Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-11-19
OF MORALE;
WHAT IT STANDS FOR
France And Belgium Are Ex-
amples Of This Great In
tangible Force
1T MEANS FINAL VICTORY

Morale is that intangible moral
force by virtue of which the armies
of France and Britain, of Belgium,
Italy and Serbia maintained for more
than three years, their fight against
an enemy stronger than themselves in
all the material things that count for
victory. 1t is the unseen element for
lack of which the Russian armies de-
generated into mere armed mobs.
The first battle of the Marine, which
will ever remain a fresh and glorious
memory after scores of other battles
have been lost or won. was supreme
example of how a harrassed and re-
treating army, If only its morale is
unbroken, may turn imminent defeat
into victory. For days the French had
fallen back before the rush of the
triumphant German armies. They
had seen Belgium and great part of
their own beloved France overrun.
They had seen the people of their own
race, women and children and old
folk, driven in desperate flight before
the advancing hosts, or swallowed up
in the flood of oncoming merciless
Germans.
1t would not have seemed strange
then if France. remembering 1870. had
yielded to the overwhelming force ar
rayed against her. But the world did
not know the reborn France then.
Those days in August and early Sep
TENDER, 1914, when the French armies,
with the little army of $4,000. Brit
aims expeditionary force, called by
the Kaiser, "Britain's contemplate lit
tie army" halted at the Marine, and
then turned on the enemy and drove
him back in headlong fight, revealed
to the world France reincarnate.
In those first breathless weeks. of
the war, for a time II seemed that
Paris would soon be in ashes. we'll
remember how the courage of the
responsible leaders of the nation, as
of the whole people, shone out across
the darkness of those days like bea-
con lights in the blackness of storm.
I'VE shall defend the city at the outer
inner gates; we shall defend the city
with the valor of our troops, though
beloved Paris be laid in ashes" said
President Poincare. when German sol
diers were in sight of the Effel tower,
and the sound of the guns was waited
over Paris.
The amazing exhibition of sublime
courage and strength which France
gave at that time has not been belied
since. And her allies have all been
worthy of her. They have not falter-
ed, they have not failed in the dark
est hours. When the detection of
Russia threw the whole burden of the
war upon them. with American troops
not yet ready in force, they did not
falter or cry out, as does the Kaiser
now that the tide of battles turns
against him.
France and Belgium are examples
of the dedication of whole nations. ma
terially and spiritually, to one great
purpose. with a determination to die
rather than to lose That purpose is
the defense of the principles on which
her government and all true govern
ments is founded-the principles pro-
mulgated in the Sermon on the Mount,
1000 years ago.
France decided in the beginning
that it was better to sacrifice every
thing, better that French people
should all die, than submit again as
in 1871, for that would be the extinc-
ton of her national life. and the de-
struction of the soul of France. In
that purpose and that determination
the Allies all share. They are in the
war to preserve inviolate their homes.
their men and women from slavery.
They are in the war to preserve lib
erty, to keep the spirit of freedom
alive in the world. In that faith, the
men of the Allies are fighting: in that
faith they shall in the consciousness |
of a cause that is just, conquer, like
Sir Galahad, their
Strength is as the strength of ten,
Because their hearts are pure"
To main and strengthen that spirit |
in the men of the American Army and |
Navy; to bring comfort and cheer into /
service which at best is hard and rigo- |
rous; to aid the soldiers and civilians |
of our long suffering Allies: Is our /
work. TIE labors OF the devoted men
and women in auxiliary organizations |
such as the Y n. c. A., y W. G. A, !