davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
Why Men Fight

No doubt it will vcx our patriotic
nsthetes-those warriors who fight for
their country with pleas explaining why
we must love the Germans and speak
gently TO them when they commit atroci-
tics-to read Of the fifteen husky boys of
Newark, Ohio, who enlisted in the navy
"to avenCe the death OF their friend and
fellow townsman, Archie 3. Leedy, who
was lost with the Jacob Jones'" But such
is the way Of war. Of fighting, Of life. II
will take more than a few eloquent paci-
fists TO change so much of human nature.
"Avengc" is the handicst tag available to
describe the motives Of these Ohio boys.
Let it stand. But let us realize just how
much human fneness and generosity and
loyalty are bound up in il. The finest stuff
Of friendship, Of pride in all that is heroic
in our country, of personal bravery and
sacrifice is in it, The sturdy human will
to hit back when attacked IS there. OF
such is the hope Of our country. All honor
TO this Ohio city and its men who are
eager to follow where their friend led.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

great obstacle TO real preparedness. Cen
eral Crozicr complained patheucaly on
the stand that the Hay law did not con
template war. That is true, Moreover
Il did not contemplate military efficiency.
II was a sword of lath, brandished by
Congress which regarded war IA an I'M
possibility and military preparation as
something between n calamity and
nuisance. General Crozier was living
within the letter and the spirit of the Hay
law when he looked ahead TO an eXpan-
sion of the ordnance department which
would merely put It in a position TO sup
ply a toy army. He cut his cloth ac-
cording TO the law.
In that he showed lack of vision. A
different sort Of man might have tugged
at the leashes Of the Hay law and made
his dissatisfaction with IL audible ana
potent. But it was the law, and the gov
ernment behind the law and public SEN
timent behind the government, not
mere bureau chief in the War Depart
ment. that must be held accountable Tor
The breakdown Of the ordnance ma
chinery when war suddenly put on 1t an
overwhelming task.
What the country needs to do now Is
not to seek for scapegoats, but to admit
its own fault, its own share in the avoid
ance of real preparation and to set TO
work with all possible energy to repair
past laundering. The disclosures before
the Senate committee will come TO many
as a painful surprise. But they are only
the logical development Of policy which
has been pursued for years-hah con-
sciously. half unconsciously. We are pay
ing the cost of having lived in a world OF
unreality-of isolation from concerns
which were our concerns, although we re-
fused to recognize that fact. Let us turn
our faces away from what has gone be-
fore, improve our war machinery where
we can improve it and try TO attain the
full status of nation at war as quickly
as it may be possible to attain it.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
False Americans
Emit Subtle Propaganda Worse Than
Poison Gas

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: Ifthere are any loyal Americans vaode
not see the strong undcrcurrent OF subts
sedition that is dragging at the heels Of and
retarding the efforts Of our government 70
the colossal task it has on hand, such per
sons are either so dense az 10 be blind to
the obvious or are Of the tractable, easy.
going class that has allowed itself 10 b,
duped into unwilling completely with the
enemy within. The Tribune series Of att
cles, exampling b. quotation the clumsuy
camoufaged pro-Teutonism Of the various
German-language papers Of the country,
should have opened the eyes Of many, par.
ticularly the powers that be, to the danger
from this source. 1t is difficult to believe
that steps have not already been taken th-.
will lead to the suppression OF those publ.
cations which continue TO print hagraRt Hun
propaganda in the very language OF the Faith
erland
But there is FAR greater danger and bin.
drance TO our governments efforts toward tie
accomplishment of that one object worth
while to those Of US who see clearly ahead.
We have among Us, consuming the produe.
of the land, earning their liyelihoods and
making their fortunes in American indus
tries, calling this country their home, sone
who, although they continually asseyersts
their loyalty, yet with the same breath emit
poison gas deadlier than chlorine in rs
effect upon the cause Of democracy Tho
chlorine of the trenches is visible. II IS
seen rs il approaches in wind-blown clouds;
the alarm is given and protective masks are
put on. But the fumes OF poison propaganda
gas are hard to detect. Between great puts
of loyalty loudly and blatantly proclaimed.
whiffs of vapory virus are emitted from the
lips Of our American" OF German lineage
and leanings, to infect the minds OF those
about him with false views that foment sedi-
ton
Working in harmony with this type OF
mischief maker are certain newspapers
printed in our own language, which ran,
yociferously of their Apprehension" at ST.
times, yet whose editorials and news articles.
although outwardly innocent, are, with al
subtlety, worded and distorted in such way
as TO cause the unwise and untaught rescer
unconsclously 10 be inoculated with germs
Of wrong ideas, which tend to develop INTO
the yellow fever of quasi Americanlsm o
even the deadler disease known as pro-.
Germanism.
Camouhaged with a patriotism outwsrdy
sincere, the false American, who IN his sor'-'l
If he has one-hopes and prays for Germxa'
made peace, is sinking his fangs into thee
who know him not for what he IS ~"
Shakespeare's winter wind, because he is nes
seen, his tooth is not so keen. But 1hs
wound! 1t is deadly. JAY ELMO
New York, Dec. 10. 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

the particular men who are part of the or
ganized system of excessive profit making
and who are responsible for the low wages
shortage of material and = thousand other
abusive conditions. is actually removing inc
bolts from the public machinery and DONG
wore damage than the treason and free
speech' of the "Bolsheyik" can ever hope to
accomplish. W ". MOI ME
Keyport. y. j., Dee. II, 1917.
Most food dealers, most farmers, are
charging higher prices than ever before.
Are they profteers? They say they are
making less than in other years. As to
dealers against whom government officials
have evidence of overcharges-real profit
eers-it has been their policy in this city
not to give out names, though publicity
would be a wholesome thing.-ED.l
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
A Chosen People

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The Germans consider themselves q
chosen people. as did the ancient lsraelites.
The following interesting Biblical extracts
reveal q remarkable and, I believe, hitherto
unpointed-out parallolism between the meth
DDS Of warfare of ancient Israel and those Of
modern Germany:
"And We took all his cities at that time
and utterly destroyed the men and the women
and the little ones of every city; we left none
to remain only the cattle we took for prey
unto ourselves and the spoil of the cities
which we took" (Deut.. ii, 81, 800
when thou goest forth to war
and seest among the captiyes a beautiful
woman she shall be thy wife,
(Dout.. xxi, 1919
"And Moses sent them to spy out the land
Of Canaan, and said unto them See
the land, what it is, and the people that
dwellest therein, whether they be strong or
weak. few or many, and what the land is that
they dwell in. whether it be good or bad, and
what cities they be that they dwell in,
whether in tents or in strongholds, and what
the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether
there be wood therein or not" Num-, xiii,
l7-20D
"And they beat down the cities, and on
every good piece Of land cast every man his
stone and filled it; and they stopped all the
wells of water and felled all the good trees
III Kings, iii. 25.)
"A fire deyoureth before them, and behind
tbapn rama hurpafb. bo ID ha
Garden Of Eden before them, and behind them
desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall
escape them" (Joel, ii, 3D.
"For the Lord your God, he it is that
fghteth for you" Josh, XIII, 10.)
And | sent messengers . into
Sihon, Fling Of Heshbon, with words of peace,
saying. Let me pass through thy land;
will go along by the highway, will neither
turn unto the right hand nor to the left.
Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that
may eat; and give me water for money. that
may drink But Sihon would not
let US pass by him. And we smote
him and his sons and all his people, (Dcut,
ii, 26-35.)
! should like to make these brief comments
upon the foregoing verses. The Christian
doctrine set forth by the fathers is that
Jehovah, God of the ancient Israeites, is the
same God that Christ came TO reveal. But
the Gnostic sects of the early centuries dis
puted this. Some Of these Gnostics contended
that Jehovah was just God, but not a good
God. Others asserted that He was an ig-
norant God, the demiurge, who fashioned the
universe at the command of higher power
than Himself. Still others claimed that Jeho-
yah was no god at all, but a demon.
We must do one Of two things-either
acknowledge that the Germans are, as thew
claim to be, chosen people, or else, with the
Gnostics, we must reject the God of the Old
Testament In the light of the verses have
quoted. there is no other alternative.
CHARLES HOOPER.
Seattle, Wash, Dec. Z, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
Can Peace Make Us Forget?
A Plea for The Oshdcism OF All Things German

operation" and again would have pn...
how he would continue to carry on the "
with humility and chiyalry"!
few evenings ago I sat down befs,.
my open fire in hopes FOR an hour or ~.
to be able TO throw or the nightmar. -
the war and forget the Germans. I ,o.s
up Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal A.
this IL what 7 struck in the account Of ~.
days she spen. at Hamburg, IN Sep.era5sr
1898:
Hamburg a Century Ago
called at bakers shop. Put two shilIisr
into the bakers hands. Tor which va.
70 have had four small rolls. He gave n,
two. I let him understand nat ! was I.
rave four. and with this view ! took o..
shilling from him, pointing 70 Il and ID
two loayes. and az the same time Offering y
to him. Again ] took up two others. In
savage manner he half Knocked the rolls
out Of my hand, and when / asked him 70,
the other shilling he refused TO retsra i.
and would neither suffer ne % take bread
nor give me back my money, and on shsss
terms / quilted the shop. I am informed
that il is the boast and glory Of these peo.
pie 20 cheat strangers, that when fea, Of
this kind is successfully performed the msn
goes from the shop into his house, and ri.
umphantly relates it % his wife and family
The Hamburger shopkeepers have tire.
sorts Of weights. and a great part Of thes
skill az shopkeepers consists in ealeula:ia.
upon the knowledge Of the buyer, end suit
ing him with scales accordingly
Here, more than q hundred years ago. VIC
see the same graspiag, insolent, unscrupulous
bully that we know to-day
The indictment OF the wrctches could "
made much stronger and longer. But enouzk.
Individually they arc below the Turks; ea.
lectiyely they are on a par with their An.
cestral Huns. BLOOD viii tell.' u is Tin.
they we're barred out Of the family OF de.
cent, self-respecting nations; at least TIA.
the doors were closed against them Tor two
generations. We have got along three years
without their goods or their markets, why
can we not continue to 90 on without then,
We are an inventive people; they are nu.
We shall soon find ways 70 supply ourselves
with all needful things that have heretofors
come from that country Under pressure Ne
shall improve on them all. One Of our great.
est practical chemists says he has found a
way TO extract potash from the feldspar o.
granite rocks on q scale and az a cost essily
70 compete with German konite. Let the
government see 70 il that it is done. n W.
cannot yet make chemicals and dyestua. e
compete with the Germans. let Us 20 IN
sackcloth and ashes until We can.
At any rate, let rs not frsternzc with ma.
tions who. in character and conduct, are on
a par with those desperadoes who in evI.
life We rid ourselves OF by the aid Of tts
sheriff and hangman.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
IL Doesn't Seem Fair

To the Editor OF The Tribune
Sir: Can you tell me why Herr Borge-
meister and other alien enemies have been
given permission TO spend the coming holt
days. and in some cases three weeks, with
their friends while the boys in camp train
ing for service under the 49, 49, ,----> -
well (and which Borgemeister and HE horde
have tried so hard 10 Destroy have been re-
fused permission TO come home for the dear
est Of all home eelebrations-the holy feast
OF Christmasl
1t may be the last Christmas that many
Of them will see-can't something be done
about il? II doesn't seem fair, does il?
Brooklyn, Dec. II, 1917. GIRL.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
Revising the Draft Basis
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune. ~.
Sir: / understand that Senator Calder pfe'
poses bill which provides for the dnr'
quota distribution TO be determined BY "
number OF men available for service in y,
various districts. rather than BY the to'''
population Of those districts. 30
II the men OF this city appreciated a'-
important this measure is to them 'h',
would bestir themselves to have il oeee"'
a law. With our unusually large propor'''A
OF alien enemy and "unfriendy alien' poSs,
.lation, the system Of quota determins''s =
the first draft was unfair. Il is quite 60
ceivsble that if the old system prsvan =,
future drafts some districts heresbouts W
be drafting from the third and fourth CO..
while Ia other sections Of the country X
might still be drawing from the hT,
second classes. y. > y l~@
New York, Dec. IL, 1911. -
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
By John Burroughs

AZ KrupD guns and asphyx.atins gas and
LIQUID fire are efficient. They invent notaing'
but they add Satanic touch 20 the inven-
tions of others and turn them to internal
uses. They arc without sentiment or imagi-
ration. They have broken completely with
the old Germany OF Goethe, o. Kant ana
Leasing, TO whom we all owe n debt. ihey
are learned in the roots OF things, but tneF
learning is dusty and musty with under
ground conditions. They know tho Tree OF
knowledge" at the bottom, but not Mt the
TOP i'm the air and sun, where are Us leaves
and flowers and fruit. They run 20 erudi-
ton. but not TO inspiration They are
heavy. materialistic, grasping race, fcrceiul
but not creative, military but not human!stic'
aggressive but not heroic, religious but not
spiritual; brave II may be, but not cAiyalrous'
utterly selfish, thoroughly scientific and en-
cent on low plane, as organized force Is
always efficient. Kant vas great pniioso-
pher. but he had Scottish mother, None
Of the great musicians were Prussians. Luz
Their threw his ink bottle at the devil but
the devil got even with him and made the
Christian outlook blacker than it was before
Civic Slavery
From current reports which, knowing the
Germans, one readily credits, they are at
this moment taking means to increase ther
birth rate BIZ methods identical with those
Of stock men and dog breeders. That the
German women DO not defend themselves
with Houid fire and asphyXiating gas shows
that their morals are as low "a those OF inc
men and that they arc the victims o. inc
same civic slavery.
The Germans have not fought this war
like brave. chivalrous men; they have iough'
il like snesks and cutthroats; they have re-
suected nothing human or divine 80 Jar
az they could make it so il has been an orgy
of lust and destructiyeness. When tneir
armies are forced to retreat, 50 far as they
can do it. they destroy the very earth be-
hind them. They have done their utmost
2, make the reconQuered territory OF North
ern France uninhabtable for generations
If they could poison all the water all the
air. all the food Of their enemies, Is there
am doubt that they would quickly do 50!
If they could have scuttled o. torpedoed the
British Isles and sunk them like a snip,
would they not have done it long ago! VI
course they would have wanted 10 plumber
the treasures and violate the women before
doing so. and then the Kaiser piously INT
ING his eyes before his people, would have
again thanked God for His faithful CO
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
Let the City Sell Food and Fuel

Il is to be hoped the Board of Alder
men will not delay beyond its next
weeks meeting the much-needed action
on DR.. Moskowitz's application for au-
thority TO buy and sell coal and foodstuff8
to the consumers Of this city. 1hcre
can be no question about the emergency
which prompts that application. On inc
East Side and in other sections OF the
city there is widespread suffering, due
not only to high prices but to an actual
shortage Of coal and certain foodstuffs.
This condition cannot be cured offhand,
but II can at least be minimized by the
entrance of the city into the situation in
competition with the middlemen and food
and coal distributors.
Up to date the Aldermen have treated
DR.. Moskowitz with somewhat less than
courtesy, and his official application for
power to act with slight consideration.
In doing this they are not hurting him;
they are not hurting the Mitchell adj
ministration, of which he has been part.
They are hurting their own constituents,
the public Of this city, and more particu-
larly the poor, who most need municipal
help now. There should be no politics
in the handling Of this matter. If the
Aldermen are undertaking to play poll
tics, they are making a mighty bad record
for themselves. IF they are only indulg-
ing in the representation and stupidity
for which the Board of Aldermen was
long noted, they, should mend their ways,
and that at once.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

organization might possibly bring TO
them. If Commissioner Woods himself,
whose activities in wartime policing Of
this great port have been a model Of
preparation against disaster, should also
enter the army, as has been reported,
there would be additional reason for con-
graduating the Federal authorities on
their wisdom in selecting men 10 war
against the enemies within.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

II this war was largely caused b. com
mcrcial and economic pressure and rivalry
az so many persons think II was are the
pressure and rivalry 20 continue after the
war is over. especially II the Allies should
conclude a peace without victory? VIII 1t
rot be hard for US TO resume our old economic
end social and business relations with the
arch enemy Of mankind as II nothing had
happened, swap goods and exchange pro-
fessors, condone Germany's sins and heip
refill her Golfers? Shall we at once get
busy in trying TO reimburse her for 'he
losses che has sustained In running amucK
upon the civilization OF the world, help buiId
ND her commerce for her desperate efforts
"a destroy our own? Can We forgive and
forget and aid her in restoring her shipping
and enable her 20 get ready for the next
war" about which she is already talking, ana
reward her for having paved the bottom Of
the seas with thousands Of the SHIPS ana
cargoes and thousands Of the bodies OF IN
nocent non-combatants OF the neutral and
Allied nations, for her sending women and
children and unarmed sailors TO the bottom
or abandoning them in open boats in the
midst Of the stormy seas at all seasons?
When one has run over in his mind the
things Germany has been guilty of-thc long
list Of her unspeakable atrocities and rob
berries, the deportation Of non-combatants,
the wanton destruction of property in Bel
GUM and Northern France, the demolition
of centuries-old architecture and art treas
ures. the judicial murder Of Captain tryatt'
the shooting of Edith Cayell. the lombard
inc OF defenceless towns, the bombing or
hospitals and the torpedoing Of hospital
ships. the fiendish drowning Of the crew OF
the Belgian Prince, her sinkinss, her rayish-
ings. her burnings, her steaings, her lying
her studied cruelties, her campaign Of fright
fulness-when one remembers all these things
and more. does he feel like saying, Never
mind: let it all pass; business is business
and it will all be the same in hundred
years.:
Never Again
For my own part will never again use an
article made in modern Germany If ! kno"
it. | will never look into a modern German
book. I will favor the exclusion Of the Ger
man Language and literature from our schools
and colleges. | would drive every unnatu-
rallied German from this country
We do not want their ideas or their meth
ods. Their ideas are subyersye of our demo-
cratic ideals and their methods ensiave the
mind and lead TO efficiency chiefly IN the
field Of organized robbery. They arc efhc'eht
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14
,Lnnln or TIE AssocIAT1D rREss

TIE ANo-1aisI r-rss exclusively entitled u ~, " -
--ruhAcsaaa of 81 news dsaCiohes cN1itea 70 - ~
sp,rtansous origin p1bLskoi herein- go ,.,, -.
A. rsri % rer lics;i11 o. al ols' u'i'ei aeelo e
81. -.er-re-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

4.a r.- ra-..s., r4,ocna1t.rs sir'fl,.' M .n.
.aiRlNE Win saso.lc ssre,y-,cr y diSsif''-o, -, S
s.. ~ rsss T7IE TRIBUNE guarantees 20 rN yol. n.y."
~. r-o- -,s.l.t. y, r-t tarc No Quihtlnf We 'N''
r,os r-'n1s,s o. ,'s advertiser does no'-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

ovned srd pubsh>i daily by 1ns Idbune 70.
Nez YoA Corporatcn ortcu Reid. President. o. 49,
Roge-s Nlcc p7rsideu-: 2. A. suicr iieA'.l,' ,,,-.
f,~,fsrsr rHHl
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

r,..,-, o, ,i, roe7-,, a. N-E Tof =, 'eo''i C.'''
Nisr Ms,;cr
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-14

SUBSCRIPTION RArEs-By Nan ros'sso Paid o''
II Ill =. -.
Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-06-20
"They Also Serve Who
Stay Behind land Work
BY MARIAN BoNsALL DAVIS.

THE Red Cross" said the mother
of three young men who have just
put on the khaki. els MY training
camp. II In for me my military duty.
II Eires me a chance to be q soldier
with my sons.
sometimes n company frsm the
nrmory or = band of Boy scouts
marching with hfe and drums
rasses my window. Looking At
them ] see In my mind NIL our boy.
at NIL our training camps, learning
their new lessons. testing their en-
durance. And we mothers can't take
care of them. They've gone into
their mans world.
II think can imagine SEINE Of
the emotions that are being born
In them. They arc SO young; :.
their e!es are iaizty, seine times. ms
they march. Already they must
look aonctines into tho soidierx'
Immortality. At guard mount--taps
on Inst Memorial Day.
ut In hard to he q woman. Yet
u Il were not for me these three
cicHr-eyed boys, with their straight
backs, their flushed, damp faces. and
their passionate young idenlism,
would not exist. Because OF me
there are three soldiers serving the
eolorr.