Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-10-23
Chicago. ILL.,. October 3. 1917.

Chicago. ILL.,, October 3. 1917.
Hon. Robert NJ. La Toilette. the Sem
ate. Washington, D. c.:
My Dear Sir.-You wero born In Sun
Prairie township. while 1 was born in
Albion township. u few miles away.
about the same time. You may remem-
Der that we went to school together;
you may remember patriotic
defamation you made. when In ado
lescence, at school picnic. You may
remember when Edwin Booth came to
Madison, when you wore an Undergrad
uate, and he played "Macbeth,Y and also
played Iago In "Othcllo." You may re-
member in your college ideals how you
determined to become an actor--the
greatest in the world. You may re-
member that as an undergraduate you
wrote an Grafton on Macbeth and Iago.
and how they. in your sentence. be-
came your heroes; you may remember
how your Grafton won the university
prize; how 1t afterward won the prize
over Beloit, Ripon and Milton; how you
were sent to st. Louis, as 1 recall. and
you won the prize in thu intercollegiate
oratorical contest over all the institu-
lions of learning In the Central States;
you may remember how YOU came back
and were graduated with honors and
Immediately nominated for county at
torney OF Dane County, Wis, although
you were scarcely more than n mere
may remember how you were triumph
antly elected on your oratorical SUI
premacy; you will remember how you
entered our law class as a post-grad-
uate, and attended a few times. and
were. as I think, graduated. You will
remember how the people OF Wisconsin
treated you as boy hero and how
many. including Senator Sawyer. be-
came your patrons and helped you to
high places: you will remember how
the Elements personifled as the witches
hailed you aB the Thane of Cawdor, and
how you sacrificed your patrons to your
ambitions. No doubt their ghosts pass
your histrionic vision
A poor boy, made mad by his stage
associations. martyred Lincoln because
he thought the President tyrant. Can
II be possible thst you. with all OF
your professions and experience. are
now seeking to martyr America as a
tyrant. for the Hohenzollcrns? What
did Macbeth. or Iago, or J. wilkes
Booth, ever do to make the world safe
for Dariiamentarlsm?
Through my son 1 have made the
supreme sacrifice. He spran. from
the same sunlit openings OF Wisconsin
as you. He was a college boy. His
hero was Fcnizclos, the Greek rebel
against the Hohcnzollerns. His thesis
was that under present methods of
transportation the world Is not big
enough to now admit OF tho two forms
Of government. nor small enough to
be controlled by hereditary cult OF
robber barons. and that William should
be hung and thus give sanction 10 in
ternational law. While / paid his ex-
penses to the military training camps
OF 1915 and 1916. and for a unit of
military training in Harvard. in AprIl
objected to his going in advance OF
his country's call: but his cousin.
son OF Henry HoTmaster. one OF the
German Republicans OF 184S, gave him
800 md saw him or, and told him
he was hshting for the liberty of the
German people, also. wonder which
or you two. or any OF the others I'D
there who will fall. will be written nrst
in the history Of Dane County. He was
only one OF some 2.2oo others. educated
in first principles, to go to the front
All of them and others wero inspired
with the same ideals In advance Of their
country's call. He realized that the
business OF the United States is war
and that war Is the business of every
individual. !, In particular. realize since
his fall that war Is my business
If you were Senator in Germany.
and doing the same for America as you
are doing for the Hohenzollerns, you
would face the firing squad You say
you are Tor free speech. Is free speech
virtue in battle? II you, as a Sena-
tor. have license for free speech
after war is declared. every ono be-
licvinS in an hereditary .mpcrialistIc
form OF government has the constt-
tutional right. with impunity, to de-
bate for the purpose Of defeating Amer
'ca IN this war, and so make innumer-
able sacrifices in vain. and fastcn upon
the world dynasty which. by reason
or Its concentration Of power. will rule
and be the chief influence. in turmoil
until. by evolution. the final plan Of
the Frs Divine Master prevails.
For thousands of years this contest
between the Beast and Spirit has
waEed' because in the Divine plan In
dividual free election was incorporated
AS all the world IS now at war over
the two sYStcms Of envernn,Ant Il l.