Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-09-04

States, shall be punished by fine,
etc.
In connection with this, section
l, of title IL of the same act must be
considered This declares that
every letter, newspaper, etc, in
violation of any of the provisions
of this act is hereby declared to be
non-mailable. and shall not be Of
fered in the mails or deliverd from
any postoffice or any carrier" The
light afforded by these sections of
a valid and vital law, shone upon
the pages of the Jeffersonian when
they were under the scrutiny of the
members of the presidents cabinet.
Congress had declared war Thou
sands of the elite, of the American
army were on the soil of France.
At any moment the crash of their
rifle fire and the thunders Of their
artillery in the vindication and de-
Tense of human liberty might be
heard. American men-of-war, man
ned by Americans, were swiftly
cleaving the waters forbidden by
the enemy to our commerce, quest
ing every billow for his lurking and
deadly craft. BY the thousands,
the gallant youth of every Ameri-
BY the vast over-subscription of the
Liberty bonds, our people had prov
en- that in the common cause they
will be as lavish of their treasure
as of their blood With the ut
most nobility of soul, with the self
sacrificial spirit of women. in the
humane Red Cross and similar or
CARNATIONS, our country's daugh-
behind
. THREATENING TO NATION.
At this juncture of the nations
life, the postmaster general and the
attorney general discovered in the
plaintiffs publication which the
government through it's mail was
distributing to it's people such pas
sages as. this, taken from the issue
of June 30th:
Men conscripted to go to Europe
are virtually CONDEMNED to death
and everybody knows it.
President Wilson admitted as
much in his Flag Day address.
Why is your boy condemned to
die in Europe?'
Again in the issue of July 10Th
is a statement aimed at the chief
MAGISTRATE of the United States.
I
ed to interfere with the operation
or success of our forces, that 1t was
an attempt to cause insubordina-
ton, disloyalty, mutiny or refusal
of duty by them, the postmaster
general might we'll conclude.
Does he, the president, not
know the CONSUMPTION act, forcing
citizens out of the union to die in
Belgium and France is every bit
as lawless as the action of the
Phelps Dodge Copper company in
forcing those one thousand and one
hundred O,1O0) miners out Of Amer
lea? What are LOO miners to
six hundred and eighty-five thou
sand (6S5,OO) conscripts whom our
Caesar has condemned to death in
foreign fields of bloodT
Nor is such reference as the fol-
lowing, to the commander-in-chief
of the army and navy of the United
States, made in time of war, deter
rent to INSTRUMENTATION, disloyalty,
mutiny, or refusal of duty.
Are we-like the sow returning
to her wallow, and the dog to his
vomit-to go back to the medieval
ism of personal rule-a pope's word
ruling the church, and a kings
word ruling the state?
why not call Woodrow Wilson by
the name of king, or kaiser, or car,
if the constitution is to be treated
as the kaiser treated the Belgium
treaty.
1.-THE kaiser did not swear to
support the Belgium treaty. Wood
row Wilson did swear to support
the constitution.
"And now, within six months
after taking that solemn and pub
lie oath, the congressman and presi-
dent who did so, are treating the
constitution exactly as the kaiser
treated the Belgium treaty"
Nor does congress escape. On
page of the issue of July 10th,
is printed the vote of the house on
the question to create a national
army. This, under the title, These
are the Representatives in Con
gress, lower house, who confiscated
the liberty and the lives Of your
sons"
A more direct but not more eff
fective effort to obstruct the re-
cruiting or enlistment service of the
United States appears on page Z of
the issue of July 26th, 1917.
81 advise (prints the editor of
The JeffersonianO the conscript to
await the decision of the United
States supreme court, and not to
be dubbed by the foot of conscrip-
tion into enlistment. Once you
volunteer, and sign up, you can be
sent anywhere and the law can't
help you"
Equally but not more unmail-
able in contemplation of the act of
congress above quoted is the issue
of August 18th. In the affidavit
before the court the postmaster
general, so we have seen, after
charging the existence of an organ
lied propaganda to discredit and
handicap the government in the
prosecution of the war, declared
that such matter is in violation
Of section 8 of title 1, and sections
1 and Of title IL of the espionage
act and is non-mailable. That for
these reasons, the publication is not
a newspaper or other periodical
publica ton within sne meaning Of
the laws of the United States gov
erning mailable matter of the sec
ond class, and the deponent so de-
cided after due and thorough con-
sideration of the matters and things
stated herwein. In this conclusion,
l find that he was fully justified.
In such crises in Lacedonna, the
Spartan mother, when her son went
forth to battle, was accustomed to
exclaim, Return on your shield or
with it," How dissimilar, how
sordid is the cowardice THE Jeffer-
sonian" would encourage.