Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], June 02, 1917, Image 1

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
Wlm Thinking Paperjhr Thinking People
Vol. 27 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, JUNE 2, 1817 No. 47 I
.4 n Independent Paper Publish ed Under
I:: the Management of T. L. Holman ::
J
I The Drift Of Opinion
HERB is u feeling of growing discontent and
C j uneasiness throughout the land. Somehow
ta" or other, many citizens are beginning to
feel that all is not well at Washington. There is a
drift of sentiment underneath the surface that does
not augur well for the administration. And the
1 cause is quite plain. The people feel that the
president and his party are playing politics. '
Woodrow Wilson is the only war president who
has ever enjoyed the full support of the people at
the outset of a conflict.. Though many citizens
felt that, had he been more positive in his earlier
policies, he might have avoided the conflict with
v honor; yet when a state of war was declared they
were willing to "stand behind the president." And
there was no wavering for a time. Politics was
forgotten; the great metropolitan newspapers led
the way, and even the Republican leaders hastened
to the support of the president when his own
party leaders ignobly refused to stand by him.
Moreover, the very few papers and politicians who
undertook to obstruct the policies of the adminis
tration were universally condemned by the press
and the people of all political faiths.
How different the situation in 1861. Lincoln
had to be smuggled into Washington by special
train over a secret route in order to avoid a
threatened assault upon his person. He had to
deal with sedition at the very outset of his admin
istration, and all through the early days of the
struggle he was subjected to the most vicious
forms of personal abuse and slander. Still, not
withstanding this inauspicious beginning, he kept
growing in the estimation of the people day by day
until finally he gained the entire confidence of the
country.
But Lincoln was an unusual man. He made no
I attempt to immortalize himself while on earth.
His pretensions were modest and within the range
of comprehension of the common people. He oc
cupied himself solely with the duty of pressing the
war to a successful conclusion. And it was not
"Lincoln's war," it was the people's war. He se
lected his assoc'ates with extreme caution, and
without regard for political ambition. Several of
his closest advisers were his bitter personal and
political enemies but that did not concern him; he
believed that they would serve the country un
selfishly and with the highest possible efficiency.
Thus did he constitute his cabinet, and there was
B - not one politician or publicity expert in it. There
3 was no ostentation, no pretensions, throughout his
8 entire administration; and so it was that the very
I simplicity of his conduct marked the man for im-
1 mortality. Ho was unconsciously crowned in the
hearts of his countrymen while ho yet walked the
earth.
No such good fortune has yet come to Presi
dent Wilson. He has the opportunity but that Ib
all. There is an old legend that no man can curry
favor with the immortals and gain their company
in the end. We do not attribute any suuh motive
to the president, as many of our contemporaries
are doing, but "we do think that it would be in good
taste to call off the presidential press agents. To
'TIL DRUMS GO MARCHING BY
By Will M. Cressy.
HOLKS are goin' crazy; howlin' day and
night;
Stars and stripes a-wavin'; boys all want to
fight.
But I'm stayin' right with mother; ain't
hankerin to die.
I say it and I mean it 'til the drums go
marchin' by.
Girls all gettin' sassy, singing' "Johnnie Git
Your Gun."
Talkin' 'bout enlistin', just as if 'twas fun.
My mother didn't raise me on a battlefield to
die,
And I swear I'll never do it 'til the drums
go marchin' by.
Curse the drums, I hate 'em, with their roar
ing, crashing sound;
Sendin' all the demons in your soul a-ragin'
round.
I'm a Presbyterian, and I worship God on
high;
And I'm a man of peaceful way 'til the
drums go marchin' by.
And now here I am in khaki luggin' round
a gun,
And a-marchin', and a-drillin', and thlnkln' it
is fun.
But how you goin' to help it with those
flags a-wavin' high,
And the fifes a-playin' "Dixie" and the
drums a-marchin' by?
Bridgeport Life.
attempT to immortalize any living man is not in
line with present-day American thought, and that
is the chief trouble with the country today. When
the administration leaders are willing to submerge
their personalities, if need be, and consider noth
ing but the common cause of the country, then
the rank and file of the citizens will be willing to
take up the work in earnest. But not before.
The Boys Of '61 H
gHERE was just a handful of them in the line
J of march the other day but they were the H
outstanding feature of the demonstration. It is H
always good to see the old boys on parade they H
grace the occasion and this year their presence ' H
gave an unusual significance to the day. They WM
were, in fact, a silent reminder of better days. Bfl
Memorial day was founded to commemorate H
the deeds of the Grand Army of the Republic and
to do honor to the survivors of that mighty host H
of patriots. For fifty years this fine old custom H
has been observed without deviation, and each H
year in the presence of the veterans the rising H
generation of Americans have pledged anew their H
allegiance to the principles which were perpetuat- H
ed on the battle fields of the Rebellion. This dom- H
onstration of devotion came to be so manifest and H
so constant that it probably never occurred to the H
veterans that some of them would live to see the H
day when their fellow countrymen would flinch in H
a crisis. Sad to relate, this has all come to pass. H
And so, as the remnant of the grand army H
passed by in review, we wonder if there was a H
single red-blooded American standing along the H
line of march who did not blush for shame as he H
compared his own generation with that to which H
the veterans belonged. Surely, the Almighty, In H
His infinite wisdom, must have spared these men
beyond their allotted years that we, in this dark H
hour of our country's danger, might gaze into their H
sad old eyes' and grow conscious of our shortcom- H
ings. It was, indeed, a sober contemplation. H
In just a few more years the last tattoo will H
sound and the grand army of the republic will be-, H
come a thing of memory. Let us hope that the H
few members still remaining may be spared a lit- H
tie while longer; until, at least, America has re- H
deemed herself in her own eyes and in the estima-
tion of mankind. Then when they do go into eter- I H
nal bivouac with their comrades on the other side . f H
they can tell the story of a country glorified. " H
Startling Information
ENATOR KING expressed the opinion the M
fy other day that if Russia does not soon pull H
herself together and assume an offensive on the , -v H
eastern front, "America will have to send 5,000,000 M
men to the trenches in Europe." This will be a M
stupendous undertaking and it -will probably re- " ""H
quire three years at the least to mobollze and H
move an army of such proportions. The country 'H
can meet this demand if it comes, and would H
probably smash all records in doing so; (but the M
thougnc of what might be happening on the other M
side while we were making ready, is just a little M
disquieting. M
Can the Allies hold the line until America is M
able to throw a mighty army in the field? This Is ,H
the chief concernment of the administration and H
the Allies at present, and the prospect is not alto- H
gether reassuring. The submarines have destroyed ' H
" m
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