We must all join in a sincere and sustained effort towards procuring
for the masses of the people more of ease and comfort, more of the
rewards and joys of life than they now possess. I believe this is not
only our duty but our interest, because if we wish to preserve the
fundamental lines of our present social system we must leave nothing
practicable undone to make it more satisfactory and more inviting than
it is now to the vast majority of those who toil. And I do not mean
those only who toil with their hands, but also the professional men,
the men and women in modest salaried positions, in short, the workers
in every occupation.
Even before the war, a great stirring and ferment was going on in the
land. The people were groping, seeking for a new and better condition
of things. The war has intensified that movement. It has torn great
fissures in the ancient structure of our civilization. To restore it
will require the co-operation of all patriotic men of sane and
temperate views, whatever may be their occupation or calling or
political affiliations.
It cannot be restored just as it was before. The building must be
rendered more habitable and attractive to those whose claim for
adequate house-room cannot be left unheeded, either justly or safely.
Some changes, essential changes, must be made.
I have no fear of the outcome and of the readjustment which must come.
I have no fear of the forces of freedom unless they be ignored,
repressed, or falsely and selfishly led.
But this is not the time for settling complex social questions. When
your house is being invaded by burglars you do not discuss family
questions. Let us win the war first. Nothing else must now be
permitted to occupy our thoughts and divert our aims.
When we shall have attained victory and peace, then will be the time
for us to sit down and reason together and make such changes in
political and social conditions as, after full and fair discussion,
free from heat and passion, the enlightened public opinion of the
country deems requisite.
THE MYTH OF "A RICH MAN'S WAR"
I
Since Pacifism and semi-seditious agitation have become both unpopular
and risky, the propagandists of disunion have been at pains in
endeavouring to insidiously affect public sentiment by spreading the
fiction that America's entrance into the war was fomented by "big
business" from selfish reasons and for the purpose of gain. In the
same line of thought and purpose they proclaim that this is "a rich
man's war and a poor man's fight," and that wealth is being taxed here
with undue leniency as compared to the burden laid upon it in other
countries.
These assertions are in flat contradiction to the facts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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