The Cordova daily times., 1919-03-18
TUESDAY MARCH 10, 1919
Ia FOLLETTE'S PLEA

In an effort to rehalibitate his wan
ing reputation Senator Toilette de-
livered one of his famous five-hour
speeches in the United States Senate.
We shall miss our guess if the senator
can ever restore himself to popularity
among his countrymen. 1t was his at
titude toward the war, more than
anything he said, that earned the con-
tempt of his fellow citizens. Now
that he is fighting in defense of his
political reputation he finds his great
est asset is blunder made by the AS
sociated Press, which quoted him as
saying something he did not say. In
consequence of the press associations
admission of error the senator was
left with a fighting chance to retain
the esteem of his countrymen and he
is making the most of his opportunity.
The tenor of his plea is that he has
always battled in behalf of the weak,
that he has attacked "big business
and that he has done his best to pre-
serve pure democracy and render
the government responsive to the will
of the people. He is welcome to
whatever reputation he has gained In
a cause which made him popular and
almost a fixture in the Tilted States
senate 1t was an investment which
paid in personal remuneration and
glory But nothing the senator has
done can wholly blot out the odium
and disgrace of having failed to sup
port his government in the hours Of
it's most menacing crisis.
Like the members of the I. w. w.
the senator rises his voice in behalf
of free speech that IS not guaran-
teed by our constitution.
Are you going to frame a statute
to gag the people who protest that
everything is not right?" he inquiries.
This is one of the favorite themes
of those who have been sapping the
foundations of ou:' government. Low
browed, murderous-nlinded agitators
from Europe, who were denied free
speech at home, have GRATED from
soap boxes in this country just as if
they understood what free speech
meant. They assumed. without read
ing our constitution or our laws, that
free speech sigEified any utterance
that anyone wished to make. But we
never had that kind OF FREQ speech in
this country and doubtless, never will
have. No sane government could per-
nit speech advocating it's overthrow
by violence or speech melting to
crime. That is the kind of speech
the l. w. w. require for their anarchic
purposes and when it is refused they
and the La Follettes and the Bcrgcrs
are furious.
Take the case of the l. w. w. as
an example. Their organization is
revolutionary. 1t works for the over
throw of the United States govern
ment by violance-not simply the
violence of firearms, but all manner
of secret ard treacherous criminality.
If bombs cannot be hurled the l. w.
W. will set fire to wheat fields or
throw emery dust into farm or factory
machines. And while they are secret
ly plotting these crimes their apollo
gists whine at the street corners
about being denied free speech.
Mayor Hanson of Seattle urges that
the /. w. w. and members of similar
organizations be declared outlaws. II
statutes to that effect are passed we
shall not be departing hairs breadth
from our constitution or from our ira
ditional attitude toward free speech.
Our laws never have guaranteed any
ono liberty to advocate sedition or
crime. The sooner the brutalized and
blood-lusting foreigners among us get
this clearly into their minds the bet
ter for them and for US, inasmuch as
tho American people, who understand
their own laws and do not need in
structions from the scum of Europe,
are In no mood to pamper these pests
a. in the past.