Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-02-21
THE HIGHWAY OF TREASON

MosT treason goes into or comes out of
the mouth There is a lot of 1t going
into the mouth. Not twenty per cent o. the
homes Of America, it is estimated. are up
holding the food administration energeti.
caliy and periodically. Hotels and the res
taurants are holding fast to the faith, but
In countless homes there is no real at.
tempt to- conserve the few vital foods
which are requisite to Allied success. II is
mean sort of treason but it is treason
just the same. The pity is that those
guilty OF it do not choke.
The other sort of treason. insidious and
Rravely dangerous, comes out OF the mouth
in the form of words. Unfortunately,
thinking and talking are not syuchronized
processes. There is more talk without
thought than there is thought with talk.
We are deluged with the effusions of
crack Drained individuals who prate about
free speech and the dethronement OF the
Constitution, demanding in time OF peril
the exercise OF their full normal privileges
ulous attitude in which they are placed
by their incorrigible platitudinarianism.
The Constitution provided for its own
abrogatlon during periods of major peril
We inherited from the Roman democracy
the idea of the dictator The story Of Gin
cinnatus was held up to school children
for generations as an ideal example OF
democracy functioning properly In war.
time The founders of this Government,
therefore. provided that the President
should be commander-in-chief of the
army and navy. which carries with it the
authority to declare martial law, thus ST.
stituting a virtual dictatorship for estab-
lished law and absolutely centralizlng all
fciency. Moreover, practice and precedent
have combined to clothe Washington with
virtually unlimited power in war.
We find certain inalienable rights sud
denly thrown into the discard. Men are
not asked If they wish to serve in the
forces across the seas. They are drafted.
What man shall eat and what he shall
drink are subjects of national control.
How comes it. then, that any man\ can
claim for himself no contraction in the
right OF speech when his very right to live
IL subject 10 the pleasure Of the State?
If Uncle Sam can reach to the hearthstone
and take thence the son or husband. must
he be impotent to shut the mouth of
blatherslSite or demagogue who stands on
the corner inviting the populace to insist
on measures inimical to the lives OF these
drafted men and ruinous to the common
cause? 1t is obvious that among the many
and essential rights which are in allegiance
during periods of stress is the right Of un-
limited free speech. Nor is the sacrifice of it
any greater hardship than the sacrifice OF
life
The press has seer the necessity for and
has acquiesced in the exercise of an official
and unofficial censorship. Every newspaper
constantly refrains from printing matter
that is obviously detrimental to the WELL
being Of the nation. Yet. mistaking liberty
for license and ignoring utterly the exigen-
cies OF war, some orators insist on the
privilege OF denouncing the country and
engaging In practices which clearly lend
aid and comfort TO the enemy. 1t is privi.
legs they are not entitled TO and l.. which
they must not be permitted to indulge The
tumpls of democracy to which they rush
'fer refuge Is the very temple they are at
temptins by every means in their power
~ bring in ruin down on their own heads
tnd on the heads Of all others.
These two classes Of sociophagous trail
1ors. the one deyouring the food that win
Mn IN. war and the other subsIsting on
41l<ion and the sacrifice Of the mass TO
(ilIr individual whims, require stern treat
( - nnd are very likely to get 1t. But we
~ - are naussated by the hypocrisy
>ho1l1sd psrsons who rain at Scott
iis> Although they themselves have
eppu smpty Of corec but traitor
~ wasted sugar.