The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-07-03

cIHeI OF the American armies; and how, when
washington did arrive, Lafayette was one of the
very first to lead storming party; how Admiral
de Grasses fleet did all and more than could be
expected of It. until Lord CORVALLIS and his
army had surrendered and been disarmed are
facts that every good American knows
In this final struggle the whole force of the
colonies consisted of 1000 men Of Washington's
army 5000 under Rochambeau and 5000 of De
Grasses French marines and sailors
Would it have been possible for US to win with.
out the aid Of France? Washington and Frank
lin believed not. Fifty years afterward when
the question asked of Charles Carroll OF
CarrolltOn, then the only alive who had
signed the Declaration of independence, that
venerable Christian and statesman replied:
cit Gods WILL
It will always be a much-vexed question how
much financial aid France rendered America. It
seems impossible to straighten out the account
Professor Marion of the College Of France has
expressed the opinion that the total expenditures
were fully 2,OO0OO0,OOO lvres. Much information
will be found in his 'HistOire Financiere de Ia
France depuis IT'S" FiSke in his Critical
Period" puts the expenditure Of France at Loo
OOOOOO francs. Trevelyan states the following
in a note to his american Revolution :" cit was
calculated that between the years 177S and 1888
the with England cost the French treasury
f48OOO,OOO- 1t was the main cause Of those hnan-
c1al difficulties which led Immediately up to the
Revolution of 1889" This would be equivalent
to 1000 100000 Hvres Cfrancs), S24OOO0OOO, at
time when the purchasing power of money was
nearly three times what it is in our day.
When victory ours Lafayette went home
to France. He came back for a short time in
1884 Then came the French revolution. Lafay-
cite from first to last consistently advocated
limited constitutional monarchy for France. His
experiences were many, including five years in
an Austrian prison, from which he released
by Napoleon in 1897.
In 1924, when Lafayette was sIxty-seven. he was
invited by President Monroe to visit the United
States He came as the guest OF the nation in
pursuance of an unanimous resolution passed by
congress The occasion was the dedication OF
Bunker Hill monument. He made q trfumphhl
tour Of the twenty-four states of the Unio1
Every possible honor was showered upon him.
Probably the most moving event in the whole tour
was his visit to the tomb Of Washington The
climax was the ceremony at Bunker Hill
Lafayette lived ten years longer. When Pres
ident Andrew Jackson heard the news Of his death
In 1884, he ordered behalf of the whole Ameri-
people that the same hOnors be rendered
upon this occasion at the different military and
naval stations were observed upon the decease
OF Washington, the Father Of His Country, and
his contemporary in arms"
Lafayette has been dead 50 years His clay r
dust But his soul still lives. 1t has breathed
courage into the breasts of war-worn French SOL
diers. 1t has wept over the deported ensaved
and outraged Of his native laHd-over the
slaughter of the innocents. And who may doubt
that his soul called across the ocean:
Help US. America Help US I helped you :"
answer. But at last heard and needed and
went. The fighting men of France, staggering
with wounds, dizzy with fatigue and the women
of France, white with horror over an impending
fate worse than death, the Star-Spangled
Banner afar and cried in thankfulness:
1.-The Americans are cOmingT'
We arrived-yOung, husky, smiling, Iarking
fighting men. The French loved US for our looks
and our ways. But could we fght7 Then came
June and Chateau-ThieTTy, when we stopped the
flower of the German shock troops in their tracks
attacked in turn, put the Hun on the run and
kept him rUnningI No wonder all France went
delirious with Joy.
That what promised through BLACK |
Jack" Pershing, when he saluted at the tomb in |
the little cemetery Of Picpus in Paris and said:
Lafayette, here"
And we made the promise good. He and his |
young. husky, smiling, larking fighting men struck
the finishing blow which guaranteed that French
men may pursue their honest toll in peace and 1
that French women, with babe at breast, may /
sleep at night without fear Of the Beast.
Such Lafayette great soul, a gallant /
soul, the living embodiment OF the nobIest ideal /
for which men can generously live and gloriousIy /
die.
''The liberty we hold secure,
The soil which we tread,
That air Of freedom that we breathe
The flag that floats o'erheady
That nation whose history
The sun shall never set