esent danger to the security of the Nation or of widespread industrial
strife in order to sustain Sec. 9 (h) similarly misconceives the purpose
that phrase was intended to serve. In that view, not the relative
certainty that evil conduct will result from speech in the immediate
future, but the extent and gravity of the substantive evil must be
measured by the 'test' laid down in the _Schenck Case_."[210] In thus
balancing the gravity of the interest protected by legislation from
harmful speech against the demands of the clear and present danger rule
the Court paved the way for its decision a year later in Dennis _v._
United States.

THE CASE OF THE ELEVEN COMMUNISTS

Dennis _v._ United States[211] involves the following legislation:

"Section 2. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person--

"(1) to knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise, or teach the
duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or
destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or
by the assassination of any officer of any such government;

"(2) with the intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any
government in the United States, to print, publish, edit, issue,
circulate, sell, distribute, or publicly display any written or printed
matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity,
desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government
in the United States by force or violence;

"(3) to organize or help to organize any society, group, or assembly of
persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction
of any government in the United States by force or violence; or to be or
become a member of, or affiliate with, any such society, group, or
assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof.

"(b) For the purposes of this section, the term 'government in the
United States' means the Government of the United States, the government
of any State, Territory, or possession of the United States, the
government of the District of Columbia, or the government of any
political subdivision of any of them."[212]

The trial court had ruled that clause (2) of the act qualified both the
other clauses; and this construction was endorsed by the Supreme Court.
The judgment of the Court sustaining the convictions against objections
raised under Amendment I was supported by three different opinions.
Chief Justice Vinson, speaking also for Justices Reed, Burton and Minton
e