(_September 30, 1917_)
The war is bringing to the minds of our people a new appreciation of
the problems of national life and a deeper understanding of the
meaning and aims of democracy. Matters which heretofore have seemed
commonplace and trivial are seen in a truer light. The urgent demand
for the production and proper distribution of food and other national
resources has made us aware of the close dependence of individual on
individual and nation on nation. The effort to keep up social and
industrial organizations, in spite of the withdrawal of men for the
army, has revealed the extent to which modern life has become complex
and specialized.
These and other lessons of the war must be learned quickly if we are
intelligently and successfully to defend our institutions. When the
war is over we must apply the wisdom which we have acquired in
purging and ennobling the life of the world.