The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1920-05-28
Che:
d Legion
Copy for This Department
Supplied by National Headquarters
Of the American Legion
P0ILUS ASK AID IN DEFENSE
Did Not See May Not
Understand.

Lemuel Bolles, national adjutant of
the American Legion, has received the
following message from the French
war veterans, an organization of ex-
service men in France. The letter was
transmitted through the New York Of
fee of the organization. and reads in
part as follows:
"To Our American Brothers In-Arms !:
COMRADES:
'The Poilus of France make this ap-
peal through. US to their American
brother-in-arms and say to them in the
name of that justice for which they
fought together, never forget what you
came to do amongst US. By the blood
which was shed by US together, in the
name of our dead who lie side by side,
in the name of all the brave men who
bear on their bodies the glorious marks
Of desperate battles, in the name Of
all the heroes whom our nations have
produced, let US not forget, let US
continue together their sacred work,
let us unite our countries as our hearts
were in the face of death, let us not
lose the fruits of such generous efforts,
of so many willing sacrifices, let us
look clearly into the future and con-
tinue for the maintenance of our lib
erty and for the honor Of our race
the battle to which our duty calls US.
America has gained through her
sons in this war the right to immor-
tality. Nations looked on with admi-
ration at the spectacle of millions of
young American heroes arriving on the
soil of France, to defend the sacred
principles of honor and liberty in
scribed in the American Constitution.
"Victory has crowned their banners.
that and the blood shed for just
cause, that is a past which future
generations will be proud to claim as
q heritage. But the sons of America
have not finished their work, our COM
mon enemy does not acknowledge his
defeat, he hopes when he will have
succeeded in sowing the seeds of dis
cord amongst US to renew the fight
which he lost, thanks to you. We know
that calumny will have no effect on
you who have seen with your own
eyes what you saw, you who know us
and know what we are, but we fear
that those who have not seen like
you may come to doubt us and that
is why we send out this appeal to
you, comrades, that you may take
part in our defense.
sour cause is yours also, you cannot.
go back on us, you saw us in action
and you know that we do not need any
other proofs than our past records to
prove to all men Of worth that If we
fought this war with SO much heroism
1t was because we were defending not
only our soil, but the entire world. ;
1--WE held back and stemmed the
formidable wave Of German invasion,
almost alone for four years, from the
Somme river to Alsace, bearing the
brunt Of the hardest shocks, our brave
men leaving their lifeless bodies by
the hundreds of thousands on the
fields of battle, without one word of
complaint or without asking for quar-
ter, because they knew that If France
were vanquished, the principles Of the
great Revolution were doomed forever,
the declaration of the rights of man
and the citizen would have been de-
stroyed and trampled on, the poor and
humble would have been forced back
under the iron rule of lords, might
would have prevailed over right, crime
and dishonor would have been written
as the very heading Of fundamental
laws of modern nations.
'It must not come to pass that our
brave men died in vain, we owe 1t and
you owe it to their memory. The SUR
vivors must not sleep on their laurels
in false security. You must not i'm
agine that 1t was we alone whom you
helped, you must understand that your
liberty was threatened just as much
as ours; all nations are more or less
dependent on each other. AS for us,
Poilius, we shall never believe that it
was from pity, nor even out of graft
tude for help given by us to you in
former times, that you came to our
aid.
France dead would have meant the
condemnation of the whole world and
France would have died rather than
go back on her principles. Do not
therefore let anyone say you have
done enough for her; it was not she
whom you helped, it was the ideals
and principles for which she always
stood and without these ideals of JUS
tice and liberty a free nation cannot
exist.
France is still bleeding and will
suffer for long time from the wounds
which she received, her young sons
cut off in their youth, her lands dew
astated, her commerce destroyed, her
credit diminished. But what makes the
greatness of people is not alone its
prosperity, it is keeping its honor I'M
sullied. AS long as this sentiment re-
mains in a nation, that nation will live
in spite of all oppression.
''Long live America, long live France,
united by the blood of their sons.
"CH. BOURNEZ."
General Secretary"