Daily Kennebec journal., 1921-10-10

altogether an idealist; consider my
self a very practical man, but / do
believe that the moral forces Of the
world are going to say to those mill
tary men who seek to dominate it.
"A new day has dawned for the
world; you no longer shall control its
thought; no longer shall you force
men to fight with one another SO that
you and your selfish interests may
profit by the sacrifice of human life
and treasure. . :
The Governor of the State is, by
virtue of his Office. Commander in
Chief of the military and naval forces
of the State. We must of course
have some military force in the State
of Maine; it is absolutely necessary
that the authorities of every state
have the support of military estab-
lishment. l want to say to the men
who have rendered such faithful ser
vice in the years gone by, that no
matter how faithfully you served,
there really is another obligation that
rests upon you as citizen soldiers.
AS long as we live in a community,
as long as we share the community
life. there are certain obligations
resting upon us all We can never
quite fulfill all of our duties to the
State and to the community in which
we are living. Is it not proper that
you men who have had military
training, who are able to give to the
State of Maine your services in the
National Guard, should continue toa
serve and thus let the State of Maine
have the benefit of your training and
experience ! want to see a National
Guard in. the State of Maine that
ranks as high as, if not a little higher
than any National Guard in the
country.
! do not want to build up a great
military establishment. There is no
man in the State of Maine who is
more opposed to a great military es
tablishment or to the domination Of
military autocrats than is your pres
entN Governor. / want, however, to
see loyal, true men. such as your
selves, in the National Guard. men
on whom the Chief Executive of the
And so I say these few things about
your duty. Notwithstanding the fact
you have already served your State
and Nation so faithfully. You have
responded so nobly in the past that
I do not hesitate to ask you to do
so again. While we are here togeth-
er, and while we are responsible for
4 he NO Tvs " nd
men and women are just as respon-
sible as / am-while we are all here
together working as citizens, we must
not forget the fact that we are under
certain obligations, and if we fulfill
them we shall be doing our full duty
as citizens of Maine.
The ex-service men of this country
must lay out a straight course and
must not deviate from it.
The American Legionaries should ne
come the highest type Of politician
and that simply means being a real,
conscientious, unselfish willing cit
izen Of the community.
am impressed by the fact that
this bridge is a fitting memorial, and
the thousands of our citizens who
daily pass and re-pass over it will al
ways remember the sacrifices and .he
loyalty of the men of Waldo county.
Future generations as they come and
go will recall the men of 1917 and
1918 and will be grateful to them for
what they did to save this country
and the world from military oppres-
sion.
The State of Maine has occupied an
enviable position in the Nations his
tory. l have confidence in its future
We are citizens OF sixteen counties,
but what IL Of greater Importance,