New Britain herald., 1918-04-04
THE TEST OF LOYALTY.
\ Reminder Of Public Duty in Time
 of National Danger.

! H. H. Windsor. in the Popular Me- chaniCs Magazine.
 It is fitting that we should cheer the
 boys as they go forth to camp and
 front but there is a, no less important work for all of us who remain. The i very spirit of freedom of personal be- lief and action which brought this na- ! ton into being and preserved it through more than 8 century has had 1 the inevitable result of making us too ; easy going and tolerant of many things What if the man who fled his own country or came here to secure for himself and family the advantages his fatherland denied them did speak with disrespect and even contempt of this free land of his choice? His was only one voice in multitude and so what did it matter? Tho melt ing pot would eventually refine him and eliminate the dross That atti- | tude, though wholly wrong in ordi- nary times, becomes criminal in days like these. Moreover the giant is be- ginning to rub his eyes and discover that the voice comes not from unre- fined metal but from pure dross, and when organized by years of skillful propa ganda and fostered by foreign gold creates g, condition which as yet IS Dot realized. It seems repugnant to question the sincerity and motives of those living in the same block, with whom we ride to and from our daily work, who have been even respected citizens i'll our own community. The Belgians and French and English in whose homes and schools and offices German spies by thousands had been living and serving acceptably for years once indignantly repudiated any thought of insincerity. They have since learned their bitter lesson And
 are we also to learn our lesson by the same costly method, or shall we pro-
 fit by their experience?
 Is it conceivable that the hundreds
 of 1ncendia1y fires and bombs in fac
 tories and harbors, the inspired strikes
 in all parts of the land, the concealed
 and open hostility to all efforts
 properly to equip and defend our
 selves during the past three years,
 were all due to special agents sent
 over here for the express purpose?
 Or was 1t part of the same insidious
 worldwide spy system which in a
 time of peace honeycombed the de-
 partments of national government in every land reaching in it's audacity and insolence even to the spending of money in the attempt to bribe our own congress-?
 There can be but one answer, and there should be but one treatment of the evil.
 We will have to awaken to the dan ger which lurketh in darkness, and in selfprotection nerve ourselves to the extreme, drastic punishment which all nations in all times have n1eted out to the traitor and spy-death. Are we prepared as individuals and cornnauni- ties to do this? Is public sentiment strong enough to commend and up hold the governmen when it shall
 take your next door netghbor red handed in assistance to the enemy, and a court martial having unQues-
 tionably esttblished his guilt, sen tence him to the firing squad? What will be your position in such a case? Is your love of your country, which the convicted ons has tried to destroy and done his bit to deliver into the hands of the enemy, strong enough for you to say "Amen," or will you weak en and plead immunity ''in this one case?'
 Thousands who read these words have, with sad yet glad hearts, parted with sons and brothers and relatives who have begun their journey to the front. There they will face bullets