The Ocala evening star., 1920-08-07

L
civilization hung in the balance. In
the despair of dark hours, it seemed
as though a world dictator was inev-
| liable, and that henceforth men and
women who had lived in freedom
would stand at attention, in the face
of the drawn sworn of military au-
tocracy The very soul of America
was touched as never before with a
| fear that our liberties were to be
taken away What America did
needs no reiteration here 1t is known
of all men, History will acclaim it
poets viii find it an inspiration thru
out the ages. And yet there is not a
line in the republican platform that
breathes an emotion of pride, or re-
cites our national achievement. In
fact, if man from Mars were to de-
pend upon the republican platform or
its spoken Interpretation, by the can
didate of that party, as his first
means of information. he would not
find a syllable telling him that the
war had been won. and that America
had saved the world. How ungener-
Gus, how ungracious all of this is;
how unfair that a mere group of
leaders should so demean themselves
in the name of the party of Lincoln
and Mckinley and Roosevelt.
The discourtesy to the president is
an affair of political introgue. His
tory will make it odious. As well
might it be directed at a wounded
soldier of the war. One fell in the
trench; the strength of the other was
broken in the enormous labors of his
Office. But others were ignored-the
men and women who labored at home
with an industry and a skill that
words cannot recount! What of the
hands that moved the lathe by day
and the needle by night? What of the
organizations, superbly effective, that
conserved food and fed the world
that carried nourishment to the very
front trench in the face of hell's
furies-that nursed the wounded back
to life-that buried the dead in the
dark shelter of the night-that in
spired business men and artisans of
all parties to work in harmony? What
of the millions of men, women and
children of all creeds. religious and
otherwise, who stood in the ranks as
firm as soldiers overseas, undivided
by things they once quarreled about
What of the government itself-con-
firming the faith of our fathers as
sufficient to meet the storms of time?
Why the sneer at labor with the veil
ed charge that it was mere Stacker?
The spectacle is enough to convince
any unpreiudiced man that the repub-
lican leaders who have taken charge
of their party and nominated it's can
didate, are no more possessed of the
spirit of the hour than they were in
1912 when they precipitated revo-
|; luton within the rank and file of a
great organization. If further proof
were needed, the action of the pres
ent Congress supplies it. Not a cen
struetive law can be cited. Money
and time were wasted in seeking 10
make military triumph an odious
chapter in history-and yet is it not
significant that after two years CT
sleuthful inquiry, there was nothing
revealed in that vast enterprise, car
rying billions of dollars in expense,
upon which they could base even
whisper of dishonesty?
The Mexican situation, trying to
our patience for years, begins to
show signs of Improvement Not the
least of the things that have con-
tributed to it. is a realization by the
people of that country. that we have
neither the lust for their domain, nor
disposition to disturb their sovereign
rights. Peace smiles upon the border
and incentive to individual effort
seems to be making a national aspir-
alton
Many elements have made republics
enduring; not the least of which is
a substantial gratitude The richest
traditions of our land are woven from
historic threads that tell the bravery
of our soldiers of every war. They
make the first impressions of history
upon the minds of our children and
bind the hearts of generations to-
gether. Never in all time will the
performance of our soldiers in the
late war be surpassed. From farm,
forest and factory they gathered To-
gether in the training camps-from
countryside and city-men whose
hands were calloused by labor, others
whose shoulders showed the stoop of
office task-the blood of many nations
flowing in their veins-and the same
impulse ran from the front trench IN
France back to the first day In train
ing. We must not forget that war
breaks into the plans of young men,
| and their first chart of life is in a
sense more important than any cal
culation later on. In college and shop
lin every calling, they were building
the base for their careers. Thousands
of them by the circumstance of injury
or the disturbance of domestic condi-
tions which war always brings. were
compelled to change their whole
course of life. We owe a debt 60
| those who died, and to those the hon-