Evening star., 1948-05-29

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Dewey referred to the alien and sedition laws
of 1898.
He saw in them something Of parallel be-
tween public sentiment Of that day. created
by developments in Europe, and the sentiment
today in support Of anti-Communist legislation
As for the parallel-One hundred and hfty
ideas Of the French Revolution, together with
the suspicion that France might attack U.S.
that played a part in the laws Of l7ss
Today the Clear and present danger" to the
United States from the Communist Party and
fear of Russia have resulted in House passage
Of the Mundt.Nixon bill, now pending before
= Senate committee.
There may be other sipilarities. insufficient
to establish = parallel. And rs for the legis-
lation itself, the Nixon -Mundt bill, 1t 10 not
80 drastic as the laws of l7o8.
The Sedition Act, the text Of which Is printed
in an adjoining column. all but uses the phrase
advocacy Of overthrow Of the Government by
force"-used currently to describe unlawful &C.
tivities.
There Were Four Of Them.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four in
number. It is interesting to remember that
they were placed on the statute books and en-
forced only seven years after the Bill Of Rights
was put into the Constitution.
The first law, approved June ID, 1898, pro-
longed from to IA years the period for nat
uralization but made exceptions in favor of
those persons actually in the country in jan
uary, 1795. The great mass Of foreigners-and
they included many Frenchmen-were dis
franchised for years to come.
The second Of June 25 empowered the
President to deport any aliens he deemed dan
gerous to public peace. ..
The third act, July 6, empowered the Presi-
dent in time Of war to arrest, imprison or
Danish any aliens with whose country we were
at war.
The fourth was the sedition Act. approved
July II.
1t is noteworthy that histories now do not
mention prosecutions under section 1 Of the
Sedition Act, which Is aimed at conspiracies
against the Government. Attention is hxed
on prosecutions under section 2, directed at
seditious libel.
This section was used by President John
Adams and his Federalist administration to
punish critical Republican editors The fact
the act expired March 3, 1901, the day Adams
term ended. is significant There were some
arrests under the act, Is indictments, II trials
and 10 convictions.
A number Of historians say popular indigna-
ton at the act and the prosecutions drove
President Adams from ONCE and wrecked the
Federalist Party. That is the position of
Zechariah Chafee, jr., professor of law At
Harvard, in his Free Speech in the United
States" who was quoted by Gov. Dewey.
Others Find No Connection.
Edward Charming, historian and also Of
Harvard, examined this view and rejected 1t.
He asserted Adams defeat was due entirely
to the transfer Of New, York's u electoral votes
from Adams. in 1896, to Jefferson, in 1900. and
this was due to a partisan campaign by Aaron
Burr and was not connected with the Sedition
Act.
Jefferson assaied the act on the ground 1t
was unconstitutional. Prof. Chafee says "on
that question Jefferson seems right" When
Jefferson became President he pardoned all
those imprisoned under the act and Congress
eventually repaid all the fines.
When the sedition bill was pending Jener-
son wrote Madison that its object "is the sup
preston OF the Wing press. Bache has been
particularly named"
The reference was to Benjamin Franklin
Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin and
editor of the Philadelphia Aurora. severe
critic Of the Federalists. He was indicted but
died before he was brought to trial.
William Duane succeeded Bache as editor OF
the Aurora and married Bache's widow. While
Adams may not have had hand in passage
OF the sedition Act. 1t is apparent he was en-
thusiastic in using 1t against Duane.
The editor had been born in this country but
after his father died his mother took him to
Ireland He lived in India and England and
then returned to the United States Secretary
of State Pickerinr wrote Adams that Duane