Evening star., 1916-07-21
SERVICE COMES FIRST OF ALL.
PRESIDENT TELLS POSTMASTERS
Six Hundred Of His Appointees Hear Him
Characterize Them as Custodians of
Party's and Nations Honor.

The Presidents speech to the National
Association Of Presidential Postmasters
Of the United States last night follows IN
full:
''Mr. Toastmaster, Ladies' and Gentle-
men: l am very much interested to see
the sort Of crowd the Postmaster General
has got me into, and as l look ABOUT
upon you, gentlemen, many OF the I'M
pressions Of the last three years como
back upon me, because those have oeen
three years when we have been trying
to do very serious things indeed. The
thing that have been most interested ln'
perhaps. has been organising this gov
srnment for the service Of the country.
Most of you, am told all Of you, bear
commissions from the present adminis-
tration. That sets me at liberty to say
some things which might not otherwise
have felt free to say.
If you are all democrats there Is some
thing want to say to you as democrats.
There is only one way OF holding the con-
fidence of the American public. and tnat
is by deserving 1t, and know by my IN,
tercourse with the Postmaster General
that the single object he has had In view
has been to make the post ONCE OF the
United States more serviceable and more
yariously serviceable to the people OF the
tinted States than it has ever been be-
fore. 1 know from him that he has had
your hearty and loyal cooperation IN
that effort, and I esteem you good demo-
Gratis in proportion as you sustain MIN
in that thing. =
Il tell You frankly, gentlemen. I
have no interest In political party
except as an instrument of achieve
ment. I cannot imagine how. a man
can be interested in party that mas
program which 1t carries out. Like a
great many of the rest of you. l IN.
herited my democracy, but 1t would
not stay in my blood long II the red
corpuscles of that blood did not nave
party viii bend all Its efforts and all
it's intelligence to understanding the
United states and, by understanding,
serving 1t, it will be continued in
power SO long as 1t practices that de-
votion.
Democratic Party Coherent"
.'The democratic party is coherent
Some other parties are not. There Is
only one thing in this world. gentle
men. that binds men together That
is unselfishness. Selflshness separates
them selfshness divides them into
camps. Selfishness raises up men who
have personal ends to serve. Selfish
ness leads to little coteries that have
particular purposes to carry out and
particular interests to advance. There
is no great cohesive power except that
of love and devotion.
Now as I have looked about upon
you and read these quotations on one
of the first pages of this program of
the evening, quotations taken from the
fv. iNtt ha n
Washington, I have wondered II you
have pondered the Significance Of these
lines; that you are messengers OF SYM
pathy and hope, the servants of parted
friends. the CONSIDERS of the lonely;
that you furnish the bond Of the scat
tered family and the means which en-
large the common life: that you are
the carrier Of news and knowledge, the
instrument of trade and industry, the
promoter of mutual acquaintance. Of
peace and good will among men and
nations.
"And have you reflected that the Unit
ed States Is one of the few great coun-
tries in the world in which men are
free to do this thing now, in which
hostility does not draw lines of sepa-
ration which cannot be crossed, and
that nowhere else. in any great nation
of the world upon 30 great a scale are
the processes of peace free to move as
they are in America; that you are the
from a mutual understanding, from a
common object, from that weaving of
minds together which can come only
by free intercourse. and that in every
community in this country the post
Office is the conspicuous gauge and
standard Of what the government Is
doing for the people and how it is
doing it,; that the administration will
be judged by you, the whole machinery
of government will be judged by you.
the whole spirit of public service
judged by you.
not think Of things in the abstract. If
they are thinking of a great organiza-
tion like government. they think Of
the man nearest them that they know
belongs to the organization of that
government. and he is their standard
by which they Judge whether that gov
ernment is doing it's work well and do
ing 1t in the public interest or not.
Custodians Of Nations Honor.
so that you, gentlemen, are the GUS
todians of the honor and the distinc-
ton. not only Of the great party which
you represent. but Of the great gov
ernment which you serve. You are
GOOD democrats only in proportion as
you love that government more than
YOU love yourselves. And that governs
ment is greater than any party, great
er than any mans interest. Parties
rise and fall, but that great govern
ment lives immortal. The only way
by being true to its ideals and stand
ards and loving the principles which
1t represents--better even than they