Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-02
No Peace for u s. at Cost of Honor
President Warns Des MONIES People,
and Praises the Spirit of America

yesterday was as follows:
Il am greatly cheered. as well as
greatly honored. by the sight of this
great audience. l have been very much
impressed by being told that you have
been waiting here patiently for more
than two hours for the exercises OF
the evening. and I think l know.
hope / know, what that means. 1t is
not only that in your gracious courtesy
you have waited to greet the President
of the United States. but. knowing the
errand upon which he has come, you
are profoundly interested, as he is. In
the candid discussion of some of the
chief things which concern the welfare
and the safety of the nation.
Some one who does not know our
fellow citizenship quite as well as ne
ought to know them told me that there
was a certain degree of indlnerence
and lethargy in the middle west win
regard to the defense of the natlon.
j said 4 do not believe it, but am
going out to See and l have seen.
have seen what l expected 10 sec
great bodies of serious men, great
bodies of earnest women coming to-
gether to show their profound interest,"
in the objects of this visit or mine.
And l know, therefore. that IL IS my
privilege to address those WIZ VIZ
realize the spirit of responsibility IN
which | speak to them.
Reasons for the Tour.
My fellow citizens. it would be easy.
IL l permitted myself to do so, to draw
a picture of the present situation of
the world which would deeply stir your
feelings and perhaps deeply excite your
apprehension. but you would not think
that it was right for your chief magis-
trate to speak any word OF excitement
whatever. / want you to believe tnat
In what / say to you l am endeaVor-
ing, as far as eXtemporaneous speech
will permit. to weigh every word tnat
/ say. | said a moment ago that you
know the errand upon which l have
come to you, but do you know the rea-
sons why l have undertaken that err
rand? There are some very conclusive
and imperative reasons. Some OF our
fellow citizens are seeking to darken
counsel upon this great matter, not
hope and believe, out of mistaken mo
tives, but certainly, l believe, out OF
mistaken conceptions of the duty and
interest of America.
ION the one hand there is a consld-
cradle body of men who are trying
TO stir the very sort of excitement IN
this country upon which every true,
well balanced American ought 10
frown. There are actually men IN
America who are preaching war; VINO
are preaching the duty of the united
States to do what it never would be-
fore-seek entanglements in the con-
troversies which have arisen on the
other side of the water, abandon IT'S
habitual and traditional policy and de-
liberately engage in the conflict whlcn
j do not know what the standards of
citizenship of these gentlemen may be-
/ only know that for one cannot sub
scribe to those standards.
Voice of the People.
"I believe that more truly speak the
spirit of America when l say that spirit
10 a spirit of peace. Why. no voice has
ever come to any public man moro aud
IDLY, more unmistakably, than the voice
of this great people has come to me.
bearing this impressive lesson: We
are counting upon you to keep this
country out Of war
And I call you to witness. my fellow
thought and energy that has been
vouchsafed me in order to keep this
country out Of war. 1t cannot be dis
closed now, perhaps 1t never can be dis
that task has been, but my heart has
been in it. l have not grudged sim
gle burden that has been thrown upon
me with that end in view. for 1 knew
that not only my own heart but the
heart of all America was in the cause
for peace.
And yet, my fellow citizens. there
are some men among us preaching
peace who go much further than I can
go. Not further than I can go in the
sentiment Of peace: not further than
truth warrants them In going in In
terpreting tho desire and sentiment Of
America, but further than I can follow
them. further. I believe. than you can
follow them. in preaching the doctrine
Of peace at any price and in any cir
Is too great to pay for peace. and that
price can be put in ono word. One
cannot pay the price Of self-respect.
One cannot pay tho price Of duties
neglected. of character. national char
acter, indicated and exemplified in ac-
ton. America has character as dis
tinct as the character of any individ-
uAl among US. We read that char
in page Of s ns5 ,S and
character 10 written in invisible signs.
which. nevertheless. our spirits can de-
cipher upon the very folds Of tho nag.
which 10 tho emblem Of our national
life.
The gentlemen who are out and-out
pacifsts are making one fundamental
mistake. That is, not a mistake about
the sentiments Of America, but a mis-
take about the circumstance Of the
world. America does not constitute the
world In many OF her sentiments and
predictions she does not represent or
influence the world. The dangers to
our peace do not come any longer from
within our own borders. / could not
have said that a few months ago. Pas
sion was astir in this country. There
was a clash OF sympathies and heat of
passion which made our air tense and
made men hold their breath for fear
some Of our fellow countrymen would
forget that their FIRST loyalty was to
America and their second loyalty only
to the ancient affections which bound
them, and honorably bound them, to
some older country and policy. But
America has regained her self-posses-
sion.
America Cannot Be an Ostrich"
Men are now ready to feel and TO act
in common in the great cause of the
national life. and no influence within
America is going to disturb the peace
OF America
But America cannot be an ostrich,
with its head in the sand. America
cannot shut itself out from the rest OF
the world, because all the dangers at
this present moment-and they are
many-come from her contacts with
the rest of the world. And those con-
facts are going to be largely deter
mined by other nations and not deter
mined by ourselves. j have not come
to tell you that there is any danger 70
our national life from anything that
your government may do or your Con-
gress propose. ] have come to tell you
that there is danger to our national
10 fro hot u