Evening star., 1927-08-25
Defense of Radicalism
In the Sacco Case
To the Editor OF The Star:

Somehow it seems very wicked to
| me that the propaganda of the times
should put any one into the pathetic
| frame of mind in which your CORE
| spondent, Ada Louise Townsend, finds
! herself. 1t Is largely the result OF
such publicity as is given to Legion
| officials like Ferre c. Watkins, as
| published in The Sunday Star. who is
| rampant to unsheath the bayonet and
rattle machine guns, talkatively,
against an imaginary foe.
There are a few people, perhaps,
although no one has ever met any OF
| them, who would replace tie Stars
and Stripes with the red flag, but
| there are a. lot of radicals. one OF
our great conservative influences that
! has through many ages hampereo
progress and revised its position only
when necessary to perpetuate tseiI
| is the Christian church. The lnsplra-
| ton Of the church is the conspicuous
| radical on the pages of history.
| Every step In human advancement
| has been marked by the abandon
| ment Of old ideas and the adoption
of new ones--the triumph Of radical
! activity. The Declaration of 1nde-
pendence is perhaps the most radical
political document ever subscribed
to--by rebels and radicals.
It is related that a King of siam
was very favorably impressed with
a traveller and interested in the many
things he had to tell. When the traV'
eler told the King that it was so
cold in his country that the rivers
became ice and so strong that an
elephant might walk across one the
King knew he was lying. and all the
friendship that had growl up between
them was ruined.
Generally speaking. the radicals are
striving to tell some truth of vital
interest to society, but the truth Is
so unreasonable in the light OF our
stereotyped education that the radical
finds himself in the same predicament
as the traveller in Siam,
One wonders If Ada Louise Town
send read in The Saturday Star OF
the man who confessed to a murder
in which he had no part because ne
was sure the district attorney would
fasten it OIL him.
Mr.. Taft said "our criminal prac.
tice is a disgrace to civilization and
except that the humanity at the bot
tom knows from contact and obser-
yation that our criminal courts
seethe with brutal injustice the claims
of the Sacco-Vanzetti defense would
have stimulated very little interest.
These people feel, and with consider
able justification, that these raCicais
were not fairly treated ard Zee, verJ
bitterly against our institutions, as
almost every one does who has come
in contact with them. Unfortunately,
the radical has to contend not only
with his own ignorance but the igno-
rance of those to whom he appeals.
so he is easily discredted by the
propa ganda that extols existing con
ditions wherein a million men are too
poor because a thousand men are TOO
rich.
/ do not happen to know just what
a red is. l should say he was an
individual who would turn our insti-
tutions topsy -turvy without KNOWN
with what to replace them, but l
have never encountered any red
propagarda." The red is a deluded
individual, usually a radical deranged
by the hopelessness of the contention.
The 1. w. w, the Socialists and the
Single Takers are usually condemned
as radicals. but none Of them advo-
cate anything conflicting with our
Constitution or traditions. In this
Government ''of the people. for the
people and by the people there seems
to be no good reason why we should
not eliminate the parasite" which
Is the ambition of the ]. w. W.. or
have governmental control of the
machinery of production" which is
the Socialistic idea, or shift the taxes
from thrift and industry onto un.
earned values. which is the single
tax scheme. provided enough of I'VE
the people, want any one of these
programs. Mr.. Lincoln once said.
1.-THE partisan who will not hear both
sides is dishonest" And not so very
long ago Mr. Wilson said. Every
man with any vision must sea that a
radical change is coming" The patri-
otic thing is to strive with the radicals
to make America as decent and virtu-
Gus as it pretends to be. Only de-
luded ignoramus would strive to over
throw our form of government, which
is undoubtedly the best ever devised
but practically America is SO bad that
the truth sounds unreasonable to the
average citizen in comfortable circum-
stances who lacks the energy and
quality of good citizenship.
j. B. CHAMBERLAIN.