The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-27
HENRY FORD IN
 FIRST ADDRESS.
 ON PEACE PLAN Talks Less Than a Minute in
 His Debut As a Public Speaker.
COMMITTEE CALLS
 ON THE PRESIDENT
Explains Object of Propa- ganda to End War, But
 Wilson is Reticent.

of Detroit, who is in Washington to promote his project for sending a peace ship to Europe, made the first public speech Of his life here yester- 1 day; also, he made it known that he had received positive sassurances from | the principal powers and more than 1 half on each side of the war; that l the European bel1igerents would have 1 no objection to the holding of a peace 1=conference of delegates from the neu- traf powers.
 i MT. Ford's speech was very short. He was called on toward the end of a large mass meeting of Washington women who are appealing for peace after eloquent speeches had been made by Madame Rosika Schwimmer of Hungary and Mrs. Ethel Snowden of England.
 MT. Ford said that he never had made a speech and that this was the first time he ever had faced a public au= dience. s L
 ':I simply want to ask you,'' he went on, '+to remember the slogan, Out of the trenches before Christmas, never | to go back andHI I thank you for your Fattention.' < That was all he said. <The meeting cheered the speech, vigorously and Mrs Louis F.. Post, wife of the As sistant Secretary of Labor, who was President, repeated the slogan in a dramatic manner asd the cheers con- tinued. @
 Mr Ford said that the assurance he had received that the Governments of Europe would have no objection to the proposed peace conference at The Hague rested on absolutely posi- tive statements in several forms.~ He asked to be excused from making them public; giving as a. reason that if made public they would become the .tplaything of the diplomacy and that denials would be made in one direc- ton and another which would soon throw the advantage of the situation into confusion. Some of these aS- sura nces, he said, were received inn mediately after the Wonan's Peace Con gress at The Hague. some at diff ferent times later, and there had been corrob orations in some eases, down to recent weeks. He hastened to explain come to him by Scab1e, but mainly in letters, and were documentary and substantial f
 :, MT. Ford's activities throughout the day were characteristic. He sought out men who, he was persuaded, were in sympathy with peace. kept the wires buzziHlg with te1egrarns, attend ed the women's peace mass meeting, and held several conferences at his hotel in the interest of his project of a peace ship
 A telegram was sent to W. J. Bryan asking him to join the peace party on the Oscar IT., but up to late hour last night no reply had been received. MT. Ford said that some months ago he proposed to Mir. Bryan to go to Europe on a peace mission, and that MT. Bryan gave his assent.
 Calls to See Justice Hughes.
 In the afternoon MT. Ford called on Justice Charles E. Hughes, of the United States Supreme Court, and con ferred with him in the interest of the peace movement After the visit Mr. aging interview and felt more than ever hopeful of success because of it.
 Some uncertainty was introduced into the arrangement for the sailing Of Oscar II. from New York sched- uIed for Dec. g. This was due to a telegram from Governor McCreary of Kentucky, accepting conditionalIys the invitation to join the peace expedition on the Oscar IT,, with the explanation that he lnustsreInain in Kentucky un- til Dec. z, to be present at the in auguration of Governor-elect A. O. Stanley. Governor McCreary said if the ship sailed Dec. 8 he would go.
 It was announced by Lewis B. Lock ner of Chicago, Secretary of the Ma tional Peace Society, that MT. Ford had te1egraphed to the Presidents of all the colleges and universities in the, United States asking them in each case to call together the student body of the institution and ask them to elect from their number the student, man or woman, who had most distinctly identified himself or herself with the peace movement. and that the person so selected should be permitted to go to Europe as the delegate of the col lege or university on the Oscar H.
 It was formally announced that Mr. Ford would establish in Washington a bureau to conduct a campaign against preparedness and that it would be in charge of Oswald GaEri- son Willard, editor of The New York Evening Post.
 Mr. Ford had a surprise last night when he was served with summons to appear before a local Justice of the Peace as g. defendant in a case in volving a dispute affecting his former, agents here. The suit was for a small amount.
 Action of Mass Meeting.
 The purpose of the peace mass meeting was to uphold the hands of Peace Congress at The Hague who were to meet President Wilson and lay beforeS him an appeal to name 8 delegate from the United States to the proposed peace conference to be held at The Hague with delegates from the neutral countries, On the motion of Mrs George Rub1ee, wife of a member of the Federal Trade Commissions the following resolu- tions were unanimously adopted:
 Whereas, The envoys sent by the International Congress of Women to The Hague ascertafned from the gov ernments of the l5elligerent nations of Europe that they would have no ob- Jections to the calling of a conference of the neutral nations of the world looking to the possible termination of the war; and.
 Whereas, The belligerent nations seem to be unable themselves to take the initiative to this end; and,