The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-05-18

I DFFun& fnS tA&0&Ut 8K ANEf&AtL& ana III
/ dealing with foreign affairs the speak
err told the newspaper msn that was
one reason he had urwed them mot
to know moro than the State Depart
ment knows about foreign affairs. I"
Some Of them, he said. had q singular
! range at omn1soience, and he was con-
stantiy taken by surprise in regard
to decisions said to be his own. Con-
tinuing. he said:
| Remarks at Times Dangerous.
Now that 10 pretty dangerous, gen
tlemen, because II happens that re-
marks start fires. There IL tinder -
| ing everywhere. not only on the other
side of the water, but on this side Of
| the water and an American that
| spreads sparks may be made reepon-
sfble q great deal worse than burning
a town on the Mexican border.
Thoughts may be invaders. Thoughts
| may be disturbers of international
! peace, and when you reflect upon the
Importance OF this country keeping
out Of the. present war. you will know
what tremendous elements we all are
dealing with. We are all in the same
boat II somebody does not keep the
processes Of peace going, II somebody
! does not keep their passions disen-
| gagged, by what impartial judgment
ed In the solution when the whole
thing is over? II you are in a confer
| ence 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 10 little handful of disinterest-
ed men that are in it."
! The President said he had found
! disinterested men and that he tied
| to them as to an anchor. They are
/ men, he said, who would give their
anybody heard they had given their
lives for It; willing to die In obscurity
! IL only they might serve.
Men Either Grow or Swell.
| "A friend of mine says that every
man who takes office in Washington
either grows or swells,'' he continued.
In lighter vein, and when l give a
man an office I watch him carefully
to see whether he Is swelling Or grow
! ing. The mischief of 1t Ia that when
they swell they do not swell enough
to burst. II they would only swell
to the point where you might insert
a pin and let the gases out, 1t would
| be a great delight. But the men who
grow, the men who think better a
year after they are put In once than
they thought when they were put in
| Office, are the balance wheel of the
whole thing"
II have come through the fire since
7 talked to you last" added the Presi-
dent. Whether the metal Is purer
/ than 1t was, God only knows, but the
fire has been there. and fire has pen
etrated every part OF it, and II may
believe my own thoughts, have less
partisan feeling. more Impotence OF
IN ~ ~ !, nj
the right thing. no matter whom 1t
! hurts, than l ever had before in my
! life"
Correspondents of papers that have
not yet heard Of modern times ought
| he said, to send them as many init
nations OF modern movements as
they are willing to print. To illus
trate the need for progress IL only
to keep abreast of the times, Presi-
dent Wilson quoted an English writer.
who said that II you want to keep q
white post white you could not let
| Ii alone because 1t would get black.
! He cited the experience Of Alice In
Wonderland" who, with the queen,
ran very hard only TO find themselves
where they started, and learned they
had to run twice as fast to get any
where else. He added
Got to Run Twice as Fast.
That Is also true, gentlemen, of
the world and OF affairs. You have
got to run fast merely to stay where
you are. and in order to get anywhere
you have got to run twice az fast as
that. That Is what people do not
realize. That Is tho mischief OF these
hopeless dams against the stream
known as reactionaries and standpat-
ters, and other words of obioquy.
That is what Is the matter with them I:
they are not even staying where they
were. They are sinking further and
further back In what will sometime
comfortably close over their heads as
the black waters OF oblivion. I some
times imagine that sec their heads
going down. and ! am not inclined
even to throw a life preserver. The
sooner they disappear, the better. We
need their places for people who are
awake: and we particularly need now,
gentlemen. men who will divest them
selves of party passion and OF per-
sonal preference and will trv to think
in the terms OF America"
Concluding. the President said that
II he did not go of for short week
I