The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1918-05-27

Thinking itcn ana Wnlii'R Will hO'H ia
their own opinion OF the man Who
uttered it. Its truth Or ialSity Is
easily demOnSlrablc. | invite MI
Roosevelt 10 name The papers VI
magazines which have upheld Inc
war, but which told the truth ABOUT
The administration failure TO con-
. due: the war efficiently" which hav"
: been 'puni:'lcd" by the PoStoiilcc
! Department. invite Mr.. Roosevelt
no name the newspapers OF maya
zines, powerful or otherwise. WINCH
have opposed the war and aftachcc
our allies or directly or indlrectj
aided Germany against luis countr!
in such manner as To violate the law
which have not been proceeded
against by this department,
"'Failure on the part OF NH. RooSe'
welt to respond is to admit his IN
ability TO do So
Makes Record Of Answer.
j AS this was issued officially by the
! Postmaster General, | desire that a
permanent record shall be made of my
answer and of the facts that led up 10
my statement to which the Postmaster
: General took exception, Ind which
caused him TO issue his cha!lenS0 10
me TO prove my statement. there
! fore wish 10 put these facts before you
in full
II insert as appendices 10 this letter
the editorial in The Metropolitan Mag
aZiuc' in the issue which the New York
pcstofficc attempted to suppress, this
editorial bring entitled Put the Blame
! Where 1t Belongs and my article in
The Metropolitan On Lincoln and
| Free Speech together with the Met
! ropoltan' statement rs 10 lis war rec
ord (pagc 6, May 'MetropolitanD.
II deal with Mr.. Durleson and his
article purely because he is the repre-
sentative of President Wilson, exactly
as is Secretary Baker. exactly as is
! Mr.. Crccl. President Wilson is rcSpon,
sihlc for everything that Postmaster
General Burleson and Secretary Baker
and Mr. Creel do. or leave undone.
! Nothing that any one Of these gentle
mon says. nothing that any one of
| them does, and nothing that any one
! of them leaves undoEc is Of the slight
est importance. except because he is
! President Wilson's representative, ap.
/ pointed by President Wilson to posi-
! ton Of high governmental Importance
! in a great crisis end serving as the
medium through which President VIII
son carries out mis- policies affecting
| this country. This is. Of course. equal
" true of all of President Wilson's
other appointecs.
Scant Patience With Folly.
i 81 have scant patience with the tim
| idity or the folly which dar1S not
! hold accountable the source Of power
and only ventures to express di:pleaS-
! urc with the instrument through which
! the mower is exercised. MeSSrs. Bur
| Lesson, Baker, Creel and their asSoci'
ares possess no Importance whatever
except that accruing to them because
lit is through them that the President
/ speaks and acts or refuses or fails 10
act. As the above article shows, was
! not speaking OF Mr.. Burleson in par
ticuar, but Of the Administration, Of
i which he is part; of the President,
! whose servant ne Is.
The reasons for my comment In
The Kansas City Star and for my pre-.
rious article in The Metropolitan Mag
, azine' is that since the war began the
Administration has used the very great
war powers of the government over
tho public press to stitie honest criti.
cism Of governmental incfficicncy or
misconduct, while condoning (Which
necessarily means encouraCinS) pro-
Germans, anti-Ally, and therefore anti
American agitation in certain power
full napcrs which defended this inrffl'
cheney and misconduct; and IT has
sought from Congress 4 great addition
10 the already existing power il has
thus misuSed.
Refers to Constitution.
81 believe that the First Article OF
the Constitution guarantees the right
of the people to crhicise Iru'hfully ~"
conduct Of their public servants. and
that this right cannot be taken away
by any law. But the average man is
naturally and properly afraid 10 chal
lengc 4 law backed BY the whole pow
err of the United States government,
even although it may be his belief that
ultimately the law will be held uncnn-
stitutional.
Our governmental officers. from
the president down. arc OF right tho
servants Of the people, not the rulers
of the people. This is the fundamont'
al difference between IN au'ocracy
and a democracy. The HoheEzolernS
are the rulers Of Germany and the
Germans are the subjects Of the
Hohenzolcrns. not their fellow cltl'
zens. On tie contrary. on" prnsl-
dents arc not the rulers Of the Amer
lean people, but INC servants Of the
American people, and the rest o! the
people are their fellow citizens.
Our duty is to stand by the coun-
try. 1t is our duty to stand by the
presidcnt-as by every other olilclal
just so long as he stands by Inc
country. 1t is no less our duty 10
oppose him whenever. and 10 the en-
tent that he does not stand by the
country. If we fail 10 oppose hIm
under such conditions We are guilty
of moral treason 10 the country. le
president and our othCi' public DILL
Gals are subject 10 the laws just
like the rest Of us. 1t is an lnfamy