tion for the better day. Hope is a miracle worker. Our poor little fox terrier mascot (we called him "Skin and Grief") apparently did not know the sustaining value of hope. Our attempts to feed him up were vain. He just couldn't come back. But our humans did: food gave them physical force, but hope built the bridge upon which they came back to life. A Land of Desolation As you go through the once prosperous farms of northern France there is not a sheep or hog to be found; not a goat or a horse; not a chicken or a goose; everything living had been driven away. There is hardly a whole pane of glass; there is hardly a house that has not been partially demolished. There was occasion for despair. And what the Red Cross brought was not only fuel and clothing but relief for this hopelessness and despair and the agony of those unfortunate people. But what wonderful love these people had for their homes. Distance and time, disease and destruction had not affected their passionate devotion to their bit of land. Day after day as we went about in our motors we would pick up these returning refugees, almost completely exhausted. I recall one woman who collapsed in our car and I said, "What is the matter-no food?" She said, "Yes; little of that—just complete exhaustion." She and her husband had been citizens of St. Quentin and they had been driven back long ago to Namur. They had gone back on foot from Namur to St. Quentin. When they came to view what might be their home they found nothing but a dismal ruin, and now they are returning to the place of their temporary abode, waiting for the day of reconstruction. Some day, when the complete programme of reconstruction had been made, they hoped they might return safely to their home. I will never forget another typical incident. There seemed to be nothing but a ruined farmhouse, but out of this ruin came an old woman. Finally she began conversation. We had bread and clothing for them, at any rate. She said, "The old man and I are 72. It is too late to begin over again." I told her in the best broken French I could that their Government was going to stand by and the Red Cross was going to assist. She said, "Too late-everything is gone: home, friends, family, fortune. There is one room made habitable for the old man and me. My daughter, I hope she is dead (and she shuddered at the thought of a worse fate); my son, I don't know what has become of him." But notwithstanding, she and the old man came back to this ruined little farmhouse. They came back to start life over again. These people love their little bit of earth with passionate devotion. The Frenchman loves his little patch of farm even more than France; and his is the very acme of patriotic fervor. That land has been severely wounded, almost to the death itself. The spirit of these people is magnificent. They came to tell their story, but never to complain of their want or misery; and for every little thing that was done they were profoundly grateful. Reviving France You have heard much about the morale of the French people. I was not there to see the morale of the French when they were driven back by the Germans, but at this time of lifting shadows-still dark and lowering—I saw nothing but joy. If they had to pay 185 francs for shoes, they were glad to pay it. If they had it not, they got along without shoes. The worst of all was the constant realization that was thrust upon you that Germany had made war upon old men, women and children. I can assure you when one looks out upon those dreadful conditions that his heart is filled not only with hatred but also with a sense of outraged justice and humanity. Righteous indignation is the only worthy attitude of mind with reference to Hun outrages. If there be justice in the world, let us imitate that divine justice and see that justice be done; and if there be love in the world, let us imitate that divine love and see that love be done. Let us be real friends with the French, friends as well as allies, for it is easier to fight together in the presence of a common danger than to work out unselfishly the problems which arise in times of easy peace. But with the Boches, though there may be trade, there can not be fellowship. Till repentance be not only spoken-and it has not yet been spoken-till repentance be evidenced by good faith and good deeds, we can have nothing in common with the outlaws of civilization. Our work is not yet done. I do not know what the official programme is over there; but I think our work is not done over there. We have spoken of the magnificent spirit with which we went into this conflict; let us make the people of suffering France know that we meant every word of the grandiloquent programme of our war aims; that we are as resourceful in peace as we were fertile in war. We are their friends and co-workers in peace as in war and we shall help to rebuild that which has been destroyed. My friends, if every German prisoner were retained, and every stone replaced and every house restored, and every farm rebuilded, there are some things which the world, through its money and even with its love and sympathy, can never, never give back to the harassed people of northern France. Nothing can compensate them for the horrible experiences of those fifty months in which they lived in hell; and they lived in hell and hoped of the paradise that was to come. Let us be the angels at the gate which leads into their paradise. (Applause.) Action by Club Meeting MR. EDWARD F. ADAMS: Our friends have given us a most delightful evening, a most thoughtful evening, a most inspiring evening. Let not one of us leave until we have done our duty by exhibiting such co-operation as inadequate language can express of our profound respect not merely for the delightful evening which we have received, but for the part they bore in the great accomplishments bravely achieved. Without introduction, Mr. President, I move that a resolution, which I have hastily written and which does not adequately express my feeling, may go upon our record, as follows: "Resolved, That we tender to those who have addressed us tonight our hearty welcome home and our thanks for the delightful, instructive and inspiring evening which they have given us. "But we do more than that: We recognize them as the representatives of the much larger number of our associates who went forth to defend us and of the whole great army of American youth who have so nobly upheld the American name and American flag on historic fields in the service of humanity and for whose magnificent accomplishment we desire to inscribe in our records this expression of our profound appreciation and our undying gratitude." THE PRESIDENT: You have heard the resolution. All in favor of same say aye. Contrary no. The resolution is adopted. The Club is adjourned for one month. |