United States v. Pierce

• Decision Date: 07 November 1917
• Citation: 245 F. 878
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. PIERCE et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

245 F. 878

UNITED STATES v. PIERCE et al.

United States District Court, N.D. New York.

November 7, 1917

D. B Lucey, U.S. Atty., of Ogdensburgh, N.Y.

Frederick A. Mohr, of Auburn, N.Y., for defendants.

RAY District Judge.

Since April 6, 1917, the United States has been at war with the Imperial German Government, on which day the Congress of the United States by joint resolution duly approved stated:

'That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial German Government which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared,' etc.

May 18 1917, Congress enacted what is commonly and popularly known as the Selective Draft Act (Act May 18, 1917, c. 15) approved that day. This act provides for the increase of the regular army, the enlistment of men in the military service of the United States, and the drafting of men for the purpose. This was done to enable the United States to prosecute the war thus thrust upon us to a successful determination. June 15, 1917, Congress enacted what is commonly known as the Espionage Act (Act June 15, 1917, c. 30), approved that day, and which is entitled 'An act to punish acts of interference with the foreign relations, the neutrality and the foreign commerce of the United States, to punish espionage and better to enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and for other purposes. ' Section 3 of this act reads as follows:

'Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the service or of the United States, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both.'

It is seen at a glance that whoever, when the United States is at war, willfully makes or conveys false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, commits a crime against the United States. It is not necessary that the operation or success of the military or naval forces be actually interfered with, or that the success of its enemies be actually promoted. The making or conveyance of false reports or false statements with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of either the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of the enemies of the United States is all-sufficient.

The defendants have extensively circulated and spread broadcast a printed pamphlet or circular containing, with other things, the following:

'Conscription is upon us; the draft law is a fact.

'Into your homes the recruiting officers are coming. They will take your sons of military age and impress them into the army;

'Stand them up in long rows, break them into squads and platoons, teach them to deploy and wheel;

'Guns will be put into their hands; they will be taught not to think, only to obey without questioning.

'Then they will be shipped through the submarine zone by the hundreds of thousands to the bloody quagmire of Europe.

'Into that seething, heaving swamp of torn flesh and floating entrails they will be plunged, in regiments, divisions and armies, screaming as they go.

'Agonies of torture will rend their flesh from their sinews, will crack their bones and dissolve their lungs; and every pang will be multiplied in its passage to you.

'Black death will be a guest at every American fireside; mothers and fathers and sisters, wives and sweethearts will know the weight of that awful vacancy left by the bullet which finds its mark.

'And still the recruiting officers will come; seizing age after age, mounting up to the elder ones and taking the younger ones as they grow to soldier size;

'And still the toll of death will grow.

'Let them come. Let death and desolation make barren every home. Let the agony of war crack every parent's heart. Let the horrors and the miseries of the world-downfall swamp the happiness of every hearthstone.'

To this is added:

'Then perhaps you will believe what we have been telling you. For war is the price of your stupidity, you who have rejected Socialism.'

Then, after referring to the war and its horrors, we find the following:

'You cannot avoid it; you are being dragged, whipped, lashed, hurled into it; your flesh and brains and entrails must be crushed out of you and poured into that mass of festering decay.'

To this is added:

'It is the price you pay for your stupidity-- you who have rejected Socialism.'

Then, after referring to food prices, we find the following:

'The Attorney General of the United States is so busy sending to prison men who do not stand up when the Star Spangled Banner is played, that he has no time to protect the food supply from gamblers.'

Then later:

'We are beholding the spectacle of whole nations working as one person for the accomplishment of a single end-- namely, killing. * * *

'We have been telling you all for, lo, these many years that the whole nation could be mobilized and every man, woman and child induced to do his bit for the service of humanity; but you laughed at us.

'Now you call every person traitor, slacker, pro-enemy, who will not go crazy on the subject of killing; and you have turned the whole energy of all the nations of the world into the service of their kings for the purpose of killing, killing, killing.

'Why would you not believe us when we told you that it was possible to co-operate for the saving of life?

'Why were you not interested when we begged you to work all together to build, instead of to destroy? To preserve, instead of to murder?

'Why did you ridicule us and call us impractical dreamers when we prophesied a world-state of fellow-workers, each man creating for the benefit of all the world, and the whole world creating for the benefit of each man?

'Those idle taunts, those thoughtless jeers, that refusal to listen, to be fair-minded, you are paying for them now.

'Lo, the price you pay. Lo, the price your children will pay. Lo, the agony, the death, the blood, the unforgettable sorrow-- the price of your stupidity. * * *

'VII. For this war-- as every one who thinks or knows anything will say, whenever truth telling becomes safe and possible again-- this war is to determine the question, whether the chambers of commerce of the allied nations or of the Central Empires have the superior right to exploit undeveloped countries.

'It is to determine whether interest, dividends and profits, shall be paid to investors speaking German or to those speaking English and French.

'Our entry into it was determined by the certainty that if the allies do not win J. P. Morgan's loans to the allies will be repudiated, and those American investors who bit on his promises would be hooked.'

We have here, not only lurid and exaggerated pictures of the horrors of war, possible and impossible, but many false statements calculated to incite opposition to the war and opposition to the government and also calculated to interfere with the morale of our armies, discourage enlistments, registration and willing service in our armies, and encourage desertion. These false statements are also calculated to encourage our enemies and discourage and intimidate our own citizens and soldiers, and thereby promote the success of our enemies. It is not true that the recruiting officers will take our sons of military age and 'impress them into the army.' It is not true that, 'You are being dragged, whipped, lashed, hurled into it' (the army or the war). It is not true that, 'The Attorney General of the United States is so busy sending to prison men who do not stand up when the Star Spangled Banner is played, that he has no time to protect the food supply from gamblers. ' The Attorney General of the United States is not doing anything of the kind. It is not true that, 'We are beholding the spectacle of whole nations working as one person for the accomplishment of a single end-- namely, killing. ' It is not true that, 'Now you call every person traitor, slacker, pro-enemy who will not go crazy on the subject of killing; and you have turned the whole energy of all the nations of the world into the service of their kings for the purpose of killing, killing, killing. ' It is not true that, 'Our entry into it (this war) was determined by the certainty that if the allies do not win J. P. morgan's loans to the allies will be repudiated and those American investors who bit on his promises would be hooked. ' Here is a plain assertion to every intelligent mind that the declaration of war to which reference has been made contains a falsehood, and that such declaration was made because of the fear that the allies might not win, and that in such case J. P. Morgan's loans to the allies would be repudiated, payment refused, and that American investors would lose their loans and suffer loss. In other words, that our entry into this war with Germany was determined upon by Congress to insure, if possible, the success of the allies, to the end that they would fulfill their contracts and pay the loans made them by individuals in the United States. The purposes and motives of our President and of Congress are impugned and grossly misrepresented and falsified. What reports or...