The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922, February 16, 1917, Image 2
THE SEMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. GEORGE fiiowno TROVBLD The father of our country as wia in personal letters what heavy burdens he had to carry during the war for independence U -irx. KCAUSti Ocorgo Washington be lieved sincerely In the Inborn In alienable right of men born on UiIb soli, or transferred lo It, spiritual ly ns well ns physically, to the fruits of freedom nnd Independ ence! ; because lie believed Mint Mils nntlon was to bo held by them freo of nil oppression, whether In the form of unjust tnxntlon or nny other Infringement of the Interests, welfnro nnd principles of the inhabitants, ho re ceives today tho homngo of the millions who enjoy the heritage of tho freo America for which ho fought and which ho helped establish. This, accord ing to an artlclo lu tho New York Herald, which goes on to say: In this ho was at ono with other grent men bred In tho now, freo spirit nnd atmosphere of tho colonics. Ho did not seek to set himself over them, but to work with them, contributing as his part In tho strugglo his military genius nnd experiencp nnd his carefully trained executive ability. His Ideal was the common good. For Mint ho gnvo his tlmo and strength unstintedly, risked his nil nnd withdrew only when government wus so well es tablished that It would not suffer from his retire ment. Throughout his career tho one rowitrd ho sought was Mint ho might partnkc, "In tho midst of my follow citizens, tho benign Influenco of good laws under a freo government, tho over favorite object of my heart." Washington, although possessing wealth and po sition, nlthough observant of forms und ceremonies, was I u tho best sense n democrat, a man who sought tho samo privileges nnd opportunities for evcrynno of his fellow citizens which he enjoyed nnd who devoted 1Mb gifts nnd energies to that end. That they might have thorn ho not only expended freely his energies of mind nnd body, but ho con stantly exhorted his fellow countrymen to prepare themselves for tho high destiny Mint ho foresaw for this country, first, by raising nnd equipping nn nde quato nrmy, n task that frequently hung leaden on Ids hands, nnd, second, by properly safeguarding their rights nftcr they had been won. George Washington received less education In school than most lads of poor parentage do today. Ho left school before ho was sixteen years old, nnd oxcept In mathematics, In which ho had advanced through geomotry nnd trlgonomotry, his education did not extend beyond Mint which boys usually get In tho grammar grades of tho public schools. What ho studied ha know, howover, as his carefully kept notebooks nttest. Ho manifested n special aptitude for survoylng nnd for mllltnry nffalrs. This tasto lod to his having n royal middy's warrant, ob tained for him when ho was fourteen years old, nnd only becauso of his mother's reluctnnco to hnvo him go to England ho wns spared to light for tho colonics Instead of becoming nn ofllccr In his majesty's service. lTo had been out of school only n few months when ho got his first job ns n surveyor. It was, n good ono, too, for Lord Fairfax, having noted tho lnd's mental equipment nnd his Intrepidity, gave him a commission to survoy his wild ncrc3 In tho Shenandoah valley. So well did Washington ac complish tho arduous tnsk Mint ho was mndo a pub lic surveyor. Almost coincident with his entrnnco upon n prlvirto career young Washington Identified himself with public Interests. Fond of athletics nnd sports as woll ns of military nffalrs, ho Joined tho locnl militia und when nineteen years old wnB mndo n major. When ho wns still In his twenties ho won his first colonelcy In his gallant but disastrous first cam paign against tho French. It was Micro that ho first tasted tho bitter fruits of unproparcdness. When Washington went to Philadelphia ub n member of tho Second Continental congress he woro his provincial uniform, nn Instructive expres sion of his feeling In regard to tho crisis Mint was ito come In Its way a fulfillment of prophecy for during tho session ho wus put at tho head of tho Irregular nrmy nenr Boston. Ho found Mint nirmy not only without discipline and equipment, liut without powder. Mon who had enlisted only for a few months ran away. Washington ardently iippcnlcd to tho Continental nnd Provincial con "grosses to provide for longer enlistments and nn udequnto system of rocrultment. Consorvntlvo und nrlstocrnt ns ho wns clnsscd, Washington now favored tho rndlcnls, who sought to break with tho homo government nnd sot up their own. "I hnvo never entertained tho Iden of nn accommodation," ho said, "alnco I heard of tho measures which were adopted In consequenco of tho Bunkpr Hill fight." Ills stanch attitude wns maintained In tho midst of disheartening experiences, not only with the enemy In tho field, but w.lth troublemakers In his own camp. "I know tho unhuppy predicament in which I stand," ho wroto 5 "I know that much Is ex pected of mo; I know that, without men, without CANTRILL, PLAIN FARMER nrms, without ammunition, without anything lit for tho accommodation of a soldier, little Is to bo dons; and, what Is mortifying, I know Mint I can not stand Justified to tho world without exposing my own weakness nnd Injuring tho cause by de claring my wants. My situation has been such that I hnvo had to uso art to conceal it oven from my ofllccrs." Jealousies hampered him so sorely that ho stern ly procluimed: "Tho general most earnestly en treat tho ofllccrs and soldiers to coiiHldor conse quences; that wo can no wny nsslst our enemies more Mum by making divisions among ourselves; that Mio honor und success of tho nrmy nnd the bafcty of our blooding country depend upon liar many nnd good ngreement with each other; that tho provinces tiro nil united t6 opposo tho com mon enemy and all distinctions in tho namo of America. To ujuku this nniia honorable nnd to preserve the liberty of our country ought to bo our only emulation, nnd he will bo tho best soldier and thf best pntrlot who contribute! most to this glorious work, what over his station or from what ever part of tho country ho may come. Let nil distinction of na tions, countries and provinces thereof bo lost In tho generous contest who shall bchavo with tho most courugo toward tho enemy nnd tho most kindness nnd good humor to each oMicr. "If nny bo so lost to virtue nnd lovo of country as to continue In such prnctlco nftcr this order they will be severely punished and discharged from tho service In disgrace." After the disastrous bnttlo of Long Island Well ington "once more took tho liberty of mentioning to congress that no dependence could bo put In mllltin or other troops Minn thoso enlisted nnd embodied for a longer period than our regulations have heretofore prescribed. "Our liberties must of necessity bo greatly haz arded, If not entirely lost, If their defenso Is left to uny but n pcrmnnent standing nrmy. I menu ono to cxlBt during war. Men who have been free and subjected to no control cunnot bo reduced to order In an Instant. . . . "Thcro Is no situation on earth less enviable or more distressing," continues Washington, "than that person who Is nt tho hend of troops regardless of order nnd dlscipllno and unprovided with almost ovcry necessity. Tho dlfilcultles that hnvo sur rounded mo since I hnvo been In tho service have kept ray mind constantly upon the stretch; the wounds which my feelings ns nn ofllccr havo re ceived by n thousand things Mint hnvo happened contrary to my expectations nnd wishes; tho ef fect of my own conduct nnd present nppenranco of things so little pleasing to myself ns to render It a matter of no surprlso to mo If I stnnd cnpltnlly cen sured by congress , . . Induce n thorough con viction In my mind Mint it will be Impossible, unless Micro Is n thorough change In our military system, for mo to conduct rantters to glvo satisfaction to tho public, which Is all tho recompense I aim nt or ovor wish for." This unhappy stato of things was almost wholly duo to tho feeling manifested In scvernl sections of the country, persisted In to tho hampering of Washington's campaign nnd to the detriment of tho cause. Congress wns llnnlly provnlled upon by Washington's representations nnd tho tardily dawning consciousness Mint war wns enovitnble und that, being so, unproparcdness meant calamity. On December 20, 1770, ho wroto to tho president of congress: "Short enlistments nnd n mistaken de pendence upon our mllltin hnvo been the origin of all our misfortune nnd tho great accumulation of our debt. ... I beg leavo to glvo It ns my humble opinion Mint clghty-clght battalions nro by no means equal to the opposition you nro to mnko, nnd that not a moment's tlmo Is to bo lost In rais ing n greater number, not less, in my opinion nnd that of my ofllccrs, than ono hundred nnd ten. ... In my judgment Mils Is not n tlmo to stnnd upon oxponso; pur funds nro not tho only object of consideration. ... It muy bo thought Mint I mn going a good deal out of my lino of duty to udvlso thus frooly. A character to lose, an estate to fortcll, tho Inestlmnblo blessings of liberty nt stake and n life devoted must bo my excuse." Fur from holding himself nloof nnd wanting to keep nil power In his own hnnds, Washington wel comed co-operntlon. After ho hnd been Invested with tho dictatorial powers necessitated by tho emergency of public nf fulrs, tho Council of Safety of Now York1 apolo gized for certain mensures they had taken In re gard to Now York troops which wero Inter discov ered to havo been nn Infrlngment of his nuMiorlty. Washington replied: "I should bo unhnppy In tho belief Mint nny part of my Icttor to you could be construed Into tho slightest hint that you wish to tnterfcro In tho mllltnry line. Heaven knows that I greatly want tho nld of every good man, nnd that thero uro not such cnvlnblo pleasures attending my situation us to make mo too Jenlous of Its preroga tives. Rather than complain of your efforts In tho military way, you deserve the thanks of us nil, and I feel myself happy In Hits opportunity of return ing you mlno In the greatest truth and sincerity." At Vnlley Forgo, where Washington's troops wero almost naked, had few blankets nnd scanty food, ho was moved to resentment ngnlnst "tho gentle men, without knowing whether tho nrmy wns real ly going Into winter quartern or not, roprobntlng tho measure afe much ns If they thought tlo sol diers wero made of slocks it ml stones und equally Insensible of frost and snow, und, moreover, ns If they conceived It easily practlcablo for nn Inferior army under tho disadvantages I havo described ours to bo to coutine a superior one, In nil respecte well appointed, within tho Lty of Philadelphia and to cover from depredation und waste tho states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. ... I can us- "I'm no lawyer, nnd I'm no orntor. I'm Just a plain farmer from Ken tucky, but here's what I think." In this wlso Jnmcs Campbell Cant rlll, congrcssmnn from the Seventh district of Kentucky, began a speech Mint produced one of the most sen sational climaxes that have been staged In congress for a long time. Congressman Cantrlll, long, lean, nnd lanky, Is n Democratic member of the rules committee of the house. But, unlike tho other Democrntlc members of that body, ho did not vote for tho mnjorlty report recommending that tho "leuk" on tho president's note bo Indefinitely put out of the way. What ho said was sufficient to dis rupt the Democratic majority com pletely nnd to stampede Mie entlro house Into -overthrowing tho majority report of tho committee. It s truo that Mr. Cantrlll Is no lawyer, but he was brought up In the atmosphere of the law. His father, James E. Cantrlll, was the judge who sat In tho trial of Caleb Powers. Most of his forefathers were lawyers. Ho halls from tho richest blue-grass section of Kentucky, and Is a real farmer. Ten years ago ho was one of tho chief orgunlzers of the tobacco growers of his state, and figured prominently In tho exploits of the so-called "night riders." v Fnrmer Cantrlll has a mind quick to grasp the cssentlnls of any situation and a logic, however roughly spoken, that Is usually Invincible. He is n fighter through nnd through, nnd doesn't know the first sensnr tlon of fear. He showed Mint when ho defied the leaders of his party nnd forced them to accept his views. WISCONSIN'S PRIZE GIRL sure these genti-.men Mint It Is n much easier and less distressing thing to draw up remonstrances In n comfortable room by a good fireside Minn to oc cupy a cold, bleak hill npd sleep under frost nnd snow without clothes or blankets. However, al though they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel supera bundantly for them, nnd from my soul I pity those miseries which it Is neither In my power to relieve nor prevent." Wnshlncton made nerslstcnt efforts to get n guaranty of half pay for his ofllpers after tho war, himself having no personal Interest In the meas ure; ho had declared from tho first that ho would never profit by It to tho amount of n single penny. Ho deprecated constnntly tho Jenlousy of tho mlll tnry pnrt of tho government by the civil depart ment. "If wo would pursuo a right system of policy," ho wroto to n member of congress, "In my opinion, thero would be none of these distinctions. We should nil, congress and army, bo considered ns one people, embnrked In ono cause, In ono Interest, nctlng on tho snme prlnclplo nnd to the same end." "That I have not been nblo to make bows to the tusto of poor Colonel B. (wlio, by tho wny, I bellevo never saw ono of them) Is to bo regretted," he wroto In u letter to David Stuart, "especially us upon these occasions they wero lndlscrlmlnntely be- stowed, nnd tho best I wns muster or. womu h not hnvo been better to throw tho veil of charity over them, ascribing their stiffness to tho effects of ngo or to tho unsklllfulncss of my teacher rather than to prldo nnd dignity of ofllco, which, God knows, has no charms for mo? For I certainly suy I hnd rather bo nt Mount Vernon with a friend or two about mo than to bo attended at tho seat of government by the ofllccrs of stntc and the rep resentntlves of every power In Europe." Wnshlngton explained Mint ho hnd reception hours ovcry Tuesday from threo to four o'clock, when gentlemen came and went, chatted with each other and acted ns they pleased. "At their first entrnnco thoy snluto me, and I them nnd tnlk with as many ns I can. What pomp there Is In nil this I nm unnblo to discover. Per haps It consists In not sitting. To this two rensons aro offered : It Is unusual ; a moro substantial ono, I havo no room lnrgo enough to contnln n third of tho chnlrs which would be sufllclent to admit It. If It Is supposed that ostcntntlon or tho fnshlon of courts could give rise to this custom I will boldly nfllrm Mint no supposition wns ever more erroneouc, for if I wero to glvo Indulgence to my Inclinations every moment Mint I could withdraw from tho fa Mguo of my station would bo spent In retirement. That It Is not procecdssfroni tho senso I entertnln of tho propriety of giving to everyone as free ac cess ns consists with that respect which Is duo to tho chair of government, nnd that respect I conceive Is neither to bo ncqulred nor preserved but by observing n Just medium between much state, and too grent famlllnrlty." In 1703 Washington. In his second term, us presl dent, wroto to congress that while ho sought peace and urged n fnlthful dlschnrgo of every duty to ward others, ho recommended prompt measures not only for defense, but for lnforclng Just claims. "Thero Is a rank duo tho United States among other nations which will bo withheld, If not abso lutely lost, by tho reputntlon of wenkness. If wo desire to nvold Insult wo must bo nblo to repel It; If wo deslro to secure pence, ono of tho most pow erful Instruments of our prosperity. It must be known that wo are nt nil times ready for war," ho wroto. ' As ho wished to avoid war, so ho also wishes to nvold alliances which might Jeopardize tho peace of tho nntlon. "Against tho Insidious wiles of foreign Influenco tho Jealousy of n freo people ought to bo constantly awake," he said warnlngly. "The grent rulo of conduct for us In regard to foreign nations Is In extending our commercial re lations to hnvo ns little political connection ns possible. . . . "If wo remain one pcoplo under nn efllclent gov ernment, tho period Is not fur off when wo may deny material Injury from externnl nnnoynnco; when wo mny take such an attltudo as will cause tho neutrality wo may at any tlmo bo resolved upon to bo scrupulously respected ; when belligerents, un der the Impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hnznrd tho giving us provocu tlon ; when wo mny chooso penco or war, ns our In terests, guided by Justice, shnll counsel " Wisconsin, ono of tho most pro gressive of 'the states, has come for ward tho last few years with more new ldeus regarding government nnd agriculture than nlmost nny other stntc. To bo a prize winner In nny of these lines In Wisconsin you have to get up In tho morning nnd keep going nil day. The champion fnrmer girl of the stnte, so adjudged nt the stnte fair, Is Miss Helen M. Hatch of Lake Geneva, and tho list of her accomplishments sounds like the list of accomplish ments of that most desirable of mor tals, a good housewife. These are some of tho things she had to do to win tho championship: She had to mnko her own enp and npron; sho hnd to name 20 different kinds of cloth ; sho had to put up one can of carrots nnd one can of peaches ; she had to bake a lonf of bread; she had to make a tin of baking-powder biscuit, the sort you used to eat at teatlme with honey when you went visit ing with your mother. She had to prove she can darn und patch. She had to make garments for herself out of whole cloth nnd make them well. Miss Hatch also won tho prize as "Miss Agriculture" In the big parade at the fair, In which she wore a costume of alfalfa, trimmed with goldcnrod. MAN WITH PERFECT BRAIN Thomas J. Abernethy, now half through his senior year at Harvard, has learned that he Is mcntnlly per fect. The expert who tested his mental ity nnd gnve him 100 per cent wns no less an nuMiorlty Minn the Into Prof. Hugo Munsterberg, who made the test last spring nnd unnounced the result only a few dnys before his deuth. It surprised Thomns J. Abernethy, '17, who wa3 adjudged perfect, as much as It surprised anyone. Tho col lege records shpw that ho has been only nn nvcrnge student. Ho says himself, "I have just about broken even on grades." If Abernethy has not taken ad vantage of his natural endowments In college, ho will stnrt on tho more serious phase of life awaro of his ex traordinary mentnl equipment, or aware at least that his mentality was lnhoiod Al" hv one of tho world's greatest psychologists. Abernethy specialized In romance languages, having hnd the Idea originally tliat lie nilglit go into Dusmess in aoum Auieritu. aa now plnnB to enter the canning business with his father In his home town, West Pembroke, Me. "5""' jPM LYAUTEY, MILITARY GENIUS The now French minister of wnr is described by Stephen jLnusnnne, formerly editor of Lo Matin, Paris, as follows : "As for General Lyuutey, the now minister of wnr, In nil France Mie premier could not hnvo found nnother man so splendidly qualified to handlo tho big problems of tho wnr office. He Is a genius at organization, and I do not think I exnggerate when I nay ho Is perhaps tho greatest organ! ecr that tho Frepch nrmy has ever known. "For the last five years, General Lyautey has been governor of Moroc co, and In these flvo years ho brought tho Moroccans from a stnte approach ing savagery to quasl-clvlllzatlon. Ho Is n grent master of efficiency, nnd combines all tho qualities of u great general with thoso of u grent business man. "General Lyautey is a natlvo of Lorraine. Ho had a little homo not far from Nuncy, and when the Ger mans niado one of their raids upon that city In the early days of the war General Lynutoy's homo was among tho first to bo looted and subsequently destroyed, no Is between sixty nnd sixty-five years of ago and Is a member of tho Academy and tho one member who has yet to make his presentation speech to his colleagues.