Have faith in Massachusetts Part 10

_The Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts

By His Excellency Calvin Coolidge, Governor_

A PROCLAMATION

The entire State Guard of Ma.s.sachusetts has been called out. Under the Const.i.tution the Governor is the Commander-in-Chief thereof by an authority of which he could not if he chose divest himself. That command I must and will exercise. Under the law I hereby call on all the police of Boston who have loyally and in a never-to-be-forgotten way remained on duty to aid me in the performance of my duty of the restoration and maintenance of order in the city of Boston, and each of such officers is required to act in obedience to such orders as I may hereafter issue or cause to be issued.

I call on every citizen to aid me in the maintenance of law and order.

Given at the Executive Chamber, in Boston, this eleventh day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-fourth.

CALVIN COOLIDGE

By His Excellency the Governor,

ALBERT P. LANGTRY

_Secretary of the Commonwealth_

G.o.d save the Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts.

x.x.xV

AN ORDER

BOSTON, _September_ 11, 1919

To EDWIN U. CURTIS,

As you are Police Commissioner of the City of Boston,

_Executive Order No. 1_

You are hereby directed, for the purpose of a.s.sisting me in the performance of my duty, pursuant to the proclamation issued by me this day, to proceed in the performance of your duties as Police Commissioner of the city of Boston under my command and in obedience to such orders as I shall issue from time to time, and obey only such orders as I may so issue or transmit.

CALVIN COOLIDGE _Governor of Ma.s.sachusetts_

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A TELEGRAM

BOSTON, Ma.s.s., _Sept_. 14, 1919

MR. SAMUEL GOMPERS

_President American Federation of Labor, New York City, N.Y._

Replying to your telegram, I have already refused to remove the Police Commissioner of Boston. I did not appoint him. He can a.s.sume no position which the courts would uphold except what the people have by the authority of their law vested in him. He speaks only with their voice.

The right of the police of Boston to affiliate has always been questioned, never granted, is now prohibited. The suggestion of President Wilson to Was.h.i.+ngton does not apply to Boston. There the police have remained on duty. Here the Policemen's Union left their duty, an action which President Wilson characterized as a crime against civilization. Your a.s.sertion that the Commissioner was wrong cannot justify the wrong of leaving the city unguarded. That furnished the opportunity, the criminal element furnished the action. There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time. You ask that the public safety again be placed in the hands of these same policemen while they continue in disobedience to the laws of Ma.s.sachusetts and in their refusal to obey the orders of the Police Department. Nineteen men have been tried and removed. Others having abandoned their duty, their places have, under the law, been declared vacant on the opinion of the Attorney-General. I can suggest no authority outside the courts to take further action. I wish to join and a.s.sist in taking a broad view of every situation. A grave responsibility rests on all of us. You can depend on me to support you in every legal action and sound policy. I am equally determined to defend the sovereignty of Ma.s.sachusetts and to maintain the authority and jurisdiction over her public officers where it has been placed by the Const.i.tution and law of her people.

CALVIN COOLIDGE _Governor of Ma.s.sachusetts_

x.x.xVII

_The Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts

By His Excellency Calvin Coolidge, Governor_

A PROCLAMATION

There appears to be a misapprehension as to the position of the police of Boston. In the deliberate intention to intimidate and coerce the Government of this Commonwealth a large body of policemen, urging all others to join them, deserted their posts of duty, letting in the enemy.

This act of theirs was voluntary, against the advice of their well wishers, long discussed and premeditated, and with the purpose of obstructing the power of the Government to protect its citizens or even to maintain its own existence. Its success meant anarchy. By this act through the operation of the law they dispossessed themselves. They went out of office. They stand as though they had never been appointed.

Other police remained on duty. They are the real heroes of this crisis.

The State Guard responded most efficiently. Thousands have volunteered for the Guard and the Militia. Money has been contributed from every walk of life by the hundreds of thousands for the encouragement and relief of these loyal men. These acts have been spontaneous, significant, and decisive. I propose to support all those who are supporting their own Government with every power which the people have entrusted to me.

There is an obligation, inescapable, no less solemn, to resist all those who do not support the Government. The authority of the Commonwealth cannot be intimidated or coerced. It cannot be compromised. To place the maintenance of the public security in the hands of a body of men who have attempted to destroy it would be to flout the sovereignty of the laws the people have made. It is my duty to resist any such proposal.

Those who would counsel it join hands with those whose acts have threatened to destroy the Government. There is no middle ground. Every attempt to prevent the formation of a new police force is a blow at the Government. That way treason lies. No man has a right to place his own ease or convenience or the opportunity of making money above his duty to the State. This is the cause of all the people. I call on every citizen to stand by me in executing the oath of my office by supporting the authority of the Government and resisting all a.s.saults upon it.

Given at the Executive Chamber, in Boston, this twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and forty-fourth.

CALVIN COOLIDGE

By His Excellency the Governor,

HERBERT H. BOYNTON

_Deputy, Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth_

G.o.d save the Commonwealth of Ma.s.sachusetts.

x.x.xVIII

HOLY CROSS COLLEGE