Evening star., 1918-05-18
|P|7Y FOR SUFFERING
| ARQUSES AMERICANS
French Experiences Overshadowed
by Desire to Protect Weak
and Defenseless.
BY JUNIUS b. WOOD.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening
Star and Chicago Daily News.

i
| Special CorrespOndence of The Evening
Star and Chicago Daily News.
WITH THE AMERICAN FORCES IN
FRANCE, April 15.-To the American
soldiers arriving behind the front
where the battle is now raging has
come a new realization of Svhy our
nation is in this war-a realization
difficult to grasp by any one not ac-
tually here. More vivid1y than in any
other part of France the soldiers here
see the suffering that the German IN
vaders are forcing on the helpless
young and old, rich and poor alike.
Battered, blackened walls. ruined VIII
lagos, devastated fields and she'll
swept, wooded hillsides do not arouse
the same emotions as the sigh oil
refugees fleeing with few of their
most cherished belongings before the
relentless hordes. The spirit of Ameri-
canism. which has for its fundamental
emotion the desire to protect the
weak and defenseIess-in common
parlance, to take the part of the un-
der dog-has aroused our hght1ng
men more than all the weeks OF the
give and take" game with DEAN
which they experienced in the
trenches.
Angered by Prussian Tyranny.
Every man,is ready to give the last
drop of his fighting blood after seeing
the suffering in this once peaceful and
happy country" was the way one
officer expressed his feelings. Many
of us realize now more than ever De-
fore what Prussian tyranny means.
and the necessity of free people 10
fight to prevent Hohenzollern despot-
ism from stamping out tne lreeuoiii
of the entire world.
On every side one sees refutatlon
of the German plea that Germany is
fighting this war in self-defense. Inat
Germany must continue TINS nypocrisy
with aeroplanes numbering non-com
batants in Paris and London and with
chantmen is an argument that can be
put forward only by theorists VINO
have not seen the horrors OF war as
it is waged by Germany.
1t is impossible for those VINO view
this countryside to have any such
er been threatened. for the Germans
have carried their wars beyond their
own borders and have swept away
the firesides of others with nendlsn
brutality. Since the Napoleonic wars
Germany has always carried war to
other countries and has not had to
fight to save its own country from m
yasion. Humanity, as known by 9TH
er nations. is unknown to IL De
lieves in the policies put forth py
militarism, with murdered women
poisoned wells, disease carrying toys
explosive pens and other fiendishness.
which merely means that Germany is
reaching the end of its rope. Ihe
devastation of homes in this territory
is the best indication of what Ger
il 4
ceeds in enforcing its rule over the
world.
Learn Wars Meaning.
The most pitiful objects along the
highways where the American troops
moved were the French peasants. fee
ing before the invader with their lit
tie carts and wagons. Each cart was
piled high with all they were able to
save of their earthly possessions. Pos
sibly they had never had much, but
this was all that was left to them of
the little they had. Occasionally we
would see cows tied behind carts or
half a dozen sheep bleating in alarm.
running at the sides of the vehicles.
Little children were perched on many
of the carts, their feet sore from
many miles of walking. Here and
there a mother nursing baby rode
on the assembly of chairs. tables.
beds. pictures and household keep
sakes. At the head Of the horses
walked the oldest man in the fam
.ily-sometimes women led the horses.
Occasionally they would eat crust Of
hard bread. Many were not young.
All the days that these carts passed
by the troops of the American Army
the lesson of what war means was
before the eyes of the soldiers. Our
free country does not yet know this
suffering. Some persons in America
still believe that Germany Is fighting
in lf-defense.
Our soldiers saw another picture
that of youths in knickerbockers with
the caps Of schoolboys on their heads
and flowing ties beneath their large
white collars and blankets rolled over
their shoulders. tramping along the
same roads. French soldiers in fad
ed blue uniforms smiled grimly at the
youths and waved tbeir hands. The
youths were the boys Of the class of
1919. now being called to arms. boys
of eighteen years marching to fight
for France.