The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-03-31
Howe About:
Majority Rule Best
Clash Over Windows
Patriotism and Politics
BY ED HOWE

a NYONE who reads good deal
must have noted that the worlds
progress seems to have been a success
sion of great outrages, not one of
which need have occurred had the peO-
pie exercised their just right to ma
Jority rule. A handful of men were
responsible for every great outrage in
history; the prompt hanging of few
would have prevented the rivers of
blood, the great famines and suffering,
of which we hear so much.
l sincerely believe in majority rule
II a President orders us to take part
In foreign war a majority of us do
not believe in, it is our right to shake
our fists under his nose and tell him
we will not do it.
Once when travelling visited place
where was exhibited millions of bones
of children. Inquiry revealed that the
bones were of children who had en-
gagged in a caildren's crusade to res
cue the holy sepulchre from infidels.
Some foolish man recommended the
crusade, and foolish parents responded,
instead of hanging the man who made
the recommendation. 1t was one of the
great horrors of history, and recpllec-
ton of it has remained in my mind
ever since.
was reminded of it recently by
seeing a recommendation of radicals
that parents send their children this
winter to march on Washington, and
starve and suffer on the way, that
something may be kept going on to ad-
vance the cause of human folly.
My favorite motion" is that hus-
bands and wives always clash over
keeping windows up or down, and that
it is the women who demand more
fresh air than the men want. / heard
two old people fussing about the sub
ject lately, and the husband had
moved to another part of the house,
where he could arrange the windows
to suit him. They didn't say much
about the controversy in my presence,
but acted as Though good deal had
been said about it in private On go
ing out met another old fellow, and
told him about the incident, which
thought amusing. "My wife and have
had trouble about the same thing forty
years." he said. The natural habits of
men and women do not suit each 9th
er, and no one is to blame. The only
remedy is for them to be as patient as
they can. And If one does more than
is fair and reasonable in exercising
patience, there will be trouble; both
men and women are very "touchy"
about their rights.
There is lately appearing in print
q summary of the pension scandal fol-
lowing the Civil war. At first the
Grand Army of the Republic had only
a total membership of twenty-seven
thousand, but, as the pension bait was
displayed by greedy agents, the num-
Der increased to 45S,000. A man named
George E. Lemon established the Ma
tional Tribune to glorify the old SOL
der, and he once admitted to house
investigating committee that he then
had in his office 125,000 claims for pen
sions on which he hoped to collect a
commission of $25 each. Thousands
of these clients were bounty jumpers;
there were many thousands Of these In
the war, and many of them were paid
$500 each for enlisting when more
timid men were drafted. Many of
them were deserters-there were 1885,
600 deserters during the Civil war
who sold their services over and over.
The politicians entered greedily into
the movement as a means of securing
Grand Army votes and soon 1t was
common saying the pension scandal
was so rotten no editor or public man
dared expose it.
The subject is of special interest
now that veterans of the World war
are beginning the same thing. And
the fact that there are millions more
of them renders the subject vastly
more serious. Thousands of the more
intelligent World war veterans them
selves recognize this, and are openly
opposing the scandal. hope their
influence will prevail; the people
themselves are helpless in the presence
of patriotism and politics.
There never was universal love;
there never will be; it is doubtful IL
such a state would be desirable.
Men hustling to do better than
competitors they hate have done
much more for the world than the
great souls who dream of universal
love.
It is possible to reduce ones phi
losophy of life to three words: Be
gentleman. Provocation is so fire.
uuently offered by the rude that a
gentleman is occasionally required to
fight; he must strike no foul blows.
Stephen Leacock, noted man.
writes: Mark Twain had little school
and no college. He thus acquired that
peculiar sharpness of mind which
1900, froy,o not ooiuO IN school and