother out, and he punched her in the back. One of the
guards called my father in the hall. When my father came in, one
of the guards hit my mother in the chest with a riot gun, which
knocked her breath out. Then my father jumped in front of my
mother and said, “You have no right to hit my wife like that.”
When he said that, they started to hit him with sticks and guns,
and whatever they had. My mother got frightened and started to
holler, and Rouse hit my father on the head with a stick. He
called to the comrades to come and help him, but they could not
come down. After awhile someone else hit my father on the head
with a stick again and he fell down. One of the guards shot three
times in the crowd, and shot Zu Zubka in the knee with a bullet.
And after that they chased us out. . . - -
We went to Dr. Prentiss and my mother could not say anything
to Dr. Prentiss, and one of the ladies, Mrs. Mazeika, who had been
out to Fort Wayne at the time we were there told Dr. Prentiss all
about it. Dr. Prentiss said that he would see about it. Then a
doctor was called for my mother and he said her nerves were all
broken down. Then we went home and she was sick in bed, has
been sick in bed ever since. -
The next day, March 19th, I went to the County Jail to see my
father and he had three holes in his head and his face was swollen
and he was hurt in the neck. Then I went home and told my
mother, about it. She was glad to hear that he was living, as she
thought that he would be dead.
(Signed) VIOLET BUKOWETSKY.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 3rd day of April, 1920.
(Signed) y S. E. GRAMER,
- Notary Public, Wayne Co., Mich.
My com. expires Augu. 14, 1923.
. EXHIBIT 5c. -
STATEMENT AS TO FOREGOING AFFIDAVITs.
The statements in Bukowetsky’s affidavit are also vouched for by
two representative women of Detroit who have investigated the de-
portation situation there. Miss Agnes Inglis says (May 5):
“Everything he said was true and more. I didn’t see all that
happened that he told about in his affidavit. But I saw Zuba's
shot leg and Bukowetsky’s head, and I know what the guards at
the fort are like * * * and have heard and seen the way the
visitors were treated, hardly getting in when they had to leave.
I could stay in as long as I liked, acting as a sort of lawyer, but
after coming long distances and even from out of town, I have
29
seen women put out after being in only a few minutes. The
guards are anything but the kind of men they ought to be. One
doesn’t naturally think highly of county jails, but we have come
to think of the one here with almost affection because it is so
much better than the fort. One has no fear of cruelty at the
jail. One senses terror at the fort.
“Dr. Prentis told me yesterday that Bukowetsky could go out .
Without promising anything or signing anything. All he will be
obliged to say is that either, he or his wife will report his ad-
dress Once a month so they can be notified when it comes time
for them to be deported. * * * The 146 men yet at the fort
have refused parole. They say Deport or Release. Bukowetsky
Says so, too.” - . -
Mrs. Louis Danziger says:
“I believe the story of Bukowetsky is true. He has told it to
me twice and to others as many times—and always the same.
Bukowetsky came to America in 1907, with his wife and infant
babe, Violet; the boy Robert was born here. Dr. Prentis, Im-
migration Officer in Chicago, offered Bukowetsky a release—on
condition that he will report to him either in person or in writing
once in two or three weeks. Mr. Bukowetsky will not accept
release in this manner—either absolute release or deportation is
his stand.” - - .
Note: All of the foregoing evidence as to Detroit is generally corroborated by
the statement of Solomon G. Paperno, a Detroit lawyer who represented fifty
or more of the aliens arrested. - . .
a
ExHIBIT 6.
CASE OF JULIA PRATT (re provocative agents). -
Miss Julia Pratt was a teacher of drawing in the public schools of
Buffalo. In January, 1920 she was suspended by the Board of Edu-
cation, and hearings were had before the Board on January 27, and
March 16. At the first hearing one. Herman Bernhard appeared as
witness against Miss Pratt, and testified that he was a secret agent of
the Department of Justice; that as such agent he had joined the
Communist Party, Buffalo branch, and became Recording Secretary
of the branch. He produced the books which he kept as Secretary
of the organization and identified the enrollment of Miss Pratt as a
member of the Party, and the dates on which she paid her dues.
He also testified to other alleged activities of Miss Pratt.
Miss Pratt was dismissed by the Board of Education and her con-
tract with the city cancelled on April 19, 1920 on the ground of her
membership in the Communist Party. e * .
A statement made by Miss Pratt April 21, 1920, contains the
following: -
“On July 18, 1919, Miss Harris invited me to her home to meet
some “interesting intellectual friends of hers,’ as she put it.
I went out to Kenmore. Herman Bernhard came in with two
women friends of his. He constantly injected overdrawn state-
ments against the Government into the conversation, and outlined
in glowing terms the work the Communist Party would perform
in emancipating the oppressed and exploited. * * * Bernhard
later came to my house with others of the same group, ate at my
table and I played the harp for him. It is on the testimony of
this agent provocateur that the Board has dismissed me.” -
30
EXHIBIT 7.
CASE OF HENRY PETZOLD (re provocative agents).
Henry Petzold, a member of the Communist Labor Party, was
convicted before Justice McCarthy in the Hudson County, N. J.,
Court, in March, 1920, for an alleged infringement of the New
Jersey statute which prohibits “inciting * * * , or encouraging
hostility or opposition to the government of the United States or of
the State of New Jersey.” Evidence against him was given by two
under-cover agents of the Department of Justice. One of them was
Herman Bernhard, who also gave evidence in the Julia Pratt case,
Exhibit 6, and who testified in the Petzold case that he had been
assigned by the Department of Justice to watch the radical move-
ment; became a member of the Communist Party and rose to the
position of Recording Secretary of Local Buffalo, that he traveled
to other cities as well and had the confidence of radicals in Rochester,
Detroit, and other places. It further appeared from Bernhard's
testimony that he joined the Socialist Party before the Communist
Party was organized. He probably, therefore, belonged to the “Left
Wing” and joined in the organization of the Communist Party as a
whole at its first convention. . -
The second government witness, one Cummerow, testified that at
the instructions of the Department of Justice he attended the Com-
munist Labor Party Convention héld in Chicago from August 30th
to September 5th and took a complete memorandum of the proceed-
ings. Petzold, he testified, was a delegate to the Convention and a
member of the Constitution Committee.
Judge McCarthy sentenced Petzold to be imprisoned for a term
of 3 to 10 years, and then suspended sentence because of his previous
record of good character. :
ExHIBIT 8.
UNDER COVER PRIVATE INFORMANTS,
In Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia at least, the follow-
ing practices exist: -
Under-cover informants employed by private detective agencies,
which in turn are employed by the steel and coal companies, supply
to those detective agencies, and through them to the companies and
to the Department of Justice, information concerning members of
labor organizations.
2. Arrests are frequently made upon the unsupported statements
of these under-cover private informants; these arrests are made by
local police without warrant and reported to the Department of Jus-
tice, which sends its investigator to go through the men arrested and
ascertain if there are any extreme radicals among them; and then
sets the machinery of the Department of Labor in motion for their
deportation. -
In other words, the steel and coal companies use the local and
Federal governments to harass and get rid of “troublesome” workers.
31
The foregoing statements rest upon evidence of witnesses (both -
Immigration officials and officers of “labor detective agencies") ex-
amined before a commission sent by the Interchurch World Move-
ment to investigate and report upon the Steel Strike.
Along this line, there is a case in the files of the Labor Department
in Washington in which an under-cover informant of a private de-
tective agency operating in Youngstown, Qhio, became Secretary
of a branch of the Communist Party, was subsequently used by the
Department of Justice, was himself taken up in a raid with other
persons, was given assurances by the Department of Justice that if
deported he would be allowed to return to this country, finally lost
his nerve and testified to these facts at his deportation hearing,
and is now in the custody of the Department of Labor pending the
determination of his case.
EXHIBIT 9. -
IN THE MATTER OF GASPARE CANNONE.
STATE OF NEW York,
County of New York, ss:
WALTER NELLES, being duly sworn, says: -
I am attorney for Gaspare Cannone. He was taken to Ellis
Island on April 2, 1920, under a deportation warrant issued April
1 at the instance of Special Agents of the Department of Justice.
Hearings were held at Ellis Island on April 14 and 15, and his case
now awaits the decision of the Secretary of Labor.
The following is the substance of Cannone's sworn statements:
He was seized at his home in Brooklyn by agents of the Department
of Justice about noon on March 30, 1920, without charge or warrant,
and taken to the office of the Department of Justice in the Park Row
Building, New York City. There he was beaten and kicked by a
handsome agent in a blue-striped silk shirt, in the presence of three
other agents (one—Faulhaber—a stenographer, and one,—Pal-
mera,_an Italian interpreter), who proceeded to interrogate him.
They tried to get him to furnish evidence implicating persons
named John Berry, Recchi, and Valdinoce (all entirely unknown
to him) in the Washington bomb explosions of last year (of which
he knew nothing). They continually beset him to “Tell the truth,”
“stop lying,” “come across,”—and then, when he gave truthful an-
swers to their questions, they called him a “damned liar,” a “son
of a bitch,” and many other things of which the opprobrious mean-
ing was clear, but which he knew too little English to understand
exactly. He was told that they would be easy with him if he said
what they wanted him to. Failing to get anything from him, they
told him he would be deported. - -
He was held by the Department of Justice, and denied communi-
cation with anyone outside, from noon on March 30 to noon on
April 2, when he was taken to Ellis Island. Each night he was
taken to Police Headquarters and locked up in a bare cell without
blankets or covering. He was given five meals in the four days.
On his last appearance in the Park Row office, Exhibit B, (a pho-
tograph of which is hereto annexed) was put before him, and he
32
was told to sign. He refused, because it was not a correct record of
what he had said. Of the inherent likelihood that any free man in
his senses would sign such a document, nothing need be said.
A forged signature of “Gaspare Cannone” was subscribed to Ea:-
hibit B. Agent Palmera swore, at the hearing at Ellis Island on
April 14, 1920, that he had seen this “signature” written by Can-
none. Comparison is invited between the photograph of this for-
gery and the photographs of Cannone's genuine signature; Can-
none made the ten signatures (Exhibit F) at the hearing on April
15th; he had previously, on his arrival at Ellis Island two weeks
earlier, made the other genuine signature (Exhibit º in answer to
the Inspector's question: “What is the correct spelling of your
name?” - - .
From his beating on March 30th Cannone retained for upwards
of two weeks a conspicuous “black eye.” Record of this was pre-
served in a photograph of him made for the Department of Jus-
tice at Police Headquarters on March 31, 1920. When I examined
the Inspector's file relative to Cannone at Ellis Island on April 14th,
I found in it four prints of this photograph, which I put in evidence
# ; hearing as Exhibit D. Annexed hereto is a photograph of this
xhibit. .
The whole evidence against Cannone was Exhibit B. Advised
at the outset of the hearing on April 14th that I would claim to
have the deportation warrant vacated by reason of the criminal prac-
tices of the Department of Justice on March 30th and 31st in creating
the alleged “evidence,” Department of Justice Agents Faulhaber
and Palmera, who testified on April 14th, determined to set up an
alibi for themselves as to March 30th and 31st, and to deny, not
that Cannone had been beaten at the Department of Justice, but that
he had been beaten in their presence. They accordingly insisted
that they had never seen Cannone until April 1, after his arrest
wnder the deportation warrant issued on that date, and that it was
on that date, and not before, that he made in their presence, the
statements attributed to him in Exhibit B. They overlooked, or
perhaps were unaware of the existence of a written statement from
their own office fixing the date of Exhibit B as March 30th–the day
upon which Cannone says he was beaten in their presence. In the
Inspector's file, attached to Exhibit B, I found what the Inspector
stated was the letter of transmittal of Exhibit B from the Depart-
ment of Justice to Ellis Island. It is as follows:

“Department of º Justice.
Bureau of Investigation.
Post Office Box 241.
C. J. S.—J. W. D. - + City Hall Station,
- New York, April i. º.
Byron H. Uhl, Esq., Acting Commissioner of Immigration, Ellis Island, New
York. .
Attention. Mr. Schell.
- DEAR SIR: Attached herewith please find a copy of part of the testimony
of Gaspare Cannone, which testimony was taken at the office of Bureau ON
THE AFTERNOON OF MARCH 30th. -
Very truly yours, -
(Signed) . GEORGE F. LAMB,
- - Division Superintendent.”
tº
-
º ºf * / -
- -
º - -
º
ExHIBIT D.
-
Photograph of photograph of Cannone made March 31, 1920,
after two days’ “interrogation.”
ExHIBIT E.
Photograph of Cannone as he normally appears for compari-
son with photograph after “third degree.”
Note: This photograph has been obtained since Mr. Nelles'
affidavit was made.


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Alleged statements of Cannone, with forged signature.

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36
I offered this letter in evidence, and it was received and marked
Exhibit H. , * . . . " -
A few days after the hearing I saw the Inspector. He told me
that this letter, with two others of less importance which had also
been received, and his own statement as to its receipt in due course
together with Exhibit B, were no longer part of the official record.
“I CUT THEM OUT,” said the Inspector. .
I had fortunately, however, made a long-hand copy of the letter
in my note-book during the hearing. * * * .
On April 14th, in the presence of Agents Faulhaber and Palmera,
Cannone had testified at some length as to his beating at the Depart-
ment of Justice and his treatment under detention. On April 15th
he continued his testimony upon the same subject for upwards of
half an hour. The Inspector suddenly interrupted with the state-
ment that he was going to “cut all this out of the record.” After
discussion with me, he sent for Chief Inspector Augustus P. Schell,
to whom the Inspector and I explained the situation. Inspector
Schell, after seeking to dissuade me from pressing the claim of crim-
inal creation of evidence against agents of the Department of Jus-
tice—“a department of the Government”—instructed the Inspector
not to permit me to proceed unless the agents of the Department of
Justice were present; to adjourn the hearing if necessary, and to
cancel Cannone's bail “if he thought he would not appear.” -
The Inspector construed these instructions as requiring me to pro-
cure by subpoena (under the Rules, obtainable only by my filing a
written statement of intention to prove material facts by the persons
for whom subpoena is asked) the attendance of the agents of the
Department of Justice. I explained that I would not offer agents
of the Department of Justice as credible witnesses, and that my pur-
pose in requesting the attendance of Agent Scully had not been to
call him as a witness on behalf of Cannone, but to give Cannone op-
portunity to say whether or not Agent Scully was one of the persons
guilty of criminal practices. I then offered to proceed to prove my
case by the testimony of Cannone. . . * ,
“Well, you’ve got to furnish proof,” said the Inspector. “You can't prove
anything by this man” (indicating Cannone). “This man is not a witness.
HE IS THE ALIEN” -
He ruled that no further testimony could be received as to the con-
duct of the agents of the Department of Justice, and struck out most
of the testimony, which Cannone had given—not in the ordinary
juridical sense of “striking out”; Cannone's testimony was literally
and bodily eliminated. * * * * *\,.
(Signed) WALTER NELLEs,
- - 138, West 13th Street, New York.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of April, 1920.
. ALBERT D. SILVER,
- - Notary Public, Kings Co.
Cert. filed N. Y. Co. #359. -
37.
EXHIBIT 10.
EXTRACTS. FROM CONFIDENTIAL INSTRUCTIONS
º AUGUST 12, 1919.
- Department of Justice,
Bureau of Investigation,
Washington, Aug. 12, 1919.
To all Special Agents and Employees:
The bureau requires a vigorous and comprehensive investigation
of anarchistic and similar classes, Bolshevism, and kindred agita-
tions advocating change in the present form of government by force
or violence, the promotion of sedition and revolution, bomb throw-
ing, and similar activities. In the present state of the Federal law
this investigation should be particularly directed to persons not
citizens of the United States, with a view of obtaining deportation
cases. * * * - -
(4) In the investigation of all cases agents will report the eyidence
in form required by this bureau. In making daily or partial ºports
all information of every nature, whether hearsay or otherwise, shall
be included. Inasmuch as gossip or said hearsay evidence is of no
value in making technical proof, agents are hereby instructed to
trace every piece of information to its source. + + -
(16) Special agents will constantly keep in mind the necessity
of preserving the cover of our confidential informants, and in no
case shall they rely upon the testimony of such cover informants
'luring deportation proceedings. .
W. J. FLYNN,
Director, Bureau of Investigation.
EXHIBIT 11.
CONFIDENTIAL INSTRUCTIONS, DEC 27, 1919.
“DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
Bureau of Investigation. -
. . . • Washington, December 27, 1919.
Strictly Confidential. -
Geo. E. Kelleher, Esq.,
Box 3185, Boston, Mass.
DEAR SIR:
I have already transmitted to you two briefs prepared in this de-
partment upon the COMMUNIST PARTY OF AMERICA and
the COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY with instructions that these
38
briefs be carefully examined and studied for the purpose of familiar-
izing yourself and the agents under your direction with the prin-
ciples and tactics of these two respective organizations.
You have submitted to me affidavits upon various individuals
connected, with these respective organizations, stating that these
persons are aliens and member of the organizations referred to. I
have transmitted to the Commissioner General of Immigration the
affidavits submitted by you with the request that warrants of arrest
be issued at once. This action is now being taken by the Bureau
of Immigration and warrants of arrest are being prepared and will
shortly be forwarded to the immigration inspector of your district.
Briefly the arrangements which have been made are that the war-
rants will be forwarded to the immigration inspector who will at
once communicate with you and advise you of the names of the
persons for whom he has received warrants. You should then place
under Surveillance, where practicablé, the persons mentioned and
at the appointed time you will be advised by me by wire when to
take into custody all persons for whom warrants have been issued.
At the time of the apprehension of these persons every effort
should be made by you to definitely establish the fact that the persons
arrested are members of either the COMMUNIST PARTY of
America or the COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY. I have been re-
liably” informed that instructions have been issued from the head-
quarters of each of these organizations to their members that they
are to refuse to answer any questions put to them by any Federal
officers and are to destroy all evidence of membership or affiliation
with their respective organizations. It is, therefore, of the utmost im-
portance that you at once make every effort to ascertain the location
of all of the books and records of these organizations in your terri-
tory and that the same be secured at the time of the arrests. As
Soon as the Subjects are apprehended, you show.ld endeavor to
obtain from them, if possible, admissions that they are members of
either of these parties, together with any statement concerning their
citizenship status. I cannot impress upon you too strongly the ne-
cessity of obtaining documentary evidence proving membership.
Particular efforts should be made to apprehend all of the officers
of either of these two parties if they are aliens; the residences of such
officers should be searched in every instance for literature, member-
ship cards, records and correspondence. The meeting rooms should
be thoroughly searched and an effort made to locate the charter of
the COMMUNIST PARTY of America or the COMMUNIST
LABOR PARTY, under which the local organization operates, as
well as the membership and financial records which if not found in
the meeting rooms of the organization will probably be found in the
house of the recording and financial secretaries, respectively. All
literature, books, papers and anything hanging on the walls should
be gathered up; the ceilings and partitions should be sounded for
hiding places. After obtaining any documentary evidence, the
same should be wrapped up in packages and marked theréon, the
location of the place, and the name of the persons obtaining the
evidence and the contents of each package. -
Violence towards any aliens should be scrupulously avoided. Im-
mediately upon apprehending an alien, he should be thoroughly
39
searched. ... If found in groups in meeting rooms, they should be.
lined up against the wall and there searched; particular attention be-
ing given to finding the membership book, in which connection the
search of the pockets will not be sufficient. In no instance should
money or other valuables be taken from the aliens. All documentary
evidence taken from an alien should be placed in an individual
envelope, provided for the purpose, which. envelope should be
marked showing the contents contained in the same, whether they
were found in the possession of the alien or in his room, and if in the
latter the address of the house should be given as well as the name
of the alien and the officer who obtained the evidence. A duplicate
record should be kept of all evidence thus obtained. At the time of
the transfer of the alien to the immigration inspector, you should
also turn over to the immigration inspector the original evidence ob-
tained in the particular case, plainly marked so that there may be
no complaint by the immigration officers as to the manner in which
evidence has been collected by the agents of this Bureau.
I have made mention above that the meeting places and residences
of the members should be thoroughly searched. I leave it entirely
* to your discretion as to the method by which you show.ld gain access
to such places. If, due to the local conditions in your territory, you
find,that it is absolutely necessary for you to obtain a search warrant
for the premises, gow, show.ld communicate with the local authorities
a few hours before the time for the arrests is set and request a warrant
to search the premises. * . 4
Under no conditions are you to take into your confidence the local
police authorities or the state authorities prior to the making of the
arrests. It is not the intention nor the desire of this office that
American citizens, members of the two organizations be arrested at
this time. If, however, they are taken into custody any American
citizens, through error and who are members of the COMMUNIST
PARTY OF AMERICA or the COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY,
Ayou show.ld immediately refer their cases to the local authorities.
It may be necessary, in order to successfully make the arrests that
you obtain the assistance of the local authorities at the time of the
arrests. This action should not be taken, unless it is absolutely
necessary; but I well appreciate that where a large number of arrests
are to be made it may be impossible for the same to be made by
special agents of this Department, in which event you are authorized
to request the assistance of the local police authorities. Such assist-
ance show.ld not be requested until a few hours before the time set for
the arrests, in order that no “leak” may occur. It is to be distinctly
wnderstood that the arrests made are being made whder the direction
and supervision of the Department of Justice.
For your own personal information, I have to advise you that the
tentative date fixed for the arrests of the COMMUNISTS is Friday
evening, January 3, 1930. This date may be changed, due to the
fact that all of the immigration warrants may not be issued by that
time. You will, however, be advised by telegraph as to the exact
date and hour when the arrests are to be made.
If possible you should arrange with your under-cover informants
to have meetings of the COMMUNIST PARTY and the COM-
MUNIST LABOR PARTY held on the night set. I have been in-
\
^
40'
formed by some of the bureau officers that such arrangements will
be made. This, of course, would facilitate the making of the arrests.
On the evening of the arrests, this office will be open the entire
night and I desire that you communicate by long distance to Mr.
Hoover* any matters of vital importance or interest which may arise
during the course of the arrests. You will possibly be given from
Seven o’clock in the evening until seven o’clock in the morning to
conclude the arrests and eſcaminations. As pointed out previously,
the grounds for deportation in these cases will be based solely upon.
membership in the COMMUNIST PARTY of America or the COM-
MUNIST LABOR PARTY and for that reason it will not be neces-
sary for you to go in detail into the particular activities of the
persons apprehended. It is, however, desirable that wherever pos-
sible you should obtain additional evidence upon the individuals,
particularly those who are leaders and officers in the local organi-
zations. The immigration inspector will be under instructions to
cooperate with you fully and I likewise desire that you cooperate in
the same manner with the Immigration Inspector at the time of the
arrests, as well as following the arrests. At the hearings before
the Immigration Inspector you should render any and all reason-
able assistance to the immigration authorities, both in the way of .
offering your services to them and the services of any of your
stenographic force. It is of the utmost necessity that these cases be
expedited and disposed of at the earliest possible moment and for
that reason stenographic assistance and any assistance necessary
should be rendered by you to the immigration inspectors. An eac-
cellent spirit of cooperation exists between the Commissioner-General
of Immigration** and this Department in Washington, and I desire
that the same spirit of cooperation between the field officers of this
Bureau and the field officers of the Bureau of Immigration also exist.
I desire that the morning following the arrests you should forward,
to this office by special delivery marked for the “Attention of Mr.
Hoover” a complete list of the names of the persons arrested, with
an indication of residence, or organization to which they belong, and
whether or not they were included in the original list of warrants.
In cases where arrests are made of persons not covered by warrants,
you should at once request the local immigration authorities for war-
rants in all such cases and you should also communicate with this
office at the same time. I desire also that the morning following the
arrests that you communicate in detail by telegram, “Attention of"
Mr. Hoover,” the results of the arrests made, giving the total num-
ber of persons of each organization taken into custody, together with
a statement of any interesting evidence secured. i
The above cover the general instructions to be followed in these
arrests and the same will be supplemented by telegraphic instruc-
tions at the proper time. -
Very truly yours, . . . . FRANK BURKE,
. Assistant Director and Chief.

/
NoTE by the Editor: In the foregoing instructions it will be observed: (1)
That the Department of Justice assumed on Dec. 27, 1919, that both the Com-
*J. E. Hoover, Special Assistant to the Attorney General.
**Mr. Caminetti. - -
º
* - , 41
munist Party and the Communist Labor Party were unlawful organizations,
whereas the Secretary of Labor, upon whom alone the duty fell of deciding
the question, did not decide until a month later that the Communist Party
was unlawful (Jan. 24, 1920), and decided four months later that the Com-
munist Labor Party was perfectly lawful (May 5, 1920). (2) That war-
rants may be dispensed with at discretion of local agents. (3) That “under
cover informants” are to bring about meetings on Jan. 2 to facilitate whole-
Sale arrests. - . *.
EXHIBIT 12.
CoNFIDENTIAL INSTRUCTIONs (two sets) which were issued individually to
the Dept. of Justice agents in New England who were to conduct the raids
of Jan. 2, 1920. - - z -
“INSTRUCTIONS TO AGENTs.
1. Each person named in the warrant to be taken into custody.
2. Upon taking person into custody try to obtain all documentary evidence
possible to establish membership in the COMMUNIST PARTY, including
membership Cards, books, COrrespondence etc.
3. Also try to secure charters, meeting minutes, membership book.8, due
books, membership correspondence, etc., in possession of such person, which
may lead to further investigations of members not yet known. -
4. All such evidence secured, as above, to be properly marked and sealed
as belonging to such person, with name of arrestee, place where secured, date .
secured, and by whom secured marked plainly on same.
5. Person or persons taken into custody not to be permitted to communicate
with any outside person until after ea'amination by this office and until per-
mission is given by this office.
6. Upon making arrest, person in custody to be brought to the place desig-
nated by this office for a preliminary easamination. t
7. Preliminary ea'amination to be made by Agent making arrest on forms
provided for that purpose by this office. This form to be followed closely
and filled out in detail. The form then to be read to person in custody for
him to sign and swear to same. If he refuses to swear and sign to same,
then Agent, in presence of one witness to examination, to sign and swear to
same and to have witness do the same.
8. If a person claim8 American citizenship, he must produce documentary
evidence of 8ame. If native born, through birth records. If naturalized,
through producing for Agent copy of naturalization papers. Be sure that .
these papers are final papers, containing words “and is hereby admitted to
become a citizen of the United States.” 1
9. In case of any uncertainty as to citizenship or non-citizenship of person
taken into custody, or for any other reason, consult the office. .
10. Absolutely no publicity or information to be given by an agent. . All
such requests for information to be referred to Division Superintendent.
Also request observances above by assisting officers.” -
“1. At the time of apprehension, every effort must be made to establish
definitely the fact that One arrested is a member of either the Communist
Party of America or Communist Labor Party. . *
2. It is of utmost importance to make every effort to ascertain location of
all books and records of these Organizations, and that same be secured at
time of arrest.
42 e
z
3. Upon making arrests, endeavor to secure admissions as to membership
in Communist and Communist Lábor Parties, together with any possible
documentary proof. .*
4. Endeavor apprehend officers of either party of aliens, searching resi-
dences for literature, membership cards, records and correspondence.
5. Search meeting rooms and endeavor to locate charters of Communist or
Communist Labor Parties, as well as membership and financial records, which,
however, may be found at homes of Recording and Financial Secretaries.
Literature, books, papers and anything on the walls should be gathered up,
and ceilings and partitions sounded for hiding places. Wrap anything taken
and mark the location of place, names of persons obtaining evidence, and
contents of each. - - - -
6. Upon apprehension, alien8 should be searched thoroughly ; if found in
groups in meeting rooms, line them up against the wall and there search
them. Take anything which tends to establish connection with either Com-
munist or Communist Labor Parties, in other words, only such materials
referring to these parties, and nothing distinctly personal such as money and
other valuables. Mark envelopes showing contents; whether found in pos-
session of alien or in his room, with address, as well as names of those ob-
taining evidence. Duplicate record of all this should be kept; original evi-
dence obtained in the cases to be turned over to the Immigration Officers.
7. Only aliens should be arrested; if American citizens are taken by mistake, -
their cases should be immediately referred to the local authorities.
8. Arrest of members covered by warrants to be made Friday, at 9 P. M.
Only aliens, and connected with Communist and Communist Labor Parties;
make preliminary examination as per office memorandum.
NoTE: These instructions are extremely confidential; are issued only for
the guidance of authorized agents of this office; are charged to such agents
and must be returned to this office upon completion of assignment.” -
ExHIBIT 13.
THE “COLYER CASE.”
MoRRIs KATZEFF, Petitioner,
vs.
HENRY J. SKEFFINGTON, Comm's of Immigration,
Before District Court of the United States, Anderson, J.
- Boston, April 1920.
This case came before Judge Anderson on three petitions for
habeas corpus involving eighteen relators, arrested on or about Jan-
uary 3, 1920, as aliens subject to deportation because of their mem-
bership in the Communist Party. - -
The evidence showed generally the following: *
During the night of Friday, January 2-3, 1920, in New England,
there were arrested by the Department of Justice, Mr. and Mrs. Will
liam T. Colyer, British subjects, together with several hundred other
aliens and citizens. Warrants of arrest, wherever inconvenient to

43
obtain, were dispensed with by the express direction of Washington;
in the large majority of cases no warrants were in existence and no
cause for their issuance had been shown. Meetings of Communists,
to be held on the particular night of January 2, had been stimulated.
by Department of Justice undercover agents, so as to facilitate arrests.
Men and women were taken up wholesale, at meetings, on the streets,
or at their homes. Equally without search-warrants, the offices and
homes of the prisoners were entered and ransacked, and writings,
books and other property carried away. These several hundred cit-
izens and aliens were then handcuffed, bundled into motor-cars, and
taken to police stations, jails or any convenient place of detention,
there to await the slow process of inquisition (without counsel), and
classification. Food, water and bedding were usually not provided.
The citizens were gradually weeded out, and told to go home. Some
aliens also were liberated; the rest were taken to Boston, in some
cases handcuffed and chained and marched through the streets for
newspaper photographers to snap them, and were finally imprisoned
on Deer Island, without sanitary conveniences, without blankets or
mattresses, and exposed to cold from broken windows. After the
arrests and imprisonment, warrants of arrest were asked, and ob-
tained, from the Department of Labor in Washington. Bail was fixed
/in such amount, up to $10,000, as would reasonably insure the im- .
possibility of raising it. Other conditions were such as reasonably
to insure that the prisoners should not too soon communicate with
friends or lawyers. -- * . . -
Three months later, Morris Katzeff, of the Boston Bar, proceeded
with the help of counsel to lay these facts before Judge Anderson, on
a petition for writs of habeas corpus for Mr. and Mrs. Colyer and
sixteen other aliens, alleging violation of Constitutional rights, par-
ticularly that of “due process of law.” A long trial was had. Judge
Anderson, overruling objections by government counsel, insisted on
looking into the facts, even to the extent of compelling Department
employees to explain just how they had acted, and by whose instruc-
tions. During the course of the trial, as the facts gradually came
out, Judge Anderson delivered various remarks from the bench,
such as the following:
“This case seems to have been conducted under that modern
theory of statesmanship that you hang first and try after-
wards. >k >k . - - -
“A more lawless proceeding it is hard for anybody to conceive.
Talk about Americanization What we need is to Americanize peo-
ple that are carrying on such proceedings as this. We shall forget
everything we ever learned about American Constitutional Liberty
if we are to undertake to justify such a proceeding as this. * * *
“It is the business of any American citizen, who knows anything
about Americanism, to resign if given such instructions. * * *
“What does appear, beyond reasonable dispute, is that the Govern-
ment owns and operates some part of the Communist Party.” .
h ºula: aspects of the case will be set forth under appropriate
£20 S.
44
I.
ACTIVITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
The Boston Commissioner of Immigration, Mr. Skeffington, being on the
stand, the Court questioned him as follows with regard to the activity of the
Department of Justice in connection with the raids of January 1920 (type-
written record, pages 70 et &eq.): .
Q. After the armistice your Department had, as . I understand
it, entire legal control over deportations; is that so as you under-
stand it? t
A. Yes, sir; no other department of the Government has the
power to deport. -
Q. Is there any statute to your knowledge giving the Depart-
ment of Justice any power with relation to deportation?
A. No, 8ir. -
Further questioning by the Court brought out the proper course of pro-
cedure, as follows (testimony of Skeffington, page 72): -
“The method was for the Department of Justice agents to send
their evidence in the form of an affidavit to the Department of
Justice at Washington. They brought it over to the Department
of Labor, and asked that a Warrant On that information be
issued... * * * Later they were ordered to show us the evi-
dence that they had before they sent it to Washington, and if we
agreed on it then we notified our Department that we agreed
that a warrant should be issued in the case of John Doe.”
Having thus ascertained the extent to which the Department of Justice
could lawfully proceed in the premises, in cooperation with the Immigration
authorities, the Court by subsequently questioning another witness discovered
how much further the activities of the Department of Justice were actually
carried (testimony of James A. Sullivan, Deputy Immigration Commissioner
at Boston, pages 162 et seq.):
(By Mr. Katzeff:)
Q. Did Agents of the Department of Justice exercise the power,
or a power, to release men who were detained at Deer Island?
A. Unless We had a Warrant for them. * * * - .
The Court: Did you have people there without warrants that
Department of Justice Agents released? M. . . . .
The Witness: The Department of Justice had a number of peo-
ple there without warrants. If they released them * * * * - I
have no record of it. . .
Q. You mean—
The Court: Just a minute. I want to get that. When you
went down there, or during this proceeding, do I understand you
to state that there were people there in the barracks that you
had charge of, brought there by the Department of Justice, for
whom you had no warrant and who were discharged by the De-
partment of Justice because you had no warrant?
The Witness: Yes, sir. - - -
It was further brought out, from Sullivan, that the Department of Justice
from the time of the raid had a man on Deer Island, who later assumed con-
trol over the payment and hiring of the guards on the Island. Stenographic
assistance and interpreters were also supplied to the immigration authorities
by the Department of Justice. -
The Department of Justice Agents also took part in the hearings of aliens
after they had been turned over to the immigration authorities. Mr. Sulli-
van testified that prior to January 27th or 28th, the customary procedure was
to easamine the alien after he had been delivered to Deer Island, without
45 t
giving him an opportunity to be represented at that time by counsel. This
was called the “preliminary hearing,” before undergoing which, the alien
would not be admitted to bail. The subsequent hearings, that is, the Con-
tinuation of the hearing held after the Government had obtained what evi-
dence it wanted, is called in the record a “rehearing.” At the so-called re-
hearing, aliens were allowed counsel for the first time. The Department of
Justice representative was present both at the so-called hearing and rehear-
ing. - - *
On the question of the amount of bail in which the aliens were held, it ap-
peared, too, that the agents of the Department of Justice were active, mak-
ing their recommendation to the inspectors. ->
Witness John A. Ryder, Immigration Inspector, Boston District, testified that
he had had a number of years experience trying cases of anarchists, immoral-
ists, criminals, prostitutes, and the general run of aliens, but that never before
the present time had any Department of Justice official or any one else acting
in analogy to a prosecuting officer, been present and participated in deporta-
tion hearings. . -
Witness Sullivan testified that censoring of prisoners’ letters at Deer
Island was delegated to the Department of Justice.
. The witness Valkenburgh (Record p. 1117) testified that he was an agent
of the Department of Justice, and participated with three other Department
agents and three police officers in the raid on 885 Washington St; that 29
persons were arrested in that raid; that they were searched, and that ex-
hibits were taken by the raiding party from the hall. Though witness had
16 Labor Department warrants in his possession, none of them were w8éd in
the arrest of these 29 persons; and the raiding party had no search warrants.
All the arrestees were locked up over night; the next morning seven who
were citizens were released; the other 22 were forwarded to Deer island.
Questioning by the Court: • -
;
Q. And you took 7 citizens and put them in cells and kept them over night,
as you say now? - .
A. I found out later that they were citizens.
Q. Is that your notion of liberty under the law?
A. I had no other way of finding out they were citizens. They didn’t tell
me as such until the next morning. - -
Mr. Goldberg (Government counsel) : I suggest, if your Honor please, that
it was this agent's business to obey his instructions, or resign.
The Court. Well, that may be true, but it is the business of any American
citizen, who knows anything about Americanism, to resign if given 8wch in-
structions. That is all.
A typical witness was Ivan T. Hrynchuk (page 1088 of the Record). He
was arrested the night of January 2nd, and was confined at Deer Island
continuously until released by habeas corpus in April. His person was
searched at time of arrest, and exhibits thus obtained were used at his hear-
ing. No warrant of arrest or search warrant had existed.
Witness testified his hearing at Deer Island was completed before he was
notified of the right to be assisted by counsel. The court pointed out that
though witness was arrested January 2nd, his warrant was dated January
17th, and declared—
“This case seems to have been conducted under that modern theory of
8tatesmanship that you hang first and try afterwards.” - .
Counsel for the government, objecting to this remark, contended that such
procedure had support in court decisions, The following then occurred: .
The Court: Can you cite any case which supports the proposition that the
Department of Justice can go out without any piece of paper or warrant, or,
So far as appears, any investigation, and seize men, put them in jail and
hold them there two weeks, and then get warrants and put them through a
trial of this kind and call that due process of law?
Mr. Goldberg: I don’t know what your Honor means by a “trial of this
kind,” but if your Honor refers to having a preliminary hearing in the ab-
46 º
sence of counsel, and then permitting counsel to come in afterwards, yes, I
can cite a number of cases in the Supreme Court of the United States up-
holding that as due process: .
The Court: I think I am fairly familiar with those cases. I know of
nothing which lays the slightest foundation for any such proceeding as this. .
A more lawless proceeding it is hard for anybody to conceive. Talk about
Americanization! What we need is to Americanize people that are carrying
on such proceedings as this. We shall forget everything we ever learned
about American Constitutional liberty if we are to undertake to justify such
a proceeding as this. . - |
Mr. Goldberg: I am not responsible for the departmental policies.
The Court: I know you are not, but I can hardly sit here on this bench as
an American citizen and restrain my indignation at such proceedings.
II. UNLAWFUL ARRESTs, SEARCHES AND SEIZURES.
The Court questioned the Commissioner of Immigration, Mr. Skeffington, as
to the procedure followed in the raids of January 2nd and 3rd (Pages 79 et
Seq.):
(By the Court:)
Q. Just a moment on that, Mr. Skeffington. Were these arrests for what
you call the “raids” made by your forces, or by the Department of Justice?
A. Department of Justice, your Honor. -
Q. Did your people have anything to do with them?
A. Yes. -
Q. What? .
A. We ordered our men to take the warrants, say for Manchester, New
Hampshire, go to a police station and sit there, and when these men were
brought in connect them up with the Warrants. .
Q. What do you mean by “connect them up with the warrants”? -
A. That is, see whether or not we had a warrant for them, and if we had
we took them. * * * They didn't carry the warrants with them. They
brought the persons to the Police Station and there the warrants were await-
ing them. * • * -
Q. Can you point out any rule or any statute under which the Department
of Justice agents have power to arrest? + . -
A. No, I don’t know anything about that, Judge, except that we were
working under rule. We didn’t have the men. They had to furnish them,
and they did furnish them. • -
Q. Did you have instructions as to this procedure?
A. We had an understanding.
Q. Written instructions? - -
A. No. We had a conference in Washington in the Department of Labor
with Mr. Hoover and another gentleman of the Department of Justice.
Q. Who is Mr. Hoover? - .
A. Mr. Hoover is an officer in the Department of Justice.
Mr. Goldberg: Special Assistant to the Attorney General. .
Deputy Commissioner Sullivan also testified that approximately one hun-
dred warrants were requested by telegraph after the main raid on the evening
of January 2nd. His examination on this point follows: . - -
Q. But there were more than 100 warrants?
, A. I should say so. - -
e- (By the Court:)
Q. Were any of those in custody before the telegraphic warrants were ap-
plied for? , - . &
The Witness: Yes, sir.
The Court: About how many? -
The Witness: About 100, I should judge, it might be more.
• - 47 -- - ,’
Q. You mean 100 men were in custody at Deer Island before the telegraphic
warrants were applied for? . - - - -
s (Objection; overruled; question repeated to witness.)
A. A hundred men or more were detained at Deer Island without warrants,
gyes, Sir. .
The evidence of Messrs. Skeffington and Sullivan was corroborated by
George E. Kelleher, Division Superintendent of the Bureau of Investigation
of the Department of Justice, headquarters in Boston, Mass., who had charge
of rounding up the aliens in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
His testimony on the point of illegal arrests was as follows:
Q. What authority, what written document, did you have in your pos-
Session for the arrest of the individuals that were arrested that night?
(Objection; ovérruled.)
A. The authority that we had, the instructions from the Department at
Washington, and the knowledge that warrants were waiting for many of
those who were picked up, that those who were members of the Communist
party could be picked up and detained while warrants were being telegraphed
and asked for. - - # - • .
Q. It is a fact, is it not, Mr. Kelleher, that men and women were picked up
that night without any warrant in your possession for their custody? .
(Objection; overruled.)
A. That is so.
Counsel for the relators then went on to examine the witness. (p. 235) with
\,
regard to his procedure pursuant to the secret instructions of Dec. 27th
issued for the raid from Washington (Exh. 11 herewith).
Q. Did your men search the bodies and the homes and the halls at whic
the various men and women were arrested? - -
(Exception; overruled.)
A. Yes. - - .
Q. And they made seizure, did they not, of papers, documents, books and
what not?
(Objection; overruled.)
A. Pursuant to the Department's instruction. * * * The instructions
that were read into the record this morning were paraphrased, and each agent
was given a copy of those same instructions only in brief form for his guid-
:: sk sk
The examination then proceeded:
ance. (The witness is referring to the instructions Exh. 12 herewith.)
Q. Therefore, One is justified in asking, Mr. Kelleher, whether or not it is
a fact that searches were made by the arresting officers irrespective of the
production of a search warrant for the search?
(Objection; overruled.)
A. As you will note in the original instructions, that was left to the dis-
Cretion of the various officers. In other words, it appeared to those in charge
of those particular things that where a person would probably permit us to
search anyhow, it would be a needless waste of time, when under such tre-
*mendous pressure, to apply for the search warrant, that the person would
permit us to search the place without it. - • .
Counsel then returned once more (page 248) to the question of unlawful
arrests and detentions: -
f
48
Q. What did you do with those whom the warrant did not fit, or who did
not fit the warrant? - * - .
(Objection; overruled.)
A. They were detained. * * *
The Court : Detained where? - - -
The Witness: They were detained at the station or brought to Boston and
taken down to Deer Island. :: * º -
Q.. What was the authority upon which you were acting when you took
men and women for whom there were no outstanding warrants?
(Objection; , overruled. )
A. The Department's instructions. -
Q. You arrested people, you then checked up those whom you arrested With
the list of warrants in the hands of the Immigration officials, and where
there was a lack of warrant you continued to hold onto your arrestee?
(Objection; overruled.)
A. If he fitted the description as a member of either the Communist Party
or the Communist Labor Party and was an alien.
At the instance of the Court, counsel then went on to ask the witness “just
how these people that went around to the halls and homes were instructed,
if they were given lists of names or given descriptions of places and persons,
or how they knew what places they were to raid and whom they were to
bring to the concentration points.” The witness replied that they tried as far
as possible to get the aliens in groups, at meetings, for example; “our agents
went where meetings were being held to our knowledge and sorted them out
according to either whether we had warrants for them or whether they were
alien members of the Communist or Communist Labor Parties.” .
The next witness was William J. West, Assistant Division Superintendent,
Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice. He testified (page 272):
A. In 80me instances the Immigration officers no doubt had the warrants,
and the aliens were brought in to them, the agent having in his possession also
a list, of persons named in the warrants. That accounts for those who were
arrested on the warrants. As I have already stated, that night there were
neetings of the Communist party held in various cities and towns about
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and those meeting places were visited
and the persons found therein were questioned individually as to whether or
not they were members of the Communist party or of the Communist Labor
party, and as to whether or not, they were aliens or citizens. That is where
the sorting out process occurred. Those persons who admitted being mem-
bers of the Communist party, or of the Communist Labor Party, and who ad-
mitted being aliens, were immediately set aside and questioned further.
Q. Who questioned them, Mr. West? Who questioned them? Officials of
your staff? -
A. Agents from my office. . . . •
Q. Agents? Did they apprise them of what their legal rights and consti-
tutional rights were, as to the right to withhold any information unless there
was a lawful warrant for their arrest?
(Objection; overruled.) - j g
A. I don’t know what occurred in each particular case. ~
Q. Did you instruct them to tell the people before they spoke that they had
3. ºt to consult counsel and that what they said would be used against
them? * * - .
A. No, sir. .
Q. In fact, the instruction was to get information from them as much as
possible? • -
A. The instructions were to secure such evidence as would connect them
with membership in the Communist party or Communist Labor party.
*
**
49
The witness then testified that persons were taken into custody for whom
no warrants had been issued, if such persons confessed to being aliens and
members of either of the proscribed parties; that they were then put through
the regular questionnaire, and warrants requested for them by telephone and
telegraph. Statistically, the witness testified to the following figures (page
74): - - -
Q. The facts that we are after, Mr. West, ought to take just three minutes
to obtain—namely, how many men and women were taken into custody?
Approximately how many were there? Do you know? .
A. No, sir, I do not. } - -
Q. Were there 2,000 or 1,000?
A. I should estimate it at approximately 600 persons.
Q. 600?. Then finally there were at Deer Island only, as you told us, abou
440? -
A. Yes, sir. -
Q. So that you let go about 160?
A. Approximately that. -
Q. And of those that you took into custody—namely, 440, or whatever it
was that you took into custody—there were no warrants for approximating
about 1002
(Objection ; overruled.) 2
A. That is approximately true; yes, sir.
Later in the examination of the same witness (Mr. West), counsel for the
relators turned again to the question of unlawful search and seizure. Quot-
ing from the secret instructions of December 27, counsel called the attention
of the witness to the following: “Particular efforts should be made to ap-
prehend all of the officers of either of these two parties if they are aliens.
The residences of such officers should be searched in every instance for litera-
ture, membership cards, records and correspondence.” Witness was asked
whether he had given oral instructions to his agents “relative to getting into
residences and what they should do if they got in?” Witness replied that
that was left to the discretion of the individual agent, who was to conduct
himself as local conditions required. Witness also stated that in certain cases
search warrants had, to his information, been obtained. Then comes the fol-
lowing (page 305) : - - Nº.
(By Mr. Brooks :)
Q. Do you know what was seized under these search warrants in Worcester
and Lawrence?
(Objection; overruled.) *
A. Not in detail.
Q. Well, generally speaking? - % -
A. Generally speaking, evidence tending to show that the persons taken into
custody were connected with one or the other of the proscribed parties.
Q. That is to say, papers, books, pictures, and so forth?
A. No, I don’t know about pictures. There were some books. But papers
principally. g . -
(By the Court:) .
Q. Well, you knew, Mr. West, that no search warrants could be obtained
under the laws of the United States or of the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts which would authorize the seizure of such literature or evidence as you
were after, didn't you? 'Otherwisé stated, this was not outlaw property
within the laws of the United States or the Commonwealth, was it?
(Objection; overruled.)
A. Well, I submit I do not know, your Honor. I would have to submit that
question to the Office of the United States Attorney, as to what would be
outlaw property and What would be seizable under either the United States
warrants or the State warrants. -
50
Q. Well, if you instructed your agent to get a warrant to 8eize concealed
weapons, for instance—I think there is a statute covering that—but the real
purpose of the warrant was not to seize weapons but to seize literature, and
it was intended to be used for another purpose than that which on its face
it appeared to be obtained for, wasn’t that— -
(Objection ; overruled.)
A. If those warrants were issued as gun warrants—
Q. As what? - . .
A. As gun warrants—that is, as warrants to seize guns, weapons—ſund
anything else other than guns and weapons were 8eized, why, it would.
naturally follow that the property seized was not the property named in the
Search warrant. -
(By Mr. Brooks :)
Q. Did you caution your agents to confine themselves strictly to the subject
matter of the warrant? *
(Objection; overruled.)
A. I issued no instructions. - .
Q. You merely told them to secure search warrants where practicable—as
I understand your phrase—“where practicable”? . -
A. Yes, Sir. - - -
Q. What did you instruct them to do where that was not practicable?
A. Where that was not practicable they were to follow the instructions
contained in the Bureau letter of instructions.
Commenting on the methods brought out by the above testimony, the court
remarked (page 308) : -
The Court: It is interesting to note that we are all finding out gradually
what is meant by the 18th Amendment. - -> -
Mr. Kelleher : Are you referring to the 18th Amendment? If you are,
your Honor, I would say that that does not come under the Bureau of In-
vestigation, Department of Justice.
The Court : Doesn’t it?
Mr. Brooks: Internal Revenue. -
The Court: The statutes which have been put in here so far indicate that
the aliens do not come under the Department of Justice, but evidently they
did on the 2nd of January.
Further details as to the manner of arresting the aliens during the January
2nd raid were brought out by the examination of John A. Ryder, an Immi-
gration Inspector in the Boston district. He testified as follows (page 444) :
. Did you participate in any of the raids on the 2nd of January?
A. I was assigned to Brockton.
Q. Did you go to Brockton 2
A. Yes, sir. . -
Q
A
Q
. How many warrants did you serve in Brockton? t
. I don’t remember serving any. I had warrants. I don’t remember of
identifying anybody with those warrants. - -
Q. How many warrants did you have?
A. Roughly, about 10. -
Q. And where were you with the warrants in Brockton?
A.. I was in the City Marshal’s office. -
Q. And did the Department of Justice agent bring people before you?
(Objection; overruled.)
Q. About how many people did they bring before you for identification?
A. Oh, they were being brought in all night by the police.
Q. How many people, about how many ?
* wº 51
A. Oh, at least a hundred. -
Q. At least a hundred,—men and women? -
A. I would qualify that 100. I don’t think there were a hundred—less than
a hundred. Between 50 and 100.
Q. Nearer a hundred than fifty? .
A. I think. 80. That night and the next day.
Q. And there was not one out of the fifty or seventy-five, or close to a
hundred, that fit any of the names on the warrants?
. Yes; afterwards it was found that they did.
. But that night you did not serve a single warrant?
No.
... Were they all released? -
. No. 18 or 19 were brought to Boston the meat day. * * * -
. When you brought them to Boston there were no warrants for their
arrest? -
A. Excepting in a few cases, yes.
Q. But about 18, you say, you wired on for telegraphic warrants for?
A. Yes. -
Q. And were they examined by the Department of Justice agent on the
questionnaire? - -
A. Yes," sir.
Q. And those who answered that they were members of the Communist
party—were those the ones for whose arrest you applied for warrants?
A. Well, I did not take any direct part in that examination. I knew they
were examining the aliens. Once in a while I would stroll over and I might.
butt in and say something. I did not think I had any connection with that.
sk * 3: . -
i
(By the Court:)
Q. Where did they pick up these people around Brockton? In the halls
or in their homes? - -
A. In their homes. I might explain that very simply. The Financial Sec-
retary having been brought in with his books of membership cards of the
Communist Party of America, there was found to be about 200 on his register.
So that they went looking up some of those people. And the Communist card
was apparently good evidence against them to apply for a warrant at least.
Q. Well, you said they were doing it all night and a part of the next day.
A. Yes, sir; the police. z
Q. Did they take these people out of bed and bring them to the police
station during the night?
A. Why, there was a group of police officials assigned to assist the Depart-
ment of Justice, and they knew the territory and they were sent out.
Q. Well, that went on in the evening and all through the late hours of the
morning?. - -
A. Yes, your Honor. -
Q. You stayed there at the station to see if you could fit any of these
people to the warrants you had? -
A. Yes, sir. -
Q. And you did not find a single fit in your case?
A. No. I was upstairs and they were brought in and detained down stairs,
and a great many would be brought in without my knowledge.
Q. What did they do with them? Ilock them up?
A. After a few moments, then each one would be brought upstairs and
questioned and let go in many cases. - -
Q. In other cases what did they do?
A. Held them there.
Q. Locked them up?
A. Yes, your Honor.
52
III. . . * * * -
DELEGATION OF work BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO PRIVATE
INDIVIDUALS AND LOCAL POLICE. .
It was brought out, during the examination of George E. Kelleher, Division
Superintendent of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice,
headquarters in Boston, that to some extent at least the Department, in Con-
ducting the January 2nd raids, availed itself of the assistance of volunteer
private individuals. The witness was testifying as to the number of persons
who participated in the raids within his jurisdiction, and had set that num-
ber at from 300 to 500. He was then examined as to the nature of the force
(page 228): - - ;
Q. Whom 'have you in mind, what section of officials or individuals have
you in mind when you give the number as from 300 to 500?
A. The agents of the Department of Justice, and the police authorities of
the various cities where the raids were carried out. $ -
Q. Nobody else except agents for the Department of Justice and the police
authorities? - - - . - :
A. No. - - . . *
Q. Any volunteer private citizens? - - o -
A. Volunteer private citizens who donated their automobiles. Our force
was increased to some extent through the re-employment of men who had
previously been in our employ and who knew how to operate as agents.
* * * - -
Q. It is admitted by you, Mr. Kelleher, that in the party under your control
making the arrests on the evening of January 2nd there were persons other
than officials of the Department of Justice and officials of the various police
forces in the various cities? - - . -
A. Only so far as the question of transportation is concerned. The men .
who participated in the arrests were either police officials or on the payroll
of the Department of Justice. t -
Q. You mean, men who actually took hold of the bodies of the men and
women who were arrested? -
A. Yes. - - . I - -
Q. But assistanee was rendéred you in the raid by other than officials
either of the Department of Justice or the police force of this Common-
Wealth? .N. - - -
A. In the matter of transportation. * * * r
Q. You did not take a definite census of those who volunteered, did you?
A. It would be impossible. We might be able to get a man for one trip
and then lose him because he had other business to attend to. I have quali.
fied that, however, by stating that it was entirely a matter of transportation.
We tried to make it as easy as possible for those who were taken in raids,
particularly in the case of women. Rather than to force them to walk long
distances we tried to provide automobiles for their convenience.(1)
Iv.
PROVOCATIVE AGENTS.
The confidential letter of instructions of Dec. 27th, sent to the Division
Superintendent of the Boston branch of the Bureau of Investigation, George
E. Kelleher, by Frank Burke, Assistant Director and Chief of the Bureau of
Investigation, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C., contains the follow-
ing instruction (Ex. 11 herewith): - -
“If possible, you should arrange with your under-cover informants to have
meetings of the COMMUNIST PARTY and the COMMUNIST LABOR PARTY
held on the night set. I have been informed by some of the bureau offices that
such arrangements will be made. This, of course, would facilitate the making
of the arrests.” . - . . . - - .
. George E. Kelleher was examined upon this point, and gave the following
testimony (page 250) :
Q. You had good reason to know about some of these meetings, did you not?
A. Yes. -- t
Q. You had even reason to know that the meeting would be held, did you
not? . . -
A. Yes. . . i .
Q. And in some instances you even stimulated the calling of the meeting,
did you not? : - • * t
(Objection; overruled.)
A. Possibly. It may be that that did not apply in this particular district;
it may be that it did. 'I will have to refer you to Mr. West, Who, is in more
direct touch with that entire situation. gº
Q. But it may be that it did? . -
A. Yes. - . . -
Q. In other words, the meeting was arranged at which these people were
to be found? -
A. There is that possibility. -
Q. And that possibility is not excluded in the instructions which you got
from Washington.
A. Not at all. -
Q.' In fact, that possibility is included in the instructions which you got
from Washington? . - - *
A. Yes, sir.
In reply to a direct question by the court, whether the witness had ever
given instructions personally to act under that instruction from Washington,
witness replied that
“upon the receipt of those instructions they were handed to Mr. west, Who
took appropriate steps under those instructions. I never came in direct and
personal contact with any of the so-called informers.”
- A
(By the Court:) .
Q. Have you any present knowledge of the entent to which the Communist
Party and the Communist Labor Party are under cover in that way? -
(Objection.) *
A. It would be very hard for anyone in Boston, or anywhere outside of
Washington, to make any answer to that question. -
Q. And I suppose you do not know when that Government participation
in the Communist Party and the Communist-Labor Party began do you?
Mr. Goldberg: If your Honor please, While I realize it is a matter of
interest, is that a matter of consequence in these proceedings?. *
The Court: It is of the most vital consequence. .
(Objection; overruled.)
Q. You do not know personally when it began, do you?
A. No, I have no knowledge. . . - -
Q. And I understand you to say you do not have personal, knowledge of the
extent of the participation in this district, that Mr. West would know rather
than you? . - . . - t
A. Yes. I would have an idea as to how it might come up, because the
employment of any man who might be paid by the Department of Justice.
appropriation, who might be connected with such an organization for Govern-
ment purposes, would naturally have to come through my hands,-appointed
by Washington and sent to this district by the Washington authorities.
Witness was then asked how many under-cover informants were operating
in his district, and replied he did not know; that the number is constantly
- * . - . *
54
changing by the addition of new men or the removal of others from the
district. .
The Court asked the witness whether he didn’t think the system of under-
cover informants was exceedingly dangerous:—“Somebody who is employed
to go around under an alias or pseudonym, or some kind of disguise, to pre-
tend to be a Communist or Socialist or Anarchist, When in fact he is in the
employ of an entirely different organization and is operating for entirely
different purposes—that is an exceedingly dangerous thing, isn’t it?” Wit-
ness replied that he did not think so, since the purpose of the cover informant
working for the government was to be animated solely by the desire to
do a service for the government. Witness admitted, however, that the System
provided for the keeping of a watch by one informant Ön the other; and said
further that he regarded it as a wise thing to have the informants keep a
watch on each other.
WILLIAM J. WEST Was then examined as to his knowledge of the activi-
ties of the under-cover informants, and though extremely evasive, finally
Confirmed Kelleher's testimony:
. You remember the instructions, Mr. West?
. I remember the instructions; yes, sir.
Did you impart those instructions to your cover informants?
. I cannot say.
. You are not prepared to deny it?
I am not. -
. And presumably you acted upon instructions that came to you from
Ayour chief at Washington, did you not?
A. I in each instance carried out all instructions issued to me, to the best
of my knowledge. . -
Q. And do you recall there were specific instructions to hold meetings
that night? -
A. I recall ; yes, sir. - ' -
The Court: Were Communist meetings actually held that night?
The Witness: Yes, sir. : -
The Court: In large numbers? -
The Witness: On the night of January 2 there were Communist meetings
held at Worcester, there was a meeting at the city headquarters in Boston,
there was a meeting at Nashua, N. H., I believe there was a meeting in Lynn,
I believe a meeting in Springfield. .
Q. What was the earliest you knew the meetings would be held on that
night? * •
(Objection; overruled.) - a . -
A. To my knowledge, at the present time, the earliest that I can now recall
of having advance notice of a meeting on the night of January 2 was several
days prior to January 2. . - * .
i
Later in the examination of the same witness, counsel for the relators *
reverted to the under-cover informants. He could elicit the information only
that deportation work was a new departure for the Department of Justice,
leaving the inference that the informants “were people especially trained,
if not specially obtained, for this class of work, of a rather temporary char-
acter”; that there were informants who, to the knowledge of the witness,
operated in the Boston and related districts on radical work; that the De.
partment of Justice had employed such informants since 1917, which was the
.date of the witness's first joining the Department.
- W.
GENERAL CONDITIONs of RAIDs.
There follow brief abstracts of the evidence of a few out of many wit.
nesses, taken upon oath in this case. .
... Mrs. Stanislas Vasiliewska: Mother of three children; went with her little
girl of 18 to a meeting in Low's Hall, Chelsea. Plain-clothes man and police
…~"
g
55
entered and ordered “Hands up,” searched everyone, took down the pictures
from the wall and the “No Smoking” sign in Russian, handcuffed the men two
and two, took the witness and her child to the police station, locked them in
a cell with another woman who was pregnant. At midnight the little girl
was sent home alone... Witness remained in police station until 8 or 9 A. M.;
was then taken with two handcuffed men by Department of Justice agent to
dock to await afternoon boat; was locked into the dock toilet with cigar
butts, filth, etc. Later Mrs. Colyer was locked in with her. Witness did not
know until a long time afterwards what had happened to her three children.
Charles Michaelson: American citizen; arrested 120 Market St., Lynn,
where 39 persons had met to organize a Jewish Cooperative Bakery. Ar-
rested by eight or nine men; searched, records taken ; citizens and aliens
separated but all taken to police station. Kept there from 9:30 Friday night
until 12 noon Saturday, denied food and denied water; kept in the corridor
in spite of fact that there were open cells. Denied chance to call up his wife
on the telephone. Saturday noon 38 of the 39 arrested were released and
told to go home, of whom 13 or 14 had been American citizens.
Minnie Federman: American citizen; arrested 6 A. M. January 3rd in her
bedroom by six or seven men. No warrant shown. Was refused permission
to dress in the next room ; dressed in the closet While officer held the handle
of the door. Room Searched, mattress ripped up ; Witness detained several
hours at police station and city prison, and then released. Property taken
from Witness not returned. •
Annie Valinska8: Married; mother of child of three. Arrested, Nassau,
N. H. at St. John the Baptist Hall. All persons put under arrest, searched
and men handcuffed. About 150 in all including about 13 women. Seven
women released at police court and six held. . Witness was shown suit case
by federal officials which they said they had taken from her house. She
denied Ownership. They then showed her two prayer books which she identi-
fied as her own and her father's. Was shown neither warrant of arrest nor
search warrant. Was confined with four other women in a cell 9 feet by 6,
entirely unfurnished. Remained there from Friday night until Saturday
afternoon.
Frank Mack: English Subject, in this country 6 years; arrested at his
house; demanded to be shown a Warrant, was read a warrant which was
unsigned and did not include his name. Taken to police station, put through
third degree examination. Transported next day to Long Wharf where he
saw a crowd of people in chains compelled by officers to pose for newspaper
photographers. As to conditions on Deer Island, prisoners were provided
with no Sanitary Conveniences and compelled to remain in unheated cells
furnished only With a Spring cot without blankets or mattress; the latter
were later provided. Guards were very harsh and were under the authority
of both the Department of Justice and Immigration officials. Sunday after
arrival at Deer Island, witness requested permission for prisoners to gather
for religious service, which was refused. At witness's hearing he was con-
fronted with exhibits of radical literature which had been removed from his
room, together with pocket book, keys, newspapers, cards, and several photo-
graphs and a book. This was the first information witness had had that his
room had been searched. -
Ernest Liberman: English subject; arrested without warrant at meeting;
With other men was marched through the streets of Boston to Long Wharf
in chains and photographs taken. In chains from 11 A. M. until 4 P. M. At
Deer Island prisoners were kept in cells without any sanitary conveniences
Whatever for three days; corroborated other evidence of witness Mack as to
conditions On Deer Island. - -
, Oluf L. Root: Immigration Inspector; testified that prisoners brought from
Fitchburg to Boston were handcuffed two and two together with a long chain
between the two lines; chains and handcuffs remained on the prisoners while
56 - wº
they were on the train and until he delivered them to the Deer Island boat.
Raids in his district began at 5 minutes past one on the morning of January
3rd and were completed at 4 o'clock that morning; the persons arrested being
taken out of their beds. - .
James A. Sullivan: Deputy Commissioner, testified that visitors were not
allowed to see the aliens on Deer Island for one week after their arrival, nor
was it easy for the aliens to send out any mail for the first three or four days
after arrival. Witness protested that exposing the aliens to photographers
while in chains had not been done by the Department of Labor.
Notes: (1) At the date of this report briefs have just been submitted in
the Colyer case. Although Judge Anderson has not yet, therefore rendered
a formal decision, he stated at the trial that unless, the Government persuaded
him to change his view he did not regard the Communist Party as one ad-
vocating force and violence. . -
(2) Secretary of Labor Wilson has held, since the Colyer case, that the
Communist Labor Party does not advocate force and violence. He held the
contrary, last January, as to the Communist Party. The Department of
Justice raids were made, before either of these decisions, indiscriminately
upon persons suspected of affiliation with either party.
EXIIIBIT/14.
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT.
SILVERTHORNE LUMBER COMPANY, INC., and FREDERICK W.
SILVERTHORNE, Plaintiffs in Error, .
- VS.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
opinion by Mr. Justice Holmes—Decided January 26, 1920.
Mr. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the court:
The facts are simple. An indictment upon a single specific charge
having been brought against the two Silverthornes mentioned, they
both were arrested at their homes early in the morning of February
25, and were detained in custody a number of hours. While they
were thus detained representatives of the Department of Justice and
the United States marshal, without a shadow of authority, went to
the office of their company and made a clean sweep of all the books,
papers, and documents found there. All the employees were taken
or directed to go to the office of the district attorney of the United
States, to which also the books, etc., were taken at once. An appli-
cation was made as soon as might be to the district court for a return
of what thus had been taken unlawfully. It was opposed by the dis-
trict attorney so far as he had found evidence against the plaintiffs
in error, and it was stated that the evidence so obtained was before
the grand jury. * * * * Photographs and copies of material
papers were made and a new indictment was framed, based upon the
knowledge thus obtained. The district court ordered a return of
the originals, but impounded the photographs and copies. * * *
57
The government now, while in form repudiating and condemning the
illegal seizure, seeks to maintain its right to avail itself of the knowl-
edge obtained by that means which otherwise it would not have had.
The proposition could not be presented more nakedly. It is that
although of course its seizure was an outrage which the government
now regrets, it may study the papers before it returns them, copy
them, and then may use the knowledge that it has gained to call
upon the owners in a more regular form to produce them; that the
protection of the Constitution covers the physical possession, but not
any advantages that the government can gain over the object of its
pursuit by doing the forbidden act. * * * In our opinion such
is not the law. It reduces the 4th Amendment to a form of words.
232 U. S. 393. The essence of a provision forbidding the acquisi-
tion of evidence in a certain way is that not merely evidence so ac-
quired shall not be used before the court, but that it shall not be
used at all. * * * - t -
Judgment reversed. . . . *
The CHIEF JUSTICE and Mr. Justice Pitney dissent.
- EXHIBIT 15.
U.S. DISTRICT court, DISTRICT OF MONTANA
In the Mater of JOHN JACKSON.
Decision by JUDGE Bourquin, February 12, 1920.
BOURQUIN, J.: Petitioner, held for deportation as an alien
“found advocating or teaching the unlawful destruction of prop-
erty,’” and who at time of entry “was a person likely to become a
public charge,” seeks habeas corpus for that the evidence against him
was unlawfully secured, that the deportation proceedings were un-
fair, and that the evidence fails to support the findings quoted above.
Respondent returns the record of said proceedings. -
Therefrom it appears that from August, 1918, to February, 1919,
the Butte union of the Industrial Workers of the World was dis-
Satisfied with working places, conditions and wages in the mining
industry, and to remedy them were discussing ways and means, in-
cluding a strike if necessary. In consequence its hall and orderly
meetings were several times raided by employers' agents, federal
agents and soldiers duly officered, acting by federal authority and
without warrant. . The members, men and women, many of whom
a familiar principle concludes are citizens of the United States, made
no resistance save oral protests, no retaliation, and there was no dis-
order save by the raiders. These, armed, forcibly entered, broke and
destroyed property; searched effects and papers; seized papers and
documents; cursed, insulted, beat, dispersed, and bayonneted mem-
bers by order of the captain commanding; likewise entered peti-
tioner's adjacent living apartments, insulted his wife, searched and
seized his papers, several times arrested him and others, and in gen-
eral in an orderly and populous city, rºl an orgy of terror,
violence and crime against citizens and aliens in public assemblage,
58
whose only offense seems to have been peaceable insistence upon an
exercise of a clear legal right * * * These pamphlets and
papers so seized from the hall and the petitioner's apartment, are the
only material and vital evidence against him so far as the first find-
ing quoted is concerned. * * * -
Permitting all discussion of the contents of these pamphlets, and
having in mind the political control over aliens, the summary char-
acter of the proceedings in deportation, and the limited jurisdiction
of the courts in respect thereof, it is believed the deportation pro-
ceedings aforesaid were unfair in that they violated the searches
and seizures and due process clauses of the Constitution, to the pro-
tection of which as a resident alien, petitioner is entitled. * * *
The Declaration of Independence, the writings of the Fathers of
our Country, the Revolution, the Constitution and the Union, all
were inspired to overthrow the like governmental tyranny. They
are yet living, vital, potential forces to safeguard all domiciled in
the éountry, aliens as well as citizens. . -
If evidence of the alien's evil advocacy and teaching is so wanting
that it exists in only that herein, and as secured herein, he is a far
less danger to this country than are the parties who in violation of
law and order, of humanity and justice, have brought him to de-
portation. They are the spirit of intolerance incarnate, and the
most alarming manifestation in America today.
Thoughtful men who love this country and its institutions see
more danger in them and in their practices and the government by
hysteria they stimulate, than in the miserable, hated “Reds” that
are the Ostensible occasion of them all. Those people may confi-
dently assume that, even as the “Reds,” they too in due time will
pass, and the nation still live. It is for the courts to deal with both,
to hold both in check when brought within the jurisdiction. * * *
The writ is granted. .
IEXHIBIT 16. -
April 10, 1920.
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
WASHINGTON
DECISION OF LOUIS F. POST, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
. LABOR, IN RE THOMAS TRUSs.
(Decision Given in Full. Italics by the Editor.)
This alien, a Pole by birth, is 33 years of age; he arrived in the
United States in 1907, was married in 1912, and has three American-
born children. He is a coat presser by occupation, earning about
$40 a week and is or recently was president of the amalgamated
clothing workers of Baltimore. His character, well attested by highly
responsible witnesses, is that of a man who is not in the slightest dé-
gree dangerous to this government or at all inimical to any organ-
. 59
ized government, but who would make a good citizen of the United
States. He was taken into custody on the 7th of January, 1920, by
policemen who came to his home and asked him to accompany them
for the purpose of answering questions. He complied, expecting to
return presently. The policemen conducted him to a police station
where they delivered him to the police official in charge, saying that
he was wanted by a special agent of the Bureau of Investigation
of the U. S. Department of Justice. Thereupon the alien was locked
in a cell over night, and until sometime during the next day his
wife and friends were ignorant of his whereabouts. If there was
any warrant for this arrest the alien was not shown the warrant or
in any other way informed of the reason or the authority for his
summary imprisonment, nor has any such awthority been since dis-
closed. While still imprisoned he was eacamined on the 8th of Jan-
wary by a special agent of the Department of Justice and his eacam-
ination reduced to writing. No lawful authority for this proceeding
was disclosed to the alien at the time, nor has any been disclosed
since; no warning was given him that his replies might be wsed
against him, and he was not informed of his right to have counsel
present to represent him if he wished. .
A special agent of the Bureau of Investigation of the Department
of Justice thereupon made an affidavit in which he swore that in
the course of his personal investigations and those of the officials and
employees under his supervision and direction, he was informed
and verily believed that the alien was a subject of Russia, that he was
a member of the Communist Party and the Union of Russian Work-
ers, but these organizations advocate the overthrow by force or vio-
lence of the Government of the United States, and that the alien was a
member of and affiliated with them; that he was an anarchist, be-
lieved in and advocated the overthrow by force or violence of the
Government, disbelieved in, and was opposed to all organized gov-
ernment. This affidavit was evidently a filled-out form, as the at-
torneys for the alien state; but inasmuch as the Secretary of Labor
had already decided that the Union of Russian Workers and the
Communist Party are within the proscription of the act of Congress
of October 16, 1918, its averments imposed upon the Immigrant
Inspector in Charge at Baltimore the duty of applying to the Secre-
tary of Labor for a warrant of arrest º Immigration Rule 22,
Subdivision 3) and the Secretary of Labor was thereupon in duty
bound to issue the warrant (see Section 19 of the Immigration Act
# º and Section 2 of the supplementary Act of October 16,
Accordingly, on January 8, the alien being then still in custody
at the police station in Baltimore as stated above, the Immigrant In-
spector in Charge at Baltimore telegraphed to his superior officer at
Washington that satisfactory probable cause had been shown against
the alien for membership in the Union of Russian Workers and the
Communist Party. On the following day, January 9, a warrant of
arrest was consequently issued by the Secretary of Labor and the
Inspector in Charge at Baltimore was duly instructed by telegram to
arrest the alien and hold him to bail in $1,000, the usual sum
in such cases. In due course the formal warrant of arrest was trans-
mitted to the Inspector in Charge at Baltimore, and on January 9,
60 .
two days after the arrest described above, the alien was taken into
the custody of the Department of Labor by the Inspector in Charge.
Prior thereto the Department of Labor was in no wise a partici-
pant in or directly or indirectly responsible for the arrest of the alien
or his treatment in any respect. Subsequent, however, to January
9, and until he gave bail on January 15, the alien remained in cus-
tody as a#"; upon the aforesaid warrant of the Department of .
Labor. His hearing pursuant thereto began January 20, and on
April 1, the record of hearing came to the Assistant Secretary for de-
cision pursuant to his authority under the Immigration laws and the
organic act of the Department of Labor. -
Examination of this record makes it evident that alien is not a
Communist. Neither is he an anarchist. He is the opposite of an
anarchist, namely, a socialist. . . . .
It also appears from the record that the alien came to the United
States in §
several years a respected member of and active worker for the St.
º Polish Church (Presbyterian) of Baltimore in which he is an
€101éI’. - - -
As to his membership in the I. W. W., a point of contention at
the alien's hearing, the record shows that he was a member of a
branch of that organization six years ago; this branch being then the
only union of wage workers in his shop; but that he joined the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers when it was organized and there-
upon dropped out of the I. W. W. .
The record also shows that alien was for a time a member of a
Russian Workers' organization, then an educational and mutual
benefit society having nothing to do with governmental problems.
This organization merged into the Union of Russian Workers (an
organization heretofore proscribed under the act of October 16, 1918),
whereupon the alien dropped his membership. He never became a
member of the Union of Russian Workers. . -
The case appearing in the record against the alien turns, there-
fore, upon the question of his alleged membership in the Com-
munist Party of America, which, like the Union of Russian Work-
ers is under the ban of the act of October 16, 1918. He is shown
to have authorized the signing by another for him of a printed ap-
plication for membership in the Communist Party. Inasmuch, how-
ever, as that signing was prior to the organization of the proscribed
Communist Party of America, it is a nullity for the purpose of this
proceeding unless-confirmed by activities or declarations of the alien
after the constitution of the proscribed Communist Party was adopted
and brought to his attention. - .
According to the circumstances shown alien's membership appli-
cation was made in June, July or August, 1919. The Communist
Party of America was not organized until September. Alien had
authorized his ante-organization application at the suggestion of an
7, has lived in Baltimore ever since, and has been for
official organizer of the Socialist Party at a mass meeting which
alien attended upon the organizer's invitation, and at which the or-
ganizer set on foot preliminary proceedings for organizing a local
branch of the subsequently organized Communist Party. As alien
understood him the new party was to stand for socialization of mines,
- - 61
g
this Department of deciding whether or not the alien comes within
railroads, etc., thereby lowering prices as the Government Post Office
had lowered postage. , - .
Such a branch was informally organized, and on September 5, the
day of the organization of the Communist Party in Chicago, it ap-
plied for a charter. The application was approved by Communist
Party officials at Chicago on September 14 and a membership card
was given to the alien. Having previously paid a membership fee
and two months' dues the alien was credited with payments up to
and including November. A charter was received by the secretary
of the branch but not accepted by the group. The reason for delay
seems to have been that no constitution nor any explanation of the
purpose of the new party had been received, although the informally.

organized branch had been promised the attendance of an organizer
to explain the Communist Party to its members. At a meeting in
October, no organizer having come nor any constitution of the party,
and the members of the branch not having learned anything more
about the organization than had been explained at the mass meeting
held in Baltimore before the Communist Party was organized, alien's
branch decided to have no more meetings and instructed the secre-,
tary to return the charter. Its members never got together again. ,
On the basis of those circumstances, the responsibility falls upon
the membership clause of the Act of Congress of October 16, 1918.
Under that clause aliens must be deported if “they are members of
or affiliated with” the Communist Party of America. If this clause
be construed as meaning that aliens who have once technically be-
come members of the Communist Party must be deported even
though they had no guilty knowledge, or that the principle of “once
a member always a member” applies, it might be possible to spell
out from the circumstances described above a membership for which
deportation would be mandatory. Even then, however, there would
be no little difficulty without disregarding every principle of personal
responsibility. Having applied for membership before the pro-.
scribed organization was born, and withdrawn before its constitution
was brought even perfunctorily to his attention, this alien would
seem to a fair American mind to lack the requisites even of technical
membership. If, however, the requisites of technical membership
were all present, nevertheless the Congress of the United States should
not hastily be presumed to have intended that resident aliens be ar-
rested and deported as members of an unlawful organization, when


all the circumstances show the alien himself to have been innocent
of any guilty knowledge or motive in taking membership and when
it appears not only that he is and has been wholly free from any
hostile purpose toward this Government, but that he is sympathetic
with our democratic institutions.
Some members of Congress may possibly have intended, when they
voted for this law, to have it construed in a narrow, and un-American
fashion; but it would not be reasonable to infer that Congress, as the
Constitutional law-making body of this country, enacted this law
with any such un-American purpose. I shall therefore assume in
this case, as I have in a large number of similar cases, that Congress
intended the Act of October 16, 1918, to be considered reasonably
62
with reference to the individual knowledge and intent of persons
drawn innocently into an unlawful membership.
If the act be so construed, this alien is not within the spirit of the
act even if he were within its letter. In fact, however, he does not
appear to be within its letter. Under the circumstances disclosed
by the record he was never so much as a technical member of the .
proscribed Communist Party; and in so far as his conduct might be
supposed to confirm his ante-organization application or to bring him
within the affiliation clause of the act, the circumstances of his with-
drawal are conclusive. - • f
I have described this case at length because in most if not all es-
Sentials it is typical of a large proportion of fully 1,000 cases I have
decided after hearings in which warrants of arrest had been issued by
the Department of Labor on prima facie proof of probable cause
furnished by special agents of the Bureau of Investigation of the
Department of Justice. The aliens are arrested and imprisoned;
while imprisoned they are subjected to a police-office inquisition;
an affidavit showing probable cause (upon information and belief)
is thereupon presented to the Department of Labor, whereupon the
Department of Labor issues its warrant of arrest, takes over the cus-
tody of the alien, as by law it is required to do, and proceeds as usual
in warrant cases under the expulsion clause of the immigration law.
When the hearings at Immigration Stations are reported verbatim
in regular course to the Department of Labor, the Secretary of Labor
(or his lawful representative) who is charged with the exclusive re-
sponsibility, comes to examine these records, it is found in a large
proportion of the large number of cases I have examined that there
is no better reason for deportation than is disclosed in the present case.
In some cases the membership is “automatic,” the arrested alien
having been transferred from a lawful organization to the unlawful
one by vote of a group or branch of the former and without his
knowledge. In some cases he has had knowledge of the transfer but
none at all of the character of the organization to which he has been
transferred. In other cases he has signed applications before the
existence of the unlawful organization and has never confirmed his
membership by any conscious act. Sometimes an organizer or a
friend has signed the application for him. As a rule, the hearings
show the aliens arrested to be working men of good character who
have never been arrested before, who are not anarchists or revolu-
tionists, nor politically or otherwise dangerous in any sense. Many
of them, as in this case, have American-born children. It is pitiful
to consider the hardships to which they and their families have been
subjected during the past three or four months by arbitrary arrest,
long detention in default of bail beyond the means of hard working
wage earners to give, for nothing more dangerous than affiliating
with friends of their own race, country and language, and without
the slightest indication of sinister motive, or any unlawful act
within their knowledge or intention. To permit aliens to violate the
hospitality of this country by conspiring against it is something
which no American can contemplate with patience. Equally im-
patient, however, must any patriotic American be with drastic pro-
ceedings on flimsy proof to deport aliens who are not conspiring
63
against our laws and do not intend to. Although these are not
criminal proceedings, being wholly administrative in their character,
their effect upon the innocent individual who in this summary way is
found to be guilty is as distressing to him and his family, to his
friends and to his neighbors, as the effect of conviction for crime by
regular judicial processes. .
It is sometimes difficult to draw the line in the records of cases
of aliens charged with membership in a proscribed organization—
and very few cases so far instituted upon probable cause shown by
Special agents of the Bureau of Investigation are for anything else—
between those who are members understandingly and those whose
membership is only technical and without guilty knowledge on
their part. The natural association of alien residents with their
own countrymen and the overlapping of social, industrial and politi-
cal organizations, each with its factions, tend to confuse the circum-
stances. As a guide through this maze, I have tried to follow the
following principles of decision in each individual case:
1. The Communist Party of America is within the membership
clauses of the Act of October 16, 1918. (Secretary’s memorandum
in the Preis case.)
2. Personal signing of the application for membership required
by the Communist Party as quoted in the Secretary’s memorandum
in the Preis case, when such signing is supplemented by circum-
stances indicating membership subsequent to the creation of the
Communist Party, constitutes membership within the purview of
the Act of October 16, 1918. - *
3. Signing by another with the authority of the alleged member
has the same effect as personal signing, provided authority to sign
and understanding of the purpose thereof are proved.
4. Applications for membership not confirmed by acceptance do
not constitute membership within the Act of October 16, 1918,
unless it may be inferred from further facts indicative thereof.
5. Name in a membership list is not in itself proof of member-
ship. sº
6. “Automatic membership” does not constitute membership
within the Act of October 16, 1918, unless supported by proof of
individual activities or declarations tending to show knowledge of
the character of the organization.
7. Signed applications antedating the formation of the Commu-
nist Party (on or about September 5, 1919), which are not unlaw-
ful in their own terms or their legitimate implications, do not in
themselves constitute proof of membership nor of application, for
membership in the proscribed Communist Party. -
8. When membership has been withdrawn under circumstances
satisfactorily establishing good faith, the accused alien does not
come within the proscriptions of the Act of October 16, 1918, as to
membership. - -
9. When the accused alien appears to be a person of good general
character, fit for American citizenship except for the accusation in
hand, and there is reasonable doubt of his membership, the warrant
of arrest will be cancelled. •
…”
54
10. Statements of the accused alien, whether oral or in writing
made while he is in custody and without pººl fairly afforded
him from the beginning to be represented by counsel, and without
clear warning that anything he says may be used against him will
be disregarded pursuant to the principle Re Jackson (U. S. District
Court for Montana, Bourquin, J.) and of Silverthorne vs. U. S.
(January 28, 1990), as having been unlawfully obtained.

11. Eachibits seized upon the premises or the person of the ac-
cused alien without lawful process, will be disregarded pursuant both
to the principle and the precise decision in Re Jackson, and Silver-
thorne vs. U. S. |
12. In cases in which the alien is the father of children born in
the United States, and therefore constitutional American citizens,
and who are dependent upon and receive from him parental support,
every fair doubt regarding membership within the purview ºp the
statute will be accorded. , - . -
Guided by those principles, I am of opinion that upon the record
in this case the alien is not a member of or affiliated with the Com-
munist Party or any other proscribed organization within the mean-
ing of the Act of Congress of October 16, 1918.
The warrant is cancelled. - –
- LOUIS F. POST,
, Assistant Secretary.
Note by the Editor: The rendering of the foregoing decision was
the principal reason for the effort in the House of Representatives
to institute impeachment proceedings against Mr. Post.
ExHIBIT 17.
PROPAGANDA LETTER, ATTORNEY GENERAL TO MAGAZINES.
2
Office of the Attorney General. --
. - Washington, D.C., January 27, 1920.
-— and Associates, Editor —— Magazine, New York City.
DEAR — ; . *
In order that as one of the leaders of thought of this country you may have
before you an authentic source of information as to the significance of the
present situation I am taking the liberty of sending to you photostatic copies
of original documents published by various branches of the Communist Press
in Russia and in the United States. These furnish the purpose, history, and
character of the Red Radical Movement, not by hearsay, but under the au-
thoritative sanction of its own progenitors.
Exhibit No. 1 is the Report of Louis C. Fraina, International Secretary of
the Communist Party of America, describing fully its antecedents, birth and
projects, and follows the form of an application of the Communist Party of
America to be accepted in the Bureau of the Communist International as a
“major party.” * - .
Exhibit No. 2 is the manifesto of the Third Communist International
adopted at Moscow, March 2–6, 1919, and signed by Comrades C. Rakovsky, N.
Ienin, M. Zinerzen, L. Trotsky and Fritz Platten. It is an exhaustive state-
ment of the rationale, principles and program of Russian Bolshevism and its
ambition for world-wide dominion. - .
65
and Program of the Communist Party of America. -
Exhibit No. 4 represents the form of application for membership in this
party, containing the pledge to active enlistment in its seditious work.
Exhibit No. 5 gives the Novomirski Manifesto of the Anarchist-Communists
organized in the Federation of Unions of Russian Workers of the United States
and Canada, similar in purpose to the manifestoes of previously numbered
exhibits and containing particularly the declaration “We are atheists; we are
communists; we are anarchists.”—You all have one tâsk—to destroy the
World of gain and create a world of freedom ; for all there is one means—an
armed insurrection and forcible seizure of all instruments and all products
of toil. “Woe to the enemies of the laboring class.”
Exhibit No. 3 is the responsive and cooperating Manifesto, Constitution *
• [NOTE:-This paragraph is deliberately false in its implication;
although the document was reprinted in New York it was written
in Odessa in 1905 for the purposes of the Russian Revolution of
that year.] - .
Exhibit No. 6. “Your Shop” is an evidence of the sabotizing of labor and
labor enemies prescribed on the communist program. .-
Exhibit No. 7. The State-Strike Breaker, of like use but aimed at the
defamation of government and the employing class.
Exhibit No. 8. A proclamation of the Communist International against the
Versailles Peace, designed to exert influence toward its failure of ratification.
Exhibit No. 9. An example of the Russian Bolshevik propaganda among our
Soldiers in Siberia. - - - • ,
Striking passages in these exhibits are marked for convenience. -
The whole is submitted for the furtherance of a more realizing popular ap-
preciation of the menace involved in the unrestrained spread of criminal
Communism's unspeakable social treason among the masses.
It is the contention of the Department of Justice that these documents
standing alone demonstrate: . . - -
(1) That the present aim of the Russian Government and its officers is to
forment and incite discontent, aiming toward a revolution in this country.
[Note—The Department has not yet been able to prove this
charge in the Martens deportation proceedings.] -
(2) That the entire movement is a dishonest and criminal one, in other
words, an organized campaign to acquire the wealth and power of all countries
for the few agitators and their criminal associates. -
[NotE.-The entire movement is one of orthodox extreme Social.
ism along the lines of the Karl Marx Manifesto of 1848.]
The Red Movement does not mean an attitude of protest against alleged
defects in our present political and economic organization of society. It does
not represent the radicalism of progress. It is not a movement of liberty-
loving persons. Lenine himself made the statement, at the Third Soviet Con-
ference, “Among one hundred so-called Bolsheviks there is one real Bolshevik,
thirty-nine criminals, and sixty fools.” It advocates the destruction of all
Ownership in property, the destruction of all religion and belief in God. It is
a movement organized against Democracy, and in favor of the power of the
few built by force. Bolshevism, syndicalism, the Soviet Government, sabot-
age, etc., are only names for old theories of violence and criminality.
Having lived at the expense of the Russian people for two years, these
speculators in human lives and other peoples' earnings are trying to move to
new fields to the East and to the West, hoping, to take advantage of the
economic distress and confusion of mind in which humanity finds itself after
the terrific strain of five years of war. . .
Its sympathizers, in this country are composed chiefly of criminals, mis-
taken idealists, social bigots, and many unfortunate men afid women suffering
with various forms Of hyperesthesia. - .
This Department, as far as existing laws allows, intends to keep up an un-
flinching war against this movement no matter how cloaked or dissembled. .
We are determined that this movement will not be permitted to go far enough
in this country to disturb our peace or create any widespread distrust of the ,
people's government. . .
66
Our actions have been and will be continuously met with criticism. In so
far as that it is founded upon an understanding of these documents and upon
the situation which they disclose, we welcome it, but the sabotizing of public
thought is an essential of this movement, and we are asking you, after reading
these documents, to aid in seeing that the American people are not misled.
The natural sympathy of our people for distress in all forms is now being used
by the friends of Bolshevism. in discussing the number of women and children
alleged to have been left dependent by our deportations. We can assure you
that the condition of the family of each and every person arrested has been
personally examined into by the Agents of this Department, and that
wherever there are dependents of these men they are being individually looked
after by the most prominent charitable organizations of their own creed in
their locality. , .
[NOTE.-This statement of fact is of course substantially false.]
It is no part of the Attorney General's duty to look after the families of vio-
lators of our laws. Hundreds of thousands of men are in prisons throughout
our country without it ever having been urged by anyone that the Goyern-
ment is under any proper charge to look after the families brought into dis-
tress through criminal acts of their own members. 4. .
But in Order that the issue may remain clear, we have determined to see to
it that no woman or child be allowed to suffer for the conduct of their sup-
porters. ¥ * .
Their next move has been to agitate criticism of the Government's activity
as directed against the right of free speech. I yield to no one in my anxiety
that that right be preserved unclouded and unquestioned, but nothing so en-
dangers the exercise of a right as the abuse thereof, and a clear definition of
the right of free speech and of a free press sufficiently answers any criticism
of the necessity which the Government finds itself under in combating this
movement. I ask you to consider the following definition of this right, taken
from our courts and from the great leaders in the battle of the centuries for
that right. - * ...” -
[The Attorney General then discusses various legal authorities
on the subject of free speech..] .
The Department of Justice has a vast amount of other information regard-
ing the radical movement in this country, which is at your disposal. It will
give me much pleasure to have one of your representatives call at this office .
so that you may obtain the information first-hand. If you are unable to send
a representative, I will be glad to furnish you with any details, either general
or in Specific cases. -
[NotE.-If a private lawyer were to try his “specific cases” in
the press in this manner he would be in danger of disbarment.]
My one desire is to acquaint people like you with the real menace of evil-
thinking which is the foundation of the Red movement.
- Respectfully, - - .
(Signed) • . A. MITCHELL PALMER.
& EXHIBIT 18.
PROPAGANDA PAGE OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
In late January or February, 1920, there was sent out to country news- .
papers a specimen newspaper service page of news stories and cartoons
carrying at the top the following caption: - - -
“Plates of material shown below are furnished to you without charge, car-
riage prepaid, on the order of U. S. Department of Justice, Washington, D. C.
The metal remains our property to be returned in the usual manner.
(Sgd.) - WESTERN NEWSPAPER UNION.”
In the center of the page is a cartoon reproduced from the New York
Tribune and entitled “Give the American Blue Grass a Show.” This repre-
sents Tncle Sam as a farmer weeding up thistles, each of which has a
67
-*
theatrical Bolshevik head, and loading them into a basket labeled “Deporta-
tion of the Reds,” while in the background a woman labeled “America” is
sowing grass seed. & $
The principal column at the left hand side has the following copy-heads:
“WARNS NATION OF RED PERIL–U. S. Department of Justice Urges
Americans to Guard Against Bolshevism Menace—CALLS RED PLANS
CRIMINAL–Press, Church, Schools, Labor Unions and Civic Bodies Called
Upon to Teach True Purpose of Bolshevist Propaganda.” The story under
this begins: A - -
“Washington.—Calling for the patriotic support of all true Americans in
its fight to protect their homes, religion and property from the spreading
menace of Bolshevism, the U. S. Department of Justice has issued a Warning
against the insidious propaganda of the “Reds' during the New Year. It
reads:”— . -
Then follows a statement generally similar to parts of the Attorney Gen-
eral’s letter, Exhibit 17. - -
A double width column in the center of the page under the cartoon Carries
the following copy head: “TO CONQUER AND DESTROY STATE, U. S.
COMMUNISTS CALL FOR LABOR REVOLT—Revolutionary Pamphlet,
Found in U. S. Department of Justice Investigation, Gives Message of Com-
munists in Chicago to Russian Headquarters.” There follow extracts from
the Manifesto and Program, etc., of the Communist Party, of the character
which judges and juries, in States having criminal anarchy or criminal
syndicalism laws, have sent men to jail for five to ten years for printing.
It is not perceived how the country newspapers, could have reprinted this
material without becoming amenable to criminal prosecution, and it is an
interesting legal question whether the action of the Attorney' General in
supplying the material was not instigation to the commission of a crime.
The right hand column is also double width and carries the following
caption: “‘OVERTHROW WORLD ORDER!" CRY COMMUNISTS-Mani-
festo of Communist International, Seized in U. S. Department of Justice
Raids, Tells ‘Reds' Own Story of Their Plans for World Wide Plunder.”
-There follow under this extracts from the Manifesto of the Communist
Internationale. The remarks in-the last paragraph as to the legality of such
publication apply here also.
Below is reprinted a piece of T. W. W. verse entitled “WHAT REDS WOULD
HAVE US SING—From I. W. W. Songs—Seized in Red Raids of U. S.
Department of Justice.” There is nothing whatever illegal about the verses
quoted except that they violate the laws of versification. . - -
At the foot of the right hand column under the caption “MEN LIKE
THESE WOULD RULE YOU,” are pictures of four alleged Communist agi-
tators “Deported by U. S. Department of Justice” (Deported as matter of
fact and law by the U. S. Department of Labor) which alleged agitators look
very much as any member of society might look if he had been jailed and
not been allowed to wash or shave for some days.
A facsimile of this page offered free to country newspapers at the expense
of the Department of Justice may be seen in The Nation, New York, issue
of March 6, 1920. - -
EXHIBIT 19.
“Lest We Forget”
FIRST TO CAPTURE A HUN
Blazikowisky and Cochansky, Yankees from Michigan, Won the Honor.
Washington, Feb. 12—The first German prisoner taken by American forces
was captured by Adam Blazikowiski and John Cochanski of Ironwood, Mich.,
iºnºtye !ames of Michigan, was informed today by Adjutant Generºl
arT1S.
{
|
t
º (Boston Transcript, Feb. 12, 1920.)