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Show imR Goocfivms UJeoJclis I wr qfeSw.8V AR has its compensation no less than w SiPlM Peace an(i n tne eternal fitness of M VJMSj things on earth it plays an incalculable MmNKf Part n tne snaPm& tne destinies of I J mtiBF the peoples of all climes. When the Mff JftB crisis comes, when the fate of battle J " hangs in the balance, when the sacri fices of blood and treasure are heaped on altars as high as the heavens, heav-ens, when suffering and uncertainty fill the days and nights with heartaches and anguish and strange forebodings; then does it seem that war is indeed a calamity, for which the future holds no possible relief or reparation. But there is another side to war war waged in righteous cause that burnishes the brain and brawn of men and women, strengthens their souls and glorifies a people for all time to come. In such a war as this the salvage more than compensates for all the suffering and sacrifice. In this respect, a distinguished contemporary reminds us that "war is like love or like religion, in that it creates in men an ecstasy, a physical and spiritual exaltation that enables them to achieve and endure far more than they ever previously in times of peace were able to achieve and endure." Continuing the thought, this, writer assures us that men remember this stirring experience afterward, aft-erward, and that all their lives they are able to meet extreme crises with supreme courage. They say to themselves: "We bore this once we can do it and bear it again." This thought is pleasant to contemplate and we particularly recommend rec-ommend it to those timid citizens who are disposed to look on the seamy side of war shorn of all sentiment and solemn obligations and count the cost of war without taking into consideration the ultimate ulti-mate compensation it promises. There is a sordid side to every war, it is true, which at first blush seems to challenge the understanding of sober-thinking men and by its very brutality appears to violate every rule of reason. But, in a larger and finer sense, there is a I glorious side to every war, a side that fires the souls of men, that s rW, draws them out of the shells of a smaller existence into the realm of larger things and summons them to almost superhuman achievements. These are the sacred attributes of war inspired by the Almighty himself that time and again have accomplished the salvation of humanity hu-manity when it was staggering under the weight of its own humdrum j existence. t, t tf K We need only to scan the pages of American history to convince -j ourselves of th great truth. Out of the crucible of the Revolution fcame a chastened people. The founders of the Great Republic were of an inspired order. No race of men ever walked the earth with higher or holier purposes than they, and no mortals ever assumed such solemn obligations, combining as they did the highest profes sions and practises of civilization, Christianity and citizenship. The inspiration that came out of that mighty struggle strengthened them ' in their new found faitb, and when the great Continental powers and the African pirates sought to prey upon their commerce and threat-I threat-I ened their national integrity, they struck with the swiftness and , force of the. lightning and maintained their supremacy against seem- ingly overwhelming opposition. ) The Civil War most cruel of all, in that it arrayed brother ! against brother and father against son in the bloodiest conflict of the ,ages imposed its own peculiar test upon the American people. The j story is still fresh in our memories. We readily recall how men were i 'stupefied when the first crash came, how they refused to believe their own senses for a time, and how they hesitated to take-up arms against i, those of their own blood. But the God of Battles was directing their destinies, their conscience finally swept aside all doubts and misgiv- ings, and they responded to the call of the country with a spirit that H astounded the world and set the highwater mark for sacrifice in right- H eous warfare. Out of that struggle came a chastened andreunlled H people, strengthened in their common sacrifice and working' but H their manifest destiny from the wreckage of war in a manner that H both astonished and claimed the admiration of the whole world. H Looking back over the matchless achievements of the past fifty H years, who would say that the moral and material salvage realized H from that war was not well worth the sacrifice? jH Now we are engaged in the greatest of all wars a war with a H complication of causes insofar as other countries may be concerned, H but with an issue as clear as the noonday sun in its bearing upon the jH immediate safety and ultimate supremacy oi America. In the con- H fusion of the moment it is only natural that we should stumble for a H time and wonder why we should be drawn into the awful conflict. We H hesitate to take the plunge; the sacrifices imposed seem out of all H proportion to our interests involved. But gradually our senses are re- B turning, our sanity is being restored, and in a short while we will all B buckle on the armor, determined to face the crisis in characteristic American fashion. When we come to realize as a people that this war H was inevitable and that fate had decreed that Americans should once M again take the field in defense of the honor and integrity of the Re- public, then will we gladly bear incomparable sacrifices to the com- H mon altar and fight as our fathers fought for the cause of freemen H everywhere. Nor will we stop to count the cost, for we know that we will realize a recompense from this war, as from all the others. And the compensation will come to us in a thousand different ways in direct proportion to the character of the conflict we wage and the M sentiment that inspires the sacrifice. H H p t r H A MATTER OF HONOR. IT will be to America's everlasting shame if the Second Liberty M Bonds go begging for subscribers much longer. The campaign M is nearing the close and it is time for the people to make the purchase M of these bonds a matter of personal honor. The real test of each in- M dividual's citizenship has come. If there is any American who is able M to invest in the Liberty Bond issue, but who, on one pretext or an- M other, either fails or refuses to do so, he is not a genuine citizen he M is an ingrate to his country. M The basis of all good citizenship is conscience, and this should be M the place of last appeal in the matter of determining each person's M obligation to the government and ability to buy the bonds. It was H the great-hearted Lincoln who said: "All that I am or ever expect M to be, I owe to my mother." And in a similar sense, every honest H American citizen may well say, in consulting with his conscience: H "All that T have and ever expect to have, I owe to my country." And H so, if each individual citizen will thresh this thought out in his own H heart, the right response will come of its own accord. He will buy H the bonds to the extent of his ability and he will be likely to stretch H his ability, at that; not simply because the bonds arc a good invest- jH ment, but because he knows that he is doing his own soul good. Bonds H bought on such a basis will bring a thousand blessings to the buyer. H A Liberty Bond in every American home would be a happy H culmination to the campaign. It would tell to the world the glad tid- H ings that the watch-fires of personal liberty have been lighted again on H the hearthstones of a hundred million people, and that the Great Re- H public is standing guard of the honor and dignity of its free institutions. H This is the real significance of the Liberty Bond issue and its possi- H bilities, and its success is rnore desirable at this time than a decisive H victory on the field of battle. m H H NO QUARTER FOR THE TRAITORS. CHE Department of Justice is on the right track, at last. It is to be hoped that .the authorities will finish what they started and H prosecute the indicted I. W. W. to the full extent of the law. It is H also to be hoped that, where the law's delay presents the customary H obstacles, they will not hesitate to cut a few corners in the procedure H and proceed directly to the main objective point of the prosecution, H namely, the summary punishment of all those who have been appre- H bended in dire plots against the government. Public policy alone H should determine the moves of the prosecution, and where a radical H departure from a well established custom is necessary to insure quick H action, then such departure should be resorted to without a single mis- H giving. It goes without saying that treason must be stamped out H and stamped out immediately if the soil of this country is to be made H safe for self-respecting and right-living citizens. H Old Andrew Johnson did not accomplish much that appealed to H the memory of red-blooded Americans, but he did say that "Treason H must be made odious," and this rule of action is even more applicable H today than during the first dark days of the Reconstruction period. H But how are we to make treason odious unless we make an object H lesson of the seditious I. W. W. and all the sympathizers and sup- H porters of their contemptible cause? The merits of the war do not H enter into the question. Treason is treason as much so in times of H peace as in war and the clement that practices it is just as undesir- H able and dangerous at one time as another. The underlying doctrine H of this pernicious propaganda is to be against the government at all H times. Its sole policy is to tear down the established order of society, H with the hope that in the free for all scramble to follow the lawless H element will secure the lion's share of the salvage. The only differ- H ence we can see is that in times of peace the people have more pa- Hj tience with the traitors than is the case when the country is fighting H for its very existence. H A free thinker who, by the way, has no business running at large H in this community, took us to task for several of our recent utter- H ances. "One would think," he said, "that you are in favor of string- H ing up every professed I. W. W. to a lamp post." He expressed our H idea exactly. If such action were necessary to suppress the agitation H we would not hesitate to recommend it to the authorities. But it will H not be necessary. This combination of criminals are cowards at H heart. They wave the red flag but their real color is yellow. Cer- H tainly a goodly number of them can be convicted of high treason with- H out stretching the law a particle ; and this done, their execution should H take place promptly and in a public place. That such action would H make a profound and salutary impression upon their contemptible H "comrades" the white-livered curs who persist in plotting against H society, while they claim protection under the general guarantees of H the government is self evident. "Treason must be made odious." M H A JOKE ON THE KAISER. HLL other things aside, if we would give the devil his dues we should thank the kaiser for the moral and material assistance H he has unwittingly rendered in the formation of the great American H merchant marine. Had it not been for the menace of his submarines, B the probabilities are that we would still be dreaming of the mighty H fleet of merchantmen that would some day carry the Stars and Stripes m to every corner of the globe. As it now happens, however, this fleet m is already under construction and the day is not far distant Avhen m America will assume her rightfully proud position on the sea. As we M said before, we have the kaiser to thank for this most agreeable sit- m : uation. B Also, we have him to thank for a very material contribution to m j four new merchant marine, in the shape of the interned liner, "Vater- H land," which has been confiscated by the government and is now be- M ing put in condition for active service under the American flag. It is H planned by our experts to convert the giant liner into a transport ship B r for our troops, and it is said that the big boat is easily adaptable to B ' such purposes. In fact, it is claimed by the engineers who are over- H hauling her that the ship, although outwardly a floating palace for KA . MM- - .- - passenger service, was designed primarily for a transport. And, knowing what we now do, it is easy to believe that the kaiser hoped some day to make use of the Vaterland as a troop ship. The big ship was constructed under the direct supervision of the German military authorities and can carry a small army on board. It is estimated that she can transport 20,000 men a month to Europe, for she is one of the fastest liners afloat and can cross the Atlantic in less than a week. Not only does she afford ample steerage accommodations, accommo-dations, but there is room on her great after deck for the maneuvering of a whole regiment. She is also equipped to forestall submarine attack. at-tack. Gun platforms that will permit the mounting of rapid firing armament were originally installed in the ship. Then she has a system sys-tem of water-tight compartments that make it next to impossible to sink her. The experts claim that the boat can be hit by even three or four torpedoes and still be kept afloat. Thus it would seem that the kaiser and his associates have taken a great deal of trouble to help us solve the problem of ocean traffic during these troublesome times. The Vaterland was his especial favorite fa-vorite and one can well imagine the wry face he will pull when he learns that the big ship is again ploughing the deep, but flying under the enemy's flag and bearing the crack soldiers of the world to join in the showdown fight that will spell his doom. We Americans have a heavy score to settle with the Prussian autocrat, and it will make it all the eaiser to pay him back in part with his own coin. And, pardon the thought, it will give us considerable reassurance, when our boys set sail on the great boat, to know that the kaiser has taken such pains to protect them against all accident and attack while riding the waves. For this, at least, he is indeed entitled to our whole-hearted thanks. A THANKLESS JOB, AT THAT. QOOR Mayor Mitchell of New York! In his burning desire to succeed himself he finds his candidacy in a pretty predicament. A Democrat himself, Tammany Hall has named a candidate of its own and is openly fighting the mayor. Repudiated by his own party, the mayor sought the Republican nomination and, notwithstanding the fact that Colonel Roosevelt, Judge Charles E. Hughes and other prominent Republicans openly urged his candidacy, he lost this nomination nom-ination to a hitherto unknown Republican. Now Mayor Mitchell is determined to make an independent campaign for re-election, and ' while he has the support of the best element and the biggest men in the metropolis, the chances are that he will be decisively defeated. The chief trouble with Mitchell seems to be that he is a poor -"n politician. As a mayor, New York has not had his equal in years. He has been clean and competent in office and has shown a firm grasp of the affairs of the city. Moreover, he has risen above partisanship, -1 and this appears to be the cause of his undoing. Mitchell, although eminently fair with the plain people, has forgotten to cultivate their friendship. On the other hand, he has flirted continuously with the blue-bloods and the wealthy class until the common people think that he is a genuine highbrow himself. Hence they are all against him and that just about spells his defeat, for the poor can outvote the rich every day in the year. Mayor Mitchell seems to have made the same mistake that Ex-Governor Ex-Governor Ferguson of Texas made, only in the opposite direction. Ferguson made a hobby of identifying himself with the hoi polloi in such a manner as to invite the solid opposition of the intellectual and aristocratic classes. When fully aroused, they finished Ferguson in a hurry. Mitchell, on the other hand, has consorted so openly with the elite that the ordinary people have lost faith in him. And he can't win without their support. It will be misfortune for Mitchell and the metropolis that he is unable to weather the storm. K r K fc The fact that the newspapers gave more space and attention to the accounts of the battles at Chicago and New York between the American League and National League champion ball teams than to those "somewhere in France," is insufficient foundation for a belief that a postponement of the war was ordered until after the championship cham-pionship was settled. |