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Show BEAVER PKESS A Book Shelf Washington Digest Wi Hide's War Stand Jeopardizes Political Observers Believe a Strong Stand Would Have Been Popular; Politicians Grumble About Hatch Act. Non-Interventi- By CARTER FIELD (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) WASHINGTON There is a very strong feeling, among newspaper men and other political observers here in the Middle West, that Wendell L. Willkie may have thrown away the certainty of being elected President of the United States by his stubborn refusal to take issue with President Roosevelt on the war issue. This is not an attempt to estimate the accuracy of this belief. It is merely the recording of the obvious so far as this section of the country is concerned. Illinois is one of the great German states of the country Its German population is huge in proportion. The same is true to an even greater extent of the neighboring state of Wisconsin, while Minnesota has more Germans than either Swedes or Norwegians, though not as many as all the Scandinavians put together. It is also true that this whole neck of the woods has been undergoing newspaper bombardment for the last 21 years against the League of Na- - WENDELL L. WILLKIE tions, the World court, and any sort of European entanglement. In CM cago the Tribune and the Hearst have been particularly papers vicious in their propaganda along this line. Willkie Advised To Stress 'Peace' While "vacationing" at Colorado Springs, after the Republican convention and before his acceptance speech, willkie was approached by any number of men and women who appreciated this racial group situa tioff keenly. They were sure that Willkie could carry every state in the Central West by merely keeping quiet on every question which seemed to lead toward war. They wanted him to refuse to say any thing more than that he wanted to keep this country out of war. They were shocked at the "aid to Britain1 portions of his acceptance speech. They were horrified when he sanc tioned the exchange of the destroy' ers. Now they are asking: "What is the difference between Roosevelt and Willkie?" Curiously enough, the administra tion seems to have joined these un successful advisers of Willkie in try ing to drive him into the other camp When Henry A. Wallace toured Illi nois, the main theme of all his talks was thumbing his nose at Adolf Hit ler. That was NOT good medicine, po litically, for a state with such a heavy German population. But, ap parently, the New Dealer are count ing on Willkie's utterances on con scription, on the destrojers, and on aid to Britain to offset anything Wallace said, and to permit them to do a little proselyting on the other side of the street It is certainly not a happy thought, but there is no blinking the fact that Adolf Hitler has a lot of admirers in our Central West. German Votes Important In Middle West States The tremendous importance of the German and pacifist votes in this Middle-Wes- t country is not underestimated in the slightest degree by Wendell L. Willkie. He chose his course to support aid to Britain, to support the exchange of the destroyers, and to support conscription in full knowledge of the political potentialities. The fact is thai he remarked to friends BEFORE his acceptance speech tbat he believed he could be elected easily if he were willing to sacrifica ois convictions on the issue. WIM.KIE'S WAR STAND Carter Field believes that Willkie's stand on the European war has seriously jeopardized his chances of carrying the middle-westerstates. He points to the large German populations there which oppose aid to Britain. Politicians of both parties are grumbling about the Hatch act, but the law hits the Republicans hardest. This raises the question whether large campaign expenditures are really necessary for victory. A New Chapter As he put it, he did not HAVE to be President, but he did have to live with himself for the rest of his life. It is argued by some that Willkie was wrong even in his estimate that to take the isolationist side would help him. Those holding this view say that he would have lost more votes in the East than he would have gained in the Central West by a pacifist stand, had he been willing to go isolationist in order to win the election. This may be true, but the evidence seems to be against it. It is more probable that Willkie was right that he could have been elected easily if he had taken the isolationist side. This estimate of the situation Is not pleasing to the writer, for with a good many others 'he shares the view that to aid Britain is postponing the day of our own trouble that every day Britain is able to fight is one more day before we are in trouble that if Britain is able to sur vive, our danger for the present will have passed. Four Central States Necessary for Victory The real point is that, if it Is con ceded as a basis for argument that this is a fairly close election and otherwise no political argument is of any value because NOTHING would make any difference then there are certain states which are utterly vital to Willkie. First and foremost among these is New York. But right in second place is Illinois, with its huge German vote, and close behind are Wisconsin and Minnesota, with even larger German votes. Willkie MUST carry every one of these four states to have a CHANCE to be elected. Roosevelt could lose any three of them, assuming the election is fairly close, and be safe. Sentiment is these three states, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, is very heavily AGAINST aid to Britain, if normally reliable observers are accurate this time. This is not to say that Willkie has lost them. He may carry them all. But what appears is that he threw away, for reasons that one cannot help admire, the certainty of carrying them. Hatch Act Hampers Politicians of Both Parties Politicians in both parties are grumbling no end about the operations of the Hatch act in limiting The Recampaign expenditures. publicans, naturally, are doing the more grumbling, because, while the Democratic workers who want to get their hands on some money are just as greedy, the big shots in the party organization know that they have a tremendous advantage. Their workers are paid out of the federal treasury and are even more zealous than workers just earning a temporary wage, since the success of the campaign will determine whether the Democrats stay on the federal pay roll or not. One of the restrictions against which the Republicans are most bit ter is that every cent spent since January 1 counts against the $3,000,-00- 0 limitation. It so happens that in the first few months of this year the Republicans paid off something like Now obviously $350,000 of debt there was no intention on the part of congress to count anything or the sort but when the law is perfectly clear in its wording it makes no difference what congress intended. There are lots of Supreme court decisions showing that, including par ticularly the Mann white slave act, which did NOT do what congress in tended, but which for various reason has never been amended. This is really academic, however, In view of Willkie's own decision that the campaign should not cost more than $2,500,000. All of which brings up the ques tion it is worth while for a political party to spend as much as has been spent In the last half dozen presidential battles. The difficulty is that it is hard for persons of college educations and cultured associa- tions, for instance, to appreciate some of the things that politicians generally regard as absolutely es- sential. But Willkie, like most intelligent observers, believes that a big frac- tion of the money spent for campaigns is wasted. Whether some of the cuts will actually be harmful no one may ever know. Do buttons change votes? That s a question which would take a lot of skillful investigation to determine. Beyond doubt there are lots of peo ple who like to be o.i the winning ide. Certainly there is little appeal to one's intelligence in a button, or n automobile placard, but how the ounty chairmen seem to love them! The average man will not read a ampaign pamphlet That seems to go without saying. But most politicians are not willing to take a chance on eliminating them, despite the terrific printing and postage ex pense involved. j t DID CUSTER ASPIRE TO BE PRESIDENT? Election Chances in Middle West in the Story of a (Released by Western Newspaper Union. f u:vJMTY-J?'UU- years K ago Cleveland, Ohio was the scene of a meet ing unique in American poli tics the "Johnson Soldiers' and Sailors' Convention" o 1866. Although a relatively minor incident in President Andrew Johnson's historic struggle with Thaddeus Stev ens and the other radical Re publican leaders, this con vention has particular inter est because one of its pro moters and outstanding figures was a man whose name is glamorous in our military annals. fellow-soldie- ly rs Rebel-Copperhe- In looking around on the members of this Convention, as they assembled for business, I saw many whose histories satisfied me of their object in being here. The most prominent and conspicuous was Custar. His caliber is explained by the remark of an Ohio delegate, who said "Custar is a man with a deal of hair, but very little brains." Custar has been supporting the President vigorously since his evidence before the Reconstruction Committee and his reward was a promotion from Captain to Lieutenant-Colone- l A Convention will be permanently organized morning. Cens. Granger and Custar are spoken of as permanent President. So also is Rousseau and Steedman. There are a number seeking the position in case of a quarrel. Mr. Doolittle (senator from Wisconsin) will settle matters. Custar is bis man. ... That Red Necktie! But, as it turned out, "Custar" wasn't. Gen. John E. Wool, a veteran ot the war of law, as well as the Mexican and Civil wars and the oldest in the United States army, was made temporary president. Then, according to the Tribune correspondent's next dispatch, major-gener- Gen. Woor poor, foolish old man calied the Convention to order. On his Custer, who right sat young, was easily distinguished by a bright red neck-ti. . . Gen. Gordon he wore Granger was made permanent President of the convention. . . . Young Custer, too, was ambitious to have the honor conferred on him but gracefully yielded at the suggestion of Senator Doolittle. Custer felt hurt at this slight, and called it Ingratitude, fie felt that he was the chief spirit of the Convention, and the one who first originated but Doolittle sleeked the scheme, Georgie's flaxen curls, and told him it was the President's wish that an older man should be selected. So the quarrel was compromised by putting Custer on the Committee to present the proceedings of the Convention to his Excellency. This will Rive Georgie a chance to apply for the vacant Brigadier Generalship in the Regular Army. curly-haire- e Even though Custer was denied the presidency of the convention, he continued to be one of its leading spirits during the two days' meeting. The Tribune dispatches repeatedly mention him and by this time its correspondent had evidently learned to spell his name correctly! They also mention frequently his red scarf, that bright oriflamme which had been in the forefront of many a thundering cavalry charge during the Civil war. Apparently Custer was acting as a sort of secretary of the convention, for there is also frequent mention of his receiving messages brought to the tent by One of "the telegraph boy." these telegrams and the convention action which resulted from it created a furore later. It came from Memphis, Tenn., and it was, summer, all of which were due to his generous impulsive way of doing things. Honest to the backbone himself, he could not imagine that others were less so and he fell, as it were, into the midst of a den of hungry political wolves who would have picked his bones clean had he staid much longer . . . But he was saved from the consequences of his indiscreet utterances by being ordered to ron riliey. It is no doubt true, as Whit- taker's statement implies, that Custer's activities during the summer and autumn of 1866 seri ously impaired the prestige which he had gained as a successful cavalry leader during the Civil war. This should have warned him to keep away from civilian politics but, unfortunately for him, he failed to heed that warning. During the next 10 years the American public, which had once hailed George Armstrong Custer as the beau sabrcur of the Union army, had good reason to applaud him in a new role that of the foremost Indian fighter of his day. Why he, having added to his fame as a soldier, should have ventured again into the field of politics, which had once proved so sterile for him, is one of the paradoxes of a career that is filled with inconsistencies. For that is what he did when he became embroiled in the famous Belknap affair in the winter of 1875. He volunteered to testify before the congressional committee which was investigating charges of graft against Gen. W. W. Belknap, President Grant's secretary of war, thereby incurring the displeasure of Grant. As the result of these latest utterances," Custer was deprived of command of the expedition which he was to have led against the hostile Sioux and Chcyennes in the spring of 1876 although he was eventually permitted to accompany its commander, Gen. A. H. Terry, at the head of his regiment, the Seventh cavalry. Disaster overtook him when his regiment was detached from the main column to locate the hostile3. For, at the Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, the Indians annihilated the five troops of the Seventh which Custer led into battle and inflicted heavy casualties upon the other six troops before they were rescued by Terry the next day. Controversy Over Custer. For more than 60 years a con u - He said he had made up his mind to go on this expedition to fight. He said he had been to Washington and had been given instructions to follow the Dakotas. Now that he was on the if he had a victory, he said, "When we return, I will go back to Washington and on my trip to Washington I shall take broth er here. Bloody Knife, with me.my I shall remain at Washington and be the Great ramer. tiui my brother. Bloody Knife will return, and when he arrives home he shall have a fine house built for him, and those of you present will be the ones appointed to look after the work that will be placed in charge of Bloody Knife. You will have positions under him to help in what he is to do and you can. when you wish to speak with me or send me wora. gamer at Bloody Knife's house and decide what the message will be. Then he will send it to me. He will be the whole tribe of Arikaras to be given head of. I will have papers made out for each of you here and you will have to plenty eat for all time to come, and you and war-pat- and, by making such promises, did he hope to hold them steadfast if they should show an inclination to desert him at a critical time in the coming campaign? Or was he truly "showing his heart" to trusted Indian friends who would not likely be- tray his confidence. There is, of course, no way of knowing which of these two pos- sibilities is the more believable. But they suggest other interesting speculations. More than once the American people had elected a military PSjdcnV. Thoy had sent Old Hickory" Jackson, "Old Tippecanoe" Harrison and "Old Ready" Ta'lor to the gfnd House. Why shouldn't thev send "Old Curley" Custer, the of the Sioux, there- -if conqueror he should win a great victory over the Indians? Were such thoughts as these in the mind of George Armstrong Custer when he told his Arikara scouts that he was to be going their "Great Father"? Was he Planning in the event of victory to enter the political arena onc e .... morn nnrl . "B 1 "'C wall, , "tla Those questions m,,r forever unanswered. The hZZ the only rm.n who could have an swercd them ort u death on a barren hSlsffe in Mon !?1 Suay in June Ea j) slip40 BOX SCREWED m AND wail THEN ale; UNEd' !1 WITH I YELLOl Oil cum.. ;een' eitiii 6REEN AND YELLOW COTTON feu PRINT m curtains extend i Side over front YELLOW BIAS BINDIN6 a book shelf, here is proof smart one will look, especial u is maiunea wnn a chair cop in the same material. 7 of the chair are painted eroJ so is the old kitchen table J nas now Decome a desk. Thai low tone is repeated in the V, and an old brass lamp and 1 desk things carry out the J i i. j. n like this one would be attract! almost any room, even the 'f room or tne Kitchen. This hp so rough that the oil cloth was necessary. A box of wood could be painted insici (til - alii it n I iettei sot ;can he A He aNi pros are i s- 1 1 pricf 5 . oi d tad it jevi NOTE: One hundred sixty of homemaklng articles by Mrs c have been printed In five bonkW 32 pages. The stocking cat and the shelf are In Book 3; direction! hook rug are in No. S; also descr'i of the other booklets. Booklets iS puaipdiu ami Biiuuia ue requested from Mrs. Spears. Send order to: J MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS Drawer 10 Bedford Him stw lI Enclose 10 cents for each k :Hoj seta rian' kChi it's ire oraerea. a a Name Address icto Speech of the Soul Utterance is not confix Our SOUls snpalr ac nificantly by looks, tones, or tures the subtle vehie es n? more delicate emotions, as frd by set words and phrases, hi the soul has a thousand way! communicating itself. Turnt WOrdS. iJyVa the; iftti to i irtw! am iio pa their ::ar :laf mt Soom PERSONALS tOCi Dr. Powder. SarrJ Murray's Hygienic mail. 10c (coln MI RKAV MED Helroia 4200 At.. HOLLYWOOD, CE N... "El bit dm 'deal Success Secondary Man cannot be satisfied mere success. He is conce the terms upon with Ab lit which lake the terms seem more impcra than the success. Charles A. nett. m,' aid INDIGESTIO may affect the Heart f Cm trapped i n the stomach or (nil l"t nwf .n women mi. iwmn. fliwwiim.nn.- -' '. and mart men depend oo hell-vlet RU free. No I native bat made of tin t4 artinir medirmea known for add i nJlir'"1-FIK.ST DUSK doean't aovo IMI-an- l brtur '4 botu to ua and raceira DoUULK Men J J iihl ilo; Cus. ter merely "talking big" (army uimrers wno Knew him well say that he was given to doing that) in order to impress his Indian scouts win there as well ns n of battle? ' -- you never thought of much-debate- -- ej. t- rs In saying such things, was UT-- . 1 1 troversy has raged over this bat tle. Critics of Custer assert mai he alone was responsible for the tragedy. They say that he was hungry for a victory whicn wouia reeain for him some of tne pres tige he had lost in the Belknap affair and that he was deter mined to grab all the glory of such a victory for himself, oo, they assert, he deliberately de stroyed both the letter ana tne spirit of Terry's explicit orders and by bringing on a Datue hours too soon he not only brought disaster upon himself but he broke up a plan which would have insured defeat of the In dians. tell another story. They admit his desire for a victory but they deny that he disobeyed Terry's instructions for they read in them an interpretation which gave him considerable latitude of action and fully justify his departure from the letter of d orders. those In the heat of their dispute, they overlook an incident which may furnish a clue to one of the forces that motivated him. This incident suggests that, despite the unhappy results of his pre vious ventures into politics, he was contemplating still another and that his ultimate goal was Washington, D. C, and the White House! Accompanying Custer on this expedition was a party of Arikara or Ree, Indian scouts, many of whom, including a fierce warrior named Bloody Knife, had taken part in Custer's exploration of the Black Hills two years earlier. Before Terry's army left Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota territory, Custer held a council with the Arikara scouts. Years later Red Star, one of the Arikara scouts, during an interview with O. G. Libby of the North Dakota Historical society, recalling the council, disclosed that Custer told the Arikaras "he had been to Washington and he had been informed that this would be his last campaign in the West among the Indians. He said that no matter how small a victory he could win, even though it was against only five tents of the Dakotas (Sioux) it would make him President, Great Father, and he must turn back as soon as he was victorious. In case of victory, he would take Bloody Knife back with him to Washington." Later, during the march into the Indian country, Custer again talked with his Indian scouts. At that time, according to Red Star: Custer-defende- GEN. GEORGE A. CUSTER In this photograph, taken by He was George Armstrong Cus Brady in 1865, Custer wears the ter, "The Boy General With the picturesque costume of the "Boy Golden Locks." "The Murat of General" wide felt hat, blue flanthe American Army" and the In nel shirt and scarlet tie. dian fighter par excellence until a Sioux bullet ended his spectacu according to the Tribune correlar career in what is commonly spondent, "signed by the Rebel Gen. N. B. Forrest of guerilla known as the "Custer Massacre." Custer biographers are strangely and Fort Pillow fame, Gen. silent concerning his part in the Chalmers of Hood's old army and Cleveland convention. Yet it was Col. Galloway of that notorious an important milestone in his ca- Rebel sheet, The Memphis Avreer. For it was his first venture alanchestating that the late Reb el soldiers the same who mas along a path which, there is rea son to believe, he hoped might sacred negro soldiers at Fort lead him to the presidency of the Pillow, and again, more recently, on the streets of Memphis, in United States! The story of that phase in the mass convention sent greeting to career of George Armstrong Cus the Johnson soldiers here, and ter is here told for the first time. said they had their sympathy." This waving of the bloody shirt That Custer was an active pro moter of the "Johnson Soldiers by the Tribune correspondent was and Sailors' Convention" is in prophetic of the repercussions dicated by an editorial which ap- from this incident which were to peared in the August 24, 1866, is- come almost immediately. Acsue of the edition of cording to Lloyd Paul Stryker in Horace Greeley's New York Trib his biography of Andrew Johnson: une. Headed "The Johnson SoNothing could have done the Johnson harm than this this editorial began: cause more ldiers," The convention, upon "Generals Custer, Dix etc. urge receipt message. of this Southern message of good their in the late will, adopted a resolution thanking the soldiers for their words of Civil war to unite with them in Confederate "magnanimity and kindness." This, in of the a in minds Thaddeus Stevens and his convention Cleveland holding sycophants, was proof of treason. The to pave the way for a Forrest telegram furnished Sumner and triumph in the approach- his followers with new "evidence" that Johnson had gone over to the Confedelection." ing "All other circumstances unitThe Tribune was one of the eracy. ed." wrote Blaine, "did not condemn the orconvention in Northern opinion so deeply leading gans. But, granting the bias of as Inthishisincident." "A Complete Life of Gen its editorial policy, Custer must have been unusually active in eral George A. Custer," Capt. Johnson's behalf, else he would Frederick Whittaker, Custer's earliest biographer and his chief not have been singled out for spe cial notice, as he was m the Trib- apologist, without referring diune's coverage of the convention. rectly to this aftermath of the The Cleveland convention affair, admits that Custer's first in on tent a the lake venture into politics, via the opened big front of the Ohio city on Septem- Cleveland convention, was an ill- ber 17. The first dispatch sent advised one and he tries to ex back to the Tribune by its special cuse his hero for the error of in this ingenious fash correspondent refers to Custer judgment ion: his incidentally, misspelling Nothing hurt Custer's political and mil name) thus: itary future like the movements of this semi-week- Bv" RUTH wvrTt, J CCHOOL age;,, and H Ehows a auiPt one girl. It is aU tones of eoldpn vn... and was made almost entll on hand down- to thetoujr hnnV... . .... The hansnnc hnro- iug i..,. . really hang at all. It is mJH Glamorous American By ELMO SCOTT WATSON fQr !edi Faith an Incentive Faith is the most powenV centive and the best ther progress in Birkhoff. guide welt to Sma science.- -! -- eat ittat I lie aft DASH IN rCATH r...... ... nak"oWi"n eo much iw A Sal si Could th ft: It WNU-- W Happiness in Little vefV . T?rmmKi 4ria bill.? fdat te needed to make a happy M Marcus Aurelius. oald ft. 1 "St inpi Help Them Cleanse tbslU" of Harmful ItodyM" Your kldneva an eonatantlr ' Wartt matter from th blooJ kidneyaeometimeelAKin their Tir not act aa Nature intended mova Imnsiritio knf if retained, Poiaoa the ijraUm and upeet j body maaalnery. Ermntntna mav ft naerfnf "r h 2 Prietewt Bwadach,atU-k'd:",,.;etting us niibla, iwellinir. under tb a freling y anxiety aad Ion of PP nd, or Othor J !,tb. tlj !!: 'a J aleni of kidney order ara aometimea Lurniot. c"u 1 too frequent urination. There ebould be ao doubt tfciitP" treatment ia wiaer than "(i'T., 55, j now frlendi for more lhn 1"',;. H 1'hey hava a nation-wide-A- ra recommended by rrateful PP" ,1 untry over. Auk your HH! ft l H 'i |