ian coal mine."

This last remark brought forth a laugh, and though it was whimsically
made it illuminated the matter under discussion very well, I thought.
In fact, the whole conversation made clear to me one of the
fundamental missions the Legion must perform.

The seeds of Americanism which Legion members sow to-day will be
reaped, not only to-day but in the generations of to-morrow. The
Soldiers and Sailors Council, Seattle, was thrown out and its
representative knew why. But, if Jack Sullivan and his red, white, and
blue colleagues in the State of Washington preach in the future what
they did at this caucus, the children of those northwestern Bolsheviki
will not only salute the Stars and Stripes, but will know _why_ they
do so. They will know what their fathers don't--that the constitution
means Americanism and that Americanism means "life, liberty, and
pursuit of happiness."

In most conventions the reports of committees are invariably adopted.
There are many reasons for this, the particular one being the theory
that when a set of men are placed on a task they will study the
situation in all its angles, in all its ramifications, in all its
different phases and that its report should therefore be adopted
because of this expert thought and study on the matters under
consideration. I say that most conventions do this. Once as a
newspaper man, I attended an undertakers' convention. It always did
so. And at another time I attended a manufacturers' gathering where
this procedure was invariably followed out. But how about at St.
Louis? Not on your life! The delegates of the American Legion were
neither like undertakers nor manufacturers nor like any-other business
men that I ever saw during ten years on a Metropolitan newspaper. The
new American doesn't do business that way.

Witness the report of the Committee on Name. This report read:
"We, your Committee on Name, unanimously make the following
recommendation--that the name of this organization be the American
Legion of World War Veterans." The chairman had scarcely finished
asking: "What is your pleasure gentlemen" when Major Wickersham got
the floor and moved an amendment that the name be "The American
Legion." This was seconded by Mr. Cochrane of Ohio and then came the
argument about it.

Mr. Shank of Ohio, thought that the American Legion did not convey a
sufficient meaning to the average civilians. "The American Legion
might be an organization of street cle