Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1918-08-09

who, either as a result Of misdirected
enthusiasm or personal spite, wanted
TO take the enforcement Of it into
their own hands.
Such a spirit is the same as that
which causes mob violence, from
which it differs not in kind, but only
in degree. The same people that will
make life unbearable for the woman,
whose letter l have printed above,
would, under different conditions,
have joined the mob which lynched
an innocent man in Illinois be-
cause it was rumored that he was a
spy.
So serious has this Situation be-
come that the president has been
obliged to issue formal statement to
the public, begging that the law be
allowed to take it's orderly course in
the trial of all those accused, even of
those suspected Of being alien
enemies, guilty of the most heinous
crimes. The president is democracy's
spokesman of the entire world; he
is the man whom we have charged
with the supreme responsibility OF
winning the war. Yet he would be
the last man to sanction anything
that was not fair, or to condone such
practises as those directed against
the family mentioned above, because
he knows that instead Of helping our
cause it makes a mock of all ideals of
justice and fair play for which Ameri
CD is fighting.
Another federal official, Attorney
General Gregory, has been forced to
speak out in denunciation Of such
practices, which he knows will tend
to mob violence, and to condemn the
thoughtless actions of even we'll
meaning zealots towards innocent
people. Speaking to the prosecuting
attorneys of the United States recent
ly, he urged upon them the pressing
need to set their faces against incite-
ment to strife and mob violence
undef the guise Of false patriotism,
in the following ringing words.
Attorney General Said.
We must set our faces against law
lesSnesS within CUR own borders.
When the people are being deceived
and the most ignorant Of them inciL-
ed by absolutely false reports feel
something must be done to meet the
situation. Incorporate talking and
writing by ill-informed persons affect
many weak-minded people. You never
can quite overtake false statement
when once it has been uttered ano
widely published. Many of the
authors of such statements are
doubtless sincere, believe the wild
stories they hear, and disseminate
them with no intention of inducing
lynching and like lawlessness, but
nevertheless such persons are largely
responsible for results Of this charac-
ter. The cry of the mob is that it is
protecting the boys at the front. The
exact reverse is true. Having soWed
the wind we will reap the whirlwind.
There is a feeling that in some way a
condition of war suspends the guar
antees of the constitution and justi--
fes the doing of illegal or even GRIM
inal acts. / see no room for sub
stantial distinction between the law
less German autocrat, who shoots
non-com batants in Belgium, and the
laWless American democrat who
hangs unarmed civilians in America
[ urge you gentlemen to assist in get
ting before the people Of this country
the facts that laws are now upon the
statute books which will reasonably
protect the interior defenses Of this
country; that an honest, adequate
and earnest force is dealing with this
situation; and that unless the hysteria
which results in the lynching Of men,
is checked it will create. a condition
of lawlessness from which we will
suffer fora hundred years. sssA
Yes, my friends, the president and
the attorney general are right this is
no time for passion and undiscrimin-
ating bitterness. It's aztime for calm,
careful, clear thinking; time for
binding closer to us those who have
come, with our welcome, from across
the sea to escape the evils which they
themselves are sacrificing to- destroy;
a time for charity and mutual help
fulness and consideration of others
feelings, in order that we may be
united in spirit today under one flag,
as eventually we will be united in
one language