Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-11-28
TRULY A DAY FOR THANKSGIVING

derness to which they had come, sat down to a feast y
Thanksgiving. This feast, which is peculiarly American
has been celebrated year after year. and today through
out the length and breadth Of the land Americans Will SIT
down to a feast that truly will be one of Thanksgiving. IL
will be a feast Of which the whole world can partake' tor
the world today is offering thanks more fervent than any
II has vet given. After more than four terrible years
years which saw a river Of red flowing from the heart OF
Europe-the world again has come to know peace. and
soon it shall know prosperity as never before. In France
in Belgium. in Italy, in the Holy Land. the noise and
death Of battle are known no more, only the trappings OF
armies victorious marching forward to reclaim the world,
only the deep peace that comes after the mad years OF
Mars and Moloch. The thunder Of cannon is silenced, and
soldiers hear again the rustic of the leaves and the sing
ing of the birds. The long, sharp flashes Of light that shot
out into the night, the bursting rockets. with their calls
for help, are seen no more. and soldiers gaze only at the
beauty Of the stars and the moon. From the ashes and
ruins Of innumerable cities soon will spring greater cities.
and soon the fields of France and Belgium will be healed
BY natures sweet oblivion. Already little children are
laughing and playing, and men and women. suddenly and
ruthlessly torn from their homes by the gray hordes, are
returning to their hearths; they find them gone in many
cases, but the land still remains, though it is covered with
ruins, and, because the forces Of evil have been overcome,
new homes will spring up. Truly. it is a day for giving
thankA
How much the world owes to that little band Of Pill
srims! They fled from their native land to escape tyran-
ny. and in the wilderness Of America they sowed the seeds
Of faith and hope. But they sowed more than that, and
1.-The world has Just reaped the harvest The seeds OF de-
mocracy which they planted in that year have borne fruit
in other lands and other climes- Carried across the At
lantic by the winds Of freedom, they fell upon the fertile
soil Of France and other countries, and they yielded an
hund1edfold.
But there were countries in which they would not
flourish and one night. accursed Of Cod. these countries
changed by one mad ruler into nations OF werewolves. set
forth to conquer the world. They invaded Belgium and
France. they killed and plundered and destroyed. They
knew not democracy. and they did not want democracy to
flourish. SO they sought a hegemony Of the Old world.
Nay. they looked far beyond that, and in their madness
they reached out to crush the cradle of democracy. Came
q day when the Pilgrims, animated by the same faith and
the same hope as their forbears. went home to England;
they crossed into France. where. at the critical moment in
the great world crisis. they faced the ancient enemy of
al free men and helped throw him back.
Today. the enemy is beaten. His weapons have been
4 taken from him and he stands before the world in all his
accounting, must make reparation. The world has had
enough Of his kind: autocracy and militarism are gone
for all time!
So the world gives thanks today! And America gives
thanks because the democracy that was Graded within her
borders has become the democracy Of the world. Ameri-
CO gives thanks because in the darkest hour Of the worlds
need she was not found wanting.
Tho hour was come when America was "privleged
70 spend her blood and her might for the principles that
rave her birth and happiness, and for the peace that she
has treasured" She spent her blood, not so lavishly as
her allies. and she spent her treasures, and because she
did this, because she added her might to the great
strength Of Britain and France and Belgium and Italy
the principles the Pilgrims labored for and died for have
become tho principles Of the world.
We have come from the crucible Of war a greater and
= nobler nation. We are on the threshold Of a new era,
the Like Of which we never have known. America has
taken her piace in the councils Of world powers, and her
voice forever wfll be heard and needed, We enter upon
the period Of readjustment with the faith and hopes OF
our forefathers, but We must keep our hearts firm and
walk circurnspect1y, else the lessons learned in the fires
Of the great struggle will be in vain. We must keep alive
the principles that gave us BIRTH" the principles that
sprang from the wilderness In 1881.
So we give thanks today because tho war 4. ended.
because the object of the war is attained; the object
upon which all free men had set their hearth" a. Prest-
dent Wilson said. We give thanks because America enter
ed It At = time when, by the force Of her arms and the
might Of her millions. she contributed largely to its sue
cess. We give thanks bsc4use France and Belgium have
been freed Of the awful gray scourge: because England
rose in her might and kept the seas tree and gave ~ her
noblest; because the Pilgrims went home to Britain and
rekindlsd the fires Of cornradeship and understanding
bscnuss our men And women were strong and brave and
offsred their all that peacs might come and peoples ~
Aerywhere be freed; because. With the exception Of Len
thAn 10000. all the millions Of our men who spran< to
arms are coming home 70 d. psger, better and nobler
men; bsaaass ws shall know prosperity ana happiness
sGnd peace - never before.
z@ Amsaican editors are breathing easf.r today George
srrssa = ~ = ssnsor dispatches from the psaos confsr-