New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-31


thing Of the lesson has been lost in fifty
years. There are growing signs that we
are forgetting what our fathers learned
in four years of suffering and sacrifice.
yet there still remains an America which
serves and will serve the cause of de
mocracy and of humanity, and it endures
because there abide with it the memory
and the example Of those who lived and
died for it half century ago.
Out of the greatness of our own fail
ures in the opening years of the Civil
War, out of the magnitude of our weak
nesses disclosed in the early days of our
conflict by that pitiless test which is war.
there is for Americans now a standard
to measure British depression and to esti-
mate British Encouragement. But the
Civil War was fought by nation still
Anglo-Sexon in all it's millions. The bur-
den Of the battle was borne and the work
of the generals and the statesmen was
done by those who belonged to the Amer
lea of Revolutionary and Colonial days
And because this is true Americans have
no doubt that the same spirit, the same
will, the same determination, will inspire
the British to Garry on" until the victory
is attained.
The years since the Civil War have
changed the character of our population
and contributed to obscure the older
American horizons and dim the earlier
American traditions. We are not, as we
were, a homogeneous people, and in con-
sequence there must be much In our politi-
cal life which confuses and bewilders the
British. Yet in their own year Of strug-
gle and disappointment they will do well
to remember that there are hundreds of
thousands Of Americans who, through all
the present year, have looked out upon
British effort and British suffering with
very real and very deep sympathy and
admiration. There are hundreds of thou
sands Of Americans who are never for a
moment forgetful of the great service
that the British, like the French, are rem
dering to mankind and to America.
These Americans can no more control
their nation than could those other British
who sympathized with the North in its
days of similar disappointment and strug-
gle They are powerless to stay the
bands of politicians, as the British friends !
Of the North were powerless to prevent
British subjects from taking their profit
from the blockade runners and the Ala
l.. e 1Lo C,,,t1 No. Thora ic calf oh ]
ness and there is blindness in America as
there was in England and as there always
is in every nation, when a neighbor is
suffering.
Yet there are other things in America,
there are other men and there are other
ideas and ideals. And those who hold
to them have looked upon the present war |
with a very great and an unfailing ap- |
probation Of what to the United States,
to liberty and democracy the world over,
the British and the French efforts mean.
That which they could do they have done
and will continue to do, not merely be-
cause of admiration or affection for Brit
ain or France, not chiefly because of these,
but primarily because they see the British |
and the French to-day fighting for the
things they hold dearest and best in life.
In the midst Of their own bitterness and
pain at the close of year Of disappoint- |
ment it may perhaps be source of pleas /
ure and comfort to some British citizens
and soldiers to know that there are in
America very many thousands of men
and women who look forward to the new
year with confidence and with happiness
because they believe that this new year
will bring with it the reward for all that
the British and the French have suffered
and sacrificed in the long months that
have gone before.
For itself The Tribune has never had
any other belief than that the German
menace to our civilization would in Gods
own time be abolished. 1t has never dis
guised its views upon the issues of the
war or its convictions of the meaning of
the outcome to America as a part of the
community of nations. And at the close
Of the year that has gone, year that has
It's own share of glory amidst the bitter
ness and failure, it speaks for itself and
for those Americans who share its views
ir wishing for the British as for the
French that the year to come may be a
victory year, year of deliverance for
mankind and of reward for that portion
Of humanity which has done its part and
paid in life and in happiness the price
which men and nations must ultimately
pay If they are TO live, if they deserve
to live.