The Irish standard., 1919-01-11
united CATHOLIC ACTION
Rv Martha Moore Avery, of the Bos-
ton School of Political Economy.
(Catholic Press Literature Bureau.)

ton School of Political Economy.
One fact stands out prominently in
y the conduct of the war. In the be-
ginning Germany and Austria were
, thoroughly organized and equipped for
warfare; they were ready to the last
buckle on the harness Of the artillery
units and the last button on the SOL
diers' uniforms. The result of this
preparedness came swiftly in the over
towering of the entente allies, who,
though superior in potential resources
OF men and money, were not on a war
footing. Belgium was destroyed in a
twinkling; France invaded; Russia fin
ally annihilated. But, with the gradual
and persevering development of the
resources of the allies and the unifica-
ton of the armies under one command,
defeat and disaster were ultimately
converted into victory.
Our Country in the War.
The vital part taken by our country
in the outcome was due not only to
our great resources, but to the splen-
did spirit of organization displayed in
utilizing them. The intelligent and
patriotic conduct of our President and
Congress in the adoption of general
CONSUMPTION, in communicating the
service of our great captains of in
dustry, in standardizing the manufac-
ture of airplanes, vessels and arma-
ment, in unifying modes of transporta-
tion, in training army officers, con-
serving the food supply, and subordi-
mating national pride to the necessity
of military exigency by placing our
armies under foreign command, soon
created a fighting force that was ir-
resistible.
We had at first but an insignificant
army and very little equipment. Guns,
ships, airplanes, even ammunition and
uniforms, were nonexistent. The Ger
mans scoffed at our protests and de-
mands, considering us utterly impo-
tent to enforce them. They said we
would not fight; that we could not get
together an army; that, if a large force
were collected, it could not be trans
ported across the ocean for lack Of ves-
sells and in face of the submarine peril;
that the army, if transported, could
not be provisioned and equipped with
weapons; and, finally, that, if the i'm
possible were accomplished and all
this done, raw American soldiers and
inexperienced officers would be help
less against the highly skilled and
war-seasoned troops of Germany. They
said all this, and no doubt meant it.,
but their wrong estimate of American
efficiency was the cause of their own
undoing; and this efficiency was
spelled in the word Organization.
All the ihsuperable difficulties van
ished one by one before united and
systematic effort Every American
ten, for he felt he was not alone, but
that behind him was the whole nation.
At first the foreign commanders trust
ed scarcely trench or minor action to
the Americans, unless their own re-
serves were in support. But before
long the opinion of American ability so
radically changed that, when a diff
ficult position was tobe taken, the
task was assigned to our forces.
Organization.
American organization was particu-
larly evident in the union and COOP
Grafton between all classes of the pop
ulation. Everyone, from the President
to the soldiers and civilians, to the
women in the kitchen and the children
in the schools, was asked to help; and
all responded nobly.
The Red Cross enlisted the services
of the women; the Boy Scouts sold
bonds and located WALNUT trees; the
children sold stamps. The whole ma
ton, with all it's resources, was in the
fight to win. Never before, perhaps,
was there such thorough-going organ
ization on so large scale; and the
result was whirlwind victory within
a comparatively short time.
Knights Of Columbus.
The part taken in the war by the
knights of Columbus was particularly
gratifying to Catholics. Apparently
the Catholics were not organized, and
the spiritual as well as the temporal
interests of the Catholic soldiers and
marines were exposed, to imminent
danger. The Knights of Columbus saw
the need and peril, and, to their credit
and glory, they sprang to instant ac-
ton. They collected immense sums,
secured chaplains by the hundreds, and
salaried them. In two continents. the