American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-11-13

the Italian lines VIII strengthen and /
hold as tight as the lines in France.
Some have deceived themselves in /
thinking that this war is going to be 1
over in a short time. We have gone |
into it with optimism. fancy we |
shall pay The full price of this war /
fancy that we shall not come out vic /
torious until we have borne our equal |
share, but whether it lasts one year
or three years we shall see it TO the |
end of the furrow. Friends / say to
you tonight, this is no time for turn
ng back or wavering. This is no
lime to talk of peace. This is the time /
to prepare for strife, to stiffen our
upper lip. What is the thing to win |
this war and win it right? In the
nrst place, we must have a sufficient
army We must have an army that
will more than match the splendid
military machine of Germany. We
have the men. When Pershing's 27,-
600 men were marching down the
streets of London the adjutant general
Of England said, MY, my, this is a
fine army. Can you raise a half a
million like these?" and Pershing said,
I'VE can raise not only half million
like these but We can raise ten mil
lion"
know, l think as we'll as any man
here, the stuff out of which our army
is to be composed, and man for man,
there are no better men the wide world
over than the men who will wear the
kaki and go under the stars and
stripes.
Our people have been welded
to the arts OF peace We have not
been a warlike nation. We have not
habituated ourselves to the warilke
attitude, but our soldiers must not
only be armed, be dressed in kaki, but
must be infused with the spirit that
wins victory The one thing that is
essential and the one thing and one
issue that makes an army is spirit. /
say. we have the men, but l want this
new army to be not only an army with
guns and uniform, but l want it TO be
ar army of morale and spirit, and am
quite sure when we have tempered
our machine. and it has infused and
tempered with Americanism we shall
drive the wedge that will pierce Ger
many. / think the thing Will happen
over there as the thing which hap
pened at the siege of Pekin. The
first flag over the ramparts OF Pekih
was the stars and stripes, and the first
soldier was a man who wore the uni
, form OF Uncle Sam.
, What are the foes of spirit and
f morale? Mlonotony of life in the
T. camps, doing the same thing over and
over again from sunrise to sunset, the
! drilling, marching, trench digging, the
mess at noon. There come times
when the boys are seized with home
longings, they can see the white table
/, CLOTH the plates, the fine furnishings
= Sometimes he wishes he might have a
q meal off of mothers china, some OF
o mothers bread, some OF mother S
O pumpkin pie. AS he thinks of these
: things the mOnotny eats like acid
and he says, what's the use, and the
9 moment that question creeps into this
: mans mind he has lost the finer thing
the morale and spirit. He becomes
4 dissatisfied thinks he isn't being
! treated on an equal With some Other
= man. then there breaks out disrespeci
9 for superiors, and when that sort ol
y thing occurs we have only an aggre-
n 1 cation of men, not an army. 1t has
: been that sort of thing that has brok
. en- the morale of the Italian army
- Another thing that creeps in to de-
- stroy the spirit has been called
nostralgia. We know it by the plaiI
/ old fashioned name of homesickness
If I know the burden you men anC
If women are carrying. The time MAJ
4, come when conditions will be here
}. such as they are in Canada, when Their
l. will be a crepe on every home becaus'
some near relative has gone, but
sr want the heartache to be as little a.
v possible when the times comes; ant
l. If your boy must go l want you to haV
d, some consolation. l want you TO hav
" letters home that you will treasure al
II your life.
Of The only thing that is going to keel
III a man human my friends is to kee
a. ia touch with home folks. the onl
er thing that is going to keep him humal
o. in all this dying of men and all tn
~ horrors Of war is to have home ideal
We lin his heart Everywhere surround
a ing every camp there have alway
to been a thousand harpies TO reach ou
o. their Shiny and awful hands for tn
lives, bodies and souls of men. w
s. say hard things about those who mu
ne tilate the dead; what about those VIII
h. reach out hands TO mutilate the liN
er ing.
an What has the Y. NJ c. A. to do wit
he morale and spirit. The Y. NJ. c.
is teaches men how to play games. VIII;
at is the value of these games? Game
ng furnished by the Y. NJ. c. A. mai
h, men physically ft. The Y. NJ. c. !
It" not only teaches boys to play game
of but it furnishes amusements and
lst clean place for the boys to 60 tt
ne fires in the Y. NJ. c. A. huts are
by keep our boys warm, and 1 say il
lfe worth while to keep these fires burr
en- ing for our boys.
Coal is worth from $50 to $50 p'
he ton in France. l want there to be I'll
ms in every Y NJ. c. A. camp in Franc