The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-01-03

American executive that force with
out limit" would be exerted by this
country in the great battle for free
dom was brilliantly fulfilled. So i'm
mersed were the American people in
the conflict that war may be said to
have become their chief, indeed al
most their only, business Every en-
ergy was bent to the purpose either of
fashioning the weapons of warfare or
of providing men to use them, of sup
plying the needs of the fighting forces
and of the vastly larger number of
those who merely aided these forces,
the while that supplies of food for our
own men and our allies abroad were
forthcoming without stint, except
where American men, women and
children, on the mere request of our
government, forbore to eat their nor
NAL foods in order that our army and
our allies armies and civilian popu-
1ations should have enough. Thus II
was that ordinary civilian trade took,
as it were a back seat, that many nom
warlike occupations were curtaiIed or
entirely suspended. and that every
one could feel, whether on the bat
tlefield, In the office, in the factory or
on the farm. all were engaged in a
common cause and for common end.
Then just as the mighty machine that
had been built UP for war purposes
began to function powerfully and vic
toriously, the enemys collapse came,
and the remainder of the year was
given over to the process of demobil-
izing. the industries single mfndedly
devoted to war were directed pacA 40
peaceful lines. and the process Of UNI
Harvesting thade and of unfixing
prices went forward with as much if
not greater speed than had the work
Of diverting peaceful energies to
warlilSe purposes. These readjust-
ments, which at the time of writing
are still in process. with the unsettle-
ment inseparable therefrom, and the
uncertainty prevailing as to future
price levels. now that the great urge
of government buying was removed
gave a quieter tone to wholesale trade
and industry in the closing months,
while the influenza epidemic early and
natural conservatism bred by dis
placement of many thousands of
workers alter, operated to hold down
retail trade, which was only partly
recouped by tn excellent holiday de-
mand in the closing weeks Of the
year.
The statement was frequently made
in 1917 that, great as had been our
work Of organization for war, there
was very little in the way of surface
indications to show it, and that one
might almost imagine that no war was
being waged. This was emphaticaIly
not the case in 1918. War In many of
it's grim phases was brought home to
us by the sending Of two million men
abroad and the gathering Of another
two million in American camps. by
the voting by congress Of an army
without limit, by the stripping of our
industries Of its best men. by the ex-
tension of the draft ages to include
all males from eighteen to forty-five,
by the operations OF the German sub
marine murderers on our coast, by the
growing list Of casualties and by the
mounting up of war costs to almost
unbelievable heights. In 1918, too all
the early decisions as to the causes
and nature of the war were dissipated
and its true character as a life and
death struggle of decency and civ11i-
cation against all that was abhorrent
and decadent became manifest. That
the sending over of our armies to
France was not merely question OF
numbers carried but also of quality
OF fighting material sent, was proved
by the splendid work of our soldiers,
who, our friends the allies admit, ar
rived just in time to turn the scale of
the conflict an dto block the way Of
the Germans to the channel ports and
to Paris, and later. in conjunction
with our allies, under the supreme
command of the brilliant French Mar
shall Foch. broke the German lines,
expelled the invader from Northern
France and from Belgium, and finally.
by the terms of the armistice asked
for by the beaten foe, established the
allied line far within the enemies
border, constituting a new Watch on
the Rhine pending a final peace set
Element. 1t will probably be the YER
dict of history that our full strength
had not yet been put forth when the
collapse Of the boasted efficient Teu-
tonic combination was registered in
the German surrender and revolt and
the final abdication of power by the
seif-styled war-lord and and his con-
federates. Thus this latest and great
est crusade was won, peace returned
to the earth and the preparations for
the conference at Versailles gave Pc
culiar emphosis to the Christmas sea-
son and were fraught with favorable
auguries for the ushering into the
world of a truly Happy New Year
Over Four Years of War Ended.
With the great war apparently end
ed, a glance over the big events of the
four years and nearly four months
additional that it lasted may not be
out Of the way. First of. all. it needs
to be said that no human being ex-
pected 1t to last the length of time
it did, nor that the financial costs
thereof tprobably s1s0.00o.00e ena -
100000, 000,000) could have been so
successfully borne by the woriu. =,
to the cost in life, no definite measure
can be had as yet but probably be-
tween 100000 and 100000 fighting
men laid down their lives, while mas
sacre, disease and starvation may
have taken as many more civilians
OF our own part in it. it can be said