Thousands of Americans living abroad have joined the Red Cross centers of the cities in which they were living and are giving much of their time and money to strengthening the work.
Others who were in the war zone and waiting necessary accommodations to get home, interested themselves forming circles among their friends and giving their contributions to the general store, while the wives of our different ambassadors have stood at their post giving of their strength and fortunes to needy and destitute Americans, who daily come to them in distress. When advised that they should return home for safety they answered that their places were at the side of their husbands.
This is an epitome of what woman has done to relieve suffering, but what does war mean to her? It means the useless sacrifice of those that are nearest and dearest. It means the breaking of the nearest of the family ties, of the love and protection that makes these homes happy and complete. This war is daily creating heartaches and wounds for thousands of women and children that can never be compensated by any possible glory of war. This war will create millions of tear-stained faces, millions of breaking hearts that can never be comforted nor ever be made joyous. Even when these young widows reach an age when their hair will be tinged with white, they can never forget the hardships that are now being made by this ruthless combat. These women may yoke their backs to the burden and bear their suffering in silence, but the grief will be greater for being suppressed. The pictures of daily suffering are too dramatic and too intense to be forgotten in a year or in a lifetime. Millions of these women have gone through the trials and sufferings of child-birth with a joy in their hearts that they could be the proud mothers of good families. These same mothers are now being forced to give these sons for useless slaughter so that the greed of nations can be appeased.
But the hardships will not end with the loss of life, it will mean the sacrifice of every luxury, every comfort and even the bare necessities of life for thousands and thousands of women. The main support of their family gone, they will have to offer themselves as bread winners for their families. Thousands of good businesses and factories have already been swept to the ground, and thousands more will be destroyed before this war is ended. Millions of unprotected women and girls will cry for work, but after cities and towns are destroyed there will be little left for those in need.
But there will be other hardships for these many unprotected mothers and daughters. Thousands of families have worked and saved for years to buy small homes and farms which they might call their own, and these have been destroyed like beautiful grain by a horrible gale. Thousands of others have saved for years to possess small fortunes, and these have all been destroyed.
O, thinking woman, woman of all lands, do you call death, destruction of life and property, glory of war? Did God create human lives and fertile lands to have them all fall before the greed of man? If He had done this, He would be an unjust God, but since His watchword is "Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, goodwill to men," it is your duty, mother of the race to come, to cry halt to this awful carnage, to make your watchword in your prayer brotherly love instead of brotherly hate. For if there is one God, there is one brotherhood, and all humanity can only be linked to that God by brotherly love.
ASK YOUR AMERICAN FRIENDS HOW IT FEELS TO BE WITHOUT MONEY.
If "war is hell," then to be in a strange country without credit and funds is certainly purgatory. If you do not believe this to be true, ask any of your friends who happened to be in the war zone and they will certainly corroborate my story.