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Show j(mK Goodwins UJe?lis I " y HE superb patriotic spirit mani- i C jjffj) fested by the Latter Day Saints at Vjfflffflf their semi-annual conclave was more " mmEKw than surprising it bordered on the I MPffB sensational. Our churches as a rule are JmaBy somewhat chary about going on record in support of the country's war policies, and when they do, they usually confine themselves to the adoption of a stereotyped resolution. The dominant church in this state never does things by halves, however, and the resolution it adopted was of a more substantial order. In proposing that the church invest a quarter quar-ter of a million dollars of its tithing funds in the Second Liberty Bond issue, the authorities set a splendid example for the laymen to follow. It was to the effect that they had firmly resolved to not only preach patriotism, but to practice it; and it will redound to the everlasting credit of the church that not a single soul dissented when the sustaining sustain-ing motion was put. This splendid demonstration of allegiance to the country in time of need commends itself to all citizens, regardless of class or creed. It will substantially assist the state to meet its quota of subscriptions to the loan and it will encourage thousands of individuals to make a similar investment in the government securities. But in a larger sense, the moral effect of this action is immeasurable. Its influence will be far reaching and should forever silence the vicious tongues of Utah's traducers. Since the war began, the good people of the state have shown their true spirit time and again. We have long looked for. the day when Utali would come out of the crucible, chastened chas-tened in. a common sacrifice and glorified in the splendor of her own achievements. That day has come and all loyal Utahns now find comfort in the contemplation of the manifest destiny of their incomparable incom-parable commonwealth. . 3 3fC ?fr 5JC UTAH TO THE FRONT. "tflLENCE is sometimes eloquent. It was never more, so than Jy when the boys of the Utah Light Artillery marched through the streets on their way to entrain for the first lap on the long journey jour-ney to the battle-front in France. To witness their departure was to experience a strange admixture of emotions. The solemnity of the occasion was impressive. There might have been more cheering had the serious-thinking citizens not been so occupied in choking back their sobs. Even the boys, themselves, seemed to be marching in double-quick time, as though they desired to get the affair over with as soon as possible. They must have known that in their wake they were leaving a trail of heartaches. So it was that tears took the place of cheers and the departure of the battery was all the more impressive because of the heavy silence that hung over the thousands along the line of march. There is no need of assuring the boys that our cheers were reserved re-served for the day God speed it when they will come marching home again, glorified by deeds of daring and devotion to the cause that their country champions. They looked fit to carry the colors wherever duty calls and our faith in them is supreme. Utah has a well-established reputation for furnishing first class fighting men ; the artillery is well officered by men. who command the confidence of the civilians, as well as the soldiers; and they will surely live up to our high, expectations and make a record that will glorify the name of Utah for all time. We are proud of them ; we have pinned our faith to them ; and our united prayers will follow the boys of the battery the world around.. A BRITISHER'S VIEW POINT. H HORD NORTHCLIFFE has been somewhat of a disappointment to us, ever since his arrival in this country in the role of Eng- H land's emissary extraordinary. After his splendid achievement in up- setting the ultra-conventional customs of the Empire, and in arous- ing every Englishman to a full sense of his duty, it was only natural that we should expect big things of the intrepid Britisher when he landed on American soil. So far, however, he has fallen far short of our expectations. H It was generally supposed that Northcliffe came here to give us H the benefit of the observations he had made and the experience lie had H gained first hand in the actual prosecution of the war. The assump- H tion was that he was to assist us in waging the war, but thus far his H chief efforts seem to have been devoted to telling us why we are jn k the war. In a recent utterance, published in a current magazine, his H lordship takes plain issue with President Wilson and scoffs at the idea H that we have gone to war to "make the world safe for democracy." H The Britisher is of the opinion that, if this were our sole reason for H engaging in the awful conflict, we would have promptly followed M England's suit and declared war against Germany at least three years M ago. H Moreover, he ventures to infer that we are not altogether honest M in out attitude; that our declarations are more or less hypocritical; M and that the real reason we have gone to war is to save our own hides. M That ought to make interesting reading in England, and it may be fl fairly well grounded on facts, at that; but serious-minded Americans H do not relish the idea of being reminded that their only reason for M waginp war is based on a selfish premise. Such a reminder does .no H one a ty good and simply tends to rub the fur the wrong way. M This is no time to split hairs over such a silly subject. We are H surprised that one so adroit as Lord Northcliffe has demonstrated M himself to be on more than one occasion, should so far forget himself H as to raise an issue of this sort. Whatever our reason for going to M war, the fact remains that we are now in it up to our ears and pro- H pose to see it through. And the celebrated Britisher, in company with H all his countrymen, should find some satisfaction in the thought that H we cannot, by force of circumstances, accomplish this selfish object H without rendering them substantial assistance in a similar enter- H prise. H This war has developed into a community affair. There is much H that we can do for England, and there is much that England has al- H ready done, and will no doubt continue to do for us. Hence, as a mere H matter of reciprocity, each country is entitled to its own opinion as H to why it is waging war, and it would seem that the other is in honor H bound to respect such opinion. As we view it, Lord Northcliffe owes H President Wilson and the American people an apology. w H H THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. SECRETARY LANE made a splendid impression during his visit with us last week. Unlike most of the present day dignitaries, his"" casual manner and old-fashioned attributes would seem at first blush to make him as common as an old shoe. But there is something about the man that appeals to one's better self. He attracts men to him as if by natural impulse and his kindly counsels carry strong conviction. To meet him is to feel that one is standing in the presence of a real American one whose qualities combine a rare' mixture Qf sentiment and sound sense who still holds true to the traditions of the Republic. It is a real privilege to come in contact with- such a man and we can readily understand why President Wilson has -re- B peatedly manifested such fondness for him personally and such faith B i in his counsels. B ' The Secretary's speech in the Tabernacle was a splendid effort. B We have heard more gifted orators but none more eloquent in a man- f to-man appeal to red-blooded Americans to do their duty as becomes Hf the citizens of the great Republic. Without sham or show, but in H) simple straightforward manner he drove home the truths involved H' in America's participation in the world war, and his stirring presen- H tation of the case carried with it the conviction of the righteousness H of her cause. Where was the man who calls himself an American who H could withstand the call of his country, so aptly expressed by this in- H spired member of the great war council of the nation? H Mr. Lane assured us that the Administration is wide awake to BH the exigencies of the hour and is making the minutes count. To learn H first-hand that all is well at Washington is good news indeed, and 'has H the same reassuring effect as the bulletin, "All quiet along the Poto- Hj', mac," had during the darkest days of the Rebellion. What he told us H was most acceptable and refreshing too especially so, in view of the H rigorous censorship we have been subjected to since our entrance H into the war. H H THE CROSS THEY CARRY. Hi yfkN fight wars, but it is the mothers of a nation who raise H' JA tne army. They are the silent patriots. Given her will, H every mother in this great land would go to war, if by so doing she H, could keep her sons in safety. It is easier to go than to send your H boy." Such are the sentiments recently expressed by one of Amer- H(' ica's foremost women, Mary Robert Rinehart, and her chosen words H embody one of the most beautiful tributes ever paid to the self- H sacrificing women of the Republic. H Mothers are the "silent patriots." What a wealth of sentiment H 'these two words contain. Time and again we hear of the wonder- Hf 'ful work that women are doing to help wage the war. Russian women H'l are on the firing line. The women of France are making munitions, Hf cultivating the fields, and some of them have actually hitched them- H, selves to the plow, in order that the country may be kept at the high- K est possible efficiency and thus be able to hold the enemy at bay. In B England, over a million and a quarter women have stepped into the B occupational vacancies caused by the departure of men for the front B-. and, all told, over five million women are now engaged in the various B! industrial and other occupations. In this respect, the war is still a Bl long way removed from America, but when the war does come home B to us it goes without saying that our own women will show their met- B tie in a thousand unmistakable ways. Bj All such hardships, however, pale into utter insignificance besides B the supreme sacrifice which war inflicts upon women the gift of B their sons to their country. Already a million mothers in America Hi have been called upon to make the sacrifice. Showing superior cour- Bj age and choking back their tears for the moment, they have carried B their precious gifts to the altar. But who can weigh the cross they B' carry, for who can read a mother's heart? Hi H WILLY AND NICKY. HMERICAN editors are poking no end of fun at the Kaiser over the expose of the Willy-Nicky correspondence between the Em- B peror and the ill-fated Czar. It is most interesting to note the B f various viewpoints taken by the able contemporaries and the manner B in which they size up the character of the two autocrats. They are B ' universally agreed that the Kaiser is revealed in his true light that of B a busy-body and a "fixer" and that the ex-Czar on the otherhand, al- B though he committed the indiscretion of listening to the tempter, Bj was pretty square at that, and showed himself to be the bigger man J j . of the two. H I But the most striking feature of the whole correspondence was B I their surprising use of silly nicknames. In the old days, when the be- B i lief in the divinity of kings still held full sway on earth, kings were B wont to clothe themselves in dignity. They were imperial in all their B k acts, thereby aiming to impress their fellow monarchs as well as their H B ' B B subjects. But times change, and one contemporary wonders how "the self-appointed partner of the Almighty," could condescend to sign his letters "Willy" to a fellow potentate. The job of being a king has its disadvantages these days ; the thrones are shaking to pieces ; and it is indeed a strange freak of fate that exposes the most imperial majesty of them to a ridicule that is more deadly than death itself. Who knows but that this expose of the Willy-Nicky episode is a part of the Divine program, to first destroy the glamour of earthly kingships and thereby destroy the kings themselves ? SCRAP-BOOK DIPLOMACY. ftHERE is something wrong somewhere when the Senate of the J United States, in order to have an official record of the Kaiser's notorious message to the President, is obliged to get a copy of the first installment of Ambassador Gerard's narrative, "My Four Years in Germany," for insertion in the Congressional Record. The fact that the Senate was compelled to take this round about way of getting ,, the all important information is a reflection on our system of international inter-national intercourse. We are free to admit that much of the success of foreign diplomacy diplo-macy depends upon the secrecy with which it is conducted, but not all. Our allies have made a practice of publishing much of their diplomatic correspondence, especially that relating to the outbreak of the war. Germany alone, of all the foreign nations at war, has completely censored cen-sored such correspondence and kept its people in the dark. We fear that our own government has unwittingly patterned more after the Prussian policy in this respect that that of the Allies. How else does it happen that, although the Senate shares with the President the constitutional con-stitutional responsibility for the conduct of foreign relations, it was obliged, in this instance at least, to gain its information from the pages of the scrapbook of a former ambassador that had already been given the widest possible publicity? The President had his own reason for not taking the Senate into his confidence, but it seems strange that the members of that body have been kept in ignorance of such information respecting foreign affairs as has been vouchsafed to both the parliaments and-.peoples of the Old World democracies. t t r K There always has to be a scapegoat in American politics ; and in picking out La Follette less justice has been done than usual. Nevertheless, Never-theless, there are others. H r H p The longer we live the more convinced we are that professional prohibitionists are the greatest liars in the United States. They are making shoes out of shark skins. But they are skinning the public, not the dealers T H P T THE MOTHER ON THE SIDEWALK. HE mother on the sidewalk as the troops are marching by JU Is the mother of Old Glory that is waving in the sky. Men have fought to keep it splendid, men have died to keep it bright, But that flag was born of woman and her sufferings day and night; 'Tis her sacrifice has made it, and once more we ought to pray For the brave and loyal mother of the boys that go away. There are days of grief before her, there are hours that she will weep, There are nights of anxious waiting when her fear will banish sleep ; She has heard her country calling and has risen to the test, She has placed upon the altar of the nation's need her best. And no man shall ever suffer in the turmoil of the fray The anguish of the mother of the boy who goes away. You may boast men's deeds of glory, you may tell their courage great, But to die is easier service than alone to sit and wait, And I hail the little mother with the tear-stained face and grave ? Who has given the Flag a soldier she the bravest of the brave. And that banner we are proud of with its red and blue and white, Is a lasting tribute holy to all mother's love of right. Edgar A. Guest Philadelphia North American. |