The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-05-23
EACH MUST DO HIS BIT.
Share for Everybody to Do in Pres
ent Crisis, and If He Fails He is a
"Slacker."
(From Manufacturers Record

ana IN oruer 10 neip save civilization
from destruction by barbarism. this
country is at war with Germany. Tho
cost in suffering, in privation, in lives
and in treasure may be greater than
we can at present forecast, but the
sacrifice is demanded of us. It was
not Of our choosing. 1t was forced
upon us against our will. President
wilson struggled as probably no 9th.
er man in human history ever strug-
gled to save the nation from war
Now that we have entered the con-
test, a weighty responsibility rests
upon every man and woman. All mnst
do their part. No one can shirk the
duty Of the hour without being a
Stacker" and the "slackers" will be
those who, in business. whether on the
farm, in the office. in the factory or in
their homes, fail to measure up to the
responsibilities Of the hour.
The war may be long and desper-
ate. 1t may tax our strength physi-
cally and financially. It may call for
sacrifices such as none in our coun-
try have known except the women of
the South who lived through the pri-
Vations and terrors of the Civil War.
For four years Southern women
fought a greater fight even than the
-oic men who, under Lee and Jack.
son, footsore and weary and hungry,
maintained that mighty contest.
This war may not be fought upon
our own soil. but no one dare say that
1t is impossible. We are fighting The
most terrific war machine, the most
ruthless p. er the world has ever
known. and no man can say where it's
blows may strike us.
Our country has summoned its peo-
pie to arms to save ourselves and our
nation ere 1t be too late. We hesi-
tated long. We waited with patience
that seemed endless as ignominy was
heaped upon us and as our people
were murdered. hiding, as we were.
behind the English fleet, which was
our only safety. Indeed. as a nation
We were "slackers," skulking behind
that fleet which alone saved us from
Belgium's fate. We covered our eyes
to shut out the light and stopped our
ears, refusing to see the inevitable and
unwilling to hear the insistent call of
duty.
To many Of our people all Of this
has been as plain as the midday sun
for more than two years, but the vast
majority refused to see or hear, and
preferred to seek peace and prosperity
rather than duty and national saliva
ton. 1t is never pleasant to look a
desperate situation squarely in the
face. Every man believes every other
man but himself to be mortal and sub
ject to the call of death. rather than
sternly face the fact that he, too, may
at any moment have to face death and
should be prepared for it. We be-
lieved that in some way we were not
subject to the dangers which other
countries faced. and that we could put
the thought of national sickness and
death far from us.
At last, however, through force of
circumstances and the power and
strength of President Wilson's ad-
dress to congress, the nation has been
aroused and our people compelled to
see the deadly danger that confronts
u.s. and the dishonorable position in
which as a nation we have lived, will
ing to be saved by others without put =
ting forth any effort to save ourselves.
We are awake now, thank God, and
the mighty spirit of the nation thrills
with new life and a new sense of re-
sponsibility to urselves and to tho
allies who have saved us and civiliza-
tion itself from destruction.