The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-11-22
CLEAR THE WAY

every muthrrs son IN Khaki, VIII
today is training and preparing 70
theefront, knows he is going there 70
business, and Is anxious to do his littl
bit They realize ii is no cinch, NJ
Sunday school picnic, nothing 10 bra,
over nothing 10 cause flippant re
marks. The boy In French training
camp who wrote to his father tha
"this war Is not half as bad AS it il
painted" must have been novice wht
had not sensed gunpowder, even in on,
Of the back trenches. War in any
form Is a sober reality The present
conflict needs 10 be met with judg.
ment methodical reasoning, grit, and
a firm determination 10 win.
II now matters not what conditions
caused the war, who was to blame, or
how our opinions may vary on the
| subject; the indubitG bic fact remains
that we are in it, and unless we
meet the overwhelming wave now
rolling toward US with unity Of action
and indomitable persistence, we will
never be able to get over the top"
In such conflict as the present,
when the honor of the Nation is at
stake, pacifists, alarmists, and various
forms of militants are more harmful
tothe cause than all the German spies
the country contains. This is true,
because they breed dissension, division
of opinions, and clog the wheels of
war machinery now working in the in
terest Of universal peace. Under the
present conditions, with all due re-
spect to the fundamental principles of
their teachings, there can be no peace,
no safety, no more real Americanism,
until we have measured swords with
the enemy, and have beaten him back
into his own. Right or wrong, with
both allies and the enemy praying to
the same God, this has now got to be |
done, or we lose prestige, honor, free
dom, and that glorious independence
for which our forefathers fought.
As for the soldiers themselves, this
should be, and probably is, firmly inn
pressed upon their minds. They do
not need mock sympathy, cajoling, or
made to feel they are pets being fed
and fatted for the slaughter A fat
ted hog can neither run nor fight.
Neither do we believe our soldiers
boys are clamorous for sympathy. As
one has said, 1--WE are here for bust
ness and we like it-partly for itself
and partly because we ought to like
/. That's the point--"because we
ought to like it." The majority do not
20 fors an outing, not even those who
.nlist; but out of sense of duty a
all to the cause of humanity, and for
he honor of Old Glory which they are
'roud to serve. To do this they must
et their teeth hard, face hardships, {
ndure privations, and even death with |
indian stoicism, or they are not of the '
tuf Of which real soldiers are made. l
With these facts instilled into their G
ninds, "our country first and it must I
Q served" few s!ackers will be found
4 our midst.
The people may oyerdo in many
lings in preparing our boys for the k
ar, and probably do. Even the r
Secutive heads Of the nation may il
lakc mistakes. No doubt this is true, h
s no man is infallible. Then there
rc reasons for it. This war is unlike
ny other since the world began. A
af OF science; Of brain instead Of
rawn; Of long and short distances in
hich every deYilish contrivance that T.
ycntive genius can conjure up is q
ought into play; a trench war; a Il
ar that annihilates capital as we'll as Il
en-. To meet this nineteenth century b,
'oblem requires tactics, skill, and the 81
ost brilliant inventive brains the ma al
IN can furnish. So with new prob sv
ms must follow mistakes with some in
ings oycrdonc. But better overdo ia
an do nothing The one indisputablc m
ct Il, we have entered the ring, and W.
less we try to do, and fight mighty th
I'd matching science against sci ha
ce, grit against grit, punishment pr
ainsi punishment, and with bulldog be
laciousness, We arc liable TO a solar al
ixus blow that win knock US out "
lity IF action is proof against this, mn
is the ring motto, fight to I'm en-
Newport Express. tht
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