Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1919-04-17

and to the soldier It meant personal
glory.
And that was all, everything. Men
prated Of country as though the land
they lived in possessed some kind Of
q spirit--a soul which in its entirety
was composed Of many units. each
unit dweller in the land. That theo-
~ was farcical. ridiculous. absurd
For there was a greater power than
soul. It was human nature. And the
nature Of man made him Individual
istic. He ran In cliques. to be sure
he fked company; he was eager to b
surrounded by his fellows. But never.
theless, he Was Observation-Disclosures
was looking out for himself. That was
what made him choose as his mate a
woman IN whom he saw those merits
and virtues that he could not see in
other women. 1t was what caused
him to build house-a better house
than that occupied by his neighbor.
It was the desire for self-gratification
which made him ambitious to succeed,
to gain wealth, power and glory.
Country? To be sure. The thing
commonly called mans country was
the place in which he lived-the land
he inhabited, the place in which he
made his home and in which he raised
his children. But every man had a
country-he must have a country, a
place on Earth to live. God had given
him that! But the mere fact thar he
lived upon Earth did not signify that
he was to go out to kill other men who
inhabited the Earth with him. There
was no sach thing as country when 1t
confiicted with a mans individuality.
The man-not country-was supreme.
And thus man was man, and country
was another thing-secondary, chi
merical, non-existent Country was an
imaginary estate, Land inhabitated
by a race of humans who were all in
dividualistic, all imbued with the same
desire-to get ahead, to thrive, to live.
There was no common spirit OF soul
that brought men together in patriotic
bondage. Some men professed the
sentiment, but few lived it.
Corwin knew a real estate man who
had formerly dealt in second mort
cages and chattel loans. The fellow
pretended to be patriotic, yet Corwin
knew he was discounting Liberty
Bonds. He knew men who were whis.
pering to their fellows that the bonds
would one day be valueless, that they
should be disposed Of quickly. even at
a loss, for the day was not far dis
tant when the Government would re-
pudiate all its debts. He knew other
men who were profiteering; he had
heard other men curse the Government
because they were not permitted to
make greater profits-because the
Food Administrator had decreed
against them. Still other men were
idling in offices, on Government serv.
ice-men Of draft age who should
have been at the Front-if they felt
the patriotism they professed.
Had these men a country! WhA,
did country mean to them? 1t meant
to them what it meant to every man
who lived in it-nothing but place
In which they could ply their particu
lar trade for the purpose of gain and
power.
However. one day during the end oi
the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign
Corwin saw an aged woman slowly ap
proach a Loan booth on Main street
She wore faded black dress, bon.
net with string attached. tied in Q
dropping bow under her chin. Her
shoes were not good, and she had .
look of having been pinched by pov.
erty all her later days.
It was the glow in her eyes that
commanded Corwin's attention. Her
face was wrinkled and scanned, but
her eyes were bright, and luminous
with an expression that made Corwin
gulp with nameless emotion.
I'D like to buy bond. sir-ffty
dollars" she said, quietly, to the sales.
man.
| you're pretty old to be buying
bonds, Grandma" said the latter. "Are
you sure you want one?"
"Old, am II" she replied, raising her
voice defiantly. well. when get SO
old that can't try to do something
for my country, shall be old indeed!
The salesman caught Corwin's eyes,
and laughed.
l
wads rather ashamed of themselves
hadn't it?" he said.
Corwin flushed, turned abruptly on
his heel and walked away, embar'
rassed,- Inundated For herein the
person of the old lady-was a mani
festation OF that spirit which he had
long denied.
, tt CHAPTER vi
1T was only;a few weeks later when
l the news flashed to waiting
anxious world that the Hun line wal
wavering; that American troops wert
being hurled against 1t and that the
crisis for which the world had waited
long was at hand. Reports Of engage
ments in which the Yankee boys had
conducted themselves with heroisn
- l<~tu