The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-11-11
made them ceased to endure.
 Tragedy Tn France

struggle for independence the
 France of liberty, equality and frat ernitv Mademoiselle from Arn1en- tieres. ou -vous? Where are you today? Is is not tragically true oi France that her splendid triumphs in the last war have gone fol nauQht because the spirit that made them ceased to endure? That spirit turned back the Boche at the Marne, created at verdun the i'm mortal slogan: They shall mol passl" tand they didn't passD Where was. that spirit three years
 ago when Frances ally Czecho- Slovakia whom she was pledged tc assist, was raped2 Where was that spirit a year and half ago when France herself was invaded? Where is that spirit today?
 What I wish to say to you with all the emphasis at my command is that there Is 8 preparedness ol the spirit, which Is no less indls- pensabie than the preparedness in arms: there is fertilization of the soul as needful as the fertilization of concrete and steel. The French had Maginot line. It was sup posedly impregnable. But is was the spirit of France which was preached while that line was still intact; and 50 France went under. There is a great Chinese Wall which for centuries was designed to keep out barbarian invasions into China. yet never did 50. But there is Chinese spirit today which Is stronger than walls of stone, a spirit which built the Burma road without tools. but with bare hands, spirit which took apart defense factories threatened with capture, took them apart piece by piece, and carried them on backs and should CTS of Chinamen to regions of safe ty from which the war goes on. It is probably true of us Americans that between time of crisis and emergency our spirit has Jagged, our idealism has Waned, and self ishness has replaced selfleSsness. So it was largely in the get-rich- quick period of materialism in the dec ade that followed the Armistice.
 Failure Of Spirit
 Such, if I may be permitted to say SO, is not lacking from some Treas ury raids which certain American Legion representatives in the na- tional capital have been engaged in and are now engaged in, despite the overshadowing national crisis. That failure of the spirit which ruined France is not wholly absent among us. visible in the greed and selfishness of certain groups in the ranks of both capital and labor, which today have retarded the do- or-die determination, and the all- out effort without which we can not win the total victory necessary to prevent repitition of the assault on mankind. There is the constant need of maintaining in cur democracy those institutions and those objectives which are the living embodiment of the American, spirit and purpose, institutions which make our community life fuller and better, institutions which afford equality of opportunity, in- stitutions for the advancement of social welfare. It is necessary ever to keep our democratic system ef- fective, expensive, responsible. Democracy is a living plant that needs constant and devoted atten- ton. Devotion to our democratic system, at all times, is an integral part of defending America, and is essential for the full awakening of the spirit that brings victory.
 Victory We Are Seeking
 The victory. for which we shall strive and which We will win, what ever the cost, Is not victory for loot, or conquest or for more terri tory. It is victory sought solely so that our institutions and our ideals may be preserved and not be abOl- iShed. If we do not maintain those ideals. if VIC do net ourselves hold them high, our victory will be hol- low.
 Nearly three quarters of cen- tury ago our nation faced the greatest crisis since the birth of the republic. As that crisis of seces- sion and slavery began to loom, one of our great and beloved poets wrote stirring message, which without word of change is as applicable today as it was then 1 would, in conclusion, read you a few verses from that poem, James Russell Lowells "The Prese t Crisis" s"-written in 1844. "The Present Crisis
 When deed is 7 ne for Free dom, through the broad ealth's aching breast
 Runs a. thrill of joy prophetic, trembling on from east to west,
 And the slave, where'er he covers.