Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-12
THAT DESERTER LIST
Major Murdoch 10 Preparing a List
That viii Be Worth PerusIng.
tom" Paine the lnfldel-As to
State Societies That Func-
tlon In Philadelphia
BY GEORGE NOX MCCAIN

A'A united states drrtt Ofnclnl at liarrlS-
! burg during the World War, is unoffcially
engaged upon a very meritorious piece of
work.
He is compiling list Of all the dead,
| wounded, honorably discharged, enlisted and
| distinguished names that have been, and are
being, listed in Pennsylvania as draft de-
serters. .. .
It's a splendid idea.
! The injustice as well as the danger of
| publishing these Stacker lists was pointed
| out in these columns weeks before there was
n peep on the subject from the swivel
chair veterans in Washington. ....
| Major Murdoch was the inspiration for
the objections then registered.
He realized the danger. He sensed the
| injustice. He even went to Washington and
| protestcd-but in vain.
And 1t has all come to pass just as he
| predicted. ..H .
He pointed out then that the publication
of the draft board lists, without complete
| and careful veriiication, would result in the
gravest and most indefcnsiblc libels on the
names of men who had died or had suffered
for their flag on the fields of France. w.
TNHE rank injustice of it all has been that
L 1t put the burden Of proof that the dead,
wounded or gassed hero was not Stacker
upon the man whose name has been glorifed
| In the Argonne Forest or on the banks of
the Meuse.
What mattcred 1t if to emblazon the
shame and infamy of a thousand Bergdolls
the names of ten heroes were to be be-
snirched?
The whole proceeding, as Major Muir
| dock pointed out in emphatic language at
its inception, is one of which the bureau
Gratis of the War Department should be
| heartily ashamed.
Not 10 per cent of the newspapers Of the
country have published the so-called
''slackcr" list. Why? Because 1t was rec
9ognized as a travesty on justice, even If the
War Department did issue insistent re-
quests to publishers to print the names.
TT WAS my fortune, or perhaps misfor-
tune, to be present at a religious gather
| ing recently in which the name of '"rom'
| Paine was mentioned.
Needless to say 1t was uttered with de-
riSion and scorn as that of the arch Inf
DEL and skeptic of his time.
Aside from his authorship Of the "Age
| of Reason,' every act and influence of
Pane's life was for the betterment of hu-
manity.
I felt like rising in my place and sub.
jecting the young chap who berated the dead
patriot to categorical inquistion as to
just what he really knew of this intellectual
giant of the American Revolution.
For that is what Thomas Paine really was
There was the flaming disposition to in
form the denunciator that only within the
last ninety days a delegation of Philadel-
| phia 8 best, most conservative and unques-
tionably religious people had visited, in n
| pilgriNagc the site of Paine's home in Bur-
lington County, n. J.
tom PAINE was one of the original ad-
l. vocates of independence for the Ameri-
| can Colonies
He was a Quaker by birth and training
And here Is where the practical presenta-
tion of painc's theories comes in. While
Paine was clerk of the PENNSYLVANIA Legis-
laturc In 11I0 he donated his entire salary
for the relief of the Continental Army.
Chalk that up on the credit side when you
are estimating the value of Tom Panes
services to the struggling Colonies.
Did this arch Inidel'' stop at that?
he was so persuasive and successful in
securing loans for the struggling armies of
the Colonies from France and Holland that
Congress voted him a sum of money; for
he had spent every dollar that he possessed
in trying to raise cash for the Continental
Treasury.
wonder how many present day patriots
of the professional political stripe that con
troll Philadelphia would have done as Tom
Paine did?
Some day-nnd it's more than n possi-
bility-these gentry will have monuments
In the parks or busts along the Parkway
while Tom Paine, the splendid patriot will
continue to be mathematical as 'the Arch
lnfdel of his time"
MTE HAVE the New England Society, the
w Delaware Society, the Ohio Society, the
Daughters of the Confedcracy and heaven
knows how many more State societies and
organizations in our midst
The New England Society. first under
Postmaster General Charles Emory Smith
and later under Cyrus II. X. Curtis, has
| left Il decided impress upon the character
of these extra Pennsylvania, If l may so
denOminate them, organizations.
The acme of all endeavor was achieved,
I think, when the British Ambassador was
induced TO come to Philadelphia and address
the last meeting and dinner of the New
England Society.
Sir Auckland Geddes topped the pile"
so to speak.
And he spoke to purpose as those who
heard him are willing to swear.
TNHE muse in this instance tunes its Tyre
l. to the New Jersey Society of Pennsyl-
vania.
There are lot of interesting things on
compRsscd in the annual designs of these
\ historical, hcraldiC, patriotic military and
| civic organizations
They dine, and walk, and crate, and or
ganize auto pilgrmages.
, Speakers Of national fame come from
! afar to light the fires of patriotism or an
ccstral pride.
But the old New Jersey Society of Penn
, sylvnnia does itself honor by its pilgrim
ages.
E When men like ]. Bprtram Lippincott
'
, Stanley French. Louis B. Moffctt. Gcorg,
II. Armstrong, John II. Hutchinson, Jane,
Il. Borden, r. Munroe Dobbins and Walter
I +. Robb, real sons of Jersey, join up tC
+ do honor to the State of their nativity OF
! ancestry, depend upon it that the ''sons o
. sires who conquered there are on the job
They are cultvators of the spirit o
i patriotism.
More so. think, than some of the othe
y. State societies in Philadelphia.
d Possibly it is because they are nearer tn
= heart of things that happened a hundreC
Z years ago.
They cross the Delaware and, presto the,
. arc in another State and another age.
. Howard B. French once said to me-ant
. he's Jerscyman by birth, training tradi
. tion and business acumen-''A Jerscymal
). can never dissocatc himself from the soil
VI Once q JersCyman always n Jcrseyman.
" From what I've seen of the breed in
n generation and more of intercourse wit
It them I'm inclined to admit that Howard B