Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1918 — THE WAR AS A MELTING POT [ARTICLE]

THE WAR AS A MELTING POT

We hear much these days of the melting pot as applied to the Amciicanization of our foreign immigrants. While the need has been great that this foreign element up fused with the national life as quickly as possible, there is yet another phase of Ain' .'c n I■ ’ wherein the melting pot can render great service, and that melting pot will be developed in the war upon -which we have entered. Until recent years America has been distressingly provincial. Not provincial as a whole, but provincial by Sections. The down easter looked with suspicion upon anything having its origin outside old New England. The southerner viewed all parts of the country save the West as alien territory, and only had a tolerance for that section because it was made up largely of ins kinsman. The citizen of the Middle West has always been convince 1

that creation ceased with the completion of his territory, and so it ran. The thoughts and customs yf the various sections were antagonistic, and it was only grudgingly that either could be brought to admit that there might be anything of merit come out of the other. All this the war will change. We will no longer be a nation of manr elements all antagonistic and out of sympathy. We will no longer waste our energies in berating an d belittleing our neighbors beeas&e, forsooth, they may not view all of life with oiir eyes. In France there are today young men from every pari of this country fighting side by side, sharing the same dangers and the sail* deaths As the war progresses tbfar numbers are increasing. Each is learning from others, and each is unconsciously learning to- see from the other's viewi»oint. As the association progresses, many coiemon views will be developed, and where antagonism exists, close and intimate contact will gradually hut surely bring each into harmony with the other. When this war is ended and the boys Come home, it will not W £ crowd of provincials we shall welcome, but an afmy of cosmoi»o3atans—world citizens, we may .say. These men will have probed to the bottom the character of their f lows and learned all there was H know of them. And in that knowledge they will each have found much of value when fully understood, and will have learned to appreciate to the full the good points of all. The war will complete what our great industrial development lead begun—it will make of us at least one compact nation, all Americans together, all with a common inteiest, a common love and a common destiny. * '

Xo what this war ooeis the government and the ]«eoi>le ©I the Unifed States in the way ©f money, it is going to be much c3®aj»er to win this war than to lose St_ The commercial and financial losses that would follow a German victory are not to be calculated. All that we spent would be. lost,. ind-enalMties beyond calculation would have to paid, and along with these 'losses would come a continuing loss an foreign commerce tha’t’ would sS»eAI disaster. With these material losses we would Ipse onn naxnanal liberty and independence, our jx»»er to secure our international rig-As. our right to live in a world Tuk-a by- the dictates of humanity ann civilization.

It is estimated that the Americans of foreign birth or extract!' purchased $350,001*,000 of the Third Liberty loan: the num ter of such bond buyers is esumaied at over 5,000,000. A consular telegram from Shanghai, China, states that subscriptions to the Third Lab 1 erty loan in Shanghai amounted to over $600,000. The American Embassy in Mexico City states that the subscriptions in that city are more than $384,000, more than double the quota set for the Americans living there. The Shah of Persia purchased a SIOO,OOO Liberty bond.

From all parts of the state cornea toe Cwery “How about building this year?" The Council of National Defease has answered the questipx- Don't build unless the new structure is an immediate necessity- Don’t build if you can postpone baaldimr. The only wall which cnmaits now is the wall which will help as to wia the war. In writing to a soldier in France, address ywjtr letter to the "American E- P. instead of merely using i&e initials “A. E. F.” There are several expeditionary forces in France and mail which does not carry the word American may wind w> at the wrong destination. The kaiser did not consult you about starting the war, did he? AM right. If he tries to trick you mu by suggesting peace terms which are all in his favor, just write to him and say that as soon as the war is over you will notify him. The pioneers of Indiana got along rsoet of the time without white fio®r and did not weep or complain. If the United States is your country. you can't trick the food regulations without cheating yourself. ... Tito Indiana State Council of De lease says that the wise man is he who puts in. an early order for eoal and keeps after the dealer until the winter supply is in the bin