New-York tribune., 1916-02-28
For France.


cans on behalf of French soldiers Grip
pied by the war. who are being prepared
for the harder battle of supporting their
families ana themselves. 1t is a work to
aid those who have faced the enemy, per-
formed their duty. made their sacrifice
and for the rest of their lives must endure
the hardships consequent upon their sacri-
flee.
Such an appeal must have an instant
claim upon Americans. In the earliest hour
Of our own existence it was the French
who were the first TO discern the true
meaning to mankind of our own Revolu-
ton. Before the French Monarchy needed
The savice of statesmen the French peo-
ple heard the call of liberty, and by their
generous aid and contribution insured the
supremacy of those ideas written first
into our own Declaration Of Independence
and reechoed with new power in the
French Declaration of the Rights of Man.
But il is not necessary. it is not possl-
Die. to limit this appeal TO those Americans
who feel that the battle lines in France
are the IIOllltlo VI NtllipNA tRNs va N''+N
planet. 1t is wider still. this call. The
pacifists. those who believe war wicked,
strife unnecessary-the too, can con-
tribute something to mitigate the supreme
agony of war. Here is no question OF
binding cd the wounds of those who will
serve again here is no question of remak-
ing soldiers. Those who will be helped can
never return TO the firing line; for them
the war is over; still young, life Is for
them simply the problem Of living use
fully. independent of charity, self-support-
ing despite their injuries.
We who in comfort and ease have seen
the Great War from afar, have even pros
pered while all the rest Of mankind suf-
fered. can we do less than share our pros
perity with those who have suffered? And
with whom should we share if not with the
French? The Germans, who are sparing
in praise of their foes, do full JUS
tice to French devotion. gallantry, endur-
ance. A blind world has confessed It's
mistake in deeming France a nation of
the past and the French decadent; we
KNOW lON tIdl L dllNtf ~ iiNi N''A' ''''N'''
is saved to all mankind and that which
France contributed of her own genius Will
continue The world is already richer be-
cause it knows that the war which
threatened France can threaten her exist
ence no more
But in the long time to come we who
have found France a second fatherand, a
pleasant land in which TO rest, to study or
TO work. shall we not contribute some
thing where we have received so much
Shall we not do something for the de-
scendants of those other trenchmen who
fought with Washington and shared all
our own sufferings from Valley Forge to
Yorktown, from despair to victory?
1t is not France that asks. The voices
that call for help are those of American
men and women who have undertaken a
noble work. some for the love that France
has inspired in so many hearts beyond her
own frontiers, some for the sake Of that
sympathy and pity which are the right of
the unfortunate, the double right of those
whose courage has brought not misfortune,
but noble suffering. The men who have
given an arm, an eye, a leg-who have
come from the heat of battle crippled, to
live through the years hereafter, manned
- in all but spirit Go they not deserve all
that can be done for them?
W In all the storm and stress OF the pres
cnt world conflict one among the great
nations mas stood forth without selfish aim
or ignobe ambition: France. our old ally
our enduring friend has not sought for
world power. place in the sum-" empire
or dominion; she has fought for the prin-
cples that she gave the world in her great
Revolution and for the democracy that
she served, first in America and then at
home. Alone of all the world powers she
has carried the flag of democracy; alone
of the great powers she has faced wal
with complete fidelity to the traditions anC
the ideals which are ours and hers.
And after nearly two years of war
across all the battles. the campaigns, tho
struggles that have laid her cities in ashes
have slain so many of her sons and de-
stroyed so much OF the art and the beauty
of the world which were her gift and fol
which she was but the trustee for all man
kind France rises, serene and strong
brave and faithful to the end. She has
saved democracy in Europe, she has pre-
served the principles that are our princi-
pies: shall not Americans do something for
France. not merely in payment of an an
cient debt. but in return for service as
recent as the deeds recounted in the last
communque?
1t is a simple service that we Ameri-
cans can render: to bind up the wounds.
70 care for the crippled; to give to the
soldier his battles fought, the opportunity
TO learn, to prepare for the new work. 1t