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The Espionage and Sedition Acts 1917-1918: a North Dakota Analysis

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The Espionage and Sedition Acts 1917-1918: a North Dakota Analysis University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects 5-1987 The Espionage And Sedition Acts 1917-1918: A North Dakota Analysis Eric Furuseth Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Furuseth, Eric, "The Espionage And Sedition Acts 1917-1918: A North Dakota Analysis" (1987). Theses and Dissertations. 2631. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2631 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. T.~E E$Pl0NAGE AND SEDITION ACTS 191:Z-:-1918: ····1.- l)Ak()TJ\ ANAtfsrs ·.· /· .· . by .··,, Eric .Furuset:h Bachel()r 6f. Ar£s / Uniyersl~;. o't North. Dakota, 19 7 7 A .Thesis.· ··. Submitt~d to the G~aduate Facuity ()ftb:e Unfversity of North Dakota in partial fu1£illment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Grand Forks, North Dakota May 1987 ·.,'\, i·.;:,_\:_.: ·.,': .··' .· .. ·.: ... >_:·.:~·(.:'.\/.\.\/:'-:,-..::\;··,\, .... ,<;·-.'·,._,.·/·'·:·." .. ' . .· .•... ·...•.. · .•· . ~h:i'~/ ..Tht;isiti .···suoml tted ..• by .Eri.c. Furuseth in• partial ..fuif'ilini1:fr1:e)6f,/the req:liireml'.':!rits ;for the. Degree ·of.r,ia:ster of .. Ar.t.s',f.f()in the Univers'ity\of.~orth Dakota has been read ·· .•., by-)>bhe(.Factl>'.Lty. 1\.dv'J:sory.. Committee :urider whom the work '1; .; :' ,• .._," - ... ,, i '.•' ': > ..... ,,··>. '· ',.,:. · · '. ·, ·, . ··.: • 1 ·:,; ; ' '' • - ·:,;, ·' .' ', ' ·1 · .·•··.•.·. /ha" >~Oen 'do~e ,\ and ·•\s heteby •,approved . ..;,-....,. .···~···... - ·,'..... ·.... ·.:··.·.· ,· ·, ...' ~-~~ . ,. ·; :,i1(: '1 ·• . Thls Thesis meets the standards for appearance and c:ori.formsto the style and format requirements of the Graduate School of.the University of North Dakota, and is hereby appJoved. · ./Jt~ . tt/WK? ii Permission . ., ,Title The Espioh~ge and Sedition Acts 1917-1918: A :·..,. i '. Noithbakota Analysis . '. I,'. •. Jjepar. >; ' .· .tmerit . '·.·· . .;..·····,., ... ,. ..:\.::.H:=i:.::•S:..:t:..:O:.::.r:..1Y~, ...... ---~------------------_._- Degiee . M~~ter of Arts .. , . In: ir,reseinting . this thesis in partial fulfillment . ;;of·.the\.r.ecjuii:'ements for a graduate degree from the Uni:-- ··•.·· .. •.· vei:'l:li't.f)C)'f,<N.0:rth;Dakota, I agree that'the Library of this. ·· tJrii'll~rs,ity 'sha:Ll mak~ ;it freely ·available for inspection~','' . :C fur.ther agree that permission for t:Xtensive copying for <scholar'ly purposes may be granted by . the professor who . supery~sed inY. thes1s work or, in his absence, by the Chairman of the Department.or.the Dean of the Graduate school:~ lt i:'s unde:r::s,tood that any copying . or publica­ tlon: or oth~r use .of this thesis .or part thereof for . ''.firianc:ia1 .gain shall .not be allowed without my written permission. ., It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the Uni1ersity of North Dakota·· in any scholarly use which may be madA of any material in my thesis. iii ',<1·/.•.' 159 174. 177 iv .· ·. ·. ·· ACKNOWLEDGMEN'l'S ! wo,ild;(fik~\ to thank my committee, Dr. D. Jerome . .·.TwEit.on:,.nr;/James F. ·vivian;. and n:r. Norton D. ·Kinghorn ;•J 1 for their pa:tienbe. • I would e specially like to thank Dr. 'I\4eton. £6t \he many hours he. has. spent on this pro- · j ect•. ·. Tliank,s, ~ls~, 'to' Cathy Janikowski who typed the f:i.rst tWo'a'.r~fts,.and to Bev Rosencrans who typed the ··.· liist:. one. ·Also, I am grateful to Nedrose School for the free.• use of. the word processor and copiers. 1 E'fnaili , I am .grateful to my parents for bearing with me during.the overly lengthy time it took to com­ plete this thesis. V ABSTRACT · The period of World War I is also the · time of Nonpartisan League control in North Dakota. The period .. ,,. is bf ·ex~reme interest to historians of the state as North hakota's:experimentwith the radical government was ' •, .. '_. ·:· ·:. ': .... ', . ·. ·· .. · urttsfue,in: the natibn at the . time . and a marked departure ' · .. ·.,.· .... ·.' . ,, .:· : .. : ,' -:,. ·:·};,~;, ::, \'<·.":-',: : : •:'. __ .: ',-"::.': ;, ' . f,i:om the s:tate's own poli't{cal · tfadi tions. On both sides ' of th~ pol'itical fence} liloiipartisan and conservative, a . '.,' kind of extremism existed which was unusual within the state. The United States government passed the Espionage and Sedition acts of 1917 and 1918 as a means of legally ensuring the patriotism of its citizens; anti-war talk and,.·. particularly, efforts to block recruitment or con­ scription could be punished with stiff prison sentences. Many private citizens took up the challenge to guard the nation against disloyalty; censorship and vigilante­ ism became common throughout the nation. Most North Dakotans were staunchly oppused to en­ trance into the conflict, and the state's new NPL govern­ ment shared that position. The problem of the period is: how well did North Dakota handle the divisive pressures of intense local political battles coupled with the Vl 'conformist. demands of unrestrained patriotism. Opposing viewpoints exist: on this qu~stion. Dr. Edwin F. Ladd, the .. president of t-!brth Dakota.Agricultural College at the time arid lat~r . a ,United States Sena tor, claimed that North Da.k;t~ an °oa.sis of sanity in a desert of hysteria. ti .- . w-is.. _-,:' '-, ' >·,. ..; ' 'TO that,' historian. Kenneth. I, Smemo., in his study. of Judge Charles .F; Artliclon, responded, ,iThe state act.ually saw <little s,an'i't:.f,and a lot of hysteria at that time." This sttidy r·~;iiirnfrtes the issue~ ' •. Most 'of.· the research previously done involved the tr~ns;~ipts of the sedition trials~ official docw,~nts of ,the state-.and nation, and the extant correspondence of a few of t.he leadin,J figures. This paper uses many of those same sources but emphasizes research from news­ papers because they include many minor incidents that give the period its flavor and cumulatively suggest a con­ clus.ion. The most important newspapers were the ultra­ conservative Grand Forks Herald, the moderately conserva­ tive Bismarck Tribune, and the Nonpartisan League's Fargo Daily Courier-News. Other dailies and a handful of weekly newspapers were also used. This study concludes that North Dakota survived the strain C"'f the war years with a minimum of violence and hysteria. The Nonpartisan League's deliberate govern­ ment and Judge Charles F. Amidon's refusal to use his bench to advance the conservative view of patriotism acted as restraints on hysteria. vii ,; ·••. · · .. ·, < /':rht:l Esj_:i:iC>~ci'ge' and Sedition .laws of 1917 and. 1918 :·· •:::W;;fa(,Jf ?n~~IJf ~;Br:i~. ;i\~Ji#i{tin; to .. curb •dcs10,arty ·· i ,, . •·.,'.·\iri;'th'.e, ··:, ... -.' ,:·- •' :unite'd. ,• . .·,:··· ;. ·,-,- ·States. ·, ,·. during'. ',.' world ·: '·.·. ··.t War l. The. bills wef; rneant.:€3spedially to perialize .or imprison all those ::.)<"\>·.... _/i.·>/:':.: .. ·.<·.>:;-:".;-,/;_.\.:.?.i .. ·.·<<·· ·.· ' _· ..-,_·.··\·'·_- ...... i <: .....:-· ·_,.:·:. ..-:· ..· :, who \;i;.ri.ter.1;-~recl with the war :ef;fort\ ... · For .various reasons '. ·.: -: ,: ... ·{ .. : ' .· ··. both ;fficials of the go'\Tetnmeri,t self-appointed '.. '·':i/·\· ,, ,,• '' .. ,, art'a ,;;.-·,·.;'".,_,_ -'-./·: 0,,:· .. :... .:-.-:-<'.),:.',/;::,.\' ·,_ ', ':. : ,', ; '., ' I ;'.,,, .(,, ' .. " \; 'guarcii~tis' of .the. nation :misapplied'. them to an immense . •Vari~~y, Of Situations •. '' •, . ::·· ' <:,w~~t . cons.ti tu:t:ed disloyalty was one of the burning ·i~~~es. ... ' Of ·the homefront. Because the laws were basi- callyunt:ried, judges and officials at all levels inter­ , pr~ted .. tl:lern in a variety of ways; and strong emotion of- . ' ' .. ten c:oldrsd their opinions •. President Woodrow Wilson did not encourage tolerance; in fact, his public utter- ances could often have been construed as approval of · .the intolerance of the times. He did not provide strong leadership but designated responsibility to lesser officials which resulted in further inconsistency. 1 The inconsistent interpretations fostered a great deal of confusion concerning what sedition was and was not. Confusion, combined with the sentiments of war, and in some cases, as in North Dakota, serious rifts 1 2 over. domestic .social issues created a climate of hysteria ... in rnany ·p1ibe~ ihroughout the country. ·' . '.,, '' ' 81ac6iirit.rYties·~£ 1anguage and.culture sti11 \' ·, .. , . held a. g:t'eat i)bpulation of immigrant Americans. Despi 't:e . ·.· .. thJ /f)l:e~~lent. aversion tO, "hyphenism, n however I many in\­ tnigl:'an-\: ,;/roui;:,s Passed through · t.he war without much 't;Ouble\; fh i:it6t( according to John Higham the war helped reducEi ·i?'iei')\ldi~e. Many ethnic communities had outstand- ' '.:•; -: ';; ..-,: .;·. in~:i"~cb:rcis C)f\service'W'hich facilitated their acceptance . _·, ,: ,::·:.:... :.. '.:<,' . ·:>··:·:·::·:_.:· :\>{::r_. <.·: ~·· -'.,) .... ,. /· .· . , ' ' byold-:-stock Americans. However, many German-Americans ',, ' . .', ·. sufieied. The,'· German. language:, Ge.rman newspapers, German , ' ' . .. '· ,, 'i., ministry, German schools and all other things German were 2 i,under:·.,:<. ' . attack' . throughout' the war. 'Notablyfthe.1917 and 1918 acts caused a great ,, :\'' ' many.Americans to become self-appointed spy hunters and seekers of seclitionists. · Loose interpretation
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