Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-05-31

him, because 1t Is not there to get
out. So in civil life, if all our leaders
were Washingtons and Lincolns they
could, nevertheless, make no perma-
nent Improvement in our citizenship
unless the average citizen had in him
the capacity for such improvement. In
the last analysis it Is the man behind
the ballot who counts most in civil
life, just as 1t is the man behind the
gun who counts most in military life
I'VE can not to highly honor the
memory of the leaders in the civil war
of Grant and Lee, of Sherman and
Johnston, of Stonewall Jackson and
Sheridan, of Farragut and of the cap.
tains who fought under and against
him But after all the man upon whom
the chief credit must rest was the
plain man in the ranks, the man in
blue or in gray who went in to see
the war through. He had the cour-
age to stand without fiinching the
pickering of the skirmishes and the
hammering Of the great fights; he had
the steadfast endurance to bear with
accomplishing resolution the hunger
and the heat and the cold, the scorch-
ing days and the freezing nights, the
grinding, heartbreaking fatigue Of the
marches, the wearisome monotony Of
the camps, and the slow suffering Of
the field hospitals. So in the army
and the navy today, in the last analy-
sis we must depend upon having the
right stuff in the enlisted man and
then upon having that stuff put into
proper shape So again in our repub-
lie as a whole it Is just as true in
peace now as it was forty-five years
ago in war that 1t Is the character Of
the average man that must be the
determining factor in achieving ma
tional success or going down to ma
tional disaster. Leadership is neces-
sary in order that we may get really
good results out of high average Of
individual character; but without the
high character in the average individ-
ual the leadership by itself can avail
but little.
No Flattery Intended.
Now 1t is easy to say this in words
which shall imply merely flattery of
THE average voter or of the average
enlisted man. certainly do not in
tend my words to be SO taken. 1t is
sure sign of weakness in any man
If he is always wanting to be fiattered,
and especially If he lets his head be
turned by fiattery. The average voter
needs to learn and to keep steadily in
mind the fact that If in the last re.
sort the real power is his, SO in the
last resort the real responsibility is
his. He can not cast off on anything
else the responsibility for our govern
mental shortcomings. Nothing is
cheaper than to say that the people
are all right but that the politicians
are all wrong. AS matter Of fact
politics, and therefore politicians. will
In the long run represent faithfully
either the wishes or the indifference
of the people; and If the people are
Indifferent the results are just about
as bad as If they deliberately choose
to go wrong. So 1t is with the enlist
ed man. When call attention to the
hold in the esteem of every sensible
man, do it less with the intention
of emphasizing the respect due him
by outsiders than with the intention
of making him realize the burden of
honorable obligation resting upon his
shoulders. BY unwearied effort he
must learn to do his duty, Wnether
that duty lies afioat or ashore, wheth-
er it lies in the cavalry or the infan-
try, in the gun turret or in the, engine
room. He must be able to handle him
self and to handle the formidable and
delicate mechanism intrusted to his
care in such manner that if ever 1t be-
comes his fortune to take part in bat
| tie for the flag another page shall be
added to the many which go to make
up the long honor roll of American his.
tory.
Soldiers at San Francisco.
"In closing l ask your attention to
the fact that our soldiers and sailors
are able to do their duty in great
emergencies even other than those OF
war Recently the most appalling dis
aster that has ever befhllen any city