The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-04-19

ENEMIES OF.
NATION
Such is George Winship's
BeNef-LaF gillette of
Old is No More.

Grand Forks. N. D., April ia
George b. Winship, former editor of
The Grand Forks Herald, one of the
best known publishers or the north
west, declared pacifsts as enemies In
our midst" In a letter written from
National City, Calf, his present home.
81 should be fearful Of the future Of
our country IL thought for a mo-
ment that the policy and tactics Of the
pacifists represented even a small
minority Of the people of the United
States" he says.
at would be a dark and discourag-
ing outlook were such the case. All
the struggle for freedom. civilization
and humanity, were in vain. The
achievements OF our forefathers in re-
sisting political tyranny and estab-
fishing q representative government,
and the prosecution Of the great civil
war for human freedom, whereby the
shackles were stricken from the limbs
of millions Of slaves-all these ire
mendous struggles and magnificent
achievements would count for nothing
IL the contention Of the pacifists were
correct"
"But am confident that they do
not represent any considerable ele-
ment Of our people, and do not think
the ratio Of representation of that
element Is any larger now than il was
half a century or more ago, when Lin
coin and his contemporaneous patri-
OTIS were pestered, badgered and af-
fiicted by them, until patience ceased
to be virtue. They belong to type
of people peculiar to our civilization,
and while apparently normal on gen
eral subjects, they go into spasms of
fright when physical resistance to in
Justice is suggested. They infest all
branches Of society from literature to
politics: some write such delectable
doggerel as, Il Did Not Raise My Boy
to Be Soldier" while others break
into congress and make inane speeches
in support of their untenable attitude.
In all the great crises Of the past, our
government has had the pacifist to
contend with, under one name or
another-fghting the enemy at home
as we'll as the one at the front-and
l presume IL will have to go through
the same ordeal during the war with
Germany. Affections rarely come
singly.
Yesterday spent some time read
ing the congressional record Of March
Is, which contained speeches against
the armed neutrality resolution by
Senator Gronna, and the insight / de-
rived as to his reasons for taking the
stand he did was nil. Gronna's speech
was devoid of substance, being merely
a faint echo Of arguments previously
made by LaFoIlette. But l was not
disappointed. / did not expect to I'M
earth evidence of profound reasoning
from that source.
As For LaFoIIstte.
"As for LaFollette, he has completely
lost his head. Ever since his Phila-
delphia speech in 1912, the senator has
shown signs of intellectual decay, and
it is probable his career Of usefulness
is nearing its close. His speech yes
teriay against the war resolution was
nothing less than reasonable. Not a
word Of commentator for Americans,
but columns of praise and excuses for
Germans. Is this the same LaFollette
that peeached representative govern
ment to our people a few years ago,
that won our esteem by the strength
and power of his argument, and
thrilled us by his fervid oratory?
think not. That LaFollette is no moree'