New-York tribune., 1921-01-20
other acts also. He said the depart

other acts also. He said the depart
ment examines all cases.
Senator Walsh did not agree with
Mr. Palmer and said that simple in
vestigatlon as to whether there was
oony,lcrlon under the espionage ac,
"ouid settie 1t If amnesty were ordered
r. opecihcally referring to Senator
frances amnesty resolution, Mr.. Palm
er objected to numerous alleged mis-
statements IN the preamble and said
some of them would condemn the de-
partment and it would not know
whether it was "afoot or horseback
Favors Repeal of Act
IF you don't. want the law enforced
the simplest thing is to repeal the
statute,' said the Attorney General.
He asserted the President and the
Attorney General had given the most
careful consideration to pardons or
clemency in every case, but were not
through yet and he hoped the large
majority of the cases. would be dis
posed Z of before March 4.
Mr.. Palmer insisted that the small
number Of convictions in this country
was the most striking evidence of the
care with which the rights Of individ-
uals had been protected. He commented
on the smallness of the number of con-
vlctions under the espionage act, 5S1,
in nation Of 100,O0O,OO0 people.
III have favored repeal of the espion-
age act for long time," he said.
Questions of Senators brought out
the fact there have been three or four
arrests under the espionage act in the
last six months.
The sub committee took up the
oh,
Of Justice for alleged violations of law
and constitutional rights in treatment
Of political prisoners as made by the
Committee of Twelve.
Mr.. Palmer in a general way insisted
that the agents of the department had
complied with instructions to stay
within the law in making arrests and
seizing persons and papers. He de-
scrIbed the simultaneous arrest of
about 5000 Communists and members
of the Communist Labor Party on the
Of the Communist Labor party on the
there had been small'number of mis-
takes these had been corrected
Senator Walsh said he was cognizant
Of the difficulties in such cases and
he was less concerned about them than
about cases as to which the facts were
clearly shown in court proceedings
tie clCeQ three cases or illegal arrests
or seizures without warrant Of law
one of them the case of the Silver
throne Lumber Company, inowhich the
Supreme Court recently took the De-
pertinent of Justice to task for seizure
Of papers and books without warrant,
and, after this, use of the evidence thus
unlawfully obtained.
Senator Walsh cited Montana case
of arrest known as the john P. Jack
son case without warrant and a re-
cent District of Columbia case in which
a jury gave $40O damages to one
Holder, against Lawrence O'Day, an
agent Of the Department of Justice
who arrested him without warrant and
held him incommunicado for week.
Facts Leading to Raid
"These are the things that give me
some concern, Mr.. Attorney General
said Senator Walsh coldly.
The Senator then read the detailed
instructions Of the Department of Jus
tice with reference to the proceedings
against the Communists and Commun-
lst Labor party members, leading up
to the January 2 raids and deportation
campaign and brought out the fact that
the Instructions directed agents to OBJ
tain papers and documents, but to take
out search warrants only as q last
resort.
The very language of the instruc-
tions, Senator Walsh contended was
calculated to cause agents to obtain
books and papers by illegal methods.
Aren't the instructions of the de-