Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-11-28
A. War Thanksgiving


active participant in the greatest war in history AT
first glance it might seem that to nation plunged
into tremendous, bloody strife Thanksgiving Day
NAV bring less of thankfuness than usual Such
is not the case.
Fred B. Smith, the businessman-evangelist, sum-
married in one terse sentence at the AID Club yester'
day Americas greatest cause for thankfulness.
Said he:
81 am thankful that from Maine to Hawaii this
nation is absolutely one in its determination to pro-
secute this war to a successful finish"
Before the immense fact of war, all other issues,
local and national, are subordinated. Before this
immense responsibility that rests upon the Amer
lean people, all other responsibilities take second
place. Before the duty that confronts u.s. all other
duties must take their turn.
National unity in this critical hour is the greatest
cause for thanksgiving the nation has could have.
We hear a great deal of disloyalty-but it is dis
loyalty of isolated incident, not disoyalty in the
mass
We read in the local and mainland press OF 1ndlvl-
dual cases of slackerism single instances of sedi
ton, plotting and sneaking Germanism But IN
comparison with the mighty hosts of honest loyal,
clean-handed upright, patriotic citizens, these in
dividual traitorisms significantly few.
Organized labor had within it's ranks spouting
pacifsts and REASONABLE anti-drafters. But when
the issue came to decisive vote in Buffalo at the
convention of the American Federation of Labor,
the men who stood for waging war, who stood with
President Wilson, victorious by the overwhelm-
ing vote of SO to 1.
Organized capitalism has had within it's ranks
some who saw in the war chance for plumber at
home. But the overwhelming body of patriotic bust
nessmen stands ready to expose the profteers and
strip them of ill-gotten gains
nd cla hos
Washington or sent to duty elsewhere the greatest
aggregation of experts assembled for national
duty in this country perhaps in any country.
They are at Washington. They are in railroad
and steamship offices. They are building steamers
and wooden ships. They are helping to mine and
transport coal. They handling sugar crops.
They are serving committees of public informa-
ton of food control, of fuel control of war NUM-
TONS of railroad transportation, of supplies
in fact they in every branch of patriotic service
They are raising funds for relieving wars inevitable
horrors as we'll as for waging wars inevitable
battles. -.~. g.
More than ever before since the revolutionary
war the American people is the government.
. There is no government at Washington apart from
the people, with its legislative executive and judi
cal branches Never before since this republic was
established have the people had such large measure
IN the aCIQdl ru0nluS III dCthc OpcIdIlou SoN
eminent affairs
throughout the nation there are subcommittee
and subordinate bodies military and civilian, work
ing as units in the great national system.
We are living in year of concentrated brain
power and concentrated man-pOwer devoted to I'm
Gle Sans service.
America did not want this We do not .cant
war now. We are loath to wage war. But now that
we realize the war had to be fought that we had to
take our part. as sef-respecting nation and as
nation upholding the principles of freedom and
democracy, zee are going to be good fighters.
America is making mistakes of detail as Secre-
tarv Baker and others have recognized. We are
not nearly so perfect in the art of waging war as
the Germany that has been preparing for forty
years. But fear, the American people will be
good fighters in material and organization before
this war has gone more than year further.
Let us, on Thanksgiving Eve, be thankful that we
are in war for the sake of democracy and humanity
alone; that we have, in spite of Heterogeneous
people, such very, very few citizens who are not
true Americans; that can oversubscribe Liberty
Loans and turn national business into war chan
nels And that when the war is won we can hold
consistently to the ideal laid down by President
subjugatiOn; that we have no aim of an economic
war after the military war, and that our admitted
position will enable our ideals to hold prominent
place at the peace-tabe.