New-York tribune., 1918-04-08
Anarchists, Pacihsts, l. W.
WIS and Other Malcon-
tents Included
Emma Goldman Leads
Issues Call for Support From
Her Cell in Federal,
Prison

x
allgning its resources in secret places,
q nationwide effort is now maturing to
secure pardon and freedom for all
varieties of anarchist, pacifst, J. w w.
anti-war and pro- oGerman agtators
whom Federal agents have so far
rounded up and safely deposited in jail
More and more admitted one of
the men on the inside of this move
mcnt yesterday, "it begins to look as if
we radicals had lost out on the fight
we have been waging since the poss-
bllty Of this country's entering the
wa: first became apparent. We must
rot. though. lose out on the still bigger
fight that is coming. The first time
we were com paratively unprepared
That must not happen again. And the
first measure of preparedness is TO mar
shall our full fighting strength SO that
it shall be Immediately available when
the crucial time comes"
Amnesty League Formed
To this end. an organization called
the League for the Amnesty Of Political
Prisoners has been formed. The initial
call for members and Support" was
issued in February by Emma Goldman
from her cell in the Federal prison at
Jefferson City, Mo. To-day this league
has active branches in operation at
Rochester, Detroit. Chicago, Cleveland,
Ann Arbor, San Francisco, st. Louis,
Los Angeles and New York. Other
cities are to be added to the list within
q few weeks, following which vast
propaganda, setting forth the griev-
ances Of draft evaders. conscientious
objectors" and miscellaneous criers
from; the revolutionary housetops is to
be unloosed
q N n q C a
for ali prisoners of this ORDER" eX-
planned Miss NJ. E. Fitzgerald, secretary
of the league. "In every country eX-
cept the United States the distinction
Is recognized between common Grim
inals and those who go to Jail for the
sake. Of their conscience and their
ideals. That distinction must be rec
ognzed in America"
On the letterhead of the leagues sta
tionery-which is supposed to circulate
only among the faithful-it is set forth
cal prisoners those who have been con-
victed for holding and advocating So
cial and political opinions contrary, or
believed to be injurious to the coun
trys war activities"
Prisons Filled With Them
Of these egstrants, anar-
chists, preachers of sabotage and such
there are now more than two hun
dred. Miss Fitzgerald said yesterday, in
the Detroit House of Correction alone
The Rochester jails hold a quota Of
thirty, and out across the country
prisons in every section, she declared,
are stocked with them to an extent
"undreamed of by the general public"
The branches of the league already
established are now busy collecting
data on various individual cases, to
be used as ammunition in the cam
paign that is planned for this summer
AS typical of these, Miss Fitzgerald
mentioned the instances Of Louise
Olivereau, sentenced on nine diff
FIVE years by the Seattle courts for
writing letters to young men, advising
them not to enlist; and of an English
man named Wallace, in Iowa, who got
twenty years for making anti-war
speeches, in which he reviewed the
charge that all the Allied soldiers are
made drunk before being sent into bat
tic.
"Unless some action is taken by the
people" said Miss Fitzgerald, "splendid.
high minded types Of this sort will be
laneuishing in Jail for years to come
instead Of being out doing a useful
Special emphasis is apparently 70 be
laid by the league on the case for the
non-resstant pacifst, but it is hoped
that I'll the most violent types Of radi
calls now in Jail will benefit equally
with them if the propa ganda "catches
on" among the sentimentalists, to
whom it is duly to be addressed.
In her original outline for the or
ganization, Emma Goldman made she
suggestion that demand for the re-
lease of all those made prisoner in con-
nection with the war be pressed upon
the general peace conference.
Would Be International
"The league, then" she explains,
"can become not only of national i'm
portance, but Of international scope. in
view Of the fact that most political
prisoners in America are from Russia
end Italy. Certainly Russia viii dc
mand AT amnesty for hcr citizens in
America She is alrcady demanding
that. The other countries Will follow
In the preliminary literature private
" circulated by the league thus far
the same tone of hostility to American
aims and ideals which characterized
Emma Goldman's utterances when she
was at large is apparent The war is
referred to as chat monster misfortune
to civilization" "Inquisition," it is
announced, "is indeed still with US"