Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-18
AS WAS TO BE EXPECTED

Quite naturally, the seven men who were arrested
at Munich for intimidating mon who were willing to work
for $3.50 a day proposed to appeal to the governor Of
North Dakota to protect them. Quite naturally the gov
ernor's recent statement is being quoted in I. W. W. cir
culars, and members Of the order are being assured that
they will be subjected to no annoyance so long as the
governor is in ONCE. However the governors statement
may have been intended, 1t lent itself to a construction
which would attribute to the governor the opinion that
peace officers in North Dakota have no authority to pro-
teot the people of the state from the lawless acts Of
tranps and pan-handlers. That Is the construction which
the statement invites, and that is the construction placed
upon It.
A Grand Forks man. who returned within a day or
two from the western part Of the state, tells Of q number
of pot gangs" which he saw on his way. At the camps
OF these gangs he saw groups of men, from half a dozen
to q score or more in q place. These men were lying about
taking their ease. The troubles Of the world did not seem
to worry them at all. From some source they had OBJ
tanned food. The weather was warm, and the matters
of clothing and shelter could be ignored until some other
time. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. And,
while these men. many Of them robust and able-bodied
in appearance. were idlins, in fields near by women and
children were shocking wheat.
The !. W. ". has come to be associated in the public
mind with most cases of vicious idleness. There are loaf
es and criminals, we suppose. who do not belong to the
I. n, ". But a very large portion of the men Of that
class ara members OF the organization, and quite natur-
ally, for the organization itself is founded on idleness and
vice. Actual working men are sometimes bullied or mis-
led into becoming members, but that does not change the
character Of the society or the purpose for which it
exists.
The governor has undertaken to instruct the peace
officers Of the state in the law. The sum Of his instruc-
ton is that the hands of officers are tied, and that COM
Lmunities are helpless. The governor to the contrary, not
withstanding, the peace officers Of the state have a right,
and it is their duty to take such steps as will effectively
prevent the commission Of threatened crimes. They have
an undoubted right to arrest Migrants and we take 1t that
the right to search a prisoner before locking him up will
not be questioned by very many people. They have a
right to break up pot gangs. IAthose gangs camp on
private property. they are trespassers there and IL they
camp by the roadside they are trespassers on the property
Of the community.
But it is not necessary to invoke the law against tres
pass to dispose of these gangs. The sheriff or other peace
officer has a right to dispense a gathering of his own
%neighbors and fellow citizens. taxpayers and substantial
members Of his own community II he has good reason 20
believe that the continuance of the gathering is likely to
result in a violation of the peace. Much more has he the
right to dispense gatherings of strangers when, at this
critical time, SO many acts Of violence are being commit
ted ~ a-Es .aga# &5IS#ZaHEGE4" 10y