Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-11-12

4. of group of devoted American men ar
women secretaries. There our boys ha'
N gone, and trsmped In the mountain
have enjoyed such vacations % no hgh
Ing men ever hsd before.
These resorts must be kept In fu
I'd swing through the period Of demobilix
tion, and dozen like them are beir
y added. For furloughs will be long,
). now, and far moro general, and the dal
:. gers that normally attend them will |
}: multiplied.
III All these matters the war wor
L agencies have provided for, and the
% plans are laid for carrying than forwsr
6 even more effectively In the tryin
Il months to come. But there are tw
Q features on the program that require
o word Of special comment. refer
3 the educational program laid down 70
= the period of utilization; and to th
: religious program-the process of sui
: rounding the boys with the continuin
, reminder of home, and the homo church
Peace is not yet here, but already tn
t minds of the men and the women on thi
side are beginning to turn back to th
thought Of their normal occupa
tions. They are beginning
, to pick up the stray threads Of thei
private affairs, to turn their minds t
, the problem of making living. I
these are the thoughts which tn
, dawn of victory has brought to you
what must be the thoughts of the boy
: over there who left remunerate position
to answer their country's call, and who
have, for months, been wholly removed
: from the processes of civil lief Ar,
they not already beginning to wonder
whore they will find place when they
return? Is there not in their minds al
night sometimes the fear that perhaps
there will be no place for them-that
their absence has so far put them out oi
touch as to make 1t necessary for them
TO begin all over again and farther
down?
No one who has not talked with them
there, as have, can realize how real and
gripping this fear is. And the war
agencies are doing all within their power
to banish it.. With the coming of peace
every hut in France will Immediately be.
come university or high school class
room. Leading educational authorities
of the country have laid out q complete
plan Of education for the period Of de-
mobilization. Specialists in every line
have been sent, or will be sent across to
bring the boys up to date in their
studies; text books In huge quantities
have been purchased and shipped across.
In 80 far as is possible to make those
months productive In the lives of the
boys it will be done; the war work
agencies mean that they shall return not
further back, but actually further along
mentally than as though they had not
gone.
And what say about the plans for
teaching them through books and lec-
lures applies equally to the great plan
that has been laid down for keeping
them in touch with the development Of
business on this side through the visits
to them Of q constant stream of Amer
ica's best business men. Such men have
been going to them throughout the
period of the war, and the boys have
listened to them more eagerly than to
any group OF men or women who have
visited the huts. It will mean every
thing to the boy II, when he lands over
here, he can feel that he is not utterly
out Of touch With the business world !;
but that, through the information and
the inspiration brought to him by busi-
ness men, he is in step already, and pre-
pared to take up the old life and 60
resolutely ahead.
Finally, and most important. the plans
Of the war work agencies provide for
keeping the altar 6res lighted in the
huts over there, and the influence OF the
American home and the American
mother strong and vibrant
In those French villages. This
is the first great war In which the church
and the home have followed the boy
straight up to the front line trenches.
In every hut, In every village, wherever
. few hundred boys were billeted to-
gether, there has been big, whole
sculed American man-often one of
Americas best clergymen or priests or
rabbis-to be kind of refuge to the
boy in his hour of need, to listen to bis
condolences, and to keep strong before
him the memory OF the folks back home
who are praying the God Of battles for
him.
And further back there have been
more than thousand true-hearted
American women. To them at night
the boy has gone, hungry for the sound
of woman's voice In q language he can
understand. To them he has carried
letters from bis mother and the girl
back home, and the family snapshots;
they have been bis good angels, the
representatives Of American motherhood
and sisterhood, keeping the best that is
In him strong and fragrant through the
long months of separation.
Shall we with draw these fathers of
our boys, and these mothers and sisters,
In the period when the boys need them
mostp Shall We let the word 20 across !;
I'VE have stood behind you through the
months of fighting, but now that the
fighting Is over you must shift for your.
selves, for We must be busy with our
own affairs'? Shall this be our record in
the great world war? Or shall We send
across this message: 1--WE have stood be-
hind You through your battles, and you
can count upon us to stand by until the
last boat has left the other side"?
As write the newspapers are bring
ing us dispatches that are difficult to ap-
praise. Opinion In our own govern
mental circles IL divided between those
who look for an early peace, and those
who look for another six months of
fighting. But no matter what the out
come may be-; no matter whether peace
comes next summer, or next spring or
even before snow flies, It will not affect
In the slightest the United War Work
Campaign. Every penny of the huge
sum asked for will be needed; yes, and
millions more. In fact we are expressing
the hope that the American people may
grant as generous over subscription, of
ut least fifty per cent. For Il must
never be said that America stopped half
way. When the boys come home We
must be able to look them 10 the eye un.
flinchingly, a. men and women who have
nothing to apologize for.
As men and women who stood by
them, not merely to the day of the
victory, but through that. even more
trying period, "the morrow of the
victory" which, In other wars has been
20 dangerous, and in this war must
be made an asset In tho life Of every
one Of our boys. 'Ds~ s ,.4
An odd incident has recently OCCUR
red at the Automobile Bureau In Augusta
all on account Of the oddly Of o name.
The bureau received On application for
On operators license, with the neces-
sary % fee enclosed. The application
mas from Rnrnhau Na nnd fha ai0na.