wrote the constitution now in effect for your
organization, and is it not true that it is so worded that American
Army and Naval officers or former army and navy and marine officers of
the United States are not eligible? Is that true?"

"I will answer that question and I will answer it in a fair way," Mr.
Curtin replied.

"Say yes or no. Is it true?" Mr. Pratt demanded.

"Yes," shouted the crowd. "Say yes or no. Is it true?"

Then pandemonium broke loose in the meeting. The cat calls and boos
were renewed. "Put him out!" "Put him out!" "Shut him up!" the crowd
demanded. And here I want to pause a moment to say that the enlisted
men present gave a mighty concrete sign of the approval of their
officers by this denunciation of the constitution of Curtin's outfit.

"I am not here for the purpose of being persecuted," Mr. Curtin
shouted. "I am not asking no or yes to anything. But I will say to the
gentleman who questioned me that while it is true in letter it is not
true in spirit."

At this juncture Mr. Simon, of the Washington delegation, said that in
all fairness to Sergeant Curtin he wanted to say that during the
recent demonstration of Bolshevism in Seattle, Curtin commanded a
machine gun company on the side of right and law and order.

"I do not speak for his organization," Simon said, "but I speak for a
clique in it, headed by Sergeant Curtin, who went into that
organization to clean it up, to make it a fair and square one hundred
per cent. American organization." The applause of Simon's remarks had
scarcely died down when General Moss succeeded in gaining the floor.

"I want to say to the members of this delegation," he said, "that I
led the fight against the soldiers' and sailors' organization before
the Credential Committee, and I want to say to you gentlemen that we
didn't lead a fight personally against this man, but against his
organization.' We know the outfit in our country and we do not want
that organization in unless the Americans in it come in as
individuals. I want to say that we are to be organized here on a basis
of one hundred per cent, true Americanism.

"I asked Curtin in the presence of the committee if he represented a
minority or a majority in his outfit and he admitted that he
represented the minority."

"But we can lick a majority," Curtin shouted back. "I want Captain
McDonald who had charge of the Intelligence Department at Camp Lewis
to say a word on this subject. He knows the hi