Abstract

Massachusetts-Three Hundred Years

Massachusetts has been observing its tercentenary. On August 22 Massachusetts observes another anniversary. Three years ago the Commonwealth, acting through all agencies by law established, put to death two Italian working, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The anniversary fails strangely in this tercentenary year. No one who lived through those dreadful days of August 1927, in even indirect contact with that tragedy can ever forget the ghastly horror of it all. But passions of those days have cooled. It is no longer a time either for shrill denunciation or for impassioned defense of men who sent those two humble Italians to their death. According to the author, people should now probe into the meaning of civil liberty in Massachusetts, which is its classic American home.