Valdez daily prospector., 1918-04-15
THE NATIONS CRISIS

THIS is the hour when all true Ann ericans must stand by their country, with their money, their influence and all the optimism at their command. The line of Americanism is now so firmly fixed that there is no occasion for patriots trespassing over the bor- der. You MUST be an American or be placed in the columns of the pro-Ger- man. The war will take the best and bravest blood in our country. To work against it's success. is stabbing our own men in the back. No matter what your convictions were before the country engaged in the war it is now the duty of all of us to back up the government with every means in our power The man who is lukewarm or who is pessimistic has no place in pub lie affairs. The war Must be won, and the enemy conquered before we cease our efforts. This is not democratic war or a republican war, but an Am erican war; a war for right, and truth and justice; a war that our children children may enjoy the blessings of Americanism and all that it implies. America has always adjusted itself to every emergency; Americans can do today what the Americans of '76 and '61 were forced to do-adjust them selves to conditions as they exist and help the country by contributing toi the war chest all that they can spare. You are helping the country as much in this manner as if you shouldered a musket in the trenches. You are helping your country as much by obeying food rules laid down as if you were pulling the lanyard of a big gun on the western front. You are helping the war course whenever you invest your mite in a War Savings Stamp. And above all, you are helping your country by being cheerful. optimistic and obeying the law. No man can tell what the hour may bring forth. The destiny of the Nation is at the feet Of the gods. This is an epoch of giants in the affairs of the world. Frontiers are being changed, nations wiped out and we, who win thru the crisis and emerge unscathed, are witnessing the travail of a new era; an era of peace and prosperity greater than the world has ever known. To bring about this golden era 1t will be necessary to sac rifice much of the dross and material ism dominating the world powers to- day. Militarism must be stamped out that nations my disarm and beat the sword into the plowshare. The selfish ambition of the Prussians must be checked. Business and pleasure must yield to Mars, and extravaganza and gross pleasures give way to thrift and saving. If we all do our part the mod ern Attilla of the East will be shorn of his powers. The Genghis Khan of Germany will be driven back to his domains of darkness. The ravishers of Belgium and France will be brot to justice; the world will be saved
 This may be a long war; it is sure to be a bloody and expensive one. Before it ends the nation may be compelled to use every dollar of surplus wealth and every atom of its tremendous
 man-power. Where plenty now pre- vails the bread card may be called in
 to use. It is up to the people of Am
 erica to say once and for all time whe
 ther they remain free and independ
 ent republic, or whether the double
 eagle shall be added to our coat oi
 arms. Whatever the outcome we be
 lieve Americans will meet 1t courage
 ously and true to trust. The mar
 who flinders the nations war pro
 gress will be double-eyed traitor tt
 his country and his flag. Only by pre-
 senting a united front to the common