New Britain herald., 1919-11-25

had come all the way from Washins- = and it's officials. The fact that these men were on hand altered the plans of the jokesters not a bit. They would not appear until that wire net came down, that was all, whereupon they retired to their pastimes. Hand ball and music entertained, while United States otiicialdom made ex- cuses.
 The wrath of one of the committee arose and he persisted in asking d question to which the answer was
 perfectly obvious
 Who is running this island, an,
 Way'' was the import of his WorJS
 How needless. We venture that the officials may be running the islan!,
 but that the Reds are running the officials. The placing Of the net Was
 due to the discovery that thirteen of
 the seventy odd prisoners have re- gently escaped. With the character istic aversion of the Red to water in mind, the conclusion has been reached that the prisoners mingle with their friends and get away in this way It was not thought that they would attempt to swim from the island therefore, they were to be re- strained from mixing with the crowd that visited them.
 Aged and discrepit guards, weApon- less, and without knowledge of their prisoners, is given as another reason for the successful escapes. Commis- sioner Uh1 has not sufficient men to take care Of his guests in the proper manner. Possibly Congress will see fit to outfit him with more ana younger men, mayhap chosen from the ranks of the America n Legion, and give the guards a gun O., two With real bullets in the things.
 1t IS about time that there was som ething definite done about these bloodthirsty fanatics, simple and in- nocent as their pranks may appear to country which prea ches freedom for all, and justice for all, in it's very life. Justice should be accorded to the Reds who are held, providing that there is the slightest doubt about their loyalty In our kindness and respect for the rights of the individual we have overlooked the danger of the cranks in our midst and treated them with the decency which we would accord guest in our home, providing that they did not have proofs of |, American citizenship. This should be stopped. Many Of the men held today are murderers, we venture; most of them are thought guilty of preaching murder, which is far worse than committing the actual crime, as unfortunate mem bers of our citl Zenry without the mental equipment l to realize the enormity of their deed are led to attempt murder throug h 1 their preachments We would not 1 treat a. murderer with respect. He
 has forfeited his rights when he stays. But the Reds are being treated with ] a regard for their rights" With no l conception of justice they are appeal ! ing, upon slight technicaities, to the 1 law of the land, and getting by with 1 their appeals
 A revival of Russian customs in I dealing with plotters against the bod polite is disgusting to most of us. l But some mc'lod of taking care of | disturoers must be found if we would I protect ourselves from annihilation. 1 Laws must be passed to make the
 handling of these persons so strong
 that it will lead to no more such oc- 1 casions as the present one They must l have respect for authority and it Is | up to Congress to see that that respe | ! is enforced. The military compelled 1 obedience from dissenters in the
 ranks, even though they were Amer ican citizens. Give those Reds over
 to the Army and watch them behave