A year of war has come and gone, as we observe today the anniversary of the entrance of our country into the European conflict. It has been in many ways a hard year and in many more a great one. It has been fundamental changes in our national life which will perhaps mold the destiny of our future. It is a year of which we may well take stock, both for the satisfaction of the present and for the hope of the days which are to come.

The America of a year ago was a different nation from the one we now know. On the brink of a great struggle, it had made no preparations for war. It was a nation of individuals, divided by a hundred varying interests and cares, peaceful and contented in its material prosperity, and complacent in its traditions of democracy and the freedom of men, a sort of Babylonian boarding house of enlightened beings, living in a happiness which was sooner or later bound to meet the rocks of the vital problems of the world's life. All that is changed today. The growing convictions of the early years of the war have burst forth into actual participation. Where once the germs of indifference flourished, the seeds of sincerity and solidarity of purpose have now been planted. In the first days of the year they have been slow to blossom. As time passes, however, they have grown into the flowers of achievement, so that on this April sixth America is prepared for the decisive stages of the war.

It takes but a few words to point out the accomplishments of the year's time. A great army has passed through the beginnings of training and a considerable force is already in France. Twenty billions of our national wealth have been apportioned for our Allies and for our own participation in the war. Ships have been produced as never before. Our navy has become a real force of protection. We have come to supply huge populations with our food products and national resources. And so it runs in every phase of our national life. There have been many mistakes and much confusion, but we may safely say that the achievements of our nation in the year just passed, outstrips those effected by any other country in a similar period of time. It is no self-pride or narrow national glorification to render tribute to the always accelerating accomplishments of our people.

And if the past year testifies to the creation of a great war machine backed by the support of a united nation, it points equally as well to the course of the future. The coming months, perhaps years, will see increasing burden upon our shoulders. England and France are turning more and more to America for the hope of final victory. In these days, therefore, when human destiny lies in the balance, we must turn our eyes to the enormity of our obligations. Where before they have been met with our material wealth, they must now be faced with the lives of our fellow men. The end is remote, perhaps scarcely evident, yet in its reality and in the necessity of its consummation, it must stand before us as the greatest cause for which American civilization has ever striven. On this day we may be glad we are Americans, unshaken by the arduous years which are before us.