The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-08-12
and Sailors Legion.
National Headquarters of the Pri-
vate Soldiers and Sailors Legion
80 F. St., Washington, D. C,

August 4, 1921,
Hon. Warren G. Harding,
The President,
White House. Washington, D. c..
My Dear Mr.. President: Not that
we have any fear that you will be
deceived by the glaring misrepre-
sentation and palpable misstate-
ment of facts in the letter of Ed
ward S. Bethlehem, Jr., Chairman
of the national legislative commit
tee of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars, which he sent you yester-
day, but in order that the record
may be complete and that this
false testimony of Bettelheim's s
may not go without exposure and
disproof, | wish to say that he
appears to be acting as counsel for
the defense of Col John G. Emery,
national commander of the Off
GERS American Legion, who is under
charges brought by me, to the eff
feet that Col. Emery was guilty of
deliberately malicious and mis-
leading statements" to the Presi-
dent of the United States on the
Debs pardon case.
Captain Bettelheim's plea in de-
fense of Col. Emery's gross Of
fense against justice, truth and
common decency, is the lame and
unsupported allegation by Captain
Bethlehem "that a referendum by
wire from all the state depart
ments" (48 officers) was taken by
Emery before he sent the telegram
to the President. Captain Bettel-
helm cannot fool either the people
or the President into believing that
referendum of these AZ Ameri-
can Legion officers was an sex
preston of the sentiments of the
great mass of former service men
and women" Every American cit
izen who has any acquaintance
with eX-service men, knows that a
referendum of those AZ American
Legion officers is an entirely diff
ferent thing from referendum of
the four millions and a half of
ex-soldiers who served in the World
War, and nobody knows it better
than Captain Bethlehem himself and
he is making deliberate misrep-
resentation of what he knows are
the facts in attempting to deceive
the President and the public when
he makes statement so palpably
untrue.
Bethlehem says 1--WE are convinced
that the biggest part of the former
service men and women are op-
posed to the pardoning of Eugene
V. Debs." Well what was it that
convinced him. Was it Col. Emery's
referendum of the AZ American Lee
gion officers? If he is innocent
enough to allow himself to be bun
coed by that sham referendum it
won't be long until he finds out
hat the President and the rest of
the people are not fooled by it.
OF course Col. Emery could get
unanimous referendum of the AS
American Legion officers in favor
of keeping Debs in prison; they
put in so much of their time in
the army, court martialing the pri-
Yates by the hundreds of thousands
that now they can't break them
selves of the habit. But it is a
dead certainty that he could not get
any majority referendum vote of
bHG VI Bi waves "iAt tpPh
at this question from a directly
opposite standpoint to that taken
by the ex-army officers.
You need have no fear, Mr.. Pres
ident. that either the majority of
the people or of the soldiers would
have feeling of anything but
gratitude and good will toward you
for exercising your clemency in
granting pardon to Eugene V.
Debs, for there is no question but
that the compassion of all good
hearted American men and women,
who are moved by any spirit of
human kindness or Christian char
ity, goes out to him in sympathy
at this time.
Respectfully yours,
(Signedl
MARVIN GATES SPERRY,
National Soldiers and Sailors Legion.