New-York tribune., 1918-03-17

y
he should be expelled for dislogaty.
II lcGs presented to the committee bY
the Anti-Disloyalty Committee of
the American Defence Society.
Every loyal American should read 1t.
NJ CBERT M. LA TOILETTE, for
~ the time being Senator Of the
United States from the State Of
Wisconsin, is accused by US Of giving
and and comfort to the public enemy by
d!sloyal Utterances, made and circu-
lated outside the Senate, notably those
made in his St. Paul speech in Septem-
Der, 1917.
What he AYERS to be the text of that
speech is before the committee and
needs not to be quoted in this memo
rsndum. We are informed that there
IS no sworn avcrmcnt that he confined
himself to any manuscript Of this
speech in the delivery thereof, but from
the reports made by representatives OF
the press and circulated throughout the
country and commented upon editori-
ally in papers throughout the land, and
ior a considerable period unrepudiated
by him, it is obvious that he made
utterances on that occasion which may
or may not have been in the manuscript
ne had previously prepared.
The gravamen of the complaint which
we presume to voice is:
4 That in The city OF St. Paul.
"a. after the country qcas at aUa7',
and without the excuse Of his
Senatorial privilege, he uttered
III public address widely re-
ported and published and circu-
lated and for considerable time
unrcpudiated by him, words dis
loyal to the government, calcu-
lated to incite opposition to it's
measures Of conducting the war
and disclosing his unfitness
further to participate in the ma
tional councils for the national
safety and defence.
ID And that, while the country is at
1De war. and while Senator of the
United States, he has abused his
privilege as such Senator by
gratuitously distributing over his
frank 'uttcrances calculated to
incite opposition to the govern
ment Of the United States in the
prosecution of the war, and to
produce disafection among the
people.
S. In short. that he is not loyal to the
government Of the United States, but
IS. actually and regardless of his in
tent, "giving aid and comfort" to the
public enemy.
We emphasize on the threshold Of
our argument, that the fact that the
nation is at acGy makes applicable CON
siderations not justifable in normal
conditions.
In time of peace, criticism OF the pol
icy and conduct of an administration,
even though severe, bitter and vehe-
ment, Is not traitorous nor treasonabie
(Nan Lonkhuyzen V. Daily News Co.,
lctte, 223 Fed. 1857. In time Of war,
however. that which would arouse lit
tic attention in time of peace may be
seditious, may "eXcite discomfort
against the government" among men
feeling the pinch of deprivation of ac-
customed comforts or privileges. Hence
a citizen hinders. impedes or hampers
the government, when it is at war, at
has peril.
POINT I
4 PROPAGANDA Of disaffection, call
L u culated to incite opposition to
the government while at war in
respect TO it's prosecution of the war or
the righteousness of such war inev-
itabiy gives aid and comfort to the
public enemy, is Incompatible with 10y
atty, and a Senator engaged in so act
ing has ceased to be useful or proper
incumbent of the office.
The public enemy by tireless effort
and lavish expenditure has conducted
three great propagandas of disaffec-
tlcn in Russia, in Italy and in the
United States.
The success OF these insidious cam
paigns of false information abroad,
however temporary we may hope them
to be, warns US that nothing could be
so much calculated to give aid and
comfort to the public enemy as to Sc
cure similar results in the United
States.
Language fails us in attempting to
characterize the conduct OF a Senator
of the United States who, when his
is at war with that very for
e .gn power, consents so to act as to
tend to produce the very results of dis
all ectlon and opposition and hamper
ing which these paid spies fortunately
were interrupted in accomplishing. He
might as we'll be the accredited agent
Of the enemy.
This is precisely our charge against
Robert NJ. La Toilette.
Free as are our institutions, free as
is the right of public and private dis
cussion OF political and public meas
ures in normal times of peace, there is
u self -denYino ordnance in time Of zl'u,
to which no citizen should more exactly
conform than one intrusted with a
share in shaping the national plans and
of defence.
POINT II
NO QUESTION of Senatorial priv
y ilcgc or the constitutional right
to free speech is affected by the
inquiry before the committee.
All congressional prccedcnts and all
of the Constitution of
the United States in dealing with this
question of privilege or dealing with
the expulsion of a member Of the House
or of the Senate emphasize the limita-
ton that the Constitution is -protec-
ton to members Of the national Lepis-