The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-09-22
LETTER FROM A PROGRESSIVE
Why President Wilson Occasionally Changes His Mind
 "A Wise Man Sometimes Changes His Mind, But
 Fool Never. r."-James G. Blaine

| Editor of The Bridgeport Farmer: One of the arguments which Is being
 put forward by the opponents of the
 Wilson administration to convince vo-
 ters of the presidents "unfitness for
 the high office of president" is to the
 effect that he is a man who changes
 his mind. Through this channel of
 supposed reasoning, the instability"
 of the chief executive of the nation
 is pointed out. The fact that he is Q
 man who may think one way today
 and another way tomorrow, is being
 used by his enemies as proof positive
 that he should not be reelected. And
 a speech was delivered particularly along this line in the House of Rep
 resentatives on August 9th, by Hon. Will R. Wood, of Indiana. In this | speech Representative Wood exhaust ed all of his oratorical resources in
 bringing to light the various times on
 which President Wilson has chapged
 his mind in dealing with natiPnal
 matters. And it is needless to say
 that his speech was applauded | throughout tiy his own side of the 1 house, which is the Republican side.
 It is also perhaps just as needless to
 explain that this speech has been sent out broadcast in the nation as good
 campaign gospel by the Republican ! party. Of course it is hoped by the Republican managers that this docu
 ment will prove attractive to voters,
 and that 1t will draw them to the
 support of Charles E. Hughes like ''molasses draws fiies.'' But will it
 draw thinking voters? Will it draw
 votes from the Progressive party and the great ranks of independents who
 swing elections? Personally, l think not.
 Thinking men demand convincing argument, and one of the most con- vdncing arguments that can be ad- vanced is that a man is great enough, strong enough and wise enough to change his mind when he realizes that 1 changed circumstances change condi- tons, and that the thing which may l appear right today Is wrong tomorrow. Especially does this apply to the ex- I ecutive of great nation, who is par l ticularly in a position where he can
 realize, more than any other individ- I ua1, the tremendous necessity of sud- den mental changes and quick action. l And at no time in the history of civ 1 flization have such sudden and kalei- doscopic conditions existed in the life l of great nations as those which the | world has witnessed since the begin l ming of the great worlds war. Thus linstead of criticism, thinking citizens of our great country will bestow | praise for the wonderful excellence | of judgment which President Wilson | has used through changing his mind l during the trying ordeals through which we have passed during the two
 latter years of the democratic admin | istration For through these mental l changes, the president, has not only kept our woeful1y unprepared country out of the worlds conflict, but he has l upheld the dignity and rights of the nation as well. His principal achieve I ment has been the forcing of the sub l marine issue to successful and hon orable conclusion for the land of the
 Stars and Stripes.
 l While it is true that the President
 declared at the beginning of the war l that merchant vessels carrying >any l kind of armament should be held to l be auxiliary cruisers, and. should be l treated as such by neutral nations. and that he has since changed his mind in this respect, yet to all fair
 minded and thinking citizens, and memHers of the Progressive party in particular, it is plainly obvious that he was right in so changing his mind. For in the beginning of the war the tremendous utility of the submarine for destruction of both life, and prop I'erty was neither dreamed of or real l tzed. Thus it came about that the sinking of the Lusitania, and the friehtful loss of life accompanying
 that act, brought a full realization of | the destructive possibilities of the submarine to the minds of the peo- ple of all the earth. It was demon strated that this new engine of war fare was not the frail and weak un- dersea vessel that 1t was supposed to be, On the other hand, it was plain l ly demonstrated that the defenseless- ness was on the. side of the merchant vessel, although she might be armed | for defense, and because of this new condition President Wilson changed his mind. Thinking citizens of our great country will give him credit for doing so, Blind partizans who never think will continue to make political capital out of the fact that he did so. But deep down in the heart of every honest man the conviction has already taken root that no man who ever sat in the presidents chair has done the country greater service than President Wilson performed when he changed his mind and terminated, through diplomacy and without the shedding of blood, the submarine warfare on helpless merchant ships. As Progressive wish to propound a query to the members of that party
 who have remained loyal to our cause, and who have not been delivered
 "boots and saddle" to the Barnes, Root, Penrose-Smoot crowd by our erstwhile leader, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt. Did you ever know a sen-
 sible, thinking man, and a man of re- sponsibility, who did not at some time or other change his mind, not once,
 but often? Did it never occur to you that men who never change their minds are either confined in cells or straiRhtjackets in lunatic asylums, or else that they are wearing wooden
 oyercoats, six feet under ground? Do
 VOL not know that it requires brains to realize that a change of mind is the right indication that a man is nei- ther crazy nor dead, especially when the right thing is accomplished through such a changer? Of course yuo know this, and through associa- n-.-