Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 279, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1917 — WAR TALKS [ARTICLE]

WAR TALKS

By UNCLE DAN

Number Three

How War Methods Hive Changed Everybody Must Help. “Hello, Uncle Dan, Jimmie am! 1 have been waiting for you." “Sorry if 1 have kept you long." suit! Uncle Dan. “Your mother bus been telling me how bashful 1 used to be. She said if a girl spoke to me I would blush to my. hair roots. Well. I reminded her of the time your father first came to see her and the Joke we played on them, so I guess that will hold her for a while.” Continuing, Uncle Dan said: “You want to talk more about the war. do you? Well, war methods have undergone many changes and they are still changing. No two wars are fought alike. In early times, the weapons were stones, clubs, spears, bows and arrows, swords, etc. In this kind of warfare, victory was with the strong right arm. Men of enormous size and strength were the great warriors. The invention of gunpowder, however, has changed all this. It has enabled men to kill one another at a considerable distance, and do it wholesale. The war, as we know it now, is a combination of chemicals, machinery, mathematical calculations and highly trained men. Just think of it! Airplanes, submarines, armored tanks, or caterpillars, poison gases, and curtains of fire are all used for the first time in this war; and they are destructive beyond anything heretofore known. “The methods followed by the kaiser and his allies are simply devilish. He must answer in history to the kill ing of thousands of innocent women and children. He has broken ev<*ry international law and every rule of warfare: he has bombarded hospitals and undefended cities, sunk Red Cross ships on errands of mercy; he has destroyed cathedrals and priceless treasures of art that can never be replaced ; he has m: tie slaves of his prisoners; he has tried to get us into war wilh Japan ; his enunissaries have blown up our ships, burned our factories and fired our forests. He knows no mercy or honor. The most charitable view to take of this blood-thirsty tyrant is that he is crazy.

“One tiling is certain,”'continued Uncle Dun. with great emphasis, “-Our liberty the safety of our homes and our country, and the security of the woriA demand the speedy and abso- [ lute ovdrhrow of the kaiser and ' crushing out once and forever the reign of Prussian brutality.” “How about the German people," said Billie. Uncle 1 Jan replied : “The splendid Germ in people were happy, thrifty, prosperous mill contented. They have been tricked into war and made to <ufl'er the tortures of the damned; they have been cruelly and systematically deceived. God grant that the real tacts may get to’them, and If they do, Lord help the kaiser !” “Of course the allies will win,” said Mrs. Graham. “Probably so,” said Uncle Dan. “But if we are to win. we must go the limit. We must check the awful destruction to shipping by the German submarine!’., or we may not be able to get food and supplies to our own men anil to our allies; we must also put hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of first-class soldiers in the battle line. “Food is the first consideration,’’ Uncle Dan continued. “No army can hold out against hunger. It has been said that food will win Ihe war, and this is largely true. Hence the importance of the farm In the War plans of our country.” Mrs. Graham interrupted by saying: “In view of the importance of fanning, don’t you think, Daniel, that the farmers ought to be exempted from war service?” “No, a thousand times no,” said Uncle Dan, striking the table’so hurt! to emphasize his protest that he tipped over a vase of flowers, “We/must have no class legislation. The dutj’ to serve is the common duty of all, and

no class must relieved of this obligation. The question-X)f exemption ' must be a personal one and decided by the facts surrounding each case. In h-no. other way can we have a square deal, and to insure this, it is, the duty of cotrgr'ess to pass immediately the Chamberlain bill, or some such inensulte, which is fair to all classes. It would settle all these questions ami do it fairly. Safety now and safety hereafter demands such legislation, and let m<- suggest that you land your (friends get busy with your congressman and senators and urge them to prompt action. . . “It is time for us to realize that we are not living in a fools’ paradise; that this great country of ours cost ocean's of blood and treasure and it is only due to the loyalty, sacrifice and service of our forefathers that we have a’country, and it is our highest duty to preserve it unimpaired and pass it 6n to posterity, no matter what the cost may t»e. Our citizenship and their ancestors came from all parts of the world to make, this country a home and enjoy its blessings and opportunities; hence. In the crisis before us. it is the duty of everyone to stand Munrely back of pur country and b- , ■•■ pared to deferi'd the flag. Fvs. je In this crisis Is either jpro-An i nor pro-German. Great as the try is. there is not room enough f<• vwo flags.” 1