The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1918-07-29
Against the Mob Spirit.

President Wilson's indignation over
the Praeger affair in Illinois does him
credit, though its inefrectiveness at this
late date still satirizes the long leniency
toward spies, informers, propagandists,
backtire lighters, and general assistants
Of the enemy some Of them born and
IN. Americanized Germans, some Ger
manAmericans more German than
American, some just plain traitors out
for whatever tainted enemy money they
can pick up. Robert Praeter was the
victim, at Collinsville, H., of reprehen-
sible mob spirit. What made the mob
spirit? Largely the conviction on the
part of simple country people in re-
gion where there had been a great deal
OF German talk and propaganda, that the
government was doing nothing TO put
down this kind of work against the
country and that II involved great pub
lie danger. Praeger was lynched. Tried
for the lynching, certain citizens Of Col
linsyille had the sympathies Of their
townsmen to such a degree that although
the court instructed positively against
them, the jury almost instantly ac-
quilted them. A failure of justice but
one of those failures which indicate that
there was something the matter with
the prior enforcement of the law
The "mob spirit" is a matter of con
Germ wherever it crops out. 1t should
be headed off by so firm an enforcement
Of the law that it will never have a
chance to grow up But there are great
indictments to it in the laws delays in
connection with the enforcement of war
precautions. Ii was the agents of the
shipping board, and not the authorities
of the department of Justice, who lately,
in the nick of time, stopped from going
to scandinavian ports plans and speei-
heations which described infinitely the
American shipbuilding plans, our yes
sells under construction, the yard where
they are built, the ways, the plants,
the mine-sweepers, and much else the
knowledge of which must have been of
enormous value to the enemy in his sub
marine campaign against our sea-help to
our allies and our support of our sol
diers abroad All these plans were seized
In New York, where nobody minds.
What if such revelation of official in.
competence or delay had come to head
in an excitable small American communi-
ty, and had focused itself on a single
personality2 1t is time for indignation
against such encouragement to the mob
spirit" as laxity Of this kind engenders,
1t is in New York, too, that a Ger
man subject is now, at last, arrested,
who Is accused of working constantly
as a German agent for months" in va
rious places, stirring up opposition to
the war among the colored people. He
went about telling those people that
the soldiers abroad, if captured by the
Germans, would be put to death with
torture, but that if they remained in
this country and refused to go to the
war the kaiser would create a negro
kingdom in this country "after he had
won the war" II seems that this Ger
mans propaganda made little Roadway.
The colored people were too intelligent
and too patriotic to listen to it. Their
work on French battlefelds proves their
loyalty. But the man went on with his
poisonous work just the same. What
would have happened to him, too, if his
final apprehension had been in one of
those excitable American communities
instead of in New York City?
Let us have the mob spirit reprobated
and discouraged by somewhat more
yigilant and stern repressiontof the work
of spies, informers and propagandists,
and then the president need not worry
about it SO much.-Boston transcript