Page:Johnson v. State.pdf/6

] , C. J., (dissenting). The conduct engaged in by Johnson, and adjudged violative of § 2941; occurred in June, 1941—six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Act 64, from which § 2941 is taken, was approved February 10, 1919. Its title discloses a praiseworthy design to prevent desecration, mutilation, or improper use of the flag.

The legislature of 1919 was the first to convene after World War No. 1 had been concluded. Memories of multitudinous tragedies between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 1918, were living images. It was natural that realism of war would amalgamate with the fervor of peace when members of the Forty-second general assembly convened in Little Rock to plan the economy of a world they thought had been made safe for democracy. Nor was it inappropriate that a commonwealth whose sons had distinguished themselves should promulgate the law with which we are now concerned. Chateau Thierry, Vaux, Belleau Woods, Argonne plateaus, and other battlefields in France were not to be forgotten.

When congress responded to President Wilson's demand for action against the aggressor, appellant was seventeen years of age. He endeavored to enlist in the armed forces, but was prevented by his mother from doing so. From Louisiana he moved to El Dorado, then to Texas, and finally settled near St. Joe, in Searcy county, where he has been for three years. Johnson owns a 39-acre tract of land. In addition to his wife there are eight children—a family of ten. The oldest is fourteen; the youngest, two. Appellant had not been arrested prior to the present difficulty. In June, 1941, he was not a Jehovah's Witness, although shortly thereafter affiliation was made.

Nell Cooper, upon whose complaint Johnson was convicted, was the principal witness. To some extent she was corroborated by Horton. Mrs. Cooper had been "hearing rumors." Some related to appellant's patriotism, or "loyalty," as she expressed it; others had to do with a suspicion that Johnson was dividing donated groceries