Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 104, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1917 — SELF BEFORE COUNTRY [ARTICLE]

SELF BEFORE COUNTRY

Will R. Wood, the Republican congressman from this, the Tenth Indiana district, who has to all Appearances put self before country and all its people, is being roundly censured by some of the leading Republican papers of the district. In order to add to his store of notoriety MrT Wood recently made a speech before the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and attempted to defend the filibustering senators who brought the last congress to such, a disgraceful and humiliating closq, The Lafayette Journal, published in Mr. Wood’s home city and perhaps the most influential Republican papers in the. district,- and •which has long been a most enthusiastic supporter of the ambitions Mr. Wood, minces no words in characterizing his latest acts as unpatriotic and perilous to the nation. The Journal’s editorial condemning the stand taken by Mr. Wood follows in fullr When a public servant is found to have misinterpreted public sentiment or is discovered to be out of harmony with the desires of his constituents it becomes . necessary, for the best interests of everyone, that attention be called to the incongruity of the situation in order that a readjustment of ideas may take place before the man who has been delegated to represent the people reaches a point where he may bring reflection upon them or curtails his own sphere of usefulness: . It is a matter of keenest regret to, the Journal that its duty to the ■people and <6 the nation in time of peril compels criticism of the utterances of Congressman Will R. Wood in an address which he delivered before the Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

Quite gratuitously Mr. Wood hg.s ’undertaken a defense of the filibustering senators who brought •discredit upon themselves, humiliation nnpQn the country and a large measure of contempt upon the legislative branch of government, by their reprehensible tactics in de- ' feating the resolution empowering the President to arm merchantmen and take other measures of defense in the face of threatened war with the central powers. In his speech Mr. Wood proclaimed these men as patriots, heroes whom" the country should (honor and whose example should nerve as a • guide to others, and predicted that time would come when their patriotism would be voiced with aqclaim. Hfe asserts that “Gum Shoe” Bill Stone, erratic Bob LaFollette, and their fellow obstructionists, deserve the homage' of the nation for having withheld from President Wilson the authority to protect the interests of the nation,. on the ground that he was demanding too much authority. In his zeal he also announced that if the senate had, adopted the resolution that was pending this power would, have been conferred willy nilly. He likewise took occasion to announce that the .-newspapers had misrepresented the facts and were in a large measure responsible for the expressions of outraged sentiment that have been heard from coast to coast and from Canada to the Gulf. '* • 1 The Journal must take issue with Mr. Wood upon these propositions. The original resolution as presented to. the house would have conferred power upon the President that was felt to be unwarranted and the Journal so argued at the time. The house eliminated the objectionable features and the resolution went to'the senate where it was discarded and the original resolution was reported for adoption. iHere it was defeated by £he filibustering tactics of the dirty dozen, who took advantage of a parliamentary rule that should never have been permitted to exist. The Journal does not particularly Criticize “Guns Shoe” Bill, et al, for the opinions they expressed, hut they merit the severest censure for preventing the great majority of £he senators to act in accordance

with their convictions by preventing a vote upon the resolution. But if the resolution had been adopted it would then have been sent back to the house for concurrence, and failing in this it would have been referred to a conference committee where, it is probable an amicable agreement could have been reached. , Bujt the dirty dozen were content with nothing less than.' a complete repudiation of the administration and the honor of the nation. ' ' : Just a word as to the part the newspapers played. In their news columns they correctly reported the proceedings in both the house and .senate, and with a... unanimity I that was marvelous they proceeded to give the dirty dozen an editorial skinning that was Quite in keeping with the provocation. The newspapers expressed the sentiments o: an outraged people, who did not hesitate to burn some of the senators in effigy, some, like Judas Is-, cariot received their thirty pieces of silver, and others received iron crosses as tokens of the contempt of their constituents. And it is these men whom Congressman Wood is attempti®g-Sjto justify. You are pursuing the wrong course, Mr. W ood. The people are right. They have chosen Woodrow Wilson as their 'President and in every legitimate demand in this hour he is entitled to and must have the united support of the men of all parties, all creeds and all nationalities. . ’ .. No man is- performing his full duty who endeavors to sow seeds of discord when perhaps the very existence of the nation, is at stake. If there is to be war there must be no division of support, no questions concerning the loyalty of an> man All for one and one for all must be the watchword. Mr. W llson cannot be accused of rushing heedlesSlv into war, and regardless of what we may think of his policies we have gone so far that there/ is no turning back, and in such an emergency there is but thing to do support him in every possible • It should never be permitted to be said that American loyalty and American honor and American patriotism and American love of flag and home and native land were strangled to death bj r a set of filibustering senators or scourged sniveling into the caves of the hinterland by the menace of an arrogant monarch driven to desPP Let those who are afflicted with house-maid’s knee courtesy and apologize for their own lack of loyalty in a trying hour, but let us have an end of attempt to elevate them upon a pedestal for public adoration. There are too many things of importance to consider tr> iiistifv a white-wash campaign at this time. When any man loves the sound of his own voice more than he loves the sight of the flag he is ready for the political scrap • heap. • v, We have had previous occasion to call attention to the fact that men who are much in Washington are* prone to lose their menta i poise and their judgment becomes warped. The reason for this is that they .are not in sufficiently (close touch with the folks “back home.” They get the idea that Washington is the around Which the universe revolves and relative values are lost sight ot. The people of Indiana are loya,. They do not want war, but far less do they want peace with dishonor and infamy. They will be found united in support of the President in this emergent - .', re gardless of any heritage of ancestry, or political affiliation and we trust that Congressman Wood will not overlook this fact when he returns to Washington. It is ot vital importance.