Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1919-03-18
AMERICA, THE JUST
By ELLIS PARKER BUTLER

1 have known America and the
Americans close to half a century now,
and, whatever else l may know about
America, | know the nation has the
big heart and the kind, far-seeing eye.
| If you stop to think of America and
of all the great and glorious things
America has done in peace and in war
l dare say you will think of America
as do-as a gigantic, youthful knight,
unafraid, clad in white armor, just and
compassionate, and so vast of stature
that the Hottest clouds scarce brush
his knees, while his head is close to
Heaven itself.
| know my neighbors on my block,
and my neighbOrs in my town, and
my neighbors from ocean to ocean,
and they are all-when the test comes
of noble heart and liberal mind.
| They would rather do right than
wrong, and would rather right wrongs
| than abet them. / know the Republic
| that was created for US, and the man.
ner in which we have preserved the
Republic.
1t is hard for me and my neighbors
| TO understand the Turk. Try as we
| may we cannot quite grasp his mean
| ing, or why he does what he does. 1t
was, in something of the same way,
| hard for us to understand the auto
cratic imperial German. The main
reason is probably because we are at
| heart an unselfish nation. We are
sorry when other peoples are in trou-
BILE. We worry about il and want to
get them out of trouble. We do all
we can to get them out of trouble. 1t
has become part of our nature and a
| great part of our national religion to
| do this.
World Conquest AbnormaIity of
Heather Days.
1t was hard for us to understand
why an imperial Germany should
think seriously of any such WORKOUT
thing as world-conquest. Most of us
even up to the day when the wal
ceased, did not thoroughly understand
that any people could actually mean
to attempt to conquer the world. We
had so long mad an ideal of world
prosperity and world-friendliness that
we could not think that any nation
could seriously have as it's ideal a
world drowned in blood and chained
to a conqueror's chariot wheels. We
could not believe any modern nation
could actually have faith in any such
ancient, heathen-days abnormality.
| Still less possible is it for us to be
lieve that any modern nation could
Intentionally and wilfully set about
numbering and starving a vast portion
of its own inhabitants. Even if we
could understand why a Germany
could murder and mistreat Belgians
we could not understand why Tur
key should murder and mistreat hun
dreds of thousands Armenians anC
Syrians who were the most prosperous
| and inoffensiVe of her citizens.
The truth is that it is always diff
cult for the kind-hearted to under
stand the evil-hearted. Far more diff
cult is it for the man who lives in {
really modernly civilized land to un
derstand the man who lives in lane
that is still ruled by the ancient ideas
of lust, rapine and oppression. The
American father of family canno
understand the pasha and the lord O.
the harem who still thinks slaves {
necessity and stolen wealth goot
wealth. We cannot believe such PEG
pie exist today.
Flowers Do No Good After You Are
Dead.
The further truth is that the worl(
is not yet clean in all its parts. There
are still portions of it that reek will
the filth of ancient days. There are
still lands that are ruled as Egypt wa!
ruled when Pharoah was king. TIL
black stain of autocracy has beer
wiped off the European shield; thu
black stain of cruelty still mars tht
shield of Asia. There is still worl
for civilization to do.
Our first task is to see that dealt
does not wipe out those who will lent
us a hand in cleaning the fouines'
that remains. There was work tina
America alone could do in Belgium
and there is a work that Americ;
alone can do in Turkey. There is III
other land on the face of the glob'
today that can do this work. Their
is no time when a child is dying o
hunger to wait for indemnities ant
PREPARATION. 1t is to be hoped that il
| ;oh Of