The Washington herald., 1914-07-24
Grit.
ny WILLIAM WRIT MILLS.

II has been said that there Is something of the
Indian in every Amehcan-in every man born and
bred in the land that was conquered from prifneva
wilderness by the red-slnned men of the forest In
some measure at least each true-biooded American
possesses the dominant characteristics of the North
American aborignes-pluck, grit the nerve to stand
up against odds and to fight like demon against foes
more powerful, often to win victory when defeat
seems inevitable.
II was this American grit that gave the colonies
independence; that saved the impoverished and ex-
hausted young nation from the British yoke in 1872
that pulled the country out of the chasm of disaster
in the sixties.
1t is this American pluck that is exempihed day
after day. year after year. in the struggles and tri
umphs of ndivduals-in the gallant efforts and the
crowning successes of the men who grapple with
fortune and conquer her, who win out in spite OF
handcaps and disadvantages sufficient to deter the
men of less plucly race
There is story told of Boston man taking an
English visitor to Bunker Hill,
What bully licking we gave you that day." re-
marked the Brtsher to his host.
who owns this place now% was the efectual
rejoinder.
What other people than the American have ever
won independence by war begun with licking
Valley Forge, to any other people, would have
proved the climax of encouragement and the starved
and freezing Continentals would have wandered back
to their homes instead of pressing to Yorktown.
And who would have predicted unified nation
the day after Bull RUM
And who can doubt the ability of the American
people to wrest prosperity from adversely in this day
of countrywide depression.
The American business man looks back to 1903 and
to 1907 and says at has been done" More than this
he looks forward and says, 1T can be DONE" and he
does it.
There is little room for discomfort in the American
spirit Frank to admit adverse conditions the Ameri-
can does not dwell on them, except so far as is
necessary to find and apply the remedy He is not a
croaker, but doer. -
He has vision. He looks long way ahead While
struggling in and with the present. he has his eyes
set on the future, and his strides long and his
tread firm as he makes for the goal.
He can plod; he also rum and whether run
ming poddng, his head is held high and his eyes
are clear and the heart movement is steady.
1t is this spirit that has carried the flag trium-
phant through FIVE wars unsuied by ultimate defeat,
however dark the days that have ntervened between
the first shot and the final victory.
1t is this plain American grit that has won and is
winning the markets of the world, however adverse
the conditions created by halfbaked legislation how
ever keen the competition of the lands where labor
is underpaid, and where governments are more keen
to support and encourage industry.
1t is this quality of unalloyed pluck that sustans
the penniless lad on the long trail from the home
hearth to the pinnacle of success.
1t is this nerve to stand up stiy against odds that
makes it impossible for enemies without or within
to dam up the power or the ever expanding
greatness of America