Letter to Captain T.B. McCargo - January 2, 1918
Transcript
January 2, 1918. Captain T. B. McCargo, Raleigh, North Carolina. Dear Captain: We are about to reach the end of the arduous task assigned us. I know that you are glad-- not because there will be nothing left for you to do, but because the end of this job has opened up before us the greatest job of our lives. The tasks that lie ahead of us should appeal more strongly to selective service officials than to any others. We have been builders of man power for purposes of war made necessary by the dwarfed vision of a cruel enemy. We must now apply our experience in the building of man power for purposes of everlasting peace and progress, made necessary by the broadened vision of the entire citizenship of the great civilized nations. God pity the man who hies himself back to his usual pursuits and permits himself to forget or to become indifferent to this vision. The sympathy and judgment exercised by the Local and District Board members during the time of national emergency must now be projected until it becomes a part of the daily business transactions. We must not admit that having built an army, necessarily for destructive purposes though having as its ultimate purpose the achievement or world democracy, we are now unable to build an army of progress. Industry must be stimulated, but it must have the vigor of unselfishness. The doctrine,
Transcript
Capt. McCargo. [Page 2] [January 2, 1918] The question is: Are we game to take on the bigger job and put it through? This question faces us all, and the size of our minds and souls will be measured by the portion of the job that we slice off for our particular attention. Think what a glorious record it will be if we can double the number of our school houses and make the compensation of our teachers draw to this great work the real educators and not the piddlers, if we can put in every country in the State a sanatorium with free treatment to all who have organic diseases such as are destroying the future manhood of the State. The records of the draft have shown the vital necessity for an awakening in this respect. Disease stalks in every corner taking daily toll greater than the total loss to us in the great war, and we must wake up to the fact that a dollar spent to save a life now is just as valuable as one spent to save a life in the struggle through spend during the past year to whip the enemy raised for the prevenvation of health will make disease take its hat in hand and
Details
| Title | Letter to Captain T.B. McCargo - January 2, 1918 |
| Creator | J.D.L |
| Source | J.D.L. Letter to Captain T.B. McCargo. 2 January 1918. Crowder, Enoch H. (1859-1932), Papers, 1884-1942. C1046. The State Historical Society of Missouri, Columbia, MO. |
| Description | In this letter to Captain T.B. McCargo, the author explained that while America was providing man power for the war overseas, they must not forget about having enough men in the states to power the country. He discussed how the war was a time of progress to and betterment for America. This document is part of a collection compiled by Enoch Herbert Crowder, the Edinburg, Grundy County, Missouri native who served as Judge Advocate General. Crowder devised the Selective Service Act in 1917 which drafted America's forces during World War I. |
| Subject LCSH | Crowder, E. H. (Enoch Herbert), 1859-1932; Draft |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I |
| Site Accession Number | C1046 |
| Contributing Institution | The State Historical Society of Missouri |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the State Historical Society of Missouri: 1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, Missouri, 65201-7298. (573) 882-7083. |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. |
| Date Original | January 2, 1918 |
| Language | English |