Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-07-01

dictory about the effeot YOU men have on
me. You are sometimes particularly In
your Photographic enterprises, very brutal
to me, and you sometimes invade my pri-
vacy, even to the extent OF formu' ating my
judgments before they are formed, and yet
7 am tempted when l stand face to face
with you to take off all guard and merely
expose myself to you as the fallible human
being that / am.
"Mr. Colby said something that was
among the few things had forecast to say
myself. He said that there are some things
which It Is really useless to debate, be-
cause they go as mater of course OF
course, 1t is our duty to prepare this nation
to take care Of its honor and its institu-
tions why debate any part of that. except
the detail, except the plan itself, which Is
always debatable9 or course, It is the duty
of the Government, which It will never over
look to defend the territory and people Of
this country It goes without saying that
1t is the duty Of the Administration to
have constantly in mind with the utmost
sensitiveness every point Of national honor.
EASY TO STRIKE.
"But gentlemen. after you have said and
accepted these obvious things, your program
of action is still to be formed. When will
you act, and how will you act? The easiest
thing is to strike The brutal thing is tn
impulsive thing. No man has TO think b.
fore he takes aggressive action, but before
n man really COnSeTNtS Nlb nOlOIf ny rear
izing the ideals, of the nation he has to
think exactly what he will do and how he
will do It.
do YOU think the glory of America would
be enhanced by war of conquest in Mex
leo? Do you think that any act of violence
by a powerful nation like this against a
weak and distracted neghbor would reflect
distinction upon the annals of the United
States7 Do you think that It is our duty
to carry sef.defense to a point Of dictation
into the AFFAIRS of another people7
THE ideals of America are written plain
upon every page of American history. And
1 want you to know how fully I realize
whose servant am. do not own the Gov.
ernment of the United States even for the
time being 1 have no right in the use of
1t to express my own passions. 1 have no
right to express my own ambitions for the
development of America II those ambitions
are not coincdent with the ambitions of the
nation itself.
And / have constantly to remind my
self that am not the servant of those who
wish to enhance the value of their Mexican
investments, that am the servant of the
rank and file of the people of the United
States.
II get a great many letters, my fellow
citizens, from important and influential
men In this country, but get a great many
other letters 1 get letters from unknown
men, from humble women, from people
whose names have never been heard and
never will be recorded and there is but one
prayer in all these letters: Mr.. President,
do not allow anybody to persuade you that
the people of this country want war with
anybody
II got off train yesterday and as I was
bidding gosd-by to the engineer he said
in an undertone, Mr. President keep out of
Mexico And II man has said that
to me, thousand have said 1t to me as
have moved about the country. If have
opportunity to engage them further in
conversation, they say, OF course, we know
that you cannot govern the circumstances
of the case altogether, and 1t may be neces
sary, but3for Gods sake do not do 1t unless
1t Is necessary.
Lam for the time being the spokesman
of such people, gentlemen. l have not read
history without observing that the greatest
forces in the world and the only permanent
forces are the moral forces. We have the
evidence of very competent witness, name.
ly, the first Napoleon, who said as he looked
back upon the last days of his life upon
so much as he knew of human history, he
had to record the judgment that force had
never accomplished anything that was
permanent.
Force will not accomplish anything that
is permanent, venture to say, in the great
struggle which is going on the other
side of the sea. The permanent things will
be accomplished afterward when the opinion
issues, and the only thing that will hold
the world steady is this same silent in
sistent, all-powerful opinion of mankind.
Force can sometimes hold things steady
until opinion has time to form, but force
that was ever exerted except in response
to that opinion was ever conquering and
predominant force.
'T think the sentence in American his
tory / myself am proudest of is that in
the Introductory sentences of the Declara-
ton of Independence, where the writer's say
that due respect for the opinion of man.
kind demands that they state the reasons
for what they are about to do. I venture
to say that decent respec of the opinions
of mankind demanded that those who
started the present European war should
have stated their reasons but they did not
pay any heed to the opinion of mankind,
and the reckoning will come when the
settlement comes.
$50, gentlemen, I am willing, no matter
what my personal fortunes may be, to play
for the verdict of mankind. Personally. 1t
will be matter of indifference to me what
the verdict on the 7th of November is. pro-
vided I feel any degree of confidence that
when a later jury sits 1 shall get their
judgment in my favor Not in my favor
personally-what difference does that
make?-but In my favor as an honest and
conscientious spokesman of great nation.
There are some gentlemen who are under
comes from the top. It does not. 1t comes
from the bottom. Power and virtue of the
tree does not come from the blossoms and the
fruit but 1t comes from the roots in the
obscure passage of the earth, where the
power is derived which displays itself in
the blossoms and the fruit; and I know
that among the silent, speechless masses of
the American people Is slowly coming up
the great sap of moral purpose and love of
justice and reverence for humanity which
constitutes the only virtue and distinction
of the American people.
Look for your rulers of the future Can
you pick out the families that are to pro-
duce them? Can you pick out the localities
that are going to produce them? You have
heard what has been said about Abraham
Lincoln. 1t is singular how touching every
reference to Abraham Lincoln is. 1t always
makes you feel that you wish you had been
near TO help him In some fashion to fight
the battles that he was fighting. sometimes
almost alone. Could you have predicted. IL
you had seen Abraham Lincolns birth and
boyhood. where that great ruling figure OF
the world was going to spring from?
'.I have presided over a university, but
I never deceived myself by supposing that
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