The Devils Lake world and inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1915-1920, 1919-04-23
DISPOSING OF THE DEBSES

DeOS goes I o prison. III atVOIue OtueIu VI Vic Ou4tSu
direetness and emphasis, that he would strongly oppose any at.
tempt to secure Presidential. cenency for him, and the Supreme
Couft, having declined to entertain an appeal Issued !sed a formal al. writ 1t
i Ses1 his u n1tsst f sma s ,%pl'i i@comprehe aeSS ne reason as anspf tSe p Pr 9st esa
should act against the counsel of his chief legal adviser; which we
dent dealt with Dcbs efectuany at the beginning Of his incen-
diary career: It viii be well if the present Chief Executive is
This disposition of Debs gives cause for profound satisfaction.
In 5e5 ssyi fsr t ns4ss ws %san f t. sSn3 is s mo touch q d IS vin f6s ivsfiss. nor or
the mans guilt there can be no question. He himself admitted it
e. s'e and have IA ,' been 9~ sent to to prison is for for a similar mi term no Of fave years. rs.
There can be no good reason for not sending Debs there too. The
he has been a leading agitator for many years, and has been a can
didate for the Presidency; entities him to no immunity. Rather it
ted by a prominent mar. than by an obscure one.
that Se thu rs ssn move %s e s1dsd, fh saS sEG tRst 7 %fa Be s;s% sassd b BY !hf p f3s:
friends. His ofense was an attempt to hinder the prosecution of
won, we can afford to overlook such opposition: Had he been
brought to trial at once, while the war was stll raging and pas
o afs and snd ! o. a after afe the war; %sr, IN spite $ts Of h his opposition qaosSa seems s. ms
safe with him at large as with him locked up. Et cetra:
that a crime does not achieve its entire object does not make it
a right act. 1t does not divest it Of criminal nature. 1t was not
the worst he could. If man tried to wreck a fire engine at a fire,
but failed to stop its Working, and the fire was extnguished in
Debs tried to wreck the military machine with which we were
pa5ting . o fsv a x wGE %isdt fa 6seeme ; He failed: H Pe s4se} u he per- ;as
course of the war and of our participation in it was nil, But that
is no reason in the world why he should not pay the penalty of his
The same principle holds good in other cases. It is being argued
shat there should be a universal amnesty for all "puitcal offend
err" for all slackers, pac6sts, quasi-traitors and what not, be-
cause the war is ended and their nernicious activities could do us
no harm. The reason is specious. They are just as much Grim
mails now as when their crimes were committed, and are Just as
worthy of punishment: To hold otherwise would be in effect to
say that no crime shall be punished qnles It succeeds in it's Grim
NAL intent. That would make a mockery of jurisprudence.
We have no pleasure in the punishment Of any man, per Sc. It
is not an agreeable spectacle to see a fellow man sent to prison.
But there are other considerations than the pleasant and agree
able. We do not believe in playing lightly with assaults upon the
security and integrity Of the nation. Debs at the crisis of the war
strove to hinder and defeat the Government in it's prosecution of
i: At a time when the security OF the nation depended upon get
ting as many troops under arms as possible, Debs sought to pre-,
vent it from getting them. Such acts should not and cannot he
ignored. Debs and all like him should be made to suffer for their
crimes.