The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-03-04
FROM RIDICULE TO PRAISE.


In the days before The world war the
people OF all nations were trying tc
find way to get together in a great
brotherhood of nations, the object be.
ing to make war practically impossi.
BILE.
Responsive to the call of humanity
for permanent peace, William ]. Bry'
an, American secretary of state
evolved plan to bring the nations to-
gether in sucn brotherhood. By the
strength of his great personality he
actually induced more than thirty ma.
tons to enter into trecties, under the
terms CT which no nation could go tc
war with another nation until one full
year should elapse af3er dispute
should have been submitted to other
friendly nations for arbitration.
Then came the war. Bryan dropped
his peace treaty talk, and declared that
the first duty of every American
should be to help win tie war, After
the war the demand for severe peace
terms with Germany was SO strong
that the gentle peGee terms which Mr.
Bryan has proposed were ridiculed,
! But now-t.ow changed the drift OF
opion! The despiced and rejected
peace plans proposed by Bryan are
again receiving attention, and it may
be that the world will yet solve the
problems of the world war in harmony
with the peace views Of Mr.. Bryan, and
ti:Gt the plan of are diplomats across
the sea to tie the American eagle to
the tail Of tie European kite may be
displaced by the common sense and hu-
manitarian peace plans proposed by
Bryan. .
7 Recently there appeared in the
Houston (Texas) Chronicle the follow
ing remarkable view Of the life anc
peace efforts of Mr.. Bryan, clearly in.
iicating that President Harding may
yet espouse the Bryan peace policies
The Chronicle article reads as follows
"What an anomaly William Jen
nings Bryan has become in American
politics, what unique figure. WhC
has been so often or so repeatedly re
jected from a partisan standpoint
Who has found it so difficult to gair
pffice by election? Yet WHO has more
distinctly stamped his personality OF
the drifts of events?
at las been said of several Ameri
cans that they were too great for TIN
presidency. 1t may be too early fol
that to be said of Bryan yet it woulC
not be surprising to find him rankec
with Webster, Calhoun and Clay, il
this particular, at some future day
Since his appearance on the nationa
stage in 1896 he has fathered man.
reforms. Most of them have found
more or less definite expression in on
political views.
Scarcely one but what was receiv
ed with smiles, if not ridicule, at tn
outset, yet how many of the Bryal
Suggestions are we not following on
right now?
"Under such circumstances, is i
surprising that he should be called in
to consultation by the Republican
President-elect, especially on a matte
he is so earnestly interested in, ant
on which he is so well qualified t.
speak, as world peace.
allow we'll many remember his ar
bitration treaties when they were frs
announced. What a makeshift the!
seemed. But we were all tense ant
rigid then, preferring inflexible things
because of the influence of grea
tragedy in the making.
"As the war developed, we grew
more tense and rigid, more in favor o:
iron-bound methods, more amendablt
to arbitrary, unbending supervision
Emerging from the gigantic struggle
we looked with enthusiasm on thu
hard and brittle covenant presented
for our consideration. We wanted on
ly a peace pact, but such pact as NJ
nation could possibly overstep.