Evening Star Newspaper, August 28, 1927, Page 49

Echoes of Sacco-Vanzetti Case (Continued from First Page.) unlawful and violent destruction of property a crime under the United States general statutes. * x X % ‘This declaration of what was con- sidered to be inadequate means of dealing with anarchists and other, the- orists who sought the overthrow of the Government by force was greeted. as might be expected, by a veritable avalanche of proposals. There were some 70 bills introduced in Congress designed to put a curb on the propa- gation of doctrines of violence. Some of them were extreme. Some would have furnished ground for punish- ment of any protagonists of any kind of change in Government. One of them would have madle it a crime to “display or exhibit at any meeting, gathering or parade,'or in any other public place, any flag, emblem, ban- ner, picture, motto or device which tends to incite or indicates a purpose * * * tooverthrow, change or defeat the Constitution of the United States.” A few years before a band of women carrying a banner labeled “Votes for Women® could have been convicted of a crime under this bill. Most of the proposed measures, however, limited their scope to agitations in support of violence against the Government. At- torney General Palmer had a model bill written at the Department of Jus. tice and introduced in both houses of Congress, and he appeared before a house committee strongly urging its adoption. His bill defined sedition by stating that “whoever. with intent to levy war against the United States, or to cause the change, overthrow or destruction, of the Government or of any of the laws or authority thereof, or to cause the overthrow | ;Jc oG (ha he gua or destruction of all forms of law or of organized government, or to oppose, prevent, hinder or delay ex- ecution of any law of the United States or free performapce by the United States Government or any of its agents * * * commits, or at- tempts, or threatens to commit any act of force against any person or property, or any act of hate, ter- rorism, revenge or injury against the person or property ‘of any officer, agent or emplove of the United States Government, shall be guilty of sedition.” The bill also contained provisions against the dissemination of written matter advocating sedition, and made it a crime to be affiliated with or belong to any organization which ad- vocated sedition. * % oW % Grave doubts were raised against the constitutionality of Mr. Palmer's bill and the point was made that if enacted it would not deter an an- archist. One critic who appeared against it before the committee sug- gested that it was somewhat similar to anti-sedition laws in royalist Rus- sia, except that the proposed Palmer bill did not exempt, as the Russian measure did, persoris under the in- fluence of liquor or those who were feeble-minded. At the same time a reaction set In against the wholesale deportation and arrests of alien radicals, it being charged that the Department of Jus- tice had adopted the theory, “What's the Constitution between friends?” in protecting the citizens against a real or imaginary menace. An in- stance of this reaction was afforded when n committee of prominent law- yers, headed by Roscoe Pound, dean of the Harvard Law School, drew up a set of indictments against the De- partment of Justice, charging it with having flouted the protection guar- anteed under the Constitution. A Senate investigation followed, which got nowhere. * ok ¥ The States, however, were as much excited as Congress. While none of the 70 anti-sedition bills proposed for Congress was passed, California, In diana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wash- ington and West Virginia adopted measures of their own, and Attorney General Palmer stressed the fact that radicals or anarchists were better reached by these State provisions than by any Federal action that could be taken. The same situation exists to- Some of the State Jaws define an- archy and make its advocacy a felony. Others define criminal syndicalism and others make it & felony to incite to violent overthrow of the Government by writing, speaking, etc., while still others define sedition and make those guilty of the practice of sedition guilty of a felony. One of the interesting conclusions reached by the legislators regarding sedition is indicated in a preamble to the anti-sedition law of Indiana. After reciting the value of free speech in a republic, the Indiana measure de- cided, however, “Whereas, recent oc- currences in Russia and elsewhere warn us that the toleration of such unbridled license of speech and of such practices involves great danger to elvilization and organized society and threatens a possible lapse to barba- rianism” it decided to adopt an anti- sedition bill. * K K ¥ During the last term of the United States Supreme Court three cases were decided involving the anti- tion laws of Kansas and California. Where the cases involved the consti- tutionality of a State’s right to ex- ercise its police power to infringe the right of free speech, assembly or of association, the right of the States in the matter was upheld. In the Califor- nia case the court mentioned, for in- stance, “That the freedom of speech which is secured by the Constitution does not confer an absolute right to speak without responsibility, whatever one may choose, or am unrestricted and unbridled license giving immunity for every possible use of language and preventing the punishment of those who abuse this freedom; and that a State in the exercise of its police power may punish those who abuse this freedom by utterances inimicable to the public welfare, tending to in- cite to crime, disturb the public peace, or endanger the foundations of or- ganized government and threaten its overthrow by unlawful means, is not open to question.” But it was made very clear that while a_State may exercise its police power by limiting the freedom of specch in the face of a danger, which calls for protective measures, and that the Legislature may decide that a danger exists, the enactment of the Jegislation alone is not conclusive proof that the danger does exist. If the Jegislation is valid only in case certain conditions exist, the passage of a bill cannot alone establish the facts sential to its validity. In other wo granting that the State may exercise its police power in the face of threat- ened danger, it always remains open to the defendant to present the issue of whether there did exist at the time a clear danger, and “whether the evil apprehended was one so substantial as to justify the stringent restriction imposed by the Legislature.” If a man is arresteq under a State law for stand- ing on a soap box and saying “Let us overthrow the Government by force,” his final convietion must rest upon the ability of the State to prove that an actual danger of his overthrowing the Government justified his arrest. * *x x X In concurring with the opinion of the court in the California case, Jus- tice Brandeis’ outlined tlie issues in- volved in a manner which justifies the lengthy quotation which follows: “The court has not yet fixed the standard by which to determine when a danger shall be deemed clear; how remote the danger may be and vyet be deemed to be present; and what de- gree of evil s 11 be deemed suffi clently substantial to justify resort to abridgment of free speech and as: bly as a means of protection. To sound conclusions on these matte) must bear in mind why a State is, or- J @inarily, denied the power to prohibit {and t dissemination of social, economic and political doctrine which a vast major- ity of its citizens believe to be false and fraught with evil consequence. “Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties,and that in its Govern- ment the deliberative forces should prevail over the arbitrary. They valued liberty, both as to @n end and as a means, They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. They believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think, are means in- dispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them disc sion affords ordinarily adequate pro- tection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty, and that this should be a fun- damental principle of American Gov- ernment. They recognized the risks to which all human institutions are sub- ject. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through punish- ment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds re- pression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the op- portunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies, ones. Believing in applied through counsels is_good the power of reason a public discussion, they eschewed si- lence, coerced by Ia argument. of force in its worst form. Recogn ing the occasional tyrannies of gov- erning majorities, they amended the Constitution so that free speech and nteed. * k% kX “Fear of serious injury cannc Justify suppression of free speech and mssembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to fres men from the bondage of irrational fears. To justify suppres- sion of free speech there must be reasonable ground to fear that serious evil will result if free speech is prac- ticed. There must he reasonable ground to believe that the danger ap- prehended is imminent. There must be reasonable ground to believe that the evil to be prevented is a serious one. Every denunciation of existing law tends in some measure to increa: the probability that there will be lation of it. Condonation of a breach enhances the probabilitv. Expressions of approval add to the —probability. Propagation of the criminal state of mind by teaching syndicallsm in- creases it. Advocacy of law-breaking heightens it still further. But even advocacy of violation, however repre- hensible morally, is not a justification for denying free speech where the lone U. S. Friend May Head Argentine (Continued from Third Page.) President Roque Saenz Pena (also once Argentine Minister to Washington), the last President to be put in office by the Nationalist or Conservative group. President Saenz Pena sup- ported and approved, as a matter of justice and sound national polity, the law providing for compuisory and secret voting—the so-called “Law of the Dark Closet,” referring to the closed voting booth—and by this act sealed the doom of his own party. The gecret ballot eliminated all direct and indirect control of the elections, and the employes in the cities and the workers on the farms thenceforth voted as they willed and not as the “master” wanted them to vote. The great political result of the new law was the triumph of the Radical party in the election of 1916, Dr. Hipolito Irigoyen, who had succeeded his uncle, Dr. Alem, as.leader of the party, was in that year raised to the presi- dency of Argentina. * K X K The Irigoyen era in Argentina was in many ways an amaziug interlude in the smooth tenor of Argentine polit- ical history, and its six years included, too, the period of the Great War, and Argentina’s refusal to enter it on the side of the United States. Although both houses of the Argentine Con- gress voted to declare war against Germany, President Irigoyen declined to accede, the declaration of war, under the Argentine constitution, being discretionary and not mandatory on the President, even when Congress has expressed its choice in the matter. For the full period of the participa- tion of the Western Hemisphere in the war Argentina held aloof and en- joyed a most profitable neutrality. In those years President Irigoyen was never seen in public, never went the round of official functions which has always been recognized as a part of the office, and lived the life of a recluse, as he had done before and as he has continued to do since he left offica During the past five years, indeed, the entire public of Buenos Aires, ex- cluding his close associates, have referred to the modest flat where Dr, Irigoyen lives as “the cave,” and the nickname of the ex-president has al- ways been “‘the armadillo,” by way of commenting on his secretive habits. Lively and what in this country would be thoroughly libelous reviews have been running in Buenos Aires from time to time depicting Dr. Irizoyen in varlous unfavorible situations, and especlally as plotting the overihrow of President Alvear. The fact remains, however, that the Irigoyen group has controlled enough votes in Congress to prevent legislation, either by direct vote or by absenting its bloc so that it was impossible to obtain a quorum. Almost continuously they have held a majority of the Radical votes in Congress, the government support having been a coalition of the anti- Irigoyen Radicals, the Conservatives, the Democrats (a small party) and the Soclalists. The whole machinery of government has lagged, and but for the constitutional provision that if a new budget is not passed the old budget shall be followed for another vear, the functioning of government would many times, in the past five years, have been virtually suspended *ip ‘This opposition of the Irigoyenistas, directed by their leader from the quiet “cave,” had its origin in the circum- stances surrounding the election of President Alvear. Of the aristocracy, a typical and worthy president of the great country which he rules, Dr. Alvear had served during and afterward as Argentine Minister in Paris, the appoi Irigoyen. As noted earlier, an Argen- tine president may not succeed him- self, but may ‘return to power after another has served out a full electoral | term. Dr. Alvear was presented as the Irigoyen candidate for president, clected, without returning to Argen- tina from Paris, and nded from his Euro- pean post. sumed that he had accepted the task of holding the presidential scat warm until Presi- dent Irigoyen would again be eligible. President Alvear astonished the country, and doubtless Dr. Irigoyen as well, by proceeding to be & thoroughly independent executive, ke eliminated the fitting remedy for evil | the war | tee of President |y inaugurated | SUNDAY advocacy falls short of incitement and there is nothing to indicate that the advocacy would be immediately acted on, The wide difference between ad- vocacy and incitement, between prep- aration and attempt, between assem- bling and_conspiracy, must be borne ; in mind. In order to support a find-; ing of clear and present danger it| must be shown either that imminent | serious violence was to be expected or was advocated, or that the past conduct furnishes reason to believe that such- advocacy was then con- templated. hose who won our independence hy revolution, were not cowards. They i@ not fear political change. They Qid not exalt order at the cost of liber- ty. To courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free 1nd fearless reasoning, applied through the process of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can he deemed clear and present unless the incident of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall be. fore there is opportunity for full dis- cussfon. If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the pro- cesses of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced ilence. Only an emergency can justi- fy repression. Such must be the rule if authority is to be reconciled with freedom. Such, in my opinion, is the command of the Constitution. It -is therefore always open to Americans to challenge a law abridging free speech and assembly by showing that there was no emergency justifying it | * % k¥ reover, even imminent danger | cannot justify resort to the prohibition | of the functions essential to effective | democracy, unless the evil apprehend- | ed is relatively serious. Prohibition of | ree speech is a measure S0 ingent that it would be inappropriate as the means for averting the relatively triv- | jal harm to society. A police measure | may be unconstitutional merely be- cause the remedy, although effective fon, is unduly Thus, a state e of its police power, make any ass upon_the land of another a crime, regardles of the results or the intent or the pur- pose of the trespasser. It might also punish an attempt, a conspirac: or an incitement to commit a tres But it is hardly conceivable that thi court would hold constitutional a stat- | ute which punished as a felony the mere voluntary assembly, with a so- ciety formed to, teach that pedestrians had the moral right to cross unen- slosed, unposted waste lands and to ad- vocate their doing so, even if there was imminent danger that advocacy would lead to a trespass. The fact that speech is likely to result in some vio- lence or in destruction of property is not enough to justify its suppression. There must be the probability of serl- ous injury to the state. Among free men the deterrents ordinarily to be applied to prevent crime are sducation and punishment for violations of the law, not abridgement of the rights of free speech and assembly."” might, in the the Irigoyen control in every portion of the government excepting Congress, where it remained and has remained, unshattered. The projects planned by President Alvear have virtually all been defeated, and his notable program of reform in land holdings and taxation has been held in complete abeyance by the grim, silent opposition of the Irigoyen party. - | This wing of the Radical party is today known as the ‘“personalista’ party, and that headed by Dr. Melo as the “anti-personalistas.”” The battle is now on in earnest, and even the fear that there may be strong political opposition outside the party and that the Radical control of Argentine poli- ties, so long thought secure, may be threatened has not yet been able to bring about a compromise. The fight within the party organization is given additional importance from the fact that the ideal for which Dr. Alem fought so long and for which his name is immortal—compulsory and secret voting—is now only half true. The compulsory feature has proven | ineffective, even though it is linked up with the military registration, and it is estimated that only abgut §5 per cent of the voters actually come to the polls. The situation is no worse | than in the United States, but is con- sidered more serious in Argentina just now because it so greatly enhances the power of the party counsels, as contrasted to the control of the elec- torate itself. . o Whether the turn of the wheel will bring Dr. Pueyrredon into -the presi- dential limelight now no one can tell. President Alvear has not indicated that he will support Dr. Melo, and perhaps he will not give his officlal support to any one. Dr. Pueyrredon is distinctly a neutral, a neutral to the extent of declining to talk Argentine politics with any one, even in Wash. ington, but his position is unassailable, and as a compromise candidate with the support of both factions he would be able to do tremendous things for his country as well as for his party. His election would bring into that high office, at a time when under- standing and sympathy between the United States and Argentina would be of immense importance to both, a man who understands this country very well indeed. not only from a political standpoint, but from the practical viewpoipt of knowing its people. Lord Bryce and Wu Ting-Fang are the classic examples of foreign diplomats who found their way far into the understanding and affection of the American people, the former for his great studies of our Government, the latter for his insatiable interest. Dr. Pueyrredon combines, with great dig- nity, both these attribites. He has carried through many important diplo- matic services for his country in which he has dealt intimately with all branches of our Government, and he has known and talked with all classes and types of Americans. This Summer he made an automobile trip of 10,000 miles with his family and suite, traveling in big motor cars of American make. He saw the Amer- ican people off parade, and ate and talked with them, from the movie colony at Iollywood—where he was astute enough to avoid the “news" photographers—to the ‘“hot-dog" stands on the automohile highways, He was delighted, impressed and {lluminated by his journey, as he has n by his long and notable diplo- ic sei e here,’and his return to Argentina to the presidency would be an augury of unquestioned far-flung value to our friendly r A Cozy Little Place to Enjoy a Wholesome Home-Cooked Meal Sunday Dinner Fried Sprl) N J Rout Capon Thotes of bt Duek. 4 Served 75 c 1 to 7:30 P.M, » 5t to Martha Washington Candy Store 3 A T O T O 2 4 it D. ©, AUGUST 28, 1927—PART 2’ Inquire About Our Deferred Payment Pla STAR, WASHINGTO WD, Moses & Sons Main 3770 Established 1861 Thirty- Third F Street & Eleventh September Furniture Sale To the one in need of Furniture this Sale affords an opportunity to secure the best in Furniture at prices far below the usual prices in effect during the September Sale. FURNITURE Bedroom Suite, as illustrated. In choice of Mahogany or Walnut Combina- — tion Woods. Large Dresser, Dressing Table, Chest of Drawers, Twin Beds | . S Four Pieces, Priced, $229.00 | worSted w"lton Rugs Grade No. I—Worsted Sale Price $119.75 $110.50 $78.00 $4325 $20.00 $12.80 The Night Stand........$23.00 = The Chair.......... The Bench...............$12.00 Any piece of this Bedroom Group can be purchased separately. Size Regularly 9x12 ...... $150.00 8.3x10.6 ... $138.00 6x9 .... $97.50 4.6x76 .... $54.00 36x63 ..... $25.00 27x54 ..... $16.00 Grade No. 3—Wool Sale Price $82.50 $76.50 $51.75 $29.00 $13.50 $8.75 Regularly $110.00 $102.00 $69.00 $38.50 $18.00 $11.50 Size 8.3x10.6 6x9%..... 4.6x76 ... 27x54 . Living Room Suite of Two Pieces, consisting of Davenport and Armchair, in finest construction. All Mohair upholstery, including outside backs and arms. Color, rose-taupe, with one side of the loose, reversible spring cushions covered in figured tapestry. Legs are Queen Anne design instead of turned as shown.- Two Pieces, Priced, $3 OO. 00 Grade No. 1 Size Sale Price 8.3x10.6 . $46.25 . $27.00 ... $1625 Size 36x72 inches. Regular 46576 fect. 6x9 feet. 8x10 feet. 9x12 feet. 9x15 feet. 12x15 feet. Size Regular Regular Regular Regular Size Size Size Size Regular Size Regular This Dining Room Suite of Ten Pieces, comprising sixty-six-inch Buffet, Semi-enclosed China Cabinet, Serving Table, eight-foot Extension Table, five Side and one Armchair, with slip seats upholstered in blue haircloth. The woods are Mahogany and Gumwood, in rich brown finish. Exposed, surfaces in selected matched veneers. TeniPieca s, Priced, $ 3 6 0.00 patterns. Regular $3.40 Yard Qualit “Virginia Sofa,” red Mahogany frame, upholstered in the popular denim coverings. Priced $ 1 45 '00 ‘I;.Coxyvell Chairs,” Mahogany-finish frames, upholstered tapestry and velour b Priced at $41 .00 “Coxwell Chairs,” Mahogany frames, upholstered in wool tapestries and mohair combinations, all down-filled cushions. Priced at $99. 00 _——-,'.———-———-———-]nqfi“ About Qur Deferred Payment Plan' 3 Days of the August Rug Sale - Wool Wilton Rugs Seamless Axminster 'Rugs * Size Weartex Japanese Rush Rugs In a Full Variety of Colors Size 27x54 inches. Regular price, $3.50. price, price, price, price, price, price, price, Carpets 27 Inches Wide Velvet Carpets, small figured patterns and plain colors, suitable for Rooms, Halls and Stairs, in a variety of choice - Regular $3.50 Yard Quality; Sale Price, $2.50 Yard Regular $4.50 Yard Quality; Regular $5.00 Yard Quality; Sale Price, $3.65 Yard Seamless Broadloom Wilton Carpets Plain Colors Only Formerly $7.25 Sq. Yd.; Sale Price, $5.95 Sq. Yd. A 9x12 Rug of This Heavy Carpet Completely Finished Would Cost $73.90 Grade No. 2—Worsted “This wonderful quality has been dis- continued, and so every rug has been priced to insure its quick sale. Size Regularly Sale Price 9x12 ...... $130.00 83x10.6 ... $120.00 $83.50 (7,1 R 4.6x7.6 .... $46.50 Grade No. 4—Wool Sale Price $70.50 $66.00 $45.00 $19.50 $11.75 $7.00 Regularly $94.00 $88.00 $60.00 $26.50 §15.75 $10.50 Size 8.3x106 ... @Y 4.6x76 .... 2x54 ..... Grade No. 2 w~da—_. SalePrice 83x10.6 ......ieeunses $3375 4.6x7.6 ceeeeee. $13.00 36x63 . $5.00 Sale price.... $2.65 Sale price.... $3.75 Sale price.... $7.25 Sale price....$11.25 Sale price. ...$17.00 Sale price....$22.50 Sale price. ...$28.00 Sale price....$37.50 $5.00. $9.50. $15.00. $22.50. $30.00. $37.50. $50.00. Sale Price, $2.45 Yard Sale Price, $3.25 Yard