"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 history of my organization and I would like to have him give it to you." But if Curtin counted on McDonald to help him he reckoned without his host.
Captain McDonald rose and speaking with great deliberation said:
"I have been an American soldier for thirty years. I was a regular telegraph officer at the time of the Bolshevik trouble. I established stations at Seattle and Camp Lewis and this man represents the real element that we are all working against. Personally he is all right but he is backing that organization because he wants to represent it. If he desires to be admitted into the Legion let him get loose from that outfit and come in by himself."