Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-16
CALL TO SERVICE

TINE President, in an address to
= the people of the country as
whole, and the Governor. in
message to the people of Pennsylva-
mia, almost simultaneously have issued
urgent calls to national service. Both
appeal to the very best there is in Am
erican citizenship-just now, above all
other times, it must be one for all and
all for one il the nation is to come
through triumphant. Every man and
woman owing allegiance to the United
States must lend a. hand in the emer-
gency. None is exempt.
We are slowly awakening to the
gravity of the situation that has been
thrust upon us. We are beginning to
understand that each of us, whether
or not we shall don the uniform of
the army or navy, bust do his Bit"
that the safety of the nation does not
lie solely with the government, but
as we'll with the individuals that make
up the government. We had come too
much to look toward the forces at
Washington and the officials at Har-
risburg to perform all the services
of government for us, but we are now
at time when each one must become
a voluntary contributor to the eff
cheney of the government For the
sake of the country as whole we
must be content with small profits and
reasonable wages. The man who tries
to take advantage of the war to wrest
high prices from his customers or ex-
tortionate wages from his employer
is at heart traitor to his country,
and he will be looked upon as such by
his fellows. 1t will go i'll with the man
who uses the necessity of the present
moment to better his own condition.
We are setting out upon a holy war.
We have taken up the sword in the
cause of humanity. No great benefit
for the common people of any coun-
try has ever been achieved without
sacrifice. 1t must be so with us. I'm
less we have the will to deny ourselves
some of the luxuries in which we have
been indulging; unless we conserve our
provisions and our resources as a
whole; unless we cooperate to in
crease our personal efficiency and
thereby the products of our industries
and our farms; unless we live in har-
mony together and all work consist
emily and everlastingly toward the
common goal of national triumph, the
conflict in which we have engaged
will be prolonged and each of us will
suffer accordingly.
BY doing now and with all the
might there is in us those things which
the President and the Governor have
urged us to do, we shall not only dis
play our own patriotism and thus in
fuence those about us, but we shall
materially tighten the task of the
men in the trenches, help shorten the
period of the conflict and thereby save
the lives of thousands of men who are
facing shot and shell along the far
flung battle lines of the world.
Thousands of able-bodied men will
not be permitted to go into the army.
They will be kept at home in order
that their skilled hands may minister
to the men in the trenches and to the
needs of our allies beyond the seas.
To these the government should
award some badge of service, that
they may be known and honored
among their fellows as servants in the
great cause, and so differentiated from
| the "slackers" who would save their
precious necks at the expense of per-
sonal disgrace. The soldiers of the
field and factory, of the steamship line
and the railroad, should have his Off
cial recognition as we'll as the soldier
in uniform.