Evening star., 1932-06-05
The Right of Petition Abused.

The Right of Petition Abused.
The right of the people peaceably to
assemble and to petition the Govern
ment for a redress Of grievances Is
guaranteed by the first amendment to
the Constitution. That right has often
been exercised 1t is now being abused
and violated by the so-called bonus
marchers, who have come to Washing
ton and are on their way to this city
to demand the enactment Of a law in
their interest. The right of assembly
for the purpose of expressing demand
for legislation or for redress OF griev-
ances does not include the right Of free
transportation or free subsistence. The
bonus marchers have demanded trans
portation, have secured 1t in some cases
through the weak yielding Of railroad
companies and State and municipal
officials. They have been sustained by
donations and are now in Washington
being maintained by public charity be-
slowed not in hearty sympathy for the
cause they represent, but in fear of dis
orders arising from their unhappy
plight.
In Cleveland a large number of the
bonus seekers swarmed into railroad
terminal and attempted to seize train
and compel the furnishing of transpor-
tation to Washington. They were not
accommodated. They blocked the lines
of travel, delayed the rail service, i'm
peded the carriage of the mails. They
were finally driven out of the yards by
a force of police. This was not de-
nial of the right of 'peaceable assem-
bly, for the purposes Of petition for
redress of grievances, but defense of
public rights and public interests. In
Baltimore yesterday 400 marchers, un-
der the impression that they would be
given free transport to Washington by
State trucks-an earlier group had
been so accommodated - demanded
similar transportation. They were de-
MED. But in order to prevent the en-
barrassing presence of these unlimited
visitors the authorities hauled them out
of the city and dumped them on the
boulevard leading to the Capital. Any
thing to get them on their way, re-
gardless of who is to take care of them
afterward.
It is a pity that there has been no
cooperation along the routes of these
marches to washington to keep these
men from coming here on futile err
rand. If they were not wanted in the
cities through which they passed
headed in this direction, they should
have been turned back, away from the
Capital and not toward 1t. There
would have been no denial Of the right
Of petition by such action.
The petition for bonus legislation
was presented by the first group to
reach Washington, comparatively a
handful Of men, who have been busy
for days at the Capitol getting sig
natures to paper asking that
favorable report be made from commit
tee to the House of Representatives on
the bonus bill. The right of petition
was fully exercised by this small ad-
vance guard, as effectively as could
possibly have been the case If all the
thousands who are supposed to be
headed hither were present, massed In
front of the Capitol - as, Of course,
they will not be permitted to assemble.
If every bill pending in Congress were
backed in person by those who expect
to benefit by its provisions legislation
would never be possible. These people
who are now demanding bonus action
are already represented in Congress-
have been represented in House and
Senate from the beginning of the long
series OF bonus agitations and demands.
So is every other group in the United
States and every other interest repre-
sented here. This present gathering is
simply a lobby, veritably a locust
swarm, as the President said in refer
ence to the representatives Of special
interests infesting the Capitol in the
course Of the fiscal legislation designed
for the relief of the economic distress
Of the country. 1t is lobby without
funds for propaganda, whose only argu-
ment Is personal presence, which i'm
poses a costly burden upon the COM
munity and causes keen anxiety as to
the preservation of public order