South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-02-17
Smiles of the Revolution, the Rebellion and Armageddon

Unable to make themselves heard she war
committee went outside and encouraged protests
from the popuace.
The people were made to wonder by letter and
message to the president what he could be think
ing about to place such man IN command when
there were so many great generals" subject 10
caU,-reviling Lincoln for Ignorance, favorit-
ism, incompetence, politics" and Grant for being
understood, inexperienced" while the prohibi-
honistS added that he ''drmkard."
Lincoln had but one answer in behalf of
Grant That was: "He fghtsp' And when his
prohibition demonstrators bore down too heavily
their assertions Of drunkenness he one time
asked them for the brand that the general drank
that he might give some of IT to these other
great generals lying round"
Lincoln had made his choice after learning the
futillty of qubblng, and he stood by it. and Grant
fought IT out this line and that one summer
after another, until it finally led him to AppOmat-
tox,-leaving the Chamberlains, the HitchcockS,
the Penroses, the Woodvorths the Lodges the
Weekses, the McCormicIxs, and others Of their TX
existent IN that day, open field for carpet
baggng" and then to find for themselves long
since forgotten graves.
Q HOULD we have entered the war sooner?
- Every student Of history knows that it has al
ways been struggle for the United States to get
into Washington and his co-vvorkers, re-
mOnstTated begged, pehtioned, sent ministers,
wrote notes" by the score, and finally when they
took up thought only to compel redress Of
grievances.
independence was an after thought 1t came
when the revolutionary fathers discovered to get
what they had gone after they had to take more
Same with the war of 1912. 1t was STAYED off
for years. 1t only when Johnny Bull be-
came too bold for tolerance that resort was made
to armed resistance.
AS to the Mexican war, hist! Forget it! Ii is
the one black spot military history, de-
spite the avalanche of successive victories more
faxed than real, in the trail of that dastardly
international intrigue.
Did Lincoln wait watchfulIy and hopefully?
Did he labor to the last hopeful that war might
be avoided?
Twelve days after he called for his first rs, 600
volunteers, he wrote: 81 have desired as sincerely
any man, and / sometimes think more than
any other man, that present difficulties might
be settled without the shedding of blood and
will not say that all hope IS yet gone"
Lincoln led his country into the rebellion to
the union. The freedom of the slaves was
afterthought necessary to the preservation Of
the union, same independence was found essen
tial to the repulsiOn of British arrogance in the
revolution
And to Mckinley! How many years did
America bubble, if you wish to call il that turn
ing deaf ear to the cry of Cuba and suffering the
insults of Spain, before, as the president said to
congress, she had proven herself unable to give
protection to the warships of a friendly nation
peacefully hsrbored IN her ports?"
And then the camps, located in southern
sNvamPs, and the carloads of ''ernbalmed beef
ard the soldiers sent home without ever being
equipped; wonderful recommendation for q PO-
litical aggregation just now assuming the anti
LincOlnesque hyPercTiticaI role!
Should we have entered the world war soon
er? Let Washington, and Madison and Lincoln
and Mckinley answer Was it a crime the part
Of Woodrow Wilson that 'he kept out of war
for nearly two years, should he have plunged
US In three years ago instead of one?
And IS it any less crime; the embanassments
of Pres't Wilson the ornate criticism and abuse
aroUSing dstrust in him among the people upon
whom he must depend for support uCcOring
she enemy, giving him aid and comfort, than It
in the cases of Gen. Washington, and Prest
Lincoln, yea, even Of Madison and Mckinley?
Mckinley, thanks to the shOrtness Of the war
with Spain, spared much of the criticism that
befell his administration until the backbone Of the
conflict had at least been broken but it seems the
fate OF America, somehow, that wherever war IS
there must the "copperhead" be also.
THE lesson for America today; let Lincoln tel
L it for Washington and for Wilson, and The
rest IN his sad homely way. He was being del
uged with criticisms and admOnitions to do Things
differently. He had told them after another,
as commission after commission and committee
after committee called to interfere and TO argue
that he and his cabinet were doing their best, anS
that "angels could do more"
He insisted that time, and patience, and cor
fdence, as well as money, food, guns, ammu-
milton and men, were needed to win and then
rising to the great gravity of the situation, ne
illustrated his meaning by this:
Gentlemen suppose all the prop
erty you were worth IN gold and
you had put It in the hands Of BlondIn,
to carry across the Niagara river
rome Would YOU shake the cable