New-York tribune., 1919-11-15
No Possible Doubt of Their
Intent to Attempt to Over
throw Government, Says
Chief Magistrate McAdoo
Praises Lusk Committee
And Condemns Those Who
Say We Shall Not Inter-
fere Until the Fire Is Set

Ben jamn G;tlow, former Socialist As
sem blyman, were held in $4,000 bail
for the grand jury yesterday on
charges of criminal anarchy after
Chief Magistrate William McAdoo de.
clarcd the Communist party, of which
they were leaders, was engaged in an
attempt to overthrow the government,
destroy property rights and murder
citizens who disapproved Of this pro-
gram.
the magistrate held that Larkin and
! Gitlow were clearly guilty of q viola
tion of the state law prohibiting the
spread of anarchy. Tne prisoners we're
among the 1000 taken in the Lusk
Committees raids on the seventyone
Com nunist party headquarters last
Saturday night.
Holding that it was the duty of pub
lie officials to check attempts to over
throw the government, Magistrate Nc
Adoo criticised those who have con-
demned the Lusk committees activi-
ties. He said the bitter intolerance"
OF the Communists "might we'll be
called to the attention of dilcttante
parlor Socialists and pseudo ana. ch SITS
who are looking for nervous excite
mcnt and hotoriety, and easy going
gentlemen in and out OF jur.os or civic
forums who arc condcmning the zeal
OF olicers Of the law in the pursuit of
tnls ana kindred organizations"
The Purpose Set Forth
The court held that the purpose Of
the Communist party 10 overthrow the
government was set forth in "The
precautionary Age through which
Larkin and Gitlow are accused OF cir
culating the Communist manifesto.
"liow is the revolution to be accom-
plished ~ continued Magistrate Nc
Adoo.
The manifesto gives the battle cry
and slogan III practically two words
coercion and suppression. The mass
action strike IS tc paralyzc all the in
duStrlcs of the country, dcpriving mill
ions Of people of the necessaries OF
lie. para yang the armed forces of the
United States, making the so dier and
The policeman impotent, and the silenc-
ing Of such voices in the pulpit as are
not in accord.
This is the first stag coercion BY
absolutely an unqua.ifedly illegal
means, unlawful practices and a Grim
inal con piracy deliberately invented to
carry out tie purposes intended
These strikes are called mass Nction,
and have nothing whatever to do with
efforts for increase of wages or lessen
ing cf hours or the betterment OF the
workers 1t is a militant uprising of
the Red revolutionists. At This point
tho state is given the option that it
must either commit suicide or be killed
If this condition could be brought
about. what objcction could anarchy
have TO it?
Surrender or Be Suppressed
"lf the great middle classes of the
country, VIII ch include organized labor,
do not surrender at once all their prop
erty and pos essions and commit their
ives to the tender mercies of the rag
ing proletariat what is TO be done with
them? The manifesto makes it per-
fectly plain. If they resist they are to
be SUI pressed. What does suppression
mean?
1T means that if they continue to
resist they must be exterminated;
while the money from the banks and
other repositories flows into the cof-
fers of the leaders of the revolutionary
communists the blood of the doomed
class will gurgle in the cutters. ii
this is not violence, if this is not an
archy. if this is not directly, openly
and brazenly q defiance of the penal
law of this state, what is?
"Well-meaning gentlemen tell us
that we should not interfere with the
incend.ary when he is preparing the
torch; we should only apprehend him
when he is setting fire to the building.
This statute is a preventative measure.
1t is intended to head off those mad
and cruel men at the beginning of
their careers. 1t is intended to put
out fire with a bucket of water which
might later on not yield to the contents
of the reservoir.
"A few years back. If any one had
said that III this year of grace 1919
there would be in the City of New
York, known to the authorities, between
seventy and eighty official headquar-
ters Of a criminal organization like
this, we'll equipped with money and the
rooms bulg ng with literature more
microbes of disease to the human body
he would have been laughed at Nearly
eighty recruiting barracks for this
Red army in the City of New York
with thousands Of members and np
parently unlimited money from at home
or abroad.
If tins is not. in the language of the
statute, an attempt to overthrow anc
destroy the organized state. what is
under the circumstances, would be OF
tar pert of public officers. judicial ant
otherwise, species of treason agains
the Stateit self
"No one claims that the modern stat
is free from evils nor denies that pro
gressive reformation is absolutely es
sential to the maintenance of justc
and democracy, but all these are OBJ
tainable under the constitutional form
of our government
Two important Leaders
"These two defendants. Gitlow an.
Larkin, are beyond doubt two Of tn,
prominent leaders in this revolution
AIRY scheme. They are men of intell
gence, with considerable experience i,
public affairs, and all this. either from
honest fanaticism or muddied thought
they have perverted into the most dan
gerous channels. AS they stand to-day
as against the organized governmen