New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1918-04-25

fashion, from the first, but as the
great theaters Of operation were
5000 miles away we did not get
the same perspective as the French
and the British. There was always
the hope that in some mysterious
way the bitter cup would pass from
US and that we would be spared the
direct effects of the great cataclysm.
1t is small wonder that our heart
muscles are bit f1abby now when
we contemplate our lack of training
during the past three years--the time
when bleeding France and weary
England were getting their baptism
of fire.
1t was in October, 1917, that Sec
rotary Of War Baker in q speech in
Boston said
"Our entrance into the war natur-
ally imposed upon our country an I'M
accustomed task. 1t is not unconl-
mon to hear men say that we were
not prepared. We were not prepared;
We are not yet prepared. But wheth-
err or not that involves criticism,
or whether it shows that we really
believed in our own ideals to such an
extont that we believed it impossible
for any sane and just man to disbe-
lieve in them, is a question. [ take
a certain sort of JOY in the knowl-
edge that we believed in them and in
the reality of civilization, and it is
virtue to feel an incredulity towards
the thing which has come to pass
The country has had this sort OF
pabulum handed out from time to
time, ever since we entered the war.
It was only a few days ago that
George Creel announced that he
should be proud to his dying day that
there was no attempt on the part of
this country to prepare prior to the
day that the president declared war.
One Of the results of this lack Of
preparation, this refusal to attempt
to harden our heart muscles is now
being seen in France.
Had we been prepared, had we
been able to turn over to our allies
at once the products of our great
material resources, our ingenuity
and our man power. General Haig
would not have been obliged to talk
about standing up against wall
1t is no time for recrimination nor
might have beens. No consideration
of the past is of any value save as
the lessons may be Of benefit in the
future. We merely refer to it as par
tlal explanation for the condition
which the French officer above quot
ed deplores.
We are getting down to hard pan
and those American boys over there
are the very best instruments in the
world to get our heart muscles where
they will stand the strain.
AS people neither individually nor |
collectively, have we become accus- |
toned to the human sacrifices. W. !!
are still a bit dazed at the significance !
of the stories which are coming from !
over seas. But the country respon- |
sible for those boys giving their life !
blood on the fields of France, will not !
forsake them. We shall grit our
teeth and harden our hearts for the
sacrifice for only in that way can
the Big Thing for which those boys /
are fighting be achieved. We must
give them the maximum support
morally, physically and
We must have as much
and hope in the righteous
ness and justice of the cause as do the
who are sacrificing their
lives for it.
The Teutonic ideas must not pre-
vail for if their desires We're ever
1t would mean an end
to all that Christianity has stood for
and for all that makes life worth
living.
1t is time for us to take up the
French slogan, They shall not pass
and make it real in this country as
we'll as on the blood soaked fields of
France.
Pessinism must not be permitted
to gain sway despite the reports Of
reVerses. There must come a time
when the hosts of evil will be set
back. This reversal will not be
achieved by wishing, however, I'll