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Show M STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS. B fy The revealing mirror of war manifests- a nation's i Strength and weakness with startling clarity. Brought, B ,1 ' "fc?ace Jo face with a great emergency, hidden flaws make BbbbW themselves evident, and virtue and power are found of which the people were not conscious. So it has proved in American experience since that fateful day when we threw 'down the challenge of battle. The readiness with which our people accepted the principle of conscription was a marvel to the European observers. Their statesmen came over here with the feeling feel-ing that our participation in the struggle might one sided and half harted. They knew it took nearly two years to arouse Europe to the peril of her position, and to secure se-cure consent to the principle of universal service. America thinks quickly. The mental processes for which England required two years were accomplished in two weeks here. It was a marvelous display of spirit of service, patridt-ism, patridt-ism, and alertness. But when it came to adjusting our economic life to the situation, a different condition developed. Next to the raising of armies, the control of the food supply called for the most prompt and positive action. Yet here Congress dawdled and hesitated, responsive to the diverse public sentiment existing in the several sections of the country. It then appeared that while our people were promptly ready to sacrifice the lives of their sons in response to the call of the country, they were not so ready to sacrifice sacri-fice their dollars. Every separate interest demanded protection, pro-tection, and was jealous for fear it would suffer some business disadvantage. So Congress talked and argued and traded and swaped while the speculators were making money out of the need of the people, and portions of our food supply were going into wrong hands and' piling up needless charges for the people to pay. There is here no ground for discouragement. All the fighting powers have gone through similar experiences. But it shows how the vital force of a people is sapped by the lust of money getting. |
