Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-05-01

OF WARTIME.

ING OF WARTIME.
ton News.)
hc that the presence of
IN France would cheer
rench and British armies
what chill that of the
nd that i "A good reason
It'll we shall have trained
|illlon men to have some
the battle front. But
v reason for doing that.
an American force in
ports we should get from
he people of this country
} realization of TIC mag
* we have undertaken
r we have incurred. As
mas not been aroused to
hsciouSness. IT. emotions
he'd. 1t has felt the OK
. which i the first and su-
pm. But it has shown no
leAng adequately sensible of
the nations situation. Ii i
Illusion that we are merely
the contingency Of hav-
war at some time in the fu-
Everal circumstances conspire to
Khis Illusion. We nave been 80 long
the fear and expectation Of being
Nm into the war that wo find little in
concrete realities of the moment 10
6lc,nge the mood which that apprehension
created Furthermore. the authorities
have declared that il will be NJ least 4
year before We shall be able To send any
considerable force 10 the battle fronts.
and the progress Of the war persuades
many that il will be ended by then. Thus
the conception of our connection with the
war Is dullcd by the qualifying sen-e of
fnturity and contingency. II i cnvisaoed
by the ordinary mind a. 4 disaarecahIc
prospect rather than the grim reality that
! II i. The formal declaration that we are
4 IN a state OF war with Germany needs the
enforcement of actual participation 10
awaken a lively sense of it, meaning. Not
until then will the heart of the country be-
gin to feel the anxieties which the situation
lustifies and requires.
1t l. important that these anxictic,
should he aroused. for until the country
beeins-te snfer them, to feel the depression
OF spirls-thos will cause. will il he in the
mood to make the effort and sacrifices
which, the situation requires. Ii i pos
sibie, land u may even be probable. that
the war will have ended in the complcte
vanqiase ndut of Germany before any Of
the measures We are taking can be nut
into operation. Bal il would be an inex-
cnsablc blundor to' cultivate that hone. II
would be a narcotic administered M the
momcht when the spur OF anxiety and even
fear i needed to give dynamic force TO
the whole Of the couniry's patent power.
And whether we shall need to use al Of
that power or not, it would be folly to
think or to act on the assumption that we
shall not. The consequence of failure and
defeat would be too dire to permit an in
dulgence in any such hope. The rational
and prudent assumption j. that we shall
need 70 e~xerciSe all the power that we pos
sess to avert the calamity of being among
the conquered of Germany.
The fundamental and sufficient i%ustifi-
cation of the army bill j. that IT, princi-
pie is in literal accord with the facts of
the situation. We shall need all the force
which universal service can generate to
take adequate precautions against the dan
gers that confront IL. Universal service i
needed both because the magnitude of our
undertaking is such "a 10 require oar at
most effort, and because the immediate
task j. of az kind which every man and
woman-and Rlo>t a the children-can aid
in performing II j. a unique circum-
stancf that there j. something for every
one tb do, and something, which if done.
will contribute definitely to the winning
Of victory. -
This~-immediate task j. ~ and
maintain such a store OF Hiff~ a.
was never possessed by Ptople. The