Alma record., 1922-03-09

war find that they are easy victims
to the ravages of disease. Govern
ment action is slow and as a result
many have paid the Price. In many
states, the situation has become so
drastic that the veterans themselves
have undertaken the task Of caring
for their former "buddies". Europe
has put her injured service men on
their feet; our country has made in 1
vestigation after investigation while
the veteran suffers from neglect.
There are two remedies. namely: a
pension system; a vocational system.
In the past, it has been shown that
pensions cause idleness, so it remains
on US TO consider the establishment
# vocational education.
The people must be awakened TO
the situation Immediately because
thousands are failing in health every
month while the governmen. makes
no, or little, effort to cure them. Mr..
Laity concluded by stating that
shameful neglect has marked our at
titude toward our ex-service men and
the war will not be over for us until
we discharge our duty-our Debt of
Honor-to our service men.
Mr.. Winfield Burggraah', the rep
ncsentative from Hope, won second
place with his oration, "The Nations
Heritage Mr. Burggraaf pointed
out that the forces of materialism
| have undermined the empires of his
| ory and razed them to the ground.
\ nations vision fades and it loses
IS soul as selfishness finds place
n its heart The personality Of
,ation is greater than gold or reign
nd the economic problems and lust
! or power cause nations to shrivel
md die. Our country's present dis
order is not the throbbing of the ma
ions heart; our heart beats in har-
nony with the soul of mankind.
Mr.. Burggraaff argued further that
here must be a return to the Pill
rims hope The old and the new
must give place 10 the true and our
laticnal life will fade if we lose
Sod. A national rebuilding Of relig
! ious thought is necessary for our fu-
ture. The Church, home, and school
are the only assurances Of the future
integrity of our country Our ma
tional life must be dedicated to the
service of the world.
Mr. William Schrier, Of Kalama-
ZOO College, drew third place with his
grafton, Our Next Step" His open
ing words brought to our minds the
picture Of the war veteran who has
just died from the slow but deadly
effects Of poison gas. The horrors
Of war were wildly placed before Us.
/ We, as a nation, have prospered and
/ progressed rapidly but we have one
idea which marks time We can
not seem TO escape the conviction
that wars must exist. We must get
rid Of this philosophy; we must see
that war belongs to yesterday. The
power Of public opinion must enact
the passing of wars. Every stage in
our countyys progress shows the
mark Of public opinion; every evil
bears the stamp of its Indictment.
international differences can and
must be settled by the acting Of q
fraternal spirit on the part of the ma
tions involved. Public opinion is
cryStalized public sentiment and the
individual must do his part and con-
! tribute his individual idea so that the
/ sacrifices Of the World War shall not
/ have been in vain.
Mr.. Frank Vreeland, Of Alma Col
lcge, spoke on "The Equality Of
Love" His forceful delivery made Il
fnely-constructed speech very effect
i've. Mr.. Vreeand's message showed
that the equality Of love is the only
remedy for the torn and shattered
world Of today, and is the only means
Of settling the questions which con-
front the nations The evils Of the
race cannot be avoided until we get
to their cause and have an equality Of
love. The true equality can only. be
brought about by Christianity.
America has shown somewhat of this
spirit when food was sent to the
starving people Of the devastated
/ countries.
Mr.. Clifford French, who repre-
sented IIillsdae College, gave very
fine oration entitled "The Guarding
Of the Melting Pot" His message
showed the audience that although
we have "a free country, as far as
immigration is concerned, we must
look out for ourselves in some meas
ure. In the past we have created
good citizens out of the alien mater
/ ial but today the problem is becom-
ing too great. The tide of humanity
now coming across is endangering.
| the established liberty for which our
forefathers struggled and died. The
old policy of giving farm lands to the
incoming hordes brought good class
Of people to our shores but those
coming today are of the lower classes
who only congest our tenement dis
tricts. They cannot be assimilated
! We have found it necessary TO pass