Milford chronicle., 1955-09-09
THE SPIRIT OF 1910

THE SPIRIT OF 1910
Napoleon is quoted as having once said
that "the happiest inspiration In battle often
is record of the past" In the present un-
happy state of world that appears so often
to be guided by counsel of despair, that
might not be bad dictum to follow 1t is
not necessary to go back very far. The sum-
mer and fall of 1910 will do. In that year a
would-be ruler of the world encountered an
intangible battle odd that confused him and
finally deferred him from undertaking an
adventure that had considerable prospect OF
success and might have made the world in
1855 considerably more unhappy place than
it is today.
Publication by the United States Navy
Department and the British Admiralty of
secret discussions among Adolf Hitler, Grand
Admiral Raeder and other German military
leaders shows that in the summer of 1910
after Frances fall when the British stood
almost aloDe against the Nazis, it was the in
tangible OF British morale that Hitler and his
military aides never could quite evaluate and
which above all other considerations led them
to postpone indefinitely the planned invasion
of England, that fortress built by Nature
for herself" At that time, the "sceptred isle
had little to offer against invasion except the
indomitable courage of its people.
Just a remembrance of the dark days of
1910, makes todays problems diminish in
Importance, and in urgency. Today's prob
lens would carry even less menace If the free
people of the world would show in 1866 the
same moral resiliency the British people
showed just fifteen years ago, IT they could
muster the same toughness of spirit, the same
refusal to bow to circumstances, the same
determination to see the crisis through to
victory as was shown in 1910.
1t is difficult in peacetime, of course, to
muster the same feeling of unity, the same
.+o SC chn ~,
such full measure by SO many in times of
war. Life is much more complex in peace
full world Crises lose their wartime clarity
of line. But they can be just as important.
little more unity in the world between 1918
and 1889, little more of the spirit of indi-
vdual sacrifice for the common good could
we'll have made impossible the necessity of
such decision as that which confronted the
British in 1940-whether to die like men OF
live on as slaves.
There are other things to be learned from
q reading of the record of the Nazi confer
ences in those days of their great victories
the corrupting influence of easy triumph, for
one. But the important one is that the hu-
man spirit is the important element in every
situation. That is as true in peace as 1T is In
war. We will have the kind of world We de-
serve.
REWARD OF ENTERPRISE
Sticking out your neck does not pay In
the army as any veteran knows. In proof of
this Henry w. Shoemaker, Pennsylvania
State Folklorist, offers this little known in
cident of the Gettysburg campaign in the
War Between the States.
General Robert E. Lee, Conferate COM
mander invading Pennsylvania, sent de-
tachment to take Harrisburg, the state capi-
tai. General Joseph F. Knipe, a Union gen.
eral relieved from service because of wounds
was convalescing there Recognizing the
gravity of the threat, he ordered other con-
valescent soldiers to man an old Mexican
War cannon with its cannonbals and fire to-
ward the enemy. The Confederates inferred
as they were meant to, that a strong force
was defending the city and retreated.
General Knipe's thanks? A summons
from the War Department to explain why
general not on active duty should take il
upon himself to lead troops.
Amt that just like the army?
N1o~>E
FREEDOMS NEED A WATCHFUL EYE
We Americans have more Individual free
doms than any other people in the world, ant
are free to act as we wish, provided of cours'
that our actions do not curtall the liberties
and freedoms of others.
Our American business system is quit
different from government-controlled sys
TENS under which the individual freedoms W,
enjoy are distorted or completely eliminated
Action which limits economic freedom alss
reduces political and individual freedoms.
To preserve our individual freedoms WI
must keep a watchful eye on proposed
changes in our business system, viewing eacl
proposal as tc its immediate effects compar
ed to its long-range effects.
One of our most important civic duties i
to exert our efforts against those changes il
our system which would tend to destroy ou
Individual freedoms, and to promote thos
policies which will improve our American
business system.