The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-10-11

s So says Sergt. Herbert M. Pee
4 former editor Of the Equity News
/ who comes out openly in favor o
! the reelection of u. S. Senator I
j. Walsh. Sergeant Peet ha
: written a letter addressed t,
Montana voters which makes it
own argument and we'll worth,
, of all voters consideration.
, reads:
Camp Fremont, Calf Sept, q, 1913
To the Montana Voters: If
were iii Montana this fall, know
ing what | now know about army
life and the honest opinions of the
soldier boys on matters of public
concern, | would throw every
ounce of energy | posses into the
campaign TO re-elect T. j. Walsh
to the United States senate, not
because he is candidate of the
democratic party, nor because OF
any personal attachment, but be-
cause his defeat would be a
catastrophe to the state of Mont,
loss to the senate, and a slap in
the face of the worlds greatest
democrat-Woodrow Wilson
which slap in the face, in the last
analysis, means one more burden
placed upon our chief executives
back in his present heroic struggle
to end the war and establish true
democracy.
To me personally, and | venture
the statement, to all the boys in
khaki generally, partisan lines
mean less than they ever did.
And the longer the var continues,
the more indistinct will such lines
become in the minds of the Amer
ican soldiers. The boys are
learning what unselfish devotion
to cause and a country means,
and in SO learning, their minds
are being adjusted along lines that
will startle those who believe the |
"old order" should remain. |
don't want to burden you with a
lengthy discussion of this peculiar
phase of army life, but | refer to
it SO that yoll will understand
why every soldier will anxiously
await election returns from his
home state this fall. Politics has
taken on a new aspect in the
army, and roughly speaking, the
boys view all political activities
solely from the standpoint:
What effect will it have upon the
successful prosecution Of the war?
and, What effect will il have upon
he condition of this country after {
he war;
You may consider it vanity, but {
contend it is my justifiable right {
0 refer to the factthat during my |
.ditorship of the Equity News | c
vas independent of party affilia- +
ions, and fighter for the true t
democracy and justice. Other a
'eople, equally ardent for the S
establishment of justice in the t
olitics of Montana, may have p
isagreed with some of my views c
nd utterances, but they did not "
,wer my respect for them, nor Y
my zeal for my own con-
ictions. 1t is because feel very le
eenly upon the question of the Il
snatorship that | am compelled S
, write you at this time. And | m
n confident that what have to m
" is of particular moment to the ii
dependent voters back home" I'll
J it expresses a general opinion NJ
eld by the boys in olive drab. a
First and foremost, all the W
,ldiers / have met are solidly &c
freed that the war in which we pt
e now engaged is a just war; NJ
at, in 1917, there was no course iu
r this country to pursue but to TO
tier it in the manner we did, and pa
at now there is no course to pc
lrsue but 10 fight it Outright, w
th every drop of blood and Gil
cry penny Of resourse we have, in,
It'll the military party of Germany
d the autocratic powers in that to