Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1917-11-02
War Lectures
s.. of Interest
George X. Cation Favors Our
Schools With Excellent
Addresses.

ASEes OF three lectures on the sig
nificance OF the Great War has been
given this week before the High School
students by MIR. George X. Cation, late
principal OF the Benzonia Academy,
Benzonia Mich, The war is, he said,
a great struggle between nationaities,
one standing for autocracy and one for
democracy. His first lecture, which
was given Monday afternoon, discuss1d d
the German national charat .rists:
their paternalistic form OF government
which dates back two thousand years
and which requires that the people
ljok to a leader to rule them as iath-
er ri ed his family in the days OF the
patrisrchs; their savage courage and
strength whnh the German trib, S
showed when they invaded the Roman
Empire; their dea OF world ,mpirs,
which hegan with The Empire OF Cnar-
emagne; their consciousness OF intel
lectual superiority expressed by their
Kuitur; and finally the HohenZollern
family which has taken it upon itself to
make use OF these national character
istics to build up the world empire.
The second lecture was delivered
Tuesday forenoon at 1890. School was
dismissed in the grades so that the
teachers could attend. MIR. Cation
described how the Kaiser had planned
10 conquer the world, and how he had
won the. people over t, his plan by
teaching them to look to him as pro-
tcctor against all the hostile states by
whom they were surrounded. Mr..
Cation showed how the Kaiser had
reckoned wrongly OH the nature OF the
Belgians. 'who OF all Gaul are the
bravest," as Caesar states in his COM
menlaries; how he had reckoned
wrongly ON France, and on Ireland;
how he,t thad misjudged England by
whose great battle cry we are inspired
i'm this war we have undertaken. For
we have responded to those words
that are used by the soldiers as they
carry the heavy loads ot iood and am
munitiou from trench to forward trench
at the front, Garry on! Carry ON. ,
tits that spirit which we have shown
niover.subscribing the second Liberty
Loan, which will inspire men at the
front with the thought that America is
pouring forth her resources to support
them.
Mr.. Cations third lecture given
Wednesday afternoon was on the ma
tional characteristics of the Americans,
for the war has finally come to be a
contest between our nationality and
the German. The war would stop very
soon il Amerca should make a separate
peace He paid splendid tribute to
the German people in America who
came to us in l8l8 to escape Prussian
tyranny, and helped hold our country
together during the Civil War. at is
he said, "a fine poetic and retributive
justice that this country. which those
Germans who fled from Prussia helped
10 save, should now be the power TO
deliver the crushing blow to the auto
cratic domination Of Prussia
Mr. Cation has also been lecturing
in Boyne~ City. He himself has one
son in the aircraft service and second
son, who has spent the supmer training
at the naval station al Newport and is
now at the service of the government.
His eloquence, his vivid presentation
Of the historical background Of this
war, and the ideals which he presented
have made an impression not soon to
be forgotten by the high school,