Evening journal., 1919-02-26
The X. of {. and the War
6y w. p. LARKIN, L. L. D.

I Athletic equipment ....... T2.0Ol
X. Of C. Work Overseas 10 Jan. 1, 1919
Buildings sin France, Eng
land and Italy ............ 100
Number Of secretaries and
X. Of C. chaplains ...... 992
Goods shipped 20 France for
free distribution among
the boys .................S3, 3,li3,0itSi
Goods purchased in France
for the boys for free dis
tributiOn ............s.... 2,JO0OOOOO
In this great humanitarian and pa
triotic work the X. Of C. have not been
actuated by any desire for credit or
glory, either collectively or individual
ity. except such as shall come from the
consciousness OF having done our bit
and played a part that American Cath
olics have always played and shall al
ways play please God, In times OF
stress
We have regarded ourselves merely
as an instrumentality In the hands Of
the American people TO execute a sac
red trust. and 10 enable the great heart
Of America 20 reach out across the sea;
10 furnish points Of contact between
The boy who was rlsking his all In the
shadows Of No Mans Land, and the
loved ones who were left behind chok-
ing down their grief and battling with
a great uncertainty.
How faithfully we have discharged
our trust is for the boys 10 say on
their return. We might anticipate by
reading into the record volumes Of
glowing tributes from government Of
flcials, from military commanders, from
hospital directors, who watched the
work Of our secretaries as they labor
ed among the wounded and dying. fire.
quently for several days at a stretch,
until they dropped In their tracks from
sheer exhaustion.
We might tell Of secretaries. FAR ad-
vanced in years-for from the begin
ming our minimum age requirement
was we'll over the draft limlt-who
gave up position, honors, and luxurious
surroundings to take UP this labor Of
love; Of men who died here and on the
high seas and somewhere in France:
Of others who tended machine guns
while the boys eagerly seized the ohoc-
olate or cigarette the secretary had
braved death TO bring 10 them, and
Of some who. shell-shocked and maim-
ed, lie today in French hospitals Grip
pied for life, and radiantly happy that
10 was given 10 them 90 serve beside
their young brothers in arms. and that
when the call came they were not found
wanting.
But for a verdict on our work we
are content 10 await the homecoming
Of our soldier boys, for in this, as In
everything else for 90 years to come,
the only voice in America, II justice
shall continue on her throne-shOuld
be, shall be, and must be. the voice
Of the boys who gave up home and
loved ones and everything that life
holds dear and faced into the Valley Of
the Shadow Of Death in order that
freedom might not perish from the
earth.
OF course. there have been shortcom-
ings and mistakes in our work; delays
in obtaining necessary permits Of one
kind or another, delays on the part OF
contractors already staggering under
the burden Of purely governmental
operations; errors OF judgment on the
part Of men 10 whom this gigantic un-
dertaking was a novel experience, and
whose work was inevitably compared
with that Of another organization with
unlimited resources and forty years
experience as specialists in this partic-
ular field
Just as in The case Of the nation It.
self on which the dogs Of war were
all unprepared we. too. were
into This work and had 10
devise our plans and build our machin-
cry practically overnight, so that Of
there have been deficiencies /
Of one kind or another and we have /
been able to accomplish for the boys |