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Show ATTACKS IDE Off SiTi-SEDITl BILL Sam Gompers Leads Assault for American Federation of Labor; Others Protest WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 Opponents of anti-sedition measures, led by Samuel Sam-uel Gompers, president of tho American Ameri-can Federation of Labor, yesterday urged the house rules committee to block the passage of the measures because be-cause of their drastic provisions and because sufficient laws now exist to prosecute dangerous radicals and communists. com-munists. Attorney General Palmer, who previously pre-viously had announced his support of both the Sterling bill, which passed the senate, and tho Graham measure, which has been held up in the house because of the drastic death penalty provision, failed to appear in defense of the measures. The attorney general, gen-eral, however, sent a letter to Chairman Chair-man Campbell of the rules committee stating he was "Impelled to say that neither of the bills accords with my views as to what tho legislation ought to be," and recommended as a substitute substi-tute a bill which he drafted ilaat November No-vember and which was introduced ev-eral ev-eral weeks ago by Rep. Davey, Democrat, Demo-crat, of Ohio. The Davey bill provides fines not exceeding ten thousand dollars dol-lars and imprisonment for not more than 20 years for persons convicted of an attempt to overthrow the gov-I gov-I ernment, or of acts of violence against tho government The measure also would prohibit writings or teachings which constitute sedition. The department of justice is ready, Mr. Palmer informed the committee, to enforce whatever legislation congress con-gress should see fit to pass. Mr. Gompers, appearlngs as the spokesman for tbe American Federation Federa-tion of Labor, denounced the pending bills in unqualified terms. Mass meetings meet-ings with the orderly purpose to strike to Improve living conditions, would be suppressed under tho bills, asserted i Mr. Gompers, adding that strikes and cessations' ot labor are nothing mpre or less than expirations of working people to improve their conditions. "I do not believe thi6 species of legislation leg-islation will stifle the things It is supposed sup-posed to do," Gompers asserted, "but rather it will provoke the opposite. It will tie men to thoir jobs." B. W. Evans, president of the Yearly Year-ly Meoting society of Friends of Philadelphia, Phila-delphia, said it was Impossible to separate sep-arate freedom of speech and the freedom free-dom of religion. He advocated an appeal ap-peal to the public spirited people of this country In an effort to put down those who would overthrow the government gov-ernment rather than utilization of, drastic laws. |