LEST WE FORGET.
The Ypres Times.
51
By H. K. BIXBY.
Arden, Manitoba.
Much has been saidand much remains yet to be saidon the perplexed question of
Reparations. To the attainment of a solution of this problem the energies of the leaders
of the people and the abilities of some of the most prominent men in financial circles
have been applied.
Thus far their endeavours have failed to produce much tangible result towards forcing
Germany to make reasonable restitution for the havoc wrought during those unutterable
years of 1914-1918.
There have been problems confronting us in Great Britain and in the Dominions
beyond the seas concerning Reparations within the confines of our own landsto the
fatherless children, the widows, the maimed and the blind, that great wrecked mass of
humanity cast upon the foreshore by the receding tide of war.
To the credit of the Mother Country and the Dominions, let it be said that these
obligations are being honourably dischargedwith one exception, that exception being
that until the Germans are compelled to fulfil the conditions dictated to them, we are
not keeping faith with the Silent Hosts who have left their mortal remains on alien soil.
On Fame's eternal camping ground,
Their silent tents are spread
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the Dead."
To us they have bequeathed their memory and their glory and it is for us to make sure
that a proven treacherous people be brought to account for the manifold sufferings brought
into the lives of the peace-loving peoples of the world.
Let us take heed lest their memory becomes to us a reproach, and their glory a thing
of passing moment. We are all paying for the War. The ex-Service man ma}' sayand
with truththat he is paying twice. The fact remains that we are paying, everyone is
payingwith the exception of Germany, and until pressure be applied that will be
hurtful to her, her continued evasions in the future will be as successful as they have been
in the past.
We hear in some circles talk of Forget and Forgive." This sentimental platitude,
I venture to say, is never heard upon the lips of those who took part in the Great Drama
enacted upon the Stage of Europe during those crucial years, or from those sufferers,
the desolate, and bereaved.
Xo! In the name of our immortal comrades whose bones and blood sanctify a
hundred battlefields in France and Flanders, we dare not forget. There are offences
written upon the charge-sheet of Germany that we dare not forgiveif we are to continue
to hold our place among the self-respecting nations of the earth.
Before my mind unrolls a vision of the Menin Road driving eastward out to the ridge
crowned by the ruins of the village of Hooge, with its poignant memories of gallant deeds
performed, and brave names added to the Illustrious Scroll. Shrouded in the wet clinging
mist arising from the rain-sodden soil of the Flanders marshes, dimly outlined against the
