The Washington herald., 1921-04-03
Our Debt to Lafayette.

When the American doughboy-
crippled, and fed up with war
stood at the tomb of the great
French nobleman on the day Of the
arnnistice and exclaimed, Lafayette.
we've paid our debt to you," he
spoke as one who had paid a debt
Of honor with his blood. And he
probably expressed, with infinite re-
lief the sentiment Of a great mass
of the American people. The war
was over. The German Kaiser had
been driven from his throne, France
was saved, the world safe for de-
mocracy, and Uncle Sam eager TO
return to his pursuit of peace and
happiness, with the satisfaction of
a job well done.
The American Expeditionary
Force was again thinking in terms
Of earning a peace-time livelihood
Of school, the factory, the farm. and
the home. Unfamiliar with the "A
b C's" Of Old World statesmanship.
the doughboy had yet to learn of
European intrigue and diplomacy,
OF buffer states. the balance OF pow
er. In America the tsxpaying citi-
Zen had never heard of Czacho-Slo-
vakia: he had quite forgotten the
defunct kerensky government in
Russia Dempsey at Toledo meant
more to him than d'Annunzio at
Fiume. For Johnny Bulls back
was no longer to the wall, and Big
Bertha" still at the gates of Paris,
was manned no more. Peace had
come,
Then, on November 2, the mass
of the American Commonwealth
once expressed itself. For a return
to normally? Or was il upon the
league Of nations. with. or without7
Was the landslide caused by the
loans to Europe, the expedition to
Russia? Were such questions con-
sidered; and, IL so. TO what extent?
Or did the American citizen wish,
primarily, to tell the world" once
again that the war was over? That
Uncle Sans sword was now a plow-
share and that home fields were in
need Of his tilling?
In 1917 William OF Hohenzollern
made the great war an American
war. And Uncle Sam went to war
for an American cause; to uphold
American honor. France fought for
Infinitely more-for self-preserva-
tion, her life With her principle
fought for and won. America asked
nothing more, and retired. France,
safe and flushed with victory, took
Alsace-Lorraine, a bone of conten-
tion through the ages. With her
allies. all save one, she divided up
the spoils of war. And now anon
she turns to that althruistic one
across the seas with the plea to
keep her chestnuts from the nre,
Very clearly, TO her. the affair has
but begun.
In America Lafayette. with wash
ington, still lives in the hearts OF
men. And the doughboy and the
'poilu," one-time buddies. will smile
across the seas. But America, as a
nation, has her problems, as has
France. Altruism, as an individual.
VIII not forget her friends in need.
but Uncle Sam. with the cares of a
FAMILY man. must put his shoulder
TO the wheel here at home. The
Kaiser has passed from the horizon
OF the American soldier. but II. c.
L. still turks in the offing and both
ends must be made to meet. Bread
lines have been known in sorne
cities during the winter just passed.
The farmer in the West has had
poor crops. To the eastward. MANY
factories have closed. As a result
there has been much unemphyment
and yet taxes must be paid. Sem
tlment' on an empty stomach, 4. a
virtue with a lost appeal, and TO
americans. in America, the answer
must be America First"
PARKER LA MOORE