New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-10-29
Director, Tribune Institute.

heart on the Goth of last September first trav-
ersed the letter that he wrote you. 1t thus
becomes a veritable relic.
"The colonel has ordered for Corporal Louis
Moret honorable mention before the army.
But God has already given him more beauti-
full reward. Those who thus generously sac
rifce their lives to the great cause of duty are
true martyrs and God owes it to Himself to
give to them in heaven the most glorious rec
ompense.
Weep for your martyr, but pray for him
with confidence. From the highest heaven he
will protect you--you and his dear children!
"'These are the only relics we possess of
your dear husband. His body remained be-
tween the lines, waiting until one could res
cue it and give it suitable burial. Without
doubt some marauder has stolen his pocket
book and has thrown away these papers, which
for him we're without Importance. This ex-
plains why we are not able to send you any
thing else.
"Be sure, madame, that / pray earnestly
with you and for you and that with all my
heart implore the good God to protect you
and bless you. May He deign to remember
the sacrifice of your husband, assuage your
sorrow and help you to find in your faith the
courage of which you have need!
Accept, madame, the assurance of my pro-
found respect and my complete devotion in
the name of our Saviour.
al. GODEFROY, Chaplain, 153d"
And how was it with Yvonne Morlet? These
letters and the croir de guerre which was
awarded to Corporal Louis Morlet for gallantry
on the field Of battle are all she has. No word
of complaint has come to us from her. She
writes simply that in spite of their pain the
women of France are proud to be the mates OF
heroes who give their lives for justice and
duty And in the tragedy Of her face-the age
long tragedy of those who wait and endure
there is the serene courage that comes to those
who have faced the uttermost and have not
cringed.
In those first days she had need of courage
courage and faith! For she had not yet
given all that might be demanded of her.
France has but little money to spare for the
widows and children of the men who die for
her. There is pitifully tiny pension for the
soldiers widow--barely enough to keep oooy
and soul together. The children must be
reared--for France-but they must be reared
at the minimum Of expense.
There is only one way TO do this-ln big
state institutions that care for children in the
mass. This is better than no care at all; but
what of the mothers-and the children!
Yvonne Morlet faced, as thousands Of other
poor mothers in France are facing, the neces-
sity of giving up her children that they might
not starve She worked in the postofiice in
the daytime, leaving the children with her
aoed uother-but even this could not meet all
needs
Fortunately, wise and generous minds on
both sides of the ocean had pictured to them
selves the horror and calamity that would fol
low if the children of soldiers dead on the field
Of battle were taken away from their mothers
and cent to asylums. Thousands of little
homes like that of Louis and Yvonne Morlet
homes where Happiness was poisoning De
fore the cyclone Of war was unclaimed
would be broken up. The life Of France would
be drained even more surely than it is being
drained on the battefeld-for these little
homes shelter the France OF the future.
SO II was established that if a mother could
maintain herself on the pension allotted to
her by the government she might Keep her
children and care for them herself II she
could be given 10 cents day for the mainten-
ance Of each child. Such an absurdly tiny sum
% mean 10 much
But even these few pitiful cents, when mul-
tiplied by several hundreds Of Thousands, grow
into enormous sum. The government is