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Show - THE RICH COUNTY NEWS, RANDOLPH, UTAH Unde Sams Shirt-Sleev- 7if ASHINGTON. Long strides to- Y ward removing diplomatic posts from rewards . for political service have been ' made during President Hardings administration, according to a report Issued by the committee on foreign service of the National Civil Service Reform lea'gue. The report says - the first year seems to indicate that an earnest effort has been made to retain the services of men of experience and to appoint to diplomatic posts persons with qualifications in diplomacy. The Committee reports that five of the nine ambassadors appointed by President Harding were men with previous experience in diplomacy. Six of the thirty ministers now serving In the diplomatic corps, the committee found, were appointed on the basis of their experience and eight were men appointed during previous - - e Diplomacy administrations, but were retained by President Harding. Four ambassadors, sixteen .ministers, two agents and one minister resident and consul general appointed by President Harding, the report says, were persons without any previous diplomatic experience. While many of tte 23 appointments made of persons without previous diplomatic experience operated as a recognition of political obligations, the report states, the evil of such appointments is largely abated by the present administration and contrasts favorably with the records of the first year of other administrations. . For this record. President Harding and Secretary Hughes are to be commended. President Harding is furthermore deserving of commendation in that he had selected for secretary of state a man of the highest qualifications and one devoted to the merit principle. The committee reported a still better Showing, an unequaled record of adherence to the merit system" in its examination of appointments In the consular service. .. There has been during the first 15 months of the present administration, tha report states, not a single exception to the rules requiring appointments through examinations in the consular service. , Has Uncle Forgotten He Bought Em? TSo YOU remember that Uncle Sam purchased of Denmark in . 1917 for $25,000, (XXHhe Virgin islands, with an area of 142 square miles and a population of 26,051 ? Well, If you do, that's more than Uncle Sam does, according to the Virgin Islanders. Anyway, a delegation of three from the Virgin islands called at the White House recently and arranged for a conference, at which they hope to get the attention of this country directed to the troubles of our d islands. The United States purchased the islands In order to keep them from falling into the hands of Germany. We placed a 'navy officer in charge, and seem to have all but forgotten the Islanders and their Islands. The delegates who have come to get a hearing insist that being under the Stars and Stripes is a hardship to them. Instead of a privilege. The original act of purchase provided that all residents of the islands would become citizens of the United States, unless they recorded their wist to remain Danish subjects. No provision was made for natives of the islands who previously had come to the United States or moved to other islands In the West Indies. They are newly-acquire- blind veterans of the World war were guided into the gallery of the national house of representatives one day this summer. From there they went to the senate, then to a garden party at the White House. These veterans from the navy and from every, European battlefield where Americans fought are being rehabilitated in the Evergreen School for the Blind in Baltimore. They want congress to grant them an inshall keep corporation for an association whichcommon sacthem together and enshrine their INETY rifice. It is Representative Thomas D. Schall of Min- nesota who has introduced the incorporation bill. Calling the attention of the house to the visitors in the gallery, he made an eloquent speech that stirred even the blase house and brought forth many bursts of applause. Probably one reason the speech was eloquent was because the speaker knew what he was talking about For he had been under fire with the boys on the firing line. He Was on the American transport Mount Vernon when she was torpedoed off Brest September 5, with a loss of 37 killed. He was in' France during July ttnd August of 1918 and followed the Americans drive. As he said in his in the Chateau-Thierr- y speech : I was with Major Fuchs in Cohan, where white-ho- t fragments of shell lay smoking in the street the town being shelled every 15 minutes. I experienced creeping upon hands and knees for about half a mile to avoid exposure to the enemy. I savored the heavy white dust, the flies, the heat, and the scantiness of water; the smell of decaying flesh, where the human dominated the animal. I heurd the mighty uproar of night attacks, where like heat lightning the barrage played along the sky ; the boom of artillery and the burst of shell ; the heavy rumble of trucks bringing troops, munitions and supplies to the front; and ambulances Betting out with the wounded. From actual contact with soldiers in action, in field and camp, I know something of what our boys suffered and what they accomplished over there. I dined with them at mess and communed with them in bivouac in the night, at a time when mens tongues are loosed and they talk. Today they narrowly missed death. Perhaps it would be their turn tomorrow, and so on the verge of eternity they spoke their hearts and told the plain truth without fear or favor No whiners among them. No boasters. Just matter-of-fac- t, pure stuff, the dross burned away in actual fellowship with death, leaving their souls vibrant instruments of truth. If I had but one word with which to describe the American soldier, I would describe him with the word courage. No nation in all the annais of war has produced average individuals witli such predominant courage, such unheard-o- f heroism, such willing offering of life. But Mr. Scliall's speech was eloquent for another reason also': He. himself is a blind man "lost sight through electric shock, says the Congressional Directory. Said he, iif his introduction: No doubt every one of these boys has cried out in his hour of trial, O I.ord, if possible, take this cup front me, and would have chosen to have remained upon the battlefield, with no wakening, to bear, day after day, the heavy cross of silent waiting. The constantly recurring thought in the early days of blindness is, Is not death to be preferred? for they then reason with the mind of the seeing. I can remember upon losing my sight, acquaintances meeting me after a lapse of time would say, Schall, I heard you were dead. I re! But I could readily plied, Not dead, just blind When, they heard what thought. they interpret that I had lost my sight, they said to themselves, I would rather be dead. And so, having said it, they concluded that I was dead. But I am not dead. AppIause.J And I am quite sure that the blind soldiers who are here in the gallery today will prove that they are not dead. Applause. These men are making good under their trials. : There is one young lad up there, deaf in one ear. both hands gone, blind, yet he Is studying law. He has learned the typewriter, and he writes as fine a letter as any one of you can do with your sight Applause. They are all very much alive. They have refused to be downed. They have tackled their handicap with the same spirit and go and dash that they bucked the stalemate of the trenches, and with a yell, Come on, boys, do you want to live forever? sent the American spirit up and down the allied lines to win the victory for the world., Applause. ; Here are some of the good things in the eloquent speech of this blind legislator speaking for V" men : the blind We have been accustomed to believe the European propaganda that everything overseas is far, far better than our borne product ; that to produce a soldier up to European grade, they must be drilled year after year. But here were these rnw American boys performing deeds of judgment, ded cision and valor that forced from their allies and opponents the admission that they bad never seen or heard the like. . A heroic soul here and there would have been within the bounds of expectatiofi, but the constant grade of the whole product of the nation, drafted and volunteers, with whom you came in contact there on the death fields could not but give you pause and force the thinking mind to ask why a nation had produced such universal phenomena. In touch with these wonderful men day after day, in whom heroism was as common as the dirt under foot, comparing them with the other soldiery, I was impelled to ask myself what made this vast gap in the fortitude, courage. Judgment, between human individuals of the same civilization, and the answer wus driven in upon me that the difference lay in their greater soul power, because at last God had reared a government under which the soul,, that thing akin to Him. could grow; a government whose aim was the development and fostering of Initiative of the individual, where they hud freedom to choose between right and wrong; where any citizen could aspire M the highest office in the land ; where religion was unhampered, their thoughts unrestrained, where they dared to think and feel out loud ; where equal opportunity was their birthright, and no high wall of Verboten is endured ; where each stands upon his own resources, for what he is and what he can do, and every man is the equal of his neighbor ; where, the Stars and Stripes from the towers of our public schools speak the spirit of America and beckon her children to a heart of understanding that can discern between right and wrong. It is true the allies furnished the guns, hut America furnished the soul that won the war. Applause. Until that soul was loosed in combat upon the battle fields defeat of the allies was inevitable. Paris had been ordered evacuated. Big Bertha shells were' bursting everywhere Jn the streets. Consternation prevailed. Lines of refugees were streaming from the city. A German army, headed by the Prussian Guard and commanded by the crown prince, was advancing with the steady precision of clockwork at the rate of four to five miles a day. German patrols had been captured within six miles of Baris. The terrible bombardment and onslaught of the shock troops had forced, the French back and back until the Germans, gaining possession of the heights about Belleau Wood, had cleared the roads for eight miles in advance. With their march unresisted for several miles ahead, the Prussian Guard was ordered to put on their dress uniforms with spiked helmets. The officers decked themselves in dress regalia with starched bosom shirts. The Germans had no other thought but that they were going triumphantly into Paris. The French believed it, the English believed it, the Belgians believed it, the Itnlians believed it. all the world believed it. But the boys of four American regiments did not believe it. The Fifth and Sixth marines, the Ninth and Twenty-thir- d Infantry of the Second division, being the nearest At hand, were crowded into trucks as close ns they could stand and hurried In the night to war-traine- striking distance of the enemy. A they passed the retreating French they were met with cries of, 'You're zigzag; youre crazy. Sure death ahead. There Is no hope; go back. But these eager, smooth-face- d Americans, who had never smelled the smoke of battle were not made of the stuff - that goes back when the enemy is in front. Un J perturbed, they landed in the mud, and undef cover of the woods formed their lines and calmly waited for the dawn, when yboot 15,000 American met and held and stopped live German division So fierce and unfaltering was the Applause. attack that the enemy took it for granted that there were unlimited reserves in the rear. The miracle was performed, the march on Paris stopped, the oncoming hordes turned back,' the Chateau-Thierr- y drive began, th destiny of civilization changed. Applause. The soul of America had wos because It had broken the cocksure spirit of the enemy, had rekindled in the breasts of the drooping allies a morale that ran from one enifcof the lines to' the other. For the supersoldier of the world, with tremendous advantage of numbers, had been by a few simple, modest, untrained Americans; and these same Americans were here in . , great numbers, and they were coming by the thou-sands. The war could end in but one way. At the drive, when the pall height of the Chateau-Thierr- y of that terrible certain daily advance, when the shelling of Paris and the nightmare of air raids was too recent to be forgotten, not a soul could be found In the ranks of any army or in an." walk In life so base but he was free to admit that It was the American soldier who won the war, turned the tide, saved them when they had the!. backs to the wall. Yet now, when it fs all safely over, there are those who ungratefully say, We would have won, anyway. They would, like h I. Applause. ur boys were far from their homes. It put shame into the hearts of men Who were fighflng for their very hearth sides and families to see such daring and spirit In lads who needed no spur. It began June 6 at Belleau Wood and continued drive, the Somme camthrough the Alsne-Marn- e Ypres-LyMlhlel. through the St paign, clear up to November 11. Six months was done. 8 and the Job Reared on American soil, imbibing her prindid not ciples of freedom, the American soldier was He used to Intense of training. need years thinking and deciding. In a pinch, every, mnn was The. Intelligence of the American an officer war game quickly. equipped him to understand the Heroes every one, they dared to move apart twenty, thirty, fifty, sixty feet ; they dared to fight alone and die alone. The average run of the European soldier has not the private Initiative to He fights best in rnnss fight alone and die alone. of his companion ahead, form sees 4he he where feels the rub of the elbow of his pal at his side, hears the tread of his comrade in the rear. He must have a crowd to give spirit and soul to do nnd die. The American soldier, because of his individual ' development has soul power that dares stand alone. The European must group this soul power to produce the necessary courage. The American soldier Wolves hunt in is a lion who dares forage alone. soldier is nn eagle who American .The packs. dares soar aloft in the awful solitudes. Swallows 'hover in thousands. The American soldier dares to die right now. The European soldier tomorrow; officer who won the Ask the German soldier or it was the Amerithat tell will you he and war, who ndvanced Americans the was It That cans. Into no mans land without hesitation, and came on with that dogged determination that sharpn nest, ambush, hand grenades, shooter, machine-gurifles, concealed mines, gas shells, curtains of fire, small and big artillery, the blusts of hell itself . . Applause. could not stop. It is the soul in the breasts of these boys up here in the gallery that is going to count. It Is the ' ' soul that measures the size of the man. wherher on the battlefield or in the conflict of life, and our Mind friends in the gallery have tean tried and ' ' found not wanting" - - Meuse-Argonn- s. , . . citizens of Denmark, under the pres- ent program, if they are citizens of any country, which some among them seem to doubt They want that question settled, so that those who wish will be granted American citizenship.-- . Tbe political troubles of the Islanders are not causing them half so much worry as are their economic difficulties, largely the result of extending the eighteenth amendment to them. The manufacture of bay rum was one of the foremost industries of the islands under Danish rule. That has ' been killed under prohibition, as has been the manufacture of rum. They complain that the enforcement of our shipping regulations operates to bar Spanish vessels, and that the trade of the islands has been crippled. ' , Wheres the Hay Fever This Summer? fU IET Hope: HMMOte HEKEKB COMBS W5 YfAA- - not hard to bear, but the reason therefor is perplexing. The fact remains, however, that most of those who are every summer in the throes of hay fever and incipient asthma are strangely free from the universal ail- ment CAM- -' TTNCLE SAMS experts in several M of the bureaus ef the Agriculture department and the bureau of public health service of the Treasury department and the various medical bureaus of the War and Navy departments are puzzled over the momentous question; What has become of the sneeze artist this summer? ' Expert victims of hay fever, who usually count upon receiving tbe commiseration of friends and relatives about this time of year, are for some unaccountable reason pursuing the even tenor of their ways without the aid of a battery of handkerchiefs and nostrums. Of course, tbe disappointment is Many learned authorities have attempted to explain the nature of the, singular malady, but your real hay fever addict takes no stock in technical descriptions. He knows that it comes periodically and leaves periodically, and that while it remains it is violently and explosively in evidence. He has the consolation of knowing that relief is near In the higher altitudes, but owing to the fact the necessity of . making a living Interferes with bis freedom of action, that consolation has no practical value unless he can avail himself of it Some hay fever victims fall belr to the affliction In August, but veterans of tlie art acquire It early and lose it late. Tbe dandelions start it and the frost ends It This summer, however, unexpected relief has been vouchsafed and sneezing has not been at all popular. Sugary Senate and Charges of Scandal p in d HARGES of a scandal connection with the sugar schedule of the tariff bill in the senate caused a furore that resulted in a general demand for an. investiga... t tion. Senator Pat Harrison (Dem., Miss.), who provoked the row, first charged two-side- ! that the United States government had attempted to intimidate Cuba into restricting her sugar crop for the year to 1,500,000 tons, so as to protect American cane and ; beet raugar ' producers from competition, ; He accused "Senator Smoot (Rep., raised by American-refiner- s ef Cuban sugar by arbitrarily adding of 1 cent to every pound' of Cuban Utah) of writing a letter to Major sugar sold In this country. The letter , was signed . for the General Crowder, In Cuba, proposUnited States and Cuban Sugar Proing that If Cuba would reduce her crop to 2,500,000 tons? this country ducers Agreement Syndicate, Inc.," then would take under consideration by Alfred Grover." Grover gave his the maintenance of a reduction in the address as 17 State street, New York present rates on sugar.city, where, Senator Harrison said, The Mississippi senator then read he was in the office of Henry W. y & Co. from a newspaper copy of a document , purporting to reveal an agreement beStrenuously denying any knowledge tween certain unnamed, senators and of Grover, his syndicate or any such the sugar interests whereby in lieu of agreement as alleged. Senators Smoot, s an increase of of 1 cent Lodge and Nicholson of Colorado, Rea pound in tfw duty on sugar, as depublicans, demanded that there should manded by American cane and beet be an Investigation. Senator Harrison producers, they were to be paid a subgladly accepted the challenge, and sidy of $14,339,394. According to the introduced a resolution providing for alleged plan, this money was to be an Inquiry. one-fourt-h - Pea-bod- . four-tenth- |