Middletown transcript., 1917-04-21
THE NATION URGED TO FORGET SELF
AND PROFIT To WIN THE WAR
An Appeal by the President

Washington.-In q personal appeal
addressed to his felloW-countrymen,
President Wilson calls upon every
American citzen-man, woman and
child-to join together to make the
nation unit for the preservation of
its ideals and for triumph Of demo-
cracy in the world war. 1.-The supreme
test of the nation has come" says the
address. 1--WE must all speak. act and
serve together"
The address follows:
my fellow-countrymen: The en-
trance of our own beloved country into
the grim and terrible war for demo
cracy and human rights, which has
shaken the world, creates so many
problems Of national life and action,
which call for immediate consideration
and settleemnt, that l hope you will
permit me to address to you a few
words Of earnest counsel and appeal
with regard to them.
I'VE are rapidly putting our Navy
upon an effective war footing and are
about to create and equip a great
army, but these are the simplest parts
of the great task to which we have ad-
dressed ourselves. There is not sin
gle selfish element, SO far as can
see, in the cause we are fighting for.
We are fighting for what we believe
and wish to be the rights Of mankind
and for the future peace and security
of the world. To do this great Ning
worthily and successfully we must de-
vote ourselves to the service without
regard to profit or material advantage
and with an energy and intelligence
that will rise to the level of the enter
prise itself. We must realize to the
full how great the task is and how
many things, how many kinds and ele-
ments of capacity and service and self
sacrifice it involves.
Must Supply Our Allies.
I "These, then, are the things we must
do, and do well, besides fghting-the
things without which mere fighting
would be fruitless:
1--WE must supply abundant food for
ourselves and for our armies and our
seamen not only, but also for large
part of the nations with whom we
have now made a common cause, in
whose support and by whose sides we
shall be fighting.
I'VE must supply ships by the hun
dreds out of our shipyards to carry to
the other side of the sea, submarines
or no submarines, what will every day
be needed there, and abundant ma
terials out of our fields and our mines
and our factories with which not only
to clothe and equip our own forces on
land and sea, but also to clothe and
support our people, for whom the gal
liant fellows under arms can no longer
work, to help clothe and equip the
armies with which we are co-operat-
ing in Europe and to keep the looms
and manufactures there in raw ma
terial; coal to keep the fires going in
ships at sea and in the furnaces OF
hundreds of factories across the sea;
steel out of which to make arms and
ammunition both here and there, rails
for worn-out railways back of the fight
ing fronts, locomotives and rolling
stock to take the place of those every
day going to pieces; mules, horses,
cattle for labor and military service;
everything with which the people of
England and France and Italy and
Russia have usually supplied them
selves but cannot now afford the men,
the materials or the machinery to
make.
1T is evident to every thinking man
that our industries, on the farms, in
the shipyards, in the mines, in the fac
tories, must be made more prolific and
more efficient than ever, and that they
must be more economically managed
and better adapted to the particular
requirements of our task than they
have been; and what want to say is
that the men and the women who de-
vote their thought and their energy to
these things will be serving the coun-
try and conducting the fight for peace
and freedom just as truly and just as
effectively as the men on the battle
field or in the trenches. The indus
trial forces Of the country, men and
women alike, will be great national,
a great international, service army; a
national and honored host engaged in
the service of the nation and the
world, the efficient friends and saviors
OF free men everywhere. Thousands,
nay hundreds Of thousands, of men
otherwise liable to military service
will of right and of necessity be ex-
cused from that service and assigned
to the fundamental, sustaining work
of the fields and factories and mines
and they will be as much part OF the
great patriotic forces of the nation as
the men under fire.
A Word To Farmers.
IL take the liberty, therefore, OF ad
dressing this word to the farmers OF
the country and to all who work on
the farms: The supreme need OF oul
own nation and OF the nations with
which we are cooperating is an abund
ance Of supplies and especially o.
foodstuffs The importance of ar
adequate food supply, especially fol
the present year, is superlative. With
out abundant food, alike for the armies
and the peoples now at war, the whole
great enterprise upon which we have
embarked will break down and fail
The worlds food reserves are low
Not only during the present emerg
ency. but for some time after peace
shall have come, both our own people