The Washington herald., 1918-07-15

At last we have the promise Of
Senator ]. Ham Lewis that he will
run for reelection, and that Medill
Mccormick Is to have a real race IL
lac gets here from Illinois.
Little better staging could have
L.en arranged for J. Ham. Not only
did he manage to get the president
to ask him to mako the race-which,
supposedly, will have a considerable
effect in the primaries. at least-but
he also received the petition Of virtu-
ely all of his fellow democratic sena-
tcrs that he should consider the well
fare, OF the United. States and at once
decide to enter the fray.
Mark Sullivan once referred TO J.
Ham as a man whose mind had no
scme port. and as a polychromatic.
Nu 1neIe. severe indictment has been,
returned against a member Of the
Upper House. And, yet there are sides
to Senator Lewis which make him
continually the mark of the affection
CT his. fellow members, and their OBJ
jCct of search when real political bat
| ties are suddenly brought up In the
senate. ]. Ham is quick on his feet,
, figuratively speaking, and has that
/ spontarcity of spirit which is as apt
to produce fun as cause deliberate
I thinking. or late he has been show
| in signs OF becoming a near-socialist.
/ BY September ne may change, of
I course, but he will have had the bene-
I fit of the statements he made while
/ VI der the influence of that economic
! i,toNicEtion.
III the last analysis-and We say it
with no nialice-J. Ham will need no
mind to .remain where he is. He fol-
l., 'rf ~. a1nainiS
! tor and questions not. That is all
that is needed. The people of Illinois
/ have their guide in the President and
I l.. they jump the Senatorial place to
derive their power direct from the
WLite House. it will work no harm.
As lopG as the place has to be nomi-
, rally occupied, however, there is no
. harm in letting J. Ham have IL. For
/ tho final approval of his sentiment we
I look to the action of the people of
, Illinois at the November polls.
| Colonel Harvey insisted. in quoting
! our statement on his demolishment of
! the Ford machine, that We read the
| tNenty-first chapter of Luke, the
nineteenth verse. OF course, We did
! So But in return we masnanimously
/ suggest that the fifteenth verse might
( be interesting TO him for doubtlesst,if
I ne has. not already attained the hap
! py state he will instantly admit it is
| his goal.
! NJ. Burleson's promise. more or
| less epticiously given, that no act
! OF his shall damage the rights of the
/ press to; wire facilities, is enough to
| remove objections to his domination.
I Had no such intimation of non-inter-
| ference gone forth, however, the
fat,. of the Reed amendment to the
| wire bill would have been far differ
ent. The defeat Of the amendment
I means simply that Congress Is will
ling TO give AIr. Burleson a chance
to- make good on his statement. He
! has so many other powers, already.
| that the addition of this power will
/ not seriously. harm the papers-if he
makes no greater use Of it than he
has other unusual powers,
| What a tangled web we weave when
war is on and we practice pacifism.
With what truth lawmakers could
have uttered this between August
1914 and April 1917. Thumbing the
1 Record back over that period one
| finds much grotesquely interesting
matter in the light OF Developments.
/ 1t constitutes a history all in Itself
and we hope will be an increasingly
important warning to Americans in
the decades to come. It's effect Is
lost IL it does not make them more
united in purpose and more deter
mined to preserve the inherent prin-
ciples Of our government.
One little chapter taken out Of the
Record shows the efforts of Congress-
| man Kent to make light of those men
4 who urgee preparedness and who have
demonstrated their interest in Ameri-
ca by standing for the stern principles
Of preparedness from the outset. Mr.
Kent introduced bill in February
1916 meant to show such preparedness
advocates that the country did not
| need them, that their efforts were
resented by true patriots and that
they should have the scorn rather
| than the admiration of their fellow
| countrymen. His bill read as follows:
! BE IL enacted, fetc.-that all persons
| in the United States of warlfke as
! pirations who have been prevented
from exhibiting their heroic patriot
ism and enjoying the emoluments
/ thereof. including the holding OF
| public Office, by the action of molly
! eoddles who have prevented war
/ shall be examined by a committee
/ consisting of the great militant psy-
/ cifoIoeists, Hugo Mmstefberg and
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