The Nome daily nugget., 1918-01-03

wartime, been obliged to resort to re-
 stricttoas upon these rights. The first time was In connection with our troub-
 le with France at the close of the Eighteenth Century, when the Alien and Sedition Laws" were enacted The second was during the Civil War. when the "Copperheads" in the North stirred
 up riots and in various ways sought
 to eGnbalTass the Government in it's efforts to preserve the Union Presi- dent Lincoln dealt drastically with
 these enemies at home. Fort Warren
 was filled with imprisoned leaders. One of them, Valandingham, a candi-
 late for governor in Ohio, was arrest
 ,d and, with grim humor conducted
 icross the border to his friends in the South. In the Confederacy. likewise, no sympathiser with the Union cause was permitted to give utterance to his sentiments. We are now, for the third time, facing conditions that make nec- esary the abrogatlon of these consti- tutional rights to tho expression of opinion.
 Naturally. men have te right to differ in opinion concerning the necessity or righteousness of the war we arc wag- ing against prussianized Germany. Up to the time when the nation. through its constituted uthority-Congress representing the people-declared a state of war to exist, individuals could and did express their views and en- deavor to influence the course of the G,Vcrnnent. But with the dcrlara- tion ot war the time for discussioi was ended. Now, criticism of the ection taken by tho Government and efforts to hinder It's preparations for carrying on the "ar successfully mean comfort f not actual aid to the enemy. Such words and acts nre dangerously close to treason. It Is the duty, now, of op- ponents of Government policy to keep silent: if they refuse to do so, 1t is tho duty of the Government to silence them. The seriousness of tho situa- ton we are facing Is increased by the presence in our midst of a limited num- Der of men and women of pro- German ympathies--citizens whose ancestors indeed. In some cases came to Amer lea in order to escape PrusSian opprcs- sion. To these may be added those pacif!sts who desiro peace at any price, and the Anarchists, who wish to make trouble at any cost. Working upon this heterogeneous combination of discon- tented individuals and groups is tho systematic espionage of Prussia, plen- tifully supplied with money. The dis loyal activities of the opposition to the Government have been as varied as the clements composing It. They have ranged from meetings of Peace Coun- ciis" with their idealistic platitudes thru the savage utterances of "soapbox orators" and false statements in the press melting resistance to conscrip- tion. to the betrayal of military secrets to the enemy, the burning of wheat
 fields. the destruction of lumber, the dynanliting of factories, and the fo- menting Of strikes and riots.
 In view of these things. it is not surprising that even the conservative Mr. Root, on his return from Russia, told us that there were men walking our city streets who ought to be taken out at sunrise and shot for treason" He had just witnessed the demoraliza- ton caused by traitors working upon isnornnt Russian 2ealots. Colonel Roosevelt'S denunciation of "unhung -