New-York tribune. [volume], January 06, 1920, Page 12, Image 12

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Nttn Hotli uTrimttie
First to Last?the Truth: News?Edi?
torials?Advertisements
Mamber of Um Audit Bureau of Ci roulati ?o i
TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 192?
Owned and published dally by New Tortt Tribun?
Ina, a New York ?wpormUon. Orden Reld. Pr?si?
dant: O. Temor Rogers. ' Vloe-Prasldent; Helen
Itoerm Held. Secretary; P. A. Suter, Treasurer.
Address Tribun? Building, 154 Nassau Street. New
Y art. Telephone, Beekman 8000.
CTTOSCaUVTIOX KATES?By MATT* lndudlnc
PMUCe. IN THE UNITED STATES AND
CANADA:
On? SI? On?
Tear. Months. McniUi.
Daily and Sunday.$10.00 $5.00 si.oo
Dally only . 8.00 4.00 .75
Sunday only . 3.00 5.50 .80
Sunday only. Canada. 6.00 S.25 .59
FOREIGN RATES
Dally and Sunday.$26.00 $13.30 $3.40
Dally only . j.7.40 8.70 1.45
Sunday only . 9.75 5.12 .88
Entered ai th? Poet?me* at New Tork a? Second
Class MaU Matter
GUARANTY
v?u can Bureau? merchandise advertised In THE
TRIBUNE wit? absolute safaty?,?r If dlsMtlr.se
tt?s result* la say can THE TRIBUNE guarantee?
?? ?ay your money back upen request. N? red tap?.
N? quibblln?. We make feed promptly if tb?
adterttser decs not
MEMBER OP THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Prese is eiclusirely entitled to the
? is? for republicatlon of ail news dispatches credited
to It or not otherwise credited In this piper, and
also tha local no?? of spontaneous origin published
naretn.
All rieht? of republlcaUon of all other matt?
Itereln also are reserred.
The Lost Leader
It is with grief unassuaged and
sense of loss and need deeper than
ever that Americans pass this first
anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt's
death.
His words still ring in our ears.
His example still rises before us.
But how urgently we need his swift
and living sword, here and now, to
cut the shams and tangles of the
hour! How grievously we long to
have his clear sanity and vigorous
common sense applied to the endless
problems mounting before us!
We have faith in America that
another leader will rise up. We
know that in the count of centuries
Theodore Roosevelt's own words
are true, that the leader is nothing
and the cause everything. But we
think it would be fallacious and
dangerous not to face the irrep?
arable loss of a year ago and con?
fess frankly the rudderless nation
we still are.
Through the might of his words
and in the fire of his spirit America
fought its greatest battle. What
would we not give for one hour of
that voice in these ominous, drift?
ing days of wrangling debate!
The Enemy Within and Without
It needs no argument to establish
the conclusion that the men and
women who are on their way to Ellis
Island richly deserve deportation.
A land of liberty and democracy j
c pened its doors freely to them as I
they fled from oppression. They
have been accorded all the privileges !
of American life. They have re-;
warded America by plotting and
planning against her freedom and
democracy. They would set up here
a tyranny of force differing in name
but not in quality from the tyranny
of the czar.
Why have they done this? The
theory is scarcely tenable that* either
they or the Americans they have
infected are deliberately bad. It
may be granted that in some respects
at least some of their number are
moved by a fine instinct. As the late
Henry C. Frick said when he gener
? usly refused to proceed against
Berkman, who had sought to murder
him: "The poor fool did not mean
ill. He thought he was doing some?
thing to make the world better."
This instinct, although perverted In
act, is something the American peo?
ple understand and respect.
As was said of old when another
group was party to an abominable
thing, the victim of the Bolshevist
propaganda does not know what he
does. He is the creature of ignoranco
and prejudice. Into his darkened
mind has never come the illuminat?
ing concept of freedom for all under
a law made by all. He has been so
steadily fed with lies as to become
incapable of discerning error. Half
truths have dinned into his ears and
he has lost sense of proportion. So
passionately does he see the wrongs
the Insensate millions of Russians
have suffered that he is blind to the
greater miseries which have come
from another resort to force. The
Bolshevist horde? are diabolic, for
their lust is for power and an op?
portunity to play the r?le of master;
but for their deluded followers may
be felt a great pity.
But pity becomes a vice if it leads
to shutting eyes to facts. Into new
areas has swept the Red Terror.
Great multitudes are on the march
with huddled possessions. Cold and
snow are preferable to the mercy of
the Bolshevist host. Those in wild
flight do not need to read newspapers
to know whether or not there are
atrocities. *
The war-we?ry Western nations
lack the virtue really to defend
the helpless of Russia. They have
withdrawn support from tho?? who
hnvs fought for civilization in Rus?
ais. The consequences of the deser?
tion ?re, of coarse, to be frightful?
s? frightful that, ajrpealing from the
present Us the futui?, it may con
fldently be pndieieW that in deep
sorrow and contrition the Western
world will regret that it flinched
from a hard task.
Exit 2.75
The numerals "2.75" have lost
their magic. The theory which they
stood for has been rejected by the
Supreme Court. That body yester
Jay by a five-to-four decision sus?
tained the validity of those parts of
the Volstead enforcement act which
concerns "war-time prohibition."
The court's judgment is sweeping.
It seems, according to the summaries
furnished from Washington, to hold
that Congress has as complete power
to regulate the liquor traffic as the
several states have been allowed to
exercise. It indorses the govern?
ment's contention that a legal defini?
tion of what constitutes an "alco?
holic" beverage ought to be supplied,
since experience has shown how
difficult it is to enforce prohibitory
laws "if liability or inclusion within
the law is made to depend on the
issuable fact whether or not a par?
ticular beverage made or sold as a
beverage is intoxicating."
The court had previously indi?
cated its belief that the war emer?
gency status didn't end with the
armistice and that it can end only
with the conclusion of peace and
the completion of demobilization.
January 16 is approaching. The
"wet" interregnum, so often pre?
dicted, has therefore ceased to be
even a 2.75 per cent possibility.
Questions affecting the manner in
which the Federal prohibition amend?
ment was submitted and ratified ?re?
main to be dealt with by the Su?
preme Court. But that body has
shown that it is Inclined to allow
the fullest scope to any application
by Congress of the power to pro?
hibit.
Learning
In Bloomfield's Labor Digest is a
report written by Whiting Williams,
vice-president of a steel company,
who, under an assumed name, has
worked as a laborer for several
months in various large steel plants,
shipyards, coal mines and other in?
dustrial establishments.
Mr. Williams discovered that the
fear of joblessness is a specter
thought of which is seldom absent
from the laborer, and is persuaded
that the foreman's arbitrary right
to discharge should be trimmed.
Next in importance in making for
unrest he puts the unheavenly
twins?Tiredness and Temper?
weary muscles, leading to unhappy
minds. Third in his list, but in
many ways the most influential,
Mr. Williams names the colossal
ignorance of the unskilled worker
of the employer's real purposes and
profits.
It is an almost universal assump?
tion, he says, that net earnings are
enormous and that "pull" counts
for more than merit in securing
promotion. The agitator stops at
no misrepresentation and seldom is
contradicted. Only by a campaign
in behalf of the truth as industri?
ous as that urged for error
is there likelihood of breaking
the hold of the radicals. Mr.
Williams, assuming that the radical
has control of access to one of the
workers' ears, would have the em?
ployer form contact with the other.
The labor engineer is needed in
modern industry?that is, a man
who attackB the labor problem
scientifically. The counting room
does not commonly develop this
man. There is need to mix and a
special need not to believe that
when something is preposterously
untrue of course no one will be?
lieve it.
Welcome Frankness
The Merchants' Association is
to be congratulated on the candor
of its plea to the President and
Senate in behalf of a ratification
of the treaty.
The association calls on the Presi?
dent to resubmit the peace treaty
i and indicate a willingness to accept
: reservations that will permit Ameri
; can participation in the peace
| league without impairment of the
! safety and the sovereignty of the
| United States. This responsibility
i for the treaty deadlock was placed
where it belongs?on the White
House.
The sooner the White House
understands the exact meaning of
the "no-compromise or concession of
any other kind" declaration the
j earlier will the treaty be ratified.
I Senator Spencer, of Missouri, in hia
i reply to the association most per
! tinently says: "If the President had
| not written the letter in which he
j characterized the reservations not
? as ratification but 'nullification'
they would already have been
j accepted by two-thirds of the Sen?
at? and the treaty would be
adopted."
If the issue were left to the Dem
i ocrats of the Senate alone, with the
j White House standing aside and at
j tempting no dictation, there is little
i doubt that the reservations would be
?accepted. Except for the small
i group of irreconcilable?, the Senate,
| without regard to party, is in sub
? Ktantial agreement.
i Less explicit than the Merchants'
Aaaociation, Mr. Taft reiterates that
he does not care much whether the
reservations are attached or not?
that he fs for ratification either
way, This neutral attitude, al?
though it relieve? Mr. Taft of obli?
gation to fix blame, is not caJcu
lated to help the treaty. The reser?
vations are not to be dismissed
thus as inconsequential. It is of
importance, for example, to have
it announced that no single man
can put this country into war?
that commitment to its adventures
cannot be made until Congress con?
sents, as the Constitution provides.
Who Kited Sugar?
With sugar kiting to two or three
times its war price, Washington is
treating the public to a scientific
exhibition of "buck passing." When
Germany lost the war every Ger?
man leader who had a hand in los?
ing it began to blame the other
leaders. Now we are learning that
every official guardian of the sugar
bowl is astounded that al? the other
guardians let the chance to keep
sugar down to war prices slip away.
Down to war prices! That para?
doxical phrase seems to carry the
strange suggestion that we never
knew how well off we were when
we were at war.
It seems from the laborious
explanation issued from the White
House that last August the Admin?
istration Sugar Equalization Board
decided that the Cuban sugar crops,
which could then have been pur?
chased at a low figure, shouldn't be
purchased. That judgment was re?
gretted later. In October the board
reversed itself and recommended
purchase to a Senate committee, also
asking an extension of its powers
beyond December 31, 1919. Thus,
after the best opportunity to get
control of the Cuban crop was
missed, the initiative and the respon?
sibility in the matter were trans?
ferred to Congress, a slow moving
body, in which obstruction by the
domestic sugar interests could
pretty certainly be counted on.
The McNary bill, extending the
board's powers, was passed late in
December. Meanwhile, the price of
Cuban sugar had risen, accommodat?
ing itself to the mounting price of
domestic sugars.
The retail price of sugar lias
passed twenty cents and is soaring
toward thirty. Everywhere "non
Cuban" sugar is being offered at
the new top rates. And it would,
perhaps, be presumptuous to expect )
a retail dealer to draw the line too j
finically between Cuban and other ;
sugars, when the formel- may be ;
converted into the latter by merely
waving a wand and shifting a label. ?
How is the public going to escape ;
paying peace prices for sugar j
instead of war prices? The White
House statement threatens to close !
the stable door after the horse has j
been spirited away. It intimates j
that the power of price control j
created by the licensing system will
be invoked by the food admin?
istrators and the Department of
Justice. The Department of Justice
has failed so far to reduce living '
costs through its price reduction j
crusade. The food administrators, j
however zealous they may be, have ?
heretofore exercised little more |
than a moral restraint on the food !
profiteers. The anchoring of supar I
prices was the prize achievement j
of the government in price repula- ;
tion during the war period. Now
that achievement is only a memory.
The dispute as to who was chiefly re?
sponsible for making it such is
interesting. But it doesn't help the
puzzled housewife, whose sugar bills
for 1920 promise to he increased >
more than 100 per cent.
Women and the Jury
"One great reason, then, besides !
its justice, why we would claim the !
ballot for woman, is this: Because
the great school of this people is the |
jury box and the ballot box." Thus
spoke Wendell Phillips in his address
on woman suffrage at the Worcester
convention in 1851. The jury box
and the ballot box?the two are in?
separably linked as the foundation
stone of our kind of democratic
government.
Yet the New York law, on its face,
restricts jury service to "male" citi?
zens. Whether the restriction is ab?
solute and inescapable, and, if not,
whether the Commissioner of Jurors
must, as well as may, put women in
the pane!, is a question now before I
the Kings County Court. If the law j
is not interpreted as the petitioner j
wishes, it ought to be changed by )
the Legislature.
The task of the juror is, perhaps,
of all tasks the most unspecialized.
It calls for no one typo of ability or
experience, but rather for average
common sense and intelligence. Few
any longer assert that of nativo wit, !
of general all-round intelligence, one
sex has more than the other. When
standardized intelligence tests arc
applied, women make as good a
showing as men. They will make as
good jurors as men?which isn't say?
ing much.
That may bo, says The Timen in
effect, but why do women want to
serve on juries? Men claim exemp?
tions from jury duty whenever they
can; women are sure to do so, too.
Why don't they cherish the whole?
sale exemption their sex now affords
them, instead of seeking to abolish
it? The answer is very simple. No
woman expects to gain. The argu?
ment ia an appeal to individual
Kolfishness and therefore anti-social.
But there is a group interest, if not
a personal one, in jury duty. With
respect to exclusion of one's own
class, or race, or sex, one has an in?
terest not a? a potential juror, but
as a potential party to ? case, Tho
idea at the bottom of the jury sys?
tem is that trial by one's peer.*?by
a chance-selected group of fellow
citizens?is the sort of trial most
likely, in the long run, to work im?
partial justice. It may make no
difference to any woman that her
case should be tried by a jury com?
posed exclusively of men, but it is
safer not to assume that it makes
no difference.
But it is from the point of view
of general public benefit that the
reform is chiefly to be wished for.
The more broadly representative a
jury is in its composition the
greater is the probability, other
things being equal, of its drawing
fair and correct conclusions from
the evidence presented. The bias of
one member offsets the bias of an?
other, the experience of some supple?
ments the experience of the rest.
Being tried by twelve chance-chosen
people is an approach to being tried
by the collective community. The
exclusion of women from the free
play of chance in making up the jury
is a defect?a survival from the time
when women were presumed to be
uninterested in government. Finally,
the public will be benefited by hav?
ing a moiety of its voting population
educated in their citizenship by jury
service.
Stevenson at Saranac
A Modest Memorial That Will
Appeal to Many
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Will you be good enough to per?
mit me, through your columns, to call
attention to a project that will doubtless
appeal to many Scots and other lovers
of Robert Louis Stevenson?
About five years ago the Stevenson
Memorial Committee was formed for the
purpose of placing a tablet on the cot?
tage occupied by It. L. S. during his
stay in Saranac Lake. Mr. Gutzon
Borglum designed a handsome bas-relief,
and on October 30, 1915. it was unveiled
with appropriate ceremonies, after hav?
ing been set in the wall of the veran?
da, where the author walked and
thought.
The committee then resolved to con?
tinue the work by forming a permanent |
organization to be known as the Steven- ]
son Society, with a membership open to j
all persons interested in the author and !
his writings, and with the following I
purposes:
The collection and preservation of ;
relics of Robert Louis Stevenson; also of
original manuscripts and first editions
of his works, as well as books relating
to him. In addition to these, the acquir?
ing of a permanent home for the proper
housing of said collection.
These purposes have, in a measure,
been carried out. The rooms he occu- ;
pied as bedroom and study are leased ;
yearly, and a fine collection of relics, j
books, pictures, letters, etc., has been i
donated by Stevensonians in various
parts of the world. A yearly meeting is |
held at which reports are read, officers !
elected, and such matters as may come j
up are gone into. There are also month- !
ly directors' meetings.
Membership fees are: Active, $1 a'
year; sustaining, $25 a year; life mem- I
bership, $100 (one payment).
The money received from dues, indi- j
vidual contributions, sale of miniature
bronzes and posteareis, goes to meet the; i
expenses incurred by rent of memorial j
rooms, insurance on their valuable con?
tents, printing, stationery and postage, i
The tablet lias been reproduced in minia- |
ture, 21,i by 3,-?i inches, and sells to I
members at $5 for bronze and $10 for I
silver.
Mr. Robert Hobart Davis is practically i
the founder of the society. Mr. Borglum ;
contributed his genius to the creation of
the memorial, and Mr. Stephen Chal?
mers, for four years secretary, has by
hard and efficient work brought the or?
ganization to a healthy condition.
At present the memorial museum con- j
tains over one hundred relics of Robert
Louis Stevenson. In the summer of 19A7
eleven hundred per?ons visited it, and
the attendance continues to average
about the Bamc.
It is the earnest wish of the directors
that the society purchase the property.
One of the members, Colonel Walter
Scott, of New York, an ardent Steven
sonian, has given $2,500 as a foundation
for the memorial fund. The society is
now being incorporated, and as the cot?
tage is more particularly identified with
It. L. S. than any other place in the
country, it is hoped that sufficient con?
tributions will be received. Checks or
money should be sent to Mr. F. O. W. i
Worry, Saranac Lake, N. Y., with a !
memorandum of donor's address, and
stating that it is for the Stevenson So-,
ciety Memorial Fund.
LIVINGSTON CHAPMAN,
Secretary, Stevenson Society.
Saranac Lake, N. Y., Jan. 3, 19120. i
I
-
The Death Mask ?f Theodore
Roosevelt
(The Bust by Fraser)
Calm after tempest; stillness clear and
long;
Stirred with far echoen dimly under?
stood,
A? when the winds cease in a lonely
wood;
lient, after haste?the glad rest of the
strong.
Whose fall w? victory and whose eight
ore song.
IJnt sifi.ee hi? lips are doted that evil
brood
Whom all earth's mighty prophets have
withstood,
Now gather sullenly to defend the
wrong.
They stand with ready weapons, darkly
sure
Of ultimate conquest, since his fight
must erase;
They know nut that his word shall yet
endure.
Sweeter in silence, stronger in release.
-See how the battle-soars are smoothed
to peace,
And God't deep comfort make? his rest
scours!
MAR?ON COVTHOUY SMITH.
The Conning Tower
THE MAETERLINCK JAZZ
I've got the Oiseaux Bleua,
I've got the Oiseaux Bleus,
They're sadder than the tun? they call the
"Sambre et Meuse."1
That little Blue Bird there,
Composed by Wolff3 (he's a bear).
Makes mo cry and sigh, I don't know why,
and I don't care.
That lovely scenery, ?
It sure appeals to me,
The brush of Boris Anisfeld? la nice to see.
So I can't refuse
To go and spread the news
Of those yellow and pinkian,*
Maurice Maeterlinckian,?
Henry T. Finckian,"
Oiseau, Oiseau, Oiseaux Bleus.
Sio Sfabtk.
1. A well known march. 2. Composer of
"The Blue Bird." 3. The bearded painter
of the scenery. 4. Referring to the colors.
6. Referring to the Belgian poet-philosopher.
6. Referring to the music critic of tho
Evening Post.
"Some of M. Maeterlinck's many
admirers," says the Times, "cannot
help feeling that it would have been
as well if now, as in the past, he had
addressed the public only from the
printed page or through the actors of
his plays." Most admirers of most
writers feel the same way. If a
writer has anything to say, he should
write it. Not one writer in ten who
does any public speaking does him?
self or his audience any good. . . .
It is a subject close to what passes
for our heart, and we shall make a
speech about it some evening.
Among those whose youthful read?
ing was largely Nick Carter, Frank
Merriwell, and Snaps, is Stalky. "And
the worst thing3 I do since I have
grown up," he says, "are to vote the
Republican ticket and ride a motor?
cycle."
Reading Between the Traffic Lines
Sir : I humbly acknowledge that error
about Palm Beach via the Grand Central
Station. I came from there once (minus
the private car) by wau of Chicago, and
by that somewhat devious route I, of course,
landed at the above station. Incorporating
this in the story I quite forgot the Windy
City, which is a thing one cannot do, with
impunity. My only consolation in the matter
is that Vincent, and Rowena probably never
knew it. poor dears, being on their honey?
moon. . . . About that limousine. Per?
fectly simple (explained). It did meet them
at the station, took them across Forty-third
to Fifth, THEN started up Fifth, etc.,
?corning going up Madison direct on ac?
count of the car tracks, which, as every one
knows, is as a red rag to a bull in the, er?
higher life of on effete limousine. Besides,
one had better not detail too explieity the
itinerary of the rich. They're proud, you
know, and haughty. (Perfectly simple?ex?
plained!" Where is the C. R.'a" well known
ability to rend between the lines?
(?8ACB LOVEU. KbTAN.
Hut Mrs. (or Miss) Bryan's mention
of Grand Centra! Station is inac?
curate. As every copy reader, and al?
most nobody else, knows, it is Grand
Central Terminal. And though she
may have come to New York from
Chicago, she is no Chieagoennc. Only
outlanders speak of "the Windy City."
"Perhaps," offers Pink, "John 2hey
may revive 'The ,dy of Errors." And
it is Orson Lowell's notion t?iat the
handsomest of the Presidential men
tionees is Senator Miles PoIWter.
Vivienne, Dulcinea's sister, called
Beekman ??000. "Goodby," she fare
welled, "don't take any wooden
alcohol."
ALSO
We watched her breathing through the
night,
Her breathing soft and low.
There was no cause for fear or fright?
"Call Col. Eight Two O O."
Josh B.
? ? ?
'E put me safe inside
An' just before 'e died,
"Call up Eight Two Hundred Col.," says j
Oungn Bin.
U. U. S.
? * *
Absumet here? Caecuba dignior?
Voca ad Columbum octo duo centum.
lA'l. Lit,.
* ? ?
N?Jly was a lady ;
Last night she died.
Ring the bell for lovely Nell,
Columbus 8200. O. j
Those who still doubt the authen?
ticity of Daisy Ashford are implored |
to read the following poem, written ]
by a boy of seven :
Be kind, be kind;
And evermore be kind.
Be kind to all the animals,
Be kind to the elephant.
Be kind to the little butterfly.
B? kind, bo kind,
And evermore be kind.
"You will notice," expounds Mile. ?
Favard, who now is teaching in a Chi- ,
cago high school, and to whom, forty i
years ago, in Keokuk, Iowa, Rupert j
Hughes recited that, his first poem, ;
"the definite obligation in the first
line; the large general idea in the I
second, embracing the universe; the '
more specific?shall I say command? - !
in the third to a lower order than our- j
selves, with specific examples in the
next two lines, and then a beautiful
return to the large general idea again
in the last line,"
The Conning Tower hereby commits
itself to the candidacy of Henry J.
Allen. Governor Allen, if elected,
would be the first President since
Lincoln to have an s. of h. And we
should like to see the experiment of
a President who takes his job more.
Beriously than he takes himself.
Such is the habit of years that j
when the first thing wo see in the
papera on a cold morning is Spokane,
10; Denver, 2; Porftand, Ore., 10;
Dea Moines, 15, our first thought is
that the reference is to temperature
and not to the number of "perfect i
cases" arrested in those cities. i
Don't Forget Canaan, Ind.
Sir: Being a government clerk 1ms its
advantages, neforc I had anything to do I
with official mail, I never heard of ?uoh
important convention towns as Pernod, Ky. ;
Cherry, Ariz. ; Clarence, III., and Seven?
teen, Ohio. H4K.
Nor should Booth, Ala., nor Tnrkio,
Mo., be forgotten.
Speaking of towns a fascinating
habit (to tho spcakor)- tl%a census is
being taken in Populi, tf. C, Folk,
Mo., und Family, Mont.
AJ?o in Increase, Miss.
F. P. A.
"THE LONG, LONG TRAIL"
(Reprinted from The Tribune of January 10,1910)
"Spend and Be Spent"
(From a speech by Theodore Roosevelt at Carnegie Hall, March SO, 1912)
The leader for the time being, whoever he may be, is but
an instrument, to be used until broken and then to be cast aside;
and if he is worth his salt he will care no more when he is broken
than a soldier cares when he is sent where his life is forfeit in
order that the victory may be toon. In the long fight for right?
eousness the watchword for all of us is, spend and be spent. It
is a little matter whether any one man fails or succeeds; but the
cause shall not fail, for it is the cause of mankind. We here in
America hold in our lianas the hope of the world, the fate of the
coining years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes
the light of high resolve is dimmed, if tve trail in the dust the
golden hopes of men. If on this new continent we merely'build
another country of great but unjustly divided material prosperity,
we shall have done nothing; and we shall do as little if we merely
set the greed of envy against the greed of arrogance, and thereby
destroy the material icellbeing of all of us.
Roosevelt's Last Message
This Editorial on "The League of Nations'* Was Dic?
tated hy Colonel Roosevelt, Friday, January 3, 1919,
and Was to Have Been Submitted to Him for Revision
the Following Monday, the Day of His Death
It is, of course, a. serious misfortune
that our people are not getting a clear
idea of what is happening on the other
side. For the moment, the point as to
which we were foggy is the league of
nations. We all of us earnestly desire
such a league, only we wish to be sure
that it will help and not hinder the
cause of world peace and justice.
There is not a young man in this coun?
try who has fought, or an old man who
lias seen those dear to him fight, who
does not wish to minimize the chance
of future war. But there is not a man
of sense who does not know that in any
such movement if too much is attempt?
ed the result is either failure or worse
than failure.
The trouble with Mr. AVilson's utter?
ances, so far as they are reported, and
the utterances of acquiescence in them
by European statesmen, is that they
are still absolutely in the stage of
rhetoric, precisely like the fourteen
points. Some of the fourteen points
will probably have to be construed as
having a mischievous sentence, a
smaller number might be construed as
being harmless and one or two even
as beneficial, but nobody, knows what
Mr, Wilson really means by them, and
so all talk of adopting them as basis
for a peace or league ia nonsense and,
if the talker ia intelligent, it is insin?
cere nonsense to boot. So Mr. Wilson's
recent utterances give us absolutely no
clue as to whether he really intends
that at this moment we shall admit
Russia, Germany, with which, inci?
dentally, we are still waging war;
Turkey, China and Mexico into the
league on a full equality with our
nelveM. Mr. Taft has recently defined
the purposes of the league and the lim?
itation? under which it would act in a
way that enables moat of us to say w?
wry heartily agree in principle witli
his theory aud can, without doubt, com?
to an agreement on sp?cifie details.
Would it not bo well to begin wit!
the league which wo actually have it
existence, the league of the Allies wh<
have fought through this great war'
Let us at the p?mjsco tablo see that rea
justice la don? a? among these alite?
and that while the sternest reparation
is demanded from our foes for such
horrors as those committed in Bel?
gium, northern France, Armenia and
the sinking of the Lusitania, nothing
should be done in the spirit of meive
^/engeance. Then let us agree to ex?
tend the privileges of the league as
rapidly as their conduct warrants it to
other nations, doubtless discriminat?
ing between those who would have a
guiding part in the league and the
weak nations who would be entitled
to the privileges of membership but
who would not be entitled to a guiding
voice in the councils. Let each na?
tion reserve to itself and form its own
decision and let it clearly set forth
questions which are non-justiciable.
Let nothing be done that will interfere
with our preparing for our own de?
fence by introducing a system of uni?
versal obligatory military training
modeled on the Swiss plan.
Finally, make it perfectly clear tha
we do not intend to take a position 01
an international meddlesome Matty
The American people do not wish to g<
into an overseas war unless for a ver;
great cause and where the issue is abso
lutely ptain. Therefore, we do not wisl
to undertake the responsibility of send
ing our gallant young men to die in ob
scure fights in the Balkans or in Centre
Europe or in a war we do not approv
of. Moreover, the American people d
not intend to give up the Monroe Dot
trine. Let civilized Europe and Asi
introduce some kind of police system i
the weak and disorderly countries i
their thresholds, but let the Unite
States treat Mexico as our Balka
Peninsula and refuse to allow Europea
or Asiatic powers to interfere on th
continent in any way that implies pe
manent or semi-permanent possessio
Every one of our allies will with dolig!
grunt this requost if President Wil?<
chooses to make it, and it will bo
great misfortune if it is not ?nado.
I believe that such an effort ma
moderately and aanely, but sincerely ai
with utter scorn for words that, are n
made good by deeds, will bo product!
of real and lasting international good.
Flaming Swords
From Elihu Roofs address at the Rotkf
Mountain Club Dinner, October V,
1919, the anniversary of Cohntl
Roosevelt's birthday.
I -
He was strong, powerful, but he be?
gan weak and puny. Ho trained him?
self to strength and power. So can ill
American boys. He was born and bred
under the disadvantages of wealth ?nd
fashion, with the paving stones o? a
city between him and the earth. H?
broke over the barriers and became th?
! friend of every fanner, of every ranch
fman, of every huntsman, of every la
; borer, of every good and true man and
j woman in this great land. ?Co pent-up
; city, no learned institution, no social
?convention restrained his universal and
? mighty sympathy. He trained himself
I to the habit of courage. So can every
| American boy. From the habit of cour?
age came the natural reaction of truth.
That is within the grasp of every
American boy.
He was sincere and simple, not ornate
and florid. He spoke not the tongue of
the poet or the philosopher. He had
not what Macaulay credited to Glad?
stone, "a command of a kind of lan?
guage, grave and majestic, but of vagu?
and doubtful import." No one ever
misunderstood what Theodore Rooff
velt said. No one ever do-ibted what
Theodore Roosevelt moan'.. No on?
ever doubted that what he naid he be?
lieved, he intended and he would ?to
He was a man not of sentiment or ei
pression, but of feeling and of action
His proposals were always tied to
action. He uttered no fine sentence,
satisfied that that was the end, th?
thing accomplished. His words were
always the precursors of effective ac?
tion. He cultivated promptness ">
action until it became his natural re?
action and made him an almost perfec'
executive?not an administrator, but
an "executive gifted with the power ef
| swift and unerring decision.
| Yet he was as free from s elf-cone?"
; as any man I ever knew. His conscious
?ness of strength was in the strength
|of his purpose, in the cause he ad?
jcated. and not at all in his own merit*
? He was as modest as a girl about hi?"
?self. He was the most hospitable'?
| advice of any man I ever knew. H? **'
! eager for knowledge. He thirsted I*
1 knowledge, and in the performance ?;
i his public duties he sought ewef?'
?where, from all manner of men,?
?know their thought, their contribsti*1
jof information. He talked little abo?1
I common counsel, but ho practiced il
universally and always, and he dulcet??
to know the very heart of the Amer***
people by actual contact. He wits'"
unapproachable genius, unlike everyo?1
else.
Ho did not originate great n?*
truths, but he drove o?d f un dament?
truths into the minds and the heart? ?f
his people so that they stuck and doW
?inatcd. Old truths he insisted u?<*
enlarged upon, repeated over and of**
in many ways with quaint and intere-'1"
ing and attractive forms of expr?s?-0*'
never straining for novelty or for ?riT
inality, but always driving. arM9*
home tho deep fundamental truths *
public life, of a great self-go*****'
democracy, the eternal truths OP0*"'
which justice and liberty must ??P*
among men. Savonarola origirmt** ?
truthn, nor Luther, nor Wesley, nor**
of those flaming swords that cut Is*
the consciousness of mankind ?W? **
old truths that had been overlook"
indifference and error, wrong-?** ***^
ness and wrong-headedness.