Charged with criminally libeling the Jews, Robert E. Edmondson, anti-Semitic propagandist must appear in Tombs Court tomorrow morning to answer a summons issued by Mayor LaGuardia in his seldom-used capacity of chief magistrate.
District Attorneys of New York and Bronx counties had today a letter from the mayor urging them to investigate the case on the ground that “unless checked, this type of agitation may incite to a breach of peace and public disorder.”
Edmondson, who operates the so-called Edmondson Economic Service, claims to have sent out 5,000,000 of his sheets attacking what he called Jewish domination of the United States and linking various public figures, including President Roosevelt and Governor Landon of Kansas, with Jews and Communists.
He says the Department of Justice and Post Office Department have previously investigated him. Representative Dickstein introduced a resolution in Congress recently to investigate Edmondson’s service in connection with the Black Legion developments.
In issuing the summons, Mayor LaGuardia explained that in his opinion persons making statements should be responsible for them. He denied attempting to restrict freedom of press, declaring that when this freedom was abused it was time to act. The mayor withheld the name of the complainant.
The Mayor said in his letter to New York District Attorney Dodge — a copy of which was sent to the Bronx District Attorney because of information that Edmondson’s literature had been sent into that county–that “it is most important that there be a thorough investigation of the alleged crime.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
