Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1919-02-27

understand that the nations oe Europe
have again and again clashed with
one another in competitive interest.
1t is impossible for men to-. forget
those eilarp issues that were drawn
between them in times past. 1t is
impossible for men to believe that all
ambitions have all of q sudden been
foregone. They remember territory
that was coveted they remember
rights that 1t Twas attempted to ex.
tort, they remember political embI-
tiOns which it was attempted to
realize and while they believe that
men llave come into a different
temper. they cannot forget these
things, and SO they do not resort tc
one another for dispassionate view
of the ma tiers in controversy. They
resort to that natieE which has won
the enviable distinction of being re-
garded MS the friend ofamanRind.
e. Whenever 1t is desired to send
d small force of soldiers to occupy a
piece of territory where it is thought
nobody else will be welcome, they ask
for American soldiers. And Where
other soldiers would be looked upon
with suspicion and perhaps met with
resistance, the American soldier is
welcomed with acclaim
I. II have had SO many grounds for
pride on the other side of the water
that I ami very thankful that they
are not grounds for personal pride.
I'd be the most stuck up man in
the world And it has been an iE-
finite. pleasure to me TO see those
gallant ,sOldiers of ours, Of whom the
constitution of the United States
made me the proud commander YM,
may be proud of the Twenty-sixtl,
division, but commanded the
division and see what
they did under my direction And
everybody praises the American sol
der with the feeling that in praisin.;
him he is subtracting from the credi-
of no one else.
81 have been searching for tlesfun.
damental fact that converted Europe
to believe IN us. Before the war. EG.
rope did not believe in us as She does
now She did not believe in us
Throughout the first three years Of. the
war. She seems really to: :.havsf be,
lieved that we were holding. off be
cause we thought'w could max moro
by staying out than by going in. And
all of a sudden, in a short eighteen
months, the whole verdict is reversed
There can be. but one ok iplanat ion1f6l
1T. They saw what we did-that with
out making single claim We put all
our men and all our lleans at, tie
disposal of those who We're fighting
for tl,eir homes, in the first instance
but for a cause, the cause off,::hAlnaF
rights and Justice, and that Me wen,
in. not to support, their. national
claims, but to SUPPORT the greatscause
which they held in common.
And when they saw that Amerie,,
not only held ideals but acted sideats
they were converted to- America alid
beca1fle firm partisans OF those is.eats;
II met q group 6f fschoIars .,when'3 j
was in Paris solne, gen ntlemen.. frol,l
one Of the Greek universities who
had come to see men and III Whose
presence, or rather in the presence Of
those traditions of learning II. felt
very young indeed. I lold theft that
Ifhad one of the delightful reyepge.ss
that Sometimes come to. a. man. All
my life.I had heard man speak witt,
q sort of condescensien Of ideals anc
of idealisrs, and particularly those
separated, encloistered persons whom
they choose to term academic. who
were in the habit of uttering ideals
in the free atmosphere wien they
clash with nobody in particular.
"And said, I have had this sweet
revenge Speaking with perfect frank.
ness in. the name of the people of The,
United Statesl / have. uttered as the
objects of this great war ideals. and
nothing but ideals, and the war has
been won by that inspiration. Men
were fighting with tense muscle and
lowered heads until they came to
realize those things, feeling they, were
for their lives and their coun-
try. And when these accents of what
1T was all about reached them from
America, they lifted their heads. thew
raised their eyes to heaven. when they
saw men in khaki coming across the
sea in the spirit Of crusaders; and
they found that these were strange
men. reckless of danger not only, but
reckless because they seemed to see
something that made that danger
worth while. Men have testified to me
IN Europe that our men were possess.
ed by something that they could only
call religious feryor. They were not
like any of the other soldiers. They
had vision they had dream, and
they were fighting in the dream, and
lighting In. the dream they turned the