The full text of President Harding’s proclamation, calling upon members of the armed bands threatening invasion of Logan county, to disperse and go to their homes follows:
Harding Tomb, Marion, OH, June 2016. For more on the Harding Tomb, follow this link: https://www.hardinghome.org/harding-memorial/
WHEREAS, The governor of the state of West Virginia has represented that domestic violence exists in said state which the authorities of said state are unable to suppress; and,
WHEREAS, It is provided in the Constitution of the United States that the United States shall protect each state in this union, on application of the legislature, or of the executive when the legislature cannot be convened, against domestic violence; and,
WHEREAS, By the law of the United States, in pursuance of the above, it is provided that in all cases of insurrection in any state or of obstruction to the laws thereof it shall be lawful for the President of the United States on application of the legislature of such state or of the executive, when the legislature cannot be convened, to call forth the militia of any other state or states or to employ such part of the militia of any other state or states or to employ such part of the land and naval forces of the United states as shall be judged necessary for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection and causing the laws to be duly executed; and,
WHEREAS, The legislature of the state of West Virginia is not in session and cannot be convened in time to meet the present emergency, and the executive of said state under Section 4, of Article 4, of the Constitution of the United States and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, has made the application to me in the premises for such part of the military forces of the United States as may be necessary and adequate to protect the state of West Virginia and the citizens thereof against domestic violence and to enforce the due execution of the laws; and,
WHEREAS, It is requested that whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use military forces of the United States for the purpose aforesaid, he shall forthwith by proclamation command such insurgents to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective homes within a limited time;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Warren G. Harding, President of the United States, do hereby make proclamation and I do hereby command all persons engaged in said unlawful and insurrectionary proceedings to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes on or before 12 o’clock noon of the first day of September, 1921, and hereafter abandon said combinations and submit themselves to the laws and constituted authorities of said state;
AND, I invoke the aid and cooperation of all good citizens thereof to uphold the laws and preserve the public peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-one, and the independence of the United States the One Hundred and Forty-sixth.
Source: “Text of President’s Proclamation Directing Armed Band to Disperse,” Logan (WV) Banner, 2 September 1921.
My cousin Greg was the ultimate companion for a tour of the Harding Home and Harding Tomb! Marion, OH. June 2016. For more on the home, follow this link: https://www.hardinghome.org/
Brandon Ray Kirk 