TaÌˆgliche Omaha tribuÌˆne. [volume] (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926, 1917-09-12

mantle of Elijah descended upon
us but ii the hour of socialistic
triumph is not about TO strike
in Ohio, yea and beyond, then
we shall renounce prophecy and
take to drink or religion, or
something else equally noisy
and futile. The ire Of our jour
nalistic friends is going to wax
fat apace and if they can take a
moment off from standing by
King Cargo or praising as the
best and most perfect ever, the
peripatetic Russian government
now retreating on all fours
through the tall grass, or
shrieking delight over the beati-
tudes Of Hooverization, they
will call us a German spy, the
architect of sedition and the
professional purveyor of aid and
comfort to Col. Bill Hohenzol-
Tern. But all of that to the
contrary notwithstanding we do
not hesitate, beloved politicians,
to assert and ~reassert that with
all of your COMPOUNDED bunkifer-
Gus gable of what you are
about to do, you have clean lost
sight Of the somewhat import
ant fact of what the people
think of you. True enough they
may be all wrong but as they
do the voting they have a sur
prise in store for you unless
something happens mighty
quick to give them somewhat
more confidence in you than
they have now which is exactly
the same they cherish for a state
bank note Of 1887 or a Con-
federate bond Of 1865.
To one removed as is the
writer from the varying in
fluences Of political bias and
astygmatism that accompanies
political ambition the party
blindness now rampant in the
country and especially in Ohio
seems truly marvellous. Wash
ington seems to have settled
down happily intoxicated with
the auto-suggestion that the
war is so tremendously popular
that under the halo of its excite
ment everybody is standing by !
tie gentlemen who are running
things, loudly applauding every
act whether a splendid manifest
alton of our standing army de-
mocracy or the shoveling out Of
our national treasury to every
uecessitous nation that is willing
to make wry faces at Germany.
Well, as a matter of fact, moth.
ing Of the kind is true. On the
contrary the masses of the peo-
pie are sullen and without any
enthusiasm and if they are not
actually hostile to the war pro-
gram they are very far from ap-
proving most Of its phases. Day
after day and month after month
they have seen congress per-
form in their name acts which
if submitted for their approval
would not get three votes out
Of ten. In other words the men
whom the people have elected !
have ceased TO represent them
and this without the least re
gard to any party. 1t is there
fore perfectly natural if, indeed,
not inevitable, that the con
stantly growing idea should be-
come a certainty that under any
party the people themselves are
entirely helpless.
Elections have become mere
formalities that return men to
power not to redeem promises
but to do as they please. Is it any
wonder then that men are filed
with sullen disgust, that they
are coming to feel that it mat
ters not what party is in power
as their wishes will cut no figure
anyway Is it remarkable that
they should assert that social
ism could be no worse and
might be some betterl Would
it be a strange thing if even
those conservative classes who
have always rallied to party
ranks at the cry of socialism
should now turn to that organ
ization and use it as a means
Of registering their protest?
This is all moonshine and
theory? Well, maybe so. Also
maybe not. We have disclaimed
the role of prophet and have
neither the inclination nor the
capacity to initiate Jeremiah.
But we are trying to get at the
facts and thereby Voice a warn
ing that may or may not be
needed. We will go no further
than Ohio and we will take the
Fl