Capital Comment

Washington.

A drive to enact legislation similar to the Alien and Sedition acts which were passed by the Federalists in Congress in 1798 and later repealed, is under way, according to the number of bills introduced by House members since the Seventy-fourth Congress came into being.

More than a half-dozen bills have been introduced by different members “to make it a crime to advocate or promote the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or violence.” Since the McCormack committee started its investigation on un-American activities and brought to light certain movements in this country which seek to undermine the government, a number of members of Congress have become alarmed. They believe that subversive movements against the government should be halted. The best way to do this, they believe, is to get rid of the sponsors of these movements.

The old Alien and Sedition laws were enacted for the same purpose. There was the Alien Act which authorized the President to banish foreigners deemed to be dangerous. Also, there was the Sedition Act which curtailed the freedom of the press. At the time they were enacted, in 1798, the laws were chiefly aimed at certain political opponents of the administration then in power, and sympathizers with France. The enactment of these laws created a violent reaction and they were afterwards repealed.

Among those who have taken a prominent part in introducing bills aimed at subversive activities are Representative Samuel Dickstein, chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization and author of the resolution which started an investigation of un-American activities; Representative J. Will Taylor of Tennessee, a member of the McCormack committee; Representative Martin Dies of Texas, a member of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, and Representative Thomas L. B’anton of Texas.

For the most part, House members are #waiting the report of the McCormack committee which, it is understood, will make definite recommendations concerning legislation against subversive activities. Of significance, however, is the bill introduced by Representative Taylor, a member of this committee. This bill, which would make it a crime to advocate or promote the overthrow of the government, indicates along what lines the committee has been thinking.

Representative Dies has introduced, among various other bills, a resolution which seeks to create in the Department of Justice a Bureau of Alien Deportation. Among the many bills introduced by Representative Dickstein is one which seeks to establish a new standing committee in the House. This committee would be known as “The Committee on the Preservation of American Democracy.” Representative Dickstein is vice-chairman of the McCormack committee, and in view of this it is likely that the committee’s report may contain something about establishing a standing watch-dog committee in the House to guard American democracy.

The coming Saar plebiscite has aroused the interest of Washington, particularly among members of Congress. This interest was born largely as a result of the fact that several hundred American citizens have left this country to vote there on January 15. The fact that the overseas passage of these voters was financed by the Nazi interests, gives the whole thing a bad taste to many of the Congressmen.

Considerable support for Representative Dickstein’s bill to forfeit the American citizenship of individuals who left this country to vote in the Saar plebiscite is indicated on Capitol Hill. Representative Dickstein says that this country cannot tolerate “dual allegiance.” He charges that the propaganda bureau of Berlin “has reached out its hands” to bring these people back to the Saar to vote and also that “the Nazis brought pressure to bear on relatives of these people in Germany.” He intends to have his committee meet at an early date to consider the bill. The State Department, however, has as yet found no cause to become alarmed over the fact that American citizens will vote in the Saar.

Dr. Isador Lubin, commissioner of labor statistics of the Department of Labor, will represent the United States at the governing body meeting of the International Labor Organization in Geneva on January 29. He will be the first official representative the United States has had at a meeting of this body. Dr. Lubin is widely known in Washington as “the statistical wizard.”

Representative Adolph J. Sabath of Illinois, chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate Real Estate Bondholders’ Reorganization, is quite happy these days. The House passed a resolution which continues the work of his committee during the present Congress. The investigation was inaugurated during the last session through a resolution adopted by the House.

The work of the committee revolves around real estate bonds which have been issued throughout the country to an extent of about $8,000,000,000. The investigation so far has revealed that these bonds are held by about 3,000,000 people. These bondholders will be lucky if they get back half of their money through reorganization, according to committee estimates.

The committee claims that it has brought to light instances of collusion and dishonesty which will be reported to the Department of Justice for criminal action. Representative Sabath, feeling that the committee had “just scratched the surface” in its investigation, recommended that its life be continued in order that the investigation may be completed. A preliminary report of the committee’s findings is being prepared for the House.

Most of the committee’s work has centered in New York. Expenses of the committee total only $15,000. In one real estate reorganization in New York, the reorganization committee had applied to the court for fees totaling around $750,000. When the investigating committee exposed part of the situation surrounding the reorganization, the court reduced the fees to $260,000. In addition to reducing the reorganization fees, Representative Sabath’s committee has turned over to the Bureau of Internal Revenue information and evidence which, according to a committee member, will enable the bureau to collect “at least $1,000,000 in taxes.” Representative Sabath certainly has made $15,000 go a long ways compared to expenditures by other investigating committees.