The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-07-02

anu JHe SplElI VI Jul pcOplS' All lulS
is freely and gladly acknowledged,
but surely the time has come when,
because of the calculated criticism
and the premeditated calumnies of the
we are entitled to call at
tention to the fact that all of these
things were accomplished under the
leadership Of great Democrat and
great Democratic administration. We
have no apologies to make-not one.
We are proud of our great navy; we
are proud of our splendid army; we
are proud of the power of our coun.
try and the manner in which that pow
err has been used; we are proud of the
work that America has done in the
world; we are proud of the heroism
of American men and women; and we
are proud of the inspired and incom-
parable leadership of Woodrow Will
son.
Has not the time come when all
Americans, irrespective of party,
should begin to praise the achieve
ments of our country rather than to
criticise them? Surely a just and
righteous sense of national pride
should protect US from the insensate
assaults of mere partisans. We fought
great war, for a great cause, and
we had a leadership that carried
America to greater heights Of honor
and power and glory than she has ev.
er known before in her entire history.
If the American flag must be lowered,
it will be hauled down in a Republi-
can convention and not in Demo
cratic convention.
1t is this shining record of tremen-
dous achievement that Republican
managers and the Chicago platform
seek to shame and besmirch. Va
rious congressional committees, which
for want Of more appropriate term,
are called smelling committees"
were appointed for the purpose of as
Certainia1 whether or not there was
any graft in the conduct of the great
war. Over eighty Investigations have
been made, over 100000 have been
wasted, and the one result has been
to prove that it was the cleaneSt war
ever fought in the history of civiliza-
ton.
Through the hands of Democratic
administration there have passed
more than $4,000, 100000, and the
finger of scorn does not point to one
single Democratic official in all Amer
lea. 1t is record never before made
by any political party in any country
that ever conducted war.
If Republican leaders are not able
to rejoice with US in this American
triumph, they should have the grace
to remain silent, for it does not lie in
the mouths of those who conducted
the Spanish-American war to indulge
in the luxury of criticism. What was
there in this war to compare with the
typhoid camps and the paper
soled shoe controversy of 1898? What
was there in this war to compare to
the embalmed beef scandal of the
Spanish American war? Despite all
their investigations, not one single
Democratic official has either been in
dicted or accused or even suspected;
and the only dignitary in America, of
any outstanding political significance
who is moving in the direction of the
penitentiary is Truman Newberry of
Michigan.
The very power of the Republican
party to conduct partisan investi-
cation of the war, to criticise the
President, to control the organization
of the Senate and to wreck the pros
pect of world peace, rests upon bare
majority of one, secured through the
tainted senatorial vote from Michi-
gan.
The Republican party became so
fixed in its incorrogible habit of con-
Quoting Investigations that it finally
turned to the fruitful task of investi-
eating itself. For the first time since
they entered upon this program they
discovered fraud and graft and mex
cusable expenditures. The revela-
lions disclose the fact, long under
stood by the initiated, that the meet
ing at Chicago was not convention,
but an auction. The highest bidder,
however, did not get the prize. The
publicity which overlook the proceed
ings frustrated the initial purpose.
In more senses than one the recent
Chicago convention has left the Dem
ocratic party as the sole custodian of
the honor of the country.
arc oo oPii ~,
so pitifully cramped in soul, that they
suggest that the war cost too much.
The Republican platform echoes this
complaint. 1t was indeed an expens-
i've war. War is the most wasteful
thing in the world. But is money to
be measured against the blood OF
American soldiers? Would it not be
| better to spend a billion dollars for
! shells that were never exploded than
to have one American boy on the fir.
! ing line minus an essential cartridge ?
Was it not better to prepare for q
long war and make it short than tc
| prepare for short war and make il
long? When criticism is made of the
expense of war, let us not forget that
we bought with it the freedom and the
| safety of the civilization of the world