Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], March 31, 1917, 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

                
1 2 GOODWIN S WEEKLY.
H yl n Independent Paper Publish ed Under
B :; the Management of T. L. Holman ::
w
H EDITORIALS B Y JUDGE C. C. GOOD WIN
B The United States And The War
M, HE Allies are counting much upon the expec-
H tation that Congress, when it meets on
i Monday next, will declare war against Germany.
H It is a just expectation, for in truth all the na-
H tions of Europe, indirectly at least, have a deep
H: interest in our country.
m For a century and more Europe lias been con-
M tributing its people to our country and those who
M have come to our shores have been continually
H writing back to their respective fatherlands how
H their conditions have improved since coming to
H the "land of the free." The volume of immi-
H grants has been steadily increasing until, now,
H every mail from the old world brings letters to
H loved ones in America, and every return mail
H carries back money in large volume to dependent
H ones in the homeland.
H All these immigrants have not been desirable
H citizens, but the great majority have, and the
H impression has steadily grown abroad that ours
H is a. good country, peopled by good men and
H women, and that the toiler has a better chance
H here than in any other land. This thought has
H been emphasized by our army of tourists and
H their generous expenditure of money in Europe
H during the quarter of a century prior to the out
H break of the war.
H Our war with Spain wa3 an object lesson to
H them. They saw a peaceable people spring to
H arms, destroy the fleets of Spain, handle like
H playthings her armies, and wrest from the
H haughty nation all of her island possessions.
H Then they watched what was done in Cuba; saw
H the island cleaned, order restored, schoolhouses
H built and teachers provided, a stable government
H established; and then when finally "redeemed,
H regenerated and disenthralled," they saw our
H flag lowered, our soldiers embarked, and our
H ships with a final salute sail away. There was
H no parallel to it in all the history of the world,
H and the impression( it made was wonderful. That
H impression still lingers with them, and tho '
H thought it conveys is that our country asks for
H nothing but justice and that it is great enough
H and strong enough to command justice.
H Hence, if war is declared next week, the be-
H lief, outside of Germany, will be that it was not
H dene to gratify any sinister desire on our part,
H but, as a last resort, to vindicate the right and
H maintain the honor of our flag.
H And in both Germany and Austria this thought
H will not be entirely suppressed, for in millions of
H homes in those two countries the prayers in-
H elude those who have left them and have come
H to us those of their own blood who have linked
M their fate with ours, and who for years have been
M writing back that America is a good country and
H that Americans are a good people.
H Germany munt have been desperate almost to
M madness when it began to sink American ships.
M It was not Germany. A vote of the German peo-
Hi plo would have been overwhelmingly against it.
H It was that counsel, possessed of the merciless
H 4 Prussian idea that Germany is to rule in the
B affairs of nations and that whatever she is ob-
M liged to do to accomplish this all-absorbing am-
M -bition, that caused the outlaw decision.
H Germany is still very strong, but one crushing
W defeat will make it necessary for her to provide
M,' a defense against outside foes and internal revo-
B lutions. Wo look for the first break to be made
1 liy the Hungarians in the Austrian empire.
Wm j Northern Germany still appears to be unshakable
K ' in its devotion to the kaiser.
I
l
Unthought-Of Preparedness
SttHEN the Pilgrims landed In New England
1 and tho Cavaliers In Virginia, it was all
a wilderness before them for three thousand miles.
That was three hundred years ago. At once tho
conquest of that wilderness began. Those pio
neers had to fight their way against savages and,
at the same time, make a living from a poor soil.
It is not yet quite finished. In the meantime they
"have had to fight four wars one the greatest civil
war in all history.
They and their descendants have done this
work; made all the needed sacrifices; but never
for a moment have they held in their souls any
doubt about the final triumph. By their side,
through the generations, have been the wonder
ful women who held up the arms of the men, sup
pressed every innocent longing for tho things
women love, shared tho toil, shared all the dan
gers, were the servants and physicians for their
families, and made true the claim that:
"The bravest battle that ever was fought,
'Twas fought by the mothers of men."
Well the bulk of the American people are de
scended from those uncrowned kings and queens.
No royal line that ever upreared a throne on this
earth compared with that royalty that learned to
live on the least food, to adopt means to ends;
that learned the lesson that the Arkansas man ex
plained, when asked what ho did when he had to
have something, and could not do without it, and
yet could not get it. His answer was: "I just
braced up and pushed ahead, and learned at length
that nothing was really indispensible."
Many gifted pens have written on the need of
preparedness on the part of our country, but not
one, so far as we have noted, has touched upon
that one preparedness which has equipped and
made our people invincible that awtul friction of
three hundred years that finally impressed upon
the souls of genuine Americans the firm belief
that no trial was severe enough, no want so great,
that they could not meet and turn aside for native
land's sake.
We are prompted to write this because the
great newspapers, in the commercial centers of
the east, are crying out for a united people to
sutain the government in the present crisis. It
seems to us that it is not only unnecessary, but
that it is an indirect reproach. When did the
American people fail to be united for native land,
save in the great civil war? And then, what
higher devotion was ever seen among a people
than among ours for one side or the other?
Of course, there are bad men who would like
to see trouble. There are foreign-born men in our
midst who cannot refrain from showing their sym
pathy for their native lands; but even so, what
are they In numbers compared with the millions
who drew in patriotism with their mothers' milk,
and who stand ready to make any needed sacrifice
for tho great republic whose aegis is just now the
world's shield?
Bacon And Beans
XN the rush to exchange all that men make
j or food enough to live on, it is slowly dawn
ing upon the minds of men that the foods most
essential to make and preserve us as a nation is,
after all, bacon and beans. That combination
really has created and preserved and made great
tho American people.
Of course, a few other things have contributed.
In the south the hoe-cake has been a factor; in
the north hot cakes for breakfast have demoral
ized many a stomach; other things north and
south have contributed such as pumpkin and
mince and sweet-potato pies, and a little whiskey
but the old reliables have been bacon and
beans.
When the boys were working out the placers
of California, of course they would go into tho
mining camps on Saturday nights, soil their dust, ,
then hunt for a restaurant and eat everything in
sight. Next day Sunday they would drink every
thing in sight, and then go back to the diggin's
and satisfy their appetites and restore their stom
achs by the use of the infallible remedy bacon
and beans.
Many a warm discussion was awakened as to
the relative upbuilding, factors in the bacon and
tho navy bean, but the bean was, after all, tho
real undisputed lord no matter in what form
or under what disguise it was dished up. So, too,
tho excellence of tho bacon whether it should bo
cornfed or not was an issue but nothing was
ever considered possible as a substitute.
It may truthfully be said that many great states
were rounded into glorious form on these two
agencies bacon and beans.
And this year while potatoes have become,
as it were, diamonds and butter and eggs and
cabbages merely decorations for the tables of
the rich men have been reading backwards and
have learned that behind all else, in tho mak
ing and preservation of human society, the un
aristocratic bean and the low born bacon are
what the Old Guard was to Napoleon.
And it astonishes them to discover by experi
ence how cheaply in these times of soaring food
prices, a man's food-wants can be satisfied by re
turning to those two staples, upon which great
states have been built and the best portions of
the earth havo been taken by conquest.
Up Into The Light
HE Jews the world around are exultant over
KS the news from Russia. The song that Mir
iam sang is ringing In their ears: "The Lord has
triumphed gloriously." The Romanoff rule has
passed away; the spirit of liberty is in the air of
Russia; after long waiting, the clouds have broken
from over the greatest despotism on earth, and ,
the poor there stand up "redeemed and regenerat
ed," if not yet quite "disenthralled."
That revolution in Russia is one of the great
events of the century and the swiftness of it, and
the little cost of life that accompanied it, is a
world wonder. It is not yet finished, but it can
never again be as it was in Russia. The winter
has passed; there may still be some spring storms,
but they will swiftly pass.
Eternal justice often moves slowly but, when
it does move, it is irresistible and its decrees are
inexorable.
The Most Effective Guns
HE great Napoleon, when a. boy in the mili
KS tary school of Brienne, declared that the
effective arm of a perfect army must be its artil
lery, and was sent to Paris to specialize in that
particular branch of the service. He hold to the
same belief all his life. When his army, on the
first day of Waterloo, was taking the positions
assigned to each division, a 'battery of twenty
four guns passed near where Napoleon was sta
tioned and to a staff officer standing with him
he expressed his unbounded admiration of the
artillery.
Napoleon has been in his final sleep for ninety
six years, but in a greater war than he ever
awakened his judgment is being vindicated. The
great arm is the artillery. It has now developed
that trench warfare must I)e abandoned because
the latest cannons pulverize any worxs mat man
has yet devised to offset them.
In this arm, the English seem to have pro
duced a gun superior to any that have come from
tho Krupps. An old soldier told the writer that
the guns which the English have are American
guns; and then discussed the reason why they
must be superior to any guns ever made. Speak
ing of the great howitzers, he said that they were
merely to crush things at comparatively short