The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-05-30

less he has the right kind Of men to
iead. Unless the enlisted man has the
Ilgnt stun in him it stands to reason
enat no of1icer can get it out of him, be-
cause II IS not there to get out. So
m clvil lie, If all our leaders were
Fasnlngtons and LincoIns they could.
nevertheless. make no permanent i'm
pIoNement in our citizenship unless the
average citizen had in him the capacity
Tor such improvement. In the last an
alysis 1T is the man behind the ballot
VINO counts most in civil life just as il
= ne man behind the gun who counts
most in military life
We can not too highly honor the
memory OF the leaders in the civil war
OF Grant and Lee. Of Sherman and
johnston, of StonewaH Jackson and
sheridan. of Farra gut and of the cap
salns who fought under and against
MIN But after all the man upon whom
the chief credit must rest was the plain
man IN the ranks. the man in blue or
II gray who went in to see the war
through. and who did see 1t through.
he nad the courage to stand without
nanching the pickering of the skirunish-
IS and the hammering of the great
HShts; he had the steadfast endurance
q bear with accomplishing resolution
the munger and the heat and the cold,
the scorching days and the freezing
nights, the grinding. heartbrea king
Iatgue of the marches, the wearisome
suHerlng Of the field hospitals. So in
the army and the navy today. in the
last analysis we must depend upon
having the right stun in the enlisted
man and then upon having that stuff
put into proper shape So again in
our Republic as a whole 1t is Just as
true IN peace now as it was IS years
ago in war that it is the character of
the average man that must be the de-
termtnfng factor in achieving national
success or going down to national dis
aSter. Leadership is necessary in or
der that we may get really good re-
suits out OF a high average of indi-
vidual character; but without the high
character in the average Individual the
leadership by itself can avail but lit
tie
Now it is easy to say this in words
which shall imply merely hattery of
the average voter or of the average
enlisted man. 1 certainly do not in
tend my words to be SO taken. 1t Is q.
sure sign of weakness in any man If
he is always wanting to be hattered,
and especially if he let's his head be
turned by hattery. The average
voter needs to learn and to keep
steadily in mind the fact that if in
the last resort the real power is his,
so in the last resort the real respon-
sibility is his. He can not cast off
on anyone else the responsibility for
our governmental shortcomings
Nothing is cheaper than to say that
the people are all right but the poll
ticians are all wrong. AS a matter
of fact politics. and therefore poll
ticians, will in the long run represent
faithfully either the wishes or the in
difference of the people; and if the
people are Indifferent the results are
just about as bad as if they deliber-
ately choose to go wrong. So it is
with the enlisted men. When I call
attention to the high place he holds,
= ct oil In, a-ro 90
every sensible man, 1 do it less with
the intention OF emphasizing the re-
spect due him by outsiders than with
the intention of making him realize
the burden OF honorable obligation
resting upon his shoulders. By IN
wearied effort he must learn to do
his duty, whether that duty lies afioat
or ashore, whether it lies in the cav
airy or the infantry, in the gun turret
or in the engine room. He must be
able to handle himself and to handle
the formidab BILE and delicate mechan-
ism intrusted TO his care in such man
ner that If ever it becomes his for
tune to take part in battle for the flag
another page shall be added to the
many which go to make up the long
honor roll of American history.
Funston and His Soldiers.
I'm closing ask your attention to the
fact that our soldiers and sailors are
able to do their duty in great emery
encies even other than those of war.
Recently the most appalling disaster
that has ever befallen any city in our
country, the most appalling disaster
that has befallen any city of the same
size for century past, befeH the
great and beautiful city of San Fran
cisco. In the midst of their horror
and pity and sympathy the rest of our
people were rendered proud and glad
by the courage, the self-rehance, the
self-command shown by the men and
women of San Francisco themselves
under the sudden and awful calamity
which had befallen them. We had
yet another source of pride in the
fact that the first Americans outside
the city who were able to extend re-
lief and help were the officers and
enlisted men of the garrison and the
ships in the Immediate neighborhood
of San Francisco. The alertness the
instant response to the demand made
upon them, the mixture of self-reliant
initiative with orderly obedience and
conference of action, the high personal
Valor and the steady endurance and
strength shown by the soldiers and
sailors of the regular army and navy
in coping with this disaster were as
great as If shown in time of battle.
Such q record should make everys
true American proud of the army and
the navy. and should make every true
American resoiute to see that through
our national authorities at Washing
ton we make such provision by law
for the maintenance. the support, and
the training of the army and the navy
that they shall ever stand in the fore
front of their respective professions.