Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1917-07-28

WIN vi hOScu as wen hs lflHI VI
Moses is typical of the service of the
Journalist in the present hour. Ro-
nance, the spirit of adventure, has
died in the trenches, but we may keep
1t alive in the hearts of men. Are we
not engaged in the search for demo
eracys holy graill
The service of constructive criticism
falls within the province of the press,
Mistakes will be made In the conduct
OF the war-mistakes have been made
In the conduct of the war. II is the
duty of the press, freed from the
meshes of partisanship and without
thought of selfish advantage, to point
out In the broadcast way such mistakes
and thereby to guard as far as may be
possible against their recurrence. In.
diyiduals temporarily holding public
office-clothed with little brief au-
thority or large-will wish to be free
Of publicity and of criticism. The
press must not grant them this free
dom. 1t will not grant 1t. Methods
OF taxation, of the delegation of power,
of the raising of revenue and of Its
disbursement, questions as to the aim
and purpose of the war and of its con
tinuance are of vital interest and i'm
portance to the American people.
Publicity Aid in War Time.
Here again the press has plain
duty to perform. Publicity will cure
evils in war time no less than In the
piping days of peace. A single exam
ple-in the enforcement of the selec-
tive draft measure young men within
the draft ages were asked to answer
a question regarding exemption,
question unfortunately expressed aud
withdraw or explain away. When the
question was honestly answered In &C
cordance with the registration blanks,
we were gravely told that reply there
to constituted cowardice on the part
of those who replied. Again, state
ments sent out from Washington blum
dered into the bureaucratic error Of
announcing that registration totals
should equal certain census figures.
These figures however were estimates
made on the census of 1910, pure
guess work as to the probable growth
of states In population from 1910 to
1917, an estimate manifestly impossible
to make with any degree of accuracy.
On such census bureau estimates
charges of Stacker states and Stacker
communities were unWarrantedly
made. 1t Is In connection with such
practices as these and matters of
much larger consequence, involving
property and life and liberty itself,
that the press of the country must do
the service Of constructive criticism.
Bureaucracy as well as autocracy Is
the enemy Of democracy.
Constructive Criticism.
Constructive criticism should be con-
Structive-nOt destructive. The call
ing Of names does not suffice. To re-
fer to an individual as a pro-German
because he differs from us may evil
dence the poverty of our vocabulary,
but will not promote better political
conditions 1t does not make for ma
tional progress to denounce as traitors
men who have other ideas of national
safety. or national honor, than our
own.
Constructive criticism will include
interpretative information about the
best in other peoples, not merely the
worst Lack of acquaintanceship be-.
tween peoples promotes misunder-
standings among nations. Undue
boastfulness leads to strife. God is not
an American. The flag above the
church is not of itself an EVIL
dence of genuine patriotism, nor
is the planting of potatoes nor the
purchasing of Liberty bonds. Con-
structive criticism will point out the
service that each man may render
through self-sacrif1ce, which is fire.
quently the antlthesis of self-assertion.
1t will include humanity In its scope
and not narrow itself by provincial de-
nunciation. The dying words of
Edith Cavell were: standing as I do
in view of God and men, | realize that
patriotism is not enough | must have
no hatred nor bitterness toward any
one"
For such criticism there must be
freedom. The press, held to account
by existing and proper laws for any
libelous or reasonable utterance,
must hold the very government itself
to strict accountability. Bad opinion
may be published-but who shall say
what is bad and what good opiniOni
Surely not the man or men regarding
whom the opinion is expressed. Lese
majestic is crime under an autocratlc
government, not in democracy.
Would Have Prevented War.
If the press of Europe had been for
q century free to print the news I'M
colored by government influence, If 1t
had been free to discuss in public the
Vaccinations of diplomacy, this hide
Gus war would not have come. Ger
tainly national antagonisms were In
creased and racial hatreds emblttered
by the international news served out
by official or semiofficial sources, the
Wolff Agency in Germany, Reuters