The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1916-05-11
HOW VIRGINIA PAPER REGARDS
THE WATSON CASE.


THE WATSON CASE.
The case of Hon. Thomas E. Wat
son, of Georgia, is attracting consid
cradle attention at this time. Mr.
Watson is brilliant, versatile
writer, and is the editor and pub
Usher of several publications. Twice
he has been indicted in the Federal
and District courts of his native
State for alleged violation of Section
211 of the Federal Penal Code,
which prohibits sending obscene,
filthy and indecent matter" through
the mails. The first indictment was
quashed on technicalities, and the
second resulted in a mistrial. Both
indictments were based on articles
in Watson's publications, in which
he attacked the Roman Catholic
church, or members of it's organiZa-
ton were attacked, and at his trial
last November Mr.. Watson frequent
ly sought to show that religious mo-
tives were behind the prosecution.
There now seems to be on foot a
plan to indict Mr.. Watson and take
him outside the sovereign State of
Georgia for trial. The Attorney
General of the United States, Mr..
Gregory, comes out in a published
letter, and with brazen effrontery
declares that he is not to be intimi-
dated, but that when he makes up
his mind he will try Mr.. Watson
where he pleases.
Now, the editor is not a lawyer,
nor does he pose as a lawyer. He
believes, however, that there is an
instrument sometimes called the
Constitution of the United States;
that this instrument is not entirely
obsolete, and after a careful re-read-
ing of this paper, he fails to find any
section that grants to the Attorney
General or any other Federal officer
the right to drag a citizen from the
confines of a sovereign State and
place him on trial in another State.
On the contrary, he finds that Article
3, Section 2, paragraph of the Con-
stitution reads as follows:
''The trial of all crimes, except in
cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury; and such trial shall be held
in the State where the said crimes
shall have been committed; but
when not committed within any
State, the trial shall be at such
place as the Congress may by law
have directed"
Has the Constitution been repealed
or abrogated? If not, then the Con
stitution expressly declares that the
trial of a crime shall take place in
the State where the crime was COM
mitted. If Thomas E. Watson has
committed a crime by sending indie
cent or obscene matter through the
mails, then the crime was committed
in Georgia, where the publication
was issued from the press and mailed
at the postoffice where published
We also find under the head of
Amendments to the Constitution"
the following:
article Win all criminal pros
ecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to speedy and public trial
by an impartial jury of the State
and District wherein the crime shall
have been committed, which district
shall have been previously ascertain
ed by law, and to be informed of
the nature and cause of the accusa-
ton; to be confronted with the wit
nesses against him; to have COM
pulsory process for obtaining wit
nesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of counsel for his defense"
Now, where does Mr.. Gregory get
he is not to be intimidated; that he
will try Mr.. Watson where he
pleases? upon what meat hath our