Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-06-08

We are met here tostAke the FIRST.
the most decisive step IN the political
campaign which Is to determine the
party control Of this great government
solemn moment, fraught with vast
possibilities of either good OF evil.
Well worth our while it Is just here
upon this bank and shoal Of time" to
pause for an instant while we glance
swiftly upon the scene in which we
! are to fight u battle. Behind, us lies
the greatest war OF history, now for
the most part fallen silent, together
with all the hideous advances OF sci
ence in methods Of taking human life,
which battened upon it, halted and
Iquiescent The tempest has subsidized
! but the ocean still leaves and rolls
with cresting waves, while the dead
crash sullenly against the shores that
| shelter and sustain the vast fabric
| which we are wont to call our civili-
! cation. We find ourselves gazing
! upon the problems and trials which
the huge convulsion has left to US and
/, with which we must cope and cope
successfully il We are to rebuild and
! again move onward. The ruined
towns. the broken industries, the desc
lated farms are there before our Eyes
wherever the battles were fought.
Countless little mounds mark the
! resting places Of the dead in no fields
and on the hillsides torn n gashed
ing throughout the world tell us Of
the irreparable losses of all nations,
which have swept away such an ap-
/ palling portion of the youth of every
land, those in whom were garnered up
the hopes and strength of the future.
! The splendor Of the achievement of
! our soldiers n sailors, their daunt-
i lose. 700 on1 ,rShr{phir Cor1yico
will always remain m of the proud
est memories in the history of the
republic. But the dead return not
and the shadow of the great sorrow
for those forever gone will neV be
lifted from the hearts of the people
who sent them forth to battle. The
material side of war results is, k
the spiritual, ever with us. We feel
in daily life the grinding pressure of
the vast debts and heaped up taxes
which a been piled upon our
shoulders and pon those of poster
ity. Great empires have seen swept
from the earth, ancient monarchies
have crumbled in an hour n long
established governments have tot
tered. fallen and passed away like a
watch in the night.
All these things stare us in the face,
pierce our attention and arrest our
thoughts. But this is not all n what
remains. perhaps more than anything
else, makes incredibly difficult the i'm
/ mense task which lies before US, one
mot to be escaped but which will strain
governments n people to the top of
their bent if aught hat makes life
worth living is to survive. The
wrecked towns. the shattered forts,
the effaced villages, the sinking ships
of war. Other things, the impalpable
possessions of the mind and heart.
have in like fashion been wounded
and crippled. In the shock of war,
through long years of bitter conflict.
moral restraints were loosened and
all the habits. all the conventions, all
the customs Of life, which more ever
swept aside. One passion, one pur-
pose-to save the country, to save
civilization, to preserve freedom
rose supreme. 1t could not be other
wise. There could be in that hour
but n question asked Of men and
tSwomen: Are you loyal to your coun-
try and her cause. ready to work and
to sacrifice and if need be to die for
them?" If that single demand was
rightly answered nothing else mat
tered in those days of stress and an
guish. No one inquired further.
So the war ended and victory came;
the great adventure was over and men
and women came back to find the old
ways dull. the old life tame, the old
restraints burdensome and they them
selves possessed a by a longing for
excitement and a hunger for change
unknown before. One sees the result
in the restlessness which is every
where; in the mere trifles of life, in
dress, in a~musements, in pleasure
seeking, in the greed for money and
the recklessness of expenditure and,
what is infinitely more serious, in the