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Show ra n n A STALLED APPETITE "May God have pity on the man who would willingly place party success above the peace and prosperity of his country." This from Senator Smith of Arkansas, in a speech urging the ratificaton of the treaty and the league covenant without the change of a letter is a fair sample of most of the argument we hear in the Senate Sen-ate and elsewhere in support of the administration's ad-ministration's position. Onewould think the administration had a complete monopoly mon-opoly of devotion to country and that anybody who dared to question the infallibility infal-libility of the President was a subject for the special dispensation of the mercy of the Almghty. ; We have had so much of this sort of thing from administration sources that it is begnning to pall upon the appetite of the public. Too much of a good thing will cloy any taste, and once it begins to revolt against the overdose it will not even ev-en tolerate a reasonable portion. In other words, if we have the right hunch, this I. W. W. business has been pjayed about to the limit. This isn't a one -man country iNot all the public virtue, vir-tue, nor all the devotion to the welfare of the country, nor all the wisdom of administration admin-istration is concentrated under one hat, even if it is alarge one. The attempt at such cocentration of power has not proved prov-ed to be a success. The defects in the league are evidence of that; the waste and extravagance in war expenditures point that way; the loss of friendship among peoples between whom and us there should be only feelings of the utmost ut-most cordiality is not a matter of slight importance; the prolonged neglect, perhaps per-haps due to an extended absence from the country, to adopt and execute a self-respecting self-respecting and self defending policy toward to-ward Mexico and the generally below-grade below-grade quality of the federal public service, ser-vice, notably in the postoffice department all go to show that when the people of the United States give a man the honor of being President they have handed him a job big enough to command his first attention. " This country has been veiy much in need of a President ever since the great s domestic problems created by the armistice armis-tice began to press for attention. That we have gotten on as well as we have in the headless condition of the government govern-ment through more than half a year is a most impressive tribute to the stability of our institutions and the wholesome and healthful state of that great governor of real democracy, the public opinion of the country. But still, if we are going to have a President, wouldn't is really be just as well to have one who is not too much of a superman to be primarily interested in our own country and not to self sufficient to kofip in touch with the other branches of the government? At any rate, relying upon the mercy of the Almighty, so devoutly de-voutly invokqd by this Senator from Arkansas, Ar-kansas, we'd like to see that tried once more in these United States, and we are . inclined to think it may be in due time. Minneapolis Tribune. |