The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1927-03-31

IiiNOSiiC CilCIC "co OliC Quincy
that did not dream such peaceful
dreams she carefully laid out pro-
gram of world conquest, all of mid
die Europe was to be united under one
powerful hand and before the rest of
the world was aware of its diabolical
intention would strike the fatal blow.
How near this plan came to sue
cess is hardly appreciated by our
people today. They expected to
crush France in six weeks, then strike
the Russians in overwhelming force
before they were modified. Then
they would be ready for England and
any other countries that dared to
interfere. This bold plan would
probably have been successful had it
not been for brave, little Belgium.
She delayed the advance two weeks
while the French armies came into
the field on the run and completely
overwhelmed the Huns at the first
battle of the Marine. That battle pre-
vented the hands of the clock of civil
lization from being turned back 200
years. Had the French army been
crushed in that titanic struggle, Paris
would have fallen in few days and
the formidable resistance would have
largely ceased.
With France crushed, England
could have done little as it took her
more than year to thoroughly get
into the fight. AS terms of peace
Germany would have taken the
French, Russian and perhaps part of
the British fleet. The day would not
have been distant when the Kaiser
could have carried out his threat
when he said, 81 will not take any
more nonsense from the United
States" With all of Europe united
under one rule and with no allies, we
might have had to fight for our
national existence on our own soil. If
that had come to pass, I believe we
could have licked the whole outfit, but
it would have meant millions of
graves and a destruction that the
mind of man cannot estimate. While
we mourn the death of nearly 100,-
900 and the wounding of several times
that many, we have escaped lightly
to what it might have been. We do
honor to the memory of those who
have already passed away. Some of
them sleep in great marble cities,
with their graves guarded by the
nations vigils; some in old fields and
besides quiet streams; some in
Flanders field where the peoples
grow, and some in unknown graves.
Wherever they sleep Comrades of
your members of the American Le-
gion) a nations love is with them,
and their memory will ever be cher
ished by their posterity.
"On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And honor guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead"
While we honor the dead, let us re-
solve again that those yet living who
fought with them shall not lack the
comforts of life and that their Wild
ows shall not fail to realize, in the
evening of their lives, that a grateful
republic remembers them too. The
surviving soldiers of the Civil war are
rapidly passing away. They are max
ing their last march, moving steadily
onward. Slowly, inevitably, the
members of the Grand Army of the
Republic are nearing the frontiers of
the great beyond and soon the last
one must pass over. Let US leave
nothing undone that can be done to
make them know before they go that
the proud citizens of the great Repub-
lie which they preserved are not lack
ing in gratitude and that they will
never cease to cherish the memory of
their noble deeds, while we love to re-
late the stories of heroism of the
passing generation let US remember
that we have young heroes among US
just as brave and patriotic as those
who saved this nation Is years ago.
They have encountered dangers I'M
dreamed of in any former war, can
mons that would send projectiles
over twenty miles, submarines that
could sink the greatest ship afoat;
poison gas that meant almost instant
death; air planes that were loaded
with the most deadly explosives, and
scores of other Internal machines
that never haunted the dreams of
soldiers in other wars.
When you boys landed on that for
eign shore the Germans were making
their last great drive and it looked
for time as though they would both
reach Paris and take the channel
ports. Within four months from the
day our boys struck the first serious
blow the great German military ma
chine was mashed. The Keiser, an ex-
lie in foreign land, and the German
nation was on its knees begging for
peace.
You boys were transformed from