Norwich bulletin., 1917-05-31

governing people.
 But America is at war. That Is the tremendous fact we face today. do not wonder that many hearts are bur | dened as they confront that heart searching experiences of toll and sac rifice that lie before us. We are es- sentfafiy a peace-loving nation. Our in terests center in our private concerns and in the tasks and the problems of our own country The traditions which have hitherto determined our foreign policy date from the memorable ut- terance of Washington in his Farewell Address in which he warned us of the
 peril of entangling alliances with break of this war the sympathies of our people very generally have been given to the allied nations. but, fol- lowing the counsel of our president we have faithfully sought to maintain l a strict neutrality.
 Neutrality No Longer Possible.
 Neutrality is no longer possible. Our rights have been ruthlessly invaded. The representatives of Germany and Austria utterly disregarding the sa- l cred responsibilities attaching to their position, have encouraged-I fear they have directed an organized movement which sought to arouse a treacherous born citizens. By acts of incredible violence they have endeavored to crip- pie our industries. Their submarines l have ravaged the seas. sinking our ! Sn1DS ana S0nd1nR nunQTG0S or QG1enSe- l less men. women and children to death l With unexampled patience these intol- l erabe conditions have been borne. Cn- 1 availing protests have been repeated again and again. Two months ago the crisis when the government of the 1 United States was, compelled to recog- 1 nize the state of war existing between
 this country and Germany. No other l course was left. And now from Washington has issued the call sum- \ moning all our people to bring to this | tremendous enterprise their loyal sup l port, their whole hearted allegiance. 1 How shall we measure up 10 the de- l mands of so great a day? How shall we prepare ourselves for the success 1 full prosecution of so great a task? As l President Wilson has truly said, the 1 the training of an army and navy but | also the training of 8 nation. The 1 representatives of Great Britain and ] France have testified to the hope and 1 courage born in the hearts of our war 1 weary allies by the enlistment of the l United States on theIr side. It is in ] our power to render an inestimable ser | vice, for the resources of the United States, both in men and money are we'll nigh limitless. But before 1 these will avail our people must be | stirred by a spirit of devotion, whole | hearted and unreserved. That spirit l cannot fail to take possession of our ] minds and hearts as we grasp more ] clearly the meaning of this vast strug l gle and the tremendous issues invOlV 1 ed, and it is brought home to us that l civiliza tion itself is at stake. The if 1 nal battle is on between autocracY
 and democracy. and autocracy is en- | trenched in it's last stronghold When l the grip of the Hohenzollerns upon i Germany is broken the supreme foe of democracy will be overthrown.
 l The German Advance Checked. | We must face the fact that in such l a war autocracy occupies a position of supreme advantage. That advantage springs from the ceutralization of au- thority. single master mind. a i single master purpose can dominate the complex life of nation and make all it's resources immediately availa- 1 b1e When the storm of war burst upon the world three years ago. Ger many rode into the lists like knight armed cap-a-pie. The gray coated l myriads of her army were following a tpredetermined path The plan of her wrought by the war lords in mirutest detail. For four decades the ablest minds in Germany have been engrossed ] with a two-fo\i problem; to increase the numbers and prosperity of their people, and then to make all their re- l sources immediately available for war. They failed to attain their end be- cause in the good providence of God, | at the head of the armies of France 1 there stood a man of superb military genius At the Marne the advance of the German host. that seemed to l possess the irresistible swing of d l tidal wave was checked. With a he roism above all praise the blue-coat- ed soldiers of General Joffre held the line, until England, mistress of the
 seas, had raised her army. Nearly three years have passed and Germany, though hard beSted. r1nged about with foes whose armies outnumher hers and
 are better equipped, still fights with desperate valor.
 The war has entered on It's final stage. It may continue through this year and the next. Who can tell when this friGhtful struggle will end? How
 ever, I cannot find place in my heart for a doubt as to the outcome When soever the end shall come. whether it
 be near or more remote. l look in
 confidence for the ultimate triumph
 of the principles of democracy. But that triumph can only be won by the free peoples of the world when they
 shall have been inspired by whole hearted spirit of devotion. They are fettered today by the habit of an un- lco-ordinated life They must be fused in a vital unity of thought and of democracy cannot be nobilized and
 brought into action until the people
 realize that this tremendous conflict involves issues far larger than the inn
 mediate fortunes of the nations at l war. It cannot end. nor can the
 world know the blessings of an endur- ing peace, until truth and honor and 1 justice are established beyond the possibility of assault, and the prin- 1 ciples of democracy are triumphant. A 1 drawn battle would be q measureless calamity, and the acceptance of peace based upon the conditions which ob- tained in July, 1914. nothing less than treachery to a sacred cause. This must be not merely a world in which democracy shall be safe: it must be a
 world in which the great principle for which democracy stands shall be rec ognized and honored. The essence of democracy is not individual freedom, though democracy ensures to her cit izens larger opportunities for the eX- ercise of individual initiative than any other form of political organization. The vital essence of democracy is Ico-opera ton, brotherhood, the free
 and joyful union of citizens of every class in a whole hearted endeavor to | establish truth and justice and honor