OCR Text |
Show ' FAVOR StiT PENALTY FBI DISLDYAL ACTS Senate Judiciary Committee Supports Drastic Amendment Amend-ment by Senator Poindexter. PRISON AND FINE FOR PRO-GERMANS Action in Agreeing to Measure Meas-ure Taken by Unanimous Unani-mous Vote of the Members. WASHINGTON, April 2. In favorably reporting a bill to impost! drastic penalties penal-ties on disloyal aots, the senate judiciary judi-ciary committee today adopted an amendment amend-ment by Senator Poindexter of Washington, Wash-ington, prescribing imprisonment for twenty years and ?10,000 fine for "whoever "who-ever shall by word or act support or favor fa-vor the cause of the German empire or its allies in the present war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United iStates therein." The committee also approved the same penalties for persons obstructing government govern-ment war bond issues and for wilfully "attempting," as well as actual attempts, to obstruct recruiting or enlistment in the army. Provisions of Act. The Poindexter amendment Would make it unlawful "for any person or persons per-sons in the presence or hearing of others to utter any disloyal, threatening, scurrilous, scur-rilous, contemptuous, slurring, abusive or seditious language about the government of the United States, or the constitution of the United States, or the president of the United States or the tlag of the United States, or the uniform of the army or navy of the United States, or the good and welfare of the United States, or any other language calculated to bring the United States or the United States government, or the president of the United States, or the constitution of The United States, or the army or navy or soldiers or sailors of the United States, or the flag of the United States, or the good and welfare of the United States into contempt, scorn, contumely or disrepute; or any language calculated to incite or inflame resistance to any duly constituted federal or state author- ' ity connected with the prosecution of the war; or threaten the good or welfare of the United States or the United States government, or to advise, urge or incite any curtailment of production in this country of any thing or things, product or products necessary or essential to the prosecution of the war in which the United States may be engaged, with intent in-tent by such curtailment to cripple or hinder the United States in the prosecution prosecu-tion of such war." Committee Unanimous. The committee was unanimous in its action. Other amendments written into the bill by the committee, with the same drastic penalties provided, prohibit dis- I loyal or abusive utterances or writings, display of enemy flags or any acts tending tend-ing to curtail production of essential war products, or "to advocate, teach, favor or defend" such acts. Transmission bv mail or otherwise of anv matter published in the language Of any nation with which the United States is at war would be prohibited after July 1, subject to penalties of five years' imprisonment im-prisonment and $."000 fines, under an amendment introduced today by Senator King of Utah to his bill proposing repeal of the federal charter of the national German-American alliance. |