The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1916-09-07

demlRO0 nor SAINT. lie was enLlfely
human and possessed Of human virtues
and human frailties. If the church
men could read his diary and read the
testimony of those who knew him best
in short, could they become ac-
quainted with the man Washington
they would scarcely conclude that he
had much regard for Christian piety.
They would be disposed to believe that
after all the race track had more at
fractions for him than the church, that
he preferred glass of good brandy to
a drop Of common wine, that he was
probably more addicted to swearing
than praying" II II y Several writer's
|of late have marred the perfect wooden
image which history has left US of
George Washington. They have shown
that he was master hand at swear
ing, that he could carry about as much
liquor as any of his esteemed contem-
, pories, and that he was, in short,
dead game sport. Humanity is such
that it rather rejoiced over these re-
Violations. 1t gags at perfection just
as strenously as it condemns total de-
pravity." y Truthful history pre-
sents Washington as irascible, i'm
petuous and very profane on great
occasions. He was human with the
infirmities of human nature"
Excerpts from History of the Peo-
pie of the United States" PIP 452, by
John Bach Nc Master, University of
Pennsylvania. HE Washington
died in his sixty-eighth year and the.
heydey of his glory and fame. Time
has dealt gently with his memory and
he has come down to us as the greatest
of all leaders and the most immaculate
of men. No other face is so familiar to
us. His name is written all over the
map of our country. We have made Of
his birthday a national feast. The
outlines of his biography are known
to every school boy in the land. Yet,
his true biography is still to be pre-
pared. General Washington is known
to US, and president Washington. But
George Washington is an unknown
man. When at least he is set before
US in his habit as he lived, we shall
read less of the cherry tree and more
of the man. Naught surely that is
heroic will be omitted, but side by side
with what is heroic will appear much
that is commonplace. We shall be-
hold the great commander repairing
defeat with marvellous celebrity, heal
ing the dissensions of his officers and
calming the passions of his mutinous
troops. But we shall also hear his
oaths and see him in those terrible
outbursts of passion to which Mr.. JEFF
ferson has alluded and one of which
Mr.. Lear has described. We shall see
him refusing to be paid for his SER
vices by congress, yet exacting from
the family of the poor mason the shil-
ling that was his due. We shall know
him as the cold and forbidding char
acter with whom no fellow-man ever
ventured to live on close and familiar
terms. We shall respect and honor
him for being, not the greatest of gen.
erals, not the wisest of statesmen, not
the most sanity of his race, but man
with many human frailties and much
common sense, who rose in the fitness
of time to be the political deliverer of
our country"
Other authorities read by Haffer on
this subject, are:-Workers in Amer
lean History, James O'Neil; The True
George Washington, Paul Leicester
Ford; The American Revolution, John
Fiske; General Washington, B. T.
johnson; The Home of Washington, B.
J. Losing; Life of Washington, Wash
ington Irving; Recollections and Pri-
vate Memoirs, Tobias Bear.
1t may be contended that our young
comrade might have expressed himself
in less harsh terms and accomplished
as much. Be that as it may, there can
certainly be no doubt of the necessity
of preserving our right to speak the
truth unadorned. The emancipation of
| the working class must come by means
of mental revolution. And in line
with this is the pulling down of the
pedestals upon which fraudulent his
tory has placed it's heroes and smash
ing the glass cases in which it pre-
serves it's saints. When the truth is
known there will be no use for any
halos. And thus the Haffer Case be-
comes the case of every man and wom-
en- who loves liberty. How much value
do you place upon free speech, free
press and a truthful history? When
the case comes back from the Supreme
Court for a new trial, we will need
more funds. How many are there in
this country who love liberty enough
to pay few cents for the preservation
of what liberty we still have left? Do
not let the Tacoma comrades fight this
battle alone. Send what you can spare
to Frans Bostrom, 715 Pacific Avenue,
Tacoma, Wash, He is the secretary
of the Defense Fund.