Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-07-23

is phrase which finds its way INTO
a great deal of legislation that is pass
ed these days. No doubt when the war
is over it will be found that some OF
the legislation that has been enacted
with the phrase, and with the idea OF
limiting it simply to the war, can be
made adaptable to future conditions
and will be continued. The people
have no idea Of the amount OF legisla-
ton that has been written on the
statute books for the purpose OF con-
Quoting the war against Germany.
This is an evidence that the United
States was wholly unprepared for war,
not only from military standpoint,
but also from a legislative standpoint.
Even the president of the United
States, who, as commander-in-chief Of
the army and navy, is clothed with al
most unlimited power during a waf,
found it necessary to have reams OF
legislation enacted In order to carry
on big foreign war.
Whatever else may happen 1t seems
almost certain that Moses P. Kinkaid
will be returned from the Sixth district
of Nebraska. Kinkaid is one Of the
men that attend strictly to business all
the time. He never bankers for adj
journment nor does he seem to think
it necessary to go out and fix up his
fences. He Is not much in evidence
on the floor Of the house in the way
of making speeches, but he is generally
there when the votes are taken and he
has the reputation of paying closer at
tention to every demand on the part
OF his constituents than any other mem
Der of the house. Kinkaid was quite
favorite with President Taft, who al
ways referred to him as "the sand-hill
crane from Nebraska" mainly because
Kinkaid represented a partially arid
district.
Are we going to keep politics out of
the political campaign? Even the old
timers around Washington who do not
recall what happened in 1862 during
the Civil war, remember that in 1864
the political situation became very ex-
citing and the conditions in this coun-
try were much more serious than they
could possibly be under foreign war
conditions. So it is altogether probable
that this coming congressional cam
paign will see a lot of politics.
Just barking back to some of the
special elections that have been held
since the United States entered into
the war, it is observed that politics
were injected quite freely. This was
especially true in a New Hampshire
district, in the Indiana district, anC
also in the senatorial election in Wis
cOnsin. The probabilities are that
there is going to be right lively po-
litical campaign, Notwithstanding some
attempts to postpone politics until af-
ter the war.
There is very little complaint from
people about the cost Of any mail serv-
ice, but there always is great COM
plant when that service is not efficient.
For instance, outside of some of the
critics in big cities, no one complains
about the rural free delivery service
although it costs forty or fifty million
dollars more than it returns to the gov
eminent. Nor is anyone complaining
about the cost of Postmaster General
Burleson's experiment with air mail
service for the big cities. Rural COM
munities do not want to curtail good
mail facilities for the city, but they
are insistent that they also get good
service While it is the ambition of
the postmaster general to make the
postal department self-sustaining, no
one seems to object if there is def
icit, particularly if there has been
good service.
One unfortunate feature of the talk
about immense proiteering and graft
in-connection with war work is that the
small CRATER is always encouraged to
try to make something himself. Thus
1t happens that small dealers furnish
ing meat to the army and cOmmissary
sergeants enter into a combination to
get a little "rake-oif." They seem to
feel that while others are making big
money out of the war they are entitled
to make their bit. One of the fea-
lures of this grating is that it is the
little fellows that get caught rather
than the big fellows.
Washington's first nickname was
1.-THE City of Magnificent Distances"
1t might be changed now to "The City
of Magnificent Uniforms" Not that
the army uniforms one sees are magni-
fcent in the sense of being gaudy or
snowy, but there is such tremendous
variety. In addition to the policemen,
fremen, messenger boys and porters,
whom like the poor we have with us
always, there are American soldiers
in khaki. Frenchmen in blue-gray and
| dark blue, Englishmen in a deeper
shade of khaki sprinkled here and
there with red, American naval officers
and naval reserves in binding white,
green-clad marines and naval aviators,
English sea fighters in navy blue, Ital-
ians in high-peaked caps and gray
green uniforms, an occasional Belgian.
yeowomen in our navy, Y. NJ. c. A.
workers, besides the women of the
Red Cross and the girls who have be-
come telegraph messengers.
The Portuguese language is used by
about 10000 persons.
Oil Cleans Wood.
A small quantity of olive oil applied
| to wet cloth from which most of the
| water has been wrung furnishes an ex-