BERGEN EVENING RECORD
Wednesday October 12, 1938
Note; this article started on the front page at the bottom
and continued on page 2.
Council, Fearing More Riots,
Asks Bund To Cancel Sessions
New Milford Denied Aid By County, Mack Warns
Miss Meade Its Own Force Can’t Handle Disorders
Stumped in their search for legal means to prevent disorder at future meetings of the German-American Bund at the home of Miss Caroline Mead, 225 Boulevard New Milford Mayor and Council today served formal warning that it could no longer guarantee protection if rioting which took place at Monday night’s meeting occurs at future sessions.
Insisting the issue was one of public safety and not free speech. Mayor George Mack told newsmen following an executive session last night that an appeal to Miss Meade was decided upon when it became apparent that additional assistance from County police might not always be immediately available at Miss Meade’s home where meetings are held.
SHE WON’T COMMENT
Mack also told of a conversation he had with Miss Meade on the street earlier in the afternoon at which time he made a personal appeal that the meetings be called off before they result in death or serious injury to participants. Miss Meade told him, the Mayor said, that she did not care whether people were killed or whether she herself was killed, that she believed
(Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
she was entirely within her rights in holding the sessions.
Miss Mead’s determination to continue was given further support by the American Civil Liberties Union which indicated in a telephone conversation with Mayor Mack that it would take action if any efforts were made to halt the meetings.
It was also learned today that the directors of the Mortgage Company of Passaic County, owners of the property in which the meetings were held, were considering taking steps to evict Miss Meade if the property is endangered at future meetings of the Bund.
Miss Meade today refused to comment on the council’s letter or to disclose her future plans.
“I have no desire to cause any inconvenience or hardship on anyone in town,” she said, “any action I take in the future will be taken with that thought in mind.” She added that she was stunned by the Council’s action and intimated that Monday night’s disorder was due to the failure of the police to provide proper protection against out-of-County war veteran and Jewish groups which demonstrated both inside and outside the hall.
SEVEN MEN INADEQUATE
Meanwhile New Milford police and municipal officials went ahead with plans to handle future demonstrations at the Meade home. It was pointed out last night that it might be impossible to post details of County police at the house prior to meetings and that they would be available only on riot call. It would be impossible, the Council believed, for New Milford’s small force of seven to handle a situation such as that which occurred last Monday night.
Borough Attorney Walter Seufert conferred yesterday with Prosecutor John J. Breslin Jr. and said that the Borough could expect little help from that source. The Prosecutor’s office took the position that the matter was purely a local affair and it could act only after complaints had been filed or after evidence that the State criminal statutes had been violated.
Seufert, too, disagreed with the Council’s contention that the publication of notice advertising the meeting Monday had in effect made the residence a public hall. It was his opinion that the Bund still had the right to admit or bar any persons and that since this was the case the town could exercise no control over the building.
The Council’s letter to Miss Meade follows:
“The Mayor and Council of the Borough of New Milford have instructed me to communicate with you relative to the meetings held by you from time to time at your residence.
“It is their desire that you be impressed with the fact that the police facilities of the Borough are limited to such an extent that they will be unable to cope with a situation similar to that of Monday evening, October 10. “They believe that in the interest of true Americanism, public safety and as a public-spirited citizen you will refrain from holding any further meetings of a similar nature.”