Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-04-08

must win some at home. Early
yesterday morning Robert Praeger
was taken from the jail at Collins
Vile, this state, by mob and
hanged. II is charged that he hau
been guilty OF sedition and even
that he might be q German sp-.
Grave as are these charges they
DO not excuse. they do not even
palliate this lawless al. If there
was evidence against him of the
grave crime with which he was
charged, that evidence should have
been brought before the law Off 70
GERS of the government so that he
could have been prosecuted accord
ing to law.
We are at war to uphold the
principle OF government by the
people. The people can express
their will only through the law.
There must be something supreme
in every form OF government. In
4 monarchy il is the king or en-
peroT, in a republic the thing SUI
preme is always the law The &C
ton Of the mob at CollinsviIle Il
say ii with shamel, was as mucn
an assault upon the' principle of
democracy as the reasonable prac,
tees upon which Praeger was
charged. even If that charge was
true. Our enemies assert that the
people are incapable of governing
/ themselves and that, therefore
democracy is an idle dream. Ev-
cry time a mob acts the enemy
| can cite it as an evidence of its
claim. Even if Praeger was guilty
the place in all the world where
the act Of the mob would bring tie
, greatest satisfaction is tAe impe-
rial court at Berlin. If Praeger
had lived for so years he could
not have given as much aid ami
comfort to the enemy as did that
| body of lawless men who took his
| life. l want to say that patriot =
ism viii not be used as a cloak
for crime in Illinois as long as I
/ am governor.
Should Strengthen the Law.
Il do not mean 10 say that there
has not been great provocation for
such crimes / have urged for
months that we have more vigor-
! Gus prosecutions for sedit1on. It
is a matter of federal authority,
! II the law is not sufficient, then
we should strengthen the law.
/ But no man in Illinois should take
| the law into his own hands and
/ none will do so. ii l can help it.
| What viii it avail us il we gain
/ the whole world over there but
( lose our democracy at home? We
were getting very materialistic here
! in the United States before the
war. We were selfish. The idea OF
neighbOr had been lost, and we
! were forming classes. The old dis
! cipline was breaking down in the
! home. school, church and state. We
! looked upon citizenship as some
/ thing which should confer a bless
! ing but expected nothing in re-
/ turn. We are now passing under
| the rod for Gods own purpose.
War May Be Best Thing.
! Perhaps this war is the best
! thing for US after all | know tha'
my audiences now have a new ligh.
/ in their eyes. new seriousness. a
new exaltation and. determination
| that has been absent fCY years
I After the war the old sense oil
! brotherhood that our fathers knew
f! before US will have returned and
classes Will be gone. The finer
spiritual things will have come
back. When the war is over va
will have better world TO live
in. if We win, and we will win
We will not have as many young
I men. but we will have a Gner type
OF young manhood than we have
had in half a century. Somewhere
| in France will some day be moro
expressive to us than anything else
! in our history. When the war IS