Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1917-06-20

rights against might. He writes in
personal letter:
Dear vigilantes: Here is a Holland,
ers view of your war I wish it were
Hollands war, also, but it isn't and for
the present it can't be. should be glad
Nif you could give this little appeal OF
mine wide circulation. 1t might help
Americans to see somewhat more clearly
than they do now the great issues for
which Naey are fighting.
And them
want this to be Americas war.
The reason is simple. This terrible
conflict should not merely be a strug
gle for victory. 1t ought to be the
lasting triumph over that most dread
ed Of all human recollections-the CEN
tury old inheritance of Europe's polit-
ical crimes.
Let me try and show you the back
ground against which see this war. I
was born and educated in one Of the
small neutral countries of the old con-
tinent. From earliest childhood l was
surrounded by CHASTITY recollections of
the past Not mere vague rumors of
years Of starvation followed by the
plenty Of conquest, but grave realities
which had meant ruin and death to
many Of my Immediate ancestors. In
little cupboard were the buttons worn
by my maternal great grandfather who
was dragged to Moscow by the hungry
pride of Napoleon. In the room OF my
parents there hung the picture of my
paternal great grandfather, whose
small fortune was swept away when
the foreign despot who destroyed our
national independence confiscated every
penny we possessed. At school I
learned my geography and on every
continent of Asia and Africa and Amer
| lea it was the same dreary story of a
| large Empire grown rich at the cost Of
it's weak neighbor. When l was Is the
war for the independence of the Trans
vaal began We, boys in Holland, saw
the backwash of this uneven conflict.
The noble figure of President Steyn Of
the Free State, a man like a full grown
tree but bent down and broken from
hardship and suffering pushed along in
little carriage like a helpless child
told us what it meant when the weak
dared to offend the mighty.
| So the story continued. Our futile
anger at the conqueror was offset by
the indignation we felt against the po-
tentate who professed his love for the
struggling Beers while he provided
their enemies with elaborate plans Of
campaign and valuable military advice
there was no right. Might alone was
the Lord of Hosts.
| That was fifteen years ago. Not a
quarter of a lifetime. Yet the world
has changed A ray of light appeared
along the horizon when the conqueror
of that day proved to be a generous
friend willing to undo the harm of a
mistaken political faction. South
Africa, willing and enthusiastic men,
Der OF union of independent domin-
ions. taught the world that the old
order of things had ceased to be-
France, once the destructive force Of
our continent, aspired to be the leader
in all those arts which make life worth
living. And when the brute force Of
militarism was turned against the I'M
defended individuality Of small state
and the foul visitation Of war was
forced upon unwilling Belgium, the rest
OF Europe combined to uphold the
/ . W. AiS" ~ AlSiPlC WHICH IOlU us IldI
the ethics and morals Of the individual
should be those of the nation.
That was three years ago. And now
America has gone in. At last we may
expect the political and spiritual regen-
Grafton of the human race. For when
we fight the Germans we are fighting a
nation composed of so many million
men and women. We are fighting an
idea. The individual enemy is a negli-
gible detail Our guns are not aimed
at his trenches and his Notifications.
They intend to destroy his ideal, that
same principle of might above right
which other and older nations have
successfully discarded as unworthy of
, a commonwealth of free men.
| For over a century the nations of
Europe-and not the least those small
nations who can compete in matters of
the spirit but not in the figures OF
military statistics-have looked I'D to
America for their inspiration. Amer
lea was the tangible protest against
the political conceptions of Europe.
America desired no territorial gains.
America wished for no forced suppress.
sion Of the individual. It only desired
to give all men an even chance and an
equal start.
But America was far away. We In
Europe, saw 1t only through the dis
torting haze Of the oceans distance.
Until this moment.
America has at last gone across the
ocean to help US realize our hopes and
our dreams. II they come true, II
America will remain true to her orig
inal mission. the gratitude Of future
generations will know this conflict as
the crusade for the lasting IDEAL
And they will call Il "America's