The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-10-27


herewith, WAS written by Lewis r.
Crawford, Of Sentinel Butte. NJ. D.,
president Of the state board Of re-
gents. II was suggested BY the arr
tieIe entitled 1.-THE Hymn of the
German Sword" which appeared re-
Gently In a German nswspaper)
The American Sword.
l am the American sword.
have never unsheathed except in
the cause of justice and humanity.
/ punish only under solemn and
compelling obligation.
In my presence national perhdy
and dishonor never go unchallenged.
1 opened in generous trust to all
nations the portals Of American OPP
portunity and gave equal rights to
all In the inheritance created by toll
and blood of our ancestors.
In me everything that is good
hnds approval, everything mean
meets rebuke.
My people are enticed to love me
by the gentle responsiveness Of my
life.
am the visual enchantment Of the
downtfodden and the oppressed; the
emblem Of national honor; the en-
bodiment Of the worlds hope.
In me is linked the command Of
duty and love OF Calvary; it is mine
to trace the hidden equities of divine
reward and connect national wrong
doing with its swift retribution; un-
der me fulfillment adds splendor to
the gorgeous mosaic in our dreams.
o Kaiser! obsessed with power,
drunk with passion. enemy of peace
and light and freedom throughout
the world, slayer Of age and infancy,
ravtsher OF virginity, spreader Of
contagion, fiend incarnate!
Against thee barren fields cry out
In protest; venerated works OF art
ana architecture, hallowed by the
centuries, thou hast crumbled under
the shells of frenzy; thou art vast
ing the flower of the worlds man
hood in red ruin spurred on by the
grim reaper of Hate.
Thou international brigand! en-
SLAYER and robber of Belgium, looter
Of Servia, betrayer Of neutrals: thou
art a pirate running mad on the
painless sweep Of oceans, plumber
ing and numbering on the worlds
highway.
Diplomatic intriguer! Thou hast
faithlessly broken age-old treaties,
torpedoed hospital ships. bombarded
defenseless cities and unleashed
liquid fire and poison gas-outlaw
demons Of destruction. In this cpl
lepsy Of the worlds horror thou art
not bowed with a sense Of unfathom-
able guilt and sullen shame; thou
the arch gutter-snipe of civilization,
art more unsparing than Torqua-
mada, more cruel than Nero, more
atrocious than Caligula. more crafty
than Geronimo: thou hast loosed the
hosts Of i'll upon peaceful world
and darkened the heavens with bias
phemy.
Thou art chased by the madden
ing pillows, the deeps, in malice open
to receive thee: ashen faces turned
toward flame-ht skies, appeal for
vengeance.
MY presence gives courage to en-
dure the appalling strain and omni-
present peril OF battle.
bestow superhuman nerve, Sleep
less caution, capacity for sacrifice,
and the justice of my cause palsies
the hand OF brutal might and insen-
safe ambition.
pity the victim. not the violator;
the sorrows bring wear no weeds
OF mourning.
open a new era in history; fire
the human soul with new daring
and new hope; will survive this
conflict and pronounce its sentence.
When the name of Kaiser shall
have lost its stencil and been cover
ed by the dust of remorseless CEN
turtles. shall still be glorified as the
n1ainstay Of democracy-the peace
maker Of the. world.
The Hymn Of the German Sword.
1t is no duty of mine to = either
Just or compassionate; il suffices
that am sanctified by my exalted
and that l blind the eyes
OF my enemies with such streams of
tears as shall make the proudest of
them cringe in terror under the vault
Of heaven.
have slaughtered the old and the
/ have struck off the
breasts of women: and have run
through the bodies of children who
gazed at, me with the eyes of the
lion.
Day after day / ride aloft on the
shadowy horses in the valley of
Expresses, and as ride / draw
forth the life blood from every
SON that dares to dispute
my path. ..-....
It is meet and right that / should
cry aloud my pride, for am / not the
messenger OF the Lord AL
Germany Is so far above and
beyond all the other nations that all
the rest Of the earth, be they who
they may, should feel themselves
well done by when they are allowed
TO fight with the dogs for the crumbs
that fall from her table.