The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1919-09-20
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS TOUR

SuuuSCo HIS hIuu WHICH, hc pNuot' -h'
il he never stops to explain what he said yesterday, assuming
that what is sufficient to change his mind ought to be suf-
ficient to all others. In 1914 he asked all to remain "neu'al
exc i'm thought"-untl he changed his mind. Then he said
we were too proud to fight, although the shrieks of the perish
ing women and children were still heard over the Atlantic
where the Lusitania went down.
1t was after that. in 1916. that he came west, at least as
far as Iowa and Missouri. when he took issue with those who,
like the late lamented Colonel Roosevelt, wanted to fight. he
not only said that he did not agree with them, but he ntlmated
toat he despised those who wanted to get this country into
entangling alliances. He dreaded such alliances ana ne
vowed that while he wa president they would be frustrated.
* x
But the Roosevelts of tina! era did not want entanglng
or other alliances either-they just wanted to go across the
ocean and do their bit in stopping a bully named Hohenzollern
and his gang of baby killers and women rapers and then leave
them to the mercy of God. And they wanted to do it while
the doing was good and while Russia with her millions in
s4ms was still helping. Colonel Roosevelt. so far as any one
knows now, never wanted to stay in Europe and tell them how
20 run everything over there. for he knew that they would
lot want that sort of dication from us and that it would be
Tor us a policy of folly under which we might become the in
ternational busybody and hypocrlte OF the world.
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But in 1917, after The election which he had won by
keeping US out of the war, until Russia got out and Bolshevism
had raised its ugly head there. Mr., Wilson was persuaded
that the Colonel ROosevelts were right, and SO we rushed
into the war-without having cleaned ever the barrels of the
Old civi! war or Spanish war muskets and rifles. After the
sinking OF The Iusitania, one member OF his cabinet, Mr.. earfl-
son. then secretary of war. wanted to ask congress for an
appropriation to put orr house in order against the eventuali-
tns of war into which we might find ourselves drawn, how
ever proud we were and however much we might nate en-
langling alliances. Mr.. Garrison thought that a gun hanging
over the door was a good safeguard.
y e 4
But the president threw up his hands. He said that such
preparations would incense the Hohenzollern brute ana mlsh'
give offense-as we must avoid the appearance of evil so we
must avoid the appearance of war. Besides. could the Ameri-
,an people be trusted with a gun ready in their hands? Might
they not want to go somewhere to shoot something up with
such wild war-yawpers as Colonel Roosevelt loose in the land?
Mr.. Garrison then said, in effect, that he did not want to be-
long to OF be part of an administration that took no thought
of the morrow, and so he sent in his resignation as secretary
Of war and the president promptly filled the office OF Mars
with the avowed pacifist Mr.. Baker, the quiet little husband
CT an Amish pacifist and himself a mnd-mannered parlor
socialist.
OF one thing we were made certain by this change, and
that was that we would not be prepared to fight, whether we
should lose our pride or not-except on the movie picture
screens where the warhke aeroplanes always flew over fleids
red with German carnage and where the cannon shots shrieked
through the air terrifying the pro-tiermans IN the back seats
But outside af theaters we Were not prepared. The
younger Roosevelt. the lieutenant colonel, who went to the war
and lived through it, though wounded, says that his division,
.he First. did not receive an automatic rifle until a month
after the armistice.' They fought with the old French "chau-
fat He says that no airplane arrived from America until 1t
was over over there "and the death of many of our young men
was directly traceable to that The cannon which they used
was and remained French and the ammunition was French.
He says that American soldiers in his division were compelled
to wear British uniforms and some of the men objected to that
because there was a British crown on the buttons and they
marched in British boots. These are facts, says Lieutenant
Colonel Roosevelt, the son of his father, chat no amount of
words can cover, no speeches explain away"
The bearing of all this may be indefinite to you, but it has
. hearing none the less. ON the present grand journey through
the land. First of all, it shows that it is not necessary to re-
gard the president of the United States as one now lnfalible.
We see in his past attitude toward this war no evidences OF
any divine wisdom, hardly average human wisdom-lm the Oh
line wisdom of nature even the turtle moves about with a coat
Of armor on his back-we had not even uniforms of khaki
Realizing that Mr. Wilson misjudged things so often in the past
we see no reason why we should believe that now he is the all