Valdez daily prospector., 1917-10-16
with criticisms of himself only gen.

with criticisms of himself only gen.
orally.
Flood Of Invective
"Six members of the senate, and,
as recall, about fifty members of the
house, voted against the declaration
of war" he said. Immediately there
was let loose upon those senators and
representatives a flood of invective
and abuse from newspapers and indi-
viduals who had been clamoring for
war, unequaled, 1 believe, in the his
tory of civilized society.
prior to the declaration of war
every man who had ventured to OPP
pose our entrance into it had been
condemned as a coward or worse, and
even the president had by no means
been immune from these attacks.
Since the declaration of war the tri-
umphant war party has pursued those
senators and representatives who vot-
ed against war with malicious false
hood and reckless libelous attacks, go
ing to the extreme limit of charging
them with treason against their coun-
try.
1T is not claimed that the senators
who opposed the declaration of war
have since that time acted with any
concerted purpose, either regarding
war measures or any others. They
have voted according to their individ-
ual opinions, have often been oppos-
ed to each other on bills and, accord
ing to my recollection, have never all
voted together since that time on any
single proposition upon which the
senate had been divided"
Citizens Being TerrOrized
Senator LaFollette declared that II
he alone had been made the victim of
these attacks he would not take the
senates valuable time for their con-
sideration.
But, SIR" he continued, "it is not
alone the members of congress that
the war party in this country has
sought to intimidate. The mandate
has gone forth to the sovereign peo-
pie of this country that they must be
silent while those things are being
done by their government which must
vitality concern their well-being, their
happiness and their lives. Today and
for weeks past honest and law-abiding
citizens of this country are being ter
rorized and outraged in their rights
by those sworn to uphold the laws
and protect the rights of the people.
l have in my possession numerous af-
fidavits establishing the fact that peo-
pie are being unlawfully arrested,
thrown into Jail, held irfcommunicado
for days, only to be eventually dis
charged without ever having been
taken into court, because they have
committed no crime. Private resi-
dences are being invaded, loyal citi-
zens of undoubted integrity and prob
ity arrested, cross-examined and the
most sacred constitutional rights
guaranteed to every American citizen
are being continually violated.
1T appears to be the purpose Of
those conducting this campaign to
throw the country into state of ter
ror, to course public opinion, to stifle
criticism and suppress discussion of
the great issues involved in this war;"
Free Speech Not New
Besides quoting at length from the
American statesmen who opposed bit
terly President Folks policy in the
Mexican war. the Wisconsin senator
gave extracts from speeches by Burke.
Fox, Lord Chatham and others in the
British parliament attacking Great
Britain's war upon the American col
onies He said he did it to show that
the principle of free speech was no
new doctrine born of the constitution
of the United States. In support OF
his assertion that congress should
speak for the country in declaring
the purposes of war, he cited prece-
dents at great length.
'It would be bad enough II the
constitution clothed the president
with any such power" he said. "but
to exercise such power without con-
stitutional authority cannot long be