Judge — May 18, 1929 — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

saci ndaci a | Laughter and Applause hy as we may—and we really do—to be polite I toward Congress, certain members of that great deliberative body scem bent on making it hard for us. Recently we commented on the gay jeers and laughter with which they passed the egr Jones law, nd the other day they burst into applause when an eloquent dry told in detail how a policeman had shot a bootlegger in flight. “Struck the driver in the back of the head and killed him”— those were the words that brought down the storm of handclapping. Are bootleggers fair game? We haven't much respect for them even when we patronize them. They ought to be arrested when caught. But they ought not to be potted at by cops. That, however, is not the moral of this tale. Our real anxiety is over the present mental condition of Congress. It looks like paranoia. It may be only jumpy nerves. After all, when some of your best drinking drys are being detected smuggling liquor, and when the folks back home in State after are repudiating the policies to which the Anti-Saloon League has pl 1 you, when the pseudo-enforcers whom you have turned loose are sinking ships and shooting people, perhaps you can’t be blamed for bursting into hysterical laughter or beating your hands together to keep them from trembli Toward Decency SiLpom have intelligent, conservative people re- volted so spontancously as they have against the conviction of Mrs. Mary Ware Dennett. Her pamphlet “The Sex Side of Life” was written ten years ago to give essential tion to her own adolescent sons. Because it » with dignity, her handling of a vexatious topic found favor with her neighbors. Gradually it was taken up and used widely by State boards of health, the Y. M. C. A., hospitals and school boards. And now when Mrs, Dennett is a grandmother, she is haled before the bar and found guilty of sending obscene matter through the mails. The complaint was brought, if you please, by a branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution—an organiza- tion which seems to have a genius of late for getting on the wrong sic The Judge excluded all testimony that would have shown why Mrs. Dennett wrote the inst a court decision g JUDGE pamphlet, how it was distributed and why social workers had found it useful. The jury convicted on the basis of the reading of the text by the federal attorney. The judge imposed a fine of three hundred dollars, which Mrs. Dennett insisted that she would not pay. Contempt ought to bi between the court. the complainant. bout equally distributed jury. the attorney and. the The one encouraging thing’ about the whole mess is the public reaction. The protest was instantaneous and general. It indicates that in spite of the furtiveness of many minds and th ness of many areas, our civ 3 decent, clear-eyed and candid policy nstruction of youth, to arrive about the A Silly Statute F course this stuff about throwing Mr. Mellon out of his job is all horsefeathers. He does own stock in large corporations. There is indeed a musty old statute which says that such a stockholder must never be of the Treasu In spite of politico-official opinions to the contrary, the best un- prejudiced legal authorities agree that the law does apply to Mr. Mellon and that he holds his office in violation of it. It is a silly law. In this day ige how often © you going to find a man skilful enough for the treasury who doesn’t own stocks or bonds? Such law ought to be repealed. But whether or ni pealed, it ought not to be invok the better part of wisdom. If we are really going to start in, at this late date, to enforce all the laws. . . But it seems that this subject has been discussed before. ecretary Younger Generation Notes. No. 46 Cresroe medals — for awarded posthumously, to the following: mes Martin, twelve, of West Virginia, ul F. Kearns, twelve, of Lowa. heroism were recently Norman E. Brown, twelve, of Mlinois. Theodore ( New Jersey. Albert n, of Inc Philip F. + nineteen, of Minnesota. All of these members of the Generation died while attempting to rescue other persons from drowning. R.ILW, comicbooks.com