Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1917 — WE WILL WIN BUT WHEN? [ARTICLE]

WE WILL WIN BUT WHEN?

THE KAISER WILL BE DEFEATED WHEN ALL AMERICA , HELPS. T*he War Conference held at Indianapolis was a great meeting. It was addressed by great men, and it was attended by many of Indiana’s patriots. If the spirit of that meeting ceuld be felt by every person in the state and in the nation we would make short work of this bitter contest. There was but one sentiment there and that was that all must do their part in every way possible This must be done at once for a delay may mean defeat. There is no choice, we are either for America and her allies or we are for the Kaiser and his hellish program. O! we proclaim our loyalty with word of mouth. But, that does not place a man by the side of our soldiers now in France. That does not buy a Thrift Stamp, a War Bond, or give to the Red Cross or the Y. M. C. A.. That does not mean that you are observing Meatless or Wheatless days. That does not necessarily mean that you are’doing all you can to save every pound of meat and every pound of wheat that you can. You may still be using too much lard or sugar. You may even let the water run at home so that your pipe will not freeze up, and thereby endanger the property of the city by wasting the city’s water and coal supply. Let us get down to brass tacks and talk to YOU.

If you are a young man why are you not in the war? How much more do the boys in the trenches owe to humanity than you? Whose war is this? There is absolutely no excuse for the young unmarried man to shirk his duty, and that duty is to go to Europe and stand by the patriots, who are bearing their breast to the tyrant of the ages. The slacker of today will be thoroughly despised tomorrow. How any young American can remain at home and let his fellow give his life for the cause of humanity is most difficult to understand. Is life so dear and liberty of so little value? The young man who should be in the army or navy today, but is at home unmoved by the dire and immediate need of his service to his country, is serving the Kaiser rather than his country. But not only are some of our young men slackers. But we have a number of double fisted, big fellows, who spend a great amount of time loafing about the city. The farmer is begging for corn huskers, many are wanted to chop wood and there are many tasks that should be done. The fellow who loafs today is for the Kaiser and is stabbing our soldiers in the back. When we sit down at our tables, we either serve the Kaiser or America and her noble allies. Our surplus food has already, in large part, gone to Europe. If the allied armies are to be fed, we must sacrifice, and share a part of the wheat, meat, sugar and fats that we are in the habit of eating. ■- We must conserve our fuel. We should use more wood. Burn less coal. Use less city water and lights. We should put every dollar we can into government bonds, Thrift Stamps and Certificates. Give more to the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., also the K. C. If we come out of this war without a dollar, we will then not have made one thousandth of the sacrifice that .many of our sons will have made. Whatever we are and have must be offered to our country. If a strong healthy .body give it. If money, give it. If service and toil at home, give it. When every available man, every available dollar has been placed upon the alter of Liberty then we will have all done our full duty and not until then. These times Sre too serious to discuss any phase of the war, but the winning of it. Let us have a united people, loyal and self-sacrificing to the last man and the last dollar. Let every man, every dollar and every ounce of sweat be put into this, our only task worth while, now. Let the soldiers who have gone to. the front, and those who are to follow be assured that our country is back of them, ready to sacrifice with them, all, everything. Let them know that we are united in sentiment, and in conduct. That we will not speak a disloyal word, do a disloyal act, but all that we haip and are is at the command of our country and we are ready to help them win the world’s greatest war of all ages. That we all remember that lofty sentiments are hollow unless these sentiment are lived, each day and each hour, and that they are manifested in cur every thought and act. Let us be brave. Let us do our part. Let us be for humanity and against me Kaiser.