Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-11

presence of universal destruction. A picture
recently published showed the wife and
! daughter Of one of the richest Of Belgians-
rich three months ago-huddled together in
a ditch, weary and hungry, snatchng what
rest they could during the long walk to Hol-
land and food. 1t is not the peasants only
! who have been stricken. The devotion Of
Belgium is the devotion Of all classes. Troop
! ers and guns have spread over the entire
| countryside, like an invasion Of the army
worm, which last summer occasioned 50
much destruction in the vicinity of Phila-
delphia.
TN ONE of the German restaurants Satur-
i day former Berlner glanced at the full
page advertisement for Belgian relief, threw
the paper down on the table and exclaimed:
IT'S all lie. That shipload Of goods is go
ing to the English" That was a natural
view. A German, in fact, is a human being,
just as filled with soul any of the rest of
us, and it was Hale in THE Man Without
Country" who eloquenty pictured the
utter desolation of the natoness human
being.
MY country right or wrong" has been a
toast these many years. Spain felt that
American interference in Cuba was not only
unjustihed, but an actual impertnence.
Some Americans felt the same way, but that
did not prevent them from volunteering to
run race with yellow fever. A German who
did not sympathize with The millions of other
Germans who, whether they wished it or not,
are in fact engaged in a death struggle,
would not be much of n German; and the
Fatherland, 1t is safe to say, would be rather
glad of his absence. No, militarism or no
mitarlsm the Rhine still flows, the Germans
gtfn Iowa aln a. II
they must love 1t If the romance of childhood
and the dreams of early manhood mean any
thing.
A MERICANS who consider only the grim
n visage of the military machine, denounce
militarism and expect Germans in this coun-
try to see the struggle just as they see it are
really inconsiderate Anne leans. History is a
point of view, nothing much more than that
There a thousand different histories of
the Civil War, with a thousand facts stated
in thousand different ways Until recently,
for instance, 1t was common fallacy that
Massachusetts won the Revolution and that
the announcement of the Declaration in Bos-
ton was of vastly more Importance than the
adoption and signing of it in Philadelphia.
But the vehement German in the restaurant,
whose heart is probably "back home" in a
cottage Dy tne ttulne, neeu not worry. Inc
cargo of the Thelma is not going to the Eng
llsh troops, or to the French troops.
1t is going into the hungry mouths of inno-
cents, innocent children and innocent adults,
to -combatants who have been thrust
upon the charity of the world-which means,
in this awful moment, the charity of the
United States.
IMMIGRATION laws are excellent things.
L The protection which our factories in
some cases require, labor also finds neces-
sary. A trip from Philadelphia to Washing
ton, however, is sufficient evidence of the
vast acreage in this country yet uncultivated
If the Thelma could bring back a cargo of
Belgians, families skilled in dairying and in
tensve farming, there would be place for
them in this nation and they would not
interfere with the living of a single family.
They would be likely, the other hand, to
prove a leaven to increase greatly the agri-
cultural values of the United States. So
excellent citizenship, in bulk or otherwise,
would be worth more to the United States
than the direct importation of millions in
gold. Gold itself is valueless unless there is
population to make of 1t. It may be the
part of wisdom, before many months have
passed, to bring the Belgians to the food
after taking the food to the Belgians.
g.