The Sisseton weekly standard. (Sisseton, Roberts County, S.D.) 1892-1929, 1920-02-20
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER

Labor-Farmer Fight Against
Speech Gag Shakes Palmer and
Congress-League Representa-.
tives Interview congressman
Effort to Reduce Power of Trade
Commission-Trials of Arrested
Reds May Be Long Delayed-OiI
Trust Would Eiscredit Daniels.
Three days Of hearings by the
house rules committee this week
upon the Sterling and Graham
peace-time sedition bills has left
those bills as dead as Caesar.
Such, at least, is the conclusion
of Chairman Phil Campbell and
OF Representative Schall of Min
nesota and Representative Ro-
denberg of Illinois, members Of
the committee. Chairman Vol.
stead of the house judiciary
committee, who represents a ru.
raj district of Minnesota, at
tended the hearings on the first
day and aftez.. listening to Sam
uel Gompers of the labor forces,
John d. Moore of the Irish, and
spokesmen of the Quakers, the
New York Bar association, the
American Newspaper Publish
ers' association and many others
who protested against sedition
legislation as being progressive,
irritating, futile and foolish,'
Volstead agreed that he and his
committee had made big mis-
take in approving the bills.
AS the rules committee had
been asked for a special rule to
bring the Graham sedition bill
up for Immediate passage, and
as the rules committee is evil
IDENTITY opposed to the bill, VOL
stead will probably ask that the
measure go back to his commit
tee for further consideration.
Then it will be pigeonholed. In
It's place an amendment to the
criminal code will probably be
offered, making it a crime to
propose or advocate" the vio-
lent overthrow of the govern
ment. The criminal statute now
forbids ''inciting" such violent
overthrow, but the lawyers in
Congress- disagree as to whether
that is broad enough to cover
one-man attempts to start q riot.
Those hearings have served
to show that Attorney Genera:
Palmer was frightened at the re-
slstance to his plans for sedition
legislation to the extent that he
hastily abandoned his intention
OF coming before the committee
to argue for the Graham bill.
Farmers See Congressman
Congressman Steenersor, Da-
Wis, Knutson, Ellsworth, Schall,
Keller and Carss were the first
of the Minnesota delegation in-
terviewed here by a special dele
CATION of the farmer-labor forces
of the Gopher state on the rail-
road and sedition issues. Presi-
dent A. c. Welch of the Minneso-
ia branch of the American So
ciety of Equity, George Griffith
of the Minnesota branch of the
National Nonpartisan League.
and e. G. Hall, president of the
Minnesota State Federation of
Labor, made up the interviewing
party.
each one of these congress
men," said Mr.. WEIGH, assured
us in definite and positive terms
that he would oppose the confer
ence report on the Esch-Cum-
minis railroad bill, and would
vote for holding the railroads in
government for two more years.
Each of them, also, assured us
positively that he would oppose
any sedition legislation. Those
pledges were given us when we
told them that we were opposed
to these bills and were in favor
of public operation of the roads.
1--WE will interview Congress-
men Anderson and Volstead be-
fore we go back; we shall also in
terview Senators kellogg and Mel
son."
Similar la5or-farmer delega-
lions from lumber of states in
the West have been here recent
ly to urge the two-year extention
of government operation of the
railroads and to oppose all anti
labor measures such as the sedi-
tion bills be known to be.
More Trust Strategy
Packer ton is about to
ENo