The Benson signal., 1918-05-25

character, for they do, and it is char
appreciate and ADMIRE but their duty
is the duty of force. The duty of the
Red Cross is the duty of mercy and
succor and friendship.
Have you formed a picture in your
imagination of what this war is doing
for us and for the world? In my own
mind / am convinced that not hun
dred years of peace could have knit
ted this nation together as this single
year of war has knitted it together;
and, better even than that, if possible,
it is knitting the world together.
Points to Hun Ambitions.
Look at the picture. In the center
of the scene, four nations engaged
against the world, and at every point
of vantage showing that they are seek
ing selfish aggrandizement; and,
against them, ,tWenty-three govern
ments representing the greater part
of the population of the world drawn
together into a new sense of commu-
nifty of interest, a new sense of COM
munity of purpose, new sense of
unity of life.
THE secretary of war told me an
interesting incident the other day. He
said when he was in Italy a member
OF the Italian government was explain
ing to him the many reasons why
Italy felt near to the United States.
xya,1 -
experiment, go up to any one of these
troop trains and ask in English how
many of them have been in America
and see what happens
HE tried the experiment He went
up to the troop train and said, How
many of you boys have been in Amer
lea? and he said it seemed to him as
OF half of them sprang up: Me from
San Francisco;' Me from New York;
all over There was part of the heart
OF America in the Italian army. Peo-
pie that had been knitted to us by as
sociation, who knew us, who had lived
amongst us, who had worked shoulder
to shoulder with us, and now friends
of America, were fighting for their ma
tive Italy
Friendship is the only cement that
will ever hold the world together. And
this Intimate contact of the Red Cross
with the peoples who are suffering the
terrors and deprivations Of this war is
going to be one of the greatest instru-
mentalities of friendship that the
world ever knew, and the center of
the heart of it all, if we sustain it
properly, will be this land that we SO
dearly love-
Day of Duty at Hand.
My friends, a great day of duty has
come, and duty finds a mans soul as
no kind of work can ever find it.
"May say this? The duty that
faces us all now is to serve one an
other, and no man can afford to make
a fortune out of this war. There are
men amongst us who have forgotten
that, If they ever saw it. Some of
you are old enough am old enough
Ito remember men who made for
tunes out of the Civil war, and you
know how they were regarded by
their fellow citizens. That was a war
to save one country-this is war to
save the world.
And your relation to the Red Cross
is one of the relations which will re-
lleve you of the stigma You can't
give anything to the government of
the United States; it won't accept it.
There is law of Congress against ac-
cepting even service without pay.
A Channel for Giving.
1.-THE only thing that the govern
ment will accept is loan, and duties
performed; but it is great deal bet
ter to give than to lend or to pay and
your great channel for giving is the
American Red Cross.
Down in your hearts you can't take
very much satisfaction, in the last
analysis, in lending money to the gov
ernment of the United States, because
the interest which you draw will burn
your pockets; it is commercial trans
action and some men have even dared
to cavil at the rate of interest, not
knowing the incidental commentary
that constitutes upon their attitude.
But when you give, something of
your heart, something Of your soul,
something of yourself goes with the
gift, particularly when it is given in
such form that it never can come
back by way of direct benefit to your
self.
Appeals to All to Give.
"You know there is the old cynical
definition of gratitude, as the lively
expectation of favors to come
well, there is no expectation of fa-
vors to come in this kind of giving.
These things are bestowed in order
| that the world NAV he filter nlann