The Defenders of Democracy | Page 5

merely careless of

consequences so long as the immediate end was attained, is now
immaterial. From the welter of Teutonic misdeeds and lies arises the
vital, the soul-inspiring spectacle of a union of all democracies against
the common foe.
And right here, as the direct speech of New York has it, I want to pay
tribute to the sagacity, the clarity of vision, the sure divination of the
truth amidst a fog of deceit, which has characterized almost the whole
Press of the United States since those feverish days at the end of July,
1914, when the nightmare of war was so quickly succeeded by its dread
reality. Efforts which might fairly be described as stupendous were put
forth by the advocates of Kultur to win, if not the approval, at least the
strict neutrality of America. That the program of calculated
misrepresentation failed utterly was due in great part to the leading
newspapers of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and the other main
centers of industry and population. Never has the value of a free Press
been demonstrated so thoroughly. The American editor is accustomed
to weigh the gravest problems of life on his own account without let or
hindrance from tradition, and it can be affirmed most positively that,
excepting the few instances of a suborned pro-German Press, the
newspapers of the United States condemned the Hun and his methods
as roundly and fearlessly as the "Independence Belge" itself whose
staff had actually witnessed the horrors of Vise and Louvain. These
men educated and guided public opinion. Republican or Democrat it
mattered not--they set out to determine from the material before them
what was Right and what was Wrong. Once convinced that the Hun
was a menace they made their readers understand beyond cavil just
what that menace meant. So I claim that the editors of the United States
are entitled to high rank among the Defenders of Democracy. When the
history of the war, or rather a just analysis of its causes and effects,
comes to be written I shall be much mistaken if the critical historian
does not give close heed and honorable mention to the men who wrote
the articles which kept the millions of America thoroughly and honestly
informed. Think what it would have meant had their influence been
thrown into the scale against the Allies! By that awesome imagining
alone can the extent of their service by measured.

If I have wandered a little from my theme, since our veritable
"Defenders" are the men who are giving their life's blood at the front,
and the band of noble women who are tending them in hospital, it will
surely be understood that, if I name them last they are first in my heart.
I have seen much of the war. I know what your soldiers, sailors and
nurses are called on to endure. I rejoice that in dedicating this book to
them, you honor them while they live. Never let their memory fade
when they are dead. They gave their lives for their friends, and greater
love than that no man hath.
[signed]Northcliff

Essential Service

"I wish all success to 'The Defenders of Democracy.' The men who are
in this war on the part of the United States are doing the one vitally
important work which it is possible for Americans to do at this time.
Nothing else counts now excepting that we fight this war to a finish.
Those men are thrice fortunate who are given the chance to serve under
arms at the front. They are not only rendering the one essential service
to this country and to mankind, but they are also earning honor as it
cannot otherwise be earned by any men of our generation. As for the
rest of us, our task is to back them up in every way possible."
[signed]Theodore Roosevelt

Kittery Point, Me., October 14, 1917
I am never good at messages or sentiments, but perhaps if Mr.
Rouland's portrait of me were literally a speaking likeness it would
entreat you to believe that I revere and honor in my heart and soul, the
noble ideals of the Militia of Mercy.
Yours sincerely,

[signed]W. D. Howells.

[The following is written in long hand] How Can I Serve?

There are strange ways of serving God You sweep a room or turn a sod,
And suddenly to your surprise You hear the whirr of seraphim
And ?uid you're under God's own eyes And building palaces for him.
There are strange, unexpected ways Of going soldiering these days It
may be only census-blanks You're asked to conquer with a pen, But
suddenly you're in the ranks And fighting for the rights of men!
[signed]Hermann Hagedorn.
For the Militia of Mercy August 15, 1917.

The Editors gratefully acknowledge