Mountain advocate., 1919-04-25

Of the summer Of 19lS-they saw the
/ French structure OF defense begin 10
crUmAie under the terrible offensive
of the Hun armies. they began to feel
their convictions had been indicated
that The continued defeat OF the
| Allied armies was due 10 the nation.
wide incompetency Of the war machine
built up by the government. They he.
gan 10 predict disaster for Allied
Arms; they told their friends how II
might have been different, how disas.
ter might have been ayerted and how
victory might have been won.
. However, they gave little thought
TO the gigantic task faced by the khaki.
clad boys who. TO the number Of two
or three million, were at grips with
the Hun hordes on the battlehelds Of
France and Belgium. The boys were
not in their mental vision: they were
remote and far. and for all they knew
might have been a dream-army. Not
experiencing the emotions OF sympathy
that oil the heart OF the jealous patri.
OF, their imaginaiions could not leap
the mighty gulf that separated them
from the horrors OF war; they lacked
tho power TO bring the war.picturo
into their mental vision; they could
not see beyond themselves and the
universe OF cynicism which encom.
passed them.
For the third time Fsiltown failed to
subscribe its quota; and in the fall
when the Fourth Loan campaign be-
gan, the patriot element Of Falltown
began 10 betray somc curiosity as TO
the identity Of the citizens who were
playing the role of bond-siackers.
Corwin had. not failed to note the
change that was coming over Fall
towns citizens. During the days of the
first loan there had been much enthu.
giasm, and the drive" had been
launched amid music, hagwaving, the
ringing OF bells and the blowing OF
horns. Corwin was convinced that
many persons hal subscribed to the
loan while under the spell OF the en-.
thusiasm aroused By the noise and the |
clattcr. Some Of those buyers had
not been 90 enthusiastic during the !
second campaign; and when the third |
came there was still less visible en-
thusiasm. And the fourth campaign
began with remarkable quietness
COrwin, going and coming, watch. |
ing faces in the street, noting the alb
sence Of enthusiasm, smiled derisiye-
ly. He told himself that the people |
were beginning to see what he himself |
had OWNED from the first-that the |
war was q monstrous blunder. that
certain capitalists had forced the coun-
try into it, that it was a partisan af.
fair and that every man was consider
ing only his own interests in support,
ing II.
That was II! Corwin had found II
the dominant influence of the whole
thing - individualjsm. Individualism
symbolized greed, selishness and the
lust for power. All men lived their
lives with selfish aims. looking toward
personal gain. To the business man
the prosecution of that aim meant
wealth, to the idler il meant luxury:
TO the ruler of a nation il meant power,
and to the soldier it meant personal
glory.
And that was all, everything. Men
pratcd Of country as though the land
they lived in possessed some kind of
a spirit-a soul which in its entirety
was composed Of many units, each
unit q dweller in the land. That theo-
ry was farcical, ridiculous, absurd,
boz
soul. 1t was human nature. And the
nature of man made him Individual.
istic. lie ran in c.iQues. TO be sure
he liked company; he was eager TO be
by his fellows. But never.
thelesS, he was indiviHualistic--he
was looking out for himself. That was
what made him choose as his mate a
in whom he saw those merits
and virtues that he could not see in
other women. II was what caused
him to build a housc--a better house
than that occupied by his neighbor.
Il was the desire for self.gratiflcation
which made him ambitious 10 succeed.
10 gain wealth, power and glory.
Country? To be sure. The thing
CdIitU Il man 4 country was !
he place in which he llved-the land
he inhabited. the place in which he
made his home and in which he raised
his children. But every man had a
must have country,
place on Earth To live. God had given
aim that! But the mere fact that he
lived upon Earth did not signify that
he was TO go out to kill other men who
the Earth with him. There
was no such thing as country when II
with mans individuality. :
rhe man-not country-was supreme.
And thus man was man, and country
vas another thins-secendary, CHI
nonsexistent. Country was an
imaginary estate, a Land inhabitated
by race OF humans who were all in.
all imbued with the same /,
iesire--to get ahead, to thrive, to live.
There was no common spirit or soul /.
hat brought men together in patriotic
bondage. Some men UrOfeSsed the