Winning a Cause | Page 3

Rodman, King
George, the Prince of Wales, and Admiral Sims on the deck of the U.S.
Battleship New York.
The heroic American ace, Raoul Lufbery, wearing his well-earned
decorations just after an official presentation.
A two-passenger tractor biplane flying near the seashore.
The official entry of General Allenby into Jerusalem, December 11,
1917.
David Lloyd George.
Georges Clemenceau.
Major General Clarence R. Edwards pinning the congressional Medal
of Honor on the breast of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey.
Messages from Colonel Whittlesey and Lieutenant McKeogh.
This picture shows the standardized style of building used in every
army in the United States.
A 10-inch caliber naval gun on a railroad mount.
A photograph from an airplane at 7900 feet, showing Love Field,
Dallas, Texas, and a parachute jumper.

The Red Cross War Fund and Membership poster.
A photograph of the United States Transport George Washington taken
from an airplane.
President Wilson driving from the railroad station in Paris with
President Poincaré of France.
Sergeant York wearing the French Croix de Guerre and the
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Pronouncing Vocabulary (four images).

WINNING A CAUSE
WHY THE UNITED STATES ENTERED THE WAR
The United States was slow to enter the war, because her people
believed war an evil to be avoided at almost any cost except honor. In
fact, "Peace at any price" seemed to be the motto of many Americans
even after two years of the World War.
[Illustration: The standard bearers and color guard leading a column of
the Fifth Artillery of the First American Division through Hetzerath,
Germany, on their way to the Rhine.]
President Wilson declared in a speech at Philadelphia on May 10, 1915,
that there is such a thing as being too proud to fight. He was severely
criticized for his statement, and yet it is very true, and for more than a
generation it had been taught to American boys and girls. Peace
societies had sent lecturers to the public schools to point out the
wickedness of war and the blessings of peace. Prizes had been offered
to high school, normal school, and college students for the best essays
on Peace, How to Maintain the Peace of the World, and other similar
subjects. To get ready for war by enlarging the army and navy was
declared to be the very best way to bring on war. School reading books
made a feature of peace selections, and school histories were making as

little of our national wars as possible. These teachings and the very air
of the land of freedom made people too proud to fight, if there were any
honorable way of avoiding it.
It is said that "People judge others by themselves." So Americans,
being peaceful, contented, and not possessed with envy of their
neighbors, supposed all other civilized people were like themselves.
Therefore they could not at first believe that the Germans were
different and looked upon war as a glorious thing, because through it
they might get possession of the wealth and property of others. Perhaps
the Germans, judging other people by themselves, believed that the
French and Russians and English, like the Germans, stood ready to go
to war whenever through it they might gain wealth and territory; but the
Germans did not think this of the people of the United States. They
thought that they were a nation of traders and money-getters in love
with the Almighty Dollar. As events proved, this idea was a fatal
mistake on the part of the Germans.
In entirely different ways, both Americans and Germans were taught
that they were the people above all other peoples in the world. The
German insolently sang "Germany above All" while the American
good-naturedly boasted his land as the freest, the noblest and best,
leading all the other countries and showing them the way to become
greater and better. The American people, however, did not intend to
force their beliefs upon other nations. But the Germans were led by the
idea that German Kultur would be a blessing for all mankind and that it
was their destiny to conquer and improve all other nations.
Thor stood at the northernmost point of the world. His hammer flew
from his hand. "So far as my hammer this arm has hurled, All mine are
the sea and the land." And forward flew the giant tool Over the whole
broad earth, to fall At last in the southernmost pool To prove that
Thor's was all. Since then 'tis the pleasant German way By the hammer,
lands to win, And to claim for themselves world-wide sway, As the
Hammer-god's nearest kin.
But the American does not go this far. While he is inclined to believe
himself and his country better than any other people or nation, yet he is

content to let others live in