The Palatka news and advertiser., 1917-05-18

not because they are to counsel
Wal, Dut because they aIe TO serve
IN tlls special war Unose purposes
OF counsel which nave DecoIne SO
imperaCively necessary. their
hrsT duty will be TO raise great
fund out Of which to draw the
resources for the performance of
their duty, and l do not believe
that it will be necessary to ap-
peal to the American people to
respond to their call for funds,
because the heart Of this country
is in this war, and if the heart
of the country is in the war, its
heart will express itself in the
gifts that will be poured out for
those humane purposes.
| say the heart Of this country
is in this war because it would
not have gone into it if its heart
had not been prepared for it.
1t would not have gone into it if
it had not first believed there
was an opportunity to express the
character of the United States.
We have gone in with no special
grievance of our own, because
we have always said that we
were the friends and servants of
mankind. We look for no profit.
We look for no advantage. We
will accept no advantage out of
this war. We go because we be-
lieve that the very principals up
on which the American republic
were founded are now at stake
and must be vindicated. In such
contest, therefore, we shall not
fail to respond to the call to serv-
ice that comes through the in
strumentality of this particular
organization.
And l think it not inappropri-
ate to say this: There will be
many expressions of the spirit of
sympathy and mercy and philan-
thropy, and l think it is very nee
essary that we should not dis
perse our activities in those lines
too much; that we should keep
constantly in view the desire to
have the utmost concentration
and efficiency of effort, and l
hope that most, if not all, of the
philanthropic activities of this
war may be exercised, if not
through the Red Cross, then
through some already constitut-
ed and experienced organization.
This is no war for amateurs.
This is no war for mere sponta-
neous impulse. 1t means grim
business on every side of it, and
it is the mere counsel of pru-
dence that in our philanthropy,
as well as in our fighting we
should act through the instru-
mentalities already prepared to
our hand and already experience
ed in the tasks which are going
to be assigned to them.
There is another thing that is
significant and delightful to my
thought about the fact that this
building should he dedicated to
the memory of the women, both
of the north and south. 1t is a
sort of landmark of the unity to
which the people have been
brought so far as any old cues
ton which tore our hearts in days
gone by is concerned; and l pray
God that the outcome of this
struggle may be that every other
element of difference amongst
US will be obliterated, and that
some day historians will remem-
ber these momentous years as
the years which made single
people out of the great body OF
those who call themselves Ameri-
cans.
The evidences are already many
that this is happening. The
divisions which were predicted
have not occurred and will not
occur. The spirit of this people
is already united and when effort
and suffering and sacrifice
have completed the union men
will no longer speak of any lines
either of race or association cut
ting athwart the great body of
this nation. So that I feel that
we are now beginning the process
ses which will some day require
another beautiful memorial erect
ed TO those whose hearts uniting,
united America"