The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1918-01-31


pleasure rs usual. The use of labor
that is required by thr government for
munitions, equipment and fhiphuild.
/ ing, and u materials needed for war
cotton and wooden. We must rcss
temptation 20 buy now clothes and
lncs automobiles, and learn that the
wearing Of an American flag or a Red
Cross button is not the sum Of patriot.
ism. We must save, so that by buying
its war loans we can help our govern
mcnt finance the war Like England,
| France, Canada, Australia. We must
have the conviction Of right and dis
regard Of personal cost mot merely
money! in this contest, Of which JUS
tce and freedom are the hazard.
AT present many, great many, Of
us are not doing our share because so
many Of US seem not to realize citi-
zen's full duty Of cooperation and the
necessity Of stripping for battle. Some
of us, yes, nobly; others, suffering in
conveniences, perhaps; but most Of us
living at ease with little thought Of
the unpatriotic and dangerous nature
Of our selfishness. While our boys are
offering themselves for the supreme
sacrifice, and our allies are dying, dy-
| ing daily by the thousands that we
may live in safety, we hesitate to deny
ourselves little Of meat and wheat
and sugar that they may have sufiic-
lent. While our soldier sons await
adequate clothing and arms to uphold
the rights Of the free peoples, we view
with inert calm the incompetence and
the stunted vision that keep marking
time in a crusade which is pressing
forward.
Hoover ought to be supported by
law with which he can force upon the
tradesmen and others the essential
and by no means irksome food substi-
tutes and restrictions he now pleads
for in order that we may feed our
allies out Of an easily saved surplus
from our abundance.
We cannot study the present situa-
ton without recognizing the necessity
for an extension OF the British hold
ings on the West front and placing
among the French such American
troops as are prepared without wait
ing until the American force is an
"army" in the military sense Of com |
pleteness.
We are in France to beat the Boche,
and the attainment Of army complete
ness, as such, appears small alongside
that job, while we have units, battal-
ions, divisions, which are fit and on
the ground and eager. We have seen
in Italy what 10000 British and
French soldiers can do to turn a
seemingly overwhelming tide.
1t is to be borne in mind that by
next May we shall have been in the
war thirteen months; our first divi-
SION in France eleven months. This is
not to urge, or even to hint, that our
men be put into the fighting before
they haze learned the new game and
are ready TO take their part in it.
That, indeed, would be to court disas-
ter. Nothing would be more harmful
TO Ally prospects or 50 hoartoning to
{ Boche
The urgency is not that we shall
hurry our men into the line unpre-
pared. 1t is that VIC put in those that
are ready, and specd up the delivery
IN the ground Of the remainder, so
heir final work may be got under
way. 1t is that we shall rot repeat
With our soldiers the experience in
where invaluable months
we're wasted in useless wrangle over
he relative merits Of wood and iron;
,r in the making of rifles and Of ma
.hine guns-the most indispensable
weapon Of the war-where, again,
priceless days and weeks and months
vent by while the ordnance depart '
nent chief labored TO make up his
mind over the selection of one model
.mong several, all good.
1t is that we speed up, Speed Up, {
SPEED UP on the preliminaries, on I
he getting ready. Speed up the
lraft, speed up getting men into their ,
informs and guns intotheir hands so
hey may begin training.
And what an anomaly, that the Old 7
World should be calling on the New to g
peed up! What commentary on our !
aunted efficiency that two years and {
inc months after the Lusitania, and 7
inc months after our entering the c
var, we arc using artillery made in d
rance, clothes made in England, and
automobiles from Italy!
France does not ask US to send in 7
ur men before they are fit TO deal
all arm blow; she does look wonder j
Ugly, disquietly, on the slowness with
q i,.af NJ n.