Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-07-21
ACTIVE NEUTRALITY
The Real Meaning of Neutrality Not
To Profit From the Loss and Suf-
fering of Nations, But To Act The
Part OF The Good Samaritan To-
ward The Sick, Wounded and Needy.
By Myron T. Herrick.

1t is not only the soldiers at the
front, fighting and dying for country ,on
whom the hardships of war bear with
cruel weight. 1t is a glorious and con-
spicious thing to die for ones coun-
try; it is more difficult to live for
ones country as the women, the old
men, and even the children of Europe
are doing. They endure in silence the
privations, the shortage of food and
clothing, the hard labor in factory and
leld, sometimes even the loss of homes
which are the inevitable accompani-
ment of the struggle. They suffer al
so that supreme horror of war, the
loss of loved ones killed in battle.
There is scarcely home in Europe
that does not mourn it's men swallow
ed up in the great conflict; not vii
lage without it's crippled men to be
constant reminders of the human
sacrifice of these terrible years; not
a person who will not bear through
life the unseen scars that grief has
marked on mind and heart during the
great war.
1t is little enough that we of Ameri-
ca can do. We cannot heal the broken
hearts nor fill the empty homes. But
so far as gifts in money or supplies
and the personal service of our people,
can soften for the sufferers in Europe
the hard conditions under which they
now exist, it is our duty to aid to the
uttermost extent of our ability.
There is an impression that to be
neutral means that we may profit from
the blood and tears of nations in
agony, and that there is no obligation
on us in return to do more than give
little from our surplus. But there
is an active neutrality which will cause
Europe to think of US when this war
is over, not as commercial-minded sell
lers of munitions and supplies alone,
but as the large-hearted, free-handed
people who have cared for the wound
ed and dying, clothed and fed the
homeless and hungry, and nursed the
helpless victims of battle. These are
things which by the law of nations we
are permitted to do. These are the
actions which will gain US the love of
Europe, rather than it's contempt for
our commercialism.
The situation can be adequately. met
only by the systematic organization of
all the philanthropic forces of the
United States A strong central au-
thority is .laded such as the govern
ment alone can give. / wish that the
President had seen fit (and it is not
yet too late to appoint large num-
ber of the leading men of the country
as a committee to take charge of the
whole undertaking; to coordinate all
kinds of relief work, receiving the aid
of federal and state governments even
to the extent of appropriations. Were
we to set the mark at a billion dol
lars, that would be little enough to
meet the extraordinary demands OF
this worst calamity that the world has
ever known 1t is often said that the
United States will have no friends
when this war ends; but were we tC
create this gigantic charity to labor il
every one of the belligerent countries
for the relief of the wounded and des'
titute, it's benefcent work would fan
overshadow all the animosities which
now vex US. We should have all those
nations as our friends. The perform
ance of our duty as Christian nation
would be also our most effective mea-
sure of defense.
That should not be our only mea-
sure of defense. Because l have seer
great nations rush into battle in a
few short days; because l have ridden
through blood-stained fields where
thousands of dead men lay with faces
upturned to the sky; because l have
seen long lines of vehicles dripping
blood as they bore the wounded back
from the front; because have seen
the awful ruin of war until it numbs
the mind and sickens the heart, am
for peace.
But peace lies in strength, not in
weakness. The balance of the world
has been upset, and civilization is
turned back hundred years. In the