The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1917-09-27
CONVICT LAFOLLETTE-
THEN GUST HIM!

The ACCESSIBILITY of attempting to
Gust Senator LaFollette before con
victing him in court for the utter
ances attributed to him, wherein he is
quoted as saying that the United
States had no valid reason to go to
war with Germany, is largely a ques-
ton of expedience, though the prece-
dent which it would establish should
be considered LaFollette, whose
whole attitude on this question has
been reprehensible and unpatriotic, is
quoted as saying in Minnesota, that
while the United States had a right to
allow its citizens to sell arms and
munitions to the allies, it had no right
to go to war on account of the kill
ing of men and women riding on ships
that carried such munitions. The un-
soundness of this view judged by in
ternational law has been so often
shown in the TIMES that its repeti-
ton would be superfluous. Even in
less civilized times, the doctrine that
no ship should be sunk without first
caring for the safety of its passen-
gers was accepted by all advanced ma
tions. That this was sound interna-
tional law was specifically admitted
by Chancellor Won Bethmann-H ollweg
in the Sussex case. so that LaFolette
was more German than the chancel-
Tor. This was bad enough before war
was declared At this time it is trea-
sonable in spirit if not in letter. No
sympathy should be wasted on the
Wisconsin senator whatever congress
may in its discretion determine to do
with him. Should it decide to Gust
him, it has a legal right to do so, and
he deserves it richly on account Of
his general attitude.
Yet. the ACCESSIBILITY of the act at
this time may well be questioned, un-
less following conviction in court. In
the first place the utterances attribut-
ed to him were admittedly made in
the midst of confusion and may have
0I1h AhAouAQ1A eNOb0 anu AnloQuOAGus
The law covers reasonable and Sc
ditious utterances pretty thoroughly
and if these were such, the first place
to try him is in the courts. Should
he be convicted there, the senate
should act promptly But should the
evidence disclose that no legal trea-
son had been committed, then such
proceedings would be inadvisable
though quite legal and morally excus-
able. The situation in this country at
this time is just this: German
extent successfully instilled in the
minds of some people the false idea
that there is a widespread movement
on foot to deprive them of their lib
critics. Those who accept this theory
are relatively few In addition q
vague, false suspicion has entered the
minds of larger number of work
men, that there is a possibility thai
something of the kind may be in
tended Anything that can be twisted
into evidence that such is the case
will tend to dampen the enthusiasm
which such may feel for their coun
try. That such ideas haunt some citi
zens who are supporting the govern
ment cannot be doubted. The wis'
policy, the one which Lincoln would
pursue, would be to convince such O
their error
With this class the open utterancei
of the Wisconsin senator do less harm
than many suppose. That he is
demagogue has pretty thorough,
soaked into minds of even the luke
warm. But a senator of the United
States losing his seat for his ALLEGED
convictions would be quite anothe
matter. The halo of martyrdom woul,
make him a hero with many peopl
who mean to be good citizens. De
nunciation of those who would thu
be misled would be quite futile l
would further ALLEVIATE them an,
make them feel as martyrs.
The effect in Germany would like
wise probably be bad, for it woul'
be pointed out that a man, who hat
committed no crime for which he wa
amenable to the law of the land, ha,
been ousted from the senate, and thi
would be perverted into a proof tina
the freedom Of America was a mytl
and, further, that desperate measure
were necessary to prevent American
citizens from revolving.
Arrested, tried and convicted 0
seditious utterances in open court il
fair trial and the unfortunate con