Arizona republican., 1916-05-17

prise in regard to decisions which are said to be my own and this gives me an uncomfortable feeling that some providence is at work with which l have had no communication at all.
 Now that is pretty dangerous. gen. tlemen, because it happens that re- marks start fire. There is finder ev- erywhere not only on the other side of the water but on this side of the water and a man that spreads sparks may be responsible for something a great deal worse than burning town on the Mex ican border Thoughts may be ban dits Thoughts may be raiders. Thoughts may be invaders. Thoughts may be disturbers of international peace and when you reflect upon the chances of this country keeping out of war you will know what tremenduous clements we are all dealing with. We are all in the same boat. If some body does not keep the processes of peace going, if somebody does not keep their passion disengeged, by what impartial judgment and suggestion IS the world to be aided to a solution when the whole thing is over? If you are in a conference in which you know nobody is disinterested how are you going to make a plan? I tell you this, gentle men. the only thing that saves the world is the little handful of disinter- ested men are in it.
 Now, I have found few disinter- ested men l wish 1 had found more. I " whom I have conferred again and again and again and I have never caught them by any inadvertence thinking about themselves or their own interests and l tie to these men as you would tie to an anchor. l tre to them as you would tie to the voices of conscience if you could be sure that you always heard them. Men who have no axe to grind, men who> love America so that they would give their lives for it and never care whether anybody heard that they had given their lives for it; willing to die in ob- scurity if only they might serve.
 Those are the men. and nations like those men, are the nations that are go- ing to serve the world and save 1t. There never was time in the history of the world when character, just sheer character all by itself, told more than it does now. A friend of mine says that every man who takes office in Washington either grows or swells, and when ! give a man an office watch him carefully to see whether he IS swelling or growing. The mischief Of it is that when they swell they do not swell enough to burst. If they would only swell to the point where you might insert a pin and let out the gases. it would be great delight. l do not know any pastime that would be more diverting, except that the gases are probably poisoned so that we would have to stand from under. But the men who grow, the men who think better a year after they are put in office than they thought when they were put in office, are the balance wheel of the whole thing. They are the ballast that enables the craft to carry sail and make port in the long run. no matter what the weather is.
 50 l have come willing to make this narrative of experiences to you. I have come through the fires since I talked to you last. Whether the metal is purer than it was, God only knows, but the fire has been there; the fire has penetrated every part of it, and if may believe my thoughts, l have less partisan feeling. more impatience of party maneuvers. more enthusiasm for the right thing, no matter whom