The Washington herald., 1922-05-06
Case of Child Crusaders.
To the Editor. The Washington Herald:

To the Editor. The Washington Herald:
Will you permit me to point out
that the editorial on Child Crusad-
eTs" in your issue of May . is quite
inadequate and unjust? According
to the editorial. IL there are any
political prisoners in the United
States who are worthy and fatherly
men. capable of earning a good
living for their families" they are
exceptions"
Has the writer of this statement
made any attempt to examine the
evidence upon which any group of
these prisoners were sentenced.
whether in Chicago. Oklahoma. Sac
ramento. or anywhere else? Is he
aware that ninety-eight were con-
victed at one time at Chicago in
August, 1917, by a jury which took
Just twenty five minutes to bring
in a verdict of guilty? A high
official in the Department Of Justice
agreed with the undersigned that a
verdict in these circumstances could
not have been fair to the accused.
Does the writer of the editorial
know that four Of these ninety
eight men. namely. Nef. Doree,
Fletcher and Walsh. all of Philadel-
phia, neither spoke a word nor
wrote a line against the war? That
copies of letters which some of them
wrote advising no resistance to the
draft were seized by agents Of the
Department Of Justice and withheld
from the prisoners during the trial?
That the local branch of the l. w.
W. to which these men belonged
completely controlled the Philadel-
phia waterfront and handled every
ounce of ammunition loaded from
the port of Philadelphia during the
war. without a single explosion or
accident of any kind? That every
member of draft age in this union
registered Maj. Lanier. appointed
by the government to summarize the
evidence of the l. w. w. trial at
Chicago. declares that the convic-
tions took place lin a wave of hys-
terra. at a time when measured
judgment could not be expected"
and that if the people OF the United
States only knew the facts. they
would demand in the name of fair
play that every one of these men be
released" Has the writer of the
editorial ever heard ii the fake oath
and the perjured testimony that fx-
ured In the conviction of the Okla
homa prisoners? Does he know any
of the facts concerning the Sacra-
mento cases?
If the writer of the editorial will
take some time to examine the fore
going and other features of the
situation concerning the political
prisoners. he will find ample ground
for questioning the Justice of his
wholesale indictment of the ll3 men
who are detained in jails because
they were convicted on charges of
having written or spoken against
wartime laws. During the war the
undersigned defended. both from the
platform and by the printed card,
the proposition that the government
had right to prevent and punish
any expressions Of opinion which
tended to interfere with the s--cess-
full prosecution of the war. He be-
lieves strongly. however. that those
OF the political prisoners who actually
did indulge in utterances Of this kind
have been abundantly punished and
that many of those still in prison
were unjustly convicted.
The writer Of the editorial de-
clares that "the American people have
passed out of the stage OF war psy-
chology" This sentence is directed
against those who have brought the
children of tine prisoners to Wash
ington. 1t applies with much greater
force to the writer Of the editorial,
and to those officials who are so
Ieisurely going about the business OF
considering the applications for re-
lease made on behalf Of the political
prisoners. Wartime psychology was
responsible for the harshness and in
Justice inflicted upon many Of these
prisoners; belated war psychology
prevents responsible persons from
considering the facts effectively. I'm
der this psychological perversion.
men Who are generally fair-minded
lazily and complacently assume that.
although these men were convicted
"in a wave Of hysteria," to quote
Maj. Lanier. they. deserved all they
got. and should be kept in prison for
several years longer. Such men have
permitted reason to abdicate its func-
tion in their attitude toward the po-
liticaI prisoners. They are still DOM
mated by war psychology.
Rev JOHN A. RYAN. ID. D.