Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-12-30 | Page 4 | Second Prize Junior High

SECOND PRIZE Junior High 4 f "WHY THE UNITEP STATES IS AT WAR." Marguerite Kelly. (Junior Dept., East High.) America stands forth today as a participant partic-ipant in the greatest conflict of all history. his-tory. AVhy has she thrown her mighty resources into this horrible war, in which all her sons must suffer and, perhaps, many die? For two years and more we were silent witnesses of the terrible struggle across the seas. During this time our government govern-ment tried every means Known to diplo- ,r u y to peacefully settle the matters in depute between the C.erman Kovernment u'd the I'nited Slates. We iieUl to uiir V utralitv- and v.-ere patient and for,., ieu-ing Our patient president neccpte.l imraWe after assurance, but these primuses availed us mMhlnr and wore broken as oon as made. We appealed to justice, to international Uiw and to the humane instincts ol civilization, but our appeals were made m vain and our good faith and sincerity were construed as cowardice. Defenseless Towns Attacked. First canje tho invasion of Belgium and the attack upon defenseless towns. 1 We knew that the dermaus were treating these people in the most cruel and inhuman in-human manner: that they were burnip lunges murdering prisoners and civilian mutilating little i-hihlron and starving the old and helpless. Later we saw the Lusitania and the Sussex sunk, and tlie p isencers murdered against all law, without warning. W"e saw our own ships sunk our commerce destroyed, our fl;;c-insulted fl;;c-insulted and our citizens murdered. W"-began W"-began to realiy.e that iermany bad fill,, our land wilh spies who I rind to draw nur citizens from their allegiance, and that she was trying to incite 'Mexico and .lai'Mii to take up arms against us. The sense of an unmeasured calamity was present in the background of our thoughts during all (his lime, but still we did not comprehend that this was our war or feel our responsibility. As month alter month passed swiltly by, the nature of the disaster grew clear and the meaning mean-ing and portent of the catastrophe pen- etrated our minds more deeply, sttngiuf us awake. W'e realized that tho Oerman government had left us no choice, and that we must take up arms in defense ! of our rights and the rights of humanity. I Accordingly, nn April 6, If 17, congress I adopted a resolution declaring a state of I war with Germany, ami America had entered en-tered the, lists against Prussian military autocracy: she had joined in the fight for law.' decency, ivill.ation and perpetual per-petual peace. We had at tho end of n long and patient experience discovered that the 'only way Jhe world could ho rescued from slaughter and destruction would he bv a. major exercise of the great martial force of this republic. Fighting for Safe America. W'e are fighting for our nearest and dearest interests to make the world not onlv safe for democracy, hut Hafo for America. The purpose of this war is not aggression, is not punishment; it is not inspired by resentments or fed hy ambitions, am-bitions, but we fight for liberty the Hb-ertv Hb-ertv that we have so long enjoyed that we' have almost lost the vision of all that freedom really means (o us. We did not expect to gain an inch of territory nor an ounce of power, nor did we think of any political advantage which peace might bring, but we entered this war to prevent a n autocratic) political power from overpowering all our ideals of democracy de-mocracy and freedom. We are in this conflict lo preserve all that civilization has acquired through the ages. Vt;re waging battle in defense of our national existence, to protect our citizens, to preserve pre-serve our democracy and to stop for a'l time the violation of treaties and of national obligations. This war i.s not one between peoples, but one between autocracy a nd democracy. democ-racy. Tho people of the United States ' have gone into this war on this theory and will fight that democracy shall be made safe upon this planet. It will be a war to benefit humanity and to secure, the right of all nations, the weak as well as the strong, to govern themselves by the will of their own people. America has awakened. .She no longer thinks that the wellbeing of the individual individ-ual is the only thing that counts, hut has put a fide materialism and is going out to discover the beauty and the glory and the tenderness of sacrifice. Our country has no enthusiasm for slaughter, ! but rather a desire- to serve and to pro-f dce something for the uplifting of the future of man.