Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-11-24
1.-THE PRICE OF PEACE"
DISARMAMENT OR DEATH"
Armistice Day, NOvmeber 11th, 1921
By Rev. Arthur E. Fish


America;
l feel PECULIARLY inadequate before
the task OF expressing the thOts and
emotions of this hour. l am here
frankly as a last resort. One of the
members of your committee ap-
preached me a little over week ago
with the statement that the Legion
had been seeking far and wide with
out success for an Armistice Day
Speaker, and asked me whether
would speak ''if we cannot succeed in
securing anyone else" l am here,
therefore, clearly as a last resort.
CongratuIates the Legion
And yet l welcome the opportunity
of speaking on this day and in this
presence. And for two reasons:
T'irst, because | welcome the opportu-
nifty of offering the members of the
American Legion my heartiest con-
gratulations. congratulate you,
gentlemen, because of your member
ship in the American Legion. l con-
gratulate you upon the good fortune
which gave you an honorable part in
the age-lOng struggle for human
right and freedom. | congratulate
you for being members of one of the
most powerful organizations for
veal or woe-that exists on the face
OF this planet. | congratulate you
for the singularly self-restrained and
patriotic policy which has charac-
terized the American Legion, and for
your wise leadership in a most per-
picking and trying time. And,
finally, l congratulate you for the
beauty and impressiveness of the
ceremony of this day, and for this
cordial expression OF the appreciation
of the people of Wauseon for you and
for the great peace army to which
you belong.
l welcome the opportunity of
speaking, in the second place, be-
cause the days message is so plain
and compelling that it almost speaks
itself. We are standing today in
the foothills of a great mountain
range in human history. Three
years ago, we stood upon another
mountain range of Hope. You will
recall the elevation and grandeur OF
that day, the unspeakable relief, the
iillimitable hopes, the wild rejoicing
Between that mountain range and
the one we are now approaching lies
the valley of unfulfilled hopes. The
barren desert of the tragedy of Yer
sailles is there. There also is the
dismal situation in which we find our.
selves today. We stand today in q
world of hate and many wars, actual
or threatened, the prolific offspring
of the Great War. Turkey is crap
pling today with Greece. Siberia is
still in agony. China is in the midst
anxious breathing spell after wal
seething. Armies are marching into
the mountains of Albania. Every.
one of the Balkan nations is feverish.
ly expecting attacks from its imme
diate neighbors. France trembles
/ with her perpetual fear of a recrudes
cent Germany. And even the Unit
ed States stands today in danger o.
a definite war at a definite time will
definite nation. To fulfill oul
honest desire for freedom from
foreign entanglements, we withdrew
ourselves from any league witt
Europe, and attempted to cover our
selves with the garments of our ira
ditional isolation. When behold
the threat of war came stalking
grimly toward US across the Pacinc
Frank Simonds is known as one O
our most responsible and careful
journalists, writer TO history; ant
yet he has recently made the asser
ton that America cannot in homo
withdraw from the policy she ha
adopted in the Pacifs. But, he says
if we pursue that policy we shall IN
evitably be at war with Japan within
five years.
At such time, on the anniversar,
of the great day three years ago, tn
leading nations of the world ar
gathering at our Capitol to find i
possible, a way out of the horrors O
war into the tranquil productivenes
IOf peace. My subject, in the hgh
OF these events, is chosen for me. In
. deed, it chooses itself. 1t is 9Th
Price Of Peace"
The Dream of Peace
Peace, World Peace, has been tn
dream OF man for ages. Ever sine
the time of the Hebrew prophet
men nave been longing TOR the tim
when there shall be WARS no more
But wars grim reality has made tn
vision OF Micah and Isaiah seem a
ways a will o the wlsp, mist,
!; vapor, a rainbow never reached.
no time in the history oil the worl
! was peace sentiment so strong an
definite as in the period just befol
the greatest war in History.
beautiful temple had been erected ;
! The Hague, symbohzing mans ag
long dream. And at the momel
: when wars clouds were lowering {
!; the horizon, our Secretary Of Sta
!; mad just trlumphantly concluded {
4 arbitration treaty with thirty two
& the nations of the world. Two yea
: afterwards every one of the thir
Il two nations mad been swept into
3 world-engulfng malestrom of A
4 magedom.
8 Purpose of the War
|: And yet, my friends, that war co
4 tains an element of greater hope f
Il the realization of the age-long drea
Z OF peace than any other historic
4 event. The war itself is the bt
4 prophecy of peace. For 1T W
4 the first war ever waged against W
4 itself" 1t has taken US sixty yea
4 co realize the underlying meaning
Z our own civil war, And it "
i doubtless take a generation befc
4 men will know the fundamental
i sues for which the Great War
3 handed such an awful toll of bio,
Z it has been called a war betwe
= Autocracy and Democracy. But tt
Il ISSUE was only passing pha
Z Autocracy and Democracy. But tt
i ii mans mind. 1t has been called
X economic struggle, as all wars do
4 yolve economic issues. The "
Il which is called commerce cas-
Z shades over into the awful CONNER
4 which is called war. 1t has been ca
4 ID war to guarantee the safety
Il small nations, a war to make
Il World Safe for Democracy" A
4 let | think that even now we can
Il hat the passion that sent the co