It proved to be a lively session. The Reverend Shutter, pastor of the Church of the Redeemer—oh, magnificent irony!—wrote a letter in defense of militarism, and pointed out how the army was needed for the putting down of strikes. The congressman for the Black Hand liked this so well that he put it into the Congressional Record, and it was sent out under the frank of the government. The editor of the Minneapolis “Labor Review” stated that he had heard the wife of a school board member, taking part in a debate at a women’s club, state that “we need soldiers to put the Socialists down.” This was practically the same thing as the clergyman had said, but for some reason the militarists took offense, and the editor was challenged to name the woman—which he did. The climax came when a Congregational clergyman by the name of Stafford spoke in opposition to military training. He was lieutenant and chaplain in a medical regiment of the Officers’ Reserve Corps; so here was a first-class scandal. The members of this corps held a meeting and expelled him from their mess, and demanded that he surrender his commission. The commanding officer of his regiment demanded that he apologize and recant, and when he refused, preferred formal charges against him for “conduct unbecoming an officer.” The army martinets set up the contention that members of the Officers’ Reserve Corps and of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps are part of the army, and are under military discipline at all times, and it is a breach of discipline for any member of any unit to oppose military training. It is pleasant to be able to record that the War Department refused to sustain this extreme doctrine. I have told in “The Goose-step” of the elaborate system of spying which the Black Hand maintained at the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis. They did the very same in the schools; they got out a questionnaire on militarism, and when one teacher omitted to answer about Socialism and labor unions, the fact was broadcasted in the kept newspapers. They sent a spy to inspect the text-books—including annotations written in the teachers’ own copies. One teacher told me of this, and how her principal had refused explanation of the incident. They tested students on Socialism, the I. W. W., etc., for the purpose of spying on the parents of these children. One high school teacher thought it proper that her pupils should know the meaning of such words before they answered questions; she advised them to go to a Socialist meeting and hear the Socialist arguments, and she was summoned by the principal and told that she would be discharged if she repeated this offense. Another teacher was censured for advising a student to read “The Jungle.”