Harriet Cantrell
\HIS
not a normal time in which we are On every hand we hear of the bitter strife and misery of other nations. It .is pleasant to sit back In our complacent way and appreciate our present advantages, but it woul<l certainly be wiser to prepare our country so that the same type of strife and misery can not happen is
living.
here.
For some time the petty mechanics of politics has been a sore cubj3ct with us. We college students do not assume to set ourselves up as critics, for we lack the knowledge, age, and experience. But it seems out of place that the imp'ortant workings of the government can be deferred and even deflected by the haranguings of some politicians who have only their own axes to grind. It is true that each representative must take cars of those constituents who put him in office, but it is also true that the needs of the nation must be considered
first.
Most appalling to our minds today is the way political campaigns are carried on, particularly the "mud-Slinging*. other fellow seems
To quote the demerits
of the sharpest political to think that all he needs for success is to fling more mud on his opponent than is flung at him. Even in thi.s war crisis, we can hardly do more now than view campaigns with our tongues in our cheeks, for they are rapidly gaining the aspects of a circus side show. A campaign is a vital matter and should be carried on with as little furor and shouting as possible. It is not an affair of the heart and emotions, but of an open mind. Certainly the rivalry of two political parties should not transcend in the public mind the importance of the conditions that directly affect the safety of the nation. Campaigns are necessary in continuing the government in which we believe, but they should be relegpted to their proper place, and not be allowed to become more important than the actual government. We should not be so tool.
Each
to
be
the
a.spirant for office
sesms
unthinking that we do not recognize the issue at hand. Yet the war. in spite of its imminent significance, took a back seat during the national conventions a few months ago.
At this critical moment, we. the people of the United States, should be completely united, not torn asunder by petty political hatreds. Evei-y ounce of our loyalty to our country and the govern-
ment to
in power is essential to make us invulnerable whatever catastrophe the future may bring
way of military preparations much make ready foi such an event. under way in accordance with the Burke-Wadsworth bill, and the production of arms forth. In the
is
being done to
Conscription
is
being rushed. We are heartily in favor of tills We frankly cannot understand the point of view of isolationalists who think such preparedness superfluous. Perhaps we will not have a war, but if we avoid it, it will be because of our invincibility, not beecuie of any altruism on the part of other nations. But it is not military preparedness only that we should stress. Our experience in the last war should have taught us this lesson: we must be economically strong enough to endure any hardship. We must have sufficient resources not only to survive a war, but to carry on after the duration of a war until we have regained a normal existis
and more.
ence.
These are the
issues
that
should be foremost