I grew sick at heart.  I can only ask myself the old, old question:  What can we, the people do?  How can we bring Peace, justice, Truth and Law to the world?  Must we go on bended knees and ask our public servants to see that justice is done to the defenceless, rather than this eternal prosecuting of the world’s noblest souls!  You will find these men guilty, and sentence them to be shut behind iron bars—­which should never be for human beings, no matter what their crime, unless you want to make beasts of them.  Is that your object, sir?  It would seem so; and so I say that we must overturn the system that is brutalizing, rather than helping and uplifting mankind.

Yours for Peace..Justice..Truth..Law—­

Mary Angelica Godd.

What were you going to do with such a woman?  Peter could understand the bewilderment of His Honor, and of the district attorney’s office, and of the secret service department of the Traction Trust—­as well as of Mrs. Godd’s husband!  Peter was bewildered himself; what was the use of his coming out here to get more information, when Mrs. Godd had already committed contempt of court in writing, and had given all the information there was to give to a Federal agent?  She had told this man that she had contributed several thousand dollars to the Peoples’ Council, and that she intended to contribute more.  She had put up bail for a whole bunch of Reds and Pacifists, and she intended to put up bail for McCormick and his friends, just as soon as the corrupt capitalist courts had been forced to admit them to bail.  “I know McCormick well, and he’s a lovely boy,” she said.  “I don’t believe he had anything more to do with dynamite bombs than I have.”

Now all this time Peter had sat there, entirely under the spell of Mrs. Godd’s opulence.  Peter was dwelling among the lotus-eaters, and forgetting the world’s strife and care; he was reclining on a silken couch, sipping nectar with the shining ones of Mount Olympus.  But now suddenly, Peter was brought back to duty, as one wakes from a dream to the sound of an alarm-clock.  Mrs. Godd was a friend of Mac’s, Mrs. Godd proposed to get Mac out on bail!  Mac, the most dangerous Red of them all!  Peter saw that he must get something on this woman at once!

Section 64

Peter sat up suddenly among his silken cushions, and began to tell Mrs. Godd about the new plan of the Anti-conscription League, to prepare a set of instructions for young conscientious objectors.  Peter represented the purpose of these instructions to be the advising of young men as to their legal and constitutional rights.  But it was McGivney’s idea that Peter should slip into the instructions some phrase advising the young men to refuse military duty; if this were printed and circulated, it would render every member of the Anti-conscription League liable to a sentence of ten or twenty years in jail.  McGivney had warned Peter to be very cautious about this, but again Peter found that there was no need of caution.  Mrs. Godd was perfectly willing to advise young men to refuse military service.  She had advised many such, she said, including her own sons, who unfortunately agreed with their father in being blood-thirsty.