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Show &mBi Goocfwms IVqqAii I 'JEW WWW BV CELEBRATED American of letters aWk once remarked that "the test of civili- rS$wM zation is the estimate of woman." He ' M&Em was tlimkmg of America, of course, I I fM&zW and of the wonderful race of women iJ that would spring from her soil. In ligBgS&lm&r liis mjns eye he saw that some day i America was to become supreme, by virtue of the splendid attain ments of her womanhood. This was no idle fancy. Other Americans shared his ideals. The civilization that they have reared is of a singular singu-lar social order, in which the "estimate of woman" is clearly reflected in all its liberal customs and institutions. The souls of American women are soaring today in spheres that seem strange to the women of every other nation. Their aspirations and achievements have been one of the most inspiring movements of all ages, and through it all they have continued to command a wholesome respect in the opinions and sentiments of men. America's estimate of woman recently found expression on the battlefield in France. One of the boys in khaki was court martialed and shot for conduct unbecoming a soldier of the Great Republic. The thought that a woman of France was subjected to indignities and abuse by a man wearing the American uniform is not a pleasant con templation. It was an unhappy incident. Soldiers in strange lands are sometimes careless of their obligations of honor and common decency, and the rule is to be generous in judging their acts. But Americans 1 have a high regard for women the world over and unlike several of the other nations at war, when women are assailed, they cannot recon cile themselves to the deed on any pretext whatsoever. Our ideals in this respect were enunciated in stern and unmistakable language when our soldiers first set foot on foreign soil, and General Pershing I has made his word good. He has vindicated an American ideal, and his splendid conduct in this matter will go far towards reassuring the French people that their faith in the honor of our men in uniform has not been misplaced. v SANTA CLAUS IS COMING. ttN company with hundreds of thousands of happy-hearted chil-J chil-J dren throughout the land we rejoice to learn that the embargo will not be effective against consignments for the Holiday trade. These are mighty troublesome days for the railroads but orders have been issued to clear the track for the merry old man whose annual visits at Yule-tide are the delight of the youngsters and arouse in the hearts of the grown-ups memories of the long ago. Whether the railroad chieftains are to thank, or the Priority Board, matters little ; the point is that great hearts somewhere have given a thought to the little ones and decreed that even grim War itself shall not disappoint their hopes or darken their Christmas Day. And We are to experience a genuine Yankee Christmas, we are assured. as-sured. There was a time when most of the toys were "made in Germany," Ger-many," but German dolls and toys are "verboten" this year. In their stead will be the Liberty toys, made by nimble, patriotic American hands the "Sammy Dolls," "Red Cross Dolls," "Pershing Soldiers," "Hoover Toys," and all the various classes and kinds that go to make up the new regime in toyland. Santa Clause is patronizing home industry in-dustry this season and is promising many pleasant surprises for the American people, big and little. All of which is as it should be. Force of circumstances will compel com-pel most of us to resort to new ways and means of observing the holidays. holi-days. Many will be obliged to forego the extravagant customs and wanton waste of recent years. Gifts this year will be of a simpler and more substantial order. There will not be a noticeable tightening of the purse strings, but the shoppers will of necessity be more circum- H spcct in their purchases. Also, the true spirit of giving will become 'H more manifest; the holiday courtesies more genuine. It will, to all H intents and purposes, be a stirring revival of the old-fashioned Christ- H mas of a generation or two ago, and this experience in itself will work H wonders with the American people. Why not then, in company with PJ the kiddies, allow our hopes to be high and our hearts happy in antici- mW pation of the approaching holiday season." wM M READING THE SIGNS. H IN the latest issue of THE COMMONER Mr. Bryan gives an in- M teresting resume of the results of the recent election ; interest- H ing in that it suggests everything and says nothing. Mr. Bryan takes H particular notice of the growth of the socialist vote throughout the H country and seems to think that "their gain was sufficient to give H them substantial encouragement." Whether this gain in numbers was due to an increased acceptance of the socialistic principles or simply H expressed the sentiment of tthe anti-war element, he does not venture a guess. Reading between the lines, however, one seems to see an in- m H timation that the war is not as popular as some people wouldrhave us H believe. M Summing up the situation, Mr. Bryan takes occasion to make this M rather startling statement: "As between the Democrats and Repub- M licans, the latter have more reason than the former to rejoice." That jfl is going some for the old wheel horse of Democracy, but he immedi- M ately qualifies this remark by saying that it is customary for the pro- M verbial against-the-government sentiment to prevail in off-year elec- M tions. Then to make himself doubly secure against the charge of say- ing anything substantial, he ventures the opinion that "we shall have H to wait until the congressional election of 1918 to gain any definite M idea of the drift of political sentiment insofar as it is likely to affect M the national campaign of 1920." H In view of what Mr. Bryan suggests but does not say outright, H one wonders whether he is really in accord with the President's pro- . H gram. In times past he hasnot hesitated to color election results, but H this is the first instance of his attempt to becloud them. Political H prognostication has ever been his long suit. Is it possible that he, H too, has lived to see the day when no man knoweth what themorrow H bringeth forth? H H A BIT INCONSISTENT. I yJHE government's housewives' economy campaign seems to have H y struck a snag in the South. It is reported that any number of H Southern women have openly refused to sign Mr. Hoover's food- H pledge cards unless the German prisoners of war in the intern camps H are put on a plainer diet. The incident has given rise to all sorts of lH rumors, of course, but the fact has been fairly well established that lH the prisoners are living in comparative luxury while hundreds of thou- H sands of Southerners are scratching from sunrise to sunset to keep H body and soul together. I The open-hearted hospitality of the South has so long been celer ill brated in song and story as to become one of America's finest tradi- fl tions. Hence, when this time-honored spirit of generosity is strained I to the breaking point, it is high time to take stock of the situation. I The gracious Southern women are quite willing to do their bit for the cause. They did it before, even to the extent of emptying the larder for their soldiers and living on a scanty diet of plain food themselves. jfl But they want consideration in return. They see no reason why they fl should scrape and save, so long as their German guests are living on W lamb chops, fried chicken and poached eggs. The situation is said to I f a have reached a climax when one of the German officers expressed cx- Hl i trcme indignation because the honey-dew melon served him was not Hi j properly chilled. H. j No wonder the hot-blooded Southern women rebelled : The Sues' Sue-s' ' cess of the food conservation program is essentially a matter of in-H- dividual honor and no housewife is going to be overcome with an H' overwhelming desire to help win the war when the mouths she has to H feed are watering for the crumbs that fall from the enemy's table. Hj Our own readers have a similar concern, for it goes without saying H that many deserving citizens in this community are going hungry Hi while up at Fort Douglas the interned Germans are gouging their H stomachs. Likewise, many of our own citizens, notwithstanding their H' patriotic pretensions, are still indulging their appetites with menus H that would excite the envy of old Epicurus himself. This isn't right. H Morally, the one practice is just as bad as the other. Food conserva-H conserva-H tion will work, providing no favors are asked and none received. H Otherwise it is doomed to failure. H In justice to Mr. Hoover, it should be said that when he was ap- H prised of the attitude of the Southern women he immediately ad- H dressed a request to Secretary of War Baker that he be reasonable in H his distribution of foodstuffs to his guests. Someone has also quite H aptly suggested that Mr. Baker sign the food economy pledge on be- H half of his German visitors. Perhaps by this time he has come to ap- M predate the desirability of having a feast of reason with this flow of M soul. H T K H K H HOOVER VS. HUNGER. OUR friend Mr. Hoover seems to exercise an uncanny power over his fellow citizens these days. He has tremendous power, to WM be sure that conferred upon him by Congress and the President Wm but we have come to look upon him, not so much as a legally consti- H tuted authority, as a friendly oracle. His moral influence is most im- M: prcssivc. Americans as a rule reserve the right to their own opinions Hi but, so far as food conservation is concerned, they seem to have aban- i 4 doned every idea save to follow where the Food Administrator leads. M They watch his beck and nod and scramble to do his bidding. So it is that as a precaution against the hard winter that is approaching, they H have put all their eggs in one basket and Mr. Hoover is carrying the Hi basket. H I Several months ago we were fearful of a food shortage. Hap- H pily, that prediction was a false alarm. Our crops have exceeded all H expectations and we are assured that the foodstuffs now available will H be sufficient for all purposes at home and abroad if we exercise rea- H sonable economy and avoid waste. So far so good, but does this guar- H antee a substantial reduction in prices? Mr. Hoover assures us that H it does and shows how the price-fixing program works out with re- H spect to wheat and flour. We quote his own words : H "We have in the Food Administration put into action a form of H I price control through purchase of the exports of wheat and flour. The H I government must buy or contract the buying of wheat for export and H the export volume controls the price. We were immediately con- H fronted with price determination. To determine it we called in the H farmer himself and gave him the majority of the commission to deter- H mine a fair price. We gave him the national balance and prayed him H to weigh carefully and justly. For the first time in history he had a H voice in his own price and unanimously determined upon $2.20 per H j bushel, with certain differentials on locality and grade. H , "We then created a voluntary engine of our best commercial men H to carry it into effect and eliminate all speculation, and to reduce the M j cost of distribution in hopes of finding relief to the consumer. We can Hj ' now measure the results. The farmer will receive about 60 cents per B ( bushel more for his wheat than his average last year. Sixty cents per m ( bushel is equal to about $3.00 per barrel in flour. The price of whole- HH ale flour is today $3.00 less per barrel than the last four months' av- Hjjf , erage. So here is the measure of reduced speculation and distribution M j charges $3.00 per barrel increase to the farmer and $3.00 decrease M j 'to the consumer." M i Along with hismany other accomplishments Mr. Hoover seems H- - to -have mastered the art-of-p-laymg bt)tlr-ends-am?ttlr"iTri?Mle HL .. But he also assures us that his efforts are limited absolutely to the area of commerce lying between the producer and the retailer. He can wage war against-the speculators and simplify the system of distribution, dis-tribution, but there the law stops him. So far as the producers and J retailers are concerned, he can only use moral suasion. This applies j to the ultimate consumer likewise. If he would reach each of these three classes he must depend upon their patriotism and common sense. Moreover, he advises us that his efforts will be confined to the control of a dozen or more fundamental staples those foodstuffs that form the basis of life and that he will not concern himself with the lux- i uries. He looks to the people themselves to take care of this situation, ' and he is dead right. If they are content to use plain foodstuffs, he can help them; if they insist upon following their fastitious tastes, the future is their own lookout. After all, the food situation resolves itself down to a matter of j individual enterprise and ingenuity. At best, Mr. Hoover can only point out the way. He cannot save us if we refuse to help save ourselves. our-selves. He cautions us to begin conservation in the kitchen and promises that there will be plenty of plain food on the table if we are prudent. But if we insist upon throwing caution to the wind and re- sort to the old American game of "devil take the hindermost," there ', is not telling what the winter will bring foi th. SPECIAL TRAIN FOR SAMMY. XN times past the British soldier was disposed to do considerable I grumbling over his treatment. The custom was to rate him even below the meanest class of civilians and everywhere he went he was treated with contempt. Rudyard Kipling took this sorry situation situa-tion for the text of one of his most picturesque poems and described I how Tommy was kicked from pillar to post during the piping times of peace, but that it was "Special train for Atkins when the trooper's on the tide." He seemed content to rest his case with this outburst of irony, notwithstanding the possibilities that a detailed description of the "special train" of that day offered in the way of additional and extraordinary color. I But we are living in the present and our chief concern now is our own soldier. He too, is travelling on a special train, as the guest of his government, but in a manner that would have made his proverbial British cousin turn green with envy, had such transportation facilities been available a generation ago. Sammy travels in a Pullman these days and is afforded every comfort and convenience that the combined resources of the great transcontinental systems can command. Moreover, More-over, the speed of his transportation is in keeping with the style. Just recently a contingent of 8,000 soldiers was moved from one ocean to the other 3,700 miles in six and one-half days. The boys in khaki were all provided with Pullman car accommodations and carried their entire equipment with them. There were five hundred men to a train; the trains operating in sixteen sections and each one consisting of twelve coaches and two baggage cars. It was a rem-markable rem-markable run. A soldier's life has its disadvantages along with its dangers. He faces the latter with more patience and fortitude than he docs the former. That is but natural. And not the least of his trials and tribulations trib-ulations are those encompassed in the long jumps from one camp to another. When he starts somewhere he wants to keep moving. He is on special business for Uncle Sam and he doesn't relish the idea of being side-tracked at every one-horse town along the line. It is seldom sel-dom that the railroad switch has any fascination for him and then it is most unexpected. For instance : the Sammies who received that rousing rous-ing reception at a little Iowa town along the line, in the shape of a I smacking kiss from a bevy of pretty girls who essayed to kiss the i whole trail load, quite likely were very willing to forgive the railroad I management for the unavoidable delay. But as a rule Sammy feels I right smart about his "speshul" and the extraordinary attention he is receiving, and it is needless to say that the railroads are doing the country a good turn and themselves another. For, when the war is over and the soldiers come home, the transportation iptains will find trrcy-rravra-liust "Of fTieirdn1mTiliey-n |