Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1917-07-20

wards paid In money, not In the mere
liberation Of the world.
II take 1t for granted that those
who argue thus do not stop TO think
what that means.
"Do they mean that You must be
paid, must he brbed, to make youl
contribution, a contribution that costs
you neither a drop of blood nor tear,
when the whole world Is In travail and
men everywhere depend upon and call
TO you to bring them out OF bondage
and make the world fit place to live
In again, amidst peace and justice'
Appeals to Honor.
"Do they mean that you will exact
a price, drive bargain, with the men
who are enduring the agony Of this
war on the battlefelds, IN the trenches,
amidst the lurking dangers Of the sea,
or with the bereaved women and pitt
ful children, before you will come for
ward to do your duty and give some
part of your life, in easy, peaceful
fashion, for the things we are fight
ing for, the things we have pledged
our fortunes, our lives, our sacred hon
or to vlndlcate and defend-liberty
and justice and fair dealing and the
peace Of nations?
"Of course you will not II Is In
conceivable Your patriotism is of the
same self-denyng stuff as the pa
trlotlSm Of the men dead or manned
on the fields Of France, or else II Is
not patriotism at all.
Full Dollars Worth.
Let us never speak then, OF profits
and OF patriotism In the same sen
| tence, but face facts and meet them
Let us do sound business, but not II
the midst Of n mist.
MANY a grlevous burden Of taxa
ton will be laid on this nation, In thu
generation and In the next, to pay fcl
this war; let us see to II that fo-
every dollar that Is taken from "a"
peoples pockets II shall be possible to
obtain a dollars worth Of the sound
stun they need.
Let me turn for moment 10 the
ship owners OF the United States and
The other ocean carriers whose cx
ample they have followed. nnd ask
what almost lnsuperahle obstacles.
they have been putting In the way Of
the successful prosecution Of this war
by the ocean freight rates they have
been exactlng.
Making War q Failure.
"They are doing everything that
high freight charges can do to make
the war a failure, 10 make il impos.
sihle.
II do not say that they realize this
or intend II. The thing has happened
naturally enough because the CONNER.
cial processes which we are content 20
see operate IN ordinary times have
without sufficient thought been con
tlnued into period where they have
no proper place.
81 am not questioning motives.
am merely stating fact, and stating
1t In order that attention may be fixed
upon It.
THE fact IS that those who have
fixed war freight rates have taken the
most effective means in their power to
defeat the armies engaged against Ger
many. When they realize this we may,
| take II for granted count upon them
10 reconsider the whole matter. II Is
high time. Their extra hazards are
covered by war risk insurance.
Warning Is Sounded.
81 know, and you know, what re-
Spouse to this great challenge OF duty
and " opportunity the nation will ex
pect Of YOU and know what re-
Sponse You will make.
Those who do not respond, who
do not respond In the spirit Of those
who have gone to give their lives for
us on bloody fields far away, may
safely be left to be dealt with by
opinion and the law-for the law must.
of course, command those things.
81 am dealing with the matter thus !
publicly and frankly, not because have
any doubt or fear as 90 the result but
only in order that In all our thinking
and in all our dealings with one an
other we may move In perfectly clear
air OF mutual understanding.
Must Have Same Prices.
"And there is soNethlng more that :
We must add to our thinking. The
public is now as much part of the
government as are the army and navy |
themselves; the whole people in all
their activities are rOw modified and
in service for the accomplishment OF /
the nations task In this war, II Is
in such circumstances impossible Just I
ly to distinguish between Industrial
purchases made by the government c
and industrial purchases made by the c
Of industries, and It Is Just q
as much our duty to sustain the indus. /
trials of the country with all the In S
dustries that contribute to its life rs I
1t Is to sustain our forces In the field |
and on the sea. 8
Think Not Of Self. |
I'VE must make prices to the pub
lie the same as the prices to the gov v
Prices mean 'he same thing
everywhere now. They mean the eff a
cheney or the lnefiiciency of the ma g
ton, whether II is the government that 1
pays them or not. They mean victory a
or defeat. They mean that America 8
will win her place once for all among =
the foremost free nations Of the world
Or that she will sink to defeat and be- =
come a second-rate power alike In
Thought md in action Thie 10 a doy