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THE FATE OF THE BOND SLACKER Were any soldier struggling forward with his comrades to hear the whisper The end is near victory will soon be ours and thereupon to throw his rifle to the ground and say to his companions There is no need for us to fight more we havf won he would be a traitor and his punishment would be swift and certain Thank God it is not fear of punishment but unfaltering devotion to the right that keeps our men at their duty dutyNot Not less certain though perhaps less swiftly ad ¬ ministered will be the punishment inflicted on every American who can but does not buy bonds of the Fourth Liberty Loan because somewhere h reads or by somebody he is told that Germany is crumbling that Foch and Haig and Pershing and Diaz and Allenby and dEsperey have defeated thtj world incendiaries in the field and thrown them back in disorder disorderShould Should Americans in numbers sufficient to cause failure to the loan quit their patriotic fellows their penalty would be defeat for our armies the re establishment of the German military machine in visor and strength the loss of all that brave men have gained for us on the field of battle This terrible blow would fall alike on those who do their duty and those who do not do their duty on the men whose skill and heroism in the fight fills us with admiration and respect and on the civilians who must supply for them the food they eat and the munitions they consume consumeShould Should the number of bond slackers be smaller and the loan a success despite their efforts to make it a failure the penalty will be personal Each individual among them each man and woman of their sorry company must carry to his grave ami beyond the grave for all eternity the knowledge that so far as lay within his power he or she did the utmost to bring triumph to the cause of bar ¬ barism and to betray the men who offer their lives for us usIt It is not thought of punishment that keeps the soldier fighting thought of punishment should not be necessary to whip on bond buying But the punishment will come to those who fail in their duty as surely as patriotism and enlightened self interest will make the Fourth Liberty Loan a success New York Sun
