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May231955 ACLU ANSWERS POSTMASTER GENER STATE ENT ON CENSORSHIP the Istter's charge thet certain organizations "produce an almost inevitable.cry. of obscene material from. the mails.... i... The letter, signed by executive director Patrick Murphy Malin and Elmer Rice,? chairman of the Uoion's Naticna.. Council on Freedom from Censorship, defends.the Aclu's right'to "inform the putlic of' the threat to freedom that ... censorshiprep- resents," and reasfirms the AcLu's.oppositicn to any government'action that wouldj At the same time' it makes clear that the Aclu's efforts have not embraced de fense of obscenityo. It says, "On nurerous occasions we have asserted the right of,? the community to protect itself from such naterial by criminal prosecutions under ob scenity lawse" Asserting that it does not confuse license with liberty, the Aclu.s. states that where a clear and present danger exists from the publication of written. cr spoken material and there i3 no time for counter-argument or other means available. to handle the danger the Aclu does not oppose curb on such expression However, the Aclu criticised the Post office Department's use of pre-censorship the power to determine arbitrarily what reading material shall reach the American! people - the power of pre-censurship where the safeguards of a jury trial are'com- pletely lacking," it asserts. The letter reminds the Postmaster General that the Aclu's opposition to Post.. its power to decide uhat reading material the American people should be allowed to read. We express our concern about cencorship because that is precisely what.the Departmert has done in a number of cases where the charge of obscenity was raised.! It cites the ban on the mailing of Esquire Magazine, reversed by the U.S. Supreme: Court, and the Department's recent fiasco involving the Greek classic Lysistrata to. prove the importance of vigilance over the Post office's activities.. "We believe. that the faith that the Constitution expresses in the good sense.0 the people to accept or reject material on the basis of their individual choice,.con.. taired in the prohibition agairst denial of free speech in ths First Amendment, needs reaffirmation when a goverrment department violates that amendment." the ACIU reurka BIBLE CLASS DISFUTE ARISES IHi VERMOIT The question of Bible classes in certain public schools in Vermont is nou. dispute. Paul Blanshard, writer on religious problems and a resident of Vermont, ha protested to state authorities against continuation of the classes. Classes are con that the instruction is "non-sectarian, non-compulsory, moral and religious The dispute is unresolved. It has drawn comment from Dr. Frank H.' Yost of Takoma Park, Maryland, a leadin .lergyman in the Seventh. Day Adventist. Church, who says: "It must be insisted upon, listen, in a public school, attendance upon which is compulsory, to.religious.. teachirg to which they do not subscribe It must be insisted upon also that the machinery of the public school, paid for. from public tax money,.removed'by. law.fr the pockets of citizens of every faith and no faith, shall not'be used to propagate ary one reiigion, however popular locally; several religions;. or ary composite a program for teaching religion to public school children. Dr. Yost adds: nnowin the midst of this controversy tunity for the clergy of the United States to rise up as a body and say: Reli is the concern of us and of the parents we shepherd.. Leave it to us.! CIVIL LIBERTIES For the first time in history, ployed by the District of Columbia's Capitol Transport Companye The move was for. would eliminate discriminatory hirirg practices in New. York's brewing industry has:y failed to be ratified for lack of a unanimous vote of employers and unions involved. All employers and four of five unions agreed to the pact., Lone holdout was Local. opinion analyst.