There are three traditional functions of government.

1.      Protection of the citizens from external enemies.

2.      Protection of the citizens from internal enemies.

3.      Administration of justice.

The crisis in the administration of justice is illustrated by the case of Bobby Seale, chairman of the Black Panther Party.  Bobby Seale was indicted in the state of Connecticut for the murder of Rackley, a suspected police informer within the Black Panther Party.  An attempt was made to try Seale but it failed.  The jury could not agree so it was discharged.  The state of Connecticut has said, in effect, “We surrender, you may go.”  Seale was not declared either innocent or guilty.  He was released because the state could not administer justice.

            If this precedent is followed, the leader of a militant minority Party within the United States may order the execution of a member of his Party with impunity.  The militant Party may claim jurisdiction over all members of that minority.  The implications of this are clear to the members of that minority.  The Party is move powerful than the Government.  It would be wise to submit to the directions of the Party.

            This grievous state of affairs has come to pass due to a combination of forces.  These include:

1. The false accusation that “political prisoners” exist in the United States.
2. The tactics of revolutionary attorneys.
3. The behavior of defendants.
4. Mob demonstrations inside and outside the courtroom.
5. The lack of restraint by the news media.
6. The difficulty of securing an unbiased jury.
7. Judicial delay.

Political Prisoners

            One slogan of the Radical Left is, “Free all political prisoners.”  They regard any revolutionary, who has committed any crime, as a political prisoner.  According to this definition, a communist who shoots a bank teller while robbing a bank is a “political” prisoner provided he proposes to overthrow the government.  The proceeds of the robbery were intended to be used to finance revolutionary activity.  The shooting of the teller was therefore a “political” act.  The murderer is therefore a “political” prisoner.

            The definition has been extended to include all members of minority races who are in prison.  This is the rationale for Plank No. 8 in the platform and program of the Black Panther Party.  “We want freedom for all black men held in federal, state, county, and city prisons and jails.”

            “Bobby Seale was not a political prisoner.  The crime of which he was accused was very real.  The mutilated, murdered corpse of Rackley was real.  The executioners of Rackley had confessed to the crime.  They testified that they acted on the orders of Bobby Seale.  They were tried and convicted.  Despite the evidence Seale could not be tried and is now free.

            Angela Davis: the most famous “political” prisoner now in jail is Angela Davis.  The world is constantly bombarded by the statement that she is in prison because she is a “communist.”  The facts are very different.  They are:

1.      A warden was killed in Soledad prison.  His corpse is very real.

2.      A group of black prisoners was indicted and charged with the murder of the guard.

3.      A brother of one of the accused prisoners was a close associate of Angela Davis.  His name was Jackson.

4.      When the prisoners were brought into the court, young Jackson drew a gun, armed the prisoners and compelled the guards to release their handcuffs.

5.      The prisoners and young Jackson took the Judge and the prosecuting attorney as hostages and attempted to escape.  They taped a gun to the neck of the judge with the barrel pointing towards his head.

6.      A shoot-out ensued in which the judge, young Jackson, and two of the prisoners were killed and the prosecuting attorney was seriously wounded.

7.      The guns used in the escape fell into the hands of the authorities.

8.      Angela Davis disappeared.

Investigation revealed that the guns used in the escape attempt had been obtained by Angela Davis.  One had been her property for several years, but one had been obtained very recently.  It was also discovered that young Jackson and a “female companion resembling Angela Davis” had visited and inspected the courthouse the previous day.  In criminal jargon, this is known as “Casing the joint.”

            A warrant was obtained for the arrest of Angela Davis on the charge of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

            Finally she was discovered and apprehended in New York City.  She had changed her appearance drastically.

            The crime with which Angela Davis is charged is very real.  The corpses testify to that.  Nevertheless, the statement that she is a “political” prisoner is repeated ad nauseam.

            The Big Lie:  This is an illustration of the technique of the Big Lie attributed to Adolph Hitler who is alleged to have said, “Tell a lie, make it big enough; repeat it often, the majority of people will believe you.”

            Typical of the thousands of statements concerning Angela Davis is this made by a leading black American communist, James Jackson, in an address entitled “All Power to the Communist Party of Venezuela” published in the theoretical journal of the American Communist Party Political Affairs, May, 1971:

            “The authorities are combining demagoguery with terror and police frame-ups against the Black militants, the youth, fighting labor leaders and the Communists.  This is the background for the infamous frame-up of the heroic young Communist, Angela Davis.

            “For this purpose the Government has manufactured out of whole cloth the frame-up ‘conspiracy to murder’ hoax against Angela Davis, the youthful philosophy teacher, who was denied her professor’s tenure at the University of California because she would not disclaim her membership in the Communist Party.

            “‘Because I maintain my loyalty to the Communist Party, they first took my job and now they want to take my life,’ Angela Davis has stated.

            “The crude effort of the Government conspirators to rush Angela Davis to the gas chamber will fail of its objective.  This objective is more than silencing the voice of one militant young Black people’s critic of the United States capitalism’s daily barbarities against the poor, and Black and especially the imprisoned populations.  The persecution of Angela Davis is designed to strike lynch-terror into the hearts of all who are rising against the misery-laden government policies of war and reaction.

            “Angela Davis’ faith in the powers of the people to frustrate the legal scheme of the U.S. reactionaries to take her life is related to her confidence in the strength and ability of the Communist Party in the United States and brother countries throughout the world to organize and unleash that power inherent in the peoples which can compel reactionary United States rulers to retreat and open doors of her prison.

            “The faith of Angela Davis is powerful because it is rooted in Marxist-Leninist historical and social science.  It is born of an understanding of the true relation of forces on a world scale and the Leninist concept of the role of the Party in leading those forces to fulfill themselves in the service of mankind.”  Pages 18 and 19.

            The effect of the propaganda campaign on behalf of Angela Davis is illustrated by the fact that the United Presbyterian Church of America has given $10,000 allegedly for her defense.  Since the Communist Party is directing her defense, it is essentially a donation to the Communist Party.  It is much more likely to result in the obstruction that the attainment of justice.

            If every genuine political prisoner was released from American jails, there would be no diminution in the prison population.  Political freedom, in America, is almost absolute.  At times it appears to cross the border between liberty and license.  Political freedom is even granted to those who openly advocate and work for the destruction of the political freedom of the majority.

            The charge that political prisoners abound in the U.S.A. is a monstrous slander.

Revolutionary Attorneys

            Theoretically attorneys are officers of the court and their primary responsibility is to contribute to the attainment of justice.  Unfortunately, theory and practice diverge and some attorneys deliberately seek legal loopholes to frustrate justice.

            The American legal system is the most permissive in the world.  It bends over backwards to protect the rights of the defendant and grants both the defendant and the defense attorney privileges unknown in the rest of the world.  Conduct that is routine in American courtrooms would be classified as contempt of court and punished severely in most other civilized countries.

            The communist objective is the destruction of the American system of justice.  The communists do not believe that the American courts can dispense justice.  Realizing the tremendous power possessed by attorneys, the organization of legal talent has been a primary objective of communism since the inception of the American Communist Party.  Communist legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild and the Emergency Civil Liberties Union have been established.  The lawyers in these organizations are communists, fellow travelers, or dupes.  They provide the Communist Party with a pool of first-class legal talent for use whenever the need arises.

            Recently the ranks of the communist attorneys have been increased by the addition of revolutionary attorneys who are dedicated to the destruction of the American system but who profess no specific allegiance to communism.

            Instead of trying to use the court to obtain justice, they often use the court to attack the judge and destroy the court system.  Confronted with such techniques, the judges have an unenviable task.  Naturally many of them are reluctant to try cases when they know that every frustrating technique known will be used to obstruct the course of justice and they themselves will be the objects of extreme vilification.

            Personal attacks upon the judges are not a recent development.  The trial of the top 11 communists under the Smith Act was conducted in the court of Judge Medina.  Judge Medina was subjected to intense personal attack and he relates that the psychological pressure was so great that he was driven close to suicide.  Mobs outside the courtroom screamed the slogan, ‘Medina will fall like Forrestal.”  Voices would be heard shouting the same slogan while he was home in his apartment high above the streets of New York.  He was subject to temptation that was almost overwhelming to jump from the window.

            Typical of the attorneys who are functioning from within to destroy the administration of justice is William Kunstler.  His conduct is legally outrageous and this makes him the darling of the wide-eyed campus leftist revolutionaries.

            It is amazing that Kunstler continues to be permitted to practice in the courts of law.  Not only has he been sentenced to jail for extensive contempt of court, he has publicly advocated the murder and lynching of police by revolutionary Black Panthers.  Speaking to the Conference for a United Front Against Fascism held in the Oakland Civic auditorium, under the auspices of the Black Panther Party July 18-20, 1969, Kunstler said:

            “Now the other episode in Plainfield which made it certain that this would be so, occurred some weeks after the theft of the guns.  One white policeman by the name of John Gleason moved into the central ward of Plainfield on a Saturday afternoon.  He marched down a street leading under a railroad underpass and then he shot a black man by the name of Bobby Lee Williams through the stomach.  Bobby Lee Williams fell to the ground at this intersection near the railroad underpass.  Gleason began to retreat out of the ghetto.  He was followed by a crowd of black men and women, and a block and a half past the intersection he was stomped to death.  In my opinion he deserved that death.  The crowd, justifiably, without the necessity of a trial, and in the most dramatic way possible, stomped him to death.”

            It is noteworthy that Kunstler does not tell how the shooting of Williams was due to a riotous mob threatening his life.  It is surprising and alarming that a man who advocates such things can be permitted the privilege of continuing to serve as an officer of the courts.

            Despite his conviction for contempt of court, Kunstler continues to remain at liberty and to participate in many revolutionary orgies of destruction.  His technique seems to be to appeal for a delay in the imposition of his sentence on the grounds that a client needs his services.  By maintaining a constant stream of revolutionary clients, he may remain out of jail indefinitely.

            In countries such as Australia and England, individuals sentenced to prison for contempt of court go immediately to jail.  Legal appeals are carried out while they are serving their sentences.  It appears that this practice would produce excellent results if it prevailed in the United States.

            In the light of the magnitude of the crisis afflicting the administration of justice, the bar associations have a responsibility to consider withdrawing the credentials of those who are using their privileges to destroy the administration of justice.

RED CHINESE CLAIM FORMOSA

            Despite the “thaw” in relations by Red China and the United States as illustrated by ping-pong diplomacy, the Communist Chinese make no attempt to conceal their determination to conquer Formosa, which they call Taipei.  The so-called “thaw” is doubtless designed for this specific purpose.

            An article in the Peking Review of May 7, 1971, makes this determination clear:

            “U.S. State Department spokesman Charles Bray made statements twice on April 28, openly claiming that the sovereignty over China’s territory Taiwan and the Penghu Islands ‘is an unsettled question subject to future international resolution’; he also clamoured that this is a question of agreements which ought to be reached between the so-called ‘two Chinese governments’. . .  What self-contradictory and nonsensical remarks!  The two statements by Bray are new evidence of the U.S. Government’s crime in flagrant interfering in China’s internal affairs, persisting in the forcible occupation of China’s territory in Taiwan, and taking a hostile attitude towards the Chinese people.

            “Taiwan is part of Chinese territory from time immemorial.

            “Bray’s claim that the sovereignty over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands is a question subject to ‘international resolution’ or to be resolved on the basis of so-called ‘agreements arrived at between the two governments’ of China is not only preposterous, but a flagrant interference in China’s internal affairs.  It is crystal clear that Taiwan and the Penghu Islands are an integral part of China’s territory and the question of ‘international resolution’ does not exist at all.  The Chinese people will never permit the U.S. Government to play with the plots of ‘two Chinas’ or ‘one China, one Taiwan.’  When and how the Chinese people liberate Taiwan is entirely China’s internal affairs, and no foreign country has any right to interfere.

            “Our great leader Chairman Mao has pointed out: The Chinese people ‘are determined to liberate Taiwan, to safeguard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of China.’  The U.S. armed forces must pull out of Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits.  The U.S. aggressors have to pull out in any case and are not allowed to behave otherwise.  China’s sacred territory Taiwan and the Penghu Islands must be returned to the embrace of the motherland.”  Pages 13 and 14.

VIEWING INVESTMENT AS IMPERIALISM

            The way radicals throughout the world view foreign investment as imperialism is illustrated by this statement by “Ascria”, a black power movement in Guyana.  In this particular instance the foreign capital is Canadian, not American:

“Our Bauxite is God Given, Accept It.

            “It is time for us to prepare ourselves for the biggest challenge ever made to us by big Capital since Independence.

            “They have no intention, these foreign exploiters, that we should ever break away from this economic slavery.  They want to keep us bound in silver chains by false indentures.  They want us to wait not five years, but fifty.

            “People of Guyana: Our choice is clear.  Either we own and control our bauxite resources or ALCAN will own and control us.  The moment when we will decide whether we are worthy of nature’s rich inheritance, Guyana, that moment is coming.

            “We have to behave in such a way as to be an example to the people of Surinam and the people of Jamaica, bauxite producers of the Caribbean.

            “They have offered us their support.  They will learn from our struggle that foreign exploitation of a country does not end by itself.  We have to fight to end it.

            “Our fight with ALCAN/DEMBA will expose the inner hearts of all Guyanese.

            “It is the biggest clash we can ever have on this soil with Imperialism.  Therefore it will show up all who are really against Imperialism and for the country.  It is a real, concrete fight which demands unity of the people of various political beliefs.  Any one who knowingly starts up so called ideological rows, or seeks to raise racial issues, is a smart stooge, playing close to DEMBA’s secret payroll.

            “Guyanese of all beliefs, of all race groups, have inherited the same resources of Guyana.  We have only one clear duty now, to fight.  It is not enough that we fought ten years, ago before the challenge.  It is not enough to promise to fight in the next 5 years.  It happens that the fight is now, and our loyalty and strength must be tested now.

            “Our people own nothing.  We walk on Guyana soil, but the wealth of the soil is not our own.  We the Guyanese people have less control of our economic lives than the animals in the forest.  We must control our bauxite resources to begin to know what it is to be human beings and full citizens.

            “In taking a stand in support of the P.N.C. Government, we are not supporting the Minister of the Government.  We are not even supporting a political party.  We are supporting our children, our future.  As a people we must carry out our historic duty.  Our duty at this moment is to control our bauxite.  If we fail to do it we are betray9ing our people.  When a people betrays itself nothing on earth or heaven can save it from destruction.  Future generations, our little children will curse us to our graves.

            “Let no faction, group or political party see it as a time to bring pressure to the Prime Minister in exchange for support.  Those who are patriotic support and champion the stand taken by the Government.  Some will take up a left position but hold back actual support.  Some will prattle about the God-given rights of private enterprise, but forget the God-given rights of the people.  These will be lumped together as the fifth column of Imperialism, our people in the pay of the Enemy.

            “The Enemy, ALCAN, is a giant Company with feet in many countries.  It has tons of money and will attempt to buy its way, to but out ‘key’ people.  They will plot against the lives of our patriots.  It will pay people to be ‘opposed’ to be ‘neutral’, to take up any position which weakens the government.  One country, one people, one destiny: One heart, one fight.

            “Our cause is no longer isolated.  Bauxite workers from all over the Caribbean support our cause.  It is also certain that other Caribbean Governments will sense the logic of our times.  We cannot long remain dragging socially behind Asia, Africa and Latin America.

            “The Government wanted to change the economic situation by negotiation, by a method believed to be democratic.  The Lords of the Earth are resisting this.  They insist that it is their WHITE RIGHT TO DOMINATE AND EXPLOIT OUR POPULATION.  This is a political position aimed at our throats.

            “Let us be ready in heart and mind and understanding: By our combined strength we can make the future.”

WHAT CAN AN INDIVIDUAL DO?

            The question frequently asked by those recently awakened to the immense communist danger is, “What can I do?”

            I am reprinting a statement by James Forman, one of the founders of the “Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee,” and the author of the infamous Black Manifesto, in which he discusses the qualities required by a successful political organizer.  Those who with to work actively to promote freedom may find valuable suggestions concerning attitudes and methods of work.  He states:

            “There are three characteristics of a good organizer.  These three characteristics or qualities or traits apply to those who consider themselves organizers in any field or arena whether it is social work, political organizing, administration, or fund raising.

1.      They are creative.  They are self-starters.  They move with a plan, with long and short range goals learned from collective discussion with their units.  If any cats tell you they have nothing to do, that they are waiting direction while they sit in a pile of dirt or see a dirty floor, and do not get a broom right away, then those cats are not organizers.  They are saying in fact: ‘I am lazy and I’m not really a good hustler of work.’

2.      The are pushers.  They have a goal in mind.  They must get from A to Z in X amount of time.  It is impossible to get there on time unless they push themselves and push others who are working with them.  Very important that they push themselves first of all, for they have no right to expect others will follow a phony lead.  If they push themselves and work hard, then others will willingly follow.  We know when the pusher is shucking and jiving.  Slavery is almost dead within the United States.

3.      They pay attention to details and they follow through.  Lack of follow up is the graveyard of most ideas and plans.  This death often flows from taking on too many jobs, inadequate planning or record keeping, and sometimes downright laziness.

“There are seven steps political organizers must take if they are to be effective.  Combined with the three general characteristics of a good organizer in any field, these seven steps herefore constitute ten basic steps in becoming a good political organizer:

1.      They think they know and, yet, they may not know.  The others many be right, for organizers must learn from the people with whom they work.  Others can teach something and they must learn it.  There is no place for a dogmatic position nor a belief that I, the organizer, am absolutely right.  I must have the last word.  This attitude may well lead to the final word, but there will be few people around willing to listen.

2.      Good organizers seek to understand the customs, the language, the history, the strong points and the weak points of the people with whom they work.  Failing to do this, they weaken their own effectiveness.  One of the tragedies of some middle-class people working in the South is that it takes them a long time to get accustomed to the ways of the people and by the time they do they are ready to return home, sometimes full of romantic notions about the purity of the local folks and their beauty in the midst of poverty, disease, degradation and death.

3.      They assign work to people, to men and to women and to young people.  They take the attitude: ‘I must move on and organize others and if you really want to do this you must take steps yourself.  I can help get you started, but if you ain’t willing to work for your own liberation—then I must go!

‘Have skills. Must travel.

No time for clinging vines,

Fertile fields I must find.’

4.      Organizers must also concern themselves with their own survival and the survival of the unit with which they are working.  They should first look for the necessary resources for survival in the area where they are working.  There is a rule that no army is stronger than its supply routes.  The first effort of the enemy is to attempt to destroy the supply lines.  Dig Vietnam.  If the resources are coming from the area in which one is working, it becomes more and more difficult to cut them off, unless the work itself is destroyed.

5.      They seize every opportunity to develop a sense of struggle in the people with whom they work.  They must be alert and look around for weak points in the system and motivate small and large struggles.  They know people grow and learn and develop from commitment and involvement.  A spirit of defiance and fight does not arrive just from study.  Action is key to change and mass mobilization will knock down all sorts of doors.

6.      They must have a sense of timing.  Pushing too fast when people are not ready for certain ideas will lead to negative reactions and the organizer will lose time.  Yet, there are some issues which cannot wait, no matter what the plan might be.  People must react since we do not live in a controlled vacuum or a sealed box.  An awareness that positive action is better than none and will have positive consequences of which we might not know—this is fundamental to developing the social awareness and a sense of struggle in ourselves and the people with whom we work.

7.      They must constantly improve their own intellectual development.  They must take time to study, to read, to write, to rest.  They must constantly evaluate their actions and the actions of others and discuss them collectively with their friends and fellow workers.  We live in a rapidly changing world and the good organizer has to be kept abreast of world events.

“If organizers keep reading, studying, and writing about their experiences, the entire unit will grow and the organizers themselves will acquire skills that make them very valuable, able to move into many different kinds of situations—an absolute must in our time.”  Guardian, May 12, 1971, page 9.

WHY STUDY COMMUNISM?

            What you don’t know can hurt you.  Communism fattens on ignorance.

            Communism often presents the problem: Shall we do good that evil may come?  An individual who is unaware of communist doctrines and objectives may be ensnared by a program designed by the communists which exploits a genuine grievance.

            Constant study is necessary to keep abreast of changes in communist strategy.  Communists change their tactics like automobile manufacturers change models.  A motor mechanic who was thoroughly familiar with last year’s model may be completely at a loss when confronted with a problem in this year’s model unless he has studied the new production.

            Even those who have suffered severely at the hands of communists, may not understand the doctrines and methods of communism.  An individual who has been knocked down and injured by an automobile does not automatically become a good automotive engineer.  Refugees from communism need to study communist doctrines and programs.

            This newsletter is designed to aid those who wish to keep informed concerning developments in communism and allied subversive movements.  It is available without cost.