Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1932-09-01

desperate homeless men and saber-
swinging cavalry, with tanks in re-
serve; as "a movement for the COM
plete and ruthless clearing out of
the whole army from the District,
the mild conservatives and the 'radi-
GALS alike" The President, in his
afterthought, declares that there were
many Communists and men Of crimi-
nal records among the veterans who
misled these innocents unaware of
the character of their companions. !"
But If this was the case, why had
not the police removed the criminals
long ago? AS matter of fact, neither
the presence of criminals nor Com
munists had worried General Glass
ford. Indeed, that officer Immediately
gave an interview in which he said:
81 handled the situation for nearly
two months without bloodshed. In
carrying out orders issued this morn
ing l am sorry to say that they re-
suited in the death of one man, SER
ious injury to another, and injuries
to several policemen" The orders,
of course, came to him from above.
With the same sympathy and CON-
miseration which has moved him from
the beginning, he declared that the
only result of the army's action was
that the veterans will still be on
the police, but not so well-handled.'
He is the only official who has ex-
pressed even the slightest concern as
to what may happen to the unfor-
Inmates who are now without any
place to lay their heads, or any pos
sibility of sustenance. 1t would seem,
if there is any humanity left in Mr..
Hoover, that he would at least call
upon the Red Cross to take these vic
tins of official ruthlessness in hand.
We admit, of course, that they are
not the victims of an act of God;
none the less, there must be some
humanitarian agency which could
take care of these men before they
become really desperate.
conceal the fact that the higher Of
ficials of the government lost their
heads. And so, for the first time in
our history, police and troops fired
on and bombed their fellOwAmeri-
cans in the streets of the capital. In
deed, if further proof of the state OF
nerves of the government is needed,
We can cite the official statement of
General Macarthur, Chief of Staff,
who was so silly as to say that if
President Hoover had not acted, IAN
other week might have meant that
the government was in peril! Yes,
our great American Government
not that of Colombia, or Salvador, but
ours-was actually within week of
falling because of the presence in
Washington of some 5000 or 10000
homeless, half-starved, unarmed VIC
tins of our social disorder! How
strong his faith in our government!
Of course, we are aware that the
New York Times type of mind re-
joices. In the clubs and Wall Street
there will be applause; it will be
once more explained that it is really
humanitarianism to treat 'em rough
at the start A little early blOOdshed
will serve notice on the country that
the regulars are loyal, that the gov
eminent will stand no nonsense and
will shoot to kill whenever trouble
appears That, we shall be told, will
save a lot of bloodshed. We wonder
One cannot be too sure. Sometimes
ruthlessness works the other way. The
abiding people of Anacostia boOed
and Kissed the troops, and so did some
of those in the city's streets, when
they saw the way they had behaved
and the application of the torch-and
the troops threw gas-bombs at them.
The people of the United States will
not take kindly to the sort of military
rule they have been in the habit OF
calling Prussian. At least, however
they have clear warning of what may
come to pass, how slight is the dis
lance to a military dictatorship, and
how ruthless it will be.