Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1917-06-27

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masses to social justice; for If the
price paid to- those who initiate prog
ress be exhorbitant, humanity will but
pay for its own chains. America is
seeking, and has in a measure attain
ed, a ground that is fair to the few
who lead and just to the many who
must follow. s
american citizenship imposes duties
citizen of this Republic should place
the emphasis on duty in this critical
hour when democracy is on trial. If
democracy proves inefficient, IT it fails
to draw to it's aid and support those
who have enjoyed its blessings, it
must fail.
1.-THE American citizen must vote for
his country and live for it. Today it is
also his duty to fight for his country,
and, if need be, to die for it. There
is little, if any peace-at-any-price SEN
timent in our country. He who is not
willing to bear the burdens of citizen
ship even to the extent of laying down
his life, is not entitled to the privi-
leges which he enjoys here and should
seek another land.
"The pioneers were not slackers. In
the dark days of the Civil War, they
left the breaking plow in the furrow
and went to the defense of their coun-
try. Minnesota was an undeveloped
pioneer state; but of its population Of
162, 900, $4,000, or II per cent enlisted.
"Altho many Of the pioneers were
soldiers, most of them achieved vic
tories of peace, not of war. Peace
hath its victories no less renowned
than those of war; and in all human
history there is recorded no victory
that brought greater benefits to man.
kind than that which the pioneers won
over the wilderness. Since the first
white settler built his log house or sod
shanty in Kandiyohi county there has
been marvellous transformation. In
stead of a wide, unbroken prairie,
trackless except for lonesome trails
that marked the westward course of
the vanishing redman; treeless except
for clumps of bOxelder and cottonwood
that skirted the streams, there is a
land of homes and villages where pro-
gress reigns; soil more productive
than that of the valley of the Nile;
schools where boys and girls are train
ed for citizenship; libraries wherein
are stored the thought and knowledge
of every age; churches dedicated to
the loftiest conceptions and finest
hopes of men.
"Industrially we have made prog
ress. Agriculture, invoking the aid of
every science, has become a profess
sion and we are drawing from our soil
sustenance for all the world. Manu-
facture has increased a hundred-fold,
and American-made products are COM
peting successfully in every market.
The Mississippi valley has become an
empire, and our power as a nation is
felt around the world.
"But this power, and glory would be
mere pomp and circumstance if the
moral fibre of the nation were weak
ened. Manhood is the asset of the ma,
ton. We have registered ten million
of our young men for service in the
greatest army that ever trOd the
earth; we are building the most pow
erful navy that ever stood guard at
nations gates; we are making to the
government Liberty Loan of two bill
lion dollars: all this we are doing in
order that the world may be safe for
democracy
"But even more essential than ar
mics and navies, munitions and money,
is the nations soul. In the lofty pur-
poses Of noble men and women will
our country find its best support in
times of peace and it's surest defense
in times of war. If the present gen.
Grafton will be true to the ideals of the
pioneers and will carry on the work
which they began in the spirit which
they possessed, our children will be
able to say of us as we now say of our
fathers: They made their contribu-
tions to the Republic