Roseburg news-review., August 10, 1936, Image 9

SECOND
SECTION
SECOND
SECTION
..li-
THE DOUGLAS COUNTY DAILY
ROSEBURG, OREGON. MONDAY. AUGUST 10. 1936.
NO. 39 OF THE EVENING NEWS VOL. XXVI
NO. 9 OF ROSEBURG REVIEWVOL. XL
Foundation of American Legion Laid Seventeen Years Ago
HI
BASIC TENET
OF
II S
Perpetuation of Friendships,
Aid to Disabled, Blocking
of Bolshevism Among
Foremost Aims.
When, In the closing months of
the World war, it became appar
ent that a successful conclusion of
the conflict was drawing near, the
thought became general In the
American ranks that the men who
had served should joint together
In an organization which would
perpetuate the incidents and
friendships of that service, pro
vide for the future welfare of the
disabled and geep alive In the
years of peace the same spirit of
devotion to America and American
principles that bore our arms to
victory in time of war.
In the driving campaign of those
last few months of 1918, there was
no time for the men In the runks
to formulate those ideals Into a
program of action, so It remained
for a group of twenty men, typi
cal field officers of the American
Expeditionary Force, to transmit
the desire. and hopes of the A. E.
P. to general headquarters.
Lieut. Col. Theodore Roosevelt
was one of that group. He urged
that the time had arrived to be
gin crystallization of the dream of
the men in the field, the founda
tion of an enduring organization of
the veterans of the World war.
The group of twenty Immediately
took steps to bring together into
a lurger conference representa
tive spokesmen, both officers and
men from the ranks, of the Ameri
can forces in France. That was
In February, 1!19, three months
Iftor the armistice.
Started in Paris
Heroic methods were pursued to
get the message around to alt of
the troops, with the result that in
March, 1919, no less than l,o0 of
ficers and enlisted men assembled
In the Cirque de Paris, in the
French capital, to lay the first
foundation for the embryo veter
ans' organization. That memorable
meeting has gone down In history
as "The Paris Caucus," Colonel
Roosevelt, who served as chairman
of the temporary committee, al
ready had returned to the United
States to promote Interest In the
organization among the troops at'
home, and Eric Fisher Wood call
ed the meeting to order in his J
place,
Dennett C. Clark (now United i
States senator from Missouri) was j
elected temporary chairman. The (
name adopted for the new organi- j
zation was "The American Le
gion." Tentative aims and pur
poses were outlined and a tem
porary constitution was adopted,
but commitment to permanent
policies was postponed until, when
the American forces returned
home, a great caucus could be held
in the United States, at which
would be represented every branch
of the service and every state in
the Union.
An executive committee of 100
was elected to complete organiza
tion in the A. E. F. und arrange for
the grand caucus In the United
States, with Milton J. Foreman as
chaii-man and George A. White,
secretary. Every member of the
A. E. F. automatically was made
a member of the organization
pending completion of planB and a
subcommittee of seventeen, head
ed by Chairman Clark, was sent
to' the United States to effect or
ganization among the forces al
home. ,
The national caucus was held In
St. Louis, May 8, 9 and 10, 1919,
Colonel Roosevelt calling It to or
der. Roosevelt declined a unani
mous election as chairman and
Heni-y D. Lindsley of Texas then
was chosen.
Temporary national headquar
ters were opened in New York
City and In September, 1919, a na
tional charter was granted by
congress.
The charter convention was held
in Minneapolis. November 10, 11
and, 12. It approved the acts of
; the temporary organization and
adopted a permanent constitution. I
Frank IVOlier was elected the first i
national commander, Lemuel Hol
ies became the first national ad
jutant and permanent headquar
ters were established In Indian
apolis, lud. Thus, the American
Legion embarked upon Its stirring
and patriotic career.
Needy Veterans Aided
The industrial stagnation Into
which the country hail been drift
ing swept the country with full
force In 1921. National uneasiness
was apparent. There was fear)
that the holshvlsm which had de
scended upon Europe hod also
tainted the American war veter
ans. The Legion quickly proved,
however, that the spirit of Ameri
canism burned warmer In no
breast than that of the veteran.
One of its first Bteps was to get;
jobs for the discharged veterans. 1
Almost over- night it became a na-
tional employment service, with
11.000 branches throughout the
country. Veterans reported to
posts for jobs and got thenj. More
than 1,000,000 jobless men obtain
ed employment through the Le
gion. National recovery began
and fear of bolshvism waned.
In the meantime the Legion was
keeping the pledge its members
made on the field of battle to
make the welfare of the disabled
one of Its primary duties. The Le
gion organized an efficient reha
bilitation service, with a mandate
to see that sick and wounded ap
plicants for government protection
received Justice regardless of
whether they belonged to the Le
gion or1 not. The Legion is now
asking congress to grant the same
measure of protection to the
needy widows and orphans of
World war veterans that is pro
vided for the surviving depend
ents of the veterans, of other
wars.
Children Also Helped
In 1925, the Legion turned Its
attention to another group whose
suffering as a result of the World
war seemed most pitiful of all.
There were the orphans of men
who had lost their lives during the
war or had died following the war.
It raised a fund of $5,000,000, the
annual proceeds from which are
divided equally between the care
of needy orphans of W orld war
veterans and the Legion's rehabili
tation service for veterans. With
this fund and the contributions of
individual posts, the Legiou now I
spends more than $1,000,000 a year!
in direct aid to the orphans of vet;
erans who are in need. Indeed, la
the presence of existing unemploy
ment, the Legion's help is extend
ed to the children of living veter
ans, also, who are without em
ploy men t or other income. In 1985,
the Legion spent $1,027,734.44 in di
rect financial aid to 256,549 chil-j
dren.
Keeping faith with the pledge in'
the preamble of its constitution,
the Legion has a vast community
service, education and law and
order program. Legion posts have
built community nouses, swimming
pools, playgrounds and parks
throughout the country; they huvej
furnished ambulances and special'
mechanical equipment for the ,
treatment of such diseases as In
fantile paralysis, all donated to
their communities. This year each
of the more than 11,200 posts is
definitely committed to complete
at least one community service
project.
The Legion Is now embarked upi
on a campaign of crime suppres
sion and law observance, working:
in close cooperation with federal,
state and municipal law enforce
ment officials. It also has under
taken an aggressive national cam
paign to reduce the toll of acci
dents in traffic and promote educa
tion In public sufety.
Americanism Dominant
From Its foundation, the Legion
has stood unqualifiedly for a true
spirit of Americanism, it holds the
weKure of the United States to he
Its primary duty. To that end It is
engaged In a bitter war against
communism and all other alien
"isms" which seek the overthrow
of the American form of govern
ment. The Legion was responsible
for having many states which pre
viously had no laws governing sub
versive political organizations, to
adopt laws denying the right of
any group standing for the over
throw of the government by force
to nave a candidate for public of
fice appear ou an official ballot.
In this same field, the Legion is
working vigorously to direct youth
activities into proper American
channels. It has organized Junior
Una i bull leagues throughout the
country. Each year more than 500.
Oio boys compete on the diamond
for bu.se bull honors, the season
concluding with a national cham
pionship tournament.
The American Legion always has
stood for an adequate national de
fense. It seeks no military program
which might be used for aggression
or would establish militarism In
the United States. For the army It
has asked an establishment only
large enough to repel invasion, for
the navy a fleet of full strength al
lowed by treaty, ami an air force
sufficient to protect the country
against invasion or bombing at
tacks from the air. Tho Legion s
program substantially has been
adopted. U is the Legion's position
that such a national defense pro
gram will promote peace ou the
ground that a reasonably armed
America will nut invite atluck.
with no danger of this country
waging a war of aggression.
It also is expected that in this
session the legion will see ful
filled its dream of a Universal
Service law which, in time of war.
will give the government the serv
ice of industry, capital and man
power on an equal bus Is, without
special privilege, or profit for any
one. This was one of the first laws
the Legion sought and for twelve
years, since it has been fighting
consistently for Its adoption. Tills,
too, is bulled as u movement to
ward peace because, by making
war a profitless business, one
strong motive for war is destroyed.
Membership: Membership in the
Legion Is limited to American sol
diers, sailors, Marines tind nurses
who saw active service during the
actual fighting days of the World
war. which is between April 6, .1917
and November 11, 11) IS
Expected Here For Convention
HELDMAN, KRAMER
WIN TENNIS TITLES
CULVER, Ind., Aug. 10. (AP)
Julius Heldman . of Hollywood.
Calif., defeated Joseph Hunt of
Los Angeles in one of tho biggest
tennis upsets nf the yenr to win
the national junior singles title
lost Saturday 1-6, 6-2, 3-6. 6-1, 6-1.
John ' Kramer of Montlcello,
Calif., won the national boys' ten
nis singles championship upsetting
William Imstaedter of Mlllburn,
N. J., in the final round, 6-2, 7-ii.
OF U.S.
PORTLAND, Aug. 10. (AP)J
America has been the world's
"goat for 12 years," Rear Admiral
Clark 1L Woodward, commander
of destroyers aboard the naval con
tingent harbored here last weeK,
said in remarking that world pow
ers are paying no attention to
America's disarmament pleus.
The admiral said a force com
posed of alien enemies living with
In the country, foreign agents, pro
fessional pacifists and communists
are conducting a treacherous cam
paign tn mould American pub it a
sentiment against adequate dm
fenses,
Hut I think a lot of people in
all sections of the country are
now more interested in the navy
ihan ever before." he Bald. "This
bus been brought about by speak
ers ou natimuil defense and pre
pu redness telling the truth about!
our lack of proper defense. Fortu
nately for America, and for tha
world, I might say, our armed
forces, especially the navy, are be
Ing systematically built up to their;
proper strength."
American .Legion and American Legion Auxiliary members arc com
Ing from far and near to attend the INth annual convention of tho Ore
gon department American Legion, which opens in Koseburg Thursday.
Above (top row) II. L. Challluux, national Americanism director; Jer
rold Owen, editor of the Oregon Legionnaire, who has been seriously 111",
but who writes that he expects to he here. Bottom row, left to right.
Oscar W. Worthwine, national vice-commander, who lives In Dulse,
Idaho; Gladys Turubull, president of the state auxiliary . .
DRUM CORPS TO BE
HEARD OVER KRNK
The Umpqua post, American Ie
gion, drum corps will be1 heard utt
7 o'clock Wednesday evening in a
radio program from Station KRNR
The drum corps, which Is preparing
for participation In the forthcoming;
state convention of the American
Legion, will appear at the radio
station tn behalf of the ticket salg
tn advance of the drum corps com
petition, a feature event of thq
convention.
The local organization, while it
will tuke an active part In parades
and other convention features, will
not participate in the contest foq
the various prizeB, following tho
usual custom in which the corpd
of the host post Is not a contended
I for honors.
IKE
mm
And Marti
mmm
Three Whole Hours of Special Entertainment
don t miss THREE STORY ANIMALS
"elmer" SPECIAL DANCING and NOVELTY ACTS
"yelmer" JUNIOR DRUM CORPS DRILLS
nd 4 GIGANTIC CLOWNS
"homer" , MUSICAL NOVELTIES
HEM
m
8:00 P. M.
Dances! Carnival! Dugouts! Every Night
Junior Legion Baseball Championship Games, Finlay Field 3 p. m., Thursday and Friday.
WASHINGTON vs. OREGON
BIG LEGION GRAND PARADE DOWN TOWN THURSDAY 8:15 P.M.
MIDNIGHT MATINEE FEATURING "MAJOR BLOWS" INDIAN THEATRE THUR. 11 p.m.
Sponsored and Supervised by the American Legion Convention Commission