Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1918-02-13

When Will We win the war
| When every person from the age
of Is upward feels determined that
we shall win.
When three women and boy take
the place Of every farm laborer sent
to the army,
When the erstwhile tramp, loafer,
bum, joy rider and rioting union
workman are seen only at work under
military guard,
When productive work and study
balance each other in the schools,
When ball games are played only by
men and boys whose tedious indoor
work requires weekly or monthly
half day of outdoor activity,
When an able-bodied young man
will be ashamed to stand behind a
counter to sell goods which girl, a
cripple, an aged man or woman could
do Just as well,
When the roadsides grow potatoes
and vegetables and the adjacent shade
trees have benches where city and viii
lage residents who cultivate the crop
may lunch and rest when needful,
When lakeside summer resorts are
reserved for the benefit of city chill
dren, women clerks and assistants,
factory girls, convalescents and aged
or infirm people.
When the prospect of cold and hum
ger the next winter is so great that
union working men dare not indulge
in their annual May day strike, to end
no one knows when,
When people quit complaining if
Government regulations for the good
of all happen to inconvience them,
deny them privilege of extravaganza
or correct their wasteful habits.
When people learn that a loaf of
dark bread is more satisfying than
the whitest possible, that plain food
is never to be apologized for, that
children have the best right to sweets.
a reasonable amount, even if their
elders must go without,
When a dime will buy a school boy
or girl lunch a quarter will buy
meal for working man and dollar
won't buy rich man any more than
he actually needs for his dinner.
When people work so hard they will
not want to work or tear around the
country on Sundays,
When retired farmers break off their
habit of wandering down the village
street to talk and joke with all they
meet and go. into the country to in
struct and superintend inexperienced
farm help, assist tenants on their
own farms or lease an unoccupied
piece of land and raise something for
food.
When country-bred girls lease their
mental tasks in town and go home to
help mother make butter, raise more
poultry, care for the garden, gather
fruit, market such products as they
are able to handle, or drive team
for father in emergencies,
When farm-bred city-men, If pos
sible, give up their work in town for
a steady, well-paid position on the
farm; where young man can save
his wages without constant allure
ments to spend; where men with fam
lilies may be sure of food, fuel, and
shelter when city-dwellers are by
themselves helpless to remedy ex-
tremely distressing conditions,
When President Wilson comes to
understand that this is war of
Americans, and not Democrats, and
that efficiency in Office is more i'm
portant than cheap politicians and
ward healers,
When the allied nations have learn
ed some very important lessons In
preparation, cooperation and regula-
ton which shall crystalline into per-
manent organization,
When Americans are willing to
work as hard, save as carefully and
live as plainly for few years as Eu-
ropean workers have had to do all
theri lives before this war.
When we all wake up to wars reali-
ties. K. e. Whitney.
-Tradesman.