THE BIG FOUR
I’m for that hard-hitting type of manhood which stands adamant for the
_square deal and no surrender_ under all circumstances. It is one thing
to wish for justice--quite another to stand up and _fight for it_.
Probably not one man in a thousand is geared with sufficient heart
action to run counter to _a false public opinion_. It takes moral
courage to do this, even on a small scale, whereas to ride a bucking
broncho one needs physical prowess which is quite another kind of
bravery. We’ve all known men who would fight their weight in wild cats
but would run like a frightened rabbit at the sight of a pretty woman.
To get up and _make a speech_ would have been out of the question for
them.
I heard of a case where a fine, quiet fellow who had been elected as
a delegate to a small county convention, was instructed to arise to
his feet at the moment of a certain nomination and shout “I second the
nomination!” Instead of following instructions _he fainted_. This so
excited the delegate who was to “move that the nominations be closed”
that he forgot his part, with the result that an opposition candidate
was quickly proposed, carried the convention, and, in due course, _was
elected_ by the vote of the people.
Men of the type of President Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, each
distinctly different in personality, are about as scarce as hen’s
teeth. There are just two such men in our hundred and odd millions
today. They stand unique in the courage of their convictions, and their
ability to reach _the boundary lines of public opinion over the world_.
Lloyd George belongs in the same corral.
Speaking of President Wilson, one is amazed at his perspicuity. In
procedure directly opposite from Roosevelt or Lloyd George, he has no
counterpart either in pattern or turn of mind. Everything yields before
him--he appears to be _indomitable._
The need of such a man at this hour is apparent. He asserts the rights
of the nation as a whole in such a way that the individual trails in
behind him without a quaver of fear or a compunction of conscience.
The President seems to know the road and results bear testimony to
the fact. In the shortest possible time he has mobilized the greatest
nation in the world to a war basis of such magnitude that its martial
tread _extends around the world_. This being the first globe-girdling
war in all history, who can say that any other man would have done
better--_or even so well_?
Fortunately, this country has another man who, in the absence of our
present leader, could have stirred the American nation into action in
behalf of its own security. Hardly need it be said that this man is
_Theodore Roosevelt_. His distinguished services in the past would have
proclaimed him the leader in such a vast enterprise _had the emergency
existed_. Taking things as they are, his influence has been of
tremendous importance in effecting _a united effort_. His willingness
to go to the front himself at the head of a Volunteer Division had
its own weight in determining the whole nation that _the battle was
ours_ as well as for those more adjacent to the fighting zone. But, to
start with at least, this is a young man’s war, and the four sons of
Roosevelt that went to the front constitute an ample offering from this
great man at this stage of affairs.
If Lloyd George were a citizen of these United States, I’d give him
a seat beside the President on the score of _bull-dog tenacity_. And
I’d give him a look in on Roosevelt for _brain activity_ and _physical
courage_. And a seat between both of them for his ability to _scorch
the hides of the recalcitrants_.
Three big men these--_Wilson_, _Roosevelt_, _Lloyd George_. They sit
tight for what’s right. They stand exalted in the estimation of all
right-thinking citizens of the world, and at this period of their lives
are peerless in the beneficence of their influence upon mankind.
And now for the fourth man on my slate--stand forth _General Joffre_!
Your initiative at the first battle of the Marne saved the world from
disaster. You had _one chance in a hundred_ and--you saw and you took
it. Your victory saved civilization a colossal setback. Had your
beloved France been forced to surrender, the dream of the enemy would
have been transformed into fact with Mad Moloch in the saddle for many
a weary year.
_Here’s to the Big Four_--long may they live to witness the gratitude
of all mankind!
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