Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1916-05-31
SYNOPSIS OF SERMON sY REV.
w. }. sUckoW, GIVEN SUN.
DAY, MAY 29.
B0NORING The MEMORY OF SOLDIER
Urges Preparedness for Defensive
Purposes. Says War 10 Re-
duced TO Exact Science.

Remember this, and show your
selves men,. lisa. 46:S.
The right method Of nonoring our
soldiers is indicated in these words.
We are to honor them by remember
ing tee services they have rendered,
and especially by being men enough
to protect, preserve and hand down
unimpaired to posterity that which
their services have Won tor us-our
country.
The question Of adequately pro-
tecting our country and the rights OF
its citizens is just now the burning
question Of the day. The great Eu-
ropean war and our recent Mexican
complications have shown that in an
emergency we are wonderfully un-
prepared to protect our country, and
the question Of adequate prepared.
ness has thus been forced upon the
of the nation.
While we have had q fairly good
navy, the question Of military pre-
paredness is one in which the Ameri-
can people have 4hus far never taken
much interest. This has been due
to several reasons.
One is our characteristic Ameri-
can optimism. We have assumed
that somehow Providence will take
care Of the United States much as it
is supposed to do of children and
drunken men and Other irresponsib ible
beings. Another is the tradition that
Uncle Sam has never been "ltcked"
and therefore never will be. A third
is our geographically isolated position
with two oceans and gulf and two
comparatively weak countries sur.
us. Another is the growth
Of the sentiment for international
peace and arbitration during the
last twenty years, notably in this
country and III England. And the
last is our petty policies in Congress,
many Of our Congressmen being
smallbcre politicians instead Of
broad-minded statesmen far more
anxious to divert public funds to
their district for political purposes
than to build up the strength and dig
nifty OF the nation at large. AS
result Of all this, the American navy
ranks about third among the navies
of the world, while the American
army is numerically joke.
But the world crisis through which
we are passing has aroused the Amer
ican peopel to the need Of greater
in order that We may
be able to defend and conserve the
heritage won and held for us by Our
soldiers in the past.
This movement for greater military
preparedness is not due to the lingo
element in the nation, although we
have such an element. 1t is not due
to the manufacturers OF war NUM-
tions, although they naturally favor
the movement in the interests OF
their business. Nor is it due to some
group of alarmists, given to "seeing
things" 1t is at bottom due to the
sober sense CT the American people,
who have come to see that there are
certain facts which cannot be ignor
ed indefinitely without cowardice and
possible disaster.
Among these facts are the follow.
ing: There are still warlilke nations
in the world which will not scruple tt
use their trained military force to
take what they want when they think
that their opportunity has come.
belive that there are not many such
nations today; but one Of that kind
is enough to endanger the peace OF
the world, and there are more than
one.
A few thousand miles Of ocean
are NO longer the protection they
once were. Modern appliances have
changed all that.
We"tare has been reduced to an
exact science. The time has gone
when a Paul Revere can ride around
at night and summon the farmers to
do battle for their country. Even
tho most common military operations
today demand a high degree OF skill
Only the trained soldier counts;
the unframed solder, how vtr pa.
triotics is mere cannon fodd,r.
The nation that delays preparing
for war until war is declared Is liza.
BILE to r. beaten before it is half
through with it's preparations; and
even if it does win in the end, it is
only after a terrific and needless
sacrifice of life and property. OF
that England is just now an impress
i've example. Because she was well
by sea, she holds the win
ming card. Because she was poorly
by land, her efforts thus
far have been a string Of costly dis
asters. Had she been as we'll pre-.
pared by land as she was by sea, the
war would have been over, if in.
deed it had ever begun; had she
been as poorly prepared by sea as
she was by land, the war would also
be over by this time-with
part of the German Empire.
Moreover, the question is not sim.
ply one Of protecting our shores
from hcstiel invasion. A nation Of a
hundred million people cannot shut
itself up like an oyster in it's shell.
it must and will become world
power, with Worldwide responsible.