The daily progressive-miner., 1918-04-01
BUSINESS AS USUAL"
By Virginia Frazer Boyle

By the law of compensation every
 great event in the history of a nation has been encompassed by sacrifice supreme and vicarious. if confined to l the few In the ordinary trend of times. when men are about their more
 or less sordid occupations and pleas ures. these stand out with startling distinctness. But in epoch-making
 movements. where an entire civiliza- sion is being swept as with a single purpose, the supreme sacrifice of the l few reacts as against, instead Of for, he body polite The body itself must ] thrill with concerted action, and thus make for strength, unity, power. if it would realize success in its cause.
 We. Of these United States, have not yet met with the supreme moment; i; have not yet moved with that con- certed action. We have given of our sons, our kindred, our employees at the call Of the Army and the Navy of the United States. We have hung out our service flags and patted ourselves
 on the back that we have done it.
 We have given Of our dollars sporadi- cally for the exigencies of the times,
 but few have been called upon to make
 or have made. the personal sacrifice. Yet we are neither the 'mush bags"
 nor money bags" which Germany
 has said we are, no man, woman, or child wants business as usual until we can show the Stars and Stripes floating at the head of a victorious army. If we are neither "mush bags" nor money bags" there is no party line from the Atlantic to the Pacific except that of traitor or American If we are neither ''mush bags" nor money bags'-until the supreme ] trial Of civilization and Christianity shall have passed, Massachusetts has forgotten protection" and Mississippi i states rights There is no North,
 no South, no East, no West-only Am ericans on guard who are standing 'or the brotherhood of man; that is, if we know what fealty means.
 If there be one among us who would make use Of this crucial period for gain or to serve his personal ends, be ! they finance or ambition, he should be stood against wall and shot If there
 be one who would juggle with present governmental conditions, looking to
 the advancement for preferment Of any political party or parties, and thereby hindering the speeding up Of our pre- parations, he should be branded as a traitor and set in an open cage upon the highway for loyalty to spit upon. The United States has never carried a
 mailed hand; for 120 years she has
 had no occasion to use one. In our
 sudden awakening from the luxury of peace some mistakes have been made. God Almighty only could have admin
 istered this big business, grown mann.
 moth in a single night, without mak- ing mistakes. Bismarck planned this
 war 40 years ago, and Germany las eeen preparing for it every day since that was her business as usual" We are new in this war business, but let
 s throw our whole strength into it; 20 into il with clean hands and, please
 'od. come out Of it with clean hands You, good liver, whose Iatchstring las always hung on the outside and who add up your ledger on the credit
 side in six columns; you. workingman.
 who wave goodbye to the little boy in
 he doorway of your tiny home, then
 ake your dinner pail on to the ma. chine shop. can you look on the repro iuctions of the medals which have
 cen issued by Germany during this
 war, and say, Business as usual": We have all heard of the medal com
 aemoratiye of the sinking of the Lusi ] ania. But that is only one of the 58(
 which have drifted into England thrr I1eutral nations, and have been collec
 ed by the keeper of the department 0
 coins and medals of the British Muse
 u.n. Five hundred and eighty com memorated eyents-many of whicl lid not even happen-to be handed , down and glorified when the necks O
 he civilized world shall have been pu
 inder the yoke of Teuton barbarism
 our hands. my hands. England hal aid it. France has said it. Shall we :. Fho have been preaching freedom , iberty, for hundred and twenty year ; all to apply it in this, the greates ; crisis this world has ever faced, bs