Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-11-30
DUTY'S CALL


Through the might of our armies
and the cooperative service of our
navy, we were able to give abundant
support to our allies, which was
necessary to wrest the crown Of vic
tory from the brow Of the central
powers. The energy and might of
our blows were so forceful and rapid
that the Germans were compelled to
surrender ignominiously one year be-
fore the foreign military experts be-
lieved the conclusion of hostilities
could be reached. 1t was fitting that
and allied troops should have wit
messed the final surrender Of Ger
many for it's enviPons forty-seven
Years before were the scene of Ger
mans greatest triumph over France.
Our part in the war and the motives
by which we were actuated are we'll
known to the people of the South and
need not be reiterated at this time.
That we entered it actuated by the
highest type of idealism and that we
fought for the salvation of the
world, the freedom of it's peoples and
the preservation of Christianity are
facts generally appreciated. That
we should have been the saviour of
| mankind in a sense must ever be a
source of pride and qualification to
every true American, and it is GER
tain that no page in our history will
stand out more gloriously in the
future than that which records the
| heroic deeds of our soldiers abroad
and the achievements Of the men who
handled our transport service on the
| high seas.
Having accomplished so much that
was essential and worth while,
should we now sit down and be con-
| tent with the laurels already won?
| Or do we still owe a service to man
kind which no other nation is in posi-
ton to render save our own? War
in itself is a terrible and frightful
thing. 1t is the most destructive
of all the agencies which man has
invented for the breaking down of
good government and those things
which make life most worth while.
War is a hydra-headed monster of
the most frightful mien, but in spite
of this fact, lit is not the most hor-
rible thing with which humanity has
to deal. The consequences of war
are more destructive and appalling to
the afflicted populations than the
actual fighting. Sickness, disease,
hunger and the moral depravity
which follow in the wake of war take
their toll of human life by the thou
sands as compared with the tens
which perish on the field of battle.
The. results following in the wake
of war, therefore, more to be dreaded
than the actual strife itself.
When the food supplies of nation
become exhausted and the physique
runs down, when the industries are
! crippled or put gu of existence and
! unemployment becomes general, 1t is
not surprising that a restlessness
shhould develop which often leads
to revolution. If one war with all
it's appalling destruction is sufficient
to bring these conditions in its wake,
what Of the countries where several
| campaigns have followed one another
in rapid succession.
The situation outlined above repre-
Nsents but a mild Interpretation of
conditions which exist in the greater
part Of Europe at this time. The
nations as a whole are hopelessly
sick and discouraged. Their national
credit Is exhausted. Their man
power has been decimated and their
wealth swept away. Their homes
burned, or in many instances desc
Grated. Their industries and their
agriculture are both Frustrated.
There are millions of children or
phaned and left without any visible
means of support. Famine and
plague stalk abroad in the land. Con-
! ditions must get worse before they
are better. The very existence of
any worthwhile type of civilization
or of stable government is threat
ened. Under the circumstances, it is
not surprising that such a situation
should have arisen. What are we
going to do about it? Can we sit
idly by an dassume an air of indif-
ference? Is it possible that we are
not concerned about the welfare of
suffering humanity across the sea
even though they may include our
recent enemies? Is it a matter of
Indifference to us that want, social
leprivacy and Bolshevic tendencies
should assume the ascendency in the
greater part of what was formerly
considered a part of the most highly
cultured and civilized section Of the
world?
Some diseases spread by contact.
Some presumably through the air. If
no effort were made to control many
of them, people would die literally
by the hundreds of thousands. In
the wake of the great world war
there has developed in Europe all
sorts of new social diseases aside
from those which ordinarily affect
a great swamp at this time from
which mlasmas are ascending in an
unbelievable volume. Unless we con-
troll and stamp out the poisons being
generated there and restore order
and good government and feed and
clothe these people, we are bound to
be the inheritors of a part of the
calamities that have befallen them. I
believe we are interested and con-
cerned in the restoration of peace
and order in Europe because of our
devotion to the ideals of Christian
ity, but if we are actuated by no
| other save the basest and most sell
fish of motives, we must act quickly
as a matter of self defense.
What are some Of the things we
should hasten to do to help correct
the existing situation? First, we
triton of the millions of European
children who are now homeless waits
on the drifting sea of society. These
children are not to blame for the sad
Affections which have overtaken
them. We may harbor in our hearts
which caused these children to suf-
fer so atrosciously, but we cannot
well hold that sort of a sentiment
against the innocence of youth. There
seem to be eleven million children in
Europe which were orphaned by the
! war. Possibly this is an understate-
ment rather than an overstatement
of the facts in the case. The Ameri-
can Relief administration is now
striving to feed at least three mil
lions of the most dependent of them
so as to preserve their lives. They
are only able to offer them at best
one meal a day of about six hundred
calories, but that is sufficient to car
ry them through the winter and to
prevent the utter impairment of
their health. These children are alb
solutely without any resources of
| their ThnuSan6c of
moving around from one center to
another with no place to call home,
with no means of obtaining clothing
and without capacity to help them
selves. Are they to become robust
and worth while citizens of the coun-
tries to wticI they belong or are
they to become a menace to order.
decency and good society for the next
fifty years? We mast choose, and
choose now, what our attitude will