Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1923-01-10
LEGION DENIES
CHARGES And
ASKSFAIRPLAY
Lancaster, wis.
January s. 1923.


January 8, 1923.
To the Editor OF the Herald,
Dear Sir:
At the direction of the executive
committee of Richard Burns Post No.
109, American Legion, this letter is
addressed to you with the request that
it be published, as a favor to the Post,
in the current issue of your paper.
For some past the Post has realized
thai it was losing some of the good
will Of the citizens by reason OF sew
eral instances OF conduct i'll and about
the Legion club rooms which did not
react in the public mind to the credit
of the local Post. The Post has de-
voted no little thought to an investi-
CATION of every one of the several in
cidents we have in mind. Everyone
has been investigated and steps taken
to make impossible a repetition. To
date it has been the thought of the
Post that such matters should be han
died within the Post and without pub
lcity. More recent events have forced
the conclusion that the Post owes it
self some public statement to put the
American Legion in the proper light
before the public With this in MIND
this letter is written and request made
that it be printed in your paper.
1t is not necessary to go into the
details Of any of the several instances
of misconduct referred to. 1t has
come to our attention that every in
cident has been sufficiently matter
of public comment to render it I'M
necessary for us to discuss further
the details of unpleasant affairs.
We do feel, however, that we should
make absolutely clear in the public
mind the fact that every affair has
been thoroughly investigated and
give the public the result of such IN
vestigation Our executive committee
this morning closed its investigation
of the last affair to come to our at
tention. 1t feels that certain amount
Of publicity should be given its find
ings in this and in all other cases to
the end that the name OF the POST
may be redeemed from some OF the
comment that has come to the ears OF
members.
The entire findings of the committee
NAV be summed UP briefly. In every
investigation by the Committee the
finding has been the same There nave
been instances of misconduct, in some
cases of serious misconduct. In every
instance the committee has been aDIc
to ascertain the responsible parties.
In one earlier case we are glod to IN
form the public that one member o.
the Post implicated is no longer, nor
could be ever again, a member of the
Post. In other cases no member OF
the Post was implicated nor even
present If in some instances one
member was present we deeply de-
gret il but we do not feel that we
should be Judged by this fact in the
face Of a positive stand taken against
such things.
The situation is simply this me
Post maintains club rooms to which
all members contribute and to which
all are welcome. Visitors are, or have
been. also welcomed upon invitation
of a member. Visitors who come upon
their own invitation have never been
and never will be welcomed but they
have nevertheless, paid us not one but
many visits.
Our doors are presumed to be
locked but until the last few months
we had not deemed this an absolute
necessity. Developments in that time
have convinced us that it is and that
perhaps we must go even beyound
locks. The door has been left open
and visitations have followed Satur-
day night an entry was effected thru
the breaking of the glass in the door.
Against such visitatiOns we have no
protection unless we actually mann
tain a guard but we are determined to
nrotact ourselves even to the extent OF
hosting a guard if necessary. we
could. of course, prosecute when ylsl-
tations 60 to the extent of an actual
breaking and entering of our prop
.erty but we feel that we should be aole
TO handle matters without resort TO
s1ch steps Furthermore, we have no
inclination to anything but to protect
the name of the Post and the Legion
against the only inference that could
he drawn from the stories which have
been passed about
The Post aims to stand for some
thing in the community and to merit
the good will of the people as ex-
pressed to our benefit many times IN
tbe life of the Post. To this end we
n,ust ask as a foundation that the
neople do not credit us with disorder
occasioned not only without the
sanction of the Post but in the alb
sence of any member of the Post or III
snite of measures taken by the Post to
nreyent just such happenings.
Very truly yours,
FRANK c. MEYER.
Post Commander, Richard Burns
Post No 109, American Legion.