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THE KING’S BUSINESS into the hands of the Kaiser almost from the beginning. Of course, there have been men, like Cardinal Mercier, who have displayed a noble patriotism, and there have been many priests in France and elsewhere who have played the patriot s part, but what support has the Cardinal had from the Pope? and what protest has Rome ever made against the outrageous enormities practiced by the powers that be in Germany ? What single thing has the Roman church done that has not played into the hands of the Central Powers? There is good reason for supposing that the present agitation against conscription in the Prov ince of Quebec in Canada is organized and pushed by the priests. Apparently Rome has her eye upon the triumph of the Kaiser and upon an alliance with him for the domination of the world. The greatest danger to our Republic is not from the Kaiser, but from Rome. We do well to be alert and to watch and pray.
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° ne of the saddest developments of these days of war and distress is the way in which a large proportion of our people are commercializing their patriotism. There has been not only a reasonable display of our glorious
Commercializing Patriotism.
and beautiful American flag such as would be expected at such a time as this, but an effort to compel the people to display it in many unnecessary ways, so that there has been a tremendous rise in the price of flags and bunting. The real object in many cases has been to pour money into the coffers of the manu facturers of flags and bunting. It is commercializing their patriotism. Then again many moving picture shows, theaters and commercial houses are trying to make personal gain out of the enthusiasm for the noble work of the Red Cross. The Red Cross is to get a part of the profits of a great many enter prises. The real object in giving a portion of their profits to the Red Cross is to line their own pockets with their part of the profits. Some men of affairs have placed their great organizing abilities at the disposal of the United States Government out of patriotism pure and simple, but it seems that others have offered their services to •the Government simply that they may promote the profits of the lines of business in which they are engaged.
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AH over the country, dances and other frolics are being held ostensibly from a patriotic motive to raise money for the Red Cross. The real motive is in many cases anything but that. We are living in a time in which many are awakening to the fact that if dances and
Dancing Over the Graves of the Heroic Dead.
other entertainments of that character were ever tolerable, they certainly are not in the present day of war, and distress and grief. But the people can’t give up their dances and other frolics, so they seek to sanctify them by holding them for the benefit of the Red Cross. It is like dancing on the graves of our dead. How jny person with any real sense of propriety can have anything to do with such things is a mystery to us.
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