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Show PIC IF 1ST "'""Resents Criticism and Claims the Right of Free Speech on All Questions Regarding the Declaration of War and Measures Taken for Its Prosecution. QUOTES SPEECHES MADE LONG AGO Senator Kellogg of Minnesota Min-nesota Accuses Wisconsin Wis-consin Man of Misstat-1 Misstat-1 ing Facts at St. Paul; Subcommittee Is Appointed Ap-pointed to Conduct I Inquiry. WASHINGTON, Oct. 6. Headed by Senator Pomerene of Ohio, the following members of the senate ' privileges and election committee Cwere appointed today as the subcommittee sub-committee to investigate Senator LaFoliette's St. Paul speech: Senators Walsh of Montana and James of Kentucky, Democrats, and Dillingham of Vermont and Pall of New Mexico, Republicans. -f The subcommittee will hold its first meeting Monday. WASHINGTON, Oct. 6. Congress entered the last sessions of the congress with all attention turned to the senate, where Senator La Follette took the -,, floor at 10 o'clock to make a three-hour speech in answer to the critics who have petitioned for his expulsion because of his course and public utterances toward tho war. Members , of the houso, which only "was marking time, waiting for the sen- Bte, flocked to the senate chamber, " where galleries and floor were jammed in expectation of a spectacular finale to tho session which has appropriated hitherto hith-erto unheard-of billions for America's participation in tho world war and has passed a scoro of measures in an incredibly incred-ibly short time. La Follette, always a specta-cular fig-uro fig-uro in dobatc, and acknowledged as no lucun opponent by his enemies, had spent yesterday and most of the night preparing his speech. , Standing at his scat in the front row beforo the vice president's desk, La ( Kolletto began his address, reading care- fully and deliberately his manuscript, , with senators giving close attention. ti Defends His Course. l Defending his course in opposing the declaration ot' war and subsequent nt-tacks nt-tacks on wiir policies. La Follette de-'"H de-'"H iu red: 'lt is the citizen's duty to obey the law until it is repealed or declared un-constitutiomil. un-constitutiomil. Hut he has the inalienable inalien-able right to fight what he deems an obnoxious law or a wrongful policy in the courts and at the ballot box. i- "U is the suppressed emotion of the masses that breeds revolution. It" the American people aro to carry on this great war; if public opinion is to be enlightened and intelligent, there must bo free discussion. Congress as well as tho people of the I'r.ited States entered the war in great confusion of mind and A under feverish excitement. The president's presi-dent's leadership wns followed unquestionably unques-tionably in the faith that he had some big, unrevealed plan by which peace that, would exalt him before all the world would soon be achieved. ''Gradually, reluctantly, congress and the country are beginning to perceive that we are iu this terrible world con- flirt not only to right our wrongs, not only to aid the allies, not only to share its awful death toll and its fearful tax burdens, but perhaps to bear the bruut of the war. People Must Unite. "And so .1 say if we are to forestall ' ; the danger of being drawn into years ot war perhaps finally to attain' im-lerialism im-lerialism and exploitation, the people must unite in a campaign along constitutional consti-tutional lines for free discussion of the policy of the war and its conclusion on " a just b:isis. " VVhilo it was true that the war must ft?M' gone through with, he said it was f not true "that, we must go through to thp end to accomplish an undisclosed purpose to reach an unknown goal." ''very preparation for prosecuting the war must be made, the Wisconsin senator declared, but he claimed the (Continued on Page Elgt.t.) LA FDLLETTf MAKES TIM SPEECH Resents Criticism of Course as Pacifist and Seeks to Justify Himself. (Continued from Pago One.) right to diwuss honost dif t'orcnces of opinion. ".Shall wo ask tho peoplo to (stmt their r-yrs anrl take tho iintiro war pro-p'rammo pro-p'rammo on faith?" he askcil. Tho way to paralyze tho German arm is to declare de-clare our oljrts in thin war ati.l show 1 hat wo are not socking to dictato a form of government to Germany or to render Kngland 'h domination of the seas moro secure. When tho objects of this -war aro clearly stated and the people peo-ple appruve thny will fiivo popular support sup-port it will never otherwise recoivo.' llccomes Vehement. As he proceeded Senator La Follette gradually drew toward his customary ire of delivery, gesticulating with clenched fist .is ho referred to free speech anil raising his voice at times with omotionul oinphast-s. "Ifonest dealings with our allies olso requires a clear statement of our objects," ob-jects," he declared. "If wo do not expect ex-pect to support them in tho dreams of conquest, that fact should be stated and our people are entitled to know (hat vitally important fact before tins wnr proceeds further. Common honesty hon-esty and fair dealing requires the fullest ful-lest and freest discussion before the people of every issuo involved and that a plain and specific declaration of our purposes bo spoedily made by tho con-gross. con-gross. " Tho senator quoted at length from Mexican war speeches of Lincoln, Clay, Webster and Sumner in support of his defense of tho right of a member of congress to assail tho policy of tho gov-ernment gov-ernment and dwelt at length upon tho constitutional duty of cougross rather than the president to proclaim tho nation's na-tion's purposes in taking up arms. Ho made no reference to the inquiry ordered or-dered yesterday by the senate into his speech beforo tho Non-partisan league at. St. Paul, and dealt with criticisms of himself only generally. Resents Criticism. "Six members of the senate,, .and, as I recall, about fifty members of the house voted against the declaration of war," ho said. Immediately thero was lot loose upon those senators and representatives rep-resentatives a Hood of invective and abuse from newspapers and individuals who had heeu clamoring for war, unequalled, un-equalled, I believe, in tho history of civilized society. "Prior to the declaration of war, every man who had ventured to oppose our 'entrance into it had been condemned con-demned as a coward or worse, and oven the president had by no means been immune im-mune from these attacks. Since the declaration of war tho triumphant war party has pursued those senators and representatives who voted against war with malicious falsehood and reckloss-y reckloss-y libelous attacks, going to the . ex treme limit of charging them with tn'non against their country. "It is not clnimed that, tho senators who opposed tb-s declaration of war have fciure than time acted with any concerted purpose, either regarding war measures or any others. They have voted according to their individual opinions, have often been opposed to each other on bills and, according to my recollection have never all voted together to-gether since that time on any single proposition upon which tho senate had been divided." Question of Free Speech. Senator La Felletto declared that if he alone had been made the victim of these attacks he would not take the senate's valuable timo for their consideration. consid-eration. "Hut, sir, " ho continued, "it is not alone the members of congress that the war party in this country has sought to intimidate. The mandate has gone forth to the sovereign people of this country that they must be silent while those things are being done by their government which most vitally concern their well being, their happiness ami their lives. Today and for weeks past honest and law-abiding citizens of this country are being terrorized and outraged out-raged in their rights by those sworn to uphold the laws and protect tho rights of tho people. J have in my possession numerous affidavits establishing the fact that people aro unlawfully arrested, arrest-ed, thrown into jail, held incommunicado incommuni-cado for ilavs, only to be eventually discharged without ever having been taken into court, becauso they have committed no crime. Private residences are being invaded, loyal citizens of undoubted un-doubted integrity and probity arrested, cross-examined and tho most sacred constitutional con-stitutional rights guaranteed to every American citizen are being continually violated. ' ' ft appears to be the purpose of thoso conducting this campaign to throw tho country into a state of terror, ter-ror, to coerce public opinion, to stifle' criticism. and suppress discussion of tho great issii03 involved in this war.." Quotes British Statesmen. Besides quoting at length from the American BtateBmcn who opposed bitterly bit-terly President Polk's policy in the Mexican war, the Wisconsin senator gave extracts from speeches by Burke, Fox, Lord Chatham and others in the British parliament attacking Great Britain's war upon the American colonies, col-onies, lie said he did it to show that tho principle of free speech was no new doctrine born of the constitution of the United States. In support of his assertion that congress con-gress should speak for the country in declaring the purposes of war, the senator sen-ator cited precedents at great length. "It would be bad enough if the constitution con-stitution clothed the president with any such power," he said, "but to exercise ex-ercise such power without constitutional authority cannot be long tolerated if even the forms of free government are to remain. We know that the people would resist, and if necessary with arms in their hands, any scheme to .clothe the president with power to plunge this country into war and then to continue the war as long as he desired." de-sired." Referendum on War. Senator La Follette said that no conviction con-viction was stronger with the people today thanthat there should be no future fu-ture wars except in case of actual invasion in-vasion unless supported by referendum. "And," he aided, "because .there is no clearness of understanding, no unity of opinion in this country on . the part of the people as to the conditions upon which we are prosecuting this -war, or , vrh.it the specific objects are upon the j attainment or' which the present admm ' i.-itration wouH be willing to conclude j a peace, it tworaes still more impora- ! tivo each day that- congress should as- j sert its constitutional power to define . aud declare the objects of this war which will afi'ord the bais for a con- : ference and for the eptablisuraeut of permanent peace. The president has ! askod tho German people to tmeak. for I I themselves on this great world issue; ! why should not the American people ! voice their convictions through their j chosen repreBentatives in congress ? ' ' j Kniphabizing denial of free speech, i Senator La Follette added: "There has never been a time for more than a century and a half when the right of free speech, and free presa and the right of the peoplo to peaceably peace-ably assemble for public discussion has been no violated among English-speaking people as they are violated throughout through-out the United States. Today in the land we have been wont to call the free United tta-teB, governors, mayors, policemen and even the new-fledged soldier sol-dier in his first khaki are preventing or breaking up peaceable meetings called to discuss the questions growing out of this wax, and judges and court, with some notable exceptions, are failing fail-ing to protect the citizens in. their rights. Fundamental Rights. "In time of war even more than in time of peace, whether citizens happen to agree with the ruling administration or not, these precious fundamental personal per-sonal rights free speech, free press and right of assemblage so explicitly and emphatically guaranteed by the constitution, should be maintained inviolable. in-violable. "But, more than this, if erery preparation prep-aration for war can be made the excuse ex-cuse for destroying free speech and a free press and the right of the people to assemble together for peaceful discussion, dis-cussion, then we may well despair of ever again finding ourselves for a long period in a state of peace. " Constitutional authority of the president presi-dent to fix the war's purposes he questioned ques-tioned by implication. ! "It may be said that the duty of the president to enforce the laws of the country carries with it by implication control over the military forces for that Purpose and that the decision as to when the laws are violated and the manner man-ner in which they should be redressed, rests with the president. The question of enforcing the laws of the United States, however, does not arise in the present discussion. The laws of the United States have no effect outside the territory of the United States. Our arm-- in France or our navy on the high seas may be engaged in worthy enterprises, enter-prises, but they are not enforcing the laws of the United States, and the ; president derives from his constitutional obligation to enforce the laws of the country no power to determine the purposes pur-poses of the present wax, contending it is the duty of congress to define the purposes of1 the war and determine when it shall end," he declared. "The question is, are we to sacrifice millions of our young men the very promise of the land and spend billions and more billions anl pile up the cost of living until we starve not for a peace without victory, but for a peace, so far. as we are yet advised, satisfactory satisfac-tory to the allies? Shall the fearfully overburdened people of this country bear the brunt 01 a prolonged war for any objects not openly stated and do-fined? do-fined? "The answer rests, in my judgment, with the congress, whose duty it is to declare our specitie purposes m tne present war and to state the objects upon the attainment of which we will make peace, " Kellogg Replies. Senator Kellogg accused La Follette of misstating facts in the St. Paul speech and denied that this country went to war to secure Americans the right to travel on ammunition laden ships or to protect loans made by Morgan Mor-gan & Co. to foreign governments. "I am as jealous of the right of free speech as any member of this body' Senator Kellogg said, "but this is a' question of erroneous statement of factarather than of free speech. " "I have no right or wish,M he continued, con-tinued, "to criticize any man who voted against this nation going to war, although al-though I may disagree with him; but we are at war and I believe men of this body, men of influence, should not make statements tending to aid and encourage encour-age the enemy and to cast dishonor and discredit upon this nation. "Imagine the circulation in the German Ger-man empire of those statements reflecting reflect-ing discredit upon our prosecution of the war and sustaining the justice of the cause of the German empire. Could these people be blamed for believing in a cause, however lacking in justice and right, if these are the reasons which lea us into this great conflict and sustain sus-tain us through its trying ordeal? J 7 The country, Senator Kellogg declared, de-clared, owes it to the allies and to history his-tory to place its disapproval before the world of the "slanderous accusation" made by Senator La Follette in his St. Paul speech. He denied the statement attributed to La Follette that President Wilson had been warned by Secretary Bryan before the Lusitania sailed that six million rounds of ammunition, be- sides explosives, wera on boarrl anil that the passengers were sailing in violation vio-lation of the statutes of this country. Deplores St. Paul Speech. Senator Robinson of Arkansas, Democrat, Demo-crat, deplored La Follette 's speech, which, he said, in substance maintained that tho government had not entered war for a just cause and assailed the executive and legislative branches and "even the United States courts for alleged al-leged failure to protect citizens." Senator Eobinson said lie believed if Senator La Follette would produce the affidavits to which he referred as coming com-ing from citizens protesting against imprisonment im-prisonment in alleged denial of free speech, many of them would be found to be from German spies. . In dwelling on propaganda against indemnities in-demnities from Germany, Senator Eobinson Eob-inson said: "The kaiser and the senator from Wisconsin talk about no war for conquest con-quest and no indemnities. That may be free speech; a senator can say it, a fool ran say it, but it isn't patriotic Americanism. ' ' More Time Denied. Apparently concerned over the replies hv Senators Kellogg and Kobinson, Senator La Follette, who had taken copious notes of their remarks, proposed pro-posed to Senator Martin, Democratic leader, that he be given time to reply and asked Vice President Marshall to recognize him, but it was not done. Senator Fall, Uepublican, a member of the senate committee to investigate La Follette 's utterances, sharply denounced de-nounced him. "No more dangerous doctrine could have been preached and no more in-i in-i sidious utterance could have been heard from any source than those by the Senator from Wisconsin, in my judgment," judg-ment," said he. "I refer to his St. Paul speech." |
