The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1918-03-28

sorts of reports came from the front
from men who were COM
petent, only a short time ago, and that
it is a matter of opinion, to great |
extent. We believe that whatever Cen |
eral Wood testified to he believed. But
he, like other human beings IS
biassed, and sees things, to some eX-
tent, through glasses smoked by pre-
dispositions and prejudices. He has
always been associated with the po-
litical element that disagreed with
not only the military but with the
economic and fundamental foreign pol
icies of President Wilson. The men
and the newspapers that have hound
ed the president and misrepresented
his acts and his motives during his
administration, have, at the same
time, insisted that all the greatest
honors, powers and responsibilities
should be given to General Wood
That Wood should accept this view is
human. General Grant once said that
promotion of General G. F. Smith over
Grant on the ground that Smith was
the better general, adding that he
Grant did not think much differ
was one in million in modestly and
ability Certainly, such sentiment was
never uttered by Colonel Roosevelt,
with reference to his own compare
tive qualifications. Probably Wood
would not take so unassuming a view
of his own talents.
The history of generals, on the az
erage, however patriotic, is that they
"see things" wrong with the manage
ment of those who occupy places
which they believe that they should be
filling themselves We are not say
ing that Wood testified to any of the
things attributed to him, for the YER
acity of those who violated their
pledge of secrecy regarding what took
place in the committee is about on
par with that of Ananias or Mum
chausen. Neither do we charge him
with being a party to any plot.
Again The TIMES recalls attention
10 the main fact in this persistent and
organized attack inside and outside
congress, and that is that while par
tisanship in the narrow sense largely
enters into it, it extends beyond par
tisanship. Senators who have power
full backing in financial or monopolis-
tic circles are against the administra-
ton regardless of politics. Chamber
lain and Hitchcock are Democratic
examples. Lodge is another of a
somewhat different type. Lodge is a
natural aristocrat. The idea that he
is for sale for so much cash is alb
surd. But he belongs to the class in
this country SO aptly referred to by
President w. o. Thompson, of the
Ohio University. Monday night, who
have the class ideal and cannot think
in accord with President Wilson or
understand his policies Senator
Lodge is the biographer and panegyr-
list of that great man, Alexander Ham
ilton, into the spirit of whose policies
he entered. Just as the American
Economist, which equally hates and
criticises Wilson. sneers at the prin-
ciples of Jefferson, so in substance.
though less crudely, does Lodge. Both
hate Wilson, because he stands not
for the international policies for
which Hamilton stood, and because he
does stand for the principles for
which Jefferson stood Hence, any
thing which looks like shortcoming
in a Jeffersonian Democrat to this
blue stocking critic of essential de-
mocracy, grows like the spectre on
the Broken. The element which takes
this view and that other element of
snobocracy which likes to do some
thing for the people," and confer
something on them, rather than give
them the right to confer something on
themselves, and this includes men who
have done some real things, hate Will
son, because like Jefferson, the pres
ident believes in the people being able
to govern themselves. These, too,
start with the assumption that any
thing done by a man with Wilson
viewpoint, must be inefficiently done
for are they not the only efficients
Here, then we have a combination
that is hard to beat. All the purely
partisan anti-administration men: all
the predatory elements of monopolis-
tic privileged; all the superior
| folks, in their own estimation. and
all the influence that vast wealth car
) command. Yet in the interests of vic.
= tory, of true democracy and human
rights, it must and will be beaten.
, A word about political organization