Salem in 1918 was a strange and anxious place. There's a real turn from previous years in the emotional texture and weight of news. World War I and the Russian Revolution dominate the front-page headlines, unsurprisingly. But local news shows narrowed horizons, fear of non-conformists and strangers, and a kind of idolatrous patriotism.
Fearing coastal invasion in the west, on February 20th, they announced a special volunteer militia "automobile corps." It's like Boy Scouts with Cars for adults!
C. W. Niemeyer, Veteran of the Canadian Contingent, Will Head Movement
The first organized Automobile Corps in existence will be recruited
in this state and paraded before a high official of the U. S. war office in Portland on April 20. Authority
was granted today by the adjutant general's department for the organization of the corps....[something garbled] As
there will be a decidede [sic] element of sport and patriotism in the applicatiin [sic] of the corps, motorists hail with delight the introduction of a military unit whereby they might still further display their love for one's country. All a car owner has to do is to offer
his car (any make) and services when
required for the conveying of troops rapidly to any point tho military authorities may desire. Acting Adjutant
General John M, Williams states that such an organization would be of the
utmost value to the state of Oregon,
owing to its great strategical value.
The review on April 20th will be
followed by a "raid by large enemy
forces" somewhere on the Columbia,
'which it will be the duty of the corps
to repel. As mobility is the primary motive of the corps efforts are being made to have the speed limits shot to the winds during such times as the
corps is "in action." Similar schemes will be held at intervals in conjunction with existing military bodies.
The organization will be known as
the State of Oregon Volunteer Automobile Corps, each member of which will be entitled to fly from his car a specially designed flag. The corps will consist of four squadrons of four
trains. Each train will be composed of 27 cars, or a total of 435 cars, including three staff cars. One motor
truck for the carrying of supplies in the way of oil, gasoline, food, etc., will be attached to each train. Fourteen motor cyclists, equipped with signalling apparatus would serve as
scouts, vanguard and rearguard.
A section of mechanics would also accompany each train equipped with repair accessories and minor repair parts.
The complete establishment or
strength of the corps would be 1725
officers, n. c. os. and men and 465 vehicles. The commanding officer would
be appointed by the state militia authorities, but all other officers and n.
c. os. would be appointed by the members....
But it wasn't just fun and games with speeding and pageantry. Earlier in the month male "alien enemies" 14 or older had been required to register at the Police Station or Post Office.
Detailed information including personal habits, and
business relations of every German together with his photograph and finger
prints will be taken by the department
or justice in a national registration
week beginning today.
A certified card, showing that he has been registered must be carried at all
times on the person of German aliens and he may not change his place of residence without first notifying and obtaining the permission of the police or
postmaster of the town or city in which
he lives....
Later that year the registration was extended to women.
(Interestingly, and perhaps significantly, there seems to be few real
discussions of this episode online, and I could not easily find a good,
general reference for linking here.)
We forget about the Eugenics Board and forced sterilization.
Herbert Merithew, a convict at the
state penitentiary, has taken an appeal
from the order of the state board of
eugenics directing that he be sterilized
under the provisions of a law passed by
the last legislature, according to a letter
received today by Attorney General
Brown from Dr. A. C. Seeley, president
of the board....The eugenics board has ordered that four convicts be sterilized....Merithew is serving a sentence of seven years for an attempted crime against nature, which was committed while he was serving a one-year term...for assault with a dangerous weapon.
In December the State Library just
published a online selection of documents about sterilization.
 |
| from Same-Sex Affairs by Peter Boag |
Peter Boag discusses Merithew's specific case a little in
Same-Sex Affairs: Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest. It seems no rape was also involved on this particular "crime against nature," but Merithew clearly was tangled up in other, real crimes. In the end, Merithew gave up his appeal.
Free speech was not as highly valued. Criticism and protest could be easily recast as espionage.
Portland, Or., Feb. 19. "Would you
mind changing that to Siberia? It
would be more appropriate," asked
Floyd Ramp, Roseburg socialist, immediately after Federal District Judge
Wolverton sentenced him to serve two
years at McNeil's Island federal prison and pay a fine of $1000, following
conviction on a charge of violating the
espionage act.
Ramp pave notice of appeal. He announced Seymour Steadman of Chicago will conduct his appeal from the
local court.
Ramp was convicted of haranguing
California drafted men stopping at
Roseburg, seeking to make them dissatisfied with the army. Several times,
the troops nearly mobbed him, according to testimony at the trial. Ramp
who is not [an] attorney, conducted his
own defense, and long arguments with
witnesses over political, economic and
religious questions were common during his cross examination.
The paper even editorialized about a kid who didn't salute the flag:
Miss Hazel Stewart, dismissed from San Francisco
schools, for refusing to salute the flag of this country,
will fight the order (or her socialist backers will) on the
ground or personal liberty. The case should be thrown
out of court as soon as it is filed.
This girl will be made the central figure in a case by an
element which will contend that disrespect toward the
flag and abuse of the government are personal rights
guaranteed to them under the constitution.
But why should the constitution or any statute be
construed by a court to afford protection to persons who
have no respect for the constitution or the government
founded upon it? Why should such people be allowed
the benefit of our schools and other free institutions, or be
accorded the protection of the laws they revile?
These radical socialists are placing every possible
obstacle in the way of the nation in a time of grave peril.
They are aiding and abetting a powerful enemy who seeks
to force the world under the domination of military government and to destroy the very foundations of democratic government. If socialists recognize no existing
form of government they should not have the right to appeal to the courts of this or any other organized government to guarantee them the right to advocate the overthrow of government and substitution in its stead of their
untried and impractical theories.
2 comments:
A long twitter thread might be of interest -
https://twitter.com/DavidNeiwert/status/1027645845317931008
"It’s important to understand that this anti-Asian component was in fact the primary driver in this legislation [1924 Immigration act], and hysteria over Asian immigration the predominant fuel in the propaganda campaigns that led to its passage – with, as we shall see, genuinely dire consequences. They called it the "Yellow Peril." It was essentially a conspiracy theory which posited that the Japanese emperor intended to invade the Pacific Coast, and was sending these immigrants to American shores as shock troops to prepare the way for just such a military action. These immigrants, it was believed, would lay the groundwork for acts of sabotage and espionage when the signal was given. As politician James Phelan put it in 1907, the Japanese immigrants represented an "enemy within our gates." One book, “The Valor of Ignorance” by Homer Lea, laid out this plan in great detail. It included maps of western Washington, notably Greys Harbor County, as likely locations for the eventual military invasion. It was a bestseller."
Thanks! The info on Homer Lea, especially, was new. Good context.
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