GENERAL AMNESTY DEMANDED
General Amnesty Demanded United States Lags Behind OtherCountries in Granting Pardon to Its Political Prisoners —Full Facts Given IN AN ADDRESS delivered at a meeting in Washington April 17,...
...They may be right, they may be wrong...
...We are concerned solely with political prisoners, that is, with the more than 1,000 men and women who are now in prison or under indictment, not for what they have done, but because, primarily, of the expression of their religious, their political, their economic, their social beliefs, including the war...
...May we not expect that at such a time he will come to his own people and say: 'In the new world that is being born, we need the co-operation of all men, or all parties, of all classes, of all opinions and beliefs...
...and the remarks and behavior of the Court in connection with the trial can be characterized as nothing short of a disgrace to American judicial procedure...
...Why go through all the forms of legality in order to read out of existence the undeniable fact that men are imprisIT IS because of America's splendid tradition of religious liberty that it must be disappointing to thoughtful men that the whole problem of the conscientious objector has not been handled with sufficient intelligence and sympathy...
...If there be a country where knowledge cannot be diffused without perils and statute law...
...We have no means of disputing these figures...
...He presented resolutions adopted by the meeting declaring that the further imprisonment of upwards of 1,000 political prisoners in the United States is unworthy of the generosity of our people and contrary to "the democratic idealism which inspires the foreign policy of our country," violative of the traditions of freedom "to which our government is dedicated" and urging the President to grant amnesty to "conscientious objectors and to all other political prisoners, whose religious, political, or economic beliefs" form the basis of their prosecution...
...What has become of the great galaxy of dis-"inguished pro-war liberals who threw them-elves into the prosecution of the war heart and soul in order that they might be of greater aid thereafter to democracy in America...
...What we do declare without fear of contradiction is, that there are at least 1500 po-litical prisoners including both those actually now in confinement and those who are either out on bail, or whose cases are up on appeal, or who are convicted awaiting imprisonment, or who are under indictment awaiting trial...
...We dispute his views, and we challenge his figures...
...G. C. Chesterton, Mr...
...He knows perfecttfy well that when political prisoners are spoken of, conscientious objectors are certainly included...
...At the present moment, we have been informed that at least 16 conscientious objectors are in solitary confinement at Fort Leavenworth for no real reason other than that they are conscientious objectors...
...where the post office is violated...
...Bresides, our tradition of religious liberty is not to be flouted for all too long...
...The time has come to sweep away the cobwebs that have gathered about American traditions of free speech, peaceable assemblage, free press and the right of petition...
...The evidence of unlawful intent was in almost every case based upon the utterance of an unpopular opinion...
...Instead of this direct and simple and straightforward facing of the problem, we have the equivocal attitude of a frightened and decrepit liberalism which creates 'politicals,' then denies their existence, then tolerates their persecution, and seeks one technical excuse after another to have their number diminished without ever becoming conscious of the fact that there is a social, a political, a religious problem involved, and that upon the solution of this problem and problems similar to it depends the very future make-up of our government and of western civilization...
...And when we appeal for amnesty, it is for all alike...
...And the way to do this is through repeal of the Espionage Act and a general amnesty for all political prisoners...
...We call these defendants political prisoners...
...Why have not our preachers and our churches regarded the problem of conscientious objection as their own...
...We hesitate to believe that the Omission of any reference whatever to the fact that there are political prisoners outside of those under the jurisdiction of his own department was a deliberate intent to deceive the public...
...They refused to become part of the military machine...
...Many of our political prisoners, among others the Socialists, the I. W. W. and Eugene V. Debs are unrepert-ant radicals and are now in jail or about to be sent there, not so much because they were dangerous in the war just past, as because they may be dangerous to certain classes and interests in the war that is now on...
...I do so, not so much for the sake of the objectors as for the sake of the nation, now involved in grave wrongdoing, and I ask every one who shares my opinion to remonstrate with his representative in Parliament and with the Government, and to free our nation from the serious guilt of a persecution at once cruel and irreligious.' "How strange now seems the statement of the Attorney General: 'There are no men in prison because of the expression of their views on social, economic, or political questions, including the war...
...Of course our rulers cannot admit that there are political prisoners in this country...
...In January, a petition for the release of political prisoners was presented to the British Government by a large group of men distinguished in political, ecclesiastical and artistic circles, by a large number of clergymen of various denominations, by men 6uch as Viscount Bryce, Viscount - Morley, Mr...
...and there can be no question further, that the tortures which they are undergoing are due to their beliefs and conscientious convictions, and not to their depravity or to the technical offenses with which they are charged...
...Amnesty has been granted before in America...
...H. G. Wells, Mr...
...Arthur Henderson, Professor Gilbert Murray, Mr...
...To keep such men under confinement either for no object or to coerce them into ding what they sincerely think is wrong, is to incur a degree of moral responsibility which it is not easy to describe in language of becoming moderation...
...In Kaiserist Germany, Karl Liebknecht was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for having gone out to the German forces on the Eastern front and distributed handbills among them calling upon them to revolt against their officers...
...Nevertheless, the Attorney General says absolutely and without equivocation that there are no political prisoners in the penitentiaries and jails of this country...
...They are one after the other sentenced to 10, to 20, to 30, to 40 years—sentenced for life—because this one refused to salute, that one to do work in a military prison, the other to put on a uniform, and so forth through the endless round of military regulations necessarily in force at a disciplinary barracks...
...No Question of Sincerity AND so with the other conscientious objectors...
...oners are being punished for presumed violations of the Espionage Act and of the Selective Service Act...
...oned and tortured because of their opinions and beliefs...
...We do not wonder that the Attorney General's office is so eager to have it appear that there are no political prisoners in America...
...But it has been the English-speaking tradition of political freedom at least ever since Milton's Areopagitica in 1644, to let the other side be heard, to demand fair play and free speech and a free interplay of minds, just because you happen to differ...
...From the time of Washington up to the war with Spain, free, and unconditional pardon has always been granted to rebels and all other prisoners of war...
...It is my conviction— although it is hazardous to forecast in these strange and unaccustomed days of a new democracy—that the conscientious objectors will be pardoned with the coming of peace...
...General Amnesty Demanded United States Lags Behind OtherCountries in Granting Pardon to Its Political Prisoners —Full Facts Given IN AN ADDRESS delivered at a meeting in Washington April 17, Rabbi J. L. Magnes of New York made a powerful and convincing plea that amnesty be ganted to all political prisoners in this wintry...
...punished for declining, even perversely, to do what their consciences forbid...
...We contend that these defendants were indicted, convicted or imprisoned primarily upon the basis of their unpopular opinions to which they gave expression in a time of great national excitement...
...But there can be no question that they are imprisoned because of their views, no matter what the technical charge may be against them...
...They have no bed or blankets...
...Therefore, I declare a full and free amnesty to all political prisoners.' "And may we not for the future take Emerson's word to heart...
...In his address Rabbi Magnes said in part: "It is difficult to believe that America should be behind hand in adopting a liberal and generous attitude towards its political heretics...
...We are glad that the Attorney General has made this statement...
...teen years, for this political offense...
...Need I emphasize the fact that in advocating justice to the Socialists, or the I. W. W., or to Debs, or to any one else, we are not necessarily in accord with all their views and policies...
...We cannot afford to be without the aid of the least significant of them...
...It is true that technically and legalistically these political prisWE DO not wonder that the Attorney General's office is so eager to have it appear that there are no political prisoners in America...
...He says: 'I speak only of the imprisonment of those objectors who are, as the Home Secretary frankly says, good and religious men...
...Beside them lie soldier's uniforms which in accordance with the doctrines of their sect, they may not put on...
...There is no question as to the sincerity of the convictions of most of them...
...but you know and I know, that they have refused to obey this military rule because of their conscientious objections to war...
...The fact that a number are actually in prison is of great importance to the prisoners themselves...
...G. B. Shaw, Mr...
...In almost every instance, the defendant was questioned as to his views on political and economic subjects in general...
...The stupendous social conflict, which the Great War emphasized, is now being carried on with increased intensity all over the world...
...With the ending of our present war, the issues have by no means been settled...
...I venture, therefore, to appeal to all who agree with me in thinking that in a Christian state persons admittedly good and religious ought not to be WE ARE glad that the Attorney General has made this statement...
...It is true that on December 6, 1918, the Secretary of War ordered that manacling to the bars of cells cease, but in all other respects political prisoners are this day subject to torture, to brutality, similar to that which I have but merely indicated to you...
...The pity of it is that they can justify such treatment even for the worst and most dangerous of criminals...
...Augustine Birrell, Sir John Simon, the Earl of Crewe, Lord Buckmaster, Mr...
...Ask the War Department and they will probably tell you, just as the office of the Attorney General does, that there are no political prisoners in America, that the conscientious objectors have violated the substance, though most their beliefs and opinions...
...Gregory, addressed a letter to the President on the eve of his retirement, declaring that the persons convicted under the Espionage Act are in no sense 'political prisoners.' The present Attorney General seems to be burdened with much of the heritage of his predecessor...
...In 1815, the insurgents of the Island of Barataria near New Orleans were granted a reprieve because as the writ phrased it, 'They have manifested a sincere repentance and have abandoned the prosecution of the worse cause for the support of the best.' During the Civil War offers of pardon and reinstatement into their regiments were :'requently made to deserters...
...Traditions for Liberty IT is because of America's splendid tradition of religious liberty that it must be disappointing to thoughtful men that the whole problem of the conscientious objector has not been handled with sufficient intelligence and sympathy...
...mail bags opened and letters tampered with...
...When we speak of political prisoners, we speak of all those together who are now inside the jails and penitentiaries, or who are legally threatened with being sent there...
...We do not accuse the Attorney General of a deliberate attempt to deceive the public...
...We charge that there are political prisoners in this country, both in the jails and at liberty under bail pending trial or appeal...
...The Attorney General may answer by contending that his statement was an analysis only of those in prison for violations of the Espionage Act...
...They refused to become part of the military machine...
...They are in their underwerr...
...Although political prisoners might be exiled and tortured, they were always regarded as in a class by themselves—kept by themselves, permitted to get food and clothing from outside, permitted to read, to study, and to write...
...Not, it is said, for the conscientious views and beliefs of these men, but for infractions of military rules and regulations...
...Last week, on April 11, he issued a statement similar to the one prepared under the Gregory regime...
...The young men were sentenced to twenty years, the young woman to fif...
...When men are punished for their convictions why shall it be pretended that they are punished for something else...
...A general amnesty for all political prisoners is the only way out of this quagmire of legalistic quibbling...
...But we challenge him to point out where the statement has been currently made that there are 1500 political prisoners in the jails and penitentiaries of this country...
...As to the figures just issued by the Attorney General, we charge that they convey an impression which is apt to be misleading...
...A special board of the War Department testifies to that...
...In Czarist Russia, the distinction between 'politicals' and 'criminals' is a familiar conception...
...According to our best information and belief, there are now in prison 375 conscientious objectors...
...The young men were sentenced to twenty years, the young woman to fifteen years, for this political offense...
...Moreover, to admit that we have political prisoners would make the barbarous length of their sentences and their bestial tortures in prison entirely out of proportion to their offenses, and it would establish a most unfavorable comparison with Czarist Russia and Kaiserist Germany...
...We contend, however, that in almost every instance it can be shown—and it has been shown —that these political prisoners are being punished primarily and essentially, not for overt acts committed by them, but because of the expression of their beliefs and convictions on religious, political, economic, and social questions, including the war...
...If, he says, the I. W. W. cases in Chicago and California are to be added, the total number would be about 300...
...In England the tradition of religious and political liberty seems to be much more deeply rooted than in the United States...
...Conscientious objectors have violated the substance, though most of them have complied with the specific provisions of the Selective Service Act...
...Bearded Huttrians are sent into the Spanish dungeon at sea level on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay...
...To deny the existence of existing political facts seems to be the altogether too familiar method of our legal and militarist systems in time of war...
...Why not do away with the hypocrisy and red tape of it all, and say frankly that in war time men may not have conscientious objections to war...
...At the beginning of March, the then Attor-rey General of the United States, Mr...
...In Kaiserist Germany Karl Liebknecht was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for having gone out to the German forces on the Eastern front and distributed handbills among them calling upon them to revolt against their officers...
...The Attorney General calls these defendants common criminals...
...We dispute his views, and we challenge his figures...
...In America where, theoretically, we have no political prisoners, our actual political prisoners are herded with murderers, thieves, moral perverts, and unfortunate degenerates of all kinds...
...We charge that these political prisoners are being punished primarily and essentially because of the expression of their religious or their political beliefs in relation to the war...
...For five days they are given but one glass of water and not a morsel of food...
...An acid test of our democracy will after all be the treatment meted out to these political prisoners, whose political, economic and social views as to the coming conflict may be of importance...
...All through the war men of leading in different political parties have expressed themselves in relation to this important question...
...and they have been put into black holes, manacled to the bars of their cells nine hours a day (at least one of them for fifty consecutive days), and given but two slices of bread and a pitcher of water a day, forced to sleep in their underwear on damp and draughty cement floors—in one prison at sea level—until the minds of some have given way, and for others death has come as the sole release...
...Arnold Bennett...
...It is for this that they are thrown into the dungeon, so the legal technicality reads...
...Concern for Political Prisoners THE Attorney General in his statement further says that many of those in prison obstructed the draft in other ways, as for instance, by armed resistance, by stirring up fraudulent claim for exemption from military service, and other methods.' It should be pointed out that we have no concern whatever or in any way with such persons...
...For this they have always been ready, frankly and fearlessly, to accept such punishment as might be meted out to them, if only that punishment might be meted out to them frankly and honestly as the inevitable punishment for their convictions...
...Now the President of the United States is coming back from momentous meeting at which the nations of the world have gathered...
...In Germany all political prisoners were liberated...
...where liberty is attacked in the primary institution of social life...
...Rabbi Magnes said that their records show that two-thirds of the convictions under the Espionage Act "have been of persons accused of statements in private conversation...
...Despite the fact that some of the absolutists among them hold theories of the State and its functions and powers quite subversive of many of our current and conventional notions, their offense is commonly regarded as having been committed against the recent war alone...
...This also is technically, legalistically correct Conscientious objectors have violated the substance, though most of them have complied with the specific provisions of the Selective Service Act...
...For Full Amnesty :WHILE this decision of the Supreme Court stands, we must recognize not only that freedom to criticise is not an assured right, but also that the force, cogency and probable rightness of criticism may be made the criteria of criminality...
...But, in New York a number ofyoung men and ayoungwoman were indicted and convicted for using intemperate language in handbills opposing American intervention in Russia...
...But, in New York City a number of young men and a young woman were indicted and convicted for using intemperate language in handbills opposing American intervention in Russia...
...They are imprisoned because of violations of the Selective Service Act, which comes within the jurisdiction of the Department of War...
...For us, however, there can be no material difference as to whether political prisoners are actually serving their sentence, or are about to serve their sentences, or are in danger of being imprisoned...
...But what is it that cur legal and military sophistry is punishing them for...
...Ask the War Department and they will tell you, just as the office of the Attorney General does, that there are no political prisoners in America, that the conscientious objectors are not serving their terms because of their beliefs and opinions...
...These conscientious objectors may be right, they may be wrong...
...The war under the war, the struggle of classes, the industrial and economic battle is now at the centre of men's minds...
...The Attorney General makes no reference whatsoever to the conscientious objectors...
...This number would probably be found to be exceedingly small, if we judge from the fact that according to the last official report of the Attorney General's office there has not been a single conviction under the Espionage Act—the spying act—of a spy, or an enemy agent...
...and a full pardon was offered in 1863 'to all persons who have directly or by implication participated in the existing rebellion.' In 1868, President Johnson granted a full par-don and amnesty for the offense of treason...
...where speech is not free...
...Moreover, to admit that we have political prisoners would make the barbarous length of their sentences and their bestial tortures in prison entirely out of proportion to their offenses, and it would establish a most unfavorable comparison with Czarist Russia and Kaiserist Germany...
...To deny the existence of existing political facts seems to be the altogether too familiar method of our legal and militarist system in times of war...
...and we must summon to our help those of strong and radical views, however much we may differ from them...
...View of Lord Cecil ONLY a month ago Lord Hugh Cecil, one of the intellectual leaders of England's political conservatives, and an ardent advocate of the righteousness of the war, addressed his brilliant mind once again to the problem presented by the conscientious objectors...
...When our past wars were over and victories won, it was possible to talk of the 'late insurrection or rebellion,' or of repentant persons who had abandoned the worse cause for the best...
...His words are: 'There are no men in prison because of the expression of their views on social, economic, or political questions, including the war.' Statement of Attorney General "FURTHER quoting from the Attorney General: " 'Current statements to the effect that there are 1500 political prisoners in the penitentiaries and jails of this country are the result of either frenzied imagination or deliberate intent to deceive the public.' "He then declares that there are only 179 prisoners confined in jails and penitentiaries for violation of the Espionage Act...
...Another Basic Distinction BUT there is another basic distinction between the amnesties of the past and that for which we ask today...
...He denies that there are political prisoners...
...Shall it be said that the defeated in their anguish have set their political prisoners free, and that some of the victors in this stupendous conflict for liberalism and democracy are unwilling to trust themselves to perform an act of reparation, of generosity, and of common sense...
...This also is technically, legalistically correct...
...We charge that there are political prisoners in this country, both in the jails and at liberty under bail pending trial or appeal...
...where the laborer is not secured in the earnings of his own hands...
...We charge that these political prisoners are being punished primarily and essentially because of the expression of their religious or their political or their economic and social beliefs in relation to the war...
...It is not now a question as to the soundness of their beliefs...
...Rabbi Magnes reviews a number of typical cases in which persons are convicted and sentenced under the Espionage Act and says such persons were convicted "primarily upon the basis of their belief," but that the Attorney General donied this and that technically and legalistically he was correct...
...where suffrage is not free and equal—that country is in all these respects not civil but barbarous, and no advantage of soil, coast or climate can resist these suicidal mischiefs...
...and the remarks and behavior of the Court in connection with the trial can be characterized as nothing short of a disgrace to American judicial procedure...
...that technically these persons have been convicted not for what they said, but for unlawful intent in what they said and for possible consequences cf their wilful statements in obstructing or attempting to obstruct the progress of the war...
...and this is true also of all the other governments of Central Europe...
...239 Actually Confined THE Attorney General is careful to say that there are only 239 now in actual confinement...
...In Italy 6hortly after the signing of the armistice, the King granted a complete amnesty to all political prisoners...
...It is true that the conscientious objectors are not in prison because of any violation of the -Espionage Act...
...They have broken the military rule requiring each man to put on a uniform...
Vol. 11 • May 1919 • No. 5
