The Washington herald., 1920-01-23
Palmer's Action Hts
Anti-Sedihon Measure,
May Die in Committee
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

half an hour for him. a second mes
sage came saying that he was de-
tanned in a conference at the White
House and would not be able to
appear.
A messenger then brought to Chair
man Campbell a letter from the At
torney General. dated yesterday. in
which he said:
Il have read with great care both
the Sterling hill. passed by the Sen
ate. and the Graham bill reported by
the Committee on the Judiciary of
the House. and feel impelled to say
that neither of these bills accords
with my views as to what the legisia-
ton ought to be-"
The letter then stated that in re-
SpOnse to a Senate resolution Mr.. Pal
ner had prepared several months ago
and transmitted to the Senate a bill,
which. in my view. meets all the re-
quirements of the situation" \ copy
of this bill. which was introduced in
the House by Representative Davey.
Democrat. of Ohio. was included in
the Attorney Generals letter.
The bill which l have quoted" the
letter reiterated. was prepared by
NE only because requested to do so
Dy senate cOmnlltee.
IL was in this part of the Attorney
Generals letter that members of the
committee saw an effort to place all
responsibility for the legislation upon
Congress
ThrottIes speech, Says Gompers.
Mr.. Gompers' attitude toward the
y islation was summed up in his re-
pis TO this question asked him by
NJ Smell near the close of his testi-
mony:
As I understand you. you oppose
any additional legislation along this
lEe. whether or not the Department
of Justice says 1t is necessary"
Yes. sir" was the reply. 81 have
sTsry reason to know that much Of
thss agitation is due to hysteria and
nothing else"
Because there are a few people
runaing around the country RAM
pant-crazy, silly. if you please-you
would enact this legislation which
might be construed so as to reach
sen and women seeking to do good"
aid Mr.. Gompers.
Give the courts the jurisdiction
ard they will grasp it. take advan-
tags of 1t and interpret it. If the
AtfAA . arc NiOlItu Will Ine
authority of such a law. no one
knows where it will end.
Language "Of Force Used.
You will observe that the Lam
guage of force is used. There are
various kinds of force. One kind
is moral force. which may be used
for the attainment of political. in
dustrial or economic changes. The
workers of the United States, or
ganized or unorganized. are working
for economic or industrial changes.
This is not reconstruction. it is
destruction. 1t will. not suppress or
XIII off discomfort. but will increase
II. Whether that discomfort is ex-
pressed In one way or another, it
will be discomfort
Free speech is the safety valve
for every governmental machine
ever designed here or elsewhere"
Among the other witnesses who
opposed the legislation were Jack
son Fl. RalstOn, attorney for the
American Federation of Labor and
the National Popular Government
League; James Weldon Johnson.
former United States consul in
Nicaragua and now field secretary
OF tie National Association for the
Advancement Of Colored People;
william B. Harvey, representing
the yearly meeting of the PhiladeI-
phia Society of Friends; ]. Russell
smith. representing the Hicksite
yearly meeting of the Philadelphia
socisty of Friends: Zachariah Cha
Zee, Of the Harvard Law School;
Horace A. Davis. of the Harvard
Lioenl Club. of Boston, and s. P.
weston. of Seattle. representing the
American Newspaper Publishers
Association.
The hearings viii be resumed this
morning and are expected to again
eansunp the entire day.