Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1917 — GEORGE WASHINGTON'S TROUBLES1 [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S TROUBLES 1

The father of our country has told in personal letters what heavy burdens he had to carry during ... the war for independence

4Z-- - ~v~s ECAUSE George Washington be- ' Ileved “sincerely In the inborn inalienable right of men born on this I soi1 ’ or tn,l,sferr( * f Y to B. •spiritually ly as well as physically, to the S' > fruits of freedom and independX I ' ence; because he believed that this > fC nation was to be held by them £ jv * free of all oppression, whether in /(4[) the form of unjust taxation or any other infringement of the interests, welfare and principles of the inhabitants, he receives today the homage of the millions who enjoy the heritage of the free America for which he fought and which he helped establish. This, according ttf an article in the New York Herald, which goes on to say:

In this he was at one with other great men bred in the new, free spirit, and atmosphere of the colonies. He did not seek to set himself over them, but to work with them, contributing as his part in the struggle his military genius and experience and his carefully trained executive ability. His ideal was the common good. For that he gave his time and strength unstintedly, risked his all and withdrew only when government was so well established that it would not suffer from his retirement. Throughout his career the one reward he sought was that he might partake, “in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart.” Washington, although possessing wealth and position. although observant of forms apd ceremonies, was in the best sense a democrat, a man who sought the same privileges and opportunities for everyone of his fellow citizens which he enjoyed and who devoted his gifts and energies to that end. That they might have them he not only expended freely his energies of mind and body, but he constantly exhorted his fellow countrymen to prepare themselves for the high destiny that he foresaw for this country, first, by" raising iFhd equi ppi ng an adequate’army, a task that frequently hung leaden on his hands, and, second, by properly safeguarding their rights after they had been won. George Washington received less education —in school —than most lads of poor parentage do today. He left school before he was sixteen years old, ami except in mathematics, in which he had advanced through geometry and trigonometry, his edu£ation_ did not extend beyond that which boys usually get tn the grammar grades of the public schools. What he studied he knew, however, as his carefully kept notebooks attest. He manifested a special aptitude for surveying and for military affairs. This taste led to his having a royal middy’s warrant, obtained for him when he was fourteen years old, and only because of his mother’s reluctance to have him go to England he was spared to fight Tor the colonies instead of becoming an officer in his majesty’s service.- ..,— He had been out of school only a few months when he got his first job—as a surveyoiv_lt_was a good one, too. for Ixtrd-Fairfax; having noted the lad’s mental equipment and his intrepidity, gave ■ htm a commission to survey his wild acres in theShenandoah valley. So well did Washington accomplish the arduous ItWk that he was made a I>OTF He surveyor. Almost coincident with his entrance upon a private career younjg Washington identified himself with public interests. Fond of athletics and sports as well as of military affairs, he joined the local militia and when nineteen years old was -made a ma jor. When he was still in his twenties he won his first colonelcy in his gallant but disastrous first campaign against the French. It was there that he first tasted the bitter'fruits of unpreparedness. When Washington went to Philadelphia as a member of the Second Continental congress he wore his provincial uniform, an instructive expression of his feeling in regard to the crisis that was to come —in Its way a fulfillment of prophecy—for during the session he was put at the head of the irregular army near Boston. He found that army not only without discipline and equipment, but without powder. Men who had enlisted only for a few months ran away.- Washington ardently appealed to the Continental and Provincial gresses to provide for longer enlistments and an adequate system of recruitment. Conservative and aristocrat as he was classed. Washington now favored the radicals, who-sougbt to break with the home government and set up their own. “I have never entertained the idea of an accommodation,” he said, “since I heard of the measures which were adopted in <“onse<iuence of the Bunker Hill fight.” ■ — His stanch attitude was mai nt alned in the midst of disheartening experiences, not only with the enemy In the field, but with troublemakers in his own camp. “I know the unhappy predicament in which I stand,” lie wrote ; “I know that much is expected of me; I know that, without men, without arms,Without ammunition, without anything fit for the accommodation of a soldier, little is to be done; tind, what is mortifying, I know that I cannot stand justified tp the world without exposing my own weakness and injuring the cause by decTwrfngWyWanfs. Mv situation has been such that I have had to use art to conceal it even from my officers.” ' Jealousies hampered hlm&o sorely that he sternly proclaimed: “The general most earnestly entreats the officers and soldiers to consider consequences; that we can no way assist our enemies more than by making divisions among ourselves; that the honor and success of.the army and the safety of our bleeding country depend upon harmony and good agreement with each other; that the provinces are all united to oppose the common enemy and all distinctions jn the name of,

America. To uiuae this name, honorable and to preserve the liberty of our country ought to tab -our only emulation, and he will be the best soldier and tin best patriot who contributes. iHQSt to tbis glorious work , wliat ever his station or froth whatever part of the country he may come. Let all distinction of nations, countries and provinces thereof be lost in the generous contest who shall behave with

the most courage toward the enemy and the most kindness and good liumor ta each-other. “fi'l-iny be so lost to virtue and love of country as to continue in such practice after this order they will be severely punished and discharged from the service in disgrace.” After the disastrous battle of Long Island Wash- , Tngfon“once mor etook the liberty, of mentioning to congress that no dependence could be put in militia or other troops than those enlisted and embodied for a longer period than our regulations have heretofore prescribed. “Our liberties must of necessity be greatly hazarded, if not entirely lost, if their defense is left to any but a permanent standing army. I? mean one to exist during war. Men who have been free and subjected to no cbfitfol'cannot be reduced to order in an instant. . . 7"" “There is no situation on earth less enviable or more distressing.” continues Washington, “than that person who is at the head of troops regardless of order and discipline and unprovided with almost every necessity. The difficulties that have surkept my mind Constantly upon the stretch; the wounds which my feelings as an officer have received by a thousand things that hate happened contrary to my expectations and wishes; the effect of my own conduct and present appearance of things sb little pleasing to myself as to render it a matter of no surprise to me if I stand capitally censured by congress ... Induce a thorough conviction in my mind that it will qe impossible, unless there is a thorough change in dur military system, fbr me to conduct-matters -t» give satisfaction to the public, which is all the recompense I aim at or everwish for.” - ■ ' ' ' Tills 1 unhappy state of ffungsw-as almosf~whoTiy~ due to the feeling manifested in several sections of the country, persisted in to the hampering of Washington’s campaign and to the detriment of the cause. Congress was finally prevailed upon by Washington's representations and the tardily dawning consciousness that war was enevitable and that, being so. unpreparedness jnea_nt_calainity. On December 20. 1776, he wrote to the president of congress: “Short enlistments and a mistaken dependence upon our militia have been the origin of all our misfortune and the great acchmulation of our debt. ... I beg leave to give it as my humble opinion that eighty-eight battalions are by no means equal to the opposition you are to make, and that not a moment’s time is to be lost in raising a greater .number, not less, in my opinion and that of my officers, than one hundred and ten. . . . In my judgment this is not a time to stand upon expense; our funds are not the only object of consideration. . . . It may be thought that I am going a good deal out of my line of duty to advise thus freely. A character to lose, an estate to fort ell, the inestimable blessings of liberty at stake and a life devoted must be my excuse.” Far from holding himself aloof and wanting to keep all power in his own hands, Washington welcomed co-operation. After ho had l>een invested with powers necessif ated by tfie emergoncy of public affalrs, the Council of Safety of New York apologized for certain measures they had taken In regard to New York troops which were later discovered to have beenTUCinfringment of his authority. Washington replied: “I should be unhappy in the ‘belief that any part of my letter to you could be construed into the slightest hint that you wish to > interfere in the military line. Heaven knows that I greatly want the aid of every good man, and that there are not such enviable pleasures attending my situation as to make me too jealous of its prerogatives. Rather than complain of your efforts in the 'military way, you deserve the thanks of us all, and I feel myself happy in this opportunity of returning you mine in the greatest truth and sincerity.” At Valley Forge, where Washington’s troops wore almost najeed, had few blankets and scanty food, he was moved to resentment against “the gentlemen, without knowing whether the army was.really going into winter quarters or not, reprobating the measure as much as if they thought the soldiers were made of stocks end stones and equally insensible of frost and snow, and, moreover, as if they conceived it easily practicable for an inferior army under the disadvantages I haye described . ourk to be to confine a superior one. ln all respects Well appointed, Within the city of Philadelphia and to cover front waste the states of .Pennsylvania and New Jersey. ... I can as-

sure these gentlemen that It is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw up remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold, bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets. However, although they seem to have little feeling for the aad= distressed soldiersrv-t -feel superabundantly for them, and from my soul I pity those miseries which it is neither in iny power to relieve norprevenL’*- .. ——- Washington made persistent efforts to get a guaranty of half pay for his officers after the war, himself having no personal interest in the measure; he had declared’from the first that he would never profit by It to the amount of a single penny. He deprecated constantly the jealousy of the military part of the government by the civil department. “If we would pursue a right system of policy," he wrote tQ a member of congress, “in my opinion, there would be none of these distinctions. We should all, congress and army, be considered as one people, embarked in one cause, in one interest, -aeting-onthe same principleand -te-the-same end,” . “That I have not been able to make bows to the taste of poor Colonel B. (who, by the way, I believe never saw one of them) is to be regretted,” he wrote In a. letter to David Stuart, “especially as upon these occasions they were indiscriminately bestowed, and the best I was master-of. Would it not have been better to throw the veil of charity over them, ascribing their stiffness to the effects of age or to the unskillfulness of my teacher rather than to pride and dignity of office, which, God “.howsTTffisriicFcharins for me? For I certainly say I had rather be at Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me than to be attended at the seat of government by the officers of state and the representatives of every power in Europe.” Washington explained that hehad reception hours every Tuesday from three to four o clock, when gentlemen came anti went, chatted with eal’li other and acted as they pleased. “At their first entrance they salute me, and I them and talk with as many as I can. What pomp there is in all this I am unable to discover. Perhaps it consists in not sitting. To this two reasons are offered: It is unusual; a more substantial one, I have no room large enough to contain a third of the chairs which would -be sufficient to admit it. If it is supposed that ostentation or the fashion of courts could give rise to this custom I will boldly affirm that no supposition was ever more erroneous, for if I were to’give indulgence to my inclinations every moment that I could withdraw from the fatigue of my station would be spent in retirement. That it is not proceeds from the sense I entertain of the propriety of giving to everyone as free access as consists with that respect which is due to the chair of government, and that respect I conceive is neither to be preserved bttt by observing a just medium between much state and too great familiarity.” In 1793 Washington, In his second term as president, wrote to congress that while he sought peace rfnd wged a faithful discharge of every duty toward others, he recommended prompt measures not’only for defense, but for inforcing just claims. “There-is a rank due the, United .States among other nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, ohe of the most powerful Instruments our prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times, ready for war,” he wrote. As he wished to avoid war, so he also wishes to avoid alliances which might jeopardize th/ peace of the nation. / “Against the insidious wiles of foreUjnj4nftuence the jealousy of a free people ought to beconstantly awake,” he said warnlngly. , ‘•The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our .commercial relations to have as little political connection as possible. ... “If we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may deny material injury from external annoyance; when we may take,such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we mayrat any time Ire resolved upon to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerents, un-der-the impossibility of tanking neqdisitidhs uponus, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace of war, as our interests, guided by justice; shall counsel.”