The Washington herald., 1917-11-04
The Military In Congress.

A business man OF this country who
delights in keeping in touch with
what he terms 'the rank and fle"
and who is well informed enough
TO forecast with reasonable certainty
big developments in the popular
spirit, made this remark 10 a num-
Der OF his friends at the Willard
last night:
This IS nv FIRST trip 10 Wash
ington since the war declaration, and
1 have come here only after looking
over America from the standpoint OF
several other cities and a number OF
other States. But put it down here
and now that within the next few
years in this country We will see
fully fifty per cent OF the member
ship of Congress made up Of men
OF military title"
Some OF this mans auditors were
surprised by that statement. To one
Of them who inquired more persist
emily than the rest he finally said
in support of il, The business OF
American citizens for the next hun
dred years. after We emerge from
the present struggle will be to see
that our country's ideals are main
tanned with the same dignity and the
same persistency that they were after
the Revolutionary war and after the
I Civil war
Men will not be allowed 10 go
around and assail their government
thereby hitting at everything il
means-but they will be allowed 10
go so far and no farther For a num-
Der OF years in this country it has
become the fashion 10 assal and as
sault our institutions and instead OF
trying only to rid ourselves of the
bad men who occupied here and there,
IT became the avowed purpose OF
many of our so-called statesmen TO
try and remake our Constitution and
a multitude OF institutions built VI
under that Constitution.
'DemagoEery had almost became a
virtue in this country when the pres
ent world struggle broke out That
will not be true again for many,
many decades, 1 am positive. The
doctrine Of paciism which sounds
nice and which we all would subscribe
to if We knew it was possible. is sim
ply impossible. II the character OF
all of the people OF the world was
similar 10 the American character and
10 tn" "laracte OF some OF the Euro
pean lions that would be possible.
But IL is not. Ard so, because We
cannot have this U.opian condition
which we must realize now as never
before-we must have a condition
which is in keeping with our condi-
tions.
I'VE must ever be ready to defend
America and to guard its Institutions
in the most complete manner. We
cannot REBEL against our government
founded as it was on the almost per
feet principles OF democracy, and we
cannot tolerate men in the future
whose chief avocation Is creating dis
satisfaction among our people. There
is no use getting around this fact-the
man who tries TO create jealousy and
prejudice in this country against the
form of government and against men,
in many instances. who are trying %
serve their country with purpose and
with integrity, robs his country of
some OF it's power and lays the seed
for dissension and lack Of patriotism" +"
Rather profoundly impressed by this
statement the speaker gave his crowd
time to digest what he said. Finally
when they exhisited signs Of wan ting
more along the same line he con-
tinued:
And so I say that the men who
are TO direct our destinies in the next
few years will largely be those who
have come out of great tribulation-
men who have been over there and
who have been identified with all that
is patriotic and inspiring in this crisis.
They will be men who have substance
all along. who have followed the
ideaIs OF their fathers from The first.
who have. IL you please. been good
enough and great enough TO grant
from the outset that our country was