The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-12
ON POLICY
 OF AMERICA FIRST,' ; PRESIDENTS DESIRE
"'Let Men Who Are Thinking First of Other Coun- tries Stand on One Side and All Those That Are For America First Last and All the Time, on the Other," He Tells ID. A. R.

They thought of America as lifting, like that great statue in the harbor of New York, a, torch to light the path way of men to the things that they de- sire. and men of all sorts and condi- tions struggled toward that light and came to our shores with an eager de- sire to realize it and hunger for 1t such as some of us no longer felt, for we were as if we were satiated and sated and were indulging ourselves af- ter a fashion that did not belong to the ascetic devotion of the early devo- tees of those great principles.
 tSo they came to remind us of what we had promised ourselves and
 mankind. All men came to us and said: Where is the bread of life with which you promised to feed us? And
 have you partaken of it yourselves? ?'' fFor my part I believe that the constant renewal of this people out of foreign stocks has been a constant source of reminder to this people of what the inducement was that was offered to men who would come and beof our number.
 Now Put to the Test
 ''Now we have come to a time of special stress and test:
 There never, was 9, time when we needed more clearly to conserve the i principles of our patriotism than this present time. The rest of the world from which our politics were drawn l seems foE- the time in the crucible, liand man can predict what will come out of that crucible. We stand apart uncontrolled, conscious of our own principles, conscious of what we hope and purpose SO far as, our power permit for the world at large, and it is necessary that we should con- solidate the American principle.
 Every political action, every so- cia1 action, should have for it's ob- l ject in America at this time, to ask that every man and woman who thinks first of America, should rally | to the standards of our life. There
 have been some among us who have not thought first of America, who have thought to use the might of America, in some matter not of
 Americas originative, and have for gotten that the first duty of a na- ton is to express it's principles in the action of the family of nations and not to seek to aid and abet any rival or contrary ideal.
 's Neutrality is a negative word. It is a word that does not express what America ought to feel. America has a heart, and that heart throbs with all sorts of intense sympathies, but America hasNschooled it's heart to love the things that America believes in and it ought to- devote itself only to the things that America believes in and. believing that America stands apart in it's ideals. it ought not to allow itself to be drawn, so far as it's
 heart is concerned, into anybody's i quarrel
 Not Afraid of Trouble
 .eNot because it does not under stand the quarrel, not because it does not in it's head assess the merits of the controversy, but because American
 has promised the world to stand apart and maintain certain principles of ac- tion which are grounded in law and in justice. We are not trying to keep
 out of trouble; we are trying to pre-
 serve tho foundations upon Whlcn peace can be rebuilt
 Peace can be rebuilt only upon the ancient and accepted principles Of ln- ternational law. only upon those things which remind nations of their duties to
 each other and deeper than that, Of their duties to mankind and to human fity.
 is not confined to the American con tinent. It is the cause of humanity itself do not mean in anything that I sav even to imply Judgment upon any nation upon and policy, for my object here this afternoon is
 not to sit in Judgment upon anybody but ourselves and to challenge you to ! assist all of us who are trying to make I America conscious of nothing so much r as her own principles and her own duty.
 .sI look forward to the necessity in every political agitation, in the years
 which are immediately at hand of call 1 ing upon every man to declare himself, Ewhere he stands Is it America first or lis it not?
 ..we ought to be very careful about
 some of the impressions that we are
 forming just now. There is too gen 1 era1 an impression, I fear, that very l large numbers of our fellow citizens l born in other lands have not enter tained with sufficient intensity and af-
 lection the American ideals. but their
 mum bers are not large. Those who vocal but they are not very tnfuen- Itial.
 | Wants a '.Idne-up." l .eSome of the best stuff of America thas come out of foreign lands, and some of the best stuff in America is
 zens of the United States. would not
 be afraid upon the test of America
 first to take a census of all the foreign l born citizens of the United states, for
 I know that the vast majority of them
 came here because they believed in
 America, and their belief in America
 has made them better citizens than
 some people who were born in Amer
 ica.
 'sThey can say that they have bought
 this privilege with a great price. They ] have left their homes, they have left
 kindred, they have broken all the near
 est and dearest ties of human life in
 order to come to @ new land, take
 new rootage, begin 8 new life, and so l byself-sacrihce express their conh-
 dence in new principle; whereas, it
 cost us nothing of these things. We
 were born into this privilege; we were
 rocked and cradled in it; we did noth-
 ing to create it; and it is, therefore, I < F. ,A<..- a-& fN Ia
 great deal to enhance it and preserve
 it. az "I am not deceived as to the bal
 ance of opinion among the foreign ! hut