NE of the most interesting and profitable pages in the history of the state is the semi-centennial celebration of the admission of Nebraska into the Union. This celebration took place in 1917 under the direction of the State Historical Society. The Honorable John L. Webster of Omaha, who had been president of the society for a good many years, appointed a committee of one hundred members to take charge of the celebration. This body of citizens was appointed to provide the means and to suggest a general program for a fitting commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the admission of Nebraska as a state. The dates of these two important events are March 1, 1867, and March 1, 1917. Gurdon W. Wattles of Omaha was made chairman of the committee of one hundred. The plans for the celebration included a pageant at Omaha in October, 1916, in connection with the Ak-Sar-Ben for that year. The committee of arrangements for Omaha consisted of Gurdon W. Wattles, Gilbert M. Hitchcock, E. E. Buckingham, C. E. Yost, Victor Rosewater, Norris Brown, Rome Miller, A. L. Reed, W. H. Bucholz, and W. A. Fraser. The celebration which the committee planned and guided was much greater in size and in its attractive features than anyone thought possible. The ceremonies were witnessed by more than 100,000 people. President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson from Washington, D. C., were present and reviewed the pageant and President Wilson made an address.
   The celebration in Lincoln took place in June, 1917, at the time of the commencement of the State University. The committee of arrangements for Lincoln was made up of H. M. Bushnell, H. B. Lowry, E. B. Sizer, and A. J. Sawyer. The plans were made on a large and imposing scale. One of the most significant and attractive features was the address of ex-President Theodore Roosevelt.
   The celebration was statewide and at almost every place was worthy of the people and of the occasion. The general committee for the state at large was made up of A. 0. Thomas, at the time state school superintendent, Paul Jessen of Nebraska City, and Ross L. Hammond of Fremont. For each county in the state the committee was composed of the county superintendent, the mayor of the county seat city or town, the president of the commercial club, and the president of the woman's club. Local committees were encouraged to have, in addition to the county celebration, gatherings and exercises in honor of the occasion. The following is an outline of the plan in nearly every part of the state:

    1. By way of special preparation and to create interest in the celebration on the part of all people the committee encouraged a study of Nebraska history, collection of historical data, and marking places which have been connected with the history of the state.
   2. Making maps by the children and high school pupils of historic trails and of places of note during pioneer days.
   3. Celebration on February 12th in all the rural and village schools of Nebraska. The committee suggested that the program include patriotic songs, the Nebraska patriotic ode, a brief account of the purchase of the Louisiana territory, a sketch of Nebraska as a territory and the place it occupied in the purchase, essays on various phases of local history, stories of the pioneers told by themselves wherever possible, and brief addresses by local speakers.

JOHN L. WEBSTER

   4. Exercises fitting for the occasion to be held in the churches and Sunday schools February 25, 1917 -- the Sunday nearest Washington's birthday in that year.
   5. The general or county celebration to be held March 1, 1917, by schools, commercial clubs, historical societies, churches, women's clubs, Daughters of the American Revolution, men's clubs, and civic societies.
   6. The following is a copy of the program suggested by the committee:

     (1) March 1, 1917, to be observed in a formal way by the state legislature as Nebraska Day.
     (2) Moving pictures where they could be procured, showing local schools, local history, and local scenes of community and state development.
     (3) Dramatization of local and state history.
     (4) Addresses on the pioneer days and the stirring scenes which confronted our fathers in transforming the wilds into a garden of beauty.
     (5) Nebraska, present and future, by local speakers.
     (6) Historic carnival or pageant covering local and state themes.

    7. County exhibitions and contests from all schools, spelling contests, ciphering matches, essay and oration, local contests, compositions on local history, collections of historic relics, and general school work.
   8. Unveiling of pictures and statuary in court-houses, public libraries, and schools, of important characters who had to do with upbuilding of the community and of those whom it is a delight to honor.

    To make all this the more valuable to the people as a whole and especially to children, pupils, and students Professor C. N. Anderson of the state normal school at Kearney prepared an outline for the guidance of teachers and others in collecting material on the history of the people of Nebraska. Among other suggestions are the following:

   1. Collect real first-hand material on the history of the people.
   2. Make a record of what is learned and as near as possible in the language of the people.
   3. Get, as near as possible, exact names, dates, places, and order of events.
   4. Secure, when possible, old papers, letters, and diaries.

   These directions were followed by others relating to the form in which they may be preserved.
   To stimulate interest in the celebration the Honorable John D. Haskell of Wakefield, Nebraska, offered a prize of $100 in 1916 for the best poem adopted as a state song for Nebraska. One of the conditions was that the ode to Nebraska should be written by some person who at the time was living in the state. The judges of the contest appointed by the state school superintendent were Dr. L. A. Sherman of the State University, Professor W. E. Nicholl of Bellevue College, and Miss Mary Crawford of the State Normal School at Kearney. The judges awarded the prize to the Rev. William H. Buss of Fremont. Mr. Haskell gave, also, a prize of $100 for the best musical arrangement for the poem. This award was secured by Mr. John Prindle Scott of New York City.

     THE ODE TO NEBRASKA

REVEREND WILLIAM H. BUSS, FREMONT

    Now laud the proud tree planter state,
      Nebraska -- free, enlightened, great;
   Her royal place she has in song;
      The noblest strains to her belong;
          Her fame is sure.
   Then sing Nebraska through the years;
      Extol her stalwart pioneers;
   The days when, staunch and unafraid,
      The state's foundations, well they laid,
          To long endure.

   The land where Coronado trod,
      And brave Marquette surveyed the sod;
   Where red men long in council sat;
      Where spreads the valley of the Platte
          Far 'neath the sun.
   The land beside whose borders sweep
      The bill Missouri's waters, deep,
   Whose course erratic, through its sands,
      From northland on, through many lands,
          Does seaward run.

   The foothills of the Rockies lie
      Afar athwart her western sky;
   Her rolling prairie, like the sea,
      Held long in virgin sanctity,
          Her fertile loam.
   Her wild-life roamed o'er treeless plains,
      Till came the toiling wagon-trains,
   And settlers bold, far westward bound,
      In broad Nebraska's valley found
          Their chosen home.

   Now o'er her realm and 'neath her sky,
      Her golden harvests richly lie;
   Her corn more vast than Egypt yields;
      Her grain unmatched in other fields;
          Her cattle rare;
   Alfalfa fields, by winding streams;
      And sunsets, thrilling poets' dreams;
   There all we sing, and know that time
      Has ne'er revealed a fairer clime,
          Or sweeter air.

   O proud Nebraska, brave and free;
      Thus sings thy populace to thee.
   Thy virile strength, thy love of light;
      Thy civic glory, joined with right,
          Our hearts elate.
   Thy manly wisdom, firm to rule;
      Thy womanhood in church and school;
   Thy learning, culture, art and peace,
      Do make thee strong, and ne'er shall cease
          To keep thee great,

   (To be included when desired)

   Her heaving bluffs uplift their heads
      Along her winding river-beds,
   And, pleasing far the traveler's view,
      Well guard her Elkhorn and her Blue,
           Encrowned with wood.
   And there, by landmarks, ne'er to fail,
      Upon the ancient westward trail;
   Or graven stone, securely placed,
      By eye observant may be traced
          Where wigwam stood.

    Her honored cities grow in wealth;
      In thriving commerce, public health;
   Her first, the gateway of the west;
      Her Omaha, that will not rest,
          Nor take defeat,
   Her capital of worthy fame,
      That bears the mighty Lincoln's name,
   And thousands of Nebraska's youth
      E'er summons to the fount of truth,
          At learning's seat.

   The semi-centennial celebration, for its form, scope, spirit, success, and influence, owes much to the members of many committees and to many citizens of the state, but more by far than to any other one person, to the Honorable John L. Webster of Omaha. For many years he had taken great interest in the history of the state and in the welfare, progress, and usefulness of the State Historical Society. During the period prior to the semi-centennial Mr. Webster had been president of the society. When the state was approaching 1917 he proposed to the members of the historical society the propriety of holding a celebration, the chief feature to be an historical pageant. His thought was that this should be of such a character that it would symbolize not only the development of Nebraska but, also, show the relation and position of the state to the opening and settlement of the great West. The idea and purpose appealed to the members of the society. All were in sympathy with it provided Mr. Webster would take the chairmanship of the committee and the responsibility which the position and undertaking carried with them. It is well known beyond the limits of Nebraska that Mr. Webster is a collector of art treasures and one of many people in his city who cultivate the best there is in art and in art ideals. He is known as the founder of the Friends of the Art Association. This love of art in part gave shape and color to the pageant in Omaha and to the celebration in the various parts of Nebraska. While much had been done by the Historical Society in collecting and preserving treasures of value and interest relating to the people and to the history of the state during the years since its organization, much more will be done in the future because of the semi-centennial celebration.

   Every true American takes a just pride in that which the United States helped France, Great Britain, and the other allied nations to accomplish during the last years of the World War. Likewise, every loyal, patriotic citizen of Nebraska appreciates to the fullest extent

the courage and valor of the soldiers and sailors who went from this state to the camps, trenches, and storm-centers of Europe when the country called and when national freedom was in danger. The same spirit and devotion inspired the Red Cross and those who were helpers in other divisions and organizations.
   But at this date we are too near the beginning and ending of the great struggle to know all the facts and to appreciate the zeal and work of those who went from Nebraska. When time shall reveal all the facts and shall establish the rightful place of group and division, in so far as that can be done, some historian will tell the story of the work and sacrifices of those who went from Nebraska. This story will include the struggles, the privations, the sacrifices, and the songs of victory of those who went, who saw, who fought, who conquered, and who returned to the homes and communities from which they enlisted. Likewise the story will contain a faithful account of the soldierly conduct and the deeds of valor of those who sleep where the "poppies grow" and whose graves are in the care of the allied nations beyond the seas.
   While we are wating (sic) for time, study, and research to make all things clear and for some one to put them down by the side of those from the other states in the Union, we may with great profit study some of the causes of the war and learn some of its important lessons -- lessons which are taught by this school of experience. The lessons taught by the war ought to inspire us to be still more loyal in the future than we have been in the past to every principle of right and duty and still more loyally devoted to everything truly democratic in life and purpose. One of the things it is worth while for us to learn is the extent to which the world was involved in the war and the extent to which we are to share its consequences. Perhaps the best and easiest way to get the right conception of the variety and vastness of the interests which the war involved is to make a group of the nations and peoples who were directly engaged in the conflict. By this method we shall be able to measure more accurately and appreciate more fully the meaning of the life and death struggle, Not only so, but we shall come to know how far the forces of evil intended to carry the false and fatal doctrine that "might makes right." In all, twenty-eight nations were engaged in the war. Four of these were on what is called the side of the Germans and twenty-four made up what are called the allied nations. It will be an aid in understanding the war to know the nations engaged. Space will not permit the area, the population, the military strength, the financial ability to supply the army with the necessary equipment and many more important things to be recorded in such a way that they can be compared. That the student may have the names before him whenever he desired to consult a map or to look up any facts, the states on both sides are put down. For convenience they are arranged in alphabetical order. On one side, besides Germany, were Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. These four were strengthened by the peoples who lived in the possessions of these four nations.
   The allied nations were as follows: Belgium, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, France and her possessions, Guatamala, Great Britain, including Canada, Australia, South Africa, and her other possessions, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Siberia, Montenegro, Nicaraugua (sic), Panama, Portugal, including her possessions, Rumania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Siam, and the United States.
   The peoples whose governments had not declared war and were, therefore, not officially on the one side nor on the other, were within the circle of war prices, war hatred, war spirit, war dread, and war tendency.
   Although Holland and Switzerland and the other neutral nations did all in their power to keep within treaty limits and to maintain peaceful relations, they suffered in many ways. Their food, clothing, shipping, building material, and almost every other thing which entered, in any way, into life and industry, commercial and manufacturing, have been subject to the prices, demands, and unrest of the war. While all peoples were not under arms and were not represented by battle-ships,

all nations and peoples have suffered and that in ways and to an extent that history may never be able to record.
   Another phase of the war is seen and the destruction of war is realized when we ask and answer the question: What were France, Belgium, Serbia, and the other nations in July, 1914, and what was their condition in July, 1919? A little study of the difference in the conditions at these two dates will teach us that while the war was a necessity in order that the democracy of yesterday and the civilization of today might not perish from the earth, the war from the first to the last was destruction and that of the most ruthless and destructive kind. While there may be worse things than war this one which began in August, 1914, needs to be studied but a little to know that destruction of life and property was upon so gigantic a scale, was so great that the number of dead and wounded and the millions of money seem only so many figures on the printed page -- that and nothing more, to the average mind that tries to comprehend the figures and the results.
   That we may realize as fully as possible what it all means and how much better it would be for mankind if "nations would not learn war any more" let us ask what France was in July, 1914?
   The position of the Republic of France in the midst of the monarchies of Europe made it a necessity for her to fight for her existence. Because of the situation France came very near being overrun and occupied by the foreign foe as were Belgium and Serbia. The French, as a whole, are a practical, patriotic, and home-loving people. It was the courage and fortitude of her soldiers, sustained by her patriotic citizenship and inspired by the aid and spirit of the allied forces, that saved France from complete subjugation. France and her soldiers were sustained while passing through this furnace of fire by the memory of her heroic past. The background of her history contributed very greatly to her spirit and conduct during the war. The glory of Joan of Arc, the greatness and military genius of Napoleon, and the patriotic fervor of Lafayette were seconded by the devotion of the French people. The memory of the spirit and action of the French girls after the close of the war of 1870-1871 was a part of the heritage of this most worthy people. Some of the girls from France were working in homes in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore when the treaty was signed in 1871. This treaty demanded an indemnity of one billion dollars to Germany, besides the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. We are told, on good authority, that some of these girls from France, for the honor of France and because of their love for the home land, saved parts of their wages and sent them back to aid their fathers and mothers, their brothers and sisters, their friends and neighbors to pay the indemnity Germany had demanded.
   It was a knowledge of the heroic past joined to a realization of that which was involved in the issues of the present which inspired the French at Verdun, and at the Marne to stand in solid phalanx and to count their lives not "dear unto themselves" if the glory of the past might live in the present and that the fields and cities of their fathers might not be trodden under the heel of the foe of political freedom and democratic civilization. What France was in July, 1914, is indicated by the diversity of her soil and climate, by the variety of her agricultural products, by the relation 90,000,000 of people sustained to her 207,107 square miles of surface, by the fact that about three-fourths of the people live in the country and about one-half of the people live by growing wheat and corn, rye and oats, barley and sugar-beets. To these industries they added the raising of cattle and horses, mules and sheep. Before the war began in 1914 France rivaled the world in the production of lace and jewels, carpets and porcelain, and she stood at that time first among the European nations in her educational advantages. In July, 1919, many of her fields and farms were a desolation and many of her towns and cities were in ruins. Add to these material things the broken families, the deserted homes, the anguish and hopelessness of women and children who are waiting

for the sound of footsteps which shall be heard not again, and to all this add the thousands upon multiplied thousands of her youth and men of strength who sleep in unnumbered and in unremembered graves, and you have simply a beginning of that which the war has cost one of the fairest countries of the earth. In the light of the contrast well may we ask: What is the lesson America and the world ought to learn concerning war and its destruction?
   But France is not the only country to feel the weight and strength of the iron heel of Prussian autocracy. It does not require much knowledge of Belgium and that which took place in that little country to count the cost of war and to measure the worth and opportunities of peace.
   Belgium is only about one-eighteenth as large as France. When the war came on, Belgium had a population of about 8,000,000. In the peaceful days of July, 1914, there were 703 people for every square mile of surface. Measured by the number of square miles and the number of persons for each square mile Belgium was the most thickly populated country on the globe. Something is known everywhere of her great cities -- Brussels, Antwerp, Liege, Louvain, and Ghent, and of that for which they stood and for which they gave promise in 1914. Before the war Belgium was the home of great industries, great public libraries, great schools of music, great schools of science and of the arts, and of four great universities. To her praise be it said, so far as we are able to judge, it was the courage and promptness of the Belgian King and army that enabled France to gain the time and to make the preparation in the beginning of the war which saved Paris from falling into the hands of the enemy. During the greater part of the 1559 days war existed Belgium's soil, with the exception of surface enough to make three or four townships, was occupied and her people were subject to the will and dictation of Germany. By means of a small paper in the form of a public document King Albert kept in communication with his people. The King and Queen, for much of the time, were in one of the small towns of France. From the beginning of the war to its close the King and the army were inspired with lofty purpose and were animated with undaunted courage. As in the case of France so in Belgium a comparison of the condition in 1919 with that during the first half of 1914 shows the desolation war has wrought and asks the civilized world to make such destruction of life and property impossible in the future.
   To understand the lesson taught by a comparison of Serbia in July, 1919, with what she was in July, 1914, and to know how she became involved we must go back a little distance in time.
   Serbia, considered as a martyr nation, teaches us and should teach the world that all honorable means should be employed before a call to arms against any responsible people ought to be made. It will be sufficient for the present purpose to state that through the changes caused by the Russo-Turkish War the independence of Serbia was secured in 1882 and a youth of thirteen years was placed on the throne. This young man ruled, as regent, under the name of Alexander I until 1893 when he took full control as king. In 1903 the King and Queen Draga were assassinated and Peter Karageoraevich was declared king. He was the ruler when war broke out in 1914. That which furnished the excuse for the war on the part of Germany was the assassination of the Austrian crown prince while he was in Bosnia. At first Serbia was able to withstand the blows of Germany. But in a very short time the German army sent into Serbia was so great in number that she could not stand the shock. The spectacle of the enslavement of some of the Serbian people and driving others of them into exile are among the most pathetic and heartless of the barbarities of the war. The Serbian government and people did every thing a brave, courageous, and capable nation could do. A glance at the map will show how difficult it was for France, or Belgium, or Great Britain or any of the other allied nations, in the early part of the war especially, to come to the aid

of Serbia. The only one of the allied nations who could have rendered material aid was Russia and Russia, even then, although not generally known, was almost within the throes of a revolution. While the Serbians were accustomed to war, having taken part in the Balkan wars in 1912-1913, and had an army made up of all the men able to bear arms between the ages of twenty and fifty in a population of about 2,500,000, they were not able to cope with the numbers and strength of the German military power.
   The contrast in Serbia between the condition in July, 1919, and that of July, 1914, teaches America and the world the same lesson which is told and is impressed by the suffering and sacrifices in France and Belgium.

   The lessons which the world war emphasises (sic) for us and for all may be learned by knowing the causes, and from these determine the things yet to be done before right and reason, justice and humanity, good-will and consideration, shall rule among the nations of the earth.
   In its beginning the head and front of the offending lay between what are called the "Central Powers" -- Germany and Austria and the "Triple Entente"-- Great Britain, France, and Russia. The clash of arms was very sudden and to many people in all parts of the world it was unexpected. Many prophesies of the war had been made during ten or fifteen years before August, 1914. The anticipations of the war were based, for the most part, on what, for the sake of clearness, may be placed in three groups:

    1. The desire of Germany to extend her trade to all parts of the world and the spirit and methods by which this desire was carried into effect.
   2. The desire of Germany to acquire and to control naval stations in great numbers and at places of the greatest financial and physical advantage.
   3. The desire of Germany to wrest from Great Britain her power in western Asia and on the sea.
   These plans of Germany were intended, also; to prevent Russia from securing communication from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean by the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, and by these ways and means on to the open sea. The people and government of the United States were not particularly concerned with these things, only, in so far as there was unrest, and as a consequence there was a constant tendency to disturb the peaceful relations which were sustained with all peoples.
   Even after a German submarine, on May 7th, 1915, without any warning, sent the Lusitania, a British steamer, to the bottom of the ocean and with the ship more than one thousand men, women, and children, one hundred and fourteen of whom were Americans, the government of the United States withheld the declaration of war and made other diplomatic efforts to stay the hand of the destroyer.
   To prevent the possibility of Germany getting the Virgin Islands, and by this purchase gain control of one of the approaches to the Panama Canal our government bought the islands from Denmark. By this act our government secured for $25,000,000 one of the best harbors and other valuable considerations. This harbor on the island of St. Thomas is considered one of the best belonging to our island possessions. Instead of these diplomatic efforts and protests having any effect in stopping the war during this period it became evident that we were becoming more and more entangled with every passing day.
   On the positive side three things were impelling forces in bringing the American government to the place where the declaration of war seemed the least that could be done:

    1. Germany, by the exercise of her war power, had come into control of a vast empire. Her dictation extended far into Asia, over Turkey and Belgium, and from Austria to the North Sea.
   2. The brutal treatment of the people who were in the parts Germany occupied in northern France, Belgium, Serbia, Armenia, and Poland.
   3. Germany proclaimed to the world by

nearly every move she made after the first of August, 1914, that she was a selfish and heartless aristocrat -- autocratic and despotic to the last degree.
   Germany was a government of military force and that force was in the hands of a small number of "war lords."
   This meant but one thing for America and for the world if Germany were not defeated on the field of battle. It meant the control and the dictation of ourselves and of all others by a government of a few on the principle that "might makes right." It meant for France, Belgium, Serbia, Great Britain, and for the United States and for all others that which may be expressed thus: We have the power and therefore it is right for us to use it whenever and wherever we please. We can, therefore we will, if we please, to do so for "might makes right."
   The tone, the spirit, and the arrogance of these two sentences were in every proclamation of the "war lords" and from all that could be learned they were seconded and adopted by all who were in authority. The first manifest result was that on April 6th, 1917, Congress declared that Germany had brought on war with the United States. At the same time Congress authorized the necessary means and equipment by which the war could be carried to a successful issue.
   Among other things it is well for us Americans to know and to appreciate, in connection with the great war, is the fact that in society everywhere and always, there are constantly two conflicting tendencies. One of these is the desire of the people to take more and more into their own hands their government. The other is the desire of the office-holding class to restrict more and more the rule of the people and to secure for themselves greater and greater control and privileges. One of these is the opportunity of the people to work out their own destiny and thus, by the thought and effort necessary to take care of themselves, grow into larger intelligence and greater sympathy. The other is the so-called divine right of kings. This is the rule of a class, without any regard for the wishes of the people. These two principles, which are always at work, had much to do as direct causes in bringing on the war. It was the uprising of the people which overthrew the French monarchy and established in its stead a republic.
   The same kind of a movement separated Greece, Bulgaria, Rumania, Serbia, and Albania from the rule of the Turkish government. It was the same spirit that separated Belgium from Holland and enabled other peoples to take upon themselves their political destiny.
   It was a counter-movement which caused the formation of the German Confederation. Because Prussia was the strongest of the states and Bismarck, the prime minister of Prussia, was a man of "blood and iron," the German Empire took on the character of the largest province and became imbued with the spirit of Bismarck.
   The spirit and purpose of the third French republic -- the government of today -- in 1870 were directly opposed to the autocratic empire on the other side of the Rhine. The same opposition to military life and standards had prevailed for many year, in Great Britain. Before the formation of the German Empire and its control by Bismarck, for hundreds of years, England and Scotland and Ireland had prospered under representative institutions and government. Changes and reforms of various kinds had been brought about by lawful and peaceful means. Because of this, Great Britain's old form and aristocratic spirit had been replaced by a government resting on democratic principles. Because of her obligations to Belgium, determined and entered into by treaty agreements, because of the sacred principles for which the people and government stood, and because of her investments in many parts of the world, Great Britain did everything that diplomatic power and intelligence could do to prevent the war. Like ourselves, Great Britain was not prepared for war, on August 1, 1914, except upon the sea. The British navy was prepared for any emergency because it had been developed to protect her merchant

vessels which were to be found in all parts of the world.
   Another thing which caused Great Britain to desire peace on the one hand and to withstand Germany on the other was the relation she sustained -- actual and implied -- to her colonies and the friendly relations these colonies sustained to the nations and peoples of the earth. Great Britain's colonial system had been so developed that while there resulted a vast empire it was guided by the principles of English liberty and the affairs were administered by representative government. For one hundred years and more the policy of Great Britain had been to organize her colonies into self-governing states. Thus there was what we may call a federal government in Canada, in Australia, and in South Africa. These governments are, in fact, three British democracies within the British Empire. Because of this condition, because of the relation Canada and the others sustained to the United States, and because Great Britain felt the responsibility of a free people for the perpetuity of free expression on the part of the democratic governments of the earth, she called to arms when diplomatic efforts failed. The spirit and attitude, the efforts and sacrifices, the loyalty to principle and sympathy for the welfare of all, on the part of the British government, soldiers and seamen, from whatever land or province they came, as well as the generous support of the English people, will go down in history as worthy of the highest praise. The British in this great struggle are worthy companions of France, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, the United States, and of the others whose swords were unsheathed and whose armies were marshaled at the call of freedom. The sympathetic coöperation and sacrifices of Great Britain, without hope of material reward, with France, Belgium, and Serbia in their struggle with Prussian autocracy are worthy of all praise.
   No small consideration is due to the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the churches, and the social and fraternal organizations of various kinds and to many, many individual men and women. These organizations furnished much of the moral and financial support which made victory certain. History will not let the world forget the uncounted thousands of starving peoples of all ranks and classes in Belgium, Serbia, Armenia, and elsewhere who have been kept alive by the contributions of the peoples and governments of the sympathetic nations during the years of this conflict.
   The grateful peoples of the earth will long remember the ideals, purposes, and coöperation of President Woodrow Wilson, Premier Lloyd George, Premier Georges Clemenceau, Premier Villoris Emanuele Orlando, and others on whose shoulders the burdens rested and to whom all looked for direction and leadership. To many of those associated with them equal honor is due -- a number so great that even the names cannot be recorded in this connection.
   The world will always owe a debt to Marshal Ferdinand Foch, General Joseph Jacques Joffre, General Julian H. G. Bing, Marshal Douglas Haig, General John J. Pershing, and to many other great leaders in the allied armies and navies who made possible the armistice and the final day of peace.
   When the full text of the history shall have been written no less honor and no less appreciation shall rest upon the rank and file -- the common soldiers and seamen -- who fought and aided in winning the battles of freedom. This will apply alike to those who did faithful service in this land as well as on a foreign shore, to those who returned to home and country with victory resting on their banners and to those whose bodies lie in the lands beyond the sea.
   That the facts and statements in the foregoing pages may have their influence in making us the kind of Americans we ought to be, there is added the following lines by Lieutenant Colonel John D. McCrea. They were written during the second battle of Ypres in April, 1915. The author was killed in Flanders, January 28, 1918. Before going to the army he was a practicing physician in Montreal, Canada. These three stanzas will help to keep alive in our memories the sacri-

fices of the millions of the bravest and strongest sons of Europe and America who sleep beneath the sod as one of the results of the World War.

   In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
   Between the crosses, row on row,
      That mark our place, and in the sky
      The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
    Scarce heard amid the guns below.
      We are the dead; short days ago
      We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.
   Take up our quarrel with the foe!

    To you from falling hands we throw
      The torch; be yours to hold it high!
      If ye break faith with us who die
   We shall not sleep, though poppies grow,
         In Flanders fields.