Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 October 1917 — THE LIBERTY LOAN AND THE FARMER [ARTICLE]

THE LIBERTY LOAN AND THE FARMER

It is every citizen's duty to purchase a Liberty bond if he is in a position to do so. Every patriot will regard it as a privilege to participate in the Liberty loan. He will thereby contribute directly and effectively to the successful prosecution of the war which Germany has forced upon us. The nation's task is a serious one. It intimately touches each one of *us. It faces you and me. If we do not win this war, we must prepare ourselves for grave changes in our institutions and to lead a different sort of life from that which we had planned to live —from that which our forefathers died to give us the right to live. We shall indefinitely face the interference of the Prussian autocracy or bear permanently the intolerable burdens of militarism. To win this war we must (have both men and money. I know that every farmer wants to do all. in his power for the nation in this day of trial. He will not only labor to produce the” necessary foodstuffs but will also generously contribute of his means to make it possible for the men at the front to achieve victory. I am confident that the farmers of the land will not permit any other class to take- the leadership. in supporting the government in this crisis, financially or otherwise. We are at war with Germany because Germany made war upon us, sank our ships, killed our citizens, and plotted against us while professing friendship. We were patient till offenses became so flagrant and insults so intolerable that it was merely a question whether we would admit that we were no longer a free nation or accept the challenge of the war-made, hynocritical, and mediaeval Prussian militarists. There was one choice we could not make—we were incapable of making. We could not "choose the path of submission and suffer the most sacred rights of our nation and our people to be ignored and violated.’’ We are defending bur rights as

a free nation. We are resolved that there shall be an end of brute force in international affairs. What Germany’s victory would mean to the world is plain. There would be no right except might, no peace save at the price of humiliations too bitter to be borne. Small nations could not exist. There w'ould be no sanctity to a pledge,- no solemnity to a covenant.' With the dominance, of Prussian militarism, the Anglo-Saxon struggle for free institutions and liberty, persisting from Runnymede to Yorktown, with its Magna Charta, its bill of rights, and its declaration of independence, will have been in vain. It is to prevent this, to defend our rights, and to make possible an orderly and just peace in the world that we are at war. The nation calls on its citizens for high and noble, service. On some it calls for service in the field; on others for service at home; on all, it calls for financial support. I am confident that the farmers of the nation will eagerly respond to the call for subscriptions to the Liberty loan.—-D. F. (HOUSTON, Secretary of Agriculture.