Ex parte Bernat

255 F. 429, 1918 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 705
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedDecember 17, 1918
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 255 F. 429 (Ex parte Bernat) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex parte Bernat, 255 F. 429, 1918 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 705 (W.D. Wash. 1918).

Opinion

NETERER, District Judge.

These cases were submitted to the court together. The issue is identical. The facts are similar, but of different emphasis. The cases will be disposed of together.

Each petitioner is ordered deported upon the ground “that ho has been found advocating and teaching the unlawful destruction of property.” Dixon is a subject of England; Bernat is a subject of Russia.

Each petitioner seeks release on the ground that he has been denied a fair hearing, that there is no evidence to support the charge against him, and that the order of deportation is arbitrary, and unsupported by fact or law. If the alien has been accorded a fair, though summary, hearing, and the finding is supported by competent testimony, however slight, the court may not interfere.

From an examination of the testimony, in the light of this rule, we find, after some testimony as to membership- in the I. W. W. organization, the following questions and answers appear in Dixon’s testimony:

“Q. Being a member that long, and being a delegate and taking an active part in the order, yon actually believe in the teachings as advocated by the I. W. W.? A. I do.
“Q. You have read their preamble and constitution? A. Yes.
“Q. You believe in the teachings advocated in that? A. I do.
“Q. Are you familiar with the I. W. W. Song Book? A. Yes.
“Q. Do you believe in the teachings indicated in that hook? A. Yes; most of them; I do. There are some I haven’t seen, but what I have seen, I believe.”

As to reading I. W. W. literature, he was asked:

“Q. 'The I. W. W., its History, Structure and Methods,’ by St. John? A. I have read that.
“Q. Believe in the teachings as advocated in that book? A. Yes.
“Q. Have you read the Industrial World? A. Yes.
“Q. Believe in the teachings advocated in that paper? A. Yes; I do. * * *
“Q. Now, you have been collecting for the defense fund; you have been a delegate quite a number of times; you have solicited members, sold the Industrial Worker, and distributed other I. W. Wl literature? A. Yes.
[430]*430“Q. And in any way you possibly could secured new members for tbe order? A. Tes; I have.
“Q. How many times have you been arrested? A. I have been arrested
several times lately in the I. W. W. troubles. * * *
“Q. Tour I. W. W. cards, your delegate credentials, and this other literature mentioned in your hearing, together with any other I. W. W. literature which we may deem to have a bearing in your ease, will be introduced and made exhibits in your hearing. A. Tes.”

This is the general trend of the testimony with relation to the teachings of the I. W. W., as disclosed by the literature, and, I think, establishes the fact that he is in full sympathy with the propaganda and practices as disclosed by the literature, and has distributed such literature.

The doctrine and practices of the order, as disclosed by the attached literature, may be indicated by short excerpts from “The I. W. W., its History, Structure and Methods,” by Vincent St. John and others;

“As a revolutionary organization, the International Workers of the World aims to use any and all tactics that will get the results sought, with the least expenditure of tima and energy. The tactics used are determined solely Dy the power of the organization to make good in their use. The question of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ does not concern us. * * *
“Failing to force concessions from the employers by the strike, work is resumed and ‘sabotage’ is used to force the employers to concede to the demands of the workers.”

Sabotage is defined by several I. W. W. writers:

The New Unionism, by Andre Tridon:
“We may distinguish three forms of sabotage.
“(1) Active sabotage, which consists in the damaging of goods or machinery. * * *
“(3) Obstructionism, or passive sabotage, which consists in carrying out orders, literally, regardless of consequences.”
The Yoix du Peuple:
“The first thing to do before going out on strike is to cripple all the machinery. * * * Are bakery workers planning to go on strike? Let them; pour in the ovens a few pints of petroleum, or of any other greasy or pungent matter. After that soldiers or scabs may come and bake bread. The smell will not come out of the tiles for three months. Is a strike in sight in steel mills? Pour sand or emery into the oil cups.”
Sabotage, by Emile Pouget:
“If the workers disable the machines, it is neither for a whim, nor for dilettantism, or evil mind, but solely in obedience to an imperious neces sity. * * *
“To list out the thousand of methods and ways of sabotage would be an endless rosary. The shoe workers have an infinite variety of tricks. So have the bakers. To the timber workers it cannot be difficult to use the ax so that the tree or log is split in all its length. To the painters, also, it must be easy to dilute or condense their colors as best they see fit.”
Sabotage, Its History, Philosophy & Function, by Walker O. Smith:
“Sabotage is a direct application of the idea that property has no rights that its creators are bound to respect. » * *
“The question is not, Is sabotage immoral? but, Does sabotage get the goods? * * *
“A bar of soap in the boiler would keep the soldiers at home, or else force them to march to the strike. If this were not possible, there are water tanks were the tender must be filled, and the saboteur can ‘let the gold dust twins do the work.’ * * *
[431]*431“Sabotage is discredited by those who believe in property rights. It Is the weapon of those who no longer reverence the thing that fetters them. Its advocacy and use helps to destroy the ‘property illusion.’ The parasites, who liave property, oppose sabotage, while the producers, who have poverty, are commencing to wield that potent weapon.”

itxcerpts from “Industrial Workers of the World”:

“The I. W. W. opposes the institution of the state.”
“What is this sabotage that so worries politicians, preachers, profit grabbers, and parasites generally? It is a realization on the part of the working class that property has no rights that its creator is bound to respect. It means that the workers know that might makes right, and that they are possessed of a tremendous might in the productive process. It means that they are conscious of the fact that any action which weakens the employer and strengthens the worker is justified.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Clarke v. Board of Education
338 N.W.2d 272 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1983)
Clarke v. BD. OF ED. OF SCH. DIST. OF OMAHA
338 N.W.2d 272 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1983)
People v. Reynolds
77 P.R. 421 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1954)
Pueblo v. Reynolds
77 P.R. Dec. 446 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1954)
In re Kosopud
272 F. 330 (N.D. Ohio, 1920)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
255 F. 429, 1918 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 705, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-bernat-wawd-1918.