Meade County news., 1917-06-21

Continued from front page.

18th 1898, when that proud ship was
sunk beneath the cruel waves by the
treachery of Spain, and hear the
the battle cry of our brave boys in
the war that followed, Remember
the Maine;" but say to you now,
it is time to forget the Maine and
remember the Lusitania. l sec that
flag with Dewey at Manila, and ev.
cry star seems to shine with increas-
ed brightness and every stripe to
gleam more intense as the hero OF
Manila Bay warned the Command.
er of the German fleet to keep out OF
the range of hls guns. see it borne
BY our own beloved and lamented
Funston through the briar-taLgl lied
jungles of the PHILIPPINES, and l see
it floating VictoTlously over Moro
Castle and Santiago on July 4th,
1898, sending forth message to the
world that tyranny was banished and
that Cuba was free. see it again
borne by our soldiers brave, side by
side with the banners of other cizil-
lied nations through the Celestial
empire of the east, quelling insurrec-
ton, anarchy, and murder, brought
about by ignorance and superstition,
and restoring out of chaos, govern.
ment out of confusion in China and
my CouLtrymen, we shall yet see that
banner floating side by side with the
Union Jack, side by side with the
ri colored banner of France, side
by side with the flags of our friends
and comrades, Russia and Italy,
floating, only triAe higher and
cleaning little brighter than these
others, triumphantly and victorious
ly over the towers and battlements
of the Imperial Palace of Berlin; and
as it flies the listening ear can catch
the rustic of wing, the dove of
Peace returning to the earth, and,
in the silence following the lull of
the cannonade still, small voice will
whisper into the ear of the Kaiser,
vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. :"
My friends, we are now facing a
crlsls in the worlds hirtory; We are
confronted by condition, no long
er theory. we are actually involv-
ed in the greatest of the worlds great
wars. Heretofore we may have dit.
fered in opinion as to the merits of
the European contest AS between
the Allies and Germany our sympa-
thy may have been differently plac-
ed; some of US may have thought
that the President was too slow, the
Congress too dilatory; others may
have honestly believed that we should
have retired from the seas, strangled
commerce, surrendered our lnalien-
able right to 60 where We pleased,
and let these foreign powers settle
their own troubles. On these mat.
tiers we may have honestly differed
and still been all good American
citizens; but now, NOW we are act
ually engaged in war, not of our own
choosing, but forced into combat to
protect the privileges and the lives
of our citizens, the honor of our
Country and the rights of humanity.
We have pursued the policy of watch
full waiting until it became joke;
we have exhausted the arts OF d.
plomacy without await; We have pro
tested; we have demonstrated; we
have cited International Law and
quoted treaties. Our protests
have been unheeded, or met with
promises and assurances made only
to be b.oken; our remonstrances
have been ignored; we have been in-
formed that the Imperial Will of the
German Emperor is above all law,
and we have been told that treaties
are "mere scraps of paper" Re-
luctantly we have taken up the sword,
and God forbid that we should ever
lay it down until wrongs shall have
been righted, tyranny dethroned,
autocracy destroyed, and universal
peace assured.
In times like these the man who
falters, the man who refuses to do
his bit, the man who condemns or
libels our government or our flag,
or who insults the dignity and patri-
otism of our people, whether he be
lowly and ignorant, or whether he
be an ex- United States Senator and
Chairman of State Public Utilities
Commission, is worse traitor than
Benedict Arnold ever was.
We are confronted with the prop
ostion of defending that flag and
the principles for which it stands
the flag of Washington, the flag of
Jackson, the flag of Scott and of
Taylor, of Lincoln, of Grant, OF
Sherman and of all the boys who
wore the Blue, the flag of Mckinley
and of Dewey, of Schley, of Miles,