East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1914-08-17

States l. lucky. country would be
placed were that
impetuous gentleman at the head Of
our government The colonel de-
cIares the peace treaties are worthless
because in times of quarrel a nation
will break treaty If it wishes to do
so. He thinks it would be intoler-
able were this country while involved
in some petty dispute required to wait
several months for commission to
pass carefully on the merits of the
various points at issue.
on the other hand there are many
people who think it would be intol- |
cradle for a great nation to be forced
into bloody and costly war over some
matter in which the nation as a whole
might have no interest. In other
words they think it better and cheap
er TO settle such affairs on basis Of
equity rather than by the rule Of
force. They think it more satisfactory
to have commission settle al inter
national difficulty or strive to do 50
than to plunge nations into warfare
and then settle issues by peace COM
missions, after those nations have be
come impoverished and soaked in
blood.
Col. Roosevelt has the old world
notion Of the politics of nations The
olo world is welcome to that notion.
1t is just now paying a horrible price
for its stupidity and blindness There
is no place for such doctrine in this
country. One of the most fortunate
things in the present situation from
an American standpoint is that Wood
row Wilson is president and Theo-
dore Roosevelt is not
>s~s>
The action OF congress and the
president in granting longer time and
graduated payments
Correcting an to settlers on the
Old Blunder. Umatilla and other
projects is one of the
most sensible steps taken since the re-
clamauon work was started. That &C
ton will make amends for one of the
unreasonable features of the plan
Under which the project was started.
Originally the settlers were obliged
to pay a uniform amount each year
for 10 years. Under that arrange
ment a settler was required to pay the
government as much money annually
during his lean years as during his
prosperous years While engaged in
the task of getting his land under
production he was forced to do too
much. He was expected TO be as
prosperous while tanning the desert
at cost Of time and cash as when
reaping his harvest in later years.
1t was never a feasible scheme be-
cause contrary to common sense. The
remarkable thing is that settlers have
had to wait so long TO get this relief.
>~s>~~~
News reports Of the European war
are unsatisfactory in many ways and
necessarily so. The news
About the is all censored and it is
War News. for the most part biased
1t comes almost entirely
from anti-German-Austria sources
and is therefore to be weighed with
this knowledge in view. Yet the re-
ports received in this country are not
fictitious as some suppose. The Uni
ted Press secures voluminous reports
by cable from the old country and
the news is based on facts. The point
t. be borne in mind by the reader is
that while the news reports deal with
actual events as they happen the re-
ports are generally given out with
view to presenting the struggle in
the most favorable light possible for
this country or that country-usu-
ally for the allies because Germany is
cut off from communication. An
other feature which the reader should
remember is that in this war struggles
in which small bodies Of troops are
engaged are Of slight consequence. A
force Of 10000 men is nothing in the
present war game with millions Of
men in the field. Doubtless petty VIC
tories are being won by both sides 1t
IS generally predicted that in the near
future a great battle viii be fought
or a series Of engagements along an
extended battle front. When this
time comes there will be better test
Of the relative strength Of the differ
ent forces-partlcularly II It is an
open battle. When fortificatIons are
attacked the defensive force necessar-
ily has an immense advantage.