The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-01-24
LET MIR. GOMPERS
 GO ID HELL, SAYS
 BLANTON OF TEXAS
Members of Both Parties Attack and Defend Anti Sedition Measures In
 the House
By A,.eeI.,.a Pr...


 Washington, January 23.--Attacks on pending anti-sedition bills not only continued today before the House rules committee but spread to the floor of the House. republicans and democrats joining in opposition to the measures, which were, in turn. defended by mem bers of both parties.
 Republican members of the rules committee. at the resumption os hearings on the Sterling and Graham bills, charged that Attorney General Palmer had 'sidestepped" the issue after asking to be permitted to pre- sent the need for additional legisla- tion to prosecute radicals Represent ative Rodenberg of Illinois. one of the republican members of the committee. after charging that the Attorney Gen eral had developed a rplain case of cold feet" announced that tomorrow he would offer a motion requesting Mir. Palmer to appear before the com mittee. eta
 DENIES WORKING PROMISE
 The Attorney General in a statement later in the day. denied that he ever had promised his support for either the Sterling or the Graham bills and said that the measure introduced by Repre- sentative Davey. democrat. Ohio, em- bodied his ideas on such legislation. Attacks on the bills in the House were made bv Representative Browne republican, Wisconsin, and the represent ative from the Ninth Alabama district the latter declaring that industrial unrest might be converted into political unrest by such measures
 Representative Burke. republican, Pennsylvania, broke into the debate tu say that the Pennsylvania state law
 relating strictly to sedition' had been | used during strikes to prohibit "even two or three Workers meeting In hall"
 The forces In the House favoring the measures were led by Representative Husted republican. New York, who, 1 however. objected to the first two
 sections of the Graham bill and Rep
 resentatiVe Blanton, democrat, Texas, l who declared the republican steering committee had favored the proposed sedifion bills until they were opposed | by organized labor. and Mir Gompers
 came with yelled threat to the re- publican party
 LET GOMPERS GO TO HELL
 "The biggest autocracy in this coun. | try is that which stopped this bill.' declared the Texas representative, add ling that,if members of Congress would vote their own Judgment they would | pass the measure and s"let Mir. Gonfpers go to hell.p
 Tn testimony before the rules com l mittee. Jrhn D. Moore of New York said that the democrats could capital
 ize for campaign purposes if the re | publican controlled Congress passed l the pending bills, as nobody wants
 additional legslation.'
 WORSE THAN ANARCHISTS
 swinburne Hale. a former army of- | ficer. told the committee that the Gra- ham bill was filled with jokers." whils 1 Alfred Beckmann of Cincinnati, former | assistant attorney general in charge of l sedi aon cases. asserted that the pro posed legislation would be worse evil than the a0Ls 1t might prosecute. 1 There are no cases except very re-
 mote ones which cannot be punished under existing statutes" said Beck mann, "and the menace from these cases is not dangerous enough to add Legislation which would be a thrust at the freedom of American citizens. Sup ! pression increases rebellion. In coun- 1 tries where suppression is the greatest | revolutions are the freest.'
 | Hundreds of letters and telegrams. 1 including a letter from John L. Lewis, acting president of the United Mine workers of America. have been re- ceiyed Chairman Campbell of the rules committee announced today. Hearings by the committee are eX pected to be concluded tomorrow, with Bourke Cochrane of New York appear ing in behalf of the provisional Irish republic.