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Show Goocfwms IVqqAIis I v j jrii-iS " President's message is most inter- C MpHlHk csting to peruse. His resume of the J VHSf reasons for our entering the war f JfBr leaves nothing to be disputed. His P' ' wBy declaration of what America now (WSHSJflfJBmw hopes to achieve what peace will promise to the world when the war is over is truly inspiring; but just how all this is to be accomplished he does not attempt to say. His discussion of ways and means for waging wag-ing the war, or rather his failure to discuss this most essential matter, still leaves the pressing question open to speculation. That we will win the war, the President does not entertain the slightest doubt ; but so far 'as the adoption of essential financial and military measures is concerned, he dismisses the problem without going into detail. These measures, he assures us, "will suggest themselves as the war and its undertakings develop." The thought suggests itself that, in this respect re-spect at least, he is still cautiously feeling his way and has not as yet determined upon any fixed plan of action. But while President Wilson leav&s much unsaid respecting our preparations for carrying the war to a successful conclusion, his free and open discussion of our international affairs und aims leaves little to be desired. His straightforward declaration of our intentions abroad will permit of no further parleying. He has made our position plain and there need no longer be any mistaking our attitude. We I are in the war to right certain self-evident wrongs. We propose to free the pathways upon the seas to all nations. We propose to destroy de-stroy the menace of militarism in all its forms. We propose to reestablish re-establish the commerce of the world on the basis of a natural rivalry, and to limit its acivities to legitimate enterprise. We propose that the wrongs done to Belgium, France and the other nations shall be repaired; that the power which the Prussian war lords arbitrarily wield over other lands and peoples, against their will, shall be relinquished; relin-quished; and that all such lands and peoples shall henceforth be safe and secure against the domination of outside nations. This is a mighty big job we have undertaken, but the President has pledged our every resource to its accomplishment and proposes to "battle until the last gun is fired." It is "stern business," he assures as-sures us, and we must "act without sentiment." "We shall go," he continues, "wherever the necessities of this war carry us," and we shall not hesitate to take issue with any nation that "stands in the direct path of our necessary action." To this end we are to declare war against Austria-P mgary immediately, and stern notice is given to Germany's other a lies to have a care lest they cross our path. Also, between the lines, one may read a word of warning to the neutral neu-tral nations to keep their hands clean if they would stay clear of the conflict. This, then, is his positive declaration of our war policies abroad. Nothing shall turn us from this course and "we shall regard the war as won only when the German people say to us, through properly ac-, ac-, credited representatives, that they are ready to agree to a settlement based upon justice and the reparation of the wrongs their rulers have done." And then, when the German people are ready to meet America half-way, the President proposes that the peace obtained shall be based on "generosity and justice, to the exclusion of all selfish claims to advantage, even on the part of the victors." That the people of America will subscribe readily to the proposed terms of settlement, there is no question ; but whether certain of our allies will accept and support the proposition that "no selfish ambition of conquest or spoil- Iation" is to be countenanced, remains to be seen. However, that is .another matter. The President is simply stating America's position and he has stated it well. But interesting as all this is, the American people, are more con- ' cerned right now with their own immediate future the state of their army and navy, the condition of their finances, the shipping and sup- ply situation, the food and fuel problems, and the thousand and one every-day questions that vitally concern them. On all these, save one, the President .is strangely silent. He seems content to allow the j citizens to gain what information they can from the meagre dis- patches that the news service disseminates from time to time, and to J draw on their imagination for whatever else they desire to know. He does, however, take cognizance of the exploitations- of the profiteers in foodstuffs and urges that the government be given more power to prevent their notorious thievery. Then he proposes that the enemy aliens who are interned shall be put to' work and that the government IH shalUend every encouragement to the development of our natural re- sources. He also suggests that Congress so organize itself that a H closer eye can be kept on the finances. Not a bad idea, at that ! In the absence of any reference whatever to the war organization j which he has assembled, it is to be assumed that the President is well satisfied with present arrangements and does not contemplate making U any material changes. All told, the message partakes more of the na- H ture of an appeal to the peoples of the earth than that of an address H to the American people alone. Insofar as our international relations are concerned, we know exactly what we are about; of our internal affairs we are not so certain. A spirit of uneasiness and uncertainty H has fastened itself upon the citizens; their personal affairs for the most part are still in a sorry tangle ; and it is to be regretted that President Wilson did not take advantage of the opportunity afforded to relieve the uncomfortable situation by being more specific in his discussion of affairs at home. M H AN UNSEEMLY CONTROVERSY. H JHE proposal to erect in London a duplicate of George Grey Bar- H J nard's celebrated Cincinnati statue of Lincoln, in commemora- H tion of the century of peace that lias prevailed between England and H America, has excited a stirring controversy among this country's most H famous critics. All are agreed that to erect a statue of the great Em- H 'ancipator to stand in company with the imperishable monuments of H England's grand galaxy of immortals would be a splendid undertake H ing, but certain prominent critics are most pronounced in their op- H position to the proposed selection of the Barnard likeness. jH The prolonged dispute shows no signs of subsiding, but bids fair jH to undignify the commendable enterprise and, perhaps, destroy it al- IH together. Those who oppose the Barnard statue charge that the sculptor has exaggerated the ungainliness and uncouthness of Lincoln H beyond all explanation or excuse. On the other hand, Barnard's sup- M porters claim that he has truly depicted the real Lincoln and assert H that truth, not fancy, is the most acceptable ideal of art. There seems 'H to be an almost hopeless division of opinion in this respect and were jH it not for the fact that it is reviving a nation-wide interest in the study !fl of the character of the great-hearted American, as revealed in his H personality and physique, the controversy would be unpardonable. H It is interesting to note briefly what some of the prominent 9 critics are saying. Robert T. Lincoln is bitter in his opposition to H Barnard's statue and characterizes it as "a monstrous figure, which H is grotesque as a likeness and defamatory as an effigy." H Colonel Roosevelt is just as positive in the other direction, assuring fl us that "At last we have the Lincoln of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. 'H Here it is, the living Lincoln,- the great democrat. This statue is life. He (Barnard) has given us Lincoln, the Lin- ! coin we know and love." William Marion Reedy also speaks his mind ' I B in the following characteristic fashion: "I'm am inclined to think B that Barnard's statue of Lincoln is &,good one, because Lincoln's son, B Robert T. Lincoln, does not like it. The statue looks like the Lincoln B who has been described to me by w en who knew him. It doesn't look B j like a smoothed and slickened steel engraving. Mr. Robert T. Lincoln B might prefer a more aristocratic-looking statue of his father, but I B doubt if such a one would qonform either to art or truth." B Thus, tersely, does Mr. Reedy hit the nail on the head. What, he B I infers, is art if it does not conform to truth? How else is it to be H judged? The editor of the New York Times holds that the sculptor B has been at pains to present his subject in an ugly pose and to denote H I certain physical defects, and insists that "the humble origin of the B I man, the uncouthness his enemies found in his personality, need not B be suggested in a statue intended to personify for all time the triumph of the democratic principle." Augustus Thomas is of a similar opin- B ion.. He strongly objects to the extraordinary prominence of the un- B ) shapely hands and feet, as depicted in the statue, and suggests that B "when we try to immortalize a man in bronze we should take him at B his best, not at his 'most natural.' " B The preponderance of opinion, however, is in support of the Bar- B j nard statue. A certain school of critics may prefer to send a more B ' handsome likeness of Lincoln abroad, but others score them soundly B for their seemingly shame-faced attitude. "This is the people's Lin- B coin," the defenders of the monument stoutly assert; in life and in B memory his utter homeliness made a strange appeal to their hearts, B and they would not have him otherwise. They have no apologies to B ' make for his physical imperfections and are more than willing to have fl a statue carved in his own image stand among the monuments of the B old world as typifying the true spirit of American democracy. B In view of the strange spell that the statue is said to cast over B those who study it the ennobling mood it creates and the exalting ap- Bj j peal it makes we should like to see a replica of the monument reared Bj I in every capital of the old world, and elsewhere, wherever down- B trodden people congregate, to the end that they might gaze upon the H I likeness of the immortal Lincoln and gain inspiration from the silent H appeal. of his great soul. H H t A DANGEROUS TEND ANCY. H TT'T is to be hoped that the President and the Priority Board will H JL be able to induce Mr. Hoover and Mr. Garfield to compose their H j differences before an open breach occurs between the respective chiefs H of the food and fuel administrations. That the latter should insist H upon fuel being given the right of way on the railroads is but natural ; H that the former should insist that this preference be given to food is H just as natural. But that either of the esteemed gentlemen should H demand priority transportation at the expense of the other's depart- H ment is a sorry circumstance and should not be tolerated for a min- H At that, it is only fair to assume that this controversy is a result H of the system and in njo sense a reflection upon the personal integrity H of the gentlemen involved. Rivalry of such a nature is bound to arise H so long as the administration persists in attempting to wage the war H along present lines. During the past six months we have rapidly re- H solved ourselves into a bureaucratic government. Hundreds of com- H missions, councils, boards of control and administrators have sprung H up like mushrooms, each charged with special duties and supposed to H j operate in a particular field. But their respective fields of endeavor Hi l necessarily overlap and too little thought has been given to their co- B ' ordination. As matters now stand, the President alone possesses the H power to reconcile and adjust their conflicting activities and it is a H physical impossibility for him to undertake the gigantic task alone. H, He needs assistance, else our war machinery is bound to break down Hj of its own weight. The present system is too cumbersome. It will Hij! not permit of team work and we must have team work to win the war. Hjj ' The cry for an non-partisan government for the prosecution of H .the war is being heard on every hand. The plan looks plausible but Bh that is for the President, not the politicians, to decide. His is 1he re- Hfljj sponsibility, and if he prefers a partisan administration, that is his Hljf , sole-prerogative. He realizes full well the disadvantages of a division of authority and for that reason insists upon partisan government, so far at least as his official family is concerned. But, by the same rule, the auxiliary administration that he has assembled to assist him in carrying out his war program is hopelessly divided against itself, by virtue of disputed authority, and herein lies his greatest difficulty. The civilians whom he has summoned to serve in a semi-official capacity ca-pacity were trained in the school of efficiency ; they have no political axes to grind; they have nothing but contempt for the red-tape of petty authorities ; but they are willing to give the government their best services so long as they can see that they are getting results. That friction has arisen between the dollar-a-year men and the petty official despots was to be expected. The former are accustomed to doing big things in a big way and balk at unnecessary interference. Whether the President, diplomat that he is, will be able to compose these conflicting elements remains to be seen. It goes without saying that he has sufficient horsepower harnessed to pull the wagon out of j the mud, but whether he has the team hitched up right is open to ' question. THE HAUGHTY HERTLING. iwITH the elevation of von Hertling to the Prussian chancellor-JLs chancellor-JLs snP mucn was promised in the way of internal reforms but little lit-tle expected. Therefore his maiden speech before the Reichstag was not disappointing. He is said to be charged with the duty of effecting a coalition liberal government. If so, he made a bad start. But the probabilities are that his main mission is to soft-soap the people and, if possible, take some of the curse off of the war lords. Even so, it would seem that he blundered. Evading any positive declaration of policies respecting internal problems, he devoted the major portion of his effort to a dissertation on the glory of Germans arms and indulged in-dulged in a stirring tribute to the triumphant movement against Italy. At that, the speech was accepted with marked satisfaction by the majority ma-jority groups in the Reichstag, but the socialist party's pledge of support sup-port had a string to it. It was as though this latter group had said : "Go ahead, Mr. Chancellor; we'll give you a chance, but make sure that you fulfill your promises." Those who had expected von Hertling Hert-ling to propose a new peace program were disappointed, of course. The Kaiser and the Big Three Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Mack-ensen Mack-ensen evidently censored that part of the Chancellor's speech, and decided that it would be folly to talk about peace with Russia demoralized demoral-ized and Italy on the run. What most impressed us in von Hertling's address was his allusion allu-sion to the victory that had been gained in Italy. In recounting the ground that had been gained and the number of guns and prisoners that had been captured, he referred to the "booty" that had fallen into Prussian hands, How much booty, he was not prepared to state, but it was a tremendous amount more than enough to compensate the Germans for all the losses they had sustained. There was a time when it was customary to "boast of the "booty" of battles and to measure meas-ure the success at arms in terms of the plunder obtained. But we are supposed to be living in a civilized age and that custom belonged to the ancients and the dark ages. That the accredited spokesman of a supposedly enlightened people should have the audacity to arise in their highest assembly and relate the achievements of their armies in terms of "booty" acquired, passes all understanding. For the sake of Christianity and civilization the haughty Hun must be humbled, and it is for this that we have gone to war. If there be any American who has not yet been able to reconcile himself to our mission, let him read von Hertling's speech and reflect upon its real meaning. Then he will realize that we have made no mistake. "P J "I f YNG'S cavalry, charging the German guns at Premy Chapelle, cutting down the gun crews and contributing no little to Haig's great success in the Cambrai drive, recalls the dashing days of Sheridan Sheri-dan in the Civil War when the charging of artillery with mounted troops was Fighting Phil's favorite diversion. It goes back even further fur-ther to the days of classic warfare, when the Greek hoplites emerged from the valley of death at Marathon on the run and fell upon the-Persian the-Persian horde. Thus does history repeat itself, v ' I |