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PACIFIC TRIBUNE’S

CROSSWORD PUZZLE CONTEST

PUZZLE No. 3

Some longeshoremen be-

long to this (init.)

Numeral. :

The bosses would like to

do this to the PT.

. Canadian patriot.

. Phe news in the daily

newspapers is this) way.

Accomplish.

This organization promotes _

the welfare of the ‘Negro le (init.)

Karl ae founded this

in 1864 (init.) —

11. Connection. 4.

13. Communist youths formed

_ this in 1922 (init.) Nigcs

14. You’ll find none of these . 6, in Ottawa (sing.)

18. Girl’s name. 7

19. If you belonged to this 8 you were a Wobbly.

20. Small cut. 9.

21. Operation (abbr.) 12.

24. Negative reply.

zo: Spin like a S. i? ; »

26. Electrical workers belong 15. to this union (init.)

28. Sun god. - 16. Bereaved wife (bib.) 30. Pierce. : 17. Great Negro_ writer and 31. Top French Communist is * ' Abolitionist. * % Maurice “...... caus rk 22. Poland is a “..--- eee 34. The party of Canada’s Democracy. working class (init.) 23. Behold. ‘ : 35. You will find Jimerow in 24. An aggressive alliance” they Ae (init.)

. Women’s suffrage group

86. American pseudo - fascist age of the. 1920’s (init.)

organization (init.)

i

37. Exclamation. \ 29. The science of plants.

38. Celt. ; 32. 19th century writer and 39. Observe. peace fighter.

40. In the fight for peace we 33. Korean despot. . pe ANEYNOUES wee ay 35. Fabian socialist and play-—

43. Hitler’s thugs (init.)

‘. writer; 44. The loggers belong to this 41.

Musical syllable.

union (init.) 42. Repressive U.S. labor law 45. Quieting noise. (init.) = bat : ‘ ENTRY FORM : NAME ADDRESS ... :

Contest rules: Three labor crossword puzzles. will be published, each to run for two weeks. All readers of the Pacific Tribune

| can enter the contest. There is no entry fee. Answers will be

judged on basis of correctness, neatness, and time begets ‘ Three members of the PT editorial staff*will act as judges. Their

| decisions are final. p

> Send completed puzzles to: ; Crossword Puzzle Contest, Pacific Tribune, Room 6, 426 Main St, ; Vancouver 4, B.C.

.

Bee EL KS [~ Ts J° 12 to 1 a + 4 \S (ge 17 4 13 20 zy 422 ms FY bo 27 Ww. 29. fo 31 [32 B+ 35 3G Sire 3F ; cma 34 ro 2 ‘ 43 MA 4S ; ACROSS : DOWN 1. Hitler’s dreams were shat- 1. Aver. : tered here. 2. Group of Canadian unions. ‘10. PT readers should know 3. Parent body of U.S. craft “...” Dewhurst. unions. :

still have it in my hand.”

MPP protests verdict to attorney general

Woman acquitted of slaying in Ontario jimcrow trial’

TORONTO

An amazing trial and acquittal took place February 9-13 in a Toronto City Hall courtroom with Justice E. C. E. Chevrier presid- ing at the winter assizes.

With only a half-hour of delib- eration an all-white jury brought in a verdict of not guilty in the case of Mrs. June Armstrong, charged with mansiaughter in the fatal stabbing, on September 20. 1952, of Walter Coleman, one of some 50 Negro workers brought in from Florida to work on the Federal Farms plantation at Hol- land Marshes, near Brantford, On- tario. . ; Here is the story of the trial:

S90 * *

Ronee damage had been done to a tractor. On September 20, 1952,

Mrs. June Armstrong and her com- | -

mon-law husband Kinsey Waters looked up Walter Coleman, one of 50 Negroes brought in from Florida to work on the Federal Farms near Brantford. . Waters was superintendent of the farms.

Waters and Coleman’ got into a fist fight. Johnny Stevenson, an- other Negro worker, tried to stop the, fight and grabbed Coleman by the arm.

The evidence showed that Mrs. Armstrong seized a lettuce trim- ming knife from the car, walked over to Coleman whose back was towards her .and plunged it into his back. He died almost instant- ly. According to the testimony of eye-witnesses, Mrs. Armstrong stood there with the knife in her hand. Waters put his arm around her and walked her back to the

ie. 3 orThese were the events which led to the arrest of Mrs. Armstrong for the murder of Walter Cole- man. :

While in prison Mrs. Armstrong gave birth to a child. On January 14 a Toronto grand jury reduced the charge of murder to. man- slaughter. She was released on bail. : .

When the trial opened one po- lice officer testified under oath ‘that when he arrived on the scene,

the accused woman had said: “T

”

just stabbed a n ----.

The police also testified that when they asked if she had re- moved the knife from the body she answered: “I must have. I De- spite this gruesome admission, police testimony was devoted largely to an explanation of the extent of damage to the tractor. «

A doctor testified that Kinsey Waters had only suffered a small cut over one eye. Ponzy Bryant, a Negro farm hand, swore he saw Mrs. Armstrong stab Coleman. Johnny Stevenson said he was holding Coleman and that he thought the fight was about over, when someone shouted: “The white lady’s got a knife.”

Mrs. Armstrong, 24, had: mar- ried in 1946. Her husband left her with two children. She met Waters and went to live with him.

In 1951 they went to Florida for a visit. They were told there had been “a little trouble” with the Negroes in Florida. The refer- ence was to the bombing of Negro community leader Harry Moore and his wife and Jewish syna- gogues by the Ku Klux Klan. Waters said he was told by his parents and others that Negroes “sang up” on white people and kill them.

Mrs. Armstrong: said she suf- fered “a loss of memory” when the fight started.

Defense Counsel Borins summ- ed up to the jury. “There’s even a doubt that she, Mrs. Armstrong, ‘even stabbed Coleman. He may have fallen back on the knife as

he turned around. The poor girl in the dock could be your wife— my wife — she is not guilty of manslaughter as charged.”

At one point during the defense attorney’s cross-questioning of the Negro crown witness, Borins de- clared to the court: “You’ve heard three witnesses for the Crown... are they responsible people . . . can their word be taken. . . . How could you believe them? Why look at them, look at their appearance. They were friends of the deceas- ed.” - :

Prosecutor Klein recounted the evidence. =

“This woman is guilty, beyond all doubt, of the charge of man- slaughter — on her own admis- sion,” he concluded.

The judge then made his ad- dress to the jury. He explained that in a case of self-defense, a man may come to the aid of his

ee

ani Ke the U.S. air %0 “false report U.S. bo

NFLY speaker

' Norman Penner of Toronto, national leader of the National Federation of Labor Youth, will - speak on “End the War in Ko- rea Now” af a public meeting in Pender Auditorium this com- ing Sunday, April 5, at 8 p.m. Penner came to B.C. to attend

~ the two-day NFLY provincial

convention here April 4-5.

wife, and a wife may come to the aid of her husband. provided the . force of retaliation is no greater than the force of the attack. He added that in this case, the accus- ed woman must be considered the wife.

“What | am about to say,” he concluded, “may make history. If | were on the jury, | wouldn’t think twice, but thrice before | would find this woman guilty of manslaughter.”

The jury then filed out of the courtroom. Crown counsel imme- diately rose to object to the judge’s remarks, not on the grounds that they might prejudice the jury. but that they should have been used as arguments by the defense!

The judge replied at first, “I don’t know what your mean.”

Counsel explained. When he finished, the judge smilingly told Crown counsel: “It’s too late to change what I’ve already said. If I did it would only make things worse.” ‘

The jury returned with a “not guilty” verdict. The judge thanked them. “I can find no fault with your verdict. I thought that would be your verdict after what I said earlier.”

He then turned to the woman in the dock.

“You are now free. Go home to your children and be a good mother.”

So ended the manslaughter trial of Mrs. June Armstrong. ; J..B. Salsberg. LPP member of the Ontario legislature for Toron- to-St. Andrews, will request that Attorney-General Dana _ Porter’s department review the evidence in the Armstrong case with the

aim of appealing the not guilty verdict. :

Salsberg stated: “In view of the fact that members of the Negro. community are questioning the — court’s verdict, believing it to be influenced by racial prejudice, I will put the matter before the

attorney-general’s department and ~

will ask it to review the case with the aim of appealing the verdict.”

Robeson bar shattered by Mine-Mill records

“The ban placed on Paul Robe- son by the United States govern- ment is being shattered as albums of records are being distributed across Canada and the people are enabled to judge for themselves by hearing him what Paul Robe- son’s ‘crime’ is,’ states an edit- orial in the March 24 issue of B.C. District Union News, organ of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers. :

The editorial reveals that al- though Mine-Mill assumed full.-re- sponsibility and guaranteed pay- ment, the largest recording com- panies in Canada, branches of big U.S. companies, first wanted to censor and then refused to press records of the great Robeson rally at the Peace Arch last year. Finally, one company at Windsor, Ont., agreed to make the records.

“No,” concludes the editorial,

“we age not in the record-mak- ’

ing business, and we are not in the music business but this is not a question of music or a singer. It is a question of the rights of a man to speak out. It is the question of freedom to cross the borders. Mine-Mill invited Paul

Robeson as a singer to come and : sing to our convention. The U.S. State Department refused to al- low him to go, and now he will be heard by scores of thousands in a permanent record of a mem- orial occasion when 40,000 Cana- dian and American people came to the border and showed their contempt for the U.S. witchhunt- ers.”

In the ever-living name of | JACK BUTLER members of, his press club — Grandview — appeal to those who made donations to the Pacific Tribune through him to give again this year so that in this way his memory may still serve the working class press

he loved and fought for, Send your donation to THE JACK BUTLER PRESS~ FUND. c/o The Picific Tribune

426 Main Street Vancouver 4, B.C.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — APRIL 3, 1953 — PAGE 7