Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-05
WAR MUST BE WON BY t. S.
Dauphin County Patriotic Citizens and Veterans of
Foreign Wars Recruiting Tells of
Work to be Done
QN TWO INsTALMENTs-PART oNE)

7 ary attrition. Starvation as factor
seems very doubtful. The fruitful
| fields of Rumania, Russia and Bel
gium are under Teutonic cultivation
and while there is shortage of some
foodstuffs and an absence of others.
there still remains sufficient to pre-
vent the end of the war by this
| means
Scarcity of labor? No. for beside
women and ineligible males. over
| three million prisoners are cultivat-
ing the fields and building roads un-
! der guard of Teuton Landstrum.
Manpower attrition? No. for each
year the incoming military class is
larger than the one next preceding
| it. and of the wounded it is said that
medical "Kultur," plastic surgery,
etc, are restoring over ninety per
cent. of the wounded to fighting form.
1t has been published as an incontro-
vertible fact that Germany is now far
stronger in men, artillery and sub
marines than at any previous time in
| her history.
The elimination of these attritive
elements leaves the decision of the
war in our hands. What shall we do?
| Maintain an attitude of self-satisfac-
| tion and complacent passivity, while
| insidious German propaganda flour
| ishes paciflst activities continue and
| strikes tie up our coal mines, our
shipyards and other Industries which
| aim at the very heart of our National
activities so essential to our proper
! representation in this war? Are we
| to wait until the German navy ap-
pears at our doors and German SOL
| diers overrun our homesteads? DO
we want this very part of our'country
another Belgium?
Shall we say. "Oh. we'll. il they
! come here a million men will spring
| to arms over night? To say nothing
of the unlikelihood of this sudden
burst of militant patriotism, ask
yourselves If it is practicable, or
pie of hairbrained folly and culpable
slothfulness.
Would ii be practicable" in case
| there were n dangerous fire in the
next block for you to walt until the
| fire had crossed the street and was
scorching your home containing all
your possessions before commencing
| to fight the fire, or would you try to
confine it to the other block and keep
| it from crossing the street? That's
our case in this war. If they cross
the street. our property will be very
seriously "scorched." Therefore, we've
| got to keep them from crossing that
| street by first crossing 1t ourselves.
and it can't be done without the nee
essary equipment. To have this we
must have aNtional cooperation. To
have cooperation we must have the
spirit that makes for harmony, for
without this we are like a shackled
man trying to run a race.
| President Wilson has said that
this must not be merely trained
Army. but a Nation trained" and
this exactly shows the degree of CO.
operation necessary. Not habits nor
customs nor religious creeds nor
alien birth should foster or be al
lowed to cause lack of that harmony
and cooperation toward the success
of our efforts for National liberty of
action. We speak of religious lib
erty" distinguished from the English
religious liberation" as a thing
apart by itself. but this does not
mean liberty to any religious sect to
take advantage of constitutional safe
guard or to allow sectarian or dog
matte tenets to prevent their showing
themselves true Americans. We are
averse to considering such a subject
until as has been shown. 1t becomes
a patriotic issue. Religious liberty
means liberty to worship and to be
God-fearing. which implies country
loving.