The Detroit times., 1917-06-14

W WASHINGTON, June 1.-THE FOL
lowing Is the text OF President VIII
sons Flag day address:
My Fellow Citizens.-we meet to
celebrate Flag Day because this nag
which We honor and under which we
serve II the emblem OF unity. our
power, our thought and our purpose
az nation. II has no other char
Acter than that which We give IL from
generation 90 generation Tho choices
are ours. N hoats IN majestic sill
encc above the hosts that execute
these choices. whether In peace or In
war. And yet. though silent u speaks
Of the men and women who went be
fore us>Rnd ~ tho records they wrote
upon II. We celebrate the day ~ It's
slrth and from it's birth unti% now II
has witnessed great history, has
hoattd' on high In symbol OF great
events, ~ the great plan ~ life
worked out by great people We
are about 20 carry II into battle. TO
lift u where u will draw the FIRE Of
our enemies Wet are about 90 bid
thousands. hundred. % thousands. u
may be millions Of our men. the
younE. the strong. the capable men
OF the nation. 10 go forth and die
heneath u In neids OF blood far away
Tor what For some unaeoustomed
thing' For somsthins for which q
American armies were never before
sent across the sea why are they
sent now For aone new purpose
FOR which this great nag has never
BEEN carried before. or for some old.
familiar, heroic purpose for which
II has seen men. rs own men die on
every Battlefield on which Ameri-
cans have borne arms since the Revo-
lution7
Questicns Demand Answer.
These are questions which must be
answered We are Americans Wa
in our turn serve America. and can
serve her with no private purpose
We must use her rag es she has al
ways used H. We are accountable az
the bar ~ history and must plead
In utter frhnkness what purpose IL Is
we geek 10 serve.
IL II plain enough how we were
forced into the war The sxtraordi-
nary insults and aggression OF the
Imperial German government left us
no self-respectlng choice by 20 take
free people and OF our honor as
sovereign government The military
mhsters of Germany derisA us the
rixht 20 be neutral. they Allied eur
unsusrecting eornmunfties with VIC
ious ssiss ara eonspirstsrs and
people In their swu behaIf. when
they found tkty could not 10 that.
their agents deliberately sprtnd sedt-
tion hsasnmst nA and sought TO draw
sisncs~--ens some 81 these agents
we're men connected with the ofnctat
en hassy 90 the German government
itsslf here ~ our swn capital They
sought by violence 70 destroy our
Industries and arrest our commerce
They tried 10 ineite Mexico 10 take
up arms ARains, US and to draw ia
pan into a hostile alliance with her
and that not by indirection. but by
direct suggestion from the foreign
denied vs. the use 81 the high seas
and repeatedly executed their threats
that they would send 20 their death
any Of our people who ventured To
approach the coasts or Europe.
Many Were Corrupted.
And many ~ our own psopie were
corrupted. Men began 10 look upon
and 90 wonder IN their hot resent
mert and surprise whether there was
any community In which hostile in
triRue did not work what great
nation In such circumstances would
not have taken Up arms Much IA
We desired peace II was denied ma,
and not OF our own choice. This nag
under which We serve would have
bean dIshonored had we withheld our
hand.
hut that ia only part Of the story
We know now as clearly as we
knew before We we're ourselves en-
gagged that We are not the enemies |
OF the German people and that they ,
are not our enemies. We did not |
originate or deaire this hideous war
or wish that we should be drawn into |
II. and We are vaguely conscious |
that We are lighting their cause. a
they will some day see II. AZ well 40 /
our own. They are themselves in the |
- - ~
has now az last strttched Its ugly |
taIens eut and drawn blood from uS. |
The wkale wsfla IL ne war because
the whsit world Ia In the grin 90 /
that power and h. trying ont the /
great hattie which shall determine
whether N ~ 90 be brsaRht unaer tts |
MASTERY or hins itseIf FREE.
Aatocrsts peaan War.
The war whs begun hy the mill |
tAry masters OF Germany who proved |