The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1918-12-17
HOW AMERICA HAN DLEDFOE ON
HOME FRONT s sHOWN IN REPORT
bunals of the country

maintain the normal functiOning oi
ordinary government machinery to
much greater extent than other bellig'
erents.
The governments internment policy
o,so has been more lenent than those
of England and France, the Attrney
General stated and the efficiency OF
the methods and principles are evi' |
denced by the good order generally
mainland.
"Systematic disloyal propaganda be-
came failure during the ilrst year
of the war" he said Shortly after
our entry into the war this propagan'
da. supported chiefly by those influ'
ences and organizations which had
opposed the declaration Of war, mani. I
tested itself in distinct opposition TO
the adoption. and operation OF the Sc
lective service act, but this type OF
nropa ganda was almost Immediately
suppressed and destroyed. 1t was fol-
lowed by manifestations OF propagan-
da of an economic and social charac-
ter. clearly supported in the main, by
sympathizers with the enemy powers
This general type OF propaganda
reached it's height in the autumn OF
1917. but gained no great headway and
was declining by January |. 1918. VAR
ious other types of propaganda nave
appeared sporadically but none OF
them have gained any substantial foot
ing, and it may be fairly said that
prior to July l, 1918, the effort OF
German sympathizers in the field OF
disloyaI propaganda had almost com
pletely failed"
The Department has been hamper
ed in suppressing propaganda, SAID the
Attorney General, by "self.appointed
committees or associations OF citi-
zens who, ignorant OF or dissatisfied
with the scope of the federal laws. or
jurisdiction, have sought to supple
ment them by 'cxtra-legal measures OF
intimidation and punishment" An
other hampering influence was the dis
semination of hundreds of unfounded
reports relative to use OF poison gas
by enemy agents. ground glass in food,
and damage to Red Cross supplies. !
Referring to difficulties with mem
bers of the |. W. W.. "psuedo'social-
lists" and similar bodies the Attor-
ney General said:
'It has been the policy OF this De.
partment that no person should be
prosecuted or interned solely by rea-
son of his membership in any such
organization, that guilt is always per-
sonal, and that under no circumstanc-
es should any organization or body of
men be prosecuted as such
Less than one percent of the enc
my aliens arrested on suspicion ana
I later paroled have again fallen under
suspicion. or the $4,000 enemy aliens
applying for permission to complete
their naturalization which was stop
ped on the declaration of war. reports
on more than 10000 have been furn'
ished he naturalization authorities of
the Department of Labor.
Discussing the enforcement of an
thrust laws, Attorney General Gre
CORY said
down, as they have done during the
war i'm many branches of trade, direct
government action with respect to
prices and methods of distribution
may become essential in order to pre-
vent private control of markets. for
when natural laws of trade can no
longer be depended upon to regulate
markets, the only choice is between
artificial control imposed by private
interests and artificial control I'M
posed by public agencies, In these cir
eumstances, therefore, such direct gov
ernmental action, so far from running
counter to the purpose of the Sher
man act, is directly in line with it,
The Attorney General said the hear
ing of pending antitrust cases in the
Supreme Court had been postponed
on motion OF the government because
"the dissolution of these combinations
would require financial operations OF
large scale, which it would not be
in the public interest to undertake II
the present condition of the none,
market, brought about by the war"
, Mr. Gregory's recommepdations'pro
pose legislation to make fedora
warrant run to any part of the United
States. so that indicted individuals
cannot escape trial so easily; retire
, ment of federal judges at the age o
: 10 II they have served ten years o.
more; legislation to make II an OF
y fense to send through the mail letters
threatening life or property; tighten
ing up Of bankruptcy laws; and leg
= islation making it possible to use ;
porotion I'M any district In which