The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1919-02-20
THE K|NSH|P OF THE
new AMERICAN
Aims and ideals of the United
States and Canada Will
Soon Be Signed.

The war is over, peace will soon be
signed, the fighting nations have
sheathed their swords, and the day of
reconstruction has come.
What of it!
Hundreds of thousands of men, TAX
en- from the fields of husbandry, from
the ranks of labor, from the four walls
OF the counting house, and the con-
fines of the workshop, taken from them
to do their part, their large part, in
the prevention of the spoliation of the
world, and in the meantime removed
from the gear of common everyday
life, will be returned, only to find in
many cases old positions filled, the
machinery with which they were for
merly attached dislocated.
Are they to become aim1ess wan
derers, with the ultimate possibility
of augmenting an army Of menacing
loafers? If they do it it is because their
ability to assist in laying new founda-
lions, In building up much required
structures, Is underestimted. Men
who have fought as they have fought,
who have risked and faced dangers as
they have, are not of the caliber likely
to finch when 1t comes to the resto-
ration of what the enemy partially de-
stroyed, when 1t comes to the recon
struction of the world the ideals OF
which they had in view when they took
part in the great struggle whose Divine
purpose was to bring about this re-
construction.
Injured to toll, thoughtles Of fatigue,
trained in initiative and hardened by
their outdoor existence they will re-
turn better and stronger men, boys
will have matured and young men will
have developed.
They will decide of themselves lines
Of action and thought, and what their
future should and will be. On the
field of battle they developed aiertness
and wisdom, and they will return with
both shedding from every pore.
Action was their by-word and 1t will
stand them in good stead now that the
din Of the battle no longer rings In
their ears, or the zero hour signals
them to the fray, and it will continue
during their entire existence.
But if they return to find their old
avocation gone, their places filled, the
institutions with which they were con-
nected no longer exist, new walks OF
life and employment must be opened
to them. 1t may be that the counting
house, the factory, the workshop will
have lost their attraction. The return
ed soldier will look elsewhere for en-
ployment; within his reach there Is al
ways the "Forward-to-the-Lan ne
cessity. In this lies the remedy that
will not only take care of multitude
of those who may not be able to return
to their former occupations, whose de-
sires are not to do so, whose health
prohibits them from indoor life or
whose outdoor habits from the past
one, two, three or four years have
given them such taste and desire
for 1t that confinement would be un-
bearable. Farm life will thus appeal
TO them, and the indications are that 1t
will be taken advantage Of by thou
sands. 1t means much to them as well
as to the Continent Of America that
provides the opportunity to the world
at large, and to the stricken and fam
ished nations of Europe, who, not only
today, but for years to come, will re-
quire the sustenance that can only
largely be supplied by the United
States and Canada. BY following the
pursuit of agriculture the returned
soldier will continue the cause he so
greatly advanced when fighting on the
field of battle. Both countries have
undeveioped areas yet open to settle
ment.
There is little need here to direct
attention to the wealth that has come
to the farmers of Canada within the
past few years. 1t is not only in grain
growing that unqualified and almost
unequaled success has followed hon
est effort, but the raising of horses,
cattle, sheep and hogs has been large
source of profit. These are facts that
are well known to the many friends
and acquaintances Of the thousands of
farmers from the United States who
have acquired wealth on the prairies
Of Western Canada. Farms Of from
one hundred and sixty to six hundred
and forty acres Of the richest soil may