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Show m Goocfwins IVqqAIis I I MmlEm EDITORIALS -S I ' v- qfe-u ANY silly attempts have been made to iBiiiRft x le or'ma cause f the war but M 1 m - jfw the most asinine argument of all is JvBUr that advanced by the London Satur-I' Satur-I' 'ffK3r day Review. This contemporary de- - JmJm clares that "as long as there is money and as long as there arc women to to spend it men will fight with one another, and when groups of men or nations fight there is war." The idea is so original and far-fetched that one wonders perforce, why the kaiser did not think of it first. Since it is a matter of record that the original sin was charged to a woman, and through all the ages that have followed the troubles of men have been ascribed to the daughters of Eve, how was it that his imperial majesty happened to overlook this well-established alibi? But this thick-headed English editor really takes himself most seriously in his endeavor to fix the blame for the awful conflict upon the women. He suggests the adoption of "two measures which would do more to prevent war than all the leagues and treaties imaginable, namely, the prohibition of the loaning of money by one nation to another an-other and the enactment of a universal sumptuary law, forbidding women to wear precious stones, costly furs, expensive laces and other filmy fabrics, restricting them exclusively to a garb of either cotton or wopl." What a dreary old world it would be and what a price we would have to pay. We quite agree that the greed of financiers has had much to do with the waging of wars. It requires little imagination to see how money madness sometimes finds full expression in military machines that threaten to shake the earth asunder, and that the spirit which moves some armies is the greed for gold and commercial conquest. But heaven help us if all we have to fight for is the luxuries of our women. The very thought of this is a contemptible reflection on the millions and millions of brave-hearted women, in this land and every other, who are standing shoulder to shoulder with the men and sharing shar-ing every sacrifice. Men are fighting for their women, yes and for luxuries, too but not those luxuries that only money can buy. They arc fighting for the luxury of a true woman's love, a happy home and a peaceful, contented life that freemen should of right enjoy. And when these blessing are assailed, they rise in their might, heap all their gold and the treasure that gold will buy on the altars of a common com-mon sacrifice, and then, if need be, seal this offering with their life-blood life-blood all for the land that harbors their loved ones, living and to come. If this be luxury, then we have gone to war for luxury. NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. g FOREIGN military expert expresses great surprise that General Gen-eral Pershing should manifest a strong preference for young j men as commanders of the American expeditionary forces in France. This, in his opinion, is a grave mistake and a decided reversal of the rule. Military genius is much like old wine, 'we are told it ripens with age. Then he cites history to show that all the great chieftains of the world were well advanced in years at the time of their successes. suc-cesses. We are reminded that Prince Blucher was near eighty when he joined forces with Wellington at Waterloo to accomplish the defeat of Napoleon ; that the great Field Marshall von Moltke was in his seventies sev-enties when he won the Franco-Prussian war ; and that Lord Roberts was seventy when he was sent to South Africa to retrieve the losses sustained by the British and turn the tide against the Boers. Also, that in the present war Field Marshall von Hindenburg was called 01 1 of retirement and is now in his seventieth year directing the gigantic operations of all the German armies ; that Field Marshall Joflfre was an old man when he turned the Germans back at the Marne ; and that U the brilliant Italian commander, Cadorna, just recently celebrated his seventieth birthday. jH All this is quite true, but it tells only one side of the story. Has General Pershing's critic forgotten that Napoleon marched clear M across Europe while yet in his thirties? And if he had taken the M trouble to scan American history he would have discovered the fact that all of our great chieftains were comparatively young in years. H Washington was only forty-three years of age when he assumed com- M mand of the Continental army. Jackson was forty-six when he fought the Battle of New Orleans. Grant was appointed commander-in-chief of all the Union armies at forty-two. Sherman was forty-four when he made his famous march to the sea, and Sheridan was only thirty- three when he waged his remarkable campaign in the Shenandoah M valley. General Lee was just past fifty when he assumed command of the Confederate armies and Stonewall Jackson was but thirty-nine when he lost his life at Chancellorsville. B Does all this mean that military genius matures earlier in the American soldier than is the rule elsewhere? The answer to the fl question affords, most interesting speculation. But certain it is that our friends across the water need entertain no fear lest our young commanders fail in the crisis. In times past, we have relied upon young blood to meet the emergency and it has never failed to meas- ure up to expectations. And so it is that General Pershing who is still far from being an old man himself is but holding true to Ameri- can traditions when he pins his faith to the youth of the land. r t t K H THE HEALING HANDS OF TIME. H yHAT will come after the war? A pessimistic contemporary jH VX would have us believe that so much racial hatred has been H engendered by the conflict that the bitterness which will ensue H will make a world peace but little more desirable than war itself. H The prediction is far fetched. It is true that the world will resemble, jH a vast hospital above ground and a vast cemetery beneath, and that H the ravages of war will leave a lasting impression upon all the peo- H pies of the earth. The Wreckage of the conflict will not easily be H repaired, especially that of the old world where the work of recon- H structing the ruins must be carried on by crippled races. These H people would not be human if they did not harboi hatred in their jH hearts for a while; they will attempt to brand each other with the jH mark of Cain for a time; then there will come a day when all their H grievances will be forgotten in the glorious work of rebuilding their H respective communities and redeeming civilization from the calamity H which befell it. Thus will the healing hands of Time assuage the H grief, sooth the smarting pains and eventually efface the scars that H now disfigure the finest peoples of the earth. H Like individuals, nations are prone to forgive and forget. His- H tory tells us this. Napoleon was called the "Great Butcher" of his jH generation but in less than a quarter of a century he was celebrated H in romance. Grant was termed "The Bloody Butcher," even by his H own people; now he is universally revered by all Americans! as the H greatest captain of the age. Shermlan was the most detested of all H the soldiers of the Rebellion because of his ruthless methods, yet H when he died he was borne to the grave by three generals in gray H uniform who, with three Union generals, acted as his pall-bearers. H The splendid feeling and friendships that sprang up between the H famous captains of the Blue and the Gray at the close of the Rebel- H lion is ndw cherished as one of "the finest traditions of the Republic. H No civil war was more 'bitterly contested than that .between the jH 1 North and South. During the dark days of the Rebellion men felt H th1ife!airenduring-feud hadbeen engendered and viewed the future k vith despair in their hear.ts. Then came that day of days at Ap- t pomattox when Grant met Lee and dictated the terms of the sur- H render of the Confederacy. It tbok barely three minutes for the for- B ner to pen the memorandum of agreement. Lee was wearing the m splendid sword presented to him by the loving hands of his people M and observed the custom of war by tendering it to Grant. The latter , graciously waved it aside and wrote in the peace document: "The M side arms of the officers shall be returned." And then, as if prdrhpted M by an after thought, he wrote these magnanimous words: "The H horses shall be returned so that they can cultivate the fields." The H terms finally agreed upon, Grant quietly inquired of Lee as to the H state of his starving soldiers and issued an order to his commissary H division to honor the requisition of the Confederate commander for H all needed supplies. The Blue and the Gray mingled freely around H many a campfire that night and the long feud was at an end. H Then we are reminded of Lincoln's generous words, uttered in re- H sponse to the inquiry as to how he proposed to deal with the South, H now that it had surrendered. "I shall treat them as though they H never went away," he replied. An unkind Fate struck him down be- H fore he could put his policies of reconstruction into operation but H hot until he had convinced the South of his sincere friendship and H forgiveness. So it was that the death of this man came as a more H severe shock to the Southland than did defeat itself, and those who H had for four long years painted him as black as mortal hands and H hearts could paint another, mourned his irreparable loss and sorrowed H to the very depths of their souls. H And so there will come a day when the hatreds of men arising H out of the present war will be effaced. The curse on those guilty of H causing the awful conflict will wreak its own compensation, and then H tlie bloody flag will be furled and time will wash all the stains away. H HE OVERPLAYED HIS HAND. GHE impeachment of Governor Ferguson his enemies down in Texas call him "Funny Ferguson" affords a certain brand of H politicians a striking object lesson. The ill-fated governor has been H convicted of "honest graft;" that is, he obliged his friends at the ex- pense of the state, used the state's deposits to obtain personal finan- H cial accommodations, and managed to get his individual accounts B badly mixed up with his official accounts. At that, it has not been H proven that he stole any money from the state and we doubt that he H is "at heart the crook his enemies would have us believe. He undoubt- H edly benefited personally from certain transactions to which the state M -was a party, but this is no reason why we should hold up our hands in m holy horror at the mere mention of the disclosure. Such negotiations H are common and have been known to happen closer home than Texas. H Governor Ferguson's election was more, or less accidental. The H job was too big for hirn from the very first jump and he kept getting H into deeper water all the time. He will now find plenty of time to re- m fleet upon his foil)'- and the probabilities are if he is honest with him- 1 self that he will attribute his inglorious fall from grace to his pig- M headed determination to keep all of his foolish campaign pledges. lie M should have known better, but like the modern Quixote that he is, M he overestimated his prowess and tackled too many windmills. Not j until it was too late, did he come to realize that even the governor of H a great commonwealth has certain limitations. M I The deposed governor was a picturesque figure and, in many re- M spects, a very admirable character. He was essentially a man of the H plain people and they believed in him to the last. The chances are that H had the impeachment proceedings been referred to the general electo- H rate, the governor would have been vindicated, so great was the faith H of the masses in him. Ever since his entrance into Texas politics he H has made a strong appeal to the popular fancy. Much of this was H due to his pronounced position on the question of education. He got H I the idea in his head that the state was spending too much monev t Hj higher education and neglecting the common schools. The idea sec H to have been fairly well based on facts, at that. Anyway, he started H out to fight the. State University and he succeeded in making the fur B fly for a while. I The controversy shook the state-from the noithern border to the Rio Grande. Governor Ferguson, of course, was the central figure and he did not mince his words. "This high-tone stuff at the University Uni-versity is not doing the people any good," he told the Texans, and they hurrahed to the heavens. "I can take any five girls out of the higher classes at the university and bet that by united efforts they could not preserve a can of peaches so that it will keep for five days," was another of his shots at the professors. "Some men are hog wild ' over higher education," he assured the plain people, and boasted of having "booted out" the president of the institution and several of the ' professors on the ground that he had "no further time for fooling with them." He vetoed the university appropriation bill and then came the climax. The university crowd retaliated by demanding his" impeachment and what followed is common knowledge. Of course, the governor blundered time and again. He might have compromised the controversy, but he believed he was right and it is to his everlasting credit that he stood by his guns and cheerfully suffered the consequences like the gamester he is. The chief trouble was that he was not in any sense a practical politician. Also, he was unfortunate to enter politics from the top, and his first success came with such a smash that he lost his head completely. Had he climbed the political ladder from the bottom rung, he would have learned the art of conciliation and compromise. This would have stood him to good advantage when the big test came. When finally the storms beset be-set him, he did not know how to trim his sails. We would not have the reader get the idea that we endorse Gov- . ernor Ferguson's career in toto. There is much of it that does not appeal to the good citizen. Nevertheless, we cannot escape the conviction con-viction that he was intrinsically honest at heart and that he held to his campaign pledges foolish as they were come fair weather or foul. In this respect, he represented a rare type in American politics. Perhaps Per-haps ,the big blunder occurred when he made such preposterous pledges to gain office, but even that should not put him entirely outside out-side the pale. In comparison with some other candidates for governor that we have known in this state and others, Governor Ferguson was extremely conservative in his pre-election pledges. LOYALTY IN 1863 AND 1917. Q RESIDENT WILSON has his troubles. They are similar to those that tried the soul of the patient Lincoln during the dark clays of '63. The anti-draft sentiment existed then as now, although more pronounced, and there was plotting and rioting that threatened to shake the Union to pieces. The difference between what took place then and what is taking place now, however, lies in the origin of the propaganda to hamper the government. The anti-draft conspirators of the Civil war period were limited, almost to a man, to the bitter political opponents of Lincoln. Thus it was that the dastardly movement move-ment was fostered to harrass the president and prevent the free use of the man power of the nation to preserve the government. In this respect, President Wilson is to be congratulated. He enjoys en-joys the unqualified support of his erstwhile political opponents. It is to the glory of the nation and the credit of American politics that Republicans are standing behind the administration. Lafollette is no exception, for he has long since passed outside the pale of respectable politics. The opposition to the military draft proceeds directly from a potpourri of Socialists, I. W. W. and other pirates who prey upon society whenever the opportunity presents itself. At heart, they are, as traitorous to the government in times of peace as in war, and should be so dealt with. In undertaking to rid the country of this seditious element, it goes without saying that the president can count on the same solid support from the Republican paity that he is getting get-ting in the prosecution of his war program. t r "K r QEW YORKERS are all upset over the news that the Order of Bath recently conferred upon Ambassador Gerard by King George of England does not carry with it the customary title. They had all but decided to name him "Sir Jimmy" when the shock came. But since they insist upon being familiar with the erstwhile dignitary, why not call him "Uncle Jimmy" and be done with it? |