Excerpt: ...Nation, whether it is the Government that pays them or not. They mean victory or defeat. They mean that America will win her place once for all among the foremost free Nations of the world, or that she will sink to defeat and become a second-rate Power alike in thought and action. This is a day of her reckoning, and every man among us must personally face that reckoning along with her. The case needs no arguing. I assume that I am only expressing your own thoughts--what must be in the mind of every true man when ...
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Excerpt: ...Nation, whether it is the Government that pays them or not. They mean victory or defeat. They mean that America will win her place once for all among the foremost free Nations of the world, or that she will sink to defeat and become a second-rate Power alike in thought and action. This is a day of her reckoning, and every man among us must personally face that reckoning along with her. The case needs no arguing. I assume that I am only expressing your own thoughts--what must be in the mind of every true man when he faces the tragedy and the solemn glory of the present war, for the emancipation of mankind. I summon you to a great duty, a great privilege, a shining dignity and distinction. I shall expect every man who is not a slacker to be at my side throughout this great enterprise. In it no man can win honor who thinks of himself. 83 XII REPLY OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE COMMUNICATION OF THE POPE TO THE BELLIGERENT GOVERNMENTS (August 27, 1917) To His Holiness Benedictus XV., Pope. In acknowledgment of the communication of Your Holiness to the belligerent peoples, dated August 1, 1917, the President of the United States requests me to transmit the following reply: Every heart that has not been blinded and hardened by this terrible war must be touched by this moving appeal of His Holiness, the Pope, must feel the dignity and force of the humane and generous motives which prompted it, and must fervently wish that we might take the path of peace he so persuasively points out. But it would be folly to take it if it does not, in fact, lead to the goal he proposes. Our response must be based upon the stern facts and upon nothing else. It is not a mere cessation of arms he desires; it is a stable and enduring peace. This agony must not be gone 84 through with again, and it must be a matter of very sober judgment what will insure us against it. THE PROPOSAL FROM THE VATICAN His Holiness, in substance, proposes that we return to the status quo ante bellum, ..
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