Louis Freeland Post
Encyclopedia
Louis Freeland Post was the Assistant United States Secretary of Labor
during the closing year of the Wilson
administration, the period of the Palmer Raids
and the Red Scare
, where he had responsibility for the Bureau of Immigration.
single-tax movement
.He once called George's political philosophy "my kind of radicalism...which regards the social values of natural resources as in their nature public property." He became an Assistant Secretary of Labor in 1913, a position he held until the end of the Wilson administration in March, 1921.
Early in March 1920, the temporary absence of Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson
and the recent resignation of the Department's Solicitor General made Post the Department's Acting Secretary and the key person responsible for the Bureau of Immigration
for two critical months. He directed the review of all deportation cases and often opposed the activities of Attorney General
A. Mitchell Palmer and J. Edgar Hoover
, the head of the Justice Department's "Radical Division," soon renamed the General Intelligence Division. In 1919, in response to anarchist terror bombings, Hoover's agents penetrated many violent revolutionary groups and identified their members. In January 1920, Palmer and Hoover oversaw the Palmer Raids
designed to arrest those members who were not U.S. citizens and deport them.
The Anarchist Exclusion Act of 1918 set the standard for such deportations. It specified that "aliens who are members of or affiliated with any organization that entertains a belief in, teaches, or advocates the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States or of all forms of law" were subject to deportation. Post, often with the support of Secretary Wilson, distinguished carefully among those arrested, for example, determining that membership in the Communist Labor Party was not grounds for deportation because it did not meet the legal standard that other organizations with similar names did meet, like the Communist Party of America. By April 10, Post had reviewed a backlog of 1600 cases and dismissed 71% of them. Some had been held for as long as two months for having attended a meeting of a radical group. Post also determined that aliens were entitled to a fair hearing, which was contrary to the position of the Bureau of Immigration, which held that immigrants were not subject to constitutional safeguards. Overall, Post is credited with preventing many deportations and freeing many innocent people. He also declined to take action against those he called "harmless but technically culpable." Some had in good faith resigned from a proscribed organization. Others only became "members" of such an organization when organizations merged, as often happened. On the other hand, he authorized the deportation of anarchists even "of the extreme pacifist type," because he thought the law required that.
As early as January 1920, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) began compiling a file on Post and his political leanings, but failed to find substantive evidence of radical connections on his part. Nevertheless, the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization compiled a sensational report of Post's deportation decisions, When it leaked, the press made much of the affair, what Post later called "a newspaper cyclone of misrepresentation," though some coverage supported him. Some Congressmen traded speeches on his culpability, Committee Chairman Albert Johnson
of Washington state attacking Post, and Congressman George Huddleston
of Alabama defending him. On April 15, 1920, Kansas Congressman Homer Hoch
accused Post of having abused his power and called for his impeachment
. The House Committee on Rules planned to ask the President to remove Post instead of impeaching him, so Post requested and was granted a chance to testify. He successfully defended his actions on May 7-8, attacking Attorney General Palmer and others. In a dramatic exchange, Congressman Edward W. Pou
, a Democratic supporter of the anti-radical campaign, praised Post's actions–"I believe you have followed your sense of duty absolutely"–and left the room in stunned silence. The Rules Committee took no further action.
After the Attorney General had spent 2 days reading a statement in his defense, the New York Evening Post gave Post the victory:
The American Legion
later sought Post's dismissal in a letter to President Wilson on December 31, 1920. The White House responded with a letter quoting Labor Secretary Wilson who endorsed Post's actions, detailed the Constitutional principles that guided him, and praised his adherence to Department policies: "We will not deport anyone simply because he has been accused or because he is suspected of being a Red. We have no authority to do so under the law....Mr. Post...I am satisfied ranks among the ablest and best administrative officers in the Government service."
In retirement in 1923, he published The Deportations Delirium of Nineteen-Twenty: A Personal Narrative of an Historic Official Experience, a detailed account of the raids, arrests, and deportations of 1919-20. He called the entire effort "a stupendous and cruel fake". He asserted that his actions had been vindicated with the passage of time, that "no substantially erroneous decision of mine has yet been specified. Most certainly and without qualification may this be said of my cancellation decisions, and it was for these alone that my official fidelity was clamorously questioned.... Every attempt to show even one erroneous cancellation decision has utterly failed."
Post died on January 11, 1928 at Homeopathic Hospital in Washington, DC after a brief illness. The New York Times reported that he had been a lawyer and editor, noted his early advocacy of a single tax.
United States Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....
during the closing year of the Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
administration, the period of the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
and the Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
, where he had responsibility for the Bureau of Immigration.
Biography
Post opposed immigration restrictions and forcefully supported free speech and Henry George'sHenry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
single-tax movement
Georgism
Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...
.He once called George's political philosophy "my kind of radicalism...which regards the social values of natural resources as in their nature public property." He became an Assistant Secretary of Labor in 1913, a position he held until the end of the Wilson administration in March, 1921.
Early in March 1920, the temporary absence of Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson
William Bauchop Wilson
William Bauchop Wilson was a American labor leader and politician. He is best remembered for his service as the first Secretary of Labor between 1913 and 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson.-Early life:...
and the recent resignation of the Department's Solicitor General made Post the Department's Acting Secretary and the key person responsible for the Bureau of Immigration
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
for two critical months. He directed the review of all deportation cases and often opposed the activities of Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
A. Mitchell Palmer and J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
, the head of the Justice Department's "Radical Division," soon renamed the General Intelligence Division. In 1919, in response to anarchist terror bombings, Hoover's agents penetrated many violent revolutionary groups and identified their members. In January 1920, Palmer and Hoover oversaw the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
designed to arrest those members who were not U.S. citizens and deport them.
The Anarchist Exclusion Act of 1918 set the standard for such deportations. It specified that "aliens who are members of or affiliated with any organization that entertains a belief in, teaches, or advocates the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States or of all forms of law" were subject to deportation. Post, often with the support of Secretary Wilson, distinguished carefully among those arrested, for example, determining that membership in the Communist Labor Party was not grounds for deportation because it did not meet the legal standard that other organizations with similar names did meet, like the Communist Party of America. By April 10, Post had reviewed a backlog of 1600 cases and dismissed 71% of them. Some had been held for as long as two months for having attended a meeting of a radical group. Post also determined that aliens were entitled to a fair hearing, which was contrary to the position of the Bureau of Immigration, which held that immigrants were not subject to constitutional safeguards. Overall, Post is credited with preventing many deportations and freeing many innocent people. He also declined to take action against those he called "harmless but technically culpable." Some had in good faith resigned from a proscribed organization. Others only became "members" of such an organization when organizations merged, as often happened. On the other hand, he authorized the deportation of anarchists even "of the extreme pacifist type," because he thought the law required that.
As early as January 1920, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) began compiling a file on Post and his political leanings, but failed to find substantive evidence of radical connections on his part. Nevertheless, the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization compiled a sensational report of Post's deportation decisions, When it leaked, the press made much of the affair, what Post later called "a newspaper cyclone of misrepresentation," though some coverage supported him. Some Congressmen traded speeches on his culpability, Committee Chairman Albert Johnson
Albert Johnson (congressman)
Albert Johnson was a U.S. Representative from Washington state.Born in Springfield, Illinois, Johnson attended the schools at Atchison and Hiawatha, Kansas. He worked as a reporter on the St. Joseph Herald and the St...
of Washington state attacking Post, and Congressman George Huddleston
George Huddleston
George Huddleston was a U.S. Representative from Alabama, father of George Huddleston, Jr.Born on a farm near Lebanon, Tennessee, Huddleston attended the common schools....
of Alabama defending him. On April 15, 1920, Kansas Congressman Homer Hoch
Homer Hoch
Homer Hoch was a U.S. Representative from Kansas.Born in Marion, Kansas, Hoch graduated from Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas, in 1902....
accused Post of having abused his power and called for his impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
. The House Committee on Rules planned to ask the President to remove Post instead of impeaching him, so Post requested and was granted a chance to testify. He successfully defended his actions on May 7-8, attacking Attorney General Palmer and others. In a dramatic exchange, Congressman Edward W. Pou
Edward W. Pou
Edward William Pou , was an American politician, serving in the United States Congress.Born in Tuskegee, Alabama, September 9, 1863, he moved to North Carolina with his parents in 1867, where he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and studied law...
, a Democratic supporter of the anti-radical campaign, praised Post's actions–"I believe you have followed your sense of duty absolutely"–and left the room in stunned silence. The Rules Committee took no further action.
After the Attorney General had spent 2 days reading a statement in his defense, the New York Evening Post gave Post the victory:
- The simple truth is that Louis F. Post deserves the gratitude of every American for his courageous and determined stand in behalf of our fundamental rights. It is too bad that in making this stand he found himself at cross-purposes with the Attorney General, but Mr. Palmer's complaint lies against the Constitution and not against Mr. Post.
The American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
later sought Post's dismissal in a letter to President Wilson on December 31, 1920. The White House responded with a letter quoting Labor Secretary Wilson who endorsed Post's actions, detailed the Constitutional principles that guided him, and praised his adherence to Department policies: "We will not deport anyone simply because he has been accused or because he is suspected of being a Red. We have no authority to do so under the law....Mr. Post...I am satisfied ranks among the ablest and best administrative officers in the Government service."
In retirement in 1923, he published The Deportations Delirium of Nineteen-Twenty: A Personal Narrative of an Historic Official Experience, a detailed account of the raids, arrests, and deportations of 1919-20. He called the entire effort "a stupendous and cruel fake". He asserted that his actions had been vindicated with the passage of time, that "no substantially erroneous decision of mine has yet been specified. Most certainly and without qualification may this be said of my cancellation decisions, and it was for these alone that my official fidelity was clamorously questioned.... Every attempt to show even one erroneous cancellation decision has utterly failed."
Post died on January 11, 1928 at Homeopathic Hospital in Washington, DC after a brief illness. The New York Times reported that he had been a lawyer and editor, noted his early advocacy of a single tax.
Works (partial list)
- The Chinese Exclusion Act (1901)
- Ethics of Democracy (1903)
- The Prophet Of San Francisco (1904)
- Our Advancing Postal Censorship (1905)
- Ethical Principles of Marriage and Divorce (1906)
- Social Service (1909)
- The Open Shop and the Closed Shop (1912)
- Trusts, Good and Bad (1914)
- Financing the War (1917)
- Why We are at War (1917)
- The Deportations Delirium of Nineteen-Twenty: A Personal Narrative of an Historic Official Experience (NY, 1923), reissued: ISBN 0306718820, 1410205533
- What is the Single Tax? (1926)
- The Basic Facts of Economics: A Common-sense Primer for Advanced Students (2nd edition, 1918)
- The Prophet of San Francisco: Personal Memories & Interpretations of Henry George
- Henry George's 1886 Campaign: An Account of the George-Hewitt Campaign in the New York Municipal Election of 1886