The Devils Lake world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1920-1982, 1920-10-20

+, There will be many more millions of these
soldiers of peace than there were Of the soldiers
of war in 1917.
There should be thirty millions, but whatever
the number, the November ballot will be vastly
larger than any plebiscite the world has ever
recorded.
Among these millions will be many for whom
the act is their first participation in expressing
a free mans will. Four millions of young men,
in addition to the. millions Of enfranchised wo-
men, will cast their initial ballots.
These may be the decisive voices that are
to speak for America the voice of God in ma
tional affairs.
"The voice of the people is the voice of
God," when it is a voice, not a mere clamor,
reasoned out, and expressed under conviction
Of an intelligent conscience. Such a voice leg
ally expressed, has divine authority in this
land of freedom under law.
l have seen thousands of men front each
other day and night, on either side of a street
railway track in one of our largest cities, grim
and determined, during anxious hours while
the result of a national election was still in the
balance. | have witnessed these men melt away
without disturbance or resistance when the re-
suit, reached under the form of law, was finally
announced. It was a demonstration of self
government.
One electoral vote once decided the presi-
dency of the United States. That vote, when
lawfully reached, stilled passions that for
weeks had threatened civil war.
One vote has decided the choice of congress
men and senators, of governors of states, and
determined the making of laws for a nations
conduct.
attack upon the integrity Of the ballot which
determines the majority.
This crime of high treason may be committed
either by a deliberate misuse of the vote, or
by Indifferent neglect.
It is indicative of danger-subtle, it may be,
but with possibilities Of overt evil-to read that
in one locality less than one-third of the women
entitled to vote have registered their intention
to comply with the law.
There always has been enough "dead wood
IN the electorate:-to increase the amount is
not healthful, and to stimulate the peril is cri-
minal.
The non-voter is as bad or worse than the
one who deliberately votes wrong. In a certain
Chicago district a christian man and able legis-
lator was allowed to be defeated for lack of
three votes, while 20,85O registered voters in
his district failed to go to the polls.
Records similar to this are not unknown in
many parts of the country. Young man, your
ballot is the sign and chief jewel of your citi-
zenship, the weapon of your American man.
hood. Treasure it as you would any other thing
of imperial value in your life and use it intel
ligently and conscientiously, under the fear of
God and in love for the free institutions of a
country that has invested you with the dignity
and responsibility of a free man-free to do
what he ought in this time of supreme
challenge.
If with unerring wisdom l could tell you for
whom to vote it would be more than an impro-
prlety to do so, or even to hint at the partisan
direction in which you should look for the OBJ
jects of your choice.
Free government rests upon the intelligence
and virtue of it's citizens.
Individual and conscientious study, with the
determination Ito do the right as God gives you
to see he right" remembering that "since right
is right, to do right where wisdom, in scorn of
consequence" is the only sure rule and guide.
What a count of the ballots cast in Novem-
Der may decide, as to who may or may not be
elected to a given office, is not so important as
that the count shall show that the majority has
been established and declared thru the intel