6
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
BREZNER'S ARTICLE STATING HIS BOSS'S
ATTITUDE TOWARD US IS CHALLENGED
By LEONARD SIMONS
In last week's issue (June 30) Jews, as reported in an article
of The Detroit Jewish Chronicle published in the November, 1943,
there appeared an article by Sam- issue of Harper's Magazine en-
uel Brezner headed "In Defense titled "The Truth About the
Detroit Riot" by Earl Brown.
of Prosecutor of Wayne County,
As relating to that statement,
William E. Dowling," to which the following is quoted from
this writer here makes reply.
page 497 of that article.
Mr. Brezner, one of Dowling's
assistants, appoints himself as
. . . When I interviewed Mr.
a "gaulieter"—to use his own
Dowling a few days later he
symbolic word, a privilege which
denied that he had accused the
he begrudges to others, and, os-
NAACP and the Michigan
tensibly, in the interest of good
Chronicle with being respon-
local government, takes up the
sible for the riot. 'Why, I like
cudgels in our behalf. He de-
Negroes,' he said. '1 know
plores our abilities to think and
what
it is to be a member of
judge for ourselves and, accord-
a minority group. I am an
ingly, admonishes us not to be-
Irish Catholic myself.'
lieve the statement attributed
to Mr. Dowling concerning the
"Then, as if to find a scape-
11
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goat to assuage the feelings of
the Negroes, the Prosecutor
continued: 'It's a pity the way
the Negroes are treated in
the Valley. Why, the Jews
have them living on top of
one another. The Jews own
all the food and liquor stores.
They own all the pawnshops
and get a profit of forty-two
per cent out of their business
in the Valley. The Negroes in
the Valley don't have a chance
under such a setup."
Brezner points out that "M r.
Dowling called the publisher 's
attention to the inaccuracies i n
the article and demanded a co r-
rect statement of the interview'
He, however, did not take th
pains to show us what such in
accuracies specifically consiste d
of so that we may judge fo r
ourselves. If the interview, a S
reported, was not true, shoul d
it not have been forcefully de
flounced as vicious and scurri
lout falsehood, instead of usin g
so benign a word as "inaccura
cies"? In spite of this demanc 1,
the article was, nevertheless, pub
lished and distributed to approxi
mately one million subscriber S
throughout the country. It i
admitted that the prosecutor ha d
knowledge of these statement
on Oct. 29. Why did not Dowlin g
resort to the courts and secur e
an injunction to restrain th e
publication and distribution o f
the article before it got into th
hands of the readers? Brezne r
quotes from the publisher's re
ply
of Nov. 12 the following
It
. . . we regret that you fee 1
that anything contained in th e
article does you an injustice.'
He does not choose to let us in
on the rest of the letter of re-
ply and, moreover, incorrectly
interprets this quotation as an
acknowledgment that an injustice
may have been committed. To
give us the correct meaning, he
should have stressed the words
"you feel" and noted the pub-
lisher's implication that it did
not share such feeling. Anyways,
after the article was published,
why did not Dowling seek jus-
tice by filing a libel suit against
the publisher and thus vindicate
himself in the eyes of the public?
On the failure of each of the
above mentioned actions which
were open to him, the question
of the truth or falsity of the
statement, at this late date, is
still unsettled:- Surely, no one
can deny the fact that Harper's
Magazine is top ranking and has
great prestige.
Mr. Brezner casts derogatory
reflections upon Mr. Earl Brown,
the correspondent who interviewed
Dowling. As to the character
and background of this man,
Harper's Magazine notes that he
is a correspondent for Time and
Life Magazines; that he is best
known for his work as a political
reporter and, in this capacity,
has travelled about the country
for the Luce publications, the
New York Herald Tribune, and
other metropolitan papers; that
he was educated at Harvard and
Boston Universities and taught
government and economics at
Louisville Municipal College.
Mr. Brezner, in his article, next
proceeds to praise the sentiments
of Dowling towards those of our
faith, by asserting that on his
staff there "are three assistant
prosecuting attorneys of our
faith". When, may we ask, hasn't
t he prosecutor's office had three
Jewish assistant prosecutors, or
employees, and as for that mat-
t er, assistant prosecutors from
t he various national groups in
0 ur midst. As for Mr. Dowling,
h e only had two such assistant
p rosecutors until about a week
0 ✓ so ago, when he made another
a ppointment just in time for elec-
t ion. Could it not be that it
was timed now to counteract the
e ffects of the above mentioned
a rticle and cater to the Jewish
V ote?
Mr. Brezner proceeds to close
his article with profuse lauda-
tions for himself and his boss,
and lets us in on some inside
information as to the esteem in
which they hold each other; and
also troubles himself to justify
his reasons for accepting a posi-
tion on Dowling's staff and for
remaining so at this time.
All of which sums up the fact
that by Dowling's indifference
and failure to try to stop this
article from appearing, leads me
to only one conclusion—and I
am willing to leave it to the
Jewish people to be the judges
in this case.
BUY WAR BONDS!
_ Jul y 7, 1944
Atty. Arthur Gladstone
Is Democratic Candidate
For State Representative
vath Beth Yehudah and is also
a director of the Hebre w Ben„ 0.
lent Society.
Arthur Gladstone is a Demo-
cratic candidate for State Rep- JWEWO to Hold Special
resentative in the First District, Meeting Monday, July 10
which includes all of Detroit. He
A special meeting of the Jaw.
has been a practicing attorney
in Wayne County for over 19 ish Women's European Welfare'
years, has been admitted for Organization will be held Mon-
practice before the U. S. Supreme day, July 10, at the Congregation
Court, and is a member of the Bnai Moshe, Dexter and Law.
National Lawyers Guild.
co
Mr. Gladstone has had a varied rence. At this meeting mmittee
reports
will
be
heard
in
regard
experience in his law practice,
specializing in naturalization and to aid for a Palestine orphaned
immigration work. Thus he is family. A checkup on all cases
ably fitted to represent the First will be made.
District in the Legislature and
Final arrangements will b
to understandingly undertake the made for a tag day to be held in e
arduous requirements of the post Mt. Clemens on Sunday, July 16,
war period. He earnestly requests but in case of rain the tag day
the courtesy of the voters to help will be postponed to the following
nominate him on Tuesday, July 11. Sunday, July 23.
Mr. Gladstone was formerly
A date will also be set for the
a representative of Ilias in De- annual picnic to be given in
troit. He is a member of Yeshi- August.
POLITICAL. ADVERTISEMENT
VOTE DEMOCRATIC
Jack Elistein
State Representative
Our State Legislature needs such men of liberal thought.
If elected he will work for fair treatment to all people as
well as for lower living costs.
PRIMARIES TUESDAY, JULY 11
• This Ad Paid for by a Jewish Friend
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
VOTE DEMOCRATIC FOR
Arthur Gladstone
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
1st District
• Practicing Attorney for 19 years.
• Member of National Lawyers Guild.
• "Qualified" by Detroit Citizens League.
Your Vote Is Earnestly Solicited.
•
Primaries Tuesday, July 11
POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT
VOTE FOR
MORTON GRASS
STATE LEGISLATURE
FIRST DISTRICT
Republican Ticket
Primaries Tuesday, July 11
POLITIC AL ADVERTISEMENT
RE-ELECT
John B. Sosnowski
CONGRESSMAN
FIRST DISTRICT
Republican Ticket
•
Capable — Progressive — Liberal
•
Primaries Tuesday, July 11