Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 November 1917 — WAR TALKS [ARTICLE]

WAR TALKS

By UNCLE DAN

Number Three

How War Methods Have Changed Everybody Must Help. '‘Hello, Uncle Dan, Jimmie and I have been waiting for you.” “Sorry if I have kept you long,” said Uncle Dan. “Your mother lias been telling me how bashful I used to be. She said if a girl spoke to me I would blush to my hair roots. Well, 1 reminded her of the time your fat’Ajr first came to see her and the joke we played on them, so I guess that will hold her for a while.” i 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 tire 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 killing of thousands of innocent women and children. lie has broken every 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 made slaves of his prisoners; he has tried to get us into war with Japan; his emmissaries 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 thing is certain,” continued Uncle Dan, with great emphasis, “Our liberty, the safety of our homes and our country, and the security of the world demand the speedy and absolute overthrow of the kaiser and crushing out once and forever the reign of Prussian brutality.” “How. about the German people,” said Billie. Uncle Dan replied: “The splendid German people were happy, thrifty, prosperous and contented. They have been tricked into war and ♦uade to suffer the tortures of the damned; they have been cruelly and systematically deceived. God grant that the real facts 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 submarines, or we may not be able to get food and supplies to our own men and 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 the war, and this Is largely true. Hence the importance of the farm in the war plans oiou country.” Mrs. Graham Interrupted by saying: “In view of the importance of farming, 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 hard to emphasize his protest that he tipped over a vase of flowers. “We must have no class legislation. The duty to serve is the common duty of all, and no class must be relieved of this obligation. The question of exemption must be a personal one and decided by the facts surrounding each case. In no other way can we have a square deal, and to insure this, it is the duty of congress to pass immediately the Chamberlain bill, or some such measure, which is fair to all classes. It would settle ail these questions and do it fairly. Safety now and safety hereafter demands such legislation, and let me suggest that you and 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 oceans of blood and treasure and it is only due to the loyalty, sacrifice and service of our forefathers that we have a country, and if is our highest duty to preserve it unimpaired and pass it on to posterity, no matter what the cost may be. 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 squarely back of our country and be prepared to defend the flag. Everyone in this crisis is either pro-Ameri-can or pro-German. Great as the coun-, try is, there is not room enough for two flags.” - ...