The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-10-05
THE LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED.

/
THE LIMIT HAS BEEN REACHED.
| Speaking at Pueblo Colorado, where Presl-
dent Wilson collapsed physically year ago
while making plea for the league las ne
brought it home,'' Governor Cox handled his
subject in the most approved Wllsonlan style.
/ He called the league "a torch which has been
put in the presidents hands by the American
soldiers who sleep in France" This is the real
ly effective way of presenting the subject with
ilnpassioned superatives and impressive dec
larations that men now dead gave the league to
the president with instructions to give it to the
world It is true that there is no record of any
such transaction, and no hero who died for lib
crty is known to have cared rap about the
coy enant or even to have known what it was to
Icontain. But the statement is highly oratorical
and thus effective without relation to the facts.
And the governor went further and did even
better when he declared that This is the league
God Almighty Himself intended should work
| out a change between the old order and the new
order III the world; and is thus the most sacred
issue ever faced by America - This is, unsur
passably fine. Mr. Wilson never claimed as
much for it, and it is not clear that anyone could
POSSIBLY claim more. The limit has been reach
ed. Rhetoric has come to the jumping Off place
Everything has now been said that can be said.
That is the way to put the league before the
people Claim divine authorship and author
lily for it, and people of religious natures, who
accept the statement as fact, must vote for Cox
as matter of course. Logical, reasonable cltl-
zens will still consider it important to perfect
i the league as far as possible; or, on the other
hand, perhaps discard the contraption in all its
parts. And skeptical people will continue to
believe that certain obvious cruditles IN it are
of human origin and should be excised. But 1t
| is not to people Of these classes that Governor
Cox appeals. Their minds are already made up.
! In his early days Alexandra Millerand, the
new president Of the French republic, gave
himself up to the destinations Of the soclallstlc
| school of thought. but when he passed his po-
litical adolescence and grew up to man S estate
in the affairs of his country he abandoned child
ish things and set himself to the constructive
work which now has rewarded him with the
highest honors his native land can bestow.
There is sentiment in favor of severer Iegls-
lation to prevent so many automobile accidents,
especially injuries to pedestrians who are with
in their rights when struck and hurt. But 1T IS
wisely pointed out that the legislation should
tend towards a closer revision of existing sta
tutes rather than the widening Of the large fam
lily that is now creating feeling Of indiffer
ence to law enforcement.
! An anomaly of the sugar quotations leads the
consumer to wonder whether the supply Of the
country has drifted out of the hands of the re-
Ifiners While the official American Sugar Bull
letn quotes refner prices at fourteen and a
quarter to fifteen cents pound, it is possible to
buy in the Chicago retail market for two cents
less in hundred pound lots
One of those experts who can find something
to say in behalf of anything that will keep him
| in well paid job, announces loudly the high
value Of soft drinks as human food Well, oat-
meal also has its uses, but it cannot be looked
upon as cheering stimulating in the dietary
when a person feels somewhat subnormal.
! A correspondent wants to know whether the
summer girls will discard their summer furs
now that cooler weather is about to arrive. We
are inclined to believe that those as has 'em will
continue to wear 'em.
| It now appears that the credentials of the
Polish delegates to the peace conference Will
not permit them to sign a peace pact. More or