Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1918-05-29

You know there Is the old cynical def
milton of gratitude, as the lively ex-
pectation of favors to come
Make World Filter Place to Live.
"Well, there Is no expectation Of ia
vors to come In this kind Of giving.
These things are bestowed in order
der that the world may be filter
place to live in; that men may be sue
cored; that homes may be restored;
that suffering may be relieved that
the face of the earth may have the
blight of destruction taken away from
it, and that wherever force goes there
shall go mercy and helpfulness.
Sand when you give, give absolutely
all that you can spare, and don't con-
slider yourself liberal in the giving. If
you give with self-adulation, you are
not giving at all, you are giving to
your own vanity; but if you give until
it hurts, then your heart blood goes
into it.
"And think what we have here. We
call 1t the American Red Cross, but 1t
is merely a branch of great interna-
tional organization, which is not only
recognized by the statutes OF each Of
the civilized governments of the world,
but 1t is recognized by international
agreement and treaty as the reconized
and accepted instrument of mercy and
succor.
sand one Of the deepest stains that
rests upon the reputation of the Ger
man army is that they have not res
pected the Red Cross.
Cross Emblem of Christianity.
"That goes to the root Of the matter.
They have not respected the instru-
mentality they themselves participated
in setting up as the thing which no
man was to touch, because it was the
expression of common humanity.
"We are members, by being members
of the American Red Cross, of great
fraternity and comradeship which ex-
tends all over the world, and this
cross which these ladies bore today is
an emblem of Christianity itself.
sit fills my imagination, ladies and
gentlemen, to think of the women all
over this country who are busy to-
night and are busy every night and
every day doing the work Of the Red
Cross; busy with a great eagerness to
find out the most serviceable thing to
do; busy with a forgetfulness of all
the old frivolities Of their social rela-
tionships, ready to curtail the duties
Of the household in order that they
may contribute to this common work
that all their hearts are engaged In,
and in doing which their hearts be-
come acquainted with each other.
Drawn Into Great Family.
"When you think of this you real
ize how the people of the United States
are being drawn together into great
intimate family, whose heart is being
used for the service Of the soldiers
not only, but the service of civilians
where they suffer and are lost In a
maze of distress and distractions.
"And you have, then, this noble pic
ture of justice and mercy as the two
servants of liberty. For only where
men are free do they think the
thoughts of comandership; only where
they are free do they think the
thoughts of sympathy; only where
they are free are they mutually
helpful; only where they are free do
they realize their dependence upon one
another, and their comradeship in a
common interest and common neces-
sity.
81 heard story told the other day
that was ridiculous, but it is worth re-
peating because it contains the germ
of truth. An Indian was enlisted In the
army. He returned to the reservation
on furlough. He was asked what he
thought of it. He said: No much
good; too much salute; not much
shoot Then he was asked: Are you
going back?' Yes
"'Well, do you know what you are
fighting for?' Yes, me know; fight to
make whole damn world Democratic
party
HE had evidently misunderstood
some innocent sentence Of my own.
"But, after all, although there is no
party purpose in it, he got it right as
far as the word party to make the
whole word democratic In the sense of
community of interest and of purpose,
and If you ladies and gentlemen could
read some of the touching dispatches
which come through official channels,
for even through official channels
there come voices of humanity that
are infinitely pathetic; if you could
catch some Of those voices that speak
the utter longing Of oppressed and
helpless peoples all over the world to
hear something like the Battle Hymn
of the Republic to hear the feet of the
great hosts Of liberty going to set them
free, to set their minds free, set their
lives free, set their children free, you
would know what comes into the heart
of those who are trying to contribute
all the brains and power they have to
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