Mexico Missouri message., 1917-11-08

those principles.
Neutrality II no longer feasible or
desirable where the peace of the world
IN Involved and the freedom of it's peO-
pies, and the menace to that peace and
freedom lies in the existence of auto
cratic governments, backed by organ
ized force which IL controlled wholly
by their will, mot by the will of their
people, We have seen the last of neu-
trnlity In such circumstances. We afe
Mt the beginning of an age I'm which II
will be insisted that the same stand
ards of conduct and of responsibility
for wrong done shall be observed
among nations and their governments
that are observed among the Individual
citizens of civilized states.
We have no quarrel with the German
people. We have no feeling toward
them but one of sympathy and friend
ship. 1t was not upon their impulse
that their government acted in enter
Ing the war. It was not with their
previous knowledge or approval. 1t
was a war determined upon as wars
used to be determined upon in the old
unhappy days, when peoples were no
where consulted by their rulers and
wars were provoked and waged in the
interest Of dynasties or of little groups
of ambitious men who were accustomed
to use their fellow men as pawns and
tools.
Self-EOverned nations do not nh their
nelghbOr states with spies or set the
course of intrigue to bring about some
critical posture OF affairs which will
give them nn opportunity to strike and
make conquest. Such designs can be
successfully worked out only under
cover and where no one has the right
to ask questions. CunnIngIy cOntrived
plans of deception aggression, car
rted, IL may be from generation to gem
eratiOn, can be worked out and kept
from the light only within the privacy
OF courts or behind the carefully guard
ed condolences of n narrow and privi-
legged class. They are happily imPOssi-
bile where public opinion commands and
insists upon full Information cOncern-
Ing all the nations affairs.
steadfast concert for peace can
never be maintained except by n part
nership of democratic nations. No nu-
tocratIc government could be trusted
to keep faith within II or observe Its
covenants. 1t must be league OF
honor, n partnership of opinion. In
triEue would eat fits vitRls nwayJ the
plOttings of inner circles who could
plan what they would, and render ac-
count TO no one, would be n corruption
seated Rt Its very heart. Only free Deo-
pie can hold their purpose and their
honor steady to common end, and
prefer the interest of mankind to any
narrow interest of their own.
Does not every American feel that
assurance has been added to our hope
for the future peace of the world by
the wonderful and heartening things
that have been happening within the
last few weeks in Russia? Russia was
known by those who knew her best
to have been always In fact democratic
Rt heart in all vital habits of her
thought, in all the intimate relation
ships of her people that spoke their
natural Instinct, their hnbituRI attitude
toward life. The nutOcracy that CROWN
ed the summit of her political struc-
ture, long as II had stood and terrible
was the reality of Its power, was
not in fact Russian in origin, charac-
ter, or purpose, and now IL has been
shaken of and the great generous RUS
sian people have been added, In all
their native majesty and might. to the
forces that are hghting for freedom In
the world, for Justice, and for peace.
Here is a At partner for league OF
honor.
One of the things that have served
to convince that the Prussinn auto
cracy was not and could never be our
friend is that from the very outset OF
the present wnr II has filed our un-
suapectIng communities, and even our
offices of government, with spies and
set criminal intrIRues everywhere afOOt
aEninst our national unity of counsel,
our peace within and without, our In
dustries, and our commerce. Indeed 1t
Is now evident that Its spies were here
even before the war began and IL !"
unhappIly not n matter of conjecture,
but a fact proven In our courts of JUS
tIce, that the intrigues which have
more than once come periiOusly near to
disturbing the peace and dlsIOcating
the Industries of the country, have been
carried on at the InstIgatiOn, with the
support, and even under the personal
directions of official agents Of the I'm
periaI government accredited to the
government of the United States.
Even in checking these things and
trying TO extirpate them we have
sought to put the most generous inter
probation possible upon them, because
we knew that their source lay not In
any hostile feeling or purpose of the
German people toward US (whO were,
no doubt, as ignorant of them MS we
ourselves were), but only in the selfish
designs of n government that did what
IL pleased and told its people nothing.
But they have played their part I'm serv-
ing to convince at last that that
government entertRins no renl friend
ship for us and means to act against
our peace and security at it's convent
ence. That Il means 10 stir up enemies
against us mt our very doors, the In
tercepted note to the German minister
at Mexico City Is eloquent evidence.
We are accepting this challenge of
hostile purpose because we know that
in such a government, following such
methods, we can never have n friend,
and that in the presence of Its organ
lied power, always lying In wait to
accomplish we know not what pur-
pose, there can be NO assured security
for the democratic governments of the
world. We are now about to accept
the gage of battle with the natural foe
to liberty, and shall, II necessary, spend
the whole force of the nation to check
and nullify its pretensions aud its pow
er. We are glad now that we see the
facts with no veil of false pretense
about them, to tight thus for the ultI-
mate peace of the world and for the
liberation of it's peoples, the German
peoples Includedj for the rights OF ma
tions, great and small, and the Privi-
IeEe OF men everywhere to choose their
way of life and OF obedience.
The world must be made safe for
democracy. Its peace must be planted
upon the tested foundations OF political
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