The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-03-23
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

statement of the witty Frenchman, Max
 O'Ren, who said that the Americans
 were the only race who ever accom-
 plished what they boasted they could
 do, has given us such faith in our abil- ity to make good that we are willing
 to rock along and take long chances. When MT. vanderlip came into our
 midst and stood up and said, after hav- ing studied the question from the inside point of view, "the truth is, my friends,
 we are not getting along well in the war;" there were whole lot of people
 who resented his words as being unduly pessimistic. We have been living in an atmosphere which, while bracing, is apt
 to have gone to our heads and made us a bit overconfident. would not for one
 moment throw cold water on what we
 have done, but the buying of Liberty Bonds, the subscribing to the army
 Young Mems Christian association fund.-
 and the gifts to the Red Cross move ment, while helpful, is only start in the
 winning of the war.
 
 I have passed through any number of protracted meetings in local churches and seen individual members quickened in their spiritual lives for a time and then fall away. I have worked in group meetings where the churches of one de- nomination united for a special cam paign and seen much interest awakened for awhile and then die out I have studied great revivals which, for the time, have swept over large cities until | it seemed that everyone was reached and then give place to a wave of worldliness. Every observer of religious conditions knows that revivals, while doing much good, have in them the power to do evil unless wisely managed Any old preacher knows what I am trying to | say.
 | I have been in most of the local meet 1 ings for the creating of spirit of pa- triotism in Birmingham. I have been in these where certain sections or similar classes were gathered. I have had my | part in the ones which, like the great awakenings in the Liberty Bond, army Young Mems Christian association and Red Cross drives, have literally made themselves felt by the entire community. In religious revival many a man be- citement is over drops back into state of indifference. At present we are in an exalted mood of patriotism. I do not want it to peter out. I want to help conserve it.
 Am I placing a ban on enthusiasm? Not at all, for I realize the value of the ourselves to the tremendous task to which we have set our hands, or under rate the great driving power of the Prus sial war machine or the resourcefulness l of Germany as fighting nation. The supreme fact is that, after nearly four years, the little nations whom the allies set out to deliver from the invasion of the Huns are still trampled under foot. Great tracts of fair France, unfortunate Russia, beautiful Italy, helpless Ruma- nia bleeding Belgium and crushed Serbia are held as spells by the central powers. and the Kaiser's will has ruled from the Mouse to the Tigris.
 | Tn spite of this there are happy op- | timists, so convinced of Germany's ex- 1 haustion that they fool themselves with the silly belief that the military auto crats who rule at Potsdam are more l than ready to give up all the conquered 1 territory, pay any indemnity demanded. and enter into any guarantees that may be imposed, and agree willingly to dis armament and arbitration of interna- tional disputes, the sad part of 1t being 1 it is a pipe dream of the pacifists, pure and simple, and deserves to be laughed out of court.
 ! The fatal fact that we are called upon | to face is the central powers, instead of showing weakness, are giving us the scare of the war, for we now know the big drive is being made, and we are fighting with our backs to the wall. It may be frankly incredible that the German staff are still masters of half of Europe, with their armies unbroken, and nearly dozen capitals at their feet and a train of Kings at their heels, but | it is an indisputable fact. and the quicker we realize that all is not well the sooner will we be in a position to change it.
 | I have long since quit trying to fool myself into the belief that Germany and her allies are beaten and merely | seeking a chance to save their face. At | no time since the opening of the war has the insolent aggression been more pronounced or the autocrats been more sure of a final victory. take little stock ! in the idle talk that the Emperor who set Europe ablaze in order that he might win an empire is ready to abandon his dreams of conquest and accept a hu- initiating peace. If in his secret heart he had any such thought he has sense enough to know that it would forever put an end to the Hohenzollern dy- nasty.
 Let's get down to bed rock and, facing the truth, resolve to sacrifice in order to crush, if possible, the system and | the spirit of the Prussian military caste, which forced this war on Europe, and which, unless crushed, will, at the first l favorohla p,op,art hiring tho JI,1pa +o