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HMWEL rir.. rr " " "iii5iS!fS!5!BBMBBB Hi i HHf I ! 4 GOODWIN'S WEEKLY HHfi It wbuld seem, then, that if those who are in charge of directing HH i the destinies of the Democratic party would continue their strangle- HB hold on the government, they should fare better by forgetting the K Colonel for a time and looking in other directions for the opposition H that they will have to face. In the meanwhile, all good citizens, re- B gardless of political affiliations, are earnestly hoping that he will soon H arise from his sick bed and be able to speedily assume his customary H activities. He occupies a place in the life and thought of the nation H that no other man can fill. For a quarter of a century he has been a ' watchman on the tower and millions of his fellow citizens are fervent- H ly praying that his light may continue to burn. H And after all, how silly and unsound are the criticisms lodged fl v against him, especially when considered in the light of his own high- h minded utterances. They challenge his Americanism, yet who has so H! , aptly expressed the true spirit of America today as Colonel Roosevelt H in this, one of his latest pronunciamentos : H "Tell the truth and speed up the war. Don't tell the truth for H malicious purposes ; don't tell it wantonly ; don't tell it unless there is H a constructive purpose behind it; but tell the truth to show what our H shortcomings are. Make it evident how far short we are of getting H our men, arms, equipment and clothing; of dealing with the German H spies on this side as they should be dealt with; of speeding up the M war. Do it with the purpose of speeding up the war and to make fl the slacker, the pro-German, the pacifist, the Germanized socialist, B understand that we are in to fight this war to the end, until victory H comes to the United States and to the cause of liberty and to the right M of every well behaved nation to govern itself as it sees fit in this civil- H ized world of ours." 1 If this be treason, then surely the world is upside down. H It should be recalled also, that the redoubtable Colonel has never H manifested any political preference or partiality in his criticisms of H this and previous administrations. When he had something to say, he H always said it, no matter where the chips fell. By way of illustration, H we are reminded of a story he told in this city shortly after the close H of the Spanish-American war. "My regiment was at Tampa only par- H tially uniformed and but poorly equipped with guns," said the Colonel. H "I was anxious to get to Cuba. I made a hurried visit to Washington H and interviewed the quartermaster general, Major Ludington, who had H vegetated in the same office for many years. I set forth the urgent H need of guns, uniforms and blankets. The major asked me how soon I H wanted them. I replied: 'As quickly as possible say ten days.' H 'But, my dear, sir,' protested the veteran army officer, 'the regulations H require that all supplies shall be let by contract and the advertising H alone will have to run for sixty days.' I told him he might have to H bend those regulations a little as I wanted to be after the Spaniards in M less than three weeks, at which the good old soul expostulated: 'Oh H dear : the quartermaster's department was getting along so nicely un- M til this damn war broke out !' " H AS FRANK HARRIS SEES IT. I JHE brilliant editor of PEARSON'S was, is and always will be, H vmJ opposed to the war. He writes with the courage of his convic- H ! tions and his courage has carried him most uncomfortably close the H danger line on any number of occasions. By way of diversion he H' ( dearly loves to dig up scandal in England and his long residence in H ! London affords him an insight into things abroad that is not enjoyed H by any other prominent editor. Hence his attempted explanations of H : Britain's affairs are always interesting, although not always accept- j able. B j For some time past we have been wondering why Lord North- I cliffe suddenly departed from his American mission and what has be- J come of him since. Harris says that the strenuous Englishman "was ' sent back from America as not wanted," and that Lloyd George, both l fearing and hoping to console him, tendered the powerful publicist l J) a post in the ministry. Of course we all know what happened : North- B 1 liffe spurned the tender and published the whole affair broadcast I. throughout the kingdom. According to our provincial manner of Wk g, viewing such incidents, that settled matters. RL I ', Harris would have us believe, however, that the controversy bc- tween the Prime Minister and the man who made him involves an affair of honor; that Lloyd George unwittingly insulted his most powerful friend and supporter and got his face slapped in return. He is also of the opinion that if the Premier had been born a gentleman he would not have got into such trouble. That is all very difficult for Americans to comprehend. The code of honor that the nobility still clings to is liable to puzzle any man whose good fortune it does not happen to be to have been born to the purple. If Harris is really tell ing the truth and not simply spinning a good story, then we sympa thize with Lloyd George and do not hesitate to say that Northcliffe's attitude is most surprising. Who ever entertained the thought that this one particular Englishman would prove himself a cad? It is dif ficult to believe ; in fact, we are not altogether certain that we do be lieve it. p r p GIVE THE GUN A CHANCE. SECRETARY BAKER'S recent statement to the Senate corn s'" mittee that "We have now nine Browning guns" provoked the North American Review War Weekly to print the following jingle : Nine little Browning guns, nine months after date ; One was for a pattern kept, and then there were eight. Eight little Browning guns, primed to belch the levin; One got a cartridge jammed, and then there were seven. Seven little Browning guns, in the war to mix; One went to training camp, and then there were six. Six little Browning guns at the port arrive ; One was taken for a fair, and then there were five. - Five little Browning guns, waiting on the shore ; One found no shipboard room, and then there were four. Four little Browning guns, sailing o'er the sea ; One got the mal de mer, and then there were three. i Three little Browning guns seeking derring-do ; One got lost in Gay Paree, and then there were two; Two little Brownings guns, shooting at the Hun; One mired in -Flanders mud and then there was one. One little Browning gun, shooting all alone ; B r sought a souvenir, and then there was none ! Which, by the way, is just a bit of refreshing humor with a point to it. Even the authorities in charge of the ordnance department, if they have the slightest sense of the saving grace in their makeup, I ought to appreciate the jingle. We take it that no reflection was in tended as against the gun itself. If so, when we warn the facetious writer not to waste his thunder until the "little Browning guns" be- j gin to bark "over there." While we have never seen the gun, we happen to know something about the man who invented it, and those who know Johrj Browning of Utah are well content to give his gun a chance. V t r K (HOWING that the dictum "thy gods are my gods and thy people y are my people" is being insisted upon these days, it is only nec essary to cite the instance of a Swiss who recently applied for his sec ond naturalization papers. Upon being asked his war policy, he de clared stoutly, patterning himself after the admirable example set by his native Alpine country : "I am neutral, and I rejoice in being so. I intend to remain neutral I" "This country is at war," replied the judge briefly, and refused him papers. If we are going to fight this war out in Washington, why send more troops to France? New York World. j i