Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-17
INQUIRY INTO RAIDS
ON REDS IS LIKELY
Conflict Between Depart
ments of Labor and Justice
Is Fundamental.
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.

10 ] ubIu01IbVtI&oSs
ny DAVID LAWRENCE.
Conflict between the Department OF
La Dor and the Department of Justice
as to the proper course to be pursued
in deporting radicals" and "commu'
nists" has raised some fundamental
questions which may revive the whole
matter Of the justice or injustice OF
the wholesale raids against reds ana
the efforts OF the government to COM
bat radicalism.
The movement in Congress to in
ouire into the supposed friendl1ness
of Louis F. Post. assistant secretary
of labor. to aliens by canceling war :
rants against them issued by the De-
partment of Justice IS by no means
political or partisan. There are demo
Gratis as we'll as republicans who are
up In arms about 1t. but II Is unl w.
that Impeachment proceedings VIII be
begun The action of Representative
Mondell, republican floor leader, In
asking Representative Hoch, repub-
lican, to withdraw his resolution for
Impeachment was due to a desire 10
follow an orderly procedure through
the rules committee instead of being
subjected to the danger of elimination
on a point OF order in the House it
self
ImDeachment Not Probable.
Out of il impeachment proceedings
are not proba BILE, but thorough In
vestigation by a committee OF Con-
Rress with an opportunity Tor ASSIST
ant Secretary Post to express his
viewpoint is contemplated. The facts
are not doubted. but the viewpoint or
attitude toward aliens which the rath-
err libe raj minded Department of La
Dor takes as opposed to the more or
less conservative ideas of the Depart
nert of Justice has developed an in
terestinG controversy.
In the opinion of democrats is Well
as republicans something is wrong A
mistake has been made somewhere,
For instance. out of LAS cases han
died by the Department Of Labor, 332
have been found to be within the
meaning of the deportation laws
Fully 1858 cases have been Cancelled
and SO have been deferred for further
study or consideration. The conclu
sion which has been reached by mem
bers of Congress is that either the
Department of Justice has been over
Jealous in arresting innocent people
and subjecting them and their fami-
lies to hardships or else the Depart
ment OF Labor has been overfriendly
to the aliens and construed the law in
such a way as to nullify its enforce
ment.
Thomas Russ Case Cited.
The attitude Of the Department of
Labor as expressed by Assistant Sec
rotary Post is described in the case
of Thomas Russ, which has just been
decided In the latter's favor because
he was not deemed to have become a
member of the communist party, al
though he had permitted his name to
be signed to an application before he
w n
Post:
Under the law. aliens must be de-
Ported II they are members of or af-
filiated with the communist party of
America If this clause be construed
as meaning that aliens who have once
communist party must be deported.
even though they have no guilty
knowledge or that the principle of
once a mem Der always a member ap-
plies. it might be possible to spell out
of the circumstances in this case a
would be mandatory. Having applied
for membership before the prescribe d
organization was born and withdrawn
before its constitution was brought
even perfunctorily to his attention.
this alien would seem to a fair Ameri-
can mind to lack the requisites even
of technical membership. II, how
ever. the requisites of technical mem
bership were all present. nevertheless
the Congress Of the United States
should not hastily be presumed to
have intended that resident aliens be
arrested and deported as members of
an unlawful organization when all the
circumstances show the alien himself
to have been innocent of any guilty
knowledge or motive In taking mem
bership, and when it appears not only
that he Is and has been wholly free
from any hostile purpose toward this
government. but that he is sympa-
tions.
Intent Of Congress.
Some members OF Congress may
ed for this law to have 1t construed in
a narrow and un-American fashion,
but 1t would not be reasonable to in
fer that Congress as the constitutional
lawmaking body of this country. en-
acted this law with any such un-
American purpose. I shall therefore
assume in this case. as / have in a
large number Of similar cases, that
Congress intended the act of October
Is. 1918. to be considered reasonably
with reference to the Individual
knowledge and intent of persons
drawn innocently into an unlawful
Il have described this case at length
because in most. II not all essentials
1t Is typical Of a large proportion OF
fully 1000 cases I have decided after
hearings in which warrants Of arrest
had been issued by the Department OF
Labor on prima facie proof Of proba
BILE cause furnished by special agents
of the Department Of Justice. The
aliens are arrested and imprisoned
while In prison they are subjected tt
a police Office inquisition; an affidavit
showing probable cause-upon infor.
nation and beliefs thereupon pre-.
whereupon the latter department Is.
sues its warrant of arrest. takes owe,
the custody of the alien as by law it il
required to do, and proceeds as usua
under the expulsion clause Of the i'm.
migration law. When the hearing.
at immigration stations are reported
verbatim In regular course to the De
partment Of Labor. the Secretary OF
his lawful representative comes to ex.
anime these records. 1t Ia found in 8
large proportion Of the large number
OF cases l have examined that there
is no better reason for deportation
than is disclosed in the present case
Some Cases Merely Automatic.
TN some cases the membe rship i.
| Automatic the arrested alien havfns
been transferred from a lawful organ
ization to the unlawful one by vote O
a group or branch of the former ant
without his knowledge In som,
| cases he has had knowledge of tn,
transfer, but none at all of the char
acter of the organization to which h,
has been transferred. In other case
he has signed applications before tn,
existence of the unlawful organizatio
! and has never confirmed his member
| ship by any conscious act Some
| times an organization or a friend ha
signed the application for him. AS
rule. the hearings show the aliens ar
| rested to be workingmen of goo,
| character who have never been ar