Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], March 27, 1915, Page 2, Image 2

About Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1902-1919

Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library

                
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I 2 GOODWIN'S WEEKLY.
H I conquest will include; the Balkans and the great
y' military and commorcial power of southeastern
H Europe will bo Russia.
H This has heon a Russian droam for two hun-
drod years. It was practically accomplished in
I , itho Russo-Turklsh war but Bismarck and Dis
H raeli cheated Russia out of her legitimate spoils
, in the 'treaty of Berlin.
H t Now Great Britain is so involved that she has
Hj probably agreed to permit Russia to have her
H; way in that region, and wjien we reflect upon the
HL advantages it will give to Russia, the fact is at
Hf i once apparent, that the blow It will give German
Hjr , naval and 'commercial 'power in the south will be
HI j the- most effective thus far delivered in the war.
Hi It shows, too, how great a mistake the west-
Hj-' em nations of Europe made when they permitted
H J their quarrols to culminate in a war, for all com-
Hi bined are not too formidable to prevent their
Hif absorption by the mighty power of Russia.
H It will be recalled that the great Napoleon
HT feared that in fifty years all Europe would be
B Cossack. He did not count on what steam and
1 electricity would do to thwart that onward march
!of the Colossi of the east, but when Constan
tinople shall be captured and an unhampered
way through the Hellespont shall be made for
H' i Russia's navy, his foreboding will be recalled by
B ' thousands of people in western Europe, for the
M Russians are of Asiatic stock and the Russian
H government is as pitiless as Fate itself in carry-
B Ing out its designs.
B' It was a most unfortunate day for civilization
U, when Germany and Great Britain engaged in
H' When the Great War Closes
H A R" R0L0ND G- USHER, professor of history
s Al in the Washington, St. Louis "University, has
H put out a learned paper in which he declares
H that with the settlement of the war in Europe,
H the United States will he speedily involved with
B the victor, be it Germany or Great Britain; that
H the victor will turn to the western hemisphere
H; for 'trade expansion if not political expansion,
K and thinks the United States must decide at once
H whether it will undertake to maintain or surren-
H'; der the .Monroe doctrine. Dr. Usher gives many
Hi strong reasons for his belief, but seems to as-
H sume that the victor will come out of the war
H in a condition to be saucy and to maintain any
H position it may assume. Our belief is that both
H Germany and Great Britain will both be willing
H to take a rest when peace shall be declared; that
H the conditions on this continent will add to that
H desire for a rest. There are some millions of
H men of German descent on this side; their sym-
H pathles are all now with the fatherland, but wer
Hi Germany victorious in the present war and were
H she to undertake to seize territory on this side to
H help make up her losses, she would not retain
H that sympathy on this side for a holy minute.
H And were the allies to be victors and then
H were Great Britain to become offensive, the first
H notice she would receive would be from the Do.
H minion, which in effect would bo, if she precipl-
H tated a war upon the United States, the Dominion
H would in a day be declared an Independent state.
H And still there will be danger in case the
H Allies are victors. That danger will come from
H Asia and it will be the more serious because it
H will have the secret backing of both Groat Britain
H and Russia.
H Japan is determined to dominate the Pacific
H ocean trade and wants large areas of China. Ii
H China is not already divided on paper between
H Great Britain, Russia, France and Japan, then
H there is nothing in symptoms. And if our country
E! is not quietly preparing to meet a crisis of that
H kind, then those in charge of the government are
H blind as moles.
The University Calamity
'T'llE unseemly university quarrel is a great
A misfortune, not only to tho Institution itself,
but to the state and its people. It is liable to
destroy the usefulness of the great school for
years to come, and Utah herself stands in dis
grace before the sisterhood of states. Tho dam
age already done is immeasurable, and oven
though the differences be speedily and satisfic
torlly settled tho school cannot recover its lost
prestige in years. And what can recompense the
state itself for the humiliation it now suiters?
In this controversy we 'hold no brief for one
side or the other. We simply aim to get at the
facts. These we are entitled to know. The uni
versity is a state institution; it belongs to tho
people, and in justice to all the people those in
authority at the university should render an
honest and Immediate accounting of the circum
stances Involved. Wo warn tho regents that they
are making a grave mistake if they persist in
the petty policy of whitewashing their own acts
and the acts of those who are subordinate to
them. The people are stirred to the quick and
they are bound to have an adequate explanation
of the imbroglio, even if they have to resort to
severe measures to obtain satisfaction.
It will not do to undertake to laugh the whole
matter out of court. This is not a tempest in a
teapot, as one of the authorities flippantly termed
it. When a score of tho faculty members re
sign voluntarily and on the grounds of sustain
ing their self-respect and independence of
thought and action, it 'behooves all fair-minded
men and women to give ear to their complaints.
And when a great majority of the student body
openly rebels against the policy of the institu
tion, and after deliberating in open meeting sol
emnly declare by overwhelming vote that they
will sever their connections with the school and
never return until a change in administration
occurs, then those authorities who would still
persist in ignoring such a petition are foolish in
the extreme, and they fail to reckon with the
consequences.
This is no time for temporizing.' Those re
sponsible for the administration of affairs at
the university owe a moral debt to the faculty
members who resigned, to the students, and to
the people at large, to disclose the facts which
form the basis of the contention. And likewise,
those who lead the opposition owe a similar debt
to the institution and to the state of Utah to not
exaggerate the case or resurrect old issues.
The people of Utah are unfortunately again
on trial, and much depends upon the sober
judgment and self-restraint exercised by the
leaders of all factions to the controversy.
Were wo allowed to offer a suggestion, it
would bo this: That President Kingsbury tender
his resignation, pending a thorough investiga
tion of his policies and conduct as head of the
institution. If ho holds the welfare of the school
dearer than his personal interests, and if ho is
sincere in tho position ho has assumed, he should
be only too willing to stake his reputation on
tho results of an impartial investigation. Such
a verdict given In his favor would vindicate him
in the eyes of his accusers. On tho other hand,
should he persist in following his present course,
ho must eventually forfeit his own self-respect
and tho esteem of tho people at largo, for no
man can possibly submit to tho smears of a
whitewash brush and fare otherwise.
A word to tho regents. It Is the opinion of
many that the real issue is not "Shall or shall
not President Kingsbury be sustained," this for
tho sake of discipline if for nothing else. Tho
real issuo lies beyond the whims and self-advancement
of one man, or of thirteen more. It
encompasses tho reputation and future welfare of
a great institution of learning and the good name
of a great state. To these far-reaching issues,
all other and smaller issues should be subordin
ated. War Pictures
THE war pictures from Europe during the past
sixJ months have all been painted in sombre
colors. Men dying in the trenches, or going down
in sinking ships; cities rent by shot and shell;
great structures made merely unsightly wrecks;
trampled fields; shivering men and women and lit
tle children sitting desolate .before the ruins of
their former homes; camps amid snowdrifts;
marching and fighting amid blinding storms one
vast inferno.
But if any artists on "snap-shotters" how is
that for a new word were) about in Paris last
Sunday night, wo ought soon to have more cheer
ful pictures. The dispatch explained that tho
approach of the Zeppelins (over Paris) was an
nounced by trumpet calls, that then the populace i
of both sexes and regardless of race and previous
conditions repaired to verandas and housetops and
streets in their night attire to watch the coming
victors.
That first winter after the Comstock was dis
covered, as if angry at the intrusion of so many
eager prospectors, the winds blew as they never
blew before and never since.
One night when a real hurricane was on the
march, a lady who was living in a house which
was threatening every moment to go, arose and
put on her finest nightrobe. Her daughter asked
her if she was crazy, to which she replied: "Not
much, when they pick my ibody up down the valley
two or three miles, in the morning, I am bountf
to make them say: 'At least she wore beautiful
night robes.' "
Anticipating, after the trumpet calls, what was
coming, it is reasonable to believe that in prepara.
tion for the show the most costly robes de nuit
were donned the dispatch said there was no
panic and if tho picture men were alert under
the soft moonlight and arc lights, we ought to
have pictures in another week to make us think
that war is not so bad a thing after all. Let us
hope that the ship bringing those pictures may es
cape submarines, avoid floating mines and outsail
torpedo boats and patrolling cruisers, and reach
port in safety, that the dreadful monotony of tho
pictures of war's horrors may be broken for at
least one week.
If the pictures develop finely, we may, with
out breaking our neutrality, still be grateful to
the Zeppelins for making the raid.
Too Hasty Conclusions
WE have before us a marvelous speech deliv
ered nearly fifty years ago by one of the
great Americans of that day, the historian Mot
ley. The 3peech was made before the New York
Historical society. Many of the great men of
that day were present and at the close of the
address William Cullen Bryant, in felicitous words
moved a vote of thanks to the orator of the even
ing. The address was a wonderful one, much of
it was sublime in tho marvelous learning dis
played, In the lofty diction in which the thoughts
were clothed, and if here and there a little dis
cord is discernible, even they but caused tho suc
ceeding rhythm to be sweeter.
One of these discords, to us, was the statement
to the effect that tho civilization which is ours
is due to the earth's inclination on its axis which
causes the temperate zones, wherein civilization
could only have been acquired, thus making tho
polar and equatorial regions worthless. How did f
he know that to bo true? How much did he know
of God's laws, or of God's plans?
The melting snows of Siberia reveal that it
was once a tropical region as luxuriant In vegeta
tion and as vigorous in animal life as the tropics
now are. At that time the earth must have stood