Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-13
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

leading citizens" called a mass meet
ing to be held in Music Hall to pro-
test against the failure of the
courts. The hall had capacity of
10000, and 1t was crowded to over
flowing. The most prominent pub
lie and business men denounced
the corrupt courts and demanded
drastic reforms. Excitement ran high.
A company of militia, pending this
protest meeting, was held under arms
near the Jail as a precaution, but
none of the speakers advocated a mob
attack. The meeting adjourned with
out definite action, but when the
crowd poured out and flooded the
streets, some would-be wags cried:
File left!' and led the thousands to.
ward the Jail.
Within 10 minutes the Jail was sur
rounded by 10000 people, leaderless
but dangerous. The militia had been
telephoned before the crowd arrived
and had marched into the Jail, SO that
when, few minutes later, a detach.
ment OF the mob pouring through a
tunnel from the courthouse into the
jail office, 1t was met by volley from
the soldiers, and the first man killed
In that tunnel was respectable
workingman. bearing his lunch bucket
he had been drawn by curiosity di.
rectiy from his honest toll, to the
meeting and had been aroused by the
respectable citizens" into joining the
leaderless mob.
The great Cincinnati riot followed,
the Court House was burned, scores
or respectable citizens were killed
on the streets, but the court-corrupt-
ing lawyer was not apprehended.
There were at that time Sc murderers
In that Jail, not one of whom was
reached by the mob. The speeches
of those leading citizens" were re.
sponsible for that bloody riot.
The application of that incident to
the present situation Is found in a
discussion of indirect responsibility
for the effect of words, as set down
by Herbert Spencer:
1.-THE utterance Of thought being
one species of action, there arises the
proposition that every man is free
within specified bounds to do what he
wills; the self-evident corollary that,
with the like qualifications, he Is free
to say what he wills; or, in other
words, as the rights Of his fellow men
form the only legitimate restraint
upon his deeds, SO, likewise, do they
form the only legitimate restraint upon
his words.
There are two modes In which
speech may exceed the ordained
limits. It may be used for the propa-.
cation Of SANDER, which we have seen
in a foregoing chapter involves a dis
regard of moral obligation; or it may
be used in melting and directing an
other to injure third party. In this
last case, the instigator. although
not personally concerned in the tres
pass proposed by him, must be consid-
cred as having virtually committed it.
X II II X
In Abrams ct al. VS.. the United
States, Justice Clarke, writing the
opinion Of the Supreme Court sustain
ing the conviction by the lower court,
said:
This Is not an attempt (of Abrams
ct ALL to bring about change Of adj
ministration by candid discussion, for
no matter what may have melted the
outbreak on the part of the defend
ant anarchists, the manifest purpose
of such a publication was to create
an attempt to defeat the war plans Of
the Government Of the United States,
by bringing upon the country the
paralysis of a general strike"
1t will be contended by anarchists,
today, that the war laws have no ap-
pllcatlOn 10 peace COnulLiOnS, DuI
hundreds of thousands of workers
go on strike in one city, and many
thousands in other cities. all over the
country and all over the world. They
rally upon the pretense Of sympathy
with radical murderers condemned
under due process Of law; they could
not possibly know what Is justice In
the case of Sacco and VanZetti, as
do the convicting jury and court and
the reviewing governor and his
eminent advisers. yet the mobs from
Europe to Japan, from Canada to
Argentina, rally as anarchists and
denounce "Capitalism"; rally under
the call for revolution against or
ganized government in behalf of no |
government but Of anarchy. commit |
violence against citizens who have
had no part whatever in the case of
the murderers. How much does the |
present worldwide emergency differ |
from conditions which in 1917 and Is !
spn us Legal fsssrai9 upon free !
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