The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1916-10-27
WILSON TALKS
OF FUTURE
Continued From PAGE One.

adays as a teacher in a woman's col
lege. I taught the women at Bryn
Mawr as best I could the science of
government. 1t has, therefore, always
been we'll known fact to me that
when address women upon public
questions, I can address them exactly
as I would address men.
After all, the real problem Of this
country Is to make a community Of it,
is to get the civic spirit the same from
one side of the continent to the other.
AND not only the spirit the same, but
the conscious purpose the same.
I am very glad in the midst of the
Commissions and the irresponsible talk
Of a campaign to be permitted to dis
cuss these things that have nothing to
90 with campaigns, that run all
through, and look forward to the times
TO come when, whether in one capacity
or In another, we must all keep for a
common object. And therefore l for
one have been very much disturbed by
some of the things that have been pre-
dtcted, that are said to be going to
happen after the war, after the present
distressing war in Europe. I say that
have been distressed because appar-
emily the point of these predictions
was that this war of arms was going
to be followed by another sort Of con-
test based in a radical economic rival
~ which would breed deeper antagon-
isms than the antagonisms Of actual
force. You know what has happened
In countries like our own beloved
country The feeling between north
and south in this country did arise out
Of the war. out of the fighting. 1t
arose out of the political measures
that followed the war. 1t is in times
Of peace that the trreconcilable an
tagonisms of nations are created.
When you fight you, so to say, get the
hatred out Of your blood by the very
exertion Of the struggle. Moreover,
it is a contact of force with an equal
force and respect is bred between the
antagonists. 1t would be very sad
pity II this war should be followed by
subtle antagonisms that could not be
cured in that way and that did not
lead to mutual respect. .. ...
After the War Predictions.
For one thing, 1t is predicted that
after the war is over, Europe will in
some way overwhelm the United
States by her economic power and her
economic antagonisms to the United
States. I wonder that any thinking
man can entertain an opinion Of that
sort. 1t is obviously based upon
singular and profound ignorance.
What is this war doing to Europe?
Does war increase the economic eff
cheney of nation? There are some
25,000,000 men under arms or who have
been under arms in this titanic strug-
gle. From 40 to 60 per cent of the
skilled mechanics of Europe have been
called into the field; not mechanics
merely, but men of skill of every sort,
musicians, men who could play upon
the human spirit as well as deftly
handle a mechanical instrument. And
the whole energy, the whole physical
energy, the whole dexterity, the whole
thought Of great nations have been
concentrated upon this business of
destruction. The business of destruc-
tion has been so successful that the
materials of economic life have been
destroyed upon an enormous scale.
The debts that these nations are piiing
up are so great that the interest on
them will equal the whole budgets of
these nations before the war came on,
the added interest on the money that
they are spending that they must take
by borrowing.
"And these gentlemen tell us that
these nations that have spent their
best blood and energy for this thing
are in the meantime doing what?
Creating great bodies of goods which
they are going to ship to us and dump
on us when the war Is over. Have
they ever seen war? Have they
any imaginations? Have they any
conception of what this war means?
Do they not know that the population
that is not in the field Is bent in all
it's concentrated energy upon one
thing, namely sustaining those who
are In the field
Should Sympathize With Europe.
"And are they now creating dye
stuffs to ruin our market? Are they
now manufacturing silks to overcome
our American silk factories? Are they
producing the things that they have
ordinarily sent to America In s>Ach
abundance while they are in this death
grapple that they are thinking of over
whelming America? Why, my friends.
we ought not to turn tosthese people in
fear, but in sympathy. We ought to
realize that after this exhaustion they
will need us, and that we need not
fear them I would be ashamed Of
anybody in America who should regard
with satisfaction this lowering Of the
physical energy of Europe, for besides
the men killed in the fields, besides the
men hopelessly manned, there are the
men whose nerves will never be mt
again for the exercise of skill or
initiative or enterprise. The whole
nervous and physical energy Of these
nations will require, do not
know how long a generation say,
to recover their tone. No man
with heart under his jacket
can regard that with satisfaction, and
say that will be Americas opportln-
ity, If by saying that will be Ameri-
cas- opportunity he means Americas
opportunity to take advantage of it. It
will be Americas opportunity but 1t
will be her opportunity to do some-
thing very much greater than that
for. in the meantime. look at the sit