BERGEN EVENING RECORD
HACKENSACK N. J. TUESDAY OCTOBER 11, 1938
LEWIS READY TO QUIT TO WIN LABOR TRUCE
New Milford moves to Ban Bund For Wild Riot
MEETING STORMED BY CROWD
Windows Shattered, But Police Hold 500 At Bay
TOWN IS TENSE
Kunze, In Melee, Goes Into Pond; Stones Hurled
New Milford officials today asked Prosecutor John J. Breslin Jr. to help them prevent future meetings of the German-American Bund at the home of Miss Caroline Meade of the Boulevard. Their petition followed a night of disorder during which a special detail of more then 80 County and Municipal police and firemen, armed with tear gas guns, nightsticks, and fire hose fought to prevent a crowd of 500 furious anti-Nazi demonstrators from rushing the grounds.
At least 50 of the mob slipped through police lines and managed to loose a barrage of stones, apples, and flower pots which shattered windows and wrecked a public address system.
And at least 150 more equally angry partisans in the ballroom of the house engaged in a bitter name-calling and heckling which threatened frequently to evolve into free-for-all fights.
STORM TROOPERS KEEP ORDER
Although the meeting was dangerously tense several times, uniformed bund storm troopers within the hall and police without managed to avert serious casualties.
The stone-throwing was well under way before police details were permitted to enter the private grounds.
The single act of physical violence reported to police was a ducking in Hirschfield Pond suffered by Adam Kunze, husband of Miss Meade, who slipped or was thrown in when he was chased by a group of demonstrators after the first missiles were thrown.
Kunze was not injured, and appeared at the meeting later in the evening.
Other steps to close the house and grounds to activities of the Bund were planned today by the Mortgage Company of Passaic County, 20 Church Street, Paterson, owners of the property.
Its manager Frank McCraigh, expressed concern over the condition of the property, and indicated he would send an agent to the house today to learn full extent of the damages.
“We want to know who is going to pay for those broken windows”, he said. “We’ll send somebody over there to talk turkey to them and see what can be done about it. We certainly don’t want those kind of things to happen.”
Although there was action on several fronts to halt future meetings, Miss Meade was insistent last night that she would not give up and would arrange further sessions as soon as the missing panes had been replaced in the ballroom.
The rally last night was advertised in a 3-column advertisement in the Bergen Evening Record as a public rally at which the purpose of the Bund were to be explained and the principals of free speech upheld.
There was little of either.
TOWN IS TENSE
Police and public officials of New Milford spent an uneasy day following Miss Meade’s announcement that she would resume public meetings, and police Commissioner Samuel Cosney made a futile attempt to dissuade her. By early afternoon the entire town had heard the rumors of a counter-demonstration, and steps were taken to assure police protection.
Shortly after 7 o’clock a general alarm called out both New Milford fire companies numbering 50 men and 4 pieces of apparatus including the Boroughs shiny new ambulance. Two hose lines had been stretched when 25 County Police under Commissioner Frederick E. Koester and Chief Peter Siccardi unlimbered tear-gas guns. The entire New Milford department of six under Chief Harry L. Jordan and five men from the Prosecutor’s office under Chief Lockwood completed the detail.
While the businesslike arrangements --
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New Milford Asks County
To Help It Bar Nazi Bund
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were under way on the street outside, the hall within was tranquil under the eyes of uniformed Troopers.
The early comers consisted largely of boys and girls of high school age, but it was apparent from the number of Hudson and Passaic County cars parked further down the Boulevard and on the side streets that the partisan element had not yet taken up a position near the house. For the most part they congregated in nervous little knots in front of a block of stores further down the street.
As nearly as could be learned there was no organized opposition. It had been reported that the counterdemonstration was to be lead by members of the Legion and the V.F.W. present as well as Jewish organizations there was no unanimity among the Anti-Nazi demonstration.
Early arrivals at the hall found nothing more than a dozen elderly women gossiping, some in German, and it was not until 9 o’clock a half hour after the scheduled start of the meeting that the Rev. Joseph C. Fitting of Jersey City called the meeting to order.
(Two word heading not readable)
Just before Fitting’s speech a large group of men tried to enter the hall but were barred by troopers. Miss Meade, hearing the commotion at the door, insisted that they be admitted. “We’re all Americans here. Let them come in,” she said.
The men filed in and one of them muttered under his breathe; “I hope.”
Mr. Fitting’s speech, an impassioned defense of the Bund, proceeded uninterrupted by hecklers until he asked the audience:
“What is the greatest country in the world?” In rapid chorus came: “The U.S.” Without Swastikas!” It’s good enough for us!”
From then on the meeting was often out of control. Stanley Smith of Teaneck, Chairman of the American Nationalist Party, who followed Mr. Fitting, drew angry protests from the crowd when he charged that the Christian Front of the Catholic Church in New York City was dominated by Communists. Smith said that he had been told by members that they were forced to contribute large portions of their wages to support Left-wing A.F. of L. unions. He mentioned the musicians’ union as a specific case.
This drew an irate denial from a member of the audience and further debate was halted by a disturbance at the door.
He continued with an attack on the New Deal, claiming that unemployment had grown from 11 million at the start of Roosevelt’s first term to a present day high of 27 million. He wound up his speech in a denunciation of labor union leadership and was promptly answered from the audience by a man who claimed to hold a union card and who demanded that Smith be specific and name names and places.
Smith had no time to reply and the meeting was brought up sharply by the sound of the first missile coming through a window. Miss Kunse elbowed her way to the door and went out to address the crowd, demanding that the right of free speech be granted the Bund.
Inside the crowd was too busy to pay any heed to the possibility of a mass attack from outside. G. William Kunze, national publicity director of the Bund and second in command to American fuehrer Fritz Kuhn rose to speak.
His well tailored gray and black uniform stirred anger in the crowd. “What army do you belong to?” “What war did you fight in?” His short, choppy Nazi salute occasioned another burst of indignation from the crowd.
“I was born in the United States and my father and my grandfather were born in this country and if I can’t fight for my own ideas there is certainly something rotten somewhere,” he said.
“We have the right accorded by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to speak freely and we demand that that right be given us.”
There were jeers from the crowd and he turned on them with: “This heckling and yelling is the last resort of men who can’t answer any arguments.”
From the audience: “May we debate them?”
Fitting called for order, and Kunze launched into a defense of labor unions, adding that capital was getting all that was coming to it.
“And” he added, “nobody objects to our activities except the bosses of Jewish communism.”
The remarks brought half a dozen of the audience to their feet.
“You dirty rat!”
“Leave the Jews out of this!”
“We don’t want any trouble here but you’d better leave the Jews out of this.”
CALLS FOR POLICE
The heckling was punctuated by more shattering of glass and a massive flower pot hurtled through a window near the speaker’s stand, putting the public address system out of order.
“Isn’t there any police protection?” Fitting called out.
“Let them break”, Miss Meade replied. “Let the people in this hall see what is wrong with democracy.”
Kunze attempted to carry on and there was a whisper consultation among the storm troopers and the order went out to evacuate all women in the hall lest they be injured by flying glass or in any riots. Only a handful elbowed their way into the main part of the house.
In the brief lull which followed, Kunze denounced the press, adding that honesty today was apparently something left only for fools. His speech was again lost in a din from the audience, and when order was once more restored he was being questioned on the religious issue. He denied that the Bund was guilty of any religious intolerance, and when asked point-blank how he stood on the Jewish question he replied:
“We do not consider the Jewish question a religious issue. To us it is purely racial, and we propose to act accordingly.”
Another rock through a window put a period to his sentence and several of the crowd took up the chant, “Alien alien.”
Again the meeting was swallowed up in an angry babel, and there were more fruitless attempts to restore order. Finally one man managed to interpose:
“Let me ask you what would happen if you attempted to hold a meeting like this in Germany?” The question took the fancy of the decenters and there was scattered applause.
“This is America.” Kunze replied.
“You know what I mean, don’t hedge. What would happen if you tried to hold a meeting against Hitler’s government?”
“Do you mean to imply,” Kunze asked, “That we are against the government?” The questions were never answered, and Fitting declared the meeting closed. There was one attempt by a member of the audience to reach Kunze, but his friends held him back and the crowd started to leave quietly.
Miss Meade sped the parting quests with this admonition:
“We don’t want anybody ? ? ? ? ? (not readable)? ? ? ? ? ? people, meetings.”
A man broke into her speech. “Shame on you, a woman, sticking up for the likes of that.” He repeated it: “Shame on you, a woman, sticking up for the likes of that.”
Outside the police were shooing spectators off the spacious lawn, and in the street the County Police stretched a taut line across the Boulevard and began herding the crowd from the street to permit Bund members driving cars to leave without running a gauntlet of stones.
CHIEF PROTESTS
The fire engines continued to pump nervously and the crews stood by their hose lines but there was no further disorder. The crowd leaving saw the wet streets and a rumor spread that it had been used to force back a mob. This however, was merely a routine job of blowing air out of the hose.
Back inside, regulars of the Bund relaxed and there was some talk of resuming the meeting, but the suggestion was vetoed in favor of refreshments.
Police chief Harry L. Jordan came into the house to confer with Miss Meade.
“When they started breaking windows why didn’t you call us? You know we were standing by for a call.”
“What difference does it make? I wanted a demonstration like this. I wanted the people who came to this meeting to see just what is wrong with democracy. And this is just the beginning.”
There was a sharp difference of opinion on the matter of police protection, officials maintaining that they had been ordered to stay off the property. This was denied by Miss Meade. Police added that until a complaint had been made could not legally enter the grounds or until they had witnessed and actual breach of the peace.
SHE’LL CONTINUE
Miss Meade was uncertain as to future plans, but held firmly to her intention to continue rallies at her home. Although no plans were announced it was assumed that the regular Monday night schedule adopted last winter would be followed, William Kunze suggested after the meeting that the uniformed storm trooper guard should be increased at future meetings, and expressed confidence that the men would be able to handle a demonstration such as that which occurred last night.
Although both Miss Meade and her husband were closeted with Chief Jordan and Commissioner Koester after the meeting she had not been informed of the Council’s plan to halt future meetings. She has maintained in the past that she was entirely within her rights in holding the meetings on private property.
It was the belief of the borough officials last night that her action in publishing the advertisement had the effect of abrogating her rights in this respect; that the house, through publication of the notice, had become a public hall; and that therefore the town could proceed against the Bund in the interests of public safety.
Mayor Mack conferred early this morning with Walter Seufert, Borough Attorney, and it was understood that this aspect was under discussion.