Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-05-30
WILSON and LINCOLN
BY ARTHUR C. COLE.
Assistant Professor of History,
University of Illinois,

University OF ILLINOIS,.
These are days which cali us
back to the trials of the nation in
cur great Civil war. Just as that
struggle inscribed the name of
Abraham Lincoln at the head of the
tablet Of fame, so now the name
of Woodrow Ns~-- is being writ
as the dominating personality OF
the great world confagration. Yet
few appreciate the numerous par
allels between the qualities of lead
ership displayed by the two states
men in the respective crises. Both
sensed with clear vision the issues
involved in their gigantic tasks.
Lincoln, less of an idealist than
Wilson, laboring first to preserve
the union under existing guarantees
to the property rights of the slave
holder, had to wait over a year be-
fore he could proclaim his intentiQd
TO finish the fight under the slogan
to make the union safe for freedom;
Wilson, on the other haTd, when
others talked of neutral fights and
obligations under international law,
without hesitation proclaimed the
lofty ideal to make the world safe
for democracy. =
Lincoln led ,Xhe nation to victory
In spite of Is formidable combina-
ton of forces. There was, of course,
the copp4rhead anti-war opposition;
this he>treated with a generous toll
grange, understanding that it arose
out of partisan spirit. Then there
wgfe the clear-visioned prophets of
in hie ur.fv
with mere union-saying
pronunciamentoS chafed with i'm
patience at Lincoln's inability i'm
mediately to mount with them the
lofty pediment of principle. They
complained of his lack of back
bone" of his N'wishy-washy" mes
sages, and of his serious derelic-
ton of duty" Lincoln received
these criticisms with patience and
weighed them calmly; he yielded
when he could and when the time
came, in a document that for over
fifty years remained without a par
allel in executive utterances, he
flung forth freedoms banner to the
breeze.
President Wilson has needed no
urging to define the aims of democ-
racy in its struggle with the forces
of mllitarism. His generous mes
sage of friendship and good luck
to the Republic of Labor Unions"
in Russia reveals an Illuminating
capacity for approaching the most
advanced forms of democracy.
In the early months of the Civil
war much was said of inefficiency
and corruption in the handling of
the war department, but it was
known that Lincoln had deplored
the necessity OF Secretary of War
Cameron's appointment and took an
early opportunity to kick him up
stairs. Republican leaders, how
ever, we've almost equally dissatis- |
lied with the influence of Secretary
OF State Seward whom they blamed |
for the lack Of vigor and of earn |
IN the prosecution of the |
war } a Republican senatorial eau |
Gus even went SO far as to send a |
committee to wait upon Lincoln and !
insist upon Stewards dismissal. |
Lincoln handled the trying situa- |
ton with masterful diplomacy and |
STAYED off the crisis. Critics con- |
tinued, however, to ply their trade. |
In 1854 they undertook to oppose |
his denomination and to SUPPORT a !
more aggressive leader; Wendell
Phillips, one of the prophets of the
proclaimed the admins
tration "as civil and military fail
ure, and its avowed policy ruinous
TO the north in every point of
view"
Lincoln, then, had critics even
In his own party. Although the
of their attack upon Seward |
Or upon his own reelection would
have seriously interfered with his +
plans, it is not evident, however,
that they actually did embarrass
him in his policies. Nor did he
turn a deaf ear to their proposals.
As a discriminating critic declared,
the great trouble is, he is always
six months behind in acting the
hing OUT; yet it is not clear that
-orced changes and wholesale reor=
SANITATION would have saved much |
If the delay. Is that not also the
secret to Wilson's success, that he.
Ike Lincoln, gives free reign to the
critic to point out the actual need
Ind then, checking the destructive !
orces involved in such criticism, |
moves to effect the adjustment?
buy War Savings stamps
ELIMINATING CATTLE TICK,
The entire state of South Caro-
ine will be freed December l from
quarantine against the cattle fever
lick, it is believed by officials of
he Decentralization division of the
bureau of Animal Industry. Tick
radication work is progressing l
avorably throughout all the other |
southern states. The number of I
tipping watts available on May l,
numbered 22,879. q