The Delta independent., 1919-02-07

lay at Hoboken, N. ]. waiting for or
ders until January 13 last.
But it was great experience. |
am glad had it Am glad to be home
again with the war over, and gladder
still to come back uninjured.
And now what shall I say of our
fighting men? l have made some ref
erence to the psychology of the Ger
man mind which was the underlying
cause of the great war. That psychol-
ogy of defeat But there was another
and different psychology found only
in the minds of the American soldiers
They went into action with smile
and that this something the sordid
| German mind could not understand.
President Wilson admirably explained
the great secret, when in his Christ
mas address to our troops at Chau-
mont, he said, among other things:
You have commanders, but you
have no masters. Your very command
ers represent to you in representing
the nation of which you constitute so
distinguished a part
In those few words you have the
whole psychology of the American
war spirit. Those were fitting words
for the President to address to the
troops of the United States following
the immortal achievement of the fight
for democracy on foreign soil. War,
for the great majority of them, was
not a profession They did not look
to war for the gain of glory. Utterly
foreign to them was the Prussian
theory that in war and war alone are
fully realized a peoples power and
ambitions. They were true soldiers of
democracy. They neither drove, nor
were they driven. Their submission
to discipline was intelligent, willing
acceptance of what was needful for
accomplishing the great purpose of
their great hearts. They knew what
their tack was and they felt themselv-
es in accord with the means that
possible order They fought to get
the fighting over Military training
and experience have not made them
militarists in the Prussian conception.
They learned to drill. to shoot. to re-
solve themselves into efficient mill
tary units and gave the enemy terrible
lessons in the bloodiest battles the
world has ever seen. But the train
ing they have had is not to wean
them from ordinary occupations and
professions of civil and industrial life.
Commanders, but no masters,
That is one of the vital principles by
which a great peace loving people
can suddenly turn itself into form
idable fighting power, strike out hard
and efficiently, conquer. then turn
itself back upon war and TRANQUILITY
reenter the paths of peace.
Our part in the war was a demon
s,ration of the a1aptability of the
institutions of democracy to any r,-i-
sis IN national and international life
and has given a mighty incubus to
the cause Of democracy the world
over. We have been told that demo-
cracy meant diversity of counsel, that
meant defeat We have now demon
strated that democracy is capable of
unity of action which guarantees vic
tory without precedent. We have been
told that America has not reached
that point of racial unification thar
was essential to the attainment of
great national purpose. We have now
demonstrated that all the diverse ra-
cial strains in our population have
been welded into single whole, with
singleness of purpose. singleness
of aim and a singleness of striking
power that reveals our supreme unity
as a nation. We had been told that,
having spoken the word that meant
blow that would make good our
word We have delivered the blow,
and it was blow that reached the
very vitals of the enemy and brought
him cringing to our feet and to the
| feet of the allied nations. Great as
! the achievements are, they are not
an end to themselves. They are only
pledge for greater achievements
yet TO come These things that we
have done are but an earnest of the
things We shall do in order to make
our structure of new life complete.
This work of the future is a national
cause in which every American will
be participant. Overseas. at home.
we have tremendous problems to
solve. Having entered the war for no
selfish purpose. we must now prove
the faith that is in us in this hour of
our victory. The new political gospel
We are preaching is the gospel of
love, and in its very service there will
never be another hymn of hate. II
is the gospel OF Justice, and not of
self interest This gospel, will by its
effulgent light, guide the nations out
of the darkness of the past into the
light of the future and by its incor-
poration into the worlds charter of