Chapter XLIII: Section 3: Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall

willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with
intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military
or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of
its enemies,—

_II—Obstructing Bond Sales, etc._

—whoever shall willfully make or convey false reports or false
statements, or say or do anything except by way of bona fide and
not disloyal advice to an investor or investors, with intent
to obstruct the sale by the United States of bonds or other
securities of the United States or the making of loans by or to
the United States,—

_III—Inciting or Causing Mutiny_

—whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully
cause or attempt to cause or incite or attempt to incite,
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the
military or naval forces of the United States,—

_IV—Obstructing Enlistments_

—whoever shall willfully obstruct or attempt to obstruct the
recruiting or enlistment service of the United States,—

_V—Attacks on Government, Flag, etc._

—whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter,
print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or
abusive language about the form of government of the United
States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military
or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the United
States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United States,
or any language intended to bring the form of government of the
United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the
military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag of the
United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the United
States into contempt, scorn, contumely, or disrepute,—

_VI—Encouraging Resistance_

—whoever shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any
language intended to incite, provoke, or encourage resistance to
the United States, or to promote the cause of its enemies, or
shall willfully display the flag of any enemy,—

_VII—Curtailing Production_

—whoever shall willfully by utterance, writing, printing,
publication, or language spoken, urge, incite, or advocate any
curtailment of production in this country of anything or things,
product or products, necessary or essential to the prosecution of
the war in which the United States may be engaged, with intent by
such curtailment to cripple or hinder the United States in the
prosecution of the war,—

_VIII—Defending or Teaching Disloyalty_

—whoever shall willfully advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the
doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated,—

_IX—Supporting the Enemy_

—=and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of
any country with which the United States is at war, or by word or
act oppose the cause of the United States therein=,—

THE PENALTY:

—=shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or
imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both.=

An additional section of the amended law provides for the instant
dismissal of any official or employee of the United States who
commits a disloyal act or utters disloyal or unpatriotic language.
This is as follows:

Any employee or official of the United States Government who
commits any disloyal act or utters any unpatriotic or disloyal
language, or who, in an abusive and violent manner criticizes the
Army or Navy or the flag of the United States shall be at once
dismissed from the service. Any such employee shall be dismissed
by the head of the department in which the employee may be
engaged, and any such official shall be dismissed by the authority
having power to appoint a successor to the dismissed official.

No Mail For Propagandists

Plotting or propaganda by mail is made punishable by immediate
withdrawal of postal privileges from any individual or firm,
against whom satisfactory evidence is brought that he is violating
any provision of this new law. Conviction is not necessary:
evidence satisfactory to the Postmaster General is enough to close
the mails to the offender. Here is the amended section:

SEC. 4. When the United States is at war, the Postmaster General
may, upon evidence satisfactory to him that any person or concern
is using the mails in violation of any of the provisions of this
Act, instruct the postmaster at any post office at which mail is
received addressed to such person or concern to return to the
postmaster at the office at which they were originally mailed all
letters or other matter so addressed, with the words “Mail to
this address undeliverable under Espionage Act” plainly written
or stamped upon the outside thereof and all such letters or other
matter so returned to such postmasters shall be by them returned
to the senders thereof under such regulations as the Postmaster
General may prescribe.

An All-Embracing Clause

Read over the ninth clause of section 3 again: “whoever shall by
word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which
the United States is at war, or by word or act oppose the cause
of the United States therein—.” That clause alone serves to make
enemy propaganda or native-born sedition a hazardous undertaking
in any community where League members are awake and on the job.

Gone is the necessity of arguing and pleading with the pro-German,
the pacifist and the native-born disloyalist to speak with
straight tongues. Loyal citizens retain the right to free speech
and to honest and reasonable criticism of the Government’s actions
and policies. But indiscriminate abuse and lying reports of what
is happening here at home or overseas are going to stop. The
amended law is a powerful weapon put into our hands for that very
purpose.

Notice also that the word “willfully” is omitted in Clause Nine.
To convict a man of disloyalty or sedition, you will not have to
prove his disloyal or hostile intention. Like murder or burglary,
espionage and sedition are become positive crimes. No one who
commits them can plead innocent intent.