Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-07-02
struction that our government can
procure for him.

1871 " 1llIIls
The second lesson also is realized by
the government which, as far as posi-
BILE, Is trying to cope with it. Funda-
mentally however, the solution of it's
problem does not lie with any govern
ment. 1t lies with the women, the old
men and the children-with those
who stand on the sidewalk to watch
Johnny march away.
What we, as a whole, fail as yet to
comprehend, is Johnny's utter help
lessness when once he has left us.
One Is not accustomed to thinking of
him, armed, trained to deal destruc-
the best means that centuries of study
a devise, as being helpless-but he
is. Napoleon epitomized this fact in his
famous saying that IAN army travels
on its belly" He meant, in effect, that
death and destruction are all that
Johnny can produce. He must be
clothed and fed.
That the feed and clothing must
come from home is axiomatic; so also
is 1t that those whom Johnny leaves
behind must likewise be fed and
clothed. That there will probably be
barely enough to go around is a
CHASTITY fact know to us all. That
waste is a crime-a minor treason
is a conclusion that follows as a mat
ter OF course.
We are all aware Of this-theoretic-
ally. But the var as yet has not
pinched US. How many are there,
then, who really are trying to do his
or he "bit" in preventing that waste ?
Johnny's grandmother, scolding the
cook for not pairing the potatoes more
carefully, or for throwing away some
thing which might have been used
she tries, for she remembers. So does
Johnny's grandfather. whose right
arm, perhaps In a gray sleeve, was
left at Gettysburg, as he refuses his
evening toddy that the grain thus
misused may not be consumed. He
thinks of the crash Of funeral volleys
that need never have been fired, and
the unutterably mournful notes of
taps" sounded in daylight, that
ought never to have been heard.
He and his wife both are thinking
of a time, now long past, when anoth-
er regiment returned. In their minds
they can hear, echoing along the
street that saw the regiments de-
p%arture, a tune that our country for
many years has consecrated to the
homecoming Of her soldiers.
when Johnny comes marching home
Hurrah! Hurrah!
SANS 1AAIil d 1lOdTLy welcome tnSn
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer, the boys win
The ladies they will all turn out
And we'll-all-feel-gay-when
Johnny comes marching homei
They remember well, that old cou-
pie, how the ranks showed great gaps
gaps that were preserved with
jealous are by the gaunt men who
march on each side in honor of those
who filled those vacant intervals when
the regiment last passed along the
street. They know that somewhere
within hearing of hat tune there are
whtte-faced girls, each Of whom AIS
n of those empty spaces in the ranks
with a form invisible to others, but to
her clear and distinct; a form that IL
destined to remain clear and distinct
until. as a white haired she
goes, as she devoutly hopes and be-
lieves, to join him whose image is
enshrined in whatever holy place it Is
that such images are kept BY the
women who love them.
No, all Is not gaiety when Johnny's
regiment comes marching home. Shall
Johnny como with tit God alone
knows. But for Gods sake, let us
give him all the chances there are!