Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-04-14
TIE NATIONS LEADER.
tSan Antonio Expressly

United States and a score or more "lead-
ers'' of the Nation. The country was
broken up into camps of opinion and each
group had lis chief exponent of militar-
ism, pacifism. socialism. and other 'isms."
We were given at the breakfast table a
variety Of views on this and that. ranging
from the high cost of living tn what. I'm
the present crisis. constituted patriotism.
Much of this was traceable directly TO the
pacifist policy of the government; the
striving. during the great war. of this Re
public for peace.
Today the .leaders.' with the exception
of a still wilful group hat may be count
ed on the fingers of one hand. have be-
come voluntary lieutenants TO the nations
captain, Woodrow Wilson. commander in
chief of the army and the navy and the
leader of the nation. in fact. And the
wilful ones in the hour of national stress
have sounded their own political doom and
lowered the curtain ON their public use
fulness.
The bittereSt critics Of Mr.. Wilson have
made peace. There i George Harvey. the
man who discovered Or. Wilson and who
afterward repudiated him and supported
Mr.. Hughes in the last campaign. Mr..
Harvey sent this telegram 70 the White
House after the presidents war charge TO
congress-:
"a great message of patriotism. evil
dencing masterful leadership, based upon
mutual faith of the president in his coun-
Try and af the aauntr.- In ~ nra-,da,. I
was confident a one could be. but even
so, | was not prepared for so splendid a
realization. For the nation it i gloriou~:
for the patriot, inspiring; for the presi-
dent, noble
Theodore Roosevelt. who has unsparing-
~ condemned the president during the two
years of the submarine warfare contro-
versy with Germany, stopped in Wash
ington TO congratulate Mr.. Wilson and
says to the press:
"The presidents message j. a great
state paper, which will rank in history
among the great papers of which Ameri-
cans in future years will be proud. 1t now
rests with the people of the country to see
that we put in Practice the policy the
president has outlined
Tens of thousands of messages. we read,
shave inundated the White House. from
all parts of the country. Of a congratula-
tory nature. From their tenor and that
of public comment, IT j. apparent the
president has been accorded the ungrudg-
ing support of his sturdiest opponents of
The past. Ii did not take the ready and
ovarwhalmino acauiassanea of both b...-a.
of congress 10 stamp the nations APPROX
al. Before the war resolution was intro
duced, the country ut large. aware of the
perIls not of our making. but forced upon
", had accorded the president leadership.
Bnt in the clear-cut presentation OF the
righteousness of Americas entry into the
world conflict. and of what victory for
democracy means To the lasting peace of
the world, the president brought together
all angles into a definite policy and course
of action. lie did not have to assume the
insignia of leadership; the garments were
his naturally, by the wearing since he first
entered the White House. Even the ma
tons state Of unpreparedneS- has IL. elo-
on the floor of tha senate said
"That our people might be spared par
ticipation in this war. we drew back IN
every way from the contest. We did more
than any other power did Ia keep out Of
this conflict, and even put aside the ordin-
airy prudence Of a nation and refused To
prepare even for defense. Now in the
midst of the peril and turmoil our unpre-
paredne-, J. the greatest guarantee we
could give that we wanted ia be at peace
with the world" An argument. or rather.
a plain. unassailalle fact. that gives ride
ulousness to any claim from the central
powers that we entered the war Of our own
yolition in support of the allies.
We Americans are Of a Jealous nature
when it comes to safeguarding our in-ti-
tutions. We are pfactical-minded and fun
damentally honest IN our dealings with
other peoples. We are not prone 10 hero
worship. but we h@nor truth, courage. lib-
erty. Ii again has been proven u national
characteristic to sink the little things. the
chickering's and party strife and enmitie-.
in recognition of greatness in an individ-
ual raised to leadership in the nations
hour of need. We are acclaiming the
president worthy Of being commander-in-
chief. More than that. we applaud the
words of the message that Raymond Pom
care. president of France. cabled to Pres
ident Wilson:
"In never-to-b be- forgotten language vou
have made yourself before the universe the
eloquent Interpreter of outraged laws and
n menaced civilization