The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-05-29
THE SPIRIT OF THE NATION.

"Have you not felt the spirit of the nation rise
and its thought become single and common
thought since these eventful days came in which
we have been sending our boys to the other side?
I think you must read that thought, / do, to
mean this, that the people of this country are
not only united in the resolute purpose to win
this war but are ready and willing to bear any
burden and undergo any sacrifice that it may be
necessary for them to bear in order to win it.
In these words did the president of the United
States call upon the Congress to enact such legis
lation as will be necessary to the passage of new
tax laws.
eve need not be afraid to tax them, if we lay
taxes justly" added President Wilson. "They
know the must be paid for and that it is they
who must pay for it, and if the burden is justly
distributed and the sacrifice made common sac
rifice from which none escapes who can bear 1T
at all, they will carry it cheerfully and with a
sort of solemn pride"
1t is the feeling of common sacrifice and a
just cause that is binding this nation together
to meet the greater responsibilities which it
faces There are no presidents to govern this
war; there is nothing to measure by but the
needs of the nation Not what some other ma
ton has to do, not what some other times have
made necessary, but what this country today in
this great hour must do, how in its supreme
trial we may meet the sacrifice.
| The position that the United States occupies
today is different to that of any other nation.
It is unique in that this country has greater bur-
dens than any other nation has to bear. For
not only is the flower of the country being sent
over seas by the hundred thousand to fight on a
foreign field, not only must it look to the trans
portation of these men, not only must they be
| equipped, not only must great ships be built to
carry them across, but there must be ships to
convey the sinews of war not only for our own
nation, but for other nations there must be
money not only for conduct of war, but
for the great loans to other nations.
No matter what, from this day forward, other
nations may be called upon to do. America must
do twice as much no matter what sacrifices 9TH
| er nations make, our sacrifices must be greater
| if our liberties and the liberties of the world
are to be preserved.
| Slowly this realization is being brought home
to us; slowly the knowledge of the great part
we have to play in this world strife Is being
sensed. Not in all the history of the world has
any other nation fought its battles three thous-
and miles from home; never before in history has
any nation held in the hollow of its hand the des-
| tiny of other nations
| But this is true of America today 1t is not
only that other nations looking to this coun-
| try for help. They are looking to this nation
for the life of not one country of the civilized
world but of civilization itself.
| No wonder then, that the people of this coun-
| try rising to the occasion. It takes martyrs.
dom to create martyrs. 1t takes crisis to create
heroes. The spirit fthe nation has indeed risen
to meet the issue,-and it is still rising, and will
continue to rise until it sweeps into every part of
the world breaking down the barriers Of auto
cracy and forever destroy them.