The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1948-02-12
Today We Poy
Tribute To Our
Greatest American
BY Charles D. Rowe

Today this nation pauSeS IN us
mad scramble, beset by some OF the
most stupendous problems it has
ever had to face, to pay tribute
again to the memory of him whom
MANY consider to- have been the
greatest American.
Nothing new can be said regard
ing the beloved Lincoln. Ever since
his tragic death on April IS, 1865
the great of the earth have joined
in paving tribute to this outstanding
man. He is known throughout the
world. Monuments to his memory
stand in the capitals of foreign ma
tions. Foreign writers have devoted
their talents to telling of his great
ness. Such a one, Lord Charnwood
of England, wrote of him as the
greatest man who ever lived who
had a prominent part in popular
government. The world pays tribute
to his greatness. The people of
America recognize fully that great
ness but also love him for his tender
sympathy and his all-encOmpassing
love for his fellowmen.
Everyone knows of Lincoln's low
" birth. of the hardships of his
early youth. He had very little
schooling, less than a year all put
together, yet he was always hungry
for reading matter. By dint of hard
work, studying at night by light
from their rude fireplace, he gained
an elementary knowledge of arlth-
metic and also of grammar. And
yet with that meager background,
he developed into one of the world
great masters of the English Ian
guage. Lincoln never became what
one could term as learned in law,
vet after becoming elected to the
presidency he astounded the wise
and educated men of his day by the
greatness of his intellect. He was
ever ready to take advice, but his
advisers soon found that there was
a point at which he took the reins
into his own hands and compelled
them all to follow his directions
His Gettysburg Address is today
studied as an English classic. His
second inaugural speech is a mar
velous expression of mercy and
Justice One biographer has written:
Should the reader marvel at the
beauty of his language and wonder
where an unschooled man learned
it. the key may be found in the old
Bible that Nancy Hanks taught her
boy to read in that lowly Kentucky
cabin fifty years gone by" The
same writer further says:
THE most brilliant mind in the
nation could not sway Lincoln from
the dictates of common sense. His
integrity could not be shaken; his
sense of justice could not be per-
verted, but he was compassionate
and mercifuL"
Someone has said that Washing
ton was First in war, first in peace,
and first in the hearts of his
countrymen;" but the last phrase
belongs peculiarly to Lincoln. Be
yond doubt Abraham Lincoln is the
most beloved of all Americans.
There are, it may be, sections of the
country in which he is not appre-
ciated fully, but he is beyond con-
troversy the first of Americans.
Washington is respected; Franklin
is commended; jefferson is admir-
ed; but Lincoln is beloved.
This nation-and the world for
that matter-is unquestionably suf-
fering from a certain type of itch"
Newspaper reports of divorce pro
ceedings in a New Jersey court
bring out the statement that drink
ing, even to excess, is a form OF
mental itch, and does not constitute
sufficient grounds for divorce. The
presiding Judge said the law does
not expect perfection in either nus
band or wife, and that if the man
drinks to excess it is only the for
worse" part of the marriage con
tract.
the most widespread diseases of the
day If our memory is not at fault,
there are 100000 alcoholics, both
men and women, in the United
States at present. And their numper
is rapidly increasing, especially
among women. So many have be-
come enslaved to this senseless habit
That an organization grew out OF a
clearly evident need known as