Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-06-28

debate. our country has neither
peace nor reconstruction. Barren
of achievement. shameless in waste
Of time and money, the record Of
the present congress Ia without par
allel for its incompetencies. failures
people so unjust or 30 lacking in dis
elimination that they will reject the
service Of q party which has kept it's
word. and place trust in a party
which merely renews the broken
promises of q previous campaign
Attacks Upon tho President
Republican leaders have been
moved. by a strange and inexplicable
jealousy Of the president. Their
feverish animosity, expressed in
gross abuse n through secret in
trigue, has been productive of one
of the most unhappy chapters in
liar experiences of Lincoln and
Washington. Political malice fol-
lowed the president to the peace
table. A senatorial round robin"
was widely circulated. Every de-
Woe which partisaAshtp could de-
velop. was employed for the purpose
Of weakening the influence of our
task there still more dificult. At a
time when every instinct OF fairness
pleaded for a whole-hearted support
of the president. political antagonism
and personal envy controlled the an
decentralization forces.
The president made every sacrifice
for the u Of peace. The long
continued strain while composing
differences abroad; the expenditure
force is building a new order Of HUI
man relationships upon the ruins Of
the old, laid heavy toll upon his re-
serve powers. Then came the return
in triumph. only to find here a wide
spread. propaganda of opposition,
making it imperative that he lake up
IN his own country. a struggle for
the preservation OF that which had
been won at such incalculable cost.
Following the superhuman labors of
seven years of unexampled service,
this meant the wreck of his health,
sickness for months upon a bed Of
pain. and worse than the physical
sickness, the sickness of heart which
from the knowledge that po-
litical a~dversaries, lost to the larger
of things. are savagely destroy
ing not merely the work Of mems
hands, but the worlds hoac Of set
tied peace. This was the affliction
this the crucifixion.
AS he lay stricken in the White
House, the relentless hand of malice
peat upon the door Of the sick cham
Der. The enemies of the president
upon the floor of the senate repeated
every SANDER that envy could invent
and they could scarcely control the
open manifestation Of their glee
when the great man was stricken al
last. The congress was in session for
months while the president lay in
the White House, struggling with a
terrifying illness and, at times, close
to the point of death. He had been
physically wounded just as surely as
were Garfield and Mckinley and
degree between fanatics and parti.
sans. The congress, during all this
period. when the whole heart OF
America ought to have been flowing
out. in love and sympathy, did moi
find time, amid their chickering's, tc
pass one resolution of generous i'm.
port or extend one kindly inquiry as
to the fate of the president Of thei1
own country.
And what was This ofense? Merely
this-that he strove to redeem the
word tina America had given to the
world; that he sought to save a fu.
ture generation from the agon,
through which this generation had
passed: that he had taken seriously
the promises that all nations had
made that they would unite 1t the
end of the war in a compact to pre-
serve the peace of the world; and
that he relied upon the good faith
Of his own people. If there was any
mistake, it was that he made a too
generous estimate Of mankind, that
he believed that the idealism which
had made the war a great spiritual
victory. could be relied upon to Sc.
cure the legitimate fruit of the war
the reign of universal peace.
In n sense. it is quite inmate
rial what people say about the pres
ident. Nothing we can say can add
or detract from the fame that will
flow down the unending channels OF
history. Generations yet unborn will
look back to this era and pay their
tribute Of honor to the man who led
a people through troublous ways ou
of the valleys of selfishness up to the
mountain tops of achievement and
honor, and there showed them the
promised land of freedom and safety
and fraternity. Whether history rec
ords that they entered in or turned
their backs upon the vision. it is all
one with him-he is immortal.
The Requirements of Honor.
There are men who seemed to be
annoyed when we suggest that Amer.
lean honor is bound up in his con.
test. and that good faith requires
that we should enter the League OF
Nations. The whole Republican case
is based upon the theory that W.
may. with honor, do as we please
about this matter and that we have
made no promises which it is oul
duty to redeem. Let us turn again tc
the record.
The Republican party in its plat.
form in 1916 had declared for =
world Court Cor thu naa;f 1890