Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1919-01-16
PEOPLE WHO ARE LEFT !
OUT OF THE ROLL CALL.
Population of the United States
Asked to Stand Up and
Be Counted.
BY GERALD STANLEY LEE.


/ had a friend once named Old Bill
Spear, who was the curator and found
er of the John Quincy Adams Memorial
in Quincy, Mass. He conceived the
idea of making the house into me-
mortal and, with his genius as a col
lector of old furniture, filed it with
things to see.
People came from everywhere, and
at twenty-five cents apiece they went
about to see the things Bill had col
Iected and hear Bill talk.
Bill felt very superior to most col
iectors. "Just Collectors" Bill said
"collect anything"
Bill usually could size people up when
they came In the door, but when no
wasn't quite sure about people, and sus-
pected he didn't want to bother with
them very long he used to take them up
to the attic to size them up quick. He
would show them a bushel basketful of
something they couldn't quite see, and
then he would wave his hand with a
flourish and say In an impressive tone
as they stopped to look closer, This is
in the Worldr'
Hundreds of collectors didn't break
smile, Bill said, and just looked awed.
Then Bill knew. OF course, that he
needn't bother to show them his best
things.
Some of the people who are proposing
70 go out into the streets Red Cross
Christmas Roll Call Week and gather up
70 t1tn tLnn Dad
| to think that the main thing there is
| to tell people about the Red Cross Is
| that II they pay a dollar to belong they
will belong to the Largest Collection Of
People Who Have Paid One Dollar In the
| World
| felt little superior to this ct first
and began thinking how / wouldn't do it.
| But when l began thinking what the
| biggest Collection of People in the World
| could do by just being the biggest and
| by all wanting the same thing with
different one dollar. it became impress
| sive.
| 1t would even be impressive If forty
million people in America all wanted the
| same thing with the same Dollari
| All wanting the same thing would be
nation praying-all the grown-up people
| of nation with their little half con-
| scious children round them-praying!
| The dollar man Joined WITH would
| not be a mere one dollar The dollar
| would be a receipt to every man in
| America that $1,000, 999 other men or
women belonged to him. and that lhe be-
longed to them in getting what he want
| ed for three million soldier boys and for
/ their children at home.
Forty million people-arl the grown-up
| people in this country pick out three
million men and say to the three million
l 1izIx1 ND
die for us, you go and be saviors of the
| world and die on our crosses for us!'
i Then what do the forty million do?
| 1t would be be something II we would
all line up-the whole forty million of
us to a man, with our little pallid insipid
speechless dollar bills in our hands from
Maine to California Christmas Week and
use our two dollar bills year as ballots,
stand up in line and be counted and
cable to the men across the seas that
we vote carfare once in two weeks
to stand by them, to stand by the souls
and bodies Of the children OF the men
who have made standing offer to die
on our crosses for us!
Who wants to be left out Of this Hire
b. Christmas Evef
what man would want to DO stood up
4 m q row OF those who aeo left out while
m Of the ohildreu of the world aie by
sad look az him. while the little children
u nins hundred thousand dead men IN
Hassaaz Als By and look at him. or the
shildrsa u the soldiers Of FsAnos giving
Eksir Avcs b protcot ths skys~apsrs 8
Hsw Yoskf
For that Hsattar 4 need nc4 take -
naAy saaaldrsn. what man Who let him
ssf be ut out would feed safs In his
swn hoass With his own childrsn clfnbiRs
70 into his Lap believing IN him-Safs
With kis own baby pulling on his face,
3abbing his small trustful hsts In Ais
eyee-H he let himself be lsft OUT
OF course. It seems q little like .
| nockery to cable over to France Christ
mas Eve that we give one carfars onoe
IA two weeks to the children of the men
NO picked out to die for us. but It would
DO start.
Nobody needs to think It would be q
big thing Just to belong to the Red Cross,
: but 1t Is going to be q big thing to be
Seft out.