Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. 19 sacrifice our proper independence. The other is the peaceful settlement of con¬ troversies between nations. By example and by treaty we have advocated arbitra¬ tion. For nearly twenty-five years we have been a member of the Hague Tribunal, and have sought the creation of a permanent world court of justice. I am in all accord with both of these policies. I favor the establishment of such a court intended to include the whole world. That is and has long been an American policy.” Even great war-time commanders are in favor of such an institution. To cite merely one example: Sir Arthur Currie, Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian forces during the World War, is “a man of peace, firmly believing in the League of Nalions and in methods of conciliation and arbitration rather than in methods of force.” Surely if such a man, a man who has seen and who knows war, holds to the ideals of peace, we can rest assured that war has no benefit for a civilized world. What is war? War is suffering, devastation, and waste. Men suffer, women suffer, nations, countries—the whole world suffers! Homes are destroyed, fields are devastated; villages, towns, cities, even whole nations are ravaged! Food is wasted; land is wasted; money is wasted; and what is the worst of all— hu¬ man lives are wasted! In contrast to this, how blessed is peace! How a country benefits under its sway! It is developed and strengthened in all ways, morally, physically, and industrially. During and after a period of war, morals are bound to be lax. With the country in an abnormal state, it is only natural that the inhabitants of the country assume the same attitude. No better example of the low tone of public morality could be given than the condition after the World War. It has lasted fully ten years, and it is only now that w r e are beginning to outgrow the post-war condi¬ tions. The physical decline of a country during war is so obvious that it hardly needs mentioning. Thousands and thousands of lives are lost, and in most in¬ stances it is not the older people who are taken, but it is rather those that a country needs most—the “flower of youth” as we like to call them—who make the supreme sacrifice. In the U. S. Civil War, the total casualty was nearly 1,000,000. In the recent World War, the casualty of France was 3,000,000; that of Belgium one-half a million. If a country were involved very frequently in a war of this type, in a comparatively short time its very life would be drained from it. Peace, however, does away with all this bloodshed and secures what is essential to a country’s supremacy—its physical strength. The prosperity of our country has long rested upon constructive labor and material progress, both of them in striking contrast to warfare. Industry cannot flourish during times of war. War lures young men not to develop, but to exploit; it turns them from the courage and toil of industry to the bravery and endurance of war, and leads them to forget that civilization is the substitution of law for war. It incites their ambitions, not to irrigate, to make fertile the barren plain of the savage, but rather to fill it with military posts, to cease pushing forward industrial action into new fields, and to fall back upon military action. As industrial relations imply peaceful relations, the natural outcome is that our prosperity depends on peace. In other words, not only the moral and physical, but the industrial condition, the very prosperity of our country depends on peace. As Ralph Waldo Emerson says: “Not in an obscure corner, not in a futile Europe, not in an antiquated appanage where no onward step can be taken without rebellion, is this seed of benevolence laid in the furrow, with tears

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18 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. But not only this memorable day in June is Commencement. For each day in life is a Commencement, the beginning of a new life, an opening of a new vista. We may meet defeat on one day, and on another we may receive the crown of victory. But each day we go forward in preparation for that day of days when we will receive the announcement of an eternal award. Mary Burns, ’ 28 . SALUTATORY. In behalf of the Class of 1928 I extend to you all a most cordial welcome. At this time we wish to show our gratitude for the efforts of our parents and teachers expended in our behalf during the past four years. We are deeply thankful for the encouragement of all those who have assisted us. THE BLESSINGS OF PEACE. International peace has come to be regarded as one of the foremost issues that confront the modern world. The countries at large are beginning to realize that peace is one of the greatest blessings they can hope for, and are thus making international amity their chief aim. Our own country, the United States of America, has long had a strong hatred of war. Our most noted countrymen have warned and striven against it. Did not Washington in his farewell message as first president of the United States warn this country against “entangling alliances with foreign nations, and the spirit of faction at home” ? Did not Lincoln use his power—as both citi¬ zen and president—to the utmost to prevent the clashing of forces from the North and South? Did not Wilson send several notes to Germany and the other Central Powers in taking every precaution against our entering the World War? As President McKinley once said: “It has been recognized as the lead¬ ing feature of our foreign policy throughout our national history that there should be the adjustment of difficulties by judicial methods rather than by force of arms.” During every age there have been enlightened men who have firmly be¬ lieved in peaceful solution of disputes. The determination of international con¬ troversies by arbitration runs back to a very early time. It was extensively used by the Greeks with much definiteness and precision, and with an intelligent un¬ derstanding of its essentially judicial character. It was used in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and since the establishment of our own federal government has been successfully used by our national officials. As disputes became more frequent and more important, the methods of ar¬ bitration developed into the establishment of the Permanent Court of Interna¬ tional Justice. This court of justice embodies the principles, the ideals, and the aspirations of the American people. President Harding, under the advice of Secretary Hughes, gave his approval to the proposal to adhere to the Permanent Court of International Justice. President Coolidge, who in 1919-1920 had been an open advocate of our entering the League of Nations with mild reservations, in accepting his predecessor’s mantle adopted the advocacy of such adherence to the Court. In his message to Congress, December 6, 1923, he spoke thus re¬ garding the situation: “Our foreign policy has always been guided by two prin¬ ciples. I he one is the avoidance of permanent political allliances which would

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20 THE OAK, LILY AND IVY. of hope; but in this Broad America of God and man, where the forest is only now falling, or yet to fall, and the green earth opened to the inundation of em¬ igrant man from all quarters of oppression and guilt; here, where not a family, not a few men, but mankind shall say what shall be; here, we ask, ‘Shall it be War, or shall it be Peace?’ So it is for the great United States to determine between the issue of war and peace. For the progress and benefit of our country, let us hope that the decision will be—Peace! Mary Burns, ’ 28 . UNSUNG GLORY. A sign creaked dismally in the wind. The crunch of hurried footsteps on the snow-covered sidewalk suddenly halted. The glare of a street-light shone on two dark forms. “I tell you, Ray, submarines are dangerous!” “Yes, Bill, but—I love them!” “How far does the tryout take you, Ray?” the first voice continued. The younger figure straightened, and there was a defiant ring in his voice as he answered, “Provincetown, Bill!” The first speaker smiled at the boyish eagerness, but as his thoughts deep¬ ened, he frowned. “Lad,” he said, “watch your step tomorrow!” The younger man laughed and bade his companion a hurried farewell. It was not until the next afternoon in the S-40, that Bill’s words came back to him: “Lad, watch your step!” He thought to himself that Bill Tyndall was becoming effeminate, and laughed to himself. He glanced at the young torpedoman and noticed the weak chin and shift¬ ing gaze in his eyes. The face seemed vaguely familiar to him, and later he found out that the man had been a classmate of his at Annapolis. He recognized him now as Earl Preston. He recalled the quarrels that he and Preston had had over seemingly trivial matters and he felt instinctively that these quarrels would naturally have an effect on their friendship during the trip. They were well on their way before Preston recognized Ray. He had been leaning over to adjust a bolt near the torpedo tubes and as he straightened up, his eyes met Ray’s. A knowing light gleamed for one brief instant as he brushed by his superior officer. However, Ray forgot the animosity which existed between them in the de¬ lightful thrill of being in this throbbing submarine below the surface of the choppy sea. His reverie was interrupted by the whistle of the speaking tube. 1 he words of the seaman in the conning tower came in startled gasps: “Ship ahead, sir! Watch your st-!” A crash. A horrible ripping sound and the noise of frigid waters pour¬ ing through the gaping wound in the submarine’s battery room. Stifled by the chlorine fumes from the brine flooded cells of the storage batteries, Ray struggled with the wheel and valve in vain. His muscles were like strings. He pushed forward, knee deep in the icy water to the forward torpedo- room, followed by the three torpedo-men and two seamen. He knew he was safe for a time in this steel-girt cell and he breathed the purer air with a feel-