Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-08-02
LAW, LYNCHING, AND TREASON

The man who was lynched at Butte on Tuesday night
was an L. w. w. agttator, and in his public addresses he
had spoken contenptuously of the United States army
and of the government of the, country. Both of these
facts undoubtedly contributed to the feeling of exasper-
alton which prompted a lawless act such as cannot be
committed anywhere or under any circumstances without
bringing fresh evils in it's train.
While this crime is not to be excused or palliated in
the slightest degree, 1t is easy to understand how the feel
ing was generated which prompted it. Butte is the CEN
ter of a great mining district in which labor troubles have
been of frequent occurrence. Difficulties between employ
es and employees over actual conditions in which one par
ty or the other had an, actual grievance were seized upon
by professional agitators who, instead of seeking to find
a basis Of agreement, famed the flames and added new
fuel to them. These men have not only sought to create
In the employees a spirit Of stubbornness, but they have
been persistent preachers Of disorder and actual violence.
Little, the man who was lynched, appears to have been
one OF the most active and persistent Of these agitators.
On top OF all this Is piled the war situation, and men who
were prepared to go to the front in the armies of the
nation. or whose relatives were soon to go, have heard
this man and others of his sort denouncing the govern
ment Of the nation and sneering at the men who serve in
its military forces. In any right thinking man this would
create strong indignation. And the Indignation of a
handful of these men got the better of their Judgment and
led them to the commission of a crime.
Some of the conditions which existed at Butte are
present in some measure in practically every ommunity
in the country. We have everywhere a sprinkling Of men
who, for purposes of their own. make capital of the just
grievances or others and invent others to add to the num-
Der. And everywhere there are men who in one way or
another, show lack Of sympathy with the government, and
often a spirit of actual hostility toward it. Those oondi-
0S'S cS wi ~ w lAclE Isl Al duB0I, WIN III
possibility of violence always in the background.
Three things appear to be especially necessary in or
der that conditions may not be created which will lead
to unlawful acts which will be disgraceful to those who
engage in them, and which will disgrace the communities
in which they are committed.
First, those who are inclined to loose conversation,
but who do not actually wish to stir up strife. should cul-
tivate the habit of a discreet speech, and should cultivate
further the habit of loyalty, not only in act and speech,
but in thought to the nation Of which they are members.
Second, without being unnecessarily precise as to
forms, those who are loyal should make it plain that
neither words nor acts Of disloyalty nor a contemptuous
attitude toward the laws of the land and the rights of all
persons will be tolerated by them.
Third. the public authorities of the country, from the
president of the United States down to the subordinate
local officers. must act upon the understanding that the
lawlessness which exhibits itself in sabotage, that which
expresses itself in denunciation Of the nation, its laws and
its armies. and that which scuttles a man-of-war and
sends signals to the enemy, are one and the same thing,
and must be dealt with accordingly. There are bad con-
didons which may best be disposed of by letting them
alone and permitting them to wear themselves out. But
that treatment will not serve in a time like the present
and under the present conditions. We need now on the
part Of the public authorities action that is sane and rea-
sonable, but action that is firm and prompt, and which
will deal as effectively with the traitor at home as with
the traitor who is found in the ranks on the eve of battle.