New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-16
A CALL FOR MORE LIGHT
Former Judge Lseombe Asks Nh. Hu,b.,
to EIpound His Views.
To The EDITOR Of Tho Tribune.

More light" unless I've misspplied N. Al,
story. Some Of US to-day are inclined .,
echo the wish, for November is ahead a, a.,
and We shall have 10 drop each his ind,vis,,,
snowflake for one man or another a. N. a..
! President Of these United States To 4. -
intelligently we must be fully advised a..
both candidates. Contrary 70 our yi,s az
/ hope, We have been confronted With -.
serious problems growing out OF the v,.,.
war in Europe and have learned that vs -.
not live our life simply a. a herni, n,,i,.
entirely without concern touching any,si..
beyond the environment ~ our own bo,s.,'
We shall be confronted with more az 49,.
problems in tho future To an in.sly...
use of The snowflake IL "a necessary 70 .,,,
how such problems will affect tho mex, Pres.
dent Of the United States. As 70 one es,s..
date VIC need no further enlightenment =,
nearly two years he has lived In the "rr,,,
white light which beats upon a throne equal.
ly throne whether King or Presiden, oeev.
pics h. he has been confronted with ssroy,
problems and has dealt with them From A.,
record we can discover all the elements -
his personal equation and touching possibl.
future problems can with reasonable certainty
doduce his probable orienta,ion.
As 20 the other candidate, touching Tres.
practical matters We have no information =.
all. Quite naturally so; situated As hs va,
he could not voice personally and publicly
any criticisms he might entertain ~ h o..
tertained any as 20 the conduct Of ths Al.
mnistration As other men, his competitors
for the nomination, were tree 20 do free.
dom so fully exercised that a. 70 the the.
most prominent ones We know quite seeu.
rately their personal equation in relation 70
these questions outside Of our domestic con.
Germs. II is for the candidate Who now s,.,
for the votes Of those who criticise the course
Of the present Administration 10 give them
the necessary informstionin the concrete,
not in the abstract. This We have not W.
had. An evening paper states that Nr.
Hughes announced that his attitude Is on,
Of unadulterated Americanism, that he is an
out-and-out American. The reporter adds
that on hearing this statement Mr. Henry
Clews exclaimed: bravo, That means a
lot" Perhaps IL docs 70 Nr. Clews. but %
Characterization Of the telegram ~ acceptance,
an "Amercanism that knows no Interior Dur.
pose. a patriotism that is single and COM
plete." Some OF US have severely criticised
the President for action or ron-action durin.
these last twenty months. but none OF Us
who is far-minded doubted that in what.
ever he did or refrained from doing he hon.
estly. sincerely and conscientiously believed
that he was an unauthorized" an "out-snd-
out American" and was acting. according 70
his lights. without Interior purpose and with
patriotism single and complete. So these
general statements do not help us to shy
great extent We feel very much like the
British jack tar who. in some foreign port.
was splendidly entertained Al a function
where his portion was unlimited champagne
instead Of rum. Say. mstey." he remarked,
this stuff tastes good enough. but We don't
get any forrader with H."
Now here is a suggestion whereby We may
get forrader" Three salient events chsl-
leuged the public sentiment - this country
First. tho violation OF Belgium the tiny. neu-
trail nation which lay in the track OF the
storm, We being the big neutral nation 10
whose prompt protest Gin the name Of hu.
mainly" 10 borrow frequently used phrase,
some attention mightor might not have
been paid. Second. the grossly impertinent
advertisement Of the German Ambasssdor
warning American citizens nor % sail on the
Lusitana. on which vessel. as this country
has always insisted md as international law
has always held. they had right TO SAIL
Third, the sinking OF the Lusi;anis.
To the first Of these the Administrations
attitude was first an instruction 20 approach
as nearly As possible 20 protoplssm and re-
main neutral in thought and expression.
Next statement May 10. 1915 20 Germany
that we recalled the humane and enlightened
attitude hitherto assumed by her IN matters
of international right and recognized that
German influence IN the field OF international
obligation was always engaged upon the SIDE
Of justice and humanity. Finally the state
ment that the causes OF this war are o. 70
interest 70 US. that those who are nov en-
gagged in it Belgians. Serbsns, French as
we'll as all the rest are insane.
To the second Of these salient events. sb-
solute silence until after the event; then
some trifing expression Of disapproval
To the third Of these. the long series Of lei
ters with which we arc all familiar.
As 10 these three propositions il is open 20
Mr. Hughes in the course OF this coming
TO express himself IN his own good
time November is long way Of. n he
criticises the Administration and gives Us
his opinion as 10 wherein that Administra-
ton failed (if ne thinks 10 failed 20 put this
right on the page Of history, then
we shall learn something Of real value, when
shall enable us 10 forecast how he will deal
with similar problems II they arise AZ time
in the future when the great white light IS
beating on him. should our snoVhases put
him where IL is beating. n this campaign
closes with no delverance from him on an.
Of them. then we must assume that in eaeh or
these pas, contingencies had he been IN pit
Wilson's place when IL arose he wouId hS''
done as Nr. Wilson did. Then We snail n''e
more definite. more concrete
IL 80 "a