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Show NO EXPLANATION GIVEN SOCIALIST CHICAGO, Dec. 23 Details of the unsuccessful fight made by the leaders of the Socialist party to have the American Socialist restored to second class mailing privileges were related today by J. Louis Engdahl, editor of the paper, when he was recalled as a witness in the trial of five Socialist leaders charged with violation of the espionage law. The witness said the paper was barred bar-red from the malls June 30, 1917, after the publication of the "liberty edition," of which 250,000 copies had been printed. print-ed. He told of numerous visits made to Chicago postoffice officials in an effort to ascertain what articles in the paper were objectionable, but he received re-ceived no satisfaction Engdahl said he had'no desire to violate vio-late the law and had tried unsuccessfully unsuccess-fully to have the government repre sentatives make definite rulings on the character of the articles. Engdahl said he then sent a copy of the paper to every member of congress con-gress with a request that they express an opinion as to whether it was a violation vio-lation of the espionage act. A number of replies were received which the witness wit-ness read to the jury. |