Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1917-05-11
FRIDAY, MAY IL, 1917.
BEHIND THE LINE.
Galveston Tribune.)

sumo one mas SAID that Few men profit
ny the experience of others, that humanity
learns its lessons by being brought into
personal contact with the subject matter.
1t will be remembered that it took England
nearly a year to become aroused 10 the
realization that the nation was engaged
In a great war, and it was the visits of the
German Zeppelins to the British capital
that proved the most convincing argu-
ment for the Inauguration of an offensive
movement as the best possible defense the
empire could adopt. Unless the eeople of
the United States give implicit heed To the
warnings that come from the national cap
ital, t is more than likely history will he
repeated and we shall find ourselves face
to face with the possibility of suffering
material harm, something which could
hc readily ayerted by hearty cooperation
extended at this critical time.
As has teen told us a countless number
o. times, 1t will be useless TO send soldiers
to the ront 10 fight the battles of the
country unless the country j. in condition
EeP soldiers supplied with food
and munitions. Ii will be noticed that the
national government Is not calling quite
as loudly for soldiers as it i for food
stuffs, but it appears that the average
citizen of the military age would much pre-
fer to enlist in the fighting force and be
fed than he would TO remain ut home and
help feed some other fellow. 1t must not
: be argued that the country is in the throes
.of a needless hysteria, that there Is plenty
of food for everybody, and although il
may be somewhat advanced in price it i
still obtainable: all this may be true. but
IT does not guarantee NJ against n short
age when we have fully understood our
part in the great tragedy now being PLAYED
of European battle fields and have recog-
nized the obligations we have assumed to-
ward the men who are standing between us
and the possible invasion Of our shores by
! a relentless enemy.
How unanimously, how whole heartedly
would We back up the labors of the man
who labored with pick and shovel TO raise
the height of the levee that held back the
waters of some mighty river to prevent it
from flooding and destroying our home,
and this l. Just what j. today being done
by the brave men of England, France and
the other allies: and the most that j. now
asked of Us l. that they be fed, a task for
which nature and natures God has splen-
didly qualified u for performing; we have
the land, we have the climate, we have the
science, the seed and the implemcnts-we
are merely lacking in the inclination: in
this our Indifference amounts almost 10
the criminal.
Here is the terse yet telling way in which
the matter is presented to the Boy Scouts
of America, and they are responding with
a hundred times the enthusiasm of the men
and women:
"Big army needed here.
"Big navy, too.
Men leaving farm and factory.
SOM morning no milk bottle on your
doorstep.
No meat man.
No grocer boy.
Store sold out.
Hungry?
You will be, unless
You do something. Today.
Tomorrow.
The next day
All the time.
Soldiers cant euard and garden.
Sailors cam fight and fish.
It's teamwork or trouble.
The president SAYS plant n garden
The department of agriculture saws So,
too.
You can work your jaw and hoe
At the same time.
Begin planting now
For your country
Send II TO the soldiers?
No-eat it.