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Show ik MEMORIAL TOE1 BTM BOYS (Published by Special request of the editor (if tfie Salt Lake Telegram.) The war is over. Tlie Ainerieaa furees tunieil the balance that brought victory to the allied forces. The armistice terms dictated by Marshall Koch mean unconditional uncon-ditional surrender for the bun. The world is saved for democracy. ' This we know, and for this we and all the civilized world extend our thanks to the Supreme Being. 1'resident Wilson, in his address to congress heralding herald-ing the coming of peace and the triumph of civilization, has called attention to the consideration that should be given the conquered foe, now freed from the peril of allied arms, but faced and engulfed in the red of revolution. revo-lution. Let us therefore be merciful and, withdrawing our thoughts from the blood stained fields of Belgium and France give consideration to the fertile, Ihe green and peaceful fields and valleys of Utah. Our state, nestling amid mountains and rivers, with a wealth of mineral and a bounty of fertile soil that spells for all times productivity, lias sent thousands of boys in answer to the call of the government. Among these thousands, some have met a glorious death on the field' of battle and their bodies rest in the soil df a nation made sacred by their lifeblood, shed for the cause of all humanity. There are others who have succumbed to disease or accident before they had the opportunity of displaying their heroism on the field of battle. There are still others who have appeared on the battle line who have met the enemy face to face have been ready to make the supreme sacrifice but to thtun has come not the glory and satisfaction satis-faction of death, but they have returned home, crippled and maimed. There are still others who have answered the country's coun-try's call eiti. . as volunteers, members of the national guard or of tU great national army assembled by means of the draft a call to which all submitted and to which the best sons of our country responded and of these some will return. We will, of course, accord our soldier boys a welcome wel-come when they return. We will also initiate a memorial day to be observed annually when we may pay tribute to those who did not :vturn. But x'.t- duly, or rather the obligation and the pri .liege, dm-.- n i ml there. It is our privilege and our i.ppt.rt unity to make expression to the Uu-di soldier buys of our appreciation of their service. In this service all have been willing to make the supreme sacrifice. Seine have been accorded the coveted greater privilege, others have not, but within all there has been the- detci minatin to do and to die for the great United States. , localizing this, The Telegram begs to offer the suggestion sug-gestion that the efforts of Utah b.-ys be memorialized and that the memorial be such as will he a monument to the state's future patriotism. The Telegram offers its" suggestion to the peoole of I'tah. It proposes to solicit the aid of the governor, of all the state and public officials and of all public, civic and patriotic organizations. It asks that the suggestion be taken tip by all newspapers of the state and that it be supported by all. The Telegram is insistent that under no conditions shall this be considered consider-ed a one newspaper campaign. Backed solely by the thought that there is a duty to lie performed and that this duty consists of providing a memorial befitting, as far as it is possible for it to be, to the I' tali boys who have donned the khaki, The Telegram makes the proposal that immediate action be t;;.kcii and that the support of every man, woman and child in the state be enlisted. The nature of thf memorial is open to question, but The Telegram begs to make a suggestion. Erection of a monument or a spire, beautiful though it may be, which we might gaze and admire and reverence, but which would do no good to any Utah soldier, be he dead, maimed or returned. For that reason we would turn to the utilitarian and suggest a memorial building, which at all times would ' stand before us as a monument of the best American ' traditions and at the same time provide something concrete con-crete in the way of thanks for the Utah boys who have gone over there, but have lived to come back over here. To put this proposal in concrete form, The Telegram Tele-gram proposes: That there be erected in Salt Lake City, as the capital of Utah, a great ' memorial building in honor of the Utah Veterans of the World War. That this building be of sullicieiil magnificence to provide accomodations for all great gatherings. That provision be made within the building for suitable rooms wherein the I'tah Veterans of the World War may forever and without charge have clubrooms and headquarters. That there be provided within the building suitable suit-able rooms for the accommodation of such t rophies of war as may convey to future generations a suggestion, at least, of the heroic and loyal part I'tah played in this greatest of all wars. That this building and all its furnishings be provided pro-vided by the people of Utah as a small expression of their appreciation of the part Utah soldiers played in saving the world for democracy. Fulfillment of this suggestion means a thorough" cooperation of all the people of Utah. The first essential essen-tial will be the appointment by Governor Bamberger of a commission to undertake the matter. This commission commis-sion should present a prompt recommendation. This recommendation may include a proviso that a. liberal part of the fund for the erection of the proposed building, build-ing, or the entire fund, should be raised by popular subscription; sub-scription; it may, on the other hand, propose that part be raised by popular subscription and that a suggestion be made to the state legislature when it meets in January Janu-ary that an amount of money be appropriated out of state funds to help finance the creel ion of the proposed building, providing the 'public gives a stipulated sunn; there may also be the necessity of an appropriation by . the county commissioners for the same purpose. The details arc not important, however, at this time. The qquestion is, do the people of Utah favor the erection of a memorial to the Utah soldier boys? The Telegram favors it. What do the people of Utah say, what do the newspapers of Utah say, what do the governor of Utah and the public officials of the state say f Are we all for it? . . |