Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1917 — GREAT WAR TASK FOR OUR PEOPLE [ARTICLE]

GREAT WAR TASK FOR OUR PEOPLE

INDIANA CONFERENCE OUTLINEB WHAT CAN AND SHOULD BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE FOLKS AT HOME. GIST OF PATRIOTIC MEETING Former Governor Ralston, Lieutenant Perigord of French Army and Other Speakers Stir Enthusi-,-* asm of Splendid Audiences. By Willis S. Thompson. - Indianapolis, Dec. 17. What a splendid thing it would have been lor Indiana and her part in the winning of the war, if all the people in the state could have attended the war conference of two days. What wonderful things it would accomplish if all the people of all the states could attend such a conference. How much nearer it would bring the end of the great world war. For as Will H. Hays put it, when America is once fully awakened and every man, woman and child in every home in America is doing an individual part in the winning of the war, all the thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand thousand Germans could not prevail against us. It is to awaken that interest, that sacrifice, that patriotism, that firm and united determination of America, that just such war conferences are planned and carried out under direction of the state councils of defense. It is to arrive at a more thor ; ough understanding of the war situation a*d of the individual responsibility and things to do to help our boys and our allies. It is to consider our duties at home. The Indiana conference was the first of the forty-eight. It was a magnificent success. More splendid audiences have njver been assembled. Such stirring speeches have seldom been made or such interest aroused. The whole state was represented. There were scores of speeches on as many subjects, all related to war work. No better idea can be given the people than to quote from some of the principal speeches. Samuel M. Ralston was the chairman of the main meeting. Every word uttered was inspiring. The audience did not wait for the periods to applaud. This was the meeting where Vice-Presi-dent Marshall was to speak but' delayed train prevented. Mr. Ralston said in part: Address by Ralston. I am glad to fight with you in the holy cause in which our God-given country has enlisted. I am glad to fight with you, elbow to elbow, under the leadership of that masterful man in the White House, Woodrow Wilson. " I have heard some good speeches —many of them—and I have read many, but I am sorry to say that I have felt, upon reading some of them, that our schools should be more active in telling the people the name of the President of these United States. His name is Woodrow Wilson. And that name will go down in history side by side with the immortal names of Abraham Lincoln and of George Washington. The master mind of the world, today and I yield to none; the master miftd of the world today is the President of the United States. He is the embodiment of the holy cause of Americanism, for which you and I are willing to die, if need be. Yes, I want to do what I can, in ifiy feeble way, to help win this cause. We can all do something-—some much more than others, but we can all do something. These are not times to think of profitmaking, my countrymen, save and except In the sense, and with the object in view that those profits are going to be contributed to help win the war. We can all furnish a loaf, and we must furnish it to the boys that we are sending across the sea. it is Criminal, it is unpatriotic, it is inhuman to ask our boys to leave their homes and go to the trenches in a strange land, to preserve this Government, unless —we feed —them —and —clothe them —as-- their necessities demand. And while we are doing this, let us contribute our mite to make public opinion so strong in this country that no man will dare to raise a whisper against the flag of our nation. It is my duty and it is your duty to see to it that no man is allowed to run at large, long, in this country, who favors firing upon our boys from the rear. I believe in law and order, but 1 also believe that one of the most wholesome means of breeding respect for law and order, at times, is the gallows, or the electric chair. We are not going to take any half way ground, and the man who is not with us in this fight hail better be out of this country, in my judgment—and the sooner he gets out the better it will be for his health. - There are many things that rise before a man when he thinks about the tremendous issues involved in this great crisis. The country for which our fathers went to war, for which they shed their blood, for which they fought and died, has an assault made upon its life, and as we love our individual homes—yes, a thousand times more than we love our individual homes —• we realize the supreme obligation resting upon the individual citizens, men and women, to do what they can to forever preserve the institutions of our country. My countrymen, I want to congratulate vou upon the wonderful work that is being done in this state, in behalf of this movement to defend and preserve our country. I want to commend my distinguished successor, Governor Goodrich, for his tireless eiTorts in making an efficient and successful organization to carry forward the work in which you are now interested, and - I am Just as strong, and I am just as enthusiastic in my demand that the people of Indiana stand by the back of Governor Goodrich, as I am that they stand by President Wilson. We have no politics, in the narrow sense, in this crisis. There are other times when you and I can go. upon the hustings and debate whether or not there should be a tax put upon the inside of the cap. But this is not the time. We cannot waste our time and our energy and our ability in discussing tariff rates, while the life of the nation is in the balance. Let us save the nation and.then we will take up the even tenor again of our domestic life, and have our honest differences where we honestly differ. But now we are all Americans, who are patriots. ' . , Not only Governor Goodrich, but I want to commend Mr. Will H. Hays and i all

these associated with him in carrying taw ward the work of the State Council of Cense. They have worked efficiently. Yon and I now witness the result.of their work. The truth ia that they have long realized what I have regretted to have to acknowledge, that too many people in this country do not fully yet realize, th'at we are at war. That might sound like an extraordinary Btatement. Too many people are toasting their shins in perfect contentment in front of their fireplaces at home, and around their baseburners, not fully conscious of the tremendous fight that is going on, to preserve the Institutions of this country. Now, it will not do to say- that all of those people are bad citizens, that they are not patriots. The truth is that they have not fully realized the awfulness of present conditions, and when they do, they will bestir themselves, and when w» get jthis nation aroused as one man, bent as fine man, upon a single purpose, we will soon make short work of the Kaiser. Following the address by Mr. Ralston, Lieutenant Paul Perigord, who served three years in active service in the French army, being three times wounded, delivered an address that stirred the patriotism of every person before him. He did not recite the atrocities of the German soldiers such as all the people have heard. He told the things that open the eyes of America to duties to be performed and the great things America must accomplish in the titanic struggle for humanity In part he said.

Message From France. I shall, to atone for my poor eloquence, rehearse the speech of a man who has already warmed the jiearts of the French nation, a man you love, here, I know — General Pershing. When General l’ersliing came with the boys in khaki to France, his first pilgrimage was to the tomb of Lafayette. When he arrived there it was expected that lie would deliver a beautiful oration, but the General, in his cold, dignified manner, just bent over the tomb and whispered, “Lafayette, we are here!” That was all. Fra nee has declared that speech to be the most beautiful speech of the war, and, my friends, I deem that the French officers who were there on that day, are not as privileged as I am tonight, for I feel the whole people of this state of Indiana crying out, so that France can hear it, “LaFayette, we, the people of Indiana, are here!’’ In the name of France, in the name of the civilized world, I thank the people of Indiana. My first message is that I bring to you the warmest greetings of the French army —that valorous body of officers and. men, who saved the liberties of the world at the battle of the Marne and at Verdun. For three long years that army, so bleeding from a thousand wounds, having lost more than one million of its best children, was looking longingly at the manhood of this continent, without uttering a word of complaint, but filled with a great fear lest all those sacrifices be in vain. But, behold, one beautiful morning a new flag came out of the trenches. Its colors were well known to all. it was red, white and blue. There were stars playing in its folds, a symbol of this nation’s high purpose; and then a mighty voice arose from the Adriatic to the Atlantic ocean, and that voice spoke in all the known tongues of the wor l,i —“Long live, long live the United States!” You' have read your histories and you know that France has always rushed to the rescue of any nation fighting for its freedom; you know that she has always stood ready to shed her blood for Christianity and civilization ; you know that she has loved, even unto excess, her fundamental. principles of liberty, equality and fraternity; and so, when the most powerful military organization the world has ever seen, having secretly planned to conquer the world and to destroy the liberties of mankind, proceeded to carry out that plan, then France, although still unaware of the help that would come to her, and finding in the deep wells of her patriotism a supernatural strength, stood up, and rushing to the frontiers of desecrated and assaulted Belgium, she made a living wall out of the breasts of her children, in an effort to stop the criminal invaders. But, oh, my friends, France had been dreaming dreams of peace, as you have been dreaming them, and she was utterly unprepared for this unexpected aggression, and the living wall crumbled down under the deadly fire of thousands upon thousands of machine guns, and the crashing tower of monster engines of destruction, and then the whole world stood aghast and wondered. Was Prussia to conquer the world and destroy the liberties of mankind? Oh, no! It seemed that at that hour God heard the silent prayer of all the liberty loving nations. The heavens must have seen that nation on her knees, praying for strength, and then took place the greatest miracle of modern times. It was the dawn of the day of the battle oi the Marne, the sun of which will never set. Do you know, my friends, what it is tnat has helped France most, through this mighty struggle? . . Listen, my friends! One morning a mighty voice was heard coming from across the seas, and that voice, as it passed over the waves, took up some of the grandeur and solemnity of the ocean itself; It was reciting in the most sublime and immortal words the rights of individuals and of nations; it was branding with an indelible mark the criminal aggressors of mankind; it was placing the aims of this wirntnm the highest level conceivable; It was endeavoring to make this world safe for democracy—and that voice was the voice of the man whose patience and forbearance have never been equaled by the heads of any other powerful nation —that voice was the voice of your own illustrious President, Mr. Woodrow Wilson. I am not. of course, you know well, making a political speech to you, the citizens of this great republic, but you must know, and you are entitled to know the love, the veneration and respect with which the name of vour President is spoken today, over the fields of Europe, and, believe me, wherever it is not spoken with respect,- it is pronounced with fear! Your President read aright the minds and the hearts of the American people. All honor to him, for he has read beautifully, and all honor to the American people, for they have inspired him, and his messages have been so beautiful that they have been read in everyone of our public schools, they have been preached from every pulpit, and they have been given out over the battlefields, to the soldiers of every nation in our army, and we do hope that some of them have successfully crossed the lines and sowed good seed over there. You may well be proud, for those messages will stand in the annals of this nation as most glorious documents. Nay, mav I not say they are greater than 'he Declaration of Independence, for the Declaration of Independence was the declaration of one nation, but this is the declaration of independence of all the nations! You were told that you were a powerful nation. YeS, you were a powerful nation in times of peace, but you were the-weak-est of nations in time of war, and that is why now, you have at last awakened to the realization, and you are organizing your soldiers and training them, making guns and rifles as fast as you can —but you are, indeed, fortunate that the British fleet is standing in the Atlantic ocean, and that the French soldiers are dying on the battlefields of France. Do not be sorry that you have been called to share this burden with us. You are citizens of America. Be proud. This is the greatest day in your life; it is the day on which you are called upon to, give up something for the greatest cause Ah, my friends, be proud, for your mission is beautiful. You are not oniy going to be the defenders of liberty, but you are going to be the apostles of it. You, so rich in spiritual blessings, are going to call the enslaved nations of the world to share in this inheritance. Yes, this flag, the purest of all flags, of all nations, Is going to become the emblem of freedom —not freedom for these United States, but freedom for the world.