Atlanta semi-weekly journal., 1918-02-05
10 Those At Home.


great task which demands the supreme sacri-
flee and endeavor of every of 1t de-
mands the kind of self-sacrifce that is in
vOlved in the field of battle itself, where the
object always looms greater than the ndi-
vdual."
These words from President Wilson we'll
worth pondering. He speaks from a knowledge of
more things doubt than the rank and file of
dream of, and with a gravity whose significance
there is mistakng. The wars eliminating
crisis, he tells is at hand the season of sharp
est test for all the nations involved has begun
Whether not military decision be reached in
the of the current year, it seems certain
that economic and moral conditions, which really
fundamental to all else, will take decisive
and unalterable turn. Before another winter comes
and we shall know, at least, whether the
resoluteness and endurance power of the Huns are
greater or less than that of Americans; and every
household and individual amongst us will have
played part in the decision.
1t is upon the resourcefulness and loyalty OF
the American people less than upon the striking
power of American troops that the results OF this
fateful year will turn AS the President explains
in urging greater production and closer economy
in foodstuffs 1T has come about that the forces
that fight for freedom depend upon us In an
extraordinary and unexpected degree for susten-
ance for the supply of materials by which men
are TO live and to fight" From the British Food
Controller comes the definite statement that un-
less able to send the Allies at least seventy
five million bushels of wheat over and above what
we exported up to the first of last month, there
will be no assurance of their food supply suffcing
to win the 1t matters not how gloriously the
French army fights, with what tenacious Valor
the British forces stand, nor how heroically our
own legions throw themselves into the smoking
fNyiII bo all in ain nnl
of the American people do their patriotic part in
the work-a-day tasks and duties that laid upon
them.
These obligations are the less solemn be-
caues, for the most part, they are homely and
simple Failure to live up to them is Just as disloyal
as direct aid to the enemy would be, and, far
as practical results are concerned, is just as
reasonable. The farmer who does less than his
loyal utmost to increase the sorely taxed food sup
ply is helping the Huns. The housewife who re-
fuses to observe wheatless and meatless days and
other requisite measures of food conservation is
helping the Huns The who refuses to subor-
dinate selfish interests to the demands of his
try's imperiled freedom and who carps mad whines
instead of Loyalty helping to bear the burdens of
the hour is serving the Kaiser
Let us shake off the delusion, if it pos
sessed us, that because not in France or not
in a training camp, are not in the war and that
nothing depends upon US. To regard this vast con-
fict as a struggle of armies alone, is to miss its
chief import Pre-eminently it is a struggle of
peoples of plowshares we'll as of bayo-
nets; a war of principles and ideals, of hearts and
nerves. of all elements and all forces in the nations
life. Thus it is pre-eminently a test of national
Characteristic character of the American and the
Allied peoples at grips with the Huns. In
sweeping and profound a test, the responsibility
of the millions at home is no less weighty or urgent
than that of the men at the front. Remissness at
home would prove no less disastrous than crushing
defeat on the firing line. Indifference at home
would be no less despicable than cowardice in the
heat of battle.
We are all at war-every man, woman and
child of Americas one hundred-odd million souls
We are all confronted with plain duties and plain
opportunities to the nations We
all honor bound to do whatever Government
asks of us, and if are truly loyal shall do
it without churlish complaint. Are not the issues
of this high hour-the highest that ever struck in
"the tides of time'-enough to stir the depths of
every living heart and make service thing to be"
coveted ntsead of summed? Is not country
worthy of our labor and love and of the utmost
sacrifice to which may be summoned?
Supreme sacrifice and supreme endeavor!" Those
are the demands of the task before US, says the.
President. Who that is worthy of place beneath
the stars of the flag will fail the nation in this all
decisive time?