And I noticed another thing in
that review, too," continued John, earnestly, "even if I was supposed
to have my eyes front, I noticed that General Pershing saluted the
colors. And that meant simply this, that as each individual soldier
honored the whole army in his recognition of the general's rank, the
army itself, through its commander, honored the greater _oneness_ of
the nation. And so Foch's rank was a burning glass that focused the
different allied nations into a still greater _oneness_, and drew their
strength to such a point of equality that it lighted a fire under old
Kaiser Bill."
"But what has all this to do with you and me now?" demanded Charlie.
"It looks to me as though you are the one that is getting away from the
main thought."
"I am not," returned John. "It has this to do with you and me: Our
little part as a nation in that world job in France is finished all
right, and the national job that we have to tackle now, here at home,
is a little different, but the principle of unity involved is exactly
the same. Our everyday work can no more be done by those who work with
their hands alone than the Germans could have been whipped by privates
alone. Nor can our industries be carried on by those who do the
planning and managing alone any more than the army could have carried
out a campaign with nothing but officers.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173