WHAT THE PUBLIC PRESS THINKS
It is interesting to know what the press of the United States thinks of the American Legion. Practically every newspaper in the country honored the Legion with comment. In almost every instance it was favorable. Selection has been made of some of this comment - as much as is feasible to give here. It is of two kinds: first, what the press thought of the idea of the Legion, and second, what opinion it had of the Legion after it was launched at St. Louis. The first type of comment was made prior to the caucus in this country and the second, afterwards. Comment on both types was generally favorable.
Lest insincerity be charged let it be said here that there was some unfavorable comment. One New England paper was surprised that soldiers, sailors and marines were not clever enough to know that the American people would perceive their attempt, through this organization, to "drive a six mule team through the Treasury" and get pension and pay grabs. One Southern paper pictured Colonel Roosevelt returning from the St. Louis caucus, a defeated candidate for the chairmanship, with all hope of the future blasted, while one in Ohio said with equal accuracy and solemnity that "there is no need of such an organization at this time, now that the country is entering the era of peace."
But here is the comment. It comes from north, east, south, and west, and it is typical:
New York Times, April 10, 1919. - ... It is a pleasure to
know
that Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, the worthy
inheritor
of a beloved American name, has called a meeting of soldiers
and
sailors at St. Louis. Lieutenant Colonel Bennett Clark, son of
Mr. Champ Clark, is an associate of Lieutenant Colonel
Roosevelt, in the plan for an organization of all our soldiers
and sailors as the American Legion. These two gentlemen,
associated in a patriotic movement, indicate by their names its
common national purpose, apart from politics and partisanship.
"A nonpartisan and non-political association is to be formed,"
says Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, "an association which will
keep alive the principles of justice, freedom, and democracy
for
which these veterans fought." Justice, freedom, and democracy,
without partisanship! The idea is noble. It should prevail.
Leavenworth (Kansas) Post, April 30, 1919. - ...
The
character of the men of the American Army who are promoting it
[the Legion] and the high ideals which it professes and
proposes
to maintain are a guaranty that it will be a power for helpful
service in the common family of the nation.
The plan of organization sprang from the desire of serious and
able men in the American Army to maintain the high ideals for
which all of them have fought, to preserve the soldier
comradeship and carry it over into civilian life as an element
of broad helpfulness while keeping the record of the army free
from the taint of selfish aims. It was also wisely intended to
forestall by the creation of one big genuinely representative,
nonpartisan and democratic body, the formation of numerous
smaller organizations in various places by men intent on
exploiting the soldier sentiment and the soldier vote for other
than patriotic purposes.
New York Sun, April 11, 1919. - ... The American Legion
will
do an indispensable service. We, who have lived up to the past
few years in an agitation of protest against the pension grab
must now make our minds over sufficiently to realize that in
the
new situation we run immediately into danger not of
over-pensioning the veterans of to-day but of neglecting them.
The new organization must of course be nonpartisan and
non-political. Precedent enough exists in the career of the
Grand Army to make that clear. It should include and enjoy the
guidance of the most influential military men. Politicians it
will have at its service so long as it is well run and
organized
from within. Despite its proper political limitations, it
should
serve as the most salutary means to influence returned soldiers
to cling to plain old Americanism, shed their martial
acquirements and return to plain, praiseworthy citizenship.
Washington Star, April 10, 1919. - ... The American Legion
is
to be welcomed as an agency for the promotion of the best in
our
national life. It will represent, with other things, the
majesty
of numbers. A great many men will be eligible to membership;
and
they will be young, and full of hope and purpose. And when they
act together in matters within the scope of their organization
they will represent a force to be reckoned with in the
formulating of public policies.
Brooklyn Eagle, April 11, 1919. - Organization of "The
American
Legion" is going on rapidily in every State in the Union. Vast
as was the mass of eligibles on which the Grand Army of the
Republic could draw after the Civil War, it did not compare
with
the Legion's bulk of raw material. There will be a formal
caucus
on May 8th, at St. Louis, of a real representative character,
in
which it is said the enlisted men of the army and navy will
have
a majority. Lieutenant Colonel Henry L. Stimson, once Secretary
of War, outlines the plan. He believes that this country's
future hereafter is in the hands of the men below thirty years
of age who fought this war. He trusts that the lesson in
practical democracy afforded by military experience and the
ideals of democracy emphasized by military enthusiasm may be
kept permanently alive.
That this is the main hope of the more active organizers we have
no doubt. Men like Major General O'Ryan, General Charles I.
Debevoise, and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and Colonel Robert
Bacon would never think of making such a body a lever for
pension legislation or an agency of politics. Yet the
temptation to a divergence from the higher ideals is strong,
and
the rank and file may not be inclined to resist it.
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April II, 1919. - ... Such
societies, it has been proved, are never partisan. They are
invariably exponents of broad-gauge patriotism. That they have
great political influence in a high national sense is true, but
they have never misused it nor ever viewed their mission in a
narrow spirit. They preserve the touch of the elbow throughout
life, but only as thorough Americans, devoted first, last, and
always to our common country.
St. Louis is proud to be selected as the place for the
inauguration of this admirable and undoubtedly perpetual
society. All wars are represented by societies formed by their
veterans, and all alike have been truly and broadly patriotic.
It will be the same with the new order, whose membership will,
on the strength of numbers called to the colors, far exceed any
former parallel. This event will be a datemark in our patriotic
annals and in the progress of the nation.
Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald, April 13, 1919. - It has
been
earnestly stated, as might have been expected, that the
American
Legion will be strictly nonpartisan. That much might be
inferred
from the circumstance that one of the leading associates of
Roosevelt in organizing the Legion is Lieutenant Colonel
Bennett
Clark, son of the late Democratic Speaker of the House of
Representatives. Colonel Roosevelt is sufficient authority for
the assurance that the movement is neither partisan nor
political. He calls it "an association which will keep alive
the
principles of justice, freedom and democracy for which these
veterans fought." Viewed in that sentimental, ethical and
patriotic light, it is a commendable undertaking. The American
people will wish it well, and be glad to see it flourish....
Norfolk (Va.) Dispatch, April 9, 1919. - If the
American
Legion now in process of organization by young Colonel
Roosevelt
and his associates, clings to the principles of foundation and
holds by the purposes proclaimed by its founders, it may become
a mighty force for good in the land. It will be composed of
several millions of comparatively youthful Americans, a large
percentage of whom will be voters, while virtually all will
have
demonstrated their readiness to fight their country's battles
with weapons far deadlier than bullets.... This assumes the
legion will fulfill the part it has undertaken to play in the
country's life. If it should degenerate into a selfish
protective body, it will be worse than useless. But there is
little reason to fear it will fall so far below its ideals
while
there is every reason to hope it will be a powerful factor in
helping the country to find itself again.
New Orleans Item, April 14, 1919. - The American Legion
through
the tremendous influence and mighty power of 3,000,000
organized
fighting men, is certain to shape and control the destinies of
the nation in years to come to an extent of which the wise will
refrain from even suggesting a limit. With the announcement by
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt that the "Legion will be
interested in policies, but not in politics," the opinion may
safely be hazarded that the great political parties of the
country are due to have new mentors, from whom they may be
forced to look anxiously for their cues.
Primarily among the announced purposes of the Legion is the
perpetuating of those principles of justice, freedom and
democracy for which its members either fought or stood ready to
fight. On the field in France or in the training camps at home,
the millions of America's best manhood have learned intimately
and well a new lesson of individual and national
responsibility.
Such lessons, at the cost they were obtained, are not to be
forgotten or lost. The ideals of the fighting men of the
states,
producing the valor and the power which made the American Army
irresistible, and the revelations by fire of new realizations
and brotherhood and of world and national citizenship are
surely
to be felt in the calm, happier times of peace.
Philadelphia Record, April 10, 1919. - ... If, as Colonel
Roosevelt predicts, the membership shall eventually comprise
4,000,000 men who were in the military and naval service of the
United States in the late war, it will have possibilities of
power that must be reckoned with. But if, in the long life
before it, the American Legion shall have no more to its
discredit than is summed up in the history of the G.A.R. whose
ranks are now so pathetically thin, it will have been a worthy
follower of its fathers.
Paterson (N.J.) Evening News, May 7, 1919. - ...
The new
organization starts its career deserving and receiving the good
wishes of the entire country. The character of the men of the
American army who are promoting it and the high ideals which it
professes and proposes to maintain are a guaranty that it will
be a power for helpful service in the common family of the
nation.
Duluth (Minn.) Herald, May 24, 1919. - There is a
great field
for the American Legion, the organization of American veterans
of the World War, and judging by the spirit of the recent
convention and by the expressions of the returning delegates as
reported in the press of the country, it is going to fill that
field.
And the field that awaits it, and that it seems to intend to
fill, is a field of a vigorous and aggressive effort to demand
and enforce a strong and coherent and consistent Americanism.
Not the swashbuckling kind of Americanism - the
chip-on-the-shoulder kind - the we-can-lick-the-world kind.
These
lads of ours are the last in the world to preach that fool kind
of Americanism. For they - or at least those of them who crossed
the seas and fought for liberty and peace on the other
side - have seen in the case of Germany what that kind of
nationalism comes to, and they are against it.
But there is a type of Americanism which is utterly free from
the taint of militarism and jingoism, but that yet is even more
dangerous to anybody at home or abroad who flaunts the spirit
of
America and defies its power. And unless the signs fail, the
American Legion is going to express and embody and inculcate
that type of Americanism.
Anaconda (Mont.) Standard, May 24, 1919. - ... At
St. Louis
the members voted down all proposals for obtaining from
Congress
increases of pay for the soldiers and rejected all efforts to
obtain canvasses of the members to ascertain their preference
as
to parties and as to presidential candidates. Everything was
excluded which would tend to committ the organization to any
particular party or any particular candidate. Young Colonel
Roosevelt, son of the former republican president, and Colonel
Bennett Clark, son of Champ Clark, former democratic speaker of
the house, joined hands in the endeavor to keep partisanship
and
politics out of the organization.
Collier's Weekly, May 31, 1919. - A national convention of
American soldiers and sailors in which no grievances were
aired,
no political axes ground, no special privileges or preferments
demanded; where oratorical "bunk" was hooted down; where social
discrimination was taboo and military rank counted not at all;
where the past glories of war were subordinated to the future
glories of peace and where the national interest was placed
above all partisanship - that is something new under the sun. It
was in such a convention held in St. Louis during the second
week in May, that the new spirit of the American army and navy
expressed itself articulately for the first time since the
armistice was signed. The birth of the American Legion was
attended by circumstances having a significance comparable with
those surrounding the signing of a certain document in
Philadelphia one hundred and forty-three years ago, come July
4th.
A brigadier general arises to "place in nomination the name of a
man who - " and is cried down by doughboys with calls of "Name
him! Who is he?" A proposal to give extra pay to enlisted men
is
unanimously defeated because, as Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt
put it, "we are not here to sandbag something out of the
Government, but to put something into it." The invitation to
make Chicago the next meeting place of the Legion is refused
because "American soldiers and sailors don't want to go to a
city whose mayor would be ashamed to welcome such a
convention."
A progressive Republican, son of a famous father, refuses the
chairmanship to quiet suspicion of personal ambition, and the
office goes to a Southern Democrat of whose party the gathering
is in complete ignorance.
One of the convention stenographers said: "This is the funniest
convention I have ever attended." We have an idea that there
was
an element of prophecy in her homely remark - a body
representing
more than four million American soldiers and sailors that makes
so little political noise is likely to be about as funny to the
conventionally minded politician as a bombardment of gas
shells.
This language of restraint in the mouths of organized civilian
youth may prove to be a natural companion to the famous battle
slogan of the A.E.F.: "Let's go!"
New York Evening Post, May 3, 1919. - ... The true
usefulness
of a veterans' organization is not far to seek. Like the
G.A.R.,
the Legion should maintain and develop the comradeship bred by
the war. It can assist the unfortunate in its ranks; it can
take
care of the widows and orphans of soldiers, in so far as any
inadequacy of public provision seems to make care necessary.
The
Legion can preserve the fame of soldiers and commanders, by
erecting monuments, by seeing that histories are written, and
by
proceedings of its regular reunions. It can foster such a
public
recollection of the great deeds of the war as well as broaden
and deepen American patriotism. Sherman remarked in 1888 that
there was some danger that a peace-loving generation in time of
crises "would conclude that the wise man stays at home, and
leaves the fools to take the buffets and kick of war." This
danger can best be met by just such an organization as the
G.A.R., with its campfires of song and story. Comradeship,
charity and patriotism - these should be the Legion's
watchwords.
New Haven (Conn.) Union, April 16, 1919. - ... Its
more
immediate task, as its promoters see it, is to help the members
and the families of members who maybe in need of assistance. No
comrade of the great struggle is to feel that he is forgotten
and forsaken by the comrades who served the same great cause.
Its large and more permanent duty is to spread the sentiment of
patriotism, to set an example of love of country, and unselfish
service, to keep blooming always in the soldiers' bosom the
flower of sacrifice that springs from every soldier's grave in
France.
Philadelphia Press, April 10, 1919. - The organization of
the
soldiers of the late war into a permanent body is inevitable
and
entirely proper.
Capper's Weekly, May 24, 1919. - The American Legion
organized
at St. Louis is the new G.A.R. and through its platforms the
views of the soldiers who fought in France will be heard. It is
already apparent what the trend of that sentiment is. Whatever
military system this nation sets up, if it meets the approval
of
the two million men who served the nation in the Great War, it
will be democratic in spirit and as far as possible in form. It
will be an army in which the self-respect of the common soldier
will be recognized. The returning soldier has no use for anyone
living here who is not wholly American, and is for expelling
the
unnaturalized alien wherever found. Loyalty to the Nation is
fundamental in the soldiers' view.
The Nation must safeguard itself and make a distinction between
citizens who offer themselves and their all, and citizens who,
for whatever reason, withhold some part of their allegiance.
Brutal treatment of conscientious objectors is neither
civilized
nor necessary, but a differentiation is created by such
residents themselves, and there should be corresponding
differentiation in rights and protection. This is one of the
subjects that the returned soldiers have at heart.
Post Intelligencer, Seattle, Washington, May 21,
1919. - ...
The American Legion will be a political force in the nation as
it has a perfect right to be. No organization of its character
is to be held together by the cohesive power of reminiscence.
Something more binding is required, and that something will be
forthcoming whether anyone outside the Legion likes it or
not....
The American Legion will be made up of intelligent young men who
will have a community interest and whose interest can only be
furthered by united action. They will know that nothing is more
transient than public gratitude, and they will assuredly not
rely on it.
Rochester (N.Y.) Times, May 23, 1919. - At its
first
convention held recently in St. Louis, the American Legion
unanimously voted down a proposal to seek increased bonus money
for the soldiers.
At that same meeting, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., refused to accept
official leadership of the organization because he desired to
allow no ground for any charge that he wished to utilize it to
further his political career.
Such action by the Legion and by one of its most prominent
members warrant its organizers in working to enroll all the men
who served during the great war.
If this path is followed the American Legion will be a force for
good in the country's affairs as well as a bond of fellowship
among those who were members of the largest army ever raised by
this republic.
Manchester (N. H). Union, May 27, 1919. - ... In
spite of
all that has been written and said it appears there still
remains some mistaken idea and prejudices concerning this
organization. The purposes of the American Legion are:
1. To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of
America.
2. To maintain law and order.
3. To foster and perpetuate a one hundred per cent. Americanism.
4. To preserve the memories and incidents of our association in
the Great War.
5. To inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the
community, state and nation.
6. To combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses.
7. To make right the master of might.
8. To promote peace and good will on earth.
9. To safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of
justice, freedom and democracy.
10. To consecrate and sanctify comradeship by devotion to mutual
helpfulness.
This is the program and platform of the wonderful organization
whose potential membership is the four million and more men who
wore their country's uniform in the war.
It is big enough and broad enough to admit every man and woman
who joined the colors. If, as has been intimated, there are
some
few ex-service men who think they see in this tremendous
movement something personal and partisan, they should take the
blinders off, forget their unworthy fears, and come out into
the
open with their comrades, determined, as every man is who has
already joined, that the American Legion will never be made the
vehicle of personal ambition nor the creature of partisan
purpose; but will be conserved to foster and promote only those
high purposes which are so nobly defined in the language which
is quoted above, taken bodily from the constitution of the
Legion.
PITTSBURGH, Gazette-Times, May 29, 1919. - ... In contrast
with the Grand Army, the American Legion will embrace all
sections of our land. Similarly it will be the private
soldier's
organization. Military honors will not count. Absolute
Americanism is to be its dominating principle. With the
dwindling ranks of the Grand Army there is need of such an
organization. The Grand Army has long been a staunch bulwark of
patriotism but time is doing its work. Others must soon take up
where the veterans of the Civil War left off. Those of the new
organization who saw service overseas possess a new vision of
what America means. Because of their good fortune in going
abroad they reaped an advantage over those who were denied the
privilege, though entitled to no more credit. All who donned
the
uniform served. With an organization of such possibilities in
numbers and all imbued with a patriotic fervor the safety of
the
Republic against the machinations of those who would tear down
is assured.
Burlington (Vt.) News, May 29, 1919. - So far as
actual
results are concerned America gains little from the peace
treaty. If, however, the American Legion measures up to the
standard we believe it capable of, America will be the greatest
gainer of all in the war.
Bridgeport (Conn.) Standard, May 28, 1919. - The
statement
that the American Legion is to let politics alone is good news
to the people of this country who are looking toward this fine
organization of American fighters to bring to our national life
some of the spirit which chased the Fritzies back to the Rhine.
The civilian public has a right to ask what are the aims of
this
new, and sure to be powerful, organization. Four million men
are
of its potential membership. These four million are to be found
scattered in every city, village and hamlet in the country.
They
are to meet on terms of equality, officers and men. They know
how to work together, how to undergo discipline for a worthy
objective, and how to go over the top in action. It is good,
then, to know that this new four million is not to be a
political machine. We want no more of the mawkish of either
fearing or catering to the "soldier-vote."
Only as a nonpartisan organization can the American Legion do
its best work. Its able leaders know this. In a day when men
are
fast deserting unworthy party emblems to stand for what they
think right, the soldier organization will have a wide
influence.
We hail the Legion.
It had to come and it is coming strong and sure.
Good men are at the head of the column, and better men than
those in the ranks exist nowhere in the country.
They are the pick of the best, physically best, in nerve and in
courage, best in point of training, in discipline and best
among
all the nations who won the great victory.
There is still a fight in America. Democracy is never safe, only
being made safe. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Eternal vigilance without regard to fear or favor is to be the
spirit of the American Legion.
COMMITTEES
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
ALABAMA
D.W.M. Jordan
John W. Inzer
ALASKA
Edgar T. Hawley
ARIZONA
John C. Greenway
E.P. Conway
ARKANSAS
Joe S. Harris
James J. Harrison
CALIFORNIA
H.G. Mathewson
C.E. Palmen
COLORADO
H.A. Saidy
E.R. Myers
CONNECTICUT
H.C. Meserve
A.M. Phillips, Jr.
DELAWARE
George N. Doris
George L. Evans
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
N.C. Turnage
E. Lester Jones
FLORIDA
Davis Forster
J.T. Wigginton
GEORGIA
Louis H. Bell
J.G. Juett
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
J.P. Morgan
IDAHO
E.C. Booth
Frank Esterbrook
ILLINOIS
William R. McCauley
Marshall Field
INDIANA
Robert Morehead
C.F. Strodel
IOWA
H.H. Polk
John MacVicar
KANSAS
W.S. Metcalf
Sidney Moss
KENTUCKY
Henry D. Moorman
D.A. Sachs, Jr.
LOUISIANA
Allison Owen
Ralph Michel
MAINE
Albert Greenlaw
Arthur L. Robinson
MARYLAND
H.F. French
Wm.A. Huster
MASSACHUSETTS
G.G. Bacon
J.F.J. Herbert
MICHIGAN
Frederick M. Alger
A.C. Doyle
MINNESOTA
Harrison Fuller
A.M. Nelson
MISSISSIPPI
Alex. Fitz-Hugh
Fred Sullens
MISSOURI
Court P. Allen
H. Stattman
MONTANA
H.L. Blomquist
C.E. Pew
NEBRASKA
John G. Maher
Ed. P. McDermott
NEVADA
E.L. Malsbary
T.J.D. Salter
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Frank Knox
Mathew Mahoney
NEW JERSEY
D.B. Muliken
P.J. Ehrhardt
NEW MEXICO
B.M. Cutting
O.A. Larrizola, Jr.
NEW YORK
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Louis Burrill
NORTH CAROLINA
NORTH DAKOTA
J.M. Hanley
G.A. Fraser
OHIO
J.L. Cochrun
H.W. Snodgrass
OKLAHOMA
Roy Hoffman
Ralph H. Berry
OREGON
E.J. Eivers
W.B. Follett
PENNSYLVANIA
Franklin D'Olier
A. Laughlin, Jr.
RHODE ISLAND
A. Johnson
R.B. Weeden
SOUTH CAROLINA
H.B. Springs
M.B. Berkley
SOUTH DAKOTA
J.C. Denison
Joseph S. Pfeiffer
TENNESSEE
Luke Lea
Harry S. Berry
TEXAS
W.E. Jackson
Rolland Bradley
UTAH
Baldwin Robertson
Royal Douglas
VERMONT
H. Nelson Jackson
Joseph Fountain
VIRGINIA
C. Francis Cooke
Andrew S. Christian
WASHINGTON
L.L. Thompson
Russ Simonton
WEST VIRGINIA
John G. Bond
Charles McCamic
WISCONSIN
James Ackley
G.W. Strampe
WYOMING
C.M. June
L.A. Miller
AMERICAN ARMY ASSOCIATION
Hayward H. Hillyer
William P. Norton
WORLD WAR VETERANS
G.H.W. Rauschkolb
John S. Siebert
RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE
ALABAMA
Matthew H. Murphy
ALASKA
James Hawley
ARIZONA
Ed. M. Le Baron
ARKANSAS
Fred N. Tillman
CALIFORNIA
E.H. Dibble
COLORADO
H.A. Saidy
CONNECTICUT
F.W. Carroll
DELAWARE
George N. Doris
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Charles E. Johnston
FLORIDA
Carroll Ford
GEORGIA
Eugene Sibert
HAWAII
J.P. Morgan
IDAHO
C.M. Booth
ILLINOIS
Marshall Kearney
INDIANA
A.C. Duddelston
IOWA
H.H. Polk
KANSAS
W.W. Hollaway
KENTUCKY
M.K. Gordon
LOUISIANA
John D. Ewing
MAINE
Roger A. Greene
MARYLAND
H.L. French
MASSACHUSETTS
L.A. Frothingham
MICHIGAN
Avery Gilleo
MINNESOTA
S.S. Smith
MISSISSIPPI
Alex. Fitz-Hugh
MISSOURI
H.C. Clark
MONTANA
Sam Abelstein
NEBRASKA
Hird. Stryker
NEVADA
E.L. Malsbary
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Frank Knox
NEW JERSEY
E.A. Tobin
NEW MEXICO
Roy H. Flamm
NEW YORK
Robert Marsh
NORTH DAKOTA
J.R. Baker
OHIO
E.J. Rummell
OKLAHOMA
E.E. Atkins
OREGON
B.E. Leonard
PENNSYLVANIA
Fred Hill
PHILIPPINES
Robert R. Landon
RHODE ISLAND
W.P. Shunney
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTH DAKOTA
William G. Buell
TENNESSEE
G.P. Anderson
TEXAS
Charles R. Tips
UTAH
R.J. Douglas
VERMONT
Guy Varnum
VIRGINIA
John J. Wicker, Jr.
WASHINGTON
John J. Sullivan
WEST VIRGINIA
John C. Vaughan
WISCONSIN
Robert Cunningham
WYOMING
L.A. Miller
AMERICAN ARMY ASSOCIATION
Joseph P. McGlinn
WORLD WAR VETERANS
Thomas H. Dempsey