Evening star., 1923-12-17

The question of "martyrdom," So
called. enters very largely into the
comment on President Coolidge's re-
mission of the Jail sentence imposed
on the controller of New York,
! Charles L. Cr~ ig. for court contempt.
J AS in their original comment, when
the editors argued the apparent
merits of the 4entence. they seem to
! hold the Daugherty opinion and the
(! presidential action was entirely a
| matter of political expediency and
did not settle the real question at
issue. Editors insist the question of
! Importance concerns whether or not
the constitutional guarantees of free
speech are invaded by the present
practice in contempt of court cases.
! The Attorney General and the
President had AN opportunity to de-
! clare themselves with ylgor on the
undue extension of the judicial power
to commit for contempt, In the opin-
! ion of the Rochester Times-Cnio
I independently, and they also had an
| opportunity to write great docu-
ment, and to make of the Craig case a
! landmark in our constitutional prac-
( tice. But they have done nothing of
/ the k.nd, they have contributed moth
| ing to the settlement of the great is
| sues involved" The New York Eve
ming World (democratic), also feels 1t
| lis no credit to the administration
THAT It lodges the large questions and
: contents itself with foiling what 1t
! pretends to believe are the personal
desires of New York's controller" AS
the Reading Tribune Qndepe ndent)
sees it, the Attorney Generals re-
marks regarding the case emphasize
: his desire to leave the real question
unanswered, and in effect is just "a
way Of saying that the government
! q L. L..
! a martyr of him." but that sort of
an attitude will not correct the evil,
which constitutes the regrettable part
+, of the remission" With much the
same view the Boston Post Qnde-
pendenD continues, 1T appears TO be
| a move to forestall any getting of
political capital out of the fact that
| Craig, a democrat, was sentenced to
Jan for contempt by Mayer. repub.
| thing the thoughtful man. who sees
in the harsh sentence the nearness to
an assault on free speech. will have
! little patience, yet that is the prime
motive for the remission of the sem
| tence."
| The Baltimore Sun, (democratfc) in
/ terprets the argument presented by
| the Attorney General to the Pres
| ident as "a cheap, time serving
political dodge" and it goes on to
say: ut is bad enough that we should
have judges on the federal bench
who are totally oblivious of the
| spirit of American institutions. 1t
is bad enough that a man of the
| standing of Mr.. Craig, should be
made the recipient of grudging ex-
I ecutive clemency. But worse than
! either of these things Is the delib-
I crate attempt by q time-serving poll
| tician in high place to obscure the
| issue by calling better men harsh
names" In this connection the Lynch
| burg News (demeoratic9 maintains
1.-The administration is placed in the
attitude of relieving an offender
! was thoroughly deserved, to protect
I the dignity and honor and usefulness
! of the courts-and of adopting the
amazing recourse because of what
thoughtless, ignorant people might
| think upon the matter. Surely, IL
| Daugherty Is right, then the remis-
sion of Craig's penalty represents
| a complete and humiliating surrender
of duty and principle for reasons
which plainly inpeach the courage of
'Hgation." To which the Milwau-
4; Journal Gndependen) adds: rIf Mr..
Craig Is as guilty as Mr.. Daugherty
! In his brief says he is, then no mat
4 ter what PUBIC OHlC0 ne may nOfu
| he ought to serve his Sentence-as
would any non official person" The
Journal moreover wonders lust what
| is the real reason that causes the
| Attorney General to fear a sojourn
! in Jail by Craig"
| Perhaps as good an explanation
Is that he was too popular in the
| city of New York to be made a
| martyr suggests the Grand Rapids
Press independently, which observes
| that "Daugherty's report upon which
! the President acted in remitting
Craig's sentence is a clever document,
avoiding the issue as to whether Craig
was telling the truth about the judge
and the further issue as to whether
| it would have been right for the
judge to sentence him even If he
was telling the truth, but it is un-
fortunate that political opportunism
has to enter into such vital ques-
ltions."
AS the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(democratic) explains. Daugherty
has discovered that the chastise-
lment Of Justice Is not cltastisement
tunless the strokes are dfspleasing to
the recipient; however. 1T was re-
publican party against Tammany
Hall, and when politicians begin pull
ing opposite strings In the skein Of