Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1918-08-29

the proper time, from the German
standpoint, arrived, and that would
be when France had been overrun
and destroyed. Then Great Britain's
turn would come. With her small
army and France under control,
Great Britain was to be an easy vic
tim. With Great Britain conquered
and her great navy in German posses
sion, the rest of the world lay at the
feet of Germany. Again they miscal-
culated. They failed to appreciate
that to the gentlemanly and sports
manlike mind of the Briton a treaty
with other nations was more than a
"scrap of paper, that it was in fact
= solemn obligation to be backed up
with the life blood of the nation.
So England has always been found,
and so she was in 1914. Though un-
prepared for war with an available
army as small, if net smaller than c.
own insignificant army at that time.
Great Britain wished to fulfill to the
letter her obligation, and it is well
for us, as we'll as for herself, that she
did. A great avalanche stopped by q
pebble is the part Great Britain play
ed during the first few months of the
war, but to her everlasting credit is
The fact that the pebble was there on
time, in the right place, that it was
immovable and uncrushable.
In another important particular
were the would-be world-conquerers
mistaken. That was regarding the
attic 3de of the United States. If the
true history of the dastardly transac-
tions of the German government
could ever be written it would show
the expenditure of fabulous sums of
money in its effort to defeat action
by us. Well paid but laundering
spies infested every corner of the
country, working upon the credulity
of the timid, stirring up the well.
meaning but erratic minded pacifist
and worst of all corrupting the al.
ready evil intentions of that, class OF
unrest whose opposition to any or.
gained government is always ready
to manifest itself.
Again they failed, and the com
pleteness Of their failure is the glory
of the world today.
That this country was Absolutely
unprepared for war when on April 6
1917, Congress declared that state
of war existed between the United
States and the Imperial German Gov
eminent is true. Since that step wa
taken the rapidity with which tn,
been modified has been but littl,
short of miraculous. Whether it is
fact that some departments may hav,
been improperly administered am
may not have fulfilled their obliga
ton to the Government is not at thi
time for us to discuss or even con
slider any more than it is proper t
debate the question as to whethe
we should have entered the war a
an earlier date.
1t is of little use after the arme
; burglar has entered your house t
spend much time lamenting the fac
that extra locks were not put on tn
door. Post mortems may be valuabl
: in the treatment of future cases, bu
, the time for holding a post morter
in this case has not yet arrived. TIL
patient is fairly healthy, thank yor
, and seems to be in fair way to
complete and speedy recovery.
Though we may have been slo'
about waking up, even Germany wi
admit that when we did start W
) were wide awake and looking fo
: business. On April 6, 1917, war wa
? declared. On June 5, 1917, betwee
: nine and one-half and ten millions Q
men between the ages of 81 and 3
were enrolled for selection to tn
national service. June 5, 1915
, something like two and one-half mi
lions of those men had been placed i
, environments, drilled and thorough
taught the qualifications of soldier
ing, and armed and fully equippe
and trained about one and one-hal
= millions of these had been trans
f ported across an ocean which til
enemy declared he had made impas
| able by his terrible methods, an
2 landed on the soil of France and Ital
TO fight for the freedom of thos
hard pressed countries as we'll as fc
Our own.
, Since June 5, 1918, more of thos
f same lads, with Uncle Sans messae
: of freedom pinned to their bayonet
have been landing upon foreign so
: at the rate of ten thousand a day.
q 1t is about those boys that we al
J. meeting here tonight. Too muc
2 cannot be said, too much cannot
S thought about them, for what the
: have done and what they will do
il done &or US, each one of us. There