The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1918-10-24
M'MASTER Gets
3-YEAR TERM
Law VIOLATIONS UNDER
GUISE OF PATRIOTISM
SCORED BY JUDGE.


Fargo, N. D., Oct. 22.-In
passing sentence on A. w. Nc
Master, who pleaded guilty to
forging the name Of a political
rival to a seditious letter, Judge
Charles f. Amidon Of the fed
eral court yesterday admins
tered q scathing rebuke to those
who have resorted to almost
every crime in the calendar in
the name Of patriotism in the at
tempt to blacken the names Of
those who disagree with them
politically.
McMaster, whose home is in
Ward county, was brot before
the court under an indictment
charging him with having forg-
ed the name Of Girdell Patterson
Of Minot to a letter written to
William O'Leary, with the Amer
lean army in France.
Wanted to Injure League.
McMaster was the political op
ponent Of Patterson for state
senator in Ward county at the
June primaries, and before the
court yesterday he admitted
that the letter was written in the
hopes of getting" Patterson
and injuring the Nonpartisan
league movement, which he stat
ed he considered dangerous. y
Patterson was the candidate Of
the farmers for senator and Nc
Master opposed him on the Dem
ocratic ticket.
At the Democratic committee
meeting in Bismarck early in
September the letter was refer
red to openly, and it is alleged
that charges Of seditious utter
ances were made against Mr..
Patterson, who protested that he
knew nothing Of the letter and
challenged that it be shown.
McMaster Admits Animus
Later the matter was brought
before the federal grand jury
and evidence presented showing
it to be a forgery, with the re-
suit that McMaster was indicted
on four counts and came before
Judge Amldon yesterday to
plead guilty and throw himself
on the mercy Of the court. He
was sentenced to three years at
hard labor at Leavenworth.
In answering questions pro-
pounded from the bench, McMas-
ter said that he conceived the
idea Of forging the letter not on
" to harm his opponent, Mr..
Patterson, but to damage Gov
ernor Frazier and the other
league candidates.
80 you hit upon this scheme,
expecting that the letter would
come bark, get in the hands OF
someone and be punished, and
that before the forgery was dis
covered you would be elected
and Mr.. Patterson defeated?" IN
uuired Judge Amidon.
EYES," answered the prisoner
Judge Scores 'sPatri0teers.'
aAnd you thought that you
were justified because you thot
the league and Patterson were
dangerous to the welfare OF the
state and nation 2
eyes"
"And you thought that you
had a right to resort to forgery
and falsehood because OF the
good you would accomplish 6
EYES,"
sssYou are not the first man
who has looked at matters that
way" Judge Amidon continued )
Down in southern Illinois citl,
zens acting under the guise OF
patriotism, took out an innocent
man (Robert Prayer, who had
bought Liberty bonds Of each is
sue and tried to enlist) and hung
him to q post.
ssDown IN Cincinnati they
took out one Of the finest q
Ohio's able men (Herbert s.
Bigelow, minister, and president
of the Ohio constitutional con-
vention in 1922 and horsewhlp-
ped him because he had views
which differed from theirs.
Represents Lawless Class.
seThere is q big group Of peo-
Die who think they have q right
to resort to any crime and any
practice to defeat q man who dlf- !
fers with them. Many Aof this
group are doing this il the name
of patriotism IN the name q e
R<%.. ~ ~ VY6