COMMUNIST RIOT

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1929, Page 2

COMMUNIST RIOT

p £ -i ' *' " LEADERS ARRESTED. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug!-, 7. ~ , Supriso was occasioned by the sudden appearance of a body ‘of demonstrative Communists in the heart of the business district of San, Francisco fthe malcontents staging a boisterous serenade near the presincts of the Chinese Consulate., Ten of the ringlead ers, including Miss Anita Whitney, 62, a rioted syndicalist of ( "Western America, were arrested and ,placed in durance vile arte'r they, had defied police orders to discontinue'parading (in front of the Chinese „ Consulate. The Communists carried pro-Russian and •anti-imperialistic”, .banh.prs^ Besides Miss Whitney, wMpwttis 'pardoned two;;^ye|^!^i^^ib^l^pyernor Young of' (^ii^ih,Rafter! liec: conviction on charges of criminal' syndicalism, two other. Communists .women ■and seven men were? taken into cus.tody. All .were charged with'’ the felony of carrying banners “as a symbol of opposition to organised government —stimulus to anarchistic action or as ian aid to seditous/propagarida.” In (addition, the misdemeanour • charge of disturbing • thfe y? peace; against all but .two of the ‘men. • Miss Whitney; ‘ who is extremely wealthy, is the daughter of a former California Supreme Court Judge. . - ’) The arrests were made when the Communists insisted on marching up and-down-Montgomery street,(in! front of the' Consulate; while at curious, but good-natured' crowd of 200 looked, on. When'' they refused to disperse at the cbmmiahd of Captain '.Arthur .Lane/ of the ! Central Police 'Station, he directed them ‘to march to the Hall ,of Justice. -This they did, holding.,their banners aloft and refusing to,-break ranks, while Lane’s posse hemmed them in and a crowd jostled - on;f all sides.. . ■ Shortly after arrest, Mjss, Whitney write released on 1020 dollars’ hail, arranged by her attorney Austin Lewis Socialist leader of San . Francisco - The rest remained in, gaol among thbm -Emil Gardos, who described hiittMf as the Communist’leader ipf;San\]F’|:||neisco. Beniamin Fee) . said To be-VthP chief of the Cliinese Communists', .'es-' caped arrest With the others; \»y : dropping out of the parade, just; as’ ‘the, police statiorr doors were r^aelied.. leaders protested. - > Both Miss Whitney and led the Communists’ protests figainst'- airrest, declaring they had brokbiji no laiy and were parading merely to)ad vertise a mass meeting 1 to he held; later, as* a demonstration against ‘imperialist war” and a defence of the “Soviet Union from Imperialistic attacks.”' • The paraders handed out printed no tices announcing ‘the mass meeting in which was this sentence: “‘August Ist, the fifteenth butUireafc. oif Hie) last war, is the International Red a day of mass-strikes and mass-demon-, strations under the leadership ~of, .the Communist parties against Imperialist The banners paraded up and dowii in front of tfoe Chinese - Consulate all bore “anti-imperialistic” slogans.) One printed all ~in red, was VFight the Imperialistic War- Danger.” Another, attacking the American Federation of Labour, was'-prin-, ted in red and black, and read {“The A.F. of L. Helps U.S., Imperialism Subdue Nicaragua and other,.!,. Ameri) can Colonies.” ■ Other banners -carried the following inscriptions:/ ‘.‘Down With American Imperialism in Latin Aimerica. ” “Defend the Workers > Goyernment of the;Stovi.et,. iffmoit,?.!) .‘’jDown with Chiagn-Kai-Shelc, !the ' tackey,>hf Imperialism,”“Stand .by the. Workers and Peasants of the Soyiet Uhioia;” Throughout the demonstration '''the: Chinese Consulate remained ■ ■■ utterly silent. The Communists picked; the wrong time for their parade, l the Copr sul-General; - Mr G; W. Anching Kung and his staff being entertained at an official luncheon in an uptown hotel. Miss Whitney) an Oakland social worker, daughter of a famous' family of Northern. California,.-’ was ; arrested in 1919 at a. Communist meeting arid charged with; violating the criminal syndicalism law, then a. new Statute. Her -t'riaLwas bitterly l .' in ' club circles of Oakland being -arrayed against each other, one faction protesting her innocence, and the other insisting on her, punishment; .Finally she was sentenced to from one to fourteen years in San Quentin, Penitentiary, but appeal after appeal kept her from going 36 prison, ,'Vln meantime, her case had becomeTratioimlly famous, and powerful organisations in Eastern America took up theVfight in her behalf; As the result of- powerful influences brought to bear, Governor Young granted her a. pardon on June 20th, 1927. Since then she appeared to •, have dropped her-' activities , in the Communist Party, ran for United States Senator on the work ers Communist ticket last year. - ) Ti ; . •’ MSS WHITNEY PROTESTS. • From the San Francisco rity : prison (Miss Whitney, before her release on hail, issued a statement defending the {parade as a “protest against the work ers of the world being dragged into an other Imperialistic war sucl? as : the Just war.” She continued: “We are appealing it, all the working people in the United States and other countries to ’observe August Ist as Day’ Our demonstration was held as a protest agaiost the Imperialistic action of the great nations against, the Soviet Union, a Government of working people. Although the August Ist is sponsored by the Communist Party of the world, the,™ are other

/' • . , -V . " ’ I international societies working for 1 world peace, and we hope that they will attend our meeting. We make an ;sppeal to the mass of working people to stand by - their brother • workers in -Russia. ’ “We are ’not alone in our desire for world peace. I am doing all I can to foster the peace- movement, as is J une" .Addams, of- Hull House in Chicago, (and other famous Pacifists. We are supported by other great societies and by many Labour Unions in America and Europe.” i