New Britain herald., 1917-09-14
LESSON NO. 2S. WHY WE FIGGT,


 in Camp. [. Your Health S. Marching and Care of Feet. 9. Your Equipment and Arms. 10. Recreation in Camp. H. Playing the Game. 12. Teamwork in the
 Army. 13. Grouping Men Into Teams. IA. The Team Leaders. Is. Fighting Arms of the Service. 16. Staff Branches of the Service-I. 17. Staff Branches of the Service II. IS. Army Insignia 19 The . Army System of Training. 20. Close Order Drill. 21. Extended Order Drill 22. Guard Duty. 23. Getting Ahead in the Army. "A. Army Courtesy. 25. Discipline and Respect for the Colors. 2s. Some Army Traditions. 27. The Spirit of the Service)
 Every American knows the causes of our war with the German Govern-
 ment. Yet this course would be in- complete if it did not contain a brief
 review of the events that finally
 forced us into war, when at last there
 remained ''no other means of defend- ing our rights"
 The soldier of an autocratic Kaiser may fight best when he understands 1 least of the true meaning of the war To tell him the facts would be to chill his enthusiasm. But the citizen soldier of democracy is entitled to know for what purposes he enters the struggle. He fights best when he sees most clearly why he fights.
 The resolution of Congress declar- 1 ing a state of war (April G. 1917) expresses the immediate cause in 1 these few words:
 "The Imperial German Government l has committed repeated acts of war aainst the Government and the peo- pie of the United States of America. Chief among the acts of war were attacks by German submarines on American ships and on unarmed mer- chant ships of other nations carrying American passengers. Vessels of every kind" said the President in his address to Congress on April 2, 1917, "whatever their flag. their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom without warning and with out thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belliger- ents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with
 safe conduct through the prescribed areas by the German Government It. self and were distinguished by un-
 mistakable marks of identity, have
 been sunk with the same reckless
 lack of compassion or of principle The present German subma- rine warfare against commerce IS warfare against mankind.'
 German Insults and AggTessiOns. There were other acts of hostility
 in addition to the submarine warfare. l In his Flag Day address delivered at Washington June IA, 1917. the Pres ident summed up the events that brought on war as follows:
 Ut is plain enough how we were forced into the war. The extraordin- arv insults and aggressions of the Inn perial German Government left us no self-respecting choice but to take up arms in defense of our rights as a free people and of our honor as sovereign Government The military masters of Germany denied us the l right to be neutral. They filled our 1 unsuspecting communities with vici- ous spies and conspirators and sought | to corrupt the opinion of our people
 in their own behalf. When they
 found that they could not do that,
 their agents diligetly spread sedition
 amongst us and sought to draw our | own citizens from their allegiance and some of those agents were men 1 connected with the official embassy ! of the German Government itself here in our Capital. They sought by l violence to destroy our industries and arrest our commerce. They tried ] to incite Mexico to take up arms 1 a gainst us and to draw Japan into a hostile alliance with her-and that, l not by indirection, but by suggestion from the foreign office in Berlin. They 1 impudently denied us the use of the l highx seas and repeatedly executed
 their threat that they would send to
 their death any of our people who
 ventured to approach the coasts of 1 Europe"
 i Our Liberty and Safety Involved.
 Yet even this list of extraordinary 1 insults and aggressions' does not tell l the whole story Our motives for | war go even deeper. Not only our | rights and self-respect, but our lih l erty and safety, are involved Speak ing on July 29, 1917, at the officers | training camp at Madison Barracks, N Y, the, Secretary of State said:
 "The evil character of the German ] Government is laid bare before the
 world. We know now that that Gov
 ernment is inspired with ambitions | which menace human liberty, and
 that toSgain it's end 1t does not hesi- | tate to break faith, to violate the 1 most sacred rights, or to perpetrate intolerable acts of inhumanity <. Let us understand once for all that this is no war to establish an abstract
 principle of right. It is a war in (which the future of the United States is at stake"
 The record out of which grows our