The Washington herald., 1918-09-09

vardaman, of Mississippi, rode into
Office by conveyancing into Jackson
in his home State In cart drawn
by twelve milk-white oxen and at
tended by virgins clad in vestal
white-and he will shortly ride out
OF office unattended, we surmise, and
with only the sympathetic donkey of
the Democratic party to case him
out Of the front door of the Capitol
and possibly into the ready confines
of the Mt Pleasant car waiting there
abouts.
When he goes there will 90 the
last man, so we presume, who will
have made the negro issue one upon
which to be inducted into office. The
black men were villifed by Varda-
man to a point where one would
think none of them would fight for
our country. The scenes enacted
abroad nova days in which the
BLACK Devils" are playing no small
part, are rapidly 'discounting the
statements of the fiery Southerner. |
No longer will the black man be ex-
pected to yield to this issue created
for no other purpose than to put men !
into high public office.
The negro problem is not solved by |
any means, and the war itself will !
not solve 1t entirely. But 1t will go !
a long way toward doing so. and the |
nation, we hope, will be put in a |
position where the task will be easier |
than 1t would have been without the !
war-and the task, too, we hope. will |
be accomplished with manifestly more |
justice to the black race.
No one knows just how the prob |
lem will be handled. 1t is not press |
ing for solution just now, however. |
and 1t can well wait until the world |
has settled down and our own coun- |
try has taken a measure of its new
opportunities and new responsibilities. |
Meanwhile men will be In power !
who will not inject Vandamani nisms |
into the discussion. and make In |
hnitely worse a problem which will |
possibly present some perplexities at |
best.
Removal of several of the govern |
mental bureaus from Washington, in |
accordance with the suggestion of |
tighten Washington and pave the way |
for giving attention to the necessary |
bureaus and departments within our /
midst. This goes without question. |
But who is to make the choice? !
Are the clerks and subordinates of |
these departments, many of whom |
would be grossly Inconvenience by a |
change now, to have no voice in this? |
certainly this phase of the matter
should be given some attention Many |
of these clerks are getting small sal |
aries at present and a removal would /
work hardships upon them. We hope |
their interests will not be entirely |
forgotten If Congress and the ad- |
ministration decide to take some Of |
them elsewhere.
The post at London is an important
one and President Wilson knows this |
most of all. Selection of a man to
NIL the place means more now than
at any time in the history of the
relations of this country and Great
Britain. The man who takes the post
will not only be expected to devote
himself to high duty. but will also
nave to sacrifice to a great extent in
a financial way to carry on his work.
His only reCOmpense will be the
knowledge that he has done it for
his country in n time of stress, when
the country called for great men to
perform enormous tasks.
The prohibition cause, Mr. Hearst
Notwithstanding. appears to have re-
ceived decided impetus in the pri-
mary vote i'm New York State. II Mr.
Whitman runs as well in the fan cleo
tion as he did at the primaries the
landslide may be enough to completely
bury Mr.. Smith, of Tammany Hall.
The outcome rests with the vote
which found no expression in the
late primaries, however The stay
away vote completely overshadowed
the active vote and it will be this
which will count if it gets to the
POLLS in November.
Many workers in all OF the States
where primaries have been held are
tnquirng why the vote has been so
light-at a time. particularly. when
people thought all the voters would
be interested in selecting the best men
to represent them. Several reasons
are being advanced. none of which
seems entirely logical We opine. from
what We hear from these States and
from what their representatives in
c'llSltSS say Nlldl people were simply
too busy to get TO the primary polls,
depending on the voters who had time
to make the proper choice of candi-
dates. This vote. so it is thought on
the hill. will take a hand in the fall
election. however, and will make the
most advantageous choice of officials
from among the candidates chosen for
them in the primaries.
1t will be interesting to watch II
this vote really gets out in the fall
to see If the folks left at home get
out and exercise their electoral rights
in a way to back up the men in the
trenches. The question, however, Is
not this alone in most of the States,
for in most instances 1t is taken for
granted-despite the ardent protests
of some of the political leaders-that
no matter what candidates are chosen
the successful ones will be as eager
to end the war with a glowing Amer
lean and ally victory as the defeated
candidates could hope for or work
toward in their administrative or Iegis-
lative deliberations.
This week will prove to the country
whether the Senate meant 1t when
its membership indicated II would
stay here until the revenue legisla-
tion is finished or whether 1t was only
giving the tired but ambitious House
members something more to worry
about needlessly. And the straws
which tell which way the wind is
blowing will be watched day and
night by those same eager and al
ways hopeful members OF the lower
House.
THE OBSERVER.
OPHELIA'S SLATE.