You Can't Do That: A Survey of the Forces Attempting, in the Name of Patriotism, to Make a Desert of the Bill of Rights

324 Pages·1938·18.754 MB·English

by  George Seldes

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YOU CANT
DO
THAT
by George Seldes
THE BOOK
—
Liberty —we talk about it, write about it, sing
about it but have we got it? In this pungent,
hard-hitting book George Seldes shows just how
American liberty is threatened, and from what
sources we have most to fear. What part do the
police and the courts play in destroying our
civil liberties? What organizations, and what
individuals, are engaged in openly flouting
American traditions of freedom or in more
subdy and secredy undermining them? All these
he reveals in this explicitly documented account,
an indispensable weapon of defense for every
American who cares about preserving this
"Sweet land of liberty."
THE AUTHOR
George Seldes was working for the United Press
in London when the United States entered the
war. In 1918 and 1919 he served as war corre-
spondentwith theA.E.F. For nineyearsafter that
he was the chief of the Chicago Tribune bureau
in Berlin. He served in Moscow, 1921-22; Rome,
1925; and covered the French army campaign in
Syria in 1926-27.
Seldes was born in New Jersey in 1890. After
doing work as a special student at Harvard he
began his writing career as a reporter on the
Pittsburgh Leader in 1909. Known today as a
journalist who has been an uncompromising
champion of civil liberties in Europe and Amer-
ica, Seldes is the author of seven illuminating
books on national and internadonal affairs, in-
cluding YOU CAN'T PRINT THAT!, FREE-
DOM OF THE PRESS, and the recent book on
Mussolini, SAWDUST CAESAR.
MODERN AGE BOOKS,
Inc.
155 East 44th Street, New York
50^
You Can't Do That
OTHER BOOKS BT GEORGE SELDES
YOU CAN'T PRINT THAT!
The truth behindthe news
CAN THESE THINGS BE!
WORLD PANORAMA
1918-1933
IRON, BLOOD AND PROFITS
Anexposure ofthe world-wide munitionsracket
VATICAN: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
SAWDUST CAESAR
Theuntoldhistory ofMussoliniandFascism
You Cant Do That
A
survey of the forces attempting, in the
name of patriotism, to make a desert of
the Bill of Rights
hy George Seldes
^0
Modern Age Books New York
COPYRIGHT 1938 BY GEORGE SELDES
PUBLISHED BY MODERN AGE BOOKS, INC.
[bMG UOPWA 18]
.
Allrightsin thisbookarereserved^ anditmaynot he
reproducedinwholeorinpartwithoutwrittenpermis-
sionfrom theholderoftheserights. Forinformation
addressthepublishers.
ComposedandprintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyUnionLabor
ATTHERUMFORDPRESS,CONCORD,NEWHAMPSHIRE
Typography by RobertJosephy
Thecoldstops. Rainsfall. Thesunshines. Therigorsandterrorsof
naturecome to an end. But therigor andterror ofman against man
never cease. Vve seen it. Iknow. In textile mills, railroadyards, on
docks, inthestreets. Machinegunsmowingdownmenin Wisconsin.
MenandwomenhoundedandfloggedandtorturedinSanFrancisco.
—
Riot squads, strikebreakers, nausea gas bayonets! And starva-
tion! Andvoicescrying out! Forwhat?A little bread, a littlesun, a
littlepeace anddelight. Pveheardthem, Itellyou. Vve seen. AndI
know. This is reality, this is the stuffour senses aregorged with.
Russet Mantle, by Lynn Riggs
{FrenchandCo., iQjS)
To Kyle Crichton
.
CONTENTS
PART LIBERTY OR LAW
i:
Foreword ix
You Can't Do That
1. 3
2. It Happens Everywhere 6
3. Lawless Enforcers of the Law 25
4. Law versus Liberty 39
5. When Blood is Their Argument 55
PART ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE
11:
6. Chamber of Commercial Patriots 73
7. The Press versus The People 84
8. The League against American Liberty 102
The 100% American Legion no
g.
10. Merchants of Patriotism and Death 128
11 Good Profits in Patriotism 138
12. Distant Daughters of the Revolution 144
13. Crusaders, Sentinels, Vigilantes 153
14. Elks and Other Better Americans 162
PART hi: the PRE-FASGIST PATTERN IN AMERICA
15. A Man on Horseback 173
16. The Fascist Pattern: Men 185
17. The Fascist Pattern: Guns 194
18. The Fascist Pattern: Money 206
PART rv: THE PRICE OF LIBERTY
19. Eternal Vigilance 219
20. Enlightenment in Madrid 232
Appendices 243
Bibliography 255