A CASE FOR CLEMENCY

The expressed attitude of President Wilson and that presumably held by Mr. Harding toward the release of Eugene Debs from the Atlanta Prison seems entirely too narrow for persons of their calibre. That a man should suffer for his honest beliefs for ten years after the final clearing up of the matters that led to his punishment, is entirely against the principles of a democratic country. Mr. Debs was sentenced to a ten-year term in the Federal Penitentiary for a violation of the Espionage act. At the time, a speech such as his against the Selective Service Bill, might have been rightly considered a menace to the successful prosecution of the war and a severe sentence was passed for exemplary reasons.

The war has been over for more than two years, and Mr. Debs, 65 years old and broken in health, is still serving a sentence, marked by good conduct on his part a sentence which, for a man of his age, amounts to a life term. As an example to others, his imprisonment is no longer necessary, for the offense which caused it cannot at present be committed. His influence in prison is greater than it would be outside, as can readily be seen by the increase in votes he received for president in 1920 over those polled by him in the 1912 elections. A million Americans backed him in November, many of them because they felt his imprisonment unjustified after the need for it was past. At large, he can do no harm that he cannot do while at Alanta. Clemency to a man who is willing to suffer for his sincere beliefs could never weaken the force of the law in the eyes of the nation at large.