Goodwin's weekly : a thinking paper for thinking people. [volume], July 21, 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

                
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mfrWEm Thinking Paperjhr Thinking People " I
1 Vol. 28 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, JULY 21, 1917 No. 3 H
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I An Independent Paper Published Under
I ;: the Management of T. L. Holman ::
I ' The Pioneers
J N Tuesday next a Utah will set aside its
1 usual work and worries and do honor to the
!7"y illustrious band of men and women who
first settled the state. It will be three score years
and ten since the advance guard of the pioneers
i set foot in Salt Lake valley just the span of man's
5 allotted time on earth and yet what wonderful
achievements have been wrought by these truly
remarkable people.
Persecuted because of their religious convic
' tions and hounded from one community to an-
(other, they finally decided to seek a new land
where they might dwell in peace. It was not an
easy matter to bid farewell to old friends and fire
J sides; it required supreme courage to undertake
the long and hazardous trek across the plains; but
4 these men and women were of pioneer stock them-
selves, and in the heart-rending experiences they
encountered on the way to their new homes they
I met every sacrifice without a murmur and meas-
, J ured up to the high type of character set by their
' ) hardy forebears.
M But their trials and tribulations by no means
' came to a close at the end of the difficult journey.
IThe barren region which they found and the isola
tion of their colony multiplied their misfortunes
for a time and. increased their hardships beyond
all measure. Surely the early days in Utah were
a time that tried men's souls. The obstacles
, which confronted them called forth every ounce
(of courage and constancy that they possessed,
but nothing could daunt their spirit or exhaust
their patience. In spite of the seemingly unsur
mountablo difficulties which beset them on all
F sides, they pressed on and finally overcame some
I of the most stupendous odds that ever challenged
I the brain and brawn of any people.
ib It is not amiss to say that the primary object
of the pioneers was to establish a community
wherein they might worship God in their own
manner. They accomplished this, but in doing
so they builded better than they knew. Not only
have they given to the world a religion that is now
universally respected; they have given to the na
tion a commonwealth that by virtue of manifest
loyalty and professed patriotism has assumed a
proud position in the great sisterhood of states.
This was not accomplished without extreme cost
to the citizens, due to the prejudice of creed and
the intense bitterness thereby entailed, but out of
the long travail has come a tolerance that has
welded the people together in a peaceful and pros
porous community.
Happily, the old troubles are all forgotten.
Utah stands out today, arrayed in all the splendor
of a united citizenry, asking no favors and making
Jl& apologies for past mistakes. Her face is turned
towards the future and she is taking rapid strides'
in the direction of the fulfillment of the ultimate
dreams of the pioneers. It is fortunate that a few
members of this remarkable band have been
spared down through the years to witnesBUhis
wonderful transformation and to them we extend
our congratulations and express, in behalf of a
grateful people, a heart-felt appreciation of the
work that they have accomplished.
His Parting Shot
ixiHBN the war department denied Colonel
AS Roosevelt authority to organize an Ameri-.
can volunteer contingent for immediate service on
French soil, it was not to be expected that he
would tamely accept the decision and forget -the
OUT ON THE RIM
By Lou E. Cole, Cowboy Poet.
OUT on the rim where the cannons grim
Spew death in the soldiers' face,
Where bursting shell makes a yawning
hell
Sweeps away all human trace,
Our khaki troops with Yankee whoops
Will clash with the hosts in gray;
Will add their blood to the crimson flood
That right may gain the day.
Where war-planes fly in the shrouded sky
Where bursting missile whines
With droning breath on wings of death
There will be found our lines
Our arms of might in cause of right
Our flag of flags unfurled
That war may cease and lasting peace
Be brought to all the world.
incident. The silence that he has maintained since
then was broken the other day by his publication
of the correspondence relating to his controversy
with the secretary of war. Thir rather startling
disclosure demonstrates that the Colonel not only
did some plain talking to Secretary Baker, but
that he had no reluctance whatever in stating his
case plainly before the American people.
It appears from the correspondence that the
war department took the position that no Ameri
can troops should bo allowed to embark for Eur
ope and engage in active service until they had
been adequately trained, and that when they did
go they should be placed "under the command of
the ablest and most experienced military men and
officered by men selected because of their previ
ous military training and actual military experi
ence." This view, although penned by the secre-
VH
tary of war, was endorsed by the general staff of H
the army, the war college and by the president
himself. il
One can readily imagine the tumult of emotions
that the Colonel must havo experienced when ho 1
read between the lines of this particular letter and M
saw the rather pointed inference that, inasmuch 'M
as the administration desired only regular army 'H
men with actual experience, his services could
not bo utilized and, in fact, wero not wanted. !M
Now the Colonel has always considered himself as ' M
a first class fighting man and certainly he could M
not allow this challenge to go unanswered. More-
over, the following excerpt from his letter to the M
secretary discloses the fact that, whatever others H
may think of his attributes as a soldier, lio istill M
continues to hold them in high regard. M
Denouncing the view taken by the adminis- i
tratlon respecting his proposal as the advice of -4
"the red-tape and pipe-clay school, hide-bound in H
the pedantry of wooden militarism, which is only -H
onerdegreo worse than its extreme opposite," ho
goes on to say: "You decline my application to Jl
raise a volunteer force for service in France, and 11
my command of it at the front, on the ground, of H
my lack of military training and experience. Yet H
you are summoning, and have summoned to the H
field, numbers of military officers as division and H
bridgade commanders who have not had one-tenth H
of my experience." 'H
In addition to this, he advises Secretary Baker H
that: "I am a retired commander-in-chief of the H
United States army, and thus eligible to every H
command." This presents rather a novel angle to H
the controversy, although the precedent was es- H
tablished over a century ago when President H
Adams appointed the ex-president, George Wash- H
ington, to the command of the army of the young H
republic. But Colonel Roosevelt does not rest his H
claim for consideration solely on the grounds of H
eligibility. In his own humble opinion, ho is thor- I'll
oughly competent to hold the commission which ifI
ho sought, saying: "I am not a Hindenburg, but I HI
can raise and handle this division in a way that M H
will do credit to the American people, to you and M
to the president." There are several million Amor- I H
ican citizens who quite agree with the Colonel in I H
this respect, and who would like to see a littlo H
less red-tape and a little more red blood injected H
into the organization of the fighting forces of H
the nation. H
An Aristocratic Tendancy I
XT is to be hoped that congress will not grant H
permission to Brand Whitlock, our minister VA
to Belgium, to accept the decoration of the Grand f H
Cordon of the Order of Leopold from the hands of ill
that government. This too, notwithstanding the H
favorable attitude of the president. f f
The fathers of the republic wisely provided H
that no title of nobility should be granted by the fl
United StWes and that no person holding any of- I M
1