100%: the Story of a Patriot

by Upton Sinclair

  As a matter of fact Gladys had been told about Peter's shameful pastbefore she married him; Guffey had told her, and she had told Peterthat Guffey had told her, she had reminded Peter of it many, manytimes. But the actual sight of one of these "nationalized women" haddriven her into a frenzy, and it was a week before peace wasrestored in the Gudge family. Meantime poor Peter was buffeted bystorms of emotion, both at home and in his office. They were gettingready the first Red train, and it seemed as if every foreign Redthat Peter had ever known was besieging him, trying to get at himand harrow his soul and his conscience. Sadie Todd's cousin, who hadbeen born in England, was shipped out on this first train, and alsoa Finnish lumberman whom Peter had known in the I. W. W., and aBohemian cigar worker at whose home he had several times eaten, andfinally Michael Dubin, the Jewish boy with whom he had spent fifteendays in jail, and who had been one of the victims of the black-snakewhippings.

  Michael made no end of wailing, because he had a wife and threebabies, and he set up the claim that when the "bulls" had raided hishome they had stolen all his savings, two or three hundred dollars.Peter, of course, insisted that he could do nothing; Dubin was a Redand an alien, and he must go. When they were loading them on thetrain, there was Dubin's wife and half a hundred other women,shrieking and wringing their hands, and trying to break thru theguards to get near their loved ones. The police had to punch them inthe stomachs with their clubs to hold them back, and in spite of allthese blows, the hysterical Mrs. Dubin succeeded in breaking thruthe guards, and she threw herself under the wheels of the train, andthey were barely able to drag her away in time to save her life.Scenes like this would, of course, have a bad effect upon thepublic, and so Guffey called up the editors of all the newspapers,and obtained a gentleman's agreement that none of them would printany details.

  Section 84

  All over the country the Red trains were moving eastward, loadedwith "wobblies" and communists, pacifists and anarchists, and ahundred other varieties of Bolsheviks. They got a shipload togetherand started them off for Russia--the "Red Ark" it was called, andthe Red soap-boxers set tip a terrific uproar, and one Red clergymancompared the "Red Ark" to the Mayflower! Also there was some Redofficial in Washington, who made a fuss and cancelled a whole blockof deportation orders, including some of Peter's own cases. This,naturally, was exasperating to Peter and his wife; and on top of itcame another incident that was still more humiliating.

  There was a "pink" mass meeting held in American City, to protestagainst the deportations. Guffey said they would quite probably raidthe meeting, and Peter must go along, so as to point out the Reds tothe bulls. The work was in charge of a police detective by the nameof Garrity, head of what was called the "Bomb Squad"; but this mandidn't know very much, so he had the habit of coming to Peter foradvice. Now he had the whole responsibility of this meeting, and heasked Peter to come up on the platform with him, and Peter went.Here was a vast audience--all the Red fury which had been pent upfor many months, breaking loose in a whirlwind of excitement. Herewere orators, well dressed and apparently respectable men, not inany way to be distinguished from the born rulers of the country,coming forward on the platform and uttering the most treasonablesentences, denouncing the government, denouncing the blockadeagainst Russia, praising the Bolshevik government of Russia,declaring that the people who went away in the "Soviet Ark" werefortunate, because they were escaping from a land of tyranny into aland of freedom. At every few sentences the orator would be stoppedby a storm of applause that broke from the audience.

  And what was a poor Irish Catholic police detective to make of aproposition like that? Here stood an orator declaring: "Whenever anyform of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is theright of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute newgovernment, laying its foundations on such principles and organizingits powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effecttheir safety and happiness." And Garrity turned to Peter. "What doyou think of that?" he said, his good-natured Irish face blank withdismay.

  Peter thought it was the limit. Peter knew that thousands of men allover America had been sent to prison for saying things lessdangerous than that. Peter had read many sets of instructions fromthe office of the Attorney-General of the United States, and knewofficially that that was precisely the thing you were never underany circumstances permitted to say, or to write, or even to think.So Peter said to Garrity: "That fellow's gone far enough. You betterarrest him." Garrity spoke to his men, and they sprang forward onthe platform, and stopped the orator and placed him and all hisfellow-orators under arrest, and ordered the audience out of thebuilding. There were a couple of hundred policemen and detectives onhand to carry out Garrity's commands, and they formed a line withtheir clubs, and drove the crowd before them, and carted thespeakers off in a patrol wagon. Then Peter went back to Guffey'soffice, and told what he had done--and got a reception that remindedhim of the time Guffey had confronted him with the letter from NellDoolin! "Who do you think that was you pinched?" cried Guffey."He's the brother of a United States senator! And what do you thinkhe was saying? That was a sentence from the Declaration ofIndependence!"

  Peter couldn't "get it"; Peter was utterly lost. Could a man goahead and break the law, just because he happened to be a brother ofa United States senator? And what difference did it make whether athing was in the Declaration of Independence, if it was seditious,if it wasn't allowed to be said? This incident brought Guffey andthe police authorities of the city so much ridicule that Guffey gotall his men together and read them a lecture, explaining to themjust what were the limits of the anti-Red activities, just who itwas they mustn't arrest, and just what it was they couldn't keeppeople from saying. For example, a man couldn't be arrested forquoting the Bible.

  "But Jesus Christ, Guffey," broke in one of the men, "have all of usgot to know the Bible by heart?"

  There was a laugh all round. "No," Guffey admitted, "but at least becareful, and don't arrest anybody for saying anything that sounds asif it came from the Bible."

  "But hell!" put in another of the men, who happened to be anex-preacher. "That'll tie us up tighter than a jail-sentence! Lookwhat's in the Bible!"

  And he proceeded to quote some of the things, and Peter knew that hehad never heard any Bolshevik talk more outrageous than that. Itmade one realize more than ever how complicated was this Redproblem; for Guffey insisted, in spite of everything, that everyword out of the Bible was immune. "Up in Winnipeg," said he, "theyindicted a clergyman for quoting two passages from the prophetIsaiah, but they couldn't face it, they had to let the fellow go."And the same thing was true of the Declaration of Independence;anybody might read it, no matter how seditious it was. And the samething was true of the Constitution, even tho the part called theBill of Rights declared that everybody in America might do all thethings that Guffey's office was sending them to jail for doing!

  This seemed a plain crazy proposition; but Guffey explained it as amatter of politics. If they went too far, these fellows would go outand capture the votes from them, and maybe take away the governmentfrom them, and where would they be then? Peter had never paid anyattention to politics before this, but both he and Gladys realizedafter this lecture that they must broaden their view-point. It wasnot enough to put the Reds in jail and crack their skulls, you hadto keep public sympathy for what you were doing, you had to make thepublic understand that it was necessary, you had to carry on whatwas called "propaganda," to keep the public aware of the odiousnessof these cattle, and the desperate nature of their purposes.

  The man who perceived that most clearly was the Attorney-General ofthe country, and Guffey in his lecture pointed out the double natureof his activities. Not merely was the Attorney-General breaking upthe Communist and the Communist Labor parties and sending theirmembers to jail; he was using the funds of his office to send out anendless stream of propaganda, to keep the country frightened aboutthese Red plots. Right now he had men in American City working overthe data which Guffey had
collected, and every week or two he wouldmake a speech somewhere, or would issue a statement to thenewspapers, telling of new bomb plots and new conspiracies tooverthrow the government. And how clever he was about it! He wouldget the pictures of the very worst-looking of the Reds, picturestaken after they had been kept in jail for weeks without a shave,and with the third degree to spoil their tempers; and these pictureswould be spread on a sheet with the caption: "MEN LIKE THESE WOULDRULE YOU." This would be sent to ten thousand country newspapers allover the nation, and ninety-nine hundred would publish it, andninety-nine million Americans would want to murder the Redsnext morning. So successful had this plan proven that theAttorney-General was expecting to be nominated for President bymeans of it, and all the agencies of his department were working tothat end.

  The same thing was being done by all the other agencies of bigbusiness all over the country. The "Improve America League" ofAmerican City was publishing full-page advertisements in the"Times," and the "Home and Fireside Association" of Eldorado wasdoing the same thing in the Eldorado "Times," and the "Patriot'sDefense Legion" was doing the same thing in the Flagland "Banner."They were investigating the records of all political candidates, andif any of them showed the faintest tinge of pink, Guffey's officewould set to work to rake up their records and get up scandals onthem, and the business men would contribute a big campaign fund, andthese candidates would be snowed under at the polls. That was thekind of work they were doing, and all Guffey's operatives must bearin mind the importance of it, and must never take any step thatwould hamper this political campaign, this propaganda on behalf oflaw and order.

  Section 85

  Peter went out from this conference a sober man, realizing for thefirst time his responsibilities as a voter, and a shepherd to othervoters. Peter agreed with Gladys that his views had been too narrow;his conception of the duties of a secret agent had been of thepre-war order. Now he must realize that the world was changed; now,in this new world made safe for democracy, the secret agent was thereal ruler of society, the real master of affairs, the trustee, asit were, for civilization. Peter and his wife must take up this newrole and make themselves fit for it. They ought of course not bemoved by personal considerations, but at the same time they mustrecognize the fact that this higher role would be of great advantageto them; it would enable them to move up in the world, to meet thebest people. Thru five or six years of her young life Gladys had satpolishing the fingernails and fondling the soft white hands of thegenteel; and always a fire of determination had burnt in her breast,that some day she would belong to this world of gentility, she wouldmeet these people, not as an employee, but as an equal, she wouldnot merely hold their hands, but would have them hold hers.

  Now the chance had come. She had a little talk with Guffey, andGuffey said it would be a good idea, and he would speak to BillyNash, the secretary of the "Improve America League"; and he did so,and next week the American City "Times" announced that on thefollowing Sunday evening the Men's Bible Class of the BethlehemChurch would have an interesting meeting. It would be addressed byan "under cover" operative of the government, a former Red who hadbeen for many years a most dangerous agitator, but had seen theerror of his ways, and had made amends by giving his services to thegovernment in the recent I. W. W. trials.

  The Bethlehem Church didn't amount to very much, it was an obscuresect like the Holy Rollers; but Gladys had been shrewd, and hadinsisted that you mustn't try to climb to the top of the mountain inone step. Peter must first "try it on the dog," and if he failed,there would be no great harm done.

  But Gladys worked just as hard to make a success of this lecture asif they had been going into real society. She spent several daysgetting up her costume and Peter's, and she spent a whole daygetting her toilet ready, and before they set out she spent at leastan hour putting the finishing touches upon herself in front of amirror, and seeing that Peter was proper in every detail. When Mr.Nash introduced her personally to the Rev. Zebediah Muggins, andwhen this apostle of the second advent came out upon the platformand introduced her husband to the crowded working-class audience,Gladys was so a-quiver with delight that it was more a pain than apleasure.

  Peter did not do perfectly, of course. He lost himself a few times,and stammered and floundered about; but he remembered Glady'sadvice--if he got stuck, to smile and explain that he had neverspoken in public before. So everything went along nicely, andeverybody in the Men's Bible Class was aghast at the incrediblerevelations of this ex-Red and secret agent of law and order. Sonext week Peter was invited again--this time by the Young Saints'League; and when he had made good there, he was drafted by the Ad.Men's Association, and then by the Crackers and Cheese Club. By thistime he had acquired what Gladys called "savwaa fair"; his famespread rapidly, and at last came the supreme hour--he was summonedto Park Avenue to address the members of the Friendly Society, aparish organization of the Church of the Divine Compassion!

  This was the goal upon which the eyes of Gladys had been fixed. Thiswas the time that really counted, and Peter was groomed andrehearsed all over again. Their home was only a few blocks from thechurch, but Gladys insisted that they must positively arrive in ataxi-cab, and when they entered the Parish Hall and the Rev. deWilloughby Stotterbridge, that exquisite almost-English gentleman,came up and shook hands with them, Gladys knew that she had at lastarrived. The clergyman himself escorted her to the platform, andafter he had introduced Peter, he seated himself beside her, thusdefinitely putting a seal upon her social position.

  Peter, having learned his lecture by heart, having found out justwhat brought laughter and what brought tears and what broughtpatriotic applause, was now an assured success. After the lecture heanswered questions, and two clerks in the employ of Billy Nashpassed around membership cards of the "Improve America League,"membership dues five dollars a year, sustaining membershiptwenty-five dollars a year, life membership two hundred dollarscash. Peter was shaken hands with by members of the most exclusivesocial set in American City, and told by them all to keep it up--hiscountry needed him. Next morning there was an account of his lecturein the "Times," and the morning after there was an editorial abouthis revelations, with the moral: "Join the Improve America League."

  Section 86

  That second morning, when Peter got to his office, he found a letterwaiting for him, a letter written on very conspicuous and expensivestationery, and addressed in a woman's tall and sharp-pointedhandwriting. Peter opened it and got a start, for at the top of theletter was some kind of crest, and a Latin inscription, and thewords: "Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution." Theletter informed him by the hand of a secretary that Mrs. WarringSammye requested that Mr. Peter Gudge would be so good as to callupon her that afternoon at three o'clock. Peter studied the letter,and tried to figure out what kind of Red this was. He was impressedby the stationery and the regal tone, but that word "Revolution" wasone of the forbidden words. Mrs. Warren Sammye must be one of the"Parlor Reds," like Mrs. Godd.

  So Peter took the letter to McGivney, and said suspiciously, "Whatkind of a Red plot is this?"

  McGivney read the letter, and said, "Red plot? How do you mean?"

  "Why," explained Peter, "it says `Daughters of the AmericanRevolution.'"

  And McGivney looked at him; at first he thought that Peter wasjoking, but when he saw that the fellow was really in earnest, heguffawed in his face. "You boob!" he said. "Didn't you ever hear ofthe American Revolution? Don't you know anything about the Fourth ofJuly?"

  Just then the telephone rang and interrupted them, and McGivneyshoved the letter to him saying, "Ask your wife about it!" So whenGladys came in, Peter gave her the letter, and she was much excited.It appeared that Mrs. Warring Sammye was a very tip-top society ladyin American City, and this American Revolution of which she was adaughter was a perfectly respectable revolution that had happened along time ago; the very best people belonged to it, and it was legaland proper to write about, and even to put on your letterheads.Peter must go home a
nd get himself into his best clothes at once,and telephone to the secretary that he would be pleased to call uponMrs. Warring Sammye at the hour indicated. Incidentally, there werea few more things for Peter to study. He must get a copy of thesocial register, "Who's Who in American City," and he must get ahistory of his country, and learn about the Declaration ofIndependence, and what was the difference between a revolution thathad happened a long time ago and one that was happening now.

  So Peter went to call on the great society lady in her grey stonemansion, and found her every bit as opulent as Mrs. Godd, with theaddition that she respected her own social position; she did notmake the mistake of treating Peter as an equal, and so it did notoccur to Peter that he might settle down permanently in her home.Her purpose was to tell Peter that she had heard of his lectureabout the Red menace, and that she was chairman of the Board ofDirectors of the Lady Patronesses of the Home for Disabled WarVeterans in American City, and she wanted to arrange to have Peterdeliver this lecture to the veterans. And Peter, instructed inadvance by Gladys, said that he would be very glad to donate thislecture as a patriotic contribution. Mrs. Warring Sammye thanked himgravely in the name of his country, and said she would let him knowthe date.

  Peter went home, and Gladys made a wry face, because the lecture wasto be delivered before a lot of good-for-nothing soldiers in somehall, when it had been her hope that it was to be delivered to theDaughters themselves, and in Mrs. Warring Sammye's home. However, tohave attracted Mrs. Warring Sammye's attention for anything was initself a triumph. So Gladys was soon cheerful again, and she toldPeter about Mrs. Warring Sammye's life; one picked up such valuableknowledge in the gossip at the manicure parlors, it appeared.