The Cordova daily times., 1918-02-06
"eUMsHoE BILLS" oUTRURsT

and the whole country in his bite,
TRADE against Colonel Roosevelt an.
the Republican leaders. Affairs il
Washington must be in an awful mud
ole, indeed, when the shifty Missouriar
feels himself forced to take any mar
to task for playing politics and lack
ing patriotism. Assuming that every
thing he said was so-which we doni
by a jugful-the incident then would
amount to nothing more or less than
the pot calling the kettle black. Wa.
GumshOe Bill merely acting his part
OF did he really expect his caustic re
marks to be taken seriously?
The gentleman from Missouri DOS
sesses a fair amount of the dry humor
that has made his state famous. Also
he is one of the slickest performers
that ever packed a bag of tricks in
congress. When it comes to fooling
the people he is a past master, but
as rule he never fools himself. So
long as he retains his native shrewd-
ness he will never step into a trap
that he has set for another. He never
forgets or fOrgiYes, and dearly loves
revenge. Somehow or other the
thought persists that the shifty sen.
ator, still smarting from the lashes of
criticism that he received from all
sides, purpOsely provoked the bitter
political broil for the express purpose
of embarrassing the administration
The senator has no love for President
Wilson; he opposed the war and still
thinks it is wrong; and he is no
longer in the councils of the admins,
tration and his party He must have
known that the ordinations he in
dulged in would surely invite a deluge
OF determinations against the admins
ration. Our belief is that he DELHI.
erately set out to make mischief, on
The assumption that he had nothing to
lose himself, and vengeance to gain.
That Stone had prepared his speech
and spoke in evident sincerity does
E1m alter this conviction. He realized
shat the harder he hit, the harder
Roosevelt and the Republicans would
strike back. And what cared he, know
ing that he himself would not have
to bear the brunt of their blows? So
skillfully did he shape his words that
he almost succeeded in conveying the
impression that he was vOicing the
sentiments of the administration. Per
haps he was, but we doubt it. Presi-
dent Wilson is too thin-skinned to
openly invite criticism. Besides, he
has the habit of speaking for himself,
and were he ever in search of a
spokesman for his administration, the
chances are that Senator Stone would
be the very last man he would select
The President owes much to the Re-
publican leaders for their unqualified
support of his war policies to date,
and he doubtless realizes the Obliga,
ZION. A continuation of their support
is essential to the successful prosecu-
ton of his war program, and in our
opinion he would be the very last man
to antagonize the Republican mem
bers of congress at this particular
time. On the contrary, the probabili-
ties are that he regrets the episode
more than he can tell, for he alone
will have to bear the brunt of the con-
sequences.
The Republican leaders were quick
to resent Stones unwarranted attack,
and the President will have his hands
full to disarm them so long as they
remain in their present defiant atti-
Tude. Roosevelts silence does not sig.
Nifty that he is sulking in his tent.
Some day, when the stage is set, he
will shoot a broadside into his &C
cusers that will shake the country like
an earthquake. This is new expert
ence for the Colonel; his American
ism has never been aSsailed before
That the uncalled-for criticism stings
him to the quick, and that he will
strike back with a vengeance, goes
without saying.
Meanwhile, good citizens everywhere
find themselves sorely perplexed over
the situation. If Stone Is patriot
and Roosevelt, ON the other hand, i:
1.-The most potent agent the kaiser has
in America" then most of them viii
have to reverse their patterns to fit
the new fashion of patriotism that has
Just been. announced from Washington
And heaven help us If such men az
Stone erect the shrine of the new
Americanism!