The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-11-24
Iilc Message of the War.
'by Charles j. Rosebault of The
Vigilantes)

lhere Is going to be q new Ar,or;oo
mat Is the outstanding message re
The war even at this earIv da,, T.
o''e oi 'le great things growing OUT
ol our trial The boys from tho port,
erh and the southern borders tha
'oS" from the Atlantic and the Pa.
enc coasts and the boys from tho IN.
terror are all being thrown togotbo,
ana oeihg made to know each other
by intimate contact in camn ar.1
trench. The boy from the miros ,,;u
learn that the man from Wall Stroot
does not necessarily conceal horn,
and cioVen hoofs and the college I'M
dergratudate from the effete East will
get to realize the sterling qualities no
neath the rough exterior of the Yves.
tern cowboy. Never before has tb,
Melting Pot had such an opportunity
to produce quick results and not
within many years have all of us from,
every section been made to realize
so thoroughly that we have one coun.
try, one flag and the same fundamen.
tai ideas on the really great problems
OF civilization and ethics.
One of these problems, which had
been getting to be more and mere
acute, was the antagonism between
capital and labor. 1t is not likely
that this problem will be solved in all
respects, but at least the hitherto op-
posing elements will get to know each
other better. Capital had come to
assume in the eyes Of the averae,
American the role of would-be dc
tator; Labor, if not seeking the Same
role, was close to becoming a rebel.
Each in its own way preferred to re-
: gard only it's individual interests and
to have mighty little regard for these
of the country. Now we know q
good deal better. If there are prof.
teers hiding behind the bushes and
assassins in the ditch, they form a
mighty small minority The man of
ease is Offering both his dollars and
his life. The man Of toll is giving
his all and even facing the possibll-
ity that his family may want. On the
common altar of country Americans
of every degree are stepping forward
manfully at the common call.
In England, where for three years
men have been giving their lives and
their property, the situation is much
the same. The fight between capital
and labor was even more interse
there than in this country. But the
love of country was greater than all
That fact has been brilliantly stated
by Will Crooks in an article he has
just written.
; Although he is today the right Hon.
w. Crooks, Member Of the Kings
Privy Council and Member of Parlia
ment, he is and always will remain TO
the people among whom he lives and
to whom he has devoted his life
just plain Will Crooks. Born in n
one-room house in East London and
started at hard toll when eleven years
old, his success has not changed his
allegiance. He still lives among his
own people in a little two-storied
house in East London. Most of the
families in his neighborhood live in
one or two rooms. The average earn
ings of his neighbors before the war
was less than ten dollars a week per
man. How they acted in their coun-
trys hour of peril must be known of
all men. Would to heaven it would
Inspire in the twisted intellects in
our congress and senate and peoples
council a realization of their infamy.
"We were strongly anti-war before
war with Germany began" says Mr..
Crooks. I'VE were so strongly for
peace that we were wiling to fight
any man for it. We stood for
peace, for liberty and for friendship
among nations. On one occasion, on
q public visit to Germany, 1 proposed
| the health of the Kaiser We were
not in any sense military. We laugh
ed at the Algies and Berties Of
Piccadilly. We opposed in every way
we could any men who sought to pro-
mote war.
To-day Poplar, for many years the
centre of anti-war propaganda, is ac-
lively supporting the government in
its conduct of the war against Ger
many. The men who stood by me in
the peace demonstrations in Hyde
Park and Trafalgar Square in the