The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-03-15
MAINTAIN AN ARMY

"It is still necessary that France maintain an army, for Germany is our
 neighbor, and while we will have the
 league of nations, the Germans may
 prove rather troublesome neighbors.
 %France stands at the gate separating
 civilization from barbarism When Gen
 eral Pershing stood at the tomb of
 Lafayette and said, Lafayette, we are
 here we knew what he meant. You
 helped us before the war and we know Iiyou will help the people of France to
 get back on their feet once more.
 There are 1000 acres of devastated
 France, and it is a graveyard for
 those who died for us; it is the grave
 of the French soldiers who died at the
 first battle of the Marne, those at
 Verdun, the English at Vimy Ridge, the Americans at Chateau Thifrry. the marines at Belleau woods and the southern boys in the Argonne forest. This is tie that nothing can break. These graves will be cared for by the French, for when men make the su- preme sacrifice side by side, they be- come kin" In concluding Major Du- pont sang La Marseillaise' in French
 which was enthusiastically received. TRIBUTE TO BIRMINGHAM Mrs. Patterson paid a tribute to Bir- mir gham for what she had already done and stated she would like to remain here if it were possible. She praised the work | of the men and women of the south in l highest terms. She compared France to i the south, following the civil war, and de- 1 cla red France is not any richer than | the south was following the war between 1 the states.
 She appealed for assistance from the | women of Birmingham for devastated l France, for the people who have suffered four years of war such as was never heard of before. France cannot demo- bilize her army at this time, so who is to
 rebuild France but the women, old men and cripples?
 | Miss Morgan, an American fact of which I am duly proud, and l am sure | you are also, was chosen to take care l of these people 5000 of the old men, help l less tubercular children, many without I parents, cripples who have been driven frem their homes and are coming back It5 a desolate land. The American women Fare asked to change No Mans Land into I some mans home Our plan is to help l the people of France to get on their feet l as by furnishing them with shelter, which lean be done by buying the buildings the I American government erected for the sol | diers, agricultural implements, garden
 utensils, community cow or horse, and l various serviceable things to work with
 until they could get back to normal condi- | tions.
 AMERICAN GRAVES
 ''The French people have adopted as
 many American graves as they have lost l sons, and will take care of them just as | the mothers would wish them cared for 1 We are not giving it, we are just paying l our debt to the land that seood between us and dissertation. The world owes 1 France a debt it can never pay
 Mrs. Mebane was introduced and spoke I on the southern soldiers and the part they played in winning this great war. She l paid glowing tribute to the Thirtieth division and the Twenty-seventh division, ! which broke the Hindenburg line. "Of :, course this could have been done by any other division, said Mrs. Mebane | but to these divisions belong the glory. '
 She gave vivid description of the Hin denburg line and of the tunnels of the Germans at St. Quentin, concreted and l with subterranean passages, and told how ! the flower of the Kaiser's army were |, driven back by the boys of the soutMand fine tribute was paid to the Rainbow division by the speaker, and praise gfver the Jewish boys in the service and of tho valor of the negro troops. She spoke 1T