Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-22
congress SCORED
FOR PASSING NO
ANT|-RED LAWS
David Lawrence Shows In.
adequacy of Present
Statutes.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Every now and then something law
less and terrible happens to shock the
American people, whereupon speeches
are made in Congress, resolutions Of
inquiry are proposed and a general
vince the people that their representa-
tives in the House and Senate are on
the Job and that every little thing
will be attended to Just as soon as
the mere mechanics OF drafting law
and presenting 1t to the two houses
Of Congress can be conveniently &C
conlplished- -
Not many days ago tragedy oe-
Cured in Centralia. Wash, and the
attention of the country was focused
on the activities of the I. w. w. Not
many weeks before that bombs were
thrown and the life of the Attorney
General himself was threatened. Yet,
since the subject was broached IN
Congress ON. June Ii last. although
seventy bills have been introduced to
deal with radicaliSm, not one was
placed on the statute books. and Con
gress sererely adjourned TINS Week
without so much as public statement
OF its Intentions or the reasons for its
failure to act upon danger to the
public welfare. -
No Crime to Preach Anarchy.
For the fact is upon the authority
of the Attorney General himself that
there are today no laws which make
it a crime toipreach anarchy or sedi-
ton. Moreover, those who have at
tempted to bring about the forcib1e
overthrow of the government of the
United States have committed no
crime unless their acts amount to
treason, rebellion or seditious con-
spiracy To prove conspiracy the
acts OF two persons acting IN col
fusion must be clearly unlawful. In
dividually, therefore, a person may go
the limit at present and cannot be
punished unless some one else CO.
operates with him or her in the plan
ming of the crime. Furthermore, re
bellion" and treason have been de-
fined as levying war or giving aid
and comfort to the enemies of the
defiance of law is not crime under
the general criminal laws, whether
the same be done by printing and
circulating literature or. by the sDok
en- word. Nor is it a crime to advise
and openly advocate the unlaWlI, . -
struction of industry and the unlaw-
full and violent destruction Of prop
erty.
Test Case Described.
To test existing statutes. the De-
partment of Justice has brought va
rious suits, with the same result. In
deed, an anarchistic organization in
operation in Buffalo, n. Y, circulated
manifesto appealing to the prole-
tariat to arise and destroy the gov
eminent of the United States and sub
stitute bolshevism. After advocating
the assassination of public officials
the document declared: Make way
for bolshevisni for the Department of
Labor, mines, railways, fields, fac
tories and sshops-let the soviets be
organized promptly" 1t openly adj
yocated rebellion, thus: "Proclaim
yourself openly an anarchist. Let the
revolution come. Hail to the immacu-
late and redeeming anarchy"
Yet what happened in that case"
Judge Hazel of the western district
of New York dismissed the case and
discharged the defendant. Here is
what he said and why he did it:
Il do not think that Congress when
it enacted this law (the conspiracy
statutes) had in mind such situation
(COntinued on Seventh page ~