The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1918-01-05
THE SOLDIER OF FRANCE.

have recently visited the war zone IN quest OIL
irst-hand information there and III allied lands
heard with interest his recital OF what
he saw and learned and was stirred, as the
country will be, by his tributes to England and
Frenchmen believe that they have shown the
world that the blood of their soldiers is the red
dest blood on earth. They believe that Grave
|lette, Sedan and Metz were stolen victories IN
1870 when the French soldiers had no chance
Ito show the stuff Of which they were made.
they feel now that their defenders man for
man are better fighters than their enemies,
and no other thought than victory enters their
minds. 1t is true that France is warlworn.
weary. What nation of forty million people
would not be with more than two millions OF her
virile manhood killed, crippled or prisoners in
enemy lands? But the morale of France has not
weakened in the least, and every one Of her
tens of thousands of soldiers that our congress
men saw were well clad, well nourlshed,
healthy and unalterably determined to win the
war. It is the proudest moment OF the French
bows life when he is old enough to put on the
uniform of a soldier of France and go to the
front, And it is the private soldier who Is the
idol of France. The officer is only an Incl
dent. To the man who carries the gun all
homes are opened and for him the best IN the
brought forth. The army of France is
democratic. Officers and prlvates, colonels
and corporals will be found at the same tables
slipping their wine and discussing the move
ment timed for the morrow OF the plan OF the
campaign. Each is every inch a soldier and
knows that the other is. Their understanding
is mutual and their contact personal and close.
The visiting congressman came away con
WINGED that an eighth of the atrocities COM
mitted by the Germans have never been told
and the number, of character of u~nspeakable
crimes inflicted upon the defenseless women OF
Belgium and France will astonish and horrify
the world. They believe that the war has
passed it's turning point and that the pendu.
lum of fate is swinging on the arc adverse
to the German cause. The war will be fought
out on the western front. 1t is unthinkable
that it can be ended anywhere else. Before
the German army retires from French and Bel
gian soil it will be crushed and beaten, anc
thereafter the victory will be swift and great.
The spirit of Hashmuro Togo, whose wont i
was to enquire to know now hangs over tn
United States senate. The interrogation ha
displaced every other point of punctuation. Th'
hunt for truth has been shrouded by a cloud O
mystery and censorship on the part Of the ad
ministration. The active use of the interroga
ton may bring to light a view of what has beer
going on behind the national stage.
The Russian military prisoner who got tn,
firing squad to vote on whether or not the.
would shoot him and escaped while the cam
= paign for and against specific capital punish
ment was raging, had better come to this coun
i try where his talents will gain him something il
the way of political advancement.
The pathway of the food p~rofiteer is strew1
| with trouble these days. Several wholesal
handlers of foodstuffs in different cities hav
, been severely punished and put out Of bushes
for allowing perishable products to deteriorat
} while holding them for the purpose Of main
tanning high prices.
''There is nothing" asserts a luminous con
4 temporary, "like doing without to teach us wha
. we may do without" Does our editorial broth
t er remember the story Of the horse who wa
Just getting used to doing without food when h
idied?
o Every time they want a gentleman to fall
softly in England they push a peerage unde
him before they crowd him off the deck.
= He'll may be paved with good intentions bu
: heat up the house any.
e Germany is finding that peace is not tn
easiest thing obtainable, even with the Dol
sheviki.