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Show FEDERAL II 10 " PROTECT 0101 Disrespectful Conduct 0x1 Part of Discharged Soldiers Sol-diers to Be Punished. Action Taken by Military Authorities Following Complaints. 1 Xiimeron- curnph i rtl to the military aiitlioritie-, ;L! I'oi r Douglas and lo I In I I'nited SI ales ili-.tiirl attonicv fur I'tali j otsiepcrt and contempt fur tin' nil! form of t lie I'nited Stale-, army an. I n;f y 1,.. liM'ir cnird.n-t on ihe streets of Suit Lake brought nation yc.-t crday whirh culled in :ui mm m-r-iiji-ii I tli:it all sii'di offenders :iiv lo bo promptly arrested ;i nl pro?- r-i-ti u rider the pro. iinns of the federal law cot i 11 Midi offenses. The oflYur is covered by the amendment amend-ment to t''-liiMi of tin- espionage net, liirh contai ns .ha.-! ic pro li i I i t i iiiin against, f lie showing of disrespect in am manner lo rhc uniform of the I'nited Slalom, an.l uhieh provides, as a penaltv for such offenses, a maximum term of twenty years in federal prison or payment of a maximum fine of $10,-iion, $10,-iion, i,r doth such fine, ami i nipri sun- llll'llt, Wofusal of a discharged soldier in inii-form inii-form lo dilute the uniform si ml insignia of an officer, or any net or word on his pari lending to show disrespect for th 11 n i form of the arm v or navy, or to brills the uniform into ridicule, con- ; tempt, or disrepiile. or whiidi tends to incite insubordination in the military, oj' navii1 forces, constitutes a violation 1 uf this section of the espionage act, it is held In- the military ami department ill' just ice ant hori t ies. , i Offenses Are Frequent. 1 .Such offenses, it is u iiderst uod by ilir local authorities have been committed commit-ted eontinually in Salt Lake since the demobilizing of the army commenced, and it is announced by the officials that , vigorous prosecn t i 011 of :ill ol tOiulera : will lie inslttuted at oner. Complaints that, discharged suldiera . on the streets of Salt Lake have been in the habit recent ly of refusing to ; salute officers of the army and navy have, on some occasions, saluted in a. 11 insulting manner, have laughed and pigled at officers whom they passodup Without snln t-iiiLf, and have made slurring remarks about the army, the officer ami the uniform, have been made to the department of justice officials by officers offi-cers and hv civilians who have 'wit nessed these actions on the part ot the discharged men. The situation became such yesterday that military authorities from Kurt Douglas held a. conference with the 1 'nited States district attorney in relation re-lation to the matter. The department of justice gave assurance that every offender would be prosecuted to the . extent of the law. j Will Order Arrest. ' ' As a result, in the future when any j disrespect to the uni form is shown by I a discharged soldier, the officer or per- I son to whose 1111 i form the disrespect is, shown, will dimply turn the offender over to the police, and a complaint will be lodged with the I'nited States district dis-trict altornev against the offender, lie will then be'tried in the federal court for violation of the section of the espionage es-pionage law covering the offense. ! Tli a t 1 tort ion of section i! of the ! espionage act, as amended, and which is held to apply to the offenses com-; plained of, reads as follows: 'Whoever, when the United States-i- at war, shall willfully cause or attempt at-tempt to cause, or incite, or attempt to incite, insubordination or refusal of dutv in the military or naval forces of 1 he' United States,'"' and, whoever, when the United States is at war. shall willfully utter, print or write any dis-lo dis-lo val. profane, scurrilous or abusive language about the uniform of the army or Tiavv of the United States, or any language intended to bring the uniform of the army or navy of the I nited States into contempt, scorn, contumely or disri pute, shall be punished by a fine of not more than 10.000, or imprisonment im-prisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. Through Federal Courts. llecause of the fact that the discharged dis-charged soldiers are out of the service ami are not amenable to military law. it is necessary to handle them through the medium of the federal courts, it is explained bv the officials. Men in the service can be arrested by an officer ami handled in the military courts tor disrespectful conduct toward the uniform, uni-form, but in the case of discharged soldiers sol-diers there was no act which covered them until the situation which the authorities au-thorities find here was covered bv the amendment to section :'. of the espionage espion-age act. This act, however, applies to cveivone, citizens and aliens alike, and unv person who commits an offense against any of the provisions of the act is sub iect to a n est and prosecution in the federal court, it is explained. It is pointed out by armv officers that men who wear the uniform of the armv should naturally be expected to have respect enough for that uniform and their country to show due courtesy and respect 1 0,1 lie uniform of an officer, offi-cer, but tho-se who do not will be handled han-dled according to the law. |