The Law of 1796

Six months in jail was the measure of sentence imposed, last week, upon ex-convict Roger N. Baldwin, the gentlemanly radical.

His most recent crime was committed at Paterson, N. J., last fall, when a strike of silk-workers in that municipality was in full swing. The strikers invited Mr. Baldwin to address them in their hall. Chief of Police Tracey vetoed the invitation, closed the hall. Undaunted, Mr. Baldwin--whose headquarters are the American Civil Liberties Union, Manhattan--came to town, marched with speechless strikers to the City Hall. "Go for 'em! Break 'em up!" cried a lusty policeman. "I am reading the Bill of Rights"* was all a striker could utter before a police sergeant shoved him from his perch on the top step and recited the Riot Act.

The policemen had the advantage of the strikers in the matter of arms and organization, quickly dispersed them. captured 30. One of these was Mr. Baldwin, who took full responsibility. He got six months. Seven others were fined $50. Mr. Baldwin and the seven (Butterworth, Dreeka, Cabrizzi, Konzer, Natale, Effsa, Nitkin) were released on bail pending an appeal.

Said Mr. Baldwin:

"The organization desired to make a test of the right of peaceful assemblage in Paterson in the face of Chief Tracey's arbitrary and unlawful stand in locking the silk workers out of their hall. The indictment was unwarranted and farfetched, resting as it did upon an ancient statute of 1796, under which no trial had been held in all the 128 years it has been on the books. We are paying a high price for our victory, but free speech still comes high in the United States."

Mr. Baldwin's previous crime was a refusal to submit to physical examination under the Draft Law. Federal Judge Mayer gave him a year. He served ten months at the Essex County Penitentiary, N. J.

*The first ten Amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment says: "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . or the right of the people peaceably to assemble."