State v. Holm

166 N.W. 181, 139 Minn. 267, 1918 Minn. LEXIS 465
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 25, 1918
DocketNo. 20,771
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 166 N.W. 181 (State v. Holm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Holm, 166 N.W. 181, 139 Minn. 267, 1918 Minn. LEXIS 465 (Mich. 1918).

Opinion

Taylor, C.

Chapter 463, p. 764, of the laws of the state of Minnesota, approved April 20, 1917, provides: “It shall be unlawful from and after the passage of this act for any person to print, publish of circulate in any manner whatsoever any book, pamphlet or written or printed matter that advocates or attempts to advocate that men should not enlist in the military or naval forces of the United States or the state of Minnesota.” Section 1. “It shall be unlawful for any person to teach or advocate by any written or printed matter whatsoever, or by oral speech, that the citizens of this state should not aid or assist the United States in prosecuting or carrying on war with the public enemies of the United States.” Section 3.

The defendants were indicted upon the charge that they had violated this statute by circulating a pamphlet which is set forth in full in the [271]*271indictment. They demurred to the indictment. The trial court overruled the demurrer, and then, at their request, certified four questions to this court which may be summarized 'as follows:

1. Whether the facts stated in the indictment constitute a public offense ?

2. Whether the statute conflicts with section 8 of article 1 of the Federal Constitution?

3. Whether the statute conflicts with section 1 of the Fourteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution?

4. Whether the act of Congress of June 15,1917,1 the so-called Espionage Law supersedes, suspends or annuls the state statute ?

The pamphlet is, in the main, an attack upon the act of Congress of May 18, 1917, commonly known as the Selective Draft law; but it does not stop with an attack upon that law. It asserts, among other things, that “this war was arbitrarily declared against the will of the people;” that the people are ten to one against it; that “the President and Congress have forced this war upon the United States;” that now “they are attempting by military conscription' to force us to fight a war to which we are opposed;” that “the integrity of the country is being menaced;” that “this war was declared to protect the investments;” and that “Wall street is the bonds of the Allies.” It then asks: “Why should the entire population be called upon to suffer and die because a few individuals have invested their surplus wealth unwisely? Are you ready to give your life to save their dollars ?” “

Defendants contend that the term “enlist” as used in the state statute refers only to voluntary enlistments, and that the statute is not violated by an attempt to deter men from complying with the conscription law; while the state contends that the term “enlist” as used in the statute is broad enough to include enlistments under the conscription law 'as well as voluntary enlistments, and that the statute is violated by an attempt to deter men from complying with the conscription law as well as by an attempt to deter them from enlisting voluntarily. It is not necessary to determine this question in this case for .the pamphlet does not confine itself to opposing the means adopted for raising troops, but impugns the motives which induced the President and Congress to enter into the [272]*272war, and attempts by. unfounded and unwarranted assertions to incite opposition to the war and to create a feeling that we have been brought into it for mercenary and unworthy purposes. It manifests not merely opposition to conscription, but opposition to the war and to carrying on the war in any manner. Without saying in so many words “that men should not enlist,” the whole tenor of the article is calculated to incite opposition to the war and to deter men from enlisting or otherwise aiding in carrying it on. T.o violate the statute it is not necessary that the pamphlet circulated should directly and expressly urge men to refrain from enlisting, but the statute is violated, if the natural and reasonable effect of the pamphlet circulated is to deter men from doing so. Masses Pub. Co. v. Patten (C. C. A.) 245 Fed. 102; U. S. v. Pierce (D. C.) 245 Fed. 878. We think that such is the effect of the pamphlet in question, and the contention of defendants that, although the pamphlet opposes compliance with the conscription law, it does not oppose voluntary enlistment, and for that reason does not transgress the statute, cannot be sustained.

Defendants also contend in effect that 'as section 8 of article 1 of the Federal Constitution confers upon Congress the power to declare war and raise armies and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into effect the powers so conferred, it is beyond the power of the state to prohibit its citizens from hindering or interfering .with the raising of such armies; that laws to accomplish that purpose can be enacted only by Congress.

These constitutional provisions and the laws of Congress passed pursuant thereto were under consideration in Presser v. Illinois, 116 U. S. 252, 6 Sup. Ct. 580, 29 L. ed. 615, and in Houston v. Moore, 5 Wheat. (18 U. S.) 1, 5 L. ed. 1. In the Presser case it was held that a law of •the state of Illinois prohibiting any body of men, other than the militia of the state and the troops of the United States, from drilling or parading with arms without a license from the Governor did not infringe either the Federal Constitution or the Federal laws as it did not interfere with the organization, arming and drilling of the militia as provided by the Federal laws. In the Houston base, a statute of the state of Pennsylvania providing that a member of the militia of that state, who was called into the service of the United States and who refused to obey such call, [273]*273should be tried by.a state court-martial, and be liable to, the penalties prescribed by the act of Congress, was held valid as -the delinquent had not actually entered the Federal service and the Federal jurisdiction had not become exclusive. It is clear from these and numerous other Federal decisions that state statutes do not offend against the constitutional provisions cited, unless they trench upon the power of the national government to raise troops, or interfere with or hinder the operation of the Federal laws governing such matters. The statute here in question does neither; it merely prohibits advocating, within this state, that men should not enlist and should not aid in prosecuting the war against the public enemies. In enacting it as 'a police regulation, the legislature was well within its province.

' Neither do we think that the so-called Espionage law of June 15,1917, passed by Congress, abrogates or supersedes this statute. The citizens of the state are also citizens of the United States and owe a duty both to the state and to the United States. The state is a part of the nation and owes a duty to the nation to support, in full measure, the efforts of the national government to secure the safety and protect the rights of its citizens and to preserve, maintain and enforce the sovereign rights of the nation against the public enemies, and to that end the state may require its citizens to refrain from any act which will interfere with or impede the national government in effectively prosecuting the war against such public enemies. It is the duty of all citizens of the state to aid the state in performing its duties as a part of the nation, and the fact that such citizens are also citizens of the United States and owe a direct duty to the nation does not absolve them from their duty to the state nor preclude the- state from enforcing such duty. Halter v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 N.W. 181, 139 Minn. 267, 1918 Minn. LEXIS 465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-holm-minn-1918.