Evening star., 1917-11-12
PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADDRESS
TO FEDERATION OF LABOR

| By the Associated Press.
AUDITORIUM, Buffalo, November IL.
THE text of the Presidents speech
today before the American Federation
of Labor follows:
"Mr President. delegates of the Amer
| ican Federation of Labor, ladies' ana
gentlemen: I esteem 1t great priv
iIege and a real honor to be thus ad-
mitted to your public councils.
! "When your executive committee paid
me the compliment of inviting me here
gladly accepted the invitation because
it seems to me that this above all other
| times in our history Is the time 1or
| common counsel for the drawing not
| only of the energies. but of the minds
| of the nation together. l thought that
| it was a welcome opportuha.y .,,sas. ~, J ;.
| closing to you some OF tho tnouSnts
| that have been gathering IN my m.ho
during the last momentous months
| II am introduced to you as the Presa-
| dent Of the United states anu ,;t y0t ~.
I thought Of the office into the back
! ground and regard me as one OF your
| fellow citizens who has come mere 70
| sneak not the words OF authority, out
/ the words of counsel. the words which
/ men should speak to one another VINO
wish to be frank in a moment more
critical perhaps than the history OF
the world has ever yet known. a.. mo, o.
! mept when it Is every mans duty 10
| forget himself. to forget his own m
! terests, to fill himself with the NOBILITY
| of great national and world concep-
tion. and act upon a new s,.s piat.orm N
| life, elevated to where men have views
! of the long destiny of mankind
| Reminder of Wars Origin.
! "I think that in order to realize just
what this moment of counsel Is 1t is
very desirable that We should remind
ourselves lust how this war came
al bout and just what it is for. You can
| explain most wars very simply. put
| the explanation Of this is not SO sim
pie Its root runs deep into all the oo-
scure soils of history and In my view
| this is the last decisive issue between
the old principles Of power and the new
principles of freedom.
| ."The war was started by Germany
Her authorities deny that they started
it. But / am willing to let the state
ment / have just made await the YER
! dict of history. And the thing that
n eds to be explained is why Germany
"Remember what the position Of Ger
many in the world Was-as envtable
! position as any nation has ever occu-
pied. .,,,,
| Of her wonderful Intellectual and ma
/. terial achievements, and all the intel
j lectual men of the world went to school
to her AS a university man. l have
, heen surrounded by men trained In
/ Germany, men who had resorted to
, Germany, because nowhere else could
they get such thorough and searching
! training, particularly in the principles
/ of science and the principles that un-
i ierly modern material achievements.
! Made Industries Competent.
| "Her men of science had made her in
dustr,ea perhaps the most competent
industries in the world. and the label
| Made in Germany. was a guarantee
| of good workmanship and OF material
She had access TO al tne marhets oa
jtraded in those markets feared Ger
many because of her effective and al
most irresistible competition. She had
satisffed? What more did she want?
Tbere was nothing in the world of
neace that she did not already have
and have in abundance
| 1--WE hoast of the extraordinary pace
of American advancement. We show
| With pride the statistics of the increase
Of our Industries and Of the popula-
tion Of our cities: Well. those statistics
Germany. Her old cities took on youth.
crew faster than any American cities
ever grew: her old Industries opened
their ewes and saw a new world and
| vent out for it's conquest. and yet the
authorities of Germany were not salts
| fed.
| the question why she was not satisfied
! in her methods of competition. There Is
no important industry In Germany upon
which the government has not laid its
hands to direct 1t and. when necessity
arise, control 1t.
Same Sort Of Competition.
"you have only to ask any man whom
Won meet, who Is familiar with the
conditions that prevailed before the
,war In the matter of international COM
nati+ion. ~ to find out the methods of
ppomnetition which the German manu-
sactnrers and exporters used under the
patronage and support OF the govern
ment of Germany.
won will find that they were the same
sorts Of competition that we have tried
To prevent by law within our own borders.
II they could not sell their goods cheaper
I than we could sell ours. at profit to
themselves. they could get a subsidy from
sell them cheaper. anyhow; and the con-
! ditions Of competition were thus con
| froiIed In large measure by tho German
i government itself. But that did not sat
! isfy the German government.
/ SAll the while there was lying behind
it's thought, in it's dreams Of tho future.
] q political control which would enable Il
in the lQpg run to dominate tho lAbor and