The weekly Alaska citizen., 1920-01-19
THE BERGER CASE


 Victor Berger to sit ill the house as repre- sentative for the Fifth Wisconsin col gressional district. It was the logical ac tion for the house to take, inasmuch as the disqualifying attributes found against Berger in the first case had not been re- moved ill the second even tho they had been endorsed by Bergers socialist constitu- ency
 The house elections committee, after an investigation of the scdition charges against Berger, for which he is now under a 2O-year prison sentence, decided that his conduct was such as to render him undesir- able as d member of the house body. Berg CT, himself, took the position that no mat ter what his record might be, so long as he was elected by majority of the voters ill his district he was entitled to the seat. In the special election at which he was again elected he declared, |" if this district is made up entirely of horse thieves then a horse thief Is its only true representative. :" The socialist mass meeting which ren0min- ated Berger after hc was barred the first time, approved his "eycIy act, word and writing" In other words his Milwaukee supporters not only subscribe to his social istic doctrines but also endorse those ac- tions and words of his which resulted in his conviction by a federal court for sedi- tiou Thus Congressman Noight' s declare tion that |" If he is traitor there are 25,O00 others in the Fifth Wisconsin district" has significance that ii might not have under other circumstances. Berger, it appears, did not attempt to conceal his record but made his race on it and was reelected be- cause of it, apparently, and not in spite of it.
 Under normal conditions Berger would of course be seated. No charge of irregu- larity has been made against his election. Plainly he is the majority choice of his dis trict. As 1t is the socialist stronghold of the state, it may be the case that no one can be elected over him. In fact Governor Phillips, of Wisconsin, intimated as much when he announced following the an nouncement of the result of the last cleo tlon that If Berger were again barred from taking his seat, he would not order a spe- cial election second time as 1t would be merely a waste of state funds.
 If Berger's violation of the Espionage Act, for which he was convicted, is so heartily approved by the socialist of Mil waukee, the department of justice might find something of interest if it made an in l. . ed by Berger's opponent in the special elec- tlon who, in outlining the issues of the cam palgn, said, "lt is not true socialism that the fifth district is confronted with It is something much worse. It is bolshevism. The socialists whom MT. Berger represents are group of individuals who do nothing but stir up employe against employer and employer against employe Now they are trying to overthrow the accepted form of government of this country"
 On the whole, the charge of Berger, that the houses action is an attack on rep resentatve government, is not upheld by the facts ln the case. The house merely re- fuses to accept Berger's premise that "a horse thief should set in congress as a rep resentative of horse thieves.'' In fact the house very properly assumes that horse thief coming as an ambassador from his tribe would not only land in jail himself but would land his companions in crime there if he revealed their whereabouts.
 Representative government was not on trial by the house but Victor Berger was; his loyalty to the government ill the time of war was. And by his own admissions he