Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1922-08-25

There has never been a period
er, saner and more Intelligent
leadership was prime necessit.
than it is at present. Totally un-
prepared in every way to enter a
war on such stupendous a scale,
American idealism and American.
practical sense were fully ade-
Quate to meet the abnormal situa
tion; but the termination of the
war found the country still func-
tioning .abnormally. To accom-
plish successfully the return to
normal, pre-war conditions has
been, is, and will be the chiel
thought of the leaders and the
people. Economic conditions re-
quire readjustment, important
matters of trade must be regu-
lated, vital questions of finance
fact, the whole country must set
tie down to production, manufac-
ture, distribution of merchandise
and the transaction of the ma
tion's regular business.
These matters alone should be
sufficient to occupy the entire at
tention of the people, but unfortu-
nately, there exists in the United
States series of group antagon-
isms that bode no good for tbs
future peace and prosperity of the
country, The fact that there are
q number of discordant groups Ill
America is the basic reason why
the Ku Klux propaganda has beer
SO successful. 3he further FAC,
that the country requires all o.
its best thought to the readjust'
ment of its vital interests makes il
all the more dastardly to. stir uE
domestic dissension in the United
States at this time of all others
These group antagonisms are u
such Importance to the country
that until they become reconciled
and subordinated to the common
public interest there will never
be, on this side of the Atlanti,
ocean, a cohesive, homogeneous
nation such as is the British En-
pire. The development of ma
tional unity for the United States.
which really began at the termi
nation of the Civil war, is yet IL
its infancy stage. Outwardly the
nation is, to all intents and pur
poses, great power, rich, inventiv>
and capable Of meeting the most
terrific forces that might be ar
rayed against it; inwardly, it is a
collection of discordant elements, |
many of which assume the prer0g
ative of debating to the others.
If the United States ever goes to
pieces, the cause of its disintegra
tion will not be due to foreign ag-l
gression but will result from in
ternal strife.
The tendency of unwarranted
aictation of one group to another
has produced in recent years the
voluntary "uplifter," who gem
orally for personal gain, has, with
his followers, presumed to take
charge of the personal habits, the
morals and the liberties of the
under the alleged plea
Of elevating the community. This
Is one of the phases of the Ku
Klux movement, nich, surrepti-
tiously, would attempt to pry into
the affairs of the people of COM
and assume to itself the
of regulating their
private matters. 1t is, however,
but natural outcome Of a gen
eral condition. l believe, how
over, as generai thing:
The American neople are fed
up" on the "upliftl"
1t would be a great blessing i'll
s9 per cent of all the associations
and societies of the uplifting"
character were completely wiped
put of existence, and the public ]
be permitted to try the wholesome .
OF attending to its
own business without the assist
ance of meddlesome individuals I
whose sole means of livelihood {,
consist in professional "uplift
ing"
Another situation in America
hat may be classified as a group
Antagonism is the race question
which must be settled by practical
,ommon-sense methods founded
oasically upon the elementary
principles Of justice. For fifty
years the American negro has
been the football of party politics
and as a result both the negrt
Ahd the country at large hav,
'een sufferers When the negr, J