Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-23
TO the Editor Of the Evcniug Ledger?

To the Editor Of the EUcniug Ledger:
Sir--Monsignor James j.. Cassidy deiv-
cred an address in St Mary's Roman Cath
olic Cathedral, Fall River, Mass, a short
time ago to the Twelfth Company of the
Artillery Corps, i'm which he set forth why
we are at war in way that thrilled me
as l read II. viii you not print it for the
benefit OF your readers? 1t follows:
" Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesars And you are here, members of
the Twelfth Company of Artillery Corps
to lay upon the altar of your God all that
you have, even Of life itself, for your coun.
trys love and honor
when men ask you: What fight ye for?
tell them in tones that shall wake up the
dead of 1876, 4 fight for liberty, for free.
doms sake, for righteousness for all my
countrys flag has represented. | fight for
peace, that justice may prevail, that fright
fulness and inhumanity may not possess the
earth out Of the mart and mill and mead
ow l have come, no warrior by profession,
but peace-loving and peace making citizen,
reused by my cOuntry's call, to serve her
with my all to struggle, to suffer, to die
If need be, that her cause may live, that
might shall not prevail, that right shall not
forever perish from the earth
Debt to America
"And II any one shall dare to ask you
why you sacrifice for your countrys sake,
tell them, in voice that shall admit no ques-
tion:
"I give to her my country because she
hath given all to me. After God she has
given me life after God she has protected
me; her children that have come and gone
before me have withstood the summers
heat and winters cold, have labored and
struggled and suffered and bled and died
that l might be a free man. My forefathers
she received with open arms; tenderly she
nursed them; liberty, justice and equality
she gave them; the shield of her protec-
tion she set up before them; with her lifes
blood did she guard them; the right TO
worship God untrammeled and unrestrained,
she insured them; she gave them place, dis
tincton, honor, all, reserving nothing, and
now when she is in peed and calls to me
with all l have l quickly answer: Here :"
That is a soldiers answer to slackers
why""
There are too many of ancestry like to
mine, Irish-American, If you will, whose
judgment is blinded by their hatred toward
England. Let them beware lest their ami
mostly toward England be interpreted
disoyalty to the United States,
"Out Of the loins Of Fenian arrested in
arms against the English l came. / was
nursed at the breasts of as true an Irish
woman as ever came out of Ireland. In
delibly written in my soul is the story of
Englands rule of blood and iron in Ire
land.
but what has that to do with the honor
y
dentally, we may be fighting for England,
Just as England is now fighting for us, but
essentially and fundamentally we are not
fighting for Englandi we are fighting for
ourselves.
Had Germany by its own overt acts,
repeated again and again, not made it inn
possible for US to keep peace with honor,
had she respected our rights, had she not
murdered our citizens, she might have
beaten England to her knees and we would
not have interfered.
Fighting for Ourselves
I'VE did not go to war TO save England
we went to war TO save ourselves, to save
our sovereign rights to save all and every
thing that a nation in honor prizes.
''You men of all births for there are
men Of many bloods and births bearing a
grievance against England, in your blind
desire for retribution you forget that In
this war all must stand or fall together (;
II England stands, we stand II England
falls we fail victory and honor or defeat
and dishonor shall come upon all alike
And God forbid that there should be
any so base and low and blinded as to wish
TO strike the heart Of England through the
soul OF their own country God forbid that
there should be any who would rejoice at
the losses Of any OF the Allies when they
know that such losses mean only greater
losses and multiplied deaths among YOU
Let this insanity pass forever from these
States.
~As you leave this holy place. some per-
chance 70 never return. two eisione TWO