Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-15

- &GKAND $EC
AAiili..Ss ~ the ~cson...n. Ssr..p.titibns 81 q, .t.,.m,n, ~,
the rest of The Anies and nshtinE the var 81 the Bit
Ltsh empire, and, still moreN apseaneaHy. that yswherevs,
British ar1s are epsaged y battle. Il ii 3ths irish. III,
scotch and the colonials who are sent toSthe front, whiI
the English themselves save their skins by. remainin,
at home or well in the rear. @l
TO appreciate the foulness of thsaSsss ccaslumnies. and
their utter, baselessness, It u only 70 stance ct = fswTae
the the multituds OF ven known facts. saN
The German statement that reatsBrtai stai4sd ia,
war Is 50 absurd that mo intsilissnt person an giyss
attention. q nation does not. begin ! var without svsi
casual preparation for it and that an empire Ike IA.
British empire would precipitate@ = war which III III,
very nature Of things must be q lfe and death anah
with an army Of only 100000 men. ana these wtdel,
scattered. is something that even the German propa.
gandist can scarcely expect people outside Of German,
to believe,
When the war vas started. Great Britain threw he,
full might into It, first with her navy, which the char.
acter Of her. possessions had required TO be at al tilnet
ready for action. then with her ..nrst hundred thousa nd,
who were nearly wiped out, and theh with the million,
who volunteered. What did the British navy accomp.
fish? It kept open the lanes of supply for France, FOL
the British Isles themselves, and for Italy. IT drove
German shipping from the seas. 1t prevented the clos.
ing Of American ports to ocean commerce. twas thu
one thing that prevented the quick and easy triumph 81
German arms which would have resulted in Germal
domination of the world. II the British empire in til,
opening days of the war was ntly represented by the
British fleet, it has been no less ntly represented BY the
armies which have been poured into the field. So
effective was the work Of the nrst little handful Of men
who crossed the channer that it is more than a mere
figure Of speech to say, as hassbeen~ said, that the old
army gathered the spears of the Frussian. iesions into it.
breast. and. in perishinc saved TruronA. Than r.ro <ha
oerritorials. and the new volunteers, and the men from
overseas. The Canadian provinces sent forth their men.
Australia and New Zealand came forward. South Africa
answered the call. Regiment after regiment from India
embarked for Europe. And presently the British empire
had five million men enrolled, of whom three million
were actually doing active duty at the front, No nation
that stands in arms today enlisted, in the fight for democ.
racy has any cause for regret that it is hshting on the
same side and in the same cause with the British empire.
But what Of England herself, the heart Of the en-
pire? OF all the men enrolled in the British armies
England has contributed IS per cent, and she has con-
tributed her full IS per cent Of the losses ireland,
ireland, Scotland and Wales have done their, part, as
have the remote possessions. but the brunt Of the
struggle has fallen upon England herself. and the Eng
lsh cities and counties have been at the front in the
thick of the fight, with-threei men to every one from other
parts OF the empire. And upon no group in the world
has the war laid its hand with such oppressive weight as
upon the old British aristocracy, Of which whole families
have been wiped out. with not a soul left to wear titles
which have been handed down for centuries. i
This IS EnEland's war. and right well has England
recognized 1t. and right nobly has she responded to the
need Of the hour. for it IL. a. war, for freedom and de-
mocracy and England, Notwithstanding traditions ana
customs: which appeal to ss Is archaic, stands insthe
front rank among the democracies Of the world It is a
war for British democracy, for American democracy, for
French democracy, for the democracy Of the world, and
the effort to create divisions among these forces. and to
engender the belief that any one of these, nations Is do
ing less than its part, has its birth In Berlin, and is to
be %repudiated especially by every American. to whose at
tention it comes. &Sg&S