The Story of the American Legion: The Birth of the Legion

by George Seay Wheat

(The caucus requests him to read it all.)

It is sent out to the press and to everyone. Here is a book that has the expressions before the court that all these men made and they stand on that as being proper.

"This letter says: 'The committee who sends you this letter are, for the most part, near relatives or close friends of young men now serving long terms in the disciplinary barracks at Fort Leavenworth because of loyalty of principle. Nearly all of them are your fellow workers and except for those in what we call the religious group,—trade unionists—the public knows little of their unhappy fate, even less than the other political or labor prisoners because they have been sent to prison by military court-martials and some have not even had the hostile publicity of a public trial in court.

"'The war is over; whether these men were right or wrong, they were utterly sincere. Even military prejudice has to concede that, and the sufferings they have unflinchingly borne prove it many times over, but the point for the country to get just now is that right or wrong, they cannot now have any adverse effect upon the military policy of the Government to keep them in prison.' Here is the dangerous thing—'We are trying to educate public opinion, and particularly labor opinion, to the point where it will demand the release of these brave and sincere young men. We say "labor," because we know when labor really demands a thing, it gets done.' There is the dangerous thing, gentlemen, the direct connecting up of the I.W.W., the so-called international socialists and anarchists who were tried, convicted, and later pardoned by our War Department,—the direct connecting up between that element and those like the fellow who was sentenced to prison and who is sending out this letter, and this great and dangerous Bolshevism that is creeping into this country and is, I am afraid, more dangerous than many of us realize. I want to see this caucus go on record—don't be afraid—as strong as you can against this fellow. The officers who served on those courts know what we had to endure. We had to treat them respectfully; we were obliged to do that. Let me tell you a few things, if you don't know them, about what happened in the guardhouse among those men. They would not do a thing; they wouldn't make their own beds. They wouldn't flush the toilets in the guardhouse, and some red-blooded American soldiers had to go and pull the chain for them. I say you can't send out a message to these people too strong in condemnation of this type and of the action of the War Department or whoever is responsible for the solace and the protection that has been thrown around the man who hid under the cloak of an act of Congress that was designed to take care of the conscientious objectors, and there is no conscientious objector under that act except a man whose religious creed forbade him to take part in the war in any way. I thank you." (Applause.)

The Chairman: "Gentlemen, the question has been called. All those in favor of the motion as amended will vote 'aye.'"

The motion was unanimously carried.

The general comment at the time was that Major Foster's address summed up the opinion of the caucus on the War Department's action in regard to the objector, conscientious or otherwise.

The accusation that the Legion was being formed for political purposes has been frequently referred to in this account of the organization and there follows an instance which shows very clearly the attitude of the delegates toward anything that might tend to give to the caucus a political savor. Just after Major Foster's address the chairman held up his hand for silence.

"One moment before the next resolution is read," he said: "I am informed that one of the newspapers of St. Louis has circulated blanks among the delegates asking them to indicate thereon how they intend to vote in the next national election in this country. I would point out to those who are gathered here that this is a very improper suggestion and that the action should be repudiated by the men here filling out none of these blanks."

This statement was greeted both with anger and applause, the former at the paper's action, the latter because of the chair's suggestion, and Mr. Wickersham of New York made a motion that none of the blanks should be filled out and that no delegate should take part in such a poll. It carried unanimously and with acclamation. The blanks were not filled out and the men distributing them were ordered to leave the theater, which they did.