The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-05-19

residents are expected are auth horized
to establish such subagencies and to
employ and deputize such clerical
force as may be necessary to accom-
modate these applications.
| The power against which, we are
| arrayed has sought to impose it's will
upon the world by force. To this end
| 1t has increased armament until 1t
has changed the face Of war. In the
sense in which we have been wont
| to think of armies, there are no
armies In this struggle. There are
entire nations named. Thus, the men
who remain to till the soil and man
| the factories are no less a part Of
the army that is France than the
men beneath the battle flags. 1t
must be so with us. It Is not an
army that we must shape and train
| for war; it is a nation To this end
our people must draw close In one
compact front against common foe.
But this cannot be if each man
pursues a private purpose. All must
pursue one purpose. The nation
needs all men, but it needs each
man, not in the field that will most
please him, but in the endeavor that
will best serve the common good.
Thus, though sharpshooter p1eases
to operate a trip hammer for the
forging Of great guns, and an expert
machinist desires to march with the
flag, the nation is being served only
when the sharpshooter marches and
the machinist remains at his levers.
The whole nation must be a team on
which each man shall play the part
for which he is best fitted To this
end, congress has provided that the
nation shall be organized for war by
selection and that each man shall
be classified for service in the place
to which it shall best serve the gem
era1 good to call him.
The significance of this cannot be
overstated. 1t Is a new thing in our
history and landmark in our pro-
gress. 1t is a new manner Of accept
ing and vitalizing our duty to give
ourselves with thoughtful devotion to
the common purpose Of us all. 1t is
in no sense a conscription of the un-
willing; it is, rather, selection from
a nation which has volunteered in
mass. It is no more a choosing of
those who shall march with the
co1ors than it is selection of those
who shall serve an equally necessary
and devoted purpose in the industries
that lie behind the battle line.
The day here nam ed Is the time
upon which all shall present them
selves for assignment to their tasks.
It is for that reason destined to be
remembered as one of the most con-
spicuous moments in our history. 1t
is nothing less than the day upon
which the manhood of the country
shall step forward in one solid rank
in defense of the ideals to which this
nation is consecrated. 1t is important
to those ideals no less than to the
pride of this generation in manifest
ing its devotion to them that there
be no gaps in the ranks.
1t Is essential that the day be ap-
preached in thoughtful apprehension
of It's significance, and that we ac-
cord it to the honor and the mean
ing that it deserves. Our industrial
need prescribes that it be not made
technical holiday but the stern
sacrifice that Is before US urges that
it be carried in all our hearts as
great day Of patriotic devotion and
obligation. when the duty shall lie
upon every man, whether he is him
self to be registered or not, to see
to 1t that the name Of every male
person Of the designated ages Is writ
ten on these lists Of honor
In witness whereof I have here
unto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be
affixed.
Done at the city of Washington.
this 18th day of May, in the year of
our Lord one thousand nine hundred
and seventeen, and of the indepen-