The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-11-13

dttply catii6 SupJCtSo W. ND
to them. but they are not talking
about the heart of the matter.
Hamburg TO Bagdad.
Take the map and look at 1t. Ger
many has absolute control of Austria
Hungary. practical control of the Bal
kan states, control of Turkey, control
of Asia Minor. I saw a map in which
the whole thing was printed in appro-
pirate black the other day, and the
black stretched all the way from
Hamburg to Bagdad--the bulk Of Ger
man power inserted into the heart OF
the world. If she can keep tfat. she
has kept all that her dreams contem-
plated when the war begun. II she
can keep that, her power can disturb
the world as long as she keeps It
always provided, for / feel bound to
put this provision ir--always provided
the present influences that control the
German government continue to con-
troll 1t.
May not say 1t In amazing to me
that any group of people should be
so ill-informed as to suppose. as some
groups In Russia apparently suppose.
that any reforms planned in the In
terest OF the people can live m the
presence OF Germany powerful
enough to undermine OF overthrow
them by intrigue or forcef
Any body Of free men that COM
pounds with the present German gov
eminent Is compromising for It's own
d destruction. But that is not the
whole of the story. ANY man I'm
America or anywhere else who sup
poses that the free industry and en-
terprfse OF the world can continue N
the pam German plan is achieved and
| German power fastened upon the
world, Is ms fatuous as tho drcamers
Of Russia.
What I am opposed to is not the
feeling of the pacifsts. but their STU
! pidity My heart is with them, but
my mind has a contempt for them.
want peace. but know how to get 1t
and they do not.
You will notice that | sent friend
of mine, Colonel House, to Europe.
who - as great lover of peace as
| any man in the world: but / did not
send hlm on peace mission. sent
E him to take part in conference as
TO how the war Is TO be won. And
: he knows, as l know. that that is the
way to get peace. II you want 1t for
more than a few minutes.
All of this is a preface 10 the conf
dence that I referred to with regard
to what we are going to do. II we
tare true friends OF freedom, our own
or anybody's else, we will see that the
power OF the country and the produc-
tivity of this country Ia raised to its
| absolute maximum and that abso-
lutely nobody is allowed to stand in
the way of 1t.
| Power OF American Spirit.
When / say that nobody is allowed
to stand in the way, ] don't mean
that they shall be prevented by the
| power tina government hut by the
| power of the American spirit. our
duty. If we are to do this great thing
and show America to be what werbe-
lieve her to be, the greatest hope and
energy in the world, then we must
stand together night and day until
/ the Job is finished.
While We are fighting for freedom
We must see. among other things. thai
labor is free, and that means a mum
Der of interesting things. 1t means
not only that we must do what We
have declared our purpose to do--~sef
that the conditions OF labor are not
rendered more onerous by the war
but also that We shall see to 1t thai
the instrum entalities by which the
conditions OF labor are improved arr
not blocked or checked. That W.
must do. That has been the matter
Labout which have taken pleasure ir
i comforting freni ttnfa to time with
!. your president, Mr.. Gompers. And. 1
may be permitted to do SO. ! wan
to express my admiration of his pa
triotic courage, his large vision ant
! his statesman-like sense of what Il
alongside OF mind that knows hov
TO pull in harness. The horses tina
kick over the traces will have 10 b.
: put in a corral
Now. to stand together" mean
M tpfa Tho
cesses of our energy. II the interrupt
; ton can possibly be avoided withou
/, the absolute invasion of freedom T
I put II concretely. II means this: No
! body has n right to stop the broccssc
OF labor until all methods OF concili
alton and settlement have been ex
e III. listed; and might rs well say RICH
Y here that / am not talking TO go
: alone. You sometimes stop TN
G courses of labor. but there are other
o who do the same. And that l an
8 only, but that l ann speaking OF others
y when ! say that you are more rra
: sonable In . larger number OF case
than tho capitalists.
| am not saying these things t
= them personally yet. because haven
had a chance But they have TO b
r said not In any spirit of criticism
: because l would like to see all tn
. critics exported. But In order to ciea
: the atmosphere and come down
s business. everybody on both sides In
!. got to transact business, and the sci
j Element Is never imposed when bot
u sides want to do the square and rtgf
: thing. Moreover. settlement
n always hard to avoid when the par
: ties can be brought face to face
: can differ with a man much NOR
: radically when he isn't In the rooI
e than l can when he is in room, be
= cause then the awkward thing is ths
he can come back at me and answe
what | say. 1t is ALWAYS dangerot
e for a man to have the floor -entirel
e to himself And. therefore, we mui
r insist in every instance that the pal
II ties come into each others present
Il and there discuss the iss ues betwee
y them, and not separately in place
: which have no communication wit
II each other. Railways like to remin
= myself of a delightful saying of q
= Englishman of past generation
: Charles Lamb. He was with grou
d OF friends and he spoke very harsh
L of some man who was not presen
d ought to say that Lamb suffered
l. little bit. And one of his frient
d said, why. Charles, ! didn't kno
e that you knew SO and sop"
81 ~, n