Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1918-09-24
"The Great ACvcntva

for October. is e,.,.,oro, M name
{ is apparent that the
basis ., ~ editorial was the su-
nreme s..crifice Of Lieutenant Quen~
tin roosevelt of the American Avia-
| -. Section. Colonel Rocsevelts
youngest son, who was killed in an
air battle in the first days Of the
great Marine drive,
only those are III to live" writes
| Colonel Roosevelt, who do not fear
| to die; and none are nj TO die who
have shrunlS from tho Joy Of life ana
the duty Of life. Both life and death
are parts Of the same Great AdNcn-
ture Never yet was worthy adVen~
ture worthily carried through by the
man who put his personal safety flrst.
! Never vet was a country worth liv-
ing in unless its sons and daughters
were Of that stern stuff which babe
them die for it at need; and never
yet was n country worth dying for
unless its sons and daughters thought
Of life not as somethirG concerned
only with the selfish ovanescence Of
the individual but as a link in the
great chain of creation and causa-
ton, so that each person is seen i'll
his true relations as an essential
part of the whole, whose life must
be made TO serve the larger and con-
tinuing life of the whole. Therefore
it is that the man who is not willing
to die, in war for a great cause.
is not worthy to live. Therefore it
IS that man and woman who in peace
time fear or ignore the primary and
vital duties and the high happiness
Of family life, who dare not beget
and bear and rear the life that is to
last when they are in their graves,
have broken the chain of creation
and have shown that they are unfit
for companionship with the souls
ready for the Great Adventure"
The inspiring sanity of Colonel
Roosevelt is undiminshed by years
and continuous utterance. Whether
the fate of his own brave son or the
future of your fair daughter, lie
deals with human problems with far
seeing eyes and analytical grasp,
ard puts his conclusions in under
standable language. He notes the
gallant women torchbearerS as well
as the men at the front. He summons
them all to country's service, and
pays tribute to the mothers who
for strength to bear their losses
lover there"
One guess is sufficient for any of us
in naming the basis of the following
from his latest EDITORIAL:
The wife of fighting soldier at
the front recently wrote as follows to
the mother of a gallant boy, who at
the front had fought in high air like
an eagle, and, like an eagle, fighting
had died: Iwrite these few Iines-not
of coincidence for who would uare to
pity you"-but of deepest sympathy
to you and yours as YOU stand in
the shadow which is the earthly side
Of those clouds of glory in which your
sons life has just passed. Many will
envy you that when the call 10 sac
rifice came you were not found
among the paupers to whom no gift
of life worth offering had been en-
trusted. They are the ones to be pit
led, not We whose dearest are jeop-
arding their lives unto the death in
the high places of the field. I hope
my two sons will live IS worthiiy
and die as greatly as yours
There spoke one dauntless soul
to another. America is safe while her
daughters are of this kind; for their
lovers and their sons cannot fail as
long as besi0e the hearthstona s
stand such wives and mothers. And
we have many, many such women;
and their mon are like unto them.
mo nation can be great unless its
sons and daughters have in them the
quality to rise level to the needs Of
heroic days. No army was ever great
unless it's soldiers possessed the
fighting edge. So likewise the citizen
ship of any country is worthless un-
less in crisis it shows the spirit Of
the two million Americans who in
this mighty war have eagerly come
forward to serve under the banner
of the Stars, afloat and ashore, and
of the other millions who would now
be beside them overseas if the
chance had been given them; and
yet such spirit will in the long run
avail nothing unless in the years Of
r.eace the average man and average
woman Of the performing type
realize that the highest of all duties,
the one essential duty, is the duty Of
perpetuating the family life. based
on the mutual love and respect Of
the one man and the one woman and
on their purpose to rear the healthy
and fine-souled children whose COM
ing into life means that the family
and therefore the nation shall con-
tinue in life and shall not end in
sterile death.
And again the Colonel undoubted-
Nv speaks for himself as well as for
>nulNE an HAuAlkRF