Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-04-20
Shall We Elect a
President in 70!
Poor time to make n change I'M
less the world shall have
returned to normal
conditions.
BY LOUIS SYBERKR0P.
(Author of Satan Abdicates in
Favor of Wilhelm Won
HohenZollern.)

| SuCn as the eullOIldI III AhO I'M
cago Tribune of March 10, headed
| "A Mission to Italy"
| The writer went a long way out
! of his route to get TO his point, but
he thought he covered his tracks and
neatly landed his candidate, after
slyly discrediting the present ad-
ministration. So clumSily was it
done it could hardly be taken ser
| iously
Personally l face a presidential
election with feeling of unrest, for
never can l forget my first vote for
president and the awful struggle of
! that campaign. But for the timely
words and advice of that grand old
man. Samuel j. Tilden, the election
OF 1876 would have ended in a revo-
! luton. That he was elected no one
! ever doubted, and that he was
| fraudently deprived of his seat no
! one today dare deny. Those were
the days when a national election
was a national battle, and might
| was right.
| 1t was twenty years or more after
| that before a change came over the
| nation. The fire-eating soap-bOX
orator is no longer in evidence. with
/ his big hat, long hair, shiny, greasy
elbows and filthy tongue. A ma
i tional election is no longer a "bogy"
! to business men. and the secret bal
! lot did away with bulldozing at the
polls.
The late election was a quiet af-
| fair, in comparison with some
others l have lived through. True
it was a disappointment to those
who cling to old methods; but, on
| the whole, business went on in its
| usual way a few days after the
| smoke cleared away. The old con-
| ditions of % years ago will never
again return, if normal conditions
prevail.
l said normal.
The country two years hence will
! face another presidential election
| under the most abnormal condi-
tions. 1t is to be hoped these con-
ditions will be removed, but pres
| ent signs indicate a national cleo
! ton at home while we are fighting
abroad for our national life, pro-
viding We shall have an election at
| all.
A fellow traveller said to me on
| the train: "If we could only stave
off the coming election until the
war is over and the world again
settled down."
This thought has been uppermost
in my mind, and | pass it on this
early. that it may grow and become
| familiar to thinking men of the ma
! ton, men who have at heart thej
country's welfare more than polit-
/ iCa.l advantages.
l can hear the political grafters
| howl; the odOr of contest and the
sound of floating dollars are in the
air, and he is greasing his orator
ical windpipe for the conflict. at so
| many dollars per spiel" I hear
him come back: demonstrations
all" The old sledgehammer blow
that has killed many clever idea
But this is an era of evolution,
and even the constitution may be
| tempered with before we are
| through.
The Tribune's candidate can af-
! ford to wait until more opportune
| time. Congressional aspirants de-
| string oratorical prominence may
/ join the ''fOur-minute men" and do
good service for their country.
In the midst of a time when all |
our energy is centered on the awful
! question, Can we win the war?
Shall we continue to live in a demo-
cratic nation, or become a province
| of and a tool to Prussia? ?" A time
when every man with brains and a
/ tongue in his mouth to talk with or
pen sharpened quick enough to
arouse his fellow men into that
! united action that must come about, |
| if we dare hope for victory: a time
when our president and his aides
are laboring early and late, with
nerves keyed up to the breaking
| point, getting to a place where the
work may be systematized; a time
when mistakes have been rectified
and the nation working in unity;
would it be patriotic to call these
men away from their important
| duties, men who actually hold in
| their hands the welfare of not only
America but the world, call them
away from the most sacred respon- |
sibility ever placed in men?
And for what?
| To defend themselves against
mon who would take them away
| from the work which they have done |
so well and replace them by others, |
not because they are better fitted, |
| but solely because they want their
| job and the fee"
We have before us a spectacle
of accusations without grounds; de- |
feat of their own Investigations. The |
nation is satisfied with the work |
done at Washington.
1t takes six months to break in a |
| new postmaster in times of peace. /
How long will it take to break in /
new national government in a |
| time of the most fearful war in his
tory, at a time when the reptile is |
| mental Europe, but these United |
| States of America, thought to be |
immune from foreign aggression? |
Would a new war cabinet know !
| more about present conditions? Can /
anyone say, Il can fill the place of |
, secretary of war better than the !
present occupant" No doubt Mr.. |
Baker would gladly hand over his |
portfolio. But first show us your |
credentials, your experience, your |
knowledge OF the subject, I'VE /
haven't six months TO spare break /
ing you in, and amateurs always |
have made and always will make a /
mess of things.
| want you to listen with both |
ears, for ] am going to ask you a |
very important question: Are you /
ready to sacrifice our boys over t
there by experimenting with "A new |
adm niStraf ion 2"