Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1918 — GREAT WAR CONFERENCE PROVES JASPER LOYAL [ARTICLE]

GREAT WAR CONFERENCE PROVES JASPER LOYAL

MASS MEETINGS ATTENDED BY ENORMOUS CROWDS. MANY TURNED AWAY FROM EVENING SESSION. . JOHN RUTLEDGE IN STIRRING ADDRESS AT METHODIST CHURCH IN EVENING BRINGS TO HIS AUDIENCE REALIZATION OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE WAR AND NECESSITY FOR ALL TO CO-OPERATE. LIBERTY GUARDS ATTEND MEETING IN BODY. SPLENDID BODY OF MEN READY FOR EMERGENCY DUTY. ST. JOSEPH COLLEGE BAND CONTRIBUTES TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE OCCASION. PATRIOTIC AIRS MOVE THE GREAT AUDIENCE TO PROLONGED APPLAUSE. WOMEN TAKE PROMINENT PART IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE DAY. EX-SENATOR PROCTOR MARS ADDRESS BY THE INFUSION OF PARTISAN POLITICS.MUCH CRITICISM OF SPEECH HEARD ON ALL SIDES.

Tuesday, January 29, 1918, will go down in the history of Jasper County as a red letter day. The great war conference places Jasper county high in the scale of patriotism. This county sent more people to the great state war conference at Indianapolis than any other county, save Marion. Conditions considered, no other county will excel us in the magnitude of attendance or in the genuine spirit of patriotism manifested. With the thermometer nine below •zero early in the morning; with country roads blockaded, conditions seemed to make a large meeting impossible. Not daunted, many came to the city in sleds and sleighs and when the first session was called to order in the large Methodist church, standing room was at a premium. Mayor Charles G. Spitler called the meeting to order. Proceeding the speeches there was music by the St. Joseph College Band and invocation by Rev. Asa McDaniels, pastor of the First Christian church. The first address of the session was delivered by Prof. D. S. Meyers, of Purdue University. This was a very practical as well as interesting address, Mr. Meyers’ talk was followed by an interesting address by Miss Mary Washburn, of Chicago. She gave • a very interesting account of the splendid work being done by Chicago women for the women of the devastated districts of France. Ex-State Senator E. Proctor, author of Indiana’s famous Proctor liquor law, was then introduced and many who heard his address felt that he had come to us under the management of the National Democratic Committee rather than the Indiana State Council of Defense. Senator Proctor is an orator of ability, but his address here was severely criticized by many on account of its de-

. cided partisan tendency. With the address of Senator Proctor the general meeting was closed and many went to the sectional meetings in other parts of the city. .The meeting of the women in the; New Princess was very largely attended and many splendid addresses were made, including that by Miss Elizabeth Cowan, Assistant in Home Economics, of Purdue University. Rev. Alfred H. Backus, of Dunkirk, met a number of business men in the directors' room of the First National Bank. Fred R. Farman, superintendent of the LaPorte county schools made a very able address to the Boy Workers Reserve at the office of County Agricultural Agent Learning. Robert E. Cavanaugh, superintendent of the Salem schools, but at present in charge of the speakers’ bureau of the State Council of Defense, addressed a meeting of the students of the Rensselaer high school and also of the seventh and eighth grades. Many of the schools of the county were closed and teachers and pupils were here to attend the war conference.

Many were unable to attend the great mass meeting held at the Methodist church in the evening. Long before the time for the opening of the evening session the great auditorium of the spacious building was completely filled. Mayor Charles G. Spitler presided at this meeting and the music for this occasion was furnished by three high school girls, Misses Parkison, Raines and Carr. Their piano trios were splendidly executed and loudly applauded by the great audience. The first address of the evening was by Miss Cowan. She made an eloquent and effective plea for the conservation of food. Following the address of Miss Cowan, Rev. Backus made an enthusiastic plea for the sale of War Thrift Stamps. The outstanding address of the evening and of the conference was delivered by John Rutledge of Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the greatest addresses ever delivered in this city. It should have been heard by every man, woman and child in this county. That his masterly appeal will not have been made in vain and that the people of Jasper county will conserve all the wheat, meat and fats possible, there can be no doubt. While Mr. Rutledge has not been to Europe during the war he has been in Washington much of the time and is in vital touch with the war situation. He is working under the national Jood administrator, Mr. Hoover,and he reels sure that food will be one of the greatest factors in the war. We can serve our” country or the Kaiser in our every act and especially at the three meals we eat each day. It was a great meeting. We had splendid speakers and our citizens deserve great credit for the wonderful audiences present.